Hey Guys! I hope y'alls quarantine is going well. I'm slowly going stir crazy. I've been quarantined since Feb (I'm currently stationed in Italy). So its been pretty crazy over here. And one of the main things that I miss is pizza. I would probably kill for a homemade Naples pizza. It's like crack to me. (I'm definitely not an addict or anything. But no shame here.) Well anyways... better be hitting the old dusty trail... lol. Sorry for the wait. I also definitely didn't edit this as I should have...so sorry for that as well.
Here's the new chapter!
*throws chapter and goes back to blanket cocoon watching Rizzles reruns* :*
The office Jane worked in was bright and cheery despite all of the depressing and horrifying cases that come these desks on a daily basis. The windows allowed the natural light from the sun to flow through. The walls were painted a light blue and the furniture looked comfortable. 'How many distressed people sat in these same seats on what was the worst day of their lives?' Maura thought.
Jane placed her hand on the back of Maura's back, trying to gently get her attention. "Maura, you can sit here while I'm talking to my boss. This is my partner Barry Frost. He's gonna sit with you okay?"
"Jane don't leave me, please." Maura whispered. She didn't want to be alone. She wanted to be back in the apartment with Jane.
"Maura, I promise I will be back as fast as I can." Jane tried. "Frost is my best friend and I trust him with my life. He's a good guy Maura, I swear."
Maura looked at the ground and nodded. She walked towards the large plush couch under the window. She looked so small on the couch. Jane walked to her and knelt in front of her. She put her hand right on Maura's knee. "Maura." she tried. "I will be right back. If you need me for any reason, tell Frost and he will come get me." Jane held up her left hand with her pinky finger extended. Maura looked at it for a moment before she hooked her pinky around Jane's. Jane smiled and gave Maura's finger a gently squeeze and kissed the back of her hand. She released Maura's finger and stood up. Frost was watching the entire scene with confusion.
"Frost, you don't leave her side for a second, do you understand?" Jane growled as she headed towards Cavanaugh's office.
"I got you Jane." Frost responded took a seat on the couch. Far enough so he wasn't in Maura's personal space but close enough so she knew he was there.
Sitting on the couch, Maura watched Jane leave the room. Her partner Frost is still seated at the other end of the couch. If Jane could burst into flames just because of someone look, she would be an out of control fire by the way Maura is looking at her. Her eyes have unshed tears just waiting to paint her cheeks and her gaze is fixed. Almost looking past Jane, locked in her own head with no way out.
Frost just sits there. Not really sure what just went down between his partner and the girl to his right. He has seen Jane act a certain way with victims but he's never seen her get attached like she has with Maura. 'I mean the kiss on the back of the hand was way out of character' he though, 'This is so not good.' Not long after Frost finally gets the courage to acknowledge Maura the annoying chirps of his phone start going off. He pulls it off of her belt and checks the screen. The bright white bold letters stand out against the stark black background, 'REMEY'.
"Why now?" he mumbles before answering the phone with a questioning "hello".
"We're in the squad room. On the couch in the back corner." He looks over to Maura to see if she's still there. She looks like a statue, almost not real. Nothing has changed since Jane left. "Alright. We'll see you soon."
"Hey Maura", Frost tried to get her attention. He wanted to explain what was about to happen before it was just thrust upon her. He was also secretly hoping that any minute now Jane would come out of Cavanaugh's office and be able to help him with this situation. The minutes ticked away on the clock and with every passing second it seemed that they would have to do this meeting without Jane.
Frost saw Remey enter the room before she found him. He stood up and approached her. "Hey Remey"
"Hi Frost." She looked behind him towards the couch, "is that her?"
Frost nodded, "yeah that's her. Jane is with Cavanaugh right now. Can this wait until she's finished?"
"Remey shook her head. "I just walked past the office. She's gotta take this new guy around so I don't think we have time to wait that long. I really want to get this started and help this woman. Plus we have to follow protocol even if Jane doesn't like it."
Frost sighed, "I understand. I'll introduce you to her." The pair
"I'm sorry about this Maura, but this is my friend Detective Marissa Remey. She wants to ask you a few questions." Frost said apologetically as he approached the couch. Marissa stood next to Frost. She was a small woman, around Maura's height. She wore a similar suit like Jane. But she wasn't Jane. God, Maura wished that Jane would walk into the room again and take her away from this place and these people.
"Remey", Marissa answered the phone. "Okay, we will head over there."
"Frost, Grant has a room for us. Lets head that way. I'll find time to talk to Rizzoli later." Marissa addressed him and smiled softly back at Maura. 'Room? Talk to Jane later?' Maura thought. She was confused. Jane said she would be on this couch until she returned from her meeting and then they would go. She never once mentioned having to talk to some stranger or even go somewhere that Jane had no idea about.
"Maura, its okay. They just want to talk to you." Frost addressed her calmly. "Come on."
'Jane trusts him. You can trust him, Maura', she tried to remind herself as she stood from the couch and followed the woman out of the room.
The room this detective led her to was labeled "Interrogation Room 3". Remey or whatever her name was, Maura really didn't catch it and she really didn't care, opened the door and gestered for her to enter. She looked up from the ground and saw a tall man standing in the corner furthest from her. She stopped in her tracks and refused to move. This guy was tall and had a don't mess with me attitude radiating off of him. It felt like Bryce was in the room again. She felt claustrophobic. She felt that she couldn't breathe. She couldn't feel anything until she felt someone put their hand on her back and gave her a gently nudge into the room.
"Please take a seat hun." Marissa motioned to the chair at the table at the middle of the room. Maura reluctantly walked to the chair and sits down. Her eyes are still casting down now looking at her fingers, nervously fidgeting. Marissa turns to Frost still at the door, "Thank you, Detective Frost. But we have it from here. We will call you when we are finished." Frost nodded and cast one last look at Maura, offering a small smile before stepping out of the doorway and closing the door.
Maura felt trapped. Her only exit is closed and she felt that even if she wanted to leave, she wouldn't be allowed to. "My name again is Detective Marissa Remey and this is my partner Detective Andrew Grant. We are part of the special victims unit." Marissa tried. She wanted to get some information before Jane came barging in. She wanted to help this girl. She truly did. But after talking with Frost, she realized that Maura didn't want help right now.
Maura didn't move. For a second Marissa didn't think she heard her so she asked a question to see if Maura would answer.
"Can you tell me your name...for the record?"
Maura opens her mouth slightly a few times, resembling a fish out of water before saying, "Where is Jane?"
"Detective Rizzoli is busy at the moment." Andrew grunted. " Can you please tell us your name?"
"I need Jane." Maura mumbled.
Andrew scoffed at this. He was not a fan of Jane Rizzoli. "What is your relationship with Jane Rizzoli?", he asked.
"How do you know her?"
"We have some information from Detective Frost but we need the full story from you."
"Did someone hurt you?"
Maura couldn't stop crying. The questions from this random man wouldn't stop. The room started spinning out of control and all she could hear was Bryce's voice in her head. The one permanent resident there who taunted her good days and made her bad days so much worse.
Out of nowhere the door flew open. Maura nearly jumped out of her seat at the noise. Still caught in the grasps of a flashback. The room was spinning. She wanted Jane.
"Whatever the hell is going on here ends now." Jane growled and walked into the room. The gruffness in Jane's voice and the door slamming shut pulled Maura right back to reality.
"Jane..." Maura's small voice echoed in Jane's head.
Jane turned her attention to Maura. In two steps she was kneeling in front of where she sat and gently grabbed her hands from their grip on the side of the chair. "Hey. Hey it's okay."
"I wanna go home, Jane" Maura quietly sobbed. Jane tried to rub soothing circles with her thumbs to the top of Maura's hands.
"I know baby. I know. We're going home. I promise"
"Detective she's not leaving" Grant spoke up and slammed her folder on the desk. Maura jumped at the noise, her grip on Jane's hands tightened significantly.
"The hell she is! Who the hell do you think you are? Hasn't she been through enough already? Can't you see how freaked out she is? You really this this is the best tactic Grant?" Jane roared.
"Jane" Marissa tried but Jane ignored her completely.
"Newsflash asshole, she not a fucking perp. She is a victim. You need to go back to the drug unit if you think this is how SVU works. I have half a mind to report your ass for what you are doing here."
"Jane"
"What Remey? You are no better than he is! You don't know the situation here. I know Frost called you. Great, but why not actually get the information from the person who found her. Why didn't you call me the moment Frost called you?" Jane started pacing. She was pissed. Remey was her friend. Why the hell would she go behind her back like this. "I would have given you my statement when I was ready. When Maura was ready."
"Jane, you know that's not how this needs to work..." the arguing continued. It was making Maura's head spin. She tried to block out the yelling. 'Jane's here', she thought, 'Jane's here and shes not going to let anything happen to you. She's going to take you home and that will be the end of it.'
Maura felt eyes on her. She couldn't tell from where but it was making her uncomfortable. She looked at all the detectives in the room but each had their focus on the other. The arguments and the yelling seemed to get louder and it was giving her a headache. She looked towards the door and froze. She physically couldn't breathe. She felt like someone had their hand around her throat and was squeezing the life out of her. She snapped her head forward. She did the first thing that came to her head.
"He's here" Maura stated quietly. Her brain was trying to comprehend what just happened. She turned her head to face the door again but she saw nothing through the window. 'Maybe I dreamed it' she thought. The rational part of her brain was screaming at her 'he's here. He's come for you. He's going to kill you. Run!'
Panic seeped into her bones and the tears felt like they would never end. She needed to get out of here. She stood up as calmly as she could. The sound of the metal chair scraping against the bare floor drew the detectives attention to her. "Maura?" Jane questioned.
"He's here, Jane."
Jane looked at her confused for a second, "Maura, who's here?"
The tears fell harder now. 'God why couldn't stop crying', she thought. She took a gulp of air, "Bryce".
"What the fuck", Jane mumbled and turned towards the door. "Stay here" she said to Maura, but she wasn't having any of it.
"Jane please no", Maura begged. She reached out for Jane's arm but she quickly walked out of reach. She gripped the door handle and yanked it open, leaving Maura for the second time today.
"Maura", Remey asked gently, "Who did you see?"
Maura shook her head. She had forgotten about the detectives still in the room. She didn't want to talk to them at all. Not earlier, and certainly not now.
"Maura, it's okay. You are safe here."
Maura laughed humorlessly and swiped at the tears on her cheeks, "safe? He's here and you're telling me I'm safe?". She wrapped her arms tightly around herself and kept her focus on the door waiting on Jane's return. The few seconds that Jane was gone felt like hours. Remey tried to get answers but Maura just ignored her. She was done with everything. She wanted to go home.
"No one is there Maur" Jane says once she's back in the room. Maura didn't waste a second and flung herself into Jane, who was definitely not ready for it and made a loud "oomf" sound.
"Jane I swear I saw him. Please. I just want to go home." Maura begged still crying and buried herself into Jane. Jane wrapped one hand around Maura's back and placed the other one on the back of her head.
She looked directly at Marissa as she answered Maura, "Shh...Okay Maura, we're leaving." She guided Maura towards the door. Shifting her slightly so she could see where she was going.
"Jane?", Remey called out to her as Jane flung the door open and ushered Maura through it.
Jane turned back to the detectives in the room, never taking her arms off of Maura. "If you want to continue this Remey, you will call me and we will do this at my place. Just you." She pointed her finger at remey and walked right out the door.
"Damn it", Remey mumbled under her breath as the door slammed closed.
They made their way up towards the squad room quietly. The walk there was agonizingly slow. Maura was looking at every corner and doorway for the figure of her worst nightmare.
Jane still had her arms around Maura when the pair walked into the doorway of the squad room. Maura stood firm and wouldn't move from the doorway so Jane didn't force her. She stuck her head in but didn't enter any further than that. Jane's eyes scanned the room for Frost and to her luck, or disappointment, she wasn't quiet sure yet, he wasn't there. She nodded to Korsak who acknowledged her presence. "Korsak, I'm going home. If someone needs me tell them to call me."
"No problem, Jane", Korsak waved her off and focused back on his computer. Something was off, he could feel it. But there was no sense in pushing a hellbent Jane to talk about it now. She would tell him when she was ready to.
Jane nodded and turned back to Maura and guided her to the elevator. Glaring at everyone who glanced their way. Maura didn't need this right now.
The door dinged and out walked Frost and Josh laughing over something that Jane really didn't care about. Maura looked up at the noise and froze. Her eyes went wide. She could feel her blood pumping throughout her body. Josh looked at her and a smile overtook his face briefly before it dropped and his expression became intense. Maura felt like she could throw up. She snapped her eyes down on the ground submissively. She knew that look. That look always meant, 'shut up and look pretty'. It meant 'if you say anything I will kill you'. It meant something bad was going to happen to her later. She subconsciously felt the tight grip on her hip that would usually accompany that look. No one seemed to notice the interaction. Jane looked to Maura and then back to the men exiting the elevator.
"Jane..." Frost said sadly as he and his guest made room for the women to get through.
"Save it. Come Maura." Jane said and guided Maura into the elevator.
Jane signed and closed her eyes for a brief second when the doors closed. She could feel Maura shaking next to her and pulled her into a hug as she leaned against the wall of the metal box they were in. Maura let out a terrified squeak but slowly started to relax as Jane rubbed her back and started talking to her.
"Maura, I am so sorry about everything that happened. None of that was supposed to happen. At all. I promise."
Maura nodded against Jane's chest. "What do you want to do when we get home?" Jane asked. Hoping to actually get an answer out of Maura.
"Can...can we..um" Maura tired. Still visibly shaken from the events of today.
"Maura we can do whatever you want to do." Jane said and kissed the top of her head.
Maura nodded and sniffled. "Can we cuddle and watch tv? I really don't want to be alone right now, Jane."
"Absolutely Maura." Jane agreed. "You are never going to be alone. I will always be here for you. I promise."
Thank you to everyone who leaves a review and for the ones that message me and keep asking for updates. I hear you and see you even if it takes me years to actually update. Please keep it up and please keep bugging me about everything!