"Welcome back to the third period of the last game before Christmas for the Devils. Denver is visiting tonight, making it a special night for Jane Rizzoli. It has been a fast paced game all the way, where Boston has the only goal so far, scored by Jessie Perry. The Devils wanted to make up for the game back in Denver four weeks ago where they were crushed, and so far they have really done their job, Mike."

"Absolutely. They lacked structure back in Denver and let silly mistakes ruin their game. All that is gone tonight. It might be just a normal game in the middle of the season, but they still play like it's the most important game of the year. I love to see how committed they are, everyone's doing their job, not letting mistakes get in the way, they are really showing true strength tonight."

Every time Jane entered the ice, Maura took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She was constantly on edge, wondering if that next hit would be a bad hit, if Jane would make it through her shift without letting Sarah get under her skin. It had been a rough game just like they all predicted. There was always tension in every battle, and Maura just waited for something to happen. But as minutes went by, Jane made it back to the bench, time after time, and not a scratch was seen.

It turned out to be a game Maura enjoyed watching, despite having her heart in her throat most of the time. Ten minutes had passed in the third period, and she was starting to hope for a win. In that very moment the noise in the building increased as Jane had read the play perfectly and managed to steal the puck from Denver. She came one on one with the goalie, made a few moves before she lifted the puck just over the goalie's shoulder, but under the crossbar.

The place exploded. The girls on the bench jumped up, hugged each other and leaned over the board waiting for Jane and the others. Even Maura jumped up and down and screamed for a moment. Jane jumped higher than most of them, yelling before she turned to the other four girls that came skating towards her and held out her arms, ready to embrace them all. They laughed and clapped each other's helmets before they turned to the bench. Jane patted the logo on her chest, like she had done after all her goals as a Devil, and once again the crowd went wild.

"Damn, it's good to be a Devil!" She knew she was arrogant, but still the words slipped out as she did a slow turn in front of the Denver bench while the Boston goal song blasted from the speakers. Jane was full of emotions and adrenalin and didn't really think clearly. She completely ignored the looks from former team mates and concentrated on getting her focus back to the game. The referee was already at center ice, ready to drop the puck, and Jane slowly made her way to her mark. And nothing brought her focus back quicker than Sarah already lined up and ready to go.

Those were the seconds of the games she hated. Having to stand there, shoulder to shoulder with Sarah, just waiting for the puck to drop. Usually Sarah made some teasing or threatening comment, and after her goal, Jane waited for that snarky comment to be released.

"Hey, who is that hot blonde with the amazing rack? Is she single?"

Jane whipped her head to Sarah, completely unprepared for the change of topic. "That's none of your fucking business" she snarled.

Sarah laughed. "I see… she's your fucking business."

The puck was dropped and Sarah disappeared before Jane could get her head straight. She was left behind for a second and caught Maura's eyes before she skated off.

Maura saw right away that something was brewing out on the ice between the two ex-lovers. The anger was visible on Jane's face when she returned to the bench, and Maura found herself in a dilemma. The lines between work and whatever she and Jane were, had started to blur a long time ago. Now she couldn't even see traces of the lines. She wanted to go over to Jane, try to calm her down, but would she just make it worse instead? She watched how Jane bit her lip and stared down at her gloves and decided to stay put.

It was just 5 minutes left of the game and there was a short stoppage in the play while a hole in the ice was fixed. Maura kept an eye on Jane out on the ice, who in turn was watching Sarah carefully. And when Sarah slowly approached the Boston bench, Jane wasn't far behind. Sarah stopped by the boards, right in front of Maura and smiled. "Hey. We're not leaving until tomorrow, how about a drink tonight?"

The girls closest to Maura heard it, she heard it, and Jane heard it. Maura didn't have time to react before Jane crashed into Sarah, almost knocking her down. "Fuck off, Sarah!" Her voice was a serious warning, and Maura wanted to grab Jane and get her out of there, lock her in a room if she had to.

Sarah just shook her head and returned her attention back to Maura. "As you can see, Jane is really jealous…"

The smirk alone was enough to make Maura's blood boil. Jane was quickly up in Sarah's face again, giving her a push and muttering something. A few other players approached them, and Maura sighed. She knew what was coming, but had no way of stopping it. She knew Sarah was doing everything to make Jane throw the first punch, it was obvious from the way Sarah was behaving. She didn't protect herself or push back. If she acted like she didn't want to fight, the referees would only see one person fighting. And they did.

Sarah muttered something that only Jane heard, but it was clearly the final straw. Jane attacked her, throwing a punch to the body before she shook off her gloves and dropped the helmet. Sarah didn't back down and did the same. Crowd was roaring, referees and players tried to step between, but it only caused more roughing as players from both teams stood up for their team mates. Maura turned her back to it all, and wondered how many stitches Jane would need this time.


"Jane."

She turned around and saw Maura enter the locker room, closing the door behind her. "Get out" Jane snarled and made the laundry hamper once again fly across the room.

"Let me look at you."

"No! I don't need your help! Just get out!"

Maura didn't listen and walked up to Jane and grabbed her arm, a clean towel ready in her hand. "You're bleeding rather excessively from that cut on your cheek."

"So what?!" Jane yelled and tore away her arm from Maura's grip. "If I don't care, neither should you. Leave me alone instead."

"I can't."

Jane quickly turned around and stared at the courageous doctor. "Oh, great. Something else you can't do" she spat out.

"Don't do this" Maura sighed and took a step closer.

"I'm not! You told me we couldn't do this, so I'm not!" Jane held out her hands and laughed sarcastically. "And since you obviously know what's best for everyone, tell me doc, can I ever get out of this fucking mess that keeps following me?"

"This isn't about us!"

"The hell it is! Always has!"

"Jane…"

"No! I ended up in trouble because of Sarah. I ended up in trouble because of you! And no matter what I do, it's the wrong thing. But I don't need you swooping in and trying to fix me every time I fall! You can't fix-" Jane suddenly found herself being slammed against the wall.

"Will you shut the hell up!" Maura snapped. Her delicate hands grabbed fistfuls of Jane's jersey and held her against the wall.

Despite the enormous height difference, Jane was scared by the intensity and the brutal force coming from such a small woman who was up on her toes.

"I care! I care about you more than you know! And I care about all the little things that happen to you. I care about your cuts and bruises because I know I can heal them. I care about your past because I see how it still haunts you. I care about all the good things that happen to you because it makes me happy. But you don't know me. So don't you dare think you can judge me!" Maura slowly released the jersey and took a step back. "You want me to leave? Fine, I will leave. But when you realize that that cut won't stop bleeding, you know where to find me."

Jane didn't move a muscle as Maura turned around and left the room. She was completely shocked by the doctor's outburst, by the anger and the words. Her own anger caused by the game was gone. Why did everything always have to explode? She finally sat down on the bench near her and exhaled loudly.

"Oh my god…"

It was the words, those freaking words falling from Maura's lips that hurt the most. She wanted to rewind and make Maura stop talking after those first few words. How did she not see that? She should've known, she should've seen it clearly days ago. "You stupid shit" she mumbled to herself and raised her hands to her face. She had completely forgotten about the cut, and quickly felt the blood against her fingertips. "Ah fuck!" She had to hold back a tear and leaned her head back. Maura was absolutely right, she could fix something on Jane that was broken.

After she was sure she had her tears under control, she removed her skates and stood up. She padded down the hall to the one open door and carefully looked in. Maura leaned against her desk, gripping the edge of it but looking up at her. Jane swallowed and wasn't sure what to say, so she stepped inside and closed the door behind her. "I need your help" she whispered.

Maura simply nodded and Jane walked over to the examination bench and sat down on the edge. She stared down at her feet, not daring to look up as Maura walked over to the cabinets to find the items she needed.

"Does your eye hurt?" Maura asked, her back against Jane.

Jane shook her head, but quickly stopped herself. "Not really." She looked up as Maura turned around. Their eyes met before Maura threw a quick glance at Jane's legs and then stepped in between them. "Here, put pressure on that cut" she instructed and put Jane's hand on the cloth that covered the deep cut on her cheekbone.

Jane swallowed, not at all prepared to have the doctor so close again, but did as told. "I must look like a mess" she mumbled to distract her own thoughts.

Maura placed her thumb and index finger on Jane's chin and forced eye contact. "You look like you've been in a fight" she replied softly. As Jane chuckled and closed her eyes, she carefully dabbed the clean cloth around Jane's bloody lips before wiping away the small rivers of blood down Jane's neck.

Jane was silent and patient while the blood was wiped off her face. The thighs touching hers were almost more than she could handle, being able to see Maura's face, and lips, would certainly be too much for her. She didn't even dare to open her eyes when Maura's fingers disappeared from her chin to remove the cloth over her cut.

"You need a few stitches" Maura said softly before she moved to find her suture kit.

Jane mourned the loss of the warm thighs against hers, but the doctor was quickly back in her place. "This could hurt" Maura warned her.

Jane nodded and prepared for the needle she knew was coming. Silence filled the room as Maura closed the cut. Nothing from the world outside could push through the intensity Jane felt around her. She could only hear the steady breathing from Maura.

"All done." Maura removed her gloves and put them down on the tray next to her.

Jane slowly opened her eyes and stared right at Maura's face. "Thanks."

Maura didn't reply, she just looked at Jane before she ever so slowly looked away and started to move. A sense of panic struck Jane and she reached out and grabbed Maura's hand and pulled her back. "I'm sorry. For what I said. I never meant to hurt you." She held on to the hand and intertwined their fingers.

"I know."

"I don't even know why I said it…"

"Heat of the moment."

Jane understood she didn't have to explain further and silenced. She looked up and found Maura staring back at her. Jane wanted to be brave, but insecurity had a hold on her. Maura appeared to be braver when she suddenly leaned forward and captured Jane's lips in a slow kiss. There was nothing rushed about it, no uncontrollable fire, just a gentle kiss that multiplied. Jane didn't want it any other way. She savored the soft lips and let Maura take complete control. None of them noticed the sounds of the game coming to an end, not until a knock on the door tore them apart. Maura took a step back and swallowed. "Come in."

The assistant coach popped his head in and looked at Jane. "The jersey giveaway is about to start." He threw a clean jersey at her.

Jane caught it with one hand and pushed herself off the bench with the other. "Crap, I forgot… I'll be right there. Oh, wait! Could you grab my skates for me?"

He looked down at Jane's feet and just smiled before he ran off to the locker room. Jane quickly changed jerseys while Maura watched her. "I was wondering if you were actually giving away that sweaty and bloody jersey" she smiled.

Jane laughed and picked up the dirty jersey. "Yeah, that would've been a surprise for one unlucky fan."

Out in the hall, the assistant coach walked by and held up the skates. "Got your skates. Get moving" he ordered before he was gone.

Jane sighed and looked over to the doctor. "I gotta go…" She took a step towards the door, but stopped. Her eyes went to the jersey in her hands and then to the door again, obviously unsure of what to do.

"Go, I'll take it" Maura offered and took the bloody jersey from Jane's hands.

Jane smiled before she jogged to the benches. Half of the team was already out on the ice, throwing free stuff to the audience. She quickly put on her skates and joined them. Heather saw Jane coming to her and gave her some t-shirts to give away. "Glad you could make it. You all fixed up?"

"Pretty much" Jane replied. She threw a shirt up into the audience and smiled at the fan that caught it. "By the way…" She slowly turned to Heather. "Did I do any damage…?"

Heather smirked and nodded. "Yeah, she was bleeding, alright. And I'm pretty sure her nose is broken."

Jane smiled as they got rid of the last shirts and went back to center ice.

"A pretty good game to start the holidays with" Heather remarked.

"Yeah. Wait, we did win right? They didn't score while I was gone?"

Heather laughed and shook her head. "Nope. Boston 2, Denver 0. Nothing, zero, nada."

Jane let out a relieved sigh before she noticed how Heather was staring at her. "What?"

"I think doctor Isles missed a spot. Still blood on your lips. Unless you borrowed her lipstick…"

Jane felt her cheeks burning and casually wiped her lips with the back of her hand. "You caught me" she replied sarcastically. "I borrowed her lipstick. Don't tell anyone." As she looked down on her hand, she realized how true her sarcastic comment really was.

Heather chuckled and patted Jane on the back. "Secret's safe with me."


'Shipping up to Boston' boomed from the small speakers in the center of the locker room, and the mood was cheerful. Everyone was chatting and laughing, happy to end the first half of the season with a good game and a win. Coach Landers had already held his usual speech and left the room for the girls to celebrate. No one rushed to the showers eager to get home, they all took their time and relaxed. Heather eventually stood and turned off the music. It got her the attention of everyone. "Well, we certainly shipped Denver out of Boston tonight…" Applause and cheering erupted and Heather waited until everyone was silent again.

"You all know how this goes. Even if it's just the holidays that are coming up and not summer, I get up here and go completely emotional. Tell you how lucky I am to be on this team, and even though we go through rough patches during a season, I'm still proud. And yeah, I am. I'm proud to be a part of this team. I'm lucky to play with you. And I am humbled that you still want me as your captain."

She took a deep breath and smirked. "But fuck that right now, cause tonight was awesome! It was fun, tough and just like a game should be. So what if Rizzoli got in a fight and will most likely get a suspension? She fought her old teammate. And she even scored! How's that for revenge? And Louisa, you fucking deserved that shutout. You were unbelievable in Denver, and you were unbelievable tonight. I'm just glad we all got our shit together and helped you out.

We deserve some days off right now. So enjoy this night, and remember the New Year's dinner. Bring your loved ones and we'll celebrate in style. So girls… indulge in this win for a while, and be ready when January comes around. And like always; it's good to be a devil."

Their motto echoed back to Heather as all the girls stood up and repeated it. A round of applause ended it before the music was turned back on.