Author Note: Thanks to everyone for your support, comments, etc. it's always nice to know you're with me on this. It didn't take *as long* as I was expecting to get this one done. I wrote most of it at work on Sunday but it then takes motivation to type it up and edit! But it's done, finally. I hope you enjoy.

"I spoke to the Burlington Police Department," Jane said, wrapping an arm around Maura's shoulder. They'd both dressed quickly after Gregory arrived. Maura sank against Jane's arm, comforted by the close physical contact. "They haven't got any information, but they're going to do everything they can at their end. You'll need to give them a statement, Greg."

"Okay." He clasped his hands together on his lap and averted his gaze.

The tension in the room was unsurmountable. Maura sat forward. She didn't want it to be this way. Despite everything, she still cared about Gregory, if only because he was the father of her son. He looked tired, almost broken. "How could you let this happen?"

"Me?" He sat up, aghast.

"Yes."

The challenge rattled him, something which reminded Maura of the start of their relationship all those years ago. She hadn't seen it then but the shifting in his seat, the fixed glare; he didn't like that she'd questions him. Just like he hadn't liked her questioning his knowledge of Beatles songs, or how long he'd been learning Chinese, as a young adult.

"This is not my fault," he said, standing up. "If you hadn't come back into his life then none of this would have happened."

"No!" Jane stood facing him, stepping closer and closer until their noses were inches apart. "You do not get to speak to her that way."

"Jane, it's okay," Maura said, reaching out to her arm.

"No. It's not." Jane shrugged her off. Maura stood up. "She is the mother of your child. You might want to pretend she isn't. But she is, and she deserves some respect."

"You're skating on thin ice, Detective Rizzoli." He stared back, his eyes fixed on Jane's.

"Why? Because I won't put up with any of your bullshit?"

Pressing his lips together, he looked at Maura, his eyes wide. "Are you going to let her talk to me like that?"

Stepping closer to Jane, Maura clasped her hand. "Actually, yes."

He clenched his face, the temple on his forehead pulsed. Maura held Jane's hand tighter, steadying her shaking fingers. Silence fell between them.

"Okay." Gregory picked up his jacket and marched toward the door. "I'll find him myself."

"No, Greg," Maura shouted, dropping Jane's hand. She ran after him, Jane close behind as he fled out the door. "Let us help. Please. We love him too. Let's do this together."

"We haven't needed you for twelve years." Gregory stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked away.

"Luke wants me in his life," Maura shouted. "I know you don't like that, you feel threatened, but if you keep me from him, the only person it'll hurt is him. Then he'll resent you for it."

Slouching, Gregory stopped. He turned around. "You don't have custody. You don't get a say."

"I know." She stepped closer. "It's not up to me to decide. But Luke isn't five anymore. He's fifteen. He's old enough to make his own decisions."

"I beg to differ."

Jane frowned. "Right now it doesn't really matter who has custody, or who wants custody. Luke is missing and we need to work together to bring him home. Greg, please let us help you. I'm a detective, I know more than you do about missing person's cases. At the very least, let me help with that."

His jaw tightened. Maura rested a hand on his arm. "Gregory. You came here for a reason. You thought he might be here, which means we might know something you don't. I'm tired of fighting you, of fighting this."

She paused, swiping at her eyes. Knowing Luke was out there, alone, broke her heart. He was a smart child, but he was also a teenager with a sense of bravado, a perception that he was invincible. Deep down, he was still only young.

"Whatever happens next, it can't happen until we make sure he's safe. Come back inside. I'll make some tea and we can try to figure out where he might be."

He glanced down at her outstretched hand, then into her eyes. He looked as broken as she felt, as lost. He was hard on Luke, and Luke didn't like that, but Maura knew he still loved him. When he gripped her hand, Maura's heart flipped. Relief settled in. Maybe, just maybe, things could be different.

x

Jane gritted her teeth as she emptied coffee beans into the grinder. She kept one eye on Gregory, sat across the room, talking on his cell. She didn't trust him, which made the next part of finding Luke so much harder. She dealt with people all the time, who she had no trust in, but they were usually perpetrators of crime or corrupt officers. Not her girlfriend's son's father. He mattered.

"What do you think?" she asked.

Maura filled the coffee machine with water. "What do you mean?"

"Greg, what do you think of what he's said?"

"I think he's struggling."

"That doesn't excuse the way he talks to you."

"No, it doesn't," Maura said. "But I know deep down he has Luke's best interests at heart."

"I dunno." Jane placed the ground coffee into the machine and set it running. "Luke ran away."

"It's not the first time."

"But last time he ran away from his school, and he ran to you."

The sadness in Maura's eyes intensified. Jana slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her in tight, kissing her head.

"Why didn't he come here?"

"I don't know," Jane said, still watching Gregory over Maura's shoulder. "But we're gonna do everything we can to find him. I promise."

x

"He hates Fairmont," Maura said, placing a tray of coffee cups and cafetiere on the table.

"But it's still an option," Jane replied, noting it down. "Is there anywhere else you can think of? Anywhere that Luke might have a connection to; family, friends, anywhere he's ever felt really happy, or has good memories of?"

"What about his stepmom?"

Gregory rolled his eyes. "Jacinta? She's a drunk. Neither of us liked Jacy by the time we separated."

"Not her, the other one." Greg narrowed his eyes. "Luke told me about his life."

"He shouldn't have," Gregory said, balling his fist on his lap.

"I'm not judging you." Maura paused. "He liked her."

"Amy. Yeah." He sighed. "I don't even know where she is. Luke can't possibly know."

"Are you sure?" Jane asked.

"No."

"Greg, Luke could be secretive and sneaky, he found Maura on his own, didn't he?"

"So?"

"Teenagers have resources our childhood selves could only dream of," Jane said. "If I'd had the internet when I was a kid I'd have run away so many times."

"The internet," Maura said, frowning. "Do you know his social media accounts?"

"He hasn't got any."

Jane raised an eyebrow and glanced at Maura. "Yeah. He has."

"I think I'd know…" Gregory drifted off. "This isn't helping."

"Any information is one step closer." Jane stood up and pressed the call button on her phone. "I'll see if Nina can track down his profiles. I know he had Snapchat but he might have had a Facebook profile, or Twitter."

"Who's Nina?" Gregory asked, as Jane walked over to the kitchen.

"She's the person Jane spoke to about tracing Luke's cell, she works at the police department. If anyone can find any online profiles, Nina can."

A few moments later, Jane sat back down beside Maura. "There's no trace on Luke's cell. The last time he used it he was at home. I wish I'd never told him how to avoid a trace."

Gregory stood up, towering over Jane. "You told him that?"

"He was interested in how we solve crimes," Jane said, sitting up. "We talked about a lot of things. I didn't expect him to use it to run away."

"Of course you wouldn't, you're not a parent."

She stood up and glared at him. "So?"

Maura tugged at Jane's arm. She stepped back and sat down. "Arguing over whether he should or shouldn't have learnt about tracing someone via their cell isn't helping."

"Sorry, Maura," Jane said, interlinking their fingers and giving them a squeeze.

"Even if Nina can find his profiles, what's that going to do?"

"We'll be able to find out if he was in contact with Amy."

"But he might not have gone there, why are we wasting time on something that could be a dead end?"

"Look," Jane said. "Nina's tracking his bank account, we've put a trace on your Uber. Luke even sets foot in the bus or train stations here or in Vermont, we'll know about it. He can't go far."

Pouring herself a coffee, Maura took a sip. "Did Luke have access to his passport?"

"Why would he need it?"

Maura sighed. "We can't rule out that he might try to leave the country. He asked me to take him to Europe. Before I brought him back to your home. He said we could go to Paris."

"Why would he want to do that?" Gregory asked, his eyes wide.

Maura stared at him for a moment. She didn't know what to say without upsetting him further. "He was upset. He wanted a break from you. I said no. I took him home."

"But if he has his passport," Gregory said, his face ashen. "He could be anywhere."

"Do you have air miles?" Jane asked.

"Of course."

"Then we need to check your account and make sure he doesn't try and spend them."

"Surely he wouldn't…"

"He wasn't afraid to use your Uber account." Jane made a note and reached for Maura's laptop off the desk behind her.

"He was upset," Maura said.

Jane opened the laptop and turned it on. "Maybe something upset him this time. Is there you can think of?"

"Nothing."

Maura covered her mouth and stared at Gregory, her eyes fixed on his face. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not."

"Gregory." She took his hand, which he pulled back. "We might not know each other now, but I still know when you're lying, and you're lying."

"What is it?" Jane asked, turning the laptop around to face him. "Log into your air miles' account."

"It's nothing. It's probably not relevant." He typed in the web page. "He's been up and down lately."

"He's been up and down because of me," Maura said, sipping her coffee. "But he didn't come here. What aren't you telling us?"

He turned the laptop back round to Jane, his account on the screen. "He's not used my air miles."

"Gregory."

He sighed. "I told him you didn't want to see him anymore."

"What?" Maura and Jane said in unison.

"That's what we decided, that you would go home and you wouldn't see him. I merely told him the truth."

"That is not the whole truth," Maura said, her heart raced. "I didn't say I'd never see him again. I don't want that."

"Come on, Maura," Gregory said, staring at her.

"Come on, what, Gregory? He is my son and I refuse to let you push me out of his life again."

"Push you?" He scoffed. "The last time I looked, you walked away."

"I walked away because you got full custody."

"I got full custody because you were not fit to be a parent."

"That is not entirely true."

"Isn't it?"

"Well," Maura drifted off. She felt sick, her chest ached from the pressure on her lungs. She pushed through the pain, through the uncomfortable feelings sitting in her chest. "The courts decided he should stay with you. But I didn't want to be out of his life completely. I never asked for that. I love him."

"But you can't give him what he needs."

"I'm a very different person, Gregory." Maura gritted her teeth, her jaw ached. She grasped at Jane's hand, desperate for something grounding. When Jane's hands covered hers, Maura felt a slight weight lift off her shoulders. "Putting some space between the situation and myself does not mean I do not want any contact with my son."

"Custody agreement still stands."

"Then I'll fight you."

"Maura."

She stood up. A wave of confidence flooded her. She thrust her hand out in front of her, pointing at Gregory. "That's why Luke didn't come to me, that's why he's who knows where doing who knows what. You told him something that upset him so badly that he ran away."

Standing, Gregory folded his arms across his chest. He exuded self-confidence, so much more than Maura could ever grasp hold of – except in her work. She clung, for the briefest moment, to the one thing she could feel confident about.

"I told him something that should never have been an option to begin with. You are not fit to be a mother, you were never fit to be a mother, and I should never have had a child with you."

As if entirely separate from her body, Maura's hand smashed against his cheek. Her heart sped quickly, her throat felt dry. Gregory stared at her, his mouth open, his hands on his red cheek. A sense of dread filled Maura and she lowered herself down on the couch. She could feel Jane's hands around her shoulders, but it felt like it was happening outside of herself.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she whispered. Her chest ached harder, her breathing became more and more laboured.

"You're gonna regret that," Gregory said, his voice low, calm. It sent a chill through Maura's bones. She stared into his eyes, frosty and harsh. A red handprint covered his cheek.

"I didn't mean," she began. Her voice drifted off.

"Greg," Jane said, though her voice felt a million miles away. "Don't. You're both struggling. It's not gonna help anyone."

"If it means keeping Luke safe."

"It won't." Their voices moved away. Maura turned and watched them by the kitchen. "Maura isn't a violent person, but if you push someone's buttons too many times, even the softest people can crack."

"What if she behaves that way with Luke?"

"Do you really think she has it in herself to hurt him?"

He sighed. "No."

"Maybe you should go."

"But, Luke."

"He's not here, he might never turn up here. Maybe you should go back to Vermont, for all you know he could have gone home and could be sitting in his room playing video games."

"And if he's not?"

"I'll call you if we hear anything."

"Do you promise?"

Jane nodded. "As long as you do the same. All any of us want is for him to come home safely."

"Right."

Jane curled back up on the couch, her arms wrapped tightly around Maura's. She rested her chin on her shoulder and clung to her. Once the front door had closed, tears seeped onto the edges of Maura's eyelids. Her adrenaline had dispersed and she felt herself falling apart.

"It's okay," Jane whispered, stroking her cheek and speaking in a calming manner. "It's gonna be okay."

"You don't know that," Maura said.

"No, but we'll do everything we can to make it okay. Okay?"

"I love you," Maura said, squeezing her a little tighter. "I love you so much. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You don't have to, you've got me, you'll always have me."

x

The phone buzzed three times before Jane answered it. She steadied herself, not quite knowing what was going to be at the end of the phone. They'd had a fractured night. Maura had barely slept, and as a result, Jane had barely slept either. She gently lifted Maura's sleeping head off her legs and back down onto the couch, then walk out of the living room and into Maura's yoga room, her voice barely a whisper. It had taken until the early hours, but Maura was finally asleep and she didn't want to wake her.

"Nina, what is it?"

"A card transaction was made on Luke's account this morning," she said, her voice steady, unlike what Jane expected her own voice to sound like. "He's in Boston."

"Where?"

"He bought a ticket at South Station Bus Terminal."

Jane frowned. It didn't make any sense. If Luke was in Boston, why would he purchase a ticket for somewhere else? "Where to?"

"The terminal supervisor won't tell me."

"He'll tell me," Jane said. "Do you have a number?"

She noted down the office number of the terminal and hung up the phone. Maura was still asleep on the couch, her mouth partially open as she breathed evenly. Jane toyed with whether to wake her. She wanted to tell her what could be great news, yet she didn't really know what good it would do. What if Luke didn't want to see her? There was a good reason he didn't turn up on their doorstep, and Jane suspected it had to do with what Gregory had told him.

She tried the terminal office number, but the woman on the other end was no help. Instead, Jane called her mother.

"I know you're at Ron's in whatever blissful little thing you've got going on," Jane said. "But I need you to come to Maura's."

"Why?" Angela asked.

"Luke's missing and I need to go and find him."

"Oh Lord." She prayed softly. Jane could picture her eyes closed, her hand moving across her chest. "You want me to sit with Maura?"

"She's asleep," Jane said. "She didn't get much in the night, I don't wanna wake her unless I have something more concrete."

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

By the time Angela arrived, Jane was about ready to pull her hair out. She didn't want to just leave Maura on her own, in case she woke up. Nina had sent an officer to the terminal, to keep an eye out for Luke.

"Go find her boy, Janie," Angela said, pulling her into a hug.

"I love you, Ma, thanks," Jane said, kissing her on the cheek and fleeing out the door.