Later that night, Maura was watching television on the couch. Tony came out of the guest bedroom and into the living area.

"You can sit and watch with me," Maura said, gesturing to the couch beside her.

"I'll take you up on that offer," Tony said, flashing his signature DiNozzo grin.

Once he had been sitting a minute, Maura turned to him. "Jane told me not to fall for your charm."

"Oh did she?" he said, laughing a little. "She doesn't like the majority of the relationships I get in, if she even describes them as relationships."

"She told me you were involved with a coworker a few years back, but she died," Maura said, giving him a look that displayed sympathy.

"Yeah," Tony said. He looked at Maura with longing eyes. "You know, she looked just like you."

"Isn't that strange?" Maura said. "What was she like?"

"She was smart, brave." Tony smiled at a memory. "Headstrong and a little bit stubborn. She liked things her way. She teased me a little bit."

"I'm sure she did it lovingly." Maura smiled at him.

"I don't know how she meant it. I wish I had asked her when I had the chance," he sighed. "She died soon after I decided I was going to tell her I liked her."

They sat in silence for a few minutes after that. It was like they were mourning the loss of a loved one. Maura was empathizing with Tony about losing someone.

"It sounds stupid, doesn't it?" Tony said, smiling again, but with less enthusiasm and with more irony. "Like a high school flick from the seventies. Teenager meet teenager, fall in love, one of them dies. The other one then spends life looking for a second chance. Rarely do they find one."

"I know the feeling of a lost love," Maura said. "I've lost a few in my lifetime, for different reasons. Recently one lover left, came back and then left again as abruptly as he'd reappeared in my life."

"It sucks, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it most definitely does suck."

Tony and Maura just sat in silence again. They both seemed to be contemplating things. Thinking about lives, lost loves, and how to fix it. At the moment, they were both feeling lonely. How can two adults help each other fix the loneliness inside them?

Maura turned and kissed Tony. A full, hearty, yearning kiss that lasted longer than she intended it to. Once they broke apart, Tony couldn't decide if he should continue to follow his feelings on this one or follow the directions his cousin gave him.

"She told me to stay away from you, too," Maura said, reading his mind.

"Should we agree to do and say we didn't?" Tony asked, regaining his cheesy grin.

"I think we shall." Maura barely spoke the words before their mouths were reconnected in a flurry of passion, mashing and moaning and wanting more.

Maura turned over until she was on Tony's lap. His hands encouraged her movements, and finally he stood up, holding her, and moved to the hallway.

Their mouths never separated. He moved to the guest bedroom, only because he didn't know where her bedroom was. He was sure he wanted to do this. He didn't care what Jane had told him. He needed this.

Maura's skirt was gone in a flash, and Tony's shirt was gone just as quickly. The rest of the clothes were shed in a matter of seconds. The two bodies collided in a mass of lustful fury, sex that was more for primal need than mental or emotional connection and love.

It was over faster than they'd expected. They laid on the bed in a mess, breathing deeply and wondering what they'd just done.

Tony wasn't sure he could find a word to describe it. "Well, that was…"

"Outrageous."

Tony flipped over on top of Maura, looking her straight in the eye.

"What did you just say?"