Jane froze for a moment in shock, many things were flashing through her mind in that time but the two prominent feelings were that first of all she wanted to protect the woman in front of her and second of all was to kill whoever dared to lay a finger on her, or in this case an entire hand.

Doctor Isles stuttered, "Apologies Jane… I seemed to have lost track of time..", she said scrambling to grab the scarf that had been discarded on her desk and picked it up with the intention of retying it around her slender, bruised neck. Her hands managed to grab the silky soft material and reach her neck but as she went to tie it, another set of hands stopped her.

The dark haired Italian student had stepped up behind her and carefully extracted the material from the woman's hands, "Stop", she whispered softly, putting the fabric onto the desk again. The coffee cups had already been abandoned on the desk. Jane's eyes flickered to the door and she stepped away to flick the lock on the door before returning to Maura's side.

Maura was looking down at the carpeted floor, she seemed to have taken on a more submissive pose and Jane sighed as she noticed this fact. "What happened Maur'?", she asked softly, her name consequently being shortened in a soft and caring manner.

The tone of voice and change of name got the woman's attention, she bit her lip as she looked at her student, "I...I…", her breathing became irregular along with her heart rate and suddenly she fell to the floor.

Well she would have fallen to the floor if Jane hadn't put her arms out and caught the falling honey blonde woman. Carefully, she lowered the Doctor to the floor, cradling her in her arms, she then used a jacket as a pillow under the woman's head before getting her a glass of water from the sink in the corner of the office. She returned and knelt by her side, she took a moment to examine the bruising to the woman's neck. "Who did this to you?", she whispered softly as her fingers traced a section of the bruising, the size in comparison to her own hand made it clear to her that a man had done this to her and she sighed, realising that it was most likely her husband. "If he can do this then he clearly doesn't realise how lucky he is…", she said in a soft whisper.

"How lucky who is?", the honey blonde woman mumbled as she opened her eyes to the sight of her student kneeling at her side.

Jane smiled brightly, "Hey sleeping beauty", she commented, "Glad you're back". She helped her to sit up and offered her some of the water straight away, "Here", she said softly, "This should help".

Maura nodded and took a sip, "Thank you", she said softly.

"So…", she said biting her lip, "Are you going to tell me why you passed out?".

Doctor Isles looked up at her curious student and sighed, contemplating not telling her the truth or skirting around it, "Vasovagal Syncope", she said leaning against the side of the desk with the glass of water in her hand. "They can be triggered by a number of factors such as the sight of blood or extreme emotional distress or in my case….", she paused and looked away from the woman in front of her, "...by lying".

"So you pass out when you lie?", Jane asked in order to confirm what she had just been told.

Maura nodded, "Yes", she confirmed simply.

"In other words you were going to attempt to tell me that your husband didn't grab you by the throat hard enough to leave bruising?", Jane said as she watched the woman's facial expressions turn from nervousness to shock.

"He...well...he", her breathing was again irregular as she attempted to lie.

"Stop it", Jane said putting her hands very lightly on the woman's upper arms, "It's okay". One hand went and cupped her cheek, "It's going to be okay", she was trying her best to reassure the woman, "But stop trying to lie because you and I both know that it's just going to result in you being passed out on the floor again". She smiled at the woman as she said the last comment and her left hand remained on Maura's cheek.

Maura felt herself taking comfort from the young woman's hand on her cheek, and she closed her eyes briefly before nodding to what Jane had said to her.

"Promise you won't lie anymore?", Jane asked, "At least not to me… I don't want you passing out again".

The woman nodded, keeping her eyes closed, "Okay", she said simply and softly before opening her eyes and looking at the dark brown eyes that were looking directly into hers.

"Now, I was right wasn't I?", Jane asked gently, "About who did this to you".

She bit her lip, closed her eyes and pressed ever so slightly into the hand at her cheek before answering, "Yes".

The two women were still sat on the floor when Jane allowed herself to do what she had wanted to do ever since she walked into that room, she took her into her arms in one sweep. She wrapped her right arm around the woman and her left hand remained for a moment on her cheek, "Oh Maur'", she said softly, in a voice that was barely even a whisper, she was trying to think of what to do in order to help.

Maura Isles simply let herself fall into the woman's embrace, her hands after a moment came up to grip the back of her shirt and she took comfort in the positive contact.

"You're not...erm…", she paused unsure how to word what she wanted to say, she had pulled back slightly but remained close with her hand on the woman's cheek, the hand seemed to have a mind of it's own and didn't want to leave its position, "You're not going to...stay… are you?".

"Where else am I going to go Jane?", Maura asked looking away for a moment, "It's my house…".

Jane nodded, "Then make him leave", she said making it sound so much more simple, "If you tell the police then they can deal with him and in the meantime...well..".

"Well what Jane?", she asked after a moment of silence.

"I was going to say you could stay with me…", she said softly to Maura, "Then I remembered I live in a studio apartment and that idea probably wouldn't be at the top of your list".

Maura smiled softly, "Thank you for the offer Jane but I can assure you that I will be fine", she said as she leant up to put the empty glass on the desk.

"You're going to be fine as in you'll get rid of that asshole or...", Jane said before being cut off.

"Language Jane", Maura chastised.

The dark haired woman shook her head, "Or you'll be fine as in you don't think he'll do it again".

A/N:

Apologies again for delays, the semester is almost over! One presentation and two exams to go (along with few events).

pennyrobinette90 - I agree! I hate him too and would LOVE to shoot his ass ! (When I read your comment I did have an image come through my head of Jane literally shooting Ian in the ass).

'Sweetkid45' - I agree! He needs to be shot and nobody should be permitted to put their hands on Maura like that…

Thank you for the reviews; 'Guest' (x3), 'LoveIsles', 'Magicfull', 'cjunited38', 'Sue' and 'KShay89'.

There has been 20 chapters planned for this story… and I will update as quickly as possible between studies and my other stories.

The other stories that I have to complete are;

'Jane's Girl' (Rizzoli & Isles)

'I Understand' (NCIS)

'Crystal Blue' (NCIS)

'The Perfect World' (Rizzoli & Isles)

'Rubble and Ashes' (NCIS)

'Calleigh's Birthday' (CSI:Miami) (ONE more chapter to go!)