Jane had a week to get things arranged for her trip to Paris with Maura. Director Patel had called to let her know that her request for a delay had been approved, but he had made it very clear that she was expected in Quantico the moment she had returned to the United States. Thankfully, Jane was relatively prepared for the move, so there weren't a lot of loose ends to tie up before she and Maura left. Her mother had taken the news well, as Angela had seemed more relieved that the two women were on speaking terms again than she was about Jane being out of the country for an entire month. Frankie and Nina were still on their honeymoon, so they would be in for quite a surprise when they returned.

Once Jane's plane ticket had been booked, Maura was ecstatic, rambling about all the different cultural landmarks that they would visit as she planned their trip. Jane didn't care much about what they did, as long as she would be able to spend some time with Maura in the meantime. Maura, always the overachiever, had already begun packing weeks in advance and her living room had half-full suitcases scattered throughout.

Jane picks up a motorcycle helmet. On the back, Maura's initials are painted in pink.

"Maura? When are we ever going to use this in Paris?" Jane says, examining the helmet.

Maura looks up from the two pairs of shoes that she is deciding between. "You never know, Jane. There are many things to do in the city of love and you can never be too prepared."

Raising an eyebrow and gesturing to the boxes around them, Jane teases Maura. "Really?"

"Sidecar motorcycles are very popular in France, Jane. Furthermore, it is very important that a helmet fits properly. I wouldn't trust any helmets that the rental companies provide and a traumatic brain injury can have lasting impacts on the functionality of your hippocampus. We definitely need to bring that."

Rolling her eyes, Jane plops herself down on the couch. "Remind me to never move anywhere with you. You're only gone for three months and the contents of your entire life are being jammed into suitcases."

At the mention of moving, both Jane and Maura become quiet.

Maura puts her curling iron in between the boxes of shoes that she has packed. "Was Director Patel upset that you requested a delay?"

"Yeah, but it is what it is. They are a bit short on instructors right now, I think the trainees are a difficult group this year and a lot of instructors are requesting to be transferred."

Maura nods as she multi-tasks, putting a checkmark on the next item in her packing list.

"I wanted to delay my start date anyway. I've been trying to avoid Davies."

When Maura gives Jane a questioning look, Jane realizes that Maura has no idea whom she is talking about.

"Oh. Agent Cameron Davies. He was the one who picked me up from the airport. He showed me around the campus and introduced me to everything, but I must have really been distracted because I didn't realize that he had been flirting with me all weekend long."

Maura laughs, an amused smile taking over her face. "Was he cute?"

"He might have been, I dunno. I wasn't really thinking about him."

Maura distracts herself by zipping up her suitcase before moving on to the one next to it. "Well, maybe you should think about it, Jane. If this whole move is happening, maybe you should start preparing for a new life there." It took all of Maura's willpower to be able to say this sentence out loud, as she was hoping that Jane would stay single forever so they could one day figure out their relationship. However, Maura also wanted to see Jane happy, no matter how that was achieved.

"I don't want a new life. I want things to be easy. I want us to keep being Jane and Maura while we catch killers. I just don't want those killers to be at our front door anymore, Maur."

As she gives Jane a look of sympathy, Maura crosses the room to Jane. "Things will never be easy. It's just a part of life."

Jane pouts, which makes Maura want to kiss that chin of hers even more. "Focus on packing, Jane. You always stress me out whenever you pack a few hours before your plane takes off. And pack warm! We are going to be there during one of the coldest months."

Jane looks around for a spare suitcase before her eyes land on the only one left. A bedazzled, cheetah print trunk that looked like a Barbie store had thrown up on it. Jane groans. "Maura, please tell me that you have another piece of luggage that I can use."

Maura's eyes twinkle as she envisions Jane hauling around the flamboyant bag. "I'm afraid not."

Collapsing into the couch face down, Jane pretends to scream into a pillow. "The things I do for you, woman!"

Liam Santos snaps his burner phone shut. He saunters to his client, Olivia, and places his arms on her shoulders. "Good news, Liv. We were able to pull that tape off from Sarah's computer." He tosses her a USB drive. "It's all in there. Feel free to release it as you please. It's impossible to trace and they'll never know that it was you who released it. With Sarah gone, we can just blame it on her so it doesn't affect how your trial goes."

Olivia plugs the USB drive in, watching the video to make sure that it was the right one. Maura Isles shows up on her computer screen and she smiles, happy that they had one more chance at ruining Detective Jane Rizzoli.

"Fantastic. Thanks, Liam." Olivia says as she begins to brainstorm how she should release the video for the optimized viewing experience. She wanted the world to see Maura Isles on her knees.

After an entire day of packing, the two women were sprawled across Maura's couch, eating ravioli that had been delivered. With her stomach full and her arms sore from lifting Maura's suitcases all day, Jane was ready to not move for the rest of the night. The Red Sox were playing the Los Angeles Angels on the TV in front of her, but Jane watched the game halfheartedly. Maura was distracting her, and it was making Jane extremely frustrated.

With her hair up in a loose ponytail, Maura's features were accentuated. She had on simple diamond stud earrings, which made her beautiful eyes stand out even more. Maura was staring down at the journal in front of her, completely immersed in the findings of its newest publication. Balanced on her right thigh was a small notebook, where Maura wrote notes to herself about experimental procedures that may be useful for her work within forensics. Her neat handwriting took up every inch of the page and was often paired with small diagrams that Maura had drawn for reference. Jane smiles, finding it endearing how passionate Maura was about science. As she watches the other woman out of the corner of her eye, Jane wonders how many more nights they would be able to do this.

"Jane? Is there something that you need? I can feel you watching me," Maura says as she flips the page.

"Hm?" Jane shifts, causing the notebook to fall from where it rest on Maura's thigh. Jane bends down to pick it up, buying herself time. "Sorry. Just zoned out."

Maura smiles softly, finally taking her eyes off the journal. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Pressing the green button on the remote, Jane mutes the game in front of her. "Let's say that you and I decided to actually be together. You know, as an official couple. What would happen?"

Maura sets her reading down as well, leaning forward in interest. "I don't think much would change. We already act like a typical couple. Spending most of our time with each other, being each other's emergency contacts, turning to one another for comfort, everything that most couples seem to do. Except for the sexual aspect, I suppose. We have basically been a couple for years."

"I know, Maura. But what if it doesn't work out? Our friendship gets ruined and what? I'm just supposed to forget about the connection that we shared? Move on? I can't do that."

Maura looks up to the ceiling, thinking. "Well, if you enter a relationship with that type of mindset, you might as well curse it, since you're already willing it to fail."

Jane turns off the game. "Explain that."

"Instead of thinking about all the things that could go wrong, what about focusing on the things that could go well?"

Maura sits up, taking her legs off of Jane's lap. "Did you worry about these things when you were with Gabriel? With Casey?"

Biting the side of her cheek in concentration, Jane thinks about Maura's question. "No, I don't think I ever did. I kind of went with the flow and I wasn't really concerned about whether I had a future with either of them or not."

Maura nods, encouraging Jane's thought process.

Jane holds her hand up. "Okay, but wait. I also wasn't in love with either of them. Plus, after years of being a cop, I have trained myself to be prepared for the worst-case scenario."

"So you would say that the stakes are higher with us? Because you're in love?"

"Exactly."

Maura tries a different approach. "That's fair. How about the Red Sox, do you ever sit there and worry about if they're going to make it to the World Series?"

Jane scrunches her eyebrows. "I'm not sure what my favorite baseball team has to do with this, Maur."

"Just indulge me for a second, Jane. I'm trying to illustrate an analogy."

Deciding to play along, Jane shakes her head. "No, I know that the Sox will always make it. It's just a matter of whether they will maintain their composure long enough to win the thing, that's it."

Maura points at Jane, "Exactly! So in this case, we are the Red Sox."

"So you're saying that we are strong enough to make it, I just need to have enough faith that we will survive the toughest games of the year?"

"Well, not games, but you know what I mean," Maura says, ready to return to her reading after making her point.

"Hm," Jane says as she chews over what Maura has just said. She grins. "You're much cuter than any of the players on the Sox though."