DISCLAIMER: Women's Murder Club and its characters are the property of James Patterson, 20th Century Fox Television and ABC. Rizzoli & Isles and its characters are the property of Tess Gerritsen, Janet Tamaro and TNT television network. No infringement intended.
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SERIES: In Deep Series
I Dreamed A Dream
By Demeter
For a brief and completely irrational moment Cindy hated Dr. Maura Isles, then the sentiment vanished and she prefered to blame the high dose of pain medicine she was on for this little glitch. So in those months when she'd been dead to her friends and family in San Francisco, literally, Lindsay had worked closely with Maura. The pretty – and single – ME had shared her nightmares.
So there were those looks Maura gave Lindsay. Cindy had the eerie feeling that if she'd looked into a mirror, she might see that same expression on her own face. Except she didn't want to look into any mirror right now.
Damn, she was going to cry again.
Maura seemed just as uncomfortable, but still Lindsay had thought it would be okay to leave the two of them alone for a moment. Meanwhile, she'd gone to tie up the last loose end before she could pick up her life in San Francisco again. As if they were going to become new best friends.
I win, Cindy thought somewhat childishly. When Lindsay said goodbye, she bent down to kiss Cindy very gently with regard to her condition, and said, "I'll come home soon."
Dr. Isles couldn't completely hide the pain flickering over her beautiful features. Cindy knew that pain, but still, she didn't feel very indulgent.
"It's nice to meet you," Maura finally said.
Cindy gave her a crooked smile and hoped that Jill and Claire would return soon.
He had helped create her cover. And at the same time he had manipulated her work, anticipating her every step, until now. He had paid the man who'd beaten Cindy so badly she'd have to stay in the hospital for a few days to come, and all of a sudden Lindsay was very glad that she didn't have to be in the same room with him.
"Detective Rizzoli... Boxer." He grinned into the camera. "I wonder why you aren't here. Don't you want to hear the rest of the story?"
Lindsay stopped the interrogation tape, taking a deep breath. "No you bastard, I don't care," she told the screen.
"Damn shame," she heard a voice behind her. Lindsay spun around.
"He was on the fast track, but obviously it wasn't fast enough for him."
"Yeah."
"Cindy's doing better. I'm glad."
"Me too," she choked out, her throat suddenly tight.
There was a moment of hesitation, then Warren Jacobi said, "Welcome back to the land of the living, partner."
Gratefully, Lindsay let herself be drawn into an embrace. She was more than ready to forget about Lt. Joey Grant and all the lives he had endangered, for awhile. She had a lot of homecoming to do.
"Thank you. I have to go back now."
Any hope that Maura had harbored until then that Lindsay could still be interested to come work in Boston vanished into thin air. Her friends had returned, DDA Jill Bernhardt and Dr. Claire Washburn.
There was talking, laughing, and bright eyes. Maura observed it all, trying to separate this woman she didn't really know at all, Lindsay Boxer, from her friend. Jane who'd never existed at all, a cover created to help catch a criminal within their own ranks. The job was done.
Maura felt left out, but there was also the somewhat masochistic need to stay. It was quite fascinating. Jane had seemed like a person who was still searching, for a good man or a better woman, who knew. Lindsay, however, had made her decision long before. She knew where she belonged.
Sadly, it wasn't with Maura, not even as an experiment.
There was some logic in that. And the only conclusion Maura could draw was that she had to go.
She wasn't surprised to feel her vision blurring; watching happy endings had always made her sad for some reason.
The End