A/N: The morning after their fun at the bar and some good conversations. Enjoy!
Jane woke up with the biggest headache she had ever had, causing her first thought to be why had she let Frost talk her into those last three beers! Jane had better restraint than that usually but had gotten so caught up in Frost's enthusiasm that she had drank way too much the night before. Looking around in confusion, Jane realized she was not in the comfort of her own bed at home but laid askew on her old couch at Frost's place.
Jane grimaced at the sound of what must have woken her up, the incessant ringing of her phone. She would have ignored it, except that it was ringing with Maura's special ringtone, Vanilla Ice's 'Ice Ice Baby', the irony not lost on her wife at all. Jane knew she couldn't ignore the call and begrudgingly flipped over to grab her phone, falling back onto the couch in a messy pile as she answered, not even trying to conceal her current state.
"Hello?" Jane croaked, her throat hurting from the cotton mouth the beer had left. Usually even drunk Jane remembers to drink water, but apparently not this time.
"Jane, honey, what's the matter?" came Maura's concerned voice over the phone speaker. Jane winced at how loud the voice was, even if it was the honey coated tone that she loved so much. Jane held the phone away from her ear a bit more, swallowed hard, trying to lubricate her vocal cords, before responding.
"Frost and I celebrated a little too much last night. I'm fine baby. How are you?" Jane asked, a dopey smile coming over her despite her distress. No matter what was going on with Jane, she always loved talking to her love.
"Celebrating? Do you mean Barold's clean bill of health?" Maura asked. Jane gave a little gasp of surprise that Maura knew already but then remembered who her RIO was. Susie would have definitely confided in Maura about Frost's news.
"Yeah that and something else," Jane replied cryptically, using the fact that she knew something her wife didn't, for once, to tease the ever knowledgeable pilot.
"Jaaaane," Maura whined, causing Jane to bark out a laugh, that she quickly stopped once the pounding in her head increased at the action.
"Maur, please don't make me laugh. It hurts," Jane groaned, rubbing her temples, trying to ease the pain. Maura just chuckled into the phone, pulling a small smile from Jane even though she was hurting, her wife's laughter always creating joy within herself.
"I feel no sympathy for your plight since you will not divulge why you were celebrating last night." Jane could hear the pout on her wife's lips, her own lips stretching into a full dimpled smile at how adorable Maura was, even over the phone, thousands of miles separating them.
"Fine, baby, you win. I spoke to Korsak yesterday and got some good news." Jane paused, creating dramatic tension, still teasing her wife. When she didn't go on immediately, Maura let out a little huff of annoyance. Jane laughed at the action before continuing.
"He just enlightened me to his master plan which I am unsure whether you are privy to since you had so many conversations with him without me there," Jane chided, immediately regretting bringing up the cause of one of their biggest fights to date since they had gotten together. Jane could hear Maura tense over the phone, a slight sniff filtering over their connection.
"Sorry, baby, I know, too soon. I was just teasing. Korsak just mentioned that he thought this was a great career move for you since you would be on track to make Captain, even Admiral, if you wanted." Jane tried to smooth over her faux pas quickly. Maura didn't respond for a while causing Jane to start to get nervous that she had alienated her wife too much. Finally after several long moments, Maura spoke up.
"He had mentioned something similar to me, although truthfully, I hadn't really thought about that path for awhile now." Maura's voice was tentative, like she was carefully selecting every word which demonstrated to Jane that she was in fact trying to improve her communication skills. Jane melted a bit.
"For awhile? But you had thought about this before? What changed your mind?" Jane asked out of curiosity, given the couple's vague career discussions.
"Jane, please let me finish before you take my words to heart please. I do not know of another way of saying this right now and I feel that we need to talk about this now." She paused, allowing Jane to voice her agreement before she continued after a deep breath that she released into the earpiece.
"Since I met you and we committed ourselves to each other, I stopped caring about my career path as much as I once had. A career that had once been so meticulously planned out became insignificant compared to my love for you." Jane now fully swooned. Every once in a while Maura could melt Jane from the inside out with her words.
"Ah, baby, I love you so much, but that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your dreams or plans for me. We can do both, Maura," Jane encouraged. Jane never wanted Maura to give up something she wanted for Jane. Jane wanted the best for Maura no matter what, always.
"I know Jane. I do not see it as sacrifice. I just found something that was more important. You," Maura replied with a smile evident in her voice as it softened on the last word. Jane felt a cocoon of warmth settle over her heart. She was so glad she had put a ring on this woman, glad that no one else would ever get to have these words said to them by her stunning wife.
"Maura, stop, you're gonna make me cry," Jane eked out, her throat tight from the overwhelming feelings of love. Maura practically purred over the phone now, soothing Jane with nonsensical sounds and phrases. After several moments of this, Maura's voice came over the speaker in a timid voice.
"What about you Jane? What about your career?" she asked, voice full of worry. Jane realized that their conversations about this had really had an effect on Maura. Jane felt equal parts guilty and glad about that fact.
"Korsak is going to help me find a position here at Miramar that will have me back flying on a regular basis but won't have me deployed. He said that at most I would have to leave once or twice a month but only for a few days at a time. We could finally be together baby," Jane gushed, her beer addled brain making it hard for her to control her emotions at present.
Maura let out a squeal of glee at this and Jane had to pull the phone away from her ear again, the throbbing in her head reminding her of what she got up to the night before. At Jane's groan, Maura quieted down a bit, but Jane could still hear Maura's joy. Jane imagined her wife wiggling like a puppy who had just gotten a treat, tail wagging happily.
"Jane, I cannot wait for that. I miss you so much, even though I just saw you. I cannot wait to be able to fall asleep in your arms every night and wake up to your grumpy face every morning," Maura teased. Jane couldn't stop the snort that escaped at Maura's last comment, not being able to defend herself against the truth.
"I know baby, me too. I miss you. I love you." Jane smiled on those last words, closing her eyes to picture her wife's face as she said them. How had she gotten so lucky? And when had she gotten so sappy? Oh right, the minute she had fallen in love with Maura Isles.
"As much as I wish I could continue this, I have to go love. I had a quick minute and wanted to hear your voice. I will email when I can and call as soon as we are cleared. Love you, Jane!" Before Jane could respond, she heard the click of the line being disconnected. Jane sighed, knowing she had been lucky to speak to Maura as long as she had, given where she most likely was in the world.
Easing herself up from the couch, Jane put her feet on the ground and made an attempt to stand, nature calling. She had just staggered up from her position when she heard heavy shuffling footsteps coming her way. Jane snickered at the thought of a zombie being loose in the house because that's what the sound reminded her of.
"Oh, you're up," Frost grumbled, sliding himself onto the barstool that was at the kitchen island. Jane looked her best friend over and couldn't help smirking. He looked much worse than she felt so Jane felt she could claim victory. That feeling reminded her now why they were both in such poor shape. At some point, Frost had challenged Jane to a drinking contest, supposedly to prove his stamina. Jane shook her head, how drinking was related to stamina in that manner she had no idea, but apparently she had gone along with it. The pair had barely made it into the Lyft and after the tentative ride home, into the house after the amount of beers they had drank.
Jane made her way slowly to the kitchen, lightly patting Frost on the back, before continuing to the bathroom to address her immediate concerns. Once she relieved herself and washed her face, Jane emerged feeling much more human. She found Frost in the same position, except now with his head was nestled in his arms that were on the island, seemingly dozing. Jane laughed and made her way into the kitchen to see what supplies he had to make them a greasy hangover breakfast.
At the sound of pans clanging onto the stove, Frost sprang up, looking around with bleary eyes. Jane chuckled at the sight and continued with her breakfast preparation. Frost threw an evil eye at her before propping his head up on his hand, watching her with one eye open.
"How are you ok?" Frost's groggy voice traveled to Jane at the stove. Jane glanced back over her shoulder and threw him a wink as she responded.
"Superior stamina and fitness level." She gave him a big dimpled smile before turning back to the sizzling bacon. She turned them over and started cracking eggs into a bowl, mixing in some milk and cinnamon, the batter for the French toast almost ready. Jane felt something hit her back and looked to see a sponge on the floor by her feet.
"Hey! Keep up the abuse and you get none of this!" Jane exclaimed, waving her hand toward the food that was starting to emanate a delicious aroma throughout the kitchen. Jane heard Frost muttering under his breath, but there were no further flying objects so Jane took that as a win.
When Jane was beginning to plate their food, Frost's phone rang, and barely managing to answer it by groping blindly into his pocket, Jane heard Susie's ever enthusiastic voice speak loudly.
"Hey, frisky Frosty! How's my boo?" Jane arched an eyebrow at Frost who had the decency to blush at hearing Susie's pet names for him and took the phone off of speaker as he answered.
"Hey, sexy Susie. I'm struggling right now babe, but I'm good," came Frost's hushed reply as he rushed out of the kitchen to take the call in private. Jane smirked at his retreating form, loving the fact that she finally had some ammunition to even the playing field when it came to teasing her friend. It was kind of cute that they had pet names for each other, although hearing Susie calling her best friend Frosty in that context may just put Jane off that one for awhile, maybe permanently.
Jane had just tucked into the food, letting out a hum of approval at the greasy, fatty, meal, when Frost came back in looking much better, almost chipper in fact. Jane looked at him expectantly as he joined her at the island, loading his fork up with the meal she had prepared. After his first bit, Frost gave Jane two thumbs up and stuffed his face for the next few minutes. Jane just shook her head at his behavior and continued to eat her breakfast at a more civilized rate. When both were done, they sat in comfortable silence until Frost finally spoke.
"Jane," he started almost in a whisper, a note of seriousness that was rarely present, causing Jane to perk up and listen intently. "When did you know it was time to propose to Maura?" Jane felt her eyes widen at the implication and she felt a large smile take over her face.
"Funnily enough, I wasn't the one who proposed. Well, I didn't get to propose first. Maura and her planning beat me to the punch." Jane smiled wistfully at the memory. It had been an incredible and comical day and Jane would never regret how they had ended up engaged.
"You always told me you proposed," Frost accused, pointing his finger at her with a one-eyed glare.
Jane blushed a bit before replying, "yeah well I did, but she did first. Anyway, to answer your question, I knew I was going to marry Maura within the first week we were together. I knew I wanted to propose within the first month. It didn't take me long to know that she was it for me, Frost. Why, you thinking about asking Susie?" Jane watched her friend's face as he mulled something over.
"Well, I already have the ring. I wanted to ask her before they left on their deployment but I chickened out. But then when she told me that they might be coming back sooner than the planned year, I didn't feel so bad, thinking I could do it then. But now, with Maura coming back here to take Korsak's job, I am not sure where that leaves Susie. I don't think she wants to be an instructor and since we are both RIOs, we have to fly with hotshots like you and Maura, so I don't know what to do, Mav." Frost looked so lost that it broke Jane's heart.
"Speaking from experience, Frost, you gotta talk to Susie. Lay it all out, tell her how you feel and ask for what you want. It's the only way we will get what we want as painlessly as possible. Trust me." Jane gave him a tentative smile, patting his hands that were gripped tightly together on the kitchen island.
"You got this Frisky Frosty," Jane said cheekily, Frost barking out a laugh in surprise as the gall of his friend.
Jane just cheesed at him before saying, "now let's go pick up our vehicles before both of our women figure out just how stupid we were last night."
Frost's laughter stopped instantly, and he hopped off the stool, almost tripping in his rush to get to his room to change. Jane just laughed at her friend and went to put her shoes on. Jane let out a content sigh. Things were going to be ok.
A/N: One more chapter to go and then the epilogue! This has been a fun ride. For those wondering about the additional Frost time, some of you may know that I intended to write a one-shot from Frost and Susie's perspective of Need for Speed. The problem was it was a lot harder getting into their voices than I thought, so I struggled to get anything down. Therefore, I am including things I would have gone over in that story here. I hope you don't mind and it allows for some nice Jane/Frost bonding time. lol Anyhow, stay tuned for more!