Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews/muchas gracias a todas (y besos desde Paris a Veronika!).

Chapter Two: How To Make Maura Say The Truth

September

Jane stormed in – half-running on one foot while she tried to put on the missing stiletto – and let a bright smile play on her lips in spite of her short breath as she made it to the table where Maura and her father had been waiting for way too long to her own taste.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I got stuck in traffic."

Charles Isles stood up to plant a delicate kiss on her cheek and swept away her apologies with some gesture of the hand before nodding at the waiter to make the employee approach.

"No problem. Have you found a spot to park?"

The brunette sat down – softly kissed Maura – and focused back on her future father-in-law.

"As a matter of fact... Nope. I left the car just after Boston Common and ran the distance left." Needless to say that she didn't make any comment about the way she had changed in the car to be somewhat presentable for The Harvard Club where they were now at.

Charles laughed lightly before motioning at the waiter who had made it to their table with the most utter discretion.

"What would you like to drink, Jane? Maura and I had an excellent Coteaux du Layon but maybe a stronger alcohol is needed after the marathon you just ran!"

The brunette smiled politely and repressed the desire to order a beer. This was not the right place for such a drink.

"I'm err... I'm going to have a Martini. Thank you." Her order now taken, she focused back on their guest. "It is nice to see you here, Charles."

"Considering the last news I got from the two of you, taking the time to come here after the conference I attended in New York was the least that I could do." The man nodded at the waiter – politely waited for him to serve Jane – then resumed speaking. "Congratulations."

The detective grinned – exchanged a timid look with Maura – and grabbed her hand to hold it tight on top of her thigh.

"Thank you!"

It had been a month now that she had popped the question to Maura. Already a month. They hadn't waited for very long to announce it to everyone and the truth was that she was getting used to these almost daily congratulations they kept on receiving. It was extremely comforting and pleasing.

"So have you settled on a date yet? And a place?"

Maura abandoned the contemplation of the Boston skyline at night by the large windows to focus back on the conversation.

Crossing her legs – accepting another glass of white wine – she smiled peacefully at Jane before nodding at her father.

"Actually, we have... And this is when we need you." The honey blonde took a sip of her drink, marked a pause. "We wanted something intimate yet big enough for our respective families. A rather quiet place as well, which is why we discarded downtown Boston immediately... We were running out of ideas – except for Salem and its surroundings when it hit us." She sat up on her seat. "Harvard. We would like to get married in Harvard, on the campus. After all, this is where Jane proposed and the scenery is beautiful. It is the perfect place for us. Something elegant without it being too much. Do you think that – as an alumnus – you could get us one of the buildings out there?"

A grin began to appear on Charles' lips. The man looked ecstatic before such perspective.

"Finally you stop rejecting Harvard! I thought this day would never come." He turned towards Jane and rolled his eyes. "I never understood why she chose Cambridge when the whole family went to Harvard... Medicine... John Hopkins would have made more sense, actually!"

Jane laughed lightly.

"She can be rather stubborn." A snap on her arm made her jump of surprise. She looked at Maura – falsely offended – and gasped. "Ouch...?"

Not paying attention anymore to Jane's so-called pain, the medical examiner smiled at her father as she made the wine twirl around in her glass.

"So you think you can get it for us?" It had taken them long hours of brainstorming to think about the Ivy League and now that she had the idea in mind, Maura wanted it at any price. "It would be fantastic, to be honest."

Charles shrugged nonchalantly.

"Of course. What my daughter – and her fiancée – want, my daughter will have it. The current director is a good friend of mine, besides. Consider it as done. Now you can both concentrate on your dresses."

...

"You are such a daddy girl..." Leaned against the window of the car, Jane shook her head at nobody but herself and chuckled; looking somewhat at life going on on the sidewalk by her side. "I can't believe it."

Maura shot her a death glare before focusing back on the road as much as they were now stuck into the traffic and couldn't move an inch.

"Why aren't you happy that we are getting Harvard? Good thing you didn't propose in the middle of the toilet paper aisle, though."

Jane smiled, delighted by her lover's attempt to make a joke. She loved the idea of the campus. She saw it as an excellent compromise between her and Maura's roots; their social habits. The tradition of the Ivy League found an echo in the honey blonde's family without it being too much of a show of for Jane's. It was perfect. Absolutely perfect.

"Actually, I'm not happy. I'm kind of thrilled. Like... Really. And if it weren't for the fact I'm now in full digestion after this fantastic dinner at The Harvard Club, I would be more expressive." But all of sudden – as if she finally noticed her surroundings – Jane frowned. "Wait a minute. How come you managed to make it all the way to Back Bay with your car while you were driving from... The other side of the city – Charlestown – while I got stuck halfway from the BPD that is a lot closer?"

Uh oh.

An imperceptible movement of Maura's hands on the steering-wheel betrayed a sudden tension in her body. She swallowed hard and tried to shrug casually but her silence began to weigh a lot. Too much. Busted.

Jane gasped.

"Maura Dorthea Isles Rizzoli-to-be! You so cheated... You used your badge, didn't you?" The Italian rolled her eyes before another wave of silence and snapped at the door of the car. "I can't believe it... You insist all the time – and when I say 'all the time', I mean it – to make sure that I don't abuse of these poor advantages being a cop bring me and you do it yourself with your own ones. Now this is low."

Full of remorse, the scientist bit her lower lip and made a face. What could she say knowing that it was impossible for her to lie? Jane had guessed her subterfuge.

"Well... Shouldn't you be thanking me for it? I mean, look at the weather. It is pouring outside. You would be walking up the streets to Beacon Hill under the rain right now if I hadn't used my badge to make it more easily to Back Bay."

Poor attempt. Very, very poor attempt.

"By the way, do you want me to drive to your car so you can take it back home?" Maura dared one of her brief – embarrassed – glance at Jane. She approached a tentative hand from her partner's hip.

"Nah. Drop me by it tomorrow on our way to work. I've had too many glasses to drive tonight... But that doesn't change the fact you freaking cheated." The brunette squinted her eyes at the road, shook her head. "And you're so gonna pay for it."

Maura didn't miss her lover's tone. She knew it by heart, now. A smirk played on her lips, almost in anticipation of what was coming. She straightened up on her seat, ran her tongue over her lips.

"How, exactly?"

Still focused absentmindedly on the road, Jane shrugged and let her left hand play with the hem of the honey blonde's dress. Her fingers passed underneath the fabric and began to caress the warm – hot – thigh there. Playfully.

"I might have an idea or two about it..."

Maura slightly spread her legs, inviting implicity her partner to go further up. She closed her eyes for a few seconds but kept her hands on the steering-wheel as much as their car hadn't moved an inch because of the late-night traffic. She swallowed hard, moved on her seat.

"I am quite looking forward to seeing that."

Jane was about to reply – her hand quite up between her partner's legs already – when a loud knock on the driver's window made the two of them jump of surprise. Maura opened it, swearing between her teeth before the sudden interruption. Their luck. Just when they had found something to actually make the long drive home entertaining.

Frankie leaned in – his rain coat soaked wet on - and grinned, unaware of the whole thing.

"So... Stuck in traffic?"

Jane rolled her eyes. So much for having a brother working currently on a case in the area. Really.