A/N: Wow… that was definitely intense. I hope this helps lessen some of the angst the episode gave us – darn you, Hoyt! I hope you enjoy! Since I want to give this fic what it deserves I will make it a two shot, though it may take some time for the next chapter to come up. With any luck it'll be posted before the end of the week!
XXXXX
Jane walked into the Robber, fully expecting what she thought was a surprise party. "Okay. Yeah, yeah. Surprise!" She said weakly, alerting her presence. "Hello?"
The lights came on and all she saw was Sam and a dirty bar. She smiled at him, feeling suddenly foolish. "Surprise." She said again, waving at him.
He just smiled and got back to work.
The detective sighed and walked out before getting in her car to go home. Well, this was it. Looks like this was the year they finally listened to her when she said she didn't want anything for her birthday. She was surprised that it felt so disappointing, much like it was every year. Oh well, maybe a pint of Ben & Jerry's will make it all better.
Not too long after leaving the bar she pulled up to her apartment complex. After four flights of stairs she opened the door. One she closed it and turned on the lights she jumped.
"Surprise!" All of her friends and family were there in her, now horse themed, living room.
"God-almighty! Jee – " She exclaimed before laughing along with everyone else. She put a hand to her chest in attempts to stop her racing heart. "Wow." She started to walk further in to join everyone else as her mother began to speak.
"I looked everywhere for My Pretty Pony. I hope this is okay."
Jane looked around at all the decorations and smiled "Oh, it's fantastic, Ma. Thank you."
"Happy birthday." She smiled at her daughter.
Maura stood up and handed her best friend a beer – in a can.
"Wow. Dr. Finicky drinking beer out of a can?"
"A lot of it after today." She said.
Jane nodded her head and took a sip.
"Although I can taste the aluminum."
Barely stifling her laugh, Jane had to stop drinking and press her hand to her mouth. "Mmm." She looked at the can as she thought of something. "Well I got my wish. Hoyt's dead."
"A gift to the world." Korsak said, holding up his plastic red cup. "Happy birthday, Jane."
Frankie walked up to his sister and let her wrap him up in a hug. "Hey."
"What?"
He pulled out an envelope from his back pocket and handed it to her. "Happy birthday."
She opened it as everyone looked on. "You got a ninety-six on your exam? Oh yeah you really bombed it!" She folded it back up and shoved it at him playfully.
"Yeah, he had a good tutor." Korsak said with a smug grin.
"Why are you taking all the credit? I taught him everything he knows!" Frost protested. "Huh?" He looked to Frankie, wanting him to back him up.
"Alright." The youngest detective agreed, giving him a handshake.
Jane laughed at the scene as Maura came up behind her with an obviously carefully wrapped present.
"Hmm." Jane looked at it from all angles, trying to determine what was inside. "Well, this looks a lot smaller than Walter the Thoroughbred."
Maura laughed. "I hope you like them." She said as she watched the other woman open it.
"They're… driving shoes!" She exclaimed, trying – but failing – to hide her confusion.
"Racing shoes." Maura corrected. "Fully lined with fire-resistant dupont nomex."
"And… I need these… because…" She looked down at them as if she was expecting them to speak and tell her what they were for.
Maura didn't let her ponder it for much longer as she extracted an envelope from her bag.
Jane took it with a smile and opened it. "Racing school?" Her grin got exponentially wider when she finally realized what she got. Like a kid on Christmas, she looked up to her Birthday Santa giddily. "You're sending me to racing school?"
"Well, you know, Walter's highest speed is forty miles per hour and – " She wasn't even allowed to finish her speech before she was engulfed in a hug and moving up and down. That didn't mean she stopped talking, however. " – the Lamborgini Murcielago LP640's highest speed is 211. Oh, do you like it?"
"Yes! Yes! Thank you so much! Oh, this is so much better than a horse!" She pulled away and looked at it again. "Oh my god!"
Wanting to get on with the party, Angela called out in the background. "Okay! Pinata!"
Jane pulled her eyes away from the paper immediately and looked over at her. "Are you kidding me? It's like… really late and I live in an apartment!"
The older Rizzoli frowned. "But… you used to love them when you were a kid."
"Well, now I like my things to stay intact. And I'm really not in the mood for another concussion." She said, giving Frankie a pointed look.
"C'mon, that was one time!" He protested. "And you were only out for like a minute!"
Jane just smiled at him. "Later, Ma, okay? One head injury is enough for today."
"Fine…" She said, putting down the stick. "Cake?"
"Sure. But no singing!" She said sternly.
Angela, of course, didn't follow that rule, as she lit the candles and sung quite loudly while everyone else watched her silently. After the awkward ten seconds were up, Jane blew out the candles and waited patiently for the first piece.
The rest of the cake was passed around piece by piece as everyone chatted about anything and everything.
As Jane finishes up the last bit of frosting on her plate she spots Maura out of the corner of her eye talking to Frankie. "Excuse me." She said to Korsak and Frost before moving away from them.
Maura spotted her best friend coming towards her and her eyes lit up.
Jane returned the response immediately. "Hey, Maura… can I talk to you for a sec?"
"Well… technically your speech has already surpassed a second."
"Really?"
"I wouldn't lie to you, Jane."
She just let out a sigh of slight aggravation and tugged on the woman's jacket sleeve, pulling her into another room. "Okay, don't laugh at me when I ask you this…"
The M.E. noticed the insecurity in the other woman's voice as well as her posture. "Of course not. Is everything okay?"
Instead of going outright and saying what she wanted, she decided to go the long way around. "Remember when Hoyt was going after me, the first time after you met me?"
"Yes."
"And how I had to spend the night?"
It wasn't very difficult for Maura to make a deduction. "You don't want to be alone tonight?"
"No… I don't. I just feel stupid asking you to stay over cause I'm scared. I mean, he's dead!"
"It's not stupid. It's a normal response. Your brain can't fully process the fact that he is no longer living. It'll take you awhile and I'll spend as many nights with you as you need me to."
Jane beamed at that. "You really mean that? Like… even if there was some hot guy, you would spend the night with me instead of him?"
She didn't even hesitate in her answer. "Of course, Jane. There are many opportunities for that but there's only one you. And you mean more to me than any of them ever could."
Chocolate eyes softened and Jane couldn't stop herself from moving forward and enveloping the other woman in another hug. Though she had received many of them recently, this one was very much needed.
At first Maura was still, not sure what was happening. After all, Jane wasn't the type of person to give random hugs. But then, after a second of processing, she wrapped her own arms around the body in front of her. After a few moments of silence she was surprised when she felt the body start to shake and even more so when she heard small sniffles and soft sobs coming from the other woman.
"Jane?"
Said woman pulled away. "Sorry. It's just – it's been a long day."
"You don't need to apologize." She said, looking into her eyes with as kind a stare as she could muster. It wasn't much given the fact all she wanted to do was hold her and cry along with her. "Do you want me to tell them to leave?" She asked, motioning to the living room.
"No. Party's starting to fade anyway."
Maura looked confused at that. "Really? They seem kind of loud still."
"Nah. You see, when Ma starts collecting plates and stuff it shows she's getting tired. And Frankie's been yawning at least once every minute."
"Wow. I'm impressed! No wonder you're a detective!"
She waved her off. "It's nothing, really. After years of Rizzoli family functions you learn to read clues like this. It won't take you very long to start, I'm sure."
The shorter woman couldn't help but smile at being included in her family. No matter how many times it happens she is always surprised at the thought.
"Should we go back in?"
She nodded and followed her out.
Angela, spotting them, walked up and held back a yawn. "Janey, I think I'm gonna go home."
"Yeah, me too. I'm pretty tired." Frankie echoed.
"Alright. Thanks for the surprise, guys." She said before giving each of her leaving guests a hug.
Soon it was just the two of them left to clean up the slight mess left behind – leaving the decorations for later. It didn't take too long, however, and within a few minutes they were looking over the room to see if they missed anything.
Maura glanced over at Jane and opened and closed her mouth several times before speaking. "So, uh… is it okay – er… can I sleep with you?"
"Why, Dr. Isles, I thought you'd never ask." The detective laughed.
"What?"
She shook her head. "Never mind. Come on, let's go to bed." She said, heading to the bedroom. After putting on pajamas, she slipped under the warm, welcoming blanket.
"You're not using a nightlight?" Maura asked, looking down at her.
"Nah. You're way better than a nightlight."
She beamed and joined her. "You really mean that?"
"Well… you do light up a room."
"Jane… I'm not bioluminescent. No mammals are. Well… not naturally. There was the cat who was altered to glow in the – "
"I didn't mean it like that."
She smiled. "I know. I was only teasing."
"You need to work on that."
"On what?"
"I can never tell when you're being serious or just joking!"
"It's all part of my charm." She said with a smile.
Jane narrowed her eyes at her, thinking for a moment. "That was… being serious?"
"Jane…"
She cracked a smile. "I know, I know."
Silence swept over the room for a brief moment.
"Hey, uh… Maura?"
"Yes?"
"I have another silly request."
"What is it?"
"Will you…" She winced when she heard it in her head. "Never mind."
"I'm sure it's not silly." Maura assured, reaching out to place a hand on Jane's underneath the covers.
Jane let out a shaky breath before she tried asking it again. "Will you hold me?"
She smiled and scooted over. "Of course." She opened her arms and allowed the other woman's back to sink into her front. She felt a familiar – yet hard to place – rush at the scent of the dark brown locks as her hands settled around the detective's waist.
"Thanks, Maura. Really… I don't know what I'd do without you." She said softly, placing her own hands atop Maura's.
The M.E. didn't trust her voice enough to respond so she just nodded and hoped Jane could feel it from where she was.
She did and smiled before closing her eyes. Surprisingly, sleep came easily and quickly for her.
Maura, however, was not so lucky. Her mind was rushing and her thought processes were a mess. What would normally only take her a few minutes to figure out took her a few hours. But, once it was all settled in her head, she smiled and snuggled in closer to her friend.
XXXXX
"Jane, can you come here for a second?" Maura hollered from the sofa.
Jane, currently in the kitchen, walked over to look over her best friend's shoulder. "You do know I was kidding about the horse, right?"
"Oh, this isn't for you. Well… I mean, it kind of is…"
The detective went around and sat next to her before giving her a look asking her to be more coherent.
"I just thought, after all we've been through this week, that we deserve a bit of a break. And it has been ages since I've ridden a horse."
"Maura… I don't really think gettin' wedgies riding on the back of some stinky animal is really the best idea of relaxation."
"Well they don't just have horse rides." She pointed to the screen and brought her finger down the list. "Oh! Here's something you might enjoy!"
Jane peered closer. "Clay bird shooting? Really?"
"I thought you liked shooting things!"
"I do! Just… what else they got?" She looked at the list again. "Boat rides, tennis, volleyball, golf, fly-fishing." Her enthusiasm – if she even had any – diminished as she spoke. "We're not fifty!"
"There's other things to do in the area. Look, they have massages!"
"Because that whole 'spa day' thing worked out so well last time."
"If you don't want to go – "
"I'm just messing with you, Maura. I'd love to go. Really. As long as I'm with you I don't care what we do."
She wasn't entirely convinced. "I don't want to force you to do something you don't want to do."
"I want to. Sounds like it could be fun and it's a good time to get away."
Maura smiled. "Great! I'll make the reservation, then!"
Jane laughed and got up to finish making her coffee. After taking one long satisfying sip she rejoined the, now frowning, doctor.
"What's that look for?"
"I didn't see that before." She pointed at the screen. "See? Pets allowed but only in the cabins. I booked us in a suite in the main lodge."
"Such a shame." Jane said, rolling her eyes. Inside, though, she was dancing. She really didn't want to deal with Bass during her vacation. "So when are we going?"
"Today."
She sighed. "Okay, I appreciate the thought of going there as soon as possible but we haven't started packing. Hell, I don't even know where my suitcase is!"
"No problem, I'll help."
"Don't you need to go home and get started?"
"Not right now. I already have a good idea in my mind of what I'm going to bring."
"Of course you do…"
"So?"
"Fine, fine." She grumbled, walking towards her room. She already knew what was coming. Maura was going to open her closet and admonish her for her taste in clothes.
"Why don't you go look for your suitcase while I sort through this." The M.E. said, pointing to messy assortment of clothes hanging up.
Jane nodded and left the room. Several minutes later she reappeared, this time with a large rectangular bag in her hands.
The M.E. smiled and pointed at the bed. "I've already selected a few outfits."
"You… have?"
"Why do you sound surprised?"
"No – it's just… usually you tell me how bad my clothes are and won't stop until I agree to go shopping with you…"
"Well I've come to realize that your poor wardrobe is just a part of who you are. And I very much like who you are. Why change it?"
She eyed the shorter woman curiously. "Maura… you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine, Jane. Why don't you pack up while I deal with the decorations?"
"You sure?"
She nodded and left.
Jane just watched the doorway for a moment, trying to figure out this odd feeling she had. Something was different. She knew it. She pondered it while she threw her things in her suitcase and on the ride to Maura's. She was finally struck with something as she watched the other woman pack. She was really looking forward to this trip. Though not in the normal sense – that is, finally getting a vacation from her TV drama status life – but in a way she looked forward to spending some time with Steve Sana – a guy she was crazy about in high school.
"Jane?"
"Hmm?"
"I asked if you were ready to go."
"Oh! Yeah, let's go!"
Maura looked at her oddly before leading the way to the car. After she put her, much larger, suitcase next to Jane's she started the car and they drove off. The next three hours were filled with uncharacteristic silence, as both women were deep in thought about the upcoming days together.
XXXXX
I've posted a link to the place they're going to stay in my profile if anyone wanted to look at it before the next chapter!