Notes:
Thank you for all the comments and encouragement. My week off work has come to an end, and after a day of travelling and exhaustion to the point of dissociation yesterday, I'm attempting to arrange a writing schedule which fits in with my job - wish me luck! On the plus side, I visited the South Bank and the Tate today, and got lots of inspiration, from the location, from the art, and from the incredible company.
BREAK
"Check," Maura said softly, her eyes locked on the board,
Jane scanned the pieces. She could see a way out, but she was sure Maura had seen it too. Would moving her knight be playing right into her hands? Jane bit her lip. For the want of a better option, she blocked Maura's bishop with the knight.
Maura's small smile told her everything she needed to know.
"Shit," Jane muttered.
"Do you want to resign or play it out?" Maura asked.
"You've been setting me up," Jane accused.
Maura glanced at the clock. "You put up an excellent fight," she said. "You lasted more than an hour."
"You're talking as if this was inevitable."
Maura moved her queen. "Wasn't it?" she asked.
Jane searched the board for a Hail Mary pass. She could see something, but kept her face expressionless.
"Ain't over til it's over," she said, moving her remaining castle.
"Interesting choice," Maura said, smiling again.
"Less of the commentary, you're distracting me," Jane told her.
"Are you already looking for an excuse?" Maura moved again. She clearly had this planned out.
Jane looked for any way to disrupt her. "Check!" she said, moving her knight again. To her delight, a flicker of surprise crossed Maura's face.
Twenty minutes later, both sides were significantly depleted.
"It's a bloodbath," Jane said miserably, watching Maura remove her queen from the board.
"Speaking of bloodbaths," Maura said thoughtfully, "what happened to the bag?"
"What bag?" Jane asked, moving her knight again.
"The bag we suspect the killer used to transport the victim to the alley." Maura made a move which Jane suspected would soon have disastrous consequences.
"I've been thinking about that too," Jane said, moving the knight back to a more defensive position.
"You should ask your coroner, Dr Pike, to check for fibres on the victim's clothes and skin. They might help to determine the type of bag, if a bag was used. Check."
"First thing tomorrow," Jane agreed. "Do you want to look at the body again yourself?" She moved her knight, her only option, and watched dejectedly as Maura delivered the final blow.
"Checkmate," Maura said, holding out her hand for Jane to shake.
BREAK
"Checkmate!" Jane shouted gleefully. "Only took me two years - I told you I'd beat you one day, Maura Isles!"
She held out her hand in the customary way. Maura stared at the board in shock.
"You won," she said slowly.
"Told you I would," Jane said, wiggling the hand she was still holding out. "Come on, don't be a sore loser."
They were sitting on either end of Jane's couch, the chess board between them on the coffee table. Maura moved closer, and using Jane's hand as a kind of lever, moved to straddle her lap. Jane opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a kiss so ardent she completely forgot what she was going to say.
Maura pulled at Jane's t-shirt, pausing the kiss to pull it over her head, then resuming with renewed ferocity.
"Fuck me," Jane groaned as Maura began to kiss her neck. Maura seemed to interpret this as an instruction.
"If you always get this turned on by losing, I'm gonna have to up my game," Jane said, grinning as Maura unbuckled her belt.
"I'm happy to be your motivation to improve, but it's not losing to you which inspires me," Maura said, between kisses which were now focused on Jane's breasts.
Jane gasped as Maura sucked a nipple into her mouth.
"So what is… Inspiring you?" she gasped.
"I love," Maura began, raising her head to lock eyes with Jane as she eased off her slacks, "that you're so fucking smart."
Jane raised her hips obligingly, then reached across to deal with Maura's buttons. "And relentless," Maura continued, punctuating her explanation with kisses. "I was better than you. Clearly. But that never put you off. You played me. Over. And over. Until you learnt how to win."
Jane tilted her head back against the couch as Maura slipped out of her blouse and moved down her body again.
"Now tell me," Maura said, her face inches from Jane's centre. "How did you do it?"
Jane looked down at Maura. "You know I'm not going to tell you."
Maura pulled Jane's panties aside. "I think you will."
BREAK
Jane shook the offered hand. "But, you know, it's never really fair when you beat me."
Maura raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Why is that, exactly?"
"You had a way of making me reveal my secrets whenever I beat you."
Maura licked her lips, which were suddenly very dry. "You didn't seem to mind."
Jane leaned back in her chair. "I really didn't," she said, smiling.
"Stop it!" Maura said.
"Stop what?"
"Stop thinking about me like that," Maura said, blushing.
"You don't know what I'm thinking," Jane said, closing her eyes with a satisfied sigh.
"I know precisely what you're thinking, and it's extremely inappropriate."
Jane rolled her shoulders with a contented hum. "I can't help it, you have a very memorable technique."
Maura ignored Jane's suggestive tone and busied herself by tidying up the chess pieces. Jane realised that, fun as it was, teasing Maura any more was probably not a good idea. She opened her eyes, sat up, and helped put the pieces away.
"Sorry," she said, after several minutes of stony silence.
Maura didn't respond immediately. She got up to put the chess set back on the shelf, then, as if this had closed the subject, returned to Jane's earlier question. "I would like to see the body again," she said, "but would it be possible to come after my shift at the hospital?"
Jane agreed immediately. "Just call me when you're done and I'll take you down there. Dr Pike might have finished for the day, but I can sign you in, since you're already documented as assisting on the case."
"I like it more than I expected," Maura admitted. "Solving crimes, I mean. I thought I would find it depressing, being around death, and of course, murder is horrendous, but in a way that makes investigating all the more appealing to me."
Jane paused, knowing she was about to push a very sensitive button. "Did you ever really think that, or did you just let your mother persuade you?"
"My mother wanted what was best for me," Maura said. "She still does."
"What she thought was best for you," Jane pressed.
"My mother has supported me for my entire life. She and my father paid for the entirety of my education. They made sure I had everything I could possibly need."
"But what about what you wanted, Maura?" Jane knew this was a dangerous road. It always had been.
"I was in my twenties. I didn't know what I wanted," Maura said, not quite convincingly.
"I did," Jane said pointedly.
Maura realised, too late, that the conversation was not just about her career.
"I should go," Jane said. "It's late."
"Jane, I didn't mean-"
"Forget it, Maura. I shouldn't have brought it up." Jane stood up and looked around for her jacket.
Maura found it first and held it close to her chest. "Please don't go."
"I have to," Jane said. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Maura clung onto the jacket for dear life. Jane stepped closer. "It's okay," she said. "I'm not mad, I just need to leave."
"Wait, I… There's something I have to say. Then you can go, I promise."
Jane waited.
"I… I never, I mean, I always…" Maura stumbled over her words. Jane reached out and touched her shoulder.
"It's okay, Maura."
"No," Maura burst out. "No, it's not okay! I could never forgive myself if I let you believe that again!"
"Believe what?"
"Believe I ever had a doubt about wanting you," Maura said, her eyes flooding with tears. She loosened her grip on the jacket and handed it to Jane, then led the way down the hall.
"I'll call you tomorrow," she choked out as she opened the front door.
"Thanks, Maur," Jane said softly, stepping out into the night.
Maura closed the door behind her, then collapsed into strangled sobs.
BREAK
"You will never forgive yourself if you let this opportunity slip through your fingers." Constance Isles, a formidable presence in all circumstances, drew herself up to her full height and narrowed her eyes at her daughter.
They were sitting in Maura's apartment. A beautiful porcelain tea set was laid out on the table, the tea set Constance had given her daughter for her 26th birthday. Maura had prepared cakes and sandwiches worthy of British royalty, in the hopes of winning her mother's approval. She had not been successful.
"You will never have an offer like this one again," Constance continued. "It is, arguably, the best surgical training program in the world."
"But it's in London," Maura said weakly. This was not their first conversation on this topic. They had discussed it at length over the phone a week ago, when Constance first found out about the offer.
"The location is an added benefit!" Constance exclaimed. "I have a flat in London already, we have social connections there who would be delighted to have you as part of their circle, and you have travelled disappointingly little for a woman of your age."
Maura winced as 'disappointing' made its way into the discussion.
"I have an offer in Boston, too," she said, cursing inwardly at the tremor in her voice.
"I am aware," Constance said, her disgust evident. "A doctor of your skill and potential would be wasted on pathology. Why on earth would you choose that when you could be saving lives?"
"Because-"
Constance wasn't interested in the answer. "Forensic pathology is for doctors who are incapable of operating on the living. You would be utterly miserable, Maura. You would be surrounded by death, and it would ruin you. Not to mention the involvement you would have to have in court, with murder trials. You are meant for so much better than that."
"Solving murders is important," Maura managed.
"Collecting garbage is important, but that does not make it a suitable career for my daughter!"
Maura looked at her knees. "I could find a surgical program here," she suggested.
"Why on earth would you do that?"
"Because I want to stay, Mother. I have more than one reason for wanting to remain in Boston."
"If you are talking about your friendship with Jane Rizzoli-"
"It's not a friendship, Mother. It's a relationship. I'm in love with her."
Constance took a sip of tea. "Whatever you think you feel, Maura, it is not worth throwing away your whole life to pursue."
"I don't think, Mother. I know. I love her, and she loves me."
Constance softened her tone. "If that is truly the case, ask her what she thinks you should do. If she truly loves you, she will want what's best for you."
"She does. And I have asked her. She said I should do whatever will make me happy."
"Going to London will make you happy, Maura. I promise. You were not made for cold basement morgues and harrowing murder investigations. You were made to live in the light, with life-giving hands."
Maura looked at her mother.
"You have always been a gentle soul," Constance said. "So kind, so loving. I know you care for Jane. But she wouldn't want you to give up such a chance, and doing so would only hurt you both in the long run."
"Are you sure?" Maura asked in a small voice.
Constance, in a rare display of maternal affection, put an arm around her daughter.
"I am certain, my love."