Well, I have revised this chapter and changed it a bit. I hope that it is a little more understandable and that you like it. In contrast to previous version. Have fun. 😊
T73
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Every morning it was the same.
It was Maura who woke up before dawn and found herself in a human trap.
Jane had literally buried the blonde beneath herself.
Initially, this sleeping position was in the need of getting used to.
It has begun when Hoyt was still after the Italian and Jane only found rest next to Maura.
First, both women didn't meant to fall asleep in one bed, but the exhaustion overcame both.
At this time, the women were only casual acquaintances. Work-related friends.
Neither of them had ulterior motives at that time.
On the morning, Maura had a panic attack as she woke up beneath Jane. She wasn't sure who had laid on top of her.
She hadn't took a man home with her on the previous night.
During her rescue operation Jane started to wake up from her own sleep. She went directly into the self-defense mode. Her worse nightmare wouldn't surprise her a second time, flatten her.
She wrapped her hands around Maura's throat in seconds and squeezed it tightly.
In that moment Maura decided that she only wanted to be friends with Jane in work ... if she survived.
When Jane came around she was startled by herself. Apologized for a dozen times and disappeared into the dawn.
You could say a lot about Maura, but she wasn't unforgiving.
The second time Jane stayed with the blonde was when the Italian met Bass the first time, as Hoyt escaped from prison for the first time.
She still wasn't sure who was more frightened at the first meeting.
The brunette or the tortoise.
Anyway, on that morning it was clear to Maura that Jane didn't claimed the whole bed for herself but that she used her own body as a shield to protect Maura.
That was the morning on which Jane were clutching Maura with both arms. The morning on which Maura didn't tried to free herself.
From there on it was normal to wake up this way. When Jane was with her. When Jane was in the mood.
Maura smiled and looked up at the peaceful sleeping brunette that was half on top of her.
Jane stirred a little and pouted. Then she mumbled that sounded like 'so soft'.
Maura's smile grew wider and she ran her hands over the Italian's back.
In the past, she thought that she had gone through all the feeling levels of love over the years. From falling in love to being in love, up to love. But Jane blew any emotional level, she hadn't experienced before.
Maura knew that there was no scientific term for what she felt for the stubborn, hot-blooded and selfless Italian.
Actually, they were as thick as thieves. Sugar and milk. Fire and ice. Yin and yang. Black and white.
Maura was bound by rules.
Jane circumvented the rules.
They were the earth and the moon.
Nome could exist without the other.
Jane stirred again and kissed with a groan her wife's neck. "Stop thinking.", she said sleepy. "It's too loud."
Maura smiled and tiled her head to the side. "You can't hear me thinking, Jane."
Jane lifted her head and looked into hazel eyes. "I ...", she stopped and frowned. "Have I already told you how beautiful you are?"
Maura still smiled and put a curl behind Jane's ear. "Ditto."
Jane blew the damn curl out of her face and huffed. "What time is it?"
Maura looked at her alarm clock and frowned. 5.35 a.m."
Jane dropped her head back Maura's nape and groaned. "Way too early.
Maura chuckled and ran her hands through curls. "Go back to sleep."
Jane sighed and kisses Maura once more underneath her earlobe. "No, now I'm awake."
Maura giggled and closes her eyes. "What are we doing now?"
Jane deeply breathed in the scent of her wife and smiled. "We cuddle?"
Maura looked at the Italian. "And kiss?"
Jane smirked and kissed Maura once. "That's a deal.", suddenly she tightened her hold. "I'll never give you away."
Now Maura clutched to Jane. "I know. I know, Jane. And I won't give you away."
Jane smiled and kisses Maura's temple. "Can we stay in bed today?"
Maura smiled and kissed her wife's throat. "And who brings the case to end?"
Jane groaned again and rolled off the blonde and rubbed her face with both of her hands. "I hope we find a judge for whom are the statement of Niklas and Robbins' finances enough for a search warrant."
Maura turned on her left side and scrutinized Jane's face in the dark. "But you still have the life insurances policy."
Jane lifted her hands from her face and nodded. "We have Niklas' life insurance policy. We can't prove that Daddy didn't know about Nicholas' life insurance. It's tricky."
Maura skidded closer to the Italian. "I still can't believe that Chris Robbins should have killed his own son out of greed. I practically grew up with him and he always seemed to be such a nice man. My family will be devastated."
Jane turned her head to the right and blinked a few times. "A few days ago, you didn't even knew that he has kids. That doesn't sound very nice. I mean, you can deny your ex-wife or your ex-lover, but your own kids? No."
"Do you speak of personal experience?"
"I have no kids I could deny."
Maura rolled her eyes and ran her hand over Jane's stomach. "I'm talking about ex-wives or ex-girlfriends, or ex-boyfriends, whom you deny."
Jane looked long at her. "I'm married for the first time, it's known that it's with you. You almost know every man with who I was. With women, there are one or two memories which I would like to forget."
Maura put her hand under Jane's sleeping shirt and run it over warm skin. "I'm still surprised that you had so many ... lovers."
Jane furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm not that ugly."
"Don't be ridiculous.", Maura replied. "You're a beautiful woman, Jane. But when we first met and got to know each other, you seemed a little reserved and cautious. And I had this impression over the years."
Jane frowned a little. "Should I have told you in the first weeks of our friendship about all my sexual partners and serious relationships?"
Maura looked into her wife's eyes. "Of course not. But you always acted so prudish and coy when it came to sex."
Jane licked her lips and ran her index finger over the cleavage of Maura's nightgown made of silk. "Back when we were undercover in Merck, I've been staring shamelessly on your boobs. You know,when you were wearing this corset."
Maura held her breath when saw that the Italian was again staring at her breasts. "I remember, I was amused.", she whispered.
Jane couldn't help it and kissed the mound of Maura's right breast. "When I had seen you in that outfit, I would like to devour you completely.", she cupped the breast and squeezed it gently. "I wanted to bury my face in between your breast. You looked so incredibly sexy."
Maura closed her eyes and suppressed a moan as Jane gently massaged her breast. It was still not clear to her how a person like her wife who seemed to be so tough and strong, could be so gentle and loving in the same time.
Jane always described her hands as large, rough and with gross motory skills.
But Maura knew when she would lay a egg in Jane's hand and say 'This egg is vital. Do not crush it '. Then she would get it back at the end of the day, undamaged.
That fact aroused the blonde even more.
Jane smiled as she ran her thumb over a hard nipple. The silky fabric was the last barrier. "I wanted to drag you into a back room and take you merciless. I mean ... you pushed your magnificent breasts right into my face that evening."
Maura arched her back and bit her lower lip.
Jane's hand slipped under the fabric and she moaned low at the feeling. "Damn, you feel so good."
That was the last incentive Maura needed.
She straddled Jane's hips and pulled her nightgown over her head.
Jane smirked and sat up. She placed her lips over her wife's right nipple and sucked gently on it.
Maura arched her back again and moaned unashamed.
What they hadn't realized was the knock on the bedroom door and that it opened.
Angela stood frozen with big eyes in the door frame. "Oh my God.", was all she could say.
Jane froze like her wife upon her. But then white-hot rage ran through her veins. "Ma, what did I told you about knocking at closed doors?", she yelled.
Maura pressed her lips together and pulled the blanket over her naked butt.
"I knocked a few times.", Angela replied with an high-pitched voice. "I thought Maura has overslept. I'm so sorry."
Maura looked at her alarm clock and down at Jane, biting her bottom lip. "Your mother is right, Jane. I asked Angela to wake me up when I'm not down after seven. In most cases you're not up at that time."
Jane groaned annoyed and dropped her hands to the blonde's hips.
"I'll go and make breakfast for the both of you.", Angela said and pointed over her shoulder, smiling.
Jane groaned again. "I can hear Ma: 'If you would be a man, I would already have a grandchild of yours'."
Maura kissed her gently and smirked. "Only one?", she asked and climbed off of Jane.
Jane watched as Maura walked naked to the bathroom and growled. "God damn, that woman is going to kill me."
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Jane stood in the office of the impressive house of Chris Robbins and held a thick folder with financial documents in her hands.
They really had found a judge, for whom the current evidences were enough to fill a court warrant.
She flipped through the folder and groaned. "If something annoys me more than to do nothing, then it is to stand around and do nothing. And to look through any financial data."
"Be happy that we got a search warrant.", Frost replied as he searched a bookshelf. "Even Judge Hamilton wasn't quite convinced if he shall give us a warrant."
Jane sighed and pursed her lips. " I already stop complaining."
Frost looked surprised at her and drew his eyebrows together.
Jane looked at him and frowned. "What?"
"Are you already that whipped by Maura?"
Jane drew her eyebrows together but smiled. "Shut up."
Frost grinned broadly and continued his search. "I thought Frankie will help us."
The Italian looked briefly up. "Why? Do you already miss your bosom buddy?", she asked and grinned as he rolled his eyes. "He look through the garage and tool shed with Korsak and Maura. In the hope that they find a hint to the murder weapon. Whatever the murder weapon is."
Jane's phone began to ring and she drew her eyebrows together as she looked at the display. "That's the operations. What the ...? They know that we currently have an open case.", she took a deep breath and accepted the call. "Rizzoli.", her eyes grew immediately large. "What?"
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The investigation team arrived at the harbor where the new crime scene was.
Jane ducked under the police tape and put on her latex gloves. "I hope that it's just a bad joke.", she grumbled low.
Maura followed her and looked at the Italian. "Why?"
"Because Chris Robbins is currently sitting in a cozy little cell in the precinct.", Frost answered.
"Which means that he can't be the culprit.", Korsak added.
"Which in turn means that we have to let him go.", Frankie said.
Jane gritted her teeth. "I don't even want to think about it."
Maura pressed her lips together and sighed. She knelt down beside a female body.
Jane rubbed her hands together and took a deep breath. "Please tell me that it's not the same MO, Maura."
Maura felt skillfully the neck of the dead woman, looking focused straight ahead. "The cervical vertebrae is intact.", she opened the blouse a little and looked up at her wife. "But she has burns."
"Darn it!", Frost hisses and sighed. "Jane, I'm going to look for the patrol officer, who was here first."
Jane gritted her teeth and nodded.
Then she crouched down, staring at the woman. "I thought we had cracked the case.", she whispered to herself.
Frankie looked at the onlookers behind the police tape and frowned. "I'll be looking for witnesses."
Korsak nodded slowly. "Yeah, me too."
Maura looked closely at the right hand of the dead, drew her eyebrows together and tilted her head slightly to the side. She rolled the sleeve of the blouse up to the elbow and examined the crook of the arm. "Jane, look at this."
Jane looked at the spot Maura pointed at and also drew her eyebrows together. "Are these ... are these injection sites?"
Maura frowned a little and nodded. "Yes."
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Jane sat at her desk and chewed thoughtfully on the nail of her thumb.
Frankie pinned the photo of the last victim on the board. "Her name is Erica Taylor, twenty-nine. She's known in the drug scene. She took everything."
Jane closes her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "When was she reported missing?"
"One and a half months ago.", Frost answered. "From her best friend Mary Harris. Both women have a criminal record because of buying drugs."
Korsak looked long at the board. "The victims are completely different."
Jane leaned back in her chair and drew her eyebrows together. "Not at all."
Frankie looked puzzled at his sister. "What do you mean?"
Jane didn't answered him immediately. She stared at the five pictures, trying to find common features.
The Italian drew her eyebrows together and pointed at the board. "Four out of five victims are social outcasts. Matthew Lewis, homeless. John Neill, loner. Mary Cohan, loner. Erica Taylor, drug addicted.", she looked at the three men. "The only one who stands out is Nicholas Robbins. He was firmly integrated in society. What if he wasn't killed accidentally? What if he was supposed to be a part of this ... 'experiment'? Just like Niklas."
Korsak drew his eyebrows together. "You think that Nicholas was killed in an failed kidnapping?"
Jane nodded agreeing. "The offender didn't expect so much resistance."
Frost thought for a moment. "Are you going to assume that someone wants to prove that we really make a social class difference?"
Jane took a deep breath. "We do. We think that people like Matthew Lewis or Erica Taylor are replaceable. But a Nicholas Robbins is indispensable, he is the pillar of the society. And people like him know that."
Korsak raised his eyebrows and leaned back in his chair. "We live in a 'rather them than us ' society."
"However, this would mean that we would have four different missing persons from the upper class.", Frankie stated.
"At least.", Jane replied and sipped her coffee.
In the same moment Maura walked into the bullpen. "You really should reduce your caffeine consumption, Jane."
Jane spat startled a little of the coffee and the beverage landed partially on her white shirt. She looked at the fresh stains and frowned. "Great, that was my favorite shirt."
"It is white.", Maura stated.
Jane's eyes snapped up to her wife's. "It was new."
Korsak chuckled amused.
Frost pressed his lips together to stifle a laugh.
Maura raised her eyebrows and licked her lips. "This is exactly why I did employed Cailin to keep an eye on you on our wedding day. You get everything dirty that is white or light colored."
Frost snorted and hid his head behind his screen as the Italian glared at him.
Jane looked back at the blonde. "Thank you, Mom.", she nodded to the folder in the blonde's hands. "What's this?"
Maura handed her the folder. "The reason why I am up here."
Jane opened the file and frowned. "You've already finished the autopsy? Why didn't you call me or text me?"
"I've done both.", Maura replied. "Anyway. The fifth victim also died of heart failure that was caused by strong electric shocks. Beside, I could established signs of excessive consumption of drugs."
Jane looked through the autopsy report. "Yeah, that's what I thought. So it's not a copycat."
Maura crossed her arms over her chest. "Why?"
Korsak looked long at her. "Because we haven't published how the victims were killed."
Maura nodded slowly. "I see."
Frankie cleared his throat. "What are we doing now?"
Jane closed the file and exhaled loudly. "We need to find out who is killing these people. If that's really used as a social statement then the killer already stood out."
Korsak drew his eyebrows together. "You mean, for example, during a protest campaign."
Jane nodded slowly. "Mhm."
Frost started to type on his keyboard and sighed. "This year there were four protest campaigns against social inequality.", he paused for a moment. "That's interesting."
Jane got up from her chair walked to him. "What?"
Maura also walked to his desk and looked over his shoulder at Frost's screen.
Frost didn't looked at the women. "All four protest campaigns were organized and coordinated by a Andrew Landau. A former journalist of the Boston Globe, who pointed repeatedly at our social wrongs."
Korsak stood up from his chair too. "What happened?"
Frost looked briefly at the older man. "He too often pointed it out. He was fired at the end of last year."
Jane exhaled loudly. "See if you can find something about ... Andrew Landau in our database."
Frost nodded and typed. Suddenly, his eyebrows shot up. "Look at that."
Jane drew her eyebrows together and leaned forward. "This is indeed interesting. Andrew Landau had molested several high society Bostonians. He even became violent.", her eyebrows shot up. "What? He has beat Michael Stanton's son almost to dead but the charges were dropped because of insufficient evidence? Seriously?"
Korsak drew his eyebrows together as he read. "Robert Stanton declined to comment on the allegations that his social class would be preferred. Then Landau freaked out."
Jane straightened up and looked at her colleagues. "That's him. He's our killer."
Korsak put his glasses off of his nose. "Let's get him."
Frost stood up and took his jacket from the back of his chair.
Jane exhaled loudly and wanted to follow the two men.
Maura took Jane at her wrist. "Jane?"
Jane looked at her and she could see Maura's apprehension in her eyes. "What is it, Maura?"
Maura let go of the wrist and licked her lips. "Please ... Please be careful."
The brunette looked long at her and frowned. "Of course."
Maura pressed her lips together and nodded slightly.
Jane walked to her chair and took her jacket off of the back of her chair. She wanted to leave the office but suddenly stopped. She turned around and walked back to her wife. Jane pulled Maura close to her and kissed her unexpected in front of everyone else in the bullpen. Long and gently.
She pulled away and leaned her forehead against Maura's. "I come home safe and in one piece."
Maura closed her eyes and nodded. "Okay.", she whispered.
Jane smiled a little and left the bullpen.
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The four Detectives stood in front of the door of Andrew Landau's with their shooting hands on the gun's handle.
Frankie looked at his big sister and knocked loud on the apartment door as Jane nodded. "Andrew Landau, Boston police.", he said loud. "Open the door!"
They waited and listened, but nothing happened.
He knocked again, louder. "Mr. Landau, open the door."
Again, nothing happened.
Korsak looked at a patrol officer with a battering ram in his hands and nodded to him.
Jane took a deep breath and drew her gun just like the others.
All of a sudden adrenaline shot through her veins. Blood roared in her ears and she had to fight the tunnel vision.
The patrol officer swung a few times the battering ram and broke with a loud bang the door.
The police squadron rushed immediately into the apartment, guns ready to be used.
Each of them was highly concentrated, prepared for everything.
After the entire apartment was searched and secured, Frost came out of a room. "Jane, you should take a look at this."
Jane put her gun back into its holster and followed her partner in the room.
Already her second step was slow. "What the hell?"
This room was definitely used as a study.
A study that has been converted into a kind of sanctuary.
The walls were plastered with newspaper articles about all violent crimes in the state of Massachusetts.
Some newspaper articles she even knew.
They were about crimes which they had worked.
Often the articles were about privileged culprits, who got away with a slap on their hands.
And criminals who were unprivileged and were locked away for life.
Mostly for the same crimes that were also committed by the upper-class citizens.
Jane lowered pissed her eyebrows and clenched her teeth.
She began to understand this saying: 'Money makes the world go round'.
She began to understand at all.
But there was always a way to bring down the culprits. No matter to which society class they belonged to.
A legal way.
In her eyes, everyone was equal in front of God and the law.
Whether rich or poor.
Whether black, white, yellow, purple, green or dotted.
Whether male or female.
Whether young or old.
Whether educated or uneducated.
They all had something in common.
They all were only made of skin, cells muscles, fibers.
Often rich people said that they had different blood.
What did that mean?
Did it had a different consistency, a different color, a special cell structure?
As far as Jane knew, blood was always red.
It was always red. It never looked different. It was simply red. It wasn't black, white, yellow, purple, green or dotted. Just red.
There was no difference at first sight.
Now Jane began to understand Maura.
There was no ...
"Jane?", Frost's voice snapped her out of her train of thought.
Jane blinked a few times and looked at him. "Huh?"
Frost looked worriedly at her. "Is everything okay?"
Jane took a deep breath, nodded and pointed at the walls. "Yeah. CSRU shall photograph everything and seize it."
Frost nodded and took his phone in his hand.
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Jane was in her sleeping shirt and shorts as she walked out of the bathroom when Maura looked concerned at her. "What is it?"
"Are you okay?", Maura wanted to know.
The Italian walked to her bedside and crawled under the blanket. "Why shouldn't I?"
Maura turned on her left side. "Frost told me about the walls full of newspaper articles. He also told me that the articles were about various crimes and that you were mentally absent for a moment."
Jane growled and closed her eyes. "He is such a snitch."
Maura frowned and ran a hand over Jane's cheek. "He's just worried, just like Frankie and Korsak. Jane, what's going on in your head?"
Jane took a deep breath and opened her eyes. "Maura, I am always fair, right?"
Maura looked puzzled at her. "What?"
"I'm treat always the same way, no matter what background or skin color they have, right?", Jane asked again.
Maura looked deeply into her wife's eyes and saw Jane's uncertainty.
When the Italian was unsure, her eyes didn't rest, brown eyes looked hopeful for answers. Revealed in quiet moments fear and vulnerability.
Maura furrowed her eyebrows, put an hand on Jane's cheek and kissed her softly. "Oh, Jane. My sweet Jane. Yes, you treat everyone equally fair. You've never made a difference between skin color or social status. Just like Korsak or Frost, or Frankie. And that's why you are so good. For you, everyone is innocent until the guilty is proven. You have no prejudices."
"And why do I feel like I'm prejudging who is previously convicted?", Jane wanted to know and stared at the ceiling.
Maura ran and hand alone Jane's jaw line. "And as soon as you know that the person, previously convicted or not, is innocent, then you fight for that person. In any possible way. You've done it for Tommy and for me. And you did it for people you even didn't know."
Jane took a deep breath. "I don't feel better."
Maura kissed her wife gently. "Because the tricky brain of yours needs time to think and interpret."
Jane chuckled and raised her eyebrows. "Says the woman who analysis everything as often as she can."
Maura smiled softly and laid her head down on Jane's shoulder. "Let's get some sleep. Tomorrow is a new day."
Jane smiled and turned off her bedside lamp. "Yeah, let us get some sleep."
Maura kissed the Italian's chin. "Jane?"
Jane pulled the smaller woman closer. "Hmm?"
Maura sighed. "I love you."
Jane couldn't help the smile and kissed Maura's head. "I love you too, Maura."
The blonde smiled and closed her eyes to welcome the needed sleep.
