CHAPTER SIX

"What is that?!"

Maura answered proudly with a bright smile, unperturbed by the brunette's shrieked overreaction, "An experiment in forensic anthropology."

Jane's face was screwed up, her nose wrinkled as if she'd happened upon a very bad smell. "Oh. Ugh."

"I reconstructed him." Turning back to the head as Jane moved to her side, the doctor explained, "Three-dimensional facial reconstructions are usually part cranial remains, or a plaster cast of the cranial remains, and modelling clay."

Jane nodded as her friend spoke, understanding the principles and process, as well as the importance of knowing what an unidentified victim would have looked like. Her eyebrows drew together and her head tilted, analysing the facial features as Maura continued.

"The process is reversed somewhat here, but I thought since we had more remains to work with, it was worth exploring as a possible means of identification."

The detective leaned an elbow on the table top and cupped her chin in her palm. What at first had appeared to be a spine-chilling depiction of decapitation was, in fact, a remarkable achievement, a perfectly reformed soul, conceived by the mind of a genius. Maura had managed to restructure the appearance of their elderly male victim using the skull from the skeleton, some pins, a small amount of clay, and the severed face from the vampire. It was missing some of the scalp but the rest was painstakingly reconstructed.

Maura's knowledge of anatomy and her attention to detail was astonishing, and for a second Jane was silent. There were times when Jane would tease, ridiculing her friend's giddy interests or her penchant for the unusual; a reminder of how different they were at their cores. But then there were times like these, where something small would spark a huge, flashing neon sign inside the brunette's mind, stunning her momentarily, stealing her breath. She's a goddamn genius!

Swivelling her hips, Jane turned to the side and waved a hand towards the other table, looking from the head to the body and back again, "Do they look a bit similar to you?"

Nodding, Maura confirmed, "DNA results should be back soon, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a familial connection."

"Father and son?"

"Or uncle and nephew," Maura shrugged as her eyebrows lifted, unwilling to let Jane settle on her first assumption.

Jane sighed. "And what about the teeth?"

"The canines do appear to have been extracted from the skeletons we found." Maura breathed a heavy sigh of her own, sounding as tired as Jane felt. "What about you? Find anything useful?"

Jane turned her back fully to the head on the table, resting her ass against the edge, slinking somewhat closer to the doctor without conscious effort. She folded her arms over her chest and bowed her head, "We tracked down the previous home owners; one deceased, one moved out of state over a decade ago, and one is being cared for at an assisted living facility, so nothing to go on there. Korsak checked all the local taxidermists but didn't find anything. We've got a list of missing persons as long as your arm, but again nothing to go on, and Frost's still working on sourcing the security lights."

Maura stood and placed a comforting hand on Jane's arm, "We'll know more once the test results come back."

Grateful for the reassurance, Jane smiled and covered Maura's hand with her own, "I hope so." Relishing the feel of the blonde's skin, Jane stood unmoving as her warm, brown eyes soaked up the gold highlights of Maura's messy ponytail under the fluorescent lights. "You ready to go home? I can give you a ride."

Feeling her heart speed up, Maura breathed slowly, calming herself. She nodded, removing her hand from Jane's, "Give me ten minutes to clear this away and I'll meet you in the parking garage."

Jane's eyes seemed darker and more intense than usual and something in Maura's belly burned as the brunette whispered, "Okay."

As the doctor watched Jane leave, she couldn't help the feelings of anticipation that tingled up her arms from her fingertips. Despite knowing this was no different to any other occasion when they carpooled or slept over, she couldn't halt the hope that blossomed, the belief that just maybe they were turning a corner, that this time might be different. Last night had been wonderful, no matter how tired she'd felt today, it had been worth it and she saw no harm in wanting that again, in wanting Jane to stay.

oOo

As the car pulled up outside Maura's house, the doctor unbuckled her seatbelt and inhaled deeply. The last five minutes had been spent giving herself a silent pep talk, collating all the logical reasons she could use for why Jane should stay. There were other reasons, too, she just wasn't quite brave enough yet to let them lead.

"It's going to be another long day tomorrow and I still don't have my car. Would you mind sleeping here and giving me a ride in the morning?"

Jane smiled, happy for the request and the chance to parrot Maura's own words back at the blonde, "Is that your roundabout way of asking me to stay over?"

Tilting her head, Maura argued soundly, "I wouldn't call it roundabout. My question was very direct."

Ducking her head, the detective smiled again. Their relationship had become somewhat of a circus lately; it certainly was entertaining, but Maura had become the ringmaster, skilfully avoiding the huge elephant in the tent every chance she got. Amused and relaxed towards their interaction, Jane had let all the lingering glances, smouldering looks, and loving touches pass between them over the years without comment. Until now.

Unbuckling her own seat belt, Jane leaned over the console towards the doctor. Her heart beat with the force of a dozen galloping horses and she drew a deep breath in through her nose. The feeling was much like preparing to catch a bullet in your teeth.

With their faces much closer together, Jane spoke softly. "You didn't ask me to stay, Maura. You asked me for a ride… and we both know I could do that without sleeping here. So…" The brunette trailed off but her deep brown eyes held the blonde's beautiful hazel gaze. Gambling with what she thought she knew about Maura's private feelings, her eyes flicking down to the blonde's lips and back again, she whispered, "Ask me again."

"Stay." The detective had barely finished speaking before Maura blurted out the word. Drawn in to the body opposite, she leaned in herself and added quietly, "Please? Just – I want…" She couldn't say it. Why couldn't she say it? The moment stretched on and the comfortable atmosphere that had encompassed them in the car seemed to leech out into the cold.

Jane wasn't about to let the development slip away. "You want?" Her eyebrows moved in question, coaxing, encouraging, but things had turned serious and knowing a serious Maura was a cautious and reticent Maura, Jane opted for levity to break the tension. "You want me for my tow rope," she deadpanned. "Is that it? You only want me for my wheels. I shoulda known." She gasped theatrically as Maura broke into a sweet smile, pointing an accusing finger, "You wanna get me drunk and steal my keys!"

Chuckling at the detective's silliness, Maura swatted at her with a hand, "Be serious, Jane."

"I am serious. Honey, that electric Tonka toy of yours is useless in winter. I want you to sell it immediately."

Still laughing, the blonde's reticence was gone and her honest words took them both a little by surprise. "I want you…" Maura breathed, letting the words hang in the sparse air between them. "… to stay with me."

Reaching out a hand to cup Maura's cheek, the two instinctively closed the gap and rested their foreheads together. Maura had closed her eyes, as if she couldn't believe what was happening but Jane was still smiling, relishing their progress. "Was that so hard?" she asked, knowing anything other than affirmative confirmation would be a lie on both sides.

With her eyes still closed, Maura nodded.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, suddenly conscious of what they were doing, or about to do, Jane croaked brokenly, "I know."

Hearing the catch in Jane's voice, Maura's eyes sprung open. Mirroring Jane's gesture, the doctor reached and stroked the detective's face, comforting and reinforcing the sentiments they had just shared, albeit without actually saying them in so many words.

Long seconds stretched on in which Maura decided, having breached the line in the sand, she might as well jump right in. Drawing her face back slightly, she took a moment to simply look at the woman who had so enriched her life, with family and love and laughter, since the moment they had met.

She was leaning in, anticipating the touch of soft, warm lips against hers when Jane's cellphone started to ring, filling the silence with an unwelcome, shrill tone that made Maura sigh and almost drop her face in her hands with exasperation.

"Rizzoli," Jane barked into her cellphone, equally disappointed at the interruption. She was hard pressed to concentrate on the voice in her ear as Maura's cellphone also started to ring.

It was Korsak. "We've got another one."

"Oh, man," she grumbled under her breath. Korsak sounded as tired as she felt, and though he'd almost certainly had more sleep than she'd had the previous night, she wasn't sorry that she'd spent it curled up with Maura. Still, curiosity tore at her weary muscles as she stifled a yawn.

"I know you clocked off, Jane, but I think you'll wanna see this."