Liz is looking disapprovingly at her friend who is laughing her head off and some of the other people in the bar are glancing at them skeptically.
It is the first time they have the chance to spend the evening together since the redhead came back from her honeymoon.
"I am sorry but you really should see your face right now." Leslie is laughing even harder.
Liz is rolling her eyes and looks over the shoulder at the blonde at the counter who's face is as red as a fire truck. "I don't know what it is with lesbians, but they're always hitting on me."
That statement makes Leslie laughing even harder and she winces as soon as her shin gets kicked. "Okay, okay, okay. I'll stop, but you let her down easily."
Liz sighs heavily and runs an hand through her hair. "Yeah, no. That really can get frustrating." She pauses and sips her cocktail. "So, how did you manage to get away from Chaz?"
"I could ask you the same." Leslie counter and smirks.
Liz scoffs and shrugs. "Lucy is gonna be mad at you, because she is planning for over a month a Welcome Back party for you."
"She'll understand that I wanna spend some time alone with my best friend." The redhead states and takes a swig from her beer. She sees the skeptical look of Liz and chuckles. "She doesn't need to know that we had some drinks already."
Liz laughs and nods approvingly. She do like their friend and colleague Lucy Karenina, but sometimes she really can be pushy. "She's going to find out because you are a terrible liar."
"Says the woman without any face control." Leslie shoots back and smirks. "You know, I really enjoined our honeymoon. No stress, no being on-call, no shootings. Just sun, beach and relaxation."
Liz is scrutinizing Leslie and furrows her eyebrows. "But?"
"But I missed this." Leslie answers and is pointing at the brunette and herself. "I missed you."
"You could have called, you know."
"Yeah, but it wouldn't have been the same."
"I know what you mean." Liz says with a nod and smiles. "I missed you too."
Leslie is studying her friend for a while and leans a little forward. "You are looking a little like you could use a leave yourself."
Liz is taking a deep breath and licks her lips. "It got a little yeasty since you the two of you left for your honeymoon, I have to admit it, but it's gonna be okay again."
"You sure?" The redhead asks and furrows worriedly her eyebrows.
Liz nods and tries to smile, but she knows that it must more look like a grimace and that Leslie isn't buying it. "It's just … everything is changing. You are newly married, Adam, my parents who are thinking about retirement, my detective's exam. In a hear or two you are telling me that you leave the force because you rather a stay-at-home mom."
Leslie snorts and the other woman smiles. "You should know that this is t going to happen. Well, that I become a stay-at-home mom." She turns serious again and frowns. "But you are smarter than that, Lizzy. You should know that life means changes. Yeah, your mothers think about retiring, Adam proposed to you and you have the chance to become a detective. But those are good things, besides the retirement thing, because they show that you are a amazing woman. And you won't get rid of me, Chaz, Mark, Lucy or anyone else from us. How many times did you save one of our sorry asses?"
"As many times as you saved mine." Liz replies with a shrug.
"Uh-uh," the redhead says with a shake of her head. "Without you one of us already would be death, fired or both."
"Dead and fired?"
"Well, first fired and then dead."
Liz chuckles now and shakes her head. "What should I do, Leslie?"
The other woman straightens up and inhales dramatically. "Take a deep breath and focus on the future, not the past."
The brunette is doing the same and has to smile at her friend before she empties her cocktail glass, ordering a new one.
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Adam is sitting on the couch and is watching some sports as the apartment door opens and he looks over his shoulder. He raises his eyebrows as he looks at his girlfriend. "Hey, how was your first evening with Leslie?"
Liz doesn't answer and throws her keys in the bowl, dropping her purse to the floor. She can see his confused gaze but doesn't care much about it as she also get rid of her leather jacket.
He sits up and furls his brows because it isn't her style to drop things carelessly to the floor. His eyebrows shoot up high as soon as she straddles his lap, but doesn't move an inch.
Adam isn't quite sure what to make out of this situation and decides to let have Liz the lead. "Well, hello."
Liz isn't moving as well and looks down at the stunned man. She seems like she is considering what to say in this moment, of what to do. She worries her bottom lip before she takes his hands and place them on her hips. "I love you."
Adam's eyes are never leaving her and a frown is crawling up on his forehead. "But?"
She shakes her head and put her hands on his shoulders. "No but. I love you."
"I love you too, Liz." He says and takes a deep breath. His confusion is even more evident now.
Liz starts to caress his cheek and exhales shakily.
He can see the mixed emotions in her eyes and his heart is dropping. "Something is telling me that there is a but."
"No."
"So what is this about?"
"That you can't break my heart."
Finally, Adam is pulling her closer and his frown deepens. "I was about to tell you the same thing."
Liz has to smile a little and bends a little forward, but then she hesitates. "We have to take it slow."
"I am not really sure what we are talking about right now." He admits and is glancing pass her.
"Our relationship."
"Liz, it's not like we don't have to go to the clerk's office tomorrow."
"And if I still need one or two years?"
"Then we are going to take one or two years."
"And you are really willed to wait that long?" Liz asks and is holding her breath, because she isn't sure if she really wanna hear the answer.
Adam is looking into brown eyes and takes a deep breath, nodding. "I want you to be happy and that you don't feel that you have to do things you don't want to do. And somehow it feels like you are thinking about to change your mind."
"What makes you think so?"
"Because your normal self-composure vanished into thin air."
She smiles and sighs. "You are too good to be true."
Adam is smiling back at her. "Hardly."
"Yes, you are." She whispers and gives him a peck.
He can see what she is thinking and he has to swallow a growl. Not because he is jealous of William Hanley, but because he is still crossing her mind some times. He can tell that Hanley had ruined Liz in some ways and he can understand that she is hesitating when it comes to serious decisions.
But he has learned some things from his father who had to fight for his a little jumpy mother as well. Be patient, Rome wasn't built in a day too.
Adam let his hands wander up Liz' sides and frowns. "He was pushing u into a lot of things, wasn't he?"
Liz is sighing loudly and closes her eyes briefly. "I don't want to think about him anymore." She whispers back and shakes her head, getting up from the couch. "I am going to bed now."
He sighs heavily and is following her after he turned off the TV and the lights.
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Liz is scrutinizing Chaz fro the side as they are driving through the streets of Boston and frowns.
He doesn't look at her and rolls his eyes. "What is it?"
"You look differently." She replies and smiles a little.
"How so?"
"I don't know, I think I saw a white hair. Is Leslie stressing you so much?"
"No, but the woman that is sitting next to me."
Liz huffs and crosses her arms over her chest. "You love me."
Chaz is glancing at her and furls his eyebrows. "Uh-huh. I thought you a Adam are officially official engaged."
The brunette nods approvingly and shrugs. "We are."
And they are. Adam had invited all of their friends and families for a dinner under the pretense of being grateful for having such great support of them all. They all did have a great time until all of them became deadly silent and Adam started a deeply moving speech that ended with the real proposal and she had said yes without hesitation. He had picked the last lock to her heart with this speech and she knew that she wont be with anyone else then him. And since then everything seemed to be easier. That is two months ago now.
"So where is your ring," Chaz asks and looks briefly at her hand.
"Necklace." She simply states.
He blinks a couple of times. "Bracelet." He says and shrugs. "Kebab. Your turn."
Liz is laughing heartily and shakes her head. "You're an jerk."
Chaz chuckles and nods slowly. "Yeah, I hear that every day, that's what makes me so loveable."
Liz is opening her mouth to shoot something back as the radio is cracking.
Both of them are listening attentively and look at each other as soon as operations radio that there are police officers involved in a shoot-out in South End.
"That is McAllister's district." Liz says and looks long at the driver while other patrol cars announce over radio that they are on their way.
"Shit," Chaz hisses and turns on blue light and sirens as he makes a U-turn.
Joshua McAllister is very successful pusherman who is operating from South End and know that he doesn't shy away from killing woman and teenager if they are betraying him. And if cops are seen in district a shoot-out is given.
"What idiot is going there without backup." Chaz hisses and shakes his head.
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Jane is ducking behind a car and has her gun drawn when the shooting stops and she frowns deeply while her heart is beating wildly against her chest. Shed waits for a second and licks her lips. "Frankie?"
"I am okay," Frankie calls from the distance. "But I think Callaghan is down."
"Shit," the sergeant hisses and looks around. "How bad?"
"Can't tell that."
She closes her eyes for a second. We should have wait for backup. She looks around and frowns. "Laverty?" She waits for a moment but she doesn't get a answer. "Laverty? Adam?"
Jane looks in the direction from where she hears a groan coming and spots Adam leaning against a brick wall, his white shirt slowly starting to coloring red.
Her heart drops and she is reacting instinctively, emptying her clip as she makes her way to him.
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Chaz and Liz are arriving when everything is already over and they can see a couple of ambulances.
She is spotting her blood-smeared Ma and her heart is starting to race. "Ma?"
Jane is freezing at the sound of her daughter's voice and looks at a patrol officer she doesn't know. "She isn't allowed to cross the police line, and a Officer Montoya isn't allowed either." She says and looks at her shaky, bloody hands.
He nods and is walking to the two officers. "You have to go back behind the tape."
Liz is huffing and pass the rookie, ignoring his words, and Chaz is following her.
"Hey, I said -"
She turns to him and points at her dead serious face. "Do I look like I give a damn what you are saying?" She barks at the young man and he is flinching. She finds a very shaken Leslie and is relieved for a second. "Leslie."
The redhead turns to her and has to keep her tears at bay. "It's Mark. He's gone."
Liz stops dead and her knees almost buckle. She feels like everything is just a bad dream and that she's going to wake up anytime soon. "What?" She croaks
Leslie only nods and closes her eyes, her shoulders are shaking but she don't sheet a tear.
"There has been two cops shot. Where is Adam?"
The other woman is opening her eyes and shakes her head, and her eyes don't tell her any good news.
Chaz is reacting fast and grabs Liz' arm so she can brace herself at him as she starts swaying.
"You shouldn't be here." Frankie says after he has followed the yelling and looks beyond worried.
Liz doesn't need to think twice and engulfs her uncle into a tight hug. It's not that she is doing it because of Mark or Adam, she is doing it because she is grateful to know that Frankie survived unscathed. "I need to see him." She whispers with tears in her voice.
Frankie is shaking his head and is holding her tight. "You shouldn't see him like that. You should keep Mark in in mind like the last time you have seen him."
Liz knows exactly what this means and a sob escapes from her throat. "I need to see Adam."
Frankie looks at her and frowns deeply. "He is over there. The EMTs are still working on him."
She pulls away and looks questioningly at him. EMTs, working on him? That has to mean that he's still alive.
Frankie can see what his niece is thinking and his frown deepens. "Lizzy."
Liz swallows hard and breaks away, ignoring his pleading. She rounds the ambulance and stops dead as soon as she sees that one of the EMTs starts to give Adam CPR then and there. And she can feel how her own heart suddenly stops.
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A couple of days later, Jane is standing in the hallway and watches her daughter sitting at Adam's bed. She can tell that Liz hasn't gone home since she got out of her uniform and she can't blame Liz for that.
Adam had been in critical condition for seventy-two hours after he had arrived in Boston Medical Center, but be conscious by now but he isn't.
The sergeant is flinching as she feels an hand on her shoulder and turns her head to look into hazel eyes. "She's going to hate me. Her friend is dead and her fiancé in coma because of me."
"No, she won't hate you, Jane." Maura whispers and takes a deep breath. She is knowing how her daughter is feeling right now. Way to often has she been the one who was sitting at a hospital bed and didn't want to leave. "No, she won't hate you. Neither you nor Frankie could have known that it has been a set-up, Jane. Come on, let's check on both of them."
Jane is clenching her teeth and takes a deep breath.
Liz is staring at the heart monitor and is furrowing her eyebrows. She can't understand why he is still unconscious even though he shouldn't. She doesn't need to turn her head to see who is coming into the room.
Maura's heart is breaking and she runs her hand over her daughter's shoulder. "How are you, honey?"
Liz doesn't look at the blonde and is holding Adam's limb hand. "No one can tell me why Adam is still unconscious. They don't understand it either."
Maura is nodding slowly and gets his medical chart in her hand to see if she can find an explanation.
Jane is swallowing hard and frowns. "You look exhausted."
Liz is taking a second and licks her lips. "I'm fine." She says with a normal voice. She had planned to blame Jane for the disaster, but the more she thought about it the more she realized that it wasn't Jane's fault.
Maura is looking up from the chart and licks her lips as well. "When was the last time you have been home and have slept?"
"Monday," the younger Rizzoli is whispering and the doctor looks concerned at her wife.
Jane places an hand on her daughter's shoulder with a frown. "It's Thursday, baby. Come on, let me drive you home. You can take a shower and have a nap before you come back."
Maura can see that Liz is about to protest and nods. "I'll call instantly when something is changing."
Liz is hesitating before she gets up from the chair. She presses her lips to Adam's forehead and let them lingering there as she swallows her sob. "Don't you dare doing something stupid while I'm gone."
Maura is watching the scene and takes a deep breath. She can understand that her daughter is torn and that she doesn't want to go home at all. She puts the chart back and is sitting down at a chair, frowning slightly. She hasn't found a explanation why the young man is still unconscious. Maybe he isn't ready yet, she thinks to herself and sighs.
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Jane is covering her daughter with the blanket as soon as Liz is laying down after she had taken a shower and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. "Rest for a bit, baby."
"I was going to blame you for everything." Liz admits in a whisper and the Italian nods understanding. "But I came to the realization that it is no one's fault, but those who set you up. That you didn't kill Mark, and that you didn't shoot Adam. That it also could have been you and Frankie."
Jane is holding her daughter's gaze and nods slowly as she caresses Liz' face. "I would understand if you blame me, Lizzy. I did know that it is McAllister's district, and I didn't make provision." She says and has to swallow hard. She still can hear the heart-piercing cry of Rebecca when she and Frankie came to her house and told the woman that her husband died in the line of duty. "And I would switch places with each of them immediately."
A tear is trickling down Liz' cheek and she has a deep frown on her forehead, shaking her head. It wouldn't matter, she still would be devastated because she also loves her Ma.
"Get some sleep now." Jane orders with a soft voice.
"Can you do me a favor?"
"Everything what you want me to do."
"Can you please stay?" Liz is more pleading than asking.
Jane is looking long at her daughter and is nodding approvingly. "Yes. Yes, of course. I'll be right over there in the armchair if you need me."
The younger woman is nodding and inhales shakily before she closes her eyes.