Author Note: Once in every generation two angsty minds collide. When this happens, it triggers Angstageddon, where only the strong of heart may tread. The meeting of minds with wolvesjr34 has lead to angsty/heartbreaking songfic challenges. This is only the beginning.
For this challenge I have been inspired by Power of Two by Indigo Girls and Scarlet by Brooke Fraser.
Disclaimer: I don't own Jane or Maura, but I did write this story.
Can't Stay
"We got him."
x
The parking lot was empty. Jane clutched the wheel of her car with silent anticipation. Her heart thrummed against her rib cage. When she spotted Maura coming out of the elevator, her lips curved involuntarily.
"Get in," she said, rolling down the window.
"My car's over there," Maura said, nodding across the lot.
"Get in, Maura," Jane said, leaning over to push open the door.
Maura took the handle and pulled it open fully, sliding into the passenger seat beside Jane. The moment the door closed beside her, Jane put her foot on the gas. At the exit, she turned right instead of left.
"Where are we going?" Maura looked to Jane, her eyes narrowed.
"Away," Jane said, turning the car radio on and selecting the station she listened to the most.
"But where?"
"It's a surprise, Maura. You don't want to ruin a surprise, do you?"
Five miles out of the city one of their favourite songs came on the radio. Jane turned to Maura, Maura turned to Jane, and without discussing it, they broke out into song. It had happened before, it happened every time they went for a long drive. Everything she felt for Maura was condensed into that moment. The weird, geeky medical examiner who loved to sing pop songs with her on a road trip. She reached across the handbrake and rested her hand upon Maura's knee.
"You need to focus on driving," Maura said, when Jane's hand moved up her leg.
"I'm an expert," Jane said, smirking, but returned her hand to the wheel.
x
Jane stood in the clearing, a pack on her back. Twilight threatened to envelop the rest of the day. She dropped her pack on the fall leaves scattering the ground. The crunch under foot echoed across the expanse of empty woodland. Solitude was her friend, and her enemy.
x
"I need a box of matches," Jane said, approaching a small, portly man stood behind the counter of a lonely store on the road out of the city.
He stared into her eyes, then allowed his gaze to travel down, stopping at the curves of her body. Then back up again. When he tilted his head and looked to Maura, Jane gritted her teeth.
"Just. The. Matches. Please," she said, waiting for his eyes to return to her own.
"What are pretty girls like you doing all the way out here?" he asked, running his tongue along his bottom lip as his attention returned to Maura. She wrapped her arms around her front and walked back towards the door.
"I'll wait in the car."
The man finally pulled his eyes away and rested his elbows on the counter.
"Your friend got a boyfriend?"
Jane leant forwards. "No, but, I have a gun in my holster, and I'm not afraid to use it."
"At least tell me your names, sweets," he said, reaching for a box of matches and tossing them on the counter. Jane threw a couple of bucks down beside it and picked up the matches.
"Dolly Parton and Minnie Mouse," she said, rolling her eyes as she walked out of the store.
Maura sat in the driver's seat, her shoulders hunched over the wheel, her knuckles white as she gripped the wheel.
"What are you doing, Maura?"
"I wanted to be ready, if we needed to leave quickly." She lifted her head, her eyes were red with tears. Jane placed the matches on the dash.
"What did you think I was going to do, shoot the man?"
"No." She glanced back at the store. "It's what he might do."
"Get out," she said, holding her hands out. Maura placed one foot out of the car, then the other, until she fell into Jane's arms. Tears covered Jane's shoulder as she wrapped herself around Maura and pulled her in close. "I should have gone in alone."
"I'm fine," Maura said, pulling out of their embrace and pawing at her wet cheeks.
"You don't have to be fine," Jane said, resting an arm across Maura's shoulders and guiding her towards the passenger seat. "But I'm here."
x
"Who was it?"
"John Franklin. Son of Bert Franklin. He's been inside with Paddy Doyle. Sources say Paddy took the prison from him."
"So this was because of Paddy."
"It looks that way."
x
They pulled up along a dirt track and shut off the engine. Jane unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to Maura. The tears had subsided but her eyes were still red and puffy. Jane gripped Maura's hands and held them tightly.
"If you want to go home," Jane said.
Maura shook her head. "No."
"I know you don't really like camping. I just thought we could do with some space."
"I can't go home," Maura said. "Not right now."
"It was just a threat, Maura," Jane said, more for her own benefit than anybody else's. "It's probably someone who's not happy that you said their daughter died of a drug overdose and not natural causes like Mommy and Daddy want to believe."
"I hope you're right."
"I am," Jane said, cupping Maura's cheeks and placing a chaste kiss on her lips. "Let's go set up this tent."
x
The tent bag lay on the ground beside a box of matches, a pan, a container of water, and several tins of beans. Jane sat on a log and picked up the matchbox. She pushed it open and held a match between two fingers, striking it against the closed box. The small flame grew, burning down the wooden stem until she could feel the heat on her fingertips. She dropped the match and stamped out the flames. She took another, lit it, and blew it out.
"Last one," she said, striking it against the box and placing it on top of the tent bag. The flame caught, spreading quickly across the bag and all of its contents.
She sat and watched it burn.
x
"I can't get it to light," Jane said, striking another match and placing it into the kindling. "The wood's probably damp. We're running out of matches."
Maura stood over her. "Did you use birch bark?"
"Birch bark?" Jane raised an eyebrow.
"It's a natural lighter."
"I know what it is, Maura; I didn't think you did."
She shrugged her shoulders and sat on the log beside Jane. "I went to camp."
"I thought you went to geeky science camp?"
"What do you think we do at science camp?" Maura asked. "We learnt the science behind building a fire."
"Okay then, genius," Jane said, handing over the matches. "Over to you. Show me how it's done."
She knelt on the ground beside the pile of wood and analysed the materials. Jane sat on a log and watched, mildly curious as to how successful Maura would be. She rebuild the structure, ripped up bits of birch bark and lit a match.
"Last one," she said, smiling at Jane.
When the strip of bark she'd lit touched the rest of it, it engulfed in flame and burned brightly. After a moment, the kindling caught. Maura's look of satisfaction made Jane smile.
"Well done, Doctor Isles."
"I can't believe it worked," she said, her smile stretched from ear to ear.
"What are you talking about?" Jane asked. "I thought you said you learnt this at camp?"
"I said I learnt the science behind it, I didn't say we ever actually built a fire."
Jane's chest rose and fell in quick succession, laughter rising out of her open mouth. She stood up and closed the gap between them, pressing her lips to Maura's until she reacted accordingly.
"Never change, Maura Isles, I love you just the way you are."
x
"I can't stay," Jane said, a numbness enveloped her heart.
"Where will you go?" Angela reached out and pulled Jane into her arms.
She shook her head. "I don't know, I just can't stay."
x
"Are you sure you don't want to stay at my place?" Jane asked. "Until they find out who made the threat."
"No," Maura said, placing her jacket on the back of the chair. "We've had a wonderful weekend together, now we have to go back to reality. Besides, you're probably right. It'll be some angry parents unhappy with my work."
"But," Jane's voice trailed off at the sound of a gun shot.
Her hands moved involuntarily towards her hip until Maura's body slumped against her, forcing her to catch her. She lowered to the ground, bearing Maura's weight, blood seeping from her chest. Blood coated Jane's shaking fingers. Each breath felt like a vice pressed against her lungs. It all happened so fast, but the moment slowed down. She looked up at the back door, off its hinges, a man - at least she thought it was a man - stood beside it, a woollen ski mask covering his face. A smoking gun against his side. When she reached for her gun again, he was already gone.
"Maura," she screamed, lifting her lifeless body into her arms, great gasping sobs overwhelmed her. She lifted Maura's head, cupped her face and stared into her empty, open eyes. "Stay with me. Stay with me. Don't, no, please, no."
x
The wooden urn had a picture of Bass carved into it. A decision that Jane made before anyone else could argue against it. He was the only living creature who understood Maura for most of her adult life. Wherever Maura was now, she hoped she was at peace.
"Your parents wanted to scatter you under a rose bush," Jane said, lifting the urn out of her pack and sitting it on the ground. "They decided to do a memorial service instead, but it took a lot of convincing that this is what you'd want. To be with me."
She sat down and wrapped her hands around the oak box. The hand crafted item cost more than Jane would willingly pay for most things, but it was for Maura. She ran a finger around the edge of the lid and choked back a couple of tears.
"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you," she whispered, wrapping her arms around the box and lying back against the dirt and leaves.
Twilight turned into night, darkness surrounded them. She didn't know how much time passed. A wind chill travelled through the trees, falling with the final leaves of the season. When the clouds opened, Jane continued to lie there in the clearing, the ground soaking up every droplet until she was soaked through.
A rumbling of thunder echoed through the night, a strike of lightening lit up the sky. The rain continued to fall as Jane clutched the box. Her fingers made grooves in the wood, her knuckles red raw from holding on so tightly.
"I won't let you down again, Maura. I won't ever let you go."
Author Note: If anyone has any suggestions for songs, or general challenges for us, then feel free to get in touch! Must contain angst.