Author's note: thank you very much everyone for all the reviews and messages, it's a pleasure.

Chapter twenty-five: Once She Leaves

"The Red Sox called, Jane. They want their gear back." Frankie winked at her sister. "And now."

"Very funny, really. It's for Margot, I wanted her to leave with some Boston goodies." Jane grabbed a jersey and folded it on top of her desk. Perhaps the shopping session had gone a bit wild. She had a hard time seeing her desk under the amount of items dropped on it. "C'mon, she's leaving soon and I hadn't got her anything yet."

Five days. Margot left in five days. It was going way too fast, suddenly. Jane didn't like it. She had got used to the teenager's presence in her life.

She had got used to pretend she was Maura's wife.

A phone rang in the background and startled her. Back to reality. She proceeded to put her purchase – more than a dozen of items – back into a huge bag. Why did she have to leave? Why couldn't Margot stay here?

"You're gonna miss her, right?"

Frankie's question made her smile. She nodded but remained silent. She didn't feel like speaking. It was too hard and her voice would probably break if she dared to try.

"Think about the rest. Ain't you happy to get back to your normal life? No fake marriage anymore and all?"

During the two months she had spent at Maura's, Jane had stopped by her own place once. Just once and she had barely stayed for ten minutes. The apartment had seemed cold, impersonal. Her life was not there anymore. She didn't want to go back to it. It wasn't her.

But then what? Move in with Maura? They hadn't talked about it. Perhaps it was time for them to do so, though. They were running out of time.

"Not... Not that much, actually." She put the bag on the floor and looked up at her brother who was clearly taken aback by her remark. "I don't think it was my 'normal' life. I don't think it was me."

"What do you mean?" Frankie frowned. He seemed perplexed.

She cast a brief glance at the open space and sighed. The BPD was extremely quiet. Many units had left and they could hear the soft murmur of the machines; stifled steps in the hallway. A light talk by the coffee machine. Even time seemed to have stopped.

"What I'm having now... This is what I want. This is my life. The way I see it."

Frankie remained still for a while; his eyes squinted at her impassively. She didn't move either and waited instead for her brother to react. She knew that he would at some point. He always did. He just needed to analyze what she had just let him understand; something they hadn't talked about until now.

"Then marry her. For real, this time. Propose her."

Jane's bitter laugh put an odd end to their conversation. She shook her head at Frankie as if he could not understand and waved him off. She needed to go back to work. Reports to type, files to revise. It wasn't the end of the day yet.

She couldn't focus on Maura now.

...

"Jane!"

And... Busted. Well done, Rizzoli.

As Maura's scream resounded loud - full of reproach - Jane made a face.

She knew that it was only a matter of time. Actually, she had assumed that Maura would have noticed the multicolored scotched ribbons on Bass' shell earlier. It had taken her almost thirty minutes. A record of some sort.

Jane nonchalantly stepped into the living-room and got ready for her demise. Why did she do that? Why did she push Maura's buttons all the time? She was such a kid, at times.

"Did you call me? I was in the laundry room."

Maura shot her a mock disapproving look and shook her head slowly. Hands on her hips. She wasn't angry but furious. Really furious.

"The colors of the rainbow? Really?"

Don't laugh now, Rizzoli. It'll make things worse. A sorry face. Make a sorry face. C'mon, you can do that. It can save you.

"You don't like them?"

Replying to Maura's rhetorical question by a stupid question wasn't the smartest move Jane could make but she was in a teasing mood and couldn't help it. She knew Maura's limits, anyway. She hasn't reached them yet.

"Can't you leave this poor Bass alone? Why did you do that to him?"

Fair question, very bad excuse. Jane had come back home earlier than planned and had got bored. The tortoise had had the unfortunate idea to cross her path while she was wrapping Margot's gifts. End of the story. It was as simple as that.

She shrugged and buried her hands in the pockets of her jeans.

"It wouldn't stay fixed on Jo Friday's fur."

The unexpected remark got the advantage of keeping Maura speechless.

Saved by the bell. Or better said, by the door.

Margot walked in and unleashed the dog who happily trotted to her owner. Jane grabbed her in her arms and waved a paw at Maura. The scientist pursed her lips – rolled her eyes – but finally smiled. Her incapacity to remain angry more than three seconds made it all almost too easy for Jane.

"Okay! I'm back so I can now bake this crumble. Apple, we said?" Full of energy, the teenager ran to the kitchen and washed her hands. "It's a classic one but hey, classics never die."

She had offered to prepare dinner and since she was an excellent cook, Jane and Maura had agreed right away. It was probably the last one that Margot would make before her departure. A bittersweet one.

"Are you done with your Area 51 project? Remember, there's no alien in Massachusetts. We're not in Roswell, here... No UFOs." Jane put Jo Friday back on the floor and sat on a stool. She felt like talking with Margot. As a matter of fact, she felt like spending every single second with her. "We'll get to see it soon, now. On Friday!"

Busy peeling apples, the adolescent raised an amused eyebrow and smirked. She had been working on it a lot but hadn't given them a single hint about it. The mystery remained, completely.

"If I am not wrong, all your projects will be presented during some sort of an exhibition. Right? This is what the mail we got said."

Maura sat next to Jane and focused on Margot. She passed a hand on her nape, made a face. It was sore. She had had a very busy day and had spent most of it up on her feet; bent over corpses.

Jane reacted immediately and began to rub her nape gently, planting light kisses on her shoulders from time to time. Why did it have to be so natural, so easy? Maura bit her lower lip and blushed.

They didn't really hide anymore but remained discreet as people of their age would. They didn't want to scream it out loud but simply be themselves. Anywhere. She had no idea who knew for them and who didn't. She hadn't heard any kind of rumor at work. Not yet. But the slight change of direction in their relationship worked out well, so far.

It worked out very well.

"Yes. It's like an exhibition but nothing like a science fair. It's... More like artistic?" Margot smiled at them and started looking for the small bottle of cinnamon. "It's nothing big. I don't know why this gets you so obsessed. You'll surely be disappointed!"

"You will never disappoint us."

Jane was right and Maura nodded at the comment to show support. She began to play with the hem of her partner's shirt; innocently, subconsciously. It was just another evening at home. A quiet one she had been waiting for since the first hours of the morning.

"We are curious because you categorically refuse to tell us anything about it. But well..." Maura raised her hands and apologized. "We won't annoy you with it anymore. I promise it." She yawned then rested her head on Jane's shoulder. "So it is a movie night, tonight? What are we going to watch?"

Her hands now plunged in the flour, Margot nodded enthusiastically. She was such an easy-going teenager that Maura couldn't help thinking about the confession Margot had made in Salem. She hadn't given more details about it but as troubled as her past might have been, it was hard to think and believe that she had been such a rebellious teen. Yet it was what she had let Maura understand. If she had been troubled once, she seemed to have found back her balance.

"Vertigo..."

"Thank God!" Jane's scream of relief made Margot and Maura jump in surprise. She found herself observed by two pairs of confused eyes. She obviously owed them an explanation now. "No offense but after your MP3 adventures on our way back from Salem, I thought you'd choose some random Finnish film or something."

Margot laughed lightly.

"Noooo... I let your wife teach you about European cinema. Maura has an excellent taste. I'm sure she always takes her time to introduce you to it." Margot looked at the medical examiner. "Right?"

Maura nodded slowly – pondering the remark in her head – and smirked. One of these smirks Jane knew way too well. The scientist had something in mind. Something devilish.

"Every time she torments this poor Bass." Maura turned around and smiled at Jane. "By the way you took his shell for a wrapping paper today, I can tell you that we are about to start an introduction to Austrian cinema, Jane."

Jane swallowed hard and forced a smile.

"Lucky me." She paused and raised her eyebrows at Margot. "This marriage is a blast."