Disclaimer: All recognizable Rizzoli & Isles characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners including, but not limited to Janet Tamaro, TNT or Tess Gerritsen. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this fan fiction story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No financial gain is associated with the publishing of this story. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Note: There was something Maura said in the episode that introduced Kent Drake (is that the new lab geek's name?) that I keep thinking about. You'll see it below. I've got mixed feelings about the season and especially the finale. This takes place in the time frame of the current season, but you need not have watched the episodes to follow. No spoilers. -dkc

Some Cases

"Some cases are so awful that I put them away. I choose not to think about them so they don't color my view of the world. But most of the time I believe that the truth helps the people who love these victims. I guess that makes me feel better." –Maura Isles

…

She knew it was bad from the moment she got the call. Or she should say, she knew it was bad from the moment Jane got the call. Dispatch had only given her an address and the number of deceased. Jane's call was much more specific.

"What aren't you telling me?" Maura pressed as they left her house in the well-choreographed rush that often followed calls from dispatch.

The way Jane set her jaw; the way she pulled her hair back now as if that act could prepare her for something terrible; the way her eyes had darkened into a hew of anger and sadness. These were telltale signs that the crime scene would be horrific.

"4 DOAs at 7 a.m. in a residential neighborhood known for being an exceptional place to raise children. 4 victims. A mother, father and 2 children?" Maura hypothesized.

She wasn't guessing. She was using her experience and knowledge to draw the proper conclusions. The crime scenes she had worked where children were the victims were always difficult. However, there was something else about what they were soon to face. She knew it by the way Jane's fingers dug into the steering wheel.

Detective Rizzoli—she had put away the face she wore when simply Jane—wasn't answering her question.

"Jane."

Maura's left hand reached over and gave a gentle squeeze to her friend's forearm. She felt the muscles beneath the skin tight in contraction. Jane had a steel grip on the steering wheel.

"Triple murder-suicide."

Those three words were the only three the detective spoke. Her forearm never loosened, her focus on the road in front of her never broken. The only thing that happened as she spoke those three words was the release of her jaw that was necessary for speech. Not the only thing. There was something else.

Maura felt her breath catch. She felt the pit form in her stomach. There were four possibilities in those three words. The hardest of them to fathom was what she feared. She spoke the lesser of the two tragically awful options.

"The father."

She watched Jane's face for confirmation and found none. She raised an eyebrow. Squeezing Jane's forearm one last time to urge the woman to tell her more, Maura waited.

"The mother."

The worst possible option and one that made Maura instantly sick to her stomach. She was not a mother herself, but in her job she had seen this before and it had rattled her like nothing else had. Never had she come across a scenario that made less sense. How did a mother murder her own child?

"I requested additional criminalists. They will meet us at the scene. Dispatch requested the assistant medical examiner and I assume Korsak and Frankie were also called," Maura spoke with the precision that came with her title, Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Jane needn't nod in response. She was as certain of Maura's judgment about crime scene logistics as she was anything.

They arrived at the scene having made great time in morning traffic. The necessity of being prompt was met with the inner turmoil and resistance that came with not wanting to face the scene at all. They both climbed out of Jane's car without another word. Their professionalism was required at every scene, but especially at this scene. They wouldn't survive emotionally without it.

Reaching into the trunk for Maura's kit, a kit identical to the one Maura kept in her own car, Jane handed it to the doctor without looking up at her. Both women worried that a single look could cause the much-needed walls to crumble. While they didn't so much as share a knowing glance of understanding, when reaching for the kit, Maura's hand stopped to cover Jane's for a moment. It was subtle yet its capacity to express an important message could not be missed. They were in this together.

Walking confidently to the front door of the home with its otherwise cheery Cape Cod exterior and dim in the light of day porch light, they both took deep breaths and went through their individual processes of preparation for the work ahead.

…

"Oh, Dr. Isles," she saw her assistant come to a complete stop with what he was working on. "Detective Rizzoli is in your office. I assumed you were as well."

It wasn't entirely unlike Jane to be in Maura's office alone, but it being right in the middle of a case like this one made the timing suspicious. Maura offered her thanks before walking toward the closed office door. She hesitated at the door before opening the heavy door quietly.

"Jane?" She spoke softly, walking in and closing the door behind her.

She was surprised to find the detective lying on her back on Maura's sofa near the door, one arm over her face with crumpled Kleenex in her other hand.

"Oh, Jane," Maura immediately understood.

They saw the most gut-wrenching things on this job and while they were forced to compartmentalize a lot of it, some refused to remain beneath the surface.

Sitting up, Jane wiped her eyes and pushed her hair away from her face. She tossed her tissues toward the trash, missing, before she spoke. Her voice was raw, broken with emotion. Her eyes were red, the lids puffy.

"I needed to be alone," she explained.

"Would you like some more time? You're welcome to use my office."

Jane shook her head and reached out a hand for the M.E. It was then that Maura moved closer.

Sitting beside the detective, Maura put a hand on Jane's nearest shoulder, looking at her with the utmost concern. She knew the reason for what Jane was feeling and yet had no idea how to help. How do you make the unconscionable less horrendous?

"Ever since I joined the force I have felt weak on cases like this. Is it being a woman that makes the kids harder? Or are the men upstairs fooling themselves?" Jane's arm crossed her chest to cover Maura's hand. "You handle these cases like they don't get under your skin as much."

The doctor rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"You and I are different, our jobs are different. Feeling something gives you passion to solve cases. Feeling something makes doing the autopsy an impossibility for me."

"I still think you're better at compartmentalizing," Jane sighed.

There was no need for the doctor to respond. She leaned further into Jane before pressing a kiss above her ear.

"Thanks, Maur."

While Jane's thanks could have remained unsaid, she needed her friend to know what this moment and the dozens of other moments over the course of their friendship meant to her. Gratitude was the only one of a myriad of feelings she could currently give voice to.

A knock came at the door forcing Jane to quickly wipe the remnant of her tears away. She hadn't enough time to move away from the doctor before she heard the words of acknowledgement and permission leave Maura's mouth. There stood the assistant M.E. with a curious expression on his face. It seemed a mixture of unease and desire to excuse himself as quickly as possible. He was clearly uncomfortable about the intrusion. While Jane had removed her hand from Maura's, the doctor's hand had remained on the detective's shoulder up until she had to reach out for the file she was being delivered.

God, how must this look to him, Jane thought. She felt a blush develop on her cheeks with the realization.

"I've got to go," she stood suddenly and shuffled past the assistant as she exited the office. The M.E. wasn't even given the time to respond.

In Jane's wake were an equally concerned and confused Dr. Isles and her assistant who, despite only knowing the women briefly, knew exactly what had just happened.

…

Maura Isles had pushed everything she was feeling aside as she dawned scrubs to begin the autopsies. She had often likened those scrubs to a mask or even armor until this moment. They signaled the placing of emotions aside. A true symbol of professionalism. But right now there was no protection they could give her for the task at hand. She had to autopsy two children who would never achieve their young hopes and dreams.

She began her meticulous work with great concentration. She had asked for assistance with two of the four autopsies due to the nature of death. Her focus was impeccable.

"Dr. Isles?" she heard her name and saw the lab tech who had spoken it, but a disconnect existed between that reality and where she was in her mind.

It was the final autopsy. The daughter.

Regaining her composure, Maura used the back of her forearm to dab away the lone tear on her cheek. She then removed her gloves and offered instruction to her colleague.

She went into the small changing room and found herself sitting on the bench staring at the wall in thought. When she stood, she was overcome with anger. Acting completely out of character, she slammed the small locker closed.

Stepping out into the morgue, she was surprised to find Detectives Korsak and Rizzoli awaiting her findings. They had no doubt heard the loud noise of the locker slamming.

Maura attempted to behave as if everything was fine, but Jane knew better. Not wanting to make a big deal of it in front of Korsak, once they had congregated around one of the empty tables to listen to the autopsy results, Jane looked at Maura and asked the silent question with raised eyebrows and obvious concern. The doctor nodded as if the conversation had played out in words and she was affirming that she was in fact okay.

Results in hand, the detectives were on their way. Following her partner to the door, Jane stopped and turned to her friend. She didn't speak, her expression didn't much change, but there was an agreement exchanged that they would get through this.

…

She hadn't expected to find Jane sitting in her kitchen when she arrived home. In her exhaustion, she hadn't noticed the detective's car on the street when she turned in.

Since Angela Rizzoli had moved into her guest house, there were few times that Maura came home to an empty house or at least the feeling of someone being close by. Occasionally it happened, she would be home for long stretches of time without the noise that came with the Rizzoli clan. Tonight she had hoped it wouldn't be one of those occasions. Thanks to Jane, it wouldn't be.

"I wasn't expecting you." She sat down next to the detective at the island and slipped off her heels.

"Hopefully you weren't looking forward to quality alone time," Jane poured Maura a glass of wine.

"Quite the opposite."

"Were you..." Jane hesitated. "Did you have plans?"

"No," Maura took a sip of her wine. "After a day alone in a room with the dead, quiet is a lot to take."

Jane nodded and watched the doctor as she reached her hands toward the ceiling and attempted several stretches. It was obvious that her upper back and shoulders were bothering her.

"Here." Jane said as her right hand began using her thumb to rub the area between the woman's shoulder blades.

Maura relaxed, leaning back into Jane's hand. She rolled her neck and shoulders and sighed.

"Are the autopsies done?" Jane asked.

"We're waiting for test results. The physical examinations are complete, yes."

While Jane was trying to think in terms of the case, Maura's soft sighing and the way she was melting into the massage was a distraction, a beautiful distraction. There had long been something grounding about being in the orbit of this woman. Touching her amplified that feeling.

"Stop," Jane admonished, the M.E.'s shoulders tightening every time Jane pressed her thumb in one spot.

"I don't mean to," Maura had her head turned and was looking away from Jane.

Her line of sight prevented her from seeing the gentle hand coming toward her to grip her shoulder; rolling it forward as her other hand continued massaging that tender spot. Jane was now very close to Maura. Their positions weren't far removed from being a side hug. Maura took advantage of this and leaned further toward her best friend.

"I hate days like this," Maura hummed.

"Cases like this are the hardest part of being in law enforcement," Jane agreed.

When Jane's hand released the shoulder closest to her, she was pleasantly surprised to find Maura close in, her shoulder pressing into Jane's chest, her hand resting on Jane's nearest thigh. Ceasing the movements of her thumb, Jane wrapped her arm around Maura and held her.

"We share the burden of terrible images and stories of heartbreaking loss," Maura whispered. "On nights like this, I crave your understanding."

Pressing a kiss to honey locks, Jane didn't speak. They didn't usually voice cravings or emotions that were inextricably linked to the very definition of who they were to each other. The heaviness of this day did not afford them the right opportunity to put words to feelings.

"Are you staying?" Maura broke the silence.

"Would you like me to?" she wanted the decision to be out of her own hands tonight.

"I would."

Pressing another kiss, this time to the crown of wavy hair, Jane breathed out her relief. She followed with a kiss to the doctor's forehead.

"Then I will."

For a moment, hazel met chocolate. There was an undeniable spark, a flame that always existed between them and seemed to be fueled by high stress cases like this.

"I'm going upstairs," Maura's voice caught, not from approaching tears, she was rattled and unable to hide it.

She stood, reluctantly slipping out of Jane's embrace. Grazing the width of a lithe shoulder with her hand as she gathered her bearings, she was unable to resist leaning down and returning a kiss on the back of Jane's head.

"I'll be up soon," Jane rasped.

The tone in her voice was evidence that she needed time to regroup. She would sit at the island contemplating the mysteries of their relationship for long enough that when she made her way upstairs the exhausted doctor had succumbed to sleep. Covering her with the duvet, she couldn't help but watch the woman sleeping peacefully.

Cases like this were a reminder of the things that truly mattered in life. Maura mattered.

With the doctor tucked in and the light off, Jane retired to the guest room.

…

Jane was nowhere to be found when Maura woke the next morning. The guest bed was made which slightly confused the doctor. She knew she had fallen asleep quickly and slept soundly, she also knew Jane hadn't been in her bed. She would have felt Jane's presence even if she were in a coma. But it was unlike Jane to sleep in the guest room and make the bed afterward.

When she arrived downstairs to make coffee, Maura found a note taped to the machine.

I couldn't sleep so I went back to the office. You were zonked. Adorably so. ;) -Jane

She wouldn't stifle the slight smile on her face. Even in the dark hours of cases like this one she found joy in unexpected places. Jane brought lightness to her life that was unlike anything she had ever had.

Pulling her phone from her robe, Maura punched in a short message:

Is zonked a clinical term for exhaustion? Good morning, Jane.

She hadn't even started the coffee machine when her phone buzzed with a response from Jane.

It's a Rizzoli term. Good morning, beautiful.

The doctor stood staring at her phone. She had grown accustomed to the number of nicknames and terms of endearment Jane used, but she couldn't remember using the term 'beautiful' quite like this before. And she'd never responded quite like this to an endearment either. Physically responded, that is.

Maura got her cup of coffee and proceeded to prepare herself for the workday. Throughout her morning routine she found herself dissecting the exchange repeatedly.

...

The staccato clicking echoed in the hallway of the BPD as the doctor arrived in the area where her favorite detective would likely be. Surrounded by Frankie and Korsak, Jane wasn't able to spot Maura until she was standing near Korsak's desk.

"Hey, Doc," Korsak smiled.

"Good morning," Maura smiled at the group.

Placing the cup of coffee on Jane's desk, Maura nodded to it so Jane knew that it was for her. She also dug through her purse as the conversation between the detectives continued. Pulling out two all-natural, high protein granola bars, she sat them next to Jane's cup. She knew Jane. There was no chance that Jane had eaten anything before heading back to the office and there was even less a chance that Jane would take a break for an actual meal. Maura had bought the bars with Jane in mind.

"When will we have DNA?" Frankie asked the doctor; subtly noting the items Maura had delivered his sister.

Looking at her watch, Maura shook her head.

"It will be another eighty-five minutes," she answered.

Jane smirked at Maura's precise answer. In response, Maura did the cute shimmy of her shoulders that she often did when she was teased or complemented on her adorable behavior.

"It'd sure be nice if DNA was as fast as fingerprints," Korsak commented. "Though we probably won't need it anyway."

The pain on Korsak's face as he spoke, the unmentioned reality being that they knew that no stranger had walked into this home and caused this tragedy. He walked over to the white board, flipping it on its hinges until the other side appeared.

Maura's breath caught.

The images of the crime scene had been forced from her mind as she slept. She wasn't prepared to see them again. The brutality of it all was incredibly difficult to view.

Taking a step around her chair toward the doctor, Jane's hand came to rest at the doctor's lower back. Their position was not hidden from their colleagues. It was a simple show of support, a touch to shore up her walls and hold her together. It was also their first physical contact since they had sat at Maura's kitchen island the night before. It was needed, welcome and undoubtedly electric. She initially tensed at the touch before leaning back into Jane's hand.

"Let's focus on ballistics and let Dr. Isles work on DNA and trace," Jane's voice did something unique when she used Maura's name so formally. It was something that had for months now caused warmth to develop in the doctor's lower abdomen. Despite the circumstances of the grisly case, that warmth was here again.

"I will let you get to it," Maura reluctantly left the space she had been sharing with her friend and departed toward the elevator bay.

After she pressed the down button, she looked back toward the bullpen and met Jane's eyes. The detective had been watching every move of her departure. A sly smile developed on the doctor's face at the realization of what Jane had been doing and, caught, Jane blushed before giving a bashful Rizzoli grin.

…

One of the hardest parts of the job of Chief Medical Examiner is dealing with families who have lost loved ones. Hardly comfortable in social situations that didn't involve death, Maura found it especially hard to speak to victims' families. Some families were inconsolable, others were too deeply entrenched in denial to do or say anything but nod their acknowledgment of the morgue staffs' words.

The viewing window for those visiting the morgue to identify family or friends did not allow for all four of the victims to be displayed together. There was something about placing those two children in the same space as their murderer that Maura found morally abhorrent. Instead, she chose to place the mother and father in the space viewed via the window designed for that purpose and she placed the children in a separate space to be viewed closer should the family want to do so.

When the grandparents arrived, the parents of the murderer, they were obviously in a state of shock and the first stages of grief. Stoic, the grandmother had reddened eyes, but refused to show emotion when the curtain was drawn on the viewing window. Maura heard the grandfather suck in air and could feel the anger radiating off of him.

Unlike many of their cases, there was no positive identification needed. It had been evident from the 9-11 call forward that the deceased were the adult child of these two people, her husband and their own two children.

"Where are our babies?" the woman choked out.

"I have them in a separate area," the M.E. explained. "We do not have a viewing window available. Would you like to see them?"

The man nodded his consent, his wife holding tight to his forearm. They followed Maura, the husband taking only one peek back at his dead daughter.

Inside the space that Maura had arranged for the two youngest victims, the bodies had been cleaned up and were covered up to their collarbones with sheets. They hadn't made it more than a step into the room when the loud sob of the grandmother resounded off the walls of the small, sterile space. Her husband embraced her, his arms holding her as she continued to wail. Maura felt the pit in her stomach now inhabiting her throat. It was taking every bit of her strength to not cry.

Standing quietly by, the doctor allowed the two to have a moment with their grandchildren. She felt a tear escape and slip down her cheek when the grandfather delicately ran a hand through his grandson's hair.

"When will their bodies be released?" he managed to speak when his wife couldn't.

"We are awaiting tests from our lab and once we have those, the mortuary will be notified for transport," Maura wiped the tear from her cheek and launched back into doctor mode.

"Can you tell us where we would find," he paused and took a note out of his pocket, "Detective Rizzoli."

"She is on the second floor. If you take this elevator," she pointed in the direction of the hallway, "to the first floor, you will then switch elevators and go up one. She will be in the large area of desks and cubicles as you go straight off the elevator."

"Thank you, doctor," he took Maura's hand, shaking it with firmness that felt the opposite of how he had touched his grandchildren a moment before.

"I'm sorry for your loss," she said softly.

Maura watched their exit until the door closed behind them and their broken hearts were no longer evident in their empty gazes and fatigue.

She picked up the phone and notified the morgue tech that the bodies could be returned to cold storage. Once again looking at the two children in the empty room, Maura felt tears welling up and the unusual sensation that she might actually throw up.

…

Jane felt the exhaustion in her body for the first time since she had arrived at the office in the early hours just before dawn. Her limbs felt heavy, her mind slow.

"Detective," the assistant medical examiner greeted her with a nod of the head.

"Is Dr. Isles busy?" she asked the man that she didn't really like, but had to act professionally toward regardless.

"Umm…" he hesitated. "I'm not quite sure."

The way that he answered made Jane suspicious. He acted as if there was something he was either keeping from her or uncomfortable saying.

"What is it, Kent?" she pushed him.

"Dr. Isles has been in her office since the victims' family departed," he said this with seriousness that she found odd.

"O-kay?" she dragged out the second syllable, attempting to portray to him that she found nothing unusual about this.

"The lights are off, the blinds are down and the door is closed."

That's all he said before suddenly finding his own shoes rather fascinating. He refused to meet her stare. He was either waiting for her to dismiss him or waiting for her to leave. She opted for the latter.

She approached Maura's office and found things as he described him. She took a breath before reaching for the doorknob and finding it unlocked. She slowly opened the door and let herself in, closing it behind her before she spoke.

"Maur?" Jane all but whispered, finding the doctor across the room with her back to her sitting at the desk.

The doctor turned around, enough light in the room made her puffy, tearful eyes evident.

"That bad, huh?" Jane said.

Remembering their interruption in this very office the day before, Jane reached for the doorknob and turned the lock. She made her way toward Maura and around the desk, leaning against it with her hip only a few inches from the doctor.

"Those poor, poor people," Maura's voice cracked and her tears resumed.

Jane slid a bit closer and lowered into a half-squat so that she could be nearly eye level with Maura. She placed a hand on the woman's knee as a physical offering of support.

"I've never been this emotional about a victims' family before," she wiped away her tears with a wadded up tissue. "I was on the verge of falling apart while they were in the room with their grandchildren."

Reaching behind her for a few fresh tissues, Jane handed them to Maura, took the used Kleenex and tossed it. She resumed her position low enough to be in Maura's eye line.

"Some cases…" Jane started to say, but sighed before completing what had become a repetitive thought.

"Did they find you?" Maura leaned back to make the eye contact more sustainable for the lanky detective.

"Yes," Jane ran her hands through her messy hair, pulling it back and putting an elastic band around it to hold it in place. "We went over what we know. What we can only guess happened."

Maura cringed at the thought of a case that relied on guessing.

"I usually think the truth is the best thing we can give a victims' loved ones," Maura shook her head. "That isn't the case here, is it?"

Jane felt heavy with the sadness that came with this reality. There was no way that knowing what happened would lessen the grief of the two people she had met an hour ago.

"The truth is no substitute for justice," Jane muttered.

"No, it isn't."

"Are you going to be okay?" Jane said as her hand left Maura's knee for her hand, covering it and giving it a concerned squeeze.

Rolling her eyes, Maura shook her head at her emotional state. "Yes, of course."

Despite Maura's affirmation that she would be fine, Jane felt as if she had to continue to hold Maura's hand to instill as much strength and moral support as she was able. She then looked at her hand and noticed she was casually rubbing her thumb over Maura's knuckles, gently grazing her sun-speckled skin. Though she recognized what she was doing, she had no desire to stop. Instead, Jane's hand traced the doctor's wrist and slowly traveled up to her bicep where she momentarily held tight and then resumed a similarly subtle motion over the exposed skin there. She had watched her progress up her friend's arm with rapt attention.

"Jane?" Maura's voice barely broke through the loaded silence.

When Jane's attention finally landed on the reddened hazel eyes questioning her, she saw what appeared to be a cross between expectation and trepidation gazing up at her.

"I…" she started to explain herself before perceiving the lack of necessity in doing so. "Do you find that some cases, cases like this one, challenge your entire conception of what matters in life?"

"I don't know that they challenge my conception of what matters so much as they shine a light on the things that I knew mattered beforehand," Maura replied.

"Last night when you fell asleep," Jane was slightly ashamed of what she was admitting to. "I covered you and before I turned the light off I watched you sleep. Only for a moment, and…"

Jane shook her head and could feel her face warming with embarrassment. Maura moved to encourage the detective by placing her free hand over the one that had been softly stroking her upper arm.

"I was horrified by the thought that I would ever hurt you."

While Jane dropped eye contact, Maura's heart began pounding in her ears. She was not afraid of Jane and couldn't imagine Jane ever doing anything to harm her, but what she was referring to was more than that. She was essentially comparing what she had with Maura to what the family in the morgue had with one another—or should have had. Maura was her family and there was a certain responsibility in this that Jane was speaking to. The doctor was choked up again.

"You would never hurt me, Jane," she spoke. "I am as certain of this as I am that the two biopolymer strands of a double helix will run anti-parallel to one another or that primary flaccidity will be followed by rigor mortis."

This made Jane smile for what felt like the first time since this morning. She loved this woman. It was impossible not to feel it when she went all Googlemouth.

"Did you get any sleep?" Maura wondered.

"No," Jane's shoulders fell. "I stayed with you for longer than I should have and then took a shower."

"There aren't should haves," she stilled the detective's hand.

"Hmm?" Jane raised an eyebrow.

Maura moved to stand, causing Jane to react by attempting to come to her full height. The doctor's hands stopped her by landing on her shoulders and giving gentle pressure. With Maura standing, heels on, she was a few inches taller than Jane was whilst leaning against the desk with her knees slightly bent.

"You said, 'I stayed with you for longer than I should have,'" Maura repeated Jane's words, her hazel eyes locked on Jane's. "There are no should haves. You are welcome to be with me as long as you like, waking or sleeping."

Jane bit her lip in an attempt to both think before speaking and to still her now rattled nerves. She brought her hands up, encircling each of Maura's wrists. For a moment she contemplated using her position to remove Maura's hands from her own shoulders, but she didn't want the contact to end. Once she committed to holding Maura where she was, the intensity of the look they shared increased tenfold.

"Maura…" Jane's raspy voice seemed more resonant.

Closing her eyes for a brief moment to ground herself, Maura opened them to find pure affection staring back at her.

"I'm going to kiss you," Jane spoke succinctly, though hesitantly.

Sensing that there was a question in Jane's statement, Maura nodded her consent. Her anticipation rose as she loosened her grip and slid her hands from the doctor's wrists to the crooks of her elbows. This allowed her to lean in and reach deliciously supple, glossy lips. It was slow and bashful, something neither of them had experienced in a very long time. A flush developed on Jane's body as she felt the perfect simplicity of her bottom lip slipping between Maura's. They did not venture into steamy territory before they parted. Both recognizing their heightened emotions and, of course, their location, the gentle first kiss was enough for now.

A smile was on Jane's face from the very moment of their parting. Seeing this, Maura smiled in return. Leaning in, she pressed a kiss to the detective's forehead. It was as full of affection as the look Jane had given her before the kiss.

"I don't know how I would get through days like this without you," she said.

"I don't know, sitting in the dark in your office and crying seemed to be working for you," Jane smirked.

Shaking her head, Maura once again rolled her eyes.

"What's left to do today?" Jane asked.

"Paperwork," Maura sighed. "There's a body coming in, but I won't do the autopsy until tomorrow."

Releasing Maura's arms, Jane moved to a fully upright position. Maura's hands slid down the detective's thin arms and took her hands.

"Dinner tonight?" she asked.

"Do you want me to pick something up?" Jane offered.

Shaking her head at both Jane's question and the easy way in which they fell into such a domestic conversation, Maura couldn't help but smile.

"No, but I refuse to cook," Isles said. "I'll have Thai delivered."

Giving a squeeze to Maura's hands, Jane began preparing herself for what she would face outside the solace of this office. She would really rather have stayed with Maura for the remainder of the workday, but she knew neither of them would get anything done. Instead, she titled her head to the side, taking in one more mental snapshot of the woman whom she had finally kissed. She didn't want to forget this moment. Once the snapshot was secured in her mind, she leaned forward to kiss Maura's cheek before releasing the M.E.'s hands and moving away from the desk.

"I would never expect you to cook after the amount of work you've done in the last twenty-four hours," she said while backing toward the door. "But you know me, I'd eat pizza and beer for every meal including breakfast if it was left to me."

Maura chuckled at this. It was true.

"It's a good thing you have me," she said in lightheartedness.

Her hand on the doorknob, the mechanism unlocked, a genuine and serious look crossed Jane's face for as she replied: "A good thing indeed."

Offering the doctor a wink before opening the door and exiting, Jane felt a hundred times lighter as she left the medical examiner's office than when she has arrived. So did Maura.

…

Dinner had been the perfect antidote to a terrible day. The two women sat on Maura's couch sharing Thai food as they laughed about Frankie's latest foray into dating. The television provided white noise and the alcohol offered them chemical relaxation.

"Here," Maura stood, her hand out to take Jane's empty plate. "Would you like another beer?"

Handing over her plate and leaning back against the couch, Jane looked at her two empty bottles on the coffee table.

"It depends if I want a hangover at work tomorrow," Jane said over her shoulder to Maura.

The sounds of the doctor rinsing plates before placing them in the dishwasher were followed by the opening and closing of the fridge. Footsteps padded across the kitchen floor and stopped behind the couch. Looking back, Jane found an outstretched hand holding a beer.

"You're going to get me drunk," Jane groaned, but took the beer anyway.

"While I can appreciate the potential hangover, I also know you didn't get any sleep last night and this will help."

Taking her place next to a stretching Jane, Maura found her water bottle suddenly fascinating as she attempted not to admire the slightly exposed navel next to her. She had had two glasses of wine and stopped there. However, she knew the flush on her cheeks had nothing to do with alcohol.

Jane took a swig of her beer while watching the developing color on the cheeks of the doctor and her uncharacteristic fidgeting. It wasn't like Maura to obsess over a bottle label. That was more Jane's nervous habit. Drinking half of her beer in one go, she wiped her mouth and set the bottle down.

"Hey," she said as she took Maura's bottle from her and, once out of the way, took the M.E.'s hand in her own. "What's up?"

Maura turned, pulling her leg up under her and propping her head up with her hand, her elbow on the back of the couch.

"What do you mean?" she didn't know how to answer Jane's question without more information.

"What's on your mind?" Jane turned her body further toward Maura.

"I find I'm emotionally exhausted and yet still mentally attempting to process the day," she slipped her hand out of Jane's grasp and began unclipping her hair before releasing the twist.

Jane couldn't help but watch as brown, honey blonde and light strawberry strands fell across the doctor's shoulders. She had long struggled to determine the exact color of her best friend's hair. It was subject to lighting, yes, but also almost determined by the woman's mood.

"It's been a long 36 hours," Jane sighed.

Maura was running her fingers through the waves of her hair contemplating how 36 hours could feel like such a long time.

"Did I contribute to either of those things? The emotional exhaustion and mental strain?" Jane asked.

Surprised by the question, Maura gave Jane her undivided attention and shook her head to refute it.

"Of course not! Why would you think that?" she reacted.

Jane seemed to be ashamed or at the very least unsure of how to say what she was thinking.

"Jane?" Maura was now placing her hand over Jane's.

"I kissed you, Maur, without explaining it or mentioning it again. My timing was awful."

"You told me you were going to and if you remember, I was a willing participant," she offered a gentle reassuring squeeze to the detective's hand.

Looking down at her own scarred hand being touched by the much more delicate and small one of the doctor, Jane believed that not only were they both willing participants, the willingness had existed for a very long time.

"There's nothing to process about it," Maura spoke. "Aside—"

This brought the dark eyes of Jane Rizzoli immediately up. Maura spoke concisely. She did not often allow her words to trail off like this and her tone was suggestive.

"Aside from what?" she responded swiftly.

Leaning closer, her mouth near enough to Jane's ear that her breath caused a shiver, Maura spoke: "Aside from that I'd like you to do it again."

Without a moment's hesitation, Jane's long fingers framed the doctor's face, slipping into messy waves, and pulled the woman toward her lips.

Electricity and adrenaline seemed to travel through one body to the other. Aided by the quick entry of Jane's determined tongue, their libidos kicked into high gear. With her legs situated beneath her, Maura couldn't get as close to Jane as she wanted. Even placing a hand on the detective's hip was complicated by the way she was sitting.

Jane moved to a partial kneeling position while still maintaining the kiss. Maura was disappointed to no longer have Jane's hands tangled in her hair, but quickly realized why when the cop pulled Maura's legs out and toward her own. With the doctor's legs now stretched out on the couch under Jane, Maura could be straddled and their bodies could inch closer.

The M.E.'s hands had held onto Jane's neck as the repositioning had occurred. They now got busy running the length of a thin, though toned back. She broke the kiss. Gracefully sliding lower on the couch so she was no longer partially sitting, Maura's big, hazel eyes looked up at the detective and spoke every want with that single look. Tucking in her tall frame as much as possible, Jane lowered slowly and recaptured succulent lips. No longer willing to delay the inevitable, Jane pushed her tongue past Maura's lips and slid her knees back to make the position work. Her movement allowed one of Maura's legs to sneak outside where Jane had her boxed in. She used that toned, flexible leg to press between Jane's hip and lower back, pulling her down.

"God," Jane moaned as the plane of her horizontal body met Maura's.

Not speaking, Maura took to the detective's lips again and continued the kissing. It was passionate yet measured, electric yet not the kind of kiss that leads immediately to further exploration of one another. They allowed it to take its own path until they were out of breath and beginning to sweat. Every bit of one another's mouths had been tasted, experienced and appreciated. Maura learned that Jane enjoyed a slight nibble on her bottom lip. Jane learned that her tongue on the roof of Maura's mouth made the doctor moan in the most delirious way.

"Making out on a couch like teenagers isn't something I thought you and I would ever do," Maura hummed against Jane's cheek as they caught their breath. "I'm glad that expectation or lack thereof was shattered."

Jane smiled and adjusted her body to take some of her weight directly off the woman beneath her.

"We've clearly not been using your couch to its highest potential all these years," Jane chuckled.

While she could have moved and made space for Jane, Maura remained on her back only allowing a slight gap between her side and the back of the couch. Jane used it to lie on her side, her elbow digging into the cushion as it propped up her head. Neither woman truly wanted extra room.

"We have plenty of time to make up for that," Maura's coy response excited them both. This wouldn't be the only time they did this and both women were glad of that.

"I never thought at forty I would be risking being caught making out on a couch by my mother."

"Were you ever caught when you were younger?" Maura had to know.

Shaking her head, Jane seemed to be thinking.

"No, not really. Certainly nothing that had progressed to making out. Tommy got caught multiple times," she rolled her eyes at the memory. "He got caught with his pants down, literally, once and was in deep shit."

Maura laughed at this, though she wasn't the least bit surprised.

"What about Frankie?" she asked.

"Believe it or not, Frankie's got no game. He talks like he does, but he's a mess around women. Has been since he was a teenager."

There was a slight blush that developed on Maura's cheeks as Jane said this. The realization dawned on Jane.

"Oh, god. I can't believe my kid brother kissed you before I got the balls to!"

Maura could only smile as this. She turned her head further toward Jane and leaned up to press a soft, simple kiss to her beautiful lips.

"But your kiss was far better received," she said as they parted.

Unable to get over the fact that this gorgeous, kind woman was kissing her again, Jane was without a response. Maura was absolutely right, of course. When wasn't she? Her hand had been holding both of Maura's, resting on the doctor's stomach. She released them to run her hand up the outer arm and over a shoulder. She came to hold just above, using her thumb to trace patterns right at the hollow of her neck. Her mind considered how the subtle traces of Maura's perfume would inevitably saturate her thumb, a smell she would carry with pleasure.

While pressing a kiss to the side of Maura's head, Jane noticed Maura yawn. It had been a long 36 hours, indeed.

"Let's go to bed," she said. "I'm beat."

Even if she hadn't been tired, she would have said she was if it meant getting Maura needed rest. The doctor knew this about Jane and had always loved her for it.

…

"Detective Rizzoli?"

Jane looked up from her desk to find the grandparents she had met the day before standing in the doorway to the BPD bullpen.

"Hi," she stood and walked toward them, offering a handshake to each. "How can I help you?"

"We received some mail that we think you might want to look at," the grandfather spoke.

Looking somewhat confused and cautious, Jane gestured toward the conference room where they could talk with a modicum of privacy. They followed the tall detective, not noticing from their position her look of concern directed at Vince Korsak as they passed his desk.

"Have a seat," she said as they entered the conference room and she closed the door behind them. "Can I get you something to drink? Coffee, soda, juice, water?"

"No, thank you," the woman spoke for she and her husband, her face suggesting she wanted to get this over with.

"Tell me about the mail," Jane said.

Pulling out an envelope from the inner pocket of his sports jacket, he handed over the piece of mail to the detective to see for herself. Jane noted that they had been the intended recipients and the sender had been their now deceased daughter.

"Has this been touched by anyone other than the two of you?" she asked, touching it only with the eraser end of a pencil she'd pulled from a cup in the middle of the table.

"No, why is that important?" he bristled.

"To best understand what happened to your family, we need to ensure that this was in fact sent by your daughter," she said as she unclipped her phone from her belt and sent a text to Maura for her to come to the conference room.

The two people sitting across from her seemed to realize simultaneously what Jane was suggesting. The very possibility that it could have been their son-in-law rather than their only daughter who committed this heinous crime brought them both relief and anger. They both stared at the envelope on the table until being startled by the conference door opening.

"I didn't mean to startle you," Maura walked in with all of the grace she was known for and yet portraying the compassion she had used effectively in her time as the chief medical examiner.

"Dr. Isles," Jane said without it occurring to her that in this new realm of their relationship it might bring a different reaction than the professional one she had intended. "If you could take the letter out of this envelope and then secure both so we can run them for fingerprints, that would be helpful."

Standing on Jane's side of the table and rather close; Jane could see how Maura instinctively gripped the table when she unwittingly addressed her by her title. But Maura charged ahead, using the gloves and various evidence bags she had brought into the room with her to do as Jane asked. Once the letter was in a clear evidence sleeve, Jane slid it closer to read what it said. The doctor's curiosity piqued and she leaned down to read it for herself. In her heels and at an odd angle parallel to the table, she used Jane's shoulder to help her maintain her balance. She felt Jane's muscles relax at her very touch.

The letter contained a confession and a rambling, misguided explanation for what the mother had done. It made Jane instantly angry, her muscles once again tensing and her jaw setting. Maura once again stood to her full height and released Jane's shoulder. She, too, was angry. And there was a deep sadness she felt for these two people across from her who might have their hopes up that someone else had sent this letter. She gathered the evidence and nodded to Jane, their brief moment of eye contact revealing their similar thinking—this was going to be the proof these poor grandparents' would remember for the rest of their lives. These parents would forever know their daughter to be a killer.

"Once again, I am sorry for your loss," Maura spoke sadly before exiting the conference room, Jane's eyes on her the entire way.

"Fingerprints are relatively quick. We will check them against everyone in the house and go from there. I will call you the moment we know anything," Jane stood, shaking their hands once again and watching them leave the conference room and depart down the hall.

Jane took a moment to contemplate what the letter had said. Her anger built until she found herself picking up the BPD mug on the table where she had taken the pencil from and throwing it with all of her might at the wall. It shattered loudly into a million pieces.

"Rizzoli?" Korsak came barreling through the door at the sound of the cup exploding against the wall.

"Motherfucker!" Jane was pissed.

"What was it?" he asked, only seeing the evidence bags at a distance as they crossed the bullpen in Maura's hands moments before.

"She did it. The mother. And blamed it all on her kids," she ran her hand through her long, messy hair and attempted to breathe.

"Take a walk, Janie," Korsak gently suggested.

Shaking her head at first and then seeing shards of glass all over the floor, she acquiesced.

"Yeah, okay," she muttered. "After I clean this up."

Coming closer and barely touching her arm, Korsak gave her a concerned fatherly look. "I'll get it. You go."

She did as he said and walked out of the conference room refusing to look back at the mess she had made.

…

The roof of the Boston Police Department precinct was rarely used. The access door was as old as the building itself and looked it. The view was nothing exciting, but if a person needed fresh air without the chance of encountering other people, it was a great place to escape to.

Jane Rizzoli leaned against the large structure that housed the HVAC system for the building. It hummed quietly, the white noise something she appreciated as she attempted to calm down and regroup. She heard the loud squeak that accompanied the opening of the access door and knew immediately who it was.

"Jane?" she heard the M.E. say.

"Around here," Jane responded.

Coming around the corner, the doctor looked out of place in her surroundings. She had on a yellow dress that Jane had once borrowed from her. It looked much better on the honey blonde. The length was more appropriate for Maura's height, the neckline seemed more natural and, well, it seemed designed to accentuate Maura's breasts. It was the first time all day Jane had stopped to really appreciate how her friend looked.

"Are you okay?" Maura noted yet ignored Jane's eyes traveling over her body, choosing instead to concentrate on what brought the detective up to the roof in the middle of the workday.

The doctor had arrived in the space reserved for the homicide detectives to ask Nina to see if they already had the two grandparents' fingerprints on file. She noticed Jane wasn't around and delicately asked the woman if she knew where the detective was. Nina Holiday has kind eyes that speak far better than words. She gave one of her trademark looks of worry as she told Maura that Sergeant Detective Korsak had told Jane to take a walk. Leaving Nina to look for records on her computer, Maura walked into the bullpen to ask Vince what had happened. All he told her was that Jane lost her cool and needed a minute. He suggested she check the roof.

In response to Maura's question, Jane only shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't okay. Some cases got to her. This one had.

"Can I do anything?" Maura stepped closer, leaning a shoulder against the structure Jane had her back to.

Jane looked at Maura, taking in the hazel warmth peering back at her. She then reached down and linked her fingers in Maura's. Holding the doctor's hand brought immediate comfort and calm.

"When will we have results?" Jane didn't need to further explain.

"Nina is on it," Maura replied, her eyes looking at their entwined fingers.

"I lost it in there," Jane admitted.

"It happens to the best of us," Maura offered an understanding smile and looked at the dark orbs that were heavy with sadness. "You're human, Jane."

Shaking her head at her behavior, she dropped eye contact with the doctor who responded by releasing Jane's hand so she could tip Jane's chin up to see her eyes that had said much over the years without an actual word spoken.

"We'll know soon," she said the words slowly and with reassurance.

Placing her hand on Maura's hip, Jane nodded. Maura's eyes mesmerized her. They had a gold hue, shimmering in the sunlight up there on the roof.

"I love you, Jane," Maura said unceremoniously.

At this Jane nodded as well. She leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss to the M.E.'s lips.

"If it weren't for you, I don't know how I, as a detective, could get through cases like this. As a woman, god knows I'm not doing particularly well," she was ashamed.

"The things you have seen are bound to affect you. You are a great detective. You are an even better woman. Don't forget that," Maura released Jane's chin before pressing a kiss of her own to the detective's lips.

There was something about simple kisses that felt entirely natural to the two friends. Their entire encounter on the roof might have happened just the same minus the kisses prior to the developments between them over the last few days. However, adding the kisses had a way of comforting Jane that was even greater than encounters like this one had been in times before.

"You better get back," Maura told Jane.

"Yeah," she couldn't go without one more kiss, this one pressed to the M.E.'s forehead. "Let's go."

As they walked to the door to return to the work awaiting them, they held hands. Passing the access door there was a moment when they could have released their grip, but they didn't. It wasn't until they were standing in the enclosed stairwell outside the door to the second floor that Jane released Maura's hand. The doctor would return to the basement and do her own work. Before she went she nodded her head, a show of support and assurance that Jane could handle this.

Jane could handle anything with Maura's support.

…

Nina Holiday was eating lunch in the Division One Café when Maura Isles walked in. The yellow dress she wore was a revelation.

"Your dress is stunning, Dr. Isles," she said as the doctor came to sit at the seat across from her.

"Oh, thank you, Nina."

Sitting down, the doctor wiped the wrinkles from her dress. Concentrating on the coffee she had purchased, she was at ease with the newest member of their team. Somehow Maura had never felt awkward with Nina. From the early days when the cop had confided in the M.E. that she left Chicago because her late boyfriend was the victim of gun violence and she didn't trust her ability as a member of law enforcement anymore to more recently when the woman had been spending considerable time outside of work with Frankie Rizzoli and therefore with Maura and Jane.

"I assume you gave the fingerprint results to Detective Rizzoli?" Nina asked.

"Yes," Maura continued contemplating her coffee. "I believe she is on the phone with the family now or is waiting for them to arrive at BPD to discuss the findings."

Nina nodded and continued her lunch while subtly watching the doctor out of the corner of her eye.

"You're worried about her, aren't you?" Nina asked.

Turning her head to look at the woman next to her, she found the warm eyes she had come to appreciate looking at her with worry of her own.

"I am," Maura confirmed.

"This is a hell of a case," Nina remarked while shaking her head. "I've never seen anything like it. Even in my years in Chicago we never had a case like this. It's unbearably sad."

Nodding, Maura took a drink of her coffee and dabbed at her lips with a napkin.

"Can I speak frankly, Maura?" Nina's question surprised the doctor.

"Yes, of course."

"I've never met two people quite like you and Jane. What I recognized from my first day in Boston was how much the two of you care for each other," she spoke without a touch of anxiety that Maura wouldn't like where she was headed with this. "I envy what the two of you have. I miss having that."

It was what Nina said last that had Maura, too often the victim of misreading social cues, grasping what Nina meant. This quiet woman understood far more than she was ever given credit for.

"She is my life," Maura found herself saying this without hesitation or fear of consequence.

"And you are hers, unquestionably," Nina added.

A smile lit up Maura's face. She had never been able to talk openly about how she felt about Jane, not to Jane and certainly not to anyone else. While she wasn't pouring her heart out to this woman, it came as a relief to not have to keep everything in.

"I've never…" Maura attempted to find the words to explain the relief she was feeling, but couldn't seem to.

"I gathered as much. You are the unattainable to Frankie yet not for the reason I would have expected. He sees, but he doesn't see."

Nina had finished her lunch and was gathering her trash. She smiled at the thought of goofy, adorable Frankie and the blindness he had toward his sister because of a misguided interest in Maura.

"If he saw it, he would be mortified that he ever showed interest in you," she chuckled.

The memory of the 24 hours when Frankie seemed to be crushing hard on her and then shocked her with a kiss were funny to Maura now though they had caused her a great deal of anxiety at the time. She'd had one of the Rizzoli brothers try to kiss her once before and it had caused all kinds of tension between she and Jane. That memory brought with it the reminder of when she first said she loved Jane and meant it in a more than friend capacity.

"Poor Frankie," Nina added sarcastically. "I suppose I should get back."

Maura stood and followed Nina to the elevator bay where she said goodbye and smiled at this woman whom she had started to like quite a lot. She made a mental note to invite Nina to the next Rizzoli family dinner.

Poor Frankie, she repeated in her mind. As she stepped into the elevator she let out a genuinely amused laugh.

…

When Jane arrived at the Dirty Robber the entire gang had arrived already. She was hoping she might have a moment alone with Maura before the noise the followed the larger group around arrived. Instead she was greeted with a prolonged look from the doctor who was clearly assessing how Jane was without asking. The detective looked tired. It had been a long, trying week. She asked for a shot of whiskey before beginning her first beer and that request of the bartending Korsak told Maura everything she needed to know.

"Hey," Jane said quietly as she slid into the booth next to the wine-drinking doctor.

She was met by a warm though worried smile and something that was even better received: Maura's hand took Jane's under the table, lacing their fingers together and beginning a soothing motion on the back of her hand.

"Janie!" Frankie hollered from the pool table in the corner. "Come play a game."

Not wanting to leave Maura's touch, Jane begged off and joined the conversation that was taking place between Korsak, her mother and Maura. She hadn't followed, but was content to be sitting next to her best friend. There was a strange draw to holding Maura's hand. It was a safety that Jane hadn't realized she needed. They weren't hiding their hands; the table had shielded them. They would take things as slowly as they needed to for them. Everyone else could wait.

There was a song playing in the bar that Jane couldn't place. It reminded her of something, something she had experienced once. Whatever it was felt very similar to sitting next to Maura in the booth, holding hands and surrounded by their friends.

Looking at Maura, she felt like a survivor after a case from hell.

Suddenly Jane's phone was buzzing and the simultaneous rings of Frankie and Korsak filled the air. Frankie groaned knowing it had to be dispatch.

"We'll know it's a dead body when Maura's phone rings," Angela explained to Nina.

"Actually, Angela—" Maura paused as Jane released her hand, standing to go find a quiet corner to take the call. "I'm not on call this weekend."

Never taking her eyes off Jane as distress registered on the detective's face, Maura wasn't surprised when Jane came back to the table for her suit jacket. Korsak followed for his own jacket. Frankie settled up his tab at the bar and returned to the table, waiting for his partners.

"How many drinks have you had?" Korsak was gauging Jane's suitability for a crime scene.

"A shot and half a beer," Jane shrugged her shoulders.

"I'll get you a coffee to go," Angela popped up from her chair.

Korsak asked Frankie the same question as he approached the table, deciding they were both okay to go to the scene.

Maura's eyes caught Jane's, silently asking for some bit of information about the call.

"Dispatch says older male, possible suicide," Jane explained. "We need to go to the scene to confirm."

"I didn't think any of you were on call tonight," Maura was confused. "It's the third Friday of the month."

"We aren't... weren't. We were asked for specifically. Not even our precinct."

Maura found this suspicious but said nothing. Instead she tilted her head to the side, her eyes taking on a look of seriousness. It was as if she was telling Jane to be careful. And the detective read it for exactly that.

"Let's go," Korsak said after returning from the counter with the coffee Angela had prepared for both Jane and Frankie.

Maura watched from her seat as the three of them walked out of the Robber.

"Guess it's just me and you," Nina smiled softly.

"Yes, it is."

Maura's body might have been sitting across from Nina, but her heart had gone with Jane.

...

Maura woke at 3 a.m. to the sound of the kitchen door closing downstairs. She listened closely until she heard the telltale sound of Jane's gun being placed in its safe box under the console table. She rolled over so she would be facing the door when Jane came in.

The detective padded up the stairs quietly, her boots abandoned as she had come in the house. Her shirt was untucked, but she hadn't yet removed her belt. Walking down the hallway to Maura's bedroom, she could see faint moonlight escaping the slightly ajar door. She entered to find the doctor looking at her with tired eyes.

Moving toward the bed, it quickly became evident to the sleepy doctor that Jane had been crying. Her eyes were puffy from tears and the signs of exhaustion.

"Hi," Jane whispered.

She approached the bed. Her cell phone was unclipped from her belt then placed on the nightstand. Sitting down on the bed, her back mostly to the prone woman, she debated telling Maura what she had seen tonight.

"Is everything okay?" Maura asked when she noticed the cop hedging.

"No," Jane's voice was gravelly. "The victim tonight..."

Before she could continue, she broke down in tears. Maura immediately sat up and wrapped her arms around Jane from behind. She let the woman cry for a few minutes before debating if she should ask for more information. She didn't have to.

"The father of our suspect in the triple murder-suicide."

The news hit Maura like a truck. She found her own chest tightening with emotion. It was no wonder Jane was falling apart.

"Oh, God," Maura's croaked.

Continuing to hold Jane against her own trembling chest until her sobs subsided, the doctor went over in her head her encounter with the man and whether there could have been signs to catch.

"You couldn't have known," Maura spoke with the knowledge that Jane would beat herself up over something like this.

"He seemed angry, heartbroken and sad. Isn't that how he should have reacted? His child had just killed his grandchildren, for fuck's sake!" Jane's anger resonated with and in Maura. Anger at him. Anger at his daughter. Anger at herself.

"We couldn't have known," Maura repeated.

"Goddamnit!" Jane mumbled as she rubbed her eyes and wiped her nose.

"Crawl in bed," Maura followed the statement with a gentle kiss to Jane's left shoulder blade.

"You won't be happy when I crawl in there in my clothes and anything else would require energy," Jane shook her head.

"Here," Maura was not willing to wait for Jane to do it herself. She grasped the bottom edges of Jane's shirt on both hips and slowly dragged it up until the detective lifted her arms to aid it over her head.

The shirt tossed aside, Maura slipped her arms under Jane's elbows, coming together at her waist. She flipped the belt through the buckle and gave several tugs until the belt was clear of the pants. Her exacting fingers then undid the button of Jane's slacks. When long fingers tangled with her own and stopped the M.E.'s progress, she wasn't terribly surprised. She had both heard and felt Jane's breath hitch when she unclasped the button.

For a moment everything stood still. Their hands remained entwined and unmoved. Neither woman spoke. Maura had considered resting her chin on either lean shoulder, deciding instead that it might be best to allow that small bit of space.

"Jane?" she finally whispered, her heart beating wildly in her chest in wonder, anticipation and fear.

The detective rotated her torso slightly, her head turning back as far as possible to see her best friend. She saw the numerous emotions on Maura's face and sought to alleviate the doubt. She leaned back to press a kiss to the corner of soft lips. It took Maura twisting a bit for their lips to connect head-on. When they did the spark could be tasted. The kiss escalated quickly.

"Oh," Jane managed to moan against the doctor's lips as delicate hands rose to toned abs and then the lower rib cage. With only a cotton tank top between them, it was easy to feel the heat of those wandering hands.

Jane's hands had remained atop the smaller set that traveled her abdomen, unwilling to let go and too busy with the intense kissing to think of where else she wanted them to go. When Maura led all four hands back to the spot above the button of the trousers, Jane took control. She brought Maura's fingers lower to her zipper. The doctor knew what was being asked of her and as her lips explored the space behind Jane's ears and neck, she slipped the zipper lower. The sound seemed much louder in their ears as it battled to be heard over pounding hearts.

Jane lifted her hips and allowed the doctor to push the pants down. They hit the floor.

Regardless of the enjoyment she was getting from Maura's mouth on her neck and shoulders, Jane needed something else. She turned her body, one leg at a time coming up on the edge of the bed. As she made the transition her eyes were engaged in a standoff with moonlit hazel ones. One leg was nearly hanging off of the bed, something she remedied by swinging it over the doctor. She pushed the duvet down far enough that her feet could then rid them of the obstacle.

Maura was gorgeous in the soft moonlight that streamed in from the windows. Jane placed her hands on either side of her beautifully bare face before leaning down and once again capturing her lips. Slipping her tongue past eager lips, Jane made a slight curling motion against the roof of the warm, welcoming mouth. This spurred Maura into a frenzy. Her hands grabbed Jane's hips and pulled them down. Her own hips thrust forward to meet Jane. The slight height difference required the cop slide down a bit and as she did so her most sensitive point ground against Maura's pubic bone.

"Jesus!" Jane rasped.

Her lips traveled down the hollow of Maura's neck before meeting the low neckline of a silk camisole. She could see hardened nubs pressed against the silk. Her mouth latched on to one then the other through the silk. Hunched over while continuing the grinding motion Maura was directing with her hands on her hips, Jane could feel the muscles of her back tensing.

Sitting up, Jane pulled her tank top over her head, flicked her bra clasp from behind her back and allowed it to drop down her arms before sending it somewhere off the bed. Rolling to the side, Jane, now on her back, took Maura's hand and pulled her atop her partially naked body. The doctor's eyes had hardly left Jane's breasts throughout the trading of positions.

Despite leading both of Maura's hands to her breasts, Jane still gasped when they cupped her. Her chocolate eyes darkened and bore into Maura's as precise movements began teasing hard nipples. Jane pressed her hips upward and resumed the grinding that they had started when in opposite places.

"Maura..." Jane moaned, eyes closed and thighs tightening.

The doctor leaned down and began kissing every bit of skin from Jane's earlobe to her sternum. Her fingers were driving Jane crazy with desire.

Jane's hands had taken hold of Maura's backside. Squeezing, kneading and urging her on, she was very aware of Maura's state of dress. She could no longer remain patient. Pulling the camisole until arms cooperated with her. She knew the newly exposed breasts would be bare, but her mouth still hung open and her thoughts sputtered at the sight.

"Holy mother of god," came her reverent whisper. She was in awe.

Not unlike what Jane had done, Maura took scarred hands and guided them to the shadows beneath her glorious globes. Jane didn't need further instruction. She traced the underside before holding them in her hands. She had seen her best friend in a bra, bikini and many a revealing top. None of those images compared to this. Milky alabaster skin met darkened circles. Her nipples were a wonder and one Jane could no longer deny herself. She leaned up on her elbows and mimicked the teasing she had done earlier, this time without a barrier between them and her wanting mouth. She was hungry for this woman.

The words and sounds that came tumbling out of the M.E.'s mouth would make a lesser woman blush. They served as further fuel for an immensely aroused Jane.

"Baby," Jane's voice was deeper than Maura had ever heard it.

She wasn't surprised when eager hands hooked beneath the silk material of her shorts. Neither was Maura ashamed when those hands found her without panties and the apex of her thighs wet.

"Fuck," Jane moaned at these revelations. She slipped Maura's shorts down her legs and felt wetness meet her own navel.

"Jane?" Maura's voice was serious.

The detective looked into those hazel eyes and tried to anticipate whatever the doctor had to say.

Now Maura was a bit bashful. "I can't wait."

Jane didn't allow herself the split second it would have taken to smile. She grabbed the back of Maura's hair, pulled her down into a searing kiss and used her other hand to reach the source of all that moisture. Flattening the back of her hand against her low abdomen, a slight upturn of her fingers reached Maura where the doctor wanted most. The woman beneath set to work, a rhythm, a soundtrack, all working toward an approaching climax. Dropping her wrist a bit further, Jane was able to reach a deeper more pleasing place for the woman above and selfishly give herself something firm to rub against. It didn't take long for the sounds above her to quicken, the thrusting to become erratic and her own sensitivity to increase to a point that meant only one thing. The imminent release would be reached simultaneously, something that had never happened for Jane with another partner. She moaned Maura's name as she came.

The doctor's body crumbled as she came down from a blissful high. Her hips and legs remained clamped on the outside of Jane's, though she slipped down long, lean legs to allow their height difference to position her head just beneath the top of Jane's shoulder above her right breast.

When the blonde didn't speak for several beats, Jane's insecurities got the better of her.

"Maur?" she didn't ask whether the woman was okay, she didn't have to. They knew each other too well for Maura to not know what was worrying Jane.

"My thoughts haven't yet turned back on, give me a second."

Jane could feel the slight movement of Maura's cheeks. The doctor was smiling.

"Take all the time you need," she smirked.

The doctor settled against Jane, her hip falling off to the mattress as she reached down for the duvet and pulled it up over their cooling bodies. She offered a satisfied sigh and then kissed Jane's cheek.

"What time do you have to be in tomorrow?" Maura felt she had to whisper in this new place of serenity.

"8, I guess. Korsak said I could take a few hours in the morning. I'm not sure if I will," she explained, her frustration with having to go in on her day off evident.

"Do you need me to come in?" Maura asked.

Shaking her head while pressing a kiss to the crown of Maura's head, she appreciated the doctor's willingness to ruin her own Saturday if Jane had asked.

"Sleep in," Jane instructed.

"I don't want to miss you getting up," she argued.

"You just want to see my naked ass get out of this bed."

Both women chuckled at the thought.

"You're absolutely right."

...

Nothing was evident to Angela Rizzoli about what had transpired in the Isles residence overnight. Contrary to popular belief, nothing about Maura's appearance screamed that she had had sex last night.

"Did Jane say when she would be done?" Angela asked over coffee and fresh baked pastries that she'd delivered to Maura not long after Jane left.

"I don't think she knew," Maura didn't elaborate on the conversation they'd had about this, but the memory of their position as they had it warmed her body to a degree her coffee couldn't.

"It's too bad you girls couldn't have a nice day to relax. I know this case has been hard on both of you," standing to place her plate in the sink, the Rizzoli matriarch noticed the empty coffee cup already in the sink. "Did Jane sleep here last night?"

The doctor couldn't lie and saw no reason to do so.

"Yes, she came by when they were done at the scene," the less she said the better.

"I bet she was exhausted," came the response.

Maura knew better than to go down this road. She welcomed the ringing of her phone and answered quickly.

"Isles," her tone as she answered reflected the caller. Her caller ID said it was the BPD calling.

"Hey, Maur," she instantly relaxed at the sound of the detective's voice.

"Hi."

She hoped her tone wasn't unusual to the eavesdropping Angela. She listened as Jane explained that she'd left her phone in the car and wanted to let her know she'd be out of the precinct for a while. Apparently they were going to see the widow who had lost her daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren and now husband in a matter of days.

"We need to let her know that nothing suggests anything but suicide," Jane sighed with sadness.

"I'm sorry, Jane. Is there anything I can do?" she removed herself from the kitchen and sat down on the couch.

Jane's emotions were near the surface with the thought of so much loss for one woman.

"It's one of the worst parts of being a cop. We have to inform far too many people of things that will wreck their lives."

"You do an admirable job, Jane," she offered.

Maura could hear a conversation in the background on Jane's end and the opening and closing of what must have been desk drawers.

"I've gotta go," the detective explained. "It's time."

There was apprehension in the detective's voice and then silence that Maura read as the detective regrouping.

"I'm coming home afterward," she didn't need to elaborate on which home. "I…" she paused. "I love you."

The doctor's heart stuck in her throat. She knew Jane needed to say it as much as she had to hear it, especially with the task before her. Maura looked over her shoulder briefly, saw Angela in the kitchen and decided it didn't matter to her what was heard or how it was received there.

"I love you, Jane," Maura answered, not even bothering to lower her voice.

The detective said goodbye and the line went dead.

The M.E.'s heartbeat was competing in a grand prix.

Maura stayed on the couch for a moment, preparing herself for whatever conversation awaited her in the kitchen. She considered for a moment where Frankie and Jane got their detective skills. Surely Angela Rizzoli had something to do with it. She was, after all, the best at detecting secrets and the unspoken among the three of them.

She refused to hide from Angela. Returning to the kitchen, she sat back down on her stool, opened the newspaper and began reading. She didn't say anything or let on that her nerves were a mess. She nearly jumped when Angela broke the silence.

"Will Jane be done in time for dinner?" the woman asked.

There was no attempt to drag information out of the doctor. Angela knew it was Jane on the phone, but she didn't comment on any part of the conversation she had heard. This was not the overbearing Italian mother that Maura had heard all three of the Rizzoli children complain about for her hovering and meddling ways. Nothing of the kind appeared. She only wanted to know how to properly plan for dinner.

"I don't see any reason why she wouldn't make it in time for dinner," Maura responded without making eye contact. Eye contact could be her downfall.

"Good," she seemed to be cleaning up in order to leave the main house to start her day. "I'd like to try a new recipe and you and I can't possibly eat all that food. I'll tell Frankie to bring his appetite."

Maura smiled. She had never known Frankie to be without his appetite.

"Even though we'll have our usual family dinner tomorrow with Vince and, I hope, Nina, I thought a nice meal to mark the end of this terrible case would be a good idea."

"That's a fabulous idea, Angela. Thank you," she looked up briefly only to return her eyes, if not her attention, to the newspaper.

"I better get out of here and run a few errands," Angela said as she came around the island. "Text or call if you think of anything I can pick up while I'm out."

The M.E. was surprised and touched when the matriarch stopped behind her and leaned down to press a kiss to the top of honey blonde hair. The kiss lasted slightly longer than any other offer of affection she could remember receiving from Angela and even Maura, hardly one to read situations correctly, couldn't misread it. Angela knew and she understood.

As Jane's mother left the house, Maura let out her breath. Her nerves had begun to calm.

...

When Jane arrived at Maura's after an 8-hour day wrapping up the case from hell, she was irritated to find her mother in the kitchen cooking up a storm.

"Ma?" she was surly. "You know Maur likes to have her house to herself occasionally, right?"

"Good evening to you, too, Jane," Angela gave her daughter the sarcastic glare she often employed.

Rolling her eyes, Jane put her gun away and stomped to the closet where she kicked off her boots.

"Dinner will be ready when Frankie gets here or in 20 minutes, whichever happens first," Angela carried on as if she hadn't noticed Jane's behavior at all.

"Why the hell is Frankie coming? God, Ma! Tomorrow is family dinner night!" Jane tromped to the stairs and was well on her way up when a confused Maura entered the kitchen from her study.

"What was that about?" Angela asked Maura who was understandably concerned over Jane's tantrum.

"I'll go talk to her," the doctor headed for the stairs.

"20 minutes!" Angela shouted after her.

Taking a calming breath as her hand came in contact with the doorknob of her own bedroom, Maura wasn't expecting an already apologetic Jane on the other side. She had anticipated having to talk the detective into sitting through dinner. She opened the door and saw the woman on the edge of her bed with her head in her hands.

"I know I owe her an apology and I will, I promise," Jane didn't need to look up to know it was Maura. "I took out my frustration on her and I shouldn't have. I felt a bit blindsided when I walked in to find her in the kitchen."

Sitting down on the bed next to Jane, the M.E. placed a hand between the defined shoulder blades that were nearly covered by raven-colored curls.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Maura offered.

Jane let out an exasperated sigh. It took her a minute to get her thoughts and emotions to play nice. When she did speak there was a raw quality to her voice.

"It's been a shitty day, you know?" She sat up straight before continuing. "I had to tell a woman that is now alone in the world that her last remaining family member was dead at his choosing. I had to listen to her cry as she attempted to ask what she did now. How the hell am I supposed to know? And you know what got me through it? That it's Saturday. When it was all over I would get to come here and have a relaxing evening on the couch with you. But I walk in the house and there is my mother, on the one night that I share with my best friend every week. So I blew up."

The doctor leaned over to press an understanding kiss to her lover's head. While she hadn't faced the day Jane had, she did have a reaction to losing her Saturday night alone with her best friend. It wasn't an outward reaction, but a reaction nonetheless.

"You should know that your mom heard our phone conversation this morning," Maura explained.

"Oh, God. This isn't going to be some kind of coming out dinner is it?" Jane groaned.

Maura chuckled at this.

"No, I honestly think she just wanted to try out a recipe and knew that you, Frankie and I had a tough week. She seemed to have it planned before the—" she was now worried that Jane might be upset with her for not trying to hide the revelatory phone call from Angela.

Jane looked at Maura and the corners of her mouth were slightly upturned. "I don't mind that she heard."

"You don't?" Maura was surprised.

"No, why would I?" she pushed a strand of blonde hair out of the doctor's face. "A beautiful woman loves me. Of course I wouldn't want to hide that."

"I do love you," Maura whispered. She placed a soft kiss to Jane's cheek and then used a manicured finger to tilt the strong chin closer. She kissed the pout-prone lips with care.

"We should get downstairs to dinner," Jane sighed. "But you owe me a beer and a movie afterward."

"Is that all?" Maura was a pro at being sexily coy.

Raising an eyebrow suggestively, Jane stood and offered a hand.

"Come on, Dr. Isles."

She didn't need to say another word for Maura to get the picture of what exactly she had in mind for later.

...

"Did you girls remember to invite Nina to dinner?" Angela asked over her shoulder from the stove.

The dinner the four of them had together the night before was low-key and a needed respite from a hellish week. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement that nothing serious would be talked about while they ate and each of them stuck to it. When the meal was over, Jane and Maura had retired to the couch alone, Angela committing to coming by in the morning to clean up, which she did. Not more than 20 minutes into the movie Maura had promised Jane, the exhausted detective fell asleep. Eventually the doctor woke her to go upstairs, but not until she had enjoyed the weight of Jane's head on her lap, raven locks spread haphazardly on her pants and the couch.

Now they were back on the couch, Jane watching the news and Maura reading a magazine with her legs stretched out across her friend's lap.

"I did, Ma," Jane answered her mother's question. "She said she'll be here and she's bringing wine."

"She didn't need to bring anything!" Angela protested.

Maura couldn't help but chuckle at the conversation. Angela often wanted something done and when it was completed she wasn't satisfied with how someone else had done it.

"You should've tried telling her that!"

The detective swatted Maura's thigh to tell her she didn't appreciate the laughter. This did not deter the doctor.

When Korsak arrived, the girls were forced to get up from their comfortable position on the couch. Vince had brought flowers for the table, something Angela thanked him profusely for. Jane couldn't help but smile at their interaction. While they had both dated other people and Korsak was now her mother's boss, Jane had long ago thought the two of them would be perfect together. Unlike her mother's other boyfriends, she could actually see Angela settling down with someone like her colleague.

Frankie arrived with Nina, the offending wine in hand. Maura, ever the perfect hostess, took the wine graciously. She took Nina's jacket to the closet and when she returned she found Jane's eyes on hers. It came as no surprise that the detective's eyes were drawn to the jeans she was wearing. For some time now she had known that Jane found the dressed down attire of jeans and a sweater incredibly attractive. Now the woman didn't have to hide that attraction or pretend it wasn't there. She looked at Maura as if the doctor were dinner itself. Maura blushed.

"Dinner is almost ready," Angela reported. "Janie why don't you fill some wine glasses for everyone."

This tore the Rizzoli daughter away from the jeans she was admiring. The wine they had out breathing was ready to be poured. Frankie stepped in to hand her each glass to be filled and Sunday dinner was underway.

Sitting around the large dining table that was often forgone for the island when it was just Jane and Maura, the entire clan fit nicely. Angela sat at the head of the table, a place she insisted on having so that she could get up easily to grab whatever might have been forgotten. Jane and Maura always sat next to one another at family dinner. Korsak, ever the gentleman, held Nina's chair for her and scooted it forward once she had sat. Frankie seemed slightly jealous of this, though Maura couldn't quite figure out why.

"Before we pass the food around, I think we should have a toast. Something to put away the week and begin anew," Angela spoke. "Maura, honey, since it's your house, I think you should get to choose who has the honors."

Maura, rather formally, stood from her seat with her wine glass in hand.

"I would like the honor, Angela," she explained. "We have seen many things together as we have sought justice for the victims of heinous crime. Rarely have we faced something as staggeringly incomprehensible as we did this week."

The doctor looked to familiar brown eyes to steady the surge of emotion that accompanied any reminder of the case. Those brown eyes offered her nothing but support.

"Usually finding the truth is what those left behind need most. Truth brings with it a certain degree of closure and comfort. However, there are some cases where neither truth nor justice will be handed out. This was one of those cases. We are left to take solace in the knowledge that we did find the truth and we did our jobs with the utmost professionalism and compassion. Now we move ahead and hope that with each new case come better opportunities to achieve the justice we do our jobs every day with in mind. To better days ahead."

Maura tilted her glass and was met immediately with that of Frankie from the end of the table. Each glass found the middle of the table, clinking.

Sitting back down in her chair, wiping her lip where she had splashed a touch of wine, Maura reveled in the warmth that came with Jane's arm wrapping around her shoulders. The detective pressed a kiss to Maura's temple without the slightest hesitation. The kiss brought an irrepressible smile to the doctor's lips.

"Let's eat!" Frankie began dishing up his food before anyone could even catch up causing everyone at the table to laugh. "What?"

Dishes were passed around, stories were shared and everyone seemed to be relaxed and enjoying each other's company.

"Was Tommy working tonight?" Frankie asked him mom.

"He, Lydia and TJ are on vacation, TJ's first trip through New England," Angela answered.

"Tommy?" Nina questioned.

"Oh, that's my other brother," Jane explained. "TJ is his son. He's adorable. Takes after me, obviously."

"Obviously," Maura threw in.

Frankie rolled his eyes at Jane's comment. Nina smiled at them both and nodded with understanding. Tommy hadn't been around much since Nina joined the department, certainly not as much as he had been when Frost was living. The entire Rizzoli bunch, including Korsak and Maura, was thrilled to have Nina in their lives and welcomed her with open arms. There was no way to ever replace Frost, to fill the hole in their lives that his passing put there, but they were thankful to have a new member of the clan.

They fell into easy conversation. Aside from Maura's toast, nobody mentioned the case they had closed or the toll it had taken on each of them. It truly was time to begin anew.

Jane found herself watching Maura as the doctor explained to Nina some new medical finding that explained why the fish they were eating, branzino, in combination with other Mediterranean diet staples, was believed to decrease the risk of heart disease.

It was as it should be. The detective put her arm around the doctor once again, finding contentment. Conversation continued, wine flowed, love existed and needn't be explained or hidden and the case was officially closed.

-finis--