Ruiz's trial had a good portion of the Boston populace on edge.
Even before the actual trial proceedings began, the legal battle between the district attorney's office and the lawyers Ruiz had hired to defend him had been fierce. Ruiz's legal team did everything they could to delay the proceedings, while Governor Roman leaned heavily on the DA to speed things up as much as possible.
Ultimately, the DA and the governor won out, managing to push the trial date forward to only a month and a half from the date of his arrest, as opposed to the original four-month window that was scheduled.
On the day the district attorney was planning to call Maura to the stand, Jane suffered from an intense bout of secondhand performance anxiety. She had begun to feel an irrational level of concern for Maura's safety the night before, to the point of insisting that the medical examiner spend the night in her little brownstone rather than at the house. "We can't be too careful," she reasoned.
Maura humored her, but insisted it was going to be fine.
Stepping up to the courtroom doors now, Jane's anxiety redoubled, and despite her best efforts to stay calm and in control, her hand found the small of Maura's back beneath her blazer, fingers tense against the fabric of her blouse. Her frantic heartrate slowed at the contact. Maura flicked a glance over her shoulder at the detective, and her reassuring smile provided Jane with that temporary dose of calm that she sorely needed.
"Looks like he got what he wanted after all," Korsak remarked as they entered the courtroom.
Jane spied Ruiz in his orange jumpsuit, flanked by his attorneys in the row of seating closest to the bench. He looked fairly relaxed, comfortable even, though she knew he was handcuffed. "How do you figure?"
"Notoriety," Maura said from the other side of her. "Media attention. He wanted everyone to know his story."
"Well," Jane said, looking over her shoulder at the swarm of reporters and photographers clamoring just outside the courtroom doors, "they're going to get a story. Not entirely sure it'll be the one he wanted." She watched Maura closely as they slid into their seats. "You good?" she murmured.
Maura nodded. Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap, her back ramrod straight. No doubt she was mentally reciting her responses to the lawyers' bombardment of questions.
The judge arrived, and they all stood. Order was promptly called, and the day's trial proceedings began.
"Prosecution calls the Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Doctor Maura Isles, to the stand."
Maura rose, was sworn in, and took her seat on the witness stand.
Difficult as it was to be in Ruiz's presence in court, Jane was grateful that he wasn't some sadistic butcher who mutilated his victims like some of the other perps they'd put away in the past. It was enough of a struggle to watch Maura have to revisit routine autopsy photographs she'd taken of Frost from atop the witness stand. Like an automated recording, she recited cause of death for each of Ruiz's victims, as well as choice details from her findings when prompted by an attorney. Her face remained a mask of polished professionalism, devoid of warmth or feeling. She was here to perform a very specific task, and she performed it with meticulous concision, as was her custom. Her expertise, coupled with firsthand witness accounts, made for a damning testimony against Ruiz.
But despite the efficiency with which she did her duty, Jane knew the toll it was taking on her.
She knew what it was like to have to look into the eyes of yet another vindictive bastard with a screw loose and explain to the court - in devastating detail - who he had murdered and precisely how he had gone about it.
She hated the way Ruiz watched Maura while she testified. How he sat back in his seat and leered at her. Especially during cross-examination by the defense. For the most part, Maura was able to keep her eyes on the attorney and ignore the blatant staring of the defendant. But every so often, Jane would catch her hazel eyes flickering to Ruiz and away. Each glance made the tension in her body increase. The heat of suppressed anger made her itch.
At long last, Ruiz's defense attorney returned to his table and said, "No further questions, Your Honor."
The judge dismissed Maura from the witness stand and called for a recess.
/
They sat down for a quick lunch at a cafe just down the street from the courthouse. "If I'm hovering too much and it's irritating at all, please tell me," Jane said.
Maura had been quiet all day, and took her time in replying. Normally, Jane would have become impatient and anxious - fearing Maura's hesitation was due to her concern that Jane would not like her answer. But over the years, Jane's natural empathetic intuition had keyed her in to the subtle nuances of Maura's emotional processes. She had developed a brand of patience that was specific only to Maura-related things, and a powerful instinct for the exact moments when this kind of patience was required.
And given the fact that she hadn't asked a direct question, she didn't expect Maura to have a ready-made response for her. Maura would understand the rhetorical comment for what it was - an open door.
"Honey?" With her voice she coaxed Maura's eyes up to meet her own. "You did good."
Maura sighed. "Well. 'You did well.'" She set down her sandwich and reached for Jane's hand. The detective watched her, wondering at how intent she looked.
Rather than holding her hand like she normally would, Maura's fingertips carefully explored the back of Jane's hand; they brushed over her scar with something akin to reverence, traced the delicate filigree of veins and tendons, roamed up to her wrist to encircle the prominent joints there, returned to the back of her hand to lightly caress perpetually scraped knuckles. She turned Jane's hand over then, palm now facing up, and traced the scar there, too. She ended by drawing her fingertips along the undersides of Jane's long, slender fingers and bringing them to rest fingertip to fingertip.
Jane bowed her head. Maura made her feel so many things with such intensity, and she didn't have to say a word.
"I know this court case has been making you feel edgy," Maura said finally. "But you truly do not need to worry about me."
Jane raised her eyes. But I can't help it, she thought. She rotated her wrist, turning her hand again so she could hold onto Maura's.
"That being said," Maura added, "I like having you close, knowing that you continue to always have my back." She looked down at their joined hands and smiled. "It's the exact opposite of irritating."
Jane relaxed and sat back, but kept their fingers intertwined. "Was being up on the stand as hard as it was to watch?" She took another bite of her own sandwich.
"I'm sure it was harder for you to watch than it was for me to recite facts," Maura said with the utmost nonchalance.
Jane grinned. "Granted. You are a pro at the recitation of all things factual and scientific. I mean, that's basically what a degree in medicine is, isn't it?"
Maura appeared pensive. "Give or take a few intensive courses in chemistry, pathology, and biology," she shrugged, "and the occasional internship...but essentially, yes, you're right."
They laughed together a moment. Jane ate her last bite of sandwich. Looked at her watch. "We should probably start heading back." She pointed to the uneaten half of Maura's sandwich. "You wanna get that to-go?"
"As opposed to you eating it for me?" Maura quipped.
Jane shrugged. "Well, I mean, that's always an option, but I wanted to give you a chance to call dibs before I snarfed it. But I think you'll be more hungry once court is adjourned for the day and the adrenaline wears off." She stopped a server as they passed by. "Could we get a box for this please?"
"Of course! Be right back with that."
"Thank you." She turned back to Maura. "I don't have the heart to snarf your sandwich. Not today."
Maura blushed unexpectedly. "That's very sweet of you, Jane. That you would refrain from...snarfing...my leftovers."
The server brought back a box, and they promptly packed up Maura's sandwich and headed to the car. Jane's phone rang right as she opened the passenger side door. She recoiled when she looked at the number.
"I'm sorry, Maura, but I should probably take this. Could be divorce stuff." She grimaced.
"Casey?"
Jane nodded. "Sorry."
"It's okay. Go ahead and take it. Get in, though."
Jane obeyed, buckling up while Maura put her Prius in gear. As soon as they started moving, Jane placed her hand on Maura's leg, thumb gently stroking back and forth through her skirt. "Hey," she said into the phone once she accepted the call.
"Hello, Jane."
"Is there something wrong?" She rolled her eyes. Sometimes it was like pulling teeth getting information out of him.
"Not...exactly. I was wondering if...if we could talk."
"Is there more paperwork we need to discuss? Did you forget something at my apartment?"
"No, no...nothing like that. I just...wanted to talk to you. If that was possible."
Jane fell silent for a moment.
Maura looked over, wondering what Casey was saying.
"Casey, are you having second thoughts?"
It was his turn to be silent.
"I can't keep playing this game with you. I'm sorry. When I agreed to the divorce, I made sure I had made up my mind before I said anything."
"Jane, I just-"
"Look. I'd be more than happy to help you out with anything logistically that'll make this go smoother for you, but I can't do this back-and-forth thing anymore."
They pulled up to the courthouse.
"Jane, listen-"
"I'm sorry, Casey. I gotta go. I'm in the middle of a murder trial."
He sighed in resignation. "Okay."
"Bye." She ended the call. Let out a heavy sigh of her own. She looked down and realized Maura had both hands tightly clasped around her own. "Sorry, Maura."
"Why are you apologizing to me? I think you handled that rather well."
"He frustrates the hell outta me. Always has." She rubbed her forehead.
"I know." She leaned across the center console, and Jane met her halfway for a kiss.
As they stepped out of the car, Jane paused to straighten her charcoal grey skirt. "Maura?"
Maura shut her door. "Yes?"
"This seems almost silly," she leaned on the side of the car, "I mean, we spend so much time together as it is, but I'm gonna ask anyway." She stepped around the front of the car and met Maura on the sidewalk, shivering as a swirl of breeze exposed her bare legs to an early autumn chil. "I want to take a couple of days off with you, once this trial is over. And I want to..." she looked down at the pointed toes of her heels, "I'd like to start going on actual dates. With you." She looked up, meeting Maura's steady gaze. "I really want to, and I feel like it's time. Would you...go on a date with me?"
Maura threw her arms around Jane, one coming around her shoulders, the other rising to cup the back of Jane's head, fingers gliding effortlessly through dense, black waves. "Yes," she whispered in Jane's ear, leaning the detective back against the car. She kissed her cheek, then pulled back to look at her. She laughed quietly as Jane sighed in apparent relief. "Of course I will!" Then she pulled a grinning Jane back in for another kiss.
Jane's hands settled in their usual spot at Maura's lower back.
Maura's gripped the lapels of Jane's blazer.
The sound of someone clearing their throat behind them made them pause. Thinking the voice was familiar, Jane released Maura and peered around her.
"Korsak..." she said in a strangled whisper.
The sergeant held up a hand to stop her. "Before you trip all over yourself trying to explain, let me just say: it's not my place to have an opinion, but I think you both made the right call."
Jane was at a loss. "You...?" Her vocabulary abandoned her.
Korsak shook his head. "I don't think anybody ever expected to see this happen, but seeing you two in front of me like this makes more sense than I ever imagined." He chuckled. Looked at his watch. "Better get in there. Don't want to be late for Dominic's testimony." With that, he walked up the steps to the courthouse doors and went inside.
A squeeze at her arm brought Jane's focus back to Maura. Her beloved raised her brows and gave her a smile that said, "See? That wasn't so bad."
Jane looked down at her own watch. "No, but seriously, we don't wanna be late!" she said, and hustled them both up the steps.