Maura does not get to speak to Jane for nine weeks. She sees her sometimes, when she is being escorted in and out of the precinct. And once, on her way out, she meets Jane's brother, Frankie, as he is entering with her children.

"Dr. Maura!" Riley cries, taking the stairs two at a time to meet her. Kara is hot on his heels, and she accepts their hugs without question, blinking away the wetness that comes unbidden to her eyes.

"Hello, you two!" she says. Her smile feels wide enough to crack her face. "It's so good to see you!"

She has spent a difficult morning in an interrogation room, recounting each of Jane's injuries for two lawyers, an impartial doctor, Detective Frost, and Segeant Korsak. Jane has signed the release. She had even penned a little post-it along with it: "if anyone is going to tell them, I want it to be you -J."

Even still, Maura finds breaking doctor patient confidentiality uncomfortable, especially when she sees the effect it has on Jane's colleagues.

Detective Frost had become visibly upset when she detailed the cut to Jane's cheek.

"Frost," Korsak had warned.

"No," Frost said thickly. "She let me believe it was drinking. She stood there and let me talk to her about AA, and PTSD, and rage like she was a blackout drunk and not just a mother trying to protect her kids. How didn't we see it, Korsak?"

"Detective Frost, do you need to take a moment outside?" the impartial doctor had been the one to speak up.

And Frost had nodded curtly, glancing at Maura before making his way outside.

He hadn't returned.

Now, Kara pulls away from the hug and smiles up at Maura. She's grown at least an inch, and she looks more like Jane than Maura remembers.

"You've grown!" Maura says, hearing how emotional her voice sounds.

Frankie Rizzoli has paused a few steps down, and although he isn't exactly smiling, he makes no move to break up the little reunion.

"You too!" Riley says. "You grew too!"

"Grown-ups don't grow, Rye," Kara says without taking her eyes off of Maura. "We miss you."

Maura puts her hand on Kara's head. "I miss you too, darling," she admits. "How are you getting along?"

"Uncle Frankie took us to In 'n Out burger and I got my own shake!"

This does make Frankie move forward, shaking his head. "The agreement was that if you got your own, you would keep it a secret," he says good naturedly. He holds out his hand to Maura.

"It's nice to formally meet you, Dr. Isles,"

Maura shakes his hand, unable to stop the question before it slips from her mouth. "Is it?"

Frankie tilts his head, looking amused. "Yes," he says, gesturing to the kids that they should head inside. "I hear that my sister owes her freedom, and possibly her life, to you."

And before Maura can tell him that Jane had saved her, and not the other way around, he is leading Kara and Riley up the stairs and into the building.

They arrive at the clinic two weeks later, Riley bursting through the door first, as usual, and Maura steps from behind the front desk, and then freezes.

Kara comes through the door next, and she's holding her mother's hand.

It's Jane.

She still has the hint of a limp, and the hand that is not holding onto Kara is pressed to her side like an echo of its time in a sling. But she is really, truly there, eyes fixed on Maura with nervous, wondrous awe.

Riley only slows down on his way past her. "Going to play mutant turtles!" he cries excitedly.

Kara follows him with a roll of her eyes. She has a book tucked under her arm. "Hi, Maura," she says as she passes.

Maura has trouble looking at any one but Jane. The detective stops a couple feet away, smiling nervously.

"I hope this is okay," she says, when Maura doesn't speak. "We got an apartment…but it's being painted this week, so we got a hotel room. I thought it would be like this place, you know? Two beds and a coffee machine. Not so different."

She runs her good hand through her hair. "But the kids couldn't sleep. And even I kept hearing weird noises…" She trails off, looking at Maura and then away. Her smile fades.

"If you don't want us here-" she begins, and that's when Maura realizes she hasn't spoken. She's just been standing there staring.

She stumbles forward and puts her arms around Jane, pressing her face to her shoulder. She smells so familiar. She smells so good.

"You're here," she says into the fabric of Jane's shirt. "You came."

"I…Needed to see you, Maura." The confession makes Jane sag a little.

"Good," Maura answers, still holding tight. "I mean, God. I'm glad."

When she finally pulls away to look Jane in the eye, the brunette blushes slightly, laughing a little.

"When are you done today?" she asks.

"Four," Maura answers. "Will you stay until then? You can have 212. It's open."

"Yeah, of course," Jane says. She pulls away gently, heading toward the back room. "See you at Fourish, doctor."

For the first time in two months, Maura feels like she can breathe.

…

Jane is at her best, at her clearest, when focusing on her children. Maura, Frost, and Frankie help the family move into a three bedroom apartment on the edge of the South End, and they watch Riley do cartwheels in his tiny new room, stopping only to hug his mother around the waist when she promises to take him to a Red Sox game.

Kara likes her room too, though her reaction is more subdued. It is her tenth birthday in a week, and Jane has said yes to a sleepover for the first time.

"I didn't know it before," she tells Maura later, "but it's because of daddy. That's why I couldn't have a sleepover before."

She doesn't seem to require an answer, which is good, because Maura doesn't have one to give.

"They don't get it," Jane tells her that night after they've gone to bed. "They don't understand everything that's going on. I don't know what to tell them."

"They understand that their mother removed a threat from their lives," Maura replies softly. "And when the time comes for them to understand more, you will help them with that too."

Jane's shoulders rise and fall. She is sleeping in the living room on a new mattress, just delivered a day ago. She'd refused to move any of the bedroom furniture from her old place.

The bed she shared with Casey would not follow her into this new life.

"Will you help me?" she asks Maura, not looking up. "When the time comes?"

Maura takes Jane's hand. "Of course," She says.

Much to the dismay of her partner and her family, Maura has become Janes go to confidante. She calls Maura every day, and their text thread in her cellphone is longer than the doctor ever imagined a text thread could be.

Jane trusts Maura with her kids, and with the oversight of packing up the house when Jane is called into the precinct. Maura is the only one who does not ever get shut out or ignored. Jane's brother Frankie, and her partner Frost are forgiving. They each give Jane the space she needs to return to those relationships, but Angela, Jane's mother, will not be put off.

She makes the mistake of picking up Kara from school without telling Jane, and the message the detective leaves on Maura's voicemail is garbled and tearful. It is panic in its rawest form.

Maura makes it to Angela's in time to see Jane burst out of the front door. Riley is in her arms and Kara follows close behind, her eyes red rimmed from crying.

"…Taking you off the approved list because you clearly, clearly can't understand or respect my wishes," Jane is saying.

Angela follows after her, looking perplexed. "I was trying to be helpful, Jane," She calls indignantly. "It's not like I kidnapped them. Honestly!"

This is the exact wrong thing to say, and Jane looks slightly deranged as she whirls to face her mother.

But Maura reaches her before she can say anything.

"Okay," She says, putting a steady hand on Jane's back, and another on Riley's cheek. "Okay," She says again, soothing. "Look, Jane, we're all here."

Maura feels Jane relax under her hand. "There you go," she says softly. She strokes Riley's cheek, and he grins at her through his tears. "Hello, my love," she says to him.

"Hi Maura," he replies shakily. "Mommy's mad at Nona."

"I see that," Maura says. "But it's okay. It was just a misunderstanding. She got scared. But everything it alright now, sweetheart."

"Dr. Isles," Angela says curtly. "Could you give us-"

"I didn't want to go with you!" Kara cries suddenly, pointing furiously at her grandmother. "Why did you make me? I said Mommy would worry and we should wait, but you didn't listen to me!"

Maura does not consider her actions, simply steps forward and gathers the girl into her arms, soothing her as she did her mother.

Angela watches them as they turn and head down the walk to Maura's car.

"I'll call you at home later, Jane, okay?" she calls. "When we've all had some time to calm down."

Jane installs Riley's booster seat into Maura's car with shaking hands while Kara climbs in behind the driver's seat.

"Good fucking luck," Jane murmurs, "We won't be there."

When they are all in the car, Jane turns to look at Kara and Riley.

"I don't want to go to the apartment," Kara sniffs.

Jane smiles. "Where do you want to go, babe?"

"Some place safe," Kara says.

"212!" Riley pipes up. "212 mommy?"

Jane looks at Maura. "212, Doctor?" she asks.

Maura is already texting ahead.

…

…

Maura goes with Jane to her meeting with Sergeant Korsak, and watches as he apologizes. He leans forward and asks for her forgiveness, clearly hoping to pull on something familiar and intimate that might have once existed in their relationship.

"It's fine," Jane says, not meeting his eye. "You didn't know what was going on."

Korsak looks at Maura, surprised, and then back at Jane. "We should have figured it out," Korsak says. He doesn't say that Casey was convincing, or that they all expected Jane to be damaged.

He says, "I don't know what would have happened to me if Hoyt attacked me, what mindset I'd be in. When Casey came and told us you were having trouble at home-"

"I wasn't having trouble at home," Jane growls. It's her first outburst in front of other people, and she looks instantly regretful. She takes three, deep breaths.

"I understand why you thought what you did," she says. "I didn't handle things well."

"Jane," Korsak says somberly. "You handled everything, every single circumstance, more amazingly than I would ever have imagined. I could not be prouder of you."

Jane nods. She glances up and then away, and a muscle in her jaw jumps. "Thank you," she says tightly.

Korsak looks like this is not at all how he wanted the conversation to go. He looks supremely sad. When he stands, he holds out his hand, and when she puts hers out too, he refuses to let go until she looks at him.

"Jay," he says softly. "You have no idea how-"

But she tugs her hand from his and turns away. "Forget it," she says over her shoulder. "Water under the bridge, right?"

Maura and Korsak watch her go.

"I hate that bastard so much," he says under his breath. "I hate how he played us. She's gotta think we all just sold her out for a quarter."

"It's a common tactic, for an abuser to isolate his victim. Casey saw a vulnerability and used it to his advantage." Maura puts her hand on his arm, trying for comfort.

"Time," she says. "She's forced herself not to react to things for so long. To not expect help. She endured a lot in silence for a very long time."

Vince looks at her sharply, and Maura realizes that she is the only one who was privy to Jane's physical suffering.

"Time," she repeats, squeezing his shoulder. "She just needs time."

…

…

Jane cries over spaghetti.

Maura has been invited over to the new apartment for dinner, and she arrives to find Jane teary eyed over a pot of linguini, her arms crossed tightly across her chest.

The whole house smells like marinara sauce and garlic.

"Oh," Maura reaches out for Jane. She doesn't know what has brought this on, but she doesn't ask. It doesn't matter.

"Don't cry, sweetheart," she says, putting a hand on Jane's arm. "It's-"

"Ugly," Jane cuts her off, pulling away. "I know. I'm sorry. I'm okay."

Maura can only stare, she's so taken aback. "What?" she asks finally. "Ugly?"

Jane nods, wiping at her eyes, regaining control. "I'm sorry. I'm fine now. Dinner is almost ready."

Maura has to try very hard not to grab Jane's arm and spin her around, but instead put her hand gently on the brunette's shoulder.

"Will you look at me, Jane? Please?"

Jane turns slowly…not raising her eyes to meet Maura's.

Maura cups her chin in her hands. "You could never, in a million years, be ugly. Understand that?"

"Maura," Jane sighs. "It's okay. You don't have to-"

"Jane." Maura's raised voice makes Jane freeze for a quick second, before forcing herself to relax.

"Honey," Maura says, and she pulls the taller woman into a hug. She has realized that this understanding will not be resolved today. She has already handled it incorrectly, and will have to wait for another opportunity.

She gets her chance two weeks later, picking Jane up from a therapy session with her mother. Usually she gets to the office building to find Jane waiting for her alone. This time, however, when she pulls up to the curb, Angela Rizzoli is there too.

Maura doesn't have to roll the window down to be able to tell that the older woman is yelling.

She pulls to a stop and opens the door, and Angela's shrill tone hits her square in the face.

"... Don't know why you are still harboring such resentment, after all this time. Riley is turning six in a month, Jane! You're just not going to invite your mother to his birthday?"

Jane wraps her arms around herself, turning away from her mother to Maura's car. It seems she takes refuge in the doctor's presence whenever she and Angela fight, and Maura doesn't blame the older woman for the glare she throws in her direction.

Jane curls into the front seat, and Maura does not touch her. They drive in silence to the house, and Jane barely waits for the car to come to a stop before she is out on the sidewalk.

When Maura pulls the front door shut behind her, she can hear the rhythmic thwap, thwap, of the punching bag in the side room.

.

Funny thing, the way the body adapts to trauma.

Jane has survived enough suffering to last her a lifetime. She has forced herself to adapt to each situation, to stand against the onslaught of abuse and punishment, like a statue, never wavering.

Now, suddenly she finds herself suddenly without the constant fear of retribution, without the worry that each corner holds another shoe about to drop.

She is finally free, and Jane's body, funny, beautiful, adaptable thing that it is, begins to punish itself.

Even as she mourns it, Maura marvels at the detective's conditioning. Jane is even keeled to a fault, burying her anger deep inside herself until she can find solitude, until she can be alone with the punching bag, or the sit up bar.

Alone in the shower, or in her bedroom, or in the park at the top of the hill.

Maura listens to the sound of Jane's fists on the bag. A steady beat. Alone, Alone, Alone.

And full of anger.

Maura takes a moment to gather herself outside the door of the little gym. There is no point in denying that she is attracted to Jane. She can feel the emotion grow every time they are close to each other. She adores Kara and Riley as well, and when they all sit down in the front room of her house, or crowd together onto the new sofa in the apartment, Maura cannot think of a place she'd rather be.

And she knows, by the way she sometimes catches Jane looking at her, that the attraction is most likely mutual.

But what Jane needs right now is not the added pressure of a new relationship, or the thousands of checks and balances that come with navigating that relationship when children are involved. What she needs in the moment is an unconditional friend. Someone who will be there for her without any ulterior motive.

Maura intends to be that person. She takes a deep breath, and pushes the door to the work out room open.

Thwap. Thwap. Maura watches Jane execute a flawless combination. Cross, upper cut, cross, kick. Her eyes are focused with deadly intent on the bag.

They are bloodshot.

"Jane," Maura says softly.

Jane stops abruptly, shoulders heaving. Her hands are hastily wrapped, and she's not wearing gloves. Her knuckles are red and painful looking.

"I want to come over there," Maura tells her.

Jane shakes her head. "No," she says hoarsely. "Don't."

"I want to help you. I want to hold you."

"No," Jane says, a little more forcefully. "I…can't."

"It's okay to be upset. It's understandable, probable actually. I don't know a person who has been in your position who wouldn't be angry in your position." She pauses, but Jane continues to face away from her, and doesn't answer.

"I was furious," Maura says into the silence. "For a long time."

Jane turns to face her. "You were?"

Maura nods. "Yes. Our situations are different, but yes. I was very angry. And it made me feel weak, and isolated, and…helpless."

Jane looks at her for a long time before speaking again. Maura allows the silence.

"What has his name?"

"Garrett," Maura says. She wonders if Jane hears the lack of inflection in her voice when she says his name. She thinks that she must.

"Did he hit you?"

"Yes," Maura says calmly. "And I didn't have the strength to leave him."

Jane presses her hands together. She hits her knuckles against each other, just hard enough. "What happened?" She asks.

"He killed his brother," Maura says. She has trained herself to do so. "In front of me."

Jane's eyebrows rise, but she doesn't look as shocked as others have.

"He was trying to help me," Maura says. "He was trying to help me get out. And Garrett killed him."

"Jesus," Jane says under her breath. "Maura."

"Tell me why you're angry," Maura says. She takes a step forward.

Jane shakes her head, turning herself half away.

"No," Maura says firmly. "Don't bury it. Tell me. Tell me what upsets you. He isolated you, Jane. He cut off your contact with other people, and then, when that wasn't enough he manipulated those around you. He made them think you were dangerous! He made other people think you were the monster that he was."

Jane shakes her head like she's trying to shake off a fly. "Stop," she growls.

"He told you that your tears were ugly, Jane! Do you know how cruel and abusive that is? When did he say it? Was he inside you? Did the look on your face make him smile?"

Jane hits the punching back hard. The thick sound vibrates straight through to Maura's bones, and she moves closer.

"Don't hate yourself," she says fiercely. "Stop aiming your anger at yourself."

Jane turns to look at her. There are tears dripping down her cheeks and off of her nose.

"Hate him, honey," Maura whispers. "Hate him. It's okay."

Maura is there when Jane collapses. She has anticipated it, and she is there to wrap her arms around Jane's waist and guide her safely to the floor.

"I hate him," she cries against Maura's shoulder. "I hate him for what he did to me. I hate him for-" but she cuts herself off abruptly, clearly at the limits of what her brain will allow.

Maura holds her tightly. She presses her face to Jane's neck, breathing in sweat and shampoo. "It's okay."

They stay like that for a long time. Jane cries again, quiets. She uses her t-shirt to wipe her nose.

"You're beautiful," Maura tells her. "You've always been so beautiful to me."

Jane's smile is tired, but genuine. "I love you so much, Maura," she says, "and I know that you love me too."

Maura nuzzles her face against the baby soft skin at the base of Jane's skull, but she doesn't answer.

"I think it might stay," Jane continues. "I think it might stay when all the rest of the heavy parts go. And…I'm really hoping it does. But if it goes too – even if it goes for you and not me – promise that you'll say something." Jane shifts so that they can look each other in the eye. "That's what happened with me and Casey," she says. "He pulled me up out of some rough parts, and I loved him for it. And then when the rough parts went, my love went too. But I didn't say anything."

Maura nods. She reaches out and tucks some of Jane's hair behind her ear.

"I can't imagine this going," she says.

"Me either," Jane admits. "But promise if it does, you'll say something."

"You promise too."

Jane leans forward and presses her lips to Maura's. Just one, short kiss, not even enough time for Maura to properly close her eyes.

"I promise." Jane says.

…

…

They are going to have to leave 212 behind. They both know it, and they even talk about it some nights, after Kara and Riley have fallen asleep in whatever bed Jane tucks them into.

It's not good for them to think of the clinic as the only safe space. They need to spend time in the apartment, put up posters, carve their names into the baseboards and mark their height progression on the wall in the kitchen.

Jane wants to start all of these traditions.

She can't make herself.

They go to the clinic on Maura's off weekend, and while Kara and Riley are out on the playground, Jane sleeps hard in Maura's arms in the bed she is the most familiar with.

Maura watches the dreams play across her features until they turn stormy, and then she squeezes Jane's shoulder until she wakes with a gasp.

"Maura!" Jane wheezes. "Casey! There was so much blood."

"It's over," Maura says, though this is not technically true. "He's dead."

"I killed him," she chokes out. "He was going to kill you. So I killed him."

Maura doesn't say anything in return, and thirty seconds later, Jane is asleep again, breathing deeply.

When she wakes up, she doesn't remember her dream.

…

…

It lasts.

Past Kara's bulimia, Riley's sudden, terrible night terrors, and Jane's all-encompassing guilt about both things.

Past the re-certification that Jane flies through without effort, and the panic attack during her first case that puts her back in recovery for almost a month.

Past the earth shaking, glass shattering fight that Jane has with Casey's unit over how he should be buried, and past the rib cracking way she'd cried when they were gone, locked in the bathroom with Maura on the other side, on her knees.

Jane slides into bed next to Maura, and she presses her face to the side of her shoulder and she says, "today I left the kids with Ma for like, three hours and I didn't text once. Korsak made this stupid joke, and I didn't feel like he was such a jackass to be joking around like he didn't sell me out." She takes a deep breath.

"I still want to know what it feels like to kiss you."

Maura smiles and shuts her eyes tight, and they fall asleep holding hands.

It lasts past Christmas, the kids slipping into their bedroom at Maura's, standing nervous and giggly at the end of the bed until one of the adults had opened a sleepy eye and beckoned them up. When Maura needs something bright to pull on during long days at the Clinic, she will find Kara's eyes that morning in her memory, and the awed way she had snuggled under the covers next to her mother, overwhelmed that this closeness could be shared without consequence.

It stays strong through Jane's father's disapproval at her living arrangements, and through Maura's mother's disapproval at her flagrant disregard for appearances.

Jane yells at Maura's mother, and then yells at her father, and then she storms out onto the porch and laughs until she's crying. Maura follows her out, and slides her arms around her waist.

"I punched Frost in the shoulder at work today," Jane says, still laugh crying. "Hard. Like old times."

It has lasted to this moment. They've been careful to check in, to stay honest.

Do you still?

Yes, I still.

But this is the moment when Maura feels it grow.

…

…

She walks in on Jane in the middle of touching herself.

Her gasp makes Jane's eyes fly open, but the tension in her bicep does not disappear. The build-up only falls away the smallest amount.

"I-I'm sorry," Maura says, and immediately the flush of hives adds itself to the already present flush of arousal.

"I should-"

"Stay." Jane's eyes have closed again, but she repeats herself, more firmly. "Stay. God. Please."

So Maura slides in beside her, already aching, and rests her forehead against Jane's shoulder, just listening as she gets closer and closer to climax.

"Fuck," Jane hisses. "Maura. Help me."

And Maura knows that she doesn't mean 'touch me,' or 'kiss me,' or anything that is more physical than what they are doing right now.

"It's me," Maura says, moving up so her mouth is right by Jane's ear. "That's me, Jane."

That is all it takes. Jane goes arches, and spasms, and then falls, sweaty and melty against the bed. "Maura," she murmurs. "You now."

Maura is already slipping her hand past the waistband of her pants. It doesn't take her long at all, mostly because Jane rolls over halfway through to mouth languidly at her ear.

They fall asleep and Maura wakes up to the click of the door as it pushes open. Susie returning Kara and Riley to the room for the evening. Maura smiles as them, and they smile back.

Jane snores.

It is safe, warm, comfortable night.

It is their last one in 212.

…

…

"How do you know you're through something?" Jane asks her children.

They are setting the table for Rizzoli Sunday, and in the other room the sound of their extended family rises for a moment before falling away.

Riley and Kara share a look.

"You should just ask her to move in with us, Momma," Riley says. His voice crackles with suppressed laughter. "Just ask her to be your girlfriend."

Jane throws a napkin at him, but it opens in midair and doesn't make it all the way across the table.

"Is it my fault you two are so smart?" another genuine question, though this one is masked as a tease.

Kara has been focusing on the silverware, but she looks up at this, a tiny smile on her face. For a while, her eating disorder made her features look as though they were carved from stone. It's only in recent months that she's started to look like a pre-teen again.

"It's not your fault," she says. "It is your genes."

Riley nods, shifting his gaze from his sister to his mother. "Yep!" he agrees. "So like I said. Just ask her. If Kara barfs tomorrow, we know it was the wrong move."

It is his sister's turn to turn a dining utensil into an accessory. Riley dodges, and then moves to sling an arm around her.

"My sister," he says, as he has done in place of 'I love you' for almost a year.

"My brother," Kara echoes. She looks happy. At ease.

Jane looks at her children, not as young as before, and still too helpful for their own good, entering adulthood.

It is entirely her doing.

"Where should we go tonight?" she asks them, meaning the apartment or the house that used to belong only to Maura.

Riley and Kara share another look, and then her son shrugs.

"Doesn't matter," he says.

Kara nods in agreement. "Yeah," she says.

"Let's just go home."