Born to flee, and we're born to fight

Without your mask, you're terrified

Don't hide your personality

That's who you are, your identity

Epica – Semblance of Liberty

"Alright", Jane stated an hour later, giving Maura a strict look as she killed the engine, "the moment you need anything, you call me, and I'll come rushing to the morgue, okay? And I'll pick you up for lunch."

"I'll be fine, Jane", Maura gave back, touched by the obvious concern of the taller woman; during the drive to the precinct, apparently, Jane's need to protect her, to be there for her, had picked up speed, the detective now giving her yet another strict glance.

"But in case you aren't", she then replied, briefly reaching over and touching her hand, the tender gesture a sharp contrast to her stern tone of voice, "you call me. Immediately. You hear me?"

"Yes", Maura promised her, knowing that Jane wouldn't give in until she had agreed, "I will, I promise. But I'll be fine, work distracts me and keeps my mind busy. Don't worry so much, Jane, you have a case to focus on…"

"I know", Jane gave back, once more touching her hand tenderly, "but you're more important than any case could ever be. So call me if anything… happens, alright?"

"I will", the doctor reassured her once more, a sudden lump in her throat making it hard for her to get the words out – the detective had said the words about the importance she had to her with ease, but still, they had made her heart clench up as she asked herself if Jane had an idea what she was doing to her by saying such heartwarming things to her.

"Good then", the taller woman now spoke up again, either not having noticed Maura's brief turmoil or not letting it show, "I'll see you at lunch then."

"I'm looking forward to it", Maura gave back, making Jane smile at her, a brief, but genuine and warm smile; she almost automatically smiled back, then their ways parted as Maura headed for the morgue while Jane made her way upstairs to the bullpen.

Only when she entered the morgue, Maura realized that she had forgotten to ask Jane for something rather important, namely to keep her troubles to herself and to not tell anyone about them; briefly, she considered calling or texting the detective, then decided against it, telling herself that surely, Jane would know that she didn't want anyone else to know about what was wrong without her pointing it out.

"Dr Isles?" the voice of one of the lab techs distracted her from those thoughts, startling her enough to make her flinch; not sure if he had noticed or not, she turned to look at the young man, raising an eyebrow at him questioningly, and he smiled at her, appearing slightly nervous, prompting her to remember that he had started not all too long ago and clearly wasn't used to her sometimes peculiar personality yet.

"I got the report you asked for", he let her know, holding up the folder as if to underline his words, "about that one case?"

"Oh, yes", Maura realized what he was talking about at last, making herself smile at him in an attempt to calm him down a bit, "thank you. Just put it on my desk, please, a detective will pick it up later on."

Nodding, he did as she had told him to, then mumbled something about having to go back to work; nodding as well, she frowned as she watched him go, asking herself if everyone had acted around her like that when they had started working with her, and what this said about her.

Well, Jane surely didn't, she then pondered as she leafed through the report the tech had left with her, a weak smile curling her lips as she thought back to the first case she had worked with the detective, remembering well how rude and uncouth the taller woman at first had seemed to her.

She kept asking me to guess, and it was driving me nuts, the medical examiner remembered, her smile widening; after all, Jane still tried to make her guess on occasion, but it wasn't driving her as crazy anymore as it had back then, at their first case together.

And then she'd just randomly come to the morgue when I was right in the middle of autopsy and started asking me a million questions about the victim, her mind continued the recollection, forcing her to hold back a giggle since she didn't want anyone to walk in on her and find her laughing to herself, for no apparent reason, she was the first detective ever to do this. The ones I worked with before usually just waited until I got done with the report or called them and asked them to come to the morgue…

This, she realized, was when their friendship had started, this first case they had been working on together, had solved together; they often had had lunch together during said case, and Jane had shown up in the morgue several times not just with questions, but with coffee and donuts, a gesture which had confused the medical examiner at first, since no other detective ever had done this for her before.

She made this so much easier for me, Maura pondered, now staring into nothingness as she was lost in her memories, remembering all too well how terrified she had been during the first few weeks on the job, afraid of messing up, of making some dreadful mistake, of alienating all the detectives and cops so much that none of them would want to work with her anymore after just a few months.

If Jane hadn't been there, she had to admit to herself, this horror scenario might just as well have come true; it hadn't taken long until a lot of people had started calling her Queen of the Dead when they thought she wasn't listening, or simply hadn't cared if she had heard, and it had been Jane who had put a stop to this, not even by saying anything, but simply by glaring at anyone who dared to speak those words until they'd shut up and look away.

I never properly thanked her for that, Maura thought to herself as she put the report down again at last, figuring that it would do, and now, she's doing so much for me, too, she's always been there for me, no matter what…

Smiling slightly to herself again, she decided that she would thank her properly, as soon as possible; ideas already were forming in her mind about how exactly she'd do that, and for the first time since the nightmares had started, she wasn't thinking about them for even a second as she began her daily work, all her troubles at least for the moment forgotten.