Author's Note: Wow, thank you for the reviews! I appreciate every one of them and absolutely love to hear what you all think. Also, I didn't mean to post this so late but I don't know if you've heard, but the East Coast is taking a beating from Mother Nature this winter. Five days without power, eight without internet (and my own flu/bronchitis for 3 weeks!). Wanted to get this posted at least before the next major one hits tonight! Stay warm and safe to my fellow East Coasters :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Fair Use. Etc.

The ride to the precinct was quiet and awkward. At least for Maura it was. She couldn't tell how Jane felt so she spent the entire ride picking invisible lint from her pants and looking out the car window, honing her new-found fascination with telephone poles. She was confused and hurt, a plethora of thoughts scrambling around her brain. Mostly due to Jane not having said a single word to her since telling her to get dressed, something that Maura was becoming increasingly angry about though she couldn't exactly figure out why. Whether it was the way Jane had demanded her to dress or the fact that she still had the ability to make Maura do whatever she asked. Either way, Maura was pissed.

"Are we ever going to talk?" Jane's voice was soft as she expertly parked the car in her spot at the station.

"I think you've said everything you needed to." Maura refused to even glance over at Jane in the driver's seat as she grabbed her bag from the floor and opened the door. Her heels hit the cement floor harder than she had intended and she flinched at the echo.

"Maura." Jane tried. Maura slammed the door behind her.

She breathed deep, attempting to control the shaking she felt throughout her body. Adrenalin. Maura tried to remind herself of the various biological responses to anger. Her head running through all of the reasons why her heart was hammering in her chest and her breathing was labored and her hands were trembling. She felt unsteady, lightheaded. Her cheeks flushed as she heard Jane's door close behind her. Maura's feet seemed to move of their own volition, carrying her toward the elevators. She prayed the box reached the first floor of the parking garage before Jane reached her.

"Seriously? Maura!" She could hear Jane picking up the pace as the elevator doors 'dinged' and snicked opened.

Maura flashed a courtesy smile at the five people standing in the elevator already, obviously having come from the ground floor. She walked briskly in, toward the back, before turning around. Her smile faltered when she noticed Jane, flushed, hair a curly mess, sliding in just before the doors closed. Her smile vanished completely as Jane made her way toward the back as well, bumping into her arm in the process. Maura jerked her arm away more violently than she had intended, causing the man next to her to raise his eyebrows. Maura gave him an apologetic smile before turning to glare at Jane.

Jane, however, only smirked back before pressing her fingertips into Maura's side. Maura gasped and looked around, hoping no one else had noticed. Maura couldn't help the tingling she began to feel low in her stomach as Jane's soft fingers slid beneath the band of her slacks to caress the skin on her lower back. She could feel the blush rising from her chest, creeping up her neck.

Maura sighed in relief when the doors opened and three of the people exited. Though, she quickly realized, now there were only four of them, which in effect made it harder to cover up anything that might be going on. Maura lifted her hand and pushed Jane's away, giving her a look. She was mad and she wanted to stay mad.

At the next stop Maura's stomach flipped as the other two occupants moved toward the door. Shit. Now there was nothing to stop Jane from speaking to her. When the doors closed again, Maura wasn't surprised when Jane turned, her eyes sparkling. Her heart hammered in her chest as Jane closed the distance, snaking her arms around Maura's waist. Maura stifled a groan as Jane cupped her behind and pulled Maura flush against her. She dropped her bag and gripped the railing behind her, perfectly manicured nails cutting into her tender palms. Maura let her eyes close as Jane's lips found her neck, forgetting for a moment how mad and hurt she was. She was sure Jane was attempting to bridge the gap, to tell her she was sorry in the only way Jane knew how.

When the elevator stopped at their floor, Maura had gathered the courage, mostly due to the fact that Jane wasn't attached to her neck anymore. She was the first to get to the open doors, despite having to pick up her fallen bag, and, after a quick glance around to make sure no one was standing in wait for the elevator, she spun around on her heel, almost making Jane collide with her.

Maura stared into Jane's deep brown eyes. "Make no mistake, you hurt me Jane. You broke my heart this morning and it's not something I am going to forget easily, if ever. I'm not someone you can have your way with and then walk away like nothing ever happened. Maybe that's who I have let you think I was, but not anymore. If you want to make love to me," she couldn't bear to say the other, more precise, word in public, "then you need to figure out how to be in a relationship with me. Otherwise, this," Maura motioned between them, "is over."

Maura spun back around and let out the breath she had been holding. Her heart hurt and she knew her face was flushed but she kept walking, holding herself together for the sake of work. She couldn't tell if Jane was behind her or not, as all she could clearly hear was the ringing in her ears from the clicking of her own heels. However, as she entered the squad room she plastered a smile on her face.

Korsak looked up as she entered. "Hey Doc, do you know where...Hey Jane."

Maura didn't need to turn around to know Jane was only a few feet away. She still had an uncanny ability to know whenever Jane was near. When Jane passed her, Maura watched her flop down into the chair at her desk.

"Morning." Jane grumbled before nearly punching the button to turn her computer on.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Korsak smirked.

"Or in the wrong bed." Jane muttered, loud enough for only Maura, who was closest, to hear.

"Then maybe you should try sleeping in your own bed, Detective." Maura slammed her purse down on Korsak's desk, glaring in Jane's direction.

Korsak raised his eyebrows and looked at Frost. Frost shrugged and continued to stare at the show being presented in front of him, hands on his hips.

"Obviously." Jane stood, her chair nearly toppling over, before stomping over to the coffee machine. Maura watched as she poured a cup, added sugar and creamer, and walked back to her desk.

"I'm so glad you assumed I didn't want one. Thank you." Maura crossed her arms. She knew the whole room was staring at them now but she couldn't help it. Normally, she would never be so entirely unprofessional. But lately she seemed to have as good of a grasp on her emotions as she did on most forms of comedy.

"You're so very welcome. Besides, you have two, perfectly capable hands to get your own." Jane smiled smugly before taking a sip of the hot beverage.

Maura snatched her purse back up off the chair and stalked over to Jane's desk. "You're very right, I do." She reached forward, plucking the coffee out of Jane's hands. "And now I'm leaving." She turned on her heel, coffee in hand, not bothering to look at Jane's shocked face. It didn't even matter that this was most definitely not how she took her own coffee.

"Doc, wait." Korsak was calling behind her. She hadn't wanted to but she wasn't mad at him so she turned around and plastered a smile on her face again.

"Yes, Vince?" She waited and he motioned toward the papers he held in his hand.

"I'm not sure if Jane...anyway, we have a body." Maura sighed, she'd completely forgotten about the whole reason why she was even here on a Sunday. What she had really wanted to do, aside from going home, was go downstairs and put on her scrubs and find herself elbow deep in the possible suicide they had gotten yesterday. What she really did not want to do was get back in the car with Jane and drive to wherever this body was located.

As if reading her mind, Korsak continued. "I'll drive you if you need. Just let me tell them the game plan and we'll be out of here."

Maura gave him a genuinely thankful smile before turning and leaning up against the wall to wait, grimacing at the coffee she still held before dumping it the trash; it wasn't like she had wanted it anyway. She hated this feeling. The one that sat at the bottom of her stomach, seemingly twisting it until all she felt was the need to vomit. It was the same feeling she had felt months ago when she had returned, James in tow, with Jane there waiting for her. The same feeling she felt whenever someone mentioned the precinct stairwell. She was unsure, scared, nervous. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Maura closed her eyes. When had her life become a series of missteps and broken promises?

The question would have to wait as Korsak's voice filled the hallway. "You ready?"

Maura nodded her response and followed the three back to the elevators she had exited only minutes earlier. The elevator ride was silent this time, Korsak and Frost between Maura and Jane, as they all made their way down to the parking garage. When she got in the unmarked police car Korsak drove, Maura was thankful he wasn't one to pry, at least with her. She knew from many of Jane's stories that he usually did pry when it came to Jane. The ride was silent, much like her earlier ride with Jane, except this time there was no tension, sexual or otherwise, and Maura was also thankful for that. She fought the urge to look in the side mirror to the car behind them, the one carrying Jane, until they came to a stop.

Maura watched as Jane hopped out of the passenger side before she too exited the car, grabbing her bag of tools. Her phone started ringing at her side and she answered it, shutting the door behind her. "Isles."

"Oh, I'm sorry Martin, I completely... forgot." She looked with embarrassment at Korsak who gave her a half smile. "Okay, well, we have just arrived, so just pull in as close to the body as you can when you get here. Thanks."

Maura closed her phone and started in Korsak's direction. "Thank you, Vince."

"No problem." She wasn't sure how he knew she forgot to call her assistant to bring the bus to transport the body in, frankly it both embarrassed and upset her, but she was overwhelmingly thankful, once again, for his thoughtfulness.

The leaves crunched loudly beneath the brown leather heeled boots she decided on this morning in her hurry to dress. Their loud, unforgiving torment upon the leaves made Maura grateful she had picked them as the sound deafened the swirling of the words she was replaying over and over in her mind as they all walked in tandem toward a water well in the back of someone's house. She allowed a quick glance out of the corner of her eye toward Jane despite the loud voice in her head screaming not to. Her head was down and it was almost comical the way she was stomping toward the scene. Almost. If Maura had been a casual observer, she was sure she would have had a good chuckle at the Detective. Maura wasn't the casual observer, however, and her anger prevented her even a moment of joy related to the brunette.

Jane and Frost were the first to reach the well, both hunched, their flashlights trained toward what Maura's education told her was likely the bottom. She stood back, not wanting to be close enough to smell Jane's perfume over the rot of the corpse or crisp autumn air. She felt Korsak breeze past her, making his way over to his former partner. Maura stared at the ground, noting the way the leaves all took different patterns, none outwardly alike. As if colors were their own fingerprints.

"No, don't let her see this." The loud, shaking voice startled her from her thoughts and Maura's head snapped up. "Check the woods."

Jane's eyes were wild, frantic, and she was quickly approaching. Maura's eyebrows furrowed as she looked from Jane to Frost. Frost had his gun drawn and was sweeping around the woods, cautiously and hurriedly looking. She glanced at Korsak, who was mimicking the same action on the other side of the well. Maura started backpedaling as she sucked in air before Jane reached her. She felt Jane's long fingers snake and wrap around her bicep before she was being pulled back toward the flashing police cars and yellow Caution! tape.

"Hey!" Maura's heart was hammering in her chest and the sound of Jane yelling caused it to orchestrate a new, even faster, beat. "Go help them search!"

Maura knew Jane was talking to the officers they had passed on the way in but she was suddenly losing focus. She blinked once, twice, three times. The tunneling was fast and unassuming. "Jane?"

She wasn't even sure if the name had come out of her mouth, as the pounding in her head was relentless. Maura was gulping in air now, her brain telling her that it was collecting too much carbon dioxide in relation to oxygen, but she could only think of how a fish might feel if it were out of water. Her legs shook, unable to keep the pace with which Jane was leading, causing her to stumble and drop her bag. As the air around her whooshed about, suffocating, unable to fill her lungs, all Maura could think of was two words: panic attack.An episode of acute anxiety; often characterized by sudden onset of dizziness, tachycardia, hot flashes, shortness of breath. Her thoughts were racing as she fell toward the ground, unable to hold herself upright any longer, despite her and Jane's best efforts.

"Maura?"

She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the brightness. Above her the light was bouncing off a white ceiling and Maura squinted.

"Hey Doc." The voice was soft and definitively masculine.

She turned to find the piercing brown eyes of Detective Frost staring at her, his face flooded with concern. Maura tried to sit up, feeling the leather material beneath her fingertips as she rose. She winced, the pounding in her head making it difficult to stay in an upright position.

"You should lie back down." Frost fidgeted next to her, obviously uncomfortable. Maura knew how much he hated anything to do with what she did.

"I am a Doctor." Maura needlessly reminded him but settled herself back down on the gurney nonetheless. "What happened?"

"You fainted." Frost began moving next to her and held out his hand, offering her a Styrofoam cup of liquid.

Maura groaned and closed her eyes briefly before pushing herself to sit up enough in order to take the cup from him. She brought it to her lips. Orange Juice. As she took a sip, Maura was grateful that at least someone had been paying attention in the first aid class she was forced to provide the precinct with on a yearly basis.

"Why am I in my autopsy bus?" She watched Frost rub the back of his neck nervously.

"Jane said you wouldn't want anyone to call the paramedics." Maura nodded through the pain of hearing Jane's name associated with her in such a warm manner.

"Speaking of..." Frost lifted himself from his makeshift bench and hunched over, making his way toward the double doors. "You okay for a minute?"

She knew were he was going and knew that he knew she wouldn't want him to. But the resolve on his face told her that he was going to do it anyway, after all, Jane was his partner. Maura nodded and watched him hop down and disappear before turning and attempting to adjust the gurney so she could sit up without having to hold herself there. She was finally able to get the lever to catch as she felt the van begin to shake with weight and turned toward the offending movement. Jane was pulling the doors closed from the inside, closing them off and preventing an easy escape route. Maura took another sip of the orange juice before watching Jane make her way over to the spot previously occupied by Frost.

"How are you?" The soft timber of Jane's voice caused a shiver to make its way up Maura's spine, spreading a new warmth through her organs.

"Fine." Conversation was not what Maura needed right now, especially not a conversation with Jane in the small confines of her autopsy bus.

"What happened?" Jane's face was more concerned than Frost's had been and Maura felt a seed of guilt plant itself in her stomach for being so short.

"I fainted from what now seems like a sudden panic attack." Even saying it, Maura understood the implications. Jane gave her a pointed look, one that said the next thing out of her mouth would be chastising. "Please don't."

Maura rubbed her temple with her free hand as Jane spoke, attempting to rid herself of the lingering headache. "Maura."

Though she recognized that she should probably answer her for no other reason than to keep the conversation civilized, Maura ignored the rational voice inside of her head. Instead, she closed her eyes, her fingers continuing to make slow, lazy circles at her temple.

"Maura, you need to see the therapist." Jane continued, her voice escalating in volume.

"I am seeing the therapist." Maura barked back, a little louder than she had originally intended. She could feel her face flush at the increasingly confrontational atmosphere.

"Why is it always semantics with you?" Jane was wildly gesturing at this point. Her eyes were feral and her voice so loud Maura was sure the others outside could hear her perfectly. "Either way, Maura, you knew what I meant."

Semantics. If Maura hadn't been so irrationally angry, she would have congratulated Jane for using such a word. Of course she'd known what Jane meant but her anger from earlier prevented her from conceding. She had pride too. "Some people care about semantics, Detective."

"Unbelievable." Jane slapped her hands on her knees before yanking herself from her seated position. In an instant Jane was throwing the doors back open. "You're welcome for the fucking orange juice, Doctor Isles."

Maura jumped at the sound of the doors banging loudly together even though she had watched it happen. Jane had flung them back so forcefully that they had bounced off one another and propelled outward again. From her perch on the gurney Maura could see Frost standing there, roughly 20 feet from the van, his mouth agape and eyes flickering between herself and what she could only surmise was Jane's retreating figure. When she couldn't look at him any longer for fear of vomiting or hysterical outburst, Maura looked down at the cup of juice trembling in her hands. She hated confrontation and disliked it even more so when it involved Jane. Her stomach churned at the care Jane had taken to set her up in here and bring her orange juice and make sure she was okay only to have been met with clear disdain. Shit. Maura let her head rest as she closed her eyes.

A/N #2: Yeah, okay, I know, I'm sorry. But I hope you trust me :) Also, I am so excited about this case.