Disclaimer: Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles do not belong to me. No infringement intended and no profit will be made from their use.

It had been a little over three months since the day at the burned out warehouse. There had been anger, hurt, and confusion on both sides. After the initial shock had passed both women, but particularly Maura, moved past the emotions of the heat of the moment. Then there were apologies and more apologies, and eventually forgiveness.

It probably helped that Patrick Doyle somehow survived the two gunshot wounds and the fall. Maura eventually admitted that until the second when she saw Jane point the gun at Doyle, she hadn't wanted anything to do with him. But in that moment she realized the she had more she needed to find out from him. And the fact Doyle and Constance seemed to know each other was nagging her thoughts. Maura needed more time with her birth farther and getting it made it that much easier to move past Jane shooting him.

But three months later there was still a distance remaining between the two women. It was like they were starting over. Their closeness was gone. All of their routines and habits had been broken. When once they had assumed certain meals would be eaten together, or certain nights or weekends spent together, now there were awkward invitations. Previously they could spend hours together in comfortable silence, now every lull in conversation seemed strained.

One evening Maura decided to go work out at the gym within police headquarters before going home. It was normally an activity she would have planned ahead of time with Jane. But she hadn't seen Jane all day and it seemed like it would be too late to ask Jane to join her now.

The hallway to the gym was lined with windows and as Maura approached the entrance she spotted Jane in one corner of the gym boxing with the heavy bag. Maura stopped walking and simply watched Jane. Jane was going through a series of punches, jabs, and uppercuts. After a couple of minutes Jane suddenly stopped and looked towards where Maura was standing and upon seeing Maura raised a gloved hand and awkwardly waved.

Maura raised her hand in return and then put her head down, feeling embarrassed at being caught staring, and headed towards the women's locker room to change. When Maura exited the locker room, Jane was waiting for her outside holding a second pair of boxing gloves. "Come box with me. We can see what you remember from the self-defense stuff I taught you awhile ago."

Maura crinkled her nose. "Have other people worn those gloves?"

Jane was already pushing them onto Maura's hands. "Yes, but there's this thing called soap. You can wash your hands when we're done."

Maura followed Jane back to the corner with the boxing equipment. "I can show you some workout routines. You can get a pretty complete workout this way."

"Okay," Maura agreed.

They spent about twenty minutes warming up and then going through a few series of different types of punches. After Maura had mastered it all and they both had worked up a good sweat, Jane said "Okay, let's spar."

Maura stopped punching the bag and looked at Jane. "What? You want us to punch each other?"

"For self defense practice," Jane said. "You have to practice with another person if you want to be to able defend yourself. The bag can't block you or hit you back. It'll be fine." They moved into position facing each other and Jane put her hands up into a boxing stance. "Let's see what you got."

Maura made a feeble attempt at punching Jane, but Jane easily swatted her hand away. "Come on, you were doing much than that with the bag. What if you really had to punch someone?"

"I don't want to hurt you," Maura responded.

"You won't hurt me. Come on, try to really hit me. This is important to practice." Maura made a slightly more forceful attempt to hit Jane, but Jane still blocked her and knocked Maura's hand away. "Better, but not enough. Come on, try again." After a few more lackluster attempts, Jane said, "I contaminated your last crime scene."

Maura stopped moving, dropped her arms, and said, "You did?"

Jane made a face. "Of course not. I'm trying to motivate you, give you a reason to hit me."

"Oh, okay, I get it. Try again." Maura moved back into a ready position and concentrated more on successfully punching Jane.

"Uh, I fed Bass non-organic vegetables." Jane offered. "I put cream into your coffee this morning rather than soy milk." Maura was moving in a circle around Jane, looking for an opening. "I threw out your favorite pair of shoes."

Maura's gloved fist connected with Jane's nose and Jane dropped to the floor, mostly in surprise at the sudden burst of pain through her face, and held her hands to her face.

"Oh, no," Maura said as she dropped to her knees next to Jane who had curled onto her side on the floor. Jane's whole body was convulsing and Maura first thought Jane was seriously hurt or was crying, but quickly realized that the sound she heard was laughter. Jane was consumed by a fit of full-body shaking giggles. Maura punched Jane's shoulder, not too hard but not lightly either. "Damnit Jane, I thought I really hurt you."

"You did...my nose...fucking hurts...think it's broken," Jane said between giggles.

Maura was so exasperated she punched Jane in the shoulder again. "Why are you laughing then?" she asked.

"It's just...with all the legitimate reasons you have to hit me, it was a joke about shoes that made you do it...It's just so fucking ridiculous." Jane answered, still unable to contain her laughter.

Maura didn't have time to consider what Jane was saying because Jane rolled over and took her hands away from her face. Maura gasped slightly at the amount of blood that was on Jane's face. She pulled off her boxing gloves and then Jane's and pulled Jane to her feet. "I have medical supplies in my office. Let's go so I can clean you up and examine your nose."

Jane followed Maura downstairs to her office. Maura pointed at her desk and said, "Sit."

Jane perched on the edge of Maura's desk while Maura went into the lab. She came back with the bag that held her medical supplies, a first aid kit and a pair of latex gloves, which she put on after putting the bag on her desk.

"I should check you for concussion first, just to be sure." Maura pulled out a penlight and shined it in each of Jane's eyes, looking intently at Jane's pupils. "What year is it?"

"What?" Jane said.

"Just answer my questions."

"Fine. 2012."

"Where are you?"

"In your office."

"Who is the second baseman for the Red Sox?"

"Dustin Pedroia. I knew he was your favorite player."

"He's … scrappy," Maura replied and Jane rolled her eyes. Maura put the pen light away. "I don't think you have a concussion. If you get a headache tell me okay? I'm going to clean you up and check out your nose now." Maura grabbed some more supplies and started wiping the blood off of Jane's face.

Jane was suddenly aware at how very close they were. Maura was standing between Jane's legs. One hand was holding Jane's chin while the other was gently wiping the blood from Jane's face with an alcohol wipe. Jane's eyes scanned across Maura's face. Maura's full attention was on her task. Jane flicked her eyes over the rest of Maura's body. Jane didn't think they had ever been this physically close like this for so long. Maura still had a light cover of sweat on her skin from the workout and Jane could smell her. Not the usual scent of the perfume Maura wore, but her natural scent. Jane's first thought was that Maura smelled like sunshine. Which made no sense at all, but it was the only description Jane could think of.

Jane shut her eyes tight when she realized that her thoughts had taken a really strange turn. Maura saw that and said, "Are you okay? I can give you something for the pain."

"No, no, it's actually not that bad," Jane responded.

Maura stepped away to throw out the alcohol wipes and the latex gloves. She was starting to feel a little off balance. Something about being in such close proximity to Jane had set her heart racing and she didn't know what to make of it. But as soon as Maura stepped away, she missed that proximity. She tried to distract herself by talking. "I don't think your nose is actually broken. It doesn't look like the bone is displaced. We really need to get you some ice though so it doesn't swell and that will prevent you from getting black eyes." Maura moved back in front of Jane. "Is it okay if I poke it a little more to make sure, now that the blood is all gone?"

Maura moved her hands towards Jane's face again, but Jane grabbed them instead. "Maura, why are your hands shaking?"

Maura averted her gaze. "I, um, probably because my body released extra adrenaline when I thought I hurt you."

Jane dropped Maura's hands and instead wrapped her arms around Maura, pulling her close. Without thinking, Maura nuzzled closer and rested her cheek on Jane's shoulder. Her arms slipped loosely around Jane's waist.

"Is that all?" Jane heard herself say, not entirely sure how she got the words out of her mouth.

"No," Maura answered, her breath hot on Jane's neck. "I've missed you."

"I'm right here."

"You know it hasn't been the same since..." Maura trailed off.

"This isn't the same right now though, is it? It's different."

Maura moved her head off of Jane's shoulder so she could see Jane's face and brought one hand up to Jane's cheek. Their faces were only inches apart. "Jane..." Maura said softly. It was a statement and a question.

Jane nodded slightly and closed the distance between them, pressing her lips against Maura's.

Maura eagerly returned the kiss and immediately she wrapped both arms around Jane's neck. Her tongue sought and was granted entrance to Jane's mouth.

Jane moved her hands to Maura's waist and pulled Maura tightly against her.

Eventually Maura pulled back and said, "We really should get you ice."

"I'm really not concerned about that right now."

"Please? You're going to be really grumpy tomorrow if you're face is swollen."

Jane kissed Maura softly. "This isn't over, right?"

"Of course not," Maura replied.

"Okay. I have ice packs at my apartment. Can we go there?"

The two women went back to the gym locker room to collect their things and then Maura drove them the short distance to Jane's apartment. Inside Maura instructed Jane to sit on the couch while she retrieved an ice pack from the freezer. Maura brought the ice pack to Jane and said, "You need to keep this on for about twenty minutes. Do you mind if I shower?"

"No, go ahead," Jane answered while putting the ice pack up to her nose.

"Keep that on until I'm back."

"Yes, doctor."

Maura showered. She was planning on dressing in the clothing she had worn that day but when she got out of the shower she reconsidered and slipped into Jane's bedroom to find something to wear. She put on a pair of yoga pants and a tight-fitting tank top.

She found Jane exactly where she left her, sitting on the couch with her head tipped backwards and the ice pack balanced on her face. "You can take that off now."

Jane removed the ice pack and leveled her head. She smirked when she took in Maura's clothing choices.

Maura saw Jane's reaction and said, "I borrowed some clothes. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all."

"Can I check your nose one more time?" Without waiting for an answer, Maura sat down next to Jane and started poking at her nose. "How does it feel?"

"Honestly, it barely hurts now. I'm fine." To prove her point Jane leaned in to capture Maura's lips in a kiss again.

Within a few minutes of non-stop kissing, Maura was straddling Jane's lap with her hands laced behind Jane's neck. Jane's fingertips were tracing patterns on Maura's thighs. Maura pulled back and asked, "Is this weird?"

"Very, very weird, but in a very good way," Jane answered. "I've missed you so much. I miss how close we were. This feels so right. More right than anything has felt in months."

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault."

"No it wasn't and it doesn't matter anyway. It's all in the past now."

Maura responded by pulling the tank top over her head and saying, "I'm done with the past," before plastering her lips to Jane's again.

Jane eventually worked up the nerve to move a hand from Maura's thigh to her breast. She cupped the breast and then traced her thumb over the already hardened nipple. When Jane then squeezed the nipple between her thumb and forefinger she was rewarded with a moan from Maura. Jane thought she was aroused before, but that sound, Maura moaning deeply into her own mouth, sent her to another level.

"Get up," Jane said and started to push Maura off of her.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Jane said as she brought them both to a standing position and started peeling off her clothes. "Just..clothes off. Take the rest of your clothes off."

Then they were standing naked in front of each other and Jane maneuvered Maura onto her back on the couch and lay down on top of her, propping herself up on an elbow. "Done with the past," Jane repeated.

"Done," Maura agreed as she traced her fingertips over Jane's back and ass.

Jane held her hand still against Maura's hip. Their legs were entwined, her thigh against Maura's crotch and she could feel the wetness there. Jane was sure Maura could feel the same on her own thigh that she had pushed tight against Jane's center. "I can do that," Jane said and then for the first time that evening she faltered at the prospect of making the next move. "I, uh..."

Another person might have been tempted to laugh or tease, but Maura was prepared. She was actually surprised they had made it this far without Jane's usual shyness and borderline prudishness about sex appearing. So she simply pressed her palm flat against Jane's abdomen and pressed upward gently until Jane got the message and shifted enough to allow Maura's hand to slip between her legs.

"Shit, Maur," Jane said as she shuddered from Maura's touch.

"Kiss me, Jane."

Jane dipped her head but instead of kissing Maura's mouth, moved her lips to Maura's neck where she kissed and sucked from behind Maura's ear down to her collar bone.

Maura shifted her hand and slipped her fingers inside Jane.

Emboldened by everything she was feeling, Jane moved her free hand between Maura's legs. She found that it was amazingly simple to move her fingers through Maura's wetness and then inside her. And then they were both moaning and grinding against each other until they each in turn came.

Jane said, "Wow, that was..."

"You don't have to say anything. I know," was all Maura said before she was claiming Jane's lips again.