A/N I'm a little stuck on my other stories but I need to write to get out of life for a while. I have no idea where this story will go and if I'll add more chapters. Give it a follow if you like it and you'll be updated! Let me know what you think, I love getting reviews.

Chapter 1

It was Maura's idea. It was her idea to take some time off after the kidnapping, after everything. Time to process, to take a break, time to just be. It was a good idea. But after a week at home, things weren't much better. She has nightmares. Panic attacks. Anxiety, stress, fear. She knows exactly what's happening and her big brain is processing everything in the medical terms she knows so well, but there's more to it than the clinical way she approaches it. It's in the way she talks about it, the way she cries at night and in the devastated look she gets when she makes a mistake at work. She's not herself and that scares her. And to be honest, it scares me too.

"A leave of absence sounds so serious." I stare at the screen on my desk, checking again if I took care of everything.

"It's not that serious, I know lots of cops that take time off." Korsak hands me a cup of coffee and I smile gratefully at him. "With the things we see every day, it only takes time for the tank to overflow. You gotta take some time to empty it."

"Yeah." I sigh deeply and click the 'send' button on the last file I need to send.

"The same goes for Maura." He looks at me and I can see in his eyes that he knows what I'm thinking.

"Good old Korsak knows me well."

"I've worked with you for a long time, Rizzoli. I know she's more important to you than anything else."

"She is." I take a sip of my coffee, enjoying the warm liquid warming me up from inside. "Her tank is flooded too." My voice is suddenly softer when I think about the Medical Examiner who is downstairs taking care of the same things as I am right now. "I just hope this is the right way for her to empty it."

"You'll find out."

I nod and look at my colleague when he walks back to his own desk to accept a call. He's a kind man. He was the first one to support me when I told him I wanted to take some time off. He always has my back, no matter what road I take. "I'll miss you, Korsak," I whisper at my screen, not audible for the older man who is talking to someone on the phone.

We haven't decided how long we will be gone. We want to keep things open. Keep the freedom. I'm coming back, that's for sure. We start off with two months, longer if we need it. I send the last e-mail, make one more phone call and have a short talk with Cavanaugh before I head downstairs to the morgue.

Maura stands behind her desk, moving things around and organizing everything for the ME to take over. Her hair is partly clipped on the back of her head and her blond curls are loosely hanging over her shoulders, contrasting with her dark blue blouse that is tucked into a white skirt. Looking at this put together, always fashionable and brilliant doctor, no one can see the struggles she is facing inside.

She looks up when she sees me and she smiles. "Hi."

"Hi. You ready?"

"Almost. Are you?"

"Ready to go." I fumble with my keys. "I just need to go say goodbye to everyone but I figured we can do that together."

"Please." She closes her laptop and looks around her office. "It feels strange to be leaving," she whispers. "Even though I know it's not a final goodbye."

"It's still a goodbye. We just don't know for how long." I walk a little closer, leaving the desk between us. "We'll come back stronger, Maur."

"I know." She smiles again, this time nervously. She grabs her purse and walks around her desk to stand in front of me and gently place a kiss on my lips. Her lips are always soft and gentle they never fail to make my head spin. From the moment we finally got the nerve to tell each other how we felt and had our first kiss, I knew there would be no better feeling in the world. That moment is now three months ago and I can't help smiling when I think about it as we walk towards the elevators. Our relationship is still new and fresh, but at the same time we've been friends for a long time so it feels like we've been together forever. But now I can just wrap my arms around her and kiss her. I can make love to her and tell her how beautiful she is. Those privileges are things I immensely enjoy ever since that moment three months ago.

We decided on a road trip. That way, we have total freedom and can go wherever we want. No lines to check in, no flight delays, no airport stress. Just Maura, me and the sound of the car engine as we drive into the early morning sunrise. The back of the car is filled with Maura huge suitcase, my smaller bag and other bags with everything we might need. We don't know where we'll end up and much to my surprise, Maura seems fine with it. Her eyes are closed and her lips are curled up into a tiny smile as her head rests back against her seat. Our hands are tangled together in between us and the radio is playing an old song. For someone who hated leaving work, I'm having a pretty good time so far.

"We should take a break soon," Maura says, opening her eyes and looking at me. "You've been driving for almost four hours."

"I can go a little longer."

"I know, but you shouldn't." She smiles and shifts in her seat, pausing for a moment before continuing. "How are you?"

"Fine, why?"

"Because you didn't like the idea of taking time off work."

"When you first suggested it, no. But then I thought about it and we talked about it and I changed my mind. Now I think it's a good idea. Yeah, taking time off work isn't my thing and I'm not gonna pretend I won't miss it," I shrug and look to my left to pass a car, "but my tank is flooded too, just like yours."

Maura nods, remembering how I passed Korsak's words along last night when we were huddled up on the couch, exhausted after packing what feels like every single item in the house. "What's your tank filled with?"

"Basically the same as yours, I think. Murder. Blood. Killers. Hate. We face those things every single day. One day it's just enough. So we empty our tanks so we can come back stronger and fill it again, this time maybe slower." I see an exit and move to a different lane to take it, feeling my back hurting and my feet getting stiff.

Maura squeezes my hand without replying. I know the thoughts in her head are racing right now, but I also know she needs to process before she speaks. When we get out of the car, the air is crisp and cold but the sun is shining. Maura brought coffee in a thermos and she rests back against the hood of the car while she sips from a plastic cup. She's wearing a pair of dark jeans and a white sweater that hangs loose around her shoulders, her hair is tied up into a bun and she looks absolutely gorgeous. Before I can stop myself, I hear myself saying; "Jesus, you look stunning, Maura."

Maura chuckles. "What?"

I feel my cheeks turning red. "I uhm… I said you look beautiful." I take my place next to her and sip my own coffee that tastes old and like plastic.

"Thank you." Maura shakes her head and moves closer towards me, our arms touching. "How long before we will arrive at that hotel you booked?"

"I think we'll be there by six, hopefully."

"I still can't believe I let you pick a hotel." Maura chuckles and shakes her head. "Who knows what we'll find there?"

"We will find a nice room with a big bed, a fancy bathtub and a balcony with a fine view." I put my empty cup on the hood of the car and wrap my arm around Maura's shoulders.

"Hm." Maura purses her lips and I feel her leaning into my side, her head resting on my shoulder. "You know I don't need a big bed."

"I know." I smile, placing a gentle kiss on top of her head. We haven't spent a single night apart since the kidnapping. I know Alice Sands is gone and we are out of danger but I want to keep her in my arms. I want to protect her while we sleep, making sure she sleeps peacefully. So we sleep tangled up together, Maura resting on top of me as I keep my arms securely wrapped around her. It's the only way she sleeps and the only way I can relax.

When I press my lips against her forehead, she lifts her head and meets my gaze, her eyes sparkling with both and sadness. She leans in and kisses me, softly at first but then harder while she puts her empty cup away to wrap her arms around my neck. I pull her as close as I can, wanting to crawl under her skin to get closer to her. Whenever we kiss, it's like the sky breaks open. It feels like all the clouds disappear and only sunshine fills our being. My heart pours over with love for this beautiful woman I am so lucky to call mine. We break the kiss and I stare into those gorgeous hazel eyes, eyes that hold their own galaxy of colors and emotions. I stare at the freckles on her nose and cheeks, the wrinkles around her eyes, the curves of her lips, that one strand of hair that has gotten out of the bun on top of her head. I tuck it behind her ear, a gesture that makes her blush and hide her face into the crook of my neck.

"Jane?"

"Yeah?"

"I-…" she sighs and doesn't move from her spot against my neck. "Do you… Do you realize the next months will be a test on our relationship?"

I furrow my brow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, we'll be together every minute of every day for a long period of time. A lot of couples don't make it through a time like that. Some relationships don't even survive a vacation-…"

"Maura. What's your point?"

"My point is-…" she sighs and pulls away from me, avoiding my gaze by looking at her lap. "I'm afraid you'll get tired of me. We've been together for only three months, that's not a long time. You get tired of the way I talk 'Google' like you always say and you always say I share too much information and you know my bad habits… I just don't want those to put a strain on our relationship and I want you to tell me when you need space. You mean too much to me, Jane. Will you tell me? Will you tell me when you get tired of me so we can take our space?"

"Get tired of you?"

"Yes! I mean… I love you and our relationship is too important to me to risk-…"

"Alright stop it." I shake my head and move to look into her eyes. "I'm in love with you, Maura. With all of you. I'm in love with all those bad habits too."

"You complain when I share information."

"I like bickering with you." I smile and tilt my head while I take her hand in mine, tangling our fingers together. "Yeah, I realize we're taking a big step with this trip. But I'm ready to take that step, Maura. I can't wait to spend every minute of every day with you. I love it when you talk Google because you get that cute smile on your face and your eyes sparkle and you lift your eyebrows because you're so excited about all that boring information that's in your head. I like it when you get all worked up and try to convince me to listen to what you're saying, it is incredibly adorable."

"Adorable?" She tilts her head and her lips curl up into a cute little smile.

"Yeah." I chuckle and gently peck her lips. "I love you, Maura Isles. All of you. And I promise I'll tell you when I need space. Even though right now I don't want any space at all and I can't imagine ever wanting to be away from you."

"Thank you. I love you too, Jane."

"I know." I kiss her again and feel familiar butterflies in my stomach as she straddles me to pull herself against me.

"And I love all of your bad habits too, like how you like to drink beer out of a can and how you put too much sugar in your coffee, and like how you snore and don't know when to take a break."

"I don't snore!"

"Yes you do!" She points her finger at me. "You need to clear your sinuses, and I told you many times. And your Eustachian tube has been blocked for quite a while now, ever since that ear infection from a few weeks ago."

"My what tube?"

"Eustachian. Also known as the auditory tube or pharyngotympanic tube. It's a tube that links the nasopharynx to the middle ear. The Eustachian tube extends from the anterior wall of the middle ear to the lateral wall of the nasopharynx, approximately at the level of the inferior nasal concha."

I smile at the way her eyebrows rise and her eyes sparkle, the way her voice sounds when she says those stupid medical terms. She's so excited. Her head tilts a little and she points her finger as she teaches me those things, like I will remember them. "Like that," I whisper. "Just like that."

"What?" She stops her story and furrows her brow.

"Nothing." I shake my head and wrap my arms around her waist to kiss her again. The sun is bright and the air is getting warmer as we kiss lovingly and slowly, holding each other close on our first day of a journey we don't know anything about yet. But god, I'm so ready to take on that journey. I'm so ready to take care of her, to love her and to be with her. I'm so ready to make her have a good time and forget about everything that happened. I'm ready to let her take care of me and let her love me. I'm ready to help her empty my tank and I'm ready to empty hers. All the way to the bottom so that when we get back, we get back stronger and we can get it filled up again.