Sorry it took me forever to update. But I have it all written now, and I believe that after the next chapter this story will be finished.

"Jane?" Maura's meek voice broke a comfortable silence.

"Yes, Maura?" Jane pulled back a bit to look at the woman in her arms.

Maura looked up at Jane. "Could we not do this in a diner parking lot?"

Jane straightened a bit and blushed. "Yeah. Um… okay. Yeah. Where to?"

"Would you mind taking me home?"

"Not at all. Where is it?"

Maura gave a few basic directions and Jane buckled up and pulled out of the parking lot. Once they were on the road Maura's left hand rested palm-up on the armrest, and Jane set her right hand in it. She glanced thoughtfully at it for a moment before gazing back at the road.

"You haven't asked me about the scars."

"I figured that if you wanted me to know you'd tell me. You still don't have to."

"I appreciate it." Jane took a deep breath. "A while back a case came across my desk where a husband had been killed and his wife went missing, only to later turn up dead. Then a double homicide became a string of murders when we found more men bound with their throats slashed, more women raped, tortured, and killed. We started closing in on him. His name was Charles Hoyt. The media called him The Surgeon."

Jane turned to Maura with a wry smile. "He'd been kicked out of medical school for fondling a corpse." She resumed her far-away gaze toward the road and continued.

"We soon found his 'lab' and I was too stupid to call for backup before rushing in there, guns a-blazing, to rescue the latest woman he'd kidnapped and collar him. He blind sighted me with a two-by-four, knocked me out cold. When I came to he had me spread-eagle on the ground, pinned down with a scalpel through each hand. He was right above me, scalpel to my neck, and" Jane got choked up for a moment. "and I thought I was going to die. I was sure that they were going to find me, raped and murdered, Hoyt already in the wind. I imagined Korsak, my partner at the time, notifying my Ma and Pop, imagined their heartbreak. I wondered who my kid brother Frankie would look up to once I was gone. I thought about God, about what came next. I kicked myself for not going to Mass more often. One quote, from Albus Dumbledore- you know, the Harry Potter character? –kept running through my mind. 'Death is but the next great adventure.' I might've gone on an adventure pretty soon if Korsak hadn't burst in at the right moment. He saved my life."

Maura was quiet for a moment, and simply gazed at Jane's hand that she clutched in both of hers.

"You said Korsak was your partner 'at the time'." Maura observed quietly. "Why isn't he your partner anymore?"

"He saw me like that. He shot Hoyt and came over to me. He saw me blubbering and whimpering, pinned to the ground. How could he think I had his back after that?"

"Jane. You're still a Homicide Detective. You managed to come back to the job after being put in a situation like that. That takes incredible strength. How could he not think you could have his back?"

"Ma tried to get me to quit the force after that. Pretty much everyone expressed that they would respect me if I did, that they would understand. That wasn't strength. That was hardheadedness."

"Call it what you will, Jane. I think you're incredibly brave."

"Thanks." Jane gave Maura the signature Rizzoli smile before pointing out the window.

"This it?"

"That's the one."

Jane wolf-whistled. "Wow. Nice place you got here, Doc."

Maura blushed. "Thanks."

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment before Jane glanced at the clock, then did a double-take.

"Shit, Maura, we have work in the morning!"

"Language, Jane. But you're correct, we should both probably get to bed. Goodnight."

Maura started to get out of the car.

"Maura-"

"Yes, Jane?"

"What was his last name? The guy who… the guy in college?"

Maura knew what Jane meant. "Spratley. Edward Spratley."

"Edward Spratley. I'll run a background check on him, see if he's gotten into any trouble."

"Would you?"

"Yeah, no problem."

"Thank you, Jane. Really."

"You're welcome. Goodnight, Maura."

"Goodnight, Jane."

Jane sat in her car and watched as Maura walked up the pathway leading towards her front door. Then something compelled her to open her door and stand up. Something told her she wanted to know this woman, and not just as a colleague. Something told her she wanted to share a milkshake again.

"Hey Maura?"

Maura, already halfway up the walk, turned and called back "Yes, Jane?"

"You wanna maybe have lunch tomorrow? If we have time we could go someplace. Or sometimes when I'm rushed I just eat tuna at my desk. You could join me?" Jane blushed, slightly embarrassed at the way her last sentence sounded like a question, embarrassed about sounding almost like a nervous teenager asking for a second date.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Jane could see Maura's shy smile from the driveway. "A plus."

"Ah ploo? What?"

"Short for a plus tard. It's French for 'until later'. The French equivalent of the English 'See you later, alligator' is 'a plus tard, mon canard'."

Jane grinned. "You sound like Google sometimes, you know? After a while, crocodile." Jane pronounced the last word with a French accent, eliciting a peal of laughter from Maura.

"That is actually the French word for 'crocodile'. They're cognates."

Jane pointed at Maura mock-accusingly and smiled. "There you go shooting off that Google Mouth of yours again." She chuckled, then realized just how tired she really was. "Ah ploo," she said tenderly.

Maura simply smiled. "A plus."

Jane got back in her car and waited until Maura was safely inside before pulling out and heading home.

Thanks for reading. One more chapter soon to follow.