Disclaimer: Don't own the characters. No money. ETC.

Maura rolled over, jostling the leg that was draped over her own. She found herself smiling in spite of the early hour as she reached for her ringing phone. Next to her, the bed shifted and the leg moved farther away. She heard a heavy arm slap onto the nightstand and a muffled curse, before a clearing of a throat and then a raspy, "Rizzoli."

Maura answered her call a beat later, "Isles." Maura's grin remained in place, despite the reason for the call.

The last few months had been difficult. She and Jane found little ways to stay connected – it wasn't much different than before that fateful weekend, which now felt like it happened a lifetime ago. Her evenings were filled with video chats, and long text messaging sessions. She'd become one of those people attached to her phone, and she wasn't bothered by it at all. Jane had come to Boston to take her tests on some weekends, and Maura had ventured to DC on others. She'd gotten used to airport snacks and strange magazines. There wasn't ever a time when she felt like things were going to fall apart for them.

Maura didn't know if it was knowing that it wouldn't be like this for long, or if it was something else – but she was grateful for it. Every time she found herself back in Jane's arms, she never wanted to leave. And when that moving van pulled in front of her house a few days ago a peace settled over her – and it still hadn't left, despite the chaos that ensued. Maura grinned at the ceiling as she remembered the moment Jane stepped out of her car.

Angela had shrieked and made a big show of running toward Jane the second her long frame was free of the vehicle. Tommy and Frankie stood by shaking their heads, both of them giving her an are you sure about this? look.

She and Jane had briefly talked about it being too soon to move in together. Though, that idea had been quickly dismissed. It just didn't make sense for Jane to go to all the trouble of finding a new apartment, when Maura's home had more than enough room for the both of them.

Moving Jane in had been a fairly easy affair with the hired help and Jane's brothers. Though, admittedly most of Jane's furniture was still stowed in the garage. Frankie and Tommy both had their eyes on a few things. Angela had made a big dinner, and when everyone left Maura and Jane had gone upstairs to their bedroom. Now, it would seem, they would be working their first case together, again.

Jane dropped her arm off the side of the bed with a groan. Maura rolled over, practically on top of Jane. She slid her hand underneath Jane's worn t-shirt, her fingers spreading across warm, warm skin. She hummed into the mess of Jane's hair, "are you ready for your first case, Sergeant?"

…

Jane stood next to Maura stifling a yawn as she finished brushing her hair. She'd really brushed it to death, and if she didn't stop, she was sure frizz was on the horizon, but she was loath to leave the bathroom. There was something about watching Maura get ready that gave her pause. She didn't know what it was. Maybe those strong, lithe fingers handling brushes with the same dexterity used while handling a scalpel. Or maybe it was the way she pursed her lips and blinked at the mirror. Either way, Jane was absolutely transfixed. When Maura was finally finished, Jane snapped back to reality.

She set the brush on the counter on her side and tried not to think about the length of Maura's robe and how badly she wanted to kiss her. Maura gave her a knowing look as she walked by. Her smirk dancing at the corner of her lips. Jane shook herself as Maura walked into her closet. It was all Jane could do not to follow her like a lost puppy. She needed to get a hold of herself. "Coffee." She blurted out loud. "I'm going to get the coffee started." She could hear Maura's laughter as she left the room.

She couldn't help her smile as she started messing with the mechanical contraption Maura called a coffee maker. Ever since their first night together, she'd been stuck on Maura's hook. It wasn't like her to be so caught up in someone else, yet here she was.

And she was happy.

It wasn't the first time the thought had crossed her mind, but it still gave her pause. She didn't think she'd been unhappy before, but there was definitely a difference. She'd found herself smiling more, laughing more – for harder and longer. She wasn't so anxious – it was like holding back her feelings and refusing to even acknowledge that they'd existed had weighed her down so much and now she was suddenly free of that weight.

The sound of light footsteps alerted her to Maura's arrival. She turned as she held up Maura's travel mug and then her own. Before she could say anything, Maura greeted her with a lingering kiss. Jane blinked slowly as Maura pulled away. "Good morning."

"It certainly is." Maura smiled, "you forgot something very important upstairs." Maura quirked an eyebrow as she held up Jane's gleaming gold badge.

"Yeah, I might need that." Jane chuckled.

Instead of handing it over, Maura reached for Jane's belt herself.

Jane gulped. Her eyes zeroed in on Maura's capable hands and how they easily handled the leather and metal. It shouldn't have been nearly as much of a turn on as it was.

"There." Maura pulled on Jane's belt a little when she was finished. She smirked up at Jane, who was gripping the counter tightly. Maura took her thermos and walked to the door. She looked over her shoulder, "are you coming?"

"God, I wish." Jane mumbled to herself with a laugh and a shake of her head. She took a deep breath and grabbed her own thermos and walked toward Maura.

…

Jane held the crime scene tape up for Maura to duck under. Frankie looked up from his position by the entrance to the home. "Hey."

"It looks like a home robbery gone wrong." He walked them to the body at the back door. "The couple that lives here have security cameras, so the whole thing was caught on tape." He grimaced looking at the body with a clear gunshot wound to the chest. "Unfortunately, guy picked the wrong house to rob."

Jane leaned over the body as Maura crouched, "I'll say."

While Maura directed the crime scene techs for evidence and did her initial review, Jane stood by while Frankie and his new partner interviewed the couple who lived there. As Jane stood by and listened to them ask their questions – peace settled over her. She would never take any of this for granted again. Stepping away for a little while had turned out to be a good thing, if only to remind her of just exactly what she had.

"Do you want to grab lunch later?" Maura asked as she came to stand next to her as the techs loaded the body into the medical examiner van to be taken to the morgue.

"Yeah, we can try that little café you went to before."

Frankie scrunched his nose at them.

Maura turned to him, "what?"

"You know, you're flirting over a dead body, right?"

Jane and Maura looked at each other with a shared smirk and a wink, "when else are we going to do it?"

They both laughed as Frankie rolled his eyes and shook his head while walking to the direction of his car.

Once the two of them passed through the crime scene tape one more time to get back to the car, the sun was beginning to rise. Jane took a deep breath and closed her eyes letting the moment wash over her. It was good to be back.

Maura reached for her hand, and despite the many officers around them Jane intertwined their fingers and tugged Maura close. They leaned against the side of the car, arms around each other, as they watched the sun rise in front of them. "This is not how I pictured the next chapter starting." Maura said softly.

Jane grinned and kissed the top of Maura's head, "maybe that's the beauty of it."

THE END

A/N: I have been writing in this fandom for a very long time. And I still very much enjoy being here, and I love that there are still readers here. I haven't had a media source drag me in quite like Rizzoli and Isles has since. Thank you all for reading and for all the comments, messages, faves and alerts! Writing here wouldn't be half as fun without all of that. Writing this story - though the updates got a little too long in between, I know - has been incredibly fun!

I know I say it every time, but I really do need to thank my good friend Speakers77 for the beta on this. I've never had a beta for a whole fic before and she made it so incredibly easy. She also got an insider look into my TERRIBLE sense of Impostor Syndrome and had to constantly tell me 'no, it really IS good'. She's a saint. And this story wouldn't be nearly as good without her input. So thank you, buddy! You're the absolute best!

I have a whole list of prompts I need to tackle and even more ideas to get to, so I will still be around! I hope y'all will be too!

Thanks so much for trusting me and coming on this ride with me! It's been fun! I hope y'all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it! Thank you!