See Ch 1 for disclaimers…


Angela moved to stand in front of Maura's kitchen window. "Why is it that my daughter can be concerned for everyone else's safety during a snowstorm but then takes 10 years off my life by staying out in it?"

"To be fair the storm was supposed to be a minor weather event and it certainly was never supposed to be as strong as it has turned out to be." Maura looked at the snow twisting in the wind outside her window from her seat at her kitchen island. "She did tell me she was going to be late. I'll worry in a bit if we don't hear from her but for now I believe she is okay."

Rubbing her arms, Angela gave an exaggerated sigh. "Do you think they've shut down flights in and out of Logan?"

The question caught Maura off guard, out of place in their conversation. "I'd imagine there are delays at the very least." She glanced at her watch. "It's after 6, why don't we turn on the evening news and get a weather update." Angela was walking into the living room before Maura could move and the image over her mantel disappeared as the framed flat screen powered up.

Both of them watched the overly enthusiastic weather man from Channel 5 running their storm center update. The track of the storm had turned inward from off the coast of Maine, slowing down over the warmer waters of the coast line, causing it to hit a low pushing down from Canada. Animated maps spun on the screen, colors flashed with accumulation predictions. The weather man pointed excitedly to the north of Boston with its red zone of 24 inches but Boston fell under the yellow highlighted area for 10 to 18. The image flipped over to scenes from inside Logan. They were down to one runway. Flights were canceled or severely delayed coming in and going out.

Agitated, Angela moved over to her living room window. "Of all the times to get a storm, why now?"

Maura didn't believe Angela expected an answer and it was confusing the amount of anxiety she was displaying over a typical New England storm with typical travel delays for no apparent reason. They weren't expecting anybody for the holiday that would come by plane. It was time to settle Angela's nerves. Standing up she filled the kettle and set it on the stove, the clicking of the burner igniting snapped Angela's attention back to her.

"Good idea honey, I'm going to need that. If you'll give me a minute I have to check on something back in the guest house." Angela gave her a strained smile before pulling her coat on and stepping out into swirling gusts of snow.


By the time she dropped Frost back at the station Jane winced at the time. It was almost 8:30. Between the escalating storm and the nature of city traffic it was likely going to be past 9 by the time she made it to Maura's. If she could make it to Maura's. She imagined trying to push her boat of an unmarked up Maura's narrow neighborhood streets. Narrow, steep, streets that may or may not be plowed. No freaking way was she going to get a car safely all the way up. Now after last night was she not going to show up. With that thought fresh on her mind, Jane pulled into the back lot and parked her car next to where Frost was wrist deep in snow trying to uncover his.

Opening the window she waited until he was looking at her. "Ever hear of something called a snow scraper?"

"Cute Jane." He held up a credit card. "Do you think I'd be using this if I had one? I could have sworn I left mine in my trunk."

Jane smirked. "Did you leave your keys on your desk?"

"Yeah."

"Then trust me, your overly organized self did have a scraper in the trunk." Jane smiled when she saw Frost's eyes widen as he put everything together.

"Korsak is a dead man."

Jane grinned at the pure malice in Frost's voice. "I'm sure he is. Block his YouTube access, he'll cry for a week. I have an offer for you in the meantime. Leave your unmarked here and take mine. Just drop me off at the bottom of Chestnut."

Shaking off his hand and credit card Frost struggled through the snow piled up around his car. "You have a deal."


Maura sorted through her desk drawer, pulling out her book of contacts and her roll of address labels. With a small smile she put the label roll back. There was only her name on those.

With a sigh she walked over to the back door and pulled the curtain aside. Angela still hadn't reappeared. She opened up the door and stuck her head out into the wind, the sharp touch of snow stinging her cheeks as she looked at the smooth undisturbed accumulation on her driveway. Out on the street a cab slowly struggled uphill, slipping sideways as the wheels lost traction. Shutting the door she rubbed the chill off her arms.

The kettle whistle called and Maura pulled it off the flame. She turned to look out the kitchen window, the snow inspiring her tea choice and in moments the smell of mint permeated the room. Taking her mug of tea with her, she dropped it off on the island before gathering all her Christmas card supplies together and sitting down to spread it all in front of her. The house felt insulated and quiet wrapped in the storm, the only noise the stained glass window rattling during a particularly strong gust of wind.

For a moment in her quiet world all Maura could think about was how many other times she had prepared her holiday correspondence exactly like this. She was sitting alone at her kitchen island with a cup of tea and a book of contacts. It had never struck her as particularly lonely before and maybe it had not been at the time but it certainly felt as if it was. It was easy during a moment like this to imagine what her life would have been had she not met Jane Rizzoli. It would not have been a bad life, but it certainly would not have been as rich of a life. As vibrant a life.

Idly she thumbed through her contact book. Names, addresses and notes were written proof that she had an entire network of people around her. Some could be considered friends, others colleagues, a few more family and most were scattered about the globe. Several names brought a smile to her face but most felt two dimensional when compared with Jane or rather her life with Jane.

Unless she honestly didn't know Jane at all, Maura was secure in the fact that Jane Rizzoli loved her. It was in the way Jane watched her, touched her and fit with her. Seamless and easy even when life was hard, even when they argued, or perhaps especially when they argued that dynamic was readily apparent.

Which was why she could not understand why Jane was so resistant to moving in together.

Even last night she could see that Jane had ended up in her bed because she needed to be there. Jane had not been standing in her doorway because she was worried that Maura wasn't going to forgive her. Maura may have ended their call abruptly but they'd been there before and more often than not her irritation gave Jane something solid to push against. But last night the woman in her doorway was too lost to push against anything and it wasn't a ruse. Jane may be an excellent detective, with an ability pull a poker face in any number of situations, but she never could with Maura and she knew it. Maura knew all her tells intimately. So when she had looked up to see a lost Jane standing in her doorway she hadn't any other choice but to invite her back in. The immediate way Jane had fallen asleep also said a lot.

Maura took a long sip of her tea, the mint bright against her senses. They needed to talk, she knew that. Perhaps the best gift she could give Jane would be a vacation together. She needed to pull both of them out of their environment and out of reach from the rest of the world. A few days of uninterrupted time that could give her a chance to understand what was holding Jane back. It wasn't love and if last night was anything to go on, it wasn't a need for space. Both of them were well versed in how short life could be, how tenuous it was. Maura wasn't a fool. She knew that very element had brought them together so she could not imagine the problem was Jane not being ready to share a home together.

No matter which way she looked at the situation some part of the logic pattern was disturbed. But whatever it was that had a hold on Jane had, by transference, a hold on her and it was simply unacceptable.

She was about to take a sip of tea when knocking echoed from the front hallway.


Jane watched the cab slide down the hill sideways, almost dumping itself onto Beacon Street. Had it been a typical city night it would have been hit by oncoming traffic, more specifically Frost and herself. "Don't even try to get up the hills. Just drop me at the bottom of Chestnut Street." Frost didn't even bother to argue and she watched him pull away to slide in the wake of a city plow.

The uphill street loomed eerily empty, the snow was sharp on her cheeks and the wind gusted between crammed row houses, pushing against her as Jane started to trudge upwards. She passed by Christmas lights caught in the storm, ticking hollowly as they bounced against the brick brownstones, the glow from each house guiding her way. With nothing better to do but think and observe Jane noticed a few key things she hadn't realized about Maura's neighborhood. Her assumption that every house would have delicate white lights was incorrect. A glance up a side street as she passed revealed random homes cheerfully glowing in multi colored celebration. They stood out against their majority of simple white lights, but under the swirls of snow they somehow fit seamlessly. Instead of standing out for their difference, the colors captured the eye with unapologetic charm. Suddenly she regretted the fact she had avoided buying the extension cords for Maura's home and vowed to fix that oversight tomorrow. Jane made a mental promise to stop worrying about embarrassing Maura and give it a chance. Perhaps the colors and the unmatched strands would be different than the surrounding houses but it didn't mean that it wouldn't fit in, that it wouldn't be beautiful.

The accumulated snow made the uphill trek a slow struggle and Jane's thighs and hair bore the brunt of the weather. The case was confusing. There was a message there for them to find. They had a killer who would risk everything to send a message by moving a body. He was deliberate in where they found the victim. He strangled them which to Jane translated that he wanted to feel the life leave them slowly. On one victim there had been a faint diamond shape impression on the neck. What did that mean? What did he use? Why leave them under the Christmas tree both times?

Korsak had pinned up the information on the murder board. It was frustrating to look at the photos of the victims, to see the parallels and the differences. To know while she was looking at everything, that the answer was there if she could figure out how to put all the parts together. A mistake with location of physical murder along with semen on one victim, a ring stolen on from the other victim and both husbands were out of town. Thinking about the victims she swallowed a swelling of guilt. There were two families that had actual worries this Christmas rather than caring about mismatched lights and singing holiday carols.

She had what those poor husbands had lost. A year ago if Rockmond had succeeded, her Christmas could have been just like the victim's families, a missing face at Christmas dinner forever. Instead, Jane had what she had wanted so desperately a few months ago. Maura was home for Christmas. She was going to be with her at the table on Christmas day. Maura had picked staying with her over vacationing with her parents because she knew it was important to her. Jane buried her chin deeper into the collar of her coat, promising herself to lighten up and enjoy the holiday and if that meant traipsing through every tree lot in Massachusetts until Maura was happy so be it.

Finally she turned up Maura's street, noting the skid marks on the road and was glad she chose to walk, numb nose and all. In the streetlight the crusted snow on her coat glittered. The light bounced and sparkled like a thousand tiny diamonds and Jane paused, staring at it.

Holy shit she had bought an engagement ring tonight.

There was a brief thrill of excitement and cold clench of nerves. In a moment of clarity she understood two things. First, without a doubt Maura would say yes, but secondly, she cared more about Jane's feelings than her own. The yes would come regardless of any pressure she might feel. That was Maura. Maura took care of her, put her first. Nodding to herself she pushed forward. No way, no how was she going to ask at Christmas. She was going to buy that weekend away in Vermont and they would connect outside of the crazy world they called life. She was going to ask questions and wait for answers. Take a moment to listen and this time she would put Maura first. That way when she heard yes it was going to be yes. Hell, maybe away from all the insanity they'd been under for the past year, she'd even be able to articulate why moving in was so hard for her.

Maybe.

Up ahead, Jane was surprised to see lights turn on over Maura's front door. The streetlight and falling snow obscured her view but someone was standing on Maura's step. She jogged a few steps to clear her line of sight, struggling through the snow, finally able to see just as the warm glow from inside highlighted Maura from behind, surprise on her face as the figure swooped down, a hand on her shoulder and her hip.

Shocked, Jane froze in place, immobile long enough to see Maura's palm become flush against Ian Faulkner's chest as she stepped back, turning her head slightly so his lips brushed her cheek.


A/N – writer has donned football helmet and passes baseball bats off to readers. Is slightly afraid since she now realizes by reviews that she has a H*LL of a lot more people reading than she realized. Insert 'oh sh*t' moments as this chapter gets posted. Promises that if she is left alive, if a little battered, that the next chapter is already with our story's beta and YOU WILL NOT BE LEFT HANGING. She also realizes she should be sharing her spiked eggnog. (trembling hand holds out rather boozed nog)

And remember - Christmas = Happy = LOW ANGST. (please drink until you forget Ian)