A/N: The ending would probably be much quicker on TV, but I decided to stretch it a bit.. hope you don't mind. Will be posting the last two chapters later today to get everything up before heading into the weekend. :-)
The sun had just begun to set when Jane and Maura arrived at the medical examiner's Beacon Hill home in the early evening hours. After Jane had pushed her way back to the hospital through the afternoon rush hour, they had been forced to wait a few more hours for Maura's doctor to finish emergency surgery on an auto accident victim before finally finding the time to give the blonde a check-up and allowing her to leave and recuperate at home. But while Maura had initially been rather cheerful in the car, her mood had turned more and more somber during the ride, and Jane hadn't failed to notice her anxious glances as soon as they had reached her driveway. Returning to the site of her kidnapping had inevitably sent Maura's mind back to that house on Stratford Street and to her torment at the hands of the still unidentified killer.
Thus, as they entered her home and were greeted by her giant tortoise in the hallway, Jane seized the chance to distract her friend and grinned at the blonde.
"So, Bass and I had an interesting conversation yesterday," she teased. "He said the only reason he's been moody lately is that you've put him on this crappy salad diet and canceled Burger Day."
The medical examiner squinted at the detective. "He's a herbivore. He doesn't eat meat."
The brunette defensively raised her hands. "Hey, don't look at me, I'm just telling you what he said."
Thankful for Jane's attempt to cheer her up, Maura playfully rolled her eyes and knelt down to pat the tortoise's head. "You love your salad, don't you?"
Caringly keeping an eye on her friend, Jane put her jacket, gun, and phone on the cupboard next to the couch and tossed the folder with BPD files she had brought along on the kitchen counter before heading to the freezer to retrieve a large cup of Maura's preferred ice-cream. When the medical examiner heaved herself onto one of the stools, slightly grimacing at an itch of her abdominal wound, Jane invitingly slid the ice-cream across the counter and got two spoons from a drawer. Upon reaching for the cup, Maura's eyes fell on a piece of paper that had slipped out of the detective's folder. She paused for a moment, trying to remember why the logo in the document's footer seemed so familiar, until realization suddenly hit her and her pulse shot up.
Alerted by the blonde's anxious gasp, Jane worriedly rushed to her side. "What is it?"
"This logo…," Maura pointed at the piece of paper. "It… it looks just like one of the tattoos on his arm."
"What?" the detective frowned and reached for the document. It was a copy of the PICTURE PERFECT studio's website with the programmer's nifty logo in the style of Japanese kanji art at the bottom. "Are you sure?"
Maura swallowed hard at the memory and just nodded.
Jane let the news sink in and all of a sudden, everything made sense. Of course! The programmer would have access to the photo studio's files and client profiles; he would know the Internet like the back of his hand and be able to stalk his victims online; and he would have the skills to hide his digital traces from our analysts.
The detective bolted to the cupboard, grabbed her phone, and excitedly called her colleagues at BPD. As soon as she heard her partner's voice at the other end of the line, she burst out her new insight. "Frost, it's the web designer. Maura recognized his logo from a tattoo on his arm…"
Impatiently pacing back and forth, Jane listened into her phone as Frost quickly put all the pieces of the puzzle together on his computer at work. "Try to find out if he did some web design for the last victim," she mused. "Maybe that's why we didn't find any direct connection between her and the other vics."
While waiting for her partner to confirm her hunch, Jane worriedly watched Maura as she trudged to the couch and sank down in the pillows, arms folded and visibly upset by the fresh memories of her recent ordeal. Still intently listening to Frost, the brunette reached for the ice-cream and spoons but then paused and frowned as her partner at BPD apparently ran into some obstacles on his computer. "Well, just figure out who he is. Azarov must have paid him at some point… Check his bank records, business registries, whatever. Just get me the name of that bastard!" She nervously tapped her foot and studied the copy of the photo studio's website again, then checked her watch and glanced at Maura on the couch. "Yeah… I'll stay here… just call me."
Jane hung up and cautiously walked to the couch, where she put the ice-cream cup and spoons on the table and plopped down next to Maura. "Wanna talk about it?" she encouragingly smiled at her friend.
The medical examiner shook her head and gazed at the floor. "No, I'm alright."
"I've just put that ice-cream cup on the table without a coaster, and you didn't complain about it," Jane pointed out. "You're not alright, Maura."
"It's just water stains… They don't really matter," Maura said quietly.
"Well, they usually matter to you," the detective protested. "And I kinda like that."
The blonde sighed. "Can't we just forget about it?"
"Why? So you can throw stuff off of your table in a few weeks from now?" Jane recalled her outburst at BPD the other night. "With all those scalpels and other sharp thingies you got down there, I don't think that'd be a good idea…" Even though Maura smiled at the thought, Jane still sorely missed the joyful sparkle that would normally brighten up the blonde's eyes. "Like you've said, sooner or later, we'll have to talk about these sort of things. And… you're usually right…"
"Since when?" Maura gratefully peeked at her from the side.
"Since always…," Jane admitted sheepishly.
Wearily, the medical examiner rubbed her cheeks, and as she felt the bruises on her temple, she knew that Jane was right. They'd have to talk about it. A lot, probably. And she'd have to make the first step at some point. "I'm… scared, okay? Every time I close my eyes, he's right there and… and I can smell him and I hear him yell…"
Jane comfortingly rubbed the small of Maura's back and remembered how she had experienced the same darkness, the fear, and the nightmares when Charles Hoyt had laid eyes on her, stabbed those scalpels through the bare flesh of her hands, and left her with scars for the rest of her life. And she hated the West Roxbury killer from the bottom of her heart for doing the same to Maura.
The medical examiner took another deep breath. "I know it's completely irrational to feel like that but—"
"No, it's not," the detective quickly objected. "It's completely okay to feel like that, Maura."
"Well, I want it to stop," Maura defiantly declared with teary eyes. "How do I make it stop?"
"Wish I knew," Jane sighed and pulled Maura closer. She gently put her arms around the fragile blonde and held her in a protective embrace. "But we'll get through this."
For a little while, Maura quietly sobbed on the detective's shoulder, and Jane held out patiently until she finally felt her friend's breathing slow down and adjust to the steady drum of her own heart. Just when she thought the medical examiner had fallen asleep, she felt Maura stir in her arms.
"Jane?"
"Yes?"
"Could you put a coaster under that ice-cream cup on the table?"
Jane chuckled cheerfully and hugged the blonde a little tighter, while the ice-cream kept melting away.
As the first glimpses of sunlight dipped the house into a golden glow, Maura's eyes fluttered open and she slowly took in her surroundings. Wrapped in a woolen blanket on the couch in her great room, she lay snuggled into Jane's shoulder, who was still fast asleep with her curly dark hair framing the distinctive features of her face. Maura couldn't remember falling asleep herself, yet somehow Jane's presence and comfort had allowed her to doze off for at least a few hours.
But something had woken her. She tried to remember what it was. Didn't I hear some noise? Oh, no… please, no. A shiver ran up her spine. What if he is here? Her muscles stiffened, and she warily peeked over the back of the couch towards the kitchen.
She instantly let out a sigh of relief when she saw the source of the noise. Behind the kitchen counter, Angela Rizzoli was busy chopping and mingling and stirring an assortment of breakfast ingredients. She was so immersed in her culinary endeavor that she noticed neither Maura watching her nor the noise she caused that had woken the medical examiner in the first place.
Maura checked the kitchen clock. 6:30 a.m. Wearily, she let her head sink into the cushions and wondered what to do. She loved Jane's mother as much as her own, but the temperament and candor of the Rizzoli matriarch could be quite overwhelming at times. Especially in the wee small hours of the morning. She glanced at Jane, whose steady breath and peaceful face concealed the stress and sorrows she had endured over the last few days.
Maura gently shook the detective's arm. "Jane," she whispered. The brunette moaned but didn't move. "Jane, wake up."
"Uh… what is it?" Jane blinked with sleepy eyes.
"It's 6:30," Maura stated rather factually.
"And…?" Jane stared at her with a mix of curiosity and anger.
"And your mother is already in my kitchen," the blonde quickly added.
Jane arched her eyebrow and glanced towards the kitchen, then grunted in amusement. "Told you not to ask her to take care of you."
"Well, I didn't, but she offered to make me breakfast. I couldn't say no…"
Before Maura could further ponder the consequences of her politeness, Angela finally looked up from her chopping board. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I wake you?"
"Yes," Jane confirmed without hesitation. — "No," Maura denied in another bout of politeness. "Good morning, Angela."
"Morning, honey." Angela smiled at Maura, then expectantly looked towards her daughter hidden behind the couch's back. "Good morning, Jane."
"Morning, Ma." Jane waved her hand without bothering to turn around.
"I wanted to get your breakfast ready before I'll have to leave for the café." Angela studied Maura's face, her motherly instincts fully kicking in. "Would you like anything special?"
"I… uhh…" Maura wasn't craving anything in particular, but Jane tapped her arm and whispered, "Ask for chocolate bagels." The blonde hesitated, then turned to Angela and sheepishly asked, "Maybe some chocolate bagels?"
The Rizzoli matriarch gave her a reprimanding look. "Jane can have her bagels whenever she wants. Today you get to choose."
"I really don't want anything special," Maura blushed. "Just some tea and pancakes?"
"You got it, sweetie." Angela whipped up some batter in a bowl, then decided her daughter had been hiding long enough. "Jane, why don't you get me some plates and cups already?"
The brunette rolled her eyes and groaned, earning her a sympathetic smile from Maura before she heaved herself up, grabbed Jane's hand, and pulled her towards the kitchen — despite the detective's annoyed grumbling.
When Jane dropped onto one of the stools and didn't show the slightest inclination to follow her mother's orders, Maura handed her an empty mug knowing quite well that they wouldn't get the detective to do anything else before a healthy dose of caffeine had jump-started her tired bones.
Jane grumpily shoved the mug towards her mother with demanding eyes. "Coffee."
Angela shook her head, but then poured Jane her much desired morning brew. "You're so not a morning person."
"Love you, too, Ma," Jane soothed her mother, then let the fine scent and taste of the steaming coffee tickle her senses.
Maura followed the Rizzoli women's exchange in amusement while placing plates and silverware on the counter. She slid onto the stool next to Jane and took in the sweet smell of the pancakes cooking on the stove. Even though she had only gotten a few hours of sleep, Maura had recovered much better than in the previous night. Being back in her own house, pampered by Angela's homemade treats, and safe in the knowledge that Jane would keep her from harm, she was finally beginning to feel like herself again. I'll get through this, Maura thought and thankfully glanced at Jane.
The brunette was blissfully sipping on her coffee and getting ready to face the day. Although the webdesigner-turned-killer seemed to conduct his business with the same level of anonymity as his correspondence with BPD, Frost and Korsak would certainly find a way to track him down, and then things would heat up very quickly. Jane was a little reluctant to leave Maura though. But then again, the blonde was looking much better this morning. Maybe being back in her home would erase her fears and help her feel like herself again. I sure hope so, Jane thought and optimistically glanced at Maura.
Their eyes locked and they exchanged a knowing smile. And for a brief moment, Jane saw that sparkle return to Maura's hazel eyes.
"Alright, who wants pancakes?" Angela exclaimed. She filled two plates and set them in front of Jane and Maura. "I've also prepared a little extra something for you, Maura," she joyfully announced and revealed another plate with a shiny green apple decorated with a carved-out face and chocolate sauce hair.
"Really, Ma?" Jane grimaced. "You're serving her Mr. Appleteeth?"
The older Rizzoli woman shrugged. "It always cheered you up when you were little."
"Oh, I like it," Maura quickly declared. "Thank you, Angela."
Angela gave Jane a self-confident look. "See! She likes it."
The detective shook her head, but before she could counter with a witty remark, her phone rang and signaled the end of their cozy morning get-together. "Rizzoli," she muttered into her phone, and her face immediately lit up as she listened to the person at the other end of the line. "Okay, I'm on my way."
Jane beamed at Maura and her mother. "That was Korsak. Looks like they found him!" She jumped off the kitchen stool, swigged down the rest of her coffee, and grabbed her jacket and gun from the cupboard next to the couch, then dashed towards the front door. "I gotta go!"
"What about your pancakes?" Angela called after her.
"Save them for later!" Jane shouted back from the hallway and stormed out of the house.
Still chewing on her own pancakes, Maura noticed Jane's car keys on the cupboard. She hurried to pick them up, briefly regretted it when she felt her wound protest against the sudden movement, and headed towards the front door. The very same second, the door flew open, and Jane came running back in.
"Have you seen my—"
Maura dangled Jane's keys in front of her face and the detective grabbed them with a thankful smile. She was about to dash off again but then hesitated and caringly looked at the blonde.
"You gonna be okay?"
"Don't worry," Maura assured her. "I have Mr. Appleteeth, remember?"
Jane chuckled and gave her a quick hug. "I'll see you later, alright?"
"Yes. Go, get him!"
"You bet I will!" Jane declared and turned to leave. "Bye, Ma!" she yelled through the house.
Maura closed the front door behind her and walked back to the kitchen. She and Angela exchanged a look of amusement. Yes, Detective Rizzoli was ready to chase the bad guys again. And this time, it was personal.
