"Do you think they're saying their goodbyes?" Jane asked, watching Frost's tablet as Maura and Frankie leaned in close.

"Let me see if I can get sound," Frost said, fiddling with the settings. "There we go."

"Did I scratch you?" Frankie asked softly, looking at Maura with soulful eyes. Oh no, she thought to herself. The proximity had obviously given rise to the small crush Frankie had been harbouring since he'd met Maura.

"I got to third base with Jane. In her car. Today." Maura said sharply, trying to deflect.

Outside, Frost, Korsak and Jane stared in astonishment at the tablet, Jane more surprised than anyone. There was a chuckle from behind them and Jane could feel the rumour spreading through BPD already.

"You owe my mom 40 bucks," Frost said calmly. "Well, I do, but I'm passing the buck on this one."

"What? No! We didn't."

"Doctor Isles doesn't lie," Korsak said knowingly. "I'd take her word over yours any day."

"On a technicality. God, I'm gonna kill her."

"BPD frowns on domestic violence," Frost said.

"Ugh, it wasn't like that! Her zip got stuck and I brushed against something when I tried to undo it."

"My zip got stuck too, but I didn't ask Frost for a handjob when it did," Korsak commented, and Jane rolled her eyes.

"I'm gonna kill her," she promised again, staring at the screen. "If she makes it out of this alive, I'm gonna kill her."

"I think... I think you just ruined lesbians for me," Frankie said, looking grossed out. "Not so much you. Mostly Jane. Wait, why are you telling me this?"

"I want you to let go of my hands, go outside and tell Jane that I love her," Maura said, aware of Frankie's proximity still, of how awkward it felt. He was similar enough to Jane that he felt like an in-law.

"She knows, Mawr," Frankie said. "We all know."

"Nonetheless, I need you to go out there and tell her for me," Maura insisted.

"What? No, I'm not leaving you to go sky-high."

"And Jane would never forgive me if I let you go sky-high with me," Maura said, and Frankie finally nodded, letting go of Maura's hands slowly. The bomb tech nodded and Frankie walked away slowly.

"That was the kindest thing to do," the bomb tech said gently.

"Jane wouldn't have left me," Maura said softly. "I'm surprised they've managed to keep her outside."

"Me too," Frost said. "Even after Korsak threatened to have you fired you tried to go back in."

"Yeah, well that jackass might as well be a brick wall," Jane scowled at the bomb tech in the doorway as he shifted sideways to let Frankie pass. Frankie jogged over to Jane.

"She wanted me to tell you that she loves you," he said, and it was obvious he'd been sweating the entire time.

"And you just left her in there alone?" Jane asked, making another break for the doorway, being held back by Frost and Frankie. "No, if she's in there, I should be too."

"She said... That you two were... In some sort of relationship?" Frankie said, censoring himself.

"Yeah, we heard," Frost said, pointing at his tablet, one hand still gripping Jane. "Let them do their job, ok? They're experts, they don't need more civilians to worry about."

"She got a message out to me, what if it goes off and she doesn't know?" Jane whimpered.

"Know what?" Korsak asked gently, seeing Jane's walls crumbling.

"That I love her," Jane whispered.

"She knows, Jane. Trust me, she knows," Frankie said.

"It's not good enough. I never told her... I need to tell her." Jane watched the screen anxiously. "Could you hear anything from outside?" Jane asked suddenly, turning to Frankie.

"All I could hear was our breathing and the ticking from the thing," Frankie admitted. "The thing, the radiation thing. Going tick tick, like a bomb." Jane covered her mouth. "She'll be ok, Janie," Frankie said, wrapping an arm around Jane. "I wouldn't have left her if I didn't believe that."

"I wouldn't her left her at all," Jane said, and Frankie didn't think he'd seen his sister cry since she was grown. Not about Hoyt, not about Pop. Her eyes were glued to the screen, and she yelled. She could hear it through the speakers, saw Maura look up, and she nodded.

"MAURA!" She roared, and she saw the smile creep onto Maura's face, saw her eyes fill with hope. "MAURA, I LOVE YOU!" Jane yelled, heedless of the entire precinct watching in shock. She saw Maura's face, composed this whole time despite the stress, despite the weariness of her arms and the light trickle of blood from her nose, and it was when she heard Jane yell that her composure broke. Unable to move, tears fell unchecked down her face, rolling off her cheeks - one landing on the package before she could stop it. She held her breath, and the bomb tech split the package open.

Coffee. All this over coffee. Maura dropped her arms in relief, and a moment later Jane's arms were somehow wrapped around her, little soothing noises as those strong hands rubbed her back as Maura sobbed helplessly in Jane's arms.

"I love you, you moron," Jane said, wiping Maura's nose again, wiping her cheeks before pulling her back in close, kissing her hair. "You absolute moron, picking up suspicious mail, sniffing dead bodies, telling Frankie we were making out in my car..."

"I said we got to third," Maura interrupted Jane. "You agreed that we had."

"Yeah, but, not 'third' third, every cretin out there heard it and now they're going to be picturing us going to 'third' third together."

"Oh," Maura said. "I assumed he'd told you. The lobby cameras?" Maura asked, and Jane nodded. "Well, I don't mind." Maura said, pulling Jane tighter against her. "It makes a nice picture."

"Maura," Jane groaned, and Maura chuckled.

"I'm not the one who declared their love in front of the entire precinct," Maura pointed out.

"Yeah, well, I thought you were going to explode."

"I'm glad I didn't," Maura said.

"Me too," Jane agreed softly, pulling back. Immediately Maura was pulled into a hug with Frost, then Korsak, then Susie, then most of the precinct, Jane watching with a little smile.

Notes:

Accidentally another chapter because of course Maura would tell people she'd got to third with Jane.