A/N: Thank you so very much for all of the kind reviews and thanks to all the new followers!
The driver drops both Maura and Constance off at the front of the hotel an hour before her 'meeting' with Jane. It was a huge ordeal for the older woman to have her daughter agree for her to come and check into the hotel for the night, Maura didn't know why her mother insisted that she needed to stay the night in this hotel.
"Mother, I don't understand why you are checking into the hotel? It just doesn't make since to do this." The blonde finishes and gives a quick smile to the greeter who has just opened up the door for her and Constance.
"Maura Darling, I have told you why." Constance scoffs in annoyance, "If this were to go well, you may need the house to yourself, OR if this is to go south I will be right upstairs to help you through it."
"I don't think that I will be needing the house to myself tonight mother." Maura shakes her head as if her mother has made an incredulous statement.
"Either way Dear, I want you to know that I will be here for you. Why don't you go get a drink while I check in and text if you need me, alright?"
After giving her mother a hug and listening to some words of encouragement Maura heads to the hotel bar for a drink before Jane comes.
"Why are you getting dressed up for a stalker?" Frost screams from the couch, as he sits with Frankie both with beers in hand.
"Shut up Frost!" Jane screams back from her brother's bedroom. "I just want to look nice."
"Well that's a change." Frankie says barely loud enough for his sister to hear him.
Stepping into her heels, Jane comes to the back of the couch and Vulcan's her brother and whispers into his ear "Hey Ass-munch, say that to my face! You're lucky Lina is here because I would beat the snot out of you and then pistol whip this jerk next to you." She tries and fails to grab Frost in a death grip but he evades her grip before she can.
Jane steps in front of her daughter and stretches out her arms. "Stinky? How do I look?" Lina smiles so big that Jane's nerves vanish for the moment. "Beautiful Momma!"
"Yeah Janie, you look good…real pretty." Frankie says a little shyly before Frost adds in, "They're right Jane, you look nice, but I'd take your service gun just in case this person tries anything."
"Oh stop Frost! If I can tackle a cracked out perp, I think I can handle whoever this is." Jane rolls her eyes and turns back to her daughter, lifting Lina up in her arms. "Okay Stinky, Grandma will be here to take you to her house for the night. You better be on your best behavior."
"I want My Maura to watch me." Lina whines and gives her mother a pouty face. "Lina, whining will get you nowhere, plus I told you, Your Maura is busy." Jane speaks to her daughter with a touch of sass. "Fine. Can I see her soon though?"
"If you are good for Grandma then I'll ask Maura when we can see her." Jane sets her daughter down and grabs her purse and heads to the door. "Wish me luck! Love you…hate you…and really hate you." Jane says as she points to each person before she shuts the door behind her.
As Jane nears the hotel, she feels the bile rise in her throat. She doesn't know why but her nerves are worse than when she is dealing with criminals. Jane is out of her element and she doesn't like it. Pulling up to the valet, the brunette has the urge to call Maura and ask her to meet her here and tag along. She knows the blonde would calm her nerves and make her feel better but instead, she musters up all her courage and walks into the doors and heads in the direction of the bar.
When she gets there she realizes that she doesn't know whom she is meeting, so she takes a seat in the only two open seats she can find. Ordering a drink, Jane pulls out her phone and looks at the time. Jane raises her head up when she sees the chair next to her being pulled out.
"I'm sorr—" She goes to say but stops when she sees the familiar face of blonde she had been thinking about moments ago. "MAURA? What are you doing here?"
"Did Frost and Frankie tell you to come down here?" The blonde smiles and shakes her head no. "I am the one who asked you here Jane."
"I don't understand…how…what?" Jane looks as confused as she feels. "I…I…I…whaaat?"
"I will explain everything to you BUT my only stipulation is that you let me finish before you yell, get angry, or leave. Okay?" Maura gives the brunette a questioning look to see if Jane agrees to her request.
"Alright."
Taking in a big breath, the blonde tries to recall where she wants to start. "When I was well into my third trimester of pregnancy, I took a fall down my stairs. When I landed I miscarried, I also had internal bleeding among many other things. At the hospital I received a blood donation."
"Maur, I don't see where this involves me or the note." Jane speaks, cowering when the blonde gives her a menacing look. "Sorry, go on."
"When I awoke from my fall, I had these memories and feelings." Maura pauses to gain so courage to continue and Jane looks on in interest. "Memories of a childhood I didn't have, how my mother made me a ladybug and how much I loved it. I remembered the fact that I hid it from my brothers because I was scared they would tease me over it. But the thing is, my mother wasn't around when I was younger, nor would she ever make me simple things she could buy. Not only was that bizarre so was the fact that fact that I am an only child. I have no family besides my mother." Jane still looks confused at where Maura is going with the conversation. "So you see this was alarming to say the least."
"But the memories still continued to come. Memories of a husband who was a soldier, a daughter that gave my life meaning, and lonely nights that I feared would become standard. One night long ago, I had a nightmare, a nightmare that a man was torturing me, and I still have those nightmares. You witnessed that the other night and you know who that man is."
"I don't understand what you are getting at Maura? I don't know what you are telling me? Did you know about me long before that night we officially met?" Jane says more perturbed than anything else.
"Let me try again, what I am saying is that it all started with what I thought was a dream. I was sitting with my partner and I was donating blood and I remember being so mad that I was donating and I had stated that I wanted something in return for donating that day. When I left the hospital I thought it would be a nice gesture to send a thank you to the person that I had received blood from. I pulled some strings and got the donor information."
At this Jane sees the pieces coming together. "So you found out that it was my blood, you looked me up, tracked me down and pursued a friendship with me and ingrained yourself into my life…my family?"
"No, no Jane!" Maura fears she won't be able to finish, so she places her hand on the brunette's forearm to keep Jane in her seat. "No! When I received the donor information, it said the name was Jane Jones. I didn't look you up. The information was right on the paper. I didn't need to."
"So, that night at the ceremony…you didn't know?" Jane asks a little hopefully. "Then how did you know I was the same Jane?"
"No. I didn't know that night; I thought you were a different Jane. I only found out the night I had to help Lina with the cut. I saw your family and I knew it was the same family as my memories. You see Jane; I realized that my memories were yours, I had called your house and later I found out it was Lina. She answered and what she said on the phone confirmed what I was hypothesizing."
"You called my daughter and interrogated her?" Jane raises her voice and in doing so also raises some heads into their direction. "Hold on…what do you mean by your memories were mine are you actually saying that you have my memories? Do you actually think I am stupid enough to believe that?"
"No Jane, I'm hoping you are not so closed-minded to the fact that I actually do have some of your memories. It happened when I received your blood, I received your memories as well."
"You and your mom are like Trading Places-ing me, huh? You're so rich you get your jollies by making me a fool and betting on the outcome. Trying to make me believe your lies like my blood is magic and can do this."
Maura doesn't really know what to say next but goes ahead and speaks, "Well to quote Arthur C. Clarke, 'Magic's just science we don't understand yet', so there is the theory that it is possible, everything is possible until we can factually argue otherwise. And no I am not doing whatever you said. I am honestly telling you the truth."
"Great you're quoting lines from Thor, and I'm supposed to believe you have my memories." Jane chugs the rest of her drink and signals the bartender to pour another.
"How do you figure I know about the ladybug or that drawing my mother made of you and Lina?"
"Easy, the ladybug could have come up in the many conversations with my mother." Jane says smugly but drops the look when she tries to explain the second answer. "And the drawing…could have been…you were in Doctors Without Borders. You ran into Casey, maybe he showed you the picture? Maybe he lost it and you found the picture?" She tries to come up with answers to Maura's question but they end up coming out like questions as well. Jane knows that Casey and herself are the only ones that ever saw that picture.
"I was never in South-East Asia. I was in Africa, Brazil, and Mexico. I never came in contact with American troops." Maura's answer comes quickly and without the tall-tell sign of lying, her rash.
"Name a memory of something that you have never shared with anyone that I would have come in contact with." Maura demands, hoping that Jane will eventually believe her.
Thinking, Jane comes up with her biggest kept secret, something she has told no living soul about. "What is the worst thing I saw my father do?"
At first Maura is stumped, she doesn't have many memories of Jane's father, especially since he died while she was younger. As she thinks harder the memory flashes into her mind. At first, Maura is confused by the happiness she feels, but it begins to make more sense as more memories and feelings come.
"When you were around Lina's age, you walked in on your father having sex with another woman. When he talked to you about it, he said the woman was choking and that he saved her. Being young and naive you believed him. You were proud of him and told everyone he saved someone's life. When you got older you realized what you had witnessed and you hated him for it, you hated that he made you lie for his indiscretions. You hated that you believed him and that you couldn't tell anyone what you saw because by the time you realized what you had seen, your father was dead."
"I…I don't know what to say?" Jane looks wide-eyed at the blonde. Again, Jane grabs he drink and drains every last drop of liquid. Maura smirks a little to herself and the brunette's response. "We can do this all night long Jane or you can admit that what I'm telling you is the truth."
Looking to Maura, Jane's face is blank with emotion. "I believe, but I think I need some air. Can we get out of here? Maybe go back to your house?"
"Sure thing Jane." Maura says as she throws down some money on the bar.
"How does this work?" Jane asks as she sits herself down on the couch. "Do you know what I am thinking?"
"No, it doesn't work like that. I get memories when I'm sleeping or if the situation is familiar to something you've been through I will remember it."
"Do you remember what I thought when I first saw you in that pet store?" the brunette shyly inquires not sure if she wants to know if Maura does.
"Yes." The blonde says not elaborating any further for fear of embarrassing Jane.
The detective nods, "So you know?"
"Yes." She says again. "I didn't bring it up because I was afraid it would make you pull away from me."
"What did you see?"
Maura sits down on the couch next to Jane and looks to the ground as she speaks, "I could feel everything you were feeling, and I could feel your loneliness. I saw me as you saw me, and the amazing thing was, in your eyes I was beautiful, I was respected, and I was wanted." When Maura finishes speaking she looks into the brunette's eyes. "For so long, I have wanted to tell you that I have felt the same way about you."
Jane leans forward as she speaks, "You do?"
"Yes."
Maura is shocked when Jane initiates the kiss; it's short, too short for the blonde to really enjoy. So as Jane pulls back, Maura grabs the brunette's face and tugs her into another kiss. This kiss lasts longer as it turns into something more. Moments pass before they part.
"I don't want to stay at Frankie's anymore. I miss you too much…Lina really misses you. Can we move back in with you?"
Maura cannot contain the smile that appears on her face, "I would love that Jane."
I hope you enjoyed!