Jane exhaled in annoyance as she was woken by a different sound, something exotic and out of place, something… birdlike. "Maura…" She mumbled into the other woman's bicep as the intoxication of sleep slipped through her fingers. The bird continued, chirping innocently at first and alone, and then a second, or a third. Jane groaned softly and burrowed herself as close to the point in between the mattress and the ME's arm as humanly possible. "Mauraaaa…" She tried again. "Mauraaaaaa."

Maura's eyes fluttered open quickly. "Jane." She breathed as her brain tried to address all the stimuli it was presented all at once. She took a second to take in a deep breath before letting up a soft smile and moving her arm from around Jane's back. "Yes?"

Jane looked up at her from under her pillow with the softest most annoyed brown eyes she had ever seen, if she hadn't just woken up she would have laughed.

The detective jabbed an arm to the room from under a mass of thick black curls. "Do something before we're surrounded!"

Maura chuckled warmly and turned toward her nightstand to address the alarm. "It's an alarm, Jane."

Happy to have her first moment of silence for the day the detective replaced her head with her arm under the cloud like pillow that smelt entirely of her best friend and closed her eyes again. "Well it worked, I'm alarmed." She popped her eyes open when she got no response. The room was still cast a pale blue with the morning creeping in only from the farthest corners of Maura's draped French windows. Dr. Maura Isles was leaned over the side of the bed reading something on her cell phone. She was about to tug the other woman's ponytail to get her to return to her previous position but was stopped by the ME rolling over onto her back with her phone.

"We were awoken by the feral Platycercus eximius." She shared cutely while showing her the screen. Jane's expression softened when the blonde's eyes met hers. "They are native to southeast of the Australian continent and to Tasmania."

Jane scooted a little closer to get a better look. "those little things make all that noise?"

"Yes." Maura responded simply before going back to read the facts presented to her.

Jane propped her pillow slightly on the ME's shoulder before laying on it and closing her eyes. "S'very cool Maura." She pulled the slightly weighted blankets back up around her and yawned.

Maura was careful to manage her tone with Jane's head so close to hers. "I would not get comfortable. We have to begin the day." She warned softly as she continued to read about one of the rarest members of the parakeet family. She smiled a little to herself when Jane said nothing. "Jane."

"I'm sleeping."

"You're also speaking." Maura rested her phone down and tried her best to look at the other woman perched on her left shoulder without disturbing her. The detective had been particularly affectionate last night after they spoke. Knowing Jane as well as she did she knew that it was in order to ensure she understood her place in her life, and how important "their thing" was for her just the same. All the little liberties did make her feel special, but Maura's curiosity now drew inward. How would she respond seeing Agent Davies today? Was it just as easy as talking it out and holding each other until you fell asleep? She doubted it, but she sure did feel a lot closer to Jane's heart, and that Maura never tired of. "Was I the large utensil last night?" She asked, a smile rippled across her cheeks when she felt her best friend snort against her and then sigh.

"It's called being the big spoon, Maura…." There was a long pause. "and yes, you were." Maura's arms were not heavy like Davies or Casey's, they weren't scratchy like Dean's either. They were strong, and soft all at the same time, and they made purpose with their work of keeping her close just as Maura herself did with most everything she did.

"Why is it called that?" The doctor wondered.

"Because…." Jane actually wasn't sure herself. The cells that navigated retrieving information from her memory protested as they sluggishly began searching for explanation. "…Because the little spoon fits next to the big ones in the drawer."

Maura contemplated this reasoning before shifting a little more to look at her best friend's face. Jane popped an eye open. "I do not organize my silverware by size." There was a silence. "Functionality is more practical…" Maura waited patiently as Jane blinked a few times and squinted up at her. "What is the matter?"

"Your brain really just turns on just like this in the morning, every morning?"

Maura's lips twitched with amusement. "Oh, am I inconveniencing you?"

"Yes."

"May I have my shoulder back?"

"No."

##

"I've been turning it over in my head all night." Frankie handed her an empty coffee cup before plucking his own and moving toward the end of the line of thermoses for the Columbian Roast he liked. "Nina hasn't even gone to the bathroom."

Jane began filling her coffee cup beside him. The regular old Division One Café House Blend would do just fine today. "I really hope she still wants to marry you after you've gone around telling everyone about her bathroom routine."

Frankie chuckled. "I'm not telling anyone, I'm telling you."

"Next you're going to tell me she's on her period?"

"What?" Frankie looked at his sister oddly, as if realizing her female for the first time. "No, c'mon."

Jane rolled her eyes good naturedly as she began adding sugar to her coffee. "So she find anything?"

"She said she's close. Last night she was able to access all freight companies attached to that shipping yard, something about a weak point in the state firewall."

"I'm guessing we will find some illegitimate businesses."

"Mob."

"Yeah but like I said this doesn't feel like a mob thing, plus Davies reached out to their criminal enterprise task force and got nothing back."

Frankie put the cap on his coffee. "So we're gonna wanna highlight independent ownership of delivery crates." He nodded to himself.

"Mhm." Jane took a sip of her coffee before deciding a dash more sugar was necessary. "I didn't see her upstairs, where is Nina?"

"She's working in Maura's office today."

Jane chuckled. "Aw."

"I know." Frankie looked as amused. "Should I be jealous?"

"Probably." She took another sip of her coffee and nodded. This was going to get her through lunch. "When she's got something let me know?"

"Where are you headed?" They began walking toward the elevators.

Jane motioned in front of them. "I'm gonna head to the docks again. Sit on it till Korsak shows up and I can go pick up Ma for this appointment." She was going to head upstairs to grab her walkie talkie and her blazer first.

"That's today huh?"

Jane glanced at him. "Yeah…"

"Yeah." Frankie jabbed the button at the elevator for them. "I'm glad we all talked Sunday." He finally said and Jane was about to agree when she paused and saw he had more to say. "This whole thing with Pop, it's really been stressing you out huh?"

"I mean, yeah…" She shrugged. "How could you tell?" she joked feeling an odd sense of role reversal as they entered the empty elevator.

"Well I'm your brother." He waited until the doors closed before leaning against the railing behind them. "I've been thinking a lot about our parents, and we're pretty much a little bit of them right?" Jane nodded wondering where this was going. She was carful not to step on it though, Frankie seldom spoke this way unless he felt he had to. "I know you like it this way but, you don't gotta do everything on your own."

She gave him a soft look. "Yeah, I know that, Frankie."

"and I love you." He nodded.

"I love you too."

"Good." He stood a little taller as the elevator doors slid open to the homicide units' floor. "Let me know how it goes?"

Jane nodded as she exited the lift together. "I'll call you after." She promised.

##

Nina exhaled and bit her lip. "Damnit, another stall…"

Maura looked up from her spreadsheet at the other woman typing away at her laptop furiously. She had found the raven-haired woman in the Café this morning in a very similar position; head buried into her work, ignorant of the world around her. Her desk had been consolidated once again in BRIC for the umpteenth time by the team of FBI investigators visiting them, and though they graciously offered her a seat elsewhere in the office near Davies, Nina Holiday could not focus with the constant hustle and bustle of new comers. She also needed the ability to work without detection on the same exact case, one couldn't exactly pull that off when you shared a six-foot workspace with the lead investigator. He asked too many questions and smelt way too nice for her to focus. Maura had laughed when she explained all of this to her at the café before graciously offering to have her join her in her office for the day. She had several autopsies on the books so she would not be present for most of the day so the Chicago native could work in peace and quiet. As tempting as it sounded Nina was hesitant. She knew the ME liked her own space and didn't want to intrude but Maura had insisted so excitedly how could she say no?

So here they were, post lunch clicking away at their laptops in a comfortable silence. That was until the server Nina was using to back trace some data kicked her out right when she was getting somewhere. With a sigh she started the process again, no state website was going to kick her out from remote access, that was such amateur hour.

Maura watched her a moment simply admiring the other woman's obvious passion for her work. "When I am experiencing mental fatigue at this hour I usually make a cup of tea." She offered after witnessing another failed attempt.

Nina looked up from her work and smiled guiltily. "I'm so done with this computer." She reclined into Maura's sofa. "Let's skip the tea and set it on fire."

Maura's expression changed briefly before turning amused. "You're joking."

Nina laughed and rested the laptop on the sofa beside her. "Mostly."

With that the ME stood. "Green or oolong?"

"Green."

"Excellent choice." She made her way over to her tiny espresso machine and began steaming some water from a filtered bottle before bending to pull out a small wooden case with assorted loose-leaf tea bags in it. "I purchased these at a tea parlor in Paris when I was there last." She shared.

Nina relaxed further into the couch. "Eventually I'll have to leave this magical place." She joked and Maura laughed as she worked to set up two cups for them. "I mean I understand needing all the help you can get but I don't see how that many investigators is helping." She reached a hand to her earlobe and tugged gently in thought. "They're just sapping the already probabilistically slow bandwidth PBD has."

"From what I understand it seems like they lost one of their own, the young recruit, our latest victim."

Nina nodded. If something happened to one of them she'd give a damn about desk space, still none of it seemed organized at all. "I just hope we can get something from these manifests."

"What are you looking for specifically?" Maura turned and leaned gently against her counter.

"Well." Nina began motioning to her computer. "Right now I want to see who is moving things and out of that port who isn't connected to any supercorp shipping distributor. Smaller ties to big business likely mean bigger ties to organized crime."

"I'm sure you'll find that there."

"It's producing a rather large list, but if we can just isolate a few eggs who have nothing to do with crime, maybe privately owned mom and pops that have more personal ties to the docks than professional, then our theory is that we can connect them to Khury or the union rep somehow."

"And you're certain this will yield something?" She crossed her arms. It seemed like an awful lot of work for something that might not even produce results. She never understood this part of Jane's work. Where was the control group? How could they get so lucky every time?

"Your girl has a hunch, and she's usually never wrong." Nina shrugged. "I have to agree with her though on this one. If these women weren't murdered where they were found in the parks we need to find out who owns the place where they are getting murdered."

"Well." Maura nodded and motioned to the tea now steeping. "Hopefully this helps your pursuit."

"Thanks." She stood and stretched before coming over to where Maura stood to look at the tea.

The ME watched her grow thoughtful. "Is something the matter, Nina?"

She gave her a friendly smile and then sighed. "I'm worried about Frankie and I'm wondering if it's too early in the day to ask him if he's eaten anything." She chuckled at herself. "I'm sure he's thinking the exact same about me, we didn't really sleep last night." Maura smiled softly at the confession. As a couple the two just seemed head over heels for the other in their own very special way. She imagined they laughed often and rarely disagreed. It was hard not to want to smile when then two fussed over the other and even harder to imagine a time when they were at odds. "We've been kind of obsessed with this case." She reached for her cup of tea when Maura handed it to her. "Then I know he's been worried about his father— the other day I asked him what color tux he wanted to wear and he responded that he would take the car in on Monday to get the oil changed." Maura laughed. "What color is that, Maura?"

Maura shook her head. "Well while I do agree that sleep is critical for brain function and performance I think he may be adapting some of Jane's poor habits."

"Yeah, selective hearing being one of them."

Maura smiled. "You should text him. It's half past one."

Nina shook her head and waved her off. "Let him work."

The ME tilted her head in curiosity. "Aren't you concerned?"

"Yeah but we are both always concerned about each other. It comes with the job you know? Besides it is Taco Tuesday at Maribel's, Frankie never misses it." She motioned to the tea in her hands. "This is really good."

Maura nodded albeit a little distractedly. "It is one of my favorites."

They chatted for a few more minutes before deciding to get back to work. An hour after that Maura was surprised to see a call from Tasha coming through on her phone. Without hesitation she picked it up Nina gave her the thumbs up to continue her call while she worked. "Tasha, what a surprise."

"Hey Maura." Tasha closed her dorm room door behind her and fell onto her bed with an exhausted sigh. "Okay seriously I may need to borrow that book you mentioned on intercellular biology."

Maura pulled aside a mauve colored sticky pad and scribbled a reminder to set the book aside for postage as she smiled. "You've only one more semester to go." She soothed.

"I think I might die before that." The young adult groaned.

"Though that very well may be true the odds are not probable." Tasha grumbled something about how the verdict was still out on what constitutes as a persistent vegetative state. "What section is giving you trouble most?" She readied her pen to jot down the subject to see if she had any additional literature in her study that might assist.

"Boys."

Maura blinked and sat up a little straighter. "Oh…. Well…" She glanced at Nina who was far busy into her work to be paying any attention.

"It's kinda also why I called…."

"Okay. I have some time now if you'd like to speak about this."

Tasha grew self-conscious. "I can't tell my foster mom about… well." She really really rather not be having this conversation, with anyone, at all, ever, but there was just so little information at her disposal with her insurance since she was a transfer student and Maura was an MD.

"Well…." Maura nodded to herself. "Tell me what is going on."

"I want to get on birth control."

Maura put a hand to her chest in relief. "That's all?"

"Yeah… wait, what did you think I was going to say?"

The ME shook her head and let out a small laugh. "Nothing, I was unsure of where you were going with this."

"Maura please don't make this weird."

The ME smiled. "I won't, I won't."

"…So my GYN is in Boston and…"

"Would you like a referral?"

"I… I don't know why but I'm a little unsure about going to anyone but Dr. Leroy… after I got shot she's been my only doctor." Dr. Leroy specialized in a number of areas, she was actually Maura's personal physician and someone she immediately thought of for Tasha after the incident years back.

Maura caught on and nodded slowly. "Well.." She scribbled something else on her notepad. "If you would like to come down for a weekend you are more than welcome to stay with me."

"Mrs. Clara will know something's up for sure if I don't visit her." Clara was the nurse who took Tasha in. "I don't want to lie."

"As a medical professional I'm sure she would understand."

"You think so?"

"I do."

She sighed. "Alright…yeah, fine." Maura reassured her that everything would be alright before reiterated the importance of honesty. Tasha was slow to agree but then promised to call Clara right after they hung up. Maura promised to overnight the girl the textbook tomorrow before ending the call. She wanted to ask more questions about the sudden decision to go on birth control but decided she would save that for a later call. Perhaps when she shipped the book tonight she would call her back and get her full thought process. With Tasha she had learned that immediate interrogation only stopped her from opening up and despite the larger concern of being sexually active Maura wondered if she had been avoiding medical care in New York altogether because of her fears from waking up alone in the hospital after she lost all that blood all those years back.

.

##

"It's cold out here." Angela wavered between flat out ordering her daughter to come and wait inside and just letting her be. The majority of the car ride over was had in silence and she didn't want to push. "Come inside and wait?"

Jane looked at her mother through the passenger side window that was rolled down. "Alright." She had only agreed because she was sitting in her car at the docks for a better part of the day watching foot traffic. She grabbed her cell phone from the center console and rolled the windows up before hopping out. The evening was uncharacteristically warm and humid, the sky a dull grey pierced by the bright yet silent strobe lights of an ambulance van sitting outside the triage bay of McGregor Presbyterian Hospital near the border of Southie and Revere. It was where she and her brothers were born, and where she got stitches for the first time. It was also understaffed and hardly the pinnacle of medical advancement. It's nickname as "Boston's Bellevue" said it all. Jane wondered as she followed her mother into the main lobby if her father had chosen this place out of familiarity or because he had no money.

At the main desk the receptionist behind the counter directed them to the fourth floor Oncology ward. Where they checked in to see if Frank had arrived yet. When another receptionist (as equally as bored as the first) said he hadn't the mother and daughter duo found a corner of the waiting room to sit down and wait.

It wasn't until Jane sat down and looked around that she truly wondered what the hell she was doing here. A fear as tiny as an electron spun its way down the back of her neck and she suddenly grew uncharacteristically nervous. "Pop said he'd meet you here, Ma?" She tried to remain calm.

Angela nodded and brought her cell phone out of her large brown handbag on her lap. "He said he would be here."

"And we're believing him?" The earned her a look to which Jane slouched back in her chair a little and looked at her legs. "Sorry." She added after a moment of thought.

Angela looked at her little girl and attempted a smile while patting her leg affectionately. "It's okay kiddo."

Jane looked over at that. Her mother had not called her "kiddo" in over two decades, maybe she could sense how nervous she was becoming. "Did you talk to him today?"

"This morning."

"He know I'm here?" Angela shook her head no.

"Should I have said something?"

"No."

"Well alright then."

"I'm here for you." Jane sat up some. "We all are."

"I know sweetheart. It's not lost on me." She touched her daughter's arm and sighed. She wondered how long that scene would last for them. Though she appreciated the support there was a part of her that wished they had been there for their father too, if only to soften the blow of what she suspected was almost sure to come. "You three are so big now, it's not like I can hide these things." She looked into her daughter's eyes. Frank's eyes and sighed again. "I hate waiting." She motioned to the room and looked back to her. "Where is he?"

Jane huffed. "I don't know." She hated waiting too.

"We didn't do a lot of things right." Jane looked at her mother as she started to speak. "For ourselves, for each other, but we got three things down perfect." She smiled at her daughter briefly before returning to her thought. "You three can't pretend it's all for me. It needs to be about you too."

Jane kept her gaze forward with her hands on her knees to settle her thoughts. "I don't know…" She responded honestly when none of them made sense. "So much has happened, Ma." She looked at her. "Too much I think." She swallowed a little. Jane was nervous of what her mother thought of her decision. She always would be. Angela viewed her as this little girl, the same one who couldn't sleep without her dinosaur night light, or who drove her cars on the kitchen floor at the older woman's feet while she cooked. Jane was an adult now though, and she could see her mother making concessions for what that could mean and it felt disorienting. She had come to terms with her work, but had she come to terms with what it made her too? Slightly paranoid and irritable, insanely protective over the people she could lose any day, insanely critical of the ones who had wronged her or anyone on that small list…

Her father had hurt everyone she cared about, never apologized for it, and continued to ride on the heavy token of fathering her. Jane had had enough, and yet, there was a part of her that would always love him for who he was, and that made her sad. Not because he could die, but because that person had already died, years before when he left their family and she was only really coming to terms with it right now, because she had to.

Angela put a supportive hand on her daughter's leg when she noticed her features darken some. When she were young it meant she was going to cry soon, as she grew older the mother of three had come to learn it as a marker of deep emotion that she was deciding not to share. "I can't know what this is all like for you Janie or your brothers, I know how we imagined it, your father and I, but that doesn't always work out." She squeezed her leg again. "I'm glad you're here though."

Jane looked at her mother and sighed lightly. "Me too." She admitted.

"Are you going to tell me what happened to your lip?" Angela asked hoping to change the subject now that she was able to get her daughter out of her thoughts.

Jane instinctively touched the raised skin and frowned. Maura had reminded her to make her dental appointment today and she had forgotten again. The detective watched her mother raise a brow softly at her hesitance. "Nothing I just cut it. It's nothing, Ma." She motioned to her stitches. "How are those?"

Angela easily moved on as she touched her brow where the stitches lay. Jane always had a new bump. "I was thinking they made me look pretty mysterious."

The detective laughed suddenly. "What? The Mysterious bag lady?"

Angela swatted her shoulder lightly. "You watch your mouth."

Jane chuckled. "Alright alright."

Angela sat back in her seat and sighed. "Bag lady." She shook her head. "You know I was cool once."

"Ma when was that?" Jane asked seriously.

"A while ago."

"Did we have electricity?" Angela shot her a look and Jane sunk down in her seat humorously at it.

"We did." She nodded proudly and Jane chuckled.

When Frank finally arrived, he paused when he noticed his daughter sitting beside Angela. When they met eyes she stood protectively over the other woman and waited for him to approach them before speaking. Angela however beat her to the punch when she stood beside her. "You're late."

Frank was still looking at Jane as he responded. "The bus was running local, what do you want me to do Ange?"

"You could be doing this alone you know." Jane pointed out. Was he really copping an attitude?

"I'm glad you came with your mother." He examined her. "It's good to see you both." He tried to show that he caught himself.

Jane crossed her arms. She wished she could say the same. Her father looked like he had been taken to cleaners twice. The shirt he was wearing looked one size too big, and his normally round brown eyes seemed sunken in a few inches. It made Jane's stomach a little sick if she were honest. She didn't need a doctor to tell them something was wrong, she could see it in his face.

Angela motioned to the front desk receptionist and years of marriage and three children told Frank that meant she were growing impatient. With a nod they left Jane and went to check in. The detective sat back down and watched them check in before getting ushered away. She sighed to herself as she thought about what her mother had said to her before he arrived. Some time passed, Jane wasn't exactly sure how much, but all of her running thoughts exhausted her, and she found herself missing familiar things so she reached into her pocket and sent a quick text to her brothers to update them on the trip before dialing Maura's line. The ME answered on the second ring. "Hey, it's me."

"You've got impeccable timing, I was just thinking about you, Jane." Maura put her briefcase down on the ground of her living room. She had just made it home from a quick trip to the market to grab George Herman some fresh greens. "How are you?"

"I'm okay, just waiting here for them…" She stretched out her leg some and looked around the waiting room. "He doesn't look good, Maura." She stood suddenly feeling stifled by the room stuffiness and all the apologetic looks the woman a few chairs away from her kept sending her.

Maura pursed her lips together as she steadied her hand against the counter. "Wait for the information." She soothed.

"Well how long does this stuff take?" She began to pace near the elevators.

"Well, It depends on how far along he is in testing, his physician." She frowned when she did not say anything. "Jane?"

The detective felt her chest erupt with heat as she cleared her throat quickly. "I'm here." She shook her head willing the tears to stay put. What the hell was happening to her? How could she feel so enraged yet so sad all at the same time? "We've already been here…half an hour." She read her wristwatch.

"Perhaps some time more."

"Yeah, okay."

Maura bit her lip softly. "I'm here as well." She reminded quietly as if unsure if it were what the other woman needed to hear. "We can talk about it if you like, or we can talk about something else."

Jane sighed and nodded to herself. "I missed you today." She let herself smile a little at their morning waking up together. She leaned fully against a wall and ran a hand through her long curly hair when she realized how much the other woman anchored her.

Maura blushed alone in her kitchen. "I've missed you." She leaned fully against her counter. "The results from the enzyme inhibitor test came back today."

"This your doorknob case?"

"Yes, it turns out there were particulates associated with lead-based paint found on a part of the metal component we uncovered in his stomach."

"So he swallowed a doorknob for dinner and then licked the door itself for dessert?" Jane never thought she'd finish a sentence like that but who even knew anymore. Maura had been attracting some very high-profile cases due to their track record and her new lab upgrades.

The blonde smiled in amusement. "Doubtful."

"How else did he ingest that stuff, Muara?" Jane laughed.

"Well to be sure I have to run a few more tests."

A half an hour later Jane returned to the waiting room with three water bottles to find her mother sitting looking off into nothingness with her chin resting on her knuckle.

"I got you a water." Jane sat beside her mother.

"Where were you?"

Jane handed her mother bottle. "Talking to Maura." She opened her water bottle and took a few healthy gulps before watching her mother drink some of hers. "So?"

"More tests."

Jane nodded. "More tests."

As the evening turned into night they learned that the cancer had indeed returned and with a vengeance it seemed. Frank's doctor gave him an optimistic six months without surgery to remove the troubled prostate and chemotherapy to halt it from spreading throughout the body, and with it his chances of remission rose to forty percent.

How they got forty percent instead of thirty-nine percent or forty-one percent was the only detail Jane could really fix her mind to scrutinizing as she pulled her car up to Maura's home late that night. The express and local bus services had cut off early, so for forty uncomfortable minutes she drove her father to the facility across town where he was now staying in silence while he and her mother fell into a line of what could only be described as post-marital bickering over a subject neither knew anything about.

She wondered why it had taken so long for her to notice just how incompatible they truly were.

"I'll make you some chocolate milk."

Jane exhaled softly. "I'm not ten, Ma." She looked over at her tiredly. "That's not gonna fix this."

"I need something to do."

Maura's home was completely dark, proof enough that the ME had long since retied for the night. The two were carful to tread quietly into the kitchen where Angela stirred up two glasses of chocolate milk and much to the detective's amusement threw in a shot of Amoretto in both.

Angela pushed Jane's glass toward her the way a bartender might and watched as Jane took a few healthy gulps before wiping her mouth with the back of her palm.

"He cannot afford the full treatment."

Jane nodded once. She had gathered as much. "Rizzoli and Son's was to go to it and…" She shook her head and wiped invisible debris from her scarred palms. "Please tell me you know nothing about whatever this job is in New York?" She couldn't think of anyone desperate enough to hire an alcoholic ex-plumber with a bad prostate to do anything for them. Anything legal at least.

"I've asked, he won't tell me anything about it, honey."

Jane took a few sips of her milk, barely able to appreciate the almondy spike now that her mind began running with thoughts. It really all made perfect sense now. His return with promises for the better. The drinking when it hadn't turned out as he planned… She kept on hearing him talk about "setting them up" and estate planning in her head. "That's probably a good thing."

Angela read her daughter's features and frowned deeply at what they suspected. She supposed though it could not be too far off base, Jane was after all a detective. "He can make his choices, and we can make ours." She reminded as she watched her polish off the rest of her milk before standing. She was done talking for the night that much was made clear.

Jane nudged the empty glass away from her and came around the small island to wrap her arms around her mother and kiss the side of her head before letting go "Night, Ma."

Angela offered her a tired smile. "Goodnight sweetheart."

Jane grabbed her car keys and hesitated a moment before glancing toward the stairs and then her mother. "Don't forget to lock up.' She grabbed her jacket off the back of the couch on her way out.

##

"So where do we go from here?" Frankie asked the next morning as the two neared the elevators again with their coffees. Jane was also cradling a small box of pastries in one hand.

She shook her head. "I don't think there is anything we can do. It's up to him if he wants to get treatment." The whole situation was messed up, and she had spent the better half of her night back in her own bed tossing and turning over it. All she could decide on really was that forty percent was still shit odds.

Frankie took in a deep breath. "How'd he look?"

"Horrible."

"What about, Ma?"

"Worse as the night went on."

"There's no way some unique plumbing license is worth enough to cover chemo." He motioned to her full hands. "You need a hand?"

Jane moved the pastry box away from him. "No, these are for Maura."

"What'd you do now?" Jane raised a brow sharply at him and Frankie put his hands up. "So how did Ma seem?"

"You asked that already, Frankie."

"Well what? You're not really answering."

Jane considered their mother. "I dunno… quiet." She wasn't sure what she expected her mother to respond to the news like. She just sat there and nodded while the doctor spoke, it alsmot seemed like she were indifferent but Jane knew that couldn't be true. "She tried to ask about this new offer of his in New York and I guess he's not even saying anything to her."

"Cause his kids are cops."

"That's my guess."

Frankie cursed under his breath. "You can't write this stuff." They exchanged looks. "…You want me to see if I can find anything about it in his email?" Frankie had helped their father years ago set up an email account to receive baseball league updates. He doubted he knew how to change the password.

"Yeah, do it." They nodded at each other nonverbally communicating that this stayed between the two of them. "I think she's working tonight."

"Who?"

"Ma."

He read her mind. "You wanna grab dinner there?"

"Yeah, I'll text Tommy. See if he's free." They both pressed opposite call buttons. "Nina find anything on those freight companies?" She needed to think about something else and once again she could not find parking because of the gaggle of black FBI sedans stationed around the perimeter of the building. It was time to close this case once and for all.

Their elevators opened for them at the same time and Frankie motioned with his coffee cup to his. "Come up to the admin break room when you're done. We're running a few backgrounds checks you might be interested in."

Jane nodded. "Alright. I'll see you soon." She promised as she stepped into her elevator and hit the lowest floor to make it to the morgue. This morning she swung by Maura's favorite bakery Rosetta's to pick up an assortment of sticky breakfast viennoiseries for the ME in thanks for well… Jane wasn't sure on that part yet, but she felt compelled to do it and never thought too much on these things before when they were just friends so she decided not to start now.

When she found her Maura was in her office slipping her lab coat over her blue scrubs. Jane gently knocked on the open doorframe and leaned against it while she waited for the blonde to notice her. Maura's smile was effortless when she did.

"She waits to be granted access?" Maura motioned her in. "Are you sure you are not combating acute nasopharyngitis? Shall I take your temperature?"

"You're already ruining it, Maura." Jane smirked softly as she came into the office and unceremoniously offered the ME the small pastry box. "I got these for you." Maura approached her excitedly when she noticed the bakery's iconic colored lettering etched on the side of the box.

"Pastries?" She took the box and peered inside curiously. "Mm, chausson aux pommes, pain au chocolat, brioche.." She hummed in perfect French.

Jane pushed aside the lid some to point out a large round wheel brushed golden brown and studded with raisins. "They had that raisin one too."

"Pain aux raisin."

Jane nodded proudly. "Mhm." She had learned over their trip that it was the ME's absolute favorite.

Maura looked up at the woman smiling. "To what do I owe this treat?"

She shifted cutely before shrugging. "No reason. I was passing by when I drove in and the line looked short…What?"

"Rosetta's is in the other direction, Jane." The detective looked as if she were tracking the route I her mind. "Have you done something?" The ME teased.

"Why does everyone think that?"

She held the box closer to herself as if suddenly worried that Jane would take it away. "So you have not?"

Jane smirked. "No I did not do anything Maura."

"Oh." Her cheeks colored at a thought and Jane raised a brow. "Several animals in nature give gifts to prospective partners…." She began to explain. Of course that was always in order to get them interested in mating with them. The ME wondered why her brain suddenly felt the need to articulate that to her inner self. "It was very thoughtful of you, thank you." She decided on finally.

Jane nodded at the affirmation. "You're welcome."

Maura's smile never left her eyes as the two shared a silent moment. "How are you feeling?" She finally decided it was safe to ask.

"I'm okay… A little distracted." She took a sip of her coffee.

"That's understandable." Maura tilted her head. "I would like you to tell me how it went." She couldn't help but be curious. Jane seemed… herself yet slightly off in a manner she couldn't detect.

The detective nodded. "I will I will. I promise." Aside from wanting the ME's medical opinion on this forty percent thing she also needed to find a way to process, Maura had always been a good sounding board.

"Okay then."

"How are you doin'?" You sleep okay?"

Maura's smile returned to her lips. "Yes, I slept well."

"Good."

"Angela and I had breakfast together this morning. She mentioned you dropped her off."

"Yeah I um… didn't want to wake you up or anything." Jane blushed a little at the look the ME gave her in way of response. "And I hadn't been home really since we got back… To my place I mean."

"As long as you know you are welcome."

Something in the way the way the blonde said it told the Jane they were speaking specifically about her bedroom, and her bed.

"Even when it's two in the morning and I'm coming from a crime scene and I smell like a deco?" She joked.

"Especially then." Maura chuckled.

"Ah okay, good to know." Jane found her cheeks hurting from all the smiling. She backed away from the other woman some, even though they were essentially in different parts of the office she knew distance was what she needed to fight the urge to kiss her goodbye. "We were all gong to hang out with Ma during her shift tonight at The Robber, you should come."

"That sounds lovely. I'm afraid I won't be able to."

Jane frowned. "Book Club?" Surely, she could convince her otherwise. Angela loved Maura.

"I am meeting with Dr. Leroy after work to—"

Jane came closer. "Something happened to your head?"

Maura softened at her serious features. "No, we were going to catch up originally and then when Tasha called inquiring about birth control—"

Jane raised a brow sharply. "—What? Birth control for what?"

Maura paused. "For herself." They stared at one another for a moment. "For sex, Jane."

"Maura I know what it's for!"

The ME could not decide if she wanted to laugh or ask her to calm down. "Well then why did you ask—"

"—Who is she having sex with that she needs birth control?" She shook her head. "When did she tell you about this? In New York? Why does she have to—"

Maura chuckled softly and finally closed the distance between them deciding that both were appropriate responses. She grabbed one of Jane's arms "Calm down."

Jane gave her an accusatory look. "You told her it was okay?"

"I do not understand why it wouldn't be, Jane."

"She's not old enough to—"

"She is twenty years old." Jane was giving her a doubtful look and Maura smiled some more. "I am surprised by your response to this. I thought you would have been more in favor of her having protected sex—"

"—I'm not in favor of her having sex at all, Maura." Jane took her arm back. "Let's get that clear."

"I see." She bit her lip to further hide her amusement. "Should I not have mentioned it?" She asked. "She called me in confidence, she was worried about speaking to her foster mother on it and since we share a primary care physician and OBGYN in Dr. Leroy I thought I could help."

"What's his name?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"His name, the boyfriend she said she wasn't serious about? What's his name?"

Maura paused as she tried to recollect. "Felix, no Randal…. I know that there was initially two boys fighting for her attentions…" Maura closed her mouth when she realized she had said too much again.

"Your fired, Maura." Jane turned to leave the room.

Maura laughed. "Jane wait!"

Jane whirled around. "She's just a kid!"

"To you." She nodded sympathetically as she closed the distance between them again. "But to the world she is a smart young woman, a beautiful one, who wants to make sure she is taking all precautions at being safe." She added slowly. Jane huffed. "After speaking with her again I support her decision." Jane sent her a helpless look. "It's okay."

"…I have to go."

Maura patted her arm.

##

"Aye." Frankie greeted after poking his head out the third-floor administrative break room door and looking to see if his sister had been followed. "Took you long enough."

Jane shook her head at him and pushed her way into the tiny room where Korsak and Nina had set up a makeshift operations center. Jane snorted with amusement at the small whiteboard in place of their usually clear evidence board upstairs. "Cavanagh approve this?" She asked Vince before taking another sip of her coffee.

"Approve what?"

"Well alright." She could play secret operations. It wasn't like Davies wasn't already onto them. Why not go all the way. "What do you got, Holiday?" She rested a hand on the back of Nina's plastic chair and looked around again. "Besides an angry administrative staff?" The room was tiny, more of a broom closet then a break room. There was a sink, a table, a chair, a microwave, and a mini fridge. That was it, no window, no second chair, no second table. She hoped they wrapped quick before the early heat of a Boston summer soon overlook them because no one would think to look for the leading homicide unit in a broom closet on the third floor.

"Joseph Macon." Nina announced as she pulled up the troubled young man's photo on her laptop.

Jane leaned down a little closer to get a better view. "Driver's license photo?" She pointed. Macon looked a little too young to be getting into such trouble. Either this was him ten years back or they were going about this case all wrong.

"Good eye" Nina nodded as she expanded the image. "White male, five feet tall seven inches, green eyes. He joined the longshoreman union in 2008 at the age of eighteen."

"Fresh outta high school." Jane nodded before looking over at her partner. "Young and impressionable."

"We've all been there." Korsak nodded.

"Yeah but something tells me he didn't grow up to be a homicide detective with eight dogs."

Korsak chuckled. "Sergeant Detective." He corrected.

"Excuse me." Jane nodded with a little grin before looking back at the image. "Alright Nina, who is this kid?"

"Hardly a teenager anymore." She typed away at the laptop to bring up business documents. "I took the liberty of checking out his taxes. Apparently, Mr. Macon is the sole proprietor of a freight intake company located right here in Boston."

Jane crossed her arms. "You don't say."

"He's got a record too, Janie." Frankie nodded as he came to stand beside them. Nina pulled up the criminal record. "All the way back to high school. Take a look at this." He pointed to a line.

" Breaking and entering, vandalism…" Jane squinted to read the line Frankie was pointing to. "You're kidding, kidnapping? At seventeen? Can he be our unsub?" She asked sarcastically.

"Not if Dr. Isles initial conclusion on the attacks on Hanover are correct." Korsak stepped in. "But I think he may be our Alpha." He had been reading up on pack mentality in old criminal cases dating back to the war and the more he read the more he was sure this unsub wasn't working alone.

Jane nodded. "Why don't we go pay him a visit? We can say we were just following up on his…. I dunoo just pick one." She motioned a hand to his rap sheet.

Vince shook his head firmly. "No. We can't move on this until we have the Feds with us. As much as you know it pains me to say It is their case, Rizzoli."

"C'mon—" She began to protest.

"Not an inch." He put up a finger in warning. "First let's put him at the scene of one of these crimes, then let's observe him. If he's going about a normal life with all this in the news about him he's more dangerous than we thought or he isn't our guy." Jane looked disappointed but agreed with him. "We need more evidence."

Frankie shook his head. "We need that vehicle…"

"I'm still on the search." Nina motioned to them. "But ya'll are going to have to give me a little more personal space."

The three detectives noticed how the hovered over the tiny monitor and over Nina entirely before standing up right and backing away in a chorus of apologies.

Vince motioned to Jane. "Let's go drive by his last known and take a look at the area." Jane nodded.

"I'll go see what the county clerk has on these closed cases of his. Maybe we can link together some known associates that have been released." Frankie nodded.

"Good thinking." Jane capped a hand on his shoulder supportively. She couldn't help but suddenly feel giddy. "You know it's like you work here or something."

"Shut up." He chuckled as he heaved her arm off his shoulder.

##

Angela smiled widely at her three children plopping down at the empty spaces of the bar later that night. She had spent a large part of her day worried about herself, and her own mortality. Sitting in that waiting room with Jane and speaking with Frank's doctors scared her about the future, all she could do to keep her thoughts in check was to work, the very last thing she expected on a random Wednesday night was her three children taking up the bar.

"What are you kids doing here?"

"We came to drink and eat for free, what does it look like we're doing here?" Frankie smirked as he loosened the tie around his neck a little.

"We came to keep you company that's what." Tommy nodded.

"Yeah." Jane smiled knowingly at her mother.

Angela shook her head and smiled. "I was thinking about you kids all day." She quickly came around the bar to kiss them and squeeze their faces. They all squirmed in varying degrees of discomfort. "You three planned this?" She looked between them; they were all dressed as if they had come straight from work. She was touched.

"Yeah, we're hungry." Tommy nodded. Frankie jabbed him in the arm. "I mean we love you." He corrected before shooting his brother a glare.

"We couldn't wait till Sunday." Jane explained far more eloquently than Tommy.

Frankie nodded. "Yeah, what Janie said."

Angela smiled at them adoringly. "I was really missing my family today."

"We've got your back, Ma." Tommy nodded while still rubbing his arm.

The matriarch looked around then. "Where is Maura?"

Jane didn't know why she felt a little surprised by the question but she found herself not knowing what to say. "She's uh, at a doctor thing."

"An appointment?" Tommy asked suddenly concerned. "For her head?"

Jane shook her head. "No, no. Nothing like that." Everyone collectively looked relived. "She would have wanted to be here." Jane reassured her mother.

Angela nodded in understanding before putting her hands on her hips. "You three will just have to do then, huh?" Frankie and Jane laughed at that. It seemed to fly right over Tommy's head. "What can I get you guys?"

"Just a beer, Ma." Jane nodded and paused when the woman gave her the once over. "What?"

"You won't have anything to eat? You're too thin, Jane."

Jane looked at her brothers and then back at her mother. "…Two beers?"

She made them all warm pita's filled with sausage and peppers. Jane and Frankie got their beer and Tommy a flavored club soda. In between the hollering over the basketball game on the monitors above, the bickering, and the teasing Angela could not help but feel like they were back in their old house and the three were teenagers again. Despite the general odor of the home and the massive grocery bills those were times she looked on to with great fondness. Rizzoli and Son's had picked up a lot of work, so ironically Frank was never home for dinner. Most school nights it was the four of them around the table like they were now, laughing and telling stories, sometimes fighting, always over the last potion of whatever it was she had made that night. Tonight it seemed the pita was a hit because when Tommy wasn't looking Jane stole a pepper off his plate but accidentally knocked over Frankie's water glass in the retreat which of course started an all out war. She had to threaten them all with being cut off for life if they did not settle down, back then it was no dessert.

She was happy to do it though. Who ever knew how much time any of them had left?

Jane pointed at the television monitor ahead of them firmly. "Look! Look right there, no power behind all that height, why is he tall if he can't even put a ball in a net?" She was really missing baseball season. Watching basketball was almost stressful with how bad Boston was this year.

Tommy laughed. "Janie Janie Janie, he's got what they call in the biz a defensive frame."

Frankie was sitting back on his stool between the two of them with his arms crossed to his chest and a big grin in place. "Don't listen to him, Janie, he's a Laker's fan."

Jane laughed and took a sip of her beer. "Defense my ass." She put her drink down and noticed her phone beside her begin to ring. It was Maura. "Hey! You're missing basketball." She answered happily.

It made Maura smile as she drove. "Am I?"

"Mhm." Jane nodded at her brothers who nodded back as she got off her stool and made her way around the side of the bar toward a quieter area near the back office and stock room. "What's up, everything okay?"

"I wanted to see if you all were still there, I've just finished with Dr. Leroy."

"Yeah we're still here. Come. Korsak and Kiki are on their way and Nina is finishing up at BPD."

Maura arrived just as Kiki and Nina were greeting one another at the door. Jane was too enthralled in the Celtics game to noticed until she heard Nina's familiar voice beside her. She smiled at the way she wrapped her arms around her brother's shoulders from behind and ordered him to get her the strongest margarita the house could make.

"I do not want to look at another computer screen for at least eight hours." She clarified before letting her arms fall to her sides. She noticed the monitor where everyone's attention was pulled. "Ooh go Bulls."

Tommy put his soda down and shook his head at her brother. "It's never going to work out."

Jane smirked and nodded at her words. "Cut your losses."

Frankie laughed and looked over his shoulder at his fiancé. "I'm sorry guys, I tried."

Nina smiled back at him the way one might if they had fallen deeply in love with you but hated all your favorite teams. "I can understand if you'd want to walk away. Do it now before I choose a dress?" She patted his shoulder then jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. "Maura and Kiki will have wine." She added. Jane turned in her bar stool at the mention of her best friend and noticed her holding her things in deep conversation with Korsak's wife near a booth some off duty officers were clearing for them. "Moma Rizz!" Nina called in greeting over the noise of the now packed cop bar.

Angela smiled "Nina honey how are you?"

Frankie leaned forward at the bar. "Nina wants a margarita, Ma."

Jane waited until she caught Maura's eye before raising a brow in greeting. The ME touched Kiki's forearm and rested her things down in the now empty booth before coming over to her. Jane fought her smile when she noticed how lovely the ME's grey work dress with the large bow hung from her shoulders.

"Has Nina ordered?" Maura asked. Jane looked utterly relaxed It was a pleasant sight.

The detective nodded. "Mhm, wine right?"

"Yes, I want to try—"

"—Why are you sitting over there?" Jane cut off cutely.

Maura smiled and motioned to the full bar. "You didn't save us a seat it seems."

Jane put her beer bottle down and slid off her stool. "I'll stand."

Maura chuckled. "Don't be ridiculous."

"I've been sitting all day, Maur c'mon."

Beside them Nina nudged her fiancé in the shoulder. "What?" Frankie asked

"You don't offer your seat to me?"

Frankie rolled his eyes. "Janie's just doing that because she screwed something up." He remembered the pastry box this morning.

Nina rolled her eyes right back. Where should she even begin? "Right." She watched as Jane leaned against the bar beside the ME who had taken her seat. The two were talking to Angela who was leaning over the opposite side of the bar to hear them better over all the noise. She nudged Frankie again when something else distracted her observations for a moment. "So remember that firewall I was telling you about?"

Vince showed up not too long after the ladies got their drinks and returned to their booth. Jane had returned to her stool to finish the game and to get a couple spoon fulls of the mega ice cream sundae her mother had put in front of she and her brother's to share. Every now and then though she would glance over her shoulder at the ME. At some point hours later the Maura came up to the bar and rested a hand on Jane's shoulder.

"I'm leaving." She mouthed over all the noise of the second ballgame.

Jane sat up some and motioned toward the exit. "You okay to drive?"

Maura nodded. "I hardly finished my glass, I'm simply tired." She smiled then and stopped herself from touching the other woman's face. "Are you having a good time?" Jane nodded. It was as clear as day she loved time like this with her brothers and friends. She had no idea how she managed to stay up so late though. "Good. Stay."

Jane slid from her booth. "Let me walk you to your car."

Maura nodded. "I would like to say goodnight to Angela first."

Jane shrugged on her jacket and waited for the ME to make her rounds of goodnights before opening the door for her to leave. Stepping out of The Dirty Robber felt like stepping into a whole other universe. The instant quiet was near numbing and the night's chill had picked up in intensity to compensate for the rather humid day. Spring was well on its way in Boston. Jane stuffed her hands in her pockets and smiled a little when the ME looped her left arm in hers briefly as they took the stairs from the bar in her heels.

"…So." Jane started as they walked a moment in silence. Maura looked at her. "Is she still y'know… using other protection?"

Maura had just slipped her hands into her gloves. "Tasha?" She smiled softly at the detective's worried brow. "Yes, we spoke about that. She will come down in a week to see Dr. Leroy."

Jane nodded to herself. "Good."

"Am I still fired?" Maura asked and the two slowed their pace down even more when Maura's Prius came into view down the block.

"No." Jane chuckled. "I was just surprised."

"You would make a poor supervisor." Jane snorted.

"I looked him up." Maura raised a brow. "Randal Felix."

"You didn't." Maura shook her head and Jane nodded proudly. "Jane."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Trust her instincts."

"I do, I totally do. I just don't trust anyone else's."

Maura shook her head. "What did you find?"

She raised a brow teasingly. "What happened to trusting her instincts?"

"Well it bares no weight in keeping the information to yourself when I am the one in communication with her on such matters."

"So you want to know just as much as I do?"

"I did not say that… in that manner."

"I couldn't find anything, I mean this could be the wrong kid but all his info is in line with what Tash told us so my guess is it's him." She shook her head. "Always get a last name."

"Yes, of course." They slowed to stop near the driver's side door of the ME's car. "I have to say it was…. A bit of a shock for me, to have her come to me about something so personal." Jane nodded. "I don't believe I've ever been held in such regard."

"It feel good?"

The ME thought about it for a moment. "Yes." She decided. "I always imagined those types of roles were reserved for maternal figures. Surely she could have gone to Clara initially."

Jane smiled. "Yeah well, it just means she trusts you, Maur."

Maura nodded. "I suppose so." She smiled a little. "I feel proud of her, for making the decision on her own. She is far too bright to thinking of children at her age but sex is very important in any relationship."

Jane felt her cheeks warm against the cool nights air. "Yeah." She scratched the back of her head and cleared her throat a little. "We um…" Maura looked at her curiously. "You're not…"

The ME furrowed a brow. "What is the matter?"

Jane exhaled. "Nothing." She offered a small smile to prove it. "I'm glad you handled it and not me."

Maura's smile returned. "Well I believe she was wise to come to me and not you given the way you responded initially." She reached into her designer handbag for her car keys.

"Ouch."

"It's merely an observation." Maura sent her a playful look over her shoulder as she unlocked the car and opened the drivers side door. Jane rested her arm on the door frame to hold it open. "Will you have dinner with me tomorrow night?" She asked after resting her purse on the seat and turning to face her best friend.

Jane nodded easily. "Is this because you want to spend time with me or you want to ask me about my father?"

Maura tilted her head and crossed her arms against a sudden cold wind that swept between them and down the block. "Can I accomplish both?" She hesitated before reaching a hand out to hold on side of Jane's open jacket loosely. "I only push because studies have been in favor of the theory that holding in more complicated emotions of sadness or shame may put you at an increased risk of heart disease."

Jane exhaled softly. "And you worry."

Maura nodded. "Among other things."

"What if I come over for coffee tomorrow morning and I tell you about it then and tomorrow night, we just… I don't know order a pizza?"

Maura tugged gently at the material of jacket she held. "That will suffice."

Jane glanced around a moment before hugging the other woman and pressing a kiss onto her cheek. "Alright." They separated some and shared a small kiss on the lips as Jane rubbed her hands up and down the ME's sleeves in efforts to warm her. How could she be okay with being so cold? Maura chuckled at the affectionate attempt. "What's wrong with you huh?" Jane teased lightly. "How long does it take for hypothermia to set again?"

"As little as five minutes in temperatures of minus fifty degrees Fahrenheit. I'm fine."

"You're freezing." Jane motioned her into her car. "Hurry up." She watched Maura get into the car

"Do not rush me." The ME assorted cheeks pink and smirk never wavering.

"Maura get in the car before we need to call a bus." Jane slammed the door closed on her and laughed when the ME shot her a look before rolling down the window.

"You could have gotten my fingers, Jane."

Jane leaned against the car to peer into it at her. "Let me see." She reached.

Maura shook her head at her playfulness as she buckled her seatbelt. "This is exactly how you lost a tooth."

"No that was you." Maura looked up at her and Jane immediately felt guilty. "Maura c'mon."

"I am leaving now." She announced.

Jane leaned into the window as the car began to roll forward. They both chuckled at the utter ridiculousness of Jane attempting to place one more kiss on the other woman's cheek. "Jane." Maura warned after it connected. "I am accelerating."

"Yeah alright." Jane smirked and pulled herself away from the Prius. She watched it leave for a moment and then examine her surroundings. Maura had parked off the side of the bar down a thin street. At this hour it was the only spot available and she would have preferred maybe a more public spot for the ME but decided maybe this once it was okay. Not a soul was out, and as she tucked her hands back into her pockets and began her walk back to the bar Jane could not help but smile.

She wasn't expecting to see the ME until the next morning, but as she was leaving the bar with her brothers a call came through from a sleepy sounding Kennedy in operations suggesting otherwise

Another body. Port Grady Park.