I think this is the longest one shot I've ever written. I drove myself crazy writing this one and, like most writers, am still not satisfied with what I'm finally just going to post. I really worked hard on this, so if you don't really care for it, please just be gentle. That's all I ask.

Thank you and I truly hope you enjoy. My next posting will be an update for an existing fic, I promise. It's just that the 4x04 episode really spoke to me emotionally.

Special thanks go out to CSIBradley and sociallyawkwardpenguin, both of whom helped me with this fic when I got stuck (multiple times). I sincerely appreciate the feedback.

They'd reissued Maura the clothes, shoes included, she'd been processed in, taking back the hideous orange ensemble she'd been forced to wear and stuffing it in a small cloth bag they gave to her upon her departure from the holding cells. Her own were wrinkled, but she cherished them greatly nevertheless.

Before, her clothes had felt like bad circumstances, lies, uncertainty, and fear. Now, however, they were freedom, innocence, a cleared name.

She pushed through the heavy detention center doors into the lobby.

Jane hadn't given word that she would pick her up. Maura had no way of knowing if anyone would be there on the other side.

But she hoped, prayed even, that the person she had long since realized she needed most in the world would be standing there waiting for her. Waiting to take her in her arms and hold on tight. Waiting to take her home. Just waiting.

As soon as the door swung open to reveal the poorly lit lobby, she instantly spotted Jane standing not even ten feet away, clearly watching the door.

They slowly stepped toward each other, little emotion on their faces, except in their eyes. All the words that were long over due to be said in the context they had both secretly wanted to say them...

I need you.
I want you.

I love you.

Instead they sparkled in their eyes, danced and twirled around like leaves in the autumn wind.

And then suddenly they were embracing tightly, clinging desperately to each other.

Maura rested her head, turned inward, against Jane's right shoulder, with her forehead resting against Jane's neck. She closed her eyes, the adrenaline rushing through her body, overwhelming her, as tears forced their way to the surface.

"It's over now," Jane comforted oh so quietly. "You're safe now."

The shorter woman clung tighter to Jane's lean, muscular frame, a sob escaping, hot and moist against the exposed skin at the neckline of Jane's layered fitted tees.

"Take me home," Maura whispered against her neck in a voice thick with the threat of tears. "Please," she pleaded, "just take me home."

Jane pulled back and with a glance at Maura's reddened face, slowly slipped her left hand down Maura's arm to the blonde's right hand, interlocking their fingers together, and led her out into the open air of the clear, chilly night.

Jane pulled her cruiser into Maura's drive and turned off the engine. She glanced over at the other woman, who was sitting back in her seat, her head against the headrest with her eyes closed. She looked absolutely exhausted and the bruise around her eye had started to darken. Jane only knew she was awake because of the way her lips were trembling.

"Do you want me to –"

"Yes," Maura whispered, opening her eyes and looking down at her hands folded in her lap. Then she slowly turned her head to look at Jane. Tears were shining in hazel. "Please. I don't want to..." Maura's voice trailed off.

Jane placed her right hand on top of Maura's. "I would never let you be alone if you wanted me here."

"I'd like to take a hot bath. Would you," Maura hesitated, afraid to voice her request, "would you stay close by? You could watch TV in my bedroom while I'm in the bathtub, if you'd like."

"'Course," Jane replied, pulling the smaller woman in close and placing a gentle kiss to her temple. "Go run your bath and hop in. I'll bring you some wine."

"No Château de la Valence, please," Maura requested quietly. "I think I also may need to dispose of the few bottles I have later." The last part she said more for her own benefit than Jane's. "Red though, please."

The brunette sauntered off toward what she had deemed Maura's wine closet while Maura headed upstairs to draw her bath.

Stepping out of her shoes at the foot of the bed, Maura pulled her sweater over her head, wiggled slowly out of her simple black pants along with her panties, and dropped all three garments into the dirty laundry hamper next to the dresser. Unhooking her black bra, she removed it and tossed it into the hamper as well.

Now fully nude, she proceeded into the bathroom to draw her bath, knowing that Jane would take her time and not appear until she was sure that Maura was soaking in the tub underneath bubbles up to her neck. She chose an organic lavender bubble bath to help her relax and calm her senses.

As she poured in the cap full, she absentmindedly watched the bubbles form and expand as the hot water gushed from the stainless steel faucet.

She'd been so close to losing even this simple, pleasurable experience. Hot tears stung her eyelids and she rapidly blinked them back, taking a deep breath in an effort to quell her emotions. After several moments with only the sound of running water and emotionally painful thoughts to keep her company, the tub was full. Turning off the tap, she grabbed a white, plush cotton towel from the linen closet beside the large bathtub and placed it on the spacious edge surrounding the basin.

She lifted her leg and tentatively dipped a foot into the hot, soapy water. The heat made her wince slightly as she stepped into the tub fully and slowly lowered herself into it, settling against the backrest.

A sudden overwhelming feeling gripped her tightly, and she was no longer able to fight back against the tears that had been threatening to fall for several hours. The tears slipped down her cheeks, over her jawline, down her neck, and she took a shuddering breath, releasing it slowly. Then as quickly as the feeling had come, it receded slightly and she leaned forward to splash a little water on her face.

Grabbing the long-reach butane lighter she always kept near the bathtub for candles, Maura lit the half dozen candles she had placed around the tub, despite the overhead lights still being on, and then put the lighter back in its rightful place.

Maura brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, exposing her back to the cooler air. She stared blankly at the candle directly in front of her, lost in thought.

"Maur? I have your wine," Jane called from the bedroom.

Jane's voice wafting in from the bedroom caught Maura off guard and it startled her slightly. "Come in," she called to Jane. "Would you please turn off the light when you do? I've got a few candles lit and they provide enough light." She turned her head toward the bathroom door and rested her right cheek against her left knee, watching for Jane's entrance.

The brunette entered slowly, clearly trying to make sure Maura was covered. She flicked off the lights with her pinky finger as she passed the switch, her beer in that hand and Maura's wine glass in the other. She set the glass next to Maura beside the tub within her reach and heard Maura murmur a low thanks.

Maura, however, didn't reach for the glass; instead she sat with her cheek resting on her knee, looking up at Jane. "For a while, I thought maybe I'd actually done it. And I would have had absolutely no recollection at all," she whispered, on the verge of tears again. She lifted her head.

"No," Jane stated with conviction as she sat down on the cool tiled floor and rested against the tub, bending her knees and placing her now bare feet flat on the floor. She looked to her left at Maura, the side of her head on the edge of the tub. "No," she stated again.

"No, what?" Maura asked, brow furrowed in confusion, resting her chin on her knees.

"I don't for one second think you could ever be guilty of murder, unless it were in self defense," she replied confidently. "So unless he was attacking you, I don't at all think you'd have killed him."

"But Jane, studies indicate that –"

"I don't give a shit about what your 'studies' say, Maur!" Jane burst out hotly, indignation reigning through her voice and eyes. "I only care about you and what you do."

"On a very basic level, human instincts are inherently the same. Biologically, neurologically," Maura clarified, "we'd essentially all react in similar ways to perceived threats to our own lives."

"Yeah, well, you're special," Jane remarked, looking away and taking a sip of her beer.

"I'm not exactly sure why and at what point you decided I belong up high on that pedestal you've placed me on, but one of these days, and soon, you need to realize that I'm not as perfect as you think I am, Jane Rizzoli," Maura replied with a hint of anger in her voice.

Maura's tone of voice caught Jane by surprise and dark curly locks whipped around at the change. "What?" she replied sharply.

"You heard me," the other woman replied in a meeker voice.

Jane glanced away, taking another sip of her beer, before her dark eyes returned to hazel. "I don't think you're perfect."

"You think I'm incapable of doing wrong," Maura explained. "For all intents and purposes, it may as well be the same sentiment."

"Well that's a first – genius Doctor Maura Isles not making a distinction between two things."

"Jane."

Several moments of silence passed between them, looking into each other's eyes, before Maura spoke again. "Why were you so sure that I was innocent? I wasn't even sure that I was."

Jane instantly looked away. "You basically always rely on science, facts, numbers, data. That's how you find your truth. I mean, in the end, at the very end, that's what I have to rely on too, because I'm forced to. But until I finally get to that conclusion, I rely on instinct, my gut feeling that you dislike so much. I knew that you didn't do it. I don't know how or why. I can't explain where that feeling ever comes from, Maur," she looked back at the woman in the water, "and maybe that's what makes me the detective that I am. But I knew, deep down inside, despite the 'evidence' we kept finding against you, that it was circumstantial, and I just had to keep pushing and prodding until I found that one tiny thing that would clear your name."

"Do you not do the same for your other cases?" Maura's eyebrows were scrunched in confusion.

"I have never, in my entire career so far, worked so hard and felt so desperate to find the truth than I did this time," Jane confessed in a low, gravelly voice, thick with emotion.

Maura decided not to push and ask about previous cases – Hoyt, the one with Dennis, which caused Maura to shudder and close her eyes.

Jane set her now empty beer bottle down and reached out toward Maura to tuck errant strands of hair back behind the doctor's ear and the dark blonde opened her eyes again.

"This time it looked like you were the 'bad guy,' Maur. I had to protect you in an entirely different way," Jane replied softly as she moved her hand down to cup Maura's cheek.

A lone tear slipped from the corner of Maura's eye down her cheek and Jane wiped it away with her thumb.

"I was terrified that you wouldn't be able to save me. The evidence against me for the majority of the case was incredibly overwhelming. Under the influence of scopolamine, I very well could have been guilty without even remembering it, not to mention I have the knowledge and power to inflict such a deadly blow to the trachea."

Dropping her hand back to her side, Jane instantly closed her eyes, her memory flashing back to the video on her mother's phone that she'd surrendered to Cavanaugh. Her face hardened and she clenched her jaw in anger.

Maura quickly noticed the shift in Jane's expression and demeanor. "Jane? What is it?"

"Nothing," Jane replied blankly, coldly, not wanting Maura to know yet about the incriminating evidence and betrayal of someone Maura trusted so deeply.

"You know that I will have access to the documents once the paperwork is completed for this case, so you might as well tell me what your reaction just now is about," Maura reasoned, tilting her head slightly to the side.

"I'll tell you later, okay? I don't wanna talk about it right now," Jane refused.

Normally Maura would push and make Jane explain her unusual reaction, but this time she decided to let it go, trusting Jane enough to let her decide when it would be best to tell her what else had happened during the case to cause it.

"I wanted to hurt that bitch who punched you," the dark brunette confessed, biting her lip. "After I first saw your eye, everything went red for a second. I don't think I've felt that angry since Hoyt attacked us in that hospital ward room. When someone hurts you, it makes me go crazy." She looked down, guilty for having confessed the thought.

"I am incredibly fortunate to have you in my life to protect me, Jane. I hope you know that," Maura said softly, her eyes shining bright in the flickering candlelight. "If it weren't for you, I would still be wearing that scratchy orange uniform, surrounded by the kind of people we put in prison for a living."

Jane shrugged off the praise and looked away. "It wasn't just me, you know. Everybody helped get you out of there. And you helped clear your own name, too."

Maura reached out her left hand and touched Jane's left shoulder, prompting the brunette to turn her head back around and make eye contact again. "Even so," she replied, resting her chin against her knee, maintaining eye contact with Jane, "it is still you for whom I am most grateful."

The two smiled awkwardly at each other before looking away and slipping into silence.

It had been almost 30 minutes since Maura had slid into the hot water. The bubbles had long since disappeared and the water was quite cool. Maura closed her eyes as she felt a cold shiver run down her spine, which didn't go unnoticed by Jane, who then dipped her left hand into the water to test the temperature.

"Jesus, Maura, that's cold!" Jane yelped.

Maura shrugged, her eyes still closed. "I don't want to get out yet."

The detective gave a sad smile before turning around to kneel and reachover to open the drain. The water in the pipes gurgled as the level in the tub lowered.

The bathing woman observed quietly as the swirling vortex danced around the silver drain.

After a few moments, the kneeling brunette abruptly closed the drain. Twisting the faucet handle to "H," with her other hand she tested the water again. Thinking the temperature sufficient, she plugged the drain and allowed the water to seep back up. She grabbed the bubble bath bottle and twisted open the cap, letting it pour into the splashing waterfall underneath the faucet. She then closed the bottle and set it off to the side.

As the fresh water mixed with long past lukewarm, Maura touched Jane's hand to get her attention and whispered, "Warmer."

Jane turned her head slightly to meet the warm gaze seeking her own. She adjusted the handle to a hotter setting and the two quietly observed the rising water and bubbles forming, each lost in her own thoughts.

When the tub had refilled, the brunette turned off the water. Before she could turn back around and lean against the basin again, Maura broke the silence.

"Am I that bad of a judge of character, Jane?" Her voice cracked slightly.

Jane's eyebrows furrowed. "What?"

Maura looked away, staring into the flickering flame of a candle. "I keep pursuing romantic endeavors with men who end up being murderers, or fugitives, or want to lick my face." She made a face of disgust at the last one. "How do I let this keep happening to me?"

Her best friend said her name quietly, but the doctor was too absorbed in her own tormenting thoughts to hear. "I haven't had a healthy relationship since Garrett, and even he ended up killing his own brother. So honestly. I'm actually not sure I have ever had a healthy relationship, because technically I can't count..." Maura stopped herself short and glanced up at the ceiling, tears forming in the corners of her eyes, the candlelight revealing their presence. She tried to choke down a sob.

"Can't count what?" Jane replied, confused. "Or should I say who?"

Maura shook her head, blinking rapidly to clear the gathering moisture.

"Can't count who, Maur?" Jane repeated, reaching out to touch the woman's knee.

The distressed woman closed her eyes as the tears slipped down her cheeks. Her expression was almost one of pain.

Jane pleaded in a husky, soft voice, "Tell me, please." She hated seeing Maura like this.

Maura opened her eyes and looked to Jane, whose expression was stricken with concern for the woman so dear to her. She took a shuddering breath and swiped at the tears on her cheeks. "No, no. It's silly. I shouldn't have said anything and there is plenty of evidence that suggests it's all in my head anyway."

"Obviously whoever this person is, they mean a lot to you because you have never reacted this way about someone, not even Ian," Jane coaxed. "Just tell me who."

"Promise me you won't get mad, okay? Promise me you won't run away, or think less of me," Maura whispered, looking down to avoid Jane's eyes now.

"Fine, I won't," the brunette complied.

"Promise me," Maura repeated with conviction, now staring Jane down.

Jane lifted her right hand and cupped Maura's cheek, wiping away the tears with the pad of her thumb. "Sprout Trooper's honor, Maur," Jane whispered. "I promise. I swear, okay?"

"You," Maura whispered, looking back to the flickering flame of a candle. "I cannot count you."

Brows creased with confusion. "What? Well, of course you can't," the detective agreed softly. "We're not a couple, Maur. We aren't even dati—oh..." She stopped mid-word as realization dawned across her features and closed her eyes, shoulders slumping and releasing a breath.

"How long?" She pinched the bridge of her nose briefly with her left thumb and forefinger, her left elbow resting on the edge of the tub.

"I'm not sure exactly," Maura replied quietly. "But the majority of our friendship, in retrospect."

Jane bit her lip and looked away, mumbling, "It wasn't all in your head."

"What?"

"I thought it was all in my head. This whole time I thought I was imagining everything, analyzing everything too much, and now here you are telling me you felt the same way?" Jane fumed. "Are you kidding me, Maura? Seriously?" Jane smacked the outside of the tub in anger.

Maura was frozen with shock, eyes wide and brimming with more tears. "Jane, I'm sorry. I –"

Jane rose quickly on her knees toward the woman in the bath, knocking the glass of red wine to the floor. Shards went flying as the red liquid splashed onto the detective, splattered against the tub, and spilled across the floor. She quickly placed both hands on Maura's cheeks, still wet with tears, and pressed their lips together fiercely. Pushing, pulling, tugging lips with teeth. So much frustration, passion, intense desire, and longing fueled the intimate exchange.

Suddenly Maura pulled back, gasping for air. She opened her eyes to a smirking Jane with closed eyes.

Slowly, the detective opened her eyes. "You really are the dumbest genius in the world, Maura Isles."

Maura couldn't comprehend her array of emotions as she searched Jane's eyes. She no longer sat in her feeble position, instead shifting to sit cross-legged in the bath water, facing Jane and effectively making her breasts, though still slightly covered with soapy foam, quite visible. "Stop with the oxymorons," she whispered as her hand came close to Jane's cheek to play with a tendril of soft ebony. "And you should get that stain out before it sets."

Jane stood quickly and grabbed a white towel from the linen closet, knowing that it could be bleached to remove the red wine stain. Or Maura could work some other science magic on it. She wiped down the side of the tub and spread the towel over the shattered glass and spilled wine.

"I don't really care about my clothes. It's an old t-shirt and dark jeans, so you can't see the wine stain on the jeans anyway. They're too dark," she finally said, kneeling beside the tub and towel covering the mess, moving the wet cloth mass around to soak up all the wine.

"Jane," the bathing woman whispered, half in admonishment, half in urgency.

The kneeling brunette turned her head slowly to look at Maura.

Maura's eyes filled with tears, but her expression was far from one of sadness. "Tell me."

Leaving the spilled mess, Jane stood slowly, maintaining eye contact with the woman sitting below her in the tub.

"I, Jane Rizzoli," she began to say, pulling her soiled t-shirt over her head and throwing it to the side, only briefly breaking their gaze. "Am in love,"she continued, unbuttoning her jeans and quickly discarding both them and her panties.

Maura stared into Jane's eyes, anxiously waiting for her next words.

The brunette continued to meet Maura's gaze as she popped open the clasp of her bra with both hands and carelessly tossed it.

"With you, Maura Isles," she finished.

Jane took a small step toward Maura in the large basin and smiled. She lifted one leg up and Maura moved backwards in the tub to accommodate her, resting along the back of the tub and looking up at Jane's nude figure in the candlelight. Putting the other foot in, Jane then knelt between Maura's spread legs and slipped her arms underneath the water to rest on the bottom of the tub on each side of Maura's waist. She lowered her upper body to the honey blonde's and spread out her legs behind her into the tub, settling herself on top of Maura's torso. Maura's center came directly in contact with Jane's abdomen.

With the balls of her feet against the bottom of the tub, Jane pushed herself up closer to Maura's face, mere centimeters away from her shining eyes and lips trembling with the threat of tears. "And I will gladly do whatever it takes to protect you as long as you want me to."

"Promise?" Maura whispered softly.

"Absolutely promise," Jane whispered back before claiming Maura's lips softly.