A/N: Sorry it took so long but I have finals coming up, but I managed to squeeze this in between everything boring xD

Boston:

2.37am.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes again. It was far too early to be dragged out of her warm bed; her body was still stiff from sleep and it felt like she'd just closed her eyes when her mobile rang and forced her to abandon dreamland in exchange with the bittersweet reality.

Maura forced herself to open her eyes and rolled on her side, her feet leaving the warm covers first. She sit upright and wiped the sleep out of her eyes. The view in front of the window wasn't too helpful to decide which clothes to put on, it was too dark to tell whether it would be a warm or a cold day but judging by the previous heatwave that slowed the city down during the day she was pretty certain that it would be another one of those days.

Maura got dressed in silence and thought of Jane. She didn't sound too happy when she woke Maura and the ME was pretty sure her friend will be quite moody until they get something to work on; she wasn't too happy but she didn't complain either. It was her job after all, it's what she chose to do. Jane kept it short and all Maura knew was that there's a dead body that was patiently waiting for Maura's attention.

She glanced at her watch and considered getting a cup of coffee before she left the house but decided that it would only slow things down; they were waiting for her and then go straight back to bed or do whatever needed to be done. She'd scribbled the address on a piece of paper that she always kept on her nightstand, just in case. She'd learned that it usually comes in quite handy when the sound of your cell phone makes you start from your sleep and it usually takes a couple of seconds to remember where you are; trying to keep an address in mind at the same time would be a stupid thing to do.

She walked toward her car and the neighborhood was deadly quiet so early in the morning. She didn't even hear a bird singing or a dog barking in the distance.

Has it always been this way and she never noticed? What she could tell for sure was that she felt safe where she was. She liked her neighborhood and there was never any trouble with her neighbors, if not she was the only one causing them trouble because her car was the only thing that made some noise at any given time, whenever she was about to leave for yet another crime scene. It was a peaceful part of the town with nice houses and neatly trimmed front yards.

What do they think about me? Maura thought when she left her street. She couldn't really tell. What do they think whenever they hear me leaving at the most unusual hours? Some of them might not even know what kind of job I have. Do they even know how many crimes happen in Boston every day? She thought that some people might not even be aware of the fact how cruel the reality actually is and that the truth is not always what it seems.

Everything always seems to be fine for the people living in those wonderful house with their beautiful flowers and their porch swings.

They have no idea, Maura thought. Sometimes it's probably easier to ignore the bitter truth and hide behind a beautiful picture. She took a deep breath and turned left.

They obviously found a body by the Revere Beach, that's all she knew and she remembered that it's not far from where Jane grew up. She knew exactly how to get there and in the end she thought that it might not even have been necessary to write down the address in the first place. Maura was grateful that it was Sunday morning and that hardly anyone decided it was wiser to stay in bed instead of drive on the streets of Boston which gave her the chance to speed things up a little to get to the crime scene as fast as possible.

She felt the sand giving away beneath her feet when she walked along the beach. The wind was strong; the sea quite rough but she enjoyed the cold, salty air on her face. It was sunny and the sea had a wonderful light color and the sky was cloudless. It would've been a lovely day if it hadn't been for the dead body in the middle of the beautiful scenario.

She took the photos of the victim when he arrived.

"I'll take the photos," Gibbs said.

"Tony told me what to do!"

"Tony doesn't tell you what to do, I do," he said and Kate got up and Gibbs took the camera from her. She ran along the beach after taking orders from her boss while Tony was busy getting the reporters phone number.

Maura rolled down the window as she approached to the crime scene, feeling the cold wind on her face. She noticed the way the air seemed to changed, it smelled salty in some way. It was nothing compared the smell of the sea she'd memorized in California but there was something different, she thought. For one second she even thought she heard the water. It didn't sound like waves crushing on rocks or reaching the sandy beach. It was more of a sloshing sound; the way it sounds when you try to carry a large bowl of water, trying your best not to spill it. She slowed down when she spotted the first police cruisers and cops waiting for God knows what. She parked her car next to Jane's and mentally prepared herself for whatever was about to come if that was actually possible.

She flashed her badge at the officer though they all knew who she is. While she walked toward the beach she mentally slapped herself on the shoulder for not wearing high heels when she felt the sand giving away beneath her feet. Jane was crouched down next to the body and looked up when she saw Maura walking toward her; a brief smiled crossed her lips and Maura granted herself a few seconds to watch her; ignoring the cruel circumstances. Her face was lit up by artificial light but her curls were flying in the wind; she looked tired but Maura knew she was happy that she was there. Being with Jane made her feel good no matter what the circumstances were. She never gave it much of a thought but it was the truth. She felt good when she watched a movie with Jane, whenever they chatted at work and even when they meet at a crime scene around 3am on a Sunday morning; working a crime scene. Maura closed her eyes and took a deep breath; she cleared her throat when she realized that she'd stopped walking and everyone was probably watching her.

"Don't tell me you're wearing high heels?" Jane said without looking up from the corpse and Maura caught the sound of amusement in the question.

"You should know me better," Maura said when she put the gloves on.

"That's why I'm asking," Jane said and smiled at Maura; she laughed.

"What have we got?" Maura asked and looked at the body in front of her.

Male. Probably in his twenties. Except for the dark spot on his shirt there seemed nothing unusual about the body. Nothing besides the fact that he was dead. He didn't stay in the water for long, judging by the look of his skin.

"Young couple over there found the body," and pointed to the direction of two teenagers who looked pretty scared, they were just questioned by Frost. 'They didn't see anyone or heard anything,' Jane said.

"Poor kids just wanted to take a walk and found a dead body," Maura said.

"Yeah, sure," Jane said. "Take a walk..."

"What else would you..." Maura started and stopped when she realized what Jane was talking about. "Right."

"What did you do by the beach at night?" Jane asked and raised an eyebrow at her; smiling.

"I didn't go to the beach at night..." she said. "Well, what did you do?"

"I don't think you wanna know that doc..." Jane said and laughed.

"No." The truth was that she didn't want to know about because it suddenly made her feel a little jealous which surprised her at the same time. The thought of her best friend making out at the beach at night with some random guy shouldn't actually bother her since it was years ago and none of her business, wasn't it? Somehow Maura thought it was her business; a part of her wanted it to be. She held on a second because she felt stupid and had no right to think about it that way. It was nothing that she should care about, as hard as it may seem.

"What do you think?" Jane asked and Maura knew it was more of a rhetorical question. It sounded like a classical hit and run. A quick death, no witnesses at that time of the day and no suspects.

"I'll let you know when I had a proper look at him," Maura said and started to examine the body as careful as possible so she wouldn't destroy any possible evidence.

"Okay," Jane answered and Maura carefully lifted his shirt and shook her head.

"What is it?" Jane asked, suddenly alert.

"I was just asking myself why people do that," she explained and Jane waited for more. "Run around and randomly shoot another human being and then just leave him here."

"Maybe because these people are crazy?" Jane suggested.

"There's always a motive, no matter how simple," Maura said without looking up from the body. "There's the gunshot wound to the chest," Maura said.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Jane said and Maura rolled her eyes at her.

"He most certainly died within the last twenty-four hours," Maura said. "ID?"

"Nothing yet,"Jane said and shook her head. "Wallet's missing and the kids over there say they've never seen him before."

"Rizzoli?" Frost called out and Jane got up, leaving Maura with the body. Maura turned around to make sure Jane didn't watch her. There was something that bothered her since the first moment she saw the body; she wanted to see it for herself before showing that to anyone else. She carefully took the boy's hand and turned it around to expose his wrist to the light.

She held her breath for a moment and looked at the tattoo for a few seconds. There was something about the tattoo that bothered her somehow but she couldn't quite tell. She kept looking at it, trying to figure out was was so odd about it.

"A rose?" Jane asked and Maura frightened for a second, she didn't hear Jane returning. "Sorry."

"Yes," Maura whispered and touched the tattoo carefully. It wasn't the image that made her think twice but the fact that the tattoo had been done recently without much care. If she wasn't mistaken, this tattoo was probably added post-mortem.

"Let's take the body to the morgue so I can have a proper look at it in the morning," Maura said. "When there's actually day light."

Maura stood up and waited next to Jane. She stared into the distance and said:"I used to come her as a child."

"It seems to be a nice place," Maura said.

"You've never been here before?"

"No, I didn't," Maura answered and Jane shook her head; she turned around. "Let's go and get some coffee," she said and Maura followed her back to her car.

Washington:

Tony entered his apartment in silence and dropped the keys on the table before he switched on the lights. It was late, maybe even early; that was merely a point of view. He wasn't a person who wasted thoughts on things that have been, things that you can change any more but today seemed different and it actually mattered to him more then he ever admitted.

They didn't talk when he handed his boss the mag; Gibbs just looked at the picture of a woman they thought was their deceased colleague Kate. What was he thinking? Was he confused or surprised? He couldn't tell and he knew better then to ask at that moment. They just sat there un silence and he watched his boss reading the article; he put the in the inside pocket of his jacket and stood up to leave and Tony followed him without another word.

This wasn't the right place, he thought when he took the orange juice out of the fridge. To remember Kate at the place she died didn't feel like the right thing. He was tired and they probably had a long day ahead tomorrow but he didn't feel like going to bed yet. He sat down on the couch and stared at his flat screen tv but didn't switch it on.

"I did work for the Secret Service!" she explained and Tony listened, a smile on his face. "We tend to get all hot and bothered over large sums of $100 bills."

"Is that what does it for you?" Tony asked mockingly.

"What does it for me Tony, is a mystery, that you will never solve!" she said and Gibbs rolled his eyes at the two of them.

"Why do I feel like a high school principal?" he asked more to himself and no one dared to comment on that.

He sipped his orange juice and smiled at the memory. At that time he didn't want to know that his behavior was rather childish and he liked to believe that this was the way he is until he realized that it is not true but it was easier to hide behind it. He was confronted with the dead on an almost daily basis and after a while it even seemed normal to him; it's a part of his job but he never gave it much of a thought. I was their job to figure out why and how a person was killed to find the person who did it but he never really thought of the impact that a death had on a person's life. Tony knew that, with looking back at the last few years, he'd grown up in some way. It wasn't the same any longer and it never will be the same again; that was the truth he had to life with and it was fine until something reminds you of the things that have been, making you question it all over again.

What would I really tell her? He thought. If I had the chance to talk to Kate again, what would I say? He thought about it for a while and he tried to be honest with himself. Only one more time and he'd try his best to be honest with her.

He would tell her that he liked her, as a partner and a colleague. Maybe even as a friend; though they hadn't been that close for some reasons there was some kind of bond between them. He would tell her that he liked it and that he enjoyed working with her and that he respected her and her job. She was a great agent, he knew that. He always had.

Would I apologize? He tried to find things to apologize for and smiled to himself. For being such a childish pain in the ass? He could actually hear Kate laughing in his face right now. Was that all? During their time together he'd spent his time mocking her, making comments about her appearance; they way she talked or the way she did things but did he ever tell her that he thought she was beautiful?

The only compliment he ever made her was the last thing he said to her before she died, but there's been so much more that was left to say.

Boston:

She didn't know if the coffee was such a good idea since she intended to go back to bed for at least a little while when she got home. It felt good to sit down with Jane and have a coffee at the beach while it was still dark and Maura didn't remember the last time she'd done this and it was most certainly her first time with Jane. She smiled to herself; the wind on her face didn't seem that chilly any longer. It seemed like such a simple thing to sit down with your friend and have something to drink at an abandoned beach early in the morning with nothing to care about. They completely ignored the case for a while and everything was fine. Now that she was on her way home, Maura thought of the last time they'd been together. It was only a couple of hours away and she'd dropped by at Maura's house to watch a movie and have dinner. Maura always loved Friday evenings though she didn't always appreciate Jane's preferred choice of movies but she didn't mind as long as she was with Jane and she liked the feeling on falling asleep in her arms while watching the movie.

That's not the only thing, Maura thought. It's been bothering her for a while though bothering was certainly the wrong word. It kept her thinking, maybe even left her a little surprised. From the first day she met Jane, she felt save in her presence but now she realized that it isn't the only thing Jane made her feel.

She made Maura feel relaxed and maybe even nervous. Did she realize? Maura asked herself by the time she turned and the familiar street that she called her home appeared in front of her. What Maura noticed was that it suddenly seemed a little awkward. She was snuggled in Jane's arms, the movie was over but no one moved. She realized that her friend's body was tensed and that no one dared to move; she always thought that people only did that when they were afraid of the things that might happen next. She was aware of the tension but tried her best to ignore it for the night. She always hated the moment when it was over; the first seconds always felt terribly awkward. She didn't want Jane to leave, she wanted her to stay and listen to her all night until she fell asleep. A part of her knew that Jane didn't want to leave either but she would never say it.

The sunrise had started already and the street was covered in a beautiful orange light, promising yet another cloudless summer day. When she walked toward her front door she saw something in her doorstep, for a second she thought of Jane and smiled until she realized that it was ridiculous and impossible for her to have been here before Maura. Why would she do that? She knew that Jane wasn't that kind of person to leave flowers on her doorstep.

Or a single flower for that matter.

Maura looked at the red rose and crouched down to pick it up. It was beautiful and she touched the smooth petals, the deep red color was astounding. Who would do that? There was nothing else, no note attached to it. She tried to think of all the people who might rejoice her with it until she realized that it may be something she didn't want to know. She took a deep breath, the pressure on her chest increasing. She looked around, the street was still deserted. It may be ridiculous but she felt the blood rushing in her ears, alert to everything that might change around her. She turned around one last time before she opened the front door and stepped inside her house; listening carefully.

Maybe I should call Jane, she thought when she entered the kitchen and put the rose in a vase with the other flowers she kept there. She looked at the calendar on the counter and held her breath for a second; she was tired and her mind felt somewhat clouded and she knew it was ridiculous.

It was May 24th.

It's probably just a coincidence, she told herself as she walked through every room to make sure everything was the way it should be and only then did she allow herself to rest.