Author's Note: Ugh. Another episode of Casey frustration. If nothing else, it seems to motivate this fandom to write more Rizzles. Thank you all for your kind reviews. I'm still not certain where this piece is going, but it will come together. I promise. -dkc

Chapter 3

Jane held Maura as she cried, whispering calming words against the crown of her head and brushing her hair back from her tear-soaked face. It broke Jane's heart to see her friend like this.

After several minutes of shushing Maura, holding her tight against her, Jane realized that Maura's breathing had steadied and her tears had subsided. Glancing a peek, Jane smiled as she noticed Maura had fallen asleep. Mental challenges were nothing to Maura, but the struggle of emotions could exhaust the doctor quickly. Jane had learned this over the years. Jane continued to hold Maura, rubbing her thigh with one hand and holding her tight with the other. After about twenty minutes, the detective decided it was time to move Maura to bed.

"Maura, sweetie," Jane whispered, the doctor stirring slightly. "Let's get you changed and into bed."

Jane released Maura enough that she could turn their bodies to face one another, the detective holding the doctor up with her shoulders. Jane was contemplating picking up Maura and carrying her to the bedroom, but didn't want to startle the doctor if she did happen to wake up in transit.

"Maur…" Jane jostled Maura's shoulder. "Wake up."

This time Maura's stirring was more purposeful. She tilted her head up to look at Jane. There was innocence in Maura's sleepy eyes that took Jane's breath away.

"Let's go to bed," Jane hummed.

"Here we are again," Maura's sleepy voice contrasted with her attempts to stretch away the grogginess.

"Hmm?" Jane didn't follow.

"Me passed out on a couch," the doctor wiped the sleep from her eyes.

"You crying yourself to sleep is hardly you passing out on a couch," Jane reached for Maura's hand to lead her to bed. "Besides, this time it is my couch."

The smirk on Jane's face washed away Maura's embarrassment. She took Jane's hand and allowed her to lead her to the bedroom.

"At least I was dressed and as far as I can tell I am not disheveled," Maura said as they entered Jane's bedroom.

"Mascara smudges don't qualify as disheveled?" Jane teased as she dug through her dresser for sleeping clothes for them both.

As Jane turned back to Maura she was surprised to find her friend standing there in nothing but her panties and a camisole she must have been wearing under her shirt. Jane tried not to look, but she couldn't help her gaze traveling the length of Maura's toned legs and then up her torso. When her eyes met Maura's, she wasn't able to speak and she blushed.

"Is the mascara bad?" Maura asked with a coy smile on her lips.

"No," Jane's voice was raspy and raw.

"You aren't just saying that?" Maura refused to break eye contact with Jane.

"Umm…no," Jane removed her shirt down to her tank top and unbuttoned her pants, but stopped there.

Maura sensed the uneasiness in Jane and turned around to walk to her side of the bed. Jane took the opportunity to drop her pants and throw on some shorts. She removed her bra from under her tank top and walked toward the bed. Pulling back the blankets, she paused to appreciate how natural it felt to be crawling into bed with Maura. They had done this so many times, usually at her house because she didn't have a guestroom like Maura did, but sometimes at Maura's house they circumvented the guest room for Maura's larger bed.

"Jane?" Maura's small voice broke Jane's daze.

"Hmm?" Jane crawled into bed, shutting off the lamp as she did so and settled facing Maura who was already under the blankets turned toward Jane.

"Imagine you spent your entire life without a child you carried and gave birth to," Maura began causing Jane to raise an eyebrow. "How would you feel if you suddenly met this child, well, a grown woman?"

"I…" Jane paused. "It would be a shock, I think, but a good one."

Jane reached for the hand Maura had rested on the mattress between them. She knew from Maura's question that Maura had returned to thoughts of Hope.

"Do you think you could ever do it?" Maura asked quietly. "Place your child in the adoption system?"

Jane looked at Maura as she contemplated the question.

"It wasn't Hope's decision, Maur," Jane shook her head, but still wanted to answer the question. "I don't know, to be honest. Adoption is much more accepted today than it was when we were children, but even today there's this curiosity about it and, to a degree, shame. As if it is always a poor decision that brings a woman to that moment."

There was a single tear making its way to the mattress. Jane reached up to wipe it from Maura's cheek. Instead of dropping her hand back to where it had been on Maura's, she left her hand on Maura's cheek.

"It takes a great deal of courage. I'm not sure I have that kind of courage."

Maura looked surprised to hear Jane say that she wasn't courageous enough for such a thing. There was no one Maura had met in her entire life she considered more courageous than Jane Rizzoli.

"Does it take courage to find the person who gave you life?" Maura wondered.

"God yes," Jane was quick with her reply.

"You're the most courageous person I know," Maura was thinking of her previous question. Her eyes were dark, sad even.

"Not about matters of the heart," Jane's answer spoke volumes. Maura knew Jane's answer to be honest, though a bit hard critical.

"That isn't true," the doctor reached for Jane's bicep. "There is no part of life you don't approach with an immense amount of courage."

"Not like you," Jane's thumb twitched wanting desperately to brush Maura's soft cheek.

"That isn't true," Maura countered. "What I have done in my life is hardly courageous."

"You looked for Hope," Jane whispered as she allowed her thumb to brush the soft skin she'd been craving. "You…" Jane paused. "You became one of the most intelligent, successful women I know all without the emotional and moral support of a tight-knit family. You…" Jane's thumb stilled. "You kissed me."

Maura offered a slight smile as her hand covered the hand Jane held on her cheek.

"I kissed you once," Maura began. "But it's the second kiss that takes courage. One kiss can be attributed to any number of things."

Jane breathed a short chuckle. Leave it to Maura Isles to have a theory about kissing. Why not? Maura seemed to have a theory about everything. Carefully constructed and tested theories were what kept Maura steady and confident.

"Does a second kiss have to be initiated by the same person as the first for it to qualify as a second kiss, Dr. Isles?" the slight teasing in Jane's voice was only a cover for the emotion that had overcome her.

"No, I don't believe so as long as the two participants remain the same," Maura's theory was what she used to cover her own emotion. They weren't so different, Jane and Maura.

Slowly Jane closed the short space between them and pressed her lips to Maura's. It was gentle and comforting, yet emotional and passionate. Maura placed a bit of pressure on Jane's hand resting on her cheek and Jane responded by deepening the kiss. She traced Maura's bottom lip before the doctor's lips parted in a breathy sigh. The detective entered Maura's mouth with her tongue, cautiously, as if it was a darkened hallway with danger looming at the other end. As she met Maura's tongue, a relief washed over her. There was no danger here. Just Maura.

The two women kissed slowly, passionately, until they both needed air. The kiss broke and they pressed their foreheads together.

"Courage, Jane," Maura whispered as she wrapped her arm around her shoulders. "Even in matters of the heart."

The two friends fell asleep in that position after an incredibly long and emotional day. They would need courage in the days ahead certainly, but for now they were content like this. Just Jane and Maura.

To be continued…