Frankie looked at Jane as he sipped his glass of water. "That's some case, Janie. I heard one of the guys talkin' that was in the alley. Was she really gutted?"

Jane shook her head. "No, everything was still there. She was just cut open." She ate a forkful of gnocchi, and chewed thoughtfully.

"What's the point of cutting someone open if you're not taking organs?" Frank looked down at his plate, spearing some pasta.

"Speculation is nearly impossible, considering that mutilations of this degree indicate a very troubled mind." Maura looked around at everyone, determining a need to restate. "It's hard to know what a crazy person's thinking."

"Tell me about it. I've had to converse with them, over and over." Jane's tone was dry. "I leave the profiling to the experts."

Maura shrugged. "I was considering going back to college to pursue an added qualification in forensic psychology at one point." She speared a bit of pasta, and chewed silently.

"Why didn't you?" Angela asked politely, smiling over at her and picking up the salad bowl. "I bet you'd be just as brilliant as you are in your current field."

"To be honest, I watched Silence of the Lambs one night, and decided it would be best if I stayed where I am. Dead people can't drive you insane, or haunt your dreams at night. Well, at least not mine."

Jane looked over at her, sipping from her own glass. "You got spooked?" She smirked slightly, enjoying the reminder that Maura was indeed, human.

"It's a perfectly natural response…" Maura trailed off as the realization dawned. "You're teasing me."

Jane simply shrugged in response, finishing her plate and standing, walking with purpose toward the kitchen. "This was delicious, Ma. Like always." She walked back into the room, sitting down and picking up her water glass. The touch of flesh on glass was almost like a catalyst, the moment she did so her phone rang. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me." She sighed as she answered it. "Rizzoli."

"Hey, Jane. I lined up a possible witness for us to speak to tomorrow." Frost's voice was hopeful.

"Great. Why don't you knock off, then? We could all use a night's sleep." She pinched the bridge of her nose, relaxing in her seat a bit.

"Sounds good, partner. I'll see you in the morning, breakfast's on me."

"See you then." She hung up the phone, and smiled at Maura. "Barry might have a lead. We're interviewing tomorrow morning."

Maura beamed and nodded. "That's wonderful news."

Jane nodded, smirking. "Even better news is I can now join you in a glass of wine." She gulped down the rest of her water, holding the glass toward Maura with a pleading look.

Angela passed the bottle toward the women, nodding. "And now you can do the dishes." She grinned, clearly enjoying bearing the unfortunate news.

Jane sighed again and began to protest, her body slumping just a bit in her chair, but Maura interrupted her with a hand on her thigh. "I'll take care of them, Mrs. Rizzoli."

"Angela, please, Maura. You're a member of the family, enough with the formalities." She waved a hand of dismissal toward her.

"Well, Angela," Maura began, putting stress on her name. "If I am part of your family, then it's only fair I take my turn at washing the dishes." She smiled and stood, beginning to collect plates, stacking them with precision, a firm grip on the bottom dish.

Frankie leaned back in his seat and looked at his watch. "I gotta go, Ma. I'm on night shift." He stood up, leaning down to kiss Angela's cheek, waving in Frank's direction. "See ya, Pop."

Angela nodded. "Be careful, Frankie." She sighed, sipping her own glass of wine.

Jane stood up slowly. "Let me help, Maur." She reached for the salad bowl, Maura's hands knocking her own aside.

"I'm capable." She smiled again and fixed Jane with a strange look. "Let me do this."

Jane nodded, her hands rising slightly in surrender. "Okay, I give. Can I keep you company, at least?"

Maura chuckled and nodded. "Company would be appreciated." She stepped around her chair, carrying dishes into the kitchen, Jane following with the dish of pasta. As soon as they were ensconced in the kitchen, Maura placed the dishes in the sink and turned to Jane. "Would you like some company this evening?"

Jane pulled a long-necked bottle out of the refrigerator, hopping up onto a barstool at the counter, her empty glass forgotten in the dining room. "Sure. I'm always up for hanging out with you." She twisted off the tiny metal cap and lifted the bottle to her lips. "Anything specific you wanna do?"

Maura shook her head as she ran the water, beginning to clean the stack of china. "No, relaxing with you simply sounds like a wonderful way to end the day. I've been tracing the details of my autopsy in my mind."

Jane nodded, taking another long sip from her bottle. "I know what you mean. There's something poking at me about those neck wounds. I wish I could put my finger on it."

Maura picked up a dishtowel and tossed it at Jane. "You may help me, if you still wish to." She turned her attention back to the dishes in the sink.

Jane drained the rest of her beer, the column of her throat stretched as her head tilted back, Adam's apple visible as she swallowed several times. She tossed the now-empty bottle in the recycling bin, crossing the room and picking up a dish from the rack. "I thought you'd never ask." She grinned a bit, drying the dish and placing it in the cabinet.

Maura caught Jane's reflection in the kitchen window, and watched silently as she finished her beer. She swallowed as well, her throat suddenly thick and turned her gaze narrowly to the sink. "May I ask you a question?"

Jane leaned against the counter, waiting for Maura to hand her a plate. She nodded briefly and accepted the dish, beginning to dry it. "Anything, always."

Steeling herself, she suddenly saw another tact to her intended line of questioning. "Do you remember when you went undercover at that lesbian bar?" She knew, of course, that Jane did.

"Sure." Another dish went into the cabinet. "What about it?"

"Well, do you remember when we had that conversation about if we were gay?" Maura scrubbed at a particularly stubborn bit of food, lip firmly between her teeth.

"That's not gonna come off. It's shellacked on there for good." Jane smiled, watching Maura's sudden intensity. "Wait, are you tryin' to tell me something?"

Perhaps. "I was merely wondering if you could properly answer my question to you then, since some time has passed." She handed over the plate, having given up. "I asked you why you'd… be the guy, as you put it. Being bossy isn't a valid reason."

Jane chewed her lip, thinking it over. She wondered what a good reason was. "Well, I like wearing pants." She cursed internally, the words had sounded trite even in her mind.

Maura laughed lightly. "Jane…"

"Maura…" Jane took the proffered dish and began drying it. "It's safer, I guess, being the pursuer, at least in my mind. With men it's easier, you know what to expect. I'd be out of my element with a woman."

"You didn't seem to have issues with the women in the bar." Maura began washing the last of the plates.

"I was focused. I had a specific reason for being there. It was practically scripted." She took the plate from her and dried it, hands pausing in their task. "Seriously, why…"

"I was merely curious. The interest in psychology wasn't an idle one, I enjoy understanding people, you specifically." Maura turned the water off and began transferring the leftover pasta to a reusable container.

Jane finished drying the plate and slid it on top of the stack in the cabinet, closing the door gently. "I guess maybe it would depend on the woman, too."

Maura's heart skipped, causing it to pound in its effort to catch its rhythm once more. "Have you ever been curious? About being with a woman?"

Idle curiosity my ass. "I've thought about it, once or twice. I'm sure everyone has, at some point in their life." She slid onto a stool near Maura and looked at her intently for a moment. "You?"

Maura nodded, eyes focused on her task. "I've had a few experiences with women before. It's not unpleasing."

"You have? Why didn't I know that?" Jane asked, incredulous. She didn't find anything upsetting about Maura's sexual preferences, but she was hurt that Maura would withhold information about herself from her.

"It didn't seem important. If I were to date a woman now, I would of course inform you." She closed the container and looked up, hazel eyes locking onto chocolate brown ones with honesty. "Was I mistaken? Should I have told you?"

Jane's resolve faltered. "No, I guess you're right. There was no reason for me to know something like that." Her left hand moved to her right, thumb working over the scar on her palm.

Maura reached for her hands across the peninsula of counter, grasping them firmly. "Does it change your opinion of me? I realize you're not homophobic, but…"

"What? No, Maura, never. My opinion of you couldn't possibly change just because you swing both ways." She watched as Maura's fingers probed the scars on both sides of her hand, easing the tightness in the skin.

"I'm glad. I wouldn't want that." She spoke softly, gazing at Jane in the safety of the moment, Jane's eyes trained on their hands. "I understand if you would rather I didn't accompany you home tonight."

Jane's gaze snapped up, fear written in her eyes. "What? Maura, stop it. You're my best friend, I always want you around. A couple experiences in college and an open mind are pieces of who you are. That's not gonna scare me off."

Maura smiled softly, nodding. "Alright."

Jane smirked. "Besides, it's not my place to tell you whose bed to be in. Except mine, on sleepover nights."

Maura rolled her eyes with a grin of her own. "You're right."

Jane tilted her head, somehow she knew Maura wasn't referring to her last statement. "About?"

"You would be 'the guy'."