Chapter 2

Knock Knock Knock

Jane looked up from the newspaper she was reading while standing at her breakfast bar and stared at the door. While she didn't have super powers that allowed her to see through her front door she was certain she knew exactly who was standing on the other side of the door. She made no move to actual answer the knock.

Knock Knock Knock

If possible, the knocking seemed to be more insistent. And yet Jane still didn't move. Instead, she was debating on the likelihood of the knocker simply giving up and going away. She frowned when that calculation kept coming to a 'no way in hell' conclusion.

"Open up Janie," came Angela's voice.

What was it about a mother's ability to create such a tone of voice that a child, regardless of age, seemed forced to concede and respond to? She knew her mother wasn't going to leave until she at least let her in for a few minutes. Jane sighed and put down her coffee and slowly made her way to the front door.

She took a deep, cleansing breath before she undid the chain and deadbolt on the door. She simply opened the door and stepped aside knowing her mother wouldn't be denied entry.

"Morning," Jane said as her way of greeting her mother.

She loved her mother. Very much. But her mother had the ability to overwhelm her sometimes and Angela's motherly hovering had been running at an all-time high ever since the Hoyt encounter. While Jane appreciated the love and concern, her mother had a tendency to simply wear her out.

"Took you long enough," Angela responded as she made her way into Jane's apartment. There wasn't much snark in her tone which actually surprised Jane.

"Sorry," Jane said making her way towards her kitchen. "I was in the bathroom." She probably didn't need to offer up an excuse that was also a lie but she found herself doing it anyway. "Coffee?" She was already getting a mug from her cupboard.

"Yeah, thanks," Angela said. She was taking off her jacket and placed that and her purse on the couch in the living room. She couldn't help but take a look around her daughter's apartment. She breathed a little easier when she saw that everything seemed to be in order. One of Jane's tells when things were completely overwhelming her was clutter and mess in her apartment. But everything appeared to be put away and the place seemed well organized.

She was worried about her daughter. She always worried about all her kids but her concern for Jane had been more intense lately. The 'incident' with Hoyt had been horrible for Jane and for the whole family. Angela was just now starting to sleep through the night without having nightmares that always ended with Jane's partner showing up too late to save her baby girl.

Angela made an involuntary shudder just thinking about some of her dreams. Jane was safe she had to remind herself. Jane was right there and about to hand her a cup of coffee. In fact, her daughter had stepped in front of her and held out a cup for her mother to take.

Angela took the cup and had to force herself not to stare at Jane's injured hands. It was hard because that was what she'd wanted to find out about but she was trying to figure out how to go about doing that without upsetting her daughter. Jane's rehab with her hands wasn't going as well as Jane had wanted. She'd gotten amazing functionality back with both hands but her ability to handle and shoot her gun, essential for returning to something other than the desk duty she was currently on, hadn't progressed to her liking.

"No change," Jane filled in the silence and answered the unasked question. She saw her mother deliberately trying not to look at her hands and she knew Angela wanted to know.

Angela looked up at her daughter with nothing but sympathy and compassion. Personally, she hated what Jane did for a living. Hated the danger and worry it caused. But it mattered to Jane. The job almost defined who Jane was and Angela understood that being a cop meant virtually everything to her. So her desire to have her daughter be happy overruled her motherly worry. But just barely.

Now, she simply hoped Jane could get her hands back to where she'd be able to handle her gun once again. It was keeping her from being able to do what she seemed meant to do in life.

"I'm sorry Jane," Angela replied while reaching out and placing her hand on Jane's shoulder.

Jane tried to shrug. "I'll get there," she said. She just wasn't so sure she actually believed that right now.

"What does the therapist say?" Angela asked and made a move to sit on a chair in Jane's kitchen.

Jane followed her mother into the kitchen. "The usual. 'It takes time.' 'You've made great progress.' 'We just need to keep working.'" Jane paused and took a seat next to her mother. "We," she said again a little more sharply. "Like it's 'we' that has to deal with the pain and the cramping. That's not a 'we' thing."

"Honey," Angela said trying her best to reassure Jane that there has been progress. "You really have come so, so far. I mean," she said and locked her eyes with Jane's, "just a few weeks ago you couldn't do most day to day tasks without help. Now, you are back staying on your own and you're back to work, even if it is just on desk duty. That's more than what you had even two weeks ago."

Until about three weeks ago, Jane couldn't do much on her own. Her hands couldn't grasp anything and her fingers had no strength at all. She'd had to stay with her parents and her mother had to dress her, bathe her and even help feed her. So yeah, she's made significant progress.

"I know Ma," Jane admitted. "And if I had any other kind of job the progress I've made would be enough. More than enough. But I'm a cop. And right now I can't fire my gun. If that doesn't change. If that doesn't get better. My career is over."

It was a potential reality Jane was desperately trying not to acknowledge.

"Jane," Angela started but Jane cut her off.

"I know, I know," Jane said. "I just need to give it more time."

"You do honey," Angela said. She knew how frustrating this had been for Jane. She just didn't know how to help her with this other than to try to be a voice of encouragement and love.

Jane nodded her head but didn't say anything for a few minutes instead focusing her attention on taking sips of her coffee.

Angela, sensing that Jane was done discussing her hands for the moment, moved to change the subject. "So," she broke the silence, "how is Amy?"

Jane had to force herself not to roll her eyes since she knew her mother was focusing on her. She didn't know what she disliked talking about more: her hands or her sex life.

"She's fine," was all Jane offered.

"You know you can invite her to a Sunday dinner Jane," Angela pointed out. "You know your father and I don't have any issues with you liking girls."

That made Jane almost giggle. She loved that her parents, her whole family actually, was accepting of her being gay. But it amused her to no end that none of them could ever really say words like 'gay' or 'lesbian' or 'homosexual'. She wasn't sure if they just didn't like the words or hadn't figured out if saying them would be rude. So Jane simply 'liked girls' according to anyone in her family. All things considered, she didn't mind that peculiar quirk of her family.

"Ma, I'm not bringing Amy to a family dinner," Jane replied knowing this conversation was going in a direction she wasn't going to like.

"Why not? Are you ashamed of us?" Angela asked. She really didn't believe that but she thought it would get an answer out of her daughter.

"No!" Jane exclaimed. "Ma, you know I'm not ashamed of my family."

"Then why won't you bring Amy over for dinner?" Angela tried again.

"It's not that kind of relationship," Jane replied.

"Not what kind?" Angela asked.

"It's not the kind that includes meeting family," Jane answered. With that she got up and walked over the sink pouring out her coffee and rinsing out her mug. She really only did it try to end this conversation.

"So you don't ever intend to introduce her to us?" Angela asked. She just didn't understand this type of relationship.

"No Ma, I don't," Jane said. "It's just not like that for us. It's not really a relationship."

"So it's just about sex?" Angela asked.

"Ma," Jane sighed.

"What? I'm just trying to figure this out," Angela said with an earnest look on her face.

"There's nothing to figure out," Jane insisted. "Amy is just someone I…" but she was cut off.

"Have sex with?" Angela finished.

"Well," Jane said and paused. "Yeah." That really was all there was to their relationship.

"That's not enough Jane," Angela said. "That can't possibly be enough to make you happy."

"I'm not looking for a relationship right now Ma," Jane said. Things in her life were so uncertain, so unsettled, that she couldn't even begin to think about an actual relationship.

"But…" Angela tried.

"But nothing Ma," Jane said with finality to her tone. "Not right now. Not until I figure out what kind of future I'm going to have."

Angela sighed. She wanted to protest. Wanted to point out that perhaps things would seem better if she also had someone besides her family and friends to help her through all of this. But she didn't push the subject matter. She knew this was Jane's call and she clearly wasn't ready right now.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Good morning Doctor Isles," Andrew said as Maura made her way into the dining room. "Breakfast will be ready shortly. In the meantime, would you like some coffee?"

Maura nodded, "Yes, thank you." She walked through the kitchen and into the dining room where she found her place set and the newspaper ready for her. She took her seat and hadn't even unfolded the paper before Andrew appeared with her coffee.

"Thank you," Maura said again.

Andrew simply nodded. "Your mother asked that you call her when you had an available moment," he said and waited to see if the young woman had any specific requests for him.

Maura nodded. It was the kind of nod that dismissed Andrew. He returned to the kitchen most likely to finish her breakfast preparations. She grabbed her phone quickly doing the time zone math and knowing it wasn't too late in Germany for a call.

"Darling," Constance's voice came across Maura's phone with an enthusiastic greeting.

"Hello Mother," Maura said with a smile. "How's Berlin?"

"Wonderful darling," Constance replied. "Your father is having a grand time sampling the local spirits."

Maura chuckled knowing her father had an unusual love of beer. She could only imagine how many pubs he had forced her mother into so he could sample the beverages. "Well, I'm glad he is having a good time."

"He is darling," Constance replied.

"So," Maura said, "Andrew said you wanted me to call?" She was unsure of what her mother wanted.

"I just wanted to make sure you've settled in," Constance replied.

"I'm good Mother," Maura replied. She'd been in Boston for about a week now.

"Andrew is taking care of things I assume," Constance stated more than asked. She had faith that their caretaker would ensure all of Maura's needs were met.

"Yes Mother," Maura answered. "The entire staff has been more than accommodating."

"Excellent dear. Your father and I will be back in the States at the end of the month," Constance informed her. "It will be so nice to be able to spend some time with you then."

Maura didn't get to see her parents very often. They travelled the globe frequently and when they were in the US they tended to stay in either Boston or New York only occasionally making it all the way out to San Francisco to see Maura. The possibility of spending more time with her parents was one of the reasons Maura agreed to take the job for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

"I look forward to it," Maura replied and meant it. She wasn't extremely close with her parents but they weren't estranged either. All three were simply extremely busy with their individual careers to find more than sparse time to spend together.

"Will you be still be at the house when we return?" Constance asked.

"I believe so," Maura said. Her house hunting hasn't produced much to date. "I've only managed to find time to look at 2 houses so far and I didn't care for either one."

"Are you using Stella?" Constance asked.

"Yes," Maura replied. "It hasn't been her fault. I wasn't specific enough on what I wanted with her. We had a long talk and she is searching for properties that fit my requirements. But honestly, I doubt I'll have found a place let alone get through escrow before you both return. So I should still be here when you return."

"Excellent. It will give us a chance to spend some time together," Constance replied. She'd been excited to hear that Maura took a job in Boston. "How is work coming?"

Maura sighed. The previous week had been interesting. "The lab needs several upgrades but I have been given the approval to get what is necessary. Some of the medical examiners are not quite to the standard I would like," she said as she thought about the nearly incompetent reports she'd read from a Dr. Pike. "But I'll figure out who can improve and who may need to be let go. Getting the department to run as I'd like it will just take little time."

"Well," Constance said, "I'm sure you can handle whatever needs to be addressed." Constance had complete faith in her daughter's abilities.

"I've been reviewing staff and facilities all week," Maura said. "This week I will finally be out in the field and will start working with the detectives." She hadn't been an active part of any case or investigation yet but she was starting her rotation into the field that week. She was curious as to how things would transpire with the homicide detectives.

She had a fairly decent working relationship with the San Francisco homicide department. But admittedly it had taken quite a bit of time for the detectives to understand and accept her methodology in the field. She refused to make assumptions or jump to conclusions without thorough scientific examination. She wouldn't speculate about anything. Her methods tended to antagonize impatient detectives looking for quick answers.

But Maura understood the absolute need to be precise during investigations. Precision was the difference between finding and arresting a murder suspect and potentially wasting valuable time and resources chasing hunches and assumptions. In the end, her methodic nature won over the detectives, the prosecutors and eventually all juries. But she was starting all over again so she anticipated having to retrain Boston's detectives to accept her methods.

"Have you met any of the detectives?" Constance asked.

Andrew returned with Maura's breakfast. She allowed him to place everything down in front of her and nodded at him that everything seemed satisfactory. He quickly returned into the kitchen. "Briefly. I was introduced to the first shift detectives that happened to be in the building on my first day. But it was simply a quick hello. I anticipate more in-depth interactions starting this week."

"That will go just fine," Constance replied again fully confident in her daughter. "Alright darling, I need to let you go. Your Father is ready to visit some new pub."

The vision of her father dragging her mother into local pubs for beer made Maura laugh. She was certain her mother preferred fine dining to pubs and beer. "Don't keep him waiting," Maura warned. "And be sure to give him my love."

"I will," Constance said. "Please take care of yourself and we shall talk again soon."

Maura disconnected the call and finally started to consume her breakfast. She knew she would eventually get the Boston detectives to understand her methods would ultimately help them but she was also well aware, especially after reading through the various reports, of the fact that they had never experienced an examination to the caliber of what was her standard. They initially weren't going to like her style. She was sure of that.

The only thing she wasn't sure of was just how much would they dislike her at first. For that, she knew, only time would tell.

A/N: Thank you all so much for all the follows, favorites and reviews so far. I wasn't expecting such an amazing response. It has made me all giddy! I'm truly touched and will definitely continue this story. I plan to post frequently. I can't promise daily but I'm fairly certain I can get out a couple of chapters a week so it shouldn't go more than a couple of days without an update. Weekends are easier for me than during the week. But I'll do my best to be as frequent as my schedule allows. Again- thanks so much to everyone!