A/N: Hey y'all so here's chapter 26...it hasn't been read by my usual go to peeps cause they've been hella busy so uh hopefully it's actually good? LOL I just didn't want y'all waiting like another year for this so yeah XD.
Anyway! Thank you for all the reviews and welcome to all you newcomers! Y'all are fantastical! Right, so enjoy, I hope you like it,
- Ang.
Chapter 26
Jane woke up sometime in the middle of the night, letting out a groan she reached out in search of Maura to stem off the cold but all she found were chilled sheets. Sitting up in bed Jane looked around hoping to see the light from the bathroom lighting up the hallway through the opened door but nothing was there.
With a sigh Jane got out of bed, following the dim moving light and quiet voices from the TV into the living room where she found Maura, curled up under the throw that usually lay on the back of the couch.
She moved forward, plucking the remote off the coffee table and flicking off the TV before dropping onto her piano stool, another sigh leaving her throat as she ran her hands through her sleep-mussed hair.
"Play me something?"
Jane's head shot up when she heard the small voice, eyes searching for features in the dim light shining in the windows from the early morning sun slowly rising and drowning out the dim streetlights.
A quiet chuckle was heard next, not as cheery as Jane was used to but the humour was still evident as Maura sat up from where she was curled up, her smile small as Jane watched her, "play me something on the piano."
"Oh," Jane rubbed her hand on the back of her neck before turning slightly on the piano stool but froze midway and looked back at Maura, "Any requests?"
"Surprise me."
"Right, okay." Jane nodded once before turning all the way around and moving the stool back a bit before lifting up the cover and readying her fingers on the keys while she thought of what to play. It was a few moments before she figured it out but when she did her fingers moved easily over the keys, just vaguely hearing shuffling as Maura moved.
It was a classical piece she learnt early in her lessons that stuck with her, the notes gentle and steadying but as it went it became more, busy like her life seemed to be at the moment, it comforted her in a way many things never could and so she chose to play it now, hoping it'd do the same for Maura.
When she finished she turned back to Maura who was smiling at her from the edge of the couch closest to her, eyes sparkling with a mix of something that confused Jane slightly but before she could ask Maura's voice surrounded her, just as quiet as before.
"Play me another?"
Jane smiled, nodding before she moved over, patting the stool next to her once inviting Maura to sit next to her if she wished then she readied her fingers and played something random, something that she didn't even realize she still remembered as her fingers moved easily over the keys.
She fumbled a bit when Maura sat next to her, the doctor snickered slightly which made Jane smile as she continued on like nothing happened, catching Maura watching her out of the corner of her eye here and there.
She played two more songs, halfway through the 4th Maura moved back to the couch, curling back up and just listening. When Jane finished up she turned around, expecting to hear another request but this time she was met with silence, hazel eyes blinking open to look at her when Jane approached the couch, Maura's hand reached out and took Jane's tugging slightly on it until Jane climbed behind Maura on the couch, holding her securely to her even as Maura played with her fingers, seemingly lost in thought.
"You're very good."
Jane smiled into Maura's shoulder, "thank you."
"Was the third one an original?"
Jane breathed out a chuckle, "very astute of you, Doctor. Yes, I wrote it years ago."
"It was beautiful, I loved it."
"Thank you."
Maura raised Jane's hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles, a sigh leaving her mouth as she moved Jane's hand back to where she cuddled it against her chest.
Jane smiled letting her eyes flutter shut as she relaxed into the embrace, welcoming sleep if it wished to come, and it did, her half-asleep mind recognizing Maura fixing the blanket so it covered them better and then the quiet voices on the TV surrounding her but she was too far gone and sleep pulled her in further, the last thing she recalled was how she pulled Maura in tighter to her.
"Pop?"
"Yeah, Janie?" Frank asked with his head still hidden under the sink, the heels of Jane's shoes tapping on the cupboard doors from where she sits atop the counter.
"Career day is next week at school…"
"Mmmm?"
Jane's small face scrunched up as she tried to get a better view of what her father was doing under the sink, "Yeah, and um, our parent is supposed to come speak so uh since Ma doesn't work…"
"Can you pass me the wrench?"
Jane rolled her eyes before she dug into the toolbox and placed the wrench in her pops outstretched hand.
"So uh, pop, will you come speak?"
"For what?"
Jane huffed, pausing her tapping feet, "Career day, aren't you listening?"
"Oh!" Frank yelped, the counter rattling before he slid out, hand rubbing at his forehead, "Sorry, kiddo, I was distracted, when is it?"
"Next Wednesday at 1." Jane said as she passed her father his rag, looking down at him worriedly.
He let out another hum, scratching at his stubble as he thought, "I dunno, Janie, I think I'll be on a job at that time."
"Can't you reschedule? Everyone else's moms and dads will be there…" Jane pouted.
"You know how we need the money, Janie, we gotta pay to fix that window Tommy broke."
Jane sniffled, nodding her head in understanding, having to be the responsible one...sometimes she really hated being the eldest, "Yeah, I know….but it's just one afternoon!"
"Janie…"
"At least think about it!" she begged, clutching the counter under her.
"Fine, I promise to think about it."
"Thank you." she said and after a few moments of silence Frank took it as a hint that the conversation was over and went back to work, Jane helping him silently.
Jane woke up to the sun streaming blindingly through the windows and with an unhappy groan she buried her head in Maura's neck, breathing in her scent and being grounded by how the woman's body shook with laughter against her, how Maura's hand was wordlessly caressing Jane's hand eyes still locked on the documentary playing on the television.
"What time is it?" Jane grumbled into her neck.
"A little after 7."
Jane pouted against Maura's neck, nose twitching as hair tickled her face but didn't bother pulling away, "I guess we should start getting ready, huh?"
"Probably." Maura chuckled again, the smile less tense then it was last night.
"Alright, you go first." Jane could practically feel Maura roll her eyes before she leaned forward to turn off the TV and stood, glaring warningly down at Jane.
"If you are asleep when I come back out I'll tell your mother how much you love bunny pancakes at work….and I'll tell Korsak and Crowe you were a prima ballerina."
Jane's eyes widened in horror, "You wouldn't dare!"
Maura's only response was a smirk before she spun on her heel and made her way toward the bedroom.
Jane sprung up from the couch, moving quickly into the kitchen to prepare coffee and herself a bowl of cereal as she waited for Maura to finish getting ready, a smile curling on her face.
"Morning, Korsak." Jane grinned at the man before she flopped down at her desk, "Did Frost get anything off the computer last night?"
Korsak looked up at her and furrowed his brows, she seemed chipper and yet she had bags under her eyes, "Geez kid, you look like hell."
Jane rolled her eyes, taking a large gulp from her to-go cup, "Well thanks, and to think you don't have women throwing themselves at you with a charm like that."
Korsak chuckled, "I've been married 4 times."
"Don't think that's something to brag about, old man." Jane teased digging into the brown bag and pulling a doughnut out, holding it between her teeth she held the bag out to her partner who grinned before taking the bag and retrieving the second doughnut in it.
"Thanks."
Jane took the bite out of her doughnut before speaking around her mouth full of glazed goodness, "So?"
Korsak nodded as he finished chewing, "Yeah, she was working on an article about corruption at the tracks."
"Racetracks, as in gambling?"
"No, as in track and field." Korsak rolled his eyes before taking another bite out of the doughnut.
Jane rolled her eyes in exasperation, "no need to be an ass considering I brought a doughnut."
"And I said thank you. She mentioned a few people she suspected of bein' a part of the cheating so I say we go talk to em."
"Don't you wanna do some background checks, figure out our top suspects, like I dunno, who owns a gun?"
Korsak laughed, leaning back in his chair, "Got your buddy Frost to do that last night, about half own a gun, we're in America, kid."
"What!? That explains why nobody would answer me earlier, I was thinking I had forgotten to speak French without realizing!"
Korsak grinned, "Let's just go talk to Nate Longhorn first, he was mentioned most in her article and owns a 9 mill which was the calibre of the bullet Lizzie was shot with."
"Aight, did they already finish the autopsy?"
"No, Dr. Wexler just got one of the techs to pass on the message when they came up to give O'Conner a report."
Jane nodded before standing, licking the sticky glaze coating from her fingers, "Alright, let's go then, so work or home?"
"Work, he's a jockey at the track."
Jane nodded, moving toward the bullpen doors, glancing back at Korsak as he slipped on his suit jacket and gun before following her out.
Jane looked anxiously toward her classroom door, her pop was up to speak soon and he had yet to arrive. She bit her lip as she looked over at the parents standing by the side of the room, a man in a police uniform stepping up in front of their class pulled in her attention.
Jane noticed the head of her classmate Joey bob as he sat back in his seat after introducing his dad, the man's awkward chuckle pulled her attention back to the front of the class as he began speaking,
"I don't normally wear my uniform anymore…but Joey insisted saying today was a big day and I have to wear it on big days." He smiled hesitantly, hands clasped in front of himself, "My names Thomas Grant, I'm a homicide detective in the Boston police department, does anybody know what that means?"
Most kids shook their heads no except Joey and Rebecca Marshal who raised her hand, stretching it as high as she could make it reach.
"You, in the back."
Rebecca's hand dropped back down, "You inspect when people die."
Detective Grant smiled, leaning against the teacher's desk as he nodded, "Yes, as a homicide detective I'm sent in to investigate any suspicious death, be it an unsupervised natural death or a murder."
Jane was enthralled, leaning forward on her desk as she listened.
He looked over at the teacher whose face was contorted slightly, "Although from the look on Sister Winnifred's face I probably shouldn't be talking about murder."
The kids seemed to giggle at that, the woman's face getting slightly sourer…if that was even possible in Jane's opinion.
"So I'll skip over the more R rated aspects of my job and tell you about what it's like to be a police officer." He smiled, eyes scanning the classroom, "I joined the force after I came home from Vietnam, I wasn't too happy to be put through months of training but once I started the job I was happy about it because being a police officer is different in many ways than being a soldier at war. I had to learn to deal with everyday people with patience and kindness…which could be difficult at times but with that training…and time in the army under my belt it wasn't as hard. It gave me a rapport with my fellow officers, most of us fresh home from war or straight out of the academy, my partner at the time was a friend from the academy which gave us an easy trust that was good for the job we were doing."
He chuckled self-consciously again, his eyes landing on Jane and he flashed her a smile, "as a police officer I usually meet people on the worst days of their lives and it's my job to help them, to make it better, to make them feel safe. As a police officer, I have to know my partner has my back and I have to have theirs, and that relationship is a special bond, one that's like family. If one of us is harmed we all are…a call of an officer down is a call into every cop, on duty or not, to report in and help, to everyone a part of our job, from the many men and women in blue to our brothers and sisters in the crime lab, morgue and officers in accompanying districts."
He sighed, standing up straight, "How many of you have a sibling?"
About half the class raised their hands, Jane's sprung up fast, stretching high like Rebecca's had earlier but that wasn't enough for Jane and she practically stood as she started waving her hand around, she wasn't sure why she needed to but she wanted him to notice her, to call on her, it felt like her soul was calling out, calling out to be standing up there in that uniform, to be a part of this family he spoke about so highly.
"Ms. Rizzoli, sit back down."
Jane's eyes shot over to sister Winnifred, deflating as she lowered herself back into her seat, everything in her draining, her arm starting to lower and then he spoke again, "Ms. Rizzoli?" Jane's eyes lit up, meeting his, Detective Grant smiling at her.
"You have a sibling?"
"Yes, sir, two little brothers."
He smiled, "And if they were threatened what would you do?"
Jane straightened out, chest puffed out in pride, "I'd protect them, nobody messes with my family."
"And if your mother got hurt?"
Jane's jaw tightened, "I'd help her, Sir, like I said, nobody messes with my family."
He grinned at her, "That Ms. Rizzoli is what it's like to be a police officer, we protect and we help, we're a family that will always have each other's backs."
Jane smiled, "can I be a police officer like you someday?"
He looked her over before moving through the desks and kneeling by hers, "You can be whatever you wanna be, Ms. Rizzoli but we'd be happy to have you on the force one day. I can tell you have it in you, kid."
Jane smiled so wide and before she could reply he took off his hat and placed it on her head, Jane's eyes shining and smile getting impossibly bigger as she reached a hand up to touch it, looking over to see if she could catch her reflection in the window next to her. She gasped, the hat too big for her head and yet she'd never been so sure of anything in her life, a toothless smile looking back at her as she stared at her reflection in the window, squaring her shoulders and forcing on a brave face as she took in her refection, her dark curls tumbling out from under the large cap and the over exaggerated glare she forced on made herself feel special, feel like she could be more than the slightly chubby girl with missing front teeth that she was right now.
Her eyes caught movement in the reflection and she turned to look behind her as her pop stared at her from the doorway. She sprung out of her seat, hand holding the hat as she ran across the room to smile proudly at her dad, "I'm going to be a police officer when I get bigger, pop!" Jane announced and a mixture of something Jane didn't understand flickered on his face before he smiled down at her, reaching down to remove the hat from her head and hand it back to Detective Grant.
"Here you go, Tom."
Det. Grant smiled stiffly at him before placing the cap back on his head, looking back at Jane and sending her a wink before moving back to the front of the class to answer any questions.
"Pop?"
"Yeah, Janie?" his voice sounded different, gruffer, sadder maybe…like the day pop-pop passed away.
"Something wrong?"
"No, kiddo. I'm sorry I'm late, Mrs. Hendrix clogged her garbage disposal again."
"Potato skins?"
The man smiled proudly, pulling her into his side affectionately, "Of course, her and your ma seem to never listen to me."
Jane snickered, "You gotta go stand over there, pop, you're up after Jenny's mom."
The man nodded ruffling Jane's hair before moving to stand in line with the other parents, watching as Jane moved back to her seat, both Rizzoli's grimacing when they met Sister Winnifred's glower.
"How many people are left?" Jane grumbled as she sagged into the car seat after questioning Anthony Hitchcock, a pompous horse owner that made Jane wanna rip her hair out while also wanting to punch his scummy lights out.
"Uhhh…" Korsak pulled the list from his pocket, checking off 'Mr. Howells' (no wait, Mr. Howell is too stand up to even be used in the same category of that man!) name off the list before counting, he was just about to answer when Jane's phone rang on her hip and their eyes fell to the device.
"This better be Maura with something for us to go on because if I have to sit through one more rich bastard talking about how he's the best and that he'd never have to cheat because he has the best horses money can buy all while trying to proposition me I may shoot someone."
Korsak laughed as Jane swiped her finger across the screen to answer the call.
"Please tell me you have something."
Maura's laugh was heard through the phone before she answered, "There were no hits on the bullet in IBIS. Ms. Tisdale died when her aorta was severed by the bullet's trajectory, her shooter was around 6'0-6'3 feet tall and he was standing approximately 3 feet away from her when he shot her."
"Alright, so we're looking for an average man who knew her?"
"Yes, or a tall woman."
Jane rolled her eyes, "Well that at least crosses off the jockeys."
"Jockeys?"
Jane smiled, "Yeah, Lizzie was looking into corruption at the track."
"Oh! Do you know what type of corruption?"
"Uh, cheating of some kind, she hadn't gotten it completely figured out I think…" Jane looked over at Korsak who was crossing out names, presumably the ones of the three Jockeys on their list.
"You got anything else, Maur?"
"Um, the lab is still running the trace I found under her fingernails but we also found traces of cocaine on her clothing,"
"Drugs? Was she using?"
Maura sighed, "There was none in her system which is why I asked if you knew what the corruption was. Cocaine can be used to dope horses and slow them down."
"Slow them down? Isn't the stuff known to y'know, speed people up?"
Maura chuckled, "People yes, but not horses. When cocaine enters their system it slows down their hearts, and increases their breathing which ultimately slows them down."
"Hmm, okay, we'll look into who had access to the horses or who hit a sudden winning streak." Jane smiled, starting the car, "Thanks, Maur, is that all?"
"Yes, that's it for now, I'll call if we get anything else."
"Alright, thanks, I'll see you later!"
"Bye," Maura said before the line went dead and Jane hooked her phone back on her belt as she pulled out into the street.
"So anyone on that list have any access to the horses that is about 6 feet?"
Korsak sighed, "About another 4."
Jane grumbled, "Okay, who's our best candidate?"
"I say we go pay a visit to Wally Fisher."
"Why?"
"Gut feeling," was all Korsak said before he prattled off the address of the man's office.
When they got off the elevator on the 12th floor of the office building Jane wasn't expecting to find the bright colour that graced the office space, but it was a happy difference after all the painfully pompous buildings she's been to today, oh how rich men loved their golds and shades of brown.
"Welcome to Stallion Athletics, I'm Tiffany how can I help you today?"
"Detective Rizzoli, and" Jane motioned to Korsak with her thumb as she continued, "Korsak, Boston Homicide we're here to speak with Mr. Fisher."
"Oh, do you have an appointment?" The young woman gulped slightly as she started looking at her computer.
"No, but we won't be long so if you could just point us in the direction of his office we'll be out of your hair in no time." Jane smiled pleasantly, Korsak smiling similarly at the young blonde.
"Um uh…okay, I'll take you to him…" She said as she looked around anxiously before standing and leading them into the open office space, "Is Mr. Fisher in trouble?"
"No, no, his name just came up in our investigation so we just gotta check it out, but I'm sure it's nothing." Tiffany nodded, "Say, Tiffany did you ever meet her?" Jane asked pulling the photo of their victim from her blazer pocket. "Her names Elizabeth Tisdale, she ran a blog."
"Like the girl from High School Musical?"
"Yes, like her." Jane and Korsak shared a curious look.
"Uh she looks slightly familiar, maybe she had a meeting with Mr. Fisher about his new line?"
"That must be it." Jane smiled at her and the girl nodded before pointing to a man in his mid-30s just a little away speaking with a group of people at a round conference table just a bit off to the side. "Thank you for your cooperation, Tiffany."
Tiffany smiled before turning and walking back to her desk, leaving Jane and Korsak alone as they made their way to Wally Fisher.
"Mr. Fisher?" Jane called and the man looked up at them brows furrowing and then his eyes widening when he saw the two badges the detectives were holding up. "Det. Rizzoli and Korsak, can we have a word with you in private?"
"Uh, yeah, what's this about?" He asked as he started moving toward them, gesturing to another table, this one smaller than the one he was just at.
"We're investigating the murder of Elizabeth Tisdale, we have reason to believe you know her."
"I wouldn't say I know her well but we met a few months ago at the horse track, I just got a deal sponsoring a jockey and she chatted me up, asking about what we do here…what happened?"
"She was shot in her home yesterday," Jane informed
"Your name came up in Ms. Tisdale's investigation into cheating and corruption at the track," Korsak added, both detectives watching the man closely for a reaction.
His mouth opened and closed in shock and confusion, "I…I don't cheat! I don't even bet! I get more publicity if the jockey wearing my gear wins then I would if they lose!"
"Your assistant said Ms. Tisdale came to pay you a visit here?"
He sputtered again, "Yes, she came to ask me about my horse, he'd won a few races, and she said she was doing an article about it."
Jane and Korsak nodded, "How many races would that be?"
"I don't know, like 20."
"In a row?" Korask jumped in.
"Of course not!" his face turned a brilliant shade of red that sorta impressed Jane with just how much it seemed to go with the red on his walls.
"It's just if you were cheating, Mr. Fisher your horse would win which like you said would give you lots of great publicity for your business," Jane explained.
"I do not cheat! Now if that is it I'm going to have to ask you to leave!"
"Of course, Mr. Fisher, thank you for answering our questions." Jane smiled sweetly at him before they turned to leave, Jane stopping midway to look back at him, "One more question, sir, where were you yesterday about 4 pm?"
His jaw clenched, "I was here at the office, working! Any of my employees could corroborate that."
"Alright, if you don't mind we'd like to talk to them."
He puffed out a breath before gesticulating angrily toward the group still at the conference table.
"Thank you." Jane said before she and Korsak made their way over.
"Well, that was a waste of time." Jane huffed as they walked into the precinct, about zero leads and Jane's jaw was twitching with anger, she really hated self-righteous rich people.
Korsak nodded agreeably at her, "I'm starved, how about we break for lunch and get back to it in say about 90 minutes?"
"Sounds good, I'm gonna go see if Maura's eaten yet."
He nodded as he turned toward the café as Jane continued on toward the elevators.
When Jane stepped out of the elevator she glanced around before heading down the hall toward Maura's office, finding the Doctor hunched over her desk reading a file and a large steaming mug held loosely in her right hand as it sat on the desk, looking like she was about to take a sip any moment now but was too focused on the report before her that she didn't want to take her eyes off it.
Jane stood just outside the window, watching her friend for a few moments, unable to take her eyes off Maura, how her bottom lip was pulled between her teeth and her hair was now pulled back into a ponytail at the back of her head, loose hairs tucked behind her ear, and the thumb of her left hand was mindlessly playing with the corner of the report, prepared to turn the page at any moment.
She nearly jumped when Maura's head looked up, eyes meeting Jane's through the window, a smile curling on Maura's lips as her head tilted slightly in question. Jane raised her hand to wave before moving down the hall and to the door of her office, "Hey," Jane husked from where she stood hovering in the doorway.
"Hi, how's the investigation going?"
Jane sighed, moving further into the room and falling into Kit's chair, "Slowly, the guy that looked good for it has a solid alibi. And no new information has come to light...we spent all morning talking to people and nadda!" she huffed running her hands through her hair in frustration.
"Nadda?"
Jane's eyes focused back on Maura and the cute way her head was tilted and her mouth set in a confused frown, she couldn't help the smile that curled the edges of her mouth, "It means nothing, Maur."
"Oh!" Maura licked her lips as she thought, eyes searching Jane before she continued, "I wouldn't say you have nothing, Jane, you know she was investigating someone for doping the horses, you know she was shot by a 9mm revolver by someone she knows well or was unopposing enough that she would let them into her home, and that the killer was a man of average height."
Jane's smile grew slightly before she started nodding, "Thanks for the pep talk, Maur…um have you had lunch yet? I could go for a burger from Sophie's."
Maura smiled brightly at her, "I could eat."
"Awesome! You gotta finish that report before we go?"
Maura glanced down at the file open before her and shook her head, "No, I had just finished reading it…but I do have my coffee."
Jane chuckled, "We'll get you a fresh mug at Sophie's."
Maura frowned, "That's very wasteful, Jane! It's half a mug!"
"Alright, finish your coffee, doc," Jane smirked as she leaned back in the chair and shut her eyes, feeling Maura's eyes watching her for a few seconds before she heard the mug being lifted from Maura's desk.
It was a few minutes before Jane heard the mug being placed down and then the sound of rustling fabric as Maura put on her coat, a smile twitching on her lips as she heard Maura's footsteps approaching and stopping right in front of her.
"I'm ready to go."
Maura's voice reached her ears and she opened her eyes to meet the inquisitive ones of her friends, "Kay," was Jane's quick response before she stood up, grinning as she stood nose to nose with Maura before placing her hand's on her shoulders and turning Maura around and leading her toward the door, again practically feeling as the honey blonde rolled her eyes.
"Did you call Aaron or Alice yet today?"
Maura looked up from the menu, lips pursing slightly before she nodded her head, "Yes, I called them this morning."
Jane nodded, "So do they have a date for you?"
"Yeah, they set it for the 20th."
"Oh…" Jane frowned, eyes falling down to her menu, "And when do you have to talk to Montgomery?"
"Tomorrow, she's busy with a trial today."
Jane reached forward, fingers grazing Maura's arm, "It's gonna be okay, Maur."
Maura smiled sadly at her, "I know, I made an appointment with Hilary tomorrow, I'm going to call Montgomery before, then I'm going to see her for some trial prep, just to be prepared telling people about…you know."
Jane nodded, hand wrapping around Maura's when she let go of the menu, their fingers interlacing as Maura stared down at their hands.
Jane ran her thumb along the webbing between Maura's thumb and finger to get her attention.
Maura's eyes raised to look at her, smiling back in response to the reassuring one Jane was shooting at her.
"I'm going to be there through the whole thing, Maur, just keep your eyes on me and you'll make it through this."
"Alice said you're testifying."
"I am, I'm expecting a call from Montgomery sometime this week as well."
Maura nodded before she looked back at her Menu, Jane taking the hint and doing the same thing seconds later, their hands staying interlocked atop the table.
"Long time no see!"
Both women jumped at the sound of the voice, heads quickly turning to see Franny smirking down at them.
"Geez, Franny! You tryna give me a heart attack!?"
Franny smirked at her, "Sorry, it's just been like a month since I saw ya guys and when I do Y'all are holdin' hands, when did this happen?"
Jane rolled her eyes, squeezing her fingers when she felt Maura try to pull her hand away, silently telling her it was okay, "Well, we haven't had much time to get away for lunch and that's your shift so if ya wanted to see us more maybe you should switch to morning or dinner shift."
"Yeah, right." Franny said before she dropped into the booth, nudging Jane over with her elbow, "So, when did y'all start this?"
"A little over a week ago," Maura said, squeezing Jane's fingers before taking her hand away and sitting it in her lap.
"Does Angela know?"
"She suspects."
"Maur…"
"What, Jane? She does!"
Jane huffed, rolling her eyes, "I haven't told her but she has hinted at it especially with Maura staying at my place right now."
Franny chuckled, "You guys move fast!"
"It's not like that, Maura's security system is down so she's staying with me until they can fix it."
"Oh, then how does that make Angela suspicious?"
"It was probably the cuddling." Maura deadpanned while a blush settled on Jane's cheeks.
"Cuddling?"
Jane breathed out an awkward laugh, "We fell asleep in my old bed when we were over for family dinner."
"The pink canopy?" Franny asked, humour evident in the lilt of her voice.
"Yup."
"Man, who knew that was such a ladies magnet."
Jane laughed, nodding in agreement while Maura rolled her eyes at the old friends.
"So, what can I get you guys?"
"I'll have a cheeseburger everything on it, fries, and a coke…and an extra side of fries."
Franny smirked as she nodded her head, writing down the order before lifting her eyes to look at Maura, eyes squinting at the heavier makeup under one of her eyes.
"I'll have your grilled chicken sandwich with a garden salad, vinaigrette dressing on the side."
"Aight…and to drink?"
"Coffee, please."
"Okay, coming right up, I'll bring your drinks in a moment."
Both women nodded as the put their menus back in the holder behind the salt and pepper shakers.
Jane chuckled around her bite of burger as Maura picked fries off the plate sitting between them, her sandwich done and salad barely touched as she stole fries, dragging them through the ketchup before popping them in her mouth, her eyebrow lifting in question at Jane.
"Why did you bother getting the salad if you're just gonna eat the fries?"
"I'll eat it," Maura said even as she moved her plate over slightly to have better access to the fries.
"Mmhmm," Jane smirked before she took another bite of her burger, hunched over her plate as the sauce dripped from the bottom onto her own fries.
This time Maura laughed as she held out a napkin to Jane who had a dribble of sauce on her chin.
"Thanks." Jane said as she put down her burger and took the napkin, letting out a surprised squeak as Maura scooped up Jane's burger and took a bite out of it, grinning proudly as she chewed, holding the rest out to Jane who pouted at her, "I'd be upset if you weren't so cute with sauce on your cheek."
Maura's eyes widened hand reaching up but Jane's got to her cheek first, thumb wiping away the mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise from her cheek then bringing it back to her mouth to suck it off, Maura simply blinking at her in shock as Jane went back to eating.
"You guys are sickly sweet." Franny said as she squished back into the booth with them, "But I'll let it go since you're still new."
"Thanks?"
"You're welcome. By the way, Ma is in the kitchen gushing with Tito about how cute Y'all are, 5 bucks says she calls yours to tell her how cute she thinks you two are and all that."
"Great, so I'm to be prepared for a talk with Ma later about my love life?"
"Definitely. Tito also wants me to tell you good job."
"With what?" Maura asked, head tilted and brows furrowed.
"In his words? Scoring herself a massive babe."
"Oh…"
Jane smirked, "She is a babe, isn't she?"
Franny chuckled, nodding in agreement as a light blush crept up Maura's neck.
"So, how'd it happen, how'd you two get together?"
"I think we always kinda just were, y'know? There was always this connection and just one night I told her how I feel and well nothing really changed, we still act the same just now we know how we each feel."
"You two just made it up to nauseatingly adorable."
Jane rolled her eyes, "So, anyone new in your love life?"
"Nah, you know me, just playing the field…Although Ma isn't too happy about that, she says just cause I'm gay doesn't mean I'm off the hook of grandbabies…I just keep telling her I can adopt at any age." Franny finished off as she grabbed a fry from the plate, sharing a smile with Maura as she took one at the same time.
"Oh yeah? How'd that play out?"
Franny frowned, "She said she doesn't care about me being able to adopt at 40, she would just like a grandkid before she's dead…so I have a date with a girl she met here one afternoon."
Jane laughed loudly, leaning her head to rest on the back of the booth before nudging Franny with her elbow, Maura smiling at them as Franny nudged Jane back before joining in.
"Are you sure about this, Jane?" Franny asked as they stood outside 1PP, staring up at the building.
"Of course I am! I've wanted to be a cop my whole life!"
"That's over exaggerating, you've only wanted to be a cop since 2nd grade."
"Whatever."
Franny smirked, "But why here? Don't you think your parents will freak when they find out?"
"I'm 21, Fran, my ma literally walked into my place last week and started cleaning and making me breakfast! My date had to hide in the closet!"
"Wouldn't be the first time in there for them that's for sure."
Jane glared, "What makes you think it was a woman?"
"If it was a guy you wouldn't've made him hide, that would have actually been helpful in getting Angela off your back for a bit."
"Touché." Jane chuckled as she looked back up at the building again, "You wanna just give me a shove or somethin'?"
Franny chuckled before she gave Jane a shove toward the doors, smiling as she watched the lanky brunette stumble toward the doors.
"Thanks!" Jane called before she pulled open the door, walking toward the front desk.
"How can I help you?"
"Um, I'm looking for room 1106."
The woman at the front desk smiled at her, "Alright, go down the hall and you'll find the elevator take that up to the 11th floor and you should find it to your left, then all you gotta do is drop your application in the slot."
"Alright, thank you."
"Have a good day."
Jane nodded, glancing one more time out the doors where she saw Franny giving her two thumbs up. Nodding to herself Jane turned and headed toward the elevator, head held high and shoulders back. 'I've got this…'
Jane's eyes widened when she stepped up to the elevator, two men in dress blues were standing in front of it talking, Jane gulped, they were big…and important looking and holy shit one was a captain.
The elevator dinged and the two men stepped in, Jane following them in and clicking the button for the 11th floor with shaking hands.
"9th please." A voice spoke from behind her and she nodded, quickly hitting the button, hands clasped in front of herself like she saw Det. Grant do all those years ago. "Thank you."
"No problem, Sir."
The elevator was silent as they waited, Jane, trying to calm her nerves when the man spoke again, "You applying?"
"Yes, sir."
"What's your name?"
"Jane Rizzoli." Jane turned to look back at the man, he was smiling at her and that seemed to ease her nerves a bit.
"Nice to meet you Ms. Rizzoli, I'm Captain Jack Tomlin."
"Nice to meet you, sir." Jane stuck out her hand to shake his, internally thanking god when she noticed it had stopped shaking.
He grinned at Jane's strong grip, "That accent, Boston, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"Why not apply for the BPD?"
"NYPD is one of the best and biggest police departments in the country…and honestly, sir, I went to school with most of the boy's applying I just wanted a fresh start…and to be away from my ma."
The man chuckled, nodding in agreement, "I don't know, kid, knowing them from school might just give you an advantage."
"Maybe, but I'd rather start fresh, y'know?"
He smiled, "I do. I'm originally from Maine."
Jane grinned widely, eyes falling to the guy standing next to Capt. Tomlin. "What about you?"
The man looked at her a little surprised, "Um, born and raised in Brooklyn…looks like I'm the oddball out for once."
"This is Detective Tommy Tucci."
Jane smiled, "My little brother's name is Tommy."
"Yeah, he wanna be a cop too?"
Jane snorted, "Nah, the only thing he wants to do with his life is figure out how many drinks he can have before he kills himself."
"I'm s–"
"Looks like that's your floor," Jane said, cutting the man off as the doors opened to the 9th floor.
"It would seem like it, Good luck, Ms. Rizzoli I hope to see you again someday."
"Thank you, Captain, have a good day, both of you."
Det. Tucci tilted his hat at her as he stepped off the elevator, Capt. Tomlin letting go of the doors and following after him and once the doors were closed Jane let out a long sigh, relaxing against the back of the elevator as she ran her hands over her face nervously.
The elevator dinged a few moments later and she opened her eyes just as the doors opened, the number 11 on the side of the wall telling her she had now arrived on her floor and she quickly got off, taking a left and rushing down the hall, stopping when she got to room 1106.
'Here goes nothing…' she thought before taking a deep breath and sliding the envelope carrying her application through the mail slot. 'Holy shit, I did it…Ma's gonna kill me.' And even with that thought a wide smile spread across her face, and then she rushed back toward the elevator, she had to go get Franny so they could celebrate, they did have the rest of the day here anyway.
"Jane?"
Jane blinked away her thoughts as Maura's voice pulled her out of them, the curious tilt of her friends head was the first thing she saw when her vision refocused. "Yeah, sorry, what'd you say?"
Maura nodded leaning back in her desk chair, "I asked when you had to go back upstairs."
"Oh…" Jane frowned looking around until her eyes landed on the Government Issue clock, you know the boring old ones you found in every classroom growing up with the black rim? Yeah, cheap but it did its job. The clock Maura frowns at every day, the one she said would be going as soon as the one she ordered arrived. Because Maura Isles does not have a government issue clock in her office, at least not if she has any say in it, and considering how many conversations she and Jane have had about it, she has a very big say in it. "I should probably go back up soon…we gotta revisit the drawing board…or read all her notes again and every file and maybe smash our heads against a wall until something jumps out at us."
Maura frowned at her again, "Smashing your head against a wall will do little more than give you a concussion, Jane."
Jane snickered, somehow soothed by Maura's naivety when it came to expressions and pop culture, "Not literally, Maur, it's a saying…just means it'll be painstakingly boring and frustrating, so much so that smashing your head against a wall would be more enjoyable."
"Oh." Maura blinked at her, a smile slowly spreading on her face, "Okay, well if you need a hand with anything I'll be here."
"I know, I'll be sure to call you if I need help understanding the gibberish that is evidence reports."
Maura shook her head at her, a grin curling on her lips as she breathed out a chuckle.
"Okay, I'll see you later…maybe text me in a few…I might be needing another dose of caffeine by then."
"Alright." Maura nodded once, grinning as Jane stood from the chair that she'd pulled up to the desk after their lunch, "How does 3 sound?"
"Make it 2:30."
Maura snorted, "It's 1 right now."
"Is it?"
"Yes."
"Hmm, who'd've thunk it?"
Maura rolled her eyes at Jane, an eyebrow raised at the odd word, "I'll bring you up a coffee in an hour and a half."
"Thanks, babe." Jane smirked as she stepped around the desk and leaned down to place a kiss on Maura's temple before stepping back and heading towards the door, hand flying up in a wave as she exited the office, other hand pulling the door shut quietly.
"Damn, what'd I gotta do to get my coffee delivered to me from her?"
Jane's attention was pulled away from the file when she heard Crowe's hushed comment, her brows furrowing until she remembered their scheduled coffee date and her confused expression turned into a glare as she growled at the man, "Growing some manners would be a good start but I doubt even that would help."
Korsak chuckled at the two before he looked up at Maura as she entered with a tray of coffees, "Afternoon, doc."
"Good afternoon, Detective, I brought you and Jane a coffee, I know how hard you've both been working today so I thought you could use the boost."
"Thanks." Korsak smiled fingers scratching his stubble as his other hand reached out to take the offered cup. "Cream, three sugars."
Maura frowned, "Detective Korsak, that is very bad for your health."
He chuckled awkwardly, shrugging, "I'll try and cut back on the sugar, doc."
Maura nodded but still gave the man what he asked.
Jane smiled at them as she stood up, heels clomping as she approached Maura and placed her hand between Maura's shoulder blades then slid it down calmingly to the small of her back. "You tell him, Doctor Isles, he never listens to me."
Korsak scuffed, "Says the woman who brought doughnuts this morning."
"Snitch." Jane shot back before turning to flash Maura an innocent smile, "Just one each."
Maura rolled her eyes, poking Jane in the side with her finger before pulling her own coffee from the tray and then holding the tray in front of Jane who quickly took it.
"Thanks, Maur."
Maura nodded before moving past Jane and sitting in the guest chair by Jane's desk, "So how's everything going? Any new leads?"
"Not really, Mr. Fisher is still pretty high up there on motive and he does own a gun but it's a Glock…Although I do doubt he's dumb enough to use his own."
"Don't forget his airtight alibi."
Jane merely grumbled in reply before dropping into her chair.
"Anybody else who may be a good candidate?"
"A hitman?" Jane snickered at her own joke as she lifted her coffee to her lips, speaking once more before taking a sip, "Mob?"
Maura looked at her with furrowed brows all while Korsak let out a thoughtful hum.
"I mean, the mob could be possible, Paddy Doyle's boys still rule Boston and there's quite a bit of profit in fixing races."
"Know of anyone heavy in the gambling game?"
"Little Tony maybe…I'd have to look into it…and also any connections with the track."
Maura leaned back in her chair, looking over at the two detectives curiously.
"Alright, you look into the mob angle…more than just Paddy's boys."
Korsak grumbled his agreement before he focused on the computer in front of him.
"You really think this has ties to the mob?"
Jane looked over at Maura, shrugging, "It's a possibility we gotta look at, we're not finding anything useful in her notes or anything located at the crime scene…speaking of, have you gotten those trace results back yet?"
Maura shook her head, "No, there's a backlog in trace but we should hopefully get them back in a couple days at most."
Jane nodded, "alright, let me know when you get the results." She said before taking a long sip of her coffee.
"Of course."
They fell silent, just drinking their coffee, Jane flipping through reports again, her hand occasionally moving to massage her temple.
"What's wrong?"
"Wha?"
"Do you have a headache? You keep massaging your temples."
"Huh? Oh…big words, little sleep."
Maura's frown deepened, "I'm sorry if you want I can go stay at a hotel…"
Jane's focus was on her in an instant, her head whipping around so fast she feared she might have given herself whiplash but that thought was quickly brushed aside as she reached out, cradling Maura's hand in both of hers, "Hey, no, you are not staying in a hotel, not again. You are more than welcome in my place, Maura, that's not even an option in my mind, you're not a burden on me, I love having you at my place…anyway if you weren't there I wouldn't get any sleep at all I'd just worry all night."
Maura smiled sadly, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, one billion percent sure."
"That's not a valid percentage."
"Says who?"
"Mathematicians."
"Pft, they know nothing, trust me, that's a real thing."
Maura's worried eyes softened a little and she moved her pointer finger so it grazed Jane's wrist making her smile and squeeze Maura's hand in response.
"And it wasn't you that made me tired, it's that damn couch…and these stupid big words that literally put my brain to sleep with every syllable."
Maura chuckled, "Give me, I'll explain it to you."
"Yay! You read that," Jane handed the file over before leaning back in her chair and shutting her eyes, "And I'll listen."
Maura quirked her head to the side slightly, another laugh leaving her mouth before she readjusted herself in the chair, getting comfortable as she started explaining the more scientific parts of the report.
Today was the day, the day she graduated from the New York police academy, the day she's been looking forward to since she was 8 years old…okay at 8 it was from the Boston police academy but that's just semantics what matters is after today she's officially a police officer.
Jane turned to look behind her, grimacing when she noticed her Ma blubbering just a few aisles back, her pop trying to calm her.
"Is that your mom?"
Jane turned to look next to her smiling at one of her fellow recruits, "Sadly."
She laughed, nudging Jane playfully, "Mines over there." She motioned with her head and Jane looked over to see the other blubbering woman.
"It's what we get for becoming cops in an Italian American family…and being girls."
She snorted, "You're telling me, Rizzoli, every day my ma asks me if I'm sure I wanna be a cop, literally I saw her before we had to sit and she asked me if I was sure, like geez, it's my graduation day."
Jane laughed, nudging her back, "Pop says she's proud of me…she'd also just rather I'd stuck with Ballet or decided to become a world-class pianist."
"I think mines scared I'm gonna come home one day with a crewcut."
Jane bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing, "Pretty sure you're pretty close to a crewcut already, Rinaldi."
Rinaldi smirked, "Boy you should have seen her face when she saw the new hairstyle."
Jane was about to reply when she noticed the rest of the people in their row stand, "Shit, Steph, we're up." She hissed and the other woman chuckled as she grabbed Jane's hand and tugged on it to get her moving.
"Relax, Jane, we practiced this how many times…it's also not very different than any other graduation ceremony you've taken part in."
"Says you! But I think this is the most important one, I've been dreaming of this day for nearly my whole life!"
Steph snorted as they walked toward the stage, heads held high and arms hanging at their sides, "Yeah, yeah I know, career day, you swear angels were singing, bluh, bluh, bluh, but you still gotta chill, Rizzoli, all we need is you tripping and causing some fucked up dominos effect of officers…do you really wanna be called domino or some stupid shit like that for the rest of your career on the force?"
"Thanks, that was very reassuring." Jane husked sarcastically as they stopped in front of the stairs leading up to the stage.
"Well, you know how well I'm known for my pep talks, Rizz."
"About as well as I am for liking pink frilly things."
Steph bit her lip to cover up her chuckle, "exactly. Don't look now, Rizzoli but your fam has a sign."
"Oh god… please tell me you're kidding…Franny promised to destroy any signs they tried to bring."
Rinaldi grimaced, "I think she missed one, kid."
Jane looked over and when she saw nothing she smacked Steph on the arm, "You suck."
"Mmmm, that's not what you said last night."
Jane turned to shoot her a glare, "You wish, Casanova."
Steph grinned at her as they started moving again, clapping when their classmate's name was called, "Sometimes I wonder how Reynold's passed his psych eval."
"You and me both…20 bucks says he gets fired for being dirty."
"Why would I take that, I might as well give you the 20 now."
"Stephanie Rinaldi."
"Shit man, that's you." Jane said as she nudged her toward the stage, "Don't trip."
Steph snorted, "You too, see you on the other side, Rizz."
Jane grinned as she watched her friend walk across the stage in her dress blues, cheering and clapping as Steph was handed her badge, other recruits sitting in the crowd whistling causing quite the commotion as Steph shook hands with the chief of police and headed off the stage…although not before sending Jane two thumbs up.
"Jane Rizzoli." The director called and Jane moved across the stage, glancing out toward the audience to see her family and well Franny standing and cheering along with a few of her fellow recruits.
Jane shook hands with the man when she finally approached him, smiling as he hands over her certificate, "Congratulations, Officer Rizzoli."
"Thank you, sir." Jane smiled before making her way over to the chief, accepting the wooden box holding her badge and nameplate from the man before shaking his hand and pausing for a photo, saying another thank you and continuing on her way across the stage and back to her row.
"You didn't trip!" Steph said as soon as Jane sat in the seat.
"Neither did you." They shared a smile, nudging each other as the ceremony continued the next row soon rising.
It wasn't long until everyone got their badges and they were being sworn in, hands held up as they repeated the words they'd been practicing for weeks…if not years. Smiles spread across every one of their faces and as they wrapped up the Chief spoke up, "Now if we could ask the parents or significant others of our new recruits to come up and pin the badges on your loved ones, as a symbol that these young officers aren't in this alone, and that you too take on the weight of what this career brings. That you will support them through the ups and downs."
Jane watched as every one of her classmates loved ones came up and pinned the badge on them, biting her cheek to try and stem off the tears.
"If anyone asks it was dust," Steph says as her parents' approached.
Jane smiled bumping their shoulders together before she turned to see her Ma and Pop walking up to her, her own tears clouding her eyes.
"Janie…" Angela said, reaching up to caress her cheek, "We're so proud of you."
Jane's smile got impossibly bigger as she held out the box, her pop taking it and opening the lid to remove the badge before passing it over to Angela who once again started crying, the older woman quickly shook her head, stepping aside to let Frank pin the badge in fear of pricking her daughter.
Frank shook his head at his wife but Jane could see the tears pooling in his eyes as he stepped up, hands shaking slightly as he pinned the badge to the front of his daughters uniform. "We really are very proud of you, Janie."
"I know," Jane said before reaching out and pulling her parents into a hug.
Jane pulled back and Angela wiped at her own tears before reaching into the wooden box and pulling out Jane's nameplate, "Officer Rizzoli." She husked before reaching out and pinning it to her uniform as well. "I love you, sweetheart."
"I love you too, Ma."
"Janie!" she looked over just in time to see her brothers and Franny pushing through the crowd, "You look awesome! I can't wait until I'm old enough to join the force!"
'And there goes the waterworks again…' Jane thought just as her ma started blubbering once again. "Really, Frankie, she just stopped."
He looked sheepishly at her before gathering her in a bear hug and lifting her off the ground for a moment before putting her back down, "I sorta hate you for leaving me. I thought we'd be police officers together in the same precinct and everything."
"Girls gotta have some freedom, little bro."
"Yeah, yeah…" Frankie smiled just before Franny pushed him aside and hugged Jane just as tightly.
"Can't breathe, Fran." Jane gasped
Franny laughed as she pulled back, "You look hot in the uniform, Jane."
"Really, I think I look like a man."
Franny shrugged, "A hot man."
Jane snorted, "Hey, guys I want you to meet someone," she turned, reaching out grasping Steph's arm and yanking her into the group and away from her even larger family.
Steph let out a yelp and glared at Jane once she got her bearings, "What gives, Rizzoli?"
"I want you to meet my family. Guys this is Steph, and Steph this is my ma, Angela, pop, Frank, my little brothers Frankie," She pointed at him then at Tommy who was stood off to the side a bit, "And Tommy and then this is Franny."
Steph smiled, "Nice to meet you all, I've heard loads about you, I mean what else are you gonna talk about when you're paired up for a hostage scenario…or well basically everything."
Jane rolled her eyes as her Ma smiled brightly, "We've heard quite a bit about you as well, Steph, Jane tells us you were top of class like her."
Steph shrugged, "I was 3rd but your daughter was 1st…I wish I was like her, heck most of the class does."
Angela seemed to gush with pride in that moment, making Jane and her brothers' simultaneously roll their eyes.
And well of course Angela and Steph's mom hit it off right away and the girls took that moment to sneak away to celebrate, her brothers whining about not being able to join since they were going to a bar to celebrate with the rest of the class, although Franny stuck her tongue out at them as she trailed behind the two new officers.
"Jane?"
"Mmmm?"
"Are you listening?"
Jane blinked open her eyes, flashing a grin at Maura when she saw the confused but slightly irritated look on her face, "yeah, yeah, cocaine smeared on her pocket suggests it was transfer."
Maura's eyes narrowed warningly at her before she leaned back in the chair and crossed her legs, "could have sworn I heard you snore."
"Never, anyway I don't snore."
Maura breathed out a laugh, eyes moving back to Jane's face, "Jane we share a bed, trust me, you snore."
"I do not!"
"Relax, it's cute."
Jane's jaw dropped for a second, a gasp leaving her mouth before she leaned forward, "we discussed this, I am not cute, or sweet….or adorable, I'm a badass, Maura."
Maura chuckled reaching out her hand and placing it over Jane's, "it's completely normal to snore, roughly 30 percent of all woman snore and 50 percent of men…anyways yours is more like heavy breathing."
Jane blinked at her, "how do you know that?" Seeing Maura open her mouth to begin to explain Jane raised her hand not under Maura's, "no, wait, don't answer that. Okay so if it's like heavy breathing how's it not heavy breathing?" Jane was smirking at her like she won some massive battle of wits.
"Well, you make this little snorting sound, and sometimes you go like this," Maura was smirking as she mimicked the noise that Jane makes, not able to help the pride she felt at the shocked look on the brunettes face, "like I said, it's really quite cute."
"Yeah well, you…you, ugh! You don't do anything in your sleep except look remarkably still." Both ignoring the quiet thought they both shared, 'unless you're having a nightmare'.
"I'm sure I do plenty in my sleep, Jane, you don't have control of many bodily functions while sleeping like–"
"Don't, we don't need to talk about that either."
Maura grinned, laughter crinkling the corners of her eyes as she lifted her hand to cover her mouth.
"Stop that, it's not funny. I just don't wanna talk about farting or other things in the middle of the precinct." And even with those warning words, laughter was pinching Jane's words making her voice higher than usual.
Dropping her hand from her mouth Maura asked, "You mean your wand–"
"Don't say it."
Maura snorted out a laugh, hand clasped over her mouth once more.
"Dammit, why do you have to look so cute when you laugh….just, just read the report?"
Maura dropped her hand, lip pulled between her teeth as she leaned back in the chair once again to begin reading the evidence report.
Jane looked away, locking eyes with a smirking Korsak and sending him a deadly glare before slouching back in her chair and muttering lowly to herself, "and this is why we hang out in her office." But apparently it wasn't as quiet as she thought and again she heard Maura snort, a smirk curling the corner of her mouth as she continued her sentence.
Jane was staring at her computer screen, reading past articles by the victim, her sight was getting blurry and she could feel a headache slowly thumping in her skull but she continued reading.
Maura had gone back down to the morgue hours ago…if she weren't too busy to drop her eyes a few inches she might be able to tell you the exact time she watched the woman's back receding as she walked down the hall toward the elevators…Jane hadn't realized how much she missed her company all morning until she was gone with no plans to meet up again until end of day and for 2 hours and 43 minutes she counted until that time would be before she realized she was acting like a nut and forced herself into her work, refusing to let herself look at the clock again in case she started counting down again.
And when she thought she heard Maura's heels approaching she told herself it was all in her head until she felt a hand on her shoulder, squeezing and then the gentle caress of a hand running down her arm as Jane turned her head to look up into loving hazel eyes, "hey." Jane husked and Maura smiled gently.
"Hi."
"Is it time to go already?" Jane's eyes finally moved toward the clock, jaw-dropping just as Maura spoke again.
"It's 8, Jane, I thought I'd give you more time when I texted earlier and you didn't respond and then well next thing I knew it was 10 to 8."
Jane smiled weakly, eyes blinking to try and get them to focus properly, revelling in the feeling of Maura's thumb mindlessly caressing her forearm. "I'm sorry, I just hate that we have no leads…"
Maura nodded curtly, smiling what was supposed to a reassuring one but just came out more tired than anything.
"Let's go home, I'm sure I got one of Ma's 'in case of Emergency AKA late night' lasagnes in the freezer."
Maura smiled, "that sounds wonderful right now….although so would pizza, I seem to be very hungry."
"We could just stop at the pizza place, less time, wouldn't have to defrost anything."
Maura chuckled, hand sliding down to grasp Jane's before she pulled on it, "whatever is good, just take me home, detective, my feet are killing me."
Jane laughed joyously as she let Maura pull her to her feet, "as you wish."
"I'm going to regret watching The Princess Bride with you for the rest of my life, aren't I?"
Jane let out a thoughtful hum as she slipped on her coat, "I think you'll regret telling me how much of a crush you had on Wesley…or was it the idea of Wesley, someone who would do anything for you?" Jane made a thoughtful face, pretending to rub at a nonexistent beard.
Maura playfully shoved Jane before moving toward the doors of the bullpen, the room basically empty except for a few people scattered here and there which gave her the confidence to call over her shoulder, "it was the idea, I'd much rather have a woman with wild raven hair and mischievous brown eyes."
Jane blinked after her, jogging to catch up as she said, "you're talking about me, right?"
"Yes, my Wesley," Maura said as she turned back, interlacing her fingers with Jane's and pulling her into the elevator.
"Good, my Buttercup."
Maura rolled her eyes however a content smile graced her features as she leaned into Jane's side, head resting on her shoulder as the elevator descended to the main floor.
They lay in bed, both staring up at the roof, their bodies touching down the length of them all the way to their toes, their hands clasped together, resting on Maura's stomach.
"Do not start spouting off facts about my gas, Maur, I will not get any sleep if I'm worried I'll stink you out."
Maura snorted, turning her head to look at Jane, smiling gently at the strong features, "we've been sleeping together for a month, Jane, I've smelt plenty of your gas…also we're living together so you have to realize your 'smells' don't bother me."
"Thank you?"
Maura rolled her eyes, squeezing Jane's hand in hers before she continued. "Not like that, the smell of you, it makes me feel at home and safe, and because I love you your gas and what not, don't bother me." She pursed her lips as she thought of a way to maybe explain it better. "Did you ever come across your parents' clothing when you were younger and scared and you'd just hug it and it was like they were right there with you?"
"I guess, I took one of pops shirts with me to the academy by mistake…I slept in it when I felt homesick…"
Jane turned her head, their noses brushing as Maura shifted as well making Jane smile before she reached out a hand to caress Maura's cheek, watching as her eyes fluttered closed, "I like how you smell too…I, I missed you today that's really why I got so into my work, as soon as you left the bullpen it was like a piece of me left with you and I only feel whole when you're around…I woke up last night not because you woke me by making noise but because you were no longer next to me, it was like a piece of me noticed your absence even in sleep and I just needed to find you…"
Maura leaned into Jane's hand before turning her head slightly to place a kiss to her wrist, "I slept in the pajama's you leant me not because I ran out of laundry but because they smelt like you…I like staying here because everywhere I turn there's a piece of you and it makes me feel safe while it also tells me stuff about you…I'm scared I'll never want to leave here, to leave you to go back to my place…I'm scared I won't be able to sleep without you next to me."
"I think we already established that I can't without you so there's no rush from me, heck you can live here forever."
Maura smiled widely, her eyes opening to look at Jane, "maybe one day we can buy a place together?"
"I'd love that, after all this place won't be big enough for Bass to run around in."
"Bass is a tortoise, he doesn't run."
"Says you, all we know is that his walk is actually his run."
"Touché, detective."
Jane sighed, letting her head lull back and her hand drop away from Maura's face, "we need to sleep."
"We do."
"C'mere, you're too far away." Jane said as she tugged their clasped hands toward herself.
"I'm right next to you."
"I wanna hold you." Jane pouted.
"Alright." Maura chuckled as she turned on her side, wrapping her body around Jane's before her hand snaked around Maura, holding her to her side, as Jane's other hand reached across herself to find perches under Maura's shirt sitting on her lower back.
"Might as well accept the inevitable."
"We might." Maura sighed, relaxing into the embrace, "goodnight, Jane."
"Night, Maur…I'm here if you need me at all during the night, you're safe with me."
"I know…thank you."
Jane turned her head toward Maura, leaning forward and placing a kiss to the closest thing she could find, which ended up being the crown of Maura's head, "on your right."
Maura smiled, succumbing to the tiredness she's been feeling weighing down her bones all day.
Jane laid there holding her until her breathing evened out and she fully relaxed into her before letting herself fall asleep, whispering to Maura, "I'm here, you're safe, I got you." Hoping it'll help keep the sleeping woman at ease before fully giving in.
A/N2: Okay! So I had a great time writing this chapter and I know a lot of you have been asking for Jane's POV and her past and it was really fun to do but sadly I couldn't fit all my ideas in this chapter but I guess lucky for you since that also means there will probably be another one like this if you enjoyed see her past! Well, thanks for reading! Tell me what you think!
take care,
Angela.