Disclaimer: All recognizable Rizzoli & Isles characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners including, but not limited to Tess Gerritsen, Janet Tamaro and TNT. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this fan fiction story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No financial gain is associated with the publishing of this story. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Note: I was working on this piece with "Killer In High Heels" (4x04) aired. I wanted to finish this before writing how I hoped things might have gone off camera in the latest episode. In the meantime, this piece takes place sometime around "In Over Your Head" (4x02). –DKC

Contrition

Maura sat at her desk, staring blankly at her computer screen. Her mind was attempting to wrap itself around the ordeal with Hope. She couldn't stop hearing Cailin's voice saying that there were too many ghosts in Boston for Hope. Was Maura Hope's only ghost?

"Maura!" Jane walked into her office, flopping down on the couch she complained so loudly about.

"Tell me you came to take me to dinner and I can stop staring at this laptop," Maura closed her laptop and stretched her arms over her head.

"Can't," Jane answered, her thumbs nervously rubbing against her palms.

"You have plans?" the doctor inquired.

"I'm going to meet Casey."

"Jane," there was frustration in Maura's voice, but she tried to not let it sound judgmental.

"You don't like him, do you?" Jane accused.

"I didn't say that," Maura's denial was hardly convincing.

"You didn't have to."

"Jane, that's not fair."

Maura's disdain for Casey registered on her face every time they broached the subject. She tried to support her friend in everything she did, but the Casey saga was wearing on Maura and even her saint-like patience was being tried.

"Does he want you to wait for him?" Maura asked.

"I don't know. We haven't really talked about it."

"Would you?"

"Wait for him? I don't know."

"God, how can he ask so much of you?" Maura sighed.

"He isn't asking much," Jane said in a deeper voice than her usual.

"How can you say that? He threads you along and for what?"

"It's strings, not threads, Maur, and he doesn't string me along!" Jane was now standing in front of Maura's desk pacing and avoiding eye contact.

"Expecting you to wait while he was in Afghanistan the first time, not telling you that he was back, not listening to the medical advice I prepared and then reappearing in your life only to disappear again. Tell me, Jane, how is that not stringing you along?"

"Dammit! What's your problem? Where is this coming from?" Jane charged.

Maura leaned back in her chair, taking a deep breath as she attempted to still her anger.

"It's okay for you to tell me that you don't like my mother because of the way she treats me, but it isn't okay for me to tell you that I don't like the man you sporadically sleep with because of the way he treats you?" Maura's irritation was undeniable and she could feel tears welling in her eyes.

"Is that what you think he is to me? A guy I casually sleep with?"

"I don't know, Jane. I don't know what he is to you," Maura clinched her fists in an attempt to keep her tone steady.

"Well you know all about casual sex, so you should know what I have with him isn't some casual thing," Jane seethed.

"How can it be more than casual when he keeps disappearing?" the usually calm M.E. was about to lose it.

"Stay the fuck out of it, Maura!" the venom in Jane's voice caused the tears to fall down Maura's cheeks.

Seeing the tears in Maura's eyes, Jane turned her back to the doctor and stomped out of her office and out of the morgue.

…

Maura stood in her kitchen, chopping vegetables in a rhythmic, almost staccato nature. The sound of the knife, the science of the recipe before her, was soothing for the frayed nerves of the doctor.

She was angry with Jane, but angrier with herself. Since she had known Jane, she knew there was always a possibility that Jane would find someone and Maura would no longer be at the center of her life. After Jane had shot Paddy, she feared that day had come and as Angela moved out of her guesthouse she feared her life would return to the lonely place she'd been found when the Rizzoli family walked into it.

Maura heard the side door slowly open and the shuffle of feet. She knew the sound of Jane's boots. The detective had let herself in. Jane slumped against the closed door, her hands in her pockets.

"Did you leave the office early?" the detective asked in a low, neutral tone.

"We finished the labs on the open cases," Maura wasn't revealing anything about the reason she took personal time.

Jane could hear the pain in Maura's voice.

"What are you making?"

"Marinara to freeze," the doctor still hadn't looked in Jane's direction.

"Is that Ma's recipe?"

"Yes."

"She has been after me to learn the recipe for decades. You really are the daughter she wishes she had."

"She has you," Maura turned her back to Jane, placing the pot full of vegetables on the stove.

"Please, Maur. Look at me," Jane walked toward the stove, keeping several feet between them.

"Let's just forget it," Maura turned to face Jane for the first time.

"I can't," Jane rasped.

"I shouldn't have said what I did and I shouldn't question what you have with Casey," Maura dropped eye contact once again, turning back to the cutting board.

"You had every right to say what you did. I deserved it. And I…" Jane's voice cracked. "…I needed to hear it."

Maura put her knife back on the cutting board, continuing to hold the counter as if her ability to stand depended on it.

"I don't know how to apologize for this," Jane said.

"You don't have to apologize," Maura tilted her head back.

"But you're right," Jane forged ahead. "I don't like the person I am when he's around. I don't like the person I become with you."

"With me?" Maura turned her head to look at Jane.

"We do this push and pull. I mean, more than usual. And I behave like a complete ass."

Jane approached the counter, leaning her left hip against it. She had narrowed the space between them to about a foot. She wanted nothing more than to reach out a hand to cover one of Maura's, but she felt unsure. She'd finally realized what she wanted. It was Maura's wants she was unsure of.

"This fight we seem to be having about Casey isn't really about Casey at all and I'm sorry I didn't see it before," Jane continued to look at Maura, noticing the momentary closing of her eyes and the way her hands relaxed.

Maura couldn't form a response. She had known from the beginning that her frustration with Jane when it came to Casey had everything to do with how much she didn't want to see Jane with anyone. She didn't want to watch as someone came into her best friend's life and essentially whisked her away. She had known for the last several months that her feelings boiled down to jealousy. She was jealous that Casey could have Jane. She was jealous that Casey could touch Jane. She was jealous.

Maura turned toward the stove, stirring the vegetables and attempting to reign in her thoughts.

"Maura," Jane's voice had dropped to the place that Maura knew could be her undoing.

The doctor stilled her movements. She couldn't respond. She knew that if she spoke her tone would betray her. She could feel the emotions bubbling up inside her and she knew that if loosed she would never be able to take them back.

"Turn around," as if reading Maura's thoughts, Jane whispered.

As Maura turned from the stove, Jane took one step toward her, immediately tangling her fingers in the honey locks. Their mouths came together, fiercely at first, then slowing into a passionate kiss.

"Jane," Maura moaned into the kiss as Jane's fingers trailed down her sides, grazing the sides of her breasts before coming to rest on her hips.

The two women continued kissing passionately, their hands roaming one another's bodies, feeling for the first time the places they had long desired. There was nothing surprising about this kiss to either woman. They knew this was where their particular dance ended. They knew that the flirty banter, the subtle touching would bring them here. Before this moment they knew it would bring them here if they weren't careful. Not they knew that this was where it was meant to bring them and they had wasted time trying to deny it.

Jane was pressing Maura against the counter, her tongue ravishing Maura's mouth. The Italian's hands had meandered around from the front of Maura's hips to her perfectly sculpted ass. Maura's moans and gasps for breath were the only sound in the kitchen.

The detective took Maura's hand in hers, reaching for the stove to turn it off. She led Maura to the stairs and stopped briefly to look at Maura. She saw in the doctor's eyes an expression she had rarely seen before—Maura was both confident and needing to be led. Jane walked ahead of Maura up the stairs until she reached the door of Maura's bedroom.

Even in heels Maura was able to walk backward, pulling Jane along as they kissed. Approaching the bed, Maura pushed Jane's already unbuttoned shirt off her shoulders and pulled her undershirt free from her slacks. She allowed Jane to unbutton her blouse and enjoyed the look on the taller woman's face as she admired Maura's exceptional breasts. Maura pushed Jane back on the bed, a smirk on her face. Jane quickly kicked off her boots, unbuttoned and unzipped her pants, lifting her feet toward Maura. Maura quickly pulled on the legs of Jane's pants, removing them in one fluid motion. The doctor crawled atop the detective on the bed, kissing her furiously. Jane's hands tangled in Maura's hair as Maura gripped Jane's forearms.

"What are we doing?" Maura managed to vocalize, her eyes burning into Jane's.

"Shhh…" Jane ordered, her hands now on Maura's face as she leaned up to continue the kissing.

Jane's hands went to Maura's still clothed ass, pulling the smaller woman's hips into her and using the movement to gain leverage. The leverage allowed Jane to flip them over so she was suddenly on top of Maura. Maura's hands were pulling up the back of Jane's undershirt, but not quickly enough for Jane. Jane tore the shirt over her head, kneeling above Maura in her bra and panties.

The sight of Jane over her in nothing but her underwear was driving Maura wild. She reached to cup Jane's sex and was stopped by Jane's hand.

"Wait," Jane demanded, spreading Maura's arms out to her sides and holding her in that position.

Jane dipped down to kiss Maura. This kiss was slow, passionate and sensual. As the kiss progressed, Jane pressed her hips into Maura's, rolling them forward and back. Their breasts were pushed together, separated only by their bras. A rhythm to their hips developed and Jane broke the kiss briefly to look down at the woman below her. There was a love in Jane's eyes, a love that had always been there. It had taken their fight in Maura's office for them both to realize what the tension regarding Casey was really about.

"Is this okay?" Jane asked between kissing Maura's chin and her lips.

Maura merely answered with a smile.

The two women continued kissing. Jane's ass was rising and falling in the air as their hips rolled together. The kisses Jane had spread across Maura's chin and jaw were now trailing down the doctor's neck and chest. Jane's tongue circled Maura's naval causing Maura to groan with want.

"Spread your legs," Jane husked.

Maura did as she was told, thankful that Jane had taken the hint. Jane's fingers slipped down the front of Maura's unbuttoned trousers and into her lace panties. Her fingers slid into Maura's folds, grazing her clit and stopping at her entrance.

"God, you're so wet," Jane hummed as Maura writhed beneath her.

Jane's fingers circled Maura's entrance, her teasing causing the doctor to moan in pleasure and frustration.

"Fuck me, Jane," Maura demanded.

Jane's fingers entered Maura as their lips once again crashed together. Jane began gliding into Maura and nearly out again. She would tease before plunging deep into Maura again. Maura's moans were a mixture of Jane's name and praise for deities Maura didn't believe in. Jane used her hips to help push her fingers deeper, something Maura rewarded by digging her nails deep into Jane's unclothed back.

"Oh, god," Jane breathed. "You are so beautiful."

Just as Jane felt Maura's walls begin to tighten, she pressed her thumb against Maura's clit and prepared for the inner walls to seize. The shutter of Maura's body, the taste of her kiss and the continued rhythm of their hips together made Jane intoxicated. As she felt Maura's waves subside, she lowered herself to Maura's left side, keeping her fingers inside Maura. She pressed soft, sweet kisses to Maura's temples, cheekbones and jaw line.

"You feel so good," Jane hummed into Maura's ear.

"Mmm.." the oblivion had set in and Maura couldn't form words.

Slowly Jane pulled her fingers from Maura's grasp, running her drenched fingers up across Maura's lace-covered breasts. She traced Maura's lips with her own juices before pressing her mouth to those plump lips and tasting Maura for the first time.

"You taste good…" Jane purred.

Maura grasped the back of Jane's neck, pulling her into a searing kiss. As their tongues danced, Maura realized how exhausted she was, both from the emotions surrounding their fight and the beautiful orgasm Jane had just given her.

"I need…" Maura started to say as their kiss was broken.

"Get some rest, sweetie," Jane hummed.

Maura closed her eyes, but knew Jane was still watching her. Like so many things with Jane, she could simply sense what Jane was doing and thinking.

"Would you consider this an act of contrition?" Maura opened one eye and smirked at Jane as she said it.

"You joke, yet you may be right," Jane chuckled.

"You are awfully sexy when you are contrite," Maura's voice was sleepy, despite the sass.

"Is that so?" Jane said as she pulled Maura into her arms and held her against her chest.

The sleepy doctor made a humming noise that resembled no response Jane could make out. Jane kissed the top of Maura's head and smiled. The smiling detective couldn't help but think that if this were the result of contrition, she would gladly sin for the rest of her life.

-finis-