When Jane walked into the bullpen the next day, Frost was already filling the gaps to solve the fraud. There was a man with a dark trench coat sitting at her desk who presented himself as Mac McGuire. He was from the FBI and would take over the case of the fraud entirely. Which meant that it was off their desk. It was to be expected and Jane only hoped that they would do their job and that all participants would end up convicted for their crime.
She watched silently how he packed all the files into several boxes without losing any words and wondered if he had known Gabriel. Thinking of Gabriel, she realized that his parents had never called or texted her back. Her relation to them had never been great to be honest. And in hindsight she understood that he had certainly complained about her to his mother all the time like he had tried with Angela.
The guilt about letting him drive that day was subsiding. He had always had his head, Frankie was right. And she hadn't insisted because she had known that there was no use in doing so. The only thing that really bugged her was that Lucas mother had had to die because of his ego.
From what they knew she had been a good mother, taking good care of her son. She had done everything which lay in her power to give him a loving and caring home.
Maura and she would give him the best chance of a good life she swore to herself while waiting for the agent to be ready. Frost and she filled him in and gave a short summary of their findings. Then Jane grabbed her jacket and was off to the morgue.
"Later at the Robber?" Korsak asked and Jane nodded. "But only for one or two drinks. I don't want Ma to move in because of sitting the kids so often." She joked. "Sure. And bring your doctor." The elder detective replied with a wink.
"She's not my doctor." Jane laughed. "She's my girl!" Janes voice was proud and full of joy as she said the words.
"Who is your girl?" Maura asked while walking into the bullpen, eyeing the FBI agent. She shot Jane a quizzical look and Jane shrugged. "You are my girl." She replied instead of answering Maura's question and walked over to the doc to link arms.
"The FBI is taking over the case. Typical for them to wait until someone else solves it." Jane stated while they walked towards the elevator. Maura huffed in sympathy. So far, their life had just been busy, and Jane hoped to get a few days off to establish some routine. After realizing the previous night that she had never really gotten to enjoy the fact that Maura was finally in Boston she had decided to ask Cavanaugh for help.
First, they needed to move her boxes into the house, they also still had to unpack Maura's boxes and raise two kids at the same time. With the case being out of their way they should have plenty of time during the week. Even more if Cavanaugh had a good day and gave them one or two days off Jane mused. Which meant that they should have settled by the upcoming weekend.
There was another task though which weighed her down immensely. And she was not looking forward to it. Marcella needed to know about her father's death. Despite her being young and he not really being in her picture for a few months didn't mean, that she could keep it to herself.
Maura squeezed her hand gently, as if feeling her tension and Jane looked up into the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen in her life. The green sparkles in between the hazel color went along with the soft and encouraging smile.
Jane took a deep breath and nodded. Her hand quickly squeezed Maura's in return before she let go of it. "Korsak asked if we'd come to the dirty robber tonight for a celebration about the solved case." Her dark voice filled the elevator as they drove downwards. "I told him that we would come but only for one or two drinks. Is this okay?"
Maura said that it was okay, and they exchanged a quick kiss before exiting the steel cabin.
R&I
The night started slow. Jane and Maura took their time to bathe the kids and read both a good night tale, before getting ready for their night out. Angela watched them in silence as they put on their shoes.
Jane threw a look into the mirror and thought that they made a nice couple. She caught one of Maura's soft smiles and reflected it. "Just enjoy your night out girls." Angela stated and hugged them briefly before letting them leave the house.
"Call if you need help." Maura told the matriarch who rolled her eyes. "Have you met the three kids I raised? These two" her index finger pointed upstairs to the sleeping kids "are pure angels compared to mine." She chuckled.
"Ma! Come on, we weren't so bad!" Jane defended herself and her brothers and gave in when Maura gently tugged on her sleeve.
Despite joking, it hadn't escaped that her mother was unusually silent this night. It made her wonder if something bad had happened. Or maybe it was just the situation which was dragging her down. Since joining the BPD, Jane had always heard from the matriarch that the job wasn't good for her. It had taken her several years to find out that the real reason for her mums nagging about the job was a deep fear to lose her.
Her job was dangerous, there was no doubt. And she had done stupid things which had put herself in danger. But since Marcella had come into her life, she was less reckless and selfish. She was still alive. Yet her ex-husband had died. It didn't matter that he had died in the car accident and not while doing his job. Jane mused that the fact that he had died young had triggered the fear in Angela to lose her kids before losing her own life.
Being a parent now, Jane could fully understand it. But she had no idea what to do. She wouldn't give up her job, although becoming sergeant was already a step forward towards being less on the streets where the real shit happened. Yet, she would never be out of the shooting line completely. Was it fair to her mother? She couldn't tell.
She thought about all the other cops who put their lives in danger for the safety of the public. They all had Mothers, fathers, brothers sisters or families of their own. Her mind stopped abruptly in its tracks when she felt Maura staring at her.
"Are you okay Jane?" the doc asked and Jane almost nodded. Old Jane would have nodded for sure. But new Jane knew that she needed to talk about things. And most important: she knew that Maura would listen and take her worries seriously.
Hence, she took a deep breath and let her thoughts drop word by word from her lips. The doc listened carefully, nodding here and there and resting her hand reassuringly on Janes thigh while the detective spoke for a while.
"I actually had the same thought about Angela." Maura began slowly and Jane bit her lips. "Maybe it would be helpful if we invited her to dinner tomorrow. We could talk to her."
Jane nodded. "We could cook together." She suggested and Maura smiled. Jane felt her heartbeat go faster like every time she made Maura smile that way. And she knew that the doc loved when they cooked together.
"Sounds like a plan. Maybe it will cheer her up." Maura stated making a pause. By now, Jane knew her well enough to recognize that Maura was not done yet. "Have you heard from Gabriel's parents? Will you attend his funeral?"
Jane took a deep and calming breath before blowing out the air in form of a sigh. "No. I think I try to reach them tomorrow. But I have the feeling that they are avoiding me. They wont have me at the funeral because I made their son unhappy." Now it was Janes turn to pause and Maura waited patiently. "I think I will not go to the funeral. But I will go and visit his grave with Marcella. I need to tell her."
"Jane…." Maura sighed and squeezed the warm thigh. "We…. You don't have to carry the weight of the world alone. If you feel that its better if you do it alone, do it alone. But its okay if you need support. It's hard I know. But you are not alone."
Jane wanted to cry at these words. You are not alone she repeated in her head, mesmerized about how real this was. Many people had said the same to her over the years. But only few had stuck to it. And she was sure of one thing: Maura Isles meant what she said. She would be there. And it would be okay to be weak.
"I would love you to help me." She said after clearing her throat and she felt the doc nod in the passenger's seat. "It will be okay Jane. Maybe not right away. But eventually…" Maura's voice trailed off when they reached the parking lot of the dirty robber.
Jane cut off the engine and stepped out of the car. She waited for Maura to pad around and was glad when the doc pulled her into a tight hug. "I love you." She whispered and both smiled. "I love you too Jane." Maura replied.
