As morbid as it was, Maura and Jane would always consider the case of the so-called Inferno Killer synonymous with their journey toward motherhood.
The serial killer started his spree during May and by the middle of June, had killed six people in the Boston area. The case consumed most of Jane's attention, putting her pursuit of the Denton case on hold. The suspect killed every Tuesday and set fires to cover his tracks. It made finding forensic evidence extremely difficult.
"I don't know what I hate more. That we know that he's about to kill again or that he's taunting us with a pattern," Jane sighed.
It was Tuesday evening and according to the last six murders, their serial killer would be killing his seventh victim at 7 p.m. on one of the many 7th streets, avenues, or roads within Boston city limits.
"We have extra patrols out on all streets marked with a seven," Frankie muttered, staring at photos of the crime scene next to his sister. "Though I don't know how much that's going to help us."
"Yeah, that makes over three hundred possible homes, businesses, apartments, parks…" Nina said from her desk. She pulled up a map marked and highlighted with possible scenes. Jane shook her head with a sigh.
"We only have a few hours," Jane muttered.
"I think I might have a theory that could help," Maura said, entering behind them. She kept her hands in the pockets of her white lab coat as she joined the trio.
"Were you able to pull any suspect DNA?" Jane asked hopefully.
"No," Maura frowned. "But I think the killer is imitating an epic poem."
"An epic poem?" Frankie repeated.
"Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy," Maura revealed. When she saw the blank faces of her wife and brother-in-law she cleared her throat. "Dante's Inferno? The circles of hell? I actually studied it in the original Italian…"
"I'm sure it was thrilling," Jane cut her off. "But we're on a time crunch here and I skipped that day at junior college. What's the connection?"
Maura tried not to roll her eyes at her wife's sarcasm.
"There are nine circles of hell, all punishing a different sin. Our first victim was an atheist - limbo. The second was having an affair – lust. Our third was morbidly obese – gluttony."
Jane's gaze flickered in excitement. "What's the seventh circle?"
"Violence against others," Maura said.
"Nina, can you look up anyone living on these streets that's been convicted of assault or domestic abuse?" she asked, before looking back to her wife. "So, the fires aren't just to cover his tracks?"
"They're also symbolic of hell," Maura nodded.
"Have I mentioned you're a genius and I love you?" Jane replied.
"Not today," the doctor chuckled.
"Alright this narrows down our list to about twenty-five possibilities," Nina announced.
"I'm going send a BOLO out to all units," Frankie said. "Maybe we can take a car to one of these neighborhoods."
Jane checked her weapon and grabbed her jacket. She was so busy she hardly noticed Maura's uneasy countenance. In fact, she also hadn't noticed the way she paled or clutched to a desk chair as if to keep herself balanced.
"Hopefully we can get the bastard before he torches another crime scene," Jane said. "We'll start at the bottom of 7th avenue in Southie and work our way down your list."
"Be careful," Maura said after her.
But Jane and Frankie were already hustling out of the bullpen. Maura fought back a wave of nausea and tried to stay composed. She disappeared down to the morgue, which was slowing down for the evening. In a habit that started not long after she met Jane Rizzoli, Maura turned on the standard police radio and scanner she'd requested so she could disecretly keep an eye on the detective. It was tuned to Jane and while often it caused her more anxiety than assurance, the doctor still preferred to know what was going on while her wife was in the field.
"Victor 8-2-5, calling all units. We are expecting a possible homicide in the next five minutes. All units be advised on 7th street, avenue, and court."
Jane's raspy voice came through clear, sending a shiver down Maura's back. She could picture her behind the wheel now, determined and cool, as the sun set on the city. Maura tried to busy herself at her desk, still fighting a bout of indigestion, her hand unconsciously grazing her stomach as she listened to the radio static.
"Unit 65 calling from 7th Avenue and Hart Street. We're getting our first report of a potential disturbance. Location is 5342 7th Avenue."
"Victor 8-2-5, enroute."
Maura held her breath.
Across town, Jane sped onto Hart Street and 7th Avenue, brakes squealing as she parked in front of a large townhome. According to Nina's research, one of the residents had been arrested of assault and battery three years ago. While Jane wasn't particularly fond of violent offenders, it didn't make them any less worthy of her protection.
She and Frankie flew up the steps to the front door and knocked.
"Boston PD!" Jane shouted.
Even from outside they could hear loud thumping followed by desperate screams.
"Help!" someone's muffled yell echoed.
Frankie and Jane didn't even consult with each other. They both unholstered their guns and simultaneously bashed their shoulders against the locked door. It gave way against their combined force.
Jane smelled gasoline immediately.
"Boston PD! We need everyone's hands in the air!" Frankie barked.
The commotion came from the second floor. Jane started up the stairs first, Frankie right behind her. She spotted the first victim, the man who'd once served time for assault, tied to a chair in the middle of the living room. He was silent, a piece of tape across his mouth, his face red and desperate. He grunted and groaned, attempting to break free from the chair, his body doused in gasoline. It dripped from his hair and onto his shirt.
Jane stepped toward him, when suddenly a scream came from the kitchen. Their suspect – dressed in all black, his face hidden behind a ski mask – held a knife to a woman's throat.
"Help!" she screeched.
Frankie and Jane both aimed their weapons at the perpetrator.
"Let her go," Frankie barked.
Jane inched closer with her gun still raised. She sized up the faceless man and considered her options. She felt confident she could take him. Bringing a knife to a gun fight made it an unequal match. Plus, Frankie had her back. She just couldn't let the woman who was now being used as a hostage get hurt.
"Come on, drop your weapon. She's not part of this," Jane insisted. "She's not part of the pattern. She didn't commit violence against anyone, did she?"
"Wrong place, wrong time," the suspect grunted.
"Yeah, there's no circle of hell for that," Jane growled.
"Please," the woman sobbed. The suspect kept his knife pressed so tightly against her throat that it left a mark.
Outside sirens squealed from up the street. Frankie's radio cut through the standoff with static.
"Unit 65, we've arrived on scene…"
"Standby. We've got a code 99-2," Frankie said into his radio. "All units be advised."
Without warning, frightened by the prospect of being caught, the suspect swiftly let go of the woman, throwing her toward Jane. While the detectives were momentarily distracted, the man in black quickly made his move. He flipped a lighter so quickly that Jane couldn't even get out the words.
In an instant he dropped the flame to the gasoline trail on the floor, and the living room roared to life with fire. The heat almost immediately hit Jane's skin, forcing her to jump back. The woman screamed to get to the man to the chair.
"Jane, get her out of here!" Frankie yelled.
She didn't listen to her brother.
"We need fire units immediately. Fire units to 7th and Hart!" Jane shouted into her radio.
Then without any regard for the flames or the smoke, she sprinted to the window where the suspect was attempting to climb out. Jane yanked on his legs, her eyes burning. Sweat started to drip down her back and rolled down her temple as she wrestled him to the floor. She thought to use her gun, but in the heat and chaos of the fire she didn't want to cause an explosion, especially in the kitchen.
"Jane!" Frankie yelled.
He was struggling to get to the man tied to the chair. He was all but engulfed in flames, having been drenched in gasoline. The woman wouldn't stop screaming as her partner was lost in the fire. Beneath Jane the suspect squirmed, and she struggled to come up with a course of action. She wouldn't last much longer in the flaming home. They'd already lost one victim and part of her wondered if it was even worth hauling the suspect out.
"Take her out of here!" Jane yelled at Frankie.
"No! No! My daughter!" the woman screamed.
"What!" Jane shouted, still holding down their suspect, her chest so tight she could barely shout.
"My daughter! She's in the back room!"
Jane's eyes widened as she peered down the hall.
"Jane, wait for the firefighters!" Frankie warned.
But it was too late. Jane ditched their suspect and sprinted down the smoking hallway. Flames were stretching well beyond the living room and now engulfed most of the kitchen. The hallway surged with heat and flames were starting to lick up the walls.
"Hello! Hello is anyone here!" Jane coughed uncontrollably. Her vision blurred behind tears and lack of oxygen. She felt lightheaded. She coughed so hard she had to lean on her knees and pulled her shirt as far as it would go over her mouth. "Hello!"
"I'm in here!" a small voice chirped.
Frankie got out of the house first, dragging the woman out in his arms. She still fought and screamed, desperate to get to her child. A firetruck and ambulance pulled up to the curb, sirens blaring so loud that it rattled Frankie's ears.
"You have to get her!" the woman screamed.
Frankie held her back, so out of breath that he could hardly reason with her. "They'll get her! They'll get her I promise," he heaved.
"Rizzoli what's going on?" one of the other officers posted outside asked.
"My sister! My sister is still in there!" Frankie shouted. "And the suspect! And a kid!"
The officer quickly got onto his radio.
"We have one officer still inside the burning building. Route additional EMS to 7th and Hart. I repeat we have an officer inside the building along with the suspect and a child."
Maura's knees nearly buckled as she heard the message cackle out of the radio. She covered her mouth, her heart racing so quickly that she thought she might pass out. Instead, she forced herself to stay strong. A hand flew to her stomach. She didn't just need to be strong for Jane. Their future child needed her to be strong.
Suddenly she regretted not having inform her wife sooner. She'd wanted it to be a surprise. They'd been so let down when the first embryo didn't take that she decided she wanted to be sure. She would wait a little longer until the test and go see their doctor to find out together. But in the last week she'd been so nauseous, so sick and vomited more than once that she decided to take a secret test. Three secret tests. All with the same result – she was pregnant.
Now her worst fears reared their ugly face. A world in which she would have to raise their baby alone. A world in which Jane wasn't at her side. She'd thought of that world more than once. Unfortunately, she'd been put in that position all too often. Jane risked her life regularly in her work and for the most part, Maura tried to accept it as part of the job. Now with a baby, their baby, growing inside of her, she didn't know if she could let it continue any longer.
After three excruciating minutes that felt like hours, another voice came through the radio.
"Sergeant Rizzoli is out. Child is safe. Suspect is in custody."
Maura flopped down to her office chair in relief, buried her head into her hands and released a few happy tears.
At the crime scene, Jane stumbled out of the building with barely enough strength to stay on her feet. She'd carried the scared four-year-old wrapped in a blanket, moving as fast as she could so that they wouldn't inhale much smoke. At one point, she thought of stopping. At one point in the hallway, the world spun, and her lungs raged, and air seemed impossible. She almost panicked.
But then she thought of her wife and her promise to always find her way back home.
By the time she made it to the stairs, three firefighters came bursting through the door. They helped steady her out the exit, dragging a hose in behind them. While the mother sobbed in relief and the child bounded toward her mother, Jane desperately gasped for air.
"What happened to the suspect?" she asked Frankie.
"He's in cuffs. Walked out the front door because he couldn't escape his own fire," Frankie coughed. His dark eyes turned cross at his sister. "Are you insane? You should have not stayed in there."
"There was a kid, Frankie."
"You could've died!"
She would've argued with him, but she was so lightheaded that instead she grabbed onto his shoulder to steady herself. She tried to breathe through the dizzy wave but couldn't fight the darkness moving in on the edges of her vision.
"Hey, we need a medic! She needs oxygen!" Frankie yelled to the paramedics.
Two of them were already on their way over, an oxygen tank in tow. Jane allowed them to slip a mask over her face as she nearly fainted into her brother.
The next moments were a blur. In between heaves of oxygen, she argued that she didn't need to go to the hospital, but the paramedics insisted.
"Someone call my wife," Jane said hoarsely as they loaded her into the ambulance "She's going to kill me."
It didn't take long for Maura to show up. Rather, the medical examiner had left the morgue and driven straight to the hospital the moment she heard where Jane was headed over the radio. She knew she'd be needed for autopsies, in what would be a likely gruesome scene, but just as Jane needed to understand, Maura had come to realize that the bodies could wait. The case could be put on hold. They needed to put their family first.
Jane was covered in so much soot that her shirt was almost completely black. Maura found her in the emergency room, still breathing through an oxygen mask, but sitting up and stable. Maura tried to pull in her anger, her fear and resentment on her walk to the sergeant detective. Jane looked up guiltily the moment Maura came into view, so childlike and pure that the doctor almost forgot to be mad.
"I'm so sorry," Jane whispered.
Her already rough voice was weak from smoke inhalation.
"Keep using that," Maura told her. She gently pulled the oxygen mask back over Jane's mouth. She ran a hand down her dirty cheek, her dark hair in a tangle of sweat and ash. "Are you hurt anywhere else?"
Jane shook her head.
"Did they do a chest X-ray?"
"Yes," Jane said, her voice muffled through the mask.
"Good," Maura swallowed.
The doctor sat silently for a few moments, taking in her wife. The strong and durable but stubborn and reckless wife that she couldn't stand to think of living without even for a second.
"I heard everything on the scanner," Maura whispered. Her voice wavered and Jane reached out, grabbing her hands. "Jane, you-you could've been so easily killed."
The sergeant detective pulled down her mask and this time Maura didn't scold her.
"It was a kid, Maura. A little girl in there. I couldn't leave her…"
"The fire department was just behind you," Maura frowned. "They would've got her."
"And how could I know that? How could I be sure?" Jane coughed before defeatedly replacing the mask.
Maura frowned. Part of her understood. She knew Jane wouldn't be able to live with herself if the child had died. If Maura had been put in the same position, she probably would've done the same thing. Still, it was yet another example of how Jane sacrificed without thought. How she often forgot about the people who loved and needed her.
"I'm sorry, Maura. I know it scared you."
The doctor swallowed down a pit of tears and squeezed onto her wife's hand.
"I need you, Jane. I need you more than I need anyone in this world. That means, I need you to protect yourself," Maura whispered. She carefully pulled Jane's hand closer to her and rested it on her stomach. "We need you to protect yourself."
Jane's dark eyes, still brimmed red from smoke, widened. She sat up on the gurney, her second hand flying to Maura's stomach as well.
"Maura…Maura are you?"
"Me and this baby, need you," Maura said. "He or she deserves to know you and grow up with you around. That means you need to take mitigated risks. You can't sacrifice yourself so easy. This family doesn't work without you."
Tears spilled down Jane's face. She moved her hands from Maura's stomach to the doctor's cheeks, kissing her as if she'd lose her if she didn't hold on. Maura nearly laughed at the eagerness of her wife's lips, the way she could feel how she overflowed with bliss.
"You're pregnant," Jane muttered hoarsely. While the kisses took her breath away, neither of them could stand ruining the moment. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I was going to surprise you."
"I thought we were going to take the test together," Jane said.
"I know, I know," Maura said guiltily. "I couldn't stand how disappointed we were last time and I couldn't help myself. Plus, I swear this little one has been giving me indigestion and nausea from day one."
Jane smirked. "I'm sure my mother will have something to say about that."
Maura rubbed Jane's hand, her heart squeezing with happiness while she sat on the edge of the gurney. "It felt different this time. Something in me, my body, felt different. And I just knew."
"Mother's intuition?" Jane asked.
"Maybe," Maura said.
Jane put the mask back up to her mouth for a few more minutes of oxygen. The doctor silently pulled a wet napkin out of her purse and began wiping the soot from Jane's cheeks, forehead, and nose.
The couple lost themselves in their thoughts in the middle of the emergency department. Jane's head ran in a million different directions. The thought of motherhood overwhelmed her. In fact, even though the adrenaline of the case had subsided, she felt her heart racing again. It wasn't a bad sensation – merely one of excitement, of finally getting what they'd hoped for. She was also struck with the terrifying prospect that everything was about to change. She was about to change. She had too.
"I promise I'll be more careful," Jane rasped. "I want to be here for you and our baby."
Maura gave a lukewarm smile, the apprehension from before lingering in her gaze.
"Good," the doctor whispered. "No more running into burning buildings or not waiting for back-up?"
"I don't know if that's a promise I can keep," she said.
"Jane Clementine Rizzoli…"
"Okay, okay," Jane coughed.
"Say it," Maura demanded firmly.
"I will not run into burning buildings and I will wait for back-up," Jane started, "barring someone's life being in immediate danger."
Maura shook her head but decided to take it as a small win. "You're impossible."
"I know," the sergeant detective told her with a sigh. "You have to promise me no more secrets about your pregnancy or our baby. I want to be around for everything."
"Even morning sickness?" Maura asked.
"Even morning sickness and late-night cravings and hormonal outbursts," Jane smiled. Her shiny brown eyes glinted seriously into her wife's. "I love you, Maura. I promise I'll be my best for you and our family."
"I love you too," Maura said.
Jane looked down, the fatigue of the day's case and her escape from the fire visible. Maura couldn't wait to just be back home with her, safe and in each other's arms – after a shower of course. Jane smelled like a fireplace.
"There was a moment in the house, during the fire," Jane confessed slowly, "that I wasn't sure if I could make it out."
It might not have rattled Jane on any other day, but now the fear that she could've missed out on Maura and their baby, shook the detective to the core. Maura felt a tear roll down her cheek. The first she'd allowed to spill. She did her best to be strong as a police officer's wife. It wasn't for the faint of heart. But she could see how shaken Jane was.
"Then I felt this in my pocket…."
Jane pulled out her compass. The same one that Maura had gotten her the Christmas before their wedding. May you always find your way back home to me.
"I will always come back home to you and our baby."
…29 years later…
"If you're going to be a police officer and a father, you need to promise that you will always find your way back home. For your wife and for your baby, TJ. Do you understand?"
TJ Rizzoli had listened intently to Maura as she shared the story of when she found out she was pregnant. Of how his aunt Jane was once as recklessly brave as he was, but how she too, had to change. With his arm in a sling, still sore and bruised from the bank hold-up, he nodded.
"I promise," he said to her.
Maura gave a satisfied nod, her hazel eyes twinkling as she sat on the edge of TJ's hospital bed, so overcome by the parallels and memories that she almost teared up. Instead of TJ, she could see Jane, covered in soot, raspy and strong. She remembered the way her wife's brown eyes glowed at the news that she was going to be a mother.
"How's it going in here?" a voice echoed behind them.
Alexandra and Frankie appeared in the doorway.
"Hey," TJ grinned at his uncle and cousin. "We were just talking about you, cuz."
"Me? Shouldn't you be lecturing him about being a maniac and getting himself shot?" AJ asked her mother.
"We were talking about when I found out I was pregnant with you, Alexandra," Maura said. "And how your mother realized she needed to start being more careful."
"Ah, the Inferno Killer," Frankie recalled with a grin. "I remember Jane scared the hell out of me that day, but I think she was more afraid of you than the fire. She even told the paramedics that her 'wife was going to kill her' and begged them not to take her to the hospital."
"She smelled like smoke for days. I made her take so many baths and showers, but the smell just wouldn't go away," Maura laughed.
While Maura and Frankie lost themselves in memories and giggles, TJ and AJ exchanged surprised looks.
"It's nice to see you two talking again," TJ smirked.
"Yeah, it is," Maura nodded softly. Frankie agreed, a small but telling smile lifting his face.
"At least something good came of your idiocy," AJ said to her cousin. "Your SWAT buddies told me what happened – had to be the hero as usual?"
"Those days might have to be behind me," TJ replied, his stare settling on Maura. "I've got be more careful if I'm going to be a dad. I've got to get myself home safe."
"Smart man," Frankie approved.
"I had some help," TJ winked at Maura.
The doctor smiled back. As much as she hated the fear she felt that day of losing one of her children, as much as word of a gun shot wound scared her half death and brought back an onslaught of memories as she rushed into the hospital, a new sensation struck her. She could almost feel Jane in the room.
She could feel her in their nephew TJ, in the way he smiled and listened to Maura's advice.
She could feel her in Frankie, who still loved Maura as a sister, just as he had Jane.
And she could feel her in Alexandra, stoic and smart, almost like Jane reincarnated. Maura felt it the moment she knew that she was pregnant with AJ, that she was carrying a piece of her wife.
She could feel her in their other children too, even without them in the room.
It was in the love, in their togetherness. Perhaps Jane wasn't really gone at all.
For the first time on one of the scariest days, Maura thought perhaps she could be okay again.