Author's Note: Thank you very much for all the reviews, I know it's a slow start but I'm unable to write anything else than slow starts so I apologize.

Chapter Three

She was around 5'7. Long blond hair and a waist to die for. Even from a distance Maura was able to say that the woman was gorgeous. She had never seen her at the BPD before but her age and the self-confidence the stranger showed only pushed Maura to assume that she wasn't a rookie. She had an aura that imposed respect.

Maura frowned. She hadn't heard about a new superior being hired. These kind of news usually spread fast inside the BPD before echoing till her very own office.

Maura tightened her grip on the medical files she was holding. She pursed her lips and clenched her teeth as Jane burst out laughing. Whoever Jane's interlocutor was, she was a seductress and Maura hated that.

She had miserably hidden behind a plant as soon as she had spotted Jane at the end of the hall. Her friend was in full talk with the woman and looked charm by whatever she was told, which went on Maura's nerves.

Thankfully nobody had noticed her presence on the floor, behind this ridiculous plant. Maura would have died of shame if someone had called out her name and Jane would have realized that she had been spying on her. Yet Maura couldn't stay behind this plastic plant all day long either. No matter who the blonde was, she had to go talk to Jane about the lab results the homicide unit had asked for.

"Dopamine."

Jane and her mysterious acolyte jumped as Maura spoke out loud. Maura bit the inside of her cheek to hold back a victorious smile. Her tone was sharp and unfriendly but her sudden intrusion had had its little effect and she was proud of it. Neither Jane nor the blonde had heard her walk to them.

"Oh... Hey, Maura." Jane abandoned her casual pose and stood up straight instead. She took her hands out of the pockets of her pants. She then cleared her voice with a false casualness. "Maura, this is Leila. Leila, this is..."

"Dr. Maura Isles, chief medical examiner of the Commonwealth." Leila cut Jane mid-sentence to hold out her hand for a handshake. "Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you."

Maura warmed up at Leila's soft tone. She didn't miss the gorgeous smile that the blonde gave her as well. She had been right: whoever Leila was, she was a seductress. A powerful one.

"Only good things, I hope." Maura shook Leila's hand. Politely. Reluctantly. She didn't have much of a choice anyway. Her position prevented her from being rude with someone because of a junior-high jealousy of some sort. "Do you work here?"

Jane chuckled.

"She's Martinez' new victim. Leila works for the drug unit. It's her first day at the BPD. She's from Chicago."

Maura couldn't care less but a BPD employee was a potential coworker so she had to remain polite nonetheless. She opened the medical file she was holding and pretended to leaf through it. Her subterfuge was ridiculous and slightly shameful but she hoped that Leila would get the message.

The blonde did. She excused herself almost immediately before going back to her unit.

"Dopamine was found in..."

"Jealous much?" Jane laughed quietly. It wasn't the first time Maura showed signs of jealousy. It was quite entertaining. "She's just a colleague."

Two officers walked past them. Maura focused on the pace of their steps as her hazel eyes fixed upon their calves. She waited for them to be far enough to say something back.

"And cute. Would you like to fuck her?"

Her phrasing was deliberately crude. She wanted to shock Jane or at least to provoke her. As a matter of fact, it was even the first time that Maura dared to imply that her friend may be into another woman. She had only teased her about men until now but Leila's beauty had forced her to speak out.

She didn't look up at Jane though. She remained focused on the medical file she was holding, waiting for a reply. With more or less patience.

She could see the words typed on the different sheet of paper but her anger was such that she was unable to read the mere sentence. She was probably not fooling Jane.

"What? Oh, c'mon." Jane heavily sighed but she seemed to be more amused than annoyed by Maura's childish reaction. "What kind of underwear are you wearing?"

Maura raised an eyebrow with a fake perplexity. Her jealousy had vanished the moment Leila had left. She enjoyed Jane's subtle teasing game now. Their whispers betrayed the sexual tension that Maura often felt between the two of them. The idea of being caught in the act of flirtation was arousing as well.

"This is not what I've asked you."

"Doesn't the fact I replied with such question make things clear enough? I don't care about Leila's underwear. I wanna know about yours."

The boldness Jane now showed actually took Maura aback. She had never seen her friend so keen, even less at her workplace. They had had sex in Maura's office before but the BPD was almost a no-go zone for their little games.

Maura swallowed hard. Perhaps Jane was just in a good mood.

Maura stared at the word 'dopamine' printed in black characters on the white page. She pounded her friend's remark for long seconds. It was her own way of torturing Jane, of making her wait and wait for the object of her sudden desire.

"Who said that I was wearing underwear in the first place?"

Her question wasn't completely improbable. It was another hot day in Boston and everyone was suffocating. The AC wasn't even enough anymore. It was sweltering hot at the BPD.

"That's one way to tease me."

Jane went to grab the medical file but her fingertips brushed the back of Maura's hand discreetly instead before she got a full grip on the different papers. The subtle contact sent a shiver down Maura's spine. Jane's fingers brushing her hand was anything but accidental.

"I am not..."

The sentence Maura wanted to say never hit the air. The words got trapped in her throat the moment Jane molded her body against Maura's back with this typical safe innocence she always showed when she flirting with Maura in public.

Jane glanced at their surroundings before letting her hand slide along Maura's hip, from her waist to her inner thigh. A smirk played on her lips as soon as she felt the hem of hipsters under her fingertips.

"I thought you couldn't lie."

"I didn't lie. I replied to you with a question, not with an affirmation."

Jane's fingers ventured further down. It barely lasted a few seconds but the light touch with Maura's pelvis got its expected effect on Maura who gasped, surprised. Jane leaned over to murmur in her friend's ear.

"You're right."

...

"Where's Maura?"

Jane rolled her eyes. She set her bottle of water down between her legs.

"Maura's living her life. She can't be with us all the time, ma'." Jane looked at the potato salad her mother had prepared. "Besides, I thought it was one of these daughter/mother evenings you harrass me with all the time so why would Maura even be here?"

"Because she loves coming to the Charles River with us for a picnic."

Touché. However, Jane could hardly let her mother know that Maura would make sure to be back home on time for one of their sessions that would happen later in the night.

"Can't she go out,on her own, like normal people do?"

"Maura isn't like normal people. She never go out on Monday. Have the two of you argued, Janie? That would explain the odd behavior Maura had the other day."

Jane's heart skipped a beat. Her blood turned icy in her veins.

She cowardly glanced at her mother but not a single word passed her lips. She and Maura enjoyed their secret relationship. Nobody would understand nor approve of it anyway. Friends with benefits sounded perfect in a Hollywood romantic comedy but life was sharper and it was the kind of relationship people frowned upon. Besides, Jane found it to be perfect the way it was, and exciting. She and Maura did whatever they wanted to do without feeling the pressure that society put on people's shoulders.

She observed the river for a couple of seconds before talking anew.

"What do you mean?"

Her casual tone didn't hide her sudden fear. Jane swallowed hard. What if one day someone walked in on them? They were careful but Jane knew that it could happen.

"Oh... Maybe it's nothing. I mean, if you didn't argue then I..."

"Ma'!"

"Alright, alright." Angela put her fork down in her plate. "Maura fell asleep on the couch the other day and she started mumbling your name. She was... Agitated. I still can't say whether it was a nightmare or a good dream."

Jane looked down at her plate. She was glad to not have tied up her hair in a ponytail because her dark curls now hid the bright pink shade of her cheeks. A sentiment of well-being invaded her but it soon melted into a confusing bitterness. She felt ridiculously proud and stuck in a dead-end path at the same time.

Maura had had a dream about her. It boosted her self-confidence. Sadly she couldn't share her emotions with anyone.

She grabbed her bottle of water with a shaking hand and took a sip of it. She couldn't have it all anyway. Being intimate with Maura was one thing, and being able to express a couple of untold and blurry feelings was another one. It was okay. Jane would do just fine. It was how life worked. Everything couldn't be awesome all the time.