A New Path
By RandomGnome
Note: After a very long hiatus, I am back. This isn't my usual fair, but bless Hulu, it has S1 – S6 of Rizzoli and Isles and I finally got to watch all of them. After watching the whole thing, I decided that it could use with a little Rizzles and some re-writes of episodes. I hope you enjoy it. All mistakes in editing are mine alone (editing sucks!) The characters are not mine and I do not own anything but the story plot. Mostly.
Author's Note: The two episodes I'm covering in this chapter are two of my all-time favourites. As soon as I saw the looks that passed between our two favourite ladies, I just knew that this would be the defining moment in their relationship. I even made my wife watch that scene – you all know which one – and she couldn't believe that they were not together. So, I hope this meets with your approval.
Chapter Fourteen: Learning Curve (Burden of Proof, Bridge to Tomorrow)
Jane stalked into the lab, spotted Maura and bee-lined for her. "Looks like Westcourt's car was at the motel the night of the murder." She said, without preamble.
Maura looked up from her computer. "Well, that's a good alibi, right?"
"For his car." Jane replied, with much sarcasm. "Why do people cheat? I mean, i-is there some sort of evolutionary reason?" The detective was clearly trying to reason something out, but it was obviously eluding her. Mara could understand her confusion. She didn't quite understand - in her heart - shy someone would cheat on the person they claimed to love. She'd never cheat on Jane.
"Well, there is research that links infidelity to a variant in dopamine receptor D4. Some people call it the 'thrill-seeking gene." Maura told her, giving her the scientific facts as she knew them. There was always something comforting to her in facts. She knew that Jane didn't feel the same, but she thought it might help.
"So cheating is genetic?" Jane wanted to know.
"The variant is genetic, but the behaviour can be modulated by the individual, though, not in this case, apparently. The semen was a match to the DNA swab that Paul Westcourt submitted."
"Have you ever…?"
"Cheated? No. Not only have I never found it necessary, but since I can't lie, I'd never be able to hide what I did." Maura told her. "What about you?"
Jane made a face. "No." She said, simply.
Jane stared across her apartment's living area at Maura, who sat on the couch, not looking at her. She had come not long after her mother had left. The doctor hadn't said a word, she'd simply entered and sat on the couch. The tension in the room could have been cut with a knife.
Jane led the ADA into the elevator at the precinct. She couldn't believe that she was helping a lying, cheating scum. She looked him up and down, trying not to be judgmental, but it was so very difficult. They had done an okay job of covering his bruises that he'd received while in jail, but he still looked miserable. He stood beside her as they traveled downward and she couldn't help but to give in to her curiosity. She wanted to know if this man had actually been as in love with their victim as he claimed.
"All right, what was Danni's favourite colour?" She demanded.
Taken aback it took Paul a moment to collect his thoughts and respond. "Uh... Sage."
"Sage?" Jane asked, not believing what she was hearing.
Paul shrugged a little. "She liked to look at the Pottery Barn catalog. There's a lot of sage in there." He told her with a silly half-smile. Jane frowned. She recognised that look as one she had seen on Maura's face sometimes.
"What was her favourite food?" She asked.
"Samosas." He replied, without having to think about it.
"Least favourite food?"
"Shrimp," he replied with a little touch of anger, "okay?"
Jane stared at him for a moment, studying the complex play of emotions on his face. She backed down. "Sorry."
The detective knew that this was a defining moment in their relationship. She had to do the right thing, and say the right things or she could lose what they had been building together. She looked around her partially packed up apartment and realised that if she didn't figure it out, she'd have to unpack everything, including her own heart.
It was dark and cool on the Narrows Bridge that night as Jane climbed over the railing in an attempt to talk Paul Westcourt out of suicide. After more investigation, she, Frankie, and Korsak had come to the realisation that this man - although he was a cheater - had not murdered their victim, Danni. In fact, he had loved her more than he loved his wife and that was the cause of his anguish. She wouldn't allow him to give up on life, no matter what.
"I'll stay over here," she told the man on the edge, "We'll - We'll - We'll just talk from here. Okay? I'm not - I'm not moving any f- any further, all right?" She clung to the metal rail that she'd climbed over with one hand, doing her best to balance on the narrow metal ledge. She could smell water and the tang of rusty metal reminded her of blood, making her edgier than normal. "I know that you think that your life is over, and - and maybe I can't change that, but just - please, for one second - please will you just think about Danielle?" Below the bridge, water churned and swirled in the darkness below. Cool mist rose around them.
"Danni." Paul said the name of his lover with an anguish that Jane felt in her own heart. She could imagine what she would be like if the deceased person were Maura. Maura, who was standing on the road behind her, watching this whole thing play out, at a loss as to what to do to help. Jane wanted to look back at her, wanted to give her some kind of signal, but she was afraid to take her attention off of the ADA for even a second.
"I know you didn't kill her. Okay? I - I think you loved her more than anything. And I think that's why you - you were so conflicted about what to do. And that's why you cannot let whoever did this to her get away with it, okay?" The detective tried to reason with the man. "Come on. Paul, you said it yourself - her killer is still out there. Look," Jane took a deep breath, trying to sound calmer. She made the mistake of looking down again and got a little dizzy. Her stomach roiled. She moved over, just a few inches, hanging on to the metal railing, "Okay? And - and I can't - can't give you any more nights flipping through catalogs and - and - and Indian food. But I can bring her killer to justice. I can do that. Okay? Please - h-help me do that. Doesn't she deserve that?"
Paul stared at her with sad blue eyes, and it was obvious that he needed to believe her. He needed to believe that Jane Rizzoli could avenge his murdered love. He needed to know that he could do something that would help undo the pain that he had caused. He nodded slowly.
Holding onto the railing with one hand, Jane reached out to him with her other hand. He turned, took a step towards her, and his foot slipped. One look of panic was all that Jane had time to see before he was plummeting off of the bridge and down into the dark waters below.
Detective Jane Rizzoli hesitated for only a second before she jumped after him, Maura's agonized scream echoing in her ear until she hit the cold water.
Maura stared down at her hands, willing them to stop shaking. She kept her head down, but her eyes scanned the room, taking in the packed boxes. Jane was supposed to be moving in with her soon. Did she still want to? Did Maura still want her to?
The brunette approached her girlfriend, hands behind her back. When she rounded her couch, she brought one hand out from behind her back, a little golden gift bag dangled from it. Maura took the bag, face expressionless. She reached into it and pulled out a small bottle of perfume.
"It was the only thing I could afford without taking out a second mortgage," Jane said, trying for some levity.
"It's my favourite." Maura said in a toneless voice. Her hand that held the bottle shook.
Jane sat down beside her on the couch - near enough to reach out and touch her, but actually doing so. "Mine, too." She admitted with a small smile.
"How are you feeling?" The doctor asked. She put the bottle on Jane's coffee table and then clasped her hands in her lap again.
"We're okay. I'm sore, and I'm tired. I promise, Maur, the baby is okay. I am, too." Jane watched her girlfriend start to tremble and wanted more than anything to reach out to her. But she remembered the hug that they had shared on the docks.
Jane stepped out of the ship's bridge, soaked, shivering, and wrapped in a blanket. She looked up and saw the three people she most wanted to see. She knew that her mother was probably at Maura's house, with Tasha, fretting the way that she did.
Frankie was the first to break. "Janie!" He shouted and practically ran down the ramp to the dock. "Janie! Oh God! Janie." He enveloped her in a huge hug. Then he stood back, holding her by the shoulders. "Good thing Ma made us take all those swim lessons, huh? You okay?" When Jane nodded, he let go of her and she turned to see Maura.
She was a site for sore, tired eyes. Maura was pressing her lips together in an effort not to cry. Jane nearly wept in relief as she took the blonde in her arms and buried her face in Maura's neck. "I've never been so happy to see you in my life." She whimpered.
Maura held her tightly for a few seconds. Then she abruptly pulled back. Her face had gone remote, like nothing Jane had ever seen. The detective tried to hold on to her girlfriend, but the M.E. stepped back. "I'll see you back at the office. Take good care of her," she ordered the EMTs as she walked stiffly back up the ramp. Jane watched her go, utterly unsure what had just happened.
"Okay," Jane began. "I know jumping in after Paul was dangerous."
Maura swallowed hard before she responded. "Did you think about any of us before you jumped?"
Jane sighed. She gave Maura a small smile and shook her head. "No, I didn't. I didn't think about you. And I didn't think about the baby. I didn't think about Tasha, or - or my family. I didn't even think about myself. The only person that I thought about was Paul and that I was the only one that could help him. I wasn't gonna let him drown, Maura." She answered with the absolute truth.
Maura breathed slowly, like drawing breath hurt her. She said, "I guess that's the instinct that makes you such a good cop."
Jane nodded. Uncertainly, she replied, "And maybe a bit hard to love."
Maura tried to smile as she nodded, but all she could do was press her lips together in an attempt to not cry. "I was afraid that I'd lost you." She blew out a hard breath and shook her head slowly. "And I just kept thinking that I didn't do enough to help you." That admission was difficult for her. "Why didn't I go with you and help talk Paul down, or why didn't I stop you from going over the railing, why wasn't I closer to grab you?" Maura's voice broke on the last word.
Jane couldn't stand it. She scooted over on the sofa and pulled Maura into her. "I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry. Honey, I..."
Maura cut her off with a hard, fierce kiss. Her hands sank into Jane's hair as she dragged the brunette closer, her tongue demanding entrance to Jane's mouth. Jane gave in at once, letting out a moan and shifting until she'd managed to pull the blonde onto her lap. Maura moved and straddled Jane's thighs, pressing hard against her, never breaking their kiss. Jane scrabbled at Maura's shirt, jerking it from free where it was tucked into her pants and immediately sliding her hands up the blonde's back.
The M.E. broke the kiss long enough to suck in a couple deep breaths before moulding herself back to her girlfriend. One hand left her hair to caress Jane's face while the other moved down to cup the back of the detective's head. Jane broke the kiss, but only to begin moving her lips along Maura's jaw to her ear. She bit down on M.E.'s earlobe and was rewarded with a loud moan directly into her own ear. When she began leaving a trail of feather light kisses down Maura's graceful neck, the blonde tilted her head and let her hair fall away to give Jane better access.
The brunette, for her part, was loving every second of this. Her hands roamed over the skin of Maura's back until it hit her bra and with a single move, she unhooked the offending device. Maura gasped and pulled back to look into Jane's eyes. The detective was unsurprised to find the same passion she was feeling reflected in the hazel-green orgs that she adored. Maura's pupils were huge, her face flushed, her breathing ragged. Her lips were kiss-swollen.
"Now?" Jane whispered.
Maura nodded. "Take me to bed, Jane. I need to feel you. I need to know that you're alive."
The rush of love and lust and understanding that filled Jane made her ears ring. She slid to the front of the couch, Maura still on her lap, and wrapped both arms around her. She stood slowly, allowing the blonde to wrap, her strong, yoga toned legs around her waist. Then she carried the woman she loved into her former bedroom.
Ever so gently, Jane set Maura down at the head of the bed before joining her, kneeling, on the mattress. The bed wasn't made, but that didn't seem to matter. Maura reached for her, pulling her face down and showering it with tender kisses. The detective allowed that for a few seconds before she moved her head and covered Maura's mouth with her own, earning her another moan. With a deftness that she didn't know she possessed, Jane tugged the rest of Maura's shirt out of her pants, and slid her hands underneath to glide against warm skin until her fingertips brushed the undersides of Maura's bra-clad breasts.
The M.E. broke the kiss. "Take it off." She ordered in a hoarse voice. Jane complied with haste, finding the almost hidden zipper underneath Maura's arm and sliding it downward. When it was open, she put her hands under the material and guided it upwards, snagging the bra as she went. In a single fluid movement, both shirt and undergarment were gone, tossed into a pile on the floor.
"My turn." Maura informed her, breaking Jane's sudden concentration on the perfection of flesh in front of her. The strangest thought flew through her mind: Okay, so maybe Susie's model was to scale. Maura tried to tug Jane's t-shirt from where it was tucked into her pants, but it wouldn't come. She began to worry at the buckle on Jane's belt. The detective stilled her girlfriend's hands, moving them from the offending device. Then she unbuckled her belt and unbuttoned her pants, yanking at her shirt. When it finally came away, she started to pull it off over head. Small, firm hands stopped her. "My turn," Maura repeated, her voice deep and husky.
Jane relented immediately. Maura's hands glided under the t-shirt and trailed along on either side of Jane's spine. She shivered with excitement, lightening shooting towards her core as the soft cotton was pushed upward and off of her body. Her bra was next - unhooked and drawn slowly down her arms, to be discarded over the side of the bed.
They stared at each other in silence. Jane broke first. "I want to... to touch you, Maur."
Maura arched her back, thrusting her breasts towards the brunette, nipples already hardening. Jane sucked in a breath and let it out. Her hands cupped Maura's perfect chest, squeezing and rubbing her palm over the sensitive peak of flesh.
"Yes!" Maura whispered in triumph. "Oh god, yes! Jane..."
Unable to stop herself, Jane ran the scars on her palms over Maura's nipples causing ripples of pleasure through the blonde's body. She pressed herself harder into Jane's hands, whimpering. It was the most intoxicating thing that Jane had ever seen or heard.
On impulse, the brunette leaned down and replaced one hand with her mouth, pulling the nipple inside and circling it with her tongue. Maura's hips moved on their own, thrusting upwards, seeking some form or relief. Jane groaned and moved her hips to meet Maura's actions. She decided they still had too many clothes on.
She released Maura's nipple with a pop and her hands began to worry at the button on the doctor's slacks while she took the other into her mouth and gave it the same attention. Jane was able to open the first button - the one on the outside, but was thwarted by the button that she hadn't known was on the inside of her girlfriend's pants. The brunette snarled with impatience, only to have her hands pulled away and small strong fingers finished the job for her. Then the other woman wiggled her hips to help Jane pull the offending material off of her body, underwear and all. Next came the rest of Jane's clothes.
When skin touched skin the first time, both women stilled, eyes wide and staring at one another. Jane had never felt another thing like it in her life - a connection formed between them that she knew could not be broken, no matter what happened. Maura's eyes widened as she felt it, too. She whispered her girlfriend's name in a voice of awe.
Then, Jane captured Maura's lips in her own once again, bringing them both back to what was happening. Tongues dueled, mouths moved against one another.
They lost themselves in the pleasure of discovery. Lips against skin, tasting, sucking, nipping - finding out what made the other moan, what made them shiver, what made them whimper with need. Jane learned that Maura liked to be kissed in the little place behind her ear. Maura was endlessly fascinated by the sensitivity of the skin just above Jane's clavicle.
By the time Jane had worked her way low enough to dip her fingers between Maura's thighs, there was no room for anything except passion and pleasure. She was amazed at how right it felt as she grazed the sensitive flesh and Maura's hips bucked, begging for more. She slid first one, and then a second, finger into the moist heat that she found there, making the M.E. cry out for more. She used her thumb to find the sensitive outer nub and started a slow rhythm. Maura gasped and moaned, moving her hips in a counter tempo. It didn't take long before the blonde gasped suddenly and her body arched into a bow, seeming to hang in the air for a few seconds before she melted back to the bed and began to writhe at every movement Jane made with hand.
It was the most beautiful, perfect thing that Jane had ever seen in her life to that point - prim and proper Maura Isles completely untethered in the throes of ecstasy.
Jane stilled her movements and then carefully withdrew her hand, bringing it close to her face and inhaling the scent. Somehow both sweet and musky, it made perfect sense that this is what she would find. Curious, she brought it to her lips and let herself taste it, to taste the very essence of the woman she loved. It was intoxicating and perfect. Jane cleaned her fingers, moved herself down the blonde's body, fitting herself between her legs. She leaned in and inhaled through her nose before her mouth replaced where her hand had been. Her tongue worked the already sensitive flesh as though she'd been doing this her whole life.
Maura's second climax broke like a wave as hands threaded into her hair, holding her in place.
Afterward, they lay in silence until Maura caught her breath. It happened so quickly that Jane didn't have time to react before Maura was suddenly on top, straddling her and staring down at her, a hungry look in her hazel-green eyes. "Mine." Her voice was low and husky and sent a jolt of heat down to Jane's already smoldering core.
Lips crashed again, tongues met and slid against each other. Maura's hands moved, one coming up to palm Jane's breast and the other sliding between them, plunging into Jane and making the detective groan. She'd never felt anything like it before - had never experienced anything so perfect in her life to date. Her eyes closed of their own accord as she struggled to keep from falling over the edge, failed, and saw fireworks as her climax ripped through her.
She rode the wave of it, letting go and trusting that Maura would never hurt her, would be there when she came back to herself. She was right, but not in the way she'd though. The M.E. kept up the motion with her fingers, scooting her body down until she could bend forward and use her tongue. More lights played out behind Jane's a startling few minutes later.
Maura was lying next to her, rolled onto her side and propped on her elbow. The brunette reached up and gently brushed her finger tips over the other woman's cheek. Hazel-green eyes fluttered shut at the touch before opening and meeting her gaze.
"Hi." Jane said, her voice a little more raspy than normal.
"Hi back." Maura replied in an equally hoarse tone.
"You good? Are we good?"
"God, yes." The blonde curled her body and buried her face in Jane's neck. Jane sighed happily. She reached for the pile of blankets that were stacked at the head of the bed, ready to be packed, and pulled the one off the top. Maura helped her get it spread out until it covered them both. Then they both settled back down, basking in the afterglow. Maura yawned and it was contagious. After her swim in the river and now this physical activity – as amazing as it had been, Jane just wanted to sleep. Maura, who had been up all night worrying, clearly felt the same. The detective placed a soft kiss on the doctor's cheek before closing her eyes and letting sleep take them both.