Title: Do Your Thing
Chapter 2/?
Pairing: Maura/Jane
Rating: M eventually, barely T for now.
Disclaimer: Jane and Maura only belong to each other...and Tess...and TNT, but unfortunately, not me.
A/N: This is my first fanfic of any kind, and first time publishing anything. Rihanna's Talk That Talk album has really inspired me re: Rizzles. This fic is based off of the song "Do Ya Thang". I thought it would be nice to put a little more of Maura's POV out there. A quick but big thanks to my SWBFF and my friend-soulmate for being so super encouraging and great! I love you people. Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed. I really appreciate it & hopefully this nextx chapter will not fall short of your expectations. :)
A month had passed by since Jane and Maura had gone undercover, but that didn't mean that every time the honey blonde got into her car that rush of memories and sensations didn't seem nearly paralyzing. In her mind she simply referred to it as 'the night;' no other descriptors seemed necessary, as few events in her life had stuck her quite like this one. The fact that such a brief moment had affected her in such a way was something that did, in fact, baffle her. Attraction was one thing – a pull that existed in the background, something that didn't require acknowledgment (of course she couldn't control what happened during her REM sleep, and had tried not to feel too guilty about it during the day when she had to look her dream lover in the face, but dreams such as those had begun before any lips had made contact, anyway). A passionate kiss from a somewhat intoxicated Detective Jane Rizzoli, well, that was something else entirely: something that Maura had not initiated, and had not been given any kind of signal that it was okay to speak on since it occurred. Though social cues were admittedly not one of her strong suits, she could not help but wonder if she had missed a chance when she had been lost in Jane's eyes at any point over the last month.
No matter worrying about it now though; she was ready to bring the topic to the table on her own. As evasive as she knew Jane would try to be, the doctor was confident she could get this out of her longtime friend. Both an incredible unwavering stubbornness and the ability to persuade did happen to be some of the many weapons in her metaphorical arsenal. And Maura was well versed in just how effective they could be.
Driving to work had become such a monotonous activity. Maura had the route memorized and hardly had to pay attention at all. Letting herself get lost in thoughts of the aforementioned night was a much more appealing way to busy her "big brain," as Jane often referred to it.
From inside the bathroom stall Maura could picture the agitated look on her best friend's face perfectly. She smiled to herself as she continued to button up her blouse, working careful so she wouldn't snag the expensive fabric.
"You're not about to ask me to come in there are you?" Secretly Jane hopes she will anyway, and the hope doesn't feel misplaced since Maura hardly ever seems to listen to her when it comes to things like this.
Apparently, it is.
"No. I'm through. Did you still want to go to the Dirty Robber?" She unlocks the door, and steps out into the chaos of the crowded room.
"Yeah, I just want to get a beer…" The taller woman pauses briefly, leaning into Maura to say the next part through her teeth "...without being stared at like I have lines of deliciousness coming off me".
"I don't follow." Maura pushes the straps of her bag up so that sits on her shoulder more comfortably and moves in when a sink is finally available. Though she doesn't have the cleanest job, this grime is of a completely different sort.
Jane sighs loudly and stands behind her, waiting, waiting and not at all noticing that it doesn't matter if it's the skirt of the Merch uniform or the doctor's own pencil skirt, her ass is fantastic either way. The detective shakes her head slightly, as if like with an Etch-A-Sketch these inappropriate thoughts will clear. They don't.
"I'll tell you on the way, then. Can we just please get out of here?" Jane practically whines the question. She just wants her beer and to feel like herself again. These thoughts, they aren't her. It must be because of their surroundings. Jane was sure that if she asked Maura would have some kind of statistics to rattle off in that kind of annoying, yet forever endearing way that she did, about how an individual adapts to feel accepted in his or her surroundings; she was just taking some time to get out of 'character.' That must be it.
The two women exit the bathroom to find everything from the back room packed up and almost all traces of police presence to have vanished as if they had never been there in the first place. Jane checks her phone and finds a text from her partner.
"See you at the DR. Gunna stop at the station with Korsak & then we'll meet you," it reads.
"Korsak and Frost are gunna meet us at the bar," Jane says flatly as she shoves her phone into the pocket of her uncharacteristically skin-tight jeans. She's following Maura through the crowd of dancing women, but is only truly entranced by one pair of swaying hips. I really need to get out of here, Jane muses to herself.
"We'll take my car then." Maura looks over her shoulder to respond and wonders if she saw what she thinks she did, because she thinks that Jane's eyes were fixed on her ass. Again. And this time she wasn't even in the uniform. There was no excuse. How intriguing.
The night air is cold when it hits her bare legs, and Maura gasps a little bit at the shock of it. Jane watches as she digs through her bag for her car keys and wonders how many minutes of her life she has and will end up wasting doing this exact thing with this gorgeous woman before her.
"Later that SAME day..." Jane offers her exasperated tone to the blackness that surrounds she & her friend.
"Oh Jane. I know they're right here in the side poc-…" The top half of undercover attire that Maura had squeezed into falls onto the pavement of the parking lot. "Shoot!" she exclaims, and Jane has already picked up the polka-dotted top. She holds it slightly farther away from herself than is necessary. It smells sweet like Maura always does, and her thoughts begin to cloud again. "You stole this?"
"No." Maura looks up from her search, her face changes from confused to offended, she Jane a look that she can only see because of the number of neon signs on the front of the bar. "I asked if I could keep it." She finds her keys and unlocks the Mercedes.
"WHY?"
"I liked it, obviously. Though the polyester blend is particularly deplorable, it's kind of sexy."
Kind of? Oh. Okay. Even the little mischievous smile that painted itself over all of the honey blonde's features was more than kind of sexy - so much for precise analysis, Maura.
Jane is fighting the urge to continue arguing but Maura takes a few steps closer and presses the car keys into her hand. "I know you'd prefer to drive."
Though Jane had consumed some beer, it hadn't been enough to impair her ability to drive. Maura was sure of that, ever the cautious one when comparing the two of them. "Jane…What are you waiting for? I thought you wanted to get to the Dirty Robber."
"Right!" the detective snaps back, and is as present as she can muster.
Few words are exchanged on the short drive to the next bar. Each woman too preoccupied by her own thoughts about the night and for the other, by the time Jane is parking in front of the much more familiar bar, her friend remembers something.
She opens the passenger side door and steps out of her car, waiting for the detective to join her. "What did you mean by that 'lines of deliciousness' comment?" she asks innocently. Their strides are about even as they step into the bar and find a seat together at their regular booth. Jane had suspected they would beat Korsak and Frost here, and they had.
The two women are now sitting across from each other now and Jane turns slightly to yell a drink order to a bartender she doesn't know. A beer for herself and a glass of some hoity-toity wine that Maura loves. She doesn't even have to think about it anymore, she just knows.
Maura taps the table with her hand trying to get the attention back on her earlier inquiry.
"Okay. Thanks for ordering our drinks, but I would like an answer," she says louder than she needs to.
"Ugh. Can't we just drop it? I was being sarcastic. What a shock."
"Actually it really isn't very shocking at all, you're oftentimes very sarcastic."
"Maura…"
The drinks are set on the table in front of them, and they nod in thanks.
"Please, just tell me?"
"I just was sick of being looked at like I was some kind of prize for them to score."
"They we're looking at you like that because they're attracted to you, Jane."
"I know. It's just weird."
"Some of those women were very beautiful...and bold. I thought the third one was going to drag you out of there, no questions asked." She tries not to laugh at her own observation.
"I don't like women, Maura." Jane gives her best friend a look she gets all the time. It doesn't faze her. "We've been over this before…last night, remember?"
"I remember. All I am trying to point out is that sexual attraction can be fluid."
Jane can't help but laugh at this even though she knows it isn't meant to be funny. It's the only defense mechanism she has other than her sarcasm.
On the contrary Maura looks slightly more sincere than usual. Still, her joke seems to good to pass up, "If by fluid you mean that I would need about sixteen more beers first, then sure. I can see that happening."
Maura is a not amused by this, and the tiny frown that appears throughout her perfect facial features pains Jane for reasons she isn't able to understand. Before Jane can undo her faux pas, their conversation is interrupted by a familiar hearty laugh.
"Here come the cavalry…" As Korsask and Frost come through the doors of the Dirty Robber Jane calls out for two more beers. At this point, they basically have the place to themselves, so it doesn't seem rude.
"Hey. Who's the new guy?" Vince asks Maura as he moves to sit on the side of the booth next to Jane.
"You know. I'm not sure. I've never seen him before." She responds, taking a larger gulp of her wine than would be considered ladylike. Now she knows she will never get an answer to her question.
"You get everything squared away?" Jane asks, happy to have something other than sexual fluidity had discuss. She had spent enough time on that for one night.
"Yeah. Seems pretty good. Just gotta get those DNA results back from the lab. Your techs are on it, right?" Frost responds, half to Jane and half to Maura.
"They are. I'm expecting a text with their findings in the morning. Well, it already is morning, so, within the next few hours." Maura responds, through as ever.
As much effort as Maura put into trying to steer the conversation back to a topic where she could ease Jane back where she wanted to her, she wasn't getting anywhere. Despite that fact, she was still having a great time with her friends. Two hours passed before they ever realized what time it was or how tired they all actually were. Frost and Korsak left with the same laugher they had came in with, mumbling something about "Thank God they can sleep in today." The undercover investigation had of course begun on Friday, but the early hours of Saturday morning were now creeping up on the Massachusetts sky.
The two women sat quietly after being left alone together once again, both obviously worn out from the previous day's events.
"You ready to go?"
Maura nods and pushes her empty wine glass forward as she slides from the booth gracefully. Jane almost hates herself for noticing how graceful she is, even doing something so inconsequential. They aren't at Merch anymore and there's no excuse for her to be paying this much attention to such things.
That's not something a best friend should notice.
"Are you going to spend the night at my house again?" Maura asks, trying to push the hope out of her voice.
Jane gets out of the booth now too, pays the tab and turns back to Maura.
"Yeah. I guess I could. Just don't make me get up for "early birds Thai Chi" or whateverthehell. Okay? You haaave to promise!"
"I promise." Maura smiles brightly. She can feel Jane's hand, placed a little lower than she usually might have, ushering her towards the door in a gentle fashion.
"We can go to my favorite Saturday evening Zumba class instead!" she adds, laughing again, and only half joking.
"Yeah, good luck with that.." Jane mumbles as she pulls Maura's car key from her back pocket and unlocks the vehicle so they can both get in. They close the doors, but Jane does not start the car immediately. "Hey Maur.."
"Yes?"
The dark haired woman puts the key into the ignition, but doesn't turn it. It's obvious to Maura that she is thinking hard about something. "No. Uh. Never mind."
"Jane. What is it?"
"I was just thinking about what you said before Korsak & Frost walked in. I've been thinking about it a lot actually…" Jane rushes through her admission as if she were a toddler confessing to coloring on the wall.
"Tonight?"
"Tonight. Last night…the night before… lately…I guess." She's speaking a little slower now, but her nerves are still evident.
As much as Jane doesn't want to meet Maura's hazel eyes, she can't resist. They have that 'sparkling with curiosity' thing going on, and of all the attractive traits Doctor Maura Isles possess, that specific one is definitely a favorite of Jane's.
At this point, Maura isn't really sure what's happening. Seeing Jane in a state that warrants her to be anything less than one hundred and ten percent sure of herself is rare to say the least. Though, Maura recalls than when she has seen her in this state it usually is brought on by a romantic confusion of some kind. Now there's more than just hope in her voice; now it's coursing through her veins with a vigor that a medical degree would never be able to a explain.
"You know, that could be a result of-" Jane's tongue tastes like beer as it slides skillfully over her bottom lip and against her own. For once, she loves the taste of beer and truly cannot get enough of it. Maura has been intimate with women before, but the way that Jane's hands are cupping her face so lovingly, the way her lips move in a way that is less than timid…it takes the honey blonde by surprise. Feeling the cold glass of the window against her silk covered back, she joins the moment. Finally she is kissing Jane back with the same amount of enthusiasm. She pulls at the detective's bottom lip with her teeth, knowing that she may never get the chance to do it again. It's something that Jane does to her in her dreams all the time and the doctor can't help but try it out. A stifled moan is let out on a sigh at Maura's action. A smile forms against the other pair of warm lips at the little victory, and just as she is trying to figure out where to place her hands, the kiss is over. Maura's insides scream at the loss of contact. The car starts, and Jane turns up the radio as they pull out of the parking lot. The radio is on something classical, but she can't think straight enough to change it. She laughs bitterly at the notion, but doesn't say anything at all to Maura on the way home.
For once, Maura doesn't have anything to say either. She runs her right hand delicately over her own lips once or twice throughout the drive. What just happened? Should she have liked it as much as she did? Jane is her best friend. Her everything. Well, almost everything. Did Jane want to be her everything? Was that what this was? Maura cracks the window of her car hoping that the cool outside air will dilute the tension-riddled air inside her black sport scar. Maybe it wasn't that she didn't have anything to say, but just too many questions. Too many questions that any idiot could tell Jane would not be in the mood to discuss right now.
Since Maura is not an idiot she just sighs loudly and sinks back into her seat, eyes examining her friend's still flushed features with her own special brand of scrutiny. Whether she wants it to or not, a small inkling of pride settles within her because she was the one that had caused such a thing in such a beautiful, sought after woman. Maura definitely wanted to do that again.
When they are finally back at her house Maura hopes Jane will say something about her decision to kiss her. Where had it come from? Or at the very least if she would do it again, that would be okay too. Maura doesn't want to push too hard, she decides to leave it be for now.
"I'm gunna sleep in the guest room, okay? Do you want me to stay up while you feed Bass or anything?" Jane asks, sounding almost normal. She closes and locks the front door behind her.
"Sure…No. It's fine. I'm okay." She clothes the refridgerator and puts the fixings of her tortise's super on the surface in front of her. She smiles weakly at her best friend. "Good night, Jane. Sleep well." Maura offers sweetly, leaning against the kitchen island. She wants her friend's eyes to meet her own again. Any kind of connection is better than none at all. Jane only walks past her, offering nothing more than a small glance and a halfhearted smile. She's busy pushing some of her long untied hair away from her face.
"Alright. I'm beat. See you for breakfast." Then Jane disappears down the hall, and Maura hears the shower turn on in the guest bathroom.
That's all the memory Maura has time for usually. She puts her car in park when she has pulled into her designated parking space. There's a lot to get done today. It's been a busy month. Lot's of cases to get through, lots of autopsies to perform, and every night they've spent at the Dirty Robber since 'the night' leaves the Medical Examiner with a painful hunger …and not just in her gut. But today Maura has made time for things other than work and drinks with her coworkers, and she is determined to see them through.