Prompt: So I have a request, if you would be so kind to oblige when you get the time. I read the following and instantly thought of Maura doing it to Jane. "Tell someone you love them today, because life is short. But shout it out at them in German, because life is also terrifying and confusing." Think you could do something with it? :) Pretty please?
A/N: This prompt was brought to you by the amazing and hilarious myopicfacination! I really LOVED writing this, and I'm sorry it was so late. Life can be such a pain, getting in the way of glorious fanfic writing. And then, of course Tumblr decides to act out on me, and hit me in the face with a metaphorical brick in the form of not allowing me to make a new post. WHY, GOD, WHY? Anyway, it's finally begun to cooperate, so HERE. TAKE IT BEFORE I GET HIT BY A TRUCK OR SOMETHING. Also, another fic will be up within the next day (promise! If I don't die), so sorry to my other promptee who had asked me for the fic eons ago. I promise it was worth the wait! But anyway, here we have the brilliant myopicfacination's prompt! Enjoy, and I hope I did it justice!
A/N 2: THANK YOU SO MUCH TO kiarcheo, who kindly helped edit the Italian part of the story. THANK YOU for giving your time to fixing up the mistakes that Google Translate failed to correct. You are amazing. kiarcheo, ladies and gentlemen!
Maura sat at her office desk, staring down at the file in front of her without reading it. This was typically very un-Maura-like behaviour, and if Jane was around, she had no doubt the detective would've made some remark about it. But Maura couldn't concentrate. Ironically, the very reason she couldn't focus on her work was because of Jane.
Dr Maura Isles was the Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and prided herself on being clinical and precise with her work. So much of her life had been ruled by the importance of facts that she never really considered the other side of the coin, in which emotions and things beyond science reigned.
She didn't just fall in love.
No. Dr Isles may have dabbled in the arts of love and affection before, but no longer. The engagement with Garrett Fairfield had been short-lived, and she wasn't sorry that it had ended. When Ian Faulkner came back into her life, she thought she'd been overjoyed, had even cried when he left again. And yet, she never truly considered following him to Africa. And she soon moved on without looking back. The emotions never stuck, never lasted, and Maura decided that she simply was not the type to become invested in something so imprecise as love.
And then there was Jane.
Detective Jane Rizzoli: youngest cop to ever be promoted to the rank of detective. Hardcore, badass, tough cop Rizzoli. Hurricane Jane. Famed in the precinct for her feats in the line of duty, her bravery and selflessness. Respected and feared in a profession dominated by men. And also one of the most caring, gentlest, wonderful people Maura had ever known, with a personality made up of equal parts humour and sarcasm, and a complexity that made her a fascinating enigma to Maura.
Jane was unique in so many ways, including one way that Maura would never have imagined.
Jane was the only person who'd ever made Maura want to just… just forget about the factual world, the clinical world, the scientific world. Forget about facts and figures, throw away thoughts and analysis, just to be able to feel. Jane made her want to feel, the way no other person in her life had ever done. Jane opened her up, showed her a life in which she didn't have to be alone anymore, a world in which she could rely on someone, rely on Jane. Jane had become her best friend, her confidant, her rock. They had become something to each other that was irreplaceable.
And in amongst it all, Maura Isles had fallen in love with Jane Rizzoli. And she didn't know what to do.
One of Maura's worst fears was losing Jane. Jane was out in the field every day, always in the line of danger as she kept the streets of Boston safe by risking her own life to take down murderers and psychopaths. More than once, Jane had ended up in the hospital, had been on the brink between life and death, teetering on a knife's edge. And Maura had been there, every time, begging for Jane to come back, to return to the living. She couldn't lose Jane. The reckless detective meant more to her than she dared to say. And it frightened her that Jane might one day cease to be.
Maura had also had her own scrapes from time to time, had also stared death in the face, namely the time Hoyt had captured her and Jane. And it was to her surprise, that her greatest fears in that moment, were not that of dying, but those of not being with Jane, of Jane dying, of never telling Jane the truth about how she felt.
Because life was short.
And Maura knew that she couldn't let the chance slip away, the chance to tell the truth about how she felt to her best friend. Every day, it felt as if she was lying to Jane, as she hid her true feelings away. But she was so afraid of losing Jane. As a friend. She didn't want there to be some invisible barrier between them if she revealed her affections for the lanky brunette, but at the same time, she was so tired of hiding how she really felt.
This headache circled around in the medical examiner's mind, as she stared down at the pages in front of her. She couldn't see a way out of it, but she didn't know how much longer she could continue the battle. At that very moment the sound of a knock echoed around her empty office. And there was Jane, smiling as she walked through the doorway with that confident swagger. And Maura didn't know what came over her when she shouted it out.
Maura quickly put a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide as Jane stared at her in complete confusion. There was an awkward silence, and then the detective broke it.
"What?"
It was Maura's turn to look confused. Was Jane asking because she really didn't know what Maura had just said, or if she was simply in denial or shock and wanted confirmation. And that was when Maura realised exactly what it was that had come out of her mouth.
"S 'agapó̱!"
It meant I love you, but in Greek. For whatever reason, Maura's mind had caused her to blurt out her feelings in another language, as she whispered the words to herself again.
"Uh, Maura? Are you okay?"
"Oh… I, yes, I'm fine, Jane." It wasn't really a lie, she was in perfect health.
"So… are you going to tell me what it is you shouted at me just now…?"
"It wasn't anything important!" Maura said just a little too quickly, and she could see the detective in Jane trying to piece the parts together. "Why are you down here?" she asked, desperate for a change in the topic.
"Oh, right, I just wanted to collect that autopsy report on our strangling victim."
"Oh, of course!" Maura quickly pulled out the appropriate file and handed it over to the brunette.
"Thanks." But Jane didn't leave. "Are you sure you're alright, Maur? You look like something's bothering you."
"Really, Jane, you don't have to worry. I'll be fine."
The brunette didn't look too happy with the answer but let it go. "Okay. Well, I gotta get these up and have a look, see if it matches any of the stuff we already have. I'll see you soon?"
Maura nodded, trying to find her voice. "Bye Jane."
It was six o'clock when Maura finally managed to get through the report, and she was tired. She wondered if Jane was still at the precinct, but resisted checking. She didn't feel up to tormenting herself some more, because sometimes that's what it felt like, being so close to Jane but knowing she'd never be closer.
Exiting out of BPD, she quickly made her way to where her blue Prius sat. Jane's cruiser was missing, enough to tell Maura that the brunette had gone home. Climbing into the car, she started the engine and pulled away from the curb. The traffic was at its worst, and it took her a good half an hour to pull away from the congested main roads into the quieter streets near her home.
As she turned into her driveway, she didn't notice the discreetly parked black cruiser. She didn't pay enough attention to realise her curtains had been drawn, though she'd opened them in the morning. She didn't see the soft glow of candlelight from the living room as she hung up her coat and bag, and made her way to where her couch would be.
So when she stepped into the living area, she did not expect to see a fire in her hearth, and small candles that rested on every flat surface in the room. She did not expect to see two cups of wine poured out and waiting on the coffee table. She did not expect to see Jane Rizzoli, standing a little awkwardly by the fireplace, hands in her pockets and smiling almost shyly at her. She didn't know what to think, aside from the fact that the dancing flames looked beautiful as they cast flickering lights across the brunette's face. Didn't know what to say.
Dr Maura Isles – talking Google, walking Wikipedia, genius – was rendered speechless. She could only watch, wide-eyed, as the tall detective slowly made her way over to where Maura stood, gently taking her hands in her own. And then Jane was standing far too close, looking into her eyes with those beautiful pieces of night, and Maura could hear her breathing, feel her shaking a little. But the voice was still the same warm, husky one she'd grown to love.
"Y'know, Maur… you didn't have to hide your feelings behind another language."
And Dr Maura Isles, who had just begun to get her bearing again, was shocked into silence again. After a moment to gather herself, she tilted her head, hardly daring to believe it. "You… understood?"
Jane shrugged a shoulder, tilting her own head slightly. "You're not the only one who knows how to use Google." Maura could feel her knees growing weak, as she felt Jane's breath on her lips. "I'm not a detective for nothing, either. But it did take a little while. Getting the spelling right took forever."
Maura let out a breath of a laugh. "I'm impressed that you actually did manage to find what it meant… Greek can be such a tricky language."
Jane gave a small grin. "Well… you could say I used some deductive reasoning. You know how to speak French, Serbian, Greek, Latin and probably more. I know what French sounds like because you sometimes speak it. I've heard you speaking Serbian too, and the sounds weren't the same. So I thought maybe it was Greek or Latin."
For a second, the doctor frowned, wondering how Jane could know that she could speak Greek. Then she recalled the memory of their argument. And she had insulted Jane by saying "hoi polloi." It seemed like German was the language she used to blurt things out when she didn't want Jane to understand.
"So… you… know?"
Maura found herself almost afraid to look into Jane's eyes. Instead, she fixed her eyes on the hollow of Jane's neck. But a finger gently slid under her chin, tilting her head upwards. Jane was wearing the smallest smile, almost shy. After a moment, she asked a question of her own. "What other languages can you speak, Maura?"
The question was unexpected, and Maura wasn't sure what to make of it. But she answered anyway. "I am fluent in German and Russian as well, and am reasonably comfortable with Japanese. I know a little Turkish and Spanish as well, but it's very rudimentary."
"What about Italian?"
Maura tilted her head, curiosity in her hazel eyes. "I have an understanding of the basics, but unfortunately I never had the chance to properly expand my knowledge of it. It's such a beautiful language."
Jane shifted a little on her feet, and Maura noticed the light blush that had begun to creep over the detective's cheeks. When Jane took her hands in her own, gently rubbing them, Maura felt electric shocks shoot up from where their skin made contact.
"Then… uh… do you know what… 'ti amo' means?"
Yes. Yes Maura did know what 'ti amo' means.
"Because… Because… Ti amo. Ti amo così tanto, Maura. Sei il mondo per me, e non posso immaginare di stare senza di te. E provo ciò da così tanto tempo, ma non pensavo tu potessi mai provare lo stesso, quindi non ho mai detto niente. Perché come può una persona come te innamorarsi di una come me? E anche se probabilmente non hai capito la maggior parte di questo, probabilmente hai capito il primo pezzo. Ti amo. Ti amo, Maura Isles Dorothea."
Hearing Jane speaking in fluent Italian was the last straw. Maura didn't understand most of what Jane said, but her eyes, her face, were enough to explain to the honey-blonde what words meant. And she knew the two words Jane had repeated throughout the speech. She knew what that meant. And she couldn't stop herself from closing the tiny gap between their lips, kissing Jane with a passion that had simmered far too close to the surface for far too long.
The moment their lips touched, Maura finally felt complete. She'd craved this for so long. Dreams about holding Jane like this, fingers tangled in wild brown curls, body to body, kissing her… This was better than all of that. Better than any dream or imagination Maura could have possibly conjured. She lost herself in the kiss, sighing into it, barely containing the soft moans that wanted to escape her mouth when she felt Jane slip a tongue out to trace her lower lip. Maura only tugged harder, trying to bring Jane ever closer, desperate to feel this, to remember this, to commit it to memory. In case it was all a joke, or a dream, or some big misunderstanding.
She just couldn't wrap her head around the very solid fact that this was, in fact, real.
At last, they parted, but Maura kept her eyes shut. She was almost afraid of opening them, fearing that Jane wouldn't be there when she did. It was a ridiculous notion, but when it came to Jane, feelings overpowered scientific sense. When she did open them, Jane was still standing there, looking at her with an intensity in those brown eyes that she'd seen flashes of before. It was only now that she recognised what it was.
She reached a hand up, cupping the detective's cheek. Leaning forward on tip toes, she planted one more, soft, chaste kiss on Jane's lips. Then she looked into those beautiful dark eyes, a small smile on her face as she realised that all her agonies, all her fears, had been for nothing.
"What made you say it?" Jane's voice was lower, huskier, so soft as she whispered it into the blonde's ear.
Maura's eyes closed again at the sensation, as she rested her head on Jane's shoulder, their arms wrapped around each other. "I don't know. It just came out when I saw you, probably a result of the fact that the issue had been plaguing me for some time, and my fears of losing you, or never telling you how I felt, had been growing for so long, and finally reached such a point of distraction that I couldn't think of anything else, and the sight of you brought a trigger that caused me to blurt my thoughts. At a sub-conscious level, my brain must have realised what I was going to do, and substituted English for another language, to try hide it."
The quiet chuckle sent a shiver down Maura's spine. "There's my geeky Maura." She felt Jane nuzzle her hair. "I'm glad that didn't quite work out though. I don't know how much longer I could've gone without telling you how I felt. To be honest, I should've said something earlier. Life's too short for us to waste time pretending."
Maura buried her face into Jane's neck, smiling against her skin. "You're right. And I'm glad I did blurt out the fact that I love you in Greek too."
Jane rubbed her back gently, kissing her lightly on the ear.
"Jane?"
"Hmmm?"
"I understood what 'ti amo' meant, but I didn't understand the rest of your speech. What did you say?"
"Oh…" she could hear the nervousness in Jane's voice, but when she reached up a finger, gently stroking Jane's cheek, she felt the brunette relax a little. "I… uh… I said something along the line of being in love you. That I love you so much, Maura. And that you mean the world to me, and I can't imagine being without you. And that I've felt like this for so long, but never thought you'd ever feel the same, so I never said anything. Because… well, y'know, how can someone like you fall for someone like me? Um… and then I said that even though you probably wouldn't have understood most of this, you probably understood the first bit. I love you. I love you, Maura Dorothea Isles…" Jane trailed off, running her fingers through Maura's hair.
Maura lifted her head, to look at Jane, smiling, but there was a small crease on her forehead. "Jane, do you really think that? That you aren't good enough for me or something?" Those expressive eyes dropped at her question, but Maura didn't let Jane look away. "Jane. You are more than good enough for me. You are amazing, brave, loyal, caring, and dedicated to whatever it is you do. And you brought out so many things in me, taught me so much, made me feel things I've never felt before. You, Jane Clementine Rizzoli, are perfect to me, and I think I am the luckiest woman in the world to have you. I love you, Jane. I love you with all my heart." She wiped away a stray tear from the detective's eye, smiling.
"God, what did I do to get someone as amazing as you…" Maura could feel Jane kissing her hair, as she snuggled into Jane's shoulder again, both standing there in each other's rooms.
They stood in silence, just drinking in what they'd missed for so long. And then a thought floated into Maura's head.
"Jane?"
"Hmmm?"
"Will you teach me Italian?"
Jane pulled back a little, enough to look down at Maura with amused surprise in her eyes. "You want to learn Italian?"
"Yes. And I want you to teach me."
Jane chuckled, kissing Maura on the tip of her nose. "Okay."
"So you'll teach me?" Maura asked excitedly.
"I'll teach you. Lesson number one: 'Ti amo'. It means I love you."
The doctor laughed. "Ti amo, Jane."
"Ti amo, Maur."
