Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews.

December, 17th:

1pm

Within twenty-four hours, Maura had got addicted to the taste of Jane's lips on hers, to the way her hands slid with serenity and desire on her body. Almost with an unexpected authority. She had got addicted to her smiles, to the way her eyes glimmered when they locked with her hazel ones.

And the sighs, quiet signs of a subtle pleasure found at last.

Breaking apart – in need of air – she bit her lips and looked up at Jane. Something began to boil in her lower stomach as she felt a wave of heat rush up her cheeks. Would she ever get tired of this?

She knew about the cruelty of the passing of time, how months and years tended to make it all fade away and you were left there with the intensity of the beginnings melting in an inevitable bitterness.

She hated it. She couldn't accept the idea that it would happen with Jane. Not with her. She refused to believe in such possibility. Yet did she have any hold over this? A bit panicked, she watched how the brunette began to move away on the couch; away from her.

"I need to go back to work." The Italian's voice rose in the air and betrayed her reluctance. She stood up and grabbed her cell phone she had put down on the coffee table as she had arrived

Maura looked down and pouted.

"I am on a nightshift."

Jane nodded and forced a smile. If things were somewhat a bit more official since the day before, it seemed like reality was not playing in their favor. Their respective schedules didn't match. They did not have a minute for themselves to properly enjoy whatever their new relation was.

After the Christmas market, Jane had had to go back to the BPD to work and now it was Maura who would spend the whole night at the morgue while the brunette would be home again. Sneaking out – if only for an hour or so - for lunch without anyone interrupting them was already a miracle in itself actually.

They didn't seem to have the right to get more. A bad sign she preferred to ignore. Anyway, she had never liked such superstitious things. They would have time for themselves.

Not just yet.

Jane walked to the door – turned a last time to smile shyly at Maura – then walked out to the end of the corridor. She crossed a few people, nodded at them politely. Had they guessed? Did they know – if only secretly – that she had got a lot closer to their boss, lately? All of a sudden, her thoughts slid along her spine and made her shiver. She swallowed hard.

Panic was settling down and she didn't like it at all.

She stepped in the elevator and – glad to be alone – leaned her back against the large mirror as the doors got closed again. If she hadn't received Maura's text message the day before, would things be as they were, now? Shaking, she grabbed her cell phone and went through her messages.

Meet me at 6pm by the German stand if you want to talk

M.

She had hesitated a long time before finally giving in. On Monday – as she had woken up next to a quiet Maura – she hadn't known how to properly react. She didn't understand anything, actually.

She had been weak and hadn't asked for an explanation when the honey blonde had kissed her. No. For once, she had succumbed to her desires and let the night carry them away.

But what, now? She felt trapped, confused. They were timidly playing around – flirting with another kind of relationship – yet without naming it properly. None of them dared. For some reason, it reminded her of the first time she had been kissed; how awkward – yet cute – the next days had been.

Except she was thirty-nine, not twelve years old anymore. How come she felt so little self-assured before Maura?

Lost in her thoughts, she stepped out of the elevator and headed towards her desk. She would have a hard time focusing on her tasks for the rest of the day. She wasn't mentally there.

"Rizzoli. Where the hell have you been? Cavanaugh's been looking for you for the past twenty-five minutes! He's not happy."

Jane frowned at her colleague's remark and checked her phone again. Her boss had tried to call her four times. She had missed all the calls.

"What... What does he want?"

But her colleague had already walked to the end of the room, unable – thus – to hear her question.

A bit anxious, she made her way to Cavanaugh's office and knocked on the door. Casting a glance at a desk behind, she realized that Frost and Korsak weren't there and that they had taken their coats along.

She made a face, discomfort growing in her head.

...

3.30pm

Maura parked her car in the street – stepped out of it – and walked to the yellow tape that a few rookies had already put all around the house. She ignored the media and sped up her pace to the door of a rather old mansion. A couple of FBI agents were chatting in the lobby. She frowned and repressed a moan.

So much for having the past two weeks calm as ever.

She made her way to the living-room and spotted Jane out there. The brunette was in full talk with a federal agent.

Although chatting friendly was more of an appropriate term as she burst out laughing after he got to whisper something to her ear. From the outside, it didn't look very professional to say the least.

Maura swallowed hard and clutched to her medical bag as if to release an invisible frustration.

"The bodies are upstairs, Dr. Isles."

She nodded absentmindedly at the officer but dismissed her in a murmur; too focused on observing Jane interact with whoever the agent was.

"I want to check each room first..."

Her feet led her to Jane right away. She barely noticed that Frost was approaching as well. As she reached the brunette, she cleared her voice a bit harshly; coldly. Everyone turned around to stare at her in disbelief, taken aback by the quite sudden interruption.

Jane offered her a pale smile, full of awkwardness; the same kind that they had exchanged when not a single person had been around for the past two days. The rare - precious - minutes they had found for themselves.

"Dr. Maura Isles, Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." She tended her hand – with authority – at the FBI agent who shook it; yet a bit troubled by her tone of voice.

"Special agent Daniel Birdman. Nice to meet you, doctor." Forcing a smile that he hoped friendly – and honest – the man pointed out at Jane. "I was talking with homicide..."

"I know who Detective Rizzoli is. We have been working together for the last five years, now."

She shouldn't have interrupted him, certainly not so harshly. Frost and Jane stared at her as if she had lost her mind. She surely didn't have the reputation of the cold – hostile – woman she was now showing the agent.

For absolutely no reason.

Or so.

She hadn't liked the way he had made Jane laugh. Sadly enough, this was not a reason she could use and defend her behavior with. That wouldn't work out at all. Besides, she needed to calm down. The presence of the Bureau meant that the governor was expecting from her a peaceful collaboration. It was what she was paid for, after all.

Not to throw a fit of jealousy on a crime scene nor to make a fool of herself.

Clearing her voice, she forced a smile and straightened up; pushed a strand of hair away from her face.

"A family of four, is that right?" She turned to Jane, cold as ice. "I didn't know that it was favorable to jokes, Detective Rizzoli."

Jane turned red as a brick and looked down. Mumbling inaudible words, she finally let the agent do the talk for herself.

First time on a crime scene after reaching a new stage in her relation with Maura and it was turning into a pure nightmare. Great.

"Detective Rizzoli and I were bonding over a fact that had very little to do with what brings us here, today. While waiting for you. Baseball, to be more exact. Long story short..."

The way the agent insisted on the 'you' went on the honey blonde's nerves. She pursed her lips and rose her hand in the air to interrupt him again before turning on her heels. She put latex gloves on and took a deep breath. She wasn't in the mood for a little chat.

Especially not with someone who had made – so easily – Jane laugh while at work.

"Well here I am, now, Agent Birdman. Back to work, please." She scanned the room and squinted her eyes at the mess left all around. "It seems like we have a lot to do."

She made a step towards the fireplace but stopped as she heard the agent's voice in her back.

"Are you single, Detective Rizzoli?"

Maura turned around and looked up at Jane. Frost had frozen as well and was now observing the scene along with a couple of officers. The brunette blushed and cleared her voice nervously.

"Err... Yeah. I am. So I can't relate to your story, indeed. Sorry..."

She avoided Maura's gaze and – cowardly enough – went to Frost instead. If this was how work on scenes would now be, she and Maura had a huge problem to face and deal with.