A/N: Thank you to all have reviewed and followed. I am fully back in the groove and writing up a storm. Enjoy this longer chapter and don't forget to let me know what you think!
Jane was in shock. Maura hadn't spoken to her like that in years. It wasn't just embarrassing, it was hurtful. Jane felt so comfortable with Maura now, especially after all their relationship had turned into over the course of the last few months; she never in a million years thought she would hear that from Maura outside of their homes. Sure Maura had used some pretty stern words to her during their play and in that context it had been a surprising turn on to Jane. But this had been nothing like that. This was a full dressing down that Jane hadn't gotten the likes of since her first week at the police academy.
As she thought back on the interaction as she was driving back to the station, Jane realized she had broken a few of the rules she knew Maura abided by, especially at a crime scene. She had meant to tease her girlfriend a little in their normal pattern of banter but apparently she had gone too far. But even the break in protocols she had nearly committed shouldn't have warranted that type of reaction from Maura. And Jane realized that the worst part about her current confusion is that the one person she could talk to about it was the person currently very angry with her.
Not for the first time Jane was realizing how isolated she felt about secretly dating her best friend. Yes it had been fun at first, to be sneaking around and having such an intense relationship with the woman who had been her everything for so long. But now, as before, she was realizing that not being able to turn to your best friend to talk about troubles in your relationship really just sucked.
Jane knew she could talk to Frost about things. Probably even Korsak if she was being honest with herself. But wasn't that the main issue here. Jane wasn't being honest. At least not with the people in her life that were like her family. Not like, they were definitely her family. Every day she trusted them with her life and if it wasn't for Korsak, Jane would probably not even have a life. Maybe Maura had been right and she needed to start telling people about the change in their relationship.
Jane was still deep in thought about all this as she walked into the squad room. She had beaten the rest of the team back and again felt how lonely she suddenly was. The knot that had started to build in her stomach at the crime scene started to grow. The crazy thing, Jane ruminated, was that she wasn't alone at all. For the first time in a long time, Jane was completely fulfilled: in her job, in her family, and especially in her romantic life. So why did she feel so alone?
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Maura was in the morgue performing the autopsy on the victim from the alley. The body was so mangled, getting an identity would be difficult. The fingers, face, and teeth had been badly damaged so it seemed the best way of ascertaining who this person was would be from DNA. It made the doctor very sad to see how far humans could go to hurt each other.
This train of thought brought Maura back to the interaction she had had with Jane in the alley. She knew that she overreacted but she just couldn't seem to feel bad about it. Jane had been having her cake and eating it too for awhile now and Maura just couldn't take it anymore. Maura didn't want a public announcement in the Globe but at least being able to openly touch Jane or give her a quick kiss without having to consider all the ramifications would go a long way. Or at least for them to get back into their heavier play when they were alone, not that they had had much time for that with these cases lately.
Letting out a sigh, Maura returned her full focus on to this poor soul. Just as she was beginning to close up the body, Maura felt the all too familiar sensation of being watched. More specifically the sensation of her detective watching her. It sent a shiver down her spine and immediately made her wet. There was something about the way that Jane observed her that had always caused this reaction in Maura. It had only intensified as they had taken their relationship to the next level...and then the level after that.
Still peeved about earlier and not wanting to let on the effect Jane had on her, Maura continued to work on closing the body and cleaning up the autopsy suite. If Jane wanted to speak to her, she was going to have to work for it.
"Doctor Isles?" came a tentative husk from the doorway of the autopsy suite. It almost broke Maura's heart to hear Jane so uncertain. Maura liked her detective assertive and fierce even when she was dead wrong about things. This broken sounding voice coming from Jane made Maura's stoic exterior melt away but didn't stop her professionalism.
"Yes, Detective Rizzoli? As you can see I am just finishing the autopsy so I won't have any results for a few hours. You are welcome to come back then. However, I can officially tell you that this is in fact a homicide of extreme brutality."
After she had finished updating her detective, Maura expected some response but instead she was met with silence. She could still feel that intense gaze on her back and it was only stroking the flames of her desire. However, Maura still refused to look at Jane in an effort to maintain some sort of decorum, especially while working with the victim.
"Thank you Doctor Isles. Although, I actually came down here to speak to you on a more personal matter. Can we please move to your office?" Again the voice was barely above a whisper and Maura's heart clenched. This was definitely not what she expected from Jane. Maybe she had been too harsh earlier. Maura never wanted to be the cause of this Jane making an appearance. Ever. Maura was usually the one who coaxed this Jane away. It felt so wrong to be the one to have caused it.
"Of course detective. I still need to clean up a few things but I will meet you there momentarily." Maura still hadn't looked at Jane but she did feel the absence of those deep brown eyes she loved so much as she heard the door to the autopsy suite close. Taking a deep breath, she resolved to make this better. Immediately.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Jane wasn't sure what she had expected by coming down to the morgue but finding a cold medical examiner was not it. Jane had thought Maura would have thawed out a bit since their earlier interaction but apparently Jane had really fucked up this time.
Jane had only decided to come to see Maura after to speaking to Frost. She hadn't completely come clean about everything, but she had given him the bare bones version of the fact that she and the doctor had gotten closer and that clearly she had stepped on Maura's toes in some way. Frost, being the good man that he was, had told her what she already knew: make it right and do it fast. They both knew how bad things could be for everyone, personally and professionally, when Jane and Maura were on the outs. No one wanted a repeat of that.
Entering the medical examiner's office, Jane went to sit down on the couch to wait for Maura. As she was lowering herself to sit, Jane had a flash of a memory. At the beginning of their newly shifted relationship, Jane had taken Maura quite possessively in the doctor's office after hours. Jane had always fantasized about doing just that and Maura, being the extremely giving partner she was, had fulfilled her fantasy and then some. It had been a highlight in a rather rich sex life that the two had embarked on and Jane smiled at the memory.
Sitting fully, Jane looked toward the window that faced the autopsy suite. She could see her doctor moving methodically through her procedure that she always performed that kept things perfectly in order so that her department was beyond reproach. Jane could see the tension in her love's shoulders. How had Jane not noticed? Maura was clearly wound up, Jane could see now that she had an uninterrupted view of her. Thinking back to all the things that had happened over the last week, it finally occurred to Jane what was under Maura's skin. And thankfully, she knew exactly how to fix it.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
Maura knew that she needed to get her feelings under control before she met with Jane. She needed to apologize to Jane about her harsh behaviour and communicate why she had reacted that way. After the trouble they had encountered before, Maura had promised herself she would be better with communication and once again she had failed Jane. Maura was so unaccustomed to failing that it was causing a great deal of tension to form.
Taking several centering breaths, Maura made her way to her office to face the music, as it were. Immediately she noticed that all the blinds had been drawn in the room and as she walked through the doorway, that only a single lamp was lit and all other lighting had been extinguished.
"Please lock the door Doctor Isles" came a deep raspy voice from the shadows. Maura felt all her blood flowing south in an instant. Taking a steadying breath, Maura did as was asked. She turned around and engaged the lock. The tension in the room was so palpable that the only sounds that could be heard where the clicking of the lock slipping into place and Maura's own ragged breaths, despite her best efforts to control them.
Maura didn't know what to expect, but the sight before her as she turned instantly brought tears to her eyes. There, in all her beautiful splendor was her gorgeous detective, kneeling, nude, head down, hands behind her back. The position alone would have made Maura's heart soar but the expanse of olive skin that was gleaming up at Maura took her breath away.
"Doctor Isles, I apologize for my behavior this morning and am yours to punish as you see fit" came that same husky voice that did all kinds of things to Maura. Just when Maura thought Jane didn't understand her, she went and did things like this. Maura should never doubt her love, but especially not her best friend who always knew what Maura needed.
Taking tentative steps toward the prostrated detective, Maura raised her hand to slip beneath Jane's chin and encouraged her to meet her eyes. Watery brown eyes met equally watery hazel ones. They both shared a small smile.
"Thank you Jane. Thank you so much," Maura whispered with as much love as she could put into those words. The glint that reflected in Jane's eyes at her words and the dimples that shown on Jane's face healed something in Maura that she hadn't even known was wounded.
Letting her hand drop, and taking an appraising step back to fully drink in the vision in front of her, Maura tapped her index finger against her chin. "Oh my naughty detective, just what oh what am I going to do with you.." she said with an evil grin taking over her face. She saw her detective take a huge gulp and couldn't resist letting out a joyous laugh, showing all her dimples. "Don't worry love, we will both enjoy it."
A/N: Hehehe. I will be writing both the scene Jane was thinking about and what happened in the office here over on PD: After Dark. Stay tuned. :-D