Chapter 15: Going-away Party

A/N: Just a mini-chapter today.

Saturday

Maura's POV

"Thank you for agreeing to visit a museum on your last Saturday in Virginia," Maura said to Jane as they drove to the National Museum of the Marine Corps. "I know visiting a museum wouldn't usually be your first choice for a Saturday afternoon, but I've always wanted to visit this museum, so I really appreciate it."

Jane laughed. "Usually not, but it is a war museum, so that's more up my alley. I also wouldn't mind seeing it before I leave," Jane added. "Oh, and I forgot to tell you. Yesterday, my boss asked if I'd consider teaching a short seminar on interrogation for future cohorts. He offered me a contract for three sessions over the next year with the opportunity to renew the contract for future years."

"That's wonderful, Jane!" Maura said. "I'm not surprised though; you are a wonderful teacher. Did you sign the contract?"

"Not yet, but I would like to. I told him I'd give him an answer on Monday," Jane replied. "I wanted to at least tell you before I signed anything."

"Oh," Maura said, surprised. "That wasn't necessary, but I appreciate that you thought about me." Jane just shrugged so Maura continued, "It seems like a great opportunity for you to still teach – which I think you enjoy and as I said, you are a very good teacher – while also being able to have a career you find more fulfilling."

"Yeah, I agree," Jane said. "I really like the idea. It would also be nice to be able to see my friends here at least a few times a year. I'll sign the contract on Monday."

"Congratulations, Jane," Maura added with a smile.

Not long after, they arrived at the museum. They spent hours walking around the museum. Even Jane turned into a nerd wanting to explore every exhibit the museum had to offer, but her favorite exhibit was the rifle range in the Making Marines exhibit. In a perfect example of their opposite personalities, Maura's favorite exhibit was the Combat Art exhibit. Both women had a wonderful time spending the day together at the museum.

Late in the afternoon, as they were finishing the last exhibit, the Vietnam War exhibit, Jane turned to Maura, "I'm getting hungry; let's find somewhere close by to eat."

Maura looked at her watch. Perfect, she thought to herself; it was ten minutes before 4pm. "I am hungry as well," Maura replied, "but I would like to stop by Tun Tavern before we leave. It's a recreation of the original Tun Tavern, which was located in Philadelphia before and during the Revolutionary War. It is considered the location of the first recruitment drive for the U.S. Marine Corps during the Revolutionary War. A meeting of the Continental Congress took place at Tun Tavern and George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin were all regular patrons of the Tavern. Unfortunately, the Tavern burned down near the end of the Revolutionary Way."

"Okay, thank you for the history less," Jane teased. "Can we just eat there?"

"It closes to walk-in customers at 4pm," Maura said. This wasn't a lie, but she purposely didn't answer Jane's question about eating there.

"Oh, we should hurry then," Jane said. "You should have mentioned something earlier so that you would have more time to see it."

"We're okay on time," Maura assured her as they headed towards the Tavern.

Jane walked through the door first, but she was stopped in her tracks when she heard a loud chorus of "SURPRISE!" Jane's jaw dropped as she looked around the packed bar to see many of her friends and colleagues in attendance.

Jane turned to look at Maura who had a huge smile on her face. "How…? I thought you said it closed at 4? Did you know about this?" she stuttered.

Maura laughed, "I didn't lie. It does close to walk-in customers at 4pm, but it is available for rent for private parties in the evenings."

Jane opened her mouth to respond, but Maura gave her a small push. "Go say hello," Maura said to her with a smile.

Maura loved how happy Jane looked. She was also proud of herself for pulling this surprise off without Jane finding out. If she were honest with herself, she would have never thought she could keep Jane from finding out. Jane definitely looked surprised, so Maura was pretty sure she had pulled it off. It probably helped that this had been put together at the last minute, so she didn't have to keep it to herself for long. She generally didn't like to use her family name and money to pull strings, but in this case, she didn't feel guilty. This was for Jane after all. A few calls and agreeing to pay extra fees for the last-minute booking and she had been able to reserve the Tavern for the evening. Of course, she had made sure that they weren't ruining anyone else's event; luckily the Tavern wasn't previously booked for tonight.

"Hi, Maura," Amy said as she walked up to Maura. "Thank you for helping us set this up. I think it turned out well, especially on such short notice."

"No, thank you," Maura said. "I just made a few calls. You, Kate, Claire, and everyone else did the hard work of getting everyone here."

"It was a joint effort, so it wasn't much work for any one person," Amy said. "We're going to miss Jane though. She's been a great addition to our group."

"I think she will miss you guys as well," Maura told her.

"Well, you will have to invite us to the wedding," Amy teased.

Maura laughed somewhat uncomfortably. Amy noticed Maura's discomfort, so she changed the subject, "I've heard you're a bit of a trivia buff. Any chance the two of you can join us for one more night of trivia on Wednesday evening?"

Maura smiled, relieved at the change of subject. "Yes, I would love that. Jane probably will, too."

"Great!" Amy said.

Maura spent the next few hours meeting and talking to many of Jane's friends. She was slightly disappointed that she wasn't able to spend much time with Jane. Everyone wanted a chance to talk to her, so Jane was constantly being pulled away from Maura. Maura knew it was silly to be upset, though, since this was supposed to be a chance for Jane to spend time with her friends before leaving. She wasn't upset with Jane or anyone in particular; she was just missing the contact with Jane. On the other hand, she was happy that Jane was so happy, and she appreciated that Jane made sure to check in on her as often as she could to make sure Maura wasn't uncomfortable. Still watching Jane from afar, Maura went up to the bar to get a glass of water (she had stopped drinking a while ago so that she could drive them home). While she was waiting at the bar, someone walked up and took the seat next to her. She turned to greet the person who had joined her, but her mouth went dry when she recognized the man next to her.

"Hi, Dr. Isles," Greg said.

"Hello, and please call me Maura," Maura replied sticking out her hand to shake his.

"Okay, and I'm Greg," he said, returning her handshake. "I can tell you recognize me."

"Yes, I recognize you," was all Maura could say.

"There wasn't anything more between me and Jane, you know," Greg said. "She's always been in love with you."

"She told me that," Maura replied. Greg was the last person Maura wanted to talk with about this, but she didn't know how to get out of the conversation politely.

"I just thought you should know that I was never your competition. Honestly, you've never had any competition."

"Okay," Maura said. "Thank you for letting me know."

"I also know it isn't my place to say this, but I don't think anyone else will," Greg continued. "I think you need to know how much your actions hurt her this year."

"What?" Maura said in spite of herself.

"I know she made mistakes, too. She knows that, as well, and trust me, she beats herself up daily for it. But sometimes it seemed like you were flaunting your relationship with that doctor in her face. Like you were deliberately trying to hurt her."

"I wasn't," Maura said, her voice shaking. "I would never hurt her on purpose."

Greg shrugged. "I want to believe you. I'm just having a hard time understanding how you couldn't see how she felt about you. It was obvious to everyone here and it's my understanding that it was obvious to most of your friends and family back home."

Maura stared at the glass of water in front of her. She was near tears, but she didn't want Greg or anyone else here to know. Someone else had caught Greg's attention on his other side, so Maura slipped away and went to the bathroom. It went against her upbringing to leave a conversation without a polite end to the conversation, but she couldn't stay there a minute longer.

Luckily, there was no one in the bathroom when she got there. She locked the door behind her and double checked the stalls to make sure she was alone before bursting into tears. She hated herself in this moment. How could she have been so blind to Jane's feelings? She was supposed to be her best friend, the person who knew her better than anyone else. Yet, she was the only person who didn't see the signs. Everything Jane did showed how she felt about Maura. Over the years, Jane had risked her job and her life to keep Maura safe; she had defended Maura from real and perceived threats; and she always put Maura's feelings first. Even the things she had done over the past year that had hurt Maura had been in an attempt to do what was best for her – stepping aside to give Maura a chance to have a life with the person she supposedly loved.

Maura leaned against the sink, trying to get herself under control. She took deep breaths to relax herself. Eventually, she was able to calm down enough to wash the tears off her face and fix her makeup. She'd have to avoid Jane for a little while longer since she could always read Maura, but no one else would be able to tell Maura had been crying.

She returned to the bar and steered clear of Jane until she was sure the remnants of her breakdown had left her face.

At the end of the evening, Maura and Jane left the Tavern with the Claire. They thanked Claire again and said goodnight at her car before heading to their own.

"I'm driving," Maura said as she grabbed the keys from Jane's hand.

Jane laughed, "Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Once they were on the road, Jane turned to Maura, "Thank you for tonight."

Maura smiled, "You're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. Did we actually successfully surprise you?"

Jane laughed again, "Actually, yes. I can't believe you guys were able to pull that off without me getting at least a little suspicious. I think I'm losing my detective skills."

Maura joined her laughter. "It helps that we didn't have to hide it for long," she said. "It was a bit of a last-minute plan."

"Did you actually want to go to that museum or was that all part of the ruse?" Jane asked.

"While I hadn't planned to suggest going there otherwise, I really did want to visit the museum once I read about it. That made it a lot easier to get you there."

Jane chuckled, "I did enjoy the museum, and I loved the party, so thank you."

"The party was actually Kate and Claire's idea. I just helped find and book the location and get you there," Maura told her.

"I'll thank them again, too, but I know you well enough to know you're being modest," Jane said.

Maura didn't say anything. Jane's comment reminded her of her conversation earlier with Greg. They fell silent for the rest of the drive home. Jane was struggling to stay awake in the passenger seat, and Maura was lost in thought.

When they arrived home, Maura shook Jane awake, and they headed inside. Jane was so tired that she failed to notice that Maura's mood had shifted from earlier in the day. She assumed her silence was due to fatigue. They quickly went through their night routines and climbed into bed together. Jane fell asleep almost instantly, but Maura laid awake for quite a while thinking about what Greg had said. Did she even deserve Jane's love? she thought as she turned away from Jane and willed herself to fall asleep.

A/N: Thank you to the guest commenter who suggested Tun Tavern as a location for the going-away party!