Maura grinned against Frankie's mouth as they stumbled through the door. He turned and pressed her body against it, closing the door roughly with her body. Maura moaned at his forcefulness and wrapped her arms around his neck, allowing him to pick her up and wrap her legs around his waist. His hands brushed against her lower back and she sighed into his mouth. "Maura…" he whispered as she kissed him, her lips leaving a trail of kisses down his strong neck. She impatiently tore his leather jacket off of him, feeling his broad shoulders under her hands.
"I want you." She told him, her eyes shining with love and tenderness. Frankie gathered her hair in his fist and pressed her lips to his. "I want you too." He admitted through his kisses. They stayed like that, wrapped in each other's embrace till Maura became impatient and squirmed against his body, letting him know she was ready for more. Frankie chuckled. "Impatient much?" he teased.
Maura bit his lip and whispered, "For you? Always…" she smiled at her boyfriend and laughed when he spun to carry her to her room. They were just about to cross over to her bed when the deafening sound of a cannon blast made Frankie nearly drop her. They fell to the floor together as the earth shattering sound of explosives went off. Flashes of red, orange and black blinded them. The windows of Maura's bedroom burst, sending glass flying everywhere. Maura screamed and felt Frankie cover her with his body, shielding her from getting hurt. Black smoke filled their lungs and fire quickly surrounded them. Thinking quickly, Frankie hauled Maura into his arms and ran out through the living room and out the front door.
"Bass!" Maura screamed, thinking of her beloved pet tortoise. But Frankie held her tightly. "You can't go back in there, sweetheart. We need to get to safety." He told her but his heart broke as he witnessed the tears fall from her face. They stood in silence as they watched Maura's neighbor's house burn.
Sean and Angela came running from the guest house. "What the hell?" Sean yelled as he held Angela's hand tightly. They watched the whole right side of Maura's house burn. "My home…" she whispered through her tears. Angela knew Maura wasn't completely ok with hugs but her maternal instincts knew she needed comfort right now. She wrapped her daughter in her arms and held her as Maura cried on the shoulder of the only mother she really knew. Frankie was on the phone with the rest of the team and Sean was calling in back up and the bomb squad.
"Why was Maura's neighbors attacked?" Frankie asked Cavanaugh. But the seasoned Lieutenant shook his head. "I have no idea. But this is now part of our investigation. There's no coincidence that the neighbors of a cop family –" he broke off as Jane's car screamed to a halt behind them.
"Are you all ok? What the hell happened?" she cried as she hugged her family, taking special care to make sure they were all safe. When she was satisfied she turned to take in the house burning. "Oh Maura…" she didn't know what to say to comfort her friend. It was as if time stood still for the five of them. Firefighters, first responders and cops ran around them, trying to put out the fire at the neighbor's house and Maura's house. Sirens, flashing lights and people yelling filled the night but it was as if all of it was muted to them. They stood there in a daze, just holding onto one another and praying for the best.
The bomb squad arrived and searched Maura's apartment from top to bottom before anyone was allowed back in there. Frankie wrapped an arm around Maura's waist and supported her as they carefully entered her half destroyed home. Maura held back the sobs as she took in the sight. Her beautiful home, all her artifacts, souvenirs from her travels and most prized possessions were destroyed. She had never felt more violated than she did now. The team stood at the doorway, their hearts breaking for the doctor as she cried against Frankie's shoulder. Her home, their home was gone. The items that were still salvageable were being carefully removed from the home by the bomb squad. They would hold her possessions in storage until she had found a new place. "Bass." She said quietly before turning to look for her friend. The team spread out to find the tortoise.
"Here!" they heard Korsak yell. Maura rushed over to him to find Bass huddled in a corner, terrified of the commotion. She knelt by him and patted his shell lovingly, hoping to calm him. Korsak called his vet friend who helped him out whenever he needed emergency care for the animals he found. "Dr. Peters is on his way, he'll take good care of Bass." He reassured Maura.
One of the fire fighters interrupted them and spoke to Cavanaugh. "Lieutenant Cavanaugh, you need to see this." The team followed to see what was so important. They followed the fireman to one of the nearby vans to find a group of children: two boys and three little girls getting their wounds dressed. The oldest was one of the boys, he looked to be about 12 and the youngest was one of the girls, she looked to be approximately 4. They were all safe from the explosion but were covered in ashes and black smoke residue.
"Oh my goodness!" Angela cried, the mother in her felt the need to scoop up the children and hold them close as she did with Maura. The rest of the team were staring at the children as though they were foreign creatures.
"We found them safe in the little garden shed in the back." The fireman told them. The EMT that was dressing their small wounds finished and left the scene to find more victims. "What do we do with them?" Jane asked.
"I didn't even realize my neighbors had children, I've never seen them before." Maura said in a hushed voice, silently chastising herself for not being more mindful of her surroundings. How could she not have remembered ever seeing 5 children living right next to her? Or hear them?
The oldest boy stepped forward and held his hand out to Cavanaugh who shook it. "I'm Mason; these are my sisters and my brother. This is James," he said as he pointed to his brother, "and Emily, Ginny and Kelsey." He pointed to his sisters. "We were the Kenmore's foster kids… kinda" he told them, furrowing his brow as he tried to figure out how to explain to the cops. Cavanaugh had a feeling this young man's story was a long one so he thought for a moment before responding.
"We need to talk to all of you but you guys look hungry. Would you guys like to go somewhere to eat and we can talk?" He smiled a bit, trying to relax the scared kids. It worked, at the sound of food, their eyes lit up. Upon further inspection, Maura could tell these children were all underfed. She bit her lip as the thought of just how abused these kids were. Frankie could tell Maura was bothered and he rubbed her back soothingly. She looked up at him and rested her head on his shoulder. She took one last look at her destroyed home and struggled once more to hold back her tears.
"Maura…" Korsak laid a gentle hand on the young doctor's shoulder and squeezed firmly. "There's nothing more we can do. The bomb squad is getting everything that's left out and put in storage. Bass is out and safe. They got your purse so you have access to your bank accounts. I'm sure you guys can stay with one of us." He offered. Jane, Frankie and Frost nodded in agreement. Frankie nodded and held his lady a little tighter. "You can stay with me and Ma could stay with Jane." Jane nodded in agreement. "Come one sweetie, let's go figure out this case. There's no way whoever blew up the house is getting away."
"Especially with these kids involved!" Angela said with a surge of anger in her voice. She couldn't understand how people could put innocent children in danger like that. She was eager to get these kids fed and hear their story. Like Sean, she had a feeling their story was going to impact the whole team.
Maura turned to see the children staring at her curiously. "Is that your house?" the little girl piped up. Maura nodded and smiled sadly. "Yes, it was." She answered.
"Oh. I'm sorry it got hurt." She said quietly. Maura just knelt down to be on even ground with the little girl. "What's your name?" Maura asked her.
"I'm Ginny and I'm 6." She said proudly. Maura smiled at her but looked deep into the little girl's eyes to see pain and anguish hidden behind a veil of fake happiness. She could tell this little girl spent so much of her time pretending to be happy when in fact she was sad and hurting. Maura was all too familiar with the feeling. She looked up at the other children who were still staring curiously at the doctor. They all had the same look of deep pain in their eyes and it shattered Maura's heart. She didn't understand how she could have been living next to these kids without ever seeing them before. A single tear escaped and slid down her cheek as the realization came over her that these kids didn't have parents anymore.
And then the unexpected happened. Ginny stepped up to Maura and gently wiped her tear away. "Please don't cry." She said simply as she threw her arms around Maura's neck in a gentle hug. Ginny seemed to understand the emotional trauma Dr. Isles was going through and she did her best to offer comfort. Maura was shocked to say the least but after a moment she slowly wrapped the little girl in her arms and held her tightly, unable to stop her tears from falling. The others watched the scene in awed silence. This was Dr. Isles, their somewhat naïve, socially awkward but sophisticated friend who always put rationality and logic before all else, and here she was kneeling on the ground hugging a little girl she didn't even know and crying her heart out.
Maura didn't know what came over here but she felt an odd sensation of kinship with these kids. She understood them and wanted so badly to help them in any way she could. It didn't make sense to her. She was Dr. Maura Isles: the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Chief Medical Examiner and a forensic expert working at the Boston Police Department. It was a big title to fill and she certainly did not like others to see her as being weak. But with her friends and family she knew she was safe to be human for the next 10 minutes and it felt refreshing.
Frankie watched his girlfriend with the young girl and a feeling of love and over-protectiveness came over him, for Maura and these kids. He knew they were going to change their lives, he just didn't know how, for better or for worse and he truly didn't know how this would alter his relationship with Maura, his friends and family. But he knew one thing: they were going to do what they do best and find who did this to these kids and put his Maura in danger.
But for now all that mattered to any of them was getting the kids fed and hearing how their story unravels.
