Jane awoke relatively early for someone with a hangover. The sun was just beginning to rise, and her mouth felt like a desert. She had limited memories of the night before. She knew she went to the bar that night with intentions of going home with someone, so she wasn't surprised to open her eyes to see her arms wrapped around another woman's body. She knew she had a tendency to cuddle when she was drunk. She smiled and raised the covers to inspect the woman that lay beneath her. She noted the curve of the other woman's hips and the perkiness of her breasts despite the fact that she was clothed. Hell yeah, Rizzoli! An ass and the rack of a god.. too bad I don't remember it. Her eyes trailed the length of the woman's body and stopped abruptly at her familiar face, causing Jane to do a double-take. No... no. I couldn't have. She wouldn't have. What? Fuck. I gotta get outta here. Okay. Careful, Rizzoli. Don't wake her up.
Maura stirred slightly at just the moment Jane pulled her arm free. Jane knew she didn't have much time - if any - before the doctor woke up. She quickly gathered her clothes, phone, and shoes before bolting out of the bedroom, not even stopping to dress. Once she exited the house, she realized she wasn't wearing any clothes and hurriedly got dressed on the porch. God dammit. I'll be the first homicide detective to be pulled in for indecent exposure. Luckily no one was able to see her from the street. She began to walk down Maura's driveway and onto the sidewalk. She called for a cab to return her to her car at the Merch.
Once she arrived at her apartment, Jane realized it was 8:30 am. She hadn't paid much attention to her pounding headache and dehydration until the ride home due to the commotion and confusion from waking up with Maura. As if on cue, Korsak called her and told her not to come into work. He told her they would keep a detail parked outside her apartment and one in the lobby. He reassured her that Hoyt wasn't going to reach her. She knew she had to put up some sort of fight with Korsak so he wouldn't ask any questions, but she was actually thankful for his order to remain home. Of course, she wasn't going to follow it, but she welcomed the extra couple of hours to sleep off the hangover.
xxx
Jane was up and out the door yet again by 11:00. On her way to meet Agent Dean, she stopped for a greasy hamburger and order of fries. She was certain she wouldn't feel this bad if she hadn't slept with Maura. She thought she could be more useful if she got an update on the federal side of the case. It was an added bonus that she wouldn't run into her oh-so-familiar medical examiner there.
The detective was right in her assumption of being more productive with the feds than back at BPD. After making a major breakthrough on the case, she headed back to where there was apparently an incident occurring in her apartment complex. She arrived and was immediately upset to hear that her law-student neighbor had been murdered. That was her last moment of freedom before being captured by Hoyt and his henchman.
xxx
Maura had been annoyed and even a little angry at Jane's behavior that morning. The sound of Jane slamming the door on her way out brought her out of her peaceful sleep. The sheets were still warm and the other woman's scent lingered in them. Maura didn't know what she had expected from Jane. She scolded herself for thinking a friendship could have been established in one night. Especially when Jane was that drunk, and especially when Jane had been that vulnerable around her. If anything, her display of vulnerability would only create more tension between them in the real world. Maura didn't understand why Jane always felt the need to protect her reputation. Then again, she didn't know much about Jane at all. She thought back to how it felt to see Jane splayed out on the bed while she was tormented by another nightmare of Hoyt.
The rest of Maura's day was anything but monotonous. Korsak asked her to tag along to inspect the breaking and entering that had occurred at Jane's apartment. Although there was no body to examine, and Maura was thankful for that, he requested her experience and brilliant mind. When they arrived, Maura was stood in the doorway for a moment, taking in the sight of Jane's destroyed apartment. The living room received the most damage, but the intruders made their presence known in every room. Frost and Korsak remained in the living room while Maura made her way around the apartment alone. She pulled on a pair of latex gloves as she moved into Jane's bedroom. She knew Hoyt held an obsession for Jane and wondered if there were any significant pieces of evidence in Jane's most personal space.
Some of the mess she assumed was actually made by the owner. BPD sweats and athletic apparel were tossed onto the floor in one corner of the room. As Maura made her way around the foot of the bed, she heard a crunch. She lifted her foot to determine she had stepped on broken glass. A picture frame lay face-down. Maura knelt to pick it up, turning it over to find a picture of Jane, Frankie, and Tommy. They were dressed in ugly Christmas sweaters. Jane and Frankie were laughing and Tommy's eyes were wide, his mouth making an "o" shape. She rarely saw Jane smile, let alone laugh. Maura realized she was smiling at the sight of the typically stern detective's joy in the photograph. She sat the picture upright on the top of Jane's dresser and continued with her search. She had helped inspect many crime scenes before, but this felt almost intrusive. She knew she needed to at least open the draws of Jane's dresser and nightstand to rule out any significant messages Hoyt and his accomplice had left for Jane.
As she pulled each drawer open, it became apparent why Jane's wardrobe was so predictable. Maura estimated that she had to own at least 20 of the same style shirt in different colors. She also discovered that 40% of Jane's wardrobe consisted solely of clothing that represented Boston's professional sports teams. She was pleased that she discovered no threats from Hoyt in the dresser and moved to the nightstand. Opening the top drawer, she was immediately drawn to a photograph of the detective and a smaller brunette. This one was not framed, and its edges were frayed. Judging by Jane's appearance, Maura guessed that the photo was taken a few years ago. Only the smaller brunette was looking towards the person who took the photograph. Maura noticed the piercing blue hue of the stranger's eyes. She and Jane were dressed elegantly. Maura guessed it was taken at New Years Even Party by the streamers and decorations in the background. Jane's arms were wrapped tightly around the stranger as she stood behind her. Only the left side of Jane's face was visible in the shot because she was turned towards the other woman, kissing her on the cheek. Maura sat down on the edge of the detective's bed. She flipped the photograph over to reveal a message written in handwriting that she knew didn't belong to Jane. It simply read "I'll always love you, Jay." There was no signature, only the letter A underneath the message. Maura felt tears well up in her eyes, but she wasn't exactly sure why. She thought it might've been because she was envious. Jane and this woman were obviously very much in love. Maura had never had a love like that, that was reciprocated by the other person. She gently placed the photo back in the drawer, carefully laying it back just the way she found it. She refocused on the task at hand. Opening the bottom drawer of Jane's nightstand, she saw a purple vibrator and began to chuckle. Maybe she isn't such a prude after all!
Korsak entered the room just as Maura closed the bottom drawer of Jane's nightstand. "Got anything in here?" Maura shook her head and waited for Korsak to explain why he sounded so rushed. "Okay, we gotta go. Hoyt's got Jane."
xxx
Korsak, Frost, and Maura arrived first on the scene to find Jane sitting halfway in the back of the van and halfway on the bumper. Her gun remained pointed at Hoyt until Frost practically jumped onto him, calling him a son-of-a-bitch and cuffing him. As the two male detectives led the monster away, Maura remained at Jane's side. Jane still held onto the gun. "You can let go.."
"Huh? Oh. Yeah." She tossed the gun onto the ground. Maura reached into her medical bag and produced a flashlight. She turned it on and began to inspect Jane's body for injuries. It took no time for her to notice the burn on Jane's chest. "Oh my god, Jane! Did he burn your chest?" Jane shook her head. "He didn't - I did."
Maura couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You did? What do you mean?"
"It's from a flare. I held onto it as long as I could, then I fired it in his face. In case ya didn't know, flares are hot."
The doctor was unsure of how she should respond. Jane never made jokes around her, only with the other detectives. She brushed it off as Jane's way of coping with the situation, and laughed to encourage her to deal with it in this healthy way rather than resorting to the alcoholic tendencies she displayed the previous night.
"Detective Rizzoli, you did fine work here tonight."
Jane looked down at her hands. "I was just trying to survive, doc." Her curt tone reappeared to confirm Maura's hypothesis that, in fact, nothing had changed between them.
xxx
Korsak and Frost were both needed in handling Hoyt's arrest and processing. Maura would have left Jane in the hands of the EMTs if not for Korsak requesting her to remain by her side and ensure she didn't refuse medical care. After taking Jane to the hospital to be officially examined and treated for the burn on her chest, the duo arrived back at Jane's apartment finding it in just as much a mess as Maura left it earlier. Jane sighed a heavy breath and threw her head back as she stood in the doorway of her home. Maura started to offer a supportive hand to the shoulder in front of her, but just as she brought her hand up, Jane moved forward. Things between them were still as tense as usual, but neither had really communicated with the other since leaving the crime scene.
Jane turned to face Maura when she reached the kitchen island. "Well, you've done your job. You can leave now."
Maura was furious that Jane acted so nonchalant about how much help she had been over the past two days. For a moment, she considered demanding an apology from Jane for how she had been behaving, but decided it would be best to save it for another time considering Jane had, after all, been kidnapped and almost killed in one day. But didn't mean Maura wouldn't get her jabs in where she could. "Sure, I'll see myself out in the same manner that you did this morning." She started to turn away from Jane when the detective spoke up, trying to justify her actions.
"Well, what did you expect Maura? I'm the fuck 'em and chuck 'em kind. I didn't wanna stick around for the awkward aftermath!" Maura stood silently across the island from Jane, taking in the other woman's interpretation of the previous night.
"W-what?! We did not have sex, Detective Rizzoli!"
"Then why the hell was I in my underwear with my arms wrapped around you when I woke up this morning?"
"That's just how you preferred to sleep, I suppose. You had a nightmare, and asked if I could stay and sleep in the guest bed with you. I told you I didn't have any clothes to fit you, but you seemed content in sleeping in your underwear at the time."
Jane paused for a moment before quietly asking for Maura's confirmation of last night's events. Despite all of Maura's clarifications of the night before, she only heard one detail. "I.. I had a nightmare?" Maura nodded.
"It's perfectly alright. Considering the trauma you've been through-"
"Get out." Jane's voice was low, raspy, and boiling with anger. The anger was intended for herself, but ended up directed at Maura.
"Are you sure you don't want me to help you-"
"Get the fuck out, Maura!" Jane quickly turned her back towards the other woman and waited for the door to close behind her. She walked over to the door to lock it, and slid down the length of the door. Much like the night before, she leaned into the surface behind her, pulling her knees into an embrace close to her injured chest. She sat like that long enough for the anger to dissipate. Then the embarrassment and frustration began to take over. She began to sob. Maybe Korsak was right. Maybe I need to talk to somebody. I'll be damned if I'm going to a shrink though. I'm just so fucking sick of this happening. I need a friend. I mean I guess I have Frankie, but he's gotta be there because he's my brother. Frost has to be there because he's my partner, but if I tell him this stuff he probably won't trust me enough to work with me. Can't tell Ma, that's for sure. If Alex were here, she'd know what to do. She'd know how to fix me. God, I miss her. I've got so much fucking baggage that I can't even get drunk and keep the crazy at bay. And Maura of all people had to be the one to see it. God, Rizzoli, you're so fucking stupid sometimes.
When she finally picked herself up off the floor, Jane went into her bedroom, thankful to find it unscathed other than a couple of pillows slashed and the picture of her and her brothers shattered. She threw on some BPD sweats and crawled into bed. She laid there for a moment before opening the top drawer of the nightstand. She pulled out the picture of Alex, kissed it, and held it to the bandage on her chest. Her eyes began to well with tears as she tried to force herself to sleep.