Jane sat at her desk in their shared office at Beacon Hill and nibbled at her pencil. Unable to focus properly on the task at hand she strained her ears to hear what was going on upstairs. Brian had briefly come out of his room this morning to state that he was not hungry. Maura had tried to coax him softly into eating something, but he had successfully refused and left the kitchen after giving Jane a scared glance.

The brunette wondered why the boy shied away from her. But as much as she searched her mind she couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation. She just couldn't say why. Kids usually loved her and his reaction to her was more than unsettling. Her new job would start in a few days, and she was already thinking about finding a way out, wondering if it was reasonable to leave Maura alone with him.

Hearing nothing at all she sighed and threw the pencil onto her notebook. This wasn't going to work she decided and walked out of the room towards the stairs to check on them. When she passed the guestrooms door, she saw Maura and Brian sitting on his bed in silence. The boy had hung his head, his teddy bear as usual pressed firmly against his tiny body. Jane realized that he was probably smaller than his age.

Maura caught her eyes with a frown. Jane hesitated for a second before padding into the room. "So what's up with you guys?" she asked feigning as if everything was normal. Maura looked at the boy who seemed to pull his head impossibly deep into his shoulders.

"I thought we could go out and do some sports. The weather is beautiful. No rain. We should take advantage of that." She stated with a hopeful grin. Hopeful in the sense of pulling Brian out of his shell. But the boy didn't react. Her eyes darted to Maura who shrugged slightly.

Jane sat down to the bed, thinking that it was progress that the boy didn't run screaming. On the other hand, she had the feeling that he had somewhat fallen into a catatonic state. Acknowledging that Maura was all right she followed the docs slight wave with the hands and left the room again.

She knew that the doc was going to sit this out. No matter what "this" was. The blonde had explained to Jane the previous night that she thought that he just needed to feel that they cared to make him trust. It would take time of course, and Maura who was feeling a strange connection to him was willing to do so. Jane wanted to do the same, but she was obviously not the right person.

Hence, she walked back to the office, taking up her work again. The drawing came along fine she noticed as she added a few more lines to the paper. But something bothered her, and she couldn't say what. She stared at the drawing in silence and huffed, turning the page to start over.

It was well past midday when she stood and stretched before walking into the kitchen to make some sandwiches. She took four on a plate to Brian's room, where both were still sitting in silence like they had a few hours ago. Jane held back a shake of her head and it was without words that she placed the plate onto the bedspread.

Maura glanced up at her after eying the sandwiches. "Seriously?" she scolded slightly, and Jane knew that she was in for another teasing lecture of unhealthy food. She absentmindedly rolled her eyes and listened patiently before leaving the room again.

It was hot and she desperately craved for a swim in the pool. Stepping out onto the deck in her bikini she sighed. She wanted to ask Maura how long she thought that this would last. How long could one sit on the bed without moving or speaking. Obviously longer than she had anticipated.

By dinnertime Maura came down alone with the empty plate. Jane looked at the plate and raised an eyebrow. "He won't admit it, but he certainly loved them." Maura looked somewhat hopeful.

"Yeah, mums recipe makes all kids happy. Fluffy goodness I only say." Jane teased and Maura chuckled. "Apparently its not only the kids she makes happy with them." She carefully nudged Jane who was cooking pasta with ragout.

Her grin disappeared quickly, and she became serious. "He hates me." She stated, careful not to let her hurt show. Maura who was stirring the ragout cocked her head to the left and gazed at the brunette. "I don't think that it has got to do with you. Maybe we are related, and this is why he feels more of a connection to me than to you." Maura silently said, stopping her stirring to pull Jane into an embrace. "Maybe." Jane sighed against Maura's neck, sounding everything but convinced.

Jane threw a handful of fresh cut basil from their garden into the sauce and stirred again. Dinner was basically ready, and Maura walked off to take a plate to the boy.

When they checked on him, he was laying on his back, facing the ceiling with a frown. The plate was empty which made Jane smile softly. She let Maura sit with him for a while and tug him in while taking a shower.

Nothing changed for days, and Jane had only three days left until having to go to work again. She spent most of the time alone in the office. After pulling all articles about the murder she was still clueless and retrieved back to drawing.

Maura had gone shopping and the brunette was perched over the paper, giving a frustrating sigh while ripping the sheet of paper from her notebook before tossing it towards the dustbin. "He's asleep." The doc had told her before leaving.

Jane heard a muffle and watched the boy walk into the office, his eyes darting around. She studied him in silence, thinking that if she talked, she would scare him away. Her eyes followed as he picked up the sheet, she had just tossed from the ground to unfold it. She could see him study her drawing and wondered what he was thinking.

"I'm missing something, but I'm not able to see what." She mumbled in a low voice. His eyes briefly met hers. When she saw a slight nod, she was almost sure that she had imagined it.

"Can you tell me?" Jane asked, still speaking low. He shrugged. Jane grabbed a pencil from the desk and held it towards him. "I could really use your help here buddy." She whispered, pointing to the sheet in his trembling hands. She was prepared for him to run any second now. But to her surprise he sat to the floor and studied her drawing.

"I want to build a model plane." Jane dared to explain. "I once built a car. With an engine." Her index finger pointed to the Pickup truck on a shelf, and she chuckled softly. She recalled Maura's eyes when she put it there. They had had a discussion about this belonging into a garage and not onto a shelf. But Jane had won this little discussion and it still made her smile.

"Anyways." She said and refocused on Brian who quickly turned away as if he had watched her. "I'm going to make the drawings and a my brother – Tommy – will make the parts. We want to add an engine and try if it really flies."

Jane heard the main door open and close, signaling that Maura was back. Brian stood suddenly and ran out of the room. Too fast for Jane to register that he had taken the paper and the pencil with him.

R&I

She rose the next morning with a weird feeling. Brian had ignored her for the rest of the night, and she wasn't surprised when Maura and he fell back into their usual behavior. After cleaning the dishes, Jane walked back to the office. The scrambled paper was laid out on her desk, and she immediately noticed that Brian had added a few lines. It made totally sense now. He had found the missing piece and Jane stared at it in amazement.

Now knowing how to build a bridge to the boy she smiled.