Kent:

The energy at BPD had shifted. At least, it had in the homicide department. As soon as they had accepted that Korsak was retiring, Jane announced that she was moving to DC to pursue a different career. Maura was taking sabbatical to try and write. And that left Kent feeling conflicted. His friends were leaving. Of course, he could make more, or hang out with other departments within BPD. And he was taking over for Dr. Isles, which would give him immense experience in the field. But something about the first group who had gotten to know him all leaving at once had him feeling unsteady.

They had been spending their nights at the Dirty Robber, reminiscing. The first few days, he stayed away, giving them the space they would need to move on. But on the fourth day, Jane called him out in the autopsy room, turning her attention from Maura to address him. "Why haven't you stopped by even once this week?" Her hands rested on her belt, and her eyebrows raised, waiting for his response.

"I didn't want to intrude."

Jane snorted, her voice getting quieter. "Well that's a first." Despite her words, her face bore the hint of a smile, made brighter when the Medical Examiner she had interrupted began to giggle.

"Oh, come on, Kent. You don't intrude." Maura added in, her head tilted as she looked at her colleague.

Jane relaxed her stance, her arms falling to her sides. "In fact, you're the only one who hasn't come. It feels like someone's missing."

"That was never my intention," Kent replied, shuffling the file in his hands back and forth, "I'll stop by after work tonight."

Jane grinned. "We'll save you a seat." At her words Kent nodded, walking forward to give Dr. Isles the test results she needed, before leaving the room and the two women alone again.

They called it an early night. The case was solved, no one had called, and everyone had been putting in overtime, so there was no harm in going home early. Kent went straight to the Dirty Robber from work, hoping to not be late. Frankie and Nina beat everyone there, grabbing a table towards the back. They waved him over with a smile, Nina even standing to offer him a hug. "Glad you finally came!"

Kent embraced Nina before sitting in a free seat next to Frankie. "Yeah, sorry for the miscommunication." At Frankie's confused look, Kent elaborated. "I thought it was only family."

At this Nina laughed. "I'm here."

"You're dating Frankie."

"Korsak." Her partner chimed in.

"Owns the bar."

"Do you think that means anything on nights like these?" Frankie paused to take a sip of his beer. "Besides, you have put up with us for long enough. You're family." Frankie waved down the waitress and pointed at their new addition, prompting her to come over and take Kent's drink order.

Kent took a moment to let the Detective's words sink in. This, he was finding, was the beauty of BPD. As an impulsive kid who said things and acted without thinking, fitting in had been hard. Here, he had found a group that didn't judge him for his quirks, that wanted him to tag along. It was nice to know that his inclusion would continue even with all the changes coming up. Looking around, he took a sip of his whiskey. "So where are the girls?"

"They'll be here," Nina answered, looking toward the door, "Maura makes Jane pack a box first."

"Sounds about right." Kent responded with a chuckle. "They really do have a peculiar relationship."

"I'll say." Angela's voice came from behind him, making him jump. She pulled out the chair next to Kent, sitting in it and leaning toward Frankie and Nina. "Did you know that Maura has already mapped the route from Boston to DC?"

"Of course she has." Frankie answered, grabbing a roll from the center of the table. "She's not gonna be okay with phone calls and Skype. Too impersonal."

"I'm not even okay with that." Angela answered, scooting her chair to make room for the newly arrived Korsak. "But I know this is a good move for Jane, and I want her to be happy."

"Yes, but you don't love her." Kent said it before thinking, as per usual, and every face at the table looked at him with eyebrows furrowed. "I mean, of course you love her, you're her Mother. Sorry. I just mean, you don't love Jane like Maura does." Instead of the shock he was expecting, everyone at the table nodded in agreement. It brought him comfort to realize that the little glances he'd noticed, their closeness, their body language, was not imagined by him.

Before Kent could elaborate, the front door opened and Maura walked in. She greeted them all with a smile, her eyes showing a hint of sadness, and she took a seat next to Frankie. She addressed her colleague first, placing her purse on the floor by her feet. "Kent! I'm glad you finally came!"

"Of course. Again, sorry for the misunderstanding." Moments later, Jane entered, the last to arrive, and took the last seat between Korsak and Maura. "And since I've missed a few meetings, the first round is on me."

"I knew we invited you for a reason!" Jane grinned and waved down the waitress, who came right over with her regular beer. "Sorry it took us so long today. Maura was helping me downsize my box of shoes."

"Well, it doesn't make sense to keep shoes without matches." The Doctor was defensive, but had a hint of a giggle in her voice.

"Why do you have so many mismatched shoes, Janie?" Angela's voice had a tone only a mother could achieve, which made Kent smile into his drink.

"I think a lot of them are left over from when I was on the drug unit?"

It was his pragmatic boss who asked the question on Kent's mind. "What was it about the drug unit that made you lose so many shoes?"

"Yeah, did you lose them chasing down suspects?" Angela asked, still concerned about the mismatched shoes.

"No. I never wanted to wear my nice heels, you know, just in case. So I had a lot of cheap ones." She grimaced. "Very uncomfortable. I shopped around for some that would fit better. So I ended up with a ton of inexpensive heels. I haven't gone through them in ages. I honestly think I lost most of them in the fire."

"Well, now you get to leave town with a much lighter load." The honey-haired woman tipped her head. "You're welcome." This elicited a snort from Jane, her eyes rolling slightly as she took a sip of her beer.

Kent, being one of the newcomers to the group, hadn't heard of Jane's time in the drug unit. And he still wasn't sure how the drug unit led to more shoes. "Wait, why did you need so many heels for the drug unit, but get to wear your trademark boots in homicide?"

"I had to do buy busts, and had to dress the part. That's how Maura and I met."

The Doctor's hazel eyes grew wide and her mouth fell. "Don't tell him that story."

"What story?" Kent asked, his interest piqued.

The answer came from Angela. "Maura thought Jane was a hooker."

As Maura sputtered to find her words, Kent and Nina watched with amusement, clearly the only ones out of the loop. The stunned Doctor turned to her friend, her voice high-pitched and playful. "I can't believe you told your Mother!"

"Well of course I did!" Jane shouted, glancing in Angela's direction. "I can't lie to my Mother! What kind of person do you think I am?" This caused Frankie and Maura to laugh, with Angela watching them, a knowing look on her face. After a few moments, she refocused her attention on Kent. "So the first time we met was at Division One, and Maura thought I was really a hooker. But about two months later I was promoted to homicide. My first day, Maura came upstairs and said something to Korsak about meeting the new Detective. She walked in, saw me at the desk, and immediately turned around and headed for the elevator."

Maura laughed, her face turning red. "I was mortified!"

Jane continued, "Two weeks later we caught our first big case. On the scene she barely talked to me. She addressed Korsak more often than not. And she wouldn't look me in the eye. I tried not to let it bother me, but let's be honest, it bothered me. So Korsak and I started working this case the best way we could. Figuring out known associates, tracking down threats, mapping her movements, that sort of thing. And at some point he tells me to go see if Maura had found anything."

Korsak leaned forward, excited to add his own part to the story. "Jane was like, 'don't send me down to her! She thinks I'm a prostitute, she won't even look at me!'" His voice was a higher pitch as he mocked his former partner, making Frankie laugh and Jane glare.

"Are we done with your spot on impersonation?" She asked before continuing, waiting for the laughter of her colleagues to die down. "So, I went down to autopsy, walked in, and said something about being sent by Korsak to get information. Maura started rattling off time of death, potential murder weapons, and possible defensive wounds. Very clinical, with a lot of words I didn't understand. In the middle of this, she stops, looks at me, and said, 'you made a convincing prostitute.'"

"No way!" The interruption came from Nina, whose mouth was wide open as her eyes flicked between the two women.

Kent addressed his boss. "You didn't."

"I didn't mean it like that!"

Jane laughed, continuing. "See, now that I know you, I get that you didn't mean it like that. But at the time, I was wondering who died and made you Queen Bitch. I managed to hold my tongue, and forced out an, 'excuse me?'" She refocused her attention on Kent. "So now Maura started sputtering, apologizing, and she started to get splotchy, and I knew something was wrong. So I offered to start over."

Maura joined in with a laugh, her face returning to it's normal color. "I made her leave the autopsy room, and told her to give me a little bit."

Jane nodded. "I must have stood outside for five minutes or so. When I came back in, I wasn't sure what was going to happen. Maura was standing at her computer, looking at a chart. So I walked over, held out a hand, and introduced myself."

"And just like that, you forgot her assertion from earlier?" The Scotsman watched them as he asked, watching as they shared a look. Jane resolved, Maura curious. He wondered how much they talked about this meeting.

"Honestly, it still stung. But I think it was what she said afterward that helped me understand what she was trying to say."

"I told her that I had looked her up. That her conviction rate was impressive, and that she must have been convincing undercover." Maura took ownership of the narrative, looking at her friend, watching Jane's kind smile as she remembered. "I think we began mentoring each other first. Jane learned a lot about science from me. I learned how to talk to people from her. The friendship blossomed from there." They both shared a soft smile, a tad bit sad, before turning back to their companions.

Kent made sure to give them a moment before speaking. "Well, that is the most interesting origin story I've ever heard. You two should have a comic book."

"Oh! I have one of those!" Jane shouted to the laughs of her colleagues. This led to the reminiscing Kent was expecting, some of their favorite cases. Angela went back to working after listening to them talk about the clown case. Korsak left after Jane and Maura talked about cutting open Maura's leg, citing Kiki waiting for him at home. Frankie and Nina left after recounting the case at the Pilgrims stadium. Which soon left only the two women, and Kent at that little table. He hadn't realized the predicament that would put him in until it was too late.

"Kent." His boss looked at him, her face serious. "With only a couple weeks left, maybe you want to finish some unfinished business?" Her eyes darted to the woman next to her, then back to him.

Jane rolled her eyes. "Maur, no."

"Well, I'm trying to figure out why he expressed interest in you, then never acted on it!"

"I'm not interested in Jane." The reply was more forceful than he intended, and the Detective faked a hurt expression. "No offense."

Maura looked between the two of them, puzzled. "Well then, why did you ask me if you could date someone from the police department?"

It hit him in an instant what she was referring to, and now he had to scramble to figure out what to say. "Not because I wanted to date Jane."

"Well then, to whom were you referring?"

His reluctance to speak egged the Detective on, who leaned forward with interest. "Yeah, whom?"

"We can keep a secret."

"I'm leaving soon, no one in DC is gonna care. Just tell us who you like!"

The two women egged him on like schoolgirls and drowned out his train of thought. He couldn't tell them that he had asked to figure out their relationship. And he couldn't think of a plausible interest other than the one he'd suppressed for over a year. As their chorus of voices grew louder he fought to hear his own consciousness, the voices inside telling him to lie. The problem was, the two women were too loud to let him figure out the name of any other female Detectives. So for the first time, he let his secret slip. "Frankie. I wanted to ask out Frankie."

Their voices stopped abruptly. Maura's mouth hung open in shock, her eyes wide as she searched his face. Jane however, sat straight as a board, her mouth pursed shut as she glanced over at her friend. Kent began counting the seconds, waiting for them to speak.

It was Jane who broke first. The Detective flashed him a soft smile, dropping her shoulders and leaning forward. "Trust me, after living with my brother for way too long, you dodged a bullet." At her response, he let out the breath he'd been holding, allowing himself to laugh with the two women. "I mean, he had all these rules, took super long showers, and still never told me where his secret drawer is!"

"He didn't tell me either. And I'm an excellent secret keeper." The ME punctuated her sentence with a sip of her wine, a knowing glance shot toward her best friend.

"Speaking of that," Kent started, leaning forward, "you can keep that one, right?"

She answered in the affirmative. "My lips are sealed."

"Nothing against him, I just don't want to make things weird. He's a good friend." The two women nodded, and he noticed the way Maura pursed her lips together, like she was holding something back. "Besides, I have the utmost respect for Nina, and their relationship."

Jane nodded, her fingers running along the bottom of her beer bottle. "I get it. Your secret is safe with us." She finished the last sip, and tapped the table twice with her free hand. "As much as I would love to stay and chat, I really should pack some more things. And throw out some more shoes." She pushed the empty bottle, turning her attention first to Kent. "I hope you'll join us again tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't miss it."

"Good." She turned to Maura. "And I'll see you bright and early."

Maura nodded. "Yes, I'll get coffee and be over around eight. Drive safe, Jane."

Kent definitely noticed the Detective squeeze Maura's shoulder as she left, her fingers waiting as long as possible to let go. The soft smile reserved almost exclusively for Maura, with just a hint of sadness in her dark eyes. He observed Maura watch the door for several seconds after her friend left, seeming far away although she sat only inches from him. And his question was out before he could stop it. "Have you told her you love her?"

Maura took in this question like she took in new data, her eyebrows pulled together as she gazed just past him, trying to put the info in line with the narrative in her brain. "I tell Jane that I love her all the time. It's perfectly natural to be affectionate with your friends."

"No, I mean," he paused, wondering for a moment if he should end the conversation before it was too late, "have you told Jane that you are in love with her?"

Again, she took in his words, trying to make them make sense. For a split second, Kent saw acceptance, her jaw set, her eyes widened. But soon that look became anger, with glaring eyes and a hard swallow. "I am not in love with Jane."

"Well then, you've got me fooled. And I assume you've fooled yourself."

Her eyes widened at his hesitancy to back down. "Well, you know what they say about those who assume." She finished her glass of wine in one sip, pushing her chair back simultaneously. "I don't think it's fair of you to assume how I feel, Dr. Drake. And I don't need to sit here and listen to it. See you in the office." With that, she turned and stormed out of the bar.

It didn't take long for Angela to come over, using his tab as an excuse to pry. "What happened?"

"I pointed out that she loves Jane."

Angela started laughing, the high-pitched sound helping Kent feel calm, despite his realization that work would be tough the next day. "I always wondered who would break it to them first." She patted him on the back before taking his card. "You'll be alright."


The next day, Kent went out of his way to avoid Dr. Isles. If she entered the room he was in, he'd leave through the opposite door. If he couldn't leave, he would study results on his computer, so he looked busy. He spent more time in the bathroom in one day than he had for the entire week. Towards the end of the day, DNA results came in. Matter found under the fingernails of a John Doe. He could have just emailed them to her, kept his contact at a minimum. But a small part of him wanted to see how much trouble he was actually in. So this he carried into her office, to deliver in person.

Dr. Isles was sitting at her desk, reading something on her computer. He knocked, making her look up, and waved the file in the air as he entered. "DNA results from under the victim's fingernails."

"Thank you." She held out a hand for the file, took a moment to look it over, and reached for her phone. "I'll forward this to Jane." Her response was curt, but she didn't seem angry. Thinking he had overreacted, Kent nodded and started to leave. "Wait." Her voice was more forceful, and made him turn around. Dr. Isles' face was set, very little emotion showing as she gestured for a chair. "Please sit." Kent did as she asked, his hands folded in his lap, and awaited whatever she was going to tell him.

Dr. Isles took a moment, looking past him as she gathered her thoughts. "Well first of all, I owe you an apology. I think I implied that you were an ass."

As she spoke, her shoulders fell, making her appear less harsh, and making Kent relax in turn. "You did. But you were right, I shouldn't assume."

"You shouldn't. We don't leap to conclusions in our line of work. We wait for the science to determine the facts, and draw our conclusions from there."

"Absolutely," Kent nodded, "I hear you loud and clear."

Dr. Isles gave him a decisive nod as she sat back in her seat. "Well, I was up all night analyzing the data, and it appears that you were right. I'm in love with Jane."

Kent had to suppress a giggle at her words, somewhat surprised it took her this long to figure it out. As he did he noticed the slump of her shoulders and the hint of bags under her eyes, remnants of her sleepless night. "Can I ask you what the deciding data points were?"

"Well, she's very symmetrical, so aesthetically pleasing. I've always known she's attractive." It was the most logical place to start, and her eyes drifted as she figured out what to say. "She has this incredible way of understanding me that I have always admired. Very few have stuck around to help me in social situations I don't understand. She's selfless and brave, in ways I wish I could be. She takes care of me." Dr. Isles' face broke into a wide grin. "Her smile is infectious. She is infectious. I just want to spend as much time as I can with her. Everything makes sense with her. She's the only one who can touch me when I'm very upset, and she can calm me down. And then I started really thinking." She paused, her head coming down as she looked at Kent and addressed him for the first time since she started talking about Jane. "I'm sad Korsak is retiring. The squad room will be different. Our lives may drift apart. And I'm okay with that. It's natural. But imagining life here without Jane," a pause, her fists curling on top of the desk, "it puts knots in my stomach. It feels like I'm losing a limb, and things won't be the same. Does that make sense?"

Kent nodded, understanding exactly what she was saying. "Your heart is breaking. It makes perfect sense." Kent watched her nod and swallow, seemingly relieved that what she was feeling made sense. "So what do you plan to do about it?"

"What can I do?" Her hands turned upward and her voice cracked. "This opportunity is wonderful for her. It's perfect for her family, it gets her out of harm's way, and she earned it. If I tell her, and she backs down, does that make me selfish? Or what if I tell her, and it ruins everything? And I lose this friendship, and the family that I've been graciously allowed to join? It's a terrible thought to lose Jane, but I can't also lose Angela, Frankie, Tommy, and TJ." Her thumb kept tapping on her fingers, counting people she cared about but didn't name out loud. People connected to her through Jane. "So I'm doing nothing. I'm pretending I never realized I love her. I'll support her as she moves, call her daily, and hope that she doesn't forget about me as she builds a new life."

Kent could hear the anguish in his boss' voice, the finality of her decision weighing him down. This wasn't what he intended when he asked his question the previous night. "She won't forget you." It was the best he could offer to comfort her. "I suspect she feels the same."

Dr. Isles let out a soft chuckle, shaking her head. "No, Jane has only ever been interested in men. Even now, she's been chatting with some agent out in DC."

"I'm sorry, Maura."

"Don't be." She laughed, flashing him a knowing look. "This is why we shouldn't fall for straight people."

Kent laughed along with her. "We never learn." Kent gave his boss time to relax, telling her jokes and stories to cheer her up. They soon switched gears, discussing everything they had learned about the case, Kent leaving her office with new orders for tests to run and a promise he would see her that night at the bar. He did join them again. Armed with new information, he watched them interact. Maura's slight hesitation to touch Jane, like she was second guessing her every move. Jane, oblivious to the fact that Maura was studying her, the curves of her face, her expressions as she talked. And the deepening heartache written all over Maura's face.

What had he done?