Chapter 1: Truce

A/N: This will be much shorter than my usual stories. I'm not sure exactly how many chapters yet, but probably 3-4 relatively short chapters. I was trying to fit a version of Maura and Jane's conversation about Maura's position in Jane's life into one of my other stories (Family by Love, in case you're interested), but it wasn't working, so I changed it up a bit, and made it its own scene. Figured I'd share it.

Jane slammed the phone down on its receiver and buried her face in her hands.

"You alright, there?" Frost asked, shifting his gaze from his computer to his exhausted partner sitting across from him.

"No," Jane snapped as she rubbed her hands down her face. "I don't need this right now on top of everything else."

Frost had no idea what she was talking about, but before he could ask, Jane stood up and stomped out of the bullpen, slamming her finger into the down button for the elevator.

Jane huffed in annoyance as she rode the elevator down to the morgue. She was about to do the last thing she wanted to do. She was going to be the one to swerve in her and Maura's perverse game of chicken. Her love for her daughter was the only thing that could override her irrational stubbornness.

Six weeks. It had been six weeks of petty arguments, snide remarks, and cutting comments. Six weeks of pretending to hate her second favorite person in the world. Six weeks without her best friend. Six weeks of living with a four-year-old who was missing her favorite person in the world.

Maura had to use every ounce of will-power she had not to glance up when she heard the tell-tale stomping of Jane's boots coming down the hall. She missed Jane and Gabi with every fiber of her being, but she didn't know how to stop the train wreck that was now her relationship with Jane. She steeled herself for whatever confrontation was about to take place.

Maura didn't look up when she heard the expected knock on her open office door. "I don't have the lab results yet," she said coldly. "I'm very busy. What can I do for you, detective?" She heard Jane huff in response, and suddenly she was more afraid that Jane was going to turn around and leave than she was of the impending argument.

Maura knew she had reacted poorly when Jane shot Paddy Doyle. What she wasn't sure about was how they had grown so far apart so quickly. Maura had wanted to apologize when Jane showed up at the hospital after the shooting, but Jane's single-minded focus on asking Maura not to snitch on her to Internal Affairs had angered her. It only went downhill from there. Maura had thought that Jane asking Angela to choose between the two of them was going to be the worst of it, but that was nothing compared to the pain of missing Jane and especially Gabi over the past six weeks. Angela had returned to the guest house the next day, and she treated Maura the same as she did before this mess, but Maura hadn't even set eyes on Gabi since two days before the shooting.

Jane was pissed that Maura wouldn't even look at her. She wanted to turn around and walk back out the door, but when she closed her eyes, all she could see was Gabi's sad face. "Look, I know you hate me," she said, frustration lacing her voice, "but I don't believe you hate Gabi."

At Jane's words, Maura's head snapped up, and she finally looked at Jane. When she locked eyes with Jane, Maura realized that she hadn't really looked at Jane in weeks. Sure, she had seen her, and they had had cases together, but she hadn't really looked at her friend. Jane looked utterly exhausted. She had dark circles under her eyes, and her hair was even less tame than normal. Maura was pretty sure Jane had also lost a few pounds – weight she really couldn't afford to lose. Jane was shifting nervously on her feet with her hands in front of her, one hand worrying the scar on the other hand. Usually, Maura's first instinct would be to tell Jane to leave her scars alone, but she was too caught off guard by Jane's words.

"What?" Maura asked, and she could hear the anxiety in her own voice.

Jane sighed, dropping some of the hardness in her posture and tone. Jane crossed her arms defensively in front of her chest. "Gabi misses you," Jane said sadly. "She doesn't understand, and I don't really know what to tell her anymore. I know you don't want to see me, but can ma just bring Gabi over to see you after work? If you don't want to be a part of her life anymore, fine, but can you just…can we do it slower. I mean, like, she doesn't understand why she went from seeing you every day to never seeing or talking to you." Jane's words got increasingly frantic as she spoke. She spoke faster and her voice got higher the more she went on, causing Maura to stand up from her desk and walk over to Jane.

Stopping a few feet away from Jane, Maura mirrored her stance with her arms crossed in front of her. "I…of course, she can come over," Maura said quietly. "I-I-I miss her too, but I thought…"

Maura trailed off, and Jane looked at her friend curiously. She had never thought that Maura would say no. She knew that Maura cared about Gabi, and while Jane hadn't been actively keeping Gabi away from Maura, by the nature of Jane's avoidance of Maura, Gabi hadn't seen her. The four-year-old had been caught in the crosshairs of their fight, something with Jane would hate herself for for probably the rest of her life. But something about Maura's tone confused Jane. It almost sounded like Maura was surprised that Gabi missed her, but Maura had to know how important she was to Gabi – she had to, right?

"What did you think?" Jane asked softly, her tone gentler than she had used with Maura in weeks.

"I-I…um…" Maura sighed. "I thought she might have asked about me a few times, but I guess I thought she had probably moved on."

"Moved on?"

"People come in and out of kids' lives all the time," Maura said. "Kids are resilient. They have teachers and friends who are in their lives for a while; then, they eventually have new people in their lives."

"But Maura, you were never just 'people' to Gabi," Jane said slowly, but Maura misinterpreted her words.

Maura instantly bristled. "I am a person," she said shortly, anger rising in her voice. "I know you think I'm a cyborg or something, but I'm human. I'm a real person with feelings and…"

Jane reached out, gently grabbing Maura's elbows, immediately stopping Maura's rant. Maura's words got caught in her throat when Jane touched her for the first time in weeks. God, she had missed this. Usually, she hated physical contact, but she craved Jane's comforting and reassuring touches.

"That's not what I meant, Maura," Jane said quickly. "I know you're a person. What I meant was that you're not just another person that will come and go in Gabi's life. You're so much more than that to her. I thought you knew that. I mean, no one else gave her her own bedroom at their house," she added, letting her hands drop from Maura's arms.

Maura instantly missed the contact. She didn't know what to say, so she remained silent.

"I have to go. I have to get Gabi," Jane said. "But I'll have ma text you to figure out a time for her to bring Gabi by."

Maura nodded in agreement until her brain finally processed Jane's words. "Wait, why do you have to go get Gabi?" she asked. "Isn't she at preschool? Is she okay?"

Jane hesitated, biting her bottom lip. "Yeah, they called," she admitted. "She's okay. She's just having a bad day, and they suggested I come pick her up."

"But you're in the middle of a case," Maura pointed out.

Jane's defenses immediately began to build back up. "Gabi will always be more important than any case," she snapped.

For once, Maura didn't react to the tone. "I know," she assured Jane. "I know you would do anything for Gabi. I wasn't questioning that."

Jane swallowed her pride, fighting her instinct to remain defensive. They were making progress, and Jane wasn't willing to let that go quite yet. "Sorry, I know you know that," she said. "Ma's working, and Frankie's on patrol, so…"

"I could get her," Maura cut Jane off. "I mean, if it would help, and if my name is still on the list of approved people to pick her up," Maura paused uncertainly before continuing, "I could bring her directly here, or I could bring her to your apartment and stay with her until you get home, or she could come to my house. I could bring her home after work, or you could pick her up. Whatever's easiest for you."

"I thought you were busy," Jane stalled.

"As the Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth, I always have things to do," Maura said, which is exactly how she was able to tell Jane she was busy when she first walked in despite not having any active cases. "But unlike you, I don't have an active case. I can take the afternoon off. Plus, I can get work done during her nap."

"You're still on the list," Jane said, answering Maura's question from earlier. "She'd really like that," Jane added. "And she'd probably love to go to your house, if you're okay with that."

"I would love to have her over," Maura said, and Jane didn't miss the glimmer of hope that flitted across Maura's face.

"Okay, well that would help a lot," Jane finally conceded. "I'll try to get out of here by 5pm."

Maura nodded. "If you want to make sure you leave on time because you want to see Gabi, that's fine, but if you need to work later, she can stay as late as you need her to. I know if you close this case, you'll have the weekend off."

Jane found herself surprised that Maura was so aware of her schedule. Maura was right though, if she closed this case – even if it meant working later – she'd have the weekend off.

"Okay, well can you have her call me when you guys get home?" Jane said. "It doesn't have to be right away, like if you guys want to stop somewhere or whatever, just have her call sometime this afternoon?"

"Of course," Maura said.

"If she seems okay, then I might work later so that I don't have to work this weekend," Jane added.

Maura nodded. "Thank you, Jane," she said softly, and finally, finally, she saw the smile she had missed for six weeks, the smile Jane reserved only for her.

"I should be thanking you," Jane said over her shoulder as she left the office.