Fresh from a successfully solved case, the duo entered their favorite hangout. They quickly spotted Sister Winifred Callahan seated in their usual booth. She was sipping a drink and reading her book.

"Should we join her? She's sitting by herself." Maura asked, turning to her best friend.

"There's a reason I'm by myself. I prefer it." The nun answered, not as out-of-earshot as the two other woman had hoped.

Jane walked over and sat down anyway. "Well they say the devil never drinks alone." She scooted over and patted the seat while winking up at the M.E.

"Jane!" Maura half-whispered in admonishment. She joined her regardless.

"Buy you a beer, Sister?"

"No thank you, Miss Rizzoli." As she reached into her bag her book cover slipped off, revealing a different book title than the one previously advertized. She noticed the slip-up and tried to recover unsuccessfully. Holding up the book, she spoke. "The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner. I'm enjoying it." She slid out of her side of the booth and made a hasty exit.

The two remaining women quickly burst into laughter.

"On The Angels' Wings of Desire!" Maura stated between giggles, recalling the real name of the book. "Are nuns supposed to read that?"

Their laughs died down as they saw a rather morose Giovanni approach them. "Hey."

"What's the matter?" Jane asked, trying not to laugh anymore.

The tall man looked to the floor and shrugged. "Nuttin"

"You look hot." Maura offered, causing a snort to come from the woman next to her.

"Nah." He deflected the compliment that would usually have him beaming.

After getting over a brief laughing fit, Jane looked up at him. "Are you having a pity party, G?"

He looked at the ground and shrugged.

"Do you – do you want company for your pity party?" The shorter woman asked.

"C'mon!" Jane goaded him by leaning over patting the far side of their table. As he took the seat, she kept talking. "Sorry 'bout your candidate."

"Yeah. Me too. I guess I hafta run myself if I want any changes around here."

That caused a laugh to come from the detective but she quickly reigned her amusement in as Maura spoke.

"Oh. That's a… that's a good idea."

"Yeah, why stop at congressman? Why not senator?" Jane knew it was not very nice to be encouraging him on something that was impossible for someone of his low intelligence. Though, she mused, considering the people currently in D.C., they really couldn't do any worse.

"President?" He looked between them, newly hopeful for his future.

Jane laughed again before responding."Why not? Think of all the interns. Skirts optional."

He perked up at that thought and then got even more excited as something came to him. "And you know what? When I become president, the first thing I'll do is make it possible for you two to get married wherever you want! Even, like, Mexico!"

Maura smiled at the sentiment. "Aww, that's so sweet of you. But you'd have no control over what Mexico does."

His face fell. "Whaddaya mean? Mexico's a state."

"I believe you're thinking of New Mexico.

"No, I know that one too. There's New Mexico an' Old Mexico. Where do you think they got it from?"

Jane leaned over and whispered. "We were in the same geography class in high school. He was asleep more than half the time."

"I see. Well, that doesn't matter anyway. I don't intend on getting married outside of Massachusetts."

Surprised at that, Jane looked over at her. "Really? I always figured you would want to get married in Europe somewhere."

"Europe? Man, I love that country. I've always wanted to go." Giovanni smiled.

The two women just shared glances again before deciding the best cause of action was to just order their drinks and shift the topic of conversation away from geography. It only took them a couple of minutes to get their orders.

Giovanni looked down at his beer before speaking. "You know what always cheers me up?"

"Oh please go on the suspense is killing me." Jane's monotone voice was showcasing how much she obviously didn't care, earning her a jab in the ribs from the doctor's sharp elbow.

"A good love story. Can you tell me how you got together?"

Jane and Maura exchanged worried glances. The former woman sighed, knowing that she would have to be the one to make it up for obvious reasons.

"I don't think it's such a good idea, Giovanni." Maura spoke first, surprising the other woman. "After all, you and I have a history and I wouldn't want to bring up any lingering feelings you might have."

"Nah, it's okay Maura. I'm totally fine wit it. And I wanna know."

The Irish woman cleared her throat and placed her hand on the scarred one currently lying on the table. She rubbed it for effect and looked Jane's way. "Why don't you tell it, sweetie. You always tell it better."

"Fine, babe." Slightly annoyed the she had to come up with something on the spot, she answered through clenched teeth and then turned to the sole male at the table. "So you know, me an' Maura work together. And after awhile we just told each other how we felt and that's that."

His face fell. "That's it?"

"Of course not!" Maura answered. "Jane, why don't you tell him the whole thing?"

Said woman's eye twitched at the request but tried to quickly assemble a much more exciting story in her mind in the span of only a few seconds. "Fine. Well we work together," She said, starting in the same way, "and sometimes our jobs are a little bit dangerous."

"That's an understatement." Maura laughed.

"Anyway, this one time we were in the middle of an investigation and we got captured by our main suspect, who turned out to be the killer. He kept us tied up in his basement as hostages while he tried to get his demands filled. He left us alone for a few minutes one time and I knew I only had one chance so I put all the cards on the table." Getting into it now, she began to mimic what she was describing. "I turned to Maura as best I could with my restraints, looked her in the eyes and said 'Maura, I don't know if we'll make it out alive but I have to tell you something. I love you more than anything else in the world and, if I knew things would turn out this way I would have said this a long time ago so we could have more time together. I am completely and totally in love with you. I love the way your eyes light up when you solve a difficult piece of a case. I love the fact that you're basically part of the family. I absolutely adore you with every fiber of my being and I can't imagine living my life without you so I hope that, if he wants to kill one of us, to let me go first." Jane had to fight back a sudden flood of emotion as she realized that that some of of the story came way too easily, and for good reason. It came from the heart. "And Maura refused, of course, saying that she didn't want to live without me either and all that. And then she said she loved me too and we kissed. The end." She finished rather abruptly before returning to her drink.

Giovanni looked between them, stunned, while Maura kept her gaze focused on the detective. She was touched by the words even if they were a fabrication. It felt incredibly real to her. So much so that she had to excuse herself. She was getting more emotional lately, though, so it didn't really surprise her.

"Whatsa matter with her?" The mechanic asked, nodding towards the retreating figure.

Jane was a little worried herself but shrugged it off. "Oh, she just gets a little emotional about our story."

He nodded, understanding. "Yeah it was wicked cool."

"Thanks." She smiled, proud of her storytelling prowess. Though it didn't last long when she realized her would probably be impressed with a slightly edited retelling of The Little Mermaid… and believe it was them.

He chugged the remainder of his drink and stood up. "Thanks for this, Jane. I really needed it."

She smiled up at him. "No problem, G."

In the time it took Maura to get back to the table Jane had finished her own drink and took a sip of the wine that was left behind by the M.E.

"Is my glass emptier?"

"No."

"Jane…" She gave her a look that no one envied being on the receiving end.

"Alright fine, I just wanted to try it."

Her look changed to an expectant one. "And…?"

"And what?"

"Did you like it?"

She nodded. "Yep! It's just what the doctor ordered!" She said and then laughed at her own joke.

Maura just shook her head and took a sip.

The detective looked over at her friend and, noticing that she was being unusually quiet, nudged the other woman with her shoulder. "Hey. You okay?"

"I'm just worried about tomorrow. What if I can't keep it together during a simple lunch? Then she'd know something was up!"

"It'll be fine. You'll be fine, Maura."

"I sure hope… I mean, I trust that you're correct in your assumption. But, really, what if I break down again?" She sighed loudly. "I still can't believe I did that! God, it was so embarrassing!"

Unable to stop the scene from replaying in her mind, Jane nodded. "Yeah… it kind of was." She tried her best to stifle her laugh but couldn't and let out a snort. "You squeaked, Maura!" She laughed. "I've never heard you squeak before!"

"I was under a lot of emotional distress! You know that!"

Nodding, the detective wiped a tear that had escaped during her laughter at the memory. "I know. But, still. You squeaked!"

Maura sighed at her best friend's behavior.

"So are you gonna tell her tomorrow?"

"I told you already, no. We are going to remain colleagues. It's easier that way."

"For who?" The concerned Italian shifted in her seat and placed one hand on the other woman's shoulder and another on the hand that was resting on the table. "Maura, you're a wreck. I've never seen you like this before and I'm worried."

"Well then maybe you can come tomorrow?"

"Of course! Whatever you need." While she smiled at her best friend, she used her thumb to gently stroke the soft flesh of Maura's hand in a comforting gesture. It wasn't very helpful, however.

The intimate act sent shivers up her spine and it took all the doctor had not to show it. Instead she tried to focus on the pressing problem of having lunch with her biological mother in less than fifteen hours. "I've been very emotional lately, Jane. I'm not sure I can handle it. What if she hugs me again?"

Said woman tried her best to stop that line of thinking. "That's why I'll be there. If it becomes too much for you, you can kick me under the table and I'll think of a way to get you out of there."

Maura smiled at her. "Thank you. Just promise me you won't say anything to her about you-know-what."

"Scouts honor!" Jane smiled, throwing up a hand shape that looked suspiciously like the Vulcan salute.

"You were a sprout trooper, not a scout."

She shrugged. "Same difference."

Maura just laughed and finished her wine before quizzing Jane on what not to say during the following lunch.

The next morning, after their regular yoga session, they walked into the police department, chatting away.

"For the twentieth time, Maura, it'll be fine!" She said, somewhat exasperated. When they reached the detective's desk Jane faced the other woman and gently rubbed her arms. "Why don't you just go down to your office and relax. Reread a few of your favorite science-y articles! I'll come down and get you when it's time to leave for lunch." She leaned in a bit closer so she could make sure that Maura was taking in what she said. She stared into her eyes for a beat too long before talking again. "Okay?"

"Yes. Thank you, Jane." As a token of her gratitude she closed the relatively small gap between them and wrapped her arms around the other woman in a hug. The pair stood there for several moments and pulled away when they felt they were being stared at. "I'm, uh… I'm gonna go downstairs." Maura's face was uncharacteristically red and getting redder by the second as she rushed off to her destination.

Jane just smiled at the retreating figure before getting herself a cup of the bitter BPD coffee.

Across the room, Korsak nudged Frost. "Hey, do you know what happened last night?" He asked, hoping the younger man would have some inside information.

"No, why? You noticed it too?" He said, nodding towards the coffee pouring detective.

"I think half of Boston noticed it." The sergeant let out a chuckle. He settled down after a moment and looked back to Frost. "But, seriously, they seem more…" He paused, looking for a word.

But the shorter man knew exactly what he was thinking. "There's more chemistry than normal? Yeah, definitely. You could cut the sexual tension between them with a knife."

Unfortunately for everyone involved, Sister Winifred overheard their conversation. A scowl rested on her face as she walked towards the unlucky woman heading towards her desk. "Jane Clementine Rizzoli!"

The force in the words nearly caused said woman to drop her coffee. "Um… yes?"

"I knew you were a hell raiser but I didn't expect you to take it this far!"

"What are you talking about?"

Realizing they were where other people could overhear, Sister Winifred grabbed Jane by the wrist and dragged her into a nearby interrogation room. They sat down before she clarified her previous statement. "I'm talking about your relationship with Dr. Isles!"

"What do you mean? Is it sinful to be friends with a medical examiner?" This was ridiculous. All she wanted to do was get her paperwork done in peace so she could go to lunch with Maura and Hope and not have to worry about anything else for the rest of the day. She rolled her eyes as she brought her coffee filled mug to her lips.

"No. But it is sinful to fornicate with a woman when you, yourself, are a woman."

And cue spit-take. "What?" She wiped her mouth with her sleeve, adding to the displeasure of the nun across from her, before continuing. "I did not sleep with her!"

"Your coworkers think otherwise."

"Someone's spreading rumors?"

"There are no rumors here, Jane. I know what I saw and what I heard. It seems this has been happening for awhile. I should have come sooner." She shook her head and reached across the table. "There are people who can help you."

As if touched by fire, she ripped her arm away. "I don't need help. There's nothing 'sinful' going on with me and Maura." She said, using finger quotes.

Sister Winifred cleared her throat. "Maura and I."

Jane's eyebrow twitched and she gritted her teeth as she spoke. "Fine. Maura and I didn't do anything."

"Do not lie to me, Miss Rizzoli. I overheard Vincent and Barold talking."

A sharp sigh came from the younger woman. "Sister, trust me. They're just being guys. We didn't sleep together."

Believing her now, she smiled lightly. "Good." She looked at Jane for a moment and frowned again. "But I can sense the desire you have for her in you. I want to help you with this."

Jane stood and glared at the woman, feeling more loathing towards her now than she ever did in school. "I don't need help. I know what I feel and I know it's not wrong. If you have a problem with that then you can pack your files back up and leave because I know my department will stand behind me." With that, she walked out.

The nun watched her leave and frowned before standing up, figuring she would try a different route. It took her a few minutes to find it but, eventually, she walked through Maura's office door.

"Oh! Hello, Sister Winifred. Is there something I can do for you?"

She smiled down at the seemingly pleasant girl who was leading her former pupil astray. "Yes. I would very much appreciate it if you kept your interactions with Miss Rizzoli to a minimum."

"I'm sorry?" She was sure she didn't hear that right.

"Jane has an… unhealthy dependence on you. One that is not right with God. So in order to help her return to a proper path of the lord, I ask that you see her only when necessary. Just for now."

Maura thought this was so ridiculous she almost wanted to laugh. Almost. "No."

She frowned. "Then you leave me no choice. I'll have to have a talk with Mrs. Rizzoli upstairs."

Maura paled and wanted to say something to stop her but couldn't think of something fast enough. Deciding on a different course of action, she headed upstairs and to the familiar grouping of desks, only to find the woman she was looking for gone.

"Looking for Jane?" Frost asked, not even bothering to lift his head up from his paperwork.

"Yes. Have you seen her?"

"She mumbled something about better coffee in the café, I think."

Hazel eyes widened and she nearly broke a world speed record on the way. She met the sought after woman in the hallway. "Jane! I, uh, there's this new coffee place down the street! Do you want to see if it's any good?"

She considered the thought for a moment. "Nah. I really should finish my paperwork."

Maura jumped in front of her to stop the progression towards the nearby café. "Please?"

Jane sighed. "Maura… I would but if we go I won't have enough time to finish all my work before lunch and I really don't want to do anything after lun-" Her words were cut off by a loud and familiar voice.

"Jane Clementine Rizzoli! I don't care what you are doing, you better get your butt over here right now!" Angela yelled from around the corner, not knowing how close her daughter really was.

"On second thought, why don't we take the day off?" Jane said, laughing nervously, before dragging Maura to a side exit. They headed to the parking garage and took Maura's car. After discussing their options for a moment, they decided to park at the restaurant they would be headed to in a couple hours anyway and just walk around. Since it was in a richer neighborhood of Boston it wasn't too far from The Common so they spent their time there.

XXXXX

"Dr. Isles! How nice to see you again!" Hope said pleasantly, reaching her hand out for her to shake it.

Fearing that any contact would cause her emotional spigot to reopen, she rejected the offer and sat down.

Jane took it instead. "Nice to see you again, Dr. Martin."

"You too, Detective."

They sat and ordered before settling into a comfortable conversation. Well, comfortable for two out of three of them.

Maura just watched as her best friend and her biological mother talked. She was honestly surprised at herself for being almost immobilized with fear and a few emotions she wasn't quite sure how to identify.

As time went on and the plates emptied, topics turned more personal.

"So do you have a boyfriend, Jane?"

She shook her head.

"Oh, that's too bad. You seem like a lovely woman." She frowned when she heard her phone go off. Checking it, her frown deepened and she got up. "Excuse me, I have to take this."

Maura's brows furrowed, forcing her to say the first thing for nearly a half an hour when the older woman finally left. "What about Casey?"

Jane shook her head. "We're not really in a relationship. We talked about this the last time we met for dinner and he realized he wasn't ready to date anyone right now. So we're just friends."

"Oh!" Though she knew why there was a smile appearing on her face, she was still confused by the fact that she was happy that her best friend was no longer with someone she cared about. "Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah. I think I was more upset with the fact that he stopped talking to me without letting me know why then anything else."

Maura nodded and finished the last bite of her meal. "That makes sense."

Just then, Hope came back from outside of the restaurant. "Sorry about that, ladies." She had noticed that her fellow doctor was conversing with Jane so, she hoped, she had finally decided to join in on the conversation. She decided to try the same general question she gave to Jane on her. "So, Maura, how are things outside of the workplace? Do you have a husband?"

She shook her head before unconsciously glancing at the woman next to her.

Hope felt foolish. "Oh, I'm sorry. I should have realized but I didn't want to assume. How long have you and Jane been together?"

"What?"

"Sorry to say but if it's supposed to be a secret, you aren't doing that good of a job." She laughed.

"No, I meant that we're not – " Jane's words were cut off by the same ring tone.

"I'm so sorry. Some people just can't take a hint." She laughed and then took her call outside again.

Jane turned to her companion. "So? How're you feeling?"

She smiled. "I think I'm okay right now. It helps to have you with me."

"Aww. Thanks, Maura."

Hope came back to the table in a rather hurried fashion. "Turns out some people can't do things without me. I have to go. Can we do this again sometime?"

Maura nodded. "Yes. I would like that."

"Fantastic. Goodbye, Maura. Jane." She said before leaving.

"So, do you wanna find somewhere else to go?" Jane asked.

For a moment the question was met with silence as the M.E. decided what she wanted to do. Eventually she shifted in her chair and looked the other woman in the eyes. "Actually, I was hoping we could talk."

"Sure. What about?"

"Last night."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Okay, I had one beer. I know I didn't do anything crazy like that one time I drank an entire pitcher in fifteen minutes and felt bad for the traffic cones outside in the rain."

A giggle came from Maura's mouth when she remembered that night. "No, I just – that story you were telling Giovanni. It – it really got to me."

"Like in a you're-mad-at-me-again kind of way?" The Italian asked, worried.

"No. I – I – those things you said… I feel for you."

Chocolate eyes blinked in disbelief. "Really?"

Maura nodded her head.

"Well… me too. I mean, what's a story without a little bit of truth, right?"

This made the shorter woman smile and lean in for a very chaste kiss.

Light and quick as it was, it still had a huge effect on the detective. "Wow. Can we do that again?" She asked with a goofy grin.

Maura just moved in even closer and whispered as she glided her fingertips across various patches of exposed flesh."Why don't we go hide out from your mother first? And then we can do that all day."

"You have no idea how much I want to but that's kind of impossible. She lives at your house and has a key to my apartment."

"We could always find a nice bed and breakfast or something for the weekend." She offered, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Jane's hand shot up at the same time she yelled, "Check please!"