Chapter 4

Sunlight came streaming through the window. Maura's eyes slowly opened and she blinked a few times against the bright light. For just a few seconds she felt disorientated. The sheets under which she was lying were not her own. As realisation about her whereabouts dawned on her, she turned her head and realised Jane was still asleep beside her. The raven haired detective lay on her side, one hand hidden under her pillow and the other only an inch from Maura's arm. Slim fingers nearly touched her skin. Maura resisted touching her. It would only wake her.

Maura looked at Jane's face. There were only very few times that Jane appeared so relaxed. Maura knew how the nightmares plagued her, though Jane would rarely admit to it. Maura would see the dark circles appear underneath her eyes. These days she did not point them out anymore. She knew that Jane knew. Maura's eyes slowly followed the shape of Jane's face. She had a powerful and strong bone structure, something that Maura admired greatly. Jane's thick, dark hair fell like a curtain down the side of her face and rested on her shoulders. Her chest was rising and falling steadily and Maura's lips curled up into a gentle smile. Watching Jane sleep was almost more peaceful than meditation.

As she looked at Jane's features, suddenly the images of the dead women flashed through Maura's head, blurring the face of Jane into their own. Maura's eyes widened in shock and she moved herself a little further away from her friend. Her eyes fixed on the detective's face, almost desperate to hold on to it and make the images in her head go away. The faces of the women turned into Jane and her empty eyes stared back at from the autopsy table. Maura's heart suddenly hammered in her chest and a gut wrenching feeling made her feel sick.

She recognised the symptoms of fear and it startled her. Very few things frightened her. She was surrounded by death on a daily basis. It was something that frightened most other people. And Maura always managed to rationalise everything. But now... now Maura was afraid. And as she looked at Jane's relaxed features, she did not understand why.

She had been frightened when Hoyt had returned to terrorise Jane. The night Jane had arrived at her place and slept in her bed, she had been frightened then. She had seen the dark shadows form under eyes filled with determination back then. Often, without even realising it, Maura found her eyes being drawn to the scars on Jane's hands and she would feel a sense of guilt, of pain, she couldn't explain. She knew she could never tell Jane. She wouldn't want to hear it. Jane didn't like to admit her own weaknesses. Having felt so afraid, so broken, had left her even more determined never to let it happen again.

Maura searched Jane's face. The resemblance to the victims was unmistakable. As she followed the lines of Jane's nose and jaw, Maura attempted to understand why it bothered her so much that these women looked like her friend. She was not often the one to let crime scenes get to her, that was more of a Jane thing. But this was different. She had almost lost Jane to Hoyt. The mere thought of what had happened terrified her. It brought back the harsh, palpable fear she had experienced then. The same fear grabbed hold of her now. She could not bear the thought of losing Jane. She was afraid. Maura Isles was never afraid. She had never allowed herself to be. But now she was.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you it's rude to stare?" groaned Jane, peering at Maura through her eyelashes.

"Sorry," Maura muttered and averted her eyes, worried Jane could see she the fear reflecting in them. Like Jane, she too was never one to gladly admit her weaknesses.

Jane's eyes now fully opened and she propped herself up on her elbow, resting her head in the palm of her hand. She seemed unusually alert from someone who had just awoken from their slumber. "What were you looking at anyway? Please don't tell me I was drooling."

"Excessive salivation is very often due to posture or illness," Maura said, her eyes making contact with Jane's. The darker haired woman stared at her in a mixture of amusement and fascination. "Though it does not generally pose a problem."

"All right Dr Wikipedia, enough with the science lesson," Jane smirked and Maura sent her a look. But Jane brushed along the corners of her mouth anyway, just to be sure, before swinging her legs over the side of the bed and placing her feet on the floor. She turned around, looking at Maura sitting in her bed. It was an image she had gotten so used to. A playful smile lingered on her lips. "I'm on call today but Frost said he'd handle the paperwork for the last victim. Got any plans?"

Maura looked at her and Jane wondered why it always looked like she was beaming. The brunette pathologist shook her head. "No. No plans."

Jane nodded and pulled a face. Today was Sunday and tonight Maura would join them for dinner. "Good. Because I know you have met my parents but when it comes to a family meal at the Rizzoli's, I think there are a few things you need to know."

"They seem pretty harmless to me," Maura arched an eyebrow, her eyes still fixed on Jane. There was something about her as she stood in the early morning sunlight, dressed in her sweatpants and tank top and with her hair an even unrulier mess than normal. Something that could almost be described as endearing.

Jane looked at Maura. "You have met my mother, right? The words 'harmless' and 'Angela Rizzoli' do not go together."

Maura smiled as she too slipped out of the bed and walked around to approach Jane. She placed a hand on her arm "I am sure everything will be fine. You have seen where I come from; you know how I hold myself during dinner."

Jane suppressed a giggle as she experienced the recollection of the last time she joined Maura and her high society friends. "That's what worries me."

"Now, do I meet you there or will you pick me up?" Maura said and Jane looked at her in surprise. Clearly she had not expected Maura to leave. "What, you expected me to stay here? Jane, I can't possibly turn up at your parents' house in a dress I wore yesterday!" Jane was about to interrupt her but Maura was quicker and shook her head. "And no, I will not wear something out of your closet because you have nothing to wear!"

"Maura Isles, did you just allow a sense of humour to sneak into that prodigious brain of yours?" Jane asked with a smirk and Maura's eyes glistened with triumph and amusement. "I'll see you at my parent's place at five. There's a game on." She watched how Maura picked her neatly folded clothes and started for the bathroom. When the door closed behind her, Jane sighed and turned back to the now empty bed. Though it wasn't exactly as empty as she thought. Joe Friday's head appeared from under the duvet and Jane smirked. She climbed back into the bed and Joe jumped on top of her. As she rolled over, her fingers brushed against the pillow Maura had been sleeping on. She rested her head on it and picked up the scent of Maura's perfume. She smiled as her fingers caressed the cover.

~()~

Jane arrived at her parents' place just after four o'clock. She knew Angela would not waste a single opportunity to once again remind her how she was wasting her life away being a detective and how she was missing out on the important things in life like a husband and children. She would rather get it over with before Maura arrived. It was embarrassing at the best of times.

"Did you bring the beer?" Frankie asked as she walked in and she held up two six packs. Her brother hugged her in approval before taking the bottles off her and walked into the living room from where she could hear the commentator's voice. She called after him.

"Make sure there is some left by the time I get to join you!"

"Oh Jane, why do you always have to watch those stupid things with them?" Angela said. She had appeared from the kitchen and looked at her daughter from head to toe. Jane was dressed in her comfortable slacks, a t-shirt and her jacket. She knew her mother was looking for her gun and badge and Jane quickly covered her hip. When she met her mother's gaze she shook her head.

"I'm on call, Ma," she defended herself but Angela rolled her eyes. Jane knew it was a fight she would never win. Her mother had made up her mind about her job the day she had started at the Academy. "What's for dinner?"

"Homemade lasagne, Rizzoli style," Angela answered and Jane's face lit up. Her mother could be a pain in the ass but she was a good cook. Angela was about to walk back into the kitchen when she suddenly turned around and looked at Jane. "Maura isn't a vegetarian, is she?"

"No, Ma," Jane answered with a smile. She followed her mother into the kitchen and leant against the doorframe, casually pushing her hands into the pockets of her pants. The smell of the lasagne made her stomach rumble. "Anything I can do to help?"

Angela shot her daughter a look and Jane knew the answer before her mother even spoke. "You come with a warning label, Jane. 'Do not place in kitchen'. Go join your father and Frankie" The contradiction with her earlier comment made Jane smirk. "What time will Maura get here?"

"I told her to be here for five," Jane answered and she checked her watch. It was twenty past four. She looked back up to find Angela looking at her. Something about her intense stare made even Jane feel uncomfortable and she smirked. "This means anytime between now and then, really. Maura hates being late."

She had barely said the words or there was a knock on the front door. Since there was nobody coming out of the living room, her father and Frankie Jr were having a fierce debate about one of the players, and Angela had already returned back to the lasagne, Jane left the kitchen and opened the front door. Maura stood outside, clearly looking a little bit uncomfortable. She looked up when Jane opened the door and her eyes lit up, a smile appearing on her face. Their gazes met and Jane smiled too.

"Is your watch fast, Dr Isles?" she asked as she stepped aside to let Maura in. Her friend filed past her, into the hallway and turned around to watch Jane close the front door. Jane's eyes quickly scanned Maura from head to toe and discovered she was wearing one of her favourite dresses. It was a deep shade of burgundy that brought out the intensity of Maura's eyes. Jane had once made a comment about liking the dress. Maura had clearly remembered. She wore matching shoes, a black jacket and carried an expensive handbag. The price tag for the bag alone was probably higher than Jane's monthly pay check.

Maura arched an eyebrow. "I don't like being late."

Jane smiled and took her friend by the arm. "Come on, the game is about to start."

"Game?" Maura asked, clearly not quite understanding what Jane meant.

"Celtics," Jane explained and Maura nodded. She followed Jane into the living room, where Frank Rizzoli and Frankie Jr were sipping from their beer bottles. The debate about one of the players had died down and they had lost their focus, as the commercials had taken over. Both looked up when Maura followed Jane into the room and Frankie Jr smiled. He and Maura saw each other often enough in and around the precinct and she was no stranger to Frank either.

"Hey Maura," the two men greeted her and she sent them a smile.

Angela appeared from out of the kitchen and Maura turned to greet her. Her eye instantly fell on the large kitchen knife in Angela's hand and Maura's eyes nervously shot up to Jane. Jane couldn't contain her laughter and slipped her arm around Maura's shoulder, pulling her closer. Maura pressed herself safely against Jane's slender frame, looking for that familiar sense of security and safety she always got whenever she was close to her.

"Don't worry, she isn't going to kill you," Jane reassured her, still giggling. Maura didn't seem quite sure and Jane looked at her mother. Though wielding a knife, Angela did not appear particularly murderous. Jane's fine shaped eyebrows shot up. "Right, Ma?"

"I was just wondering whether anyone could lend me a hand in the kitchen? I am trying to make this salad but there is too much stuff to cut and I only have two hands," Angela asked but she lost everybody's attention but Maura's as soon as the commercials ended. Jane walked around the couch, ignoring her mother's question, and planted herself firmly in between her father and her brother before picking up one of the beer bottles and placing it against her lips. It was clear that she had no intentions of helping her mother.

Maura seemed slightly lost and almost desperately looked at Angela. "I can help."

She followed Angela into the kitchen and sniffed as she walked in. She curiously looked at Jane's mother. "What is that delightful smell?"

"Lasagne," Angela answered and glanced at Maura. The contrast between her and Jane was striking and there were times she wondered how the two of them had ever struck up a friendship. But Maura seemed eager to help her out and Angela smiled. "Would you mind making the salad?"

"Caesar, Niçoise or Waldorf?" Maura questioned as she picked up the knife.

Angela shot her a puzzled look. "Just a salad will do."