A/N: Hold on for this next chapter as things will be revealed that will test our ladies relationship to its core...Enjoy!

They somehow managed to make it out of the house on time and get to their respective commitments, Maura being somewhat vague about what her meetings were about. Jane thought her wife was on leave which meant that she shouldn't have anything to do but get some R&R. Maura had deflected and said it was just some debriefing that needed to take place based on some of the missions she had had on her deployment. Jane let the subject go when Maura pulled out the need to know which surrounded all their missions, in this case, Jane not needing to know. She didn't like it but understood military code and national security.

The day proceeded slowly, with Frost teasing Jane at every opportunity he could. He was still her RIO when they flew the exercises so he had lots of opportunities.

"Mav, how are you walking right now? I mean Ice has been back for what, a whole 16 hours? I'm sure she has had her way with you at least, what, ten times by now," Frost teased as they were walking to their aircraft.

This was wasn't the first time he had made a crack at Jane's admitted like for Maura to be the more dominant partner during their intimate moments. Jane really regretted ever opening up to him about that, given the fact he threw it back in her face whenever he could.

"Well, unlike you, Frosty, I have superior stamina and am in peak physical shape. Besides, I give as good as I get," Jane replied with a wink, all swagger.

Frost just laughed at her and shook his head. Despite teasing her, Frost was happy his partner was happy. Jane had been a real bear these past few months without Maura and seeing her with a pep to her step made his heart swell for his best friend.

"Well, Susie can attest to my stamina and shape, just fine Jane," he snarked back, smiling dopely as he mentioned his love. He hadn't seen her either for the last few months, but Frost had some inside information that Jane didn't that allowed him to manage a bit better than Jane had been.

"LALALA," Jane said while plugging her ears with her fingers. She really hated talking about their sex lives. She has happy Frost had found someone but the last thing she wanted to do was hear about all the things they got up to. Frost laughed at Jane's childish, prudish behaviour.

"Oh Jane, I'm so glad that you let your freak flag fly with Maura and aren't this much of prude with her," Frost responded, laughing at the affronted look on Jane's face.

"Um, uh, Frost, what do you know?" Jane choked out, suddenly fearing what she was slowly starting to realize.

Frost laughed and made the motion of zipping his lips shut and throwing away the key while giving her a shit-eatting grin. Jane was going to have to have a talk with Maura about what she shared about their sex lives with Susie.

"Frost, enough. Time to focus because I feel the need, the need for speed!" Jane shouted, giving her best friend a high five before climbing into the cockpit.

~R&I~

Their exercises had gone well. Several of the students were showing promise, although a few were still not getting the hang of some of the maneuvers she had been trying to teach them. Jane made a note of some of the things she would have to focus on in the next few lectures they had.

As Jane was heading to the locker room, she saw Maura leaving Viper's office, shaking his hand instead of the usual salute which was customary when leaving a senior officer's office. This struck Jane as odd and she made her way over to her wife to ask her about it.

However at seeing Jane heading her way, Maura turned and hightailed it down the hall, leaving Jane in her dust, utterly confused about the strange behaviour that her wife had been exhibiting all morning. Something was definitely going on and Jane was determined to find out what.

Unfortunately for Jane, her detecting was going to have to wait a bit because they had been invited out to dinner with several of the instructors at Top Gun at some fancy restaurant that Maura loved. Everyone wanted to welcome Maura back from her deployment and knew that the aviator loved a good meal and fine wine. Despite Jane being annoyed at having to share her wife for the evening, the upside was that they both got to dress up outside of their standard issue uniforms. Jane couldn't be upset at anything that allowed Jane to show off her stunning wife to the world.

And Maura was radiant this evening. She had chosen to wear a body hugging royal blue and black dress that accentuated all her curves, black sky high heels, and her hair was styled the way Jane loved, loose blonde curls hanging deliciously over her shoulders. Maura was a vision and Jane was so proud to be on her arm. Maura had chosen one of Jane's tailored pants suits for the evening, black with a royal blue button down shirt that matched Maura's dress perfectly. They both knew that they were a sight to behold as a couple.

Barely keeping their hands to themselves on the car ride over, the couple made their grand entrance at the restaurant to a chorus of wolf whistles and dropped jaws, only confirming how good they looked in their coordinated outfits. Frost, of course, was the first one to speak.

"Damn, ladies, I must say you are looking mighty fine this evening," Frost gushed, affecting a southern accent. Maura blushed adorably and Jane swatted at her best friend, taking out her embarrassment in a physical manner as was her way.

Chuckling as she approached the couple, Charlie gave each of them a thorough perusal before she said slyly, "if only you two were on the menu. I would definitely make my order to go." Jane was speechless but Maura, yes the same Maura that had threatened to kill this woman at one time, broke into a huge grin and laughed, nudging Charlie on the shoulder with a shy, "oh hush."

Since when had these two gotten so buddy buddy, Jane wondered. As Korsak and Martinez arrived, they too made mention of the striking pair. Now that their whole party was there, the group was finally seated, much to Jane's relief. They had gotten their drinks and ordered appetizers when Korsak was tapping his glass to get everyone's attention.

"As you know, I am not getting any younger," he started, glaring at the assembled crowd when they all made sarcastic comments about his age, "and I have decided that 30 years serving this fine country is just about enough. I want to spend some time with my wife and all our furry friends and not worry about trying to wrangle aviators like Mav anymore."

Jane scowled at him for the joke but then grinned as everyone laughed. He was right to say that. She had been quite the handful after all, but Jane had turned over a new leaf and was working hard to be the best instructor she could be, one day hoping that she would be in Viper's shoes someday.

"Anyway, I have decided to retire. It's been a good run but it's time to step aside and let someone else deal with all you hotshots," Korsak continued, glancing at Martinez. Jane followed his gaze and seeing who he was looking at, assumed that Martinez would be taking over. That made sense, Martinez had been his right hand man for years now and it would be quite the promotion for him to take over Top Gun. Jane was about to speak up and congratulate Martinez when Korsak spoke again.

"It won't be official for a while yet but since we are all friends here," again another round of laughter given the complex history between all those sitting at the table, "I thought I would let you all be the first to know who my replacement will be. Let's all raise our glasses to Commander Maura Isles, soon to be new head of Top Gun." Everyone raised their glasses and cheered, that is everyone but Jane, who sat there gawking wide eyed at her wife, who was soon to be her boss.

A/N: Dun, dun, dunnn! Well, we now know what Maura was hiding. How will Jane react? Stay tuned! And please review to let me know what you think of the story so far! They really do motivate me to keep writing so fast. ;-)