A/N: Mild sexytime ahead! (If that kind of stuff bothers you... honestly, why are you even here?)
"Hey Rizzoli! You're good to go."
She looked at him, puzzled. "Excuse me?"
"You're off duty," he clarified. "I'm your relief."
Her eyes went wide. How did she not expect this? Los Angeles was different. This was not the road. This was home. She had to go home. To her empty little apartment, by herself. Maura's house was on twenty-four hour surveillance, with security staff working round-the-clock. These were Jane's co-workers, many hired on just for the tour like herself, and it was well-known that bedding the client was strictly forbidden. Not to mention the implications for Maura's career that were ever-present and now under the microscope of the always hungry L.A. paparazzi. Their privacy was gone. No more adjoining hotel rooms. No more sleeping in the same bed?
She looked at Maura, who also seemed to be processing a form of shock, though much more subtly, then back at the other guard whose name she could not recall. "Oh," was all she could manage to reply.
Maura recovered more quickly, turning her attention to Jane in a most courteous manner. "Thank you for traveling with me these last several weeks, Jane." While her eyes showed her distress, she kept her tone professional. "I trust I'll be seeing you again soon?"
Jane looked at her, clueless, and they both looked to Mr. Clean. He raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is I'm supposed to be here the rest of the week. Not sure about the next schedule. I'm personally pretty excited about it though." He smiled at them both, apparently excited enough for all three.
"Well," Maura turned to Jane, already feeling the first signs of what seemed to be some kind of separation anxiety, "I hope you enjoy your time off." She smiled politely.
Jane returned her tight smile. "Thank you. Have a lovely night. Both of you." She nodded to Mr. Clean before turning and walking away.
As soon as she pulled out of the driveway, Jane dialed Maura's cell. Maura stepped into her bedroom and closed the door before answering.
"How did we not see this coming?" Jane asked, the words tumbling out of her mouth.
"I don't know," Maura answered, equally dumbfounded. "I guess we just hadn't thought about it. What are we going to do, Jane?"
"I don't know! I can't stay at your place, that would be too obvious. You can't come here, without that goofy-looking Mr. Clean guy or – God forbid – paparazzi tagging along. How are we going to work around this, Maura?"
"Again, I don't know yet, Jane. We'll figure something out, I just have to think."
"Ugh, this is going to suck! I didn't think I'd ever say this, but I want to be back in Europe!" Jane sighed heavily and banged her horn in frustration. "Fuck!"
"Jane, are you driving right now?"
Her reply was obviously frustrated. "Yeah, why?"
"Besides the fact that it's illegal to use a cellphone without a hands-free device while operating a motor vehicle in California, it's also extremely dangerous. Statistics have shown-"
"No statistics, Maura please. I get it, I'll call you when I get to my apartment."
"Okay. Please be careful. Driving emotionally impaired is nearly as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol."
Maura's worry was enough to earn a small chuckle from Jane. "I'll be careful, I promise. I love you."
"I love you too, Jane."
By the time Jane reached her apartment, fresh twelve pack in hand, she had calmed down considerably. Being physically separated from Maura was not actually going to kill her. It just came as a shock, that's all. Somehow they had become so consumed in the moment together, they hadn't even thought about what was going to happen when they got back to Los Angeles. She opened a cold beer and immediately downed half of it before sitting down on the couch and dialing Maura's number.
"Hey," came the actress' soft reply.
"Hey. You sound tired."
"I am," she answered quietly. "I wish you were here."
"Me too." Both were silent for several moments, thinking. Neither wanted to admit their frustration. "If I was there right now, what would we be doing?" Jane asked, aiming to lose herself in their shared imagination.
"You mean if we didn't have to sneak around?"
"Yeah. If we were just a normal couple."
"Well, I suppose you would be here with me, in my bed, holding me. Kissing me."
Jane sighed, imagining it. "Absolutely. Kissing you all over." It wasn't until after she said it that she realized how erotic it sounded.
Maura's voice came back sweeter than before. "Mmhmm. Wet kisses. On my neck, on my chest..."
"I'd take your shirt off so I could kiss your breasts..." Jane's arousal was speaking for her now, surprising her and Maura both.
"I love that. I love how your mouth feels around my nipples..."
"Your skin is so soft. So smooth. God, Maura..." Jane was nearly panting already.
"Jane, are you touching yourself?" The question was not at all teasing. More a combination of desperate and curious.
"No."
"Do it."
She swallowed the rest of her beer and set the bottle on the table before unbuttoning her pants and thrusting her hand inside. Her dripping arousal greeted her and a small moan escaped her lips. "I'm so wet."
"So am I, Jane. You should feel how wet I am for you."
"I want to Maura. So badly." Jane brought her fingers to her clit and started rubbing slow circles.
"Tell me what else you'd do to me." Maura's voice was thick.
Jane swallowed. "I would take my time, sucking your nipples, raking over them with my teeth. Then with my tongue..."
"Oh Jane..." Maura's breathing had audibly increased and the way she said Jane's name let her know exactly how turned on she was.
"I'd kiss my way down your stomach." Jane's hips twitched as she remembered the way Maura's muscles always flutter as her lips trail over her abdomen.
"I'm so wet for you, Jane. Please. I want you to touch me. I want you inside me..."
"Not so fast, gorgeous. I want to spread your legs first, slowly, and kiss the insides of your thighs..."
"Jane I'm so close..." She sounded desperate, which only added to Jane's pleasure. She was near the edge, too.
"Not yet."
Maura's frustrated groan carried across the distance.
"I kiss higher and higher, until I can see you and smell you and all I want to do is taste you..."
"I want you to taste me... Please..."
"I run my tongue slowly, all the way up, tasting all of you..."
"Yes..."
"Your clit..."
"It's so hard for you..."
"I run my tongue around it. Give it a gentle kiss..." Jane wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out. "Then I take my fingers..."
"Please, Jane..."
"And push them inside you, feeling you all around me..."
"Oh yes..."
"Thrusting in and out while you push your body into me. Come for me, Maura. I want you to come for me..."
"Yes Jane! Oh yes!"
As Maura cried out, Jane's orgasm shot through her like lightning, and she rode it to the soundtrack of Maura's voice. The line was quiet for a while afterward, both women just breathing and recovering.
"That was fun," Maura managed between breaths.
"I actually can't believe I just did that."
"Why? Seems to me like you needed it. I know I did. And it was enjoyable, wasn't it?"
"Hell yeah," Jane answered. "It's just not something I ever thought I would do. I guess I got carried away."
"I seem to have that effect on you, Jane."
Jane laughed. "Yes, you do."
"So you're off tomorrow?" Maura asked sadly.
"And Wednesday. And I'm still in negotiations for Thursday. Paul wants me benched for the rest of the week, to rest. I told Thomas I'd lose my mind with that much free time. He said he'll see what he can do."
Maura sighed. "We'll figure something out, Jane."
They talked on the phone until they were almost asleep, then spent the rest of the night tossing and turning in separate beds. It was not a restful night for either of them, and they were both feeling it in the morning.
Unfortunately for her, Maura had a full day of interviews scheduled, and she was stuck with Mr. Clean as her guard. He was actually a pretty decent guy, and Maura knew he must be good at his job to be Jane's temporary replacement, but his company could not compare to Jane's. And he liked to talk. A lot. Mostly about himself, which Maura did not find remotely interesting. It was exhausting. When she had a late-morning break, she excused herself to the restroom and called Jane.
"Hello?" Jane sounded groggy.
"Are you still in bed?"
A pause. "I would like to say no, but..."
Maura giggled. "I can't say I blame you, if you slept as well as I did."
"Probably worse. How's work going?"
"No fun at all. I miss you."
"Yeah, I'd rather be there than here, trust me."
"What are you doing today?"
"I have about a thousand emails to go through, I need to buy some food to go with the beer in my fridge, and I really have to clean this apartment. It's amazing how much dust accumulates when you're not even here."
"That's why I have a cleaning lady."
"Oh that reminds me, how is Mr. Clean?"
"Talkative. Boring. Not nearly as attractive as my regular guard..."
Jane chuckled. "How's your schedule today?"
"Tight. I'll try to call you when I can though."
"Okay. Maybe you should try to squeeze in a nap. I can survive one less phone call if you means you can get a little rest."
Maura smiled. "You're sweet. I might do that. Try to enjoy your day."
"You too, beautiful. I love you."
"Love you, too."
Maura was all smiles when she returned to her seat, waiting for a touch-up on her hair and makeup. Mr. Clean was chatting loudly behind her with someone she didn't recognize, and though she tried to ignore him, something he said caught her attention.
"Did you say you take the bus to my house?" Maura asked suddenly, turning in her chair to address him.
"Oh uh, y-yeah." He seemed surprised at her engagement in the conversation. "Well, I used to, until I got enough paychecks from this job for the down-payment on my car."
"I didn't know the public transit system extended into my neighborhood."
"Sure, it goes pretty much everywhere. I mean, I had to walk a lot sometimes. The stop is pretty far from your house. But if you can get past the smell, and you can avoid rush hour, it really ain't as bad as everybody says."
"Interesting," she said, wheels in her brain already turning.
Jane was halfway through the last item on her checklist when she felt her phone vibrate. Turning off the vacuum, she fished the phone out of her pocket and saw that it was Barry.
"Hey Frost, what's up?"
"Rizzoli, you got a minute?"
"For you? Always. What is it?"
"I know I'm not supposed to share information on an open case, but Korsak and I have been over this thing a hundred times and we could really use a fresh pair of eyes. Yours are the best. Think you could do it?"
"You kidding? You couldn't have called at a better time. Give me a minute to get my computer up and you can show me what you got."
The hours flew by as Frost and Korsak rehashed the details of the case with her over video chat. The three of them worked out theories together, analyzing details and fitting them together like puzzle pieces. It was just like old times, and to Jane it felt amazing. She didn't realize how much she missed the mental game that came with solving homicides.
"Good catch, Rizzoli!" Korsak commented. "We'll have to wait til morning to do the interview though. Want us to let you know how it goes?"
"Of course! Man, I forgot how much I love working a case."
"You sure haven't lost your touch, either," Frost added.
Jane cocked her head. "Did you think I had?" she asked sarcastically.
"Never!" he answered with a smile. "This was nice though. I've missed working with you, Jane."
"Same here," she told him earnestly.
"You know there's still a spot here for you," Korsak added.
"You guys are the best," she avoided with a smile. "And you owe me a beer for cracking your case!"
"We'll call you after the interview," Frost said. "Then we'll see about that beer."
"Alright, you guys go get some sleep. I'm still three hours behind you and I'm waiting on a call from Maura."
"Tell her we said hello," Korsak replied. "Goodnight, Jane."
"Night, guys."
Maura tried squinting through the dirty window, but she couldn't see a thing. It was too dark outside, and the lights from inside the bus forced her reflection to stare back at her. The hoodie she wore was two sizes too big, and covered most of her face, which she kept pointed downward as she let her body fall into a forward slouch. From a distance, she could easily be mistaken for your average sullen teen or young adult. Looking down at her phone, she decided she'd have to trust that the little GPS dot was accurate enough for her to find her stop. She didn't want to be on this bus any longer than she had to. It smelled like urine and body odor, and she wondered how anyone could actually 'get used to it' like Mr. Clean had said. He also hadn't mentioned the unusually high percentage of intoxicated riders. She should have just called Jane to pick her up at the transit station, where she changed buses. Or better yet, around the block from her house. The element of surprise didn't seem worth it anymore. She'd just wanted to do something nice for Jane, a gesture of how much she cared, but this was a terrible idea. At this point though, she had come too far to turn back.
Wasn't the driver supposed to be calling out the stops? He seemed to be daydreaming instead. She looked down at her phone. This seemed like the right place. She reached up and pulled the cord to signal the driver to stop at the next stop. Jane's apartment was only a few blocks from there.
Jane was flipping mindlessly through the channels on her small television when she heard the buzzer.
"What the hell?" She didn't know anyone in Los Angeles outside of work, so who would be coming to visit her in the middle of the night?
It buzzed again, more impatient this time, and she got up to answer it. She pressed the little button and spoke into the box. "Um, I think you have the wrong apartment."
The voice that came back, despite the garbled crackling of the crappy speaker, was unmistakable. "It's me Jane, let me up!"
"Maura?" She was in disbelief. "How?" Finally coming to her senses, Jane flew out of her front door and downstairs to the main door, flinging it open to reveal a very odd-looking, slightly disheveled Maura. She quickly pulled her inside, guiding her up the stairs while she tried desperately to form complete sentences. "What the hell are you do- How did you even- What the-"
"I realized that I actually can sneak out of my own house. Imagine that," she replied, wagging her eyebrows. "Sneaking back in later, however... well, I decided to worry about that later."
"It unsettles me to know that your security is so easily breached." Jane led her into the apartment and they sat down on the couch.
"Oh, I didn't say it was easy."
"How did you even get here?"
"Uh, let's see... a quiet and very well-timed exit, a six block walk to the bus stop, then a bus transfer, followed by a short walk and another transfer, then finally I got off two blocks from here and walked to your building, and now here I am." She smiled bashfully. "I wanted to surprise you."
"So let me get this straight. You snuck out of your mansion, past a staff of trained security guards, took three nasty, disgusting city buses, and walked at least eight blocks, in Los Angeles, at night, by yourself, just to come surprise me at my door?" Jane was incredulous. What Maura had put herself through for her was no small feat. She didn't know if she should be elated or terrified.
Maura nodded. "That all sounds correct, yes. And now that I think about it, maybe a little silly."
"Silly? Maybe. I was thinking dangerous. But also, incredibly sweet. And still dangerous. Either way, I'm willing to overlook it since you're safe here with me now. We will discuss this more in detail later. But right now..." Jane smiled, pulling Maura to her and began kissing her, thinking she may never stop.