Please see Ch 1, 5 & 9 for disclaimers… enough disclaimers that they almost need their own chapter…
Bit short, but I'll try to get the next chapter up asap
"Oh my god, just stop ringing" Jane buried her head facedown in her pillow even as one hand blindly crashed about her nightstand feeling for her phone.
Squinting she dragged her finger over the screen, at the moment missing a good old fashioned talk button that wouldn't require the actual effort of sight. "Rizzoli"
"Hey Jane, sorry to be the bitch on this one but they've called in the taskforce for 9 am." Frost sounded like she felt.
"Damn it. It's Saturday and it's a Saturday that we're not scheduled for or on call for. "She heard Frost groan in response. He'd been with her at Field's Corner until sometime after 2am. "I don't suppose we know why?"
"Update from Forensics I think. Korsak called me on his way in for an 8am briefing with Governor Sanford and Agent Wellborn. Apparently Maura asked for them to come in for an autopsy report review."
Jane slowly sat up and ran her spare hand through her hair. "Well that was quick. If that report was ready by 8am I doubt Maura slept either." Mumbling more to herself than Frost "I swear one way or another she is trying to kill us both." she wasn't sure what Barry said in response but she confirmed she'd see him at 9 as she ended the call.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed. Yesterday had been one of the most emotionally conflicted days she had lived through in a very long time. Jane was rather sure she should be mad at her mother but mostly she wanted hug her and grab her some cannoli. She stretched before walking into the bathroom.
The minute the water was warm enough she ducked in. It felt weird but she kind of wanted to hug Korsak too. Every so often Korsak shocked the hell out of her. A little old fashioned, completely politically incorrect by nature and apparently the only person capable of making sense. She held up her hands and studied the scars. A lot of fucking sense.
She'd already looked at life without Maura. Not pretty.
Analyzing what would have to happen to fix their friendship. Not pretty.
It would likely involve tears and conversations that would make her entirely sick to her stomach. Jane got out of the shower and as she dried off she considered the absolute emotional shit storm she was going to have to be willing walk through.
It was telling then that she considered Maura to be worth it. But what to even make of that thought she was too exhausted to deal with and she shoved it aside.
Water was dripping from her hair, making her back feel cold as she stared at her reflection. Idly she traced the shadows under her eyes and contemplated pulling out her makeup kit. Even she was going to admit she looked a bit peaked as she pulled the skin near her eyes taunt. She wondered if Maura would tell her she had pronounced periorbital darkening and puffiness.
Maura might notice and then she would do that Dr. Isles analytical stare thing that Jane used to pretend drove her nuts. Maura would diagnose her and Jane wouldn't act irritated this time. If she happened to try to touch Jane's face to examine her closer Jane especially wouldn't shrug her off. She'd thank her. Thank her for caring.
Just so Maura would be clear that Jane wasn't honestly irritated if she cared.
Because like Korsak said, things were different and things had to change. They either moved on or didn't and her Ma was right, not having Maura in her life wasn't working, apparently for either of them.
So maybe she should be happy she was getting her ass dragged into work on her day off, periorbital puffiness and all. Jane sighed, pulling at her eyes a bit more. At the very least the dark circles could be a valid way to start a conversation because right now she needed all the help she could get.
Jane groaned feeling the tension build just thinking about everything. She rolled her shoulders and pushed the thoughts aside. At the moment, there was a case that needed her attention and thinking about Maura's return was not going to solve it.
She analyzed herself one last time. Yep, pretty good reason in her book to skip makeup. Some things just called for going natural all the way.
Making her way back from the bathroom Maura paused at the door to the Civic room, hand hovering over the door handle.
She'd been dutifully taking bites of ravioli last night using the Nashua Park case to allow her thoughts to settle between Angela's ongoing queries about her time out of the country when the pieces from Ingrid Gaynor's autopsy finally started to make sense if she shifted them together.
Angela had been hovering and Maura had decided the only way to obstruct the probing about her time in Africa was to at least direct the questions to topics she could control. Mostly she had wanted to avoid any conversation that went beyond the simple dialogue needed to get through the meal and recounting the cyanide trouble was a perfect way to deflect deeper conversation.
It was in the middle of breaking down how the cyanide was used and why the unusually long drought made the failure of the tailing system a disaster that it occurred to Maura that everything in the body is about how your unique system processes what is put into it.
After Angela had left she'd pulled out the files and over the next few hours the pile of textbooks around her grew. The fan from her laptop whirred as she called article after article up on PubMed. It all became so very clear. Pike's injudiciousness had caused significant cost in time, money and answers.
She immediately went to call Jane but her mobile phone was not where she left it on her kitchen island. Angela must have put it away somewhere and by the time she grabbed the handset to her landline she remembered it probably wasn't appropriate anymore to call in the middle of the night. It would have to wait until morning. The thought was sobering and it subdued the elation of having an idea of what to do next for Ingrid Gaynor.
Her fingers had traced the smooth plastic and keys. It was so tempting to just dial and see if Jane would answer. She had returned to Boston to figure out if she could come home but now that she was here she couldn't figure out what exactly she should do next. There wasn't a publication on PubMed she could refer too for this.
In the end phone remained where it was and she sent a meeting request for an emergency briefing and a request to assemble the Nashua Street Park Taskforce. When she saw that Cavanaugh had pulled together both meetings before the afternoon the rush to prepare was a relief just for the excuse to get to the station early.
Maura turned the handle. At least for this morning her actions were clearly defined. She just needed to walk through the door in front of her and present her findings. The taskforce would come up with the theories and maybe even the answers. She deliberately left all the copies of her report down in her office. If she was lucky a certain member of the Nashua Park team would start considering the facts and would appear downstairs, demanding Maura start confirming her speculations.