Author's Note: Thank you very much for all the reviews and messages. I'm glad to see that you're liking this story so far.

Chapter Four

"Hey, have you..."

Jane's question didn't pass her lips because the moment she walked into Maura's office, she realized that her friend wasn't there. The place was empty, and very quiet. The bathroom door was open ajar but plunged in the dark. She turned on her heels and went down the hallway anew. Lenny – one of the guys from the lab team – gave her a polite smile as she came across him near the elevators.

"Hey, where's your big boss?" Jane waved a small parcel she was holding. "I've got something for her."

Jane liked Lenny. He was a science geek but a cool guy nonetheless. The two of them had begun to work in the building at the same time. Thus Maura often said that Lenny was Jane's lab version.

"A birthday present? You're ahead of time, this year." Lenny laughed lightly. Warmly. "She's doing some x-rays. We got a new machine."

Jane's good mood vanished within a second. Everything collapsed. Her body got tense and her smile froze as Lenny's words passed underneath her skin. She swallowed hard. Frustration had already melted into a cold anger, deep down in her lower stomach. She barely thanked Maura's employee and rushed to the x-ray room instead.

"What the hell are you doing in here? Are you crazy?"

The sudden intrusion caused Maura and Kent to jump. Both turned around to look at a furious Jane walk in. It wasn't a simple outburst. Jane's voice had risen loudly in the room, so loudly that half of the morgue had probably overheard her. She was mad. Really mad.

"X-rays...? Our new machine has been delivered this morning so Kent and I decided to try it immediately."

Maura cast a glance at Kent. Her colleague looked rather confused. Or even scared. He had never admitted it but Maura was sure that he somewhat dreaded Jane. Which Jane knew.

Jane made a step closer towards Maura. Her traits were deep, and her eyes even darker than the usual. Her obvious anger pushed Kent to rush out of the room without even excusing himself. He knew that he didn't need to. Silence was his best ally when Jane Rizzoli stormed into a room the way she had just to.

"X-rays... Have you lost your mind, Maura? What's next? Nuclear testings?" Jane gently knocked on Maura's head. "Is there someone in there?"

The anger was fragile. On the verge of breaking down into a thousand pieces. Maura ran her tongue over her lips in order to win some time. She knew that her phrasing would be paramount if she wanted Jane to calm down now. The situation was very delicate. Behind her friend's anger lay something a lot more complex. Fear, and frustration. Invisible scars that still burnt.

"Everything is going just fine, Jane. Not only am I wearing the required protection but I am also controlling the machine from another room. The situation couldn't be safer."

Another wave of words brushed Jane's lips but she decided to hold it back instead. A part of her knew that Maura was right but it bothered her too much to openly admit it. She was furious, and yelling was the only escape she knew.

"No, it's not okay. What you're doing is dangerous and absolutely not necessary. You don't even do it, usually. It's not part of your job, it's not the chief medical examiner's role!" Jane pursed her lips. Her heart was beating loudly. She could feel it against her chest, as well as a quiet pain that had begun to run through her veins. She was on the verge of bursting into tears. "You gotta slow down. Things are different now, Maura. Accept it."

Maura opened her mouth to say something back but Jane didn't give her time to pronounce the mere word.

"Unless you don't care. Is that it? This baby's a miracle." Jane's voice broke as a whirl of emotions embraced her. "You need to take care of it. You gotta be careful. You're not invicible. I know that you think nothing's really changed because it's still too early but... Believe me, I know what I'm talking about."

And don't do what I did.

Jane had lost her child because she hadn't been careful, before she had put her pregnancy at risk.

She had been irresponsible to the point that she honestly thought now that she actually deserved what she had gone through. But not Maura. Maura was different. Jane wouldn't let her friend make the same mistakes.

"I thought you were a lot less stupid than me."

"Jane..." Maura jumped – surprised – as her friend literally threw a light parcel in her arms before storming out of the room. "What is it?"

Of course, Maura's question remained unanswered as Jane had already left carried by her loud anger. Her curiosity piqued, Maura looked at the parcel. A small card had been attached to it.

For Little M...

J.

Maura's heart tightened. She knew that Jane was right in spite of her sudden overprotective side. Maura would have to slow down sooner than later but the truth was that she wasn't ready to let go. Not just yet. Her position at the morgue was too meaningful for her to adapt her schedule so quickly.

Besides, she was still in her first trimester. There was no contraindication.

She opened the parcel with shaking hands and took a soft – deep red – piece of fabric out of it. A bitter smile lit up her traits as she realized that she was holding a baby superhero mini-cape.

Super Little M

The golden characters and the couple of blue stars contrasted with the deep red of the cape. It was a bit silly but terribly cute which only made the situation even harder to handle.

"Oh, Jane..."

Maura folded the cape and put it back in the parcel quickly in order to make sure that nobody would walk in on her. She still had to make her pregnancy official at work. If an employee saw the baby outfit, she would have a hard time finding a good excuse to it.

She walked out of the room and headed straight back to her office. She and Jane needed to talk. Jane's heart was too heavy at the moment. Perhaps they didn't feel ready for it but the words that they had consciously held back for so long had to come out now.

"Is everything alright?"

Maura looked up as the soft, masculine voice swept away her frustrated wonders. Kent was timidly standing by the door. He looked worried, and awkward. Maura shook her head at him.

"No. Not really."

"May I help you?"

Kent was nice and Maura appreciated it. However, she also knew that nobody couldn't help her now. She had to solve her issues alone. By herself.

"Okay... I'll go finish the x-rays now."

Maura gave her employee a nod. She waited for Kent to leave before sitting down at her desk and burying her face into her hands.

...

"Do you want a beer?" Maura took a bottle out of the brown paper bag she was carrying. She held it out to Jane before sitting next to her friend on the stairs that led to the entrance of her building. "They are alcohol free though. The taste isn't really good, let's face it. As a matter of fact, it's terrible."

Maura had sent her friend a text message earlier in the afternoon to ask whether she could stop by Jane's Back Bay apartment after work. Jane had immediately replied by the affirmative. Maura hadn't imagined that her friend would actually be waiting for her outside the building.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you." Jane took a sip of her beer to hide better the discomfort she had felt since she had stormed out of the morgue. "I sound like ma', it's awful. I know you won't harm your child... I just can't help it. I'm sorry."

"How could I harm a superhero child?" The amused smile that played on Maura's lips lit up her graceful traits. She burst out laughing then leaned her head against Jane's shoulder. The street was quiet. Not a single person was outside. Not a single car. "You didn't do anything wrong on that day, Jane. As a matter of fact, you did what you had to do. Don't blame yourself for what happened."

Maura meant it. Of course, Jane's miscarriage was terrible and she hadn't overcome it yet herself but she refused to let Jane feel guilty. Because it was pointless. And unfair.

"I live vicariously through your pregnancy... Which is wrong."

The easiness with which Jane managed to put words on her feelings took Maura aback. It wasn't the first time it happened since Maura had told her friend that she was expecting a child but this new side of Jane's personality was still very unusual for her and she didn't know how to handle it. She highly appreciated it though. Because it made things easier. A lot easier.

"It isn't wrong. And you know why?" Maura closed her eyes. Her head was still leaned on Jane's shoulder. The position was oddly comforting and Maura wouldn't have minded to stay this way forever. The heat of Jane's body warmed her up softly. The brick buildings opposite the street disappeared from her sight as she closed her eyes but her smile remained the same. "Because this is our child. This baby is yours, and mine."

There was no father because Maura didn't want any. However she had always had Jane in mind when thinking about the baby. The situation was a tad singular but then it matched their unusual friendship. It felt right. She wouldn't raise it on her own. Jane was in the picture. Of course, she was.

"I'm gonna be the reckless aunt...?"

The emotion Jane felt after Maura's confession was too intense to be described. She couldn't even put words on it. Thus she preferred to hide behind her sense of humor. One more time. Of course, she knew that she didn't fool anyone, even less Maura. But the vain subterfuge was comforting.

"I won't hurt Bubble, nor will you. And... You will be a lot more than just an aunt to this child, Jane."

"Yeah... Until you meet someone."

Maura got tense. The allusion was implicit but bitter. Jane's voice had lowered of an octave as she had dared to let the words pass her lips. The serenity Maura had felt until now vanished in the air, which caused her to open her eyes anew. She repressed the urge to sit straight again for she needed the warmth of Jane's shoulder against her cheek.

She grabbed her friend's hand to squeeze it tightly on her lap.

"I don't need anyone. I have you, and we have this child. My life is complete now."