A/N: Thank you for sticking with me, everyone! Here's the last chapter. Then it's back to that AU...
"Frankie, give me your phone."
"What? Ma, sh, we're gonna wake 'em up!"
"No we won't!" Angela hissed, reaching for Frankie's pocket, causing her son to dodge quietly out the way. He sighed heavily and handed his phone over to her. "I'm not gonna call anyone, I just wanna take a picture…"
It was hard to blame Angela; the sight before her was the Webster definition of a Kodak moment: Maura had shifted onto her side, one arm still lying across Jane's stomach, while her leg had moved slightly in position so that her shin crossed over Jane's. Jane meanwhile had snuck one arm underneath Maura, her hand resting at the doctor's hip, holding her close. Jane's head was inclined towards Maura (slightly more elevated thanks to her pillows), her mouth so close to the other woman's forehead that she might have just kissed it. This, at least, was what Angela told herself as she silently took a picture and backed out of the room.
About another half an hour passed before Jane started to stir. As she woke up, she came to the uncomfortable realization that her arm was asleep. Normally this might have been cause for annoyance, but since the source of discomfort was 116.8 pounds of Maura Isles resting on it, Jane could only smile. She hated to disturb the woman, but aside from the feeling that blood might never circulate in her arm again, she wanted Maura to wake up so they could talk. They hadn't discussed anything in enough depth yet…
"I think it means I'm in love with you."
"Jane, I've been waiting so long for you to say that."
Strangely, Jane felt relatively calm. "So…do you…"
"I love you, Jane. I love you."
Maura nuzzled into her more deeply, and Jane was grateful that the woman couldn't see her face. She had just inhaled deeply and was afraid she might cry. Somehow she was simultaneously overwhelmed by Maura's declaration and also not, as if she too had known it and had only been waiting to hear her say it. It sounded so right and so true. In the precious few moments Jane took to try and plan her next move or sentence, she had felt Maura's weight gradually become heavier—consciousness was seeping out of her, and tiredness struck Jane as well.
Before succumbing to sleep, she had the strength only to say, "So glad… we're on the same page."
Now awake but in her weakened state, it took more strength than necessary for Jane to move her arm underneath Maura, enough so that her fingers could reach the bare skin by the doctor's elbow. Jane gently stroked her, tracing small circles around Maura's elbow, hoping to rouse her out of her slumber. Maura shifted slightly but her eyes remained closed, until Jane whispered her name. One deep breath later, Maura's hazel eyes fluttered open, meeting Jane's lovelorn gaze.
She didn't even stop to think about it: she lifted her head the small amount needed that would allow her to catch Jane's lips in a kiss. Jane felt her eyes close and it was the most welcome feeling in the world. Maura's kiss was gentle yet deliberate, and she refrained from slipping in the tongue even as she sat up slightly, opening and closing her mouth against Jane's.
"Hi," she whispered once they had broken apart. She was now resting her weight on her elbow and smiling lightly, as if what had just happened was completely normal behavior for her and Jane.
"Hey," Jane murmured back, flexing her arm to try and get the feeling back into it. "Enjoy your nap?"
Maura chuckled, rolling her neck a bit. "I wasn't expecting that to happen, to be honest."
"To kiss me?" Jane asked, so anxious about it that she already forgot the question she had just asked.
"To fall asleep in your arms," Maura replied with a smile. She gave another small chuckle at the bashful grin this brought to Jane's face. "I quite enjoyed it, though. And that kiss, as well."
"Yeah, that was nice," Jane said, taking Maura's hand and interlocking their fingers.
"I think I get it now," Maura said.
"Get what?"
"What you meant earlier when you likened your feelings for me to that sensation you get when you're leaning back in a chair and afraid it's going to fall."
Jane groaned. "Oh geez, did I actually say that?"
"You certainly did," Maura laughed. "And now I get it. There is that split moment where you don't know if you're going to fall on your back, or if the chair is going to lean forward and right itself. Some infinitesimal movement that you often have no control over decides your ultimate fate. When you told me you were in love with me, you didn't know if I was going to return your feelings or if I'd let you fall flat on your back."
"Thank God you didn't leave me hanging long," Jane said, cupping Maura's face.
Maura turned to kiss Jane's scarred palm. "Thank God you finally said something."
Jane had to smile at that. "Yeah, really. How uh… how long have you felt this way about me?"
"Jane, I've loved you for so long," Maura whispered, leaning in to give her another kiss. She repositioned herself so that one leg rested between Jane's and she sort of hovered over the detective, careful to avoid her wounded arm and shoulder. It was probably unwise to be on top of her like this, but Maura figured that if Jane experienced any pain at all, she would let it be known. She seemed fine at the moment, scrunching the fingers of her free hand into Maura's silky hair, cuing Maura to moan into the kiss. "Mmm, Jane…"
"I wish one of us had said something before now," Jane breathed a few moments later, when they had broken apart again.
Turning to lie on her side again, Maura said, "I've wanted to Jane, so badly. I was just afraid to because I couldn't keep myself from picturing …well, something like this. You in a hospital, I mean. You work in an incredibly dangerous field, and you've come close to losing your life more than once. I thought if I were ever romantically involved with you, it would be impossible for me to recover if you… if something happened. But now I know that I wasn't doing myself any favors. When you were shot yesterday, even though I knew you would be all right, I felt apart. My whole world fell apart. It couldn't have possibly been more traumatic, and at that point we were just friends."
"I don't know if we were ever really just friends," Jane said with a crooked smile.
Reflecting the smile, Maura asked, "What's the difference between like and love?"
"They're the same, except when you're in love, you feel…sexier," Jane husked, getting a laugh out of Maura. When the amused sound had died out, Jane felt her own smile fade slightly. "Maura? Are you in on this?"
Maura tightened her hold on Jane's hand. "Completely. I won't ever let you fall."
"And I won't ever let your world fall apart. I will always fight to come back to you."
They lay there a short while longer, kissing each other slowly and exchanging more soft words and promises. After what may well have been another hour, it dawned on Jane that her family hadn't been in to see her since that morning. "I wonder if maybe we should tell Ma and my brothers about this…"
"Oh," Maura said, sitting up and reaching for her bag, which was on the chair nearest the bed. "I'm sure they'd like to check in on you, at least."
"I meant about you and me," Jane said, as Maura turned on her phone.
A moment later, Maura was laughing: Angela had texted her the photo of her and Jane sleeping. Showing the picture to Jane, she said, "I think they already know."
When Jane was released from the hospital, Maura had insisted she come stay at her house. There she'd have more space, more distractions from her recovering wounds, and the most attentive nurse possible. For several nights, Jane was reluctant to do more than kiss, because she was self-conscious about her inability to reciprocate anything Maura might do—if strained too much, pain would shoot down from her shoulder all the way down her arm to her dominant hand. Maura was very understand of this, but didn't see why it needed to keep her from being able to do what she could to Jane.
"There's one thing we haven't talked about," she said quietly one night, sitting by Jane on the couch. When the detective raised an eyebrow expectantly, Maura sighed shortly and said, "My father is the one who did this to you."
"Maura, we did talk about that already," Jane said patiently. "And I told you to please not feel guilty about it. It was an accident, like you said."
"Still," she murmured. "You have to at least appreciate or acknowledge my feeling somewhat responsible."
"No I don't. What you did that day was really brave—you risked your life to help us bring down a suspect."
Ignoring this, Maura said, "Let me make it up to you," then leaned in and started kissing Jane's neck. She couldn't suppress a grin as she felt Jane gulp nervously.
"Maura…come on, no…let's wait…"
"We've already waited," Maura whispered, planting a kiss on Jane's jaw. "For months we've waited."
"Let's wait until I get my strength back, until I can do something for you, too…"
"No," Maura said simply, kissing Jane on the mouth briefly to make a point. "You don't need to do that right away. Sweetheart, let me do what I can for you. Let me make love to you, please…" Jane squirmed, afraid to let Maura do this to her. It was almost scary how aroused she felt right now; heaven help her if Maura actually carried things further. "Come on," Maura pressed her. "You don't always have to be so focused on giving, Jane. Let me give. Let me."
Jane fully turned to face Maura. "Okay," she said in a tired voice.
Taking Jane's hand, Maura stood up and led her back to the bedroom. She closed the door softly behind them, then instructed Jane to lie down on the bed. Jane silently obeyed, trying to relax as she propped herself up against the pillows.
"Tell me what you want me to do," Maura said quietly.
Jane surveyed her for a few moments before answering. "What're you wearing under that top?"
It was a coral, button-up shirt that was a snug fit on Maura. "A white camisole."
"And nothing else?"
"No."
There was just enough light in the room for Maura to sense that Jane's jaw had tightened. "Okay. Just take the top off, then. Leave on the tank and your jeans."
Maura walked closer, sitting on the edge of the bed. She maintained eye contact with Jane as she slowly, agonizingly unbuttoned the shirt, before shrugging it off and letting it fall to the floor. If the top had been a snug fit, it was nothing compared to the camisole, which left basically nothing to Jane's imagination. Through the sheer material, she could make out not only the precise shape of Maura's full breasts, but also how her nipples seemed ready to tear through that fabric.
"Dr. Isles," she said in a shallow voice.
Licking her lips, Maura moved closer, unzipping her designer jeans but leaving them on. She carefully straddled Jane's hips, then took Jane's left hand and guided it between her jeans and underwear. "Nobody's ever made me that wet before, Jane," she whispered.
"Jesus, Maur," Jane whimpered, curling her fingers against the soaked material of Maura's panties. She felt her own arousal spike accordingly and took a deep breath. This was exactly why she hadn't wanted to go so far yet: it'd be hell not to be able to reciprocate fully, to use her stronger arm to do what she really wanted to.
With enviable patience, Maura drew Jane's hand back out, interlacing their fingers as she leaned in for a kiss. She rested one hand firmly on Jane's hip, letting the other get wound in the detective's unruly hair as she deepened the kiss, sweeping her tongue into Jane's mouth. Maura tantalized her there a few moments longer before she moved her lips down to Jane's jawline, then her neck, then finally settling on her collarbone. Jane had screwed her eyes shut, her teeth gritted together to keep herself from rolling Maura onto her back and ravishing her. Already she could feel pain pricking at her shoulder as she grabbed two fistfuls of Maura's hair, gasping short and labored breaths.
Once sure she had left a mark on Jane's collar, Maura moved down again. Pulling herself out of Jane's grip, she tugged on the hem of Jane's shirt, involuntarily moaning at the sight of her sharply toned stomach and sculpted abs that were incrementally revealed to her. Maura became conscious of doing nothing but letting her lips and her tongue rake over that strong, tan skin and listening for Jane's stifled breathing. Her hands worked up and under Jane's back, and Jane lifted herself off the bed just enough for Maura's fingers to be able to toy with the hook of Jane's bra. After a brief struggle, Maura's efforts were rewarded, and she felt it unclasp.
She was about to not-too-delicately reach for one of Jane's breasts when they were interrupted by the worst timed phone call in the history of telecommunication.
"Don't you dare answer that," Maura whispered in a dangerously low voice, shifting back up to leave a long kiss on Jane's mouth.
"At least let me get it out," Jane said. Just a bit more to the left and that vibrating sensation would have been more than welcome; as it was, it was ticklish and annoying. She fumbled for a moment to get fish it out of her pocket, and once this was accomplished, was going to just toss it onto the floor. But she made the mistake of first glancing at the caller I.D., and sat up so fast that she nearly threw Maura to the floor. "It's Korsak, Maura, I gotta pick up."
"Jane…"
"He almost never calls—this has to be really, really important."
A woman in any other line of business might have pouted "more important than me?", but fortunately for Jane, Maura understood that "important" in this case might literally mean a matter of life and death.
"Korsak—what's up? …what? No, I'm fine, I just got back from, uh, doing some exercise," she said, glancing at Maura and trying to force her breathing back to normal. "Why're you calling?" As Korsak talked, her eyes widened, and her brow contracted. "How? …is he…? …yeah. Yeah, I'll tell her. Thanks, Korsak. …you too. Bye."
"What is it?" Maura asked as Jane closed the phone and lay it on the nightstand.
"It's Doyle," Jane said, studying Maura carefully for any nuanced reaction. "They got him."
"Got him?"
"He's alive," Jane assured her. "Apparently they intercepted a phone call and caught him on his way to another job."
"They intercepted a phone call?" Maura asked disbelievingly.
"That's what Korsak said," Jane muttered. She knew they were both thinking the exact same thing: if catching Patrick Doyle were as easy as intercepting a phone call, he would've been brought in way before now. He had let himself be caught. "Maura?" Jane asked nervously. The mood was definitely gone, but she was scared of what this new information might really mean for this woman.
Maura sat back on her heels, staring at a spot on the floor and trying quickly to process her emotions. After what felt like an aching eternity, she returned her gaze to Jane, to find those deep brown eyes looking concernedly back at her. "I'm glad."
"You are?"
"Yes. For everything he's done—not just hurting you—he deserves to be behind bars. He knows it and I definitely know it."
"Maura, you don't…"
"Sh." Maura leaned forward once more, leaving a short kiss on Jane's mouth before lying down beside her. "Don't worry about what this means for us. I don't need him, Jane. I have my mother and yours, and your brothers, to be my family." She lay an arm across Jane's stomach, pulling herself closer. "And I have you to protect me. I don't need him. He's served his purpose."
"And what purpose was that?" Jane whispered.
"He got me here."
"I guess that's true…technically if it wasn't for him, you wouldn't exist."
Maura smiled weakly against Jane's shoulder. "That's not what I meant. That night he came to see me… to explain what happened at the factory …he knew. He knew I wanted to be with you."
"Oh," Jane said softly.
"Bastard was right," Maura chuckled, though tears were stinging at her eyes. "Thank you, Jane."
"For what?"
"For everything. For making me know I can depend on you for everything that I need or could ever possibly want. For never making me doubt you or your motives or what you do. Thank you for loving me and being able to show me in a human way."
Jane kissed her forehead. "Aw, babe." She put an arm clumsily around Maura's neck, hugging her close. "Thank you for making it so easy."