A/N I know some of you hate me for the cliffhanger... so sorry, but hopefully this makes up for it.
Once again thanks for your continued support, I really do love y'all.
Happy Reading!
Her cop instinct should have kicked in. She should have quietly crept back to her room placed a call to 911, and then gone to see what had happened. Instead other instincts kicked in. Find Maura. Save Maura. Kill the bastard that hurt Maura. That was what the pounding blood in her ears said, as she took the stairs two at a time.
Jane smelt him before she saw him. The same sickly sweet aftershave he would dab behind his ears, bought everything back: the sound of agonised whimpers, the smell of blood, and the pain in her hands. Everything. This time it was the smell that made her palms ache, not the cold.
In the dim light of the living room, she could only make out figures. One hunched in a chair. Maura. The other was pacing back and forth near the fireplace.
She tried to speak, but all the air was gone from her lungs. It was like she was drowning. Desperately she was clawing at the surface for air, but when she tried to move, there was a weight on her ankle, pulling her down.
The light next to Maura flicked on, and then Jane could see everything. Maura fought the duct tape imprisoning her hands and feet. It was no use. Jane saw the fear glistening in hazel eyes, as large tears dropped onto the doctor's lap. A small sob finally escaped through Jane's lips, which finally made the man stop pacing and turn around.
Why couldn't she just move? Maura was within feet of her, all she had to do was step forward. She's so afraid. Help her. Goddamn it, don't just stand there! Everything in her being urged her feet to move, but she remained rooted to the same spot.
Jane watched as the man quickly drew a scalpel from his pocket, holding it tightly against Maura's neck. She saw him inhale the blonde's scent before he looked her dead in the eye.
"Quiet Jane. You'll wake the baby."
And with that, Jane finally let out the cry she'd been holding in.
She sat up, dead straight in the dark, panting. The bedside light was turned on, Jane felt the bed next to her move, and a delicate hand begin to rub the area between her shoulder blades. Jane buried her head in her arms.
Maura didn't say anything; she just sat up, next to the shaking detective, continuously rubbing small circles on her back. She only stopped when she felt the tense body under her relax, and finally Jane lifted her head.
"I'm s-s-sorry." Jane managed to sigh out, "It was just..." she put her head back down, unable to finish her sentence, and Maura slid in closer, placing her head on Jane's shoulder.
"Your monster, I know." It was the same reassuringly tone that she'd used with Holly earlier in the day. Yet it wasn't condescending, and it didn't make Jane feel weak, if anything, it made her feel safe.
Jane could feel Maura's body pressed into her side and her hand had begun to resume the motion from before. She leant into the soft curves of the other woman, turning her head so she could bury it into Maura's golden curls.
Gradually her breathing calmed, and Maura softly pulled her to lie back down. The blonde then joined her, so they were lying side by side, looking at the ceiling. Maura reached across to Jane's nearest hand, and begun rubbing her thumb along the scar.
The gentle touch finally gave Jane the courage, "Why did you never ask about them?"
Maura paused and took a deep breath, clearly thinking over what she was about to say,"I knew that you'd tell me about it, when you wanted to."
Both women turned their heads to look at each other. They took the time to study each other's faces. Jane noticing how Maura's freckles were particularly evident on her cheekbones and how the dim light made her pale skin look even whiter. In turn, Maura took in the sharp angles of the brunette's bone structure. Both thought the same thing. She is beautiful.
"We'd been hunting him for a long time, a serial killer, his name was Charles Hoyt. He murdered several couples, he would duct tape them, rape the wife, then slit their throats with a scalpel." Jane took a deep breath, to gage Maura's reaction before continuing, "And then I found him, 'cept he found me too. Stuck two scalpels through my hands and that was it." She dropped the doctor's gaze, because she was sure that if she hadn't, Maura would have been able to see that she was far more afraid than she was showing.
She only looked up again when she felt Maura's hand drop hers, instead moving it to stroke her cheek.
"What happened after that Jane?"
The question startled the detective, usually people had heard all the wanted to, Jane had failed; the bad guy had beaten her, that was it.
"Uh...Korsak arrived just in the nick of time, and now Hoyt's in prison." She said it with a shrug of her shoulders, not sure if she was trying to convince Maura that he no longer got to her, or if she was trying to tell that to herself.
The blonde smiled, her thumb still stroking across Jane's well defined cheekbone. This completely confused the brunette. Why is she smiling? But before she had time to ask, she felt Maura's warm breath begin to tickle her face. Jane forgot about the whole conversation when she felt Maura's nose brush against hers. Before she had time to process the new sensations, she felt the blonde's lips graze across hers. Not wanting Maura to pull back, Jane reached up to put a hand onto Maura's head.
Their lips once again fluttered past each others, this time though Jane held Maura's head in place, and finally they kissed. It was slow and meaningful, not the passionate, lust-filled kiss that Jane had imagined, but so much better. Maura tasted like how a summer meadow might sound, indescribable, and Jane savoured it. However the boundaries were set, because this kiss wasn't to spark something bigger. It was a simply to provide comfort, and between these two women, that kind of kiss felt completely normal.
Their lips stayed connected as their bodies turned on their own accord, so that both of them were now fully facing each other. Pulling back Jane kept her hand woven in blonde strands, and began to chuckle. At first Maura's eyebrows furrowed into a frown, but when Jane kept her hand wrapped in her hair keeping them close together, she too saw the humour of the situation and joined in the other woman's laughter.
"Well that was unexpected."
"Yes, I suppose that was rather impulsive." The doctor let out a small giggle before suddenly feeling very self-conscious and began to ramble, "We don't have to ever to that again if you don't want to. I just wanted to show you how amazing and strong I think you are, and how glad I am that..."
Jane lent in a placed a quick peck on Maura's lips to silence her, "Oh we are gonna do that again Dr Isles."
They both once again threw their heads back in laughter, but Maura quickly halted hers and placed her hand across Jane's mouth. "Not so loud detective, you'll wake Holly." The innuendo only resulted in Jane laughing harder, until she remembered Hoyt's words from her dream and stopped, pulling Maura in tighter.
She heard Maura mumble something into her chest, and slightly loosened her grip so that she could hear her.
"Garrett Fairfield."
She wasn't sure what Maura meant by this at first. Why is she telling me a random guy's name? Then it hit her, she'd told Maura about her monster, so now the doctor was telling her about hers. Finally a name to the man that had been at the forefront of her mind for the month. Jane now had a name to run through AFIS, she'd have a picture of the face of the guy who had hurt Maura so badly. Soon she'd know exactly what she was up against. Why does the name sound so familiar though?
"Oh my God Maura! Are you talking about the Mayflower Fairfields?" she felt the blonde nod against her neck, "Holy shit, your daughter is a Fairfield."
Maura flinched at the swear, and firmly pushed back from Jane, startling the detective somewhat, "No. She is and Isles, like me. I raised her; she's mine, not theirs."
Jane getting over the initial shock of Maura's outburst reached out her arms again, "Of course, I'm sorry. I know that you're the one who made her the way she is. I just have my mother's mouth sometimes." Maura settled back into Jane's arms and the brunette began to stroke her hair, trying to find the best way to ask her next question, "Maura... did he ever hurt you?"
The silence said all it needed to, as Maura mulled over her answer, "No, not physically."
"What did he do to you?"
She felt Maura's arm cross her body, tightening her grasp of her. "Please Jane."
The detective knew what that meant. She needed to give her time, just as Maura had given her. Jane had to be patient, something that she wasn't, but for Maura, she might just manage it. She placed a kiss to the top of Maura's head, "Okay."
They lay like that for several minutes until the door to Maura's room creaked open, "Mommy?"
They leapt apart from each other. Maura looked across at Jane, whose cheeks were tinged by a slight blush, "Yes sweetheart?"
The little girl rubbed her eyes and toddled over to the bed, and with a slight struggle climbed onto it. "I had a bad dream." She yawned, only then noticing that her mother wasn't alone. "Jane? Why you in Mommy's bed?"
Jane turned to Maura, her eyes frantically asking what she should say.
"Jane and I were just... watching a movie."
Holly sat up straight and folded her arms, "It's night-time, you should not be watching movies this late young lady." She pointed her finger in the way that Maura would, mimicking how she would have been scolded. Neither Maura nor Jane could hold in their giggles, which only served to make the little girl angrier.
"I promise you honey, that was before, now we were just sleeping."
This seemed to satisfy Holly, and she went to lie in between the two women, and her eyes began to droop, heavy with sleep, until widening with a sudden realisation. "You had a sleepover without me!"
This time Jane knew how to reply, "We'll invite you next time kiddo."
"Okay, but Jane why you not in jams?"
"What are jams?"
"They night-time clothes, you still in day-time clothes."
Jane looked down her body to find herself still in the scruffy jeans she'd worn to dinner, and the same purple v-neck, the only thing missing were her shoes. She looked over at Maura who was now dressed in silk pyjamas, and raised her eyebrows. When did you get changed?
Maura only grinned and raised hers right back. That's for me to know and you to find out.
Holly pulled on Jane's hair, drawing her attention back to the other blonde, "Because I have to go home soon, to get ready for work."
"Stay." It wasn't Holly that answered her, but Maura, her pleading eyes begging Jane to do just that. To stay.
"I can't it's Monday tomorrow, I don't have a suit here."
She saw Maura's triumphant smirk, knowing straight away that she wasn't going anywhere, "Yes you do. We got changed here before our jog last week, and you left your suit, so I had it dry cleaned. It is all ready for you to wear."
Not completely giving up Jane tested her, "And what jams am I supposed to wear Dr Smartypants?"
"You can wear some of my college clothes, they should fit you." Maura cocked her head in victory, motioning with her hand to the closet. With a huff, Jane stood and walked in that direction.
"So Jane stay?" Holly said, her voice slowly succumbing to the draw of sleep.
"Yes sweetheart, Jane is staying."
All Jane found in Maura's closet was a lot of silk, and a tiny pair of cotton shorts and a tank. They weren't exactly to Jane's taste, but they would have to do. All of her discomfort evaporated though, when she walked back into Maura's bedroom to see a lightly snoring Holly nestled into her mother's side, who was sitting up, waiting for Jane.
She slid as silently as she could into the bed, trying not to rouse the sleeping little girl, and wrapped an arm around Maura, Holly wedged in-between them.
"Crazy day, huh?"
A content smile graced Maura's reply, "Yes, I think that would be the correct adjective."
Jane grinned, and reached out a hand to Maura, pulling her closer. She looked down at Holly, and saw that she was still sleeping, and then placed a gentle kiss to Maura's lips. "Night Maur." She whispered, and turned out the light.