Author's Note: Thank you all so so much for your support. I really hope this chapter was worth the wait.
"Detective Frost, what are you talking about?" She ushers him inside, a small rush of nerves washing over her. She closes the door securely behind him, watching him carefully turn around to face her.
"I found something, and I haven't told Jane yet, but… I thought I should ask you first." He seems to bite the inside of his lip, the thought of betraying his partner – if this could be called betrayal – eating him alive.
"What did you find?"
"Your name," he states as her eyes widen, the fear overwhelming her, "You had an abortion, didn't you, Doc?" Barry looks at her with reassuring eyes, trying to make her see that he means no harm, but this is something that even… even her mother doesn't know. "I think if you… If you talked to Jane, just… told her something, anything about what happened in Africa, what really happened… I think you two could work things out."
"She won't talk to me now. How would I even get the chance?" She treats it as if it's something easy that she could say. Something that would take ten seconds to explain, but it's not. It would take so much more than a few sentences to break through to what happened. Maura grips her arm at her side, biting her bottom lip.
"I think telling her, even blurting it out, would give you a chance."
"Detective Frost… You don't understand. You can't possibly understand." She has no way of knowing what he's thinking, what he expects. What does he think of the abortion? What would Jane think? She shakes her head, unable to even think of a way to explain to him, let alone the raven.
"No, I can't possibly understand what you went through, and I don't think I'm the one you want to talk you about it either. Jane was… is still your best friend. She's gone through a tough time, and she won't talk to anyone, but you, Doc, she's always talked to you. You just have to break down her walls. I know that you can do it, and I know both of you will be better after you get everything off your chests." The detective gives a tiny reassuring smile. "I won't tell her anything until you're ready." Maura thanks him before he leaves, still rubbing her arm. There was something she had planned to ask, but now it's too late. He's gone.
Drinking the coffee from the café, Jane boards the elevator to get back to work. Her fight with Frankie is causing her to look back on things. Maybe she was a little harsh with Maura. And maybe he was right in that, she didn't know what happened in Africa. The raven taps her foot idly in the elevator. Perhaps she should forgive Maura, or at least, give her a chance to explain. They were friends for so long before this. The woman gives a soft sigh, wandering to her desk. On the way over, she notices some files on Frost's desk. She places her cup down and saunters around the two desks, sitting in his chair. Her fingers sift through the files – seeing that they are the abortion registries – and she looks for the victim's name. Issacs, Issacs, she reminds herself, scanning down the list of names as she subconsciously considers trying to patch things up with Maura.
She wonders where Frost is, and why he just left these on his desk. Perhaps he was going to look for Jane, to tell her that he found the name. He probably has those files with him then. She decided to finish scanning the I's before giving up, just in case these were the files after all, and that's when her eyes noticed an all too familiar name.
Isles. Jane throws the papers down onto the desk, the rage filling her up so much, and at the thought of her nearly forgiving that… that woman! She picks up something else from his desk – a paper weight – and tosses it across the room. What really pushed her over the edge was the date next to the name. A date that was time-stamped approximately five months before.