"This feels oddly familiar" Maura commented, following the waiter as he showed the two women to their table. Sliding into the leather-backed chair, she smiled as Jane sat down opposite her.

"I've missed it. I... I missed this as soon as we left Boston. It just feels… normal". Jane's honesty was helped by the cold beer pressed in her linked hands. "I like it."

Maura took a sip from her wine and nodded. "Me too."

There was a comfort in being alone, just the two of them, Maura thought. She had noticed the sense of loneliness, of loss, as soon as Jane had begun to pack up the many items she had left at Maura's place over the years. Objects, inconsequential by themselves, had crept into crevices, onto shelves, into drawers and cupboards. The house felt empty without them. Without her.

"You know" Maura began to speak, the wine loosening her lips, "I have made two cups of coffee every morning for over four years. I can't help it."

Jane moved in closer, her dark eyes reflecting the light of the small candle sat on the table between them. "For me?"

Maura nodded. "It… it's a habit, I think. When I'm not quite awake, my mind automatically assumes that you're close. That you'll be by. I… I don't think I've ever considered the idea that you won't be there. Even… even when I was with Jack, there was always a cup for you."

"Maura" Jane's voice gave away her embarrassment, "I never knew. I… I guess I never thought about it."

"Because it seemed natural. It was our normal."

Jane seemed to take in Maura's words slowly. Reaching out, she gently stroked her thumb over the back of the doctor's hand.

"I like our normal".

"Me too."

Taking a moment to watch Maura sip delicately from her merlot, Jane smiled. Something about being close to Maura relaxed her. She was comfortable, kind, loyal and Jane couldn't be prouder to call the beautiful doctor her best friend.

"You know" she broke the silence, watching as Maura's long eyelashes fluttered upwards, the candlelight casting a shadow on her porcelain cheek, "the weirdest thing is that this doesn't feel weird at all."

Nodding, Maura took another drink. "I agree. I… I was anticipating at least a little bit of tension, but this is good."

"It is." Jane looked over as the waiter approached their table.

"It is."

Conversation flowed between the two women as they ate, just as it always had done. From Maura's mother's exhibition in Geneva, to Jane's 'best woman' speech ideas for Frankie and Nina's wedding, the two women laughed through the first course.

"So," Jane began a new conversation with a mischievous smile, "how much extra reading have you done on this whole 'secret code' thing? I'm sure you must be at about the level to produce your own doctoral thesis, Dr Isles."

Blushing under Jane's playful gaze, Maura looked away bashfully. "Come on", Jane reached into her pocket for a pen before sliding it, on top of a napkin, across the table. "Teach me."

"Okay, so let's start with the normal alphabet." Maura wrote the 26 letters across the white napkin.

"Expertly done, doctor". Maura rolled her eyes at Jane's comment.

"Okay, now we need a key word. A word that only we know. The key word is what we use to transform the alphabet."

Both women took a moment to think.

"Jo Friday" Jane said finally. Maura smiled.

"Perfect. So now Jo Friday goes at the beginning. Every letter we haven't used in our keyword goes in order, after the final letter. Look, I'll show you".

Z

"And now we use this alphabet?" Jane asked, trying her hardest to work out the pattern Maura had demonstrated.

"Yes, you could simply use it like this. That's a substitution ciper. Or, if you wanted to go more advanced, you could use a number of different methods. Here."

Using the transformed alphabet as a key, Maura quickly wrote down her coded message. Before Jane had time to solve it, she rearranged the letters.

"Here."

Q P K Q

Picking up the pen, Jane's tongue peeked out of her mouth in concentration as she decoded each letter.

I S E I

M O V N

S R N S

"That isn't a thing!" Jane exclaimed, sinking back into her chair in defeat.

Looking across at her, Maura smiled kindly. "Read it downwards."

"I Mi… I miss…. I miss our evenings!"

The solution came out far louder than Jane expected, earning a giggle from Maura.

"Me too" Jane lowered her voice. "Okay, it's my turn."

T X O

P G D

H G D

"U… R… Okay. You are. I get that. Myl… Nope." Maura shook her head, and refocussed. "My L… My LLBFF!"

"Life long best friend forever seemed like a lot of letters." Maura smiled gently, meeting Jane's eyes.

"Jane…"

"Look". Jane held her hands out, her scars prominent. "I know I've been an ass. I've said some awful things. I… I think we both have but I'm happy to take the blame for this one. I walked away when you needed me."

"Jane, we really don't have to…"

"No. I need to say this. In case, tomorrow, everything goes crazy again. Like it usually does. I adore you. I… I know it's taken me a long time to come to terms with things, but I know I feel more for you than I ever have for another person. I'd never be able to do this in a restaurant full of people if I was talking to anyone else. But I know you, Maura. I know how we work together, and what it feels like to be lucky enough to have you in my life. I'm not prepared to give that up. Not after we've been through all of this together."

"But I don't know what the solution is. You live in DC. I… I don't."

Jane shook her head, reaching out for Maura's hand. "Look, as soon as this craziness is over and we're back on US soil, we'll work something out. All I know is that I'm curious to know where this will go, and I'm not willing to risk losing you again."

"And what do you propose we do for now?" Maura breathed deeply, feeling her emotions battling in her chest.

"Well, O'Neill has given us one night of freedom. I propose we pick up another bottle of wine, find a documentary- of your choice- on Netflix and fall asleep still fully clothed. How does that sound?"

Maura's cheeks dimpled as she smiled.

"It sounds perfect."