Author Note: Thank you to everyone for the amazing response to the last chapter! It's so wonderful to see you all still here. It's currently 1.48 am and I should be asleep. I wasn't going to do anymore writing, then I thought I'd do a tiny bit, then I finished a whole chapter. Any mistake are the fault of my almost 2 am brain.

"I've spoken to my lawyer," Maura said, standing beside the kitchen counter. "He's going to look into it, gain access to the file and find out exactly where I stand legally."

Jane folded the newspaper she'd been reading in half and dropped it on the counter. "I thought Luke brought a copy of the documents."

"He did." Maura sat down opposite Jane. "But I can't be sure of the authenticity of the documents. I need to be absolutely sure where I stand legally, before we take things forward."

"Why are you so calm?"

"How else should I be?" Maura asked, tucking a strand of hair back behind her ear. "I can't change what's happened. All I can hope is that this is my best defence, my best chance of gaining access to my son."

"Can I ask you something? Please don't get mad."

"Why would I be mad?"

"Promise?"

"You can ask," Maura said. "I can't promise anything."

"How come you didn't know you had legal custody of Luke?"

Closing her eyes, Maura lowered her head. She didn't want to go back there, to that moment, but she couldn't avoid it. The images flooded her mind. She clasped Jane's hand.

"Before Gregory won custody of Luke, I was unwell. The toll of bringing up a toddler in the conditions I was in made it harder to cope. The more Gregory told me I was a bad mother, the harder I found it. The day of the hearing I couldn't go to court. I was physically and mentally exhausted. I had nothing left to give, and if I went to court I knew it would take more from me than I could handle."

"So, you didn't go?"

"No." Maura cleared her throat. Tears pricked at her eyes. "Gregory had already taken his and Luke's things. When I got the call from the lawyer, I didn't answer. I listened to the message a while later but I'd had a few glasses of wine, to calm my nerves. I got as far as him saying I lost physical custody and I deleted the message."

Taken aback, Jane stared at her, her mouth opened and closed.

"You don't need to say anything," Maura said. "I know. I think about that moment every day. Especially now. If I'd listened, if I'd waited, I'd have realised that I still had the opportunity to be part of his life."

Maura shook her head and sighed.

"I knew. Deep down I knew that I'd missed something, or at least I hoped. My only defence is that mentally I had reached breaking point. That night."

She choked back tears, every breath felt so much harder to take in. Jane gripped her hands tightly. "It's okay."

"No." Maura shook her head. "It's not. There are still things I've never told you."

"You don't owe me an explanation. I shouldn't have ever pushed you."

"I do."

"Maura."

"I came this close to ending my life," she said, holding her fingers an inch apart. Her hand shook, her heart still fluttering uncontrollably. Jane wrapped her hands around her fingers and held them steady. "I couldn't do it to Luke. Even though he wasn't there, and he wasn't going to be there again, I couldn't put him through that. I immediately checked myself into a facility. By the time I got out I had no way of finding Gregory, or Luke, and I still didn't feel strong enough to even consider that Gregory was the reason I believed so deeply, that I was not fit to be a mother."

Standing up, Jane held her arms out and Maura stepped into them. She closed her eyes, losing herself momentarily in Jane's embrace. The feel of her hand as it brushed down the back of her head, her lips inches from her ear. Maura clung to her hands as her emotions overwhelmed her.

"Thank you for being…everything," she said, tears flowed from her eyes, covering Jane's shoulder in thick, wet tears. She closed her eyes and listened to the beat of her heart reverberating in her ears. She listened to the gentle sound of Jane's whispers.

"You're the strongest person I've ever met. I didn't realise that until now."

Maura stepped back, not letting go of Jane's fingers. "Thank you so much for bringing him home. I was angry at you for not telling me what you were doing but I don't care, you brought him home and that's all that matters."

Jane cupped her face. "I'd do anything for you."

"I don't know what to do," Maura said, covering Jane's hands. "Gregory needs to know that Luke is safe, but the second we call him, he's going to take him again."

"But you can fight now."

"What if it's not enough?"

"Then we'll find another way."

Maura stepped away, letting Jane's hands slip from her face. She filled the coffee machine with water and prepared to make a drink. Turning, she looked at Jane. The woman she'd lied to for years, and yet she was still there, supporting her every step of the way. "Did Angela leave?"

"Yeah."

"I need to tell Lucas."

"That Ma left?" Jane raised an eyebrow. She closed the gap and draped her arms around Maura's back. "Why would he need to know that?"

"No," Maura said. "I need to tell Lucas that you…that I love you so much."

"And I love you," Jane said, brushing a strand of hair back from her face. She leaned in close, their noses touching. Jane's cell phone buzzed loudly on the kitchen counter. She leaned her head forward, resting her forehead against Maura's, a smile crept across her face. "That's right, way to disrupt a nice moment."

"Work?" Jane nodded, reading the message on her phone. "Go, I'll be here when you get back."

x

"What do you want, Mayor Smithson?" Jane asked, sitting down in his office. "It's late, shouldn't you be at home with your family?"

"It's about my family," he said. "It's time I told you everything I know."

"Why now?"

"Why not now?"

Jane frowned. She rested her hands across the arms of the chair. "Mayor Smithson, what's changed?"

He sighed. "I hoped you'd come to the conclusion of the case earlier, and without my intervention. But as it turns out, you're no closer to resolving the case. It's time I helped you."

Shifting in her seat, Jane leaned forward. "You didn't want to involve yourself, that's why you wanted updates. If there's something incriminating…"

"I met the man my illegitimate daughter decided to have a child with."

"When?"

"A week before Albert's death." He lowered his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He looked weary. "He tried to blackmail me. Naturally, I didn't go to the police. I couldn't risk it going on record."

"Couldn't risk what going on record?"

"The relationship between my son and daughter."

"Eric Friedan tried to blackmail you over Sarah and Albert?" He nodded. "What were his terms?"

"They were rather unorthodox. He wanted me to pay him to leave Sarah alone."

"What did you do?"

Mayor Smithson lowered his gaze. "What else could I do? I prepared the money to give to him. I couldn't get it all together immediately so he agreed to take half, on the proviso that he would leave town the second I gave him the rest."

"But he didn't."

"No, it never came to that." He clasped his hands in his lap. "He told me he didn't really want to be with Sarah, or his son, but he couldn't afford to leave."

"Did you give him the full amount?"

"I was unable to complete the transaction. We were supposed to meet on the night of Albert's death, but he failed to show. He attempted to make contact after Albert was killed, but I refused him. I knew the relationship between Albert and Sarah would come out, I was powerless to stop it. There was no reason to give in to his demands."

"Thank you, Mayor Smithson."

"I have one other thing." He pushed a photograph across the desk. "I had a private investigator follow him, I had to know more. I don't know it's of any use, but this was taken of him and Sarah after Albert died."

Jane narrowed her eyes and picked up the photo. "After?"

"I intended to cancel the investigation once the transaction had been completed but given the circumstances, I didn't. That's all I know; I just hope that it is of use. I'd be willing to go on record if it secures a conviction."

"Thank you. I'll be in touch."

"I'm sorry to bring you out at this late hour. Please, return to your family. Don't let me keep you any longer than necessary."

x

Luke sauntered into the kitchen, his hair brushed aside, damp with water. "What's for breakfast?"

"Good morning to you too," Maura said, standing up. "I can make you some toast, or perhaps you'd like eggs?"

"Toast's fine." He slouched down in the chair beside Jane. Glancing across at the newspaper folded up next to her plate, he looked into her eyes and then down at her clothes. "Have you been here all night?"

"Err," Jane opened her mouth, her eyes bugged as she stared across to Maura. "Ye-es?"

Sighing, Maura pressed down the button on the toaster and returned to the table. "Lucas."

He narrowed his eyes. "Why do I feel like you're gonna lecture me about sex?"

"I wasn't," Maura said, then paused. She cleared her throat. "Jane's, she and I, me and..."

"You're together."

Sitting upright, Jane turned her attention back to Luke. "What?"

"How did you know?" Maura sat down opposite him. "Did somebody tell you?"

"I know I'm a kid, and teenagers are known for being so caught up in their own shi-zzle." The frown on Maura's face deepened. Luke shrugged. "She's been here every single time I've been here, and she drove all the way to Maine to find me. I'm not stupid. "

"You certainly aren't," Jane said, picking up the newspaper again. Anything to distract herself.

"How do you feel about it?"

"Jane's cool."

"Is that all you have to say?"

He shrugged. "What else is there to say? My mom likes girls."

"You don't have a problem with it?"

"No." Luke ran a hand through the still damp tendrils of his hair. "I read a study on sexual fluidity and how women are statistically more likely to be bisexual, or end up in same sex relationships later in life."

Maura listened to his words but her heart was resting somewhere between relief and astonishment. "Right. So, your father didn't mention my sexual preferences?"

Luke rolled his eyes. "The only sexual preferences he talks about are the women he ends up forcing into my life."

Jane sat silently beside him, the paper in her hand but she wasn't really reading it. She tried to listen, yet kept her eyes firmly fixed on the sports section. He reached for it, snatching it out of her hands. Maura retrieved his toast.

"Hey, I'm not done."

"It's upside down."

"Oh." Jane shrugged and returned to the slice of toast left on her plate. "Then I'm done."

He opened up the newspaper. "I've hypothesised that I may be pansexual, but I've not really tested the theory."

Dropping the plate of toast in front of him, Maura's chin dropped. "Pardon?"

"I might be pansexual, I dunno."

Jane twisted in her seat. "What's that?"

"An attraction to anyone."

"Anyone?"

"Like trans, non-binary, anyone."

Glancing at Maura, Jane frowned. "What's non-binary?"

Luke spread some butter on his toast. "Thanks, Mom. People who don't label themselves as male or female."

"Maura," Jane said, scratching her head. "Did you know about all these different labels?"

"Sure."

"I'm confused," she said. "We didn't have all that when I was in school. You were either normal or you were different. Where did you learn about it?"

"We had a cool teacher in middle school who made us do projects on sexuality. Some of the parents weren't happy but it was too late by then. She had to quit her job."

"I don't know what to say," Maura said.

"Is there any juice?" Luke asked, walking across the kitchen.

"In the fridge. Does your father know you're identifying as pansexual?"

Luke rolled his eyes and glared at Maura. He retrieved the juice bottle and carried it back to the table where he filled his glass. "He doesn't even know what pansexuality is, and I don't identify as it. I'm not sure yet. I haven't had the time, or the opportunity, to find out."

"We need to phone him," Maura said, filling her own glass with juice.

"But he'll make me go home."

"Would you rather me allow him to continue to think you're missing and maintain contact with the police?"

"He deserves to worry."

"Regardless of what's happened he's still your dad."

"So?" Luke groaned. "It doesn't mean I have to like him."

"Did something happen between you two? Is there a reason why things have been difficult?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It must do, otherwise it wouldn't be an issue. Everything you said last night…"

Jane stood up and cleared her plate and mug into the dishwasher. "I've gotta go to work. Let me know when you get in?"

"I will," Maura said. She turned her attention quickly back to Luke. Sighing, Jane walked across the room and ran a hand across the back of her head and down her back. Maura lifted her attention. "I'm sorry, Jane. Good bye, have a nice day."

"Love you," Jane said, pressing her lips to Maura's. When she pulled away again, she glanced at Luke, who was too busy with his toast and newspaper to care. She trailed her palm across the side of Maura's cheek and kissed her again, longer, deeper.

Maura cupped her face, her fingers covered Jane's. "I love you too."

Once the front door had closed, Maura turned her attention back to Luke. The tug between her eyebrows intensified. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"If you think you've been very good at hiding it," he said. "You haven't. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, I thought you'd probably tell me eventually."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." He shrugged. "Now, tell me what the problem is with your dad."

"I'm too much like you."

"Pardon?"

"He keeps trying to get me tested for autism."

"Autism?"

"I know, right?" He took another bite of toast, barely swallowing before continuing. "Just 'cause I know stuff doesn't make me autistic."

"Why would he think you have autism?"

"He's got no idea what it really is," Luke said, spreading some more peanut butter on his toast. "He's not been around much the last few years. The last time he was home there was a seminar at school for parents on learning disabilities, now he thinks he knows it all. I think he's overcompensating."

"Do you have other indicators other than high intelligence?"

"I hate people?" Luke grinned.

"So do ninety per cent of teenagers," Maura said, raising her eyebrows.

"Is that an exact statistic?"

"No. I was merely hyperbolising."

"Makes sense." He shoved another bit of toast into his mouth and swallowed quickly. "I don't have many friends but that's because they're all idiots. They just wanna talk about girls and the one time I tried to talk about boys in the same way they talk about girls they acted like I'd grown three heads."

"You talk about boys?"

"Once. I talked about them once. It was when I first had my hypothesis. I wanted to see if other people felt the same way."

"But they didn't?"

"They laughed at me like I was a psycho. I'm over it."

x

"You did it, didn't you?" Jane asked, tossing a photograph on the table in front of Sarah. She heaved a sigh of relief. It had taken weeks of back and forth, and finally, finally she'd found the evidence they needed to form a case against the killer of Albert Smithson.

"Where did you get this?" Sarah asked, holding the photo out in front of her.

"Is this you in the photograph having sexual intercourse with Eric Friedan?"

"I…"

"Answer the question," Korsak said.

"Yeah, it's me."

"And you were having sex?"

"Yeah. We…yeah."

Korsak clasped his hands together on the table. "Do you know when this photograph was taken, Sarah?"

"Last year?"

Jane scoffed. "How about a few days before Eric died."

"That's," she shook her head. "That's impossible."

"You told us you were trying to escape your abusive ex," Jane said, leaning forward. "That's why Albert Smithson gave you money. He felt guilty that your father wasn't willing to help support you and he gave you the money out of his own pocket."

Korsak tilted his head to one side. "Doesn't look very abusive to me."

"I," she coughed, cleared her throat a couple of times. "I, we, I loved him."

Jane narrowed her eyes. "You loved the man who abused you."

"I tried not to."

"Spare us the sob story, Sarah." Jane took a bank statement out of her file and passed it across the table. "AS Holdings, the firm Albert Smithson set up, paid money to you. Money was also transferred to Eric's account."

"So?"

"What was the money for, Sarah?"

"I told you. I needed to get away. For my kid."

Jane scoffed and handed her another document. "That would make more sense if we hadn't found another bank account. A joint account in yours and Eric's names. Funnily enough, money was transferred into the account that matches the exact total that Albert Smithson gave to you and Eric. Every last penny. How can you explain that?"

Sarah leaned forward, her eyes frantic. "It was for my kid."

"You killed Albert Smithson, for your kid…" Jane scrunched up her face. "That doesn't make sense to me, Sarah. What happened? I thought you and Albert cared about each other. That's why you had sex with him, wasn't it?"

"I did love him," she said, wiping at her cheeks. "I wanted to love him."

"But you didn't, did you, Sarah?" Jane stood up and sat on the edge of the table. "You loved Eric. You moved back to Boston from Chicago where you were fired from a financial company for embezzlement. They couldn't prove it but you were left penniless, homeless, and with no chance of finding work in Chicago."

"It wasn't true," Sarah said. "I didn't steal that money."

"Maybe, maybe not." Jane leaned closer. "But you did move to Boston so that you could track down your family. You wanted your inheritance, you wanted what was owed to you by the man who had just become the mayor."

"No!"

"You met Albert, you made him fall in love with you, and then you acted surprised when he found out that he was your brother."

"I didn't know!"

"By that point you were so caught up in the lie. All you needed to do was tell him your ex-boyfriend was abusing you and he was like putty. He'd do anything to keep you safe."

"I didn't kill him!"

Jane placed her hand down on the table, and fixed her stare. She could see the subtle changes of colour in Sarah's pupils. "You know what? It doesn't actually matter if you did or you didn't. This photograph proves that you lied about your relationship with Eric Friedan. The DNA evidence proves that you were with Albert Smithson before he died. The money proves that you had motive."

"If I wanted his money, why would I kill him?"

"Greed," Jane said, leaning back. "You got greedy. You didn't want to share the money. Neither did Eric. He got greedy too. He went to your father, he blackmailed him, and he was going to run with the money. But you ruined it. You killed Albert and Eric didn't get his second installment. You wanted it all to yourself. That's why Eric died."

"Now you think I killed Eric, too?"

"No." Jane raised her eyebrows. "Eric knew you were gonna double cross him, that's why he blackmailed Mayor Smithson, to have a backup. He came over, you two fought. That's why there was no evidence of a break in. You knew he was coming. You wanted him to come. You fought, you didn't mean for him to die. But you didn't know your son was going to hit him. He saw you being attacked and he wanted to protect you.

"No!"

"Stop lying, Sarah, the evidence is all there. Clear as day."

"I didn't do it!"

"Like I said," Jane said, standing up. "We don't need you to confess, all we need is the evidence, and it's all there. We're charging you with the murder of Albert Smithson."

Author Note: This is the first time I've done a 'proper' case in a fic. I usually mention the start, or the end, and that's about it. I know it wasn't perfect, it could probably use a lot of improvement, but I feel proud of myself for having actually written it in its entirety. I hope you liked the resolution.