Author Notes: Thanks for all of the comments and favs/follows, as always (I'm running out of ways of saying that, haha) you guys are the greatest. This was a fun chapter to write, in so many ways, I hope you enjoy it just as much.


"Gabriel Dean and his wife are coming over for dinner tonight," Jane said. She spooned oatmeal into her mouth and continued reading the sports section of the newspaper like she'd only informed Maura that Toby had an aikido class.

Maura placed her bagel back down on her plate, her mouth agape. "Pardon?"

"I said, Gabriel Dean," Jane repeated, not taking her eyes from the article she was reading.

"I heard what you said," Maura cut her off. "Why?"

"He won't tell me why. Just that he needs to see me," Jane turned over the page, unaware of Maura's gaze fixed upon her, nonchalantly browsing. "I saw him the night that Maggie was born, that's why I didn't make it to dinner."

"Excuse me?" Maura pushed her breakfast to one side and leaned across the table. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you'd be mad," Jane said, lowering the newspaper. She folded it up and placed it down beside her.

"Yes, I'm mad," Maura said, gritting her teeth. "I'm angry that you didn't tell me. He's the reason you missed our daughter being born and you kept it from me."

"No." Jane vehemently shook her head. She wiped her hands on the legs of her pants and sipped her orange juice. "When I got the call that you were in labour, I left. We weren't able to finish our conversation. He had to fly back to Washington. He's in Boston again for a few days with his wife, I agreed to meet with him."

"Left to go where?"

"You're just going to ignore the part where I told you, again, that he's married?" Jane asked. "Happily, as far as I'm aware. They've got two children."

"His marital affairs are none of my business. What is my business is your inability to be honest about the night Maggie was born."

"Please, Maura." Jane pinched the bridge of her nose. The elephant in the house sat between them all of the time. She was tired of having to explain. "We've been over this. I don't know what happened. I can't remember."

"You claim he had nothing to do with you missing Maggie's birth, and yet somehow you've learned all about his personal life."

"We had a five-minute conversation. I wanted to know why he wanted to meet with me. Instead he demanded I tell him about my life. He returned the favour."

Maura slammed her palm down on the table and stood up. "I don't want him here."

"It's just for a couple of hours," Jane said. She picked up her bowl and carried it to the dishwasher.

"I am tired. I leak every day. I don't want company."

"My mother has been living with us for the last three days, how is this different?"

"Angela is here to help. She's family. She's not here for some unknown reason, and she's not your ex-boyfriend."

"So, your problem is that he's my ex-boyfriend?" Jane turned around, her eyebrow raised.

"No." Maura clutched the back of the chair, her knuckles paled. "I do not want anyone visiting until we're settled."

"I'm sorry," Jane said. "He has to go back to Washington again tomorrow. It was either invite him here or join him in a restaurant and I didn't think you'd want to leave Maggie."

"You're right about that. Why do we have to see him at all?"

The last time she saw Agent Gabriel Dean, they'd parted on bad terms. He was one of her least favourite people in the world. Not because he was once in a relationship with Jane, no matter how brief, but because time and time again he did things she didn't agree with. Not to mention the fact he shot her biological father. Even if it was a blessing in disguise.

"I don't know. He's being cagey. If we play nice for an hour, maybe he'll tell me everything I need to know and we won't have to see him again."

"You're cooking," Maura said. Jane nodded. "And you need to sort something out for the children. I will only be a part of this for as long as is necessary. Then I'm done. Do not let this happen again until we, as a family, are ready for visitors."

x

"Hello Gabriel, it's lovely to see you again," Jane said, allowing him to kiss her briefly on the cheek. She turned to his wife and held out a hand. "Hi, I'm Jane."

"Hello, Anita," his wife said, ignoring her hand and pulling Jane into a hug. "Gabriel has told me so much about you."

"Come on in," Jane said. "It's freezing out there. We've got the fire going, we don't use it often since we've got two little ones."

Jane stepped to one side and accepted Anita's coat. She hung it up by the door and followed them into the living room.

"Maura! I didn't think I'd be seeing you." Dean took a step forwards and enveloped Maura into a hug, placing a kiss against her cheek. He then turned to Jane. "Was your husband not able to make it? I wanted to meet him."

"Husband?" Maura glanced at Jane, her eyes wide.

Jane cleared her throat and moved to Maura's side, she slid an arm around her waist and pulled her close. "That's because I don't have a husband."

"I don't understand," Dean said, his brow furrowed. "You said you were married."

"Yeah. To Maura."

"Oh. Well, that's unexpected."

Maura pushed Jane's hand away from her side and held her arm out to the couch. "Please, take a seat. Can I get you both a drink?"

"Wine would be wonderful," Anita said. "White, if you have it."

"Always," Maura said, and retreated to the kitchen. Jane followed. "What are you doing Jane?"

"Please Maura, just for tonight," she said, standing behind her, her hand rested on the countertop encasing Maura between herself and the counter. "Can we pretend that we're okay? Dean's going to leave in a couple of hours, I just want him to know that we're good."

"But we're not," Maura whispered.

"I know, but please can you do this for me?"

The close proximity made Jane's skin tingle. She'd missed Maura. She hadn't been able to get close to her in days. Feeling her body inches from her caused a reaction she hadn't anticipated. She didn't move, desperate to maintain a level of intimacy, if only for a moment longer.

"Why is this so important to you?" Maura asked, placing her elbow out behind her, forcing Jane to take a step back.

"I don't know. Maybe I'm tired of having you snap at every little thing I do, deserved or not. Maybe I just want to keep up appearances so that Dean doesn't ask too many questions."

"Okay." Maura turned around, her attention focused on Jane's. "Just until they leave.

"Not a second more," Jane said, leaning in and brushing Maura's lips with her own. She lingered momentarily. She reached for the glasses as she pulled away and carried them across the room.

Maura watched her move. She ran a finger across her bottom lip. Her eyes trained on Jane's long legs. Legs that up until recently she had forgotten to look at, had forgotten to take pleasure in. Her eyes trailed up Jane's body as she handed the Deans their drinks. When did she stop noticing her wife?

Once the pleasantries were out of the way, Jane served dinner, and they talked, laughed and drank their way through the evening. By the end of the night, Jane was still none the wiser about Dean's visit.

"May I use the little girl's room before we leave?" Anita asked. Maura stood up and motioned towards the bathroom.

"I'll meet you by the car," Dean said, kissing Anita at the corner of her mouth. "Jane, would you please walk me out?"

She followed faithfully, expectantly waiting for the reason for his visit. On the doorstep he just smiled at her, his goofy grin only sought to piss her off. She was done with the friendly charades.

"What is going on, Gabriel?

"I need you to take an undercover assignment."

Jane's brow furrowed. "I'm not a cop anymore."

"That's exactly why I'm asking you. There's a leak at the police department. Someone's feeding a trafficking group intel and it's jeopardising the operation. I need someone who isn't on the inside."

"Why are you involved?"

"There's a potential threat to national security," he said. "The person, whoever it is, is feeding sensitive information to criminals. We have reason to believe it's not just about their own criminal activity but about another trafficking organisation that the FBI has been tracing for years. We've been liaising with the division at BPD, sharing intel, quid pro quo. We have undercover agents on the ground but they're not in Boston. Somehow information is getting through."

"How do you know there's not a leak at your end?"

"We're doing everything we can to establish where this leak is coming from, including working our end. But there's certain information that we're feeding through BPD, false information."

"So you know it's coming from Boston." Dean nodded. Jane shrugged. "Why me?"

"Why not you? You're a great detective."

"Was."

"Was, are. I don't believe you lose the skills. BPD have their own undercover agents out in the field, trying to get intel on the organisation working out of Boston. We believe the leak is here, and we need your help."

"I don't know, Gabriel." Jane wrapped her arms around her shoulders. The night was growing colder. "I got out of the game because I have a young family."

"Think about it, please." He lifted a card from his pocket. "If you decide to go ahead, here's the number of the guy liaising with me from the Boston office. Call him, he'll set you up."

"I'll have to think. Talk it through with Maura."

"Err, no," Dean said. "Nobody can know. We can't have any information getting through to BPD. I know your brother still works there."

"Can I at least tell her you want me to go undercover? No details."

"Fine, do what you have to do," he said, running a hand along her shoulder. "It was so good to see you again."

The door opened. Anita exited the house, she wrapped an arm around Dean's back and they said their goodbyes. Jane slipped back inside.

The warmth of the fire still roaring in the grate reached the ends of her fingers. She moved towards the table and started to clear the dishes. She stopped, lowered the pile of plates back down to the table and paused.

Maura stood beside Jane. She didn't turn, but it didn't matter. Maura glanced down from her lips to her wrist. Her breathing became laboured. She reached a hand out and gripped Jane's wrist, tugging her fingers away from the table. The crease between Jane's eyes didn't escape Maura's notice, as their eyes locked, but she didn't care. She twisted her round, pulled her forwards and tilted her head to one side before placing her lips against Jane's. It took a moment for Jane to react. When she did, the world stopped turning. Maura slid her fingers around Jane's neck, until her little fingers rested behind her ears, hungrily bringing her forwards. The feel of Jane's soft lips, the lingering taste of chocolate mousse, filled up her senses. She missed her. She pushed against Jane, leaning in close. Jane grappled at her waist in an attempt to keep herself upright. The breath Maura had been holding reached its capacity and she stepped backwards, gasping for air.

Jane stared at her, her chest heaving with every heavy breath. "What the hell just happened?"

"I didn't realise how much I missed kissing you," Maura said, her arms fell by her sides as she stared into Jane's curious eyes. She swiped a couple of tears from her cheeks and allowed her lips to curve into a smile.

Silence descended over them. Jane stared back at Maura, gaging her reaction. She stepped forwards, closing the gap. Her eyes still fixed on Maura's as their lips met. Still cautiously watching her as she opened her mouth, slipping her tongue out until Maura's lips parted and she allowed her to deepen the embrace. Jane ran her hands across Maura's back, up and down against the fabric that kept her from her. It was too soon for anything else. She knew that, but it didn't stop her body from reacting to the passion seeping between them.

Maura stepped back again. She ran the back of her hand across her damp lips. "I don't know. I don't...know. Everything's such a mess right now."

"Maybe it is," Jane said, edging closer. She rested a hand against Maura's face and kept her focus. The world melted away. In that moment it was just the two of them. Nothing else mattered. "But if you want to kiss me, can we not just be in this moment for a while, you and me, your lips and mine. Let's sit on the couch and make out like teenagers, and then afterwards, you can go back to hating me."

"I don't hate you." Maura wrapped a hand around Jane's arm and leaned her head against it. "I could never hate you."

Dropping her hand down by her side, Jane interlinked her fingers with Maura's, she led her across the room and sat down. A brief tug and Maura tumbled onto the couch beside her. Their hands moved across each other's bodies, grasping at material as their mouths danced together. They fooled around like teenagers, cautious of going a step too far but pushing the boundaries at every available opportunity. Maura pushed her backwards. Jane lay on the couch with Maura's body pressed against her, a heavy weight that felt more like a feather. Jane wrapped her arms around Maura's back and lapped up the taste of Maura's tongue in her mouth. She felt giddy with playful excitement. They were grown women, married with children, they had never made out without it leading to something more before. When Maura's hand pressed down on Jane's breast she let out a soft moan, the sound disappeared into Maura's mouth.

"I am so hot right now," Jane whispered, panting slowly. She wrapped her legs around Maura's back and held her close, gasping against her ear. The kissing was over and yet neither of them moved, they just lay together, Maura's head resting on her chest.

"If I hadn't just given birth," Maura replied, trailing kisses along Jane's collarbone.

The door opened. Maura sat upright, quickly pulling herself away from Jane. She stared across the room at Angela, stood in the doorway with Toby by her side and the baby in her arms. She reached a hand out to his eyes and covered them.

"Wrestling!" Toby shouted and ran across the room. He went to jump on Jane, when Maura grabbed him by the middle and span him around.

"Bed time!" she shouted back, pushing him in the direction of the stairs.

"Sorry!" Angela mouthed as she prodded Toby up the stairs.

Maura wiped her lips with the back of her hand. Jane sat back up on the sofa and stared at Maura. Questions lingered between them, and yet neither of them spoke. They stood side by side, averting each other's gaze.

"I'm going to make sure Maggie's ready for sleep," Maura said, rushing out of the room.

"I'll clean up then," Jane shouted after her and returned to the table.

Once the house was tidy and Angela had gone back to the guest house, Jane went to check on the kids. She said goodnight to Toby and retreated to the bedroom to get her pyjamas. Maura sat on the bed manually expressing milk.

"I think I got a little too excited," Maura said, wincing. "I forgot to express properly and Angela's already fed Maggie."

"Are you in pain?"

"A little, it's uncomfortable."

Jane smiled weakly. She opened her drawer and pulled out a t-shirt and pair of shorts. Then she turned back around and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Maura asked.

Jane turned back to Maura, cautiously optimistic. She didn't move. She stood across the room waiting for Maura to speak. When she held out a hand, Jane stepped forwards.

"I don't want to sleep alone," Maura said.

Stripping off, Jane changed into her pyjamas and perched on the edge of the bed. Maura cleaned herself up and threw on a nightgown. Pulling back the covers she slipped into the bed. Jane joined her and they wrapped each other up in their arms.

"Don't think this means I've forgiven you," Maura said, as Jane turned out the light.

She sighed, she didn't expect it would. "I haven't forgive myself."

They closed their eyes, their bodies merged into one as they set off on their journey to the land of nod.


Author Notes: Well that escalated quickly...I wasn't quite expecting it to go that way, but I'm glad it did.