It was the middle of what Jane would likely describe as the worst month of her life. There was a new twisted serial killer in town that was targeting police officers and naturally this didn't sit well with the Boston Police Department, or Detective Jane Rizzoli one little bit. The worst part of it was the psychological way the police officers were broken down by the killer. He never deigned to lift a finger against these respected officers; no instead he pulled them into a situation so dastardly it destroyed their psyche.

Three respected and highly decorated police officers had all chosen to end their own lives. None of them able to live with the choice they were forced into making. Six other victims had been found at three scenes, all reported by the officers involved. At each individual scene two bodies were found and there was no rhyme or reason beyond creating the most psychologically terrifying either/or situation; at least that is what the Homicide Division had determined from the interviews with the now deceased officers.

According to the deranged maniac pulling the strings, each officer had chosen incorrectly and the punishment for that was the death of both hostages. This coupled with having to choose in the first place had led to their ultimate demise. There was no clear indicator of whether a correct decision could have been made; in fact the profilers from the FBI had indicated that they believed it to be nothing more than a ruse for psychological torture and that no matter the decision, both kidnap victims presented to the officer would have been killed. The FBI dubbed him the Catch 22 killer.

"He let them go Maura. He let them go knowing he had done enough to kill them from afar. This is just shit." Jane growled angrily as she paced the living room of her best friend's Beacon Hill home.

"I know. Jane, sit down please, you're making me dizzy." Doctor Maura Isles hadn't taken her eyes off the restless detective from the moment they had left the precinct together. She knew this case was impacting the detective hard and had concerns it would cause the Italian to fall back into dark memories of her own.

With a heavy sigh to indicate her displeasure, Jane acquiesced and slumped down onto the couch next to her friend. She couldn't quite contain her restless energy though, her right knee bounced up and down repetitively while she chewed on her thumb nail. The dark look in her eyes was enough to prevent Maura from trying to educate against the behaviour.

"What's really bothering you?" Maura probed softly, reaching out a hand to rest on Jane's left knee. The fact was she needed to feel her detective beneath her hands; this case was giving her nightmares.

"Do you think the profilers are right when they say neither choice would be deemed correct?" She was hiding behind the analysis of the case, not yet comfortable voicing the depths of her vulnerability.

She wasn't like Maura, she was more than capable of entertaining the what ifs, and the what ifs put her firmly in the decision making seat. What if she had to choose between two people she loved? What if she had to choose between Maura and Frankie? What if she had to choose between Frankie and her Ma? If she had her way she would be putting a protective detail on every member of her family. After all she knew exactly what it was like to be targeted by a serial killer all too well.

"I'm not privy to all the details Jane; I cannot begin to hypothesize." She cringed under the sharp look she received, "Although I suspect if there is a correct choice to be made and a life can be saved, then I would hypothesize that the killer wants the decision to be just and not driven by emotion."

"Not driven by emotion?" Jane's voice hit a surprising nasal high during her scoff. "Officer Wilson was forced to choose between his wife and his mother. Gutierrez between her brother and the teenager she mentored and Masten had to choose between his husband and his best friend. Could they have all really made an unjust decision? What is just in those circumstances? God this guy is a sick fuck."

Maura tilted her head in thought, searching through what information she had been privy to, some of which in all honesty was beyond her purview. Then again she had always worked particularly close with homicide given her incredible knack for helping them crack cases not just with science but her seemingly never ending knowledge.

It was calm collected Doctor Maura Isles, Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in that moment. The topic was too dark and horrendous for just Maura to contemplate and as such she put on her clinical hat and attempted to explain her hypothesis. "Wilson chose his wife, Gutierrez her brother and Masten chose his husband. They were all emotionally driven decisions Jane. The choices these officers had to make were unthinkable, but in the end they still made the logical human decision, erred on the side of love. Perhaps the correct answer if there would be one, to save a life, is to choose the person you could least live without as the one to die."

With a shake of her head Jane muttered, "I think I'd just shoot myself. Fuck choosing. I know what this guy is like, why bother hoping to save one life, when the loss of either life would be devastating? The FBI is probably right. There's no right answer. Just gotta hope we can catch him before he pulls this shit again."

Tension built between them as both their thoughts fell on the one unequivocal fact; tomorrow another police officer was going to be dragged into this situation. The killer worked like clock work; once a week a cop would have to choose and once a week two people would be dead by the end of that night and a good cop would be swallowed whole by their decision. The silence was stifling for the women as the fear inched between them and wrapped it's tentacles around both of their hearts.

Finally in a voice barely above a whisper Jane said, "I'd choose you Maur, every time. I would pick you to be the one I saved."

Both women knew what that meant but neither addressed it.

A/N: Should be just one more chapter to this one. I wonder what happens next? Thanks for reading. Do let me know your thoughts.