A/N: So, here's what you should know about this fic before you start reading it, especially if you've read my other fics. I usually like to get right to the "important bits of a scene without a lot of setup or description of the surroundings. I've always admired writers who are good at writing those kind of details so this fic is an exercise for me trying to spend more time setting the scene and describing the surroundings. Because of that you may find this fic moves a bit slowly, especially if you liked the writing style on my earlier fics. If so I wont be offended if you decided to stop reading after the first chapter. For those of you who stick around I promise Rizzles before all is said and done, because I don't right 'em any other way ;-)

Also, the first draft of this fic is written. I'll be posting chapters as I edit them so no worries that I wont finish this fic. It's already done I just need to edit each chapter before I post them. Enjoy.

Oh yeah, I don't own Rizzoli and Isles (Wouldn't it be great if I did?) and I'm not making any money from this story.

Maura supposed she shouldn't have been surprised when Jane showed up at her office door Friday afternoon with her overnight bag slung over her shoulder and told her she wouldn't be able to make drinks at the Robber tonight or movie night after that. In the seven years they'd known each other Maura had seen Jane do this multiple times a year, especially after a particularly trying case. She was rarely gone more than a few days and when questioned about where she was going would never be more specific than up north. Although Maura's curiosity was almost more than she could stand, she appreciated the fact that Jane always seemed to return from these trips rested and more centered than when she left. Not that Jane would say it that way. Again, when pressed Jane would simply say she needed to "recharge her batteries."

Nonetheless, Maura was a bit surprised. They hadn't had a particularly difficult case in weeks. She supposed this trip had more to do with Jane's personal life than her professional one. Casey's proposal (ultimatum if you asked Maura, which Jane didn't) had thrown Jane for a loop and turning Casey down, though clearly the right thing to do, seemed to have put Jane into an introspective mood. Maura knew, as a best friend, she ought to have been able to help Jane through this difficult time but her own feelings made it difficult for her to give Jane an unbiased sounding board on which she could work through her feelings about ending her tumultuous relationship with Casey. In truth, Maura was afraid if she spoke to Jane about her relationship with Casey, Jane would figure out that Maura had feelings for her. That she was, in fact, in love with her best friend. Even if Maura could get past her fear of being rejected by Jane she didn't think this was the best time to confess her love, considering the emotional rollercoaster Jane had been on recently with Casey.

So, absent a best friend to help her work through this difficult time, perhaps it wasn't all that surprising that Jane was heading off to her private refuge to work it all out. It broke Maura's heart that she couldn't be a better friend, that Jane felt the need to go off alone during such a difficult time in her life and deal with it alone "up north." As hard as she tried to hide them, some hint of these feelings must have shone on Maura's face because Jane hesitated as she turned to leave Maura's office.

"Maur, is everything okay?" Jane asked with concern coloring her tone.

"Oh!" Maura exclaimed, surprised and chagrined that her face had given her away. "I'm fine Jane. You have a good trip." She managed with a weak smile.

"Okay," Jane drew the word out, making no move to leave Maura's office. As Maura watched her Jane seem to go through a short internal debate. Then taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly she asked. "Would you like to come with me?"

"Yes!" Maura answered almost before Jane got the question out. Then she backpedalled, "I mean if you're sure, I wouldn't want to intrude on your private time?"

"You wouldn't be intruding. I've been wanting to ask you for a long time but I never know more than a day in advance that I'm going and I know you prefer to plan a trip."

"It's true, normally I like to have more notice when I'm going away, but sometimes it's nice to be spontaneous." Maura said smiling. Truth be told, before she met Jane, Maura rarely did anything on the spur of the moment. Spontaneity was one of the many wonderful new things Jane had brought into Maura's life. Nonetheless, Maura felt the need to ensure she wouldn't be in the way of Jane's healing process; that Jane hadn't extended the invitation out of pity. "But I'll understand if you want to be alone; I know you have some things to work through. I wouldn't want to get in the way…"

"You're never in the way Maura. You are my way." Jane blushed, clearly embarrassed by what she had just said, but Maura beamed, touched beyond words by the sentiment.

"What should I pack?" Maura was standing in the middle of her walk-in closet. Her suitcase, laid open on her bed, already had the essentials; toiletries, underwear, etc., but she had no idea what kind of clothes to bring. Knowing Jane it was safe to assume that she wouldn't need anything fancy but that still left a wide range of possibilities.

Per Jane's instruction she had arranged to be gone all weekend and Monday and Tuesday as well. Then Jane had followed her home so she could drop off her car and pack. Angela, who was already watching Jo Friday for Jane, had agreed to mind Bass as well. She seemed surprised but pleased that Jane was taking Maura with her for the trip.

"Casual clothes" Jane replied. "Jane casual, not Maura casual," she clarified, "jeans, a sweater, and hiking boots if you have some, sneakers will work if you don't."

"I own hiking boots!" Maura exclaimed indignantly. "I love hiking" she added pulling out a pair of pristine hiking boots that looked like they'd never been worn let alone seen a mile or two of rough trail. She added them to the suitcase along with two pairs of designer jeans and three sweaters. All of which, Jane suspected were cashmere. She smiled and held her tongue. In truth she'd expected Maura to put up more of a fight about not bringing a dress or at least one skirt and a nice top. She almost laughed out loud when Maura added a classic black pencil skirt to the suitcase that would go quite nicely with anyone of the sweaters.

"You really can't help yourself can you." Jane said with an amused grin as Maura added a nice pair of pumps and stockings to the already full suitcase.

"I like to be prepared," Maura replied only mildly defensive, "you never know when you might need to dress to impress."

"Trust me where we're going those designer jeans and cashmere sweaters will be more than impressive enough," Jane remarked, grabbing Maura's suitcase, skirt and pumps still inside, and exiting the room. "Don't forget to grab a coat on the way out, something to protect you against wind and rain. It can get pretty nasty this time of year."

Maura did as Jane suggested and followed her out to the car where Jane was throwing her suitcase into the back seat next to her own duffle bag.

Closing the back door Jane opened the front passenger side door for Maura without even thinking about it. Maura thanked her and got in so accustomed to such gallantry from Jane that it barely registered with her either.

Glancing at the clock as she pulled out of Maura's driveway Jane said, "It's still early, why don't we put a few miles behind us before we stop for dinner. I'd at least like to get out of the city before we stop, maybe even out of the state."

"That sounds good" Maura replied, curbing her curiosity regarding their destination for the time being. She was content to enjoy the ride sitting next to Jane. She reached over and flipped on the radio and was surprised to hear country music fill the car. "Country Jane? I never would have pegged you for a country music fan."

"I don't listen to it all of the time but when the mood is right it just seems like they're singing right to me, ya know. Like the person who wrote the song has 'been there and done that'. Besides, the tunes are catchy. They make you want to sing along. You can change it if you like. I'll listen to just about anything but heavy metal or easy listening. Screaming guitars set my teeth on edge and elevator music puts me to sleep!"

"Actually, I enjoy listening to country music myself now and then" Maura replied. "It's like listening to someone's life stories set to music. You can learn a lot about real life listening to country music."

Jane couldn't help but wonder if her socially awkward best friend ever listened to country music in an attempt to better understand the people she met outside her morgue, the living people who's actions often baffled the "dumb genius." It made Jane a sad thinking about it and she hoped Maura knew she could always come to her for that now. Jane would never belittle Maura or make her feel like an outsider for not understanding the way lesser mortals (at least that's how Jane saw them compared to Maura) interacted with one another. Jane smiled to herself thinking that one of the many things she loved about Maura was her inability to comprehend the petty motivations of people who were primarily concerned with getting ahead or looking good in front of others.

"And as you say the melodies are quite engaging." Maura continued, bringing Jane out of her reverie and back into the conversation.

They travelled north on I95 for the better part of 2 hours, leaving Massachusetts behind and not long after that leaving New Hampshire for Maine. This time of year the roads weren't nearly as crowded as they were in the summer but they were fortunate to get an early start and avoid the leaf peepers heading north for the weekend to enjoy a bit of fall color. When the signs for Portland began popping up Jane asked if Maura wanted to stop for something to eat, and they pulled off the highway and stopped a restaurant called Ocean Garden in the town of Gorham, which Jane explained was a primarily a bedroom community for the city of Portland.

The menu boasted that they had Maine lobster year round but Jane told Maura to get anything but the lobster.

"Is the lobster that bad here?" Maura asked, curious as to why Jane would warn her away from it especially since she had been thinking she would avail herself of the local specialty.

"I wouldn't know" Jane replied. "I've never actually had it."

"They why…" Maura began.

"It's not that the lobster here is that bad it's just that it's that good where we're going," Jane explained.

"Oh" Maura replied, and finally she couldn't contain her curiosity any longer. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"North" Jane replied cryptically. Enjoying teasing her friend just a bit.

"We're still in southern Maine, Jane." Maura replied with exasperation. "There's quite a bit of 'north' to go from here before we leave the state of Maine and even more if we pass into Canada, although you didn't tell me to bring a passport so I assume we wont be leaving the USA. Could you be more specific?"

"Downeast" Jane replied wondering if Maura's seemingly endless knowledge of geography would extend as far as the area of Maine referred to as "Downeast." She was not disappointed.

"Oh!" Maura exclaimed delightedly. "That's supposed to be a beautiful area. I've always wanted to visit, especially in the fall! Where exactly are we going?"

"It's a small lobster fishing village just up the coast a bit from Bar Harbor called Corea. The place we're staying is right on the coast."

"That sounds lovely. How did you find it?" Maura was genuinely curious. She couldn't imagine how Jane, the die-hard city girl, had ever found herself in a remote village on the coast of Maine.

"The place we're staying belongs to a friend of mine, Grace McLure. Actually, she used to babysit my brothers and I when we were younger. She was the coolest babysitter ever. Unlike all the other babysitters we ever had she never ignored us to talk to her friends or boys on the phone, or to do homework, or watch TV.

She was a tomboy like me. I don't think I ever saw her wear a skirt or a dress. She'd play catch with us in the yard, or tag, or hide and seek, and when it was time for bed she'd throw Tommy and Frankie over her shoulders and drag them up stairs screeching with laughter. Then she'd read them stories until they fell asleep. She'd let me sit in their room with them until she was done then she'd send me off to bed too.

She was the first girl I ever knew who was like me. She made me realize it was okay for a girl to prefer GI Joe over Barbie. In fact, we stayed in touch long after I was old enough to take over babysitting duties for my brothers. She joined the Air Force after college. I think she's probably the main reason I had the courage to become a cop."

Maura was fascinated by this new insight into Jane's youth and loathe to interrupt since Jane seemed to be in a rare talkative mood.

"When she retired from the Air Force a few of years ago," Jane continued, "she moved up to Maine to be near her folks who retired 20 years earlier and started snowbirding between Maine and Florida. They gave the place to Grace a few years back when they moved into a senior living place down in Florida. Now they only come up to Maine a few weeks each summer. They were still living there when I first started visiting. It was right after Hoyt. Grace had seen the story on the news and called to invite me up to recuperate." Jane was subdued for a moment as she recalled one of the worst times of her life and Maura wracked her brain for something to say. But Jane soon shook off her melancholy mood and continued. "Back then Grace told me I was welcome anytime I needed to decompress after a difficult case or when I just felt like getting away.

Wait 'til you see it Maur. Like I said, it's right on the coast and there's a main house and guest cottage that she rents out during the summer and fall. That's usually where I stay but if she's got renters I stay in the main house with her. We'll be staying in the guesthouse, which is cool because it is literally 10 yards from the water at high tide. The view is incredible." Jane stopped talking and Maura waited a moment to see if she would continue.

When she didn't Maura responded, "It sounds wonderful Jane. I can't wait to see it and to meet your friend."

"I'm really looking forward to you meeting her too Maur. She's lived all over the world in the military and she's smart too, not Maura Isles smart but she's working on her dissertation for her PhD right now. I think you'll have a lot to talk about."