A/N: I know I said I wasn't going to post anything until November but I wanted to do another Halloween fic! I hope you all enjoy and have a happy Halloween!
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"Why is it that most cases always happen at night? And during a Sox game…" Jane asked her partner and closest friend who was currently leaning over a dead body.
"Most criminals like to work at night, right?"
"Yeah… but this is Boston! They should at least watch the game!"
Maura didn't say anything as she continued looking over the decedent.
The detective left her side to poke around the room for anything that could give her a clue as to how this poor fellow kicked the bucket. All she could discern now is that he was working in his lab and died. No blood, no visible signs of strangulation, nothing.
"Rizzoli!" Korsak called. "This is the guy who called us in." He motioned for her to come over to where he stood next to a small nervous-looking man.
"So, do you have any idea what happened?
"No… all I know is that I walked in and he was dead!" He said, obviously distraught
"That's it?"
He shrugged. "I know he was working with some pretty bio-hazardous material."
Jane's face fell. "In this lab?"
"Yes."
She turned around quickly and made a bee-line for Maura. "Out! Everyone out! This is a hazard zone!"
"But, Jane!"
She ignored her protests and shoved her out of the room before rejoining Korsak and the body's finder. "Why didn't you say this before? You could have exposed all of us to something dangerous!"
"It's not airborne!" He tried to assure them but it was no use. Within seconds the room was vacated as they waited for a hazmat squad to arrive.
Several nerve-tinged minutes later they did. While everyone who was present in the room was receiving a cautionary scrub down, a few members of the squad swept the room for any and all dangers. After a few minutes of this the body was taken out and transported to the precinct, where Jane and Maura soon followed.
After checking in with Cavanaugh, Jane joined the other woman downstairs.
"Maura! What are you doing? Where's your protection?"
"Don't worry. The results just came in. It's no more dangerous than a normal autopsy."
"Oh." Her face fell as she felt a little foolish for the freak-out. "Okay." She took off her own full body suit and sidled up next to the other woman. "So what do we have here?"
"Well, so far I've found extreme brain hemorrhaging when I did a scan. I'll have to send in some tissue for testing but if I had to make a guess I'd say it's from whatever he was testing."
"Wow… guessing! Livin' life on the edge, Dr. Isles?"
"Well… I know how much you hate waiting for results."
"Yeah, yeah, just get on with it."
Maura grabbed her Stryker Saw and pulled the plastic shield down over her face. Just as she was about to turn it on, Jane spoke up.
"Uh… Maura. Did he just move?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Jane. If anything it's just the release of calcium into the muscles. It's not uncommon for corpses to twitch."
"No, I've seen the twitches. I don't think that was a twitch."
Maura just chalked up her fears to the horror movie they watched last night and turned back to the body. Just as she started up the saw the body sat up and looked at her. In complete shock, she dropped the saw and it barely missed hitting her foot.
Jane, acting on instinct, moved to the other side of the table and pulled Maura away just as soon as he reached for her arm.
"I swore he was dead." Maura said from behind the detective. "I checked all his vitals, there were no signs of life."
"You don't think he's a… a zombie… do you?" The taller woman asked, watching the moaning man carefully.
"Well… a, uh… a South African man woke up in the morgue not too long ago, though I'm sure they didn't do as thorough tests as I did." She said, scanning her brain for any facts on the subject. "A-and he could have taken tetrodotoxin, a drug sometimes used by the Central Intelligence Agency to trick the enemy into thinking that they are deceased. In 1962 Clairvius Narcisse was believed to have taken it because he was declared dead but then he was walking around days later."
"So you think he took some?"
"Well I can't be certain but… it's definitely probable."
"So he's like CIA?"
"I don't know. It also has some limited medical uses for the treatment for cardiac arrhythmia. He could have overdosed. His heart and respiratory rates would mimic death."
Jane relaxed. "So he's not a zombie."
"Of course not, Jane." Maura chided, though still wary of the man. "That's absurd."
"Right. So uh… I guess we should take him up. Probably needs to go to the hospital." She turned to the man who still seemed disoriented. "Hi, I'm Detective Jane Rizzoli and this is Dr. Maura Isles. Can you tell us what happened to you?"
He just let out a groan in response.
"He's still too disoriented, Jane. I don't think he can understand you."
"Really? Couldn't tell." She shot back sarcastically. She walked up to him. "We're going to take you to the hospital." She reached out to take his arm and help him down but jumped away as his head moved down and his jaws opened. "Whoa! What the – Did you just try to bite me?"
He responded by lunging forward towards the detective.
Jane jumped back and drew out her gun. "Hey! We're trying to help you!"
Maura shrunk away and spoke in an unsure voice. "Jane… I don't think he can help it. He needs to be sedated."
"And how are we gonna do that?"
"I have some Lorazepam, a benzodiazepine that can be used as a chemical restraint."
"And why exactly do you have that?"
"Well… with all the things that have happened in this lab I wanted to be prepared the next time something happened."
"Oh… good thinking."
The man groans, mimicking the monsters from their movie last night.
The two women look over at him, eyes filling with fear.
"So, uh… where is that sedation thingy?"
Maura, eyes still warily watching the man, crosses the room and opens a cabinet. She pulls out box and shakes out a vial. She opens a nearby drawer and pulls out a needle. She sticks the needle into the vial, tips it upside down, and draws out the liquid. Setting the vial aside, she cautiously makes her way towards the still groaning man.
"Want me to do it?" Jane asks, worried about the other woman getting accosted by the man.
The M.E. hesitated and nodded. "Sorry… I just… yeah."
The taller woman took the syringe and faced the man on the table. She took a moment to ready herself, gulping sharply. "Okay, please don't move. This is for your own good." She approached on the man who swung at her again. She dodged deftly and tried again. This time he managed to knock the thin object from her hands. She, stupidly, tried to catch it. The tip stuck in her hand and she waved it off. It bounced off the linoleum of the lab floor.
"Son of a – "
"Jane!" Maura lunged forward and cradled the hand in her own to inspect it. She did so for only a brief second before pulling the woman out of the room. She closed and locked the door before leaving for a moment and returning. "There, now he's locked in."
"What – what should we do? Do I need to go to the hospital?" Her voice was filled with uncertain panic.
Her head shook from side to side. "It was only a stick. At most your hand will go numb. I'm more worried about him." Her gaze went from Jane's hand through the windows to land on the man.
"Yeah... do we need to get security or something?"
The shorter woman shrugged her shoulders. "I can't think of anything else."
"Me either." She heads towards a nearby phone and reaches up to pick it up. Her grip wasn't strong enough to keep it in hand, however, and it dropped towards the floor, dangling by the cord. "Gah! Maura…" She looked over at said woman with a pitiful gaze.
Maura couldn't help but smirk at the other woman. "I'll do it." She walked over and took the phone. She hit a few buttons and then pressed the phone to her ear. "We need some help down here." A moment later she replaced the phone on the hook.
They wait in an uncomfortable silence. As they stood, the man struggled to get up off the autopsy table. He slowly made his way to the mirror and banged on the glass. Blood trickled from his mouth and dripped down to his bare chest.
"You're sure he's not a zombie?" Jane asked as she watched on in horror.
Maura's mouth opened and closed for a few seconds. "I… I don't…. this isn't in anything I remember reading in med school, my undergraduate career, or in any of the scientific journals I subscribe to."
The detective nodded. "Then you know what that means…. zombie."
The other woman couldn't even protest as the undead man's hands scraped at the glass. Down the hallway, a door opens. Frankie and a few other police officers met up with them.
"Hey… what happened?" He asked, concerned for the welfare of the two women he cared for greatly.
"I have no idea. This guy just woke up from death and tried to bite me." Jane answered.
Frankie looked taken aback as she looked into the room. "Alright… we'll see what we can do."
"Uh – " Maura spoke up. "There's a sedative on the floor in there. If you can inject it into a muscle it'll make things much easier."
He smiled at her. "Thanks."
The three men entered the room and approached the man carefully. The two police officers drew their guns and aimed while Frankie crept across the room and grabbed the syringe. As the zombie was too distracted by the gun wielding men, Frankie was able to sneak up behind him and thrusts the needle into his shoulder. The crazed man turned and tried to retaliate. He managed to get a bite in before the drug took effect and he slumped to the floor. The two police officers picked him up carefully and carted him out.
"You two okay?" Frankie asked as the men took him upstairs.
They nodded.
"Yeah, thanks." Jane answered with a wry smile.
He shot her one back and went to rejoin the three other men.
"I think I'm gonna go clean up." Maura said, pointing to the room.
"Yeah, I'll help."
They went in and begun putting the room back to its original state.
Minutes later they were done. With nothing more to do with the case they decided to head upstairs and call it a night.
The squad room was eerily quiet as they noticed no one was there. While it was the middle of the night there was usually one or two people lurking about, finishing up some old reports or just snoozing on a couch until the next work day came about.
"Frankie?" Jane called out. "Korsak? Frost? Anyone?"
A shadowy figure stumbled out from the tech room. "Jane? Maura…. I don't feel so good." He coughed up a bit of blood and slumped against the door frame.
The two women rushed to his side.
"Augh…" His pained groan was punctuated by his pale appearance and sweat drenched brow.
"Oh no, did you eat something bad?" The doctor asked him, concern filling her gaze.
He shook his head. "I don't think so… all I had was that sandwich Ma made for me earlier, same as you."
Maura face took on a pensive look as she tried to determine his ailment through the visible symptoms. When she was unable to discern much of anything she asked him to voice them aloud.
"Well… I've been feeling kinda cold. And… my hand has really started to burn since that lunatic bit me."
"Let me see that." She took his hand and studied it, frowning at its appearance. "This looks really infected. We need to clean it."
With the support of the two women he was led down to Maura's office and placed in a chair. Jane sat down beside him as Maura left to get some supplies. She reappeared moments later and kneeled before him.
He winced as the solution perforated the wound. He watched as she expertly cleaned it before wrapping it in gauze.
"You should get a tetanus shot in the morning." She advised as she gave him back his hand.
"Aren't those really bad?"
Maura scrunched her eyebrows. "The possible side-effects are minimal compared to what it prevents. You could get muscle stiffness, seizures, even death occurs in ten to twenty percent of cases."
His eyes widened. "Alright, yeah, I'll go in the morning."
A brief silence overtook the group as their minds rewound the day.
Jane sighed. "Wow… it has been a long day. Who's ready for sleep?"
"I certainly am." Maura agreed.
"I feel like I could sleep right here." Frankie mumbled, slumping in the chair and closing his eyes.
She laughed at her brother and pushed him a little. "C'mon, Frankie, let's get outta here."
He didn't respond.
"Frankie?"
Maura reached forward and grabbed his other hand. Her face paled. "There's no pulse."
"What?" She leaned over and shook him. "Frankie, come on! This isn't funny anymore, wake up!" She lifted his eyelids and saw eyeballs with no activity behind them. She turned sharply towards Maura. "Do something! He can't be dead just like that, you have to do something!"
She shot up and went into the lab. She looked for anything that could be of use but, since she dealt primarily with the dead, she had no life saving materials. Grabbing a portable defibrillator from the hallway she went back to the pair.
Seeing Jane in tears made her heart lurch painfully but she pushed it away and prepped Frankie for the treatment by ripping his shirt off. She readied the machine and held it over him.
A groan escaped his lips just before the paddles touched his skin.
"Frankie?" Jane asked, hopeful that this wasn't a normal 'death-twitch'.
His eyes sprung open and he moved towards his sister. His mouth opened as he tried to take a bite of her arm.
She pulled away. "Frankie? What the hell?"
His only response was another groan before he tried again.
"Whoa!" She jumped away.
"Frankie?" Maura asked concerned. "Do you have a fever? Is that why you're acting this way?"
He responded with a moan right before he made a lunge for her. "Raaahhh."
"Out! Get out!" Jane yelled as she grabbed the shorter woman and dragged her to the exit.
The M.E. let out a scream that was somewhat akin to one you'd hear in horror movies. The only difference, however, was that this was real. There was no Freddy Krueger Jason Voorhees in this situation, just a close friend who had suddenly gotten a craving for human flesh.
They charged upstairs but were met with two groaning and sick looking men. Korsak and Frost went after them but they went through the front doors. As they were greeted with the cool crisp autumn air of Boston, they were also met with a horde of creatures, all gruesome and gory.
"J-Jane…" Maura squeaked out, holding on to the other woman's arm for dear life.
"Y-yeah… let's get out of here." She said softly, trying not to make any sudden sounds or movements, lest she startle the blood thirsty group.
They tried their best to tip toe away but the crowd noticed them and slowly advanced.
Jane, quick thinking as always, grabbed the arm of the shivering doctor and booked it in the other direction.
They wound through the streets of Boston, dodging every living being, zombie or not, in their path. Eventually, exhausted as they were, they stopped running and slowed to a walk. There were no people around now as it was still fairly late at night but they kept a vigilant watch of their surroundings.
"Where – where are we even going?" Maura said before she let out a startled shriek at a rat that scurried about nearby.
"I was thinking home? Maybe we can take a break and figure out what to do from there."
"But… your apartment is in the opposite direction."
"Oh, uh…" Jane's face tinted pink a bit as she used her good hand to scratch her cheek in embarrassment. "I uh, meant your house. I kinda think of that more as home anyway."
Maura beamed, a rare sight during times like these. "Aww, Jane… that's so sweet. I'm glad you think so."
The detective shot a shy smile back before speaking. "We should probably walk a little faster if we want to get home before they get us." Her gaze went behind them where there was, currently, no one following them.
They did as so, shifting their slower walk to a brisker one. When they knew they were close they started into a jog, then a sprint, ready to finally be home.
When the door shut behind them it startled the current occupants.
"Janey honey, why are you so out of breath?"
She didn't answer the question. "Oh thank god you guys are still here. Quick, lock all the doors and windows. We're being followed by these zom- ow!" She shot a glare to the M.E. who had elbowed her for using that word. "I mean, people that want to eat us…" She said dryly, still looking over at the other woman.
"That's odd." Angela stated. "I think we met some of those people when we went to the store earlier, right Tommy?"
"Yeah." He nodded. "Weirdest thing was that everything seemed normal till one of them bit me." He held up his hand. "You can't get rabies or nothin' from people, can you?"
"Only if that person had rabies when they bit you." Maura answered. She started to get a bit concerned about having Tommy in the house, however. If Frankie got bit by one of these things and turned into one, then it stands to reason…
"Maybe we should take 'em to the hospital, Ma. The same thing happened to Frankie earlier and things… things didn't turn out so well." Her gaze shifted to the floor at the thought of her younger brother.
"What do you mean? Is he all right?"
Jane was unable to answer as Tommy let out a cough. And then another one. And then yet another one. His feverish state startled Angela.
"Tommy? Are you feeling ill?"
He grumbled and nodded his head in response.
Jane turned to her best friend. "Maura, it's happening again. What do we do?"
"You ask like I'd know what to do in situations like this! I'm sorry but this sort of thing wasn't covered in medical school."
The youngest Rizzoli made his way over to the couch and lied down.
"No!" Jane yelled. "Don't fall asleep, Tommy…"
"But I'm so tired…" He grumbled out.
She went over to him and sat him up. "Stay with us. If you go to sleep with a bite like that you won't wake up. At least not like yourself."
He didn't pay any attention to her words as he shut his eyes. Jane tried her best to pry them open or shake him awake but it was no use, he was gone.
Jane stood and walked over to the other two women. "Ma, we should probably get out of here."
"Wh- " She coughed. "Why?"
The detective frowned. "You didn't get bit too, did you?" Her voice was laced with fear.
"Uh…" She lifted up her sleeve to reveal a bloody mark on her arm.
Jane's lip quivered but she bit back the tears that were threatening to escape. She turned to her best friend silently. Her eyes were pleading for the shorter woman to do something, as she was too distraught to think of a plan.
Before they could even do anything, however, Tommy reanimated. His eerie groaned warned them to get out and get out quickly.
Not wanting to face whatever waited for them outside, Maura grabbed a hold of Jane's arm and dragged her into the guest bathroom. Not the smartest thing in the world but at least they would be safe for the moment.
"This is insane!" Maura exclaimed in a whisper-yell. "This isn't scientifically possible. I mean – I know there's been zombies documented in the past but not like science fiction ones becoming science fact!"
Jane's heart was pounding and she could barely think straight but she tried her best to calm down. "We're gonna get through this, Maura, I swear. I won't let anything happen to you." Her voice, shaky as it was, still showed her intense desire to protect the other woman.
The M.E. shook her head. "No, everyone's gone. There's no way. And your brother's craving our grey matter and it won't take too long for your mother to as well so it's highly improbable that we'll make it out alive."
"No." She said as firmly as she could. "There's a way. There's always a way." She said, seemingly trying to convince herself more than Maura. "But if we don't..." She gulped, trying to ebb away the nervous flutters. "…make it to safety. I want – " She shook her head. "No, I need to tell you something."
Maura sensed the air change to a different kind of nervousness. Not the dread-filled we're-gonna-be-eaten-by-zombies kind from earlier but an optimistic tinted one. "Yes?"
She pushed out a nervous breath. "Maura, since day one I knew we'd be close. I know we're as opposite as we can get but I can't imagine my life without you. I just never realized just how close I'd feel to you." She stopped for a moment, trying to compile words together in her head but shook them away when she decided to go with something simple. "I love you, Maura. And not in the 'best friends' kind of way. Not even the El-Biff way. I love you more than anything."
The other woman's lips turned up into a smile as a tear traveled down the length of her face. She nodded and managed to crack out. "Me too." She cleared her throat and tried again. "I love you too. And if we had to die tonight I can't think of anyone I'd rather spend my last moments with. Even if we don't die tonight I want that person to be you."
Jane smiled and leaned in closer. For all the horror going on outside it was nice to have this one moment of good. It was almost worth it.
Their lips met and their minds were cleared of all the bad that had happened to them in the last few hours. As they prolonged the kiss, wanting more, they shifted ever closer to the other, wrapping arms around bodies and over shoulders. Well, rather one arm for Jane as one of her hands was still numb. Eventually they pulled away.
They smiled at each other for a few moments until the detective's gaze shifted elsewhere.
Jane, now with an invigorated sense of determination, stood up. "We need to do something. As much as it pains me to say so, I think we can beat them. All it takes is a good blow to the head." She looked around for something to use as a weapon. "It's too bad you left your heels at work, they would have worked pretty well."
Maura gasped in horror. "Those are seven-hundred and fifteen dollar Manolo Blahnik pumps!"
She rolled her eyes and kept looking. After a few minutes she decided to take down the shower rod, much to Maura's protest, and use that as a weapon while the other woman emptied the metal waste basket for herself.
They opened the door slowly, ready for an attack at any minute. When it finally swung open, and they had their weapons ready, they were met with laughter.
They lowered their weapons as their faces took on very confused looks.
"Wha – "
"We really got you good this year, didn't we, Janey?" Tommy said, still laughing.
"This was all a… a prank?"
Angela shook her head. "Not completely. I also wanted what happened in there to happen." She pointed at the door. "I knew you weren't going to say anything unless something drastic happened."
"Yeah, but… zombies, Ma? Really?"
"Tis the season." She shrugged.
Maura's face took on a look of confusion. "I thought that saying was reserved for winter holidays like Christmas."
"It is, Maura. She's just being…well, she's just being Ma." She laughed.
Angela let out a mock gasp. "Don't you sass me, young lady! Show a little respect. I just did you a huge favor – not to mention I have stretch marks because of you!"
She rolled her eyes. "Oh, here we go with that again."
"You know, she is making a few good points."
"Wha-? Maura!" She whined, wanting at least one person on her side with this.
She ignored that. "While I do not appreciate the way you did it – I do appreciate what you did. I have loved your daughter for awhile now and don't think I ever would have worked up the courage to tell her without your intervention and I feel like it's the same for her. And the added bonus that you brought her into this world –" Her eyes became teary as her throat tightened. "Just – thank you for giving me my soul mate."
Jane couldn't help but smile even though she was still trying to be mad about being tricked. Normally she was the one to pull pranks on everyone around this time of year. Her family really went all out with this one. She frowned when she realized something.
"I understand getting Frankie in on it… and even Korsak and Frost… but how the hell did you get all those people outside the precinct?"
Angela's brows furrowed. "What people?"
"There was like a huge mass of people outside and they all looked like zombies."
"I didn't talk to anyone other than your brothers, Vince and Barry. Oh! And that nice scientist who started the night of fright!" She laughed at her rhyme. "Maybe one of them did more than their fair share." She shrugged, not too worried about it.
"How did you manage to fool me though?" Maura questioned. "I mean I couldn't find any sign of life on anyone… And Frankie and Tommy seemed genuinely sick."
"I can tell you that we had some help from a makeup artist but, as for the other thing…" She winked. "I'm not gonna give up all my secrets."
Jane ignored that. "C'mon Maura, let's leave her alone with her secrets." She said the last word with a sarcastic whisper and motioned to the doctor's bedroom. She spoke with a sultry grin. "We can have some secrets of our own."