A/N: Surgery was pretty easy, stamina since surgery, not so much.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

That Night

"Hello?"

"Jane? It's me, Maura. How are you?"

Jane glanced at the clock by her bed, and saw that it was just after midnight. She wondered where Maura was that she would be calling at this hour. Maura was not a night owl, so she must be in a different time zone.

"I'm good Maura. Just in bed."

Maura looked at the clock and grimaced when she realized the time. "Oh Jane! So sorry, I didn't realize the time. Do you want me to let you go back to sleep?"

"No, I'd rather talk to you. How do you feel after your night of drinking?"

"Tired. It was a long day. I've never been hung-over before."

Jane chuckled. "I would have loved to see that, Maura. Do you want my hang-over cure?" Jane was sitting up now, ready to get out of bed when Maura spoke.

"Oh no, Harley took care of me."

Jane felt that irrational feeling in the pit of her stomach and her face flashed hot as she thought of the woman who had kissed Maura, taking care of her. "Took care of you? How did she take care of you?"

"She brought me coffee this morning and then kept me hydrated all day."

Jane wanted to know just how she kept her hydrated, but settled on rolling her eyes. "Good. Glad you had her." She settled back into bed, ready to end the call and go back to sleep.

Oblivious to Jane's displeasure, Maura giggled and asked, "Do you wanna have phone sex, because I'm horny for you."

Something about the way Maura had asked that, gave her pause. "Maura, have you been drinking?"

Maura giggled again. "Just a little. We went out after we finished for the day."

Jane sighed. "Maura, I only want to have sex, any kind of sex, with you, when you are sober." She glanced at the clock, saw the time, and finished with, "And not at one in the morning."

"...oh. I'm sorry Jane." She sniffed and then added, "I'll call you tomorrow...I mean, later today, ok?" She hung-up before Jane could answer, and then burst into a fit of tears.

Jane was left staring at her phone after Maura hung-up. Annoyed, she sat up and went to her kitchen for a bottle of water, knowing sleep wouldn't arrive any time soon.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ft. Detrick, MD

Maura finally stopped crying, and decided to call her mother, wherever she was. Constance, her mother, wasn't a touchy-feely kind of mother, but she did love Maura. Maura was sure of that. And her mother was European, which gave her a different outlook on life.

"Mother? I hope I haven't caught you at a bad time."

"Maura! Darling, it's never a bad time for you to call me. Why are you calling from a restricted phone number?"

Maura was moving around her kitchen area, getting a bottle of water and some aspirin as she talked with her mother. "I am on loan to a joint task force at an undisclosed location. And I need my mother."

One hour later...

After listening to her daughter recount her relationship with Jane, their break-up, and continuing love and sex, Constance decided to impart an age old way of keeping your love interested: sex.

"Maura, darling, did I ever tell you how I kept your father interested? Sex. Good sex, soft sex, kinky sex, dirty sex, and sometimes, no sex."

Maura felt the heat rise on her face and was grateful her mother couldn't see her. She was also confused. "No sex? How does that work, Mother? You know I can't lie."

"Oh Maura, it just means that once you've gotten her hooked, you withhold sex until she comes to her senses and realizes you are the best thing to happen to her." She paused for a breath. "And Maura...you are most definitely the best thing to ever happen to her. Any person, male or female, would be lucky to have you. Don't forget that. And don't wait forever."

Maura, touched by her mother's words, got very quiet. "Thank you, Mother. That means a lot to me."

"Maura, if Jane is who you want, if this is what you want, fight for her, this. I love you. Call me in a couple of days, or sooner if you need anything."

Maura trudged into the bathroom to get ready for bed and wondered where Jane was and what she had been doing. She decided to call Jane back until she checked the time and saw that it was almost 4am. She finally gave up and opted for sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Jane trudged into work the next morning, having had too little sleep and not enough caffeine. She slumped down onto her desk chair and put her head on the desk. She was almost asleep when Korsak shook her shoulder. Jane looked up and was surprised to see not only Korsak, but a young Black man with a beard standing over her.

"Jane, this is your new partner, Det. Barry Frost." He turned to the other man, "Frost, this is Det. Jane Rizzoli, your new partner." After having made the introductions, Korsak shot Jane a dirty look and took off out of the squad room.

Jane wanted to go after him, but Frost was looking at her expectantly. Sighing, she turned back to frost, picked up her keys and motioned for him to follow her. She was frustrated with Korsak for being a dick about her request for a new partner, with this guy Frost for not knowing her well enough to know she wanted to be left alone and with Maura for being...Maura. For calling her in the middle of the night, for getting drunk two nights in a row, for holding her heart in her hands. And for not being able to fully, truly be with her. So, she did the only thing she could do; she shoved all of that down and took Frost on a tour of the streets where her CI's conducted business.

They stopped for lunch and Frost noticed Jane kept looking at her phone. "Expecting a call?"

Jane, embarrassed at having been caught watching her phone, shrugged. "Not really..."

Frost smiled. "But you were hoping?"

Defeated, Jane replied, "...yeah." She threw down enough money to cover their lunch and motioned to Frost that she was going outside. She was leaned up against the side of the restaurant, thinking about Maura, and willing her to call. To make her feel better. In the end, all that happened was Frost came outside, got her and they went back to the car, heading back to BPD.

XXXXXXXXX

Maura struggled to get through the day. She was still suffering a hang-over, exhaustion from her late night calls and a general unease about her situation with Jane. She spent more of the day thinking about what her mother had said than she would like to admit. She had never felt this level of uncertainty about anything in her life. She was confident in her scientific abilities, in science in general, even in the rare relationship she might have with a man. But Jane? Jane was different. And this was different. She knew she was pretty, she knew she had a good body, and she knew she was brilliant. She had had more than one man call her the total package. Se had made the decision to leave every relationship she had ever had, often with very little emotional pain.

She had her head on the desk she was working at, when the smell of coffee made her nose twitch. Looking up, she saw the concerned face of Harley. "Harley...what time is it?" As she asked the question, she was looking for her phone, to check the time.

Harley smiled as she offered the coffee to Maura. "A few minutes past five. Everybody else has knocked off for the night, why don't you?"

Maura took the coffee and gulped it down, thinking about what she was about to do. "Harley, do you want to come over to my place for dinner? I'll just order take-out, but I need your expertise on something. Ok?"

Harley opened and then closed her mouth, considered going home, alone, and looking at her four walls. She shrugged and accepted the invitation, asking, "Do you like Chinese?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Maura's Base Housing

3 Hours Later

Maura slumped back into the couch, belly full, and sighed. "Best egg rolls ever! Thank you, Harley."

Harley smiled. "My pleasure, Maura. You saved me from yet another lonely Friday night watching my paint dry."

Maura frowned. "You painted your walls before coming over here?"

Harley laughed. "No! Just a figure of speech." Harley shook her head again. "Your literal interpretations are endearing. And refreshing." She took a swig of her beer and looked at Maura. "Did I answer your questions about lesbian sex?"

Maura considered everything they had discussed while eating and nodded. She stood up, held out her hand and replied, "Show me."

Major Harley McCoy's drink of beer she had just taken, got snorted up her nose, causing her to cough and choke as her nostrils burned. "W-What?"

Taking Harley by the hand, she pulled her up and led her down the hall to the master bedroom.