Author Note: Hey there again! I'm back, already. This was an idea I had at some point a while ago, but never really did anything with. I'm still working on two big fics, so in the meantime, I shall work on this one. I anticipate it to be a reasonable length, at least a good ten or so chapters. It's hard to predict just how many there'll be. But I hope you'll bear with me, even if it seems...confusing...at first.

Extra Note: Sometimes I use span as a past tense for spin, and people keep telling me it's incorrect - technically it isn't. It is a past tense for spin. It's archaic in usage, according to the internet, but mostly it's a word that some people use in some small areas of the world where English is spoken. It's a pretty common word for people to use where I live, I don't even realise I'm doing it. It's second nature, that's how normal it is here.


The baby jumped. The loud thud made them both panic. She wrapped her hands around her enlarged stomach and shushed until the baby stopped doing acrobatics and settled back down against her bladder. The crunch-like splinter of wood cracking apart followed another loud thud. The baby kicked against her abdomen, desperate to get out of its cage.

"Don't," she whispered, struggling to stand beside the bed. She hobbled towards the door, closing it slowly, quietly.

Footsteps pounded the wooden floor out in the living room. A thin wooden door without a lock was no match for him. She pushed a chair up against the handle, holding it in place.

"Kiera!" he shouted, banging his fist upon the centre of the door.

She stepped backward. Her knees collided with the frame of the bed, creating bruises on her calves. The baby wriggled, another foot went out, smashing into her kidney. She twisted around, ignoring the painful joy of her baby's movements.

"Open the fucking door." The handle rattled, colliding with the top of the chair, stopping him from gaining access.

Kiera clambered over the bedsheets. She threw herself full force against the wooden window frame, pushing it up out of its slot. An ear bashing splintering of wood filled the room. She turned quickly, straining the muscles in her neck as she took one brief glance of him before she climbed out of the window.

"No!" He sprang forward. Ignoring the pain shooting down her side, she pulled the window closed and sped off down the fire escape.

She pushed the ladder down at the bottom as he opened the window on the third floor. She could hear him scream out her name as her feet landed on solid ground and she raced off into the night.

x

"I hate you!" Jane shouted, her shoes crunched through fallen leaves. Every other step, the toe disappeared beneath thick sludge.

"You don't," Maura said, stepping over the sodden ground, her walking boots squelched across the earth. She stopped, holding her hand back until Jane connected their fingers and they ambled onwards.

Jane grumbled and pushed her shoes into the soil firmly. "You underestimate my power of hate."

"I underestimate your power of love," Maura said, smirking. She tugged her hand, pulling her onwards.

The trees shrouded them in shadows. Tiny slivers of moonlight found their way through the thick branches. Despite Jane's protests, Maura kept on her path, forcing her to follow. When the rough path opened up to a clearing, Maura stopped. Jane, in her rush to get to their destination, ran into the back of her.

"Whaddya stop for?" she asked, groaning.

Maura let go of her hand and turned to face her. "We're here."

"Here being?"

"Don't you recognise it?" Maura pulled the pack from her back and balanced it on the edge of a tree as she took out a small bottle of champagne and two collapsible glasses. "I should probably wait til after to get out the bubbles, but I'm thirsty."

Narrowing her eyes, Jane folded an arm across her chest, forcefully pushing her other hand into the space between her arm and pit. "No amount of alcohol is going to make up for coming out here tonight. It fucking freezing."

Maura pursed her lips, in an attempt to disguise her smile. She dropped the pack onto the floor and set up the glasses beside it, the bottle between them. "Maybe we will wait. I can see it will take a little more coaxing."

"What are we doing here, Maur?" Jane asked, hugging herself tightly. "I thought we were going somewhere romantic."

She closed the gap, rubbing each hand up and down Jane's upper arms. She could feel Jane's shoulders relax, sinking slightly. Tilting her head to one side, Maura leaned in close. "I promise you, before we leave, dopamine and oxytocin will be travelling around your body."

Leaning forward, Jane lowered her voice. "You brought drugs?"

Maura scoffed. "Of course I didn't. You really don't know where we are?"

"Haven't got a clue," Jane said, rubbing her fingers together so quickly she nearly produced enough heat to start a fire. "Kinda disappointed, though, I thought you were gonna take me on a walk on the wild side."

"The only wild side I had planned was the possibility of sex in the car."

Jane pursed her lips. "Not sure I like the sound of that."

"Why not?" Maura asked. "We could both use some immunoglobulin A. Work has been so busy, I've barely found time to masturbate, let alone have sex with you."

"It's a good job I don't have any champagne in my mouth right now," Jane said, staring at Maura. "Are you gonna tell me what we're doing in the middle of the forest? Is this one of those weirdo tours you like to take me on?"

"Which weirdo tours?" Maura stepped back.

"The abandoned train tour, the haunted shack in the middle of the woods tour, the terrifying fucking doll tour. Are we going on a sex tour?"

"They were educational."

"They were terrifying!"

Maura opened her mouth, then paused. "Would you like to have sex in the forest?"

"No, Maura," Jane said, shaking her head. "Definitely not. Don't even get any ideas."

Maura sighed and stepped forward again. She snaked an arm around Jane's back and kissed her deeply, moving her lips across Jane's as she responded the way she expected. She lowered her hands to Jane's chest as she slipped a tongue into her mouth.

"Down," Maura said, grinning.

Jane rolled her eyes. "Just when it was getting interesting!"

"I thought you didn't want sex outside."

"I don't! But that was…getting me ready for sex back at the house."

"I hope I can top that."

"How?"

"This was the location of our first case together." The condescending look on Jane's face only intensified. "Two young women, slaughtered by a man they shared. They didn't know they shared him, of course. Looked like a murder-suicide. One woman so angry that she killed the other woman, then herself. It was the perfect ruse."

"Until you decided to check for signs of sexual assault," Jane said, a twinkle glistened in her eyes. "I remember. I didn't realise it was here."

"It's much more overgrown. The forest has reclaimed the horror, turning it into a beauty that hides its devastation well."

"What we doing here, Maura?"

She picked up the champagne glasses and handed one to Jane, uncorked the bottle and poured their drinks. "Twelve years have passed since that fall night, and my love for you only grows stronger."

"Aww, shucks," Jane whispered, wiping the back of her shirt sleeve across her eyes.

"Don't." Maura tugged her arm away. "This is what I love about you. You're this tough nut who can scare even the bravest of recruits. That's what makes you such a great cop, and an even better teacher. The Boston Police Academy are lucky to have you."

Jane grunted. "You're gonna turn me into a marshmallow."

"You're already a marshmallow." Maura lifted her hand, turning it over in her palm. She traced her fingertips across the scar in the centre. "You're strong. You've seen the world and barely left Boston. When you moved to DC, my heart broke. When you moved back, I thanked God."

"You don't believe in God."

"I don't need to." Maura choked back tears. "I'm so thankful that we finally found each other, because I don't know what my life would be like now if you weren't in it."

"Not helping," Jane said, letting go of Maura's hand and burrowing her face into the sleeves of her shirt. "You wanna know why I love you?"

"No." Jane's tearful grin faded. Closing the gap, Maura cupped her cheeks. "Not yet. Not until I'm done."

"Hurry up."

"Patience."

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

"No, I am," Maura said, smirking. She rubbed her palms across Jane's cheeks. "I want to be your wife."

Jane's eyes landed on Maura's. "Pardon?"

"Marry me. It doesn't have to be big, or spectacular. I don't need a white dress, or place settings. If you want to do it at City Hall, I'll take that."

A loud gush of air fell from Jane's parted lips. "You want…"

"I love you. I want to show my commitment to you."

A silence fell between them. Maura waited, her mouth curved, glistening under the moonlight. She'd rehearsed her speech over and over, desperately awaiting the perfect night. The silence went on, and her smile faded.

"Jane?"

"Err, yes," she whispered, no conviction in her voice.

"That's it?"

Maura tossed the champagne down her throat and dropped the glass back into her pack. Another silence followed. The lump in Maura's throat had already started to hurt, her whole body slouched. She turned tail and rushed off through the forest.

"Maura!" Jane shouted, her shoes crunched and squelched with every hurried step.

Tears filled her eyes, making it impossible to see the path ahead clearly. The moonlight dissipated once more. She would have stopped to pull out her flashlight, but a fire raged inside her chest, pushing her onwards.

"Maura, come on!" Jane screeched, struggling to keep pace.

Every step forward was a step closer to home, and a step away from the disaster that had been her proposal. Fresh tears skirted their way down her cheeks. Her knees tightened. She blinked several times, struggling to move across the thick grass.

Her ankle slipped out from under her. Too late. Jane's voice bellowed into the forest. "You're going the wrong way!"

Crying out, Maura's tears increased. She fumbled across the dense brush, pulling herself up with a small branch.

"Hey!" Jane shouted, wrapping her arms around Maura's shoulder. She tensed, but allowed her to guide her back to the footpath. "You okay?"

She swiped her hand across her face, barely shifting the continual flow of tears. "My ankle."

Without a second thought, Jane scooped her up and carried her the rest of the way. Maura gritted her teeth, giving in despite the anger that surged through her body. Her ankle throbbed, pain seared through her skin.

"I'll drive," Jane said, taking the keys from Maura's pocket as she settled into the passenger seat.

The short drive back to the city was silent. Maura focused on the road ahead, her eyes still lacked focus, clouded by a steady influx of tears. Every so often, Jane clicked her tongue, as though about to speak, but nothing came to fruition.

They pulled up in the driveway and Jane shut off the engine. She turned, her whole body slouched as though sighing. "Here we are."

"Yes." Maura rubbed her eyes, a mixture of dirt and tears had made the last few minutes excruciating.

"I guess we'd best go inside."

Opening her door, Maura hobbled out, catching herself as her ankle gave way under her. The drivers' door closed and Jane appeared at her side, holding her under one arm. She gritted her teeth and, with Jane's help, wobbled towards the door.

Inside, Maura lay down on the couch, her heart thrummed against her chest. Fresh tears forced their way through existing paths down her cheeks, creating new branches until every inch was pink and blotchy.

Jane placed a fresh glass of wine on the coffee table. "I'll order pizza."

Fifteen minutes later, the doorbell rang. Maura jumped up, forgetting monetarily about the pain in her ankle. She fell back down.

"I'll get it," Jane said, her voice small and tired.

Using the furniture, Maura made her way towards the door. Her ankle loosened up with every step closer until the pain dulled a little.

"Can I help you?" Jane asked, holding the door open.

A small voice replied. "Maura Isles?"

"Nah." Jane stepped aside. "Maur, it's for you."

Stepping out from behind the wall, Maura filled the gap. Her eyes landed on the young woman standing in the doorway. She gazed back, expectation in his eyes. Maura's eyebrows tugged together. "Do I know you?"

"No." The woman cradled her stomach, swollen like a beach ball. "But I know you. Or more, I know of you."

"How?" Maura asked, stepping forward.

"I'm carrying your baby."


So, yeah...thoughts? ;)