Baby?
A breathtakingly attractive woman came into Jane's line of vision clad only in a silk robe that was far too short for her lanky frame. Jane instantly recognized the robe as one of Maura's and felt her stomach drop as realization began to hit her full force.
The redhead shot a small smile in Jane's direction, her eyes briefly taking in the flowers in the Detective's grasp but her body language appearing to dismiss them as a threat just as quickly.
It was instantly clear that she only had eyes for Maura.
A violent pounding roared in Jane's ears as the other woman affectionately squeezed Maura's waist before letting her hand rest on the small of the Doctor's back and pulling her closer. The move was done comfortably, without hesitation; it clearly wasn't the first time. It couldn't even be defined as predatory; it just appeared to be their natural interaction.
This is not happening, this can't be happening.
The fog surrounding Jane only began to clear when the woman extended her hand and smiled brightly, "Hi, I'm Annabeth."
"Jane," the Detective rasped after a beat, offering a shaky hand to meet Annabeth's even though her eyes remained solidly locked on the hand that lingered on Maura's back.
Jane could feel Maura intently watching the interaction, the Doctor's eyes darting back and forth between the two women before adding, "Jane works at BPD. She's one of the homicide detectives I work with."
"Very cool," Annabeth said earnestly, without a hint of malice in her voice.
It was painfully obvious that Annabeth knew nothing about the Detective and definitely had no knowledge of Maura and Jane's shared past. The belief that she now meant that little to Maura hurt Jane more than the redhead's presence itself; the comprehension that she wasn't even worth mentioning anymore felt like a sucker punch. The kind that knocked the wind out of you so badly you were sure you'd never catch your breath again.
The tension was thick. Even Annabeth must have been able to sense the uneasiness around them as she shot Maura a subtle questioning look before dismissing herself back into the house, mumbling something witty to Jane about how her outfit was more suitable second meeting attire.
"Well, it's very nice to meet you Jane, please join us for brunch if you can," Annabeth said as she kissed Maura's temple and sauntered back into the depths of the house.
Maura and Jane were once again alone, face-to-face, but Jane could no longer bring herself to make eye contact. No longer bring herself to finish what she'd started a mere two minutes ago when the world still made sense to the Detective.
She had to get out of there.
Jane gently set the flowers that she'd had in her grasp on the cobblestone walkway as she spun on her heels and began walking quickly back towards her cruiser. Tears stinging her eyes, breathing becoming an increasing difficult task.
Jane's mind abruptly halted her movements.
Don't run! You just told her you wouldn't run.
The Detective stood still with her back turned to Maura, but she could feel the Doctor's eyes on her waiting to see her next move.
Amidst the continued throbbing in her head she did her best to compose herself as she spun back around to face Maura. To her relief the Doctor's features did not reflect the anger she'd been anticipating, but instead pain. A pain Jane could only hope was similar to the ache that was currently spreading throughout her chest.
"I'm…I'm sorry. I was just…um…surprised." Jane stammered, still not fully in control of her emotions.
"That's understandable." Maura exhaled, her voice barely above a whisper. She held Jane's gaze intently, clearly appraising the Detective's reaction to what just transpired.
Suddenly Jane's phone buzzed on her belt, she considered ignoring it, but when she heard Frost's ringtone she looked apologetically at Maura, "It's Frost…I'm sorry, I have to take this."
Maura nodded her understanding as Jane did her best to collect herself before answering with her signature, "Rizzoli."
"Jane, I need you to come in. We just got a lead on the Sheffield murder."
"Really? What is it?" she questioned, perking up slightly at the news.
"I'll explain when you get here. What's your ETA?"
She looked up at Maura still standing in the doorway, indecisive as to how to proceed. "Um…"
"Jane? Is everything okay?" Frost asked tentatively. "We really need to jump on this."
The insistence in Frost's voice finally shook her out of her wavering, "Yea, it's fine. "I'll be there in ten."
Jane hung up and replaced her phone on her belt. She sighed in frustration as she met Maura's eyes, "Frost says there's an urgent lead in the Sheffield case. I have to go."
Her brain urged her to say so much more:
Can we talk later?
Can I kick that woman's ass?
Can we just runaway together and pretend that never happened?
But before she could say anything more Maura interrupted her thoughts, "Of course."
They stared at each other for a moment before she gave Maura her best attempt at a smile and turned to continue her earlier movements away from the house.
Jane stepped into her cruiser but did not immediately drive away; the reality of what just occurred rendered her immobile. Incomprehension and recognition that Maura's affection belonged to someone else made tears begin to fall once more.
Maura moved on. She found someone else.
A woman? It finally hit Jane that Maura was with a woman.
When did Maura start dating women? Why didn't anyone tell me Maura was seeing someone?
She then realized that they probably didn't know. That the Doctor had been detached from the group since Jane's departure; that she wouldn't be gossiping about her sex life to people who'd abandoned her.
Jane rubbed her eyes with her palms as her tears continued, desperate to get a handle on the emotional chaos of her mind before heading to the precinct.
She should have known it wouldn't be that simple. Well, nothing about this was simple, but she should have known that her stupidity would cost her dearly in the long run. It always eventually caught up with her.
Out of all the confrontations she pictured as she drove to Maura's that morning, meeting the Doctor's girlfriend wasn't even a blip on her radar. Reality was so much more unbearable than the rejection she'd anticipated as the worst case scenario.
She shook herself when she remembered the urgency of Frost's call and realized how long she'd been sulking in Maura's driveway. Jane quickly threw the car in drive and sped away, but not before looking back at Maura's house one more time. She was sure if she looked hard enough she'd see fragments of her heart scattered on Maura's doorstep, the pieces unmendable, her heart would never be whole again.
"Jane? Jane. JANE. Are you listening to me?"
Frost's voice momentarily shook her out of her daze, "Yea." Jane cleared her throat and tried to sound more convincing, "Yes, Sheffield's wife has an adopted brother?"
"Yea, Peter Davis, 35, lives in Cambridge. He's not in the system, but we got a tip that he might be involved. And since he and his sister aren't blood related that could be the reason a familial match didn't show on the DNA evidence left behind."
"Mhmm." Jane hummed as bent over her desk and looked at new the evidence.
"We have enough for a search warrant and Cavanaugh wants us to bring him in for questioning in light of the newly discovered domestic violence accusations against Sheffield. Apparently Sheffield's rich buddies used their connections to keep the calls out of our system and Davis allegedly made previous threats when his sister told him what was going on."
"Yea, of course." Jane was off in her own world, hearing only bits and pieces of Frost's information.
Frost lowered his voice, "Jane, what's going on?"
Before Jane could respond Korsak entered the bullpen with search warrant in hand, "Ready?"
Jane wasn't exactly eager to talk about the morning's events, so she dismissed Frost's question with a weak smile as she stood. She grabbed her blazer off the back of her chair and followed Korsak out of the bullpen.
The drive to Davis' house was quiet, Jane's mind consumed by an endless torrent of emotion. It was obvious Frost knew something was wrong, but he didn't pursue it further once they were on their way.
Jane knew she needed to concentrate, to try to close this case with the only decent lead they'd received, but she just couldn't shift her attention away from Maura. In the past she'd always been able to compartmentalize when it came to her work, always able to push personal issues out of her mind to focus on the case at hand. But she was out of practice, hit by a bus of emotional turmoil a mere hour ago, and ill-equipped to brush her feelings aside when it came to Maura.
She just had so many questions.
How long have they been dating?
Are they living together?
Why didn't Maura say anything to this Annabeth woman about me?
Do I really mean that little to Maura now?
Jane now felt humiliated for all she'd done to try to win Maura back, idiotic in her belief that Maura just had to be softened to the Detective once more. She'd fooled herself too easily into believing she could repair everything, but no, her efforts had clearly been futile.
For the first time she let herself consider that maybe somethings were just too broken to be fixed.
They pulled up to a dilapidated house on the outskirts of town, it wasn't what they were expecting since the Sheffield family came from old money, but they were aware that the wife's family came from humble beginnings and this house reflected such.
Jane exited the car knowing she wasn't fully ready for a confrontation with a suspect, but unwilling to admit her distraction, or as she saw it, her weakness to Frost and Korsak.
They approached the house with Frost agreeing to cover the rear door in case Davis tried to flee, while Jane and Korsak remained out front.
"Peter Davis. Boston Police, we have a warrant to search the premises." Korsak bellowed as he rapped loudly on the door.
They waited a beat and when they didn't hear anyone they entered through the unlocked door with guns drawn.
Given it's dark and dank interior it didn't appear as though anyone currently lived in the house, but as a precaution she and Korsak split up to clear the house room by room. Jane took the upstairs bedrooms, while Korsak remained on the ground floor.
Jane did a cursory sweep of each room, still hopelessly distracted but trying to focus on the task at hand.
"All clear," she yelled down to Korsak as she swept the last bedroom and holstered her weapon.
She turned to head back down the stairs to execute the search warrant, but a shuffling noise behind her caught her by surprise and as she spun around to see what made the noise she felt a sharp burn in her lower back.
Jane let out a piercing cry as she fell to the floor, the pain radiating out of where she first felt the sting as she tried to remain calm.
She heard shouts and running in every direction as one gunshot rang out and the thud of a body hitting the floor echoed throughout the house.
Jane tried to flip over from her stomach to her back, but she soon gave up due to the wave of nausea and pain she felt with even the smallest movement.
Footsteps rushing towards her followed by Frost's panic voice were all she heard before everything went dark.
"Officer down, officer down."
Author's Note:
First, you all are incredible! I truly appreciate all the comments I received on the last chapter, your feedback actually made me rework my plan for future chapters and is why it took me a while to update. Good or bad I truly appreciate the feedback.
Secondly, I know how this chapters ends, but it's not what you think. This story will not turn into Maura pinning by Jane's bedside or an 'all is forgiven' situation, but it is setting up some stuff in future chapters so bear with me.