A/N: Right, this is it. The final chapter. Thank you all for being so awesome and reviewing all the while. I am so grateful you guys all took the time to read this story. Every piece I write is like a small fragment of my heart and means a lot to me. To see it appreciated.. I cannot even begin to put into words what your faithful love means to me. Your comments, your praise and your critique have made me the writer I am today so when you tell me you love what I do, how my work makes you snile, be also grateful to yourself because only because of your support and reviews and comments can I better myself. Thank you. ~Cissy.
PS: Now please all review because this is the last chapter. lol. chocolate cookie at the end!
Chapter 13
Jane felt defeated. She looked at Maura, who was at her turn staring back at Jane. She knew she wanted an answer and Jane also knew that Maura wanted the truth. How could she even have believed that Maura wouldn't find out she had involved Doyle into all of this? This woman had an answer for just about every question imaginable, knew more random facts about the things in this world than Jane could even begin to comprehend and yet Jane had expected, or maybe hoped, that she would not notice the lie Jane had told her.
Way to go, Rizzoli. You've only kissed her once and you're lying to her already. And you wonder why you're still single?
She took a deep breath. Intense coffee coloured eyes sought out hazel brown. "Maura…"
"Don't lie to me."
There was such intense hurt in those words that it felt as if someone had just reached deep inside Jane's chest and ripped out her heart. The pure expression of pain in Maura's plea made Jane ache inside. She felt sick to her stomach and nervously picked at her nails. She had no idea what else could do but tell the truth. She had caused Maura pain. She had lied to her. Could she even begin to fix this? She knew how Maura felt about her father. What had she done?
"This is not as black and white as it seems, Maur" Jane began and watched Maura intensely. Nothing in her face gave any emotions away. She just lay there beside her, on her back, staring up at her, expecting the truth and nothing but the truth. And Jane realised there and then she would have to give her that, no matter how much it would hurt. "When we realised you were missing we had no idea who took you. Our first logical assumption was that an enemy of Paddy Doyle had found out who you are and kidnapped you to get to him."
It reminded her of the time Paddy Doyle himself had taken Maura. She had been frightened. She would have done anything to get her back. Anything. And this time had been no different. She did what she felt she had to do. Jane doubted whether Maura even knew what she would have done if it meant she would have gotten her back safe. She would have to somehow try and make the brunette medical examiner understand that.
"It was Korsak who suggested we'd talk to Doyle. When I told him you were missing he was angry and upset and reassured me that there was nobody who could possibly have found out who you are" Jane continued. Maura just stared at her. Every so often she blinked. "Not until we received the scalpel did we realise that this was not about Doyle but about Hoyt. But by then Doyle had already told me that he would start his own investigation, which was of course aimed at his enemies in the mob."
"Did he hurt anyone?" Maura wanted to know and Jane let her breathe escape just at the sound of her voice. At least she was still willing to talk to her. "Did he do something to someone who was innocent, Jane?"
"No" Jane answered and swallowed hard. This had been the easy part. So far there was nothing she had done that would give Maura any reason to look at her differently. But that was all about to change. "He didn't do anything until he found out the guy responsible for what happened to you was Pike."
Hazel eyes narrowed. "How did find out it was Pike?"
"I told him."
"You… you did what?"
"I told him, Maura. I told him we found you and that were looking for Pike but he'd gone off the radar and nobody had a clue. We had no way of knowing where he was. He had the whole state to hide in. I knew there was one person who could find him using methods unavailable to the police. I asked Doyle for help" Jane said and there was a hint of aggression in her voice. "I did it for you."
"So it was Doyle who beat him up? Why didn't he kill him?" Maura asked and Jane was surprised by the lack of anger she displayed. Sure, she looked hurt. She could see it in her eyes. But there was no anger there, not even a hint of disappointment. It caught Jane by surprise. "Jane, why?"
"Because he told me that I am not like him. I said that he could kill him if he wanted to but he did not want me to carry that burden around with me for the rest of my life" Jane answered slowly and sighed. "In a way he probably is one of the good guys, Maur. Even if you say there aren't any in his line of work. They found Pike, they roughed him up and then they called me and told me where to find him. Their description was clear enough for me to know almost immediately where they were and like I said, he was beaten to a pulp but they seemed to know what they did because none of the injuries are life-threatening."
"Why didn't you tell me? In the hospital?" Maura asked softly and a tear glistened in the corner of her eye. "Why did you lie?"
"Would you have let me do this even if it meant I caught Pike?" Jane retorted and when Maura didn't answer she weakly smiled. "I didn't think you would." She leant in and her lips were mere inches from Maura's. "You need to understand that I would have done anything to get you back. Anything. I would have paid Pike all the money in the world if I had to. All I wanted was to get you back."
Maura looked at Jane for a little while; her hazel eyes searched the dark haired detective's face. Neither of them spoke and perhaps they did not need to. Maura did understand, maybe even better than Jane thought. The way Maura had felt whenever Hoyt targeted Jane, the intense desperation she had experienced and the desire to make things better and help Jane; those were the same emotions Jane had experienced throughout the last few days.
Slowly she pushed herself up on her arms and her lips unexpectedly captured Jane's in a surprisingly intense kiss. The raven haired woman lost her balance and tumbled down on top of Maura and moaned in satisfaction when she felt Maura's arms snake around her back. Her own hands began a journey up Maura's arms before slipping in her hair. She kissed her back and nipped at her bottom lip, causing Maura to smile. When they eventually broke apart Jane looked down at Maura underneath her and smiled.
"I am just so glad this is over, Maur."
"Me too" Maura answered softly and brushed a strand of hair out of Jane's eyes. "You know what kept me going throughout all of this?"
"Mmm?"
"You."
The bedroom door swung open and Jane's head whipped around to find her mother standing in the open door. Angela stared at the bed, looking slightly bewildered when she found Jane on top of Maura and then she smiled, especially when she noticed how her daughter's face changed into an intense shade of scarlet. "Oh never mind me. I just came to see if…" She didn't finish her sentence and it was obvious she had not come in for anything in particular at all.
"MA!" Jane cried in frustration. "How many times do I have to tell you to KNOCK?"
"Maybe you should get a 'do not disturb' sign from now on?" Maura teasingly suggested and Jane cast her a dark look.
"You stay out of this." Her eyes snapped back to Angela, who was still grinning like a Cheshire Cat. What's so funny, Ma?"
"Nothing, baby" Angela answered with a beaming smile. "I err... I was just wondering if you could give me a lift back to Dr Isles' house."
"You're not staying?" Jane asked as she let herself slide off Maura and ended up sitting in some strange position on the other side of the bed. It was anything but flattering.
"Stay where exactly? Your bed is already occupied" Angela grinned and Maura sent her a wide smile from the other side of the bed. She was wearing one of Jane's oversized baseball jerseys and wrapped some of the duvet around her. It seemed that the brunette was far more comfortable than Jane was, but then again Maura was by now used to Angela living with her and running into her at the most random and awkward moments. It seemed the woman had a knack for always turning up right at the moment you did not want anybody to see you.
"OK" Jane sighed and slipped off the bed. She turned to glance at Maura. "You wanna stay here or you wanna sleep in your own bed tonight?"
"Will you be sleeping with me?" Maura asked and when Jane gave a quick nod she too slipped out of the bed and began looking for her clothes.
"Hey, sleeping beauty, you look just fine in my clothes. Just put your expensive designer dress in your bag and get your ass in the car" Jane smirked as she watched Maura walk around her bedroom in her favourite jersey and her grey boxers. With the honey coloured curls and the amazing legs added to that Maura did not only look cute, she looked damn sexy too. Jane let her eyes wander up the brunette's frame until her mother grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the bedroom.
"You ruined my view!" Jane whined when she turned to face Angela.
"Jane, I just want you to know how happy I am for you and Dr Is… Maura…" Angela said and she put her hand on her daughter's arm. Jane smiled and gave her mother a hug. Angela's head rested on her daughter's shoulder and she brushed some hair aside. "Is this the wrong time to say that I still want grandchildren?"
"MA!"
"Sorry" Angela grinned and Maura chose that moment to come out of the bedroom. She carried her bag and Jane took it off her. Maura didn't even try to object. Jane picked up her keys, sent her mother ahead and then turned to Maura. She kissed her in the open door way and smiled when they broke apart.
"I'll buy you your own jersey for Christmas" she promised. "I may even have your name put on."
"I want a Celtics one" Maura said and Jane gave her a look. She knew that wasn't Jane's team. She grinned. "Red Sox then?"
Jane cracked a smile. "I'll get you a Red Sox jersey."
~()~
They got back to Maura's about forty five minutes and a stop at the coffee bar around the corner later and Jane walked with Angela to the guest house whilst Maura went about feeding Bass, whom she had missed a great deal. Jane shot her one last look before following her mother out and smiled as she observed Maura kneeling down beside the large tortoise as he sniffed at the bed of salad leaves Maura had just given him. Jane left them to it and found her mother in the guest house living area.
"So you and Dr Isles, eh?" Angela asked and her eyes twinkled. "Told you I was right!"
"Ma!" Jane pulled a face and shook her head. Then she smiled. A proper cheesy, shy smile and her cheeks began to turn pink. Dark eyes glistened and for the first time in what felt like forever Jane Rizzoli was happy and it radiated of her. "You might want to start calling her Maura, Ma. Since she's your new daughter-in-law and everything..."
"Oh Jane!" Angela smiled and then enveloped her daughter in her arms. "I am just so happy to see you happy."
Jane rested her head on her mom's shoulder and held her. For all her strange and annoying traits, she loved her mother dearly. She wouldn't know what she'd do without her. "Thanks, Ma."
"Now go and see if she's all right in there. I promise I'll stay here..." Angela said when she let go of Jane and she winked when she saw her daughter's flustered face. "And I'll knock too."
Jane smiled in reply and turned to leave the guest house. From the door way she could see almost directly into the kitchen, with the curtains now obscuring the windows, and she noticed Maura was no longer standing by the cooking island. Jane crossed the white gravelled path and the neatly kept garden and stepped into the kitchen through the side door. She found Bass, happily eating his salad, and she contemplated petting him before remembering Maura once telling her not to come between her tortoise and his food.
"Maura?" Jane called softly and her instincts brought her to the bedroom. The door was half ajar and she peered inside. She had only been in Maura's own bedroom a handful of times and never as her... Wait.. What was she? Girlfriend? Lover? Partner? Anyway, she could think about that later. As she stepped into the room the bed came into view and she found Maura sitting on the end, bent forwards and her face covered by her hands. From the jerky motions of her shoulders Jane guessed she was crying and she quickly hurried across the room before sitting down beside the brunette medical examiner and wrapping her up in her arms. Maura rested herself against Jane's chest and Jane kissed her hair.
"Hey, why are you crying?" Jane whispered softly and she ran her fingers through Maura's soft hair. She tried to get the younger woman to look at her. "Maura?"
Maura slowly looked up. Angry tear tracks covered her beautiful face and her eyes were all puffy. "I –I don't know…" she stammered, her words interrupted by snorts and hiccups.
"Why don't you start by telling me what you were think when you started crying…" Jane said tenderly and brushed some of the tears from Maura's cheeks. Her gaze briefly lingered on the angry cuts on Maura's neck and her heart ached. "And stop crying. You are far too beautiful to cry."
"I-I was thinking about Pike…" Maura whispered. "About what he did." There was another snort and some hiccups and Maura swallowed. Big, wide hazel eyes looked up into Jane's. "Jane, I was so scared…"
"I know baby" Jane answered. And she did know. She knew how frightened Maura must have been. It was a body numbing, paralysing fear that slowly constricted your heart. She had felt it when she had stared up to Hoyt after he nailed her to the floor with scalpels. She kissed Maura's forehead and forced the image of the monster from her past out of her head. "I know."
"And my father…" Instantly there was anger in her voice and Jane's dark eyes swept over Maura's face. "As much as I can understand you asking him for help, Jane, I struggle to understand why you would have sent him after Pike. And you lied to me. You didn't tell me."
Jane's eyes narrowed. "Would you have rather that I'd told you? Would you have let me? Maura, we would probably still be looking for Pike if it had not been for Doyle. I know that him being your father angers you but it was the only way!"
Maura shook her head. "I don't want him in my life, Jane. I want nothing to do with him."
"And you don't have to. I dealt with him. He never asked to see or speak to you because he knows you don't want to." Jane answered firmly and her dark eyes lingered on Maura's eyes. "I am sorry of me getting him involved upset you, Maura. But I would do it again if it meant I got Pike. And we did. To me it doesn't matter how we found him."
"Who knows?" Maura questioned softly.
"Korsak and Frost" Jane answered. "And I doubt Frost knows the full extent of it but if he does, it will be safe and secure. Trust me. Frankie had no idea." She hesitated. "I'm sorry for lying to you, Maura."
Maura stood up and began pacing around the bedroom. "He just becomes a part of every aspect of my life!"
Jane frowned as she followed Maura with her eyes. "Who?"
"My father!"
"Sperm donor."
"Jane!"
"Oh c'mon, Maura. Paddy Doyle isn't the man who helped you with your homework, who taught you how to ride a bike or gave you your first microscope and biology text books when you were eleven!" Jane said and Maura stopped pacing and turned to look at the dark haired detective. "Your adoptive father did all of that! He is your real father!"
"I can't ride a bike."
"Maur…what?"
"You said my adoptive father taught me how to ride a bike. He didn't. I can't ride a bike." Maura said with her face blank and clearly dead serious. Jane stared at her in a mixture of amazement and misunderstanding.
"Figuratively, Maura. Why do you always have to be so literal?" Jane sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "What I am trying to say is that Paddy Doyle is not your father. Your adoptive parents, they are your real parents, Maura."
"But his DNA…"
"…Is in your blood. Yes, I know that. But there is more to becoming the person that you are than just DNA. It takes more than a biological connection to be a parent just as much as there doesn't have to be a biological link at all for someone to be a wonderful parent. Your adoptive parents have their flaws, Maura, but they raised you and they love you. They helped develop this wonderful human being. Clever, intelligent and a little awkward maybe but none of that had anything to with Paddy Doyle" said Jane and she watched the expression on Maura's face change. "And I will repeat this to you for the rest of my life if I have to."
"Thank you" Maura smiled softly and sat back down beside Jane. Her hands found those of the dark haired detective and then she leant in, kissing her softly. Jane answered her kiss and moaned softly when she felt Maura's tongue press against her lips, looking for a way in. She let her and their tongues engaged in a passionate dance of power, lust and control and after a little while Maura scooted closer and her arms snaked around Jane's back where they began to tuck at the hem of her shirt.
Jane ended their kiss and dark eyes stared into lust filled hazel brown. "Are you sure you want to do this?" she whispered as Maura's hands continued to pull at her shirt and began to reveal her abdomen. Her heart pounded in her chest and all sorts of tingling sensations were rushing through her body, deep down into her core. Her eyes found the cuts on Maura's neck. "We can wait…"
"Sex releases oxytocin and vasopressin" Maura whispered with a twisted little smile. "Oxytocin is released after orgasm and increased the bond between lovers and…"
"Shut up" Jane interrupted her and her lips crashed back down on Maura's and she slowly pushed her backwards onto the bed. "Just shut up."
~()~
The days turned into weeks and Jane couldn't quite remember the last time she had spent a night at her own apartment. The day she had brought Maura home was the day she had moved in. She had only returned to collect Jo Friday and some clean clothes. Slowly the season began to change outside their windows and life fell back into its usual rhythm of working cases, chasing perps and endless conversations with Maura in the morgue. Their relationship blossoms as the weeks went by and Jane noticed how the atmosphere around them had changed now that they had finally admitted their feelings for each other. People seemed strangely happy.
Every so often Jane's eyes would linger on the silver scars on Maura's neck the same way Maura's gaze would often drop to Jane's hands. The scars told a story of survival, of strength, and in a strange way had become a symbol of their love. Every night before they went to sleep Jane would kiss Maura's neck, her lips soft against the slightly rougher tissue of the scars, and she would whisper she loved her and how beautiful she was. In turn Maura would hold Jane's hand, her fingers covering the scars, and held it until sleep claimed both of them.
They were together. They were complete. The missing piece had been found and the two halves of the heart had fallen into place.
Fin.
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