"So how many times have you visited Oxford?" Jane asked as she spread jam across the warm, homemade scone on her plate.
"Three or four." Maura replied, taking a delicate sip from her tea. "Once as a child, when my father spoke at the Oxford Union, once or twice after college to visit Harriet and… now."
Maura stopped her sentence and watched as her friend attempted to politely pick up the scone from her plate, laden with jam and clotted cream, and take a bite. Jane's eyes widened as she chewed, lifting her hand to wipe the crumbs away from her lips and chin.
"It's good, right?" Maura asked, smiling. Jane nodded, her mouth still full.
"'s 'licious" she mumbled, her hand covering her face as she continued to chew.
"It goes great with tea, too. Would you like me to pour you a cup?" Jane nodded.
"You know, I always wanted to take you to England. Obviously not like this… under better circumstances. But I always thought we'd visit together at some point."
Jane smiled at her friend as she delicately passed her a china cup full of steaming amber liquid. It was obvious Maura wanted to keep things light, to discuss anything except the elephants in the room.
"Was your school far from here?"
Maura took a moment to think as she sipped her tea. "Not too far. My boarding school was in Surrey- it's closer to London than we are now."
"Did it look like Hogwarts?" Jane gestured around her to the vaulted ceilings and carved stone cornices of the café they were sitting in.
Maura shook her head. "No. No, it was slightly more modern. The main school building was built in the 19th century- much newer than most Oxford buildings. As an American, it's hard to grasp how old the rest of the world is. Oxford university opened in the year 1096."
"That's crazy!" Jane commented before allowing her friend to continue.
"Obviously it was nowhere near as big then, and it didn't really start to grow until King Henry II banned people from travelling to study at the University of Paris in the early 12th century but…"
Maura's sentence trailed into silence. Jane's eyes creased at the corners as she smiled.
"What?" Jane asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.
"You're smiling." Maura commented.
"I… I've missed your facts. I've missed you." Jane's low, rough voice warmed Maura's skin from the inside out.
"Me too. We… we can talk about it soon. I'll find us a good bench."
"Why do we always have to have these conversations at a bench?" Jane asked jokingly, her eyes lit up in a way Maura hadn't realised she'd been missing.
"It's where we do some of our best work."
/
"Why is England so beautiful?" Jane groaned, taking in the view as the pair approached the entrance to Christ Church Memorial Garden.
"This is especially beautiful. My father brought me here as a child and told me all about the magic of this garden; it's the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland. I remember sitting here, probably thirty years ago, with Arthur and listening as he read me the story."
Jane smiled as Maura reminisced. Walking through the gardens, she breathed in the floral air. "I think I know why they write so many songs about the English and their country gardens."
"There's nothing like it."
As the pair walked in silence through the meadows of Oxford, Jane took a moment to reflect. It had been a strange, unexpected turn to end up here so quickly after moving away. To end up back with Maura. To follow a mystery. To be, once again, on the edge of so much danger. The FBI had seemed like such a good choice. After everything that had happened over the past couple of years, from losing a baby to saying goodbye to Casey, Maura's abduction, her mother's mid-life crisis, it seemed sensible to move away and start again.
But there was a force, much bigger than her, pulling her- always- towards the golden-haired woman by her side.
Jane had always listened to her gut; followed her instincts. She wasn't about to ignore the one tool she had come to rely on more than anything else.
"I found a bench!"
Maura gestured to the wooden seat, a few feet ahead of them, looking out onto the river.
As they approached, the silence between them grew. It wasn't uncomfortable- it was never uncomfortable- but it hung in the air, stifling and heavy.
"We've got a lot to talk about". Jane broke the silence.
Maura sighed deeply, a telling sign that what she wanted to say was important.
"I just can't quite believe we're here."
Jane sat back and watched Maura as she spoke. "I… I was so prepared to let you go. To give you space and time so that you could settle without me. I… I don't know how we ended up here."
"Well, I followed you. Tell me what happened, Maura. After I left Paris."
Maura closed her eyes, gathering her thoughts. "I… I couldn't stay there. The penthouse felt wrong. The whole city felt wrong. I missed you. There was no way I was going to be able to write, so I travelled out. That was when Harriet called."
Maura swallowed, taking a moment. There was so much more she could tell Jane, about Collioure and loneliness and endless, sad evenings drinking wine without letting it breathe and watching other people whilst trying not to cry. But Jane would only feel guilty. It wasn't worth bringing up.
"She needed a friend, Jane. Someone who understood what was happening to her. I… I jumped on the first plane and…"
"And here we are."
Jane subconsciously rubbed at her scars, looking away from her friend and out towards the Thames.
"Maura, what happened with Harriet… I don't understand."
"Do you want to know the truth?"
Jane nodded, still not looking at her friend.
"I…. I was lonely. She was there. It… it felt good."
Maura scolded herself for holding back, hoping that a half-truth would be enough to prevent her skin from erupting into hives.
"Can we get past this?" Jane asked quietly, finally turning.
Maura looked up, searching dark eyes with her own. Looking for answers she secretly hoped would be close to the surface.
"I don't know, Jane."
AN: For those of you asking about the 'elephant in the room', I hope this chapter is enough to show you that the issue is not finished yet! I'm not going to skip over it, and force a happy ending too soon though: when I said 'slow burn', I meant it. Please let me know what you think (but please be kind- I am only human and writing this pic is a hobby, not my full time job!).