Jane winced heavily as she leaned into the shattered front door frame to give her the leverage she needed to take a step out and onto the small entry steps.

"You okay?"

She looked behind her at Korsak taking off his blazer and tossed him a small grin. "You gonna make it with half that jacket or should we get you a BPD poncho?" His face was red, and he was slightly out of breath but Jane supposed she looked a lot worse for wear being that she and the union rep literally wrestled on the ground for a few laborious moments while the woman driving the car screamed before taking off straight out the front door. Korsak appeared moments later with gun raised and the longest piece of fabric trailing behind him apparently caught in the windows teeth.

He chuckled but glanced over her shoulder at the now crowded parking area swimming with first responders and uniformed officers. "Let's make sure we find her."

Jane nodded as she hopped onto the bottom step and rolled her shoulders some. "I already sent Frankie out to lead the search, she wasn't wearing shoes, she couldn't have gotten too far." They fell into step beside one another; Korsak slowing his pace a half step to meet Jane's hobble.

"We need to find something in this house to connect him to those other women…"

Jane nodded and looked around the front of the house. The backyard hadn't really been well maintained, nor the side of the house, but the front looked as if it were any old house on the street. "Can we match any dirt from here with the types we found under the victim's nails?"

Korsak flopped his blazer over his shoulder and reached into his pocket for his cell phone. "I'll see how that interview went with Alberto Albert then ask Nina to get that report on our cell phones somehow."

Jane quirked a brow. "Somehow?"

Vince shrugged. "You think I know how the hell to do it?" He brought his cell phone to his ear. "Nina, It's Vince—"

Jane hobbled over to where two crime scene techs were moving about the red car the union rep had been stowed away in. "Let's make sure we get everything." She nodded and to which they nodded as well. This case wasn't a low interest case anymore, any morsel of evidence would be critical at piecing this whole thing together. The union rep had suddenly lost his inability to speak aside for asking for his lawyer of course, and that woman had run away from the only people that could help her.

They needed something.

Jane slowly made her way over to the ambulance and hopped up onto the back of the truck to wait for one of the paramedics to come back and clear her. Korsak hadn't demanded it, but the last thing she needed was him pulling rank and making her go to the actual hospital to take care of it, that would be a day lost waiting in waiting rooms and worse than water boarding in her opinion.

While perched on the truck she shot a quick text to Maura asking about the status of the ID for the Jane Doe they found last night and then adding that they made an arrest and that everyone was okay before calling her brother.

"Janie—"

"You find her?"

"Not yet."

"Find her Frankie, we need her statement."

"I'm on it."

"She took off west—"

"—You told me that already."

Jane chuckled to herself. "Well alright." They hung up just in time for a familiar paramedic with greying temples and a dimpled chin approached the back of the truck with his emergency bag.

"Rizzoli." He greeted.

"Sign off that I'm good?" She asked sweetly.

He shook his head with a chuckle as he set his tools beside her. "Are you?"

"What's with all these questions?"

He put his hands on his hips. "I put in to work at that facility in Southie, Dr. Isles would be my boss."

She motioned to her leg where the throbbing pain was happening right below her knee. "What you want me to put in a good word for you?" Harrison gingerly began assessing the area.

"No I don't need a good word, I need her to know I take my job seriously."

Jane inhaled sharply as he pressed down. "Uhuh."

"So that means I can't just sign off on your clearances anymore, Rizzoli." He motioned for her to take her boot off, there was some liquid between her joints that concerned him, it could just be because of the trauma but he wanted to be sure.

Jane leaned forward to oblige the silent request. "What's our rule? If it's fallen off of broken I got to the hospital."

He nodded. " But now—"

"Now?"

"Yeah now, if it's scraped, bleeding, shot—"

Jane rolled her eyes but she could not deny how hilarious this whole thing was. "You know I can just tell her that you're a kiss ass."

Her boot had been removed and her pant leg rolled up. "Yeah I'm okay with that." He pressed gently against her swollen joint and nodded to himself. "Yup, hospital."

"You're joking right?" Jane looked at him for the first time in eight years as if he were the enemy.

"Jane it's definitely swollen, whatever you did has caused some muscle, I don't know which one, to bruise. If it's the meniscus-"

"The wha?"

"The meniscus, it's not uncommon but you'd better have a bruised one instead of a torn one, because if it's torn you're unfit for duty."

Jane hopped down from the back of the ambulance truck causing Harrison to sigh. "I don't like this change in our relationship, Harry."

"It's not you, it's me?"

Jane nodded at him pointedly and picked up her boot and began to hobble off. "Sure."

Harrison laughed. "Where are you going?"

Jane waved her boot at him. "To the hospital. No way I'm going in a bus."

"We'd get there faster."

"Says who?"

Harrison waved before shaking his head in amazement. She was tough, he'd give her that.

##

Jane dug the spoon back into the thick brown substance and nodded at the phone on her lap before scooping out the remains of her fourth pudding cup and stuck it into her mouth and waited for the tiny spike she got from the sugar rush.

Hospitals weren't that bad…

"Alright so what the hell is he saying?" She asked after taking the spoon out of her mouth and using it as a guide to read a case file opened out on the starchy hospital bed before her.

"Lawyer was saying that he didn't know anything—"

Jane huffed and waved her pudding spoon at the phone. "Bullshit, then why was he in the trunk of the car, Vince?"

Korsak's voice came across somewhat grainy as he was using his car's speaker phone. He currently was on his way to tell 23-year-old Fiona Dorciti's family that she was found dead in the park last night and that they had no real leads to speak of. "Said he knew he wouldn't get a fair trial."

"That sounds like an admission of guilt."

"We can't force him to comment."

"Alright so now what?"

"My gut says he didn't do the first two—"

"The first two?" Jane rested the empty pudding cup beside the others on the medical table to her immediate right before picking up another one and tearing it open. You think Dorciti was him?"

Korsak shrugged as he drove. "Something was very off about finding her, some things just didn't add up." The body being moved, the lack of stab wounds like the other victims, an assault occurred that was for sure, but the ME's techs confirmed it wasn't sexual in nature. She hadn't been held captive either. The missing person's report from the girl's family had been filed that morning. She was an outlier, an incidental, someone somewhere messed up, and it made complete sense for the union rep to try and skip town because of it. They just had to figure out why.

"I know. I don't think he planned them, or even helped, but I think he had a hand with being able to keep it from us."

"So what do you think, obstruction?"

"Yeah, and assaulting an officer."

"What'd they say?"

Jane looked at her left leg propped up. "Really bad bruising I guess."

"No tear."

"No."

"Well then take the night, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Call me if you get anything, if Frankie and the guys find her."

"I will." Jane hung up and began to eat the new pudding cup as she went over the reports she knew by heart to try and make some kind of connection between all these women and the dock workers. She became so engrossed with scrutinizing every detail that she hadn't noticed Maura standing in the doorway to the room and watching her until she reached over to open a new pudding cup. Jane paused as their eyes met before becoming very self-conscious. Maura clad in a simple yet timeless work dress the color of some sort of metal had her red coat over her arm with her hair down cascading honey all over her shoulders. (it was getting quite long) Jane wondered briefly how she felt about it before taking in her own appearance. She was wearing a white tank top and a mens small drawstring hospital pant. Her hair was oily and in a pony tail and she was pretty sure she had spilled pudding on her arm ten minutes ago but unfortunately something had caught her specific attention and she was only now rubbing it off.

"Don't tell Ma."

Taking it as an invitation Maura stepped into the small room and smiled softly. "Which part?" She watched Jane's left leg extended out with a soft medical brace about the knee before looking at her face again.

Jane felt her cheek tug gently into a smile too. They hadn't seen each other since last night really and it was as if she had just remembered what it felt like having Maura pressed into her so close, or what kissing her felt like, or what waking up with her felt like. "The pudding." She clarified motioning to the five empty containers. "Said this stuff would make our teeth fall out of our mouths as kids." Jane watched Maura frown at the pile of empty cups before looking back at her. 'It's really my favorite, but I can never tell her that so…"

"You eat—" Maura picked up one of the empty cups to read the ingredient label and did the short math in her head. "Eight hundred and fifty milligrams of sodium to...?"

"Rebel?"

"Ah." Maura put the empty pudding cup down and moved the small table aside to sit down on a stool beside the bed. With her coat and purse she looked slightly uncomfortable and Jane was about to offer her a seat on the edge of the bed but she realized it was littered with case statements, findings, and crime scene photographs. "I spoke to your doctor."

"Why?" Jane asked as she tried to organize the area, a spoon jutting out from the side of her mouth.

"You consistently oversimplify your injuries."

Jane moved a folder aside and then decided to just close it. "Not all the time."

"Yes." All of the time.

The taller of the two finished her organizing of the folders into a small stack and brought her attention back to Maura. "Well you sometimes don't talk about yours at all." She took the spoon out of her mouth and gave her a pointed look.

Maura's mouth twitched to crease her right dimple, she was amused. "You're in an observant mood today."

Jane grinned and merely shrugged. There would usually be a following quip about her line of work but to be honest she was too busy feeling all sorts of wobblily fuzzy things seeing her best friend. "They said I could go, they tell you that?"

Maura nodded once. "You could stay the night, eat more…" She motioned to the stack of empty pudding cups. "Processed hydrogenated gelatin, rest."

Jane looked away toward her knee. "We're close, this union rep knows who did this." She looked back at Maura. "We have him in holding now. Tomorrow in the box."

"Has he said anything about the driver?" Maura leaned her elbow against her knee and then smiled a little when Jane leaned over the bedding and began to fuss over her coat and handbag to bring them onto the bed where she had made space. "Thank you."

"Mhm." Jane situated her bag beside her and then shook her head. "He's just asking for his lawyer, we got him for assault though. Frankie'll find her."

"It's interesting that she would run away."

"Is it? I mean if you could see the look on her face when we approached the car, Maur." Jane watched as Maura fell into thought over the current events. She liked that sometimes, when other people would just continue to ask question after question about her work, as if the information she provided somehow didn't match whatever they had expected, Maura would take her time with the process like a real detective would she sat through it, turned it over until the conclusions she was able to come up with lead to a follow up question that actually challenged Jane to think of another prospective.

When your brain was as big as Maura's that process usually lasted milliseconds, maybe even less, but tonight the ME glazed over the information as if glitched, her brow furrowed slightly.

She was tired.

"I don't believe I would run away from the police if they were there to help me." Maura decided before looking back up at Jane. "Unless the danger of getting caught outweighed whatever temporary safety law enforcement could provide."

Jane rolled her jaw some. "Could mean who ever is pulling the strings has a far enough reach…"

"Have you reached out to Dr. Fraser and alerted her of the case?"

Dr, Fraser was BPD's resident psychologist. "For when we find the driver?"

"Absolutely. Her behavior suggests a severe psychological relapse or trauma."

Jane stuck her spoon into the new pudding cup she was holding before shaking her head. "Something tells me the answer is the most obvious one."

"Commit." Maura offered.

Jane ate a spoon full of the thick sugary snack and then shrugged. "I'm finding it hard to." She admitted in a tone Maura couldn't read. She ate another spoonful. "We'll get 'em though."

Maura noted the change from noun to plural noun. "After this recent victim you've adopted my theory?"

"The multiple assailants? Was that your theory?" Jane raised a brow. "Or was it my theory that you stole."

Maura chuckled. "We can't share a theory?"

"No, I'm a cop." She pointed to herself with the plastic hospital spoon. "and you're a brainaic."

"Why couldn't an exceptionally intelligent individual come up with the same theory?"

Jane shrugged. "Cause this is the same exceptionally intelligent individual that asked me if I'd eat my friends."

Maura only shook her head at her antics. "I did not ask you if you'd eat your friends—"

Jane continued eating "—Yeah, alright, Maura—"

"—I simply asked if you would consider eating someone anonymously."

"And that makes this conversation credible?" Jane asked feigning seriousness. The sudden twist and puckering of her lips gave her away though, she was seconds from bursting.

Maura sighed heavily feigning annoyance and as a comfortable quietness fell upon them both women wondered if the other would be okay goofing around with them indefinitely. Like was that even a possibility in the others mind? Because in all actuality where did they go from here? How did they end it if they did? Why would they?

Jane looked down at her disappearing pudding cup. "You sleep okay last night?" She asked suddenly, daring a glance at Maura who had seemed to be broken out of some amusing thought to hear it. Their eyes met and Jane could feel the tips of her ears burn when Maura tilted her head slightly, eyes filling with a teasing she was not even remotely ready to endure.

"I did. You're quite comfortable." The pathologist watched as Jane's lip tugged into the most adorable little smile she had even seen the other woman wear, it made her want to kiss her.

"I slept real deep." Jane admitted quietly.

"Did you?" She matched her tone.

Jane nodded and looked at her pudding again. "Just uh, wear a bra next time alright?"

Maura chuckled softly, a furious blush consuming her. "Yes, I can do that, Jane."

"Christ."

They grinned at one another.

##

"I don't think there is enough coffee in the world to keep me standing today."

Maura looked up from stirring in her latte and smiled at Nina Holiday clad in a pair of skinny black pants, a slightly oversized button down and one of her charcoal colored vests. "Do you know you have all said that to me in the past hour, that exact phrase?"

The other woman was working to open the lid of her coffee cup but paused to toss Maura a goofy expression. "I have not used my own bathroom in two days, two days Maura."

The ME chuckled. "I have a toiletries in my office if you ever need it."

Nina poured in some milk in her coffee and then hesitated before reaching for two packets of sugar. It wasn't how she usually took her coffee at all, but she had just had so much of it at this point that she needed a change of flavor. "You're very kind, and obnoxiously rested, thank you."

Maura put the lid back onto he latte carefully and glanced behind them to see if there was a table free. "Join me?"

"Yeah girl of course, I was trying to avoid Jane."

Maura chuckled. "Do I want to know?"

"Well truth be told I'm trying to avoid them all, Frankie included." She joked as they wordlessly navigated the tight quarters of the Division One Café during a morning rush. There was a high-top table that an officer finishing his coffee leapt at the opportunity to offer them.

"Why are you avoiding them?" Maura had just got into work a half hour ago and had run into the everyone but the person she was hoping to not have to make an excuse to see, because that would be juvenile, and Maura wasn't sure why she feared such levels of thinking, but she did. Last night she and Jane hung out in the safety of the tiny hospital room until the detective got a call from Frankie. She was dressed and out the door in seconds but there was a thank you in there and a kiss on the cheek Maura carried with her all the way home.

"They've been here all night going over past cases hoping something triggers their memory so we could ID that driver, and if you ask me there has gotta be something—maybe some kind of preservative they are putting in those files down in evidence so the mice don't eat it or something because their all a little loopy right now. I needed a break."

Maura smiled knowingly. "Research by the Library of Congress has demonstrated that cellulose itself generates acids as it ages."

Nina raised a brow. "Really?"

Maura nodded. "Measurable quantities of acids were observed to form under ambient conditions within weeks of the paper's manufacture. However paper does not readily release these acids due to strong intermolecular bonding."

"So they really could be intoxicated?"

Maura chuckled. "Not critically?"

Nina laughed. "Well your girl is on a whole new level, she wants these guys bad, Korsak too." She took another sip of her coffee. "Feel bad for the clerk down there. I guess they have to let him go home after forty hours of OT…"

Her girl

Maura never quite enjoyed the term at all, finding it possessive in nature and patriarchal at best, Jane was a woman, and she was her own woman… but hearing it now, well she found she kind of liked the idea that Nina would think there was some sort of exclusivity between them, that Jane was her Jane.

"I think she fears that if the work isn't done before tonight then she'd have let you all down." It was way more than she would offer normally. Speaking for others or attempting to know how they felt seemed improper, but Maura was sure from working side by side with Jane for years now Nina already knew she wasn't receiving anything new.

If anything, it spoke to how comfortable the ME felt around Nina now.

Nina nodded. "You fly out for New York tomorrow morning, right?"

Maura reached for her latte. "Yes, Jane in the afternoon."

"Well we'll make sure she doesn't show up here poking around too late." Her smile grew. "Or you could just take me instead?"

Maura laughed. "If Jane misses her flight—"

"—A real possibility."

She shook her head not even wanting to entertain the idea. "I will end her.' It was Nina's turn to laugh now. "however it would not surprise me, I've been brought to such places before." If she hadn't asked Jane wouldn't have even booked her flight.

"Do you have a lot to do today?"

Maura sighed with a small smile. "Yes, to be gone for a week usually wouldn't be too much of a burden but we have a lab inspection coming while I'm away." If she had to get on her hands and knees to scrub the place tonight she'd do it, her romper was in the car.

"Nothing compared to our firearm evaluations." Maura raised a brow. "You're doubting me politely aren't you?"

The ME laughed again. "No, I just… wouldn't be sure how to compare them."

"Well." Nina put her coffee cup down. "When you have Bucky Norton as your examiner, I bet even you would be wishing you weren't who you were."

"He sounds intimidating."

"Hi girls."

Both Nina and Maura looked up to see none other than Angela Rizzoli clad in a smart looking skirt suit with her hair pulled back into a bun.

"Moma Rizz." Nina greeted before tossing Maura a questioning look, though far from geriatric jumpers she had never seen her future mother in law dressed so academically before.

"Angela, what a surprise." Maura smiled.

Angela held her purse straps and looked around at the busy café. "It's always so weird being here and not having to help." She chuckled softly before looking at the other two women. "Jane wasn't by last night—"

"N-no she was here, working the case." She looked at Nina for help.

Nina raised a brow at Maura's small stutter because Maura never stuttered but then quickly fell in line with the story with a long nod. "Yup, we're making progress but it's been a long one." So no one had told Angela about the arrest it seemed.

"Oh." Angela looked a little disappointed. "I wanted to speak to her last night but… is Frankie here too?"

"Is everything okay, Angela?" Maura asked carefully.

"Sean called me a few days ago about a temporary opportunity with those teenagers you have come follow Janie around every year. He wanted me to show them around instead." She announced proudly. "Something about Janie's lack of hospitality, who knows."

"You and Lieutenant Cavanaugh speak regularly?" Maura couldn't help but be curious.

Nina raised a brow. "Mhm, hospitality."

"Oh you two stop. I had so much fun with it last time, you know those kids helped me with my last garage sale, which may I remind you was a hit."

"Well I am sure the team would appreciate one less responsibility." Maura looked to Nina who nodded

"Which reminds me, I'd better get back down there." She slid off of her chair easily and grabbed her coffee cup. "I'll tell Jane and Frankie you're here."

"Thanks honey."

Maura watched as the two women embraced quickly before Nina pushed her way through the morning rush and toward the main lobby elevators. Angela watched her go too with a soft expression on her face before turning to look at Maura.

"She's going to be a beautiful bride." Angela climbed into the seat across from her. "You know by now years ago I'd expected to be swimming in grandchildren." Her laugh was lighthearted. "What a thought!"

Maura smiled and reached for her latte. "I'd imagined myself with at least one noble prize in forensic pathology, possibly a third PHD."

Angela gave her a look, the kind of look that Maura knew was affectionate in nature but confused in practice, she'd come to really be fond of that look, it was set aside for her alone and the ME supposed that made it special. "Life is funny." Maura made a small noise of agreement as the bitter sweetness of her coffee overwhelmed her senses a moment. "I couldn't imagine it any differently than it is now though, you kids, TJ, Ron…"

Maura watched her face change at the other man's name. "You care a great deal for him." She tilted her head. "Does Sean know?"

Angela seemed surprised by the banter but welcomed it with rosy cheeks. "When you get to become my age Maura you'll realize that a little attention every now and then never hurt a good thing." They shared a small laugh. "Anyway, are you girls excited for your trip? Have you packed? What can I make for dinner tonight?"

Maura smile softened and her cheeks had the slightest appearance of a blush. "We're really looking forward to seeing Tasha."

"You deserve a break, I have no idea what you said to Janie to make her change her mind about going."

"Neither do I." She admitted honestly, Jane had explained it as a gesture of sorts but even after their first real kiss she wasn't sure what action, reaction, or statement was made on her behalf to allow such a gesture to even come about. She wished she could know, could understand it, she'd use it as often as she wanted, it was shameless yes, but Jane… Jane made her feel irregular and exceptional all at the same time.

"Well anyway since she listens to you I need you to do me a favor and make sure she's not thinking about work or any of us, that she's having a good time hm?" Maura nodded. She could do that. "Also I know that hunk Agent Davies will be in town too."

Maura's smile faltered slightly. She had completely forgotten about him. "Yes."

"Has she mentioned seeing him at all?"

"I… Don't recall specifically." Had Jane?

Angela waved her off. "Anyway, one date, for me?"

Maura blinked. "I—"

"After Charles and the baby, I feel like Jane has really closed herself off, more work, more responsibility. Then this whole depression thing. Now I know I'm her mother and she thinks I ought to mind my own business, but she is my business, they don't need to get married, Lord knows Janie rather sit in a car for hours watching some hooligan but, maybe a date? You'll ask her?"

Ask Jane if she would entertain the idea of going on a date with Agent Cameron Davies?

Because she and Davies had had chemistry before and because Angela caught on to that, and because Maura was her best friend and of course should want to see her friend happy with someone.

Because that's how it was supposed to be.

Jane had never really gone into how she felt about Davies… The ME recalled Angela bringing him up a few weeks ago after they all went to the movies together, that was before their first date of course, and if she strained the pathologist could remember the casualness in Jane's sleepy tone when mentioning they had been in communication.

Then the warmness in her voice and feeling of her touch on the couch… Feeling was such an obtuse way to describe absorbing the events of the other night. The idea that to feel was to passively be prone to external forces seemed critically inaccurate. Maura didn't feel Jane's arms around her, not simply at least, her whole being could register it, could understand it, and Jane's breath on her neck, she somehow was sure she could metabolize it.

Jane didn't care for Davies the way she cared for her, Maura was certain of it.

An all to familiar irritation vibrated at the back of her throat signaling the sudden danger she was soon to find herself in.

Maura couldn't lie to Angela, but the truth though beautiful, was not her truth to tell alone.

"I can see if he's still an interest." The irritation turned into an itch she attempted to chase away with warm espresso and milk. "Perhaps your bolognaises tonight. It's my favorite." She attempted.

Angela's smile grew wide. "How could I say no? Eight thirty? Do you think Jane will be out?"

Maura bit the inside of her mouth. "I'm not certain, would you mind if I invited Hope?" Maura was surprised at herself for the request but she needed a buffer she realized. Dinner with just Jane and her mother right now would be too much.

##

Frankie leaned back in Frost's desk. "What's he saying?" The look of unadulterated frustration on his sister's face made him almost wary to ask but this was round three in the box with the union rep and he was getting nowhere on his own with the small task force they had put together to find the unknown driver who had fled the scene.

Jane dropped a heavy stack of case files containing the glossy images eight and a half by eleven in size of their three known victim's crime scenes. "Where are we on the finger prints from the house?"

Frankie looked over to Korsak who had returned with her and was smoothing out his tie before sitting behind his desk. "That bad?"

"First he asks for a lawyer, then he doesn't say anything, and now the lawyer is asking for a deal."

Frankie sat up in his seat. "A deal?"

Jane plopped down behind her desk. "Yeah, can you believe, smug pr—"

"We cut Alberto Albert lose." Korsak nodded at Frankie. "He knew nothing."

"What about the keychain Maura found?" Nina asked as she entered the room.

Jane leaned back fully in her chair. "She was able to get some kind of residue off the links of the fisher's lore, Kent is running tests now."

"Well." Holiday began. "I may have some good news on our girl." She tossed an arm over her shoulder toward BRIC. "You guys are gonna wanna see this."

All three detectives glanced at one another before jumping out of their seats and following after her. Once behind her station Nina fixated the enlarged image on screen to a grainy image. "This is a surveillance camera outside a nearby gas station."

"That me?" Frankie asked pointing to the far-right corner of the screen where he and a uniformed officer stood speaking to one another. Nina nodded in confirmation.

"Frankie you were there for an hour." Nina reminded.

He nodded remembering. "It's the last place I checked, closest one to the rep's house." He looked over at Jane. "Clerk said he hadn't noticed anything."

"I'm going to reverse frame." Nina toggled the image back forty five minutes prior to Frankie's arrival. "There." She paused the image.

Korsak exhaled heavily as he looked at the grainy image of the woman who was driving the union rep. "Great work Holiday."

Jane watched on screen as the driver stood at the payphone clutching the device for a few minutes before hanging up, ten minutes later a blue sedan with Connecticut plates pulled up and she got in. "You got the plates?" Jane asked.

"Already ran the vehicle, it's registered to Milo Khury ex-longshoreman."

"Ex?" Frankie asked.

"Apparently he relocated after a dispute was filed against him. Our rep was supposed to represent him but last minute pulled out of the proceedings for whatever reason."

"I bet no one knows why." Jane nodded. "There goes our connection."

"The number she called?" Korsak asked.

"Same, but it's a local cell phone number."

Jane was already near the door. "He got a local address?"

"Sending to your devices…" Nina typed a few things into her computer and then hit enter. "Now."

"She's the best." Frankie gloated as he followed after Jane who was making a B-line for her desk to get her firearm.

"I know." Nina sang as they rushed out of the room.

##

"So Khury was the ringleader?" Maura was busy packing her briefcase to leave for the evening when Jane called with an update on the case.

"Hard to say but we think it's the break we needed."

"Are you getting on a plane tomorrow?" She asked knowingly. There wasn't a trace of accusation in her voice. She knew Jane wanted to see this through.

Jane nodded to herself. New York. Her mind hadn't even been able to process how she was feeling about the trip, one thing was certain though, she was excited to get a shot at relaxing a little. "Tomorrow at three… gives me enough time to get in and help out with some more of this paper work." She jingled her car keys in her hand in thought before remembering something. "Were you able to get anything from the fisher's lore?"

Maura closed her laptop and switched the cell phone to her other hand so she could pick it up securely. "Yes, microscopic samples of soil, biological residue…."

"Biological residue? Semen?"

"No actually, bile."

"Bile?"

"Yes, I am not surprised since we found it where Albert Braven expelled it."

"When do we get to the part where you tell me that interesting thing that can help my case?"

Maura smirked to herself. "The soil sample matches the mineral composition of the soil found under Hanover's nails."

"You're shitting me."

"I wouldn't think of it." She could hear Jane chuckle. "One of your expressions?"

"I'll explain it later, what about the other victims? Can we say conclusively that it's the same dirt?"

"We could never say that, but within the parameters of this case it is unlikely the levels of iron and magnesium are found in many other places in Boston."

"So the harbor?"

"Correct, perhaps an older building, accelerated notes of carbonic decay and fungal species note somewhere humid."

"Indoors." Jane nodded to herself. Korsak and Frankie heading toward the unmarked caught her attention. "Listen I know I said I'd be able to take you to the airport…."

"I've already scheduled a ride."

Jane frowned. "Okay cool."

"Have you eaten?"

"No, we're probably going to call out and see what's in the area before getting back to Headquarters."

"I'm having dinner with your mother and Hope tonight, you all are welcome."

Jane made a face. "That sounds like the last thing I would want to do."

"Come."

It was all she needed to say.

Korsak and Frankie had approached the car by then and were waiting for her to end the call so they could recap and figure out their next steps. "Yeah I'll see what the guys want to do…. Alright, yeah… Yes." She rolled her eyes while trying not to laugh. "Bye."

"Who was that?" Frankie asked.

"Ma's making dinner for Maura and Hope, you guys wanna stop by before we head back in?" It would be a late one again and they were owed a two hour break seeing as how they worked through lunch.

Korsak touched his stomach. "I don't think I've had a home cooked meal in a week."

Frankie grinned but tried to appear less excited than his face was obviously giving away. "I guess just a stop, and we have to wait for Dr. Fraiser to wait for our driver's evaluation." She had been found with Khury at his residence. Uniforms were driving them separately for processing.

"Could take an hour." Vince nodded.

Jane crossed her arms to her chest. "You two are shameless, what about Khury?"

"Oh he's not going anywhere."

"This time at night processing him could take an hour too." Frankie nodded before nudging his sister in the arm. "C'mon you can't tell me you're not hungry. Maura say what she was making?"

It hadn't escaped her that she hadn't mentioned it was Maura on the phone. "Alright, call Nina, let her know to meet us there."

When they all arrived Nina was already sitting at the table apparently on her second helping. At the center of the table a large bowl of cheesy Bolognese sat beside a salad and a small bowl of grated parmesan. Angela hurried them all in and helped with their coats then with their plates urging Hope and Maura to stay seated and enjoy the meal when the two offered to help.

After removing her boots Jane came over to the table trying to bring as much attention away from her knee as possible. Maura sat at the head while Hope sat to her right with her back toward the door.

"Jane." Maura motioned the seat to her left for her. "I've saved you a seat."

Jane quirked a brow. "You saved me a seat?" She came over to the table. "In your own home?"

Maura patted the seat. "Yes. Beside your mother."

"Gee thanks." Jane sat down with a small grin.

"Feel honored." Hope jested. She hadn't seen Jane in months and it was nice to see the taller woman. "I had to bargain for this one."

"That isn't true." Maura frowned. Not entirely anyway.

"Maybe so." Hope smiled before looking back over to Jane. "How is this police work of yours?"

Angela had placed a large bowl of food in front of Jane's place setting. "Thanks Ma." She turned back to Hope while picking up her fork. "It's good. How's Paddy?"

"Jane." Maura sighed.

Hope smiled at the sincere challenge in the other woman's dark eyes. "I wouldn't know of course."

Beside them Frankie slipped into his seat beside Nina. "How'd you get here so fast?"

"You made me burnt toast last night, a girl's gotta eat Frankie."

"Frankie please tell me that's not true." Angela looked distressed.

"It's not my fault the toaster isn't working."

"—I was just telling Maura about a case at the clinic, I think you'd find it very interesting Jane." Hope nodded when the commotion on the other end of the table died down and everyone began to eat.

Jane was already forking up the spaghetti on her plate. "Oh yeah?" She asked. She liked Hope, she did, but there was a protective part of her that vowed to keep an eye on her for Maura's sake. The other woman could be so intrusive sometimes and Maura though happy with the way the relationship was shared once that she still felt hurt by what had transpired between them years back.

Angela sitting down beside her broke Jane's attention from the conversation of appendectomies gone wrong. "Hey Ma." Jane greeted fondly.

"I haven't seen you in a week you know." She affectionally touched her face in that way Italian mothers did, part caress, part squeeze.

"Only a week?" She thought aloud. "Hm let's see and I haven't passed out yet? I think it's official, you can let go now."

Angela rolled her eyes. "If you only knew the things I did for you."

Jane chuckled as she chewed. "The stretch marks?"

"And?"

Jane gave her a small smile. "Thanks for watching those high schoolers today for me. Cavanaugh filled me in this morning. I owe you."

"You know the last time we had those kids follow us around Jane left them at booking for hours." Frankie laughed.

Korsak shook his head. "Remind me again the important lesson you were trying to teach them?"

Jane shrugged. "Hey I'm sure once they saw how long the process took they won't want to see it again." She nodded proudly before looking over at Maura. "What is it? Aversion therapy?"

"Hardly." The ME smiled.

"More like torture." Frankie grinned before reaching for the bowl of parm in the middle of the table. "But hey, none of them came back."

"We all have our methods."

##

Maura smiled when she finally found Jane on the second floor in the hall leaning over George Herman's tank filling him in on her current case.

"…So we think that's probably what happened…." She looked up when she heard the soft padded steps of someone round the small corner. "Hey. Listen I love my mother, but she did drop Tommy once, we sure she's y'know… Not gonna leave this thing open while she's busy sexting Ron?" She greeted when she realized who it was.

Maura laughed. "I've left strict instructions for his care, he'll be fine." Jane looked back into the tank "How is your knee?" Her limp was subtle, but enough for the other doctor in the room to ask if she had seen someone for it.

Jane focused her attention forward as she gingerly put the top back on the tank and began to adjust the heat setting to the lightbulb inside. "Hurts a little but I'm okay." She commented simply.

Maura pressed her lips together, normally she'd state a fact about strenuous activity after major bruising but everything about Jane's body language told the blonde it wouldn't be helpful. "I'm worried it won't heal properly." She nodded at herself mentally when Jane looked up from what she was doing.

The detective looked to be processing the information. "I'm at the desk for the rest of the night." She looked back to the tank lid. "I'll put some of that stuff they gave me on it." Maura blinked. That was it? Was stating she were concerned really all she had to do? Jane finished her work and stood upright. "They ready to go down there?"

The ME took a step over to her as Jane wiped her palms in her slacks. "Yes, it appears the next time I see you will be in New York, have you saved all of the travel itinerary?"

Jane nodded. "Yeah."

"Good."

"You'll call me when you land and are at the hotel right?" The blonde nodded. "What's the first thing you're going to do when you get in?"

Maura smiled at the unexpected question. "Take an incredibly long bubble bath." She moaned.

"Call me for that too." Jane nodded seriously and the two chuckled softly while trying to pretend they weren't flirting.

"Jane!" Frankie hollered from downstairs. "Let's go!"

Jane motioned toward the stairs. "That's me." Maura nodded and was about to step aside when Jane took a hesitating step toward her into her personal space. Maura tilted her head wondering just what Jane was thinking because her intensions were as obvious as day.

"Would you like to kiss me?" She whispered.

Jane nodded. "Not just once." The detective admitted earnestly. They both took another step closer and Maura was first to reach her hands out and touch Jane's arms. Jane looked down at her hands before looking back up at her face. "That's okay?" Her tone was hushed as well.

"You don't have to ask, Jane."

Jane slipped her arms around Maura's waist and they both inhaled deeply at the same time. "No?"

"No."

Jane leaned in then and placed a small kiss on her lips before pulling away just enough to look at her best friend. God she was really liking this kissing Maura thing. It made her feel… Everything, the clothes on her skin, the softness of her lips, the warmth of their bodies which were now pressed close to the others. Physically it wasn't something she could handle for a long period of time and yet all she wanted was more.

Blushing at Jane's obvious staring Maura touched her friend's face right above her cheekbone. It was decidedly her favorite spot and on a structural level the most striking skeletal feature on the other woman's face. "What?" She breathed while admiring the firmness of bone coupled with the smoothness of skin under the pad of her thumb.

Jane chuckled at herself, her ears burning with embarrassment for being caught in a thought. "Just realized that tomorrow is tomorrow."

"Are you ready?"

"Mhm." She nodded once. "Sorry about this last week." She had been cranky for the majority of it and somewhat distant with the case maintaining all her time. it made her feel sorry; sorry because maybe they'd have more moments like the one on the couch, sorry because she wasn't sure Maura's expectations were being met, partially because she wasn't sure of what her expectations were. Whatever this was they had she knew she hadn't done her best these past days.

Maura's face grew unreadable for a long moment. "I'm sorry too." She decided.

The detective's brows furrowed. "What? What are you sorry for?"

Maura shrugged before moving her thumb to Jane's jaw to allow the other woman the ability to speak without restriction. "You apologized."

"That doesn't mean you have to."

"Well I'm not quite sure what your apology is for so perhaps there was something I had done as well that I'm not aware of."

Jane narrowed her eyes at the shorter woman. "I don't know if that's how it goes, Maura."

"We haven't really put much weight in convention, Jane."

Jane finally laughed a little. "No, I guess not."

"Maybe you need more time to think about what you've done so you can explain it to me."

"Maybe." Downstairs they could hear Korsak thanking Angela for dinner once again, their voices were louder if somehow closer to the bottom of the stairs. "I better go." There was another kiss, firmer and longer in life than the first, and then a small hug goodbye.

"Bye." Maura mouthed when Jane waved as she began to descend the stairs. Her conversation with Angela today suddenly coming to mind.

It made her feel uncomfortable not telling Angela the truth about her feelings for her daughter, it made her feel even more uncomfortable to think of Jane and Cameron Davies on some sort of romantic date endorsed fully by the Rizzoli matriarch.

Had they kissed? Had they ever shared a couch? Did it matter now?

Deciding that returning right away to the company downstairs wasn't the best idea Maura walked over to George Herman's tank and watched her little friend meander about.

"Do you know?" Jane seemed to enjoy talking to him about a lot of different things. Perhaps Davies had come up.

If he had known anything George didn't say, and that's exactly when Maura decided to ease up on the wine for the evening.

Perhaps she'd ask Jane about it tomorrow night.

AN: I'm not gone! I just had an incredibly busy end of year irl and needed to prioritize some things. Hope you all had a lovely holiday season. Welcome back, and as always review and let me know what you think!

KathleenDee