Jane was pacing the autopsy room, rubbing her hands, the behaviour she exhibited when she was thinking something unpleasant over.

"If I died in the line of duty, who'd do my autopsy?" Jane asked, and Maura put down her scalpel. She turned and eyed Jane. She'd considered this before, in dark moments, like when Dereck had taken Jane, when Hoyt or Paddy showed up, when Jane had shot herself and Maura had been left holding Jane's organs in on her own.

"Well, since the police work closely with our office here in BPD, protocol would dictate that I call in a regional ME to carry out the work."

"Ugh, like Pike? Popov? Ugh. Gross." Jane shook out her hands.

"But I do have veto power," Maura said, turning back to the body. "And it's likely that I would use it, in your case. If I knew that was something you might have wanted. Or if your family asked me to." Maura looked down at the body on the table; a young woman, not a mark on her. Cardiac arrest, most likely. Jane's face superimposed for a moment, and Maura put her scalpel down again. "I'd prefer to do it myself, to make sure everything is done correctly, to make sure no evidence is lost." Maura touched the body carefully, tenderly, as though it was Jane on the table. "I wouldn't want anyone else touching you," Maura said, her voice surprisingly possessive.

Jane could tell she'd upset Maura; Maura clearly hated the idea of thinking of Jane as someone who could die. She took her gloves off and rested a hand on Maura's shoulder.

"There's no one else I'd trust, you know that right? If you don't want to, you don't have to, but I'd like it if it was you. Even if I'm dead, I don't want anyone else touching me but you."

"I will." Maura said firmly. She'd autopsied her half-brother, even if she hadn't known it at the time. She'd done Detective Barry Frost's autopsy as well. And if she could preserve Jane's dignity in death, it was the least she could do. "I'd rather you didn't die in the line of duty, though. I'd rather you die of old age in a cabin in the woods, living off the land like a pioneer."

"Would I be alone, in my cabin in the woods?" Jane asked shyly.

"That's up to you," Maura said, starting her incision. "Depends if you ever get around to asking me."

"Asking you what?" Jane bluffed, and Maura shot her a single derisive look. "Ok, ok. You wanna marry me or...?"

"Well, I do, but I'd rather our engagement story to involve less corpses," Maura said calmly. She touched the corpse softly on the shoulder. "No offense," she told the body gently. She turned her head to look at Jane. "You can try again tonight. Bring a nice wine, you know the one."

"Yeah, I do." Jane looked down at her hands. "Thanks."

"What for?" Maura asked, focused on her task.

"For being my person," Jane said, slipping away to go back to her desk to check on the engagement she kept in there, just waiting for the right moment. The right moment never made itself, but tonight Jane would make it for herself. For herself and her partner, and soon to be wife.