Hopefully this one will satisfy you all.
I tried to make sure it was a bit more original after a complaint from the last two chapters. I don't necessarily care about the complaint, nor do I bend my writing to suit them, but it was a valid point.
Some family drama ahead.
"HOYT! DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!"
"Maura!" Jane sat up abruptly, startled awake by her very vivid and terrifying nightmare. It took her a moment to realise where she was.
"Ma? Mama, are you ok?" Alexis questioned, concerned but feeling too weak to do anything but look at her mother on the other side of the living room.
"Uh, yeah… I think so." Jane croaked out and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Where's Mom?" She felt anxious and needed to see that her wife was ok.
"I dunno." Lexi shrugged her shoulders and went back to watching the tv, her mother's abrupt awakening unsettling her.
The sound of Maura's heels clicking closer created comfort in the brunettes.
"Hi my sweethearts. Are you feeling any better? Oh Jane, honey, you're sweating." Maura dashed over to her and placed her hand on her head. Jane revelled in the touch, happy to have the contact after such an awful dream.
"Ma had a nightmare about you again." Alexis revealed, not having any reservations about sharing.
Jane looked sheepishly up at Maura but was hurt at Lexi's unmistakable tattling.
"Baby, you had a nightmare?" The ME knelt down and placed her hand on Jane's cheek, concerned. "This case is getting to you, isn't it? You should probably assign it to someone else. I don't think you're well enough to work." Maura fussed and Alexis rolled her eyes.
"Jesus, Mom. She's a grown adult. Leave her alone." She angrily declared. Her head dropped back onto her pillow in agony.
Maura looked at her daughter, upset at the outburst.
"Lex, don't be nasty." Jane reprimanded and the fifteen year old looked away guiltily.
"Sorry, Mom." She sighed and changed the channel, trying to distract herself from her building anger.
"It's ok, darling. I only have one autopsy today and then I'll be home to look after you both." Maura ran her hand through the dark curls so much like Jane's and rushed off to work, eager to get home again.
"Can you try not to fall asleep in this one? You snore." Alexis accused testily.
"Sorry Lex. My nose is blocked, just like yours." Jane answered back sarcastically and threw another tissue on the ground.
"Eww guys! You could at least throw your tissues out." Franky exclaimed, disgusted at the mess that her mother and sister had created. "What are you watching?"
"Avengers: Infinity War." Lexi answered tonelessly.
"Hey, Chelsea." Jane greeted her daughter's girlfriend weakly.
"Hi, Jane." The young woman replied with sympathy. "You guys don't look so great."
"I feel like death warmed up." Jane groaned.
"Shhh." Alexis hushed them all, annoyed that she couldn't hear the movie.
"Lex, don't be a cow!" Franky frowned at her grumpy sister.
"Shut it, Francesca."
"Alexis!" Jane intervened, making it worse.
"Seriously! You all need to shut the hell up!" The teenager growled but stopped herself when the front door opened.
"Hello, my darlings!" Maura greeted from the entryway, oblivious to the turmoil she was about to walk into. She placed her purse and keys on the dining table and entered the living room. She was pleasantly surprised to see her whole family plus Chelsea present.
"Mommy! Shoot me please?!" Alexis groaned from her position on the couch.
"Shoot me too." Jane whined from the other couch.
Maura grimaced as she entered the living room and surveyed the pathetic scene.
Jane and Alexis were sprawled out with a pillow and blanket each, covered in used tissues, and watching some action film on Netflix.
Franky and Chelsea were sitting on the floor, keeping their distance from the sick family members.
"What do you need, Lexi?" The doctor asked her daughter and let her hand rest on her forehead. "You feel a bit warm."
"Can I please have a drink?"
"Of course, honey. I'll get you some Tylenol too." Maura walked over to Jane and ran her hand through dark curls, earning an appreciative groan. "What will help you to feel better, my love?" She leaned over and placed a kiss to her brow.
The detective closed her eyes and hummed softly in pleasure. "Mmm. Some ginger ale and you, naked."
"You're a pig!" Alexis snapped and Franky rolled her eyes while Chelsea just chuckled, used to Jane's humour. Both were shocked at Lexi's outburst.
"Lex, don't call Mama names." The doctor chided gently, not realising the seriousness underlying the teen's accusation. She leaned over Jane again. "Sorry darling, but there will be no sexy times until you're all better." Maura gave the brunette another kiss on her head and went to retrieve the requested items.
"Ma, are you working this weekend?" Franky asked, knowing that even though her mother was sick, it wouldn't stop her from working if she was needed.
"I have a case at the moment so, yeah. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow so I can go in."
"Jane, you're not going into work." Maura stated worriedly. She gave Alexis her drink and medication, and sat down on the small portion of the couch, next to Jane's side.
The detective rolled her body to accommodate her wife and wrapped an arm around her waist as she curled herself around the smaller woman, laying her head on her knee.
"I have to, babe. I can't leave the guys to deal with it alone."
Alexis watched as her Mom ran her hands through her Ma's hair and was looking at her with more concern than what she believed was warranted.
"Can't you just take the weekend off for once?" Alexis barked, still not over their dispute from earlier. "You're stressing Mom out! Fuck." The teenager threw her blanket off and stormed out of the room.
Everyone just sat in surprise for a moment before Maura turned to Jane. "What's wrong with Lexi?" She whispered, upset at her daughter's abrupt departure and language.
"I think she's pissed at Ma." Franky offered, also quite upset at her sister's unusual behaviour. She had seen her withdraw more and more since their mother had shot herself.
"Yeah, I think that's obvious." Jane retorted back sarcastically.
"Jane, Franky's just trying to help. Don't snap at her, honey." Maura begged softly.
"Sorry." The brunette grumbled.
"Ma, she's still upset over the shooting and… probably over Hoyt." Their eldest child revealed.
Both women looked at Franky, shocked to be hearing this news.
"Hoyt?" Jane glanced up at Maura's throat and closed her eyes, remembering her nightmare from earlier that morning. "Jesus." She had a realisation.
"What is it, Jane?" Maura asked, not grasping what was going on.
"She's- I need to talk to her." The detective moved to get up but was stopped by a firm hand to her shoulder.
"Wait, love. She's too upset to listen right now. Help me to understand what's going on?" Maura looked across to Franky for clarification.
"Babe, we should've sent her to a psychologist."
"You don't think she's handling the events well from earlier this year or recently?" Maura asked, slowly understanding what Jane and Franky were alluding to.
"She's not handling any of them at all." Franky responded. "If Mama is still having nightmares, then don't you think your fifteen year old is still having them? I mean, gosh, I still have them and Lex and I weren't even there but- we saw the news. We saw some of the photos of you, Mom."
"Oh god!" Maura gasped and her hand went to her mouth. "I- Jane, did you know this?" She got up and walked out to the kitchen to make herself a tea. She needed to calm down.
"Franky, you shouldn't have said that." Jane warned, swinging her legs over the side of the couch.
"Why? So you can go on like it wasn't a big deal? We had to move across the country because of it." There was no heat in Franky's words. She wasn't angry and she believed her parents had managed their care almost perfectly. Somehow though, Alexis had learned to shut down and it was now starting to leak out in an ugly way.
"Sweetheart, I've never pretended like it wasn't a big deal. Jesus, I-we almost lost your Mom. It would've killed me." Jane whispered out emotionally, not wanting her sensitive wife to overhear.
"I know, Ma. It would've killed all of us but I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that if you aren't dealing well with it, then why would Lexi be?"
"Fuck, you're right." Jane put her head in her hands. "I'll wait until she's calmed down and talk with her." She looked up at her wise seventeen year old. "How about you? Are you ok?"
Franky smiled at her Mama. "I'm fine, Ma. Promise… I uh, went to see a psychologist in San Francisco. She helped me through heaps."
"Why didn't you ever say anything?!" Jane asked desperately, wishing her daughters had been more open about their struggles.
Franky shuffled closer, also not wanting her Mom to hear. "You were a mess, Ma."
"That doesn't mean I wasn't available to you guys." She was devastated by this revelation. She had been too self-absorbed in her own grief to realise her own children were suffering just as badly.
"Ma, it's ok. No one blames you."
"Pfft. Lexi seems to be."
"She was doing ok. I think the recent stress on Mom from your shooting really freaked her out. You know that Mom is our Achilles heel and Lexi is just like you." She chuckled. It was true. Maura was their weakness. She never did wrong by them and cared for them unconditionally. She was the sweetest, kindest woman any of them had ever known. How could they not adore her?
"Yeah, I get it."
"What do you get, my love?" Maura came back into the room with her second cup of tea, looking a lot calmer. She sat down next to Jane and rubbed the taller woman's back affectionately.
"That you are my whole world and for a while there I forgot that you're the girls' whole world too."
The sentimental words touched Maura deeply and she teared up. "You three are my everything, Jane."
"It will be ok, Mom." Franky reached over and placed her hand on her mother's thigh. "Lex and Mama just need to have a good old-fashioned Italian shouting match and it will all be over!"
Chelsea giggled, making a noise for the first time since the whole conversation had started.
"Ok. I'm gonna go up and see her." Jane kissed the golden head and smiled gratefully at her eldest daughter. "Thanks sweetie. Are you sure you're only seventeen?" She joked and ruffled her hair.
"Hey! I'm actually seventeen and a half! Thank you very much." She responded indignantly and watched her Mama retreat upstairs.
After waiting patiently for at least fifteen minutes, the three remaining women realised that the old-fashioned Italian shouting match wasn't going to be happening today.
"Ma! Mom! I have two offer letters!" The tall teenager burst through the front door yelling excitedly.
Jane was the only one downstairs and her eyes bugged out of her head. "Two?!" She asked proudly.
"Yes! Look." Franky thrust the opened letters at her mother, elated about both.
The detective took both pieces of paper and read over them. "Stanford and Harvard? Holy shit! You are definitely your Mom's daughter! Congratulations, bub." Jane embraced her eldest child tightly, beyond proud.
"Thanks Ma. I need to work out which one I'm going to accept." The dark haired young woman sighed and looked to her mother for advice. "What do you think?"
"Uh…" Jane placed the letters on the kitchen bench and tried to think of what Maura would say. Something clever and unemotional, wanting Franky to choose without any guilt or worries hanging over her head. The detective admitted to herself that she just wasn't that good of a person. "Well, I'd prefer if you were close to home and Harvard is the second best school in the US."
"Yeah, I know. I really love Boston too and I don't want to be far from you and Mom but… Stanford has one of the best Psychology programs in the world and it is a better looking program than Harvard." Franky groaned and dropped her head on the bench.
"You'll figure it out, kiddo… Mom's upstairs in the yoga room. I bet she wouldn't mind the interruption for this." Jane encouraged and Franky ran up the stairs two at a time.
The lanky teen knocked once and heard her mother's soft welcome.
"Hey, Mom." Franky eyed her mother. She rarely got to see her in work out gear because she usually ran or did her yoga routine early in the morning. She was in fantastic shape and Franky felt guilty at how slack she was about her fitness. She had thankfully inherited a fast metabolism and never worried about putting on weight.
"Hi darling." Maura breathed out softly as she lowered her upper body to the mat as she finished.
"Sorry to interrupt you but umm- I wanted to show you my acceptance letters!"
Maura's face lit up and she stood to look at the letters her daughter was holding. "Where to?! Harvard and Stanford! Oh my gosh, sweetie! I'm so proud of you."
"Thanks, Mom." Franky blushed at the attention. Her mother's opinion meant so much to her.
"Do you have any idea which one you'll choose yet?" Maura asked excitedly, not indicating any preference at all. She would be genuinely happy with whatever her daughter chose.
"I'm thinking Stanford." Franky answered honestly.
The doctor didn't bat an eye at the information. Instead, she seemed to support it. "Stanford is a brilliant research school and has one of the best Psychology programs in the world."
"Yeah, that's my reason for wanting to go there but I haven't made a decision yet."
"It's a huge decision, sweetie. You have a few weeks before you need to make it. Take the time you need." Maura looked up into the dark eyes that were so much like Jane's. "God, you look more like your mother every day." She reached her hand out to run it over Franky's face tenderly.
"You guys definitely picked your donor well."
Maura smiled at her affectionately and they both exited the yoga room. "I'm going to have a shower. Can you please tell Mama that—"
"Um, no. I'm not passing on a message about you being in the shower!" Franky protested and gently shoved her Mom in a teasing manner.
The ME rolled her eyes. "You really are like your mother, mind in the gutter 90% of the time!" She teased back. "I need her to come upstairs and fix the shower head before I turn it on."
Alexis came out of her room just in time to hear the comment. "Mom, how many times do we have to tell you to not use your code talk for sex around us?!" The fifteen year old teased.
The two young women burst out in laughter and Maura ignored them completely, walking into her room. "Just tell your mother I need her up here… Now!"
The laughter got louder and Maura chuckled to herself, grateful for her girls' sense of humour.
"Mmm, so good baby." Maura rocked herself on the fingers inside of her and leaned over her wife to claim her lips again.
"Ohh yeah, Maur. Ohhh damn. So fucking gooood." Jane panted as the doctor's fingers ran the length of her and teased her clit expertly. She was so close already.
"Please, Jane. Oh god. I need— Ohh."
"What do you need, babe?" The detective's hips rolled more quickly, seeking relief.
"Ohhh, I need— to come. Mmmm." Maura moaned as she did exactly that.
Jane looked up at her wife, loving the look of rapture on her face as she came undone because of her. It caused her belly to coil and she climaxed with her. She stared into the beautiful hazel eyes, very aware that she was the only one that could do this to her. The only one who had touched Maura this way in twenty one years. It never got tiresome.
Maura stared at Jane, unknowingly having similar thoughts. She leaned over to kiss her again and manoeuvred herself off the long fingers with a groan, and laid alongside the strong body.
Jane wrapped her up tightly and the doctor kissed her sweaty neck. "I love you so much." Maura whispered into Jane's ear and lifted herself up on one elbow, kissing along the strong jawline.
"Mmm, I love you too, baby." The brunette tilted her head slightly and met Maura's lips again.
After a few more minutes of exchanging soft kisses, the couple settled into their favourite sleeping position, Jane spooned up behind Maura with an arm wrapped tightly around the smaller woman's waist.
Maura was already asleep and Jane had just begun to nod off when a knock sounded on their door.
"Yeah?" Jane croaked out and made sure their blankets were covering both of them as she called out as softly as she could, not wanting Maura to stir.
Franky and Lexi quietly entered the room holding hands and she looked up into their upset eyes. When she met Franky's eyes, she realised her eldest daughter had been crying. "Bub, what's wrong?"
The girls sat on the edge of the bed and Alexis spoke. "Chelsea broke up with Franky."
Franky just hung her head, broken-hearted.
"What? Why?!" Jane frowned. She thought the young woman had been head over heels for her daughter.
"Coz I- I told her-" Franky sniffed and tried not to cry again. "I told her I'm going- to Stanford."
Jane's heart sank for two reasons. Firstly, she couldn't stand that her daughter was going through her first broken heart and secondly, she really didn't want Franky to move to the other side of the country. "Aww, honey." Jane shifted slightly, unwrapping her arm from Maura, to reach out for Franky's hand.
The movement caused Maura to stir and groan in displeasure. She opened her eyes to her two girls sitting on the bed. "What's going on?" She asked sleepily.
Franky practically threw herself next to the smaller woman. "Mommy!" She sobbed and Maura's arms wrapped around her automatically. "Chels-ea- dumped me!"
"Oh sweetheart, why?!"
"Coz- I'm mov-ving." Franky got out between sobs.
"Shh darling, it will be ok." The doctor rubbed her daughter's back as she cried. Jane's arm came to wrap around both of them and they stayed like that until Franky calmed back down.
"She might change her mind, sweetie. Give it a few days." Jane suggested and Franky nodded as she sat up and wiped her eyes.
Over the following week, Jane, Maura, and Alexis walked on eggshells around Franky. The poor young woman was a miserable mess. She was barely eating or sleeping and Maura was starting to get very worried.
"Francesca, your mother and I just got a call." The ME informed her eldest child who was sitting at the kitchen bench pushing her cereal around in her bowl.
"K." Franky answered flatly, not looking up.
Maura scrutinised her daughter. The tall girl wore the oldest, baggiest sweatpants she had ever seen. Her t-shirt was a tattered mess. She looked like she hadn't brushed her hair for days. The doctor decided enough was enough.
"Darling, you need to go shower and change." She started softly.
Franky looked to her perfectly put together parent and raised an eyebrow at her in question. "Why?"
Maura took a step closer and gestured to her daughter's clothing. "Well, for starters, you smell of body odour. You also have much nicer clothing than these rags you are wearing!" She exclaimed, trying not to allow her distaste to come through in her tone but her daughter's recent lack of care for herself was upsetting.
"Oh babe, leave her alone. She's brooding." Jane entered the kitchen, dressed in her work suit. She grabbed a 'to go' cup for her coffee and began making herself a drink.
Alexis, a step behind her Ma, just chuckled to herself. She proceeded to eavesdrop on the conversation as she made herself some breakfast.
"That's no reason to let oneself go!" The doctor addressed her wife with frustration, as though Franky wasn't even present.
The detective didn't bat an eye at the mini outburst. She actually smiled as she recalled a particular memory. It wasn't a fond one but it had taught her a lot about herself. "Remember that time you dumped me?" Jane asked the honey blonde.
Franky's head shot up in interest.
Maura frowned at the memory. It was one of the most painful decisions she had ever made. "Yes, but that was—"
Lexi spun around with wide eyes. "Whoa, wait! Mom, you dumped Mama?!"
"I- yes sweetheart but—"
"I was worse than Franky!" Jane declared with a chuckle. She had been a pathetic mess.
"That was a completely different scenario!" Maura finally got out.
"What happened?" Franky asked, too fascinated in the story to let it go.
The ME gestured to her wife to carry on with the tale since she had brought it up.
"Oh, um… Well, I kinda went-"
"Kinda?" Maura mimicked, questioning the language being used.
"Ok, settle down babe… I went undercover for narcotics as a hooker and-"
Franky and Lexi both howled with laughter and Maura couldn't help but giggle at the memory.
"Hey! I'll have you know I was just like Julia Roberts in 'Pretty Woman'."
This made the other three women laugh even harder.
"Fine, I won't tell you the rest." The brunette huffed indignantly.
Maura sidled up to the taller woman and wrapped her arms around the slim waist. "Aw, I'm sorry, love. You were a very sexy hooker… Please finish the story?"
Jane shook her head at her still chuckling teens and looked down at her wife. She placed a quick kiss on her lips, just because she could, and continued. "So, I was only like, what? 21?" She looked to the doctor for help.
"Yes. We weren't engaged yet but had been together for ten months."
"Now, you gotta remember that your mother and I went weeks without seeing each other coz she was studying in Boston and I was workin' in New York."
"That hardly justifies your decision to-"
Jane cut Maura off. "I know, baby. Just let me tell the story and then you can have your say." She stated lightheartedly. She didn't want to get into a fight about what had almost cost her the woman she loved. "So, I'm undercover out in New York, not far from the station, picking this guy up that we suspected was a part of a huge drug ring. Then this hot car pulls up just next to us but I didn't realise until it was too late. Your Mom got out, completely shocked at what she was seeing coz, of course, idiot me forgot to tell her I got a gig doin' undercover."
"Oh no, Ma!" Alexis exclaimed, seeing where the story was going.
"Oh yeah, kiddo… So, I'm all over this dirtbag, finally getting a confession from him, and your Mom just stood there until I looked up. I- god, that look on her face. I swore I would never ever cause her to look like that at me ever again. She was so hurt." Jane looked into the hazel eyes that stared back at her with so much affection. "Anyway, she slapped me and then dumped me… It made me angry enough to knock the guy out when he resisted arrest."
"You slapped Ma?!" Both girls were completely shocked to hear that their peaceful mother had resorted to violence.
Maura nodded and bit her lip at the memory. She hated herself for doing that to Jane. The doctor placed her hand against her wife's cheek and kissed it tenderly.
"I can't believe we never knew this!" Alexis exclaimed almost excitedly.
"So that's when you became a pathetic loser, moping around the house?" Franky asked, her voice flat again at the reminder of why they were telling the story in the first place.
"Uh yeah. I mean, I was more than a pathetic loser. I didn't go into work, I didn't shower or eat. I think I tried calling her at least five times a day."
"More like ten." Maura grinned up at her mischievously.
The detective rolled her eyes. "Yeah, probably. I just- I knew how much I needed her, how much she meant to me. I wasn't giving up on that. When she didn't answer my calls, I got really angry because there was a reasonable excuse and she had jumped to conclusions buuut-" She held her hand up to stall the protest from her wife's lips. "None of it would have happened if I had told her about the case in the first place. Anyway, a month later, after some pestering from your Nonna, she finally called me and... the rest is history." Jane concluded happily and hugged Maura more tightly.
"Do you think I should still try and pursue Chelsea?" Franky asked thoughtfully.
"I think that depends on whether you believe you're meant to be with her." Jane answered and Maura nodded in agreement. "It's certainly a better option than what you're currently doing." The detective added, not wanting to hurt her daughter but needing her to think a little more clearly about her behaviour.
"Yeah, I guess so." Franky got up from the bench and put her bowl in the dishwasher. "Uh, Lex, do you wanna go for a walk?"
"Sure!" Her younger sister responded happily. She had missed spending time with her older sibling all week.
When the girls left the kitchen, Maura grasped Jane's face in her hands and kissed her thoroughly. "You're such a wonderful mother and I love you so much." She claimed and received another kiss.
"Mmm, I love you too, baby." Suddenly remembering that they were supposed to be on their way to a crime scene, she let go of the smaller woman. "Oh fuck!"
"Jane!" Came the expected reprimand.
"We gotta go. The guys are gonna give me so much shit for bein' late!"
The couple exited Jane's Audi Q5 and received a whistle from Frost.
"Damn, Jane. Nice car!" He obviously hadn't seen the vehicle before. "And why are we so late, huh?" He smirked at the couple and Jane rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, Korsak's here but he hurt himself playin' darts last night, so, we're stuck with Crowe."
Jane groaned and watched as Maura walked ahead to meet her techs as they assessed the scene. She narrowed her eyes as detective Crowe swaggered over to the ME and stood directly behind her bent over form. They hadn't seen him in over a week since he had seen them leave the Dirty Robber hand-in-hand.
"For fuck's sake. Isn't he married?" Jane pointed to their colleague and Frost chuckled.
"I actually have no idea but, you gotta admit, it's pretty hard to resist checking your wife out." He gave her a playful shove after she reluctantly agreed and they walked over to go over the scene.
Maura bent over to look inside of the car. The interior was covered in blood but there was nobody present. She assessed the spray pattern and took note of the other details that would help them figure out what had happened.
As she retreated from her hunched over position without looking, her backside bumped into a solid form behind her. She instantly knew it wasn't Jane and her heart hammered in her chest. "Oh, I'm so sorry." When she straightened up, she met the smirking face of Detective Darren Crowe.
"No problem, Dr Isles. I uh, didn't mind at all." He stated in a suggestive tone, looking down at his pelvis. She decided to ignore it for now and was relieved to see Jane and Barry approaching.
Giving a tight polite smile to the detective, Maura stepped around him and addressed her wife. "There's no body, Jane.
"Well, it's a good place to dump a car if you're gonna kill somebody in it." Crowe claimed and Jane nodded in agreement.
"Two distinct patterns of arterial spray. Both of the victim's carotids were likely severed. Whoever sat here is most certainly dead." Maura informed professionally.
Korsak approached them after going through the victim's personal items from the car. "Without a body, we're gonna need as much evidence as we can get." He showed the three detectives some ID. "Uh, the car belongs to a Melissa Joy Black from Michigan. 22 years old. Called Ann Arbor P.D. No stolen-car report. They checked her phone there- disconnected."
"Yeah, well, it's 'cause she lives in Boston now. That's a current parking pass at the local terminal." Jane pointed to the front of the car where the pass was located.
"My guess is that Melissa Joy works at the docks. Secretary in one of the offices, maybe?" Crowe suggested.
"Well, now, that's a very sexist remark!" Jane exclaimed but Korsak disagreed.
"She's 5'2" working at the docks. How's that sexist?"
"Because a mesomorphic woman of that height could easily lift two times her body weight." Maura enlightened them with some facts.
"Can you handle something twice your weight, Dr Isles?" Crowe asked as he gestured to himself.
Maura was a little shocked at the forward behaviour but knew that she shouldn't be. In the few months she had been working for BPD, Crowe had been anything but subtle in his interest towards her.
"Shut ya mouth, Crowe." Jane warned and got angrier when he gave her a smug smirk.
"C'mon, Rizzoli. Give the doc a chance to answer or do you two do more than hold hands when you've had a few to drink?" He joked, revealing that he hadn't read into their hand-holding at all. Jane was quite disappointed.
"I am hardly muscular enough to lift twice my body weight." Maura answered shortly and turned her back on him to speak with one of the crime techs.
Jane was a bit annoyed at her wife's literal answer and polite nature. She was itching to rip into him and wished that Maura had shot him down more harshly. She knew it was quite an unreasonable expectation but was dissatisfied nonetheless.
Crowe smirked again and Frost laid a hand on his partner's shoulder when he noticed the clenched fists.
"Hey, why don't we process the crime scene? Jane, you go to the docks and ask around." Frost directed gently.
"Yeah, ok. Maur, are you done?"
The doctor nodded as she finished giving clearance for everything to be taken back to the crime lab.
"Ok, then you're coming with me." Jane commanded and watched Crowe's disheartened face.
As the couple walked away from the crime scene, Maura decided to try some humour to lighten her wife's dark mood. "You know, I'm beginning to think that you are deliberately trying to take me away from Detective Crowe's charming presence."
"Yes, Maura, I'm sabotaging any potential interest you might show back to him." Jane chuckled and looked over at the smaller woman appreciatively. Her smile turned into a scowl when she heard a man call out to them from across the dock.
"Hey, babe. Nice tits!"
Jane couldn't help but yell back in reaction. "Oh, yeah, we've been waiting for you all our lives." She lowered her voice and addressed the ME. "What's he think we're gonna do? Just run over there and tear off his clothes?"
Maura shrugged, not phased by the man's crude behaviour. "He's not thinking consciously at all. It's a natural chemical response to our pheromones."
Jane stopped and looked at her wife incredulously. "Really? 'Nice tits' is a natural chemical response?"
"Isn't it yours?" The doctor teased and got a hearty laugh in return.
"You got me there, baby."
Maura grinned at that and continued. "Perceived fertility is paramount. Males seek mates capable of nursing offspring. Abundant breasts do suggest—"
"So, he was likely referring to you."
"Jaane." The doctor rolled her eyes
The detective smirked. "You know what his abundant belly suggests? Snowball's chance in hell for any woman."
Maura chuckled and pointed. "The office is over there."
They entered the building, machinery beeping, and several men presently working. Jane approached the closest man. "Oh, hey, excuse me. Can you tell me who's in charge here?"
The man answered without looking up. "Uh…He's busy."
"So am I. Boston Homicide." She flashed her badge and the man looked up with a surprised but happy face.
"Hey, what can I do for you lovely ladies?" He tried to give a charming smile.
Jane was unimpressed. This was the reason so many women thought men were pigs. "That's a doctor. I'm a detective. And you are?"
"Ray Murphy. I'm the Union rep around here. Is there a problem?"
Jane pulled out the victim's ID and showed him. "Are you familiar with this employee? Melissa Joy Black?"
He took a look at the picture. It wasn't a very flattering photograph. He handed it back. "Well, I can tell you she's not one of the office girls." He commented with a chuckle.
The detective ignored the comment. "Could she be a longshoreman?"
"I guess she could be one of the casual workers, but we don't have many gi— girls. Um, let me have you talk to one of the Union bosses. Axel?! This detective needs to talk to you." He called out over his shoulder to the man who had whistled at them on their way in. His eyes lit up when he spotted the women.
He strolled over and looked Jane up and down. "You're a cop. That's a turnoff." His eyes shifted from her to dart over Maura's chest.
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Bummer. Do you recognise her?" She showed him the same ID that she had shown Ray.
Axel recognised her but didn't look very impressed. "M.J.? Yeah… She walked off the job halfway through her shift yesterday. Affirmative-action hires are bullshit. No muscle, no use."
"Actually, male and female muscle tissue is identical. What varies is the size of the male skeletal frame. Men generally have less body fat but not always." Maura informed them but received no response because of a loud commotion outside. They all rushed out to the sound of an alarm blaring.
Axel yelled at one of the men running towards the office. "What's going on?"
"Call 911! I need some help! Call 911!" The frantic man shouted.
Another man approached Jane as he noticed her badge. "Officer! The tide started going out when one of the guys noticed a woman in the water."
They got closer to the edge of the dock and all saw the body of a woman tied to one of the posts, her upper body rapidly reappearing over the water line as the tide went out.
Jane looked at the ID again and nodded. "It's Melissa Joy Black." She turned to Maura and watched as her wife's face paled. "What's wrong?" She placed her hand on the doctor's arm.
Maura stayed staring at the body as if in a trance. "Is that— It's an ice pick, Jane."
Jane spun around quickly and got closer to the body to indeed see the ice pick sticking out of the woman's chest. She swallowed her fear and looked back at Maura, running her hands up and down the cold arms. "It doesn't mean he's back, baby."
"Yes, it does."
TBC :D
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