Author's note: Thank you very much for all the reviews.

Chapter Four

Game over. The fatal two words appeared on the screen of Jane's computer way too soon for her taste. She pouted. Breaking a personal record at this game wouldn't happen today. The mediocre score wasn't very surprising though. She couldn't focus on anything but the clock on the right bottom of the computer. Within five minutes now, Maura would start her internship. It was like a first day at school, only with more dead bodies.

Jane chuckled at the thought.

She had shared two Skype sessions with Maura and had probably sent her a dozen of messages over the weekend. And every single time a natural casualness had won over her desire to allude to the kiss they had shared.

The truth was that Jane didn't know how to bring it up. It required a lot of tact which was exactly what she lacked of. Besides, Maura was never alone at home. It made it even harder to have a semblance of a personal conversation.

Then there was the content of the aforesaid conversation. Jane still had absolutely no idea why she had kissed her at the airport. She could barely remember the scene, as if her brain had decided to draw a line under it.

She had hugged Maura but the moment she had moved again to take her distance with her friend – this tiny second when both cheeks brush each other – she had aimed at her lips instead of making a step backwards.

A full kiss. Absolutely not shy. One Maura had responded to. It was a detail but it did have its importance for Jane. The reminiscence of the incomprehensible moment stirred up a blurry sensation in her lower stomach. She immediately closed her eyes to ignore it better. The trick didn't work at all but still comforted her slightly.

"Jane Rizzoli? Is Jane Rizzoli here?"

Jane opened her right eye and frowned. She didn't recognize this feminine voice. Yet aware that she was at work playing some game on her computer, she immediately pressed the "escape" touch and turned around to face her interlocutor. A woman in her forties was standing by Korsak's desk; Korsak who had just taken his lunch break with Frost.

Jane was alone for the moment.

"Yeah...?" She stood up but kept her distance with the stranger nonetheless. She had no idea who the woman was and years of experience had taught her to always be careful when strangers showed up at work. "May I help you?"

Her brain immediately started elaborating a thousand scenarios. None of them were linked to a case though as she wasn't working on any right now. It was a quiet day, perfect for some paperwork. She was supposed to go to a trial on Wednesday and was hoping to have a couple of drinks at the Dirty Robber on Friday evening. Her schedule was light, to say the least. Nothing thrilling, just a plain routine; boring even.

"Oh, nice to meet you. My name is Liv Mayer, I'm the new psychologist."

Jane's smile froze. She should have known that it would be a trap. Now the woman would probably suggest her to make an appointment to speak about her so-called traumas and how hard the cop way of life was.

A waste of time.

"I'm busy." Was that too direct? Too much on the defensive? Jane raised a hand to apologize. "I'm fine, actually." That was one tactless way to dismiss the specialist.

From a physical point of view, her statement was true. She wasn't injured and exercized as soon as she had a chance to. Thus it wasn't a lie per se. The emotional point of view offered a very different version to her current state though.

She was confused – stressed – and slightly scared of what was happening to her relation to Maura but this wasn't something she was about to share with someone she didn't know. The BPD hired psychologists to treat potential traumas, not to solve Barbara Cartland plots.

"I just wanted to see you to make sure that you'll come to your appointment at 3pm. Lieutenant Cavanaugh told me you were available."

"I didn't ask for any appointment. I'm fine. Like... Really. I'm okay. You're gonna lose your time with me. Let's just skip it. I..." Jane turned around but repressed the desire to motion her desk as there was not a single file opened on it that would justify a very busy schedule. "You got the wrong person. Really."

"Then it's okay, you'll just talk to me about the BPD and what I need to know. You've been working for the department for a while from what I was told. You must know this place like no one else."

"Sure..."

Jane didn't hide her lack of enthusiasm. Anyway with a little bit of luck, she would be called on a crime scene before 3pm. Suspicious deaths weren't that rare in Boston. She politely nodded at Liv Mayer and waited for the woman to turn on her heels and leave to sit back at her desk.

She cast a glance anew at the computer clock. Shit. She had missed the start of Maura's internship. Now she would have to wait for the coffee break to send her a text message to know how everything was going.

...

It had rained all along the weekend but on Saturday Maura had nonetheless decided to go out for a walk after lunch. She hated staying trapped inside when visiting some place.

Depoe Bay was a very small town, the best spot in Oregon to watch whales in the distance according to an old sign that seemed to have survived many storms but was now about to fall down right at the entrance of a diner.

The house she was staying at was facing the impressive cliffs of the town but she still had to see anything but waves in the ocean. Perhaps the weather was too bad for whales to show.

She had taken pictures. For Jane, mostly. Of the town, the house. On Sunday all the other medical examiners had had a chance to say a little hello to Jane as Maura had had no choice but to Skype her in the living-room again. The moment – even if extremely brief – had resulted enough for Maura to find it slightly embarrassing.

William's words had had time to sink in her head, her reply as well. One could hide so many things behind the adjective "delicate" yet it was exactly how she could define the relation she had with Jane.

Delicate. Confusing. Blurry. Powerful.

Nobody had made any remark but Maura wasn't stupid. She knew that her roommates had noticed the frequency of her Skype sessions, the amount of text messages she sent. She hated admitting it but all of this was really telling.

Way too much, actually.

On Sunday evening, she had tried to write an email to Jane but the words had refused to come up. After long seconds facing a blank screen, she had renounced to it. Frustrated at her best.

"Your heart is in poor shape. Nobody took care of it."

Emily's comment caused Maura to frown. For long seconds she assumed that the young woman was alluding to her heart – to her own heart – until she realized that there was nothing personal in the remark.

The medical examiner from New York was only talking about the specimen Maura was supposed to check on her microscope.

The confusion made Maura smile ironically. Perhaps her very own heart was in poor shape as well. Perhaps she needed someone to take care of it. Someone like Jane.

"Is yours any better?"

Emily wrinkled her nose and shrugged. Maura had learned on Sunday that the young woman was the mother of five-year-old twins. It had extremely surprised her. Not many medical examiners – female medical examiners – decided to have children before their mid-thirties.

Yet Emily had and it hadn't prevented her from having a rather successful career. It was impressive.

Maura had really enjoyed spending Sunday at home with everyone. They were learning about each other little by little and a great atmosphere seemed to already be reigning over the house. She hoped that – by the end of their internship – they would all be more than mere colleagues. She could sense it. A special bond was already showing.

One never had too many friends in the profession.

They had played Monopoly and had spent a large part of the afternoon talking by the fireplace while sipping on hot chocolate. It hadn't prevented her from thinking about Jane but she couldn't care less. She had felt fine. For the very first time since the kiss they had shared at Logan International, Maura had felt fine and relaxed.

Her cell phone vibrated in the pocket of her white coat. She straightened up on her stool – rubbed her neck – then grabbed the device.

"You seem to be very close to her..."

Emily's remark was completely deprived of innuendo. She had said that with a bare honesty as a graceful smile had curled up her lips.

"We went through a lot together. We..." Maura shrugged, suddenly unable to add the mere word. She couldn't describe what she and Jane had. Nobody would ever be able to understand. It went beyond many things; so many things. "We complete each other."

"Is she married?"

Maura opened the text message Jane had sent her. She wished her good luck for her "first day at school". It made her smile.

"She called off her engagement once. She's single now."

Still leaned over her microscope, Emily turned her head to look at Maura. She remained quiet for long seconds – as if she were trying to read through her interlocutor – then finally squinted her eyes and let a smile of victory play on her lips.

"You are... Like... Friends with benefits?'

The door of the lab got opened. Daniela Caruso walked in, putting an abrupt end to the conversation. Maura welcomed the medical examiner of Newport with an obvious relief.

Yet to make things clear, she looked at Emily and shook her head vehemently.

"No. I'm afraid we aren't."

I'm afraid. Really? It was official, this time: Maura was more than ready to die at the scene.