Thank you all for your kind words and the support. Here comes the next chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Have fun,

73.

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The chat with Danielson occupied his brain even hours later and Adam tossed and turned in his bed while he tried to fall asleep. But he was in a complete turmoil. Only after midnight, he fell asleep. Sometimes he just needed to lay down and was sleeping immediately. Since he became a detective in Boston he already had to handle Crystal meth dealer, pedophiles and rapists, and even drunken drivers, just like violent husbands. And he still liked his job. But this evening it was hard for Adam to find some rest. That was nonsense, he wasn't able to get any sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he was thinking about a brown-eyed brunette and about what he had to do the next morning. He didn't want it to do it at all. He would do everything so he wouldn't have to do it. But he didn't have chosen his profession to avoid hard tasks. Every single fact was pointing at Liz Rizzoli. The woman he once dated and married at the end. The woman who was the mother of his son. And apparently was mentally unstable.

Fuck the facts, the voice in his head told him. But he couldn't ignore was clearly visible, he couldn't ignore the evidence not what he got to know. It was obvious what he had to do. Sometimes he just had a job that sucked. When he finally fell asleep he was restless and had restless dreams.

Nightmares.

That kind in which he saw Liz like in the night in the ER: over and over covered in blood. Pale. A voice whispered: You've done that to yourself ...

"No, I haven't. No, I haven't" Liz replied with a shaky voice but convincing.

With horror, Adam has been standing beside her. I wanted to take her in his arms, he'd like to bring her to another place, away from all this horror. But then Frankie Rizzoli showed up and cuffed Liz with hesitation after Adam declined it.

"She shall be arrested? Fine. Do it yourself." He growled at the older man before Frankie did so. But he was the one who leads the brunette to the cell. He had open the door in which she stepped into without a word, but he could see everything in her eyes. I haven't done it.

And when Adam turned his back to her the screaming started. Endless, painful screams. But he didn't know if they were hers ... or his very own.

That's how he woke up. With her screams in his head.

His breathing was fast as he sat on the edge of the bed and looked into the distance. He felt sick and his head hurt. In a couple of hours, he should meet with Frankie in the hospital. This was the day when Liz got arrested and Adam couldn't do anything because of it.

This woman was able to make him freeze with just one look. The last time that happened was when he went on a date with Liz for the first time. She didn't know it but that was what she had done to her. That never happened before and after her.

He was beyond grateful that no one knew about it. And now he had to suppress his feelings, at least that was something he managed. He needed to focus, he needed to get going ... He needed to do something.

Groaning, Adam got up and walked towards the bathroom. Maybe a long, hot shower would help, and lots of coffee.

Maybe, maybe ...

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There had been days in which Elizabeth Rizzoli wished she simply passed Boston without stopping. Instead of stopping in her home town only to pay her best friend a visit as she had promised, she wished she had floored the gas pedal. As much as she liked Chaz and missed him as a friend at her side - sometimes she wished she would have broken her promise and didn't get out of her car. Maybe she should have driven to Cape Cod. It has been a long time since she had been there. The last time she was in Cape Cod was with Adam before she got pregnant.

"I should've kept on driving," she murmured and then she heard voices coming from outside. It would've been smarter, that was for sure. With sad eyes, she looked out of the window and asked herself if she'd have a single room. Was she about to be put in another hospital? Or in jail. She didn't know. Perhaps another hospital. One with heavy doors and high walls.

Black dots were dancing in front of her eyes. Dear was chocking. Imprisoned ... caught ...

She hardly suppressed a groan. As the door opened she was able to withhold a whimper. But it was only a male nurse - this time.

But soon ... soon her former colleagues would come by. She knew it. She heard steps, stared out of the window and tried not to think about what was coming next. But for one thing, she had to be thankful. Danielson wasn't near her. That was a lot. But it wasn't enough. As long as she had to look at the boring, white walls of the small hospital room the more they become like those in a prison. So she was staring out of the window. It was one made of shatterproof glass which you couldn't open - even though she hasn't tried it. But the female nurse told her about it too willingly after she took Liz' blood pressure and offered her a medical treatment - that time it was only an offer.

No one tried to give her a shot by force anymore. Not since Adam.

Liz swallowed hard and tried not to think about it, not to think about him because she knew that it wouldn't do any good. As humbling as it was that he had seen her in this situation, it seemed like his appearance had done wonders. If he had talked to a doctor after he left, or if he scared the crap out of a nurse ... Whatever that might was, since then she hasn't been forced to take medication.

No neuroleptics, no sedatives, nothing. Maybe it was because he was a tall man with a deep voice and because he was able to be really scary. Liz wasn't really sure of it, and as long as no one gave her drugs she didn't need, she didn't care. She had a clear mind. Therefore she should be grateful. And that was she was trying to be. But something was telling her that she wouldn't have seen Adam Laverty for the last time, and if they'd meet the next time it wouldn't be because of some kind of drugs her nurses wanted to give her. No, then it would be it would be about the night in which she had been found unconsciously, with cut wrists, and to get straight why there had been a baseball bat with her fingerprints with which a man had been almost beaten to death. And that man has been her best friend - the people in this place indeed thought that she was able to do such a thing. And for that they wanted her to see to go to prison.

Liz closed her eyes, placed her head on the pillow and sighed. It wouldn't take long anymore. That's what she had seen in the eyes of her doctor who had checked up on her. Sympathy, knowledge and grim approval. She didn't need the medical treatment anymore that was a part of her stay in the hospital. And they wouldn't let her walk around that easily if they couldn't keep her in sight. They thought she had done something horrible, and it was for her about time to pay for that.

But I haven't done anything wrong.

A sad, desperate whimper threatened to escape from her lips but she swallowed hard. There was no chance that she surrendered silently. Now she needed to figure out what to do.

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Maura was watching the small boy, who was playing on the floor in the living room and felt tears in her eyes. He was only five years old and reminded her so much of her daughter. He had the dark hair of Liz and the blue eyes of Adam. And his mind was as sharp as one of both of them. She wiped a stray tear off her cheek as soon as she felt a hand on her hip and looked with a smile at her wife.

Everyone else would have been fooled, but not Jane Rizzoli. She frowned slightly and asked with a sigh, "You okay?"

Maura licked her lips and turned away. She didn't want Jane to see that she was crying. "No, Jane. I'm not okay." She paused and closed her eyes when the Italian wrapped her arms around her waist. "Isn't it already enough of what we've been through?"

Jane's frown deepened and she kissed the smaller woman's neck. "I don't know, Maura. Sometimes enough is never enough. And apparently, we count to those people for whom this saying was designed." She paused and pulled the former doctor closer to her. "But I can promise that everything will be fine. How many times have I had been wrong?"

Maura looked over her shoulder and a smile graced her lips. "Many times."

"Doesn't matter," the Italian chuckled and kissed the doctor's lips. "I've been right as well."

"Yes, you were."

Jane released her wife and sighed. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Maura heaved a sigh and nodded slowly. "Perhaps Liz is going to tell me what happened."

"You mean maybe she'll give you an explanation why she left everything behind." Jane pointed at the playing boy in the living room. "And that's including her own son."

Maura huffed and opened the hanging cupboard to get herself a coffee mug. "Don't start that again, Jane."

The former detective threw her hands up and her voice was raised, "Maura, don't tell me that you haven't been wondering what got into that girl's mind when she decided to leave and grabbed her things, without a Dear John letter. I thought she was -" she couldn't make herself to finish the sentence. "She had a good life with us, hadn't she?" She frowned because her wife stayed silent. "Maura?"

"I don't know, Jane." Maura suddenly said louder and shook her head. "I don't know if she was happy with her life, with life with us. I can't read minds."

"Did she tell you she was unhappy?"

"No, she didn't. But obviously, she talked to you about it, either!"

"I'm her mother -"

"So am I!" Maura cut her off and she was surprised herself that she raised her voice. "So am I, Jane! I carried her for over nine months. She had to go through a couple of bad things even before she was born. She is my daughter too, Jane. And I want to get to the bottom of things. If Liz is talking, she's talking to me because I want to know what happened and not to accuse her of letting her own family down."

"Doesn't it bother you," Jane asked with a high-pitched voice. "Doesn't it bother you that she gave up on her own family. Gave up this boy?"

"Of course it does." Maura shot back and raised her brows while she looked at her grandson. "All of this is bothering me but I want to hear her version of what had happened before I judge her and her actions."

"So you're excusing her for abandoning her own -"

"Good morning, Rizzoli family." Someone said as the door opened. Leslie Barrington said as she stuck her head through the door. The redhead was Liz' best friend with whom she graduated Academy and wife of Chaz Montoya. "It's a little bit loud in her. Everything's fine in here?"

Maura ignored the younger woman. "You remember what you told my father, Arthur?" She waited until her wife shrugged. "Not to give up."

"I also told him to stop making such easy choices."

Maura huffed and welcomed the redhead she had asked to look after her grandson. "We only have a slight variance right now. Are you sure that it's okay for you to babysit him?"

Leslie smiled widely. "Of course it is."

"How's Chaz doing?"

"He's recovering but he's as worse as our son, too."

Maura had to chuckle.

Jane was clenching her teeth. "Zane."

The boy in the living room was turning his had and glanced at her. "Yeah?"

The older woman rolled her eyes and nodded at the blonde. "Kiss your grandma goodbye, boy." She knew she sounded mad because he got up to his feet hesitantly and walked over to Maura but she wasn't mad at him, or Maura or Liz. She was mad at herself. She remembered how flattered she was when Liz told them that she and Adam picked the name, Zane. Not just because it sounded nice but also because it was a male version of Jane. Maura loved it immediately. Jane didn't know what to say, instead, she had started to cry. And now Maura and she had been raising a small child with Adam after Zane's mother disappeared all of a sudden. She was looking for Liz for five years, asked friends what could've happened, what kind of relationship Liz and Adam had when they haven't been with their families. Hell, she even accused him of killing and burying her in the ground without leaving any evidence. She had been surprised that he didn't freak out but told her with enforcing that he could never harm Liz, no matter what. And she was surprised that he still brought her grandson by. She thought that was a great cover in the first place. Apparently, she had been wrong.

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Liz made the mistake to look to the door as soon as she heard it being opened. She turned her head, closed her eyes and swallowed the tears. She cried silently as soon as she heard the words 'Hello.'

Maura sat down on the uncomfortable chair next to the hospital bed and forced herself not to touch her daughter even though her hands were itching. She pressed her lips together and sighed. "It's okay if you don't want to talk to me, or won't see me, honey. I just ... I only needed to make sure that it is really you. I mean ... many people change in five years and maybe you think that I am mad at you, that we're mad at you, but we are not, Elizabeth."

Oh, no. I'm sure you're not, the younger woman thought and again she stared out of the window. You're not mad just deeply disappointed. That's why you're here without Ma. She's hating me! She hasn't had planned to see one of her mothers or her husband, and yet she was glad that they came by, their presence somehow calmed her even though she knew that Adam had to check up on her before he came by for the arrest. Liz had to swallow hard and closed her eyes. She had seen the aversion of this in his eyes, that's why he refused to cuff her. She had seen the sadness in his eyes when he looked at her for the first time after a very long time, she had seen pity and confusion but she hadn't seen what she was expecting. In those eyes was no anger, no blame, no hate. She had thought that he would hate her after leaving their son and him just behind, but she knew all these years that Adam was no vitriolic person, no matter what happened in the past. But she also knew that one day she had to face him and all his questions. She had withheld all her feelings until he took her into custody until he closed the cell door behind her. As she heard the clicking of the lock she couldn't help herself anymore and scream at top of her lungs. She wasn't sure anymore what she had yelled but it made Adam stop before he disappeared around the corner. Liz pressed her lips together. She knew that thinking about him was a bad idea, for both of them. What if I did it and repress the memory of that night? What if I allow Adam back in my life only to destroy him completely? I can't let that happen.

"Adam's taking good care of Zane." Maura suddenly said and opened her purse. "Well, Ma and I help him every now and then, all of us do. Especially if he has to go to work." She placed a picture of the small boy next to her daughter's hand on the bed. "I ... I thought you might want to see him even if it's only on a picture. I leave it here with you if you want to. If I shall it take it with me -"

"No," Liz suddenly said and turned her head to look at her mother, taking the picture carefully in her hand. "Please leave it here."

Maura had to swallow hard but she smiled a little. At least her little daughter looked at her and talked to her, even if it wasn't much. "Okay." She croaked and could see the unasked question. "Your Ma ... She's doing pretty well, too. Currently, she's ... She's working on something that's why she can't be here right now."

Liz didn't buy it for real but nodded. "Of course," she replied and took a closer look at the picture. It showed a five-year-old boy with dark hair and blue eyes, and a bright smile. A year ran down her cheek as she caressed the face. "He's so big."

Maura smiled widely. "He's a wonderful child, and as smart as you, Liz. And as demanding."

It was the first time that Liz smiled a little. "And Ma."

"Yes," the blonde laughed. "But Zane also has traits of Adam. He can be very patient and generous."

"Sounds more like you."

"That's what your Ma said, too. But I think that Zane got very good genetics with parents like Adam and you." She replied and cleared her throat as soon as Liz' smile disappeared. "Frankie's making a big -" she trailed off as soon as she mentioned Frankie's name and lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"He was only doing the job Adam couldn't," Liz said and frowned. "I remember nothing, Mom." Maura only nodded her head. "I'm not sure if I beat Chaz up and -"

"That's what we're trying to figure out, honey."

"What are you meaning with 'we'?"

"What do you think Ma's doing? Sitting around and watch you being arrested for something you haven't done?"

Liz heaved a sigh and licked her lips. "Mom, I just told you that I can't remember anything. Or if I -"

"Elizabeth, you are not like this." Maura cut her off roughly and placed a hand on a dressed wrist, and was glad that her daughter didn't pull away. "You wouldn't do something like this. Even though you have been gone for five years, you wouldn't do things like this, or I'd be more than wrong."

"Maybe you don't know me anymore."

"I'm your mother, I'll know you as long as I'm alive."

Liz smiled a little and closed her eyes. She knew that Maura was right about almost everything.

"Do you want to tell me what made you run away five years ago?"

Liz swallowed hard and shook her head without looking at the former doctor.

"Okay," the older woman stated. At least she was glad that Liz was talking to her.