Riley was lounging on the bed with the latest example of the playboy magazine. She glanced up at Jane when she entered the room. "What's up? Didn't Maura offer you to spend the night?" she asked with a smudge grin. Jane made a face.

"She actually did."

"So, why are you here then?" Riley sat up and studied Jane who became slightly nervous.

"Because I'm not sure if this is a good idea!" she fiercely said.

"Oh, come on. I gave you an out of this marriage and you didn't take it or what? Playing the scene was really hard." Riley said and Jane knew that Riley meant it. This woman was really the best friend one could have she thought as she placed the keycard to their hotel room onto the counter next to the door.

"I know. Ask me all about it. But I lied to Maura and this is really bad. I'm not a good liar and if she finds out she'll hate me forever! And who says that it would actually really work between us?" Jane sat down to the edge of the bed and heard Riley sigh.

"Where is Juliet by the way?" Jane asked.

"Well, it had been a little bit too much drama for her and she felt exhausted, so she went off to bed." Riley seemed to be deceived. "So, come on. Don't have me done this for nothing. Go and visit your friend. Find out what's going on. But I can tell you that even a blind man can see how you are in love with each other." Riley chuckled before pausing. "Why are you so afraid of this Jane?" she then asked.

Jane blushed slightly and turned her face away. Riley would use her weaknes to tease her for the rest of her life. "What if she hates me?" she suddenly asked despite the probable teasing.

"Why should she hate you? She kept following you since your presentation." Riley asked gently and Jane bit her lip.

"Because she doesn't know me. She just knows my 19-year-old self. And I have changed so much." Jane bit her lips. She felt Rileys hand rubbing over her back. "She still won't hate you Jane. Somehow your like magnets which cant stay away from each other. It's going to be fine. And one day you are going to explain her our ruse and you both will laugh about it. Just be honest with her."

There was an encouraging nudge from Rileys part and Jane rubbed her tired eyes. Jane pulled the key card of Maura's room out of her pocket and glanced at it. "Do you want me to walk you there?" Riley teased and Jane laughed. Riley always knew how to make her feel better.

"Don't you dare. I'm a grown badass detective. I can do it. I'm sure it would be quite a sight though if my future ex wife walks me to the door of my crush" She stated and Riley patted her shoulder while laughing. "There you go. You can do it! And yeah, it might really give a funny impression." Riley giggled while speaking the last sentence. It made Jane scoff and role her eyes.

"Thank you though. I appreciate it." Jane mumbled and did something very uncharacteristic for her when pulling Riley into a hug.

And so, Jane grabbed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and left her own hotel room to walk towards Mauras which was three doors down the hallway. A very short distance. Too short to overthink her decision but long enough to make Janes knees go week. She stopped in front of Mauras door and thought whether to use the keycard or knock first. Then she thought that she might just turn around when the door opened and a perfectly styled Maura in silk pj's stood in front of her.

"Hey." Jane said and gave an apologetical smile, realizing with a jumping heart, that Maura might have waited for her.

"Hey yourself." Maura replied with her own smile.

"Come in!" the blonde stepped aside and motioned into her room. Janes heart was pounding hard as she stepped inside. It smelled like Maura. The bed was still perfectly made. No couch as Jane noticed. She felt like the liar that she was and felt Maura gently guiding her to one side of the bed.

"It's okay, Jane. Let me take care of you." The blonde said gently.

Jane reminded herself that she couldn't speak the truth because she liked this all too much. What the hell was she thinking? What was going to happen?

After changing into her night clothes, she slipped under the covers next to Maura. The TV was on and there was a documentary about sexual rituals of some tribe in Africa. "I've been there." Maura said once Jane was settled. "You know when I was with the doctors without borders." She explained unnecessarily. A pang of pain hit Jane at the memory of the fact that this was why they couldn't be together back then. She'd rather have turned off the tv or watched something else. But Maura seemed to be very interested in it so she said nothing and kept watching.

It felt strange to be so close to the blonde. Jane felt somehow giddy. They were actually going to share a bed. Whether the program was a good choice considered that her fake wife was presumably getting laid by another women here and there was questionable though.

Maura however didn't seem to notice. She kept commenting and adding her own experience with the tribe. Jane was beginning to fall asleep after a while of watching when she suddenly felt her covers move.

A hand found its way under her cover and she felt its gentle touch on her own. None of them spoke but Jane could hear their slightly ragged breaths. They looked at each other and Maura smiled. "This is okay right?" she whispered, and Jane nodded. "Yes." She whispered back noticing the darkened hazel eyes and their dilatated pupils. Both looked back to the screen. Jane felt the hand move and Mauras index finger stroking her skin. She shivered. She was feeling the heat spread through her body. Not much longer and she would have an erection.

Maura still didn't know about her member, and Jane closed her eyes lifting her own index finger to play with Mauras. There was a soft moan from the blonde that made Janes heart race. Yet, she wasn't going to be the one to initiate anything she thought. Not after the rejection back then. But it was fine. Mauras fingers entwined with hers and squeezed hers.

Jane felt Mauras gaze on herself but kept staring at the tv. If their eyes met Maura would see her arousal and her vulnerability. "Maybe it's too soon. You're still married." The blonde whispered while taking back her hand. "I'm sorry Jane."

Jane almost suffocated at the loss of contact. "Don't be sorry. Never say you're sorry again. Please." Jane finally turned to face Maura who recognized what Jane had been hiding. A soft smile appeared on her face.

Despite not wanting to initiate a thing, Jane reached for Mauras hand again. "It feels so good when we touch." She whispered and Mauras face brightened.

"Have you?" the doc asked shyly. Jane didn't understand the question. "Cheated on her I mean?" Maura asked after visibly working up some courage. Jane could see that the doc was holding her breath. The documentary was long forgotten, and Jane took a deep breath before replying.

"No, never. We're not… I mean…" Jane stumbled over the words that wanted to fall out of her mouth. The words she couldn't hold back. "We're not married. I wear this ring because I was tired of women or man bugging me." Jane managed to form a coherent sentence at last. She already braced for being thrown out of Mauras room, but the doc smiled calmly.

"I assumed as much. You are too similar to be a couple. Only opposites really attract each other." She chuckled and Janes eyes widened.

"You knew?" she asked, and Maura nodded. "Well, I didn't know for sure, but from the scientific point of view you couldn't be together. Human beings always look for a mate that is different than them." The doc explained.

"But why did you play along?" Jane asked flabbergasted.

"Because it was actually a bit funny to watch you squirm and bicker. And because I wasn't sure."

"So, you're not mad?" Jane was still surprised.

"NO, are you mad at me? I mean you must have seen as well that all the women I tagged along weren't really my type. They couldn't be when they are similar to me."

Jane shook her head. "Well, I had a feeling…" she chuckled and squeezed Mauras hand. Maura squeezed back.

"So, funny huh?" Jane asked after a while and Maura laughed while turning to face her.

"Yes, sometimes very."

"Which part?" Jane asked with a grin.

"Oh god, where do I start? The way you fought over the lead when dancing amused me a lot. Or your bickering. You were very good at times though. There were times I was close to believing you." Maura admitted.

Jane shook her head and laughed along. "Yes. Riley can be very bossy." She rolled her eyes and Maura made a face. "So can you Jane."

Jane feigned to be offended but at the smile from Maura, she couldn't hold it for long. "All right. I .."

Suddenly Mauras finger was on her lips. "No more I'm sorry, remember?" she whispered, and Jane felt the finger move gently over her lips which took any possible worlds away anyways. She slightly opened her mouth and sucked Mauras finger inside. The blonde moaned silently. And now Jane shifted as well to be closer to the doc. "Hi" she whispered softly while her hand took a lost strand of blonde hair and pushed it behind the ears as they met on a new level.

"Hey" Maura whispered back with a smile. Jane closed her eyes and prayed to God that it would be okay. Then she suddenly stopped and opened her eyes again. "Please tell me that youre not planning on leaving the country in the near future." She whispered and Maura chuckled. "No Jane. I won't. Not if you're here." The words were spoken lightly but with a sincerity that made Janes heart jump. "Okay. Then I might kiss you now if you haven't got any objections." She said in a low, dark voice. The blonde cupped Janes cheeks. "I won't pull away this time. I promise." Maura whispered and Jane nodded, taking a deep breath. "Okay." She said. Then she closed her eyes again and moved closer to Maura. she could already feel the other woman's breath against her lips when someone pounded hard against the door.

"Jane? Jane!" Rileys voice was sounding hectic. Jane turned her face and exhaled. Mauras hand stroke her cheeks. "Another time." The blonde said with asmile, and they sat up.

Jane jumped off the bed to open the door. "What's going on Riley?" she asked and saw that Rileys face was serious. "One of the detectives got killed."

That was enough for her and Maura to get dressed decently again and follow Riley down the hallway to the elevator.

"Someone called because they heard a shot. The security guard went to check and found the dead detective. You must have given quite some impression because they came to your room to fetch you. No one else knows. Its our case so far."

Jane made a humming sound. A murder case could indeed spice up her stay here although she doubted that the local police would let it happen. Tomorrow at the latest she would be dammed to sit in the lectures again.

But for now, she was excited because for the first time she would see the doc at work. She winked at Maura as they followed Riley to the victims room. Maura carrying her medical bag. Maura replied with a smile while Riley observed them with interest.

"So, it did work?" she whispered to Jane as they were taking a first look at the crime scene. They were standing in the victim's bathroom while Maura was busy doing an exam on the victim which lay on the bed with a straight gunshot wound to the forehead.

Jane wiggled her eyebrows and chuckled. "But you could have interrupted us a few minutes later." She said to Riley who shrugged. "You're set on the right path. That's all that matters right now." She padded Janes shoulders.

Jane threw a look through the bathroom door at Maura who was taking the temperature of the dead detective. "Has anyone informed the local police?" she asked, and Riley stated that she had already called it in. But that it seemed that dispatch couldn't reach their own detectives. The dispatcher mused that they had gone out to have a drink with some colleagues from the conference and Jane rolled her eyes. "All of them?" she asked incredulously, and Riley smirked. "Yes. All of them."

The ME seemed to have joined them, so Jane took the lead with a shrug. Maura was reluctant to give up a time or matter of death which surprised Jane. "Oh, come on. I can see a gunshot wound right there and the shot had been called in. It all matches." She stated teasingly, but Maura wasn't up to jokes. "I hardly ever guess." Maura stated, presenting a new side to Jane.

Riley chuckled at their exchange which ended it some flirting. "I swear, the two of you really belong together!" she stated and earned some surprised glances from Jane and Maura. Jane shook her head at the comment. She had already told Riley that Maura knew about their little game.

R&I

It was about three hours later, when they had found some trustworthy and sober person from the ME's office to bring the body to the morgue. Jane had already informed the victims' family and they had sent the collected evidence to the local crime lab.

Now they were standing in the hallway in front of Mauras room. It was already late, and Jane didn't know what to say or do. Neither did Maura. They locked eyes and then giggled. "Shit, I'm not good at that." Jane admitted with a slight blush and Maura agreed. "Want to come in?" she asked shyly. "You know, just sleep…" her voice trailed off and Jane could hear the hopeful tone.

She smiled and nodded before following Maura into the hotel room. They changed separately back into their night cloths and got back to bed.

As they lay in the dark, Jane listened to Mauras breathing. It was deep and calm. Jane was almost convinced that the good doc had already fallen asleep when she suddenly felt the hand moving back under her cover and touch her. She smiled into the dark and closed her eyes, squeezing Mauras hand. How could she feel so safe because of this gesture? These were her last amazed thoughts before falling asleep.