A/N: I apologize for the late update. Holidays and work. You know the drill. Thank you for your reviews and follows, I will try to update more regularly now. Love your comments and thoughts.

"Why Jane, I had no idea you were such a romantic!" Maura gushed.

There are a lot of things that Maura has learned from Jane, and the ability to deflect with humor is one of them. Maura was still frightened. She was certain that her face went flush when Jane said what she did. How could Jane not know that it took her breath away?

Perhaps the answer to that question had something to do with Jane's own fears that she was completely transparent. To her relief, however, Maura did not seem to take her seriously. Why would she?

"Jane, from what I am gathering, you are saying that a real romance would require the characters to be genuine from the very beginning," Maura said before immediately recognizing her hypocrisy. She has been the least genuine person there is.

"Well, maybe not Maura. There has to be some kind of mystery, right? Some secret that the characters don't know about one another. It would be a really boring story otherwise." Jane wasn't exactly sure why she said it, because she doesn't really care about romantic plots at all, but she was also aware that she is far less than honest about her own feelings and emotions. It was pretty much a way to excuse herself, and she knew it.

Nakita's raven hair swirled around her as she stepped out of the car into a cold, windy night in Boston. Her raw beauty immediately attracting the eye of the sophisticated and self-assured ME. The detective's throaty voice cut through the hustle of crime scene, "You certainly look fine this evening, Doctor." Usually a brash compliment such as this would not impress the doctor, and this time was no exception.

"Oh come on, Maura… Nakita? You're kidding me. I would hardly say I have raw beauty, and I sure as hell would not have the balls to say something like that to you! Plus, I think I have more class than that." Jane was mortified by her character's behavior. She couldn't imagine a circumstance when she would be so obviously flirtatious with Maura. Oh, she has flirted with her, but in her own way. Never so brazen.

Maura giggled. To her, this scenario was hot. It's Jane, but a little less reserved. And, Nakita sounds exotic.

"Jane, do you want the characters to be exactly like you and I? That will certainly make this conversation much more interesting." Maura could not believe she just said that. Jane would certainly freak out now. Just implying this may make Jane run.

"Well, you got to be you, Maura. I'm the one who turned into "Nakita." "You know what I would find hot, Maura?"

Carla asked the ME, "What do you think happened, doc?" What does your gut tell you?" The ME thought a minute and said, "I suspect it was the same killer" and Carla was immediately turned on by the ME's willingness to have a hunch. Carla had to fan herself.

Jane laughed out loud at her own joke. If she had to be Nakita the woman-dog, then she could pick on Maura about something.

"Very amusing, Jane. I'm sorry to give your fantasy a cold shower, but we both know I will never do that. And Carla? As in Carla your mother's friend?"

"I like her name, alright. It's a regular person's name. Not like Nakita, for God's sake."

Frost had already repeated himself twice, but Jane still wasn't listening. She barely survived her conversation with Maura. For the first time, unless they were pissed at each other, Jane was actually glad to get away from her. Jane simply couldn't figure out why this would happen. She thought about just telling Maura that the whole thing was just too weird for her, but Maura really wanted her help and she knows that she doesn't have a great track record of refusing Maura.

"Jane. What is going on? And don't tell me nothing. This is a big case, and I have not seen you this distracted in a long time."

Frost was right, and Jane knew it. She was completely disconnected and needed to get on board. "I'm sorry, Barry. I am just stressed about something, that's all." Barry respected boundaries. He wasn't the kind of guy to push. But when he started to say something about the case again and Jane still wasn't listening, his patience left him.

Jane! What the hell is going on? And don't tell me it's none of my business or something. Let's talk about it and fix it so we can get back to work."

Barry's tone annoyed Jane, but then again she could hardly blame him. She was in another world and was pretty useless at the moment. Still, she couldn't imagine telling Barry about her predicament. She knows he would just laugh and jab at her about it.

"Barry, I can't talk to you…" Jane stopped mid-sentence considering her options. She knew he would make fun of her, but maybe he could help with some ideas and get her off the hook. He would eventually find out anyway. He would probably be the first person to read her book.

"Okay, partner, I'm going to tell you something and I expect you to laugh at me about it, but if you laugh too hard I am going to knock you off of your chair. Got it?

Barry smiled. Only one kind of issue could make Jane so anxious and ready to fight. One thing that really embarrassed her to that point. Feelings. Particularly the romantic kind. She nearly kicked his ass when he made fun of her about the fisherman who fell for her and named his boat after her. So, Barry prepared himself and was determined to not crack up at whatever she told him. Unfortunately for Barry..

"Maura's editor wants her main characters to fall in love with each other and have an affair. Those two characters are based on Maura and me," Jane said with absolute seriousness. As if she were testifying in court.

Barry didn't react at first. He didn't really understand it. Jane's seriousness, coupled with this being the last thing he thought he would hear caused him to have the same kind of reaction he would have had if Jane had spoken in another language. His head cocked to the side like he was a Cocker Spaniel.

Jane rolled her eyes. Barry was probably not going to be of help after all.

"Sorry." Barry finally said. "Did you just say that Maura is going to have to write a story where you guys are lovers?"

"Yes, damnit, that's exactly what I said."

"Ha! Oh my God, I am going to pre-order my copy from Amazon right now! Ha ha OOOOF." Barry didn't finish what he was saying before he found himself on his back in the squad room. Jane made good on her promise, taking one ridiculously strong leg and knocking his chair over with him in it.

"What were you just saying, Barold?" Jane said as she stood over him.

"I said that editor is crazy. It's ridiculous to ask Maura to do that."

"Exactly what I thought, too." Jane said as she reached out to help her partner off of the floor.

Maura knew that consulting her mother about this would be a mistake. Their relationship had improved significantly, but she was still Constance. Still, she needed to talk to someone, and Constance knew about her feelings for Jane. She was less than enthused about Maura's situation, however.

"Maura, I think you need to stop this now. Just go back to Jane and tell her thanks, but no thanks. Do this on your own. By now, I think you know that you could wright a love story about you and Jane in your sleep. I think you need to seriously examine your reasoning for asking her to do this."

Maura thought for a minute. She had examined her reasoning, hadn't she? She wanted Jane's help. She wanted Jane to provide insight. That was her motivation. It was simply to solicit Jane's advice. To get Jane's perspective on what they would be like as a couple. To see Jane respond to it. Wait. To see Jane respond to it? To see Jane respond to the idea of them in love under the guise of writing a story. Immediately, Maura recognized the truth in this.

Maura suddenly felt guilty. Her mother was right. She did not have a really good reason to do this to Jane. Yes, she needed to tell her because she wouldn't want her to find out after the book came out. And yes, it was not going to be something Jane liked, but she would have gotten over it. Asking for Jane's help was simply not necessary. It was selfish. It was out of curiosity. It was out of the dream that somehow Jane would like the idea and it would lead to something more.

And it did, it led to more heartache.