Jane has a sinking feeling in her stomach. After Maura had hung up on her, she had called back several times to no avail. She grabs her keys, running out the door as she heads in the direction of the precinct. When she arrives, Maura's car is gone. Jane curses, thinking about where Maura could have possibly gone. She calls Hope, Angela, and even Maura's yoga instructor, but none of them have seen the other woman recently. Jane drives to BCU, looking for the Waltman Laboratory, where Maura had conducted research as a young college student. The Waltman Laboratory was hidden on the outskirts of campus, inside a building lined with ivy. Jane walks up the steps to the front doors, glancing around to find Maura. She knew that coming here was a stretch, but she didn't know where else Maura could be.

Maura was sitting on a bench facing the building, looking lost in thought as she stared up at the stars in the sky. Jane jogs over, feeling the cold nip at her. In her rush out the door, she had forgotten to grab a jacket. Maura looked equally as cold, with only a thin dress protecting her skin from the brisk air. As Jane sits down, Maura ignores her completely.

"Maura, can we talk?" Jane asks as she tries to hold eye contact with the other woman.

Turning sharply, Maura's words are filled with venom. "What is there to talk about, Jane? What the hell is happening right now?" Jane realizes how hurt Maura must be, as the other woman never cursed.

Jane rubs her neck, staring down at the ground. "I am so sorry. After all that stuff with Olivia and Sarah, I just couldn't handle it anymore. It hurt knowing that I was the one behind all of that pain and I saw the way it affected you, my ma, Frankie, everyone. I needed a way out and I wanted to do it while minimizing the suffering that you would all endure."

Maura scoffs. "There are so many alternatives that you could have pursued, Jane. Giving up on your career here to go to the FBI in an entirely different state should not have been your first thought."

"Maura, you don't understand. If I'm gone, you guys don't have to worry about me anymore. I can teach at Quantico and train the next generation of agents so the next time the world meets another Olivia or another Sarah, we are better prepared."

Maura is so angry that she can barely form a coherent sentence. "There are teaching jobs here in Boston. You would have your pick of departments here."

Jane stares off into the night sky. "I know that. But in order for this to work, you needed to forget about me. If you did, I would never be able to rope you into all of the chaos that comes with my life again." She shudders involuntarily as the temperature around them drops even more. "Besides, I would never be able to stay in the same place as you and pretend that I'm not hopelessly in love with you."

Upon hearing that sentence, Maura feels some of her anger begin to subside. "Have you ever thought about what I would want?"

Looking at Maura, Jane replies. "Your happiness and wants matter to me. But above it all, above both what you want and what I want, is your safety. I can handle the threats to my life, getting shot, and getting kicked around, Maura. I can't handle seeing you in pain, whether it is physically, or emotionally, again. I'm so in love with you that other people can see it, Maur. Hoyt saw it and Sarah hand-picked me out of a crowd because she saw it. These killers, who always kill couples, deviated from their pattern so they could get to me by hurting you. We weren't even together and look what they did to you."

"There's always going to be someone who has a problem with who you are, Jane. If you go teach at the academy, some trainee is going to hate you for no real reason and maybe even threaten your life all because you gave him a bad grade. Believe me, I live in constant fear about your safety, but at least you are doing what you love."

Jane bites her lips. "Maybe what I love now has changed. Maybe I want a different life for myself now."

The tremble in Maura's voice is back as she asks, "Is that it? You want a different life with someone else?"

Jane shoots up, standing as she raises her voice. "What? No!" She paces the ground in front of Maura, shoving her hands into her pockets. "No, Maura. I would never. In fact, I want the opposite, and that's why I decided to give the FBI a call. I want a stable job that allows me to do what I love while also getting a chance to keep you safe. If I had things my way, you would be in the picture too. But we both know that it would never work. To keep you safe, it just has to be this way. There needs to be space between us."

Maura shakes her head. "You're being a coward."

Jane runs her hand through her hair as she says, "How could you say that? Do you have any idea how much it's killing me inside to walk away from you?"

Not wanting to hear anymore, Maura stands up and kisses Jane with all that she can. She is unable to stop her tears and she realizes that Jane has also begun crying. Maura feels her panic rise as she struggles to find the words to convince Jane that what she is doing is wrong, that it won't work, and that she would never be able to be apart from Jane. Jane knows Maura too well, because she stops her before Maura can succeed in changing her mind.

"Don't, Maura. What's done is done. If they move ahead with hiring me, I am expected in Virginia by the end of the month. We'll go our separate ways and I'll always love you, but I need to let you go. Please don't make this harder than it needs to be." Without turning back to look at Maura a second time, Jane walks away, leaving Maura to nurse her broken heart alone.

It's been a few weeks since Maura and Jane have last spoken with each other. Jane begins staying over at her own apartment again and Maura returns home to an empty house every night. Jane had walked into Maura's office yesterday to tell her that she had passed the polygraph, interview, and background check. The job was Jane's and Jane was flying into Virginia this weekend to meet some of the other teaching faculty. Maura had taken in all of this information without a word, refusing to acknowledge Jane.

Jane has begun notifying her family, with her mother and Frankie taking it the hardest. She promises that she will stay until Frankie's wedding is over, but her last day with the department was next week. Jane had planned to use the rest of the time to move while also arranging some of her remaining affairs. It was all happening so fast and before she knew it, Jane's apartment was empty with the exception of a bed on the ground. Angela had begun inviting Maura over more, as she knew that they would be all each other had once Jane left. However, Maura had declined, feeling too much pain at any reminder of the eldest Rizzoli. Maura began immersing herself in her writing more, desperate to escape the sad reality that came to be of her life. She wrote and wrote, using her words as an outlet.

At the end of the month, when Jane was set to move, Maura would be leaving for a trip herself. Maura had arranged for a temporary sabbatical so she could live in Paris for three months. Maura wanted to be in a different country, as far away from Jane Rizzoli as possible. She was also working on writing a book and had booked the trip hoping that a change in scenery would help rid her of her writer's block. No one knew about the trip except for Lieutenant Cavanaugh and Maura wanted to hold off on telling everyone until the week before she left. She was glad that Frankie and Nina had decided to have a short engagement as she would be able to attend the wedding before leaving for Paris. Her ticket was scheduled for October 31st, giving her a few weeks to say her goodbyes after Frankie's wedding on the 15th. She had reached out to her old protégé, Dr. Kent Drake, and he had agreed to take over for her in her absence. Maura wanted to avoid leaving the department in Dr. Pike's hands, as she still wanted the office to be standing when she returned.

Three months in Paris would be exactly what she needed. She would explore the city, find inspiration for her writing, and perhaps distract herself with the company of French men, or women. Maura had begun brushing up on her French, excited to speak with the locals upon arriving in the city of love. The department was busy preparing their statements for Olivia's upcoming hearing, so none of them had paid any particular attention to the fact that Maura and Jane were barely on speaking terms. When their paths crossed, the two women were cordial with each other, speaking only when necessary. With the wedding coming up in two weeks, they needed to figure out how they would approach the whole situation, especially since Maura was the maid of honor and Jane was Frankie's best woman.