A/N - thank you everyone for sticking with this story. In case you were unaware what has been going on, a very quick recap. A year last Christmas Day we lost a Great Aunt, who effectively stepped in and became more like a Grandmother to us after her sister (our grandmother) was killed whilst we were still very young. So her loss hit us badly. Then, on January 10th last year, our mother died very suddenly. This, all within a year and 11 months after we lost our father. It meant my sister and I were left trying to deal with two family estates (inc one house sale), which took forever! Just as we recovered from that, our Uncle and cousin (both the only surviving relatives on our fathers side of the family) both had massive health issues (Parkinsons and stage three Cancer), which have hit us.

I decided last year to take one open story at a time. It worked well for me, and whilst it took ages to complete Heart Of Gold - I managed it! And it now means I can concentrate on this story! Hurrah! If you didn't read my other story I can promise you, this one, like that, will be finished. When? I don't honestly know... But I can say it will happen. This, and one I am co-writing are now my sole focus, unless I need to do a short story or one shot, which I used to help get me writing again whilst doing Heart of Gold.

As I've said, thank you for sticking with me, or if you are a new reader, welcome! I hope this doesn't disappoint - and if needed, please, just refresh your memory by reading the previous chapter/s.

Lastly, thanks to Honorcpt and CrackdownDraco who have both helped me in my writing quest. Honorcpt in particular, you have been an awesome friend! Any mistakes are mine, even though we try to avoid them. And enough of this missive! Time for another chapter.

Chapter ten

Jane sat there, as she desperately tried to mop up the spewed drink that had, fortunately, for the most part landed on the table, and not on her or her companions. She scowled as the paper napkin she was using became little more than a mess, and was beginning to break up under her fingertips.

"Gotta go..." Jane stood up, and pointed to the now very wet, very soggy mass that was barely able to hold itself together. She didn't give anyone a chance to react, and practically sprinted towards the long row of tables with the various items on for refreshments at this time of the day.

"I think I scared her off." Fred said with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"You think - honestly, I can only ever take you somewhere twice, and the second time is to apologize."

"Hey." Fred looked across at Mark and scowled slightly and then both were suddenly very aware that Maura was struggling to hold back laughter.

Mark shook his head. "Come on, poor Jane looks half scared to death."

"I'm sorry but you don't know Jane's mother quite like I do, and she would be squealing right about now at the mention of marriage, and Fred, probably hauling you off to the nearest bridal boutique to get a fitting for a bridesmaid's dress, well in this instance; a suit. Jane will be fine - it's just any mention of marriage, even as a joke - tends to be a touchy subject for her because of Angela." Maura said, giggling.

Maura then turned to watch Jane carefully, and smiled inwardly as she realized Jane had obviously managed to compose herself again, a bunch of fresh paper napkins firmly in hand.

Jane finally cleared the mess from her coffee, while everyone else just quietly drank what remained of their own drinks. The silence wasn't at all awkward and for that, Jane alone was grateful as she scanned the faces of her companions. Nope, not going to mention the conversation.

"I suppose I should go and find out if I might be needed at Pibor." Maura finally spoke up after twiddling her now empty mug around for a few seconds.

Jane nodded. "I'll meet you back in my room?"

"I suppose that makes sense." Maura then stood up, followed by everyone else, and lent in quickly to give them all a brief hug. "I won't be long."

Without another word, Maura walked away, leaving Jane almost as nervous as she had been throughout her entire time at camp. Fred gently rested a hand on her one forearm.

"She'll be coming back with you. In more ways than one."

Jane swallowed hard, before nodding. "I know, it's just... I've come all this way and I would hate to leave without her."

"You won't. Whatever happens, you both have mended the break enough. Even if you have to leave physically, you won't be leaving Maura behind, any more than she'll be letting you leave." Mark replied, a small smile on his face.

"I just don't know if I can fully believe that yet." Jane admitted with a sad smile. "I know Maura can't lie, but at the same time we can't just make what has gone on between us magically disappear, and I can't help but wonder what might trigger another episode like this last one."

"Honey, you shot her biological father - I don't see something that big happening again, do you?" Fred replied.

"That's just it. Sure, I shot Paddy Doyle, and I get that the shock of the moment caused Maura to react in a way she wouldn't have done normally, but..." Jane paused, "I also took away some of the trust we had between us, by involving Agent Dean."

"Trust can be rebuilt." Fred said softly, "And for Maura wanting to go back with you shows she's already forgiven you on some level. What happened was extraordinary at the very least. I can't believe for second there is going to be any kind of repeat, so just give both yourselves time to come to terms with all that happened with you."

"I know, it's just a lot to process." Jane admitted with a wry smile, "But I guess travelling halfway across the world to this god forsaken place must earn me a few points in the good books... right?"

"More than I think you realize." Mark spoke up this time, "Now, lets go and get you started on packing, even if you haven't got a lot here and haven't really had chance to unpack much. "

Jane nodded, and stood up, following Fred and Mark out, her resolve finally strengthened.

"Do you think they have talked yet?" Angela asked as Constance settled down carefully on the couch in the main house sitting room. Angela then released Constance's arm, which she'd been holding, helping her to move.

"I have no idea. All Mark said in the message was that despite the attack on the camp Maura was in, she was back in the main compound safely. He did say she also knew Jane was there."

"Dammit, I wish we knew what was happening." Angela sounded exasperated as she sat down on the opposite end of the sofa and a frown settled on her face.

Constance shifted uncomfortably, and for once it wasn't her injuries that was causing her to grimace. She looked back at Angela, trying to formulate her reply. "We really shouldn't be interfering any further."

Angela looked stunned, and for a second, her lips flapped, as she tried to respond, before finding her voice. "Well, we should; we're their Mothers for crying out loud!"

"Being the parents doesn't give us the right to interfere." Constance said quietly, aware, not for the first time, just how different she and Angela viewed things.

"Look where that got you." Angela grumbled under her breath, but then shot a look of apology at Constance, who was looking increasingly upset. "Sorry, that was uncalled for." Angela added quickly.

"It was." Constance moved and her whole demeanour was becoming increasingly stiffer and more rigid. "However, one should not interfere, no matter how we might feel about it."

"But we've already interfered." Angela argued back, looking slightly baffled by the walls that Constance was raising again, reminding her of the woman she had first met at dinner with Maura.

"Whilst that is true, we still need to maintain a reasonable distance. To allow Jane to follow Maura is one thing. It's completely different to begin to actually delve into their lives and dictate how they achieve renewing not only their friendship, but allowing them the space to let it develop; that should be the way it is going to go."

Angela huffed and shook her head. "I don't agree. It's our duty to see our babies happy."

Constance looked slightly bewildered. "If we interfere with these women's lives; our daughters, our children's lives, we could do more harm than good."

Angela was quiet as she considered the last statement, before she eventually spoke. "If they broke up because of a misunderstanding, which it looks like they did, and are unhappy without each other, this could be the only chance in both their lives to put things right."

"You make it sound as if they were already a couple." Constance pointed out. "They have to mend the friendship first, before anything else happens."

Angela snorted. "Those two have been a couple for ages now, whether they wanted to admit it or not. They have been through so much together, it's almost as if they tackled the big things, but somehow the little things were ignored - and they in turn became the big issues. I let that happen with me and Frank. I'm sure as hell not gonna sit idly by and watch my baby making the same damn mistakes I did. If that means interfering, then god dammit, I'm gonna interfere."

"I just don't think it's a good idea..."

Constance was cut off as Angela stood up, and began pacing, her arms and hands gesticulating in the air wildly.

"We've done so much already, we have to do this!"

"I'm sorry Angela, as much as I respect you as a friend, I have to completely disagree with you." Constance began to move very slowly, getting up from the couch to the wheelchair she was still primarily using to get around. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I need to lie down."

Without another word, Angela watched as a very closed off Constance self propelled the wheelchair out of the room, heading to the spare room she was sharing in the guesthouse, since it was all on the same level.

Angela snorted before heading to the kitchen. "Fine, you don't want to get involved, but I'm sure as hell not standing by and waiting for something to possibly happen." Angela then said under her breath as she pulled things out of the refrigerator, deciding to cook up something that she could then also give out to Frankie and Tommy.

Michele, Fred and Mark all stood around as the heat rose, making it even more uncomfortable a silence that was surrounding them. Finally Fred huffed, before he strode across to Jane, and without warning, pulled her into big hug.

"Don't you dare be a stranger to us now." He mumbled as he watched Maura over Jane's shoulder quickly wipe a tear away.

"Don't see that happening." Jane replied, as she allowed the hug, before pulling back slightly. "Now don't start all that gay crying shit on me!"

Fred let out a bark of laughter and moved away to engulf Maura in a hug of her own.

"She's a keeper, don't you mess this up." He whispered, holding back his own tears.

Maura swallowed down her emotion and could only nod in to Fred's shoulder at his words. In the meantime, Mark and Michele had both moved to give Jane a handshake and kiss on her cheek.

The moment was broken at the thrumming of a plane's propellers and they all turned to watch the small aircraft as it came in to land, before it taxied across toward where they were all standing. Maura and Jane were part of only a handful of people waiting, since the airplane itself could only take up to nine passengers.

"The BN-2A Islander, it was originally built in the United Kingdom, and even today is used by the British Army and some of their police force." Maura said, as she watched Jane looking toward it nervously.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Jane said, a frown crossing her face.

"Yes." Maura replied matter of factly, "It is still used as a light transport with over 30 military aviation operators around the world, and has been operating since the 1960's. That shows it's a fully functional and safe aircraft, with a very good history behind it."

"That's all well and good, but we still don't know what the damn pilot and co-pilot are like." Jane muttered, as she grabbed her bag, also pulling one of Maura's knapsacks up onto her shoulders. "I've got this." she added as Maura tried to get her bag away from her.

"Jane Rizzoli, scared of flying, I can't understand why? You have never given any indication when we've flown before until today." Maura said with a smirk as they headed towards the plane once they were waved towards it.

"Hey." Jane replied, indignant. "Flying doesn't worry me - it's the not flying anymore and plummeting down to earth that scares the crap out of me! And it was flying in on this tin can, held together by gum, spit and elastic that put the fear of God into me!"

Jane watched as Maura was about to say something else. "And I don't need a spew of statistics about how safe traveling by plane is, or whose is the best aviation record... or any other shit like that."

"Oh. Okay, I won't."

Jane then stopped as she saw Maura falter and turn around to send a wave towards the three people they had just left. "Maura, we need to get on this plane."

"I'm coming." Maura turned back to face Jane, and just nodded before she began closing the space down between her and the doorway.

"You'll see them soon." Jane said softly as she began to climb up into the tight confines of the plane, Maura slightly ahead of her.

"I know." came the reply, as Maura positioned her one bag, and then helped Jane stow the other two she held. "I just..." her voice drifted off.

"Hey, it's okay to miss them. They're your friends, and I know I don't know Mark and Fred as well as you do, but I've grown fond of them already, so yeah, you can miss them. I know I will."

"I know." Maura said, as she finally settled into her seat, allowing Jane to take the aisle seat, knowing with her longer limbs, it would be easier to stretch out as needed, since there wasn't going to be any chance for Jane to get up and walk around like she would be able to do in larger commercial aircraft.

Jane finally snapped the lap belt closed, and took a deep breath as she gripped the armrests on either side of her seat - and Maura noticed her knuckles beginning to turn white as the plane began to taxi out towards the grass runway it would be using to take off.

"Jane, you need to relax." Maura said quietly as she rested her right hand over Jane's left that was between them and absently rubbed her thumb across the knuckles.

"Easy for you to say." Jane replied through gritted teeth, before leaning across Maura's lap and looking out of the small window, her eyes narrowing at the realization of where they were. "And why in the hell aren't we using the tarmac runway that we used to land this tin can on when we flew in?"

Pushing Jane gently back properly in her seat, Maura kept her right hand in position. "They use the grass runway for takeoffs because they only have the one small tarmac runway, and if they have incoming aircraft, it's better that lands on the solid surface, whereas to take off we don't need the same traction."

"This is all helping me relax." Jane said sharply. "Not!"

"Jane, it's perfectly normal. When I used to go gliding at the gliding club based at the Sisteron-Theze airfield, near the small village of Vaumeilh, France, it was in nothing more than a grass field. I believe they have proper runways now, but then it was just grass and perfectly safe."

"You just can't help yourself can you." Jane replied an incredulous look on her face, although the words were said without any heat behind them.

"What?"

"The stuff you come up with. Of course you've been gliding in some elite French gliding club. Who doesn't go and do that!"

"Jane, a lot of people go gliding. It's not as elitist as you might imagine. There were shop workers, commercial pilots and even factory workers who would glide." Maura said, as the plane began its run, the engine noise increasing to such levels that for a short time, talking was impossible so missed the "Yeah, gliding is real popular in Boston. We did it every summer." that Jane muttered before gripping the armrests even harder.

"Oh god, I'm going to puke if this carries on." Jane suddenly said as the plane took another dive downwards without warning.

"This turbulence should settle down once we clear the mountain range. It's not helped today because it appears there are a number of thermals around, causing a difference in wind shear, which produces a vortex."

"In English Maura."

"Warm columns of air that rise that can sometimes be unpredictable; causing pockets of air that are unstable. When I was gliding, we would refer to these pockets as 'sink'.I believe that's a common term through most of the aviation industry."

"Then why in the hell couldn't you have just said that!" Jane countered, as they took another nose dive. "Jesus!"

"Well, if it helps, why don't you just talk to me. It might be distracting."

"Oh yeah, now why didn't I think of that!" Jane's reply was full of sarcasm and Maura just shook her head.

"Jane, there must be something we can talk about."

Jane frowned as she looked across at Maura intently, and saw that Maura was looking back at her with equal intensity. "Okay, fine - erm... okay, I found out from Mark you'd done some time with him and Doctors without Borders in Uganda. But you've never mentioned that, you've only ever mentioned the two years you did in Dakar. Why?"

Maura suddenly paled and she tried not to let her discomfort show, but she could tell Jane was watching her closely enough to see something was wrong. "I..."

"Don't you dare say you don't want to talk about this Maur... it's what has got us here in the first place." Jane said the moment she could see Maura beginning to stall. "Maura." Jane's voice lowered as her concern mounted.

"No, you're right Jane. It's just..." Maura took a deep breath, "It wasn't a great time and I didn't stay there long before moving to Dakar, so I hardly considered it worth mentioning."

"Maura, what aren't you telling me?" Jane persisted, even though Mark had given her the full story, she knew Maura had to be the one to say something.

"As I've said, it wasn't a good time Jane." Maura took a deep breath, her eyes closing briefly before she focused on Jane again. "We were right on the border of South Sudan while the war was in full flow. Some of the injuries that we saw. It was horrific."

"That's not all though is it?" Jane's voice softened as she switched their hands, so she was now cradling Maura's.

"No, it isn't." Maura finally admitted, "The woman and children were often helpless and so vulnerable. Beatings were common. So was rape."

"What happened that meant you couldn't stay there?"

"Our camp was attacked. It made what happened at Pibor seem like a picnic in the park." Maura finally admitted. "A lot of women and children are the first to suffer, and the attack then was fast and brutal. People were forced to use weapons when they were sworn to protect lives, not take them. I... I tried to help and went against the advice we had been given to get out immediately. If Mark hadn't been there... I don't know what might have happened."

"Maura, that's okay - you wanted to help. I can understand that."

"No Jane. You don't understand. I was a hair's breadth away from being captured. Mark was forced to grab a gun and kill to protect me. He isn't you Jane. It isn't who he is, and all because I thought I knew better."

Jane shifted in her seat so she could twist around and face Maura more. "I get it Maura, I get how you feel guilty."

"Do you?" Maura's voice was full of anger.

Jane was shocked by the appearance of the anger and she sat back in her seat again as the surprise took over. "Yeah, I do understand. Don't you think I feel guilty about shooting Doyle? Sure, I was doing my job, but Jesus Maur - I did so many things over that 24 hours that were wrong that I can't help but feel guilty. My actions caused a rift between us that at times felt wider than the Grand Canyon!"

"No, you don't get to compare this." Maura replied with a forceful shake of her head. "I put Mark in a position that was unforgivable."

Jane frowned again as she saw the anguish swirl in Maura's eyes. "Maur, there is more to this. What?"

"I was close to being raped Jane. Is that what you want to hear. Happy now." Maura suddenly turned so she was now facing the window, no longer able to keep eye contact with Jane.

"But you weren't. You got out." Jane countered gently, her fingers moving to cup Maura's chin and with a gentle tug, she got Maura to look at her again.

"I might have got out Jane, but others weren't so lucky." Maura fought back the tears and she swallowed thickly, not wanting to be reminded of it.

"Survivors guilt, you know that." Jane moved her fingers, and her thumb wiped a tear that had begun to roll down Maura's cheek. "You tried to make a difference, and you did make a difference, even if it wasn't there. You're still making a difference."

"Am I? Sometimes it doesn't feel like I am." Maura replied with a slight snort. "Please, can we talk about something else now?"

"Course we can."

Jane didn't think as she leaned in and gave Maura quick kiss on her cheek. As she drew back, Maura swallowed down her emotion. Both knew they still had a lot to work through, but her gesture meant more to Maura than she had ever thought possible.

Jane truly does care was her thought as rested her head back, closing her eyes as she went.

"Oh Jesus Christ. I'm gonna throw up, I know I am..."

Maura couldn't help the smile at Jane's words as once again, the plane plunged down in the turbulence, and even Maura found she was gripping the armrests harder than usual.