A/N - This is a long chapter- brace yourself. I've never sat down and written such a long one, and I'm quite impressed with my own patience over this. I hope it's not dreadful to read (since its this long) but I did spend a decent amount of time with it.

TW: This chapter contains mentioning of abuse and domestic violence, miscarriage, and foul language.

The characters belong to Tess Gerritsen, author and creator of the Rizzoli and Isles book series. Inspiration is taken from both the books and the TV-series Rizzoli&Isles (created by Janet Tamaro/Jan Nash). I am in no way affiliated or making money off of this. I'm simply having fun with their universe.

Maura had always fantasised of a white, perfect wedding. She would wear a silk charmeuse dress with a twenty foot train, the cake would be of hazelnut almond dressed in a light cover of mocha butter cream. She fantasised about a long lasting marriage with the perfect partner, two children and perhaps a treehouse in the back yard. When Maura married Ian, she longed for all of that. However, he didn't want a white wedding, so their vows were taken at the American Embassy in Africa, where Maura wore an off-white dress gifted by one of the locals. There wasn't even a reception after. Though Maura thought it was a romantic elope, she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like experiencing the wedding she'd always dreamed of. Jane would always make fun of her for being a woman in her thirties who still was planning an imaginary wedding, and after Maura actually got married, Jane asked her whether or not she was happy about how it turned out. Maura responded that she was happy as long as she got to marry someone she loved. It wasn't the truth, but neither was it a lie. She did love Ian, but she did miss out on her dream wedding. What a shame.

It was October 11th, and tomorrow was the big day; the trial. Tomorrow was the day Maura would walk out of the courthouse as a divorced woman, no longer attached to Ian. She was nervous, of course, worried that the Judge would see her side of the story as a made up plea for attention. She was worried that everyone would call her a liar, and that Ian would walk out with the victory. She had a tiny voice in the back of her head constantly nagging, telling her all of this- the what if's. Nonetheless, she had both Jane and Angela as witnesses, and it made for a strong argument; Angela could testify what she had heard going on inside of the Beacon Hill house, Jane could testify about how Maura had changed- how she knew Ian had treated her. Was it enough? The tiny voice questioned yet again, and Maura had to convince herself that it was. And, after all, Ian couldn't force her to remain married to him, not by law.

The change of season had really made itself known to most of Boston this day, and though the temperature hadn't dropped that much, it did make for a significant change. Maura could tell, especially in that large house of hers. She was currently seated at the island in her kitchen, her computer in front of her, and she wrapped her cardigan around herself as an effort to keep the body warmth in airlock. When this wasn't enough, she decided to light the fireplace. It was 7am and still dark outside, not helping with the temperature. She rolled up a piece of old newspaper and stuffed it between a few logs, struck a match and successfully lit the fireplace. Feeling content, she went back to her kitchen island and continued browsing on her laptop. She got distracted from the Armani shoe sale when a notification popped up in the right top corner of her screen. An email from her lawyer, Samuel Bright. She opened it and began reading. He wanted her to meet with him. They hadn't had a meeting since the beginning of October, but Maura figured there would be a meeting close to the trial date. She typed out her response to let him know she would come by 1pm that same day, and hit send. Feeling restless, she decided to call Jane to see what she'd been up to.

"Hello?" A confused Jane answered when Maura rang, and Maura could tell she'd woken her up.

Around a week ago, there had been made a discovery that several murders from cold cases had been tied together. After what had been a dry, crime-free period at BPD, the homicide department had decided to dig up some cold cases, hoping to find something to work with. Moreover, Korsak had decided that it would be "a whole lot more productive than helping the team down in evidence sort out their storage unite,". Jane, Frankie, and Frost had agreed upon that, thinking it would be an easy way to kill time until some real, solvable, murders came along. However, what they thought would be a genius way to kill time, turned out to just them feeling like they got nothing done, which further prolonged the dry-spell. At first, the cold cases seemed to be separate. They'd tried connecting them to eliminate the chances of them actually being connected, but nothing significant stood out. That was until Frost discovered what could possibly tie the murders together. Firstly, most of the victims had residue of polymer on their person left from the killer. It wasn't specifically mentioned in the autopsy records, nor the crime scene investigation reports, making it hard to notice when actually analysing the reports. Second, even though the main suspects or potential suspects had passed away or disappeared, the possible witnesses and those tied to the perpetrator were all in their early twenties- making it more likely that the actual perpetrator they were looking for could still be alive; it was someone younger that they'd initially thought. All of this made it even more time-consuming, resulting in all of them staying at work until midnight, and coming back to work merely 8 hours later. It also resulted in less alone-time for Jane and Maura, which neither were thrilled about, to say the least.

"Hi, did I wake you?" Maura said, feeling guilty. Yet, it was 7:30, so Jane would have to wake up sooner or later if she didn't want to be late for work.

"It's alright, Maur'," Jane responded, making Maura miss the detectives raspy morning voice even more than she already did. "I needed to get up soon, anyways," Jane yawned.

"Soon? You have to leave in 10 minutes?" Maura worried, tilting her head and calculated how much time Jane could possibly have on getting ready. "Wait- have you been getting up around this time every day now, after the break in the cold cases?"

The other line of the call grew silent before Jane hesitated. "..no,"

"You're such a liar," Maura giggled.

"What? Me? Never," Jane said, her voice filled with sarcasm. Jane could hear Maura chuckle on the other end, before she went back to worrying.

"Do you even have breakfast? And, you can't possibly have the time for both a breakfast and a shower? Jane, please don't tell me your breakfast consists of coffee and a cookie, and your shower is a deodorant and dry shampoo?" Maura whined. All she wanted to do was to beg Jane to come stay at hers, cuddle her before she got up, make her breakfast as she showered, kiss her goodbye.

"Ok, I won't tell you," Jane said, "I miss you too, y'know, but I don't miss you mothering me. I already have the 10-in-1-mother-package-thing, I don't need one more," she joked, receiving the honest laughter from Maura that she had missed so much this past week. They did try calling each other when Jane had her lunch break, and after Jane got home. But, this week had maxed her out. Jane could barely remember her own name when she got home from work.

"I miss you, and I'll hang up now so you can get ready for work, but I'll call you after my meeting with Bright," Maura said.

"When are you meeting him?" Jane questioned.

"At 1, I won't be too long, and maybe you can come to mine if you get off work early?" Maura hoped, even though she knew the chances of them finishing early was minimal. "I don't want to wake up alone tomorrow," she finished, hating the fact that she admitted to feeling the slightest of anxiety about tomorrows event.

"Of course Maur', even if I have to fight Korsak I'll make sure that I'm coming home early. I mean, he knows I'm gonna be gone tomorrow anyways, so I'll just make sure he remembers what day it is. How are you feeling?"

Maura caught herself debating whether or not she wanted to confess how uptight she felt about the whole ordeal. They hadn't talked much the last week, and Maura didn't blame Jane for asking her about the trial either. There was no hard feelings, they both knew that.

"I'll just call you after the meeting, okay?" What an idiotic answer, Maura thought to herself, "I hope you'll have an ok day at work, love you," She said, hanging up the phone.

Once again the thoughts that had so very often visited her mind came back, the what-ifs and the how's and why's. They kept swimming around in her head, they never seemed to shut up, and though Maura tried calming them with deep breaths, they just wouldn't stop."Shut up!" She heard herself say, putting down her cell on the counter, covering her face with the palms of her hand.

"I'm sorry?" Another voice said, a voice that belonged to a very much confused Angela Rizzoli, dressed in a morning robe, coffee cup in one hand and coffee mug in the other. Maura had been so deep down in her own thoughts that she didn't notice her walk in.

"No, I'm sorry," Maura sighed, rubbing her eyes as she heard the sound of Angela pouring her coffee.

"Do I dare ask what's up, or are you just gonna tell me to shut up?" Angela tried, hoping that Maura would find it at least a bit funny. And, to her luck, Maura had spent enough time with the Rizzoli's to understand their type of humour, so she grinned at the question.

"I'm sorry, Angela. It's just that my head is tormenting me with questions that I can't fathom how to even begin answering. They're just up there, swirling around," Maura replied, placing her elbows on the kitchen island counter and ever so gently resting her head in her arms, looking up at Angela.

"That's a tough one," Angela started, taking a seat at the end of the island, "I remember before my divorce- well, Frank and I didn't go to trial but I still kinda get the gist of what types of thoughts you're having. The what will happen next, and the infamous what-if's," she finished, taking a large sip from her coffee.

"Exactly!" Maura exclaimed, "And, and, and, what will I do if it doesn't work out? I mean, he can't force me to remain married, but I'm tired of all of this, I just want it to be over," Maura said, lifting her cup of coffee as well, letting her fingers intertwine around the cup.

"Maura, I'm positive this is gonna work out, and it's gonna work out in your favor," the Rizzoli matriarch said, reaching out to give Maura's shoulder a light, comforting squeeze. "And, I wrote out my witness testimony thingy last night, and I know we can't discuss it, but I'm pretty sure that they can't overlook what I have to say. No matter what bullshit Ian has come up with, he can't accuse me of making this up. He should be ashamed of himself, and I hope the man up there sends him down to a certain place," Angela said, and Maura found it oddly comforting how pissed Angela was at Ian- sort of a confirmation that Maura wasn't in the wrong.

R&I≈

"So we got four victims, all which had residue of polymer found on their body, but it wasn't exactly highlighted in the reports- I don't know, but to me it seems like they neglected it. Almost as if it wasn't important," Jane said, pacing back and forth between Korsak's desk and her own.

"Because they didn't compare the cases, we're able to connect them because of the polymer, but I'm guessing the detectives back then didn't realise that connection between the victims," Frost theorised, carefully studying the maps and pictures they'd hung up on the white board that stood in the middle of their office. There were pictures of the victims and previous suspects, outlined citations from several of the reports, detailed mappings of where each crime scene took place, and red threads were placed in effort to connect all of it.

"The question isn't how they could've missed the polymer, but what and who they could've missed," Korsak began, joining Frost by the white board, "Look," he continued, pointing at the faces of, who the previous homicide team had sought out to be, the possible perpetrators, "these guys are all either dead or have vanished, some are even in jail for other crimes, that's practically all they have in common. But look at the witnesses. They're all young, neighbours, and mostly women," He finished, glancing over at his team members.

Jane gave Korsak a puzzled look, "I don't understand, the witnesses seem random? A lot of witnesses tend to have things in common 'cause their regular people! Murderers also live places and have acquaintances, y'know," She joked.

"No, no, I see it," Frost chipped in, "whoever our murderer is has chosen their neighbourhoods carefully- for example, you got this witness, Melissa Garson" he read, "young, recently broken up with, her ex-boyfriend had moved prior to the murder, making the ex-boyfriends whereabouts non-suspicious," he continued, looking over at Jane.

Jane rose up from her chair, slowly walking towards them, "Alison Holden, recently moved to the US after leaving her boyfriend behind in England," she mumbled, crossing her arms. One could practically see her connecting the dots in her head. "When the current homicide team questioned her about it, she'd assumed he was still in France on a business trip, according to the reports,"

"And, Tasha Grey," Korsak added.

"Who's boyfriend went missing few months prior to the murder," they all said in unison.

"She'd also reported him for abuse before he went missing. You guys think the BOLO on the missing boyfriend is still out there?" Korsak said, hinting at Frost to go look it up.

"Might be, unless he was found at some point. What's his name?" Frost made his way towards his desk, opening the search field on his computer.

"Renaldo Farley, went by 'Ren' for short," Korsak answered, his focus now directed at Frost. The air was riddled by suspense, maybe this was their big break. The break that could turn the cold cases hot again. The suspense was cut short, however, when Frost shook his head signalling he couldn't find anything.

"Dammit," Jane whispered, going over to her desk to sit down again, taking a sip out of her coffee only to realise it was empty.

"I really thought we had something there," Korsak confessed, taking off his lounge jacket, tossing it over his desk chair.

"I gotta go refill this," Jane said, pointing at her cup, "you guys want anything?" Both Frost and Korsak still had coffee in theirs, but asked her to bring back a light snack. Jane chuckled at their response, knowing that 'a light snack' didn't translate into a granola bar, or, the stale, organic kale chips Angela recently had invested in. On her way to the café, she decided to give Maura a call.

"Hello, Jane," Maura spoke.

"Hi, you on your way to the meeting?" Jane queried, opening the door to One Division Café, greeting her mother with a simple smile before she went over to the coffee stand.

"Yes, I'm in the car right now. I got here a bit early, so I'm just sat here going over my documents. I was actually going to call you, but you were ahead of me," Maura said, and Jane could hear Maura ruffling some papers, probably neatly organising them in her lap before placing them back into her purse.

Jane put her phone between her head and her shoulder, freeing her hands so she could fill up her cup with coffee. "You nervous?"

"About the meeting? No. We're probably just going to go over how the trial is going to be executed, and I also have to inform him that Angela is speaking as well," Maura replied, initially knowing that it wasn't the meeting Jane had in mind. "I need a distraction, tell me about the case,"

"Well," Jane sighed, pouring a sugar packet into her freshly poured coffee, alongside pocketing a few of the sugar packets before putting the lid onto her cup. "We've made some connections; the cases are connected by polymer residue that was found on all the victims, but what's interesting is the witnesses; they were all recently broken up with, or had left their boyfriends prior to the murder,"

"Polymer residue? That's complex- it could be many a thing. It's most commonly related to plastic, I assume, its use is often within plastics, for example. However, it could also be found in proteins and nucleic acids. Did the autopsy report specify it? Such as what it could be linked to?" Maura queried.

Jane walked over to one of the tables, taking a seat before answering, trying to remember if the reports had said such a thing. "Oh!" Jane exclaimed, suddenly remembering, "They said something about it being related to Cycles Oils or something," She hesitated, "but, they hadn't found anything else that could verify that hypothesis, something about the structure of the one thing- I don't remember, science isn't my thing," Jane confessed.

"Well, while its studied within the fields of polymer science, its more common to chemistry and biophysics," Maura said as a matter of factly, "but you're good at a lot of other things" Maura teased, and she could practically feel Jane blushing. "Anyways, what you're referring to is Cyclic Olefin Polymer, most commonly used in syringes,"

Jane cleared her throat, "Syringes? But there was nothing about syringes reported in the autopsies, and the crime scene report didn't include finding anything connected to the death," She murmured, tracing the lid of her coffee cup with her index finger.

"Puncture wounds can become nearly invisible after a certain amount of time, I'm surprised if the autopsy report hadn't mentioned some type of poison or injection being the cause of death," Maura spoke.

"Now that you mention it, that is strange. The previous medical examiner had listed the causes of death as 'unascertained', or no known cause of death, but all of the victims had had some type of heart issue following their death, it could be related to some type of injection. I gotta go over the reports again, all of this information is making my brain foggy. All I wanna do is come over to your place, have a beer, and order takeout," Jane said, rubbing her forehead with the heel of her palm.

"Sounds like the previous ME didn't really bother that much. The ME before me was Dr. Roswell, right?" Maura said.

"Yeah, he quit because-" Jane mumbled, clearly tired, but suddenly realised why the autopsy reports were so inconsistent. "He had early onset dementia- Maura, you're a genius!" Jane exclaimed, quickly rising from her seat and hurrying back to her colleagues, forgetting the snack she was supposed to bring them.

"Korsak! Frost!" Jane breathed as she came running in to the bullpen, placing her cup of coffee on her desk before picking up the manila folders on Frosts' desk containing the autopsy reports. "Dr. Roswell retired because of early onset dementia, right? When did he retire?" Jane had gotten her breath back, and Frost was eagerly typing on his computer, finding the file of the previous ME Aaron Roswell.

"June 8th, 1997, was the last day he worked here. He was placed in a home merely a year later," Frost confirmed.

"I didn't know that," Korsak said, knitting his brows together, "I knew the sergeant who worked with Roswell before he retired, I had just been promoted to homicide in the year 2000. He never said anything about Roswell's dementia progressing that fast,"

"I had an aunt once that got dementia, that disease works fast. I visited her last summer, and by last thanksgiving she couldn't even remember my mother," Frost added.

"Do you think his dementia could've already progressed far enough by the time he was doing these autopsies," Jane pointed to the reports, "making him fuck up the reports?" She looked back and forth between Frost and Korsak, who both nodded in response. "God, there's no wonder he couldn't establish the cause of death,"

"He had an assistant, Alexander Horatius, he switched over to evidence. Horatius was like Frost, couldn't handle dead people," Korsak smirked, "come on, we gotta speak to him,"

R&I≈

Maura stepped out of her car as the clock told her it was 12:45, only fifteen minutes until her meeting. She grabbed her purse, locked her car, and focused on the sound of her heels clacking against the concrete as she walked up to the city hall. Maura felt the crisp, fall wind leave her at the doorstep once she entered the well-lit hallway, yet, it wasn't much warmer inside the great building. Looking at the watch on her wrist, she could tell that only five minutes had passed, leaving her restless. Maura didn't quite understand why she felt that something was wrong as she took a seat outside of Samuel Bright's office, but reasoned that it was just pent up anxiety. After all, the past few days had gone by faster than she'd want them to, and it didn't help that all she could think of was the trial, nor the fact that she hadn't had much time with Jane the past week. Funny, she thought, how she had never felt like this if she was without Ian a couple of days. She'd even gone without him for a whole month, yet she didn't miss him as much as she missed Jane right now. As she sat there, lost in her own thoughts, a door opened. Maura assumed it was Bright's office door, so she got up and prepared a smile. However, the smile quickly faded as she saw who it was. It wasn't the office door to her own lawyer, but to Ians. And, the man in question was now walking towards her, opening his mouth as if he was to speak, but Maura just shot him a cold as ice look that made him close his mouth. Instead a sly smile spread across his face.

"I've always found it cute when you make that face," Ian said, crossing his arms.

"We're not suppose to speak," Maura stated, keeping up her stern facade, even though her mind was boiling.

"We're still husband and wife, I can speak with you as much as I'd like to," Ian replied, pretending to feel hurt, but Maura could see right through him. He only wanted her to feel sorry for him.

"Too bad I don't want to speak with you, then," Maura said coldly, and luckily enough, Samuel Brights' door opened just at that moment, relieving Maura from her soon-to-be ex-husband. And, Maura felt quite pleased as she left Ian standing there, thinking that he still had her under control.

"Ms. Isles," Bright greeted, holding the door open for Maura, and Maura nodded in reply.

Once seated opposite Brights desk, Maura spoke, "I assume we'll be talking about the trial that's taking place tomorrow,"

"You would be correct," Bright said, who also sat down now, bringing out a pen and some papers. Maura followed his lead, and proceeded to bring out her own. "I see you're prepared," He said, gesticulating toward the documents.

"Yes, I took a few days off work and I couldn't just sit around doing nothing, so I got to work noting down some incidents and the reasons as to why I want to divorce him. Can't hurt having it on paper as well," Maura shrugged, shimmying out of her jacket which she hung on the arm rest of the chair.

"Ah, all good. I'm sure both the court and the judge will appreciate it. Mostly they just rely on the stenographers transcripts, but they will like having it in detail," Bright concluded, Maura smiled at him again before he spoke up again. "Now, I can't ignore that I saw both you and Mr. Faulkner speaking out in the hallway. I just have to ask; do you have much contact with him?" His arms were now folded onto his desk, his face serious but inviting, polite.

"No, he just so happened to be meeting with his lawyer as well. I haven't spoken with him since I called him about the divorce papers," Maura confessed, "and I don't plan on initiating more contact with him," She finished.

"I assure you that a few conversations is allowed, but if you wish to speak with him before tomorrow, I encourage you to keep the talk short. In many cases of this sort, I've seen that many of my clients are less likely to say what they actually intend to say after speaking with their spouse," Bright stated, keeping his eye contact.

"I understand," Maura nodded, she shifted in her chair, letting her right leg cross the left one, before handing him a copy of her own document, "I made you a copy of my document stating my experience and cause of wanting the divorce, alongside some screenshots of a few texts that may back up some of the evidence that my witnesses are likely going to present," she finished, opening the folder to reveal the screenshots. Bright grabbed the paper and turned it so he could read.

July 1st, 2013

Ian Faulkner, 8:31pm

When are you coming home? Should I start dinner without you? -I

Maura Isles, 9:56pm

Ian, I'm so sorry! I didn't see this until now- I'm working late. I do hope you didn't wait for me.. -M

Ian Faulkner, 9:57pm

Wow, figured. I would've loved it if you had at least called ahead, but I understand. Your work is important to you, and I value a hard-working woman. I did wait, but if you're not able to come home when I expect you to, don't even bother coming home at all. I'm sure you can stay at Jane's, don't worry about me. -I

Maura Isles, 10:06pm

What do you mean? It's my house. I tried calling you, you didn't pick up. -M

Ian Faulkner, 01:02am

Where are you? I only joked about the 'don't bother coming home' part, can't you take a simple joke? After everything I've done for you, you can't seem to do this one thing for me- coming home for the dinner that I so lovingly prepared for you.

September 27th, 2013

Ian Faulkner, 9:49am

Hi. I'm sorry about yesterday. You know I didn't mean to do that to you, you know that. I love you. You're the most important person in the world to me right now. You should've forgiven me by now, I even slept in the guest room. -I

September 30th, 2013

Ian Faulkner, 4:09am

Maura, listen to me, I know things are rough right now. Please don't do this, please don't let your so called best friend influence you into thinking you're like her- you're not. I love you, let's just call this divorce off, and I won't lay another hand on you ever again. -I

"This is certainly convincing," Bright said after reading the messages, putting the paper back in the file. Maura yet again nodded at him, "Pardon me, you said 'witnesses'?" He questioned, emphasising the -es.

"Oh, that's right. Angela Rizzoli, Jane's mother, she's living in my guest house. I hope it won't be any trouble having another witness?" Maura said.

"Not at all, it will be no inconvenience at all! Has Angela prepared what she's going to say tomorrow? I've already spoken very briefly with Jane, but I will need to speak with Angela as well" Bright asked, and Maura nodded her head 'yes'. "Very well, then I suggest we go over what's going to happen tomorrow,"

And so they went over the case yet again, before Bright laid out a step-by-step on what would happen. First, the lawyers, both Maura's and Ian's, would present their opening statements where they would summarize the issues and explain how the evidence would support a decision for their respective clients. Second, Bright would speak on her case. He would then call both Angela and Jane to the stand, where they would testify and lay out their evidence to further prove Maura's side of the story. Third, Ian's lawyer would speak, calling out his own witnesses to prove Ian's side of the story worthy. Fourth, the lawyers would conclude with their closing arguments, alongside summarising the evidence for the court once again. Fifth, last of all, they would hold a final ruling; making a decision, and if everything went accordingly, they would make their decision the very same day.

All of this Maura explained to Jane on the phone after she left Bright's office. Jane also informed Maura that Korsak had allowed her to go home a bit early, even though he was a bit hesitant as they needed to dig deeper into the whole Dr. Roswell issue, nevertheless, Maura would finally sleep in Jane's arms tonight. When Maura told Jane about the little run-in with Ian, she was proud of the fact that Maura'd kept on the cold side, and could've sworn it was her doing; that it was one of Jane's detective-qualities that had rubbed off of her and onto Maura.

R&I≈

When Maura got home that afternoon she couldn't feel less relieved- she felt as if things were starting to move in her direction. Maybe there was hope, she thought, maybe this was going to work out. She kicked off her kitten heels by the door and went upstairs to change into something more comfortable, leaving both her purse and phone downstairs. When she got up to her room, she looked through her dresser but couldn't find anything remotely comfortable. Sure, she had her yoga pants and a plain t-shirt, but she wanted something that was a bit more loose-fitting, and not glued to her skin. Giving up, she glanced over to the other dresser on the opposite side of the room. The dresser filled with mostly her pj's, but it was too early for pj's. Instead, her eyes landed on the two drawers that belonged to Jane. She smirked, and went over to open the top two drawers, seeing a well-worn, baggy, Boston PD shirt. She stepped out of her dress and put the shirt on, getting a faint whiff of chocolate as she slid it over her head. It smelled like Jane. She then decided to slip on a pair of Jane's sweatpants, the black ones that fit her so well to be exactly, and went over to the mirror to look at herself. She felt oddly satisfied with her choice of clothing- it wasn't exactly what she would wear ever, but it was something about the fact that the clothes belonged to Jane that made her feel so soothed. Of course, the outfit in its whole was monochrome, but Maura couldn't care less.

Walking downstairs, she picked up her phone from the desk behind the couch, and noticed that she had a missed call from her mother- Constance. She hadn't even considered telling her mother about both the miscarriage, the divorce and the reasons why, and she especially didn't intend on telling her about Jane. Constance would- well, Maura wasn't sure about how she would take it, but she was sure she wasn't going to handle it very well. She already knew how Constance felt about same-sex relationships, for all Maura knew she could've accepted it and changed her mind about it, but she didn't trust that. A bit hesitant to press the 'call back' option, she went over in her head how she should deliver the news, but instead of dwelling on it, Maura hastily pressed the button. She lifted her phone up to her ear, waiting for the woman on the other end to pick up.

"Constance Isles, to who am I speaking?" Her mother said, ever so classy in her educated tone.

"Hi, mother. It's Maura, I see you've tried to reach me? I was upstairs changing, I missed it," Maura said, noticing how subtly shaken her voice sounded.

"Oh, yes of course," Constance began, "I'm in New York for my new gallery installation, and was wondering if you would like to come- you can bring Ian with you if he is available,"

Maura went silent for a while, considering if this was the time to break the news, "Well, um,"

"'Um' is the sound in dumb, Maura my dear, have you lost your ability to speak since the last time we spoke?" Constance interrupted, but Maura knew she didn't mean to offend her. It was simply how her mother was as a human being- expecting the best from her only daughter, her only child. Ever since Maura was little, Constance had taught her proper etiquette and how people expected her to behave.

"No, mother, my apologies. It's just that I can't come, I'm sorry," Maura said, her voice on the verge of trembling.

"Are you alright? Is this a bad time?" Constance questioned, picking up the light tremble on the other end of the call.

"Ian and I, we're getting a divorce," Maura said, and could let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding in. "Ian refused to sign the papers, so our case is going to trial, which is tomorrow," The sound on the other line went silent for a few seconds, and Maura began wondering whether or not Constance had hung up. Or, maybe she'd passed out from the ''godawful'' news.

"So it is, then. I take it you initiated the divorce, considering he was the one refusing to sign?" Constance inquired.

"Yes, that would be correct. I don't wish to elaborate more on this matter as of now, but I need you to know that he wasn't a good man," Maura steadied herself, "isn't a good man,"

"What a shame, to be only married for a year and growing tired of it already," Constance stated, not as to belittle her- Maura knew that, but it still felt invalidating.

"I didn't grow tired of it," Maura retorted, "I had enough. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with that abusive bastard, he did nothing but use me for his own pleasure, and when he grew tired, it was hell on earth for me. I need you to understand that!" Maura almost cried out.

"Maura," Constance started, "how come you didn't confine in me?" It was almost as if Constance sounded worried- caring, almost.

"I- We don't have that type of mother-daughter relationship, I didn't want to burden you, and I didn't want you to pity me," Maura confessed, "I went through so much with Ian, and I did love him at one point, but I soon realised that I couldn't live a lie,"

"Maura, why don't I call you back? The owner of the gallery building is here and I cannot let him wait any longer," Constance said, and it wasn't like Maura expected her to actually listen to her for once, be a confidant.

"Bye, mother," Maura said, quickly putting her phone back on the desk, wiping away a tear that had escaped her eye. At least now Constance knew about the divorce. Maura looked at the watch on her wrist, and seeing as it was 4pm, she decided it wasn't too early for a glass of red. She went over to the kitchen, picking a '87 bottle of Spanish non-alcoholic Alvaro and poured herself a tall glass. She was still on her medication after the miscarriage, and even though she had begun taking smaller doses, she decided that just the taste of wine would calm her down. It didn't have to have alcohol in it for her to enjoy.

R&I≈

Maura had fallen asleep on her couch when she felt something soft against her forehead, and as she opened her eyes all she could see was Jane standing above her. She gave her a light smile before stretching out her arms, signalling that she wanted Jane to lie down next to her. Maura was seldom the big spoon, but all she wanted now was to feel the brunette close to her, holding her, to let her nose bury itself in the brunettes thick, soft curls. Jane obliged, and joined Maura on the couch, letting the blonde wrap her freckled arms around her.

"I missed you," Maura said, tightening her grip around her girlfriend, feeling how the warmth from Jane's body felt against hers.

"I've missed you too, Maur," Jane spoke calmly, caressing Mauras arms, letting her fingers graze ever so lightly over the pale, soft skin, "I brought us dinner,"

"You did," Maura beamed, adjusting herself so she could kiss Jane lightly on the neck. Jane let out a happy sigh in return.

"Yes, I figured none of us really wanted to make something. But its just pizza, so don't get too excited," Jane laughed, feeling her breath hitch as Maura moved her kisses upwards, nibbling on her earlobe.

"I love 'just-pizza'," Maura whispered, stopping the kisses and sat up so she could take in all of the other woman. Jane, obviously disappointing at the loss of contact, turned her head to see what Maura was up to. That's when she noticed what Maura was wearing. The blanket had covered her when she came in, so she wasn't able to see what garments her girlfriend was sporting.

"Are you wearing my clothes?" Jane chuckled, letting her hand cover her mouth. Maura smirked back at her, laughing.

"I couldn't find anything to wear, so I borrowed something of yours. Your clothes are very comfortable, I understand now why you dress like you do," Maura said in all honesty, getting up from the couch to grab the pizza on the counter.

"Why I dress like I do?" Jane asked, letting a laugh escape, ruining the badass front she was trying to hold. She followed Maura to the kitchen, kissing her on the cheek, "I gotta go shower before I eat, but you can just start without me,"

"I'll wait, I can find us something to watch. Do you want me to pour you a beer?" Maura asked, blushing from the kiss. She wasn't used to this type of love language, the touchy feely.

"This is why I love you," Jane exclaimed, walking towards the guest bathroom on the first floor.

"You can use the upstairs bathroom, you know? The water pressure is better up there," Maura shouted as Jane disappeared behind the bathroom door.

"But this one's closer to you" Jane shouted back, making Maura grin.

Maura heard Jane turn off the shower, and she went over to the fridge to grab her the beer she'd promised. That's when she heard someone knocking on the door. As she walked over, she was frightened that it could be her mother. What on earth would Constance say if she knew Maura's lover was in the shower, and that Maura was wearing her clothes. That wouldn't play out nicely. Nonetheless, Constance was not the one at the door, but she soon wished it was her.

"Ian," Maura said with a calm voice, a slight growl to her undertone, as she opened the door seeing her soon-to-be ex-husband. Without invitation, he walked in and dominated the room with his presence. He was like that most of the time, he took up a lot of space. Maura was now trapped between Ian and the door.

"You're wearing Jane's clothes?" Ian said, his voice calm as well, eyeing her from top to bottom. Maura crossed her arms, as if it helped covering herself up a bit. She wasn't ashamed of how she looked, with minimal makeup, hair pulled into a bun. It wasn't how Ian was used to seeing her, but it felt liberating not caring about how Ian would perceive her.

"I am. Why are you here?" Maura asked, keeping the eye contact, showing him that she wasn't afraid.

"I'm denying everything, cause nothing happened- you damn well know that," Ian said, suddenly filled with rage. He tried to hide it, but the years Maura had done studying human anatomy revealed him. "And, you don't have anything to prove it with, if something had actually happened,"

"What about the bruises on my arms, the marks after you threw me down on the floor? When everyone kept asking me about those? Jane remembers," Maura spoke, "and, we're not supposed to talk about this,"

"How about you stop being such a liar and getting that dyke friend of yours to help you make up shit about me?" Ian said immaturely and childlike, acting as if Maura had stole his favourite toy truck.

Maura felt her entire being filling up with fury, as if she was about to explode, "Don't call her a dyke, you insensitive jerk," Ian laughed at her, which fuelled her rage even more, "and you know for a fucking fact that I can't lie- do you have any idea of how much you've hurt me? How much you've tormented me for the past year we spent together?" Ian clenching his fist, and had to stop himself from lifting it, stop himself from acting out of rage. Maura took a step back, flinching, but she kept on going, "I'm so fucking tired of this, I'm not a goddamn toy for you to play with" Maura spat, seeing the surprise in Ians eyes. Maura wasn't one to yell or be angry, but it was different now. She was still scared of him, and a small part of her regretted what she said immediately; now the thoughts of consequence was taking over her mind.

Ian scoffed, crossing his arms, "I know stuff about you that no one else does, bear that in mind when disrespecting me like that,". It disgusted Maura how he stood there so tall, so full of himself, so proud of what he had just said.

"So I hurt your ego?" Maura mocked, "The manly-man is hurt because the woman he married turned out to be a lesbian?" She saw her eye twitch in response, "And, by the way, me being gay isn't the only reason why I don't want you in my life anymore," She enjoyed the sight of the man opposite her, who struggled keeping up his angry facial expression free from any indication of pettiness. "I suggest you leave now, or is there something else that you wish to say?" She finished.

Maura watched Ian struggle to speak before he stomped his way towards the door. Before he opened it, he turned around to face her, "We're not done here. You can't escape me. No matter where you are or who you're with, I'll make sure you never feel safe again. Bye, Maura," Ian spat before he opened the door, walked out, and slammed it shut.

Maura stood there for a while, feeling utterly shaken, scared. She knew she had no reason to fear Ian as long as she had Jane, but part of her felt like she couldn't ever escape; just as he had said. She heard his car speed out from her driveway, and another voice spoke.

"What the fuck is wrong with that guy," Jane said, "Maura, are you ok?" She rushed by her side, meeting her gaze. Maura nodded quietly before Jane spoke again, "just so you know, I got all of that on tape," Jane watched as Maura's eyes widened in shock.

Maura cleared her throat and spoke, her voice filled with a triumphal fear, "you did?" Maura swallowed and watched as Jane pulled out her phone, showing her the video she had secretly taped with the bathroom door slightly ajar.

"Every last detail," Jane added.