Sorry for the cliffhangers, friends! Here's a chapter with some closure. Also, I saw the comment that says I change it up a lot. fluff/drama/fluff/drama etc. Not sure if this is a good things or a bad...what do you think?

Hope you enjoy!

t.c.

Jane's first punch to Joseph Grant's face knocks him to the ground. The sound of her fist connecting with his skull makes a hard, hollow sound. And instead of watching Joey fall, Maura stares at Jane's face. Her expression makes Maura step back a couple feet. She looks dangerous. Joey hits the ground with a thud, and it takes him a couple of seconds to begin to move. Jane has moved so quickly that almost no one saw the blow coming, especially not Joey, so caught up in his taunting. Joey groans, his hands covering his eye, as he rolls back and forth on the ground. She moves to kick him in the ribs, and Maura steps forward, not knowing why she doesn't want this to happen.

"Jane," Maura calls, and Jane turns to look at her, and the fury in her features recedes a little. Guilt flashes across her face, and she drops her hands to her sides. She starts to walk back towards her friend, beckoning to Frankie, who moves towards the two girls, his hand still holding his nose.

Joey lifts his head to see where she has gone to. He sees her walking away from him and scrambles to his feet, his hand still over his eye. "You fucking cunt bitch dyke," he screams. "You're so fucking whipped. Your girlfriend calls you and you gotta go right? I am going to tell every fucking body I know about how lez you are for Isles over there, and then you will be sorry for punching my eye out. I hope your mother can still look at you after she finds out, you nasty bitch." Jane has stopped walking, but she hasn't turned around. She is looking at Maura, her face a mask of anger, and Maura realizes, with a jolt of adrenaline, that Jane is asking her permission.

Maura nods almost imperceptibly, and when Jane turns back to face Joey, the smirk he is wearing falters a little. "Bring it, gayzoli," he sneers, "no more sucker punches. I'm gonna fuck that pretty dress up."

Maura sucks in her breath, watching Jane launch herself forward. Oh, please, she thinks to herself. Oh, God, let Jane be okay.

But she doesn't have to worry. Jane is both faster and smarter than Joey, and although he lands a lucky punch to Jane's collarbone, she soon has him pinned to the ground with her knee squarely in his spine

She bends down to him and says something that Maura cannot hear. Whatever she says, it makes Joey mad and he struggles to get up, but Jane's grip on his wrist tightens, and with her free hand she slams his head into the grass. Maura winces, but she realizes that she doesn't feel…bad for Joey. She watches Jane's mouth move. Say it.

"I'm sorry for hitting you Frankie," Joe's voice comes out strangled. Jane glances up at her brother, who smiles weakly at her. She flashes a wicked grin and then glares down at Joe, twisting his arm a little harder. "I'm sorry Maura. I did not mean to disrespect you."

Maura's eyes go wide. Jane curls her lip, and Maura watches her lean forward a little bit, causing Joey to cry out in pain. Jane leans down and begins to talk to him. And although Maura can't hear what she's saying, every once in a while, Joey will nod.

Finally Jane stands, leaving Joey motionless on the ground. While she was punishing the boy, she'd looked fierce and in control, but as she turns to her brother and puts her hand on his shoulder, she just looks exhausted.

"C'mon, she says, gesturing to Maura, and guiding Frankie along, "We need to get home and get you cleaned up before Ma and Pop get home from Sunday Power Hour," Jane says, "Did you see Tommy?"

Frankie looks sideways at Jane, "He ran off when Joey started yelling about you,: Frankie says quietly, and Maura is impressed at Jane's ability to shut her panic down.

"Okay," she says, and she gives Frankie's shoulder a squeeze. "Thank you, brother. For sticking up for me."

Frankie smiles, "Of course," he says.

The rest of the walk back passes in relative silence. Maura glances at Jane when they are almost home, and is taken aback to see the beginnings of a bruise blooming on the pale skin of her collarbone. She opens her mouth to say something, but when she looks at Jane's face, she keeps her mouth shut.

Jane pushes open the door to the house slowly, like she thinks someone might jump out at her. "Clean your face and hands in the sink and then take your shirt off," Jane says "I'm going to change, I'll be right back." She gives Maura a look that is clearly asking her to stay with Frankie, and then heads up the stairs.

Frankie runs a paper towel under the tap and begins to wipe at his face. He glances at Maura. "Sorry you had to, you know, see all that stuff go down," he says quietly.

Maura shakes her head, "No, don't be silly. Joseph did not hurt me."

"Doesn't hurt, really," Frankie says shrugging, "I just wish I could have gotten him for Jane."

"Joey is a head and a half taller than you Frankie," Jane says as she descends the stairs. Maura turns around to watch her. She is dressed in jeans and a blue t-shirt. She looks amazing. "You can take him when you are older, okay? Let me see your face."

Frankie pulls the paper towel away from his face. Jane squints.

"Do you think it's broken, Maur?"

Maura reaches her hand out to touch Frankie's nose. He flinches at the contact, but doesn't cry out. "No," she says, "Just bruised."

"Jane, can I go to Shane's?" Frankie asks. Jane smiles. "Yes, of course, what am I, your mother?"

Frankie smiles and takes the clean shirt she holds out to him. He heads towards the door, but pauses, looking back. "Jane?"

"Yeah,"

"If you were gay? I wouldn't care, okay?"

Jane swallows, and Maura can see she's having a harder time keeping her face blank now. "Thank you," she manages. And Frankie smiles as he closes the door behind him.

"Jane. Talk to me. Please." Maura feels on the verge of tears. They are sitting in her room trying to get some homework done. Well, Maura is sitting, Jane is pacing back and forth, trying to work off some of her stored emotions. Maura had managed to extricate Jane from her family by offering to help Jane with her homework in a brother free environment. Angela had seemed over joyed that Jane was taking an interest in her studies. Frank Sr. had not seemed...anything. He was there in body, but his mind was somewhere else entirely.

Maura watches Jane stop at her door, resting her head against the frame.

"Jane," Maura pleads, but the brunette does not respond.

Maura stands up. "I don't care about your sexual preferences Jane," she says quietly. Even as she lets these words out over her mouth she is rationalizing them in her head. They are not entirely true. Maura is very interested in whether or not Jane could be attracted to her. But she forces herself to ignore that desire. Now is not the time.

Jane punches the doorframe, her fist making a loud thwack on the hardwood. "Jane!" Maura says, moving towards her. She has not ever seen Jane so upset. She's not sure what to do to comfort her.

"They can't know," Jane says all of a sudden, and when Maura looks at her, her eyes are unfocused and panicky. "They can't know."

Maura reaches out for Jane's hands. "okay," she says, gripping her friends fingers tightly. The contact seems to refocus Jane. She looks down at their hands and her eyes fill with tears. "They can't find out, Maura." she whispers, tears sliding down her face.

Maura pulls Jane into an embrace. "It's okay," she says, "it's going to be alright." And now she knows why Jane had beaten Joey so thoroughly. It was not the names he had screamed at her, it was not even the taunting. It was his threat to tell everyone that had pushed Jane over the edge. The fear that her mother and father would find out that she...

"Oh, Jane," Maura says, and she lifts a hand to run her fingers through Jane's tangled hair. Jane sighs into Maura's neck, giving her goosebumps up and down her arms.

"Please don't hate me," Jane whispers into her best friend's neck, and Maura shakes her head.

"I could never. Not ever."

Jane wraps her arms around Maura's waist and pulls her closer, eliminating any space between them, and Maura bites back a moan as she feels Jane's fingers pull at her waist, trying to bring her even closer. Get control of yourself, Maura. She needs comfort now. That's all. But Jane feels the change in Maura's body and pulls away.

"I'm sorry," She says, running her hands through her hair. "I should go, I shouldn't have. I don't want you to think that I-"

"NO." Maura is as close to yelling as she has ever been. Jane freezes, her eyes wide. "It doesn't matter to me, Jane," Maura says.

Jane wraps her arms protectively around herself, already her eyes are freezing over, shutting down. Maura feels herself panicking, thinking about how close they were just now, and how far apart they can be if Jane chooses to stop talking.

"please," she says, trying to keep the tears out of her own voice. "Don't shut me out because of ignorant, small minded...Assholes! I see you. I've always seen you. And I love what I see. I-"

But the rest of Maura's sentence is lost in Jane's hug. And it's Maura who pulls them closer this time, And Maura who presses a gentle kiss to Jane's exposed collar bone.

"Promise it." Jane says quietly. "Promise I will always have you."

Maura doesn't even think.

"I promise."