A/N: I'm still surprised by the amount of people interested in this, so thank you very much for reading, and your reviews! I hope what I write is worth the wait!
"So, Maura. Tell me more about yourself."
Large strides were followed by short and swift steps as the smaller of the two females tried to keep up with the unsurprisingly determined pace of Jane, Maura wanting to be by the Commander's side as they spoke even if the brunette's height meant she could indulge herself in eye contact. Jane was taking an interest and that was... Well, quite literally a step forward, and the least the cyber-kinetic being could do was give her all the information she requested "That is a very broad question, Jane. Would you like me to start with something as precise as my internal diagnostics, or my coltan endoskeleton? I think it is of interest that my HUD – head up display – is in full colour, unlike many android classes..."
"Beep. I am a robot. Beep I do not compute human talk."
"I do not use that inflection."
Maybe her original question had been a stupid one to ask, given that she knew the fairer haired woman beside her wouldn't give her interesting snippets like the sports teams she liked, or even the books she read, but Jane had asked it anyway out of some kind of hope. In her gut she knew it wasn't right or fair to judge the new crew member based on previous experiences but there were just some things that she couldn't forget – no matter how much she tried. Instead the Commander had decided to make herself comfortable with Maura and keep her separate from any other androids in her memory, although her broad question had only kept her within the darker territory of Jane's mind.
"I mean, you're a medical bot, right?" Jane tried again.
"Android," Maura corrected "but yes – I am."
"So if you were like me you'd be a doctor?"
"I'm not sure your bedside manner would be adequate enough for you to be a doc-" Maura paused as Jane finally looked down to her, eyes pinched although not quite scowling as the shorter woman realised her mistake "You mean to imply if I were a homosapien. Yes, I would be a doctor" falling silent it appeared as if the android were deliberating something, contemplating her own words as she realised Jane was asking her questions that had never been proposed before "Although if my thoughts were transcended into a human brain I'm not sure if I would be any good with the living. Perhaps I would be a Medical Examiner. I am equipped with the skills to perform autopsies."
"Good to know..."
"I'm glad you think so, Jane."
"Hang on – No, not literally, Maura..." the earlier lack of stability of the ship had clearly taken its toll on Maura, her petite hands instantly hunting for something to cling to, much to Jane's amusement that disguised itself well as disbelief "Don't you deal with the living all the time? I mean, the refugees..."
"Were dying, Jane. I tried to make them feel better, and Ian seemed to think my representation would also comfort them."
"Your represent—Ohhh." Jane instantly found it impossible not to admire the curves of the woman accompanying her to her cabin, knowing that if Maura were human Jane would have hated her and the gifts puberty gave her. "It figures, you being built by a man."
"Only in part, Jane. My fabrication and the sculpting on my exterior form were done by a female European designer. I'm a Drobnjaković original."
Stopping so dramatically that Maura almost stumbled by her side once more the Commander of the ship turned to face her colleague, hands flailing in front of her face in faux excitement "Oh my God, is that true? I'm such a fan. Were your eyes done by Sophia Loren?"
Both arms forming a barrier just beneath the breasts that Jane's eyes had momentarily lingered upon, Maura was less than impressed by Jane's remark. "You know that the general consensus is that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit?"
In such a small corridor the silence between them struck Maura harder than the hammers of a piano hitting the strings, all too aware that her response could well be received as an insult. Thankfully as her taller companion mirrored her stance her lips tweaked into a small smile "And you say my bedside manner is bad."
"Well, what I meant to say was..."The surges flooding throughout Maura's system reminded her of the numerous tachycardia cases she had diagnosed in the past, although she knew full well she could not be experiencing the symptom. How strange it was that just an orbit of Jane's occipital spatula made her system mimic an exceeded heart rate. Perhaps she would have to run a preliminary scan later on...
"Forget it," it had taken only a short walk to get from the main deck to Jane's quarters, and the android expected their conversation to be over once they came to the door. Maura was however pleasantly surprised to find that as Jane stepped beyond the border of her voice activated door her questions beckoned for the android to follow in behind her "Doctor Maura. Huh, that doesn't sound right. Don't you have a last name?"
Jane's room was small, although Maura decided that it was a sufficient size given the Commander's needs. Hazel orbs scanned the walls as the pair spoke, taking in the minimal assets within the confines of Jane's personal space. The bed, where Jane had chosen to sit was a single bunk with no real decoration or definition to the covers. It was as basic as the rest of the room; another sliding door to the side that Maura knew held the woman's clothes and boots, a small desk fixed to the wall where she could picture the head of the crew pulling up holograms and learning about their newest contracts – it was clear that Jane was not one to embellish things, except for the wall space by the bed.
"No. I don't suppose I was ever in need of one. Androids are usually titled by number, or acronym such as myself."
Standing by the main door Maura could clearly see prints of the Commander and her crew in more personal situations, along with a man and a woman her internal scanners concluded to be her parents. These were the things that kept Jane sane on the most intense of missions, although Maura could never rationalise or predict that one day she too would have her face pinned to the very same wall.
"Hey, if you walk like a human and talk like a human on my ship you've got to have a last name."
Never exactly the perfect hostess Jane did not offer for Maura to take a seat, the naturally bred human being thankful that putting distance between them could be shrugged off as a natural habit of hers. Even though she had the man-made organism were able to talk without tension Jane's subconscious would not allow her to be perfectly comfortable, the tip of her thumb between her gently gnawing teeth as she tried to 'make nice'. If Maura were 'normal' then Jane assumed she wouldn't judge her the way she had been doing since their introduction, and although her brain would never ever allow her to forget what the android really was perhaps making Maura seem human would resolve some internal conflictions.
That was Jane's logic anyway.
"Well, it would make the most logical sense for me to be Maura Faulkner, or Maura Drobnjaković."
"Maura Drobnj— Might as well introduce you as Maura " the next sounds that left Jane's lips were alien, although not actually a language Maura could identify "And if you weren't doin' it with that doctor guy then you definitely weren't married, so no."
"I was about to suggest that since my documents and papers belong to Captain Korsak-"
Jane looked ready to smack her face into the pillows beside her, shoulders hunching as if ready to gag "Thank you for making my train of thought go from you boinking a Brit to canoodling with Korsak. Now I just feel a bit sick."
Closing the gap between them it was clear to Jane that her medic's automated programming had kicked in, shuffling backwards to vie away from Maura's care-taking advances "Do you need to sit down? Perhaps you're dehydrated. Have you vomited in the last twenty four hours, or perhaps shown symptoms of diarrhea? When was your last bowel movement?"
"You just can't help yourself, can you?" continuing to squirm as the smaller woman's gentle hand checked the temperature of her forehead Jane gave a heavy sigh "Jesus - after this trip I'm sticking myself on an island. Might go crazy a bit slower then..."
"How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of good will," Maura's words were as soft as the back of her hand as she settled beside her irritable coworker"Albert Einstein."
"Huh, most people wouldn't say I'm wise. You are, though I'm not sure Maura Island would be a good surname or holiday spot."
Maura didn't know where to start with the flaws in Jane's idea "Wise is to imply showing good judgement or the benefit of experience – you would not be standing before me if you had neither, Jane. I in contrast display more intelligence than I do wisdom, proven by the fact that I don't make such inaccurate statements such as yourself. There have been no holiday destinations in years, Jane. Also, if I were to take that as my surname I would prefer Maura Isles - derived from the old French word isle, which means island and has become the modern French word île."
"Alright, alright Doctor Isles, nice to meet you. I'm Jane Rizzoli."
"Jane means gracious and merciful, which given your reputation does actually suit you well. Well, perhaps not the first part..."
Reclining backwards, more comfortable than she realised, Jane's eyes rolled within their sockets "Do you have to do that?"
"Do what?" Maura's eyes were wide, her posture prim and quite the opposite to that of Jane's who she now looked down on as the banter bounced back and forth between them.
"That! That word thing you do?"
"Etymology?"
"You can't stop, can you?"
The fair-haired woman's next words were the whole hearted truth "Not really."
"I don't need to know where my name comes from, I've already heard all that from my mother" Jane was just pleased that Maura – no, that nobody knew her middle name "Faulkner didn't programme you to be good with people, then? Y'know, in the whole conversational sense."
"I can mimic emotions if I have to, I can comfort and soothe..."
"Like a nightlight?"
One well crafted eyebrow raised itself, answering Jane's coy remark without needing to actually address it "Ian and I used to have conversations but they were mostly work was more a case of talking about diagnoses, medical equipment... I don't think we ever... Chatted? Is that the correct term?" a nod of confirmation from the woman beside her spurred Maura on "Sometimes my responses disturb me, as if perhaps I am feeling something. Then I remember that's impossible, given my creation and purpose."
It never occurred to either woman that Jane really did need Maura as her nightlight; something to glow with warmth in the corner of the darkness that had a habit of surrounding her. That darkness latched onto the lounging woman's next words, Maura unsure from her tone whether to be encouraged or worried "Bots are capable of big things, Maura. Don't underestimate yourself."
Unable to fully process Jane's words the android retorted in a way that would have caused Ian to cringe once more about making her so truthful "You are deceptively complex. I do not understand you."
"Well, you would if I was a dead body.
"Do you think so?"
"Let's hope we don't find out, yeah?"
"The last thing I would want is for you to die, Jane."
The sincerity from Maura did not make Jane cringe like the android's previous companion, but it did unnerve her . A solid moments silence passed between them until Jane chose to speak, and even then the words failed to come without a pause in-between "That's... Good to know. Uh Maura, why don't you go and check out the medical bay – just in case."
Aware that she had overstayed her welcome, although not aware as to why Maura managed to take the hint as she rose from Jane's bed, waiting for the one word 'open' to come from the other woman's lips before leaving the Commander alone with a short "I really should check the stock levels, just in case."
Watching the petite form sashay away until the moment the metal doors slid past and disrupted her view Jane sighed once more, pressing her back and head down against the mattress as the frustrated breath left her lungs. "No man is an island, entire of itself...Why couldn't she have come with an instruction manual?"