A/N: And now, the moment we've all been waiting for…

Maura wasn't sure what she was feeling. Somewhere in transit between her house and the prison, all her emotions flew out the window and left her feeling numb, empty. After mechanically requesting to see Detective Jane Rizzoli, she handed over her purse and stood still for inspection before being led into the visitor's area by a silent guard.

This isn't right.

As she sat down in a cubicle and set her bag on the tabletop in front of her, Maura took in the room around her. She was in a line of partitions, separated on three sides by windows of glass. On the other side of the room, she could see a door, with prisoners and guards passing through sparsely. To her right was a telephone, connected by a wire to an identical one in the cubicle directly across from her. She looked at the black cord running under the glass and sighed deeply. The emptiness in her stomach was growing by the second. "What am I going to say to you?"

Jane was practically vibrating as she followed Steve through the concrete prison hallways. All of her senses felt like they were on hyperalert, making her acutely aware of her surroundings and ready to react at the drop of a dime. She was never this nervous or on edge when it came to cases, not even during the few high-risk undercover missions she was sent on.

"Something wrong, Detective?"

She glanced up to see the sideways look Steve was giving her. "No, I'm fine," she muttered, wringing her hands tight.

Such a lie.

Maura looked up when the door opened again, and immediately her heart jumped into her throat. With a deer-in-the-headlights expression on her face, Jane Rizzoli looked nothing like Jane Rizzoli. For somebody as tall and intimidating as she usually was, Jane seemed a lot smaller in her bright orange jumpsuit. She froze when her eyes met Maura's and, after a pause, actually started to turn around to go back through the door behind her.

Wait, Jane…

As if she heard her, Jane stopped. Maura watched as the expression on her face changed from frightful to determined. Without meeting her former friend's eyes again, Jane power-walked down the line of cubicles, slid smoothly into the one across from Maura and picked up the phone.

The air grew still. Very slowly, Maura lifted her receiver and put it to her ear.

Jane felt trapped. She'd forced herself to cross the room and sit in front of Maura, and now she had absolutely no idea what to say first. There were so many thoughts running through her head. I've missed you. I hate it here. I can't put your father in prison. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry for everything.

Out came the very first thing that broke through her consciousness. "Hi."

Hearing Jane's low, rough voice for the first time in more than a month was like Maura's Kryptonite. She suddenly felt weak everywhere. Tears sprang into the corners of her eyes and she forced herself to take a few deep breaths, trying her hardest to come up with an intelligent response. Why is this so difficult?

On the other side of the glass, Jane watched the shorter woman's reaction through frightened eyes. Oh lord, how in the hell did she take that the wrong way? Swallowing her sudden panic, she willed Maura to meet her gaze. Say something. Please. Anything.

Seconds ticked by, and she was dying. Licking her lips, Jane leaned forward slightly and put the phone closer to her mouth. "Maura, please say something."

Her eyes flicked upwards and stared into Jane's. Everything she thought she wanted to say disappeared, and suddenly she only wanted to know one thing. "Why?"

Slowly, Jane's forehead creased and a confused expression crossed her face. "Why what?"

"Why everything." Maura took a deep breath and determinedly kept eye contact. "Start with Agent Dean and end with you being here."

The lack of emotion in Maura's voice struck Jane. She anxiously shifted position and shoved a hand through her hair. "Okay…um…" Inhaling sharply, Jane began to explain herself carefully. "Everything with Dean was a mistake. I shouldn't have taken him in again so quickly, and I definitely shouldn't have told him"—she shook her head—"Gabriel…about Doyle coming back. It was incredibly stupid of me to assume he wouldn't do anything until I told him to, Maura," she whispered, voice cracking. "I'm…so, so sorry."

Maura nodded slowly, then faster. "Okay." Her expression didn't change as she cleared her throat and asked the next question. "And then what? Did you bring him with you when we went to the warehouse?"

Jane shook her head violently. "No, Maura, I swear, we didn't know he was coming. I don't know if he had a source or a hunch, or"—her free hand was gesturing wildly in the air, like she was grasping desperately for an answer—"or if he just followed me for the sake of following me, but I had no idea he was going to turn up." She looked at her former friend helplessly and let her hand fall near the glass between them. "Again, Maura, I'm so sorry."

"Stop." Maura snapped suddenly, holding up her hand with eyes shut. "Please."

A silence fell between them. A war was going on inside Maura; the emotional part of her wanted to forget anything ever happened and forgive Jane then and there, but the logical Maura was screaming for answers. You want her back. You've missed her so much. But what kind of life can you lead with everything between you?

After several long moments, logic won out. Maura balled her empty hand into a fist and breathed deeply. "Now…tell me what you were thinking. When you shot him."

Jane knew this question would come. She had the answer. Now, all she needed to do was let the sentences fall into place.

"I was thinking like a cop. He had taken down a federal agent just a few seconds before. His weapon was up and I could see this look of pure malice on his face. I still don't know if he was looking at me or Frost, but I reacted first. I shot him."

Tears stung her eyes as she stared at the woman across from her, pain rippling through her chest. "Maura…I can't tell you how many times I've thought back and wished it were Frost who took him down. I wish I never told Dean about Doyle in the first place. I wish I had somehow…protected your name when you requested to see the space heater." She was rambling, she knew, absolutely grasping at straws, but the words kept coming. "I don't know how I could have done it, but God, I would have tried. I would have done…anything…to keep this all from happening. But…the chips fell where they did. I made choices, worked with my mistakes, and in the end I had to act the way I was trained to act."

Through the phone, Jane heard Maura inhale shakily, and her heart positively shattered. Pressing her fingers to the glass, she willed the ME to meet her eyes again. "Maura, please. I…I'm…"

Maura held up a hand. Jane snapped her mouth shut and waited, staring sadly at the top of her former friend's head. Please, Maura.

"You know, Jane…" Maura lifted her head and wiped under her eyes quickly, her stare locked on some point over Jane's right shoulder. "Somewhere in here"—vaguely, she gestured over her chest, eyebrows furrowing as she did so—"I do understand that. But there's also a part of me that…that just…"

Jane's heart sank. She felt completely defeated. "That's glad I'm behind bars."

"No, Jane." Maura's watery eyes met the brunette's as she shook her head gently. "There isn't a single bit of me that wishes you were on the other side of this glass."

Another silence fell, but this time, something else was hanging in the air between them. Despite everything that had come to pass, Jane couldn't help but feel as though a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She wants me out. "Well, okay." Her gaze flicked from Maura's hand, still suspended over her chest, to her glistening hazel eyes. "At least we have that part covered."

Maura nodded vaguely. Both women sat still for a few moments, simply processing everything that had just come to light. Jane was still afraid that the ME would never forgive her for what she did, but at the same time, she was relieved to know that Maura wasn't happy with her being in prison. On the other side of the glass, Maura was far from relieved. Her thoughts were racing and she had no idea what she wanted to happen. What should I do?

Straightening in her seat, she decided it was best to know what Jane was thinking. "So what happens now?"

Jane's brown eyes darkened. "Well…do you think you could handle me testifying against Doyle when he gets out of the hospital?"

"I don't know," Maura replied quietly. She wished she did. "Do you think you could handle testifying against him?"

Biting her lip, Jane looked at Maura unblinkingly. "I don't know either."

The tension in the air thickened again. Sighing, Maura tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and rested her hand on the table. "So where do we go from here?"

"Rizzoli. Time's up."

Both women looked up at Steve, surprised. The guard simply stared at Jane pointedly and gestured for her to hang up the phone. She turned back to Maura and opened her mouth to say something else, a slightly desperate look in her eyes, but what ended up coming out was, "I have to leave."

Maura's fingers gripped the phone tightly; a sudden and urgent need to keep the other woman seated overwhelmed her. "Jane…"

Closing her eyes, Jane took the phone away from her ear. Calm down, Jane. It's something. Reluctantly, she replaced the receiver, and stood with a nod to Steve.

Maura rose to her feet as well, hanging up the phone and staring as the guard led her former friend away. On an unexpected whim, she pushed her hand hard against the glass and called out to the taller woman. "Jane."

She didn't hear her name, but the thud of Maura's hand against the glass caused Jane to turn around before she reached the door. A pained expression on the ME's face caused a jolt to go through her stomach. God, Maura…

Heart pounding, Maura locked eyes with Jane and made a promise she knew she would keep. "I'll be back."

Jane's breath hitched. She's coming back. Feeling the pressure of Steve's hand on her arm, Jane nodded quickly at Maura, and then allowed herself to be led through the doorway, suddenly feeling lighter than she had in weeks. She really is coming back.

A/N2: Before you grab your torches and pitchforks, may I just say one thing: canon. Canon, canon, canon, canon. If the writers of this show ever decided to make Rizzles happen, it would be a very gradual process. I want these characters to be as true to the show as possible, so I can't have them diving into "I love you"s the very first time they see each other in six weeks! There's so much to work out! Next chapter is going to be a big one for Jane- she'll be coming to terms with her true feelings for Maura. I'm still up in the air about chapter 13—I think I want to flesh out Maura's side just a little bit more before I bring her back to jail—but I'll definitely let you know. Thank you all so much for sticking with me thus far; you're fantastic and I love you all!