"Jesus Maura, she sat on my lap for two seconds and you're acting like she gave me a damn lap dance or something."
"She might as well have done. Even Barry commented."
"On what? There's nothing to comment on!"
Jane throws her hands up in frustration, quickly sobering from the rare, slightly tipsy buzz she'd been enjoying.
They'd been enjoying a couple of drinks with Frost, Korsak, April and a few others until Maura had requested they leave, standing impatiently and positively glowering at April as Jane had hurriedly drained the last of her beer.
They walk side by side as they enter the parking garage of the station, Maura's heels clicking furiously on the tarmac as she marches towards Jane's parked car and wrenches the door open, slamming it shut firmly behind her.
Jane slips into the driver's seat, side-eyeing Maura warily as she starts the engine. She clicks her seatbelt into position, pausing when Maura doesn't make a move.
"Belt up."
"Would you have cared if she had?"
"If she'd what?"
"Given you a lap dance?"
"You can barely slide into those booths alone, I think she'd have struggled."
Jane jokes and immediately regrets it at Maura's cutting stare. She's not sure where this outright jealousy is coming from - April had excused herself to the bathroom and had slid onto Jane's lap on her return, much to Jane's distaste. She'd immediately brushed her off, locking off any further attempts of engagement by crossing her arms firmly across her chest and engaging Korsak in conversation, but Maura was having none of it.
"Yes, I'd have cared. Of course, I would. Maur, I have zero interest in that woman."
"You were interested once."
"No. No, I wasn't." Jane sighs, turning awkwardly to face Maura, "I'm not moving until you put your damn belt on, and I really, really wanna go home. With you."
Maura's stubbornness is unparalleled so Jane takes matters into her own hands, leaning to cross Maura's belt across her chest before securing it in one smooth motion.
"Like a damn child." She mutters, ignoring Maura's outraged gasp as she turns to face forward, throwing the car into gear and pulling out of the parking lot.
"I wouldn't have to be if you'd stop flirting-"
"Flirting? Maura, c'mon. You think shoving someone who sits on my lap uninvited is flirting? Wait until I turn the charm on, then you'll see flirting."
"I'm not amused."
"No, you're being insane."
"I don't like that word."
"What would you prefer? Overreactive? Crazy? Blind?"
"Being protective of my girlfriend from floozies like Dr Moore is hardly enough to classify me as crazy."
Girlfriend? Jane opens her mouth to comment, closing it again as Maura launches into a whole new tirade about the origins of jealousy that doesn't stop until they're home and changing into their nightwear, Jane tiredly pulling on a pair of pyjamas as Maura disappears into the bathroom, slamming the door - and her rant - behind her.
Jane draws out a sigh, then begins removing various cushions and a blanket from the bed, folding down her side and then Maura's. She extracts Maura's phone from her handbag, plugging it in to charge next to her own before she flicks the light off, leaving just the dim lamps glowing in the darkness.
She's standing at the window drawing the shades when Maura breezes in, fresh-faced with her blonde hair pulled into a loose, messy ponytail at the nape of her neck.
"William Penn once said that the jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves."
"Is that right?" Jane turns, climbing into bed and away from Maura who steps out of her heels, retrieving her pyjama shirt and pants from the top drawer of her dresser. Jane watches wordlessly as Maura changes, setting her alarm and then waiting, one arm outstretched in a silent gesture for Maura to join her.
"Yes. I'm not going to apologize."
"I don't want you to. It's kinda hot when you're all green-eyed and annoyed."
"Jane!"
"I'm just stating facts. That look you shot April earlier? I almost asked for a napkin for my seat."
The cushion that thuds into her face makes her guffaw in shock and she gapes at Maura, rubbing a hand against her cheek.
"So you're choosing violence?"
"Don't say things like that to me when I'm mad."
"Let me make you not mad. Come here."
"No. I'm going to take the guest bed. Goodnight."
Jane leaps forward, grabbing the waistband of Maura's pants and dragging her back onto the bed, the joyful screech that Maura emits willing her on.
"Well don't let me stop ya. No really. Go." She hauls Maura into her lap, peppering her neck with ticklish kisses until Maura begins to laugh.
"I'm going to. In a moment."
"Mmhm. Sure. I'll just stay here, all alone."
"You could always call your friend to join you. I'm sure she wouldn't mind."
"I would."
Maura crawls away from Jane, slipping under the sheets and sighing dramatically. It takes all of Jane's strength not to laugh, rolling over to face Maura and propping herself up on one elbow.
"I'd mind."
She traces her fingertips across Maura's collarbone and down between her breasts, pausing to toy with the hem of her shirt.
"I would never, in a million years, even entertain the thought of another woman, or man for that matter."
"A million years is-"
"I can't control what other people do, Maura. But I can control myself. As much as I enjoy this feisty, envious side, you have to trust me when I say that I only have eyes for you."
She pokes her hand under Maura's tee and up, splaying her fingers out across her chest. Maura makes a noise of approval and Jane smiles, leaning forward to kiss her gently.
"I love you. Only you. Always you. You're the only person I ever wanna hold, or kiss, or touch."
"Show me." Maura challenges and Jane spends half the night doing exactly that.
"How many is that now?"
"Eighty-six." Frost hands a printed list of names over to her and she snatches it from him, paper crumpling in her hand.
"Eighty damn six? Seriously?"
"Every kid they took on a trip together."
Jane groans, letting the list fall to the floor between her legs. They've been camped out in their space since eight this morning, and a glance at her watch tells Jane they've been at it for seven hours, painstakingly cross-referencing and compiling.
"Where do we even start? Do we pull them in? Do we go find them?"
"Nothing wrong with asking a few questions. Korsak is working on addresses and contact numbers - we could start making a few calls, see if anything stands out?"
"Yeah. I gotta go make a call and I'll grab some food on the way back up. Coffee?"
"Better make it a triple shot. And get me one of those cakes your mom bakes!" Frost yells out as Jane leaves, taking her sweet time to ride the elevator down to the lower level, raking her fingers through her hair in hopes of looking a little less frazzled than she feels.
She slips into Maura's office without knocking, barely having time to close it behind her before Maura is on her, lips crushing against Jane's frantically.
Warm hands slide inside her jacket and down, pushing at her shirt until Maura's fingertips find entry and glide across the skin of Jane's hips, making her gasp. She brings her own hands to Maura's shoulders, gently prying her away so she can take a breath of air.
"Maura." She manages before she's quieted again, Maura's tongue driving against her own softly. Jane's not sure whether she should be concerned or very, very happy with this greeting, and when Maura's hands begin to undo her holster she pulls away again, leaving a gap between them.
"Maura! Hello?"
"Hi."
"Not that I'm complaining, but…"
"I've been thinking about you all day." Maura smiles, then nestles in, lips kissing a scorching trail up Jane's neck and resting at her ear where she sighs lightly, her breath raising goosebumps on Jane's skin.
"You…you have?"
"Uh-huh. What I'm going to do to you when we get home tonight. What I want you to do to me."
Jane's throat tightens and she closes her eyes, head dropping back to rest against the door.
"You're killin' me. You can't say things like that and not expect me to want to do something about it."
"So do something about it."
Maura accompanies her words with a playful bite to Jane's earlobe, and Jane has to press a hand to her mouth to suppress the small whimper that escapes.
Driven by the reaction she's eliciting, Maura steps back towards her desk, hitching up the teal skirt that she's wearing - one of Jane's favorites - just enough to make Jane's sigh catch in her throat. Maura leans against the desk, one eyebrow raised at Jane as she brushes a hand across a bare thigh.
"Or I will."
Jane's heart thuds as she takes a few steps towards Maura, tracing fingertips against her knee and then up, softly parting Maura's thighs as she inches higher. She's so close, fingertips grazing against Maura's underwear when an abrupt, loud knock to the inner door interrupts them, Jane's cheeks burning as she helps Maura straighten up.
Another impatient knock raps against the door as Maura moves behind her desk, pausing to press a tender kiss to Jane's lips as she passes. She sits, tapping a few keys on her keyboard until her screen illuminates and then she clears her throat theatrically.
"Come in."
Jane stands, hands on her hips and even more furious for their interruption when April enters, glancing at Jane and then to Maura, a grin emerging across her face.
"Oh. I didn't know you had a…visitor."
"Jane stopped by to…help me out with something."
It's definitely not a lie but Maura fumbles regardless, leaving Jane to step up.
"I was on my way for a coffee. Thought I'd check in."
"Well, I'm glad you did." April smiles, "I have news. I'm staying for a few more weeks, to help with the backlog."
"Oh?" Maura's tight smile does little to hide her dissatisfaction, lips pressed together a little too tightly in an attempt to stop the stream of consciousness that she's worried might burst out with if she so much as breathes.
"I don't think that's up to you, is it?" Jane questions and April rolls her eyes, shaking her head at Jane's accusatory tone.
"I owe Sean, and he's more than happy for me to help Maura out."
"I don't remember anyone saying she needed help."
"I'm sure she won't mind sharing, Jane. There's plenty to go around, right?" April smirks at Jane, blatantly checking Jane out and then holding her gaze, head cocked to one side in amusement.
"What are you insinuating?" Jane almost spits through gritted teeth, anger flaring. She's tempted to cross the room and physically remove April, two beats away from rolling up her sleeves and throwing hands when Maura interjects softly.
"I'm sure we can make use of your services. Thank you, Dr Moore. If you wouldn't mind, I have a report to finish." She motions to the door and after one last, long look at Jane, April turns to leave, closing the door behind her with a quiet click. Jane exhales loudly, rolling the tension from her shoulders and then dropping down on the stiff couch in Maura's office, draping a hand over her eyes.
"Just my fuckin' luck." It's barely an audible curse but Maura chides her anyway, then sighs loudly.
"I must say, I really don't like her. Her work is flawless, that I'll admit. But the rest..." Maura trails off, then begins to type rapidly, making small noises of disapproval as her fingertips clack against the keys.
"And I don't like how she looks at you. It's...predatory. Like you're game and she's waiting to pounce."
"She's just messin' around."
"I think she takes pleasure from the irritation it causes."
"Probably. It's all a game." Jane stands, checking her watch, "But you shouldn't worry. It's a stupid game and she's the only player. She'll get bored soon enough." She moves to where Maura sits, leaning down to rub her tense shoulders and drop a kiss to the top of her head. After a few seconds, Maura relaxes and Jane smiles to herself, adding another kiss for good measure.
"I've gotta run - promised Frost caffeine. I'll see you later? At home?"
It's gone two in the morning by the time she pulls into their driveway, fighting to keep her eyes open.
She'd not intended to be this late, but her grand plans for making it home early had been thwarted when she and Frost had discovered a potential link between the two cases and had spent the last god knows how many hours untangling the difficult web of academia records and negotiating confidentiality agreements until they'd finally come to a dead-end, much to their frustration.
She leans against the locked car, breathing in the icy, foggy air before she clumsily makes her way to the porch, already fumbling tiredly with the keys in her hand. She's almost there, door key poised and ready when the lights snap on and the door opens sharply making her gasp in surprise.
"Fuck, you scared me." Jane chuckles wryly, slipping into the darkened hallway. She shrugs out of her jacket, hanging it up and neatly tucking her boots away before she turns, arms winding around Maura who stiffens under her touch.
"Where have you been?" Her tone is cold enough to make Jane drop her arms back down by her sides, inching a few paces back from Maura. Jane raises a confused eyebrow at the scowl on Maura's face, then nervously shifts on the spot, unsure what she could have done that's caused this kind of greeting.
She'd been home later than this before, though, not during their relationship. Should she have texted?
"Uh...at work?"
"It's two-thirty. Barold called some time ago - he has your badge. He said you were staying behind."
"I was, to clean up the mess we'd left and submit some requests for tomorrow." She unclips the badge from her belt and studies it, eyes rolling when she realises that Frost is right. He'd been so worn out that he'd fallen asleep propped awkwardly against the desk and Jane had ordered him to leave, hurriedly pressing his things on him as she'd escorted him out. She must have given him her badge by mistake.
"Alone?"
"What? Yes, alone." Jane fumbles through her bewilderment, unable to read between the stern lines. "I'm sorry that it's so late, I should have called. I just got caught up and I didn't even think. Sorry."
Maura's expression softens momentarily and then without warning she's infuriated again, shifting away from Jane and moving into the kitchen. She pours herself a glass of water and takes a drink, then bangs the glass down onto the counter loudly.
"You weren't with her?"
"Her?"
"April."
"Oh my god, Maura. Are you kidding me?"
"Does it seem that way?" The cutting glare she shoots at Jane is like a slap in the face and Jane shakes her head slowly, holding her hands up defensively.
"I've had a really, really long day. I'm exhausted. Can we not do this now, please?"
"I don't hear a denial."
"I don't have anything to deny." Jane crosses over to the kitchen island, choosing to stay on the opposite side with plenty of space between them.
"Are you sure?"
"We discussed this, not even a week ago."
"You told me there was nothing to worry about, but I saw you earlier when she came into the office."
"Saw what?"
"How you reacted. How your body reacted. Pupillary dilation, flushed cheeks. You barely made eye contact. Classic signs of desire." Maura scoffs and Jane squeezes her eyes closed, pushing down a sudden urge to cry.
"Desire? Maura..."
Jane breathes a slow, weary sigh.
"Don't you think that maybe that had something to do with what we were doing before she barged in?"
"I...oh."
"Yeah, oh."
Maura wraps her arms around herself, hugging tightly. She dips her head, self-conscious that she's made something out of nothing, and with no way to rewind.
"I didn't consider that."
"You gotta stop thinking something is going on behind your back, baby. You gotta know that I would never do that to you."
Maura smiles briefly at the pet name, then frowns again, eyes cast down at the floor.
"You might. I'm hardly the most exciting person."
"Exciting? Who needs excitement? Maura, you're the most interesting person that I know, and the smartest."
"Hmm."
"You are. And you're stunning. Do you know how many times I have to pinch myself when I wake up next to you?"
"Jane."
Jane meets her now, rounding the kitchen island and gently attempting to pry Maura's crossed arms open. When Maura doesn't relent she stops, lifting her hands to her face and rubbing her sleepy, dry eyes with a soft grunt.
"Where is this coming from? I've never seen you like this before."
"I've never allowed myself to become so…" Maura delays, lips pursing as she mulls over the correct word. "entranced. With others, I…I suppose I never wondered if they'd stray. I was content that I'd be enough for them, never entertaining the idea of infidelity."
"You don't think you're enough?"
"No, I do. But I'm also aware that your personality and confidence and physical characteristics are very appealing, and having that at the forefront of my mind, especially around someone who so clearly desires you is proving…troublesome."
"I'm sorry. What can I do, to show you that you have nothing to worry about? What do you need?"
Jane timidly reaches out again, tenderly stroking her open palm against Maura's upper arm. She feels the tension in Maura lessen somewhat and takes the opportunity to pull her in close, arms wrapping protectively around her shoulders. She hugs Maura close, tilting her head to rest her cheek against the top of Maura's head.
"I'm tired. You're tired. Do you think, for now, we could drop this? Talk about it later?"
Jane drawls tiredly and after a moment of consideration, Maura nods against her, then turns and leads towards the staircase, pulling Jane along with her.
She pauses to turn off the lights, then clasps Jane's hand again, leading her to their bedroom. They're tucked up in bed, Maura snuggled into Jane's arms before she finally mumbles an answer to Jane, asleep before she's even finished a sentence that keeps Jane awake for longer than she cares to admit.
"Maybe it's time. We should tell everyone. About us."