There's a little bit of sexual assault in this chapter, but someone saves the day! Be warned….
After the disgusting display from Crowe, Jane decided that she was not going to sleep that night. She pulled the thin blanket up to her chin and closed her eyes, listening as hard as she could to the sounds around her. This is how Korsak had taught her to be the most aware of her surroundings. He had taught her almost everything that she knew, and it broke her damn heart to know that he was going to have to find a new partner because of her pride.
"There is nothing that will come after you that you cannot hear." Korsak had told her. "No matter what your enemy is doing, the sounds they make can give you the upper hand. The only thing opening your eyes is going to do, is get you killed.
She had never forgotten that lesson, and it had come in handy too many times to count. She could hear the Spanish ladies a few rows over, making plans to try and steal some food from the kitchen. She could hear the guards on duty watching porn in the office, and she could hear little whimpers coming from somewhere close to her. Jane lost her focus and opened her eyes.
Maura was scratching at the sheets and moaning. Wow, some kinda dream. As soon as Jane tried to relax again, the moans continued- only a bit longer and a little...pained sounding. The brunette sat up in bed and threw her tangled mass of hair back over her shoulders. She squinted in the dark at the writhing form on the bed, and realized that Maura was not having a pleasant dream- she was having a flashback.
"Please don't touch me though, I tend to..not react well"
The words ricocheted off the walls of Jane's mind as the pieces clicked into place. The moans escalated into terrified panting and Jane knew that the rest of the ward could hear Maura by now. Were they used to it? Did this happen every night?
"Oh my God, someone shut that gringa puerca up before I stick my dick in her mouth" one of the voices called out in frustration.
"Shut the fuck up bitch, you know she had it tough. Not all of us are in here for hookin' honey" another pissy voice yelled from across the large room.
"Don't let her hear you talk like that you crazy bitches, remember what happens when you piss of Dr. Death" a sleepy voice called from another section of the room. Meanwhile, Maura's pants had elevated into bloodcurdling screams.
"NO. NO- DON'T YOU FUCKING HURT ME AGAIN YOU MONSTER. I WON'T LET YOU TOUCH HER AGAIN. YOU GET YOUR-" Maura's started to stutter in her sleep, making Jane worry. She said not to touch her, but she needed to wake her up.
Maura started to thrash in her sleep, and Jane decided to just react. She stood up and untucked her blanket from the bed, balling it up into a small shape. She threw it at the blonde, hoping that the impact of the fabric would wake up the woman before she slipped into a panic attack. Well, there went trying to stay out of it.
As soon as the blanket made contact with the blonde, Jane jumped back into bed. Maura's eyes opened and before Jane could even blink, the blonde was on her bed with a scalpel to her neck.
"I told you not to touch me." the blonde snarled at the detective underneath her. The whites of her eyes stood out in the heavy darkness of the prison. She drug the scalpel across Jane's neck, making Jane shiver in fear. She was dangerously close to recreating the very act that had landed Jane here, and she was not going to lose control in here.
"I didn't fucking touch you, I threw a blanket on you so you would wake the fuck up" Jane whispered loudly, not wanting the whole room to hear what was going on. She knew that she could disarm the tiny blonde in a minute, but doing so would result in Jane having to grab her in a way that Maura would mostly likely not react well to.
Maura sat up, still straddling Jane's hips and looked around confused.
"Did… I'm so sorry Jane." the blonde slid off of Jane and quietly got back into bed. Jane could hear the blonde's soft sobs being let loose into a pillow and Jane then realized: Maura had been unconscious the whole time.
"Hey" Jane whispered to the trembling form across the room. Maura's took a deep breath and raised her head, turning to face Jane.
"Hmm?"
"I didn't touch you." Jane smiled, understanding that Maura was embarrassed by her reaction. She hoped that it wouldn't happen again, even though it probably would.
"You didn't? How did I wake up then? I think that I'm just nervous to sleep with someone else in the room, in all honesty" Maura sighed and placed a hand over her heart, which was still beating too quickly to relax.
"I..threw my blanket on you. That's why you have two. I figured if you didn't like people touching you, at least a blanket would help" Jane shrugged in the pale light of the room.
"Well, thankfully I didn't start to seize. Normally any sort of contact with me while I'm under will put me into a panic. But, thank you nonetheless. I'll admit, of all the various attempts to wake me, no one has tried a blanket." Maura's mouth turned into a half deprecating smile. "I'm sorry to have bothered you so much, Jane."
"It's nothin' really. I'm a little too wound up to sleep anyways. Um, I don't know if you already knew or not, but someone stopped by while you were asleep" Jane started her sentence slowly, hoping that Maura didn't take this disgusting news badly.
"I figured. He does it almost every night. I can't tell him to stop, or he'll take my scalpel away. I can't sleep without it" Maura admitted, sticking her hand under her pillow to double check that the utensil was where it was supposed to be.
"Oh, I see. Well, him and I kinda go back. So, I don't think he'll be a problem for a while. Can I ask why you have a scalpel? Not that I mind really, I'm just curious" Jane cringed, she was getting too nosy and it was not safe.
"I'm comfortable with it." Maura noticed Jane's confused look and laughed at how that must sound. "I was a medical examiner before I got here, it's my tool of choice"
"Is that why they call you Dr. Death?"
Maura sat up in bed and looked at Jane with furious eyes, "Who said that?!" she demanded. She glared at the woman across from her who just raised her hands.
"I don't know, someone whispered it. I'm sorry." Jane backtracked- the look of rage on Maura's face was not the look that had been there five seconds ago.
"I'm just not partial to that name, I don't wish to speak further about it." the blonde rolled over, silently ending their conversation. Good job dumbass. Jane rolled onto her back and tried her best to relax again, tomorrow would be her first day in this prison, and she wanted to survive it.
When Maura woke that morning, she realized two things:
One, she still had Jane's blanket. It smelled like the detective: lavender and the musky scent of Jane herself. Maura quickly decided that it was her favorite scent now.
Two, Jane was doing pushups on the floor in just a white men's undershirt and her uniform pants.
Jane's biceps and trapezius muscles were flexing in the most delicious way as the brunette breathed her count.
"...49, 50." Jane jumped up and stretched. She balked at the sight of Maura staring at her from her bed.
"Sorry! Did I wake you?" Jane asked cautiously, wondering if Maura even remembered what had transpired the night before.
"Not at all! I was just admiring your bones- they're exquisite." Maura blushed at the sentiment- she hadn't really meant to say all of that but it seemed intent on tumbling out.
"Oh. Well..ah..thanks?" Jane winked at the sleepy woman. Maura blushed and looked down at her pillow. She sat up and bed and began to pick at a thread on Jane's blanket on her bed.
"I'm sorry for-" Maura started quietly.
"It's forgotten. Can I ask a favor though?" Jane could see the tension leave the blonde's body as she was forgiven for her outburst the previous night.
"Sure; only if I can ask you one more question" Maura bargained. Hopefully Jane would comply- she'd had this question burning in the back of her mind all night.
"I guess that's fair. Okay, will you please let me sit with you again for breakfast? Chang said that you don't like new people, but I really don't want to try and make nice with anyone here" Jade admitted gruffly.
"I really don't like people in general. But new ones are especially wretched. I do believe that I owe you that much though. You're welcome to sit with me from now on, you might just come in handy." Maura smiled slightly and rose from her bed. She shook her bedclothes back to a normal state and turned to the dresser, her back facing Jane. Without a second thought, she stripped off her clothes to change and Jane balked at the sight in front of her.
Bright red lines littered the back of the blonde woman in front of her. They spelled out words that even Jane, a rough detective from south Boston, wouldn't even say. They were quickly covered by Maura's clothes, hidden from the public. Maura turned and noticed Jane's downtrodden expression. She shot Jane a sad smile and walked closer to her.
"Why do you want to be called 'Vanilla'?" Maura asked. It wasn't the kind of name you would find in a ladies prison, unless she was alluding to race. Jane titled her head down to make eye contact with the smaller woman as her wayward hair fell forward.
"Because I like my women white and sweet" Jane winked and walked around Maura to stand where the woman had just occupied. Mimicking the actions of her blonde bunkmate, Jane also stripped and changed into her daytime uniform. When she turned around, she expected Maura to be at least a little unnerved. She had not predicted the near-predatory look that the woman was giving her.
"So, Vanilla" the name rolled off of Maura's tongue in three separate, seductive syllables. "I like it."
Jane felt a blush rise from her chest as Maura bit her lip and nodded. Maura grabbed the blanket off of her bed and threw it back on Jane's bunk, making sure to stretch just enough so the brunette could catch a delicious glimpse of her cleavage. With a giggle and a wink, Maura stood back up and walked out of the cubicle, towards the showers, leaving Jane standing there slack-jawed and more turned on than she'd ever been. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and walked out to the washroom, hoping that it would go without any issues.
Jane hugged herself under the ice-cold spray of the prison shower. In the five minutes that she'd been in here, she'd already been violated multiple times. She inhaled quickly and tensed when she heard the curtain slide open again.
A very cold hand wove around her hip, slowly nearing towards her center. Jane jerked away as the hand changed directions and squeezed her breast, hard. The detective refused to look behind her, refused to give anyone any satisfaction from her pain. The hand on her chest tightened around her nipple while the woman's other hand slapped Jane's ass. As soon as the assault had started, Jane was left alone in the shower once again. Exhaling in relief, Jane began to wash her trembling body.
Before she could turn to exit the stall, four women burst into the shower and pinned her against the wall. A sour pair of panties was shoved into Jane's mouth as hands touched her all over. Her body betrayed her mind, the scent of arousal met her abusers nostrils and they all laughed in unison. Jane spat the underwear into the face of whoever was in front on her. The tallest of the four backhanded Jane with so much force that her head bounced off of the cement of the shower wall. Jane felt blood fill her mouth from the impact of the slap. She turned to retaliate, when a fifth woman poked her head into the stall.
"Yo, Dr. Death is comin!" she whispered, motioning for the women to leave Jane- who was clinging to the shower head, staring at the bits of hair and her scalp on the wall. The gang left quickly, not even stopping to put their clothes back on. No one pissed off the Doctor.
Maura's head popped into the stall and she looked at Jane with soft eyes. Words weren't necessary as Jane spat out the blood onto the floor, making the water turn a bright pink. Maura knew what had happened, and she would make sure it didn't happen again.
"Who did this?" The blonde demanded. She was met with a shrug from the too-proud cop in front of her. She didn't expect an answer honestly, she really just wanted to convey that she did care. She removed her own towel, not caring about her state of undress anymore. She'd already shown Jane her scars, there wasn't anything much more intimate than that.
She grabbed the little washcloth from the caddy and proceeded to wash the shaking woman off. Jane was receding further into herself when Maura placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Do you need medical attention, did they…?" Maura trailed off towards the end of her question and changed tactics. "Are you okay to walk?"
When Jane nodded and slowly stood up, Maura noticed the scratch marks going from the brunette's chest down to her core. They really had beaten her badly- the girls probably recognized her from their arrests. Jane brought Maura in for an awkward embrace; their bodies barely touched but Maura understood what it meant. This was Jane Rizzoli's way of thanking her without words.
They broke apart and Jane walked back into the open changing area. Maura had really cleared the place out when she entered. Her clothes were missing- not that she expected them to still be there after the assault she'd just experienced. She walked directly to the laundry area and grabbed the first pair of whites she found. She didn't care that her hair was still matted with blood, or that she hadn't taken enough time to dry off and her front was becoming more and more translucent. All she cared about was making it through this day so she could try and sleep tonight. The first 24 hours are the worst Jane and you've already made it through 20 of them, you can do it.
Jane entered the loud cafeteria and immediately spotted Chang sitting by herself at the table in the far corner. She looked to the breakfast line and noticed the evil grin of the kitchen staff. Well, there goes breakfast too. Jane lamented sadly.
She slid onto the bench across from the quiet woman and cleared her throat.
"Ah, Maura said I could sit here. Sorry if I'm intruding."
"No, it's fine. I was just worried because I heard one of the girls saying that she was in the shower with someone. I figured it was you, but I don't like assuming or guessing."
"Hey Chang. Can I ask you a question about Maura?" when the woman simply shrugged in response, Jane pressed on:
"Why does everyone call Maura Dr. Death?" Jane anxiously awaited her answer. She was pretty sure she knew why but just wanted this confirmation. The woman's eyes widened as she exhaled slowly. After a moment's pause, she answered the question.
"Two reasons. One is the from her career. Maura was the Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The people there started the nickname 'Queen of the Dead', because she was seemingly emotionally inept and did not like to be anything but precise in her work. One of the detectives from Boston actually is a guard here. He's the one who started the name up here. But, the second reason is the reason she's known as Dr. Death here, is because if you make her angry, or do her wrong, you will not live to see tomorrow. No one knows how, and no one ever knows when it happens, all that we know is that after someone wrongs Maura, they are never seen again"
"That's not very accurate, Susie. You know better than to assume something without evidence. Have I taught you nothing?" Maura winked at the woman, who just paled in response. "Most of my reputation is fabrication, but who's around to tell any different?" Maura said as she approached the table. Jane just gulped and turned around slowly, had Maura heard their entire conversation? Maura smiled sweetly at the pair and dug into her oatmeal and muffin without another mention of their previous conversation.