A/N: I am planning on wrapping this story up in about two more chapters, might need three. Trying to go back to the Sunday publishing schedule. The next chapter will be case heavy discussing what information the joint BPD/FBI team has discovered.

Flameout Chapter 28

Sunday

Nikki

It took Nikki a few days but she found Mark. Mark tried getting away from her when he saw her, but he was unsuccessful. "Look Mark, I know that I hurt your feelings. I do love you. I know you feel like I only love Jane but I know I can never be with her. I do still have feelings for her. I will not lie about that but I love you. eventually my feelings for Jane will go away."

"I don't know Nik, I love you but, I can't be the third wheel. If we get back together you have to commit to me. I don't even want to hear her mentioned. Do you think you do that? If not, we are done forever."

"I can commit to you and never mention her name again." Nikki knew this was the only way she could get Mark back. If would be hard not mentioning Jane, but Mark and their relationship was worth it. She would give it her all.

"Just give me a few days Nik. I have to think about this." Mark asked her.

"Okay, I can do that Mark, I love you and I will wait to hear from you." Nikki couldn't really do anything else, she needed Mark to believe her. She did love him and she wanted to be with him. She wanted him to ask her to marry him. She would say yes, she wanted to have the opportunity to say yes.

Gen and Frost

Gen called at 10 AM, she wanted to make sure that they were on their way home. She knew that Jane said that they would probably leave before 7 AM. It was a four-and-a-half-hour trip without stops. With two small children Gen knew they would be stopping along the way.

"Hey Gen, how are you?" Maura replied after Gen addressed her.

"Are the children occupied so that they cannot hear our conversation?"

"Yes, they both have headphones on, Bella is watching a movie and Charlie is playing video games with his friends."

"Can you put me on speaker please, I need to talk to both you and Jane?"

"Yes." Maura put the phone on speaker and placed the phone back in its holder.

"What's up Gen?" Jane had a feeling but she hadn't talked with Frost in the last two days so she didn't know that they had talked with the Governor.

"Jane, your 'gut' feeling was right. This has turned into a major cluster fuck. Sorry Maura for my language."

"What 'gut' feeling?" Maura asked not knowing what was going on.

"Jane, you haven't said anything to Maura about what you told Frost?" Gen asked figuring out the answer already without Jane replying.

"Gen, it was just a feeling, I didn't know if it had any juice to it. I wanted to find out before I talked to Maura about it."

"Well, Jane, I suggest you tell me about it now that your secret is out." Maura said with quite the anger in her tone. Jane was uncomfortable, she had never heard Maura speak with this tone before. Jane looked back to make sure that the children were still engaged in their activities and not listening to the conversation which had elevated as Maura's anger was expressed.

"Jane, take a few minutes to briefly explain and then I will update you on the current status."

"Yes, Jane, please brief me." Maura spatted as she looked very determined to get to bottom of what was going on.

Jane explained how she had met a few of the new employees and got an uncomfortable feeling from them. She said how she had called her friend Liam, who was a private investigator, to run a quick background check on them. She knew she couldn't use BPD resources so she used her own money. Maura was not pleased about this but she understood that Jane was following her 'gut' and not wanting to abuse her privileges at BPD.

Jane continued to explain that Liam had discovered some discrepancies and so she informed Frost who looked over the information that Liam had provided. Frost found out some additional information and after conversing with Jane, brought Gen into the mix.

Gen picked up the conversation from here, "Jane, Frost said that he has not informed you of what we have discovered since he brought me into the mix. We have identified two HR individuals at BPD and two additional HR people at the state level. They worked together to hire their crew. The fifteen individuals you identified were all part of their crew as well as two of the four assistant medical examiners. I had to meet with the Governor. Maura, I am sorry to say that your lab has been shut down and the FBI is handling all of the forensic matters for all of our cases. Some of your trusted employees are still working and are assisting the FBI in fast tracking all evidence processing."

"Wait, my lab is closed." Maura said in a huff. This news pissed her off.

"Yes, it was the Governor's call. He didn't want any of our cases to be considered compromised while we figure out what the heck is going on with our personnel and your personnel. I am so thankful for Jane's 'gut' feeling. I know you might be upset with her for not sharing as I was at first as well. She didn't keep it to herself. She involved Frost who further discovered discrepancies and then followed the appropriate protocol. None of this was intentionally done to hurt you or your lab. We required a certain amount of secrecy to keep people from finding out that we were on to their plan."

Maura didn't say a word, she just turned to look out the window. She did not want to discuss this anymore. She was upset and she needed to deal with her emotions. She wished she was not trapped in the car right now. She needed to be my herself to think.

Jane and Maura

Jane spent a few more minutes talking with Gen and then ended the call. "Maur, please talk to me."

"Jane, I need time to think. I do not want to talk at this time. Please allow me time to process." Jane had no choice she had to let Maura work through her thoughts. They were an hour from home and it was going to be a long hour.

When they got home an hour later, Maura got out of the car and went inside the house. She didn't wait for anyone not even the children. Jane helped Bella and Charlie gathered their belongings. When they entered the house, Maura was nowhere to be found. Jane found her in the office sitting on the sofa with her legs pulled up into her. She had tears falling down her face. Jane just wanted to hold her and let her know it would be okay but Maura was fast to tell Jane, "Jane, please leave. I don't want to deal with you right now. I am not sure when I will speak to you. I need time. Please plan on spending the night elsewhere."

Jane looked sad, she was being asked to leave her home. She didn't want to leave, she wanted to stay and help Maura work through this. Jane had learned though that Maura needed to think about her feelings so she went to the bedroom and packed an overnight bag. She told the children that she needed to go to work and that she would probably be there all night. She wasn't lying, she did need to go to work and see what she could figure out and she probably would be there all night. She gave them both a kiss and told them, "take care of your mother, she is a little upset right now, she will be fine."

"Okay, mama," they both said as they kissed her goodnight. Jane went to BPD. Gen was surprised to see her.

"What are you doing here, Jane?"

"Maura is not talking to me right now, she told me to leave and not to come back tonight." Jane was almost in tears. Gen could see the frustration on Jane's face. She pulled Jane into one of the interrogation rooms away from everyone else and just held her.

"I am so sorry Jane. I had to tell her though." Gen confided in Jane.

"I know Gen, I am not upset at you. I couldn't tell her until I found out more and we were in Syracuse. There wasn't too much I could do except to let Frost know and see if there was any merit to my 'gut' feeling."

"Hopefully she just needs time to cool down and take in everything. I am sure you will be back home soon."

"I hope so, I mean I love my apartment but home is with Maura and the children. Right now, though I think I need to be brought up to speed on what you have discovered. This sounds so much bigger than what I thought was going on."

"It is, this conspiracy goes deep. This Stella person must be well connected to pull something off like this. You must have really pissed her off."

"All I did was tell her I didn't want to go out with her. We had a few drinks one night and I just felt something was off with her. I guess I was right about that. Has Frost looked into any of the guards where Stella is being held?"

"Yes, he is looking into that right now. She had to have connections at the prison to be putting all of this together. We have a list of over forty people and everywhere we look we are adding more people to the list. I am sure when Maura sees the scope of the problem, she will talk to you and be thankful that your 'gut' was set off."

"One can only hope." They went into the conference room where the group was working from. Gen let Jane just take in all of the information hanging on the walls. She knew that Jane needed to get up to speed before she could help.

Jane spent the next two hours reviewing all of the information on the walls. Then she started writing down her questions, or rather recording them into the notes section of her phone. She knew that she could print her questions out and have them to refer to as she found out additional information.

She called her cousin Arianna, "Ari, do you still have that little box I gave you to hold on to?"

"Of course, Jane. It is in my home safe." Arianna didn't like the tone in Jane's voice. She sounded sad. "What's the matter Jane?"

"I might have fucked things up with Maura. I am in the doghouse right now. She told me she needs time and to plan on spending the night somewhere else."

"What did you do?" Jane took the time to explain to Arianna what had happened.

"Just give her a little time Jane. This is quite a bit for her to take in. She is accustomed to dealing with things on her own. She will want to talk to you soon. That woman loves you so much. She would be lost without you as you would be without her."

"I know Ari, that is what scares me."

"Just give her time, you will see." They talked for a few more minutes and Jane felt better. The call with Ari ended and she jumped back into researching the information that had been compiled. Ari went to her home safe and pulled out the little box that Jane had given her to hold on to. She put it back in the safe and went to talk with her husband. She needed to plan a trip to Boston.

Maura showed up about 5 PM and ignored Jane and went straight to Gen. "Gen, can you bring me up to speed?"

"Yes, but Jane is in a better position to do that as all of the information is fresh in her mind. She has spent the last few hours reviewing all of the information."

"I am not speaking to Jane at the moment and I need to keep it that way for now. I would appreciate if you could honor my request."

Maura spoke firmly to Gen, Gen could see how determined Maura was so she gave in. "Yes, let's go to my office and we can talk there."

"Thank you, Gen, I promise I will not let this matter fester, I just cannot deal with Jane right now."

"Okay," Gen said as they walked into her office. Gen shut the door behind her and then both had a seat. Gen took a solid half hour and explained as much as she could to Maura. Maura seemed to lighten up a little and Gen was pleased by that. She knew Maura was a fair person. She had just been blindsided by all of this. Gen knew she would feel blindsided as well. The fact that it all started with Jane was what upset Maura the most. She felt as though Jane didn't trust her enough to share her concerns.

Gen confided in Maura that Jane always liked to be sure of something before she brought it forward. She told Maura, "If you were home in Boston, I am positive that Jane would have shared this with you. Jane was busy with her flying and she let Frost take the lead. When Frost found out more information he shared with Jane and they agreed to bring me in. I chose not to involve Jane any further as she had to concentrate on her flying mission and spending time with you and the children. I didn't want you involved as you were on a much-needed vacation with your family and there was nothing you could do from Syracuse. Plus, we had things under control I thought at the time."

"Still though, I would have liked to know what was going on."

"I understand Maura, but Jane did a great thing. We wouldn't know any of this if it wasn't for her 'gut' feeling. We could have had some serious issues arise if this had continued. I would hate to think about the number of cases that could have been compromised if Jane hadn't of shared her 'gut' feeling."

"You are right. I just feel like she didn't trust me enough to tell me."

"Maura, she trusts you, she just didn't want you to be concerned until she knew that there was something to be concerned about. She is worried sick right now that you will end your relationship with her. She didn't know that this would become a big of a deal as it has become. She just thought it was possibly someone just lying on their resume or something like that, not the scheme that we are discovering more about as each minute passes."

"That is not the case at all. I love her so much. I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I would marry her tomorrow if she asked. I know it is too soon, however, that is how much I love her. I just need time to think things through and settle my thoughts. I am used to dealing with things on my own. I will have to learn to share with her when I have concerns as well."

"That is what I tried to tell her. She is throwing herself into this case right now. She has a list of questions already after reviewing all of our documentation. She is one hell of a detective and I am so thankful that she works with BPD."

"I should probably go talk with her. I do not want her to be distracted by our situation."

"Let me call her in here and you two can talk here away from everyone else. Just remember that she loves you and she wanted to make sure that her 'gut' feeling had some merit to it before she shared anything with you."

"I will, thank you Gen." Gen picked up the phone and called the conference room and asked that Captain Rizzoli report to her office. Within five minutes Jane was knocking on the door.

"Come in Jane." Jane smiled at Maura who smiled back. Gen looked at both of them and then said, "I will let you two talk." Gen left her office. Maura sat down on the sofa and motioned for Jane to sit by her. When Jane sat down, Maura turned to face her. She waited a moment before speaking. She just looked into Jane's eyes. She could see hurt, not anger in Jane's eyes. She knew her actions had hurt Jane. She had not intended to hurt Jane, she was just overwhelmed by everything that she had learned.

"I am sorry Jane. I needed time to think. Thank you for giving me that time. I wasn't sure how much time I would need that is why I asked for you to plan on spending the night elsewhere. I do not want you to spend the night elsewhere. I just felt like you didn't trust me by keeping your 'gut' feeling to yourself." Jane went to say something but Maura motioned for her not to speak, she wanted to finish her thought.

"Gen helped me to understand that you wanted to make sure that your 'gut' feeling had some merit to it before you said anything to me. While I appreciate that thought, I also do not want you to think that you have keep things from me. If one of my staff members worries you let me know. Maybe it is something, maybe it is not, but we can decide that together." Jane nodded her head in agreement.

"I love you Jane, and I do not want things like this to come between us." Jane nodded again and reached out for Maura's hand. Maura placed her hand in Jane's. They took a minute to just look into each other's eyes. They loved each other and they both knew it.

"Where are the children?" Jane quietly asked almost in a whisper, she had wondered earlier but didn't ask. Now that Maura was talking to her she asked.

"Skye is watching them, or I should say that they are watching a movie at Skye's apartment." Jane leaned in and kissed Maura. Maura let Jane deepen the kiss. After a few minutes, Jane realizing that they were making out on Gen's sofa in her office broke the kiss and stood up, motioning with her hand for Maura to join her. Jane led them to the conference room so that they could help with the case. Maura was more than happy to help, she wanted her lab back.

They spent time reviewing the information together and going over Jane's questions that she had come up with. They were able to answer some of the questions by reviewing the information. They would have to talk with others to find some of the answers. They called Skye and made sure that they were home in time to tuck the children in for the night. They would go back to work at 8 AM tomorrow once they had dropped the children off at school.