A/N: I had a major revelation last week. (And p.s., I haven't caught up on Bones' new season yet! Keep missing it. Gotta catch up.) Anyway, I saw a few old reruns of Bones for the first time in months, and holy crap have I been off. The relationship between Booth and Bones is so great, and I have not depicted that here at all. I think what happened is the most recent season left an awful sour taste in my mouth. They are bickering constantly, but not in a sexy, tension-filled way like our girls Rizzoli and Isles do. They fought and argued and it stressed me out, and that's what I had in my head when I started writing this. I've been way too hard on Bones, and for that, I seriously apologize. I also apologize for being so lousy with the whole updating business ...the AU comes easier to me, I think because those characters are easier to write. Ah, well. Thanks for sticking with me.

Jane couldn't bring herself to think too much about how ludicrous her discussion with Maura that morning had been. Shortly after the doctor had left, Korsak had called to ask when Jane would be in for work. He and Frost were attending Alicia Howard's official funeral that night, while Jane, Booth, and Maura would be going to the memorial service held by Eden's family. As she drove to BPD, Jane was again reminded of the ever-present fight between her devotion to work and to her own life. It wasn't just work, though; it wasn't as if she was this ambitious career woman determined to put her job ahead of love or marriage or family. Her job consisted of solving murders, of stopping killers from striking again. Every minute of diverted attention could be deadly. It made her own problems seem so petty in comparison. Sure you might not have the girl of your dreams, but at least neither of you are dead…

No matter how many times she told herself this through the years (and it was a lot), it was never enough. It always felt selfish to be wrapped up in her own affairs, in her own desperation for love, when there were people out there she had sworn to protect, depending on people like her, Korsak, and Frost to keep Boston safe. Frost and Ferrell had to call it quits… Korsak had to go through three divorces …why should I expect things to go any better for me?

Because, piped up the smallest voice, the one sliver of hope that always remained, burning, inside of her. Because Maura knows what it's like. She's right there with you, in this, all the time. If she can take the heat as your best friend, she could handle it as your lover…

Right. If she were into me.

Her conversation with Angela last night had made Jane determined. She had put this off long enough. She had waited, pined, wasted away long enough. It was high time to just man the hell up and tell Maura how she really felt. By keeping it repressed, she was getting nowhere. If Maura rejected her, yes it would hurt and yes it would suck, but Jane would get over it, she'd have to—like Booth had gotten over her. The relationship was an impossibility, and though it saddened him, he had to move on. If Maura couldn't ever conceive of being with her, it would be best to figure it out now. Why hadn't she just gotten it over with that morning? Why instead had she started making stupid accusations, why hadn't she run after Maura and apologized and gotten down on one knee and begged for another chance?

Why am I such a moron?

Her phone was ringing, but she didn't notice until it had gone off about five times. "Rizzoli."

"Jane? It's Booth."

"Hey, I'm just on my way in."

"I'm here with Frost and Korsak. We found Edmund North. You know, the guy leasing the apartment where Alicia was killed."

"What! No way!"

"Maura was right, it's a pseudonym. Real name Jackson Howard."

"Howard?"

"Yes."

"Okay, but wait. The landlady said North was white…and English."

Frost's voice came in, and Jane guessed Booth had put his phone on speaker. "White yes, English, no. Pretty good at putting on an accent, though. Anyway, he's Senator Howard's half-brother."

"Shut up."

"It's the truth," sighed Korsak. "Apparently, they weren't on great terms."

"I should say not…I mean, a Senator's brother? Living in a hovel like that?"

"Well…there's the catch," said Booth. "Jackson Howard spent most of his time abroad, but when he's in the States, he would basically stick his place in Rhode Island, or… this seedy apartment in Boston, which I'm betting he picked for romantic trysts."

"In another state?"

"Well yeah, but it's Rhode Island. It's like thirty miles long, Jane. Besides, he's got women all over the eastern seaboard."

"Okay. So where is he now?"

"On his way here. He's the one who contacted us. Thought you and I could have a word with him."

"Awesome, I'll be there in a sec."

Jane arrived at BPD less than five minutes later, where she was immediately grabbed by Booth and brought into an interrogation room to meet Senator Howard's younger half-brother Jackson. He was quick to passionately deny having anything to do with Alicia's murder, but wanted merely to admit his shameful connection to the place where she had been found. Booth had been right in guessing he had secured the apartment for trysts, and had been hesitant to bring it up because he was afraid it would bring further scandal upon his brother. Negotiating discretion and drilling him for all the information they could get took much longer than it should have, but Jackson Howard was beyond anxious and not very easy to get answers from.

As soon as they were done with him, it meant more paper work, phone calls to the Senator, and going back to the scene of the crime. This car ride was the first time Booth and Jane had been alone all day, and she finally said, "Hey, I want to apologize."

"For what?"

"For being suspicious of you earlier, when you said you and Maura were going to go to that party together. She came by this morning, Maura."

Booth turned to look at her, his heart pounding anxiously. "She did?"

Jane snorted. "Yeah. I treated her like crap, though."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean—geez, Booth! I was all prepared to be smooth and cool and whatever, and I didn't expect her to come waltzing into my apartment when I was getting over a massive hangover and looked like total crap! I said stupid things, and she flared up and stalked out, and I haven't had the chance to see her all day. Even though she knows we got this break with Jackson, I'm worried that she'll think I'm avoiding her, and I don't want that. I want her to know how I feel, and I finally have the conviction to say it and I went and got her mad at me."

"Jane, I think if you give her a chance, you'll be surprised. She'll forgive you. And I really do have a good feeling about—you telling her how you feel."

There was silence between them as Jane eyed him suspiciously. "Did she say something to you last night?" she asked, not wanting to get her hopes up but desperate to know.

"What?"

"Maura. Did she say something last night to give you this confidence?"

It was hard to know in the spur of the moment whether or not he should tell the truth, and feeling the pressure, Booth quickly went the lying route. "Jane, don't be crazy. Maura hardly knows me. I'm just trying to give you some advice as a friend, okay? You'll feel much better if you just tell her, no matter the outcome." He stole another glance at Jane when she didn't answer, and saw that she was staring pensively out the window. She wasn't upset, she was just unsure. To try and ease the atmosphere, he said, "Did I tell you that to make things easier for Maura tonight, we're going to use her last name? So she won't have to lie and be Mrs. Booth, I'll be Bishop Isles."

That did get Jane to laugh. "Ha! Bishop Isles…that's good."

When they reached the complex, Jane and Booth went to speak with the landlady about the prestigious tenant she apparently had no idea she'd been leasing to. After another fruitless search of the apartment itself, they went back to HQ. They had gotten a list from Jackson of all the women who knew about the apartment's existence—anyone who knew he lived there, and could have told Alicia its whereabouts (the fact that she'd found it could not be a coincidence—someone would have tipped her off). Thankfully, the list of Boston dalliances was relatively short, leaving two women for Frost and Korsak to track down and three for Jane and Booth. They all reconvened at BPD at 5:00, all of them looking the worse for wear. Each settled with a cup of coffee from Angela (and Korsak with a lemon bar), they sat and exchanged notes.

"Alice Nordstrom's got an airtight alibi we already checked," said Frost, rubbing his forehead. "She was getting a root canal when Alicia was murdered."

"Paula Cronin's hasn't checked out yet," Korsak said through a mouthful of lemon. "But we haven't got any evidence that she did it, either."

Jane ticked their suspects off on her fingers: "Vanessa Parker was teaching her African-American lit class at BCU, Taylor West was visiting her parents in Ontario, and we're still waiting on Emily Willis." She sighed heavily and put her face in her hands. "Man, this is a mess. And see, this is the kind of stuff I want to throw in people's faces when they say people aren't meant to be monogamous. See what happens when you try to balance a bunch of women? It'll blow up in your face."

"And what, your niece will end up dead?" Frost asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Frost, I dunno," Jane groaned. "But I think we can all agree that Alicia somehow found out her uncle was up to something immoral, and wanted to confront him about it. Sure, a phone call probably would have sufficed, but—"

"Nah, it wouldn't have," Korsak cut in. "Senator Howard says he and Jackson haven't talked in years. I doubt Alicia would've had a way to contact him."

"Well that just makes it all the weirder that she knew where he was," Booth sighed.

"Sometimes I think the world would be a better place if people were more like the Doc," Korsak grunted. "No lies. Just upfront and honest."

Maura had appeared suddenly by their table, catching their attention only when she said, "Why thank you, Sergeant Korsak. That's a kind sentiment, if not a somewhat misguided one. I have often lamented my inability to lie when it could be more convenient for everyone at hand. Anyway, I came up here to remind Jane and Agent Booth that Eden's memorial service for Alicia starts in an forty-five minutes, and we should be getting ready to leave."

"Right," Booth muttered, as he and Jane stood up. "Korsak, when's the funeral?"

"An hour. Compare notes afterwards?"

"It's a plan," said Jane.

"Jane, may I have a word?" Maura asked.

Glancing at Booth, Jane said, "I thought you just said we needed to be going."

"We do. Let me drive you to your apartment. You can pick up your car when you and Seeley come back to headquarters to discuss your findings with Sergeant Korsak and Detective Frost."

"Uh…okay," Jane said quietly, following Maura outside the building. They walked in silence, but once they were inside Maura's car, Jane took a deep breath and said, "Look, Maura. I'm really sorry for all that garbage I said this morning at my apartment. I feel awful about it. I don't want you to think that I… I dunno, I mean I was just really out of line and I'm really, really sorry."

Maura remained quiet until she had pulled out onto the street. "This is strange," she murmured. "I wanted to drive you so I could have a chance to apologize for the way I behaved. My reaction to your understandable if immature concern was just as immature and childish. I shouldn't have lashed out at you the way I did, and for that I sincerely want to apologize."

"You don't have to," Jane said quickly. "I was being crazy and pointlessly paranoid—it only made sense for you to react the way that you did."

"Aren't we a pair?" Maura chuckled softly.

A few moments later, Jane realized something: "Hey, I thought we were going to my apartment. This is the way to your place, isn't it?"

"Oh. Yes, it is. I changed my mind. You were planning on just wearing that to the service, weren't you?" Maura asked, nodding at Jane's outfit. When she got an affirmative response, she explained, "I need to change."

"Why? You look fine."

"Thank you. But if I take off my coat, I won't have any sleeves, and that's frowned upon by members of the Mormon community. A Bishop's wife would certainly not be caught dead outside of her bedroom with her shoulders or arms indecently exposed."

"Yeesh. If you say so."

When they reached Maura's home, they walked inside nearly in unison, and Jane wordlessly followed Maura towards her bedroom. "Could I borrow some eyeliner?" Jane asked. "I feel like I should be at least a little, you know…"

"Certainly. Use whatever you like," Maura said, nodding needlessly at her bureau.

This was a pattern they had fallen into over the course of their friendship, Jane being in the room while Maura changed. Jane was never fully comfortable with it (especially on rare occasions where Maura felt it necessary to disrobe completely), but Maura had always acted like it wasn't a big deal and that made Jane feel like she needed to be cool with it. As Jane sat at the bureau and looked through the doctor's wade array of eyeliners, Maura tried to pinpoint when she had started feeling like Jane was the person she needed to be with. She knew only that it had been recent, fairly recent. There had been an initial unspoken attraction, but now it was so much more than that. Somewhere, suddenly, she had gone from zero to sixty, from platonic to needing so much more. She wanted Jane to know and to be everything in her life—if she could just bring herself to open up, to date a cop again, to take the chance and risk the need to get another job if things didn't work out. What if they did? What sort of paradise might they inhabit?

She felt unusually uncomfortable as she pulled her dress up over her head and carefully laid it over a nearby chair. As she flipped through various hangers looking for something modest to wear, she didn't see Jane stealing a glance at her reflection in the mirror. Maura was now wearing only a champagne-colored slip and bra, seemingly unconscious of her state of dress as she pulled out a dress that was nearly a work of art itself in its swirling combinations of black, gray and white. The hemline would reach beneath her knees and the sleeves were fashionably capped.

"It's been a little weird, hasn't it?" she suddenly asked, pulling on the dress.

"What has?" Jane asked, finally settling on an eyeliner that professed to be plain black.

"Having Booth and his team here."

"Oh. Yeah, a little, I guess. He's been really great to work with, though."

"Yes, I would imagine so. I've enjoyed having Dr. Brennan's input, as well."

"Yeah, I thought you guys'd get along."

Maura couldn't finish zipping the dress up all the way, but a glance told her that Jane was still carefully applying eyeliner and would be unavailable to help at the moment. Walking towards her dresser to pick out a silver bracelet, she said, "You didn't say much about Angela. Your date, I mean."

"Not much to say."

"You got drinks with her, fooled around the couch a bit…" Maura snapped the bracelet around her wrist, and the sound nearly made Jane jump. "Are you going to see her again?"

This is it. This is your chance to tell her no, that you'll never see another woman again—you'll never even look at another woman again—if she'll have you! Tell her, tell her, TELL HER! She might surprise you! "Uh… honestly? No, I don't think so," Jane muttered, trying to make herself heard over the sound of her fiercely hammering heart. "Besides, she's in D.C., right?"

"If you were really interested in pursuing her, that wouldn't be a real problem."

Jane laughed softly. "Yeah, but we've only had one date, and she'll be back over there after the holiday, so what's the point?"

"There doesn't have to be a point. A release could be the point."

"I don't want a release," Jane muttered, sticking the cap back on the eyeliner. "Angela knows that now. She's really cool, but just not… she's not who I'm looking for."

"Jane." When Maura said her name, Jane stood and turned around, fighting not to throw her arms desperately around this woman. This was occasionally hard enough to do on its own, but something in Maura's tone just now had sounded very bedroom-ish, and this impression was aided by the deep, hard look she was sending Jane's way. She took a breath and said, "Zip me up?"

Jane let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and walked over. "Yeah, sure," she murmured. She placed a hand gently at Maura's waist to keep herself and the dress steady as she gave the zipper a tug in the right direction. Why was this affecting her so much now? She had done this act for Maura countless times before, and had always managed to keep it together—but now Jane's legs were trembling, her breathing was unsteady, her vision clouded.

She saw herself doing the reverse of this action, unzipping Maura's dress and marveling at the expanse of smooth skin it would reveal to her. Maura turned and put her slender arms around Jane's neck, pulling her into a passionate kiss, fingers curling in Jane's hair. "Maura, tell me you know what this means to me…" "I do."

The images flashed through Jane's mind but then the dress was zipped up, and Maura shifted to walk away. But before she could, Jane placed her other hand on the other side of Maura's waist, holding her still. "Wait," she whispered.

But she didn't elaborate, and Maura didn't ask her to. Jane could see them in the full-length mirror, her hands gripping Maura's waist from behind after having helped her put on her dress. They looked like a couple. Standing like this, she felt as if they were a couple. This is what it could be like all the time. You could hold her like this whenever you wanted to, you could kiss her whenever you wanted to… come on, Rizzoli, don't you want to know? I mean look, she hasn't moved yet. Jane glanced at the mirror again, and saw that Maura was also staring at their reflection. Rather than let this encourage her, Jane took a step back, releasing Maura and running a hand through her hair.

"Well," she said quietly, walking past Maura to the door. "We should get going, huh?"

"Yes," Maura said, grabbing her purse and catching up. "We should."

"All right, let's g…oh, wait," Jane said as they left the house and Maura locked up. "Shouldn't you and Booth arrive together? I mean, if other people there are supposed to think you're a couple?"

Maura frowned. "Oh gosh, I didn't think of that."

Jane took her phone out of her pocket and dialed Booth. After a quick conversation with him, she gathered that he had come to the same realization, and told him to come by Maura's house and pick up his undercover. She hung up and explained the plan to Maura, who said, "So you'll just come with us, then?"

"No, I'll take his car," Jane muttered. "It would be weird for a detective to tag along with the Bishop who's supposed to have just flown in from Utah, wouldn't it?"

"Oh yes, I didn't think of that, either."

"What's the matter with us tonight?" Jane asked, laughing uneasily. "This is obvious stuff. It's like my brain's switched off or something."

"Jane, you… you know there isn't a switch on the—"

"Yes, Maura, I know," Jane sighed, wearily sitting down on the single step in front of Maura's door. Maura would have sat as well, but it would have dirtied her dress, so she remained leaning against the door. Both of them stared down the road, waiting for Booth's car. "Should be here soon," Jane said after a short pause. "He's uh… his hotel's not too far." She cleared her throat. "So how about him and Dr. Brennan, huh?"

"It certainly lends credence to the theory that opposites attract. I feel sorry for Seeley," Maura said. "He has made it clear that he would like to enter into some kind of relationship with Dr. Brennan, but she refuses to let him in … in that way. Since they want different things from relationships, I mean. It's unfortunate, don't you think?"

"Very," Jane snorted, anxiously rubbing her knuckles. "But, uh—it was brave of him to put all his cards out on the table like that, you know? Tell her how he felt? He was the same way with me, all those years ago. Bottled it up for a while, but then just spilled it all. I remember being so impressed with him because of that. All the guys admired Booth 'cause he was brave on the field, you know? Wasn't scared of a thing out there, and could always get the job done. But when he told me how he felt, and I was still in the closet …I remember thinking, wow. That's brave. Opening up and sharing your deepest feelings with someone else, when there's a chance they might not be reciprocated?" She uttered a shaky, hollow laugh. "That takes courage."

Maura shifted uneasily on her feet. "Courage comes in different forms," she said.

"Yeah, I guess." Another long silence passed, and Jane was restless—she rubbed her fingers together, tapped one foot, and at one point rocked slightly against the wind, just waiting. Waiting for Booth to arrive, or waiting for that courage to finally get her in its grip and force out the words she was dying to say. She was far too scared to turn around and look at Maura, to try and read her expression. That'd be too awkward, anyway; better to stay as she was, where she was. But after more than a minute or two had passed, she couldn't take it anymore and had to say something, anything. "Maura?"

The response was barely audible: "Yes, Jane?"

"Do you, um…" She rocked forward again, clenching one hand into a fist and resting her chin on it. "About Tommy…"

"What about him?" Maura asked softly.

"Or even Booth, if you did like him, which I wouldn't blame you for," Jane said. "I've been a real ass about everything. I should be happy for you, if you liked Tommy. He's my brother and I love him, and you're my best friend, so I should want what's best for both of you. I shouldn't freak out when you try to dress nice for him, or make him happy on his birthday or any of that stuff—hell, he couldn't ever do better than you."

"Jane…"

"Look, I don't wanna stand in the way of a great romance, okay?" Jane said shortly, finally getting to her feet and turning around, hands in her pockets in a would-be casual manner. But the look on Maura's face disarmed her; it wasn't humored, jocular, or even surprised. It was somber, which was not an expression Maura usually wore when Jane was going on one of her nonsensical rants. "I mean, you were right, opposites attract. Tommy's your opposite, and uh… you…"

"I like Tommy," Maura said softly, causing Jane's heart to sink in despair. "A lot."

Booth's car had just turned onto the far end of Maura's street, and Jane turned fully to look at it. "Oh, good. That's good, Maura, really."

Maura stepped down and took Jane's elbow, trying and failing to get the woman to look at her. Her voice came out in a strangled whisper when she said, "But I love you."

The words took a moment to sink in, and then there it was again. Jane turned and stared Maura in the eye, her insides coiling uncomfortably. Why was Maura Isles always so damn hard to read when it really mattered? Women could say "I love you" to each other, to friends, and not have any connotation to it other than "you're my best friend." Normally, if Maura had said that, Jane would've just shrugged it off as just such a comment. But combined with that tone and those eyes and that solemn countenance, it suddenly felt like so much more. Her hand had fallen from Jane's elbow and they looked into each other's eyes, tacitly trying to get any inkling of understanding across before Booth drove up and interrupted this moment.

They were nearly too late. Booth's car was approaching, slowing down, and Jane took another step towards it. "Maura," she said in a level voice, willing herself to be braver than she felt, praying that she could be clear and hold it together, "You know if… you know… you could have any Rizzoli you wanted."