Jane quickly and efficiently donned her flak jacket and ballistic helmet. She checked that her firearm and pepper spray were secured to her belt and quietly accepted a handful of plastic zip ties that could be used as temporary cuffs. She listened intently as the FBI incident commander explained that Walter Reed Medical center had been overtaken by an armed mob who were desperate to get doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

While her fellow agents were finishing readying themselves for what was to come, Jane couldn't help thinking about how she ended up here in the first place. One year ago, she had quit BPD and joined the FBI as an instructor. She finally caved to her mother's nagging and worrying and her own sense of guilt about the dangers of her job and found a much safer career in law enforcement. Almost immediately after arriving in Washington DC, Jane regretted her decision. She missed her job and family in Boston. However, she missed Maura most of all.

Jane and Maura had spent a few wonderful weeks together in Paris before Jane left for Washington D.C. Jane had expected that this vacation would have been a turning point in their relationship. That they would reach a moment when neither women could continue to deny their relationship went beyond friendship. Surprisingly that moment never came. The two had explored Paris and had a wonderfully bittersweet several weeks. Then Jane got on an airplane and had left to start a new chapter of her life. Jane had expected to be able to visit Boston during long weekend s and Holidays. Instead, 2 months after she arrived in Washington a pandemic ripped through the country upending all travel plans.

Jane spent the last ten months connecting with those Bostonians she loved through email, zoom and FaceTime calls. She hadn't been able to return to Boston once, not even to attend the funeral of her great aunt Sofia. Soon the FBI changed most of its courses to a virtual format and Jane went weeks at a time without an in person human interaction.

Jane couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the situation she found herself in. She had sacrificed a year of happiness in Boston with her family, friends and Maura for a safer job. Yet here she was gearing up for an assault against a desperate and armed mob of Americans after the FBI called out all local personnel with field experience. She had even been on a video call with her mother and Maura when the call had come in from the FBI and Jane knew that both were now worrying about her from afar. Or really as Maura would say from 437.7 miles away.