A/N: final chapter! thank you for your patience and sticking with this story!

"What did you say to him?" Jane asked quietly into a caramel hairline.

"Hmm?" Maura adjusted herself on the cot they shared. Their bodies naturally slotted into place and Maura reveled in the curves and warmth of Jane pressed against her. She lifted her head from Jane's chest and her nose pressed against the underside of the brunettes jaw. She placed a chaste kiss there, "Who?"

"The soldier."

Maura pressed another kiss to the pulse point at Jane's neck. She felt it flutter and quicken beneath her lips, "I told him you were unstable."

Jane snorted, and the arm wrapped around Maura moved. Fingers trailed over her shoulder, down her arm and up again. It was a sensation that Maura immediately found comfort in.

"You told him I was crazy." Jane's accusatory tone was playful.

Maura shrugged, "In so many words. You came all the way here on a whim. To some that could be considered crazy."

"Do you think it is?"

Maura pursed her lips in thought for a moment, "Maybe. It is a bit outside the realm of normal."

Jane's embrace tightened around her, pulling Maura close and then easing her onto her back as she rolled them over. Dark tresses fell around Maura's face, shielding them from all but each other. She peered up at the devious smirk tugging at the corner of Jane's mouth.

"You're outside realm of normal." Jane murmured, "It's one of the things I love about you."

Fingertips moved from Maura's shoulder and across her collarbone while a hand moved down her side and rested at her hip. Maura watched dark eyes flicker down to her lips and unconsciously licked her own. Jane lowered her head and warmth coiled low in Maura's stomach. Her breath hitched when teeth nipped and grazed her bottom lip.

"I am, you know." Jane's words cascaded over Maura's lips and she raised her head only for Jane to back away with a grin.

"You're what?" Maura asked tilting her head, frustrated.

"Crazy."

Maura rolled her eyes, "You're no-"

"For you I am." Jane interrupted, pressing her finger to Maura's lips, "Certifiably insane. I would have followed you anywhere. You could have gone to the moon and I would have learned to fly. You are worth keeping, Maura. I would have been crazy not to come."

Maura kissed the retreating finger at her lips and Jane smiled as her hand fell away and trailed across Maura's cheek. Jane shifted her weight, her thigh pressing tightly between Maura's legs as her hand wrapped around the cots bar beside blondes head.

Maura swallowed away the moan threatening to escape from the back of her throat.

"Don't tell anyone I said that." Jane mumbled, her lips brushing the corner of Maura's mouth.

"Oh, I'm a vault." Maura pressed her hand to chest and covered her heart.

Lips descended on to Maura's; tentative at first before deepened. Maura pulled gently at the collar of Jane's shirt and she rolled her hips forward, pressing into Jane's thigh. An approving moan rumbled against her lips. Hands trailed down the sides of Jane's body and around the swell of her breasts before twisting around the belt loops of her shorts and tugging her waist forward.

She untangled her hands and moved from Jane's waist to the hem of her shirt, and disappeared underneath it. They ran across the smooth small of Jane's back and she felt the muscles that contracted with each roll of her hips.

She broke off from the frenzied kiss when Jane's hand moved from her hip and pulled at the knot of her scrub pants.

"Wait.."

Jane's movements froze, "I.. I'm sorry. I wanted to.." She bit at her bottom lip in embarrassment, "I'm not sure what I'm doing."

Maura brought a hand to Jane's face, tucking a few stray strands of hair behind her ear. Her other stayed firmly at Jane's back, refusing a retreat should she try one.

"No, no. I want you to, it's just I don't think here is the place." She said reassuringly. Maura tangled her hand into the hair at the base of Jane's neck and gently guided her down into a soft kiss. Words she had repeated to herself on lonely nights begged to fall from her lips.

"I lo-"

The sound of the door clicking propelled Maura up from a warm embrace, causing Jane to roll land on her side. Ian entered the room and Maura ran her hands through her hair.

"Just me." He said, winking, "But you should really lock the door, you don't know who-"

"I know." Maura waved her hands. Ian raised his own in mock defense and nodded, moving on from the subject.

Dropping her hands to her lap, Maura looked over her shoulder, Jane gave her a weak smile as she tucked one hand under her head.

"I'm sorry," Maura said, shaking her head, "I left you on the floor alone. Is everything okay?"

Ian waved off the comment as Jane's hand moved under Maura's scrub top. Strong fingers kneaded into the tension on either side of her spinal column. A small wave of relief flooded her.

Ian closed the door behind him and he leaned back against it, "Everything is fine. What I wanted to talk to you about was going back to Boston." He said, taking a step forward, "I have everything under control here. You're under no obligation to stay"

Maura worried her bottom lip before speaking, "Thank you, Ian. I will consider it."

Jane's fingers stilled on her back and pulled away.

Ian smiled and nodded as he stepped back towards the door, "I'm just going to lock this."

Maura forced a smile as the door closed. She looked back over her shoulder at Jane.

She was staring intently at the ceiling, fingers drumming against her stomach. Maura turned and laid back down, curling into the body beside her. She rested her hand over Jane's, stilling the anxious movement and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"I had planned on staying a month."

Jane swallowed hard and turned her head away.

"Do you need more time?" Jane asked weaky, "I just showed up and expected.. I assumed.." She wiped her hand across her face, "I'm an idiot." She finished quietly.

Pushing up on her elbow, Maura looked down. Jane's features had fallen. Vulnerability seeped from each worried line that had etched itself into her brow and around her eyes.

Maura's voice became firm, "Jane, look at me."

When dark eyes found her own and the tears that were perched there spilled over. Maura reached out tentatively and captured each one.

"I don't need time, Jane, but I do need you to trust me."

Jane nodded and turned, burying her face into Maura's neck. A sad smile spread across Maura's face, and she dipped her head, pressing a kiss into Jane's hair.

"You have me, unequivocally so. I would be staying to help the people that need it. Not to stay away from you."

Jane nodded again, "I know."

"Okay." Maura smiled. She pressed a reassuring kiss to her temple as her finger followed the line of Jane's jaw. She pressed gently up and Jane raised her head, allowing their lips to meet in a slow kiss.

"I'll come home to you." Maura whispered, the words falling somewhere between a promise and a prayer.

The flicker of city lights dance off the cabin window as the plane begins its descent.

Jane had left two weeks ago, but not before stubbornly refusing. She had attempted to extend her stay by laying out ideas for a security detail at the hospital. Maura reminded her that she would be of greater use in Boston, rather than recycling the same two outfits chasing down bad guys in the African heat.

The weeks that followed at the hospital had been uneventful. Emails with Jane throughout the day and midnight video chats made her yearn for the stability of her city and the world waiting to be built with a person there.

"It's not weird for you?" Maura asked laying down.

"You went sideways.." Jane said, waving her hand at the camera of her laptop. Maura smiled and sat back up.

"Better?"

"Better.. and yeah, it kinda is, but it means something different now."

"How?"

"Because this meant he was gone. It was always a relief." Jane shrugged her shoulders, "I would wish for him to stay wherever the hell he was so that I would have an excuse to end it."

Maura pursed her lips and nodded.

"But when I see you..." Jane smiled and leaned in, her image becoming blurred. She sat back on her couch with a beer in her hand, "I get excited, because I know it is one day closer to having you here, and that's what I want."

"I want that too." Maura said. She felt like the smile on her face was a permanent fixture.

Her phone screen flickered, "M... ura.. an.. yo.. ear me-"

Maura stood quickly and raised her phone to the window, desperately searching for signal.

"Jane?" Broken images flashed across Maura's phone and words pressed down on her tongue.

"I love you." She said quietly, lowering herself back to the cot just as the screen went black.

Eager excitement bubbles in Maura's chest as the plane touches down on the tarmac. She quickly pulls her phone from her pocket and turns it on, anxiously tapping it against her palm.

A notification sounds. It is an email from Jane.

Sorry for being MIA most of the day. You been pretty busy too? Hunched over files here still. Frost thinks if he wishes hard enough the decaf will give him caffeinated powers. He is a lost cause. Hoping to be out of here in the next hour. Skype when I get home? Should make it about 8am your time.

Miss you xo

Maura glances up at the time in the corner of her phone. It is a little after midnight. She can be at Jane's before 1am. She taps the edge of her phone against her worrying lip before smiling.

I'd love to see you when you get home.

I'll be back before you know it.

I miss you more.

Maura sends the message quickly and exits out of her email. The plane idles at the gate as she scrolls through her contacts and begins a new text.

Susie is circling the the airport loop for the third time when her phone buzzes.

On my way to get my luggage, meet you outside in 10. Gate B.

A smile crosses Susie's face as she pulls into the arrivals gate and parks at the curb. She picks up her phone and swipes her finger across the screen, and taps out a response.

Waiting!

She scrolls up through an exchange of texts until she comes across a picture sent to her a little over two weeks ago.

The caption under it is one of gratitude; a simple 'thank you'. It is of a beaming Dr. Isles and Jane, whose lips are firmly pressed against her smiling superiors cheek. Susie had sat and excitedly read each text of Jane's arrival, subsequent fainting, her injury and the talk that followed. She could feel Dr. Isles's giddiness and shared in it with her an ocean away. She had even conceded graciously when she received a text forgiving her for telling an insufferable Jane where she had gone.

A small smile tugs at the corner of Susie's lips as she sets her phone into the center console.

It was a little after 3am and Susie ran her fourth red light. She had made record time between the airport and Charlestown. Now turning down side streets she brought the car to a crawl as she came closer to Tremont street and to the familiar brownstones that lined it.

Her body buzzed with anger. She hadn't protested when Dr. Isles had called her crying, she had only listened. It had actually become quite a common exchange, especially where Jane was involved. Calls often turned into late night visits with wine and a shoulder to cry on. Susie did her best to remain open and receptive - playing devils advocate and dispensing reassuring advice.

Until tonight. She had protested, pleaded even, but had been met with an unfaltering Maura Isles.

And Susie had relented. She had taken Dr. Isles to the airport with a single suitcase, a goodbye and the promise not to tell Jane where she had gone.

A promise that Susie quickly made point to break once she was back on the highway.

Now a block from Jane's home, she pulled out her phone and quickly scrolled through her contacts, and before she could second guess herself, called Jane.

"Rizzoli." Came a gruff voice, cutting through sleep.

"Come outside." Susie said through her teeth.

"Huh?"

The line became muffled and Susie could make out the deep timbre of a mans voice.

She rolled her eyes as she turned off the car and stepped out. She began walking up the block.

"Chang, what the hell?"

"We need to talk. I'm about to be in front of your building, Jane."

"We're on a first name basis now? It's 3 in the morning."

Susie paused on the sidewalk. She scanned the brownstones before walking over to Jane's cruiser. She leaned against, casually.

"It's about Maura, and we are." She said pointedly and hung up the phone.

Moments later the front door was opening. Jane stepped out onto the landing and quickly made her way down the steps. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her chest, keeping her robe closed. Susie pushed off the cruiser and strode with determination towards the worried brunette.

"What's wrong?! Is Maura oka-"

"You're an asshole." Susie said, pointing her finger viciously.

Jane stopped in her tracks. Anger replaced worry, and her brow pointed downward with it.

"Excuse you?"

Susie swallowed hard. An apology pushed against her lips, but she shook her head.

"You heard me."

"And you must be suicidal to show up on my doorstep to tell me that." Jane said taking a step forward.

"Maura left." Susie said evenly.

Jane flinched at the words, "What do you mean she left?"

"She left the state! She left the damn country!"

Jane's eyes widened.

"She left you!" Susie shouted.

Jane's mouth hung open and she blinked vacantly.

"I fucked up." She exhaled in a shaky breath and dropped her head.

"Yeah, you did." Susie said and reached out. Her hand hovered in the space between them and she carried the complex feeling of wanting to comfort and strangle the detective at the same time.

Jane shifted on her feet, "So you know then, huh?"

"Anyone with eyes knows." Susie quipped, reaching into her pocket and retrieving a pen. She pulled gently at Jane's hand, "Here." Susie pressed the pen into Jane's palm and neat penmanship flowed across and over a crescent infliction, "This the town she is going to. There is a hospital there. She just boarded the plane an hour ago."

Jane pulled back her hand and held it in a tight fist against her chest, "Thank you."

Susie's pursed her lips and nodded into the heavy silence that followed.

"Is everything okay, Jane?" Casey asked from behind them. His head peeked out the front door.

The muscles in Susie's jaw tightened as she looked over Jane's shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah." Jane said quickly raising her head and wiping away a stray tear "Just a work thing."

Casey gave a short wave and disappeared back into the building.

"Fix this." Susie said through her teeth as she turned on her heels to walk away.

Jane grasped her wrist, "Wait.." The word died out once they passed Jane's lips. Weak and defeated. Susie looked down at her restricted hand and then back up at Jane.

"I don't want.. he can't see me like this." Jane wiped angrily at her cheek, catching any stray tears she could. Even in the streetlights, Susie could make out lines of anxiety and worry in Jane's features. The sight reminded her of the broken image of Maura disappearing through the airport doors.

"Do I look okay?" Jane asked, her hands disappearing into the pockets of her robe.

Susie tilted her head and shook it, pulling her hand away from Jane.

"No." She said honestly, "But you never do without her beside you."

"Welcome back, Dr. Isles!" Susie chirps happily, stepping out of the car.

Maura tilts her head as she lets go of the suitcases handle, "Maura."

Susie smiles sheepishly and flips her hand past her head forgetfully. She reaches around Maura and rolls the suitcase towards her. She picks it up and places it in the trunk.

"I bet Jane is ecstatic that you're back!" Susie says as she closes the trunk and circles the car.

Maura smiles as she opens the passenger door and gets in. She glances down to her watch, it is ten minutes to one. She folds her hands in her lap as Susie slips into the drivers seat.

She can feel herself being studied and glances at Susie. Her friend gapes and pokes her in the shoulder and Maura sways slightly.

"You didn't tell her you're back!"

"No, I.." Maura twirls the ring on her finger nervously, "I wanted to surprise her."

She glances down at her lap and cold worry moves through her. Flashes of Casey showing up on Jane's doorstep move in rapid succession in her mind.

"Oh god. Am I being presumptuous?" Maura's voice hitches and she looks at Susie wide eyed.

Susie bites her lip for a moment then shakes her head, "No. Was it presumptuous for her to show up in Ethiopia?"

Maura opens her mouth to speak, but Susie quickly cuts her off, "Okay, yes a little, but you wouldn't have had it any other way." Susie smiles and rests her hand on Maura's knee, "She will be thrilled to see you. Maybe she'll even faint again."

A snort of laughter escapes Maura and she rests her hand on top of Susie's.

"Thank you, Susie, for everything."

Susie shrugs nonchalantly and squeezes Maura's hand reassuringly before shifting the car into drive.

"To Charlestown then?"

Maura gives a short nod and a small seed of pride takes root somewhere deep in Susie's chest.

Maura looks up at the brownstone as a light turns on in Jane's living room and she can feel her pulse quicken. The handle of her suitcase is slick in her hand as she lifts it up onto the landing. Her reaches out and her fingers flex in front of the entry way door. Maura finds herself fixed her she stands.

She closes her eyes and counts the number of steps to Jane. She knows the floors and has walked the halls. The beat of her heart quickens at each arrival and aches at each departure.

'Twenty steps until you reach her hall then fifteen until you are at her door.'

The person behind it is the same. Jane bellows the same rich laugh and provides safety and warmth. Her kiss lingers somewhere between tender and possessive. Maura pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and smiles. Jane is fire and sharp edges. She is broken and imperfect and Maura finds herself only love her more.

Taking a deep breath, Maura pushes the door open. She counts to 20 and then starts again. 15 steps and she is peering at the gold plated '12' of Jane's apartment door. Her heart pounds madly against the bone and cartilage confines of her chest.

The sound the emanates from her coat pocket is deafening and Maura quickly grabs her phone, fumbling it in her hands. Suddenly there are too many buttons and Jane's face lights up the screen.

Maura declines the call and curses inwardly at herself when she hears movement on the other side of the door.

She steps back as the door opens and glances down at her phone before clenching it tightly to her chest.

It is 1:02, of course Jane would be calling.

Dark eyes peek around the edge of the door and widen in surprise. Maura gives a weak wave as the door swings open. She would find the look on Jane's face downright adorable if she could remember how to breathe.

"Holy shi-.. You're here." Jane waves her hands in a flourish before pressing them against her chest.

Maura opens her mouth to speak. She can feel her lips twitch to form words, but the sounds don't escape. She moves instead, capturing Jane's face in her hands and kissing her. Strong arms move around her waist and Jane's hands press into the small of her back, pulling Maura in, enveloping her.

"I love you." Maura says breathlessly between kisses. She can feel Jane smile against her lips as the hold around her tightens and her feet leave the ground.

"You're real, right?" Jane asks quietly, pressing her forehead against Maura's.

Maura nods and closes her eyes as Jane's lips press against hers again.

"I'm so sorry, Jane."

"Don't be." Jane cranes her neck back, smiling as she lowers the woman in her arms and Maura is sure she is still floating even though her feet have been firmly planted back on the ground.

"I shouldn't have waited, I should have told sooner."

Jane shakes her head, "Hey, hey, I heard you. I know."

"I should have told you when you were in Ethiopia. God, I heard myself saying the words for years and-"

"I've known for years." Jane says, taking Maura's hand in her own and stepping back, "C'mere."

Maura lets herself be guided into the apartment and warm lips press to the back of her hand as she passes Jane. Dark eyes flicker up to her own as Jane steps back to the hallway and rolls in the suitcase. The door shuts behind them with a soft click.

Arms wrap around Maura's waist and her eyes flutter shut for a moment. Jane's form presses into her back and the warmth of Jane's cheek rests against her own, "You told me right there." Jane says, dipping her head towards the kitchen.

Deft fingers move down the length of Maura's jacket, pushing away each button and lips press against the side of her neck, "I should had told you then. I should had said it back."

Jane tugs gently at the jackets collar and Maura rolls her shoulders back, allowing Jane to slip it off and toss it over the back of the couch.

"Say it."

Jane hums happily and her hands rest at Maura's hips.

"I love you." She says softly. Warmth breaks out under Maura's skin as Jane's breath tickles at the shell of her ear.

Resting her hands atop of Jane's, Maura pulls them slowly around her, swaying in the embrace they provide. Jane's words repeat like a mantra in her head.

"And I love you." The words sail past her lips with ease.

She can feel Jane nod and the smile that spreads across her lips as she presses kiss to the soft spot behind her ear.

"Welcome home."