"You're getting things delivered to the office now?" Jane chastised Maura as she escorted her to pick up some parcels waiting for her downstairs. Whenever Maura was going through a particularly hard time, she became best friends with her laptop; spending crazy amounts of money on shoes and anything else she could find.
"No, Jane I told you, I really don't know what these are." Maura told her best friend, running her fingers over one of the boxes sitting on the desk. She made a humming sound as she looked down at all the boxes, noting the return shipping address. "Weird. I don't remember buying anything from-" She stopped mid-sentence as she lifted one of the boxes off the desk, a loud click sound echoing in her head. "Cyprus." She felt the need to finish her sentence.
Her eyes shot up to Janes, who was looking at the box suspiciously before walking around the desk to examine something written on the wall. Mauras heart sank as she noticed the slight change from confusion to terror that crossed Janes face.
"Okay officer, you need to get everyone out of the building." She said calmly to the officer at the reception. "Maura, do not put that box down, do you hear me?" She asked dominantly. Maura felt like she was going to throw up. As if on cue, Frankie walked in the door, heading straight toward them.
"Hey Maura." He said casually, his smile quickly fading as he noted the panicked expression on her face.
"Hey, listen to me, you need to go get Ma out of here, evacuate everyone from the café too." Jane instructed her little brother, holding onto each of his arms and looking him dead in the eye to ensure he understood how serious she was. He didn't ask questions, just nodding as an alarm started to ring through the building.
"Jane." Mauras strained voice bought Jane back to reality, walking over to her best friend whose face was pale in terror. She smiled at her reassuringly.
"It might be nothing. But I'd rather not have you die today." Jane tried to joke, but the change in Mauras demeanour told her it was the wrong time and place for a joke. People were rushing past them, nearly knocking Maura over more than once. Jane moved her to the side of the desk where she would be safe; where the package would be safe.
"What do I do?" Maura asked, placing all of her faith and trust in her friend. Before Jane had the chance to answer, Frost and Korsak where next to them.
"What the hell is going on?" Korsak asked sternly, his expression dropping when he spotted the package. Jane instructed them to leave, and after a few minutes of debate; they did.
"You should go to." Maura told Jane, looking down at the box. It was too much for her, thinking that if she let go even slightly, she could kill them both. She didn't want Janes life in her hands. As the thought passed through her head, her arms began to shake. Jane must have noticed, because she rubbed them lightly before sighing.
"I'm going to put my hands over yours, okay? To help you keep pressure." Before Maura could protest, her best friends were on top of hers, holding them in place. As glad as she was that Jane didn't leave, she was terrified. She wasn't the most at home in high stress situations.
"You don't have to do this." Maura told her as a bomb tech walked in the door. He was covered head to toe in protective clothing, making Maura fight back tears at the realisation of how serious this was.
"I'm not leaving you." Jane warned her sternly, frowning across at her beautiful best friend. Maura nodded, offering a small smile. She had always admired how protective Jane was of her. It made her shoulder relax slightly, knowing that nothing bad was going to happen with Jane standing across from her.
"My arms are sore." Maura told Jane, who started to feel her friends hands shake beneath hers. "Distract me?" Maura begged, squeezing her eyes shut momentarily.
"Tell me about the autopsy." Jane encouraged, hoping that talking about work would help somehow. Maura nodded, almost as if to let Jane know it was an good distraction. Maura went on ranting for what felt like hours before Janes arms started to burn. She noted how much more muscle in her arms she had than Maura and felt her friends pain.
"I'm sorry." Maura said suddenly, snapping Jane back to reality. "I'm so stupid." She breathed, looking down at the box. "And now we are both going to die." She concluded, making Janes eyes bulge before she frowned.
"Did you just… assume? Guess?" Jane accused Maura, who looked up with a shocked expression, and Jane knew if she had had a free hand, it would be covering her mouth.
"No… I mean.." Jane laughed, rolling her eyes. "Maura this isn't on you." Maura nodded slightly, not giving any hints that she was feeling okay. "It's not your fault I'm standing here either." Jane clarified, knowing that was more than likely what was bothering her best friend so much.
"I should have-"
"This is exactly where I want to be." Jane said, stopping Mauras words as they came out of her mouth. "You are exactly where I want to be. Okay?" Mauras brow furrowed slightly at the words. They weren't the type of things Jane had ever said to her before.
"I'm exactly where you want to be?" Maura asked, needing the words to be clarified for her.
"You always have been." Jane shrugged, trying to play down what she was telling her best friend. Maura raised one eyebrow, still not fully sure of what was going on. "Don't play dumb." Jane laughed, rolling her eyes at Mauras blank facial expression. "Come on Maura." She groaned. "Do not make me say I have a crush on you." Maura was taken aback by Janes words. "…You didn't know." Jane mentally kicked herself, suddenly hoping this bomb would go off so she could be far away from the conversation that was about to take place.
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Maura asked sweetly, sympathetically smiling across at her.
"See that look on your face right now? That's why." Jane clarified. She knew she and Maura would never have a romantic or sexual relationship, and if there was one thing she hated in this world, it was that sympathetic 'I feel sorry for you' look people give. And that's exactly how Maura was looking at her now. It made her stomach drop; her heart feeling like it was dropping out of her but.
"If you had of told me.. You would have found out that I have thought about you in that manner more than once also." Maura told her dipping her head slightly, forcing Janes eyes to meet hers. "But Jane we work together, and you're my best friend.." Maura trailed off, that look making it's way back onto her face.
"Stop it." Jane groaned. "I know all that, it's why I've never said anything. Drop it." Janes voice was forceful, and Maura decided it was probably smart to let it go for now.
Her eyes scanned the box in her hands, noticing lettering she recognised. She looked over at the other boxes, her heart sinking into the pit of her chest.
"No radiation." The bomb tech clarified as he moved a scanner all around the box in their hands.
"Jane…" Mauras eyes were wide, her lips pursed. "Don't laugh." She warned her friend, who noticed her friends demeanour relax. "I bought coffee a few months ago. I mean- I had to preorder it because it was backlogged and…"
"Coffee doesn't explain the clicking sound Maura." Jane groaned in annoyance. How she wished it was just coffee pods.
"I ordered a coffee machine too." Jane gave her a stern look on her face before turning to the bomb tech, who cut open one end of the box, coffee pods falling onto the floor. "Oh my god." Maura laughed, throwing her head back and groaning loudly. Jane was still frowning as she took her hands away from Mauras, rolling her shoulders in circles to stretch the muscles.
"How much coffee did you order?!" Jane exclaimed, realising just how many boxes there were.
"…A lot?" Mauras words made Jane laugh finally, pulling her best friend into a tight hug.
"You're actually insane," She sighed into her best friends neck, nuzzling her head there slightly. Her eyes widened as she realised they had been hugging for far too long at this point.
"Thank you." Maura whispered, pressing her lips against Janes cheek, letting them linger there for a few seconds before she pulled away. "For staying with me."
"I wouldn't leave you." Jane said with a soft smile playing on her lips, rubbing her friends arm affectionately. "This coffee better be incredible."
