Brandon Wilson was a Marine, through and through. He had been a rebellious teenager, always challenging authority and putting himself in situations that either risked his life or those around him. When he joined the Marine Corps, the structure had offered him stability in a way that he had never encountered before. With drug-addict parents who were more interested in nodding off than feeding their six children, Brandon had to fend for himself as the middle child. He lived and breathed by the creed of every marine, which pledged faithfulness to his fellow brothers and sisters. Brandon knew that no man was ever left behind, no matter what the circumstances were. Thus, he had devised an intricate plan to extract his partner, Marie, and bring her back to the safety that the organization that they were working for could provide. Thankfully, with resources at his disposal and an ability to obtain nearly anything that he requested, as long as it was for the good of the mission, he had many options.
With Marie nearing the end of her hospital stay, it was easy to fake credentials and put on a disguise that portrayed him as a radiology technologist. With an ID badge that scanned him into almost every ward of the hospital, he had been cleared to move about as he pleased. Brandon knew that Marie was due for a final X-ray before she was discharged, as the doctors on her team had wanted to confirm that her bones were healing in the right places. The police officers posted outside of her door would not be able to accompany her to the X-ray room, which gave Brandon a small window to take the woman without any supervision.
As soon as he was able to bring Marie to her X-ray, he would pretend to head down the proper hallway before making a right turn into one of the security camera's blind spots. Marie would be transferred to a wheelchair before she was pushed into the stairway, which also lacked supervision from the cameras. The parking garage would only be two floors away and with a handicapped parking sticker on their new vehicle, Brandon would be able to bring Marie right into the passenger's seat and drive off before anyone realized that she was missing. A typical X-ray would take about 15 minutes to perform, which gave Brandon give minutes to leave the parking structure and enter the highway, making his trail go cold due to the infinite routes that he could have taken. They would make two vehicle switches before driving back to one of the safehouses, where Marie would be cared for and nursed back to health until she was ready to get back to action again. The entire process would likely take two weeks, depending on the severity of her injuries, but Brandon could wait. After all, his targets were two of the most high-profile people within the justice division of Boston. With Maura's connections and Jane's support system, the two women were a tricky pair to pursue.
His plan had proceeded without any hiccups and Brandon credited his military and FBI training for that. Marie lay in the makeshift bed near the window of their safehouse, hooked to various IV drips that would give her the best chances at recovering fully and quickly. She had lost some weight, but her cold stare still surrounded her with an air of hostility.
"She hits hard, huh?" Brandon says, tilting his head in the direction of her bruises as he tosses a water bottle at Marie.
She catches it, snapping the top off before taking large gulps of water. Wiping her mouth carelessly, Brandon can see her teeth as she sneers.
"I want her dead."
He chuckles, enjoying the contempt that was radiating off of the woman. It was exactly what they needed to be able to eliminate Jane Rizzoli once and for all.
Liam Santos shifted against the back of his executive chair. The upholster was padded and supple, and was covered in a leopard skin leather that had cost him a pretty penny. He was growing impatient, having received minimal updates from Brandon's team. However, Olivia's jury was going to be selected soon, which meant that he needed to be on his A game. Opening the locked drawer in his desk, he slides the compartment out, revealing several burner phones. He moves them around, looking for the right one. As he flips open the top, he calls a number that he has memorized by heart.
"Director Patel. I heard about the temporary leave that they placed you on. Please accept my sincerest apologies."
The other man was infuriated, and rightfully so, as it was unexpected that the FBI would catch on and conduct an investigation into Patel's involvement with Olivia. Liam had no idea how they managed to make that connection, but he had to give it to them, as it must have been a difficult accomplishment. With Patel removed from his position, they only had Brandon to feed them information from the FBI now, which made Liam nervous. He was all about double assurance and this was most definitely not it. The next FBI academy wouldn't take place until January, which meant that it would take several months before they could plant another mole inside of the organization. However, he was always three moves ahead, so they already had a candidate who had been accepted into the training program. If Brandon and Marie were to fail, then this new member of their team would go through the training and eventually get assigned to an office, preferably one located close to Jane, and carry through their backup plan. In order to make Jane Rizzoli truly suffer, it meant that this plan need to be long-winded and account for the woman's exasperating stubbornness and unwillingness to die.
Things between Jane and Maura had settled down and the two women were sitting on seats across from each other, their legs tangled in the middle of the roomette due to Jane's height. Maura was working on a new chapter of her novel, having found inspiration after the especially sexy moment that had just taken place. The stars of her novel were a fearless detective and a level-headed medical examiner, much like a reflection of her own reality, and she was working her way toward building tension between the two female leads. The words came out in rivers and the current had swept up all of Maura's attention, as her fingers flew across the keyboard to keep up with the speed with which her mind was constructing the story. Jane was catching herself up on the previous chapters that Maura had written, as she had missed several during the period when the two women were not speaking to each other much.
"You really think that the detective realizes her feelings in this scene?" Jane asks, keeping track of her place in the book with a finger as she turns the book to Maura.
Maura leans forward, skimming over the section. "The scene where she and the medical examiner are trapped in a car and she has to choose between freeing herself or the other woman?" Maura asks, "Do you disagree?"
Jane looks up at the ceiling of the roomette, lost in thought. "I think so. It seems like she would have realized that she was in love much sooner. Maybe when she had to shoot herself to get them out of that hostage situation. Or during the New York City Marathon, when they had to catch the killer before he took another victim."
Taking some time to consider what Jane had said, Maura nods her head. After all, the detective was modeled after her very own. "You may have a point."
"And it happens to be the same scene where the medical examiner realizes her feelings too? That seems unreasonable," Jane counters.
Maura bites her lip. "Well, it was actually the scene where the detective jumped off a bridge to save someone else, but that one just felt right for the progression and pacing of the story."
Jane looks at Maura quizzically, thumbing through the pages in front of her. "Did you write that scene already? Is that in here? Did I miss that?"
Biting her lip even harder to keep from bursting out laughing, Maura smiles. "No, it was just something I had considered when I was reflecting on the characters."
With Jane's detective skills kicking in, she catches on. Leaning forward with a smirk, she asks, "Are we still talking about your novel?"
As Maura stares at her lips, she shakes her head slowly. "We might be talking about me."
The two women close the distance together, taking their time to press against one another slowly, pouring feelings out as their lips acted as the medium. Things were beginning to heat up again until the train started braking, pushing Maura onto Jane. Jane catches her as their mouths separate, laughing at the sudden movement. With the conductor's voice cracking through the old intercom system to announce their arrival, the two women gather their belongings and prepare to deboard. They had only planned on spending a day in Amsterdam, so there was no hotel they had to check into. Walking past a field of tulips growing near the infamous canals, Jane was glad that she had decided to go through with the trip. Although they had been in a different country for almost a week, Amsterdam was already bringing a much-needed sense of relief.
Jane's phone rang, displaying the familiar 617 area code on her caller ID, which meant that someone from the Boston region was looking for her. During the entirety of her trip, phone calls had only brought bad news, so Jane's stomach dropped as she heard her ringtone.
"Rizzoli."
A woman's voice came over the line. "Hello, this is the Dean's Office from Boston Cambridge University, may we speak to Ms. Jane Rizzoli, please?"
Jane steps away, holding the phone to her ear as she holds her hand over the microphone. "I'll just be a second, Maura. Order without me."
The two women had walked into a coffee shop in search of caffeine to accompany them on their walk around the city and Jane knew that Maura would be able to order on behalf of her after years of experience.
"This is Jane," she says as she pushes the door out.
"Ms. Rizzoli, good afternoon. I was calling to notify you that you are the recipient of the prestigious recognition of being granted an honorary degree. After the award ceremony at City Hall a few months ago, the governor was very impressed with your service to the greater Boston area. He had contacted our office to see whether this was possible, especially considering the fact that you have previously been accepted into our undergraduate program many years ago. I see here that you only attended junior college, is that correct?"
Jane feels as if she is in a dream and finds herself having trouble believing that all of this was falling right into place for her. "Yes, that is. I was accepted but the financial assistance package wasn't large enough so I chose to not attend. I never made it to university after junior college."
The woman's smile can be heard in her voice. "Very well. In that case, I would like to congratulate you on this accomplishment. Thank you for your service to our city."
"Wait, will I have to take any classes or anything?"
"No, of course not," the woman replies, "The award grants you a bachelor's degree and you will not have to complete any additional classes. The governor's office also alerted me that you are applying for a position with the FBI and we are in accordance that this degree shall be beneficial to satisfying requirements for your candidacy."
Jane is impressed at how fast news travels around. Interim Director Dayes must have made a few calls to expedite this process and Jane makes a mental note to call the woman and thank her.
"Thank you so, so much," Jane says, "You have no idea how much this means to me."
"Don't thank me, Ms. Rizzoli. You have quite a few people in your corner and you have made a lasting impression on some of the most powerful people within Boston of your own will. Shall I book an RSVP for your attendance at our graduation ceremony in December?"
Jane walks along the canal, running her hand along the chain that separated the street from the water. "No, I'm afraid that I will be out of the country for most of December."
"No problem. I will have your diploma sent to the address on file. Do you still live at this address?" The woman asks as she lists off the address of Jane's family home growing up.
"No, actually, that's an old address. Can you update it, please?" Jane hesitates for a second before she puts down Maura's address. It had always been more of a home to her than Jane's apartment anyway and with Jane's lease up, she needed to find a new place to live if she ended up staying in Boston.
She walks back to Maura with a spring in her step, crushing the woman with a tight bear hug when they reunite. Maura shifts the cups above their arms, carefully avoiding a spill.
"What's the occasion?" Maura asks, a look of amusement on her face as she wonders how good of a phone call it must have been to have inspired such a reaction.
"Well," Jane says, "I got a call from BCU. They wanted to award me an honorary degree. Apparently, the governor was very pleased with my performance lately with Hoyt, that apprentice, and some of the other big names that we put away over the last few years."
Maura sets the cups down, jumping into Jane's arms. "Jane! That is quite impressive! I am so proud of you!" She kisses Jane's cheek. "Receiving an honorary degree is a rare accomplishment!"
Jane grins, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess not going to BCU ended up actually working out. All I had to do was tackle some bad guys and get shot a few times. That's much better than having to sit through common curriculum courses."
Looking at Jane as if she was crazy, Maura rubs Jane's arms. "I cannot sympathize with that sentiment but no one else deserves it more than you. I'm glad people around us are beginning to see you for the amazing detective and citizen that you are."
Maura looks around them, brainstorming how she should arrange their plans for the day. "We must celebrate!"
Jane has never felt more accepted and loved than she has at this moment, reveling in the good news with Maura. Taking a sip from the cup she assumed to be hers, she places a kiss on the top of Maura's hair.
"Thanks, Maura."
With another obstacle conquered in her journey to securing that FBI position in Boston, Jane felt as if her burdens had been alleviated. Now, all she had to do was survive the training program if she got in, impress the hiring committee, and ace the interview. Then, she would be able to have a safer job doing what she loved, while also being able to be close enough to Maura for a relationship.
If she was really lucky, then Maura would agree to be her girlfriend.