A/N: I sincerely apologise for the lack of updates, but I lost a very special person a few weeks ago and I didn't really feel like writing. This is just a short filler chapter with important background elements about Maura, but I'm already working on the next one. I think I finally know where I want to go with this story.

Hope you enjoy.

Absentmindedly, Maura Dorothea Isles stood in front of her window, looking out towards the beautiful scenery of San Francisco Bay. Somewhat fascinated, she watched the sky rapidly turning black due to the vast formation of impenetrable clouds, predicting a heavy storm to come. She sighed. Somehow, this dark and seemingly inexorable weather perfectly reflected her momentary state of mind.

This was the famous calm before the incoming storm.

Because after tonight, everything was going to change. She would quit her job here and leave the city she had come to call her home for so many years now, eight years to be precise. And leaving truly wasn't easy. Here she had built a life, a reputation and a comforting and secure wall around herself, and the idea of completely losing this scared her endlessly.

But she couldn't stay here. She had to leave this life behind. She had to return to Boston.

Maura turned away from the kitchen window as the first little drops touched the dirty glass, and walked back to her living room table where a small piece of crumpled paper was lying next to her phone. Taking a deep breath, she picked up the paper note with shaking hands before quickly dialling the number that had been hastily written on it so many months ago.

This was her chance. She was going to be brave.

"Hello?"

"Hello, mother. I wanted to inform you that I'm moving back to Boston."

"Oh how wonderful, Maura."

Maura closed her eyes and took an uneasy breath. She desperately willed herself to be strong, if only this one time.

Say it.

"I am going to find my birth parents."

Silence.

For once Constance Isles was at loss for words. Sweat broke out on Maura's forehead the longer the wordlessness between them went on, but her throat stayed uncomfortably dry. She had expected and was prepared for everything but this; humiliation or compassion regarding her daring quest wouldn't have surprised her, but silence — silence was something completely different, at least concerning her mother.

For the first time in her life, Maura Isles had rendered her adoptive parent, the great and strong worded Constance Isles, speechless.

And that fact alone was hard to believe and yet, it felt so massive — so game-changing. She was finally standing up for herself.

Just as Maura cleared her throat in order to bring up the courage to ask about her mother's wellbeing, however, the unexpected silence was broken by the sound of several voices rising in the background on Constance's end. She heard her mother's quiet whispers before she suppressed a slight cough. It seemed like the commotion brought her back to the present, back to the conversation with her daughter since she replied in her usual detached yet authoritative tone.

"Good for you, darling. Sadly though, I have to let you go now since I have a meeting in five minutes…Pierre just called me over, but it was very nice to hear from you. Take care ma chérie, au revoir."

Then she was gone, the only sound remaining was the insistent beeping signal of disconnection. No questioning her actions, no mention of good luck or encouragement for the search, not even a promise for contacting her again. To say, that Maura Isles was disappointed about the course the talk with her mother had taken, would be wrong, but still, she hated the way it made her feel so insignificant, so worthless.

So unloved.

This superficial communication with her mother didn't really surprise her, it had always been this way, but tonight Maura had thrown caution in the wind and had been brave. Yet, it still hadn't had the slightest effect on her mother. She had dismissed it, ignored her daughter's attempt to reach out to her, disregarded their connection. This made anger rise in Maura's chest, terribly so, but in the end she couldn't change the terribly unsatisfying bond she had with her. She couldn't fight the woman her mother loved to be.

The untouchable and unfazed Constance Isles.

Sighing, she locked her phone and tossed it into her back before returning her attention back towards the note her mother had written to her six months ago when they last saw each other. Frustrated, she grabbed it and tore it apart. She didn't need it anymore.

She didn't need this woman, her mother, in her life anymore.

"Maura!" The pleading voice made her turn her gaze away from the businessman waiting in front of her and back towards the entrance of the security control at the airport. It didn't take long until she spotted the familiar red hair of the woman who had begged her to stay not even two nights ago when Maura told her that she was leaving — leaving for good. The women looked aghast and sad, holding a limp red rose in her hand. Maura closed her eyes, she couldn't do this now. Sighing, she turned her head back to the line in front of her before proceeding towards the waiting officer, taking off her shoes and belt.

"I love you, Maura. Please…please stay. I'm sorry…I love you!" Slowly but surely, this was turning into a seriously embarrassing affair, so Maura chose to ignore the incessant cries and declarations of undying love while keeping a straight face, before passing through the security area and into the bustling crowd of passengers.

She didn't even have the urge to look back. This chapter of her life was over.

Once and for all.

When the heavy plane finally hit the bumpy runway of Boston Logan Airport, Maura's eyes flew open and her mind was catapulted back into the stark reality of the pending mission she had tried to ignore these past hours. There was a certain essence of excitement that teased her mind regarding her stay here in Boston, yet at the same time, she couldn't shake off the intense wave of fear and anxiousness that overwhelmed her heart at the thought of leaving this plane.

In order to distract herself and calm her nerves, she pulled out her phone and opened the email that had formed and greatly encouraged her decision of coming to Boston — her hometown.

Dear Miss Isles,

I finally found the person of interest for you. He is located in Boston, right now working as the head coach of a local swimming team. If you have any general questions or questions concerning the further procedure, please contact me.

Sincerely,

Gabriel Dean

Her tired eyes flew over the sparse count of words she had come to know by heart now, and it was somewhat reassuring to have somebody to contact here in Boston because ever since she had left for France at a very young age, she had lost all ties to the Bostonian society.

It was the certainty of not being alone, that made the decision of getting out of her seat and leaving the plane much more easy.

Take a deep breath, you will manage. Have faith.

When she stepped out on the curb right next to the airport building, and inhaled Bostonian air for the first time in twenty years, her mind forcefully silenced all her lingering doubts and fears about the upcoming times and opened the doors to the scientific and unattached demeanour that had guided her all her life in new and unknown situations.

Personal Maura made way to the accomplished and rich Dr. Maura Dorothea Isles. Nothing could touch her here as long as she kept her guard up, and she expected this to be as long as it was necessary — until she found answers.

Until she found her family.

There was no going back now. She had chosen this way, and she would go through with it now, no matter the cost, no matter the consequences. This was her being brave.

This was her finally being the Maura she had always wanted to be.

Thank you so much for all the favourites, follows and reviews.

It really means a lot to me.

A.