Spending the night in Maura's arms had helped Jane to the best night's sleep she had experienced in a month, but she still woke incredibly early. The red digits on the bedside clocked ticked over to 5:03 am as she rolled out of bed and snuck quietly out of the room.

She didn't want to cost Maura an hour of sleep but she especially didn't want to face her girlfriend the morning after being so vulnerable. She wasn't cut out for being the little spoon, regardless of how soothing it had been. It was just too much vulnerability, let alone the vulnerability she had shown admitting how much she was struggling. It may have been the right thing to do for their relationship, but it wasn't something that sat comfortably within her at all.

She took a quick shower in the guest bedroom's ensuite to ensure she didn't wake Maura, before dressing and slipping quietly out of the house. She stopped at Boston Joe's to grab a coffee and breakfast pastry before heading in to work.

Homicide was empty when she waltzed in a little after six thirty a.m., which gave her plenty of time to catch up on her team's active investigations. There were five in total, at varying stages of investigation. The Larry Peterson case being the freshest and the one she was most interested in as it was the one she was considering handing over to her brother to run, because she knew that she was spreading herself too thin. Plus she wasn't sure she wanted to meet the sad excuse of a human being that had killed someone because of a video game. Besides, if she did actually delegate the case it would be a step in the right direction with Maura given it had been her girlfriend's idea in the first place.

According to her brother's notes the interview with Jesse Sinclair hadn't garnered anything useful beyond what she had witnessed herself. They were focusing their investigation on the victim's realm's top PVP players to see who would most benefit from Larry's demise. They had managed to identify character names from multiple tracking sites on the internet; they just needed to identify the account holders to narrow down the suspect pool. She furrowed her brow as she contemplated what she read. They had a lead but no active suspects. If Frankie was going to take over the case she was going to light a fire under his ass to ensure his success.

A quick glance at her watch and she figured that she had at least an hour before Frankie would be at his desk. Content in her decision, she decided to head to the basement where old case files were archived.

With the one year anniversary of Cooper's murder five days away she just wanted to take one last look at the files; whether it was to torture herself over her mistakes during that case or for closure, she wouldn't have been able to give an honest definitive answer. The truth was, for Jane, she might not ever be able to let go of the Catch 22 Killer because of the devastation he had left in his wake. Ryan Leiland had been an entirely different beast than Charles Hoyt, and while Hoyt had left her with physical and mental scars, they weren't the ones keeping her up at night.

"Back again so soon?" Officer Meadows asked, accustomed to seeing Jane in the early morning's at least once a week. There was always some old case she wanted to peruse.

Jane offered a tired half smile, "Can't keep me away," she signed the ledger that tracked the comings and goings and waited for him to buzz her in. "Thanks George."

"Just let me know when you're done, Sergeant."

"Will do," she replied, disappearing around the corner in the direction of the file she was most interested in.

When she reached her destination she pulled the box from the shelf and set it down on the floor. She sat down next to the box, removing the lid she dug through until she found the particular report she had been most concerned with. She skipped through the documents until she came upon the autopsy file. Autopsy had been handled by Doctor Celia Lawrence, the forensic pathologist the FBI had brought in to handle the autopsies and there was very little in the report that Jane hadn't already witnessed first hand.

Riley had bled to death due to multiple stab wounds to her side and abdomen, one of the wounds had nicked the hepatic artery in her liver, there wasn't anything that could have been done. It was something Jane knew all too well, memories of that night returning to assault her senses. She could almost taste the blood as she looked down at her own hands, hands that had tried to stem the inevitable tide.

Jane had to force her way forward past the point of the report that had stopped her in her tracks every time previously. The flashbacks of Riley clutching at her wounds had always been too overwhelming, and they threatened to overwhelm again this time, but she needed to push through.

Unwanted tears streamed down her face as she read further. She wiped her face with her sleeve and doubled her focus. It was then that she noticed a fact she hadn't seen before, Riley had scratched her attacker. Skin cells were found underneath her fingernails; however the DNA hadn't matched any known person in the state and federal databases.

She closed her eyes and sucked in several deep breaths, pushing back at the emotion tying her up in knots. Ryan may have ordered the murder of her partner, and he had already met his maker, but the person that had physically driven their blade into Riley had never been caught. This fact didn't sit well with Jane, and she knew that at this point in time the only way that person would be caught was if they slipped up again. At least they now had that person's DNA in their database.

She packed up the files and put the box back where it belonged. She wiped at her face again, making sure the tears wouldn't betray her. She sucked in a few more breaths and exited the archive room. She signed out and wished Officer Meadows a great day.


Maura awoke just before her alarm to find the spot beside her empty and cool to the touch. She had fallen asleep her arms wrapped lovingly around her detective, and it had been a welcome change; however the waking up to an empty bed once again only served to chisel away at the confidence she had regained the night before.

It was with a heavy heart that she slipped out of bed and wandered into the ensuite to begin her morning ritual. She spent longer in the shower than she normally would, allowing the hot water to wash away tears that ran freely down her face. She felt more alone standing there under the hot water than she had the day she left for boarding school as a child.

Maura knew that she hadn't always understood social cues, but she felt fairly confident in the obvious warning signs with regards to the stability of her relationship with Jane. She had no doubt Jane loved her, but she was beginning to understand what the detective had meant when she had said she sucked at relationships. Jane just didn't know how to share her burdens and despite the attempts of the previous evening Maura couldn't help but wonder if it was too little too late.

After ten minutes, her skin beyond wrinkled, she pulled herself together to prepare for the rest of her day. She had a flight to catch in the evening to make it to Detroit in time for the funeral of Phyllis Blake the following morning. She had already arranged for the next two days off, leaving Kent in charge of the morgue, but she hadn't had a chance to talk to Jane about what was happening.

After dressing and heading downstairs to brew her morning coffee Maura tried calling Jane, but there was no answer. "Please call me when you get this Jane."

Satisfied that she would hear from her girlfriend soon enough she retrieved the newspaper delivery from the front porch and returned to the kitchen island to drink her coffee and catch up on the current happenings in the world.


When Jane returned to the homicide bullpen she found Frankie at his desk booting up his computer. She walked over and greeted him warmly.

He looked up from his computer a little taken aback by the warmth in her voice. He figured after his calling Maura to tattle the day before that she would still be in a foul mood. "Hey, what's up?"

"I wanted to apologise, I know I over stepped yesterday and that I have in general been wound a little tight."

He shrugged, "I shouldn't have called Maura like I did…"

"Well I would have preferred you didn't resort to that, but it's done now. I went through your notes on the part of the interview I missed and I realise that this case isn't in my wheelhouse. I want you to run point from here on out, I'm going to focus my attention elsewhere."

Frankie was surprised to say the least, but he stood and after a quick glance to ensure they were alone he gave his sister a quick hug. "Thanks Jane."

She patted him on the shoulder, "Don't mention it. You earned it. Just make sure that new partner of yours stays away from Maura."

Frankie chuckled, "I'm pretty sure he's gonna be nursin' his wounds followin' his first encounter for a long while."

Jane grinned, her first real satisfied smile in some time. "Good." She turned to return to her desk when she stopped and looked back at her brother, "Don't let me down on this one Frankie!"

"I won't!" He had already devised an unconventional plan with Detective West and Nina to find the more specific information they needed and now he didn't even have to run it by Jane. He relished the opportunity to step out of his big sister's shadow.

Jane felt a small weight lift from her shoulders as she returned to her desk. She sat down determined to clear some of the paperwork that had built up during the previous few weeks. It was then she realised she had left her phone at her desk when she had gone to the archives. She checked the phone and noticed she had a new voice mail from Maura. After listening to the message she sighed, Maura hadn't sounded very happy.

She returned her girlfriend's call, as requested. "Hey," she offered guardedly when Maura answered. "I'm sorry I was gone so early, just wanted to catch up on some paperwork."

"So you're at work?" Maura enquired.

"Yeah, actually just passed the Peterson case over to Frankie." She hoped to pre-empt whatever negative feelings that Maura may have with what she felt a constructive solution to one of their issues.

"Oh he must be pleased," Maura commented, genuinely happy to hear about the development, both for Frankie and Jane's sakes.

"Yeah," Jane said, glancing over at her brother, who appeared hard at work. "Pretty sure he's doing a jig in his seat right now," she deadpanned.

"I highly doubt that Jane," Maura said incredulously, suspecting that her girlfriend was embellishing at best.

"You'd be right," Jane admitted, glad that Maura seemed in better spirits. "So you wanted to talk to me?"

"Oh, yes. With everything that happened last night I forgot to mention that I am going to Detroit for Phyllis' funeral."

"When?"

"Tonight, the funeral is in the morning."

"Oh," Jane's buoyant mood deflated, she had honestly hoped to go home to Maura at the end of the day. Furthermore she would have liked to attend the funeral with her girlfriend to provide support. There just wasn't enough notice to make that happen. "I wish I could…"

"I know that it is short notice Jane, I don't expect you to be able to join me. I just didn't want you coming home to an empty house and worrying for no reason."

"What time is your flight? I'll drive you to the airport." Jane figured it was the least she could do, and leaving work early for the first time in months wouldn't be a problem.

Maura felt a warmth bloom in her chest, it was a simple offer but it was a level of thought that Jane had been seriously lacking of late. Perhaps things were improving after all. Her smile was obvious when she responded, "Six thirty."

"Pick you up from home at four?"

"Yes, thank you Jane."

"Alright, I'll see you then. Love you Maur."

"I love you too."


A/N: So I decided to try and get this story moving along, I still make no promises about regularity of updates, but I am going to try to keep writing this one. This is a transitional chapter, basically everything up until now has been about setting a tone and re-acquainting readers with this particular universe. Anyways, thank you for reading and thank you for your reviews.