Chapter 7: Jane's Little Slice of Heaven

Almost a week had gone by since Jane had seen Maura, and she felt off. She felt like a machine, doing whatever she needed, and never anything she wanted. And if she was being perfectly honest, she missed Maura.

So the next morning, she woke up obnoxiously early, getting all the girls' things ready for school and checking the calendar to verify that it was, in fact, Riley's turn to take the twins to school.

She walked quickly through the chilly pre-dawn air, her heart skipping beats from her excitement. She knocked on Maura's front door, praying the honey-blonde was up, or could at least hear. A few more moments later, the door creaked open, and Jane's breath caught. Maura was even beautiful half-asleep. More so. Her eyelids were drooping, her hair mussed ever so slightly to give it added volume. Her pajamas were….well they were a lot less fabric than Jane wore, but still.

Jane cleared her throat, as Maura seemed too distracted to answer.

"What're you doing here?" the honey-blonde slurred, her voice scratchy with sleep.

"Well…I kinda had a surprise for you. But if you don't want it—"

"Two minutes," Maura cut in.

Jane almost laughed at how her eyes had instantly opened and she could finally see the pretty hazel. Maura was true to her word, scurrying around the house to get herself ready, quick to make herself as pristine as Jane had always seen her.

And as they walked along the empty streets, Jane found herself smirking at how excited Maura was. The woman was practically skipping as she stayed by Jane's side, asking questions that only widened the silly grin on Jane's face.

"What're we doing?"

"You'll see."

"Where could we possibly be going this early? And why?"

Jane laughed, leaning over to lightly nudge Maura with her body.

"Relax, will you? It's a surprise for a reason!"

Maura didn't accept that answer, her questions continuing to spill out until Jane stopped them both.

"I'm gonna ask you to close your eyes. Can you do that?" Jane teased. "Or am I gonna have to cover them myself?"

Maura's heart jolted, and she smirked at Jane to hide it.

"I don't think I could stand the temptation," she said, her voice suddenly low.

If Jane caught the change, she didn't let on to it, wrapping her arm behind Maura's head and around to cover her eyes with her palm. The other hand held Maura's upper arm reassuringly, guiding the honey-blonde to start walking again.

Every once in a while they would stop, and Jane's hand would leave Maura's arm to do things Maura could not see, but it always returned, her thumb moving subtly to comfort her every so often. Finally, Jane stopped Maura where she was, slowly removing her hand from the honey-blonde's eyes. Maura gasped, her mouth falling open.

They were standing in a giant warehouse, machinery scattered everywhere. Unfinished planes littered the building, a few straggling workers wandering around from the end of the graveyard shift, and Maura looked to Jane for explanation.

"You…you seemed so excited when I told you about my job. And I wanted you to see it, but it's real dangerous during the day with all the tools and rivets and stuff, so…"

"Jane!" Maura exclaimed, unable to help herself as she threw her body at Jane, her arms wrapping tightly around the shocked brunette.

No one had ever showed any interest in quenching her thirst for knowledge. No one had ever gone out of their way to give her answers to her interests. As quickly as she had hugged Jane, she let go, spinning around to inspect the area. Jane didn't need to be asked to follow her, explaining each piece of equipment Maura pointed to, until they had come full circle. They had to have been there for at least an hour, though, because the sun was peeking through the few windows that were high above them.

Jane looked at Maura, who was sitting on a table, her head tilted up to taking the high ceilings, the boxes packed all the way up there. Quietly, Jane took a hard hat from the wall and placed it playfully on Maura's head. It was huge, slipping down to cover the honey-blonde's eyes. Maura giggled, waving her hands to blindly feel for Jane as she stood. Her foot caught and she stumbled, but Jane caught her, nudging the hat up enough to look Maura straight in her eyes. That was about when both of them realized exactly how close they were, Maura held in Jane's arms, Jane looking down at her, less than a few inches apart.

Maura swore they were breathing the same air, her heart beating forcibly, anticipating…anticipating what? All she could hear was the blood pumping in her ears as she stared up at Jane, into her frightened eyes.

"Hey!" a voice called from across the room.

Jane instantly looked up, standing up straight so Maura could to and clearing her throat. Even though Jane was standing between them, blocking the two from seeing each other too well, Maura had caught enough of a glimpse to know the woman looked rather similar to Jane. Tan skin, dark hair, muscular build. She was shorter than Jane, but she had the same air…the same…confident stride.

"So this is where ya ran off to so quick this morning," Riley laughed. "This must be Maura—"

Maura had taken off the hard hat, making the woman stop mid-sentence, her easy casualness gone, replaced with a slight frown. Maura froze, fear paralyzing her at the angry look Riley was giving her. Jane noticed too but tried to brush it off.

"Yeah. This is Maura. Maura, this is Riley."

Maura smiled at her, but Riley only made half an attempt to smile back, her eyes darting between Jane and the honey-blonde.

"It's…nice to meet you," Riley said cautiously, extending her hand slowly.

Maura felt her cheeks burning, each scenario of what could make Riley dislike her so quickly flying through her mind. What did she do? Were she and Jane doing something socially unacceptable? She couldn't think of one as she took Riley's hand firmly in her own, her eyes locking with the coffee colored ones. She saw a sort of questioning swimming in them, but what they were asking, Maura was not sure.

"Well…" Jane said, the sound of her voice causing Maura to drop Riley's hand as if it had burned her. "I'm gonna walk her back home. I'll see you in a couple hours?"

"Yeah…" Riley trailed off. "Have fun…"

Jane gently took the hat from Maura's grasp, both her hands gripping Maura's upper arms to guide her away. As soon as they were out the door, Maura felt her questions spilling over.

"What was she doing there so early?"

"She doesn't sleep very well in her own house. Sometimes when it's real bad she drops the kids off and heads in a little early to grab a few hours of shut-eye."

"W-what's wrong with her house?"

"Nothing, really…Just too empty without Frankie."

"Oh," Maura breathed.

She hadn't thought about that. Garrett was never home half the time, anyway, though, off on business. Apparently she'd just gotten used to sleeping alone.

"And the kids? School doesn't start for another hour."

Jane gave a small laugh.

"Even when they say they lock the doors to the school, they don't. And besides, there's always a teacher in early. Riley checks to make sure one light's on before she leaves 'em there. Plus, she doesn't really do it….often, so it's alright by me."

"Huh…" Maura said curiously.

They walked in silence for a little while, until another question kept bothering her.

"Why didn't she like me?"

"You don't know that."

"I do. She didn't," Maura argued.

Jane didn't say anything for a little while, her own mind racking to try and understand.

"She's never had much, Maur. And no one's ever bothered to help her out, much less give her the time of day. I dunno….Maybe…maybe she just don't trust people who are well off."

Maura knew that wasn't it. Because clearly Riley had known about her. She had probably seen her car at Jane's house. Which was a clear indicator of her wealth. She knew her name, and had said it without disdain. Until she saw her.

"Other than that, did you enjoy yourself?" Jane asked timidly.

The honey-blonde grinned down at her feet shyly.

"Yes. It was the most wonderful surprise I have had in a long time, Jane," she answered sincerely.

"You mean it?"

"I can't lie."

Jane gave an unrestrained laugh, then furrowed her brow and looked down when Maura didn't laugh with her.

"You're serious?" she asked, slightly shocked.

"Yes."

"Not even a white lie?" Jane pressed, her voice high in disbelief.

"No. That's not to say, of course, that I haven't found ways around it," Maura clarified, smirking to herself.

"Like what?"

"Most people don't notice if you dance around a question. Answer without answering."

"Oh. You're one of those people," Jane laughed.

"One of what people?"

"Passive aggressive."

"I'm not passive agressive!" Maura protested. "Have I ever made you do something you didn't want to by doing nothing?"

"Not that I'm aware," Jane teased. "But then again, you're probably so good at it, I wouldn't have even known I didn't want to!"

Maura let out a faux-offended gasp, about to say something when a loud crashing cut her off. They both looked to see the shattered remains of a store-front window across the street, a boy standing there staring at them. In an instant, Jane had rushed over and snagged him, locking his arms behind his back before he could yank away.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Get your hands off me!"

He struggled against her, kicking and going limp to try and weigh her down, but she held him securely on his feet.

"Check in there, Maur. See if there's a brick or something."

Maura did as asked, peeking her head in through the now broken window. She spotted the offending object, a rock, laying amid with the glass. She nodded, and Jane jerked her chin to gesture for Maura to grab it. When she saw the honey-blonde had managed to reach it, she started off, lugging the protesting, squirming teenager with her.

A few painful blocks, and many shouts and rough pulling later, Jane slowed. Following timidly behind them, Maura watched as Jane dragged him up the police station steps and through the door. The second she did, though, the boy started screaming.

"This woman's nuts. Get her off me!"

A few officers cast curious glances at the boy, but none bothered to move forward as an older gentleman approached Jane, taking the boy from her, holding him firmly.

"What did he do?"

"Broke a store window."

"Oooh," the man breathed, feigning concern. "That's a rather serious count of vandalism."

"They were Nazis," he shouted, pulling against the man uselessly.

"Who, the Schneider's family?" Jane laughed. "They couldn't hurt a fly."

He glared at her, yanking once again against the police man.

"Besides. Being of German decent doesn't make them Nazis."

A uniformed officer came and took him away, freeing the man's arms. He then promptly took Jane in them, and she hugged back. Maura watched, her interest piqued, barely noticing when another officer took the rock from her hand.

"It's good to see you, Korsak," Jane said quietly, not letting him go right away.

"You too, Janie. I missed seein' you around."

"Haven't had much reason to," she added sadly, pulling away enough to look at him.

He nodded solemnly, looking her in the eye for long seconds before turning to look at Maura.

"I'm sorry. We're being rude, Jane."

"Jeez, I'm sorry too. Maura, this is Vince Korsak, Chief of Police. Korsak, this is my friend, Maura Fairfield."

"Pleasure," he said with a smile, kissing the top of her hand politely, earning a wide grin from Maura.

"Well, if I knew that got a smile out of her, I'd have tried it myself," Jane teased. "Much less difficult than getting up so horribly early."

Maura wasn't sure why the comment made her blush, but it did. She swallowed and smiled warmly at Jane.

"I already told you I loved what you did. Why can't you take that at face value?"

"Because I still can't believe you can't lie!" Jane exclaimed. "Is that something you'd readily believe, Korsak?"

"No, I don't think so. But if we had more criminals in here like that, it'd make my job one helluva lot easier."

"And the gentleman he introduced himself as has just flown out the window," Jane quipped. "Nice swearin', man."

He smirked.

"Well I'm sure she's heard worse outta your mouth," he mocked, nudging her playfully.

She just rolled her eyes and nudged back.

"Don't you have work to go to?" she prodded.

"Don't you?"

She gave him a smile.

"Well, fine. If you wanna go ruining my good jokes."

"It was great seeing you," he said as he started away, then looking over to Maura. "And nice meeting you."

The honey-blonde smiled and waved as Jane led her to the door.

"Sorry about that," Jane murmured as they stepped back onto the street.

"Not a problem," Maura assured. "I found it quite gallant, actually."

"I tackled a kid, Maur."

"No. You caught someone who did someone else harm. I'd say that's a rather kind gesture. Now when that family sees their broken window, Chief Korsak will be there to tell them who did it. They may receive some compensation for it."

Jane shrugged modestly.

"Well when you put it like that…"

Maura smirked, slowing down when she saw her house. She didn't want to go, but they turned up her front path in silence. They stopped at her front door and she opened it, stepping into the house. Jane caught her hand, though, the movement turning her back around.

Jane repeated Korsak's move, pressing her lips to the back of Maura's hand, peering up at her with wide eyes and a small smile. Maura, once again, couldn't help the ear to ear beaming smile that slipped on her face, her eyes shining at how polite and how sweet Jane was.

"See ya, round?" Jane asked hopefully.

"I was actually hoping I could show you my world," Maura admitted. "Would Friday be alright? The kids have music lessons that day. They'll be at school for a few extra hours."

"Yeah. I need to take all two of my vacation days of the year before spring. One now wouldn't hurt."

"And Riley…she'll be okay? You guys work in pairs—"

"Yes. She'll be fine. We work in pairs on the same area on a plane. She don't need me there. I just need to do twice as much work on Monday is all."

"And you're…okay with that?"

"Yeah, it's no problem. Having a job's what's keeping our family afloat. I can't very well complain when there's actual work to be done, now can I? That'd be silly. Complaining about work'd just make me sound…whiny."

Maura laughed.

"We wouldn't want that."

"That's for sure."

"So…I'll see you Friday?"

"Bright and early."