Now we have Chapter 6, there will be one more Chapter after of this, then a Epilogue, this story is coming to an End Fanfiction family, but I'm not done yet, so don't write me off just yet. Love you guys and thank you for reading and reviewing :-)...

Disclaimer: Rizzoli and Isles are not mine, they belong to Tess Gerritsen and TNT, I'm only working with the lovely characters for fun.

Chapter 6:

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After fleeing from her confrontation with Jane, Maura took comfort in the refuge of her son's warm, cuddly body nestled within her arms. This was love, as pure as it came. Grown-up love, though, that was a lot more complicated. She loved Jane Rizzoli. She couldn't stop loving her, no matter whatever she had done.

She realized that, in her mind, Jane could somehow justify the deceit she perpetrated. She sure hadn't pretended they were engaged out of a desire to be with her son. Maybe Angela had pressured her into "doing the right thing." Or perhaps she lied to her from some misguided notion that she knew what was best for Maura.

And maybe she did know, Maura thought glumly as she settled into the rocking chair with her sleeping child. As much as she wanted to deny it now, she couldn't… these past couple of weeks had been some of the happiest of her life. As she settled into the rhythm of country living, she had scarcely given any thought to her business! Things at her office were probably in a shambles by now! And what about her bills? Her bank accounts and all the pieces of her life she'd walked out on? She had already intended to return home a week ago to check up on things. Had Jane even considered that? Did Jane seriously think Maura was simply to going to drop and abandon everything she had in Boston to settle down out here in Southeast Texas?

She heard the phone start ringing, then stop. Jane must have answered it. The doctor hoped it wasn't for her. She definitely wasn't up to talking to anyone right now!

A few moments later, there was a tapping on the nursery door.

"What?" she snapped.

Jane's head simply appeared from the opposite side. "I have to go. The guy who mugged you was caught in the next county, trying to sell your rental car. We'll talk when I get back."

Maura refused to even look up with any acknowledgement to the deputy sheriff. With a sigh, Jane gently closed the door and her footsteps faded to the eventual sounds of the main door closing. A few seconds later, the sounds of vehicle engine starting up could be heard and then driving away.

Maura knew what she had to do. She had to go home. If she gave Jane any more chances or opportunities, she might convince her to stay. Not because it was the right thing to do, but because, despite everything, she still wanted to be with her. But she had to think about Joseph. No child of hers was going to grow up under the same roof as a reluctant, bitter mother as Maura Isles did.

She made flight reservations from the small airport at Baytown for later that evening to Houston, and then catching a flight out to Boston. It did not take her long to pack up her things. She only bought a few items of clothing to replace what was stolen. Joseph, however, took longer and Maura still couldn't believe all the paraphernalia babies required.

While she packed, Dr. Isles thought about her mugger. She had never seen his face due to attacking her from behind. While she was glad authorities caught the guy, Maura hoped she wouldn't be required to testify in court. She didn't want to come back here for any reason! She never should have come here in the first place! Given that most of her memory had just returned, Maura now desperately wished she could somehow speak to the "Maura Before," the person she was prior to losing her memory. The main question being what on earth possessed her to come here in the first place?

When everything was finally ready, Maura Isles called a cab. The fare to Baytown Airport would be exorbitant, but fortunately she still had a credit card, which had fortuitously been tucked into her pocket and overlooked by the mugger.

As the cab driver loaded her things into the trunk, Maura took one last look at the house. Jane Rizzoli's house nestled among the birch trees. She had come to love it in such a short amount of time. However, she purposely summoned thoughts of Boston, where she lived for years, and missed so desperately the first few days in Baytown. Now, all she could remember was how noisy it was, how cramped her condo could be, and how stressed out her hectic job made her feel.

"We'll just have to get used to it again," she softly spoke to Joseph.

Fighting tears, she climbed into the cab, and resisted the urge to look over her shoulder. Jane would no doubt be surprised to discover them gone when she got home. Maura didn't even bother leaving a note. She figured that after what all Jane had done, she didn't deserve an explanation.

Anyway, Jane would probably be relieved in the long run.

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It was after ten o'clock by the time Jane finally got home. The paperwork had been hell, but she finally managed to convince the sheriff in the neighboring county that the suspect should be prosecuted in Harris County, where the more serious crime had been committed.

The house was dark, indicating Maura was probably already asleep. Before she became a mother, Dr. Isles had been real night owl, hanging out with friends at late-night coffee houses, or going to midnight movies at the local art-house theater. Now sleep was a precious commodity.

She wouldn't wake her up, Jane decided. Tomorrow would come soon enough for them to talk.

Moving quietly as possible through the house, her stomach rumbled at remembering the chicken fettuccine alfredo she'd missed out on. Were there any leftovers? The cop wondered.

To her dismay, the half-cooked pot of alfredo sauce still sat on the stove, stone cold. Maura hadn't finished it. Jane hoped her girlfriend hadn't gone to bed hungry. The cop sighed as she helped herself to a couple of cookies from the jar before heading upstairs to the nursery to check on Joseph.

Finding the empty crib, uneasiness started to creep up on Jane. Surely the baby was just with Maura in their big bed. She had on occasion, taken him to bed with her when he was being fretful, causing Jane to become worried of possibly rolling over in the night and squashing him. So she insisted that Maura keep Joseph on the other side of the bed. She likely thought of that, taking it as another indication that I resented our son! Jane thought ruefully. A lot of her actions could be, and certainly were misinterpreted that way!

When Jane discovered the master bedroom empty and Maura's clothes gone, she could no longer deny it, admitting she had been abandoned.

Sinking down onto the bed, Jane felt her gut churning, and head spinning. She knew lying to Maura was wrong, and even though Jane planned to tell her the truth in a few more days, everything still fell apart. Her plan had been working as Maura gradually discovered the joys of country living. She might have been convinced to stay on her own and go through with the marriage. But her memory came back and she was now left completely alone.

And taken away her son.

Sure, Jane Rizzoli could petition the courts for visitation rights. But if Maura Isles was against her having contact with Joseph Lucas, Jane couldn't foresee herself fighting with Dr. Isles over her parental rights. A child shouldn't endure having to grow up with his parents arguing over him. Besides, with what she's done in the wake of Maura's memory loss certainly indicated that she ought not to be given any rights where Joseph was concerned seemed justified. She had been a disgraceful mother. But she did love her baby boy.

Something caught Jane's eye. A pad of paper with some writing on it lay next to the phone. The cop immediately recognized the numbers and letters as flight information. Below the flight numbers was a local phone number, one she didn't recognize. Seized with an idea, Jane dialed the number.

"Speedy Cab Service."

"Sorry, wrong number." She hung up.

So, Maura had taken a cab to the airport. And her flight wasn't scheduled to leave for another two hours. She might not be too far ahead of her and a plan started taking form.

Not a very good plan, Jane admitted to herself. But at least she would be taking some sort of action, rather than letting the woman and child she loved vanish from her life forever.

Jane headed for the door, grabbing her jacket on the way. Thank God she was still driving her police cruiser. Jumping in, and cranking up the engine, Jane headed for the highway leading to the Baytown airport. Once on the open road, she pushed the speedometer up to eighty M.P.H., knowing no one would stop her.

When reaching nearly ten miles from the airport, Jane spotted a Speedy Cab vehicle ahead of her. Could be anybody in that taxi, she thought while ruminating through what legal reasoning she could use to pull the cab over. While most of the public might believe so, law enforcement officers couldn't just randomly pull vehicles over without a legal reason. Then Jane noticed the cab had a broken taillight. Good enough, the deputy rationalized while switching on the flashing lights.

Maura spotted the flashing lights behind them the same time the driver did. The driver cursed under his breath and slowed. "I knew I should've gotten that taillight fixed," he muttered.

Maura knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt who it was driving that particular Harris County cruiser. And writing up a ticket for a broken taillight wasn't her top priority. "It's just my girlfriend," Maura said to the driver. "Ex-girlfriend, in fact. Keep driving."

"Are you crazy? I'm not gonna get involved in some crazy chase! Cabbies who do that end up on America's Most Dangerous Car Chases!" He pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway and began digging around in the glove box for his papers.

Maura slouched down in the seat, knowing she'd brought this on herself. She left her flight information right where Jane could find it. Had she subconsciously done it on purpose? Had she somehow wanted Jane Rizzoli to chase her down, and prove her love?

Jane, looking ominous in her uniform, leaned down to speak with the driver.

"Evening."

"I know, I got a busted taillight," the driver said as he handed Jane the papers the deputy hadn't asked for. "It's on back order at Jimmy's Auto Supply."

"I believe you, Mr… um, Slater." Jane stated, not bothering to look through the papers. "And I won't write you a ticket. But I can't allow you to continue driving with a malfunctioning light."

"One little taillight?" the driver objected. "Look, I gotta get this lady to the airport!"

"It just so happens I'm headed that way. I'll take the lady—"

"You will do no such thing!" Maura erupted, unable to keep silent any longer.

"Then you'll sit here on the side of the road until another cab can come get you. If you come with me, you'll make your flight." Jane explained.

"Then what's the point?" Maura spat.

"There's a price to pay. You have to listen to what I have to say. Then, if you still want to return to Boston, I won't stop you." Jane told her.

Maura sighed. It was as fair of an offer she was likely to get. "Fine," she ground out as she worked at the seat belt holding Joseph's car seat securely in place. "But I'm not changing my mind!" She said firmly and opening the cab's door.

A few minutes later, with Maura and Joseph's things transferred into the cruiser's trunk and the baby carrier secured in the backseat, they were heading for the airport in the Harris County vehicle. Dr. Isles had paid the cabby, and Jane told him he could go; having capriciously decided the broken taillight was no longer a mortal danger to the drivers of Baytown. Now the two women sat in silence as the lights of the airport grew closer.

"You'd better start talking," Maura finally spoke. "We haven't got much time."

"This is harder than I thought it would be," Jane confessed.

"Start with something easy. How did you know Joseph's name?" Now when she thought it over, Maura realized she didn't even remember her own child's name after waking up in the hospital, but Jane had come up with it. During her cab ride, the doctor was starting to wonder if the deputy detective had some prior knowledge of the baby prior to her coming to Texas.

"It was a logical guess," Jane answered. "So, you really did name him after your father?"

"Yes." Maura was amazed at the accuracy of Jane's guess. She knew her pretty well. "Let's move on to something harder. Why would you pressure me into marrying you when you don't like children?"

"I never tried to pressure you into marrying me… and who said I didn't like children? I love Joseph, he's my son." Jane stated with genuine warmth.

"Couldn't prove it by the way you've treated him!" Maura spat.

"I love Joseph," she repeated. "But the fact is… he… scares me!" Jane confessed in a shaky voice.

The cop felt her throat tighten at the mere mention of her phobia. She never admitted it to anyone. Not to her family or friends, nor to the shrink who saw her after that fateful shooting. And certainly not to Maura. But it was time to admit to the events in Boston, which had left her forever changed.

"What do you mean, he scares you?" Maura asked, sounding bewildered. "What possible harm could a little baby do to you?" She asked, her voice growing livid.

The cruiser sped past the Baytown City Limits sign and Jane realized she time was growing shorter. She had to screw up her courage and disclose what happened that day.

"It's not the harm he could do to me," Jane said worriedly. "It's what I could possibly do to him."

Maura shifted uneasily. "You'd better explain," she spoke narrowing her eyes.

"That night in Boston when we broke up… You were coming over to tell me you were pregnant, is that right?" Jane asked.

"Yes. I tried to ease my way into the subject. But at the mere mention of children, you went ballistic. You said you never wanted children… that the very idea made you nauseous. Do you blame me for not telling you that you were going to be a mother?"

"No, I guess not. But I wasn't in my right mind that day. Something had happened on my shift, something very bad, horrible even…" Jane briefly closed her eyes as she swallowed heavily. "Maura, I killed a kid!" She whispered tearfully

"What?" For the first time since the deputy caught up with Maura, the honey blonde didn't sound quite so mad.

"A little girl…" Jane said in a small, sad voice. "Her name was Isabella Thomas."

Jane waited to see if the name rang a bell with Maura. She knew the story had made the evening news, but in a city where people had become numb to killing in the headlines, the news about Isabella had quickly given way to some new tragedy.

"Isabella Thomas was a little girl who was killed in a domestic dispute, right?" Maura said. "What does that have to do with you?" She inquired, "how could you have killed her? I thought the father was the one who shot her."

Jane gripped the steering wheel harder. "I could've saved her! Instead I let her drugged-up old man blow her away!"

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Sorry for the small cliffhanger there, but last chapter is done and will be posted soon, Terri411...