A/N: Hello! Slowly bringing these ladies back together, I promise. Here's a longer chapter to make up for my last short ones!
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The tension was palpable and Frost coughed uncomfortably. The sound snapped Jane out of her daze. She looked down and saw Maura's hand extended. With a slight tremble in her own hand, she reached out and returned the gesture. She almost jumped at the contact.
"Very nice to meet you both," Maura said, though she made no eye contact with Jane. "I hope you're ready to meet some very excited children." She turned in the doorway and gestured them inside. Closing the door, she walked to the front of the class and clapped her hands.
"Seats, everyone. Come on." Without needing to be told twice, the gaggle of 5 year olds took their place on the floor, sitting in a semi-circle. One small boy waved his hand frantically. "Yes, Marcus?"
"Miss Isles, are they firemen?"
"Don't be silly," the girl beside him said and pointed at Jane. "That's a firelady."
Despite the charged air between the adult women, Jane was able to laugh and relax a little. Maura shook her head and smiled at the girl. "I think they prefer to be called 'firefighters', Paisley, though perhaps that's something you'd like to ask them."
Frost stepped forward. "My name's Barry Frost, and this is my partner, Jane Rizzoli."
"Ha, that's a funny name!" another boy said. "Rizzi!"
"Can I call you 'Frostie'?"
"'Frostie'!"
"Children!" Maura said, firmly, but not shouting. The class immediately went silent. "Thank you. I think it would be very nice if we let Mr. Frost and Ms. Rizzoli..." her voice stumbled ever-so-slightly on the name, "tell us why they're here today."
"Well, Barry's already introduced us, and you have already figured out we're firefighters," Jane began with a smile. "Do you have any questions so far?" The boy who raised his hand earlier raised it again. Jane pointed at him. "What's your name?"
"Marcus."
"Hey, Marcus. What's your question?"
"How did you hurt yourself?"
She glanced down at her shoulder and could feel Maura's eyes on her. "I was in a building that was on fire," she replied, deciding to go with the simplest explanation. "A piece of the ceiling came down and hit my arm."
Frost shook his head and leaned forward, as if sharing a secret with the kids. "You wanna know what really happened?" Twenty heads nodded excitedly. "I went in to make sure there was no one in there who needed help. Jane was behind me, because partners gotta watch each other's backs, right?" Twenty heads nodded again. "And I had this on," he reached into the big equipment bag and put on the helmet. The kids grinned. "And I had this on, too." He put on the oxygen mask.
"Don't be scared," Jane said, seeing some of the kids pull back. "See his face?" She tapped the visor. "This thing here just helps him to breath when there's smoke. It's safe and not at all scary. Is it, Frostie?"
The kids laughed at the name and he shook his head. "Nope. Not scary."
"You sound like Darth Vader," Marcus laughed.
"Marcus," Frost breathed for dramatic effect, "I am your father."
He rolled back on his butt and giggled. "No, you're not!"
"What happened next?" The pair were surprised to hear the question coming from Maura. "I mean," she stammered, "you were telling a story."
"Right," Frost replied. "So I'm going through the building like this," he crouched and swung his head from side to side. "But there was no one there, so we decided to turn around. That's when this big piece from the ceiling fell. It was coming for me!" He re-enacted the moment with exaggerated volume. The kids' eyes widened in shock. "But Jane here pushed me out of the way." The room was absolutely quiet and Frost removed the mask and helmet. "She couldn't quite get out of the way, and she got hit. Saved my life." He looked at her with respect and thanks.
Never one to accept a compliment, she brushed it aside. "Just doin' my job, partner."
"Coooool!" the girl beside Marcus said. "What else do you have in the bag?"
"Well, let's see," Jane said, rummaging through the sack. "I've got this big coat. Oh, it's so heavy. Can someone help me?" Hands immediately went up. "Okay, how about the girl who asked me. Paisley, right?" She nodded enthusiastically. "Come on up, Paisley. Who else? The boy with the Lego Batman shirt. I love Lego Batman." The boy scrambled to his feet and ran to the front of the room. "What's your name?"
"Timothy."
"Okay, you two. Are you gonna help me pull this coat out of the bag?"
"Yes!" they agreed in unison.
"All right. Not gonna lie- it's heavy! Can you do it?"
"Yes!"
"Okay. On three." She looked to the rest of the class. "Can you count with me? One- two-"
As one, the class shouted, "THREE!"
The coat broke free and the class ooh'd and ahh'd over it. Jane and Frost eventually brought the bag into the center of the circle and revealed all the contents. Boots, and gloves and a safety hood were all on display, though the highlight was the oxygen mask for pets. Jane pretended not to notice Maura watching her intently.
"I have a cat!" Timothy told them proudly. "If there was a fire, I would go inside and get him and make sure he used this mask."
Jane shook her head. "Now hold on, cowboy," she warned. "You should never go back into a burning building, okay? That's what firefighters do, right? In fact, this is probably a good time to talk about what you should do if there's a fire. What do you think you should do first?"
Frost piped up. "Run around and scream, 'Ahhhhhhh!'?" He pretended to run, waving his hands in the air.
The kids laughed and Jane shook her head, letting out a big sigh. "Nooooo."
A little blonde boy raised his hand. "Stay calm."
"Right," Jane praised. "Do you know what that means?" She looked at Frost.
"It means, 'chill'," he pushed his hands towards the floor. "It means, don't worry, we just gotta stop and think for a minute."
"That's right. Next, you should crouch down, like this." She got on all fours. "Can you do that?"
They all looked at Maura and she nodded. "Go on."
"You, too, Miss Isles," Ashley said.
The blonde tilted her head and complied. Soon, they were all on the floor. Marcus barked and they all laughed.
"And why do we get on the floor, Ms. Rizzoli?" It was the first time since they entered the room that Maura spoke directly to Jane.
Jane turned her head and looked at Maura, and her voice caught in her throat. Hazel eyes looked right into her soul and Jane blinked hard at the sensation. "Uh," she turned her attention to Marcus, if only to pull her gaze away from Maura's eyes. "Because… because when there's a fire, there's a whole bunch of…" She left the sentence hanging, hoping the children would pick up on it.
"SMOKE!" a handful shouted.
"That's right," she smiled. "And smoke goes up in the air, never down. So the best way to make sure you don't breath in that yucky smoke is to get on the ground. Like this. Then you crawl to where it's safe." Remembering the age of her audience, she quickly added, "Your teacher will go with you, so make sure you follow her."
The two firefighters went through some safety tips with the kids, simplified so they could understand. They ended the day with Frost peeking into the big bag one last time.
"Whoa. Who put these in there?" he asked before pulling out a stack of colouring books and crayons. The children cheered and Frost handed out the gifts. Groups of three and four kids clustered together, chattering and laughing over the books, eagerly opening the boxes of crayons.
"I'm gonna make him brown, like me and Frostie," Marcus announced, carefully colouring in a picture of a fireman.
Jane sat, cross-legged, at one of the children's tables. One or two kids would hop over to visit and share their work, then dash back to their friends. Jane's attention never wavered, though she was glad to see Frost take center stage, letting the kids play with his mask and helmet. Catching her breath, she picked up a crayon and was about to start colouring when she felt a touch on her arm. Startled, she turned to see a small girl at her elbow, holding out a black crayon. Jane looked at her hand and realized she had a yellow one between her fingers.
"You don't think I should make her hair blonde?" Jane asked, pointing at the image of the female firefighter. The girl simply shook her head and pointed to Jane's hair. "Oh, I should make it like me?"
Maura gently sat beside them. "This is Charlotte," she introduced, lightly stroking the girl's hair. "She's quite shy."
Jane noticed the hearing aid in the girl's ear and signed, "Hello." When her eyes lit up, Jane waved her hands in surrender and made a motion with her hands to get the excited child to slow down. "I'm not very good," she signed and spoke. "You have to go slow with me, okay?" Charlotte nodded vigorously and pointed to the book. "Want to colour with me?" Jane asked, her fingers fumbling for the right sign.
"Charlotte can read lips as well," Maura told her. "You just have to make sure she's looking at you."
"That's great," she replied, "because I think I used up all my signs."
Charlotte giggled and began colouring. Jane followed suit, but glanced up every so often to see Maura watching intently. The warmth of her gaze lit the fire inside Jane once more, and the brunette shifted in her position. The bell rang, signalling the end of the day, and Maura softly touched Charlotte's arm.
"Time to go, sweetie," she said.
The crestfallen girl looked over to Jane. "Maybe I'll come back again and see if you finished the book," Jane said slowly. "Would that be okay?" Charlotte nodded with a grin and Jane grinned back. "Okay. You better get your stuff together. I need to clean up, too!" Charlotte stood and gathered her things. Jane followed suit and stretched. "I don't remember being so low to the ground when I was that age," she said, watching the kids in their organized chaos.
"I have a hard time believing you were that low to the ground," Maura replied.
Jane turned at the voice, not expecting the blonde to speak to her directly. She was saved the decision of whether or not to reply in return when Frost strolled over.
"That was pretty cool!" he beamed.
"You did great. Frostie."
He swatted her good arm and shrugged. "Hey, I've been called worse!" The tension that began between the two woman at the door still lingered, and he tilted his head. "I'm just gonna… get the stuff out to the truck. I'll meet you there. Rizzi." He held out his hand to shake Maura's, then departed, but not before nearly colliding with a young woman who was entering the room. "Sorry," he apologized, then exited.
"Hey Mrs. Tre- I mean, Miss Isles," the woman said. "I'm here to corral these wild stallions."
Some of the kids heard her comment and laughed. "What's a 'stallion'?" one asked.
"It's someone from Italy," Timothy answered. "Like, my uncle Tony is a istallion."
"No it's not!" Paisley retorted. "She said 'stallion', not 'istallion'. There's no such word." She turned to Maura. "Is there, Miss Isles?"
"No," the teacher replied. "Someone from Italy is an Italian," she carefully enunciated. "A 'stallion' is a horse."
"We're wild horses!" Marcus laughed, and they started prancing around.
"All right, all right," the teacher's aide said, "let's get this under control. Are we all ready to go?"
"Yes, Miss Brighton!" they answered.
"Okay. Is there anything I need before we go, Miss Isles?"
Maura shook her head. "You're good to go, Emma. Thank you."
"You heard her, my little horses. Let's go!"
The children were ushered out and the two women were alone at last. Maura immediately began picking up the stray crayons that had found their way under tables and behind shelves. Jane stood stock still, unsure of what to say or do. She could only watch as Maura cleaned the black board and straightened everything on her desk. An eternity passed before Maura finally spoke.
"You just left."
The three words cut through the room and through Jane's heart.
"I…"
Maura drew in a cleansing breath. "You just left," she repeated, more firmly. "Not a letter or a note or a scrap of paper. You snuck out without even a 'good-bye'."
"Hey," Jane said, "I didn't sneak out." She knew her objection was a weak one, but she plowed ahead anyway. "Besides, what was I supposed to do? Leave a note saying, 'Had a great time! Call me!'? I had no idea you were from Boston. I mean, what are the odds? What did you want from me?"
"The simple courtesy of a 'good-bye' would have sufficed," Maura replied.
"Would it? I mean, that night…" her voice trailed off at the memory. "That was a great night. But as far as I knew, we'd never see each other again."
"And you were okay with that?"
"What choice did I have?" Jane asked, exasperated.
"I would have liked to have been your friend, Jane."
The brunette's eyes widened, as if the thought had never occurred to her. "What?"
"I won't deny that night was… incredible. But it was all wonderful, Jane. Don't you remember the two of us talking for hours at the bar? I had a connection with you that was so natural, I felt like I had known you forever. I felt like… I was understood for the first time in my life. Of course, afterward was…" the blush stained her cheeks. "Anyway… I didn't have any illusions about what would happen after that night. I knew you had to leave and I knew it wouldn't matter, anyway- we couldn't have stayed there forever. But I would have liked to have stayed in touch. Talked to you. Written to you. Gotten to know you outside of that fantasy moment. But you didn't give me the chance." Maura looked down at her desk top. "I called Craig, you know? I begged him to tell me everything he knew about you. He only knew about… well, he didn't know your last name or where you were staying. I thought that was my last chance. And yet, here you are."
"I know. About Craig, I mean." Maura's eyes shot up to look at Jane. "Yeah. I called him, too. He knew more about you, though. I got your last name."
"So you knew who I was?" Maura asked.
"No. I mean, I knew your name, but I had no idea you were in Boston until today. I meant to Google you, to find you, but work got in the way." She gestured to her injured shoulder. "Then this happened. It's been a crazy few weeks."
Maura looked at Jane's injury. "Are you going to be all right?"
"This?" Jane deflected the concern with a shrug. "Another week of desk duty says the boss. But I feel fine."
"Good." They were silent for several minutes before Maura asked, "Did you really want to find me?"
Jane stepped forward and made a motion to grab Maura's hand, but pulled back at the last second. "God, yes. I know my head's been in such a mess since… well, I guess Craig filled you in enough for you to figure it out. I didn't even know I told him."
"He did say you were pretty intoxicated."
"That first night, yeah," she admitted. "It was supposed to be my honeymoon. That's why I was in Hawaii. Figured the trip was already paid for so why not, huh?" Her smile was filled with sadness. "Wound up having an okay trip anyway. I mean, especially the end." Her smile turned genuine. "I was all over the place, mentally, emotionally. But when I was with you, it was like I had finally found… clarity. Like everything just fell into place."
"I felt that, too."
"So yeah," Jane went on, "I did want to find you. Because it wasn't the moment or the place. It was you. And I wanted that again."
"What did you plan on doing if you found me?" There was an opening there that Jane couldn't resist, but she didn't have to say a word. Images of promises made against a window flashed through Maura's mind just as surely as they did through Jane's.
Jane smirked, knowing Maura's thoughts, but she quickly turned serious again. "I don't know. I would have at least thanked you for one of the most amazing nights of my life. And maybe ask you if you wanted to pick up where we left off. Or… start fresh." Their eyes met and both were taken aback by the longing and want they shared. "I would have at least given you a note." They both smiled. Reaching into her pocket, Jane carefully placed her card on the desk. "I know this is all sudden. I don't expect you to figure this out right away. Hell, I'm not sure I can figure it out. I just know… I'd love it if you called me."
Maura was quiet, eyes poring over the simple white business card that lay innocently on her desk. She reached out for it and gently flicked a fingernail over the sharp corner. Memories were clouding her judgment, and she wasn't comfortable with the uncertainty. "It is very sudden," Maura said quietly. "I wanted that night. I wanted this," she gestured between them. "I was angry that you didn't give me an opportunity for more. But now that you're here, standing in front of me…" Jane's heart sank. "I'm just… give me some time."
There was promise in her request and Jane wanted to raise her fists in delight. Instead, she nodded and smiled. She stepped around the desk and slowly approached the blonde. When Maura didn't step back, Jane softly brushed her lips against her cheek. "All the time you need, Maura." Tilting her head in the direction of the door, she said, "I should go. Frost is probably wondering what the hell's taking me so long." She walked backwards to the exit, all the while looking at Maura. "Don't lose that card," she grinned, and raised her hand to say goodbye.
Once Jane was out of sight, Maura's legs finally gave way and she was forced to sit down. She tried to will her heart and mind to order, but it was in vain. The only sense of calm seemed to come from the small card she still had clenched between her fingers.
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