N: It is what it is. I think this one might be wrapping up in a couple more chapters? Maybe? Anyway, read on! Also go to amazon and check out my books under the penname Sydney Gibson. Grab a new read for the summer and if anyone would like a signed hard copy, let me know! I'll happily get one in your hands! Enjoy this update as i go off and watch New Girl!

Maura

The log cabin style home was a favorite of mine. My father had it built before I was a part of their lives. It was a whim of a fantasy he had after spending months in the far reaches of Saskatchewan, learning about the indigenous communities and their art. The home was larger than a cabin, but we still called it our cabin on the cape. I had a few childhood memories of spending summers running barefoot across the wood floors and rushing out across the dock before launching myself into the water. I was always happy at this cabin and had not returned in what felt like a lifetime as I grew older. Life taking me to a more elegant and restrained path of etiquette lessons and advance science classes.

I smiled softly as I stood on the edge of that same dock, bundled in a heavy coat as the chilly ocean air hovered around me. Jane was inside, asleep on the couch. She'd barely made it through the front door after the long drive from my home early this morning, falling to the couch with a heavy sigh. She was out like a light as I unpacked out bags and turned up the heat before taking a walk outside. I'd let her sleep for a bit before I started lunch.

I couldn't rest. Still disturbed by my encounter with Crown. Jane thought heading to the cabin would keep Crown away, but I knew he'd be in the shadows no matter where I went. Waiting, watching. I wanted to tell Jane this, but the look on her face prevented me from bringing another dark cloud into our lives. She felt the cape was worlds away as it had been for her as a kid. I wanted her to hold onto that feeling of remote safety for a few more days.

I let out a slow puff of air, watching it curl like smoke and fade away. The ocean waves were rolling slowly, the cold winter air slowing it down. The weight of exhaustion was settling heavy on my shoulders and I was starting to feel the dread I'd never not feel tired. It had been months since Jane was injured by Hoyt, and every day since arriving at the hospital to sit by her side, I'd been tired. Tired and exhausted. My life wasn't used to this type of morbid excitement. Before Jane Rizzoli, the only excitement I had was in the lab. Processing evidence for detectives and reading the excitement in an after action report. Not even my past encounters with Crown were as exciting as they were now. Just creepy and distant.

I buried my chin in the collar of my coat before looking back at the cabin. The upstairs bedroom light was on, meaning Jane had woken up and was probably looking for me. I turned, starting the walk back to the cabin. Maybe one day I could bring her back her on better terms. A real vacation without a worry in the world.

Maybe one day we could have a real life without worries.

Jane

Jane.

You're not worthy of her.

She belongs to us.

I should've killed you the first time, Janie. You're only hurting her by staying alive.

I woke up with a start, sweating through my sweatshirt as I swore I felt Hoyt's hot breath falling against my cheek. The nightmare was as vivid as the others, but this time Crown was in the background as Hoyt hovered around me. The silver scalpel catching the light and blinding me.

I blinked a few times, trying to hold down the panic of not recognizing my surroundings. It took a few breaths before I caught the sight of Maura's fancy suitcase sitting by the door. I was at the Isles cape cod cabin. I was with Maura, and I was safe. I repeated that over and over until my heart stopped racing as I sat up.

The huge window in front of me provided a incredible view of the ocean. I scooted to the edge of the couch, catching Maura standing in the distance at the end of a long dock. I felt my stomach twist as the echo of Hoyt's voice lingered.

She belongs to us.

I ran my hands thought my hair, scooping the mess into a ponytail.

No. Maura belongs to me.

Standing up on wobbly legs, I moved to grab Maura's suitcase and take it upstairs. I'd at least heard Maura explain the bedroom was on the second lever before I crashed out on the couch. My suitcase was missing, which told me Maura took the time to unpack my things before she touched hers. The least I could do was get her settled in. I walked to the stairs, yawning with every step. The adrenaline rush and subsequent dump after yesterday left me teetering on the edge.

We needed this rest. We needed to be outside of the city and away from the prying eyes of the department. Everyone was hyper aware of the Crown situation and it hovered over us like a titanic sized cloud. The detective in me wanted to be in the mix, hunting clues and tracking Crown. But I wasn't in any shape to be the detective right now. I was way off from my old physical self, moving at a quarter of the speed I normally did. And the nightmares. The nightmares were still lingering to the point I avoided sleeping as much as possible. I'd take an hour or two hour nap when we went to bed, but I'd wake up when I felt the tremors of a nightmare start to sink its teeth in me. I'd then resort to lying in bed and watching Maura sleep for hours until I knew she was about to wake up. Then I'd play the old tricks I did as a kid with Ma. Close my eyes and fake snore a little until she believed I was asleep.

Sitting on the edge of the massive bed, I let out a slow breath. I had no plan in mind. I just wanted to take Maura away from the city and be with her. Thinking if we were alone, we could build on our relationship. I still had no solid clue about who Maura was, just that I loved her so much it hurt.

I grabbed her suitcase, setting it on the bed to unpack. Scooping up a handful of sweaters, I spun around to find a drawer to shove them in.

"I usually hang my sweaters." Maura's voice softly entered the room.

She was leaning against the door frame, a tired smile on her face.

"I usually shove mine in a drawer until the middle of winter. I prefer zip up hoodies to sweaters." I smirked as Maura walked over, taking the sweaters from me. "Most of my clothing is shoved in drawers or hanging on plastic hangers in a closet."

She pushed the closet door open to reveal everything I packed arranged in neat order. Hanging or folded perfectly. "Good thing I got to your things before you did." Maura shook out a sweater, reaching for a cedar hanger. "How did you sleep?"

She was tired. I could hear the slight tremble in her voice. The woman had been through the ringer over the last couple of days. "I slept okay. I think the ocean air is good for me." I glanced around the huge room, spotting a fireplace near the one window. "Oh, a fireplace. We should light it up and tell ghost stories by the fire."

Maura gave me a look over her shoulder. "I'm surprised you didn't notice the large television downstairs in the main living area above that fireplace."

I shrugged. "I did, but I've watched enough cable over the last few weeks to tide me over." I held out my hand to Maura. "Leave the sweaters, Maur. Sit and take a load off."

Maura cocked her head and I waved her off before she could question what I just suggested. "Sit with me. We need to talk about what you'd like to do up here. We have the time, we have the ocean, we have each other. Let's try to get some rest and enjoy this giant cabin. I know I'm excited to be a few miles out of reach of my ma."

Maura smiled, taking my hand. "She loves you, Jane." She paused, sighing. "I appreciate her care and concern, but."

"But she can smother with the best of them." I chuckled, pulling Maura in closer. "What is there to do around here?"

"There's a small town down along the main road. There are a few trails my father made that lead to the other side of the ocean. There's the boat house, but I fear it may be far too cold to go swimming or go out on the boats." Maura's brow furrowed. "We have a library on the first floor. My father has an extensive film collection we could watch."

I nodded as each of those options sounded wonderful, but as I looked at Maura, my mind drifted elsewhere. The woman was stunning, hands down the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen, and I had the sudden urge to prove she was mine. "I spotted a giant tub in the bathroom over there." I motioned over her shoulder. "I vaguely remember my doctor prescribing long hot baths to soak in. Something about easing my aches and pains, speed up this healing process."

"Hot water does promote blood flow." She turned to look at the bathroom. "I think there are some lavender Epsom salts in the linen closet. The combination will soothe you physically and mentally. I'll run the bath for you. My mother might have left some aromatherapy candles in the kitchen. I can create a very soothing atmosphere for you to relax, Jane." She went to stand up when I held on to her hand. She glanced back. "What is it, Jane?"

I shook my head. "You're not very good at picking up subtle flirting, are you?" I stood up, tugging on the edges of Maura's thick sweater, slipping my hands underneath to graze her soft skin. "I'd like to take a bath. With you. Naked." I grinned at the sight of her cheeks turning pink. I pressed my hands flat against her sides, leaning forward to kiss her. Maura responded instantly, her hands fell to my hips and pulled me against her as she moaned against my lips.

I leaned back, looking in her hazel eyes. "What do you say, doctor?"

Maura blushed deeper. "I say that's the best medical advice I've heard in a long time." She reached for the zipper on my hoodie, pulling it down to reveal I'd opted to wearing nothing but my bra underneath it. She sighed at the sight. "Is it too clingy to say I've missed you? I've missed this?" She ran her hands over the tops of my breasts. "It's only been a day or two, and yet I feel like it's been years since I saw you?"

I grabbed her hands, pressing it against my skin. "It's called love, Maura." I kissed the tip of her nose. "Love makes you feel things you never thought possible." I felt her hands move down to my stomach, plucking at the top of my sweatpants. "We should start that bath."

Maura's hand slipped past the waistband. "We should. But perhaps we should get a little sweaty and dirty beforehand?"

The look in her eyes told me this was an offer I didn't dare refuse. But before I could answer, Maura's hand stole my breath away.

The bath never happened. Maura and I expended all of our energy in the bedroom, both of us taking full advantage of being alone. No ma to burst in the house. No partners to call and pull one of us away to a scene. Just us and the ocean outside.

Maura was asleep, curled in a ball on her side. The poor woman could barely keep her eyes open and fell asleep on me after I had her crying out my name. I grinned, staring at the sight of her bare back. My ego fully inflated. After pulling the blanket over her, I slipped out of bed to find something to eat. It was a little past dinner time and my stomach was definitely protesting.

I crept downstairs and before heading to the kitchen, my eyes caught the library. The room was nothing but walls of books but something on the far wall mantel, pulled me into the room. Picture frames lined the heavy marble ledge and being the nosy detective I was, I had to take a look.

The pictures were of Maura and what I assumed were her parents. They looked vaguely familiar but I couldn't place where I knew them from, just that they looked like they came from money. I skimmed over pictures of Maura as a little girl. Dressed properly and putting years of etiquette lessons to use, standing like a proper little lady next to her mother. Most of the pictures were the same, until I moved to the back and found one of her mother holding a small blanket wrapped bundle in her arms. I grabbed the picture and looked closer at it. Something was off in the way mom looked way to fresh to have birthed a brand new human into this world. The look on her face told me she was beyond petrified.

"I was adopted. A student of my mothers showed up at her office, begging her to take me. I was barely a day old and he was desperate. Something about if his father found out, I'd be in very grave danger." Maura walked into the library, wrapped in the comforter from the bed. "She has the look of pure panic, because she was well out of her element. She took me out of pity and maybe a sense of duty to protect a defenseless infant."

I set the photograph down. "I'm sorry. I couldn't help it. I wanted to know if you were a cute kid. I found that one in the back and, never mind." I waved it off.

"You hunch your shoulder ever so slightly when you're investigating. You also cock your head to the left as you analyze." Maura walked over to stand next to me. "You also leave the bed twenty minutes after I've fallen asleep. I can only assume your nightmares have returned and you find it difficult to sleep for long. I woke up cold and went to find you." She reached across me, moving the picture of her mother to the front. "I was raised to be silent, yet observe everything around me. It's why I'm very socially inept, but brilliant at picking up details and reading body language. I love my parents. Very much, but as I grow older, I realize I was raised to be a silent adult. Not a rambunctious child discovering the world one day at a time. That's when science and medicine became my friends, not other kids or other people around me. I understand details, science. I can figure out a person in ten minutes without ever having said a word to them."

She ran her finger over her mother's face. "My mother called when I was in the hospital. It was a strange call, very polite with very polite conversation. She has plans to visit in a few weeks. I think she wants to reconnect after all these years and the threat of losing me is very real." Maura set the photograph back. "I love Elton John. My favorite song is don't go breaking my heart. My favorite vacation was when my mother and I spent a summer in France. It was the only time I ever saw her relaxed and laugh with me. My favorite movie is whichever one I'm watching with you." Maura turned to look at me, her eyes watery. "I want to be human. I want to have more favorite things like you and your family. I want to be loud, alive and smothered with the love of obnoxious family members. Maybe if I had all of that, Crown would lose interest in me. He'd see I was a human and not a cold detached thing who operates like he does. In a cold world alone."

I moved, wrapping Maura in my arms as she began to cry. Her arms snaking out from under the blanket to circle my waist. "Maur." My heart broke at what she said. "You have all of that now. You have me. You have my partners, my crazy family. Maybe that's my power. I've brought life into your world and Crown sees the changes. Crown realizes he's losing his counterpart." I kissed the top of her head. "You have all of me. Take what you need."

Maura leaned back, wiping the tears from her face. "Jane."

I pressed my fingers against her lips. "Nope. I don't want to hear anything about how I'm still healing. I'm strong enough. Yes, I'm still having nightmares, but they only reaffirm how much I love you and how much I'm willing to fight them to be with you. We're in this together. Crown won't take you away from me."

Maura smiled, kissing my fingers. "I was going to say, I love you. But I agree with everything you said." She leaned back into my embrace. "Can we take that bath? I'm freezing and a little sore. I'll tell you more about my childhood."

I chuckled. "Will you tell me why you chose to be a medical examiner? I knew I wanted to be a cop when I watched one chase a mugger across the park and tackle him under the swings. I wanted to chase people and tackle them without having ma scream at me for hurting my brothers. And the pay was better than becoming the first kid to join Rizzoli and Sons plumbing company."

Maura stepped out of my arms, wrapping the blanket closer around her body. "I attended a forensic anthropology symposium with my father when I was seven. I was completely swept up in the romance of unearthing the worlds buried secrets. It became hopeless when we sat in on a forensic pathology seminar led by a retired FBI medical examiner. I became obsessed with how a body holds onto the secrets and truth of life and death." She tipped her head down when she saw the shocked look on my face. "I never wanted to be anything else than a medical examiner." She sighed. "I didn't have a normal childhood."

"You could say that, but I don't know anyone who had a normal childhood. At seven I was helping my pop weld water pipes in the worst bars in Boston. He bribed me with popsicles not to tell my ma I'd spent my afternoon with the drunks of southie. I think I had my first beer at eight. I shook my head, kissing Maura. "Let's warm up and I'll tell you about the disaster of my sweet sixteenth birthday. I don't think ma will ever forgive me for ruining the pink dress she made me wear."

Maura smiled, leaning into my side. "Pink does look fantastic on you."

"Yeah, but I also decided to play a quick pick up game of baseball with the kids. By the time my cake came out, I was covered in mud and had ripped the entire thing to shreds." I shrugged. "I was never meant to be a lady."

Maura laughed. "No, you weren't. But you're my lady, and that should be enough for the world." She kissed my cheek as I blushed, grabbing my hand. "I love you."

I swallowed hard. My heart filled to the point of explosion. Maura was it. She was my one and only. I grinned as flashes of the future hit and I couldn't stop grinning as Maura tugged me to the bathroom, suddenly rambling about the medicinal benefits of a hot Epsom salt bath.

XXX

Outside the cabin. Crown stood on the same dock Maura had earlier that day. He stared at the house, the lights giving off an eerie candle like effect in every window. He coughed as the cold air stung his lungs. He'd followed the women to the cabin, initially to observe how Jane interacted with Maura. What their relationship really was made of. He couldn't see much and as the women retired to the bedroom, he decided to do his own investigation of Jane Rizzoli.

He found the full unedited Hoyt files and as he read deeper and deeper, he knew Maura wasn't safe with Jane. Jane seemed to attract danger. She seemed to attract the unrestrained monsters of the world. Monsters like Hoyt would do anything to make Jane hurt. Crown had even found his way into Hoyt's laptop locked up in the basement of BPD's evidence room. Hoyt's next target was Maura if he couldn't entice Jane on her own. Hoyt wanted to do unspeakable things to Maura. Parade her in front of Jane and evoke a drastic response. The things Crown saw on Hoyt's laptop, turned his stomach. Forcing him to throw up in the dingy bathroom of a small café a mile away from the cabin. Jane wasn't what Maura needed in her life. She was too toxic.

Crown blew puffs of air in his gloved hands, watching as a light flickered on on the other side of the cabin. Jane would hurt Maura. She would bring unsavory evil to her life. A life Crown had worked so hard to prevent from entering it. It's why he killed, leaving he bodies for her. He wanted her to be the angel that brought light into the darkness of this world. He loved Maura, but as a beacon of hope. She was his polar opposite. She was the pure white twin to the dark black evil man he was. She was light and she had to be protected every ounce of pure light in this world. Just as his mother instructed him to do as a child.

She had a job to do and couldn't be distracted. She couldn't be harmed.

Jane Rizzoli was a harmful distraction.

Crown tucked his gloved hands deep into the pockets of coat and began walking up the dock. He moved silently in the dark, walking past Maura's car to his own parked at the end of the dirt road. He climbed in, took a last look at the cabin before backing out. Now that he knew the layout of the cabin and the truth about Jane, it was time to plan out his next step.

He started the car, letting out a heavy breath. He had hopes Jane would be the best for Maura, but now, she had to be removed like all the others. Leaving Maura to continue with her solitary work.

As Crown drove away from the cabin, he repeated it over and over in the dark interior of the car.

Jane Rizzoli was a harmful distraction.