A/N – Again apologies for taking a little longer than I would have liked to update this story. It's unfortunate, but real life has intruded, so I've not been able to sit down and write as I would have wanted. In the meantime, I hope this update is enough to keep you going.
H – thank you as always!
Chapter twelve
Maura walked through to the sitting room with a grin on her face when she heard Jane's pleas. She put the files away in a small wooden oak filing cabinet she kept tucked away in a corner of the sitting room for whenever brought her own files home to work on making sure it was locked. She spun around and saw Jane standing by the sofa with a pout on her face.
"Maur..." Jane said, with such a childish reaction that Maura had to stop herself from laughing. Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest.
"I believe I said no." Maura replied arching one eyebrow, watching as Jane began biting her bottom lip.
"So what am I supposed to do now?" Jane asked with a slight scowl.
"We can do what we've done before. Movies and popcorn perhaps." Maura suggested, as she moved to the kitchen.
"Oh great." Jane couldn't keep the sarcasm from her voice. "No beer allowed, it's going to make for a great night of watching a movie."
"You'll just have to drink something else." Maura pointed out as she began to rummage around in the refrigerator to see if there were any suitable snacks to be had.
"Oh, and what do you have?" Jane wanted to know, "Don't tell me... Root beer?"
"No, but I do have some Perrier water, plus some fresh orange juice I picked up this morning." Maura replied, poking her head from around the refridgerator door.
"Of course you do, no sugary soda in your fridge. Great. That's going to have to change." Jane sat down on the sofa with a huff. Maura ignored her, as she pulled some juice out, pouring them both a glass, which she then took and set down on the coffee table.
"Do you want popcorn?"
"Do bears shit in the woods?" Jane lent forward and grabbed her drink, taking a sip, making a face as she did.
"I'll take that as a yes for popcorn."
"I'll take that as a yes." Jane mimicked, but couldn't stop the a peal of laughter afterwards unable to keep the teasing up any longer.
Maura shook her head, but with a smile across her face, knowing that Jane was at least relaxed and she had soon sorted the snacks out, as well as arguing over which movie to watch, before they both agreed on Letters to Juliet.
"No going google on me." Jane warned just before she pressed play.
Maura looked surprised as she glanced across to look at Jane. "I don't do things like that..." Maura hesitated when she saw Jane's face. "Do I?"
Jane chuckled. "Maura, if there is any kind of inaccuracy, you jump right on it. If it's geographical, historical, literal, you're in there complaining and telling me what the correct version is." Jane glanced across and was struck by the look of sheer surprise on Maura's face. Taking pity on her, Jane put her hand out and grabbed Maura's.
"If it's any consolation, I think it's cute. Just not during the movie... You can go all google on me afterwards."
Maura merely nodded, and Jane relaxed back in the cushions, still holding Maura's hand and pressed play.
After watching two movies, having ordered some Chinese for dinner in between watching, Jane stretched out as much as she could without hurting herself.
"I don't know about you, but I'm beat." Jane admitted as Maura moved to tidy up. Maura glanced at the time, and was a little surprised to see it wasn't even ten.
"I'll just stay up a while longer if that's okay with you." Maura replied, as she moved around the kitchen, putting things away.
"Sure." Jane got up, but before she disappeared she walked over to face Maura, with a slightly shy look on her face, which Maura admitted to herself she found adorable.
"I enjoyed tonight." Jane said, moving closer to give Maura a hug. "It could have been awkward, but it wasn't, and thank you for taking the file. I might not have known it, but you were right, I needed time away from it."
Maura smiled as she returned the hug. "It was a nice evening." Maura agreed, "Do you need company tonight?"
Jane hesitated, not sure whether she did or not, also aware she didn't want Maura to get the wrong impression if she said no. "How about you look in on me when you're ready to turn in?" Jane suggested. "See how I'm doing."
"A good idea." Maura moved away so she could look up at Jane. "If I don't see you later, I'll see you in the morning." And without thinking, moved in to give Jane a very quick kiss, which was met with a smile on Jane's face.
"Something tells me I'm going to sleep well tonight." Jane didn't say any more as she disengaged from Maura, before heading out to the guest bedroom.
After a restful night, which they spent separately, Maura and Jane arrived at the office the following day in the late morning, with Maura leaving Jane once they arrived at the precinct. Maura had arranged it so she was also on shorter hours, and would only come in for more if there was a problem or they were getting too busy and needed the help. It made the decision about Jane coming back to work easier for Maura to deal with, knowing she was also looking at the same hours.
After an hour Maura found she had some information concerning an autopsy, so took the opportunity to go to homicide. Once there, she caught the tail end of Jane's conversation on the phone and she could tell Jane was giving out her email address
"... at city of Boston dot gov... Yeah, you know, the round squiggly thing that represents at."
"An ampersat." Maura prompted, earning her a look of confusion from Jane, who quickly ended the phone call.
"Seriously? What?" Jane then asked as she tucked the phone back in the holder on her belt.
"An ampersat; not to be confused with an ampersand which is a logogram representing the word 'and'."
"Really? Let's pretend I knew half of what you were talking about there and move on shall we!" Jane sounded exasperated.
"Jane, it's not difficult. When giving out the information, you can simply say use the Ampersat of at, rather than the squiggly thing that represents it." Maura looked slightly shocked that Jane wouldn't want to know this information.
"Absolutely, I'll make sure I do that, because of course everyone will understand what the hell it all means." Jane rolled her eyes, but also hid the smile that was trying to form.
"Sarcasm, honestly Jane." Maura shook her head, with a frown. "It really isn't that hard to learn these things."
Unfortunately, Jane's good mood was quickly soured as Crowe appeared and she groaned under her breath. Maura could sense the change in the room straight away, even putting her on edge.
"What the fuck you looking at?" Crowe said, as he sat down, not bothering to hide his disgust towards Jane even though she had deliberately tried to avoid looking in his direction.
Jane raised her eyebrows unable to let his comment go, "Your ugly mug. Looks like someone hit you smack on the nose. Have a knuckle sandwich for lunch did you?" Jane sneered.
"Jane don't antagonise him" Maura spoke in a lowered voice, so only Jane could hear, but she ignored Maura, keeping her eye's firmly on Crowe.
Crowe looked at Jane with anger he no longer bothered to try and hide, his eyes narrowed. "You need to take a class or something for those anger issues you've got Rizzoli."
Jane just shook her head, with her own look of revulsion. "Yeah, right. I'll take a class to manage my own anger, just as soon as you take a class on how to shut the fuck up!" She then turned on her heel and stormed away; before she hit him and that was the last thing she wanted to do, particularly with Maura in the room.
Maura hurried after Jane, stopping her at the elevator doors. "My office. Now!" Was all Maura said in a low voice, in an unrelenting tone as they stood there. Anger was pouring off Jane in waves. She swivelled around and looked at Maura.
"Who the fuck does he think he is?" Jane was physically twitching, and Maura knew it was a sign she desperately wanted to hit something, or rather someone. "Just... who the fuck?"
"Jane." Maura warned, her voice still low. "This isn't the time or the place. My office." The words were met with a growl from Jane who punched the button. "And hitting the elevator button isn't going to speed the process up any." Maura added, ignoring the glare from her right.
"You know, Crowe's always had a problem with me, but I didn't peg him for being so fucking homophobic, the snivelling shitty bastard. I'm gonna ask Korsak to check that shit hasn't got anything to do with Sue's death." Jane ground the words out under her breath. "If he has, he'll wish he hadn't been born by the time I'm done with him."
Maura didn't say anything as they made their way to her office. Walking in, she closed the door, and she locked it. She'd insisted on a lock after the shooting incident when they remodelled the whole area, and was never as grateful as she was now about the decision since this was in fact the first time she'd used it. She turned to see Jane pacing around the office, concern etched on her face as she saw Jane's limp was more pronounced, but that would wait for another conversation altogether.
"Sit!" Maura's voice showed she was in no mood for any arguments over the command she'd just issued, and although Jane hesitated for a minute, she decided it would be better for her to do as Maura asked, so she sat down, but not without rolling her eyes to show she wasn't happy about it.
"Now, first off, do you really believe for one minute that Crowe would have anything to do with your accident?" Maura asked, her tone stern.
Jane's shoulders sagged a little. "No..." she admitted. "But the guy is such a prick... "
"That is no reason to say what you did, you cannot just go around making those sort of accusations. If someone else had heard you, it could have had all sorts of implications for you, which you don't need. Especially not at this point in time." Maura frowned, "I do think his attitude though has been less than exemplary."
"Really? Ya think?" Jane barked out a short laugh. "Total fucking asshole more like."
"Jane!" Maura glared at Jane, who shrunk back, knowing the use of language was enough to get Maura upset and she was pushing her luck already having only just been verbally chastised, whereas normally Maura would have said something by the elevators.
"Sorry, but it still doesn't stop him from being an asshole." Jane grumbled, looking petulant.
"Whatever you might think of him you shouldn't fall in to the trap of reacting to him. It only makes it worse, although I do believe you should report him." Maura moved in closer to where Jane was sitting.
"Yeah, and what good will that do me?" Jane said, her anger beginning to dissipate. "I'll just get labelled as a snitch on my colleagues, and that only puts me one place above the rat squad in the eyes of others."
"The rat squad?" Maura questioned. She'd heard others using the term before, but never from Jane and didn't understand it's relevance since it was something she'd never had to think about in any real context before now.
"IAD." Jane explained, a little surprised Maura didn't already know that. "I'm telling you, I say anything and people will not trust me."
"Jane, we cannot allow Crowe to get away with this. You have to report him." Maura implored, looking worried, as she began to understand the situation. Of course, Jane had numerous dealings with IAD, all standard procedure, but Maura had never heard her using an kind of nickname about them before. While Maura knew IAD weren't liked, it hadn't occurred to her there would be such a strict unspoken rule amongst officers and dealing with problems.
"No can do Maur..." Jane shrugged her shoulders. "Best I can hope for is that Cavanaugh catches him at the time, and then he can pull him in and make out a report as he sees fit."
"That seems so unfair." Maura admitted, sinking down on another chair that she had pulled in alongside Jane's.
"Isn't always fair in this job Maura, you should know that by now." Jane said with another shrug of her shoulders. "I've had to fight this kind of shit all through my time on the force. It's got better as time has gone on, but there are still certain unwritten rules - and one is you don't rat out on your fellow officers."
"Even if you know they are dirty..." Maura paused, "Like Bobby?"
Jane flinched as Maura said his name. "Yeah, even if it's someone like him. If you get asked to look, that's different, and you still have to be careful. Cops don't like other cops poking their noses in, even if its someone who deserves to be found out. See, there is also the other problem with reporting someone and that's if they get thrown out for any reason that might cast a shadow on their career, no matter how sound their conviction rate has been, it could open up all their cases to be looked at on appeal. Look what happened when..." Jane still found it hard to say his name, and Maura could see her clenching her jaw. "When it came out about Bobby; his damn cases are all still under review all this time later, and I can bet most were sound convictions but they are all open to reasonable doubt now. It's a defence lawyers wet dream."
She stood back and looked at her handiwork. She knew she wasn't the most skilled, but had done enough while helping her father growing up to know what she was doing. In this instance, she felt she had done the best job so far, since she'd taken some time to practice more on some waste material. She pulled a hoodie on, as the cooler air began to take hold as the evening drew in, grateful that finally the heat seemed to be breaking as fall was approaching. She walked out of the property, making sure it was all locked and secure behind her, picking up a cab a few blocks away.
She gave the address, and moving around the side of the house, went inside quickly, before moving to the room that gave her the best view. Settling down once she'd made herself some coffee, she began the same vigil she'd been maintaining for a couple of nights. It paid to know what was going on, and she was determined not to make a mistake this time around. She'd lucked out finding this place, although she wasn't sure how long she'd be able to stay there, so was prepared to move on at a seconds notice if needed. Preparation and planning; her father had beaten those ideals into her at a very early age.
She snapped her head up as her phone rang, and answered it quickly. "I thought I told you, I've got nothing more to discuss with you."
"I'm worried... It's gone further than I thought it would and I've got too much to lose." His voice sounded tinny, as if he were in some location that was distorting his voice.
"Too fucking late now, you're neck deep in this crap. Should have thought about that before contacting me with this." She laughed mirthlessly at his pathetic attitude and ended the call without another word.
Maura's car pulled up in the driveway. She and Jane got out, Jane still obviously upset and angry at the days turn of events. On Maura's insistence, she had agreed eventually to come home again, giving Cavanaugh the excuse that she wasn't feeling as well as she might. Maura looked as Jane still limped in, knowing because Jane was so angry, her instinct to maintain a facade with her injuries had dropped, and Maura was seeing the real impact they were having for the first time since Jane had left the hospital.
"Sit there, I want to check your leg." Maura ordered almost the second they were in the house. Jane looked at Maura with a deepening frown.
"No, look it's fine." Jane protested, flexing her leg up and back again, biting back as the pain hit, which didn't go unnoticed by Maura.
"Your definition of fine and mine are very different." Maura countered, as she lightly guided Jane by holding her elbow towards the sofa, and finally pushing Jane down on to it.
"Remove your pants." Maura moved away to get her first aid kid.
"What? No." Jane began to protest, only for Maura to turn back and look at Jane meaningfully, making Jane sigh and she began to loosen the belt. Maura nodded her assent, before moving away again, returning a few minutes later with the kit.
Jane was sitting with her pants now down around her ankles, with a smirk on her face. "If you wanted me like this, all you had to do was ask, not make excuses about needing to check my leg." Jane then joked.
Maura shook her head, but smiled and then replied with a completely neutral expression on her face that she deliberately held. "Believe me, there will be absolutely no misunderstanding when I want you to strip."
Jane swallowed hard at Maura's words, and tried not to blush. "So, what's it look like Doc?" Jane spluttered, now wishing she'd not started that line of conversation.
Maura crouched down in front of Jane pulling on some latex gloves, and frowned when she pulled the dressing away. "You shouldn't have a dressing on now." Maura looked back at Jane who tried to look as casual as then looked carefully at the largest laceration she was talking about, which was on the upper thigh.
"It was weeping a little." Jane replied with a slight smile.
Maura began to look bothered. "No, this isn't just weeping Jane! You've caused it to dehiscence." Maura said, even sounding annoyed at what she was seeing.
Jane lent forward a little, to see what Maura was doing. "Dee-His...What does that mean in English?"
"It means you've broken the wound open along the surgical suture." Maura rocked back on her heels, and pulled some items out of her bag. "I'm going to have to try and suture the edges back, but it might need you to return to hospital if the edges are too ragged."
Jane watched as Maura pulled out some thread and a needle. "Ah shit, Maura. Can't you just... I dunno, put on some steri-strips or use some glue... or something?" Jane flinched backwards as she watched Maura get the needle ready from it's sterile packaging.
"No." Maura looked up, Jane pushing as far back as the sofa cushions would allow as she saw Maura threading the needle. "You're going to be lucky if I can repair it without needing to re-cut the edges, and if that happens, you'll need a injected local anesthetic. I've got some cream which will help for doing this." Maura proceeded to delve in her bag, and pulled the cream out, which she promptly applied along the wound taking the time to also clean out any old thread and check for possible infection.
"Come on Maura, I'm sure you could do that with the cream if you need to." Jane implored.
"Not at all." Maura said sternly. "Now, we've got to give this a minute or so to begin to work."
"Bossy, much." Jane grumbled. "I'm not going back to hospital Maura, so you'll have to do it here, or it stays like it is."
Maura shook her head, as she poked around the wound. "Does that hurt?"
"No." Jane replied, averting her eyes. While she knew she had a pretty good pain tolerance, she wasn't one for looking at the actual process of being stitched back together again given the choice. It was one thing to see thread pulling against skin in the morgue, quite another when it was her own.
Maura began to restitch the wound. "I still think you should go to the hospital if I can't get this done here."
Jane could feel the needle tugging, but tried to ignore it. "Not going to happen Maura."
"You're too stubborn for your own good sometimes." Maura glanced up for a second, before going back to the task in hand. After a couple of minutes she began to put fresh gauze over the new stitching. Maura then pulled away. "Done. No getting these wet, and most of all, please try not to do too much with your leg." Maura put things back in her bag, before putting the needle, old gauze and gloves in a bio hazard bag she also kept in her kit.
Jane went to pull her pants back up, only to have Maura put a hand out on to her leg, stopping her.
"I mean it Jane, you've got to look after this otherwise it could cause you all kinds of trouble."
Jane could only stare at where Maura's hand was on her upper thigh, trying not to react, and mutely nodded, not even sure if Maura knew what she was doing or just quite where her hand was resting.
Damn this is getting harder to just be friends Jane thought, which was immediately followed with a flash of guilt as the memory of Sue hit her.
