Dedicating this chapter to Tingtorn78: Thank you for all of your support throughout the story, I have greatly enjoyed reading your comments and your reactions to the updates! Thank you also to all of the readers who are along for the ride-you all are the soul of this work!
The doctors at the hospital were able to speak a great deal of English, which Jane appreciated, as she was beginning to grow impatient at having to wait while Maura translated things for her. Frankie was lucky as the bullets had missed any vital arteries or bones and they had also been relatively easy to remove. Once the doctors had stitched him up and wrapped a sling around his shoulder, he was good to be discharged the next day after a night of observation. Jane had received a similar fate, escaping with a few bruised ribs, a split lip, and an incredibly swollen wrist, which was in a brace. She had refused to let the nurses touch her lip, insisting that Maura had more than enough medical supplies at home, as well as a set of steady hands to patch the wound up. After visiting Frankie and letting him sleep the pain off, Jane and Maura were on their way home.
Jane was grateful that she was able to walk, as she had grown increasingly tired of having to rely on other people while she was walker-bound after her last gunfight. Her wrist was immobilized in a sling, which she was able to take off after a week. Considering who she had been up against, Jane had been extremely lucky to come out on the other side with such few injuries. All those hours spent hitting the body-shaped bag in the living room had paid off. She also thought about all the time she spent with Maura in the yoga room, contorting her body into weird positions that Maura had claimed would yield significant health benefits. In the long run, it had made her more agile, which had allowed her to dodge many of Marie's hits today. As she leaned back into the headrest of the seat in Maura's car, she thinks about how maybe she should listen to the other woman more.
They were sitting on Maura's couch now, with a baseball game on in the background. The commentary brought Jane comfort, as it reminded her of all the hours she spent hanging around her pop as she handed him tools. Back then, the radio had always been on and tuned to a game. He had trained her to be his little assistant, with promises of cheeseburgers and milkshakes after a job was finished. Despite all the ways that her father had disappointed her over the recent years, Jane was still a daddy's girl at heart and continued to look back at those memories with fondness. Maura's medical kit was open next to them, an impressive three-tier box containing almost every ointment, gauze, and medication known to man. She was dabbing at a cut in Jane's lip, her forehead wrinkled in concentration as she cleaned the wound with iodine. There were a few wound closure strips along Jane's body where the wood had embedded itself after splitting from the force of a bullet, or from where Jane had slammed her body after a hard tackle. There was one on the bridge of her nose and although the cut on her lip wasn't significant enough for stitches, it was still big enough to cause Jane a lot of pain. Jane winces, causing Maura to draw back suddenly.
"I know," Maura coaxes. "It will be over soon. I need to clean this wound properly to prevent infection and accelerate the healing process."
Jane grimaces and quickly relaxes her face, trying to maintain a neutral expression in order to avoid spreading her lips out and widening the cut again.
"You really should have let the doctors at the hospital take care of this, Jane. My medical kit does not compare to the sanitized equipment that the hospital has at its disposal."
Clenching her fist, the one that wasn't wrapped in a brace, to compensate for the pain, Jane whines. "But I can't complain to the doctors the way that I can with you. Plus, didn't you train in surgery for a while?"
"I did a rotation in general surgery during medical school, yes. But nothing compared to the extensive training that surgeons go through," Maura offers, still wary to let Jane get away with not staying longer at the hospital.
Jane pats Maura's hands. "You stitch up dead people all the time. That's good enough for me."
Maura manages a small smile and steps back, admiring her work. "You are all set. No picking at the bandages or rubbing any of that ointment off, Jane. You need to just relax and let your body repair itself."
Kicking her legs up on the coffee table, Jane sighs as she slouches into the couch. "You don't gotta tell me twice." Just as those words leave her mouth, Jane's phone rings. "Really?" She groans as she hits the accept button with annoyance.
"Jane, I know you just got home, so I'm sorry to bother you, but we just found out the identity of the woman who shot at you today," Frost says, pausing to let the information settle into Jane's brain. "Her name is Marie Davis and she is a lieutenant in the army." Jane grunts, wondering why Frost had decided that this information was so shocking to the point of needing to call her so late at night.
He has his interrogative voice one now, the one that showed up when he wanted to get to the bottom of something and his inquisitive nature had taken over.
"Did Casey ever mention that name?"
Maura looks up from where she was re-packing her medical kit upon hearing that name come through Jane's phone. The two women make eye contact, not knowing where this was headed.
"Casey? As in my Casey?" Jane corrects herself, not wanting to imply that she was still tied to Casey in any way, whether through an emotional attachment or lingering feelings. "I mean, Casey Jones?"
"Yeah," Frost responds. "We got access to Marie Davis's phone records and it shows that she has both received calls from Casey Jones, as well as made calls to his number several times a week. The log goes back for months."
Jane thinks back to all the times Casey had stayed over at her apartment, running through the work stories that he had told her. "No, I don't think he ever mentioned a Marie. I didn't even know that he worked with any female soldiers that had that high of a ranking. If he had told me, I would have definitely remembered."
She can hear Frost's typing in the background as Korsak takes the phone from him. "Jane, it's me. Listen, no judge is going to sign a warrant that lets us pull records regarding Casey and Marie Davis. There's also no way in hell we are going to be able to just waltz in on base and question him either. Do you still talk to him?" Korsak asks.
Sighing, Jane thinks about how awkward the conversation will be. The last time that they had spoken, Casey had sent her an email asking her to join him on his military base as his wife, but she had sent his engagement ring back without another word. She had chosen her career, her identity as a detective, and her freedom to spend time with Maura over him, and she was sure that he was not too pleased with the outcome.
"I don't, but let me see if I can reach him and ask a couple of questions. Him being possibly linked to this woman is not a good thing and I want to know why."
Korsak mutters his thanks and says goodbye, leaving Jane alone with her thoughts.
"You're calling Casey?" Maura inquires, having only caught some of the conversation.
"Yeah. Unfortunately, there's nothing that the police can do when it comes to the army. Hopefully, he picks up. He might have blocked my number entirely after what happened."
Maura stands and puts her arms around Jane's back as she hugs her from behind. "He will, Jane." She knew that Jane still felt guilty about breaking things off with Casey over the mail. "It's not entirely your fault. He chose his career over a future with you and it was only right that you prioritized yourself after that."
Jane puts her hands on Maura's arms, pulling her in tighter. "Thanks, Maur."
Scrolling through her contacts, she finds Casey's name and clicks on it. The phone rings, which Jane takes as a good sign, as it means that at least Casey hasn't blocked her or disconnected his phone.
"Jane," he says as the phone connects, "This is a surprise."
Jane didn't anticipate that hearing his voice again would bring her back to last year when he broke her heart after making empty promises about the future of their relationship. In hindsight, she was glad that Casey had walked away from their relationship first, because she wasn't sure that she would have been brave enough to admit that a marriage with him was not what she wanted. Jane remembers the day that she showed off the ring that Casey got her to Maura inside her lab, recalling the unimpressed look that Maura had given her. Maura had known her so well that she saw through the act, knowing that it was unlike Jane to be so giddy about a piece of carbon. After all, it wasn't like Casey had proposed with a world series championship ring or anything. He was forcing Jane into a life that he had chosen, one that focused on what he wanted out of his career and what he expected out of his future wife, one that lacked any touch of Jane. However, Maura had wanted to be supportive, even if she felt like Jane was digging her own proverbial grave. Thus, she reacted with a monotone voice, unable to force herself to even feign happiness.
Sure, knowing that Casey had chosen something else over her had hurt, but above all else, it had hurt Jane the most to know that her best friend did not approve of her choices. Jane had felt like she was back in high school again, being the awkward teenager that she was when Mr. Popular had no idea that she even existed. Winning Casey's affection had been more of a fulfillment of a teenage crush and a way to spite all of those that had looked down on her than a relationship based on true love.
Jane and Maura were so intimately intertwined emotionally, that when Maura had been disappointed, it was as if Jane had been disappointed by herself.
She looks to Maura now, both to gauge her reaction and to lean on her for support. Sensing Jane's hesitation, Maura comes over and holds her hand, rubbing her thumb on the top of Jane's hand.
"Casey, hi. I'm really sorry to call you out of the blue like this. How have you been?"
He sounds tired despite his best efforts at hiding it. After spending so many years together, Jane could still read him like a book, even if they weren't face-to-face.
"I'm alright, I guess. It's been a difficult year. How have you been?"
Jane responds in short sentences, not wanting to avoid letting this call run on for longer than it should. "Good. You must be a general in the army now, right? Can I ask you a few questions related to a case I'm working on?"
There is a long pause on the other end. Jane glances at her phone, making sure that she didn't accidentally hang up.
"Actually, I left active duty a few months after we broke up," Casey says. His voice is gruff and Jane can hear him rub the stubble on his face as he thinks. "I was hoping we would have some more time before I told you this, but I actually left because I realized that you were more important. I requested to be transferred somewhere local and I have been working in one of the recruiting offices not too far from the precinct."
Jane is shocked and in complete disbelief that Casey, who basically had the promotion to general secured, had downgraded so much for her. Before she can say anything, he continues.
"I didn't want to call you yet. I wanted to make sure that I had all of my affairs arranged and that when we re-connected, I had a stable job that would ensure that I would be in Boston long-term. I knew that it would take a grand gesture to win you back and, well, I'm hoping that it'll work."
Maura, sensing that this conversation was headed in a different direction than any of them had predicted, stands up and excuses herself to the kitchen to give them some space. She knew that Jane would likely be feeling extremely conflicted, considering that one of the reasons that she and Casey broke up over was no longer relevant. As she exits the room, she hears Jane ask, "I don't really know what to say. I never thought you would give up on your dream to be a general."
Back in the room, Jane is tracing the design on Maura's couch with her fingers. No part of her wants Casey back, but she had to admit that his grand display of commitment was tugging at her heartstrings. "I think you should go back and try to get that promotion again, Case."
"Why, Jane? Tell me that I didn't do all of that for nothing. Tell me that we still have a chance," he asks, sounding very much like a man who had lost it all.
"I'm so sorry. Us breaking up gave me some perspective and I've spent a lot of time processing my feelings. It wouldn't be fair to lead you on in any way so I really want to be honest with you right now. You should go back, get that title that you always wanted, and find yourself a wife who will support that. I'll always be grateful to you and the love that we shared but our relationship has run its course and I need to also start being honest with myself."
Casey inhales sharply, feeling as if he was just punched in the gut. "Honest with yourself? What does that mean exactly?"
Jane wasn't ashamed of her feelings for Maura, but she also wanted to save Casey from a major blow to his ego. Although they were no longer together, she still respected him as an acquaintance and didn't want him to question whether the time that they had shared had all been a lie.
"I've been in love with Maura for quite some time now. I'm really sorry. I thought that if I ran away from my feelings, they would eventually disappear, but they only got stronger and stronger. It will always be her and I need you to understand that even if she and I don't end up together, that our time together has ended. I can't let you throw away your future like that."
Jane swallows, not sure how Casey would take the news. He clears his throat. "I see. Well, I would be lying if I said that I was surprised. Thank you for being honest with me. I wish you the best, Jane."
Nodding even though he can't see her, Jane replies, "You too, Casey. Hey, before you go, can I ask something?"
"Yeah, go ahead. Sorry. I had forgotten the actual reason why you called."
With her phone pressed against her face, Jane gets up and searches for Maura, finding her outside in the hall. She waves at Maura, indicating that she was welcome to come back in. "No problem. Can you tell me what you know about a woman named Marie Davis? All we have on her is that she is a lieutenant in the army and we were hoping that you had some insight into her. Especially since her phone log shows your number over and over." Jane had transitioned from an ex-lover to being a detective, her voice finding its authoritativeness as she proceeds down her line of questioning.
On the other end, Casey groans. This couldn't be good.
"Although I had left for personal reasons, Marie was part of the reason why I put in that transfer request as well," Casey says. "Where do I even begin?"
"Tell me why your name is on her phone, Casey. She shot at me and Maura. Frankie was there too! So tell me why this woman tried to kill all of us," Jane tries extremely hard to keep her anger at bay, knowing that Casey was not the rightful target.
"What?" Casey exclaims. "She did what? Jane, are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Casey. Answer the question. Why is she after us?"
Casey runs his hands through his hair, taking a deep breath. "Oh my god, Jane. I had no idea she would do that. She might have known that we had been engaged for a short while but that was the extent of it. We worked together for a few months when I was stationed in Afghanistan but it was never one-on-one. I don't know much about her other than the fact that she is tough and aggressive. She made a name for herself during combat training when she broke a guy's jaw. He was in her platoon too." He starts pacing, his emotions ramping up his anxiety. "I started getting weird notes from her, they were like poems, but they were written in such a way that it was difficult to understand what she was trying to say. It started escalating to where she would leave roses in my vehicles and slipping photographs of herself into my locker. I reported it immediately and she must have been talked to because it stopped after that, but I was still too uncomfortable." He takes another breath. "Did she kill anyone?"
"A few civilians are currently hospitalized from their injuries right now," Jane responds, "But no casualties yet, thankfully. Frankie's got three bullet holes in his body and Maura is scared out of her mind. I need to know everything that you have on this woman."
"Of course. Oh my God. Of course, Jane. Anything." He sits down; his legs had suddenly gone numb.
"Did you sleep with her, Casey? Is that why she's coming after me? After all of us? What did you do to her?" Jane accuses.
Casey racks his brain for any memories surrounding the woman. They had never had a private conversation before and honestly, he had barely remembered her until Jane brought her up. "No, absolutely not. I have never even spoken to the woman alone! I can't disclose the files that we have on her, but I can tell you that I have never done anything with her or to her that would warrant a target being put on your back. It was common knowledge that I was engaged when we were together, but I never spoke about you extensively in order to protect your identity as a detective. I don't know why she would have done this. I barely know her!"
Jane looks at Maura, feeling even more confused than she did before their call. Maura shakes her head, not having any other ideas either. "Okay, Casey. Stay close to your phone in case we need anything else."
When Casey finally replies, his words are rushed. "Are you going to be safe? Do you need me to stick around? I'll even confront her, anything to protect you, Jane."
Jane frowns. "That's nice, but my main concern is the safety of Maura and of my family. If you remember anything else, my number is the same. Goodbye, Casey."
She hangs up, relieved that it is finally over. Maura is silent, wanting to give Jane some space to process the emotional heaviness of that call. Jane wraps her arms around Maura, squeezing the other woman.
"I am so, so happy that I am here with you right now, Maur," Jane whispers into Maura's hair. She pulls her head back, looking at the gorgeous and understanding woman before her.
"You are the love of my life," she says before leaning in, kissing Maura softly for emphasis.