Jane's eyes snapped open, and she shivered. She looked up at a white- washed cement ceiling, finding herself subconsciously checking if it was falling in on her, before shaking the ridiculous notion out of her head. She was breathing hard, clutching the edge of the steel bed as if her life depended upon it. She knew that the... Memory, was it? Wasn't real, wasn't in this particular life at least. But she couldn't help but recognize that it had been one of the most intense moments of her life, and it wasn't even truly hers! Thinking about the speed of her breath, she tried to calm herself. After a moment, she tried to shift, attempted to get up from the bed, limbs shaking violently before a gentle hand slipped under her shoulders. It was as if she couldn't really control her own body, and she clung onto the arm, her own shaking.

"Let me help you." The soft voice whispered, her other hand pressing down on her right hip, the one further from the side with the computer, the side closer to her designated cell. "Wait a few moments, the effect should wear off." There was a thumb stroking against her right hip, when her breathing quickened its pace as a reflex of a fear of not controlling her own body.

"I can't, I have to move. Have to-"

"I've got you. Trust me." She recognized the voice, the gentleness in the tone as she tried to stop moving, to listen to the doctor. Maura, she corrected herself. No, she was supposed to be angry at her best friend. But this, the gentle touch against her side, the soft words, this was the Maura that she was familiar with, the one that she was always chasing after, but swallowing her feelings and ignoring them. There was no way that they would ever be together. Even with the factually based doctor earlier that had kidnapped the dark- haired detective and brought her here, Jane still found she couldn't hate the woman. That she would still trust her with her life, the only one that could be trusted with her life. "Let me carry you."

"No. I'll walk." Jane stiffened her legs, swinging them off the table, lifting herself up from the table, rocking slightly before regaining her balance by the arm around her back, holding her steady. She stood up, taller, nodding her head the moment that her body felt as if it was completely under her control once again. The hand on her spine paused, before releasing, and the detective turned towards her. "The one on the left is mine, yes?" The blonde doctor nodded, leading her towards a steel door with only a small window towards the top. It was hand print locked, and Maura rested her palm for a moment, before a light flashed green, and the steel plating disengaged, swinging inward. Jane opened her mouth to say something, when the blonde dropped her eyes, taking a step back. "Maura-"

"Get some rest. Please." Jane nodded, taking the few steps into the room, before the door swung shut behind her, multiple locks sizzling into place. She looked around, noticing that the room was all but barren. There was a mattress, and a dresser, and a single bedside lamp to assist the bright overhead lights. There was an attached bathroom, with a separate door, which she completely ignored in order to lie down on the ice- blue covered mattress. Contrary to what she would have believed, it was actually rather comfortable. Jane linked her hands behind her head, closing her eyes against the blaring lights. The words from the memory, the vision, echoing painfully in the back of her mind. So the artifact her ancestor had been trying to find, in order to even out the war, was not an artifact at all. It, she, was a person. Jane swallowed, rolling onto her side, the detective stared at the wall furthest from the door. It was much too bright in order for her to get anything even remotely similar to rest. Rising again, she brushed her fingers against the wall, locating a switch that she assumed was for the lights, flicking it. The overhead lights darkened, the only light filtering in from a large window that faced the laboratory, the room with the animus, whatever it was. She curled up on the mattress again, facing the far wall. Everything, all of this, was so confusing. And she really couldn't imagine Maura being a part of this, whatever it was. She was much too... Upset, about the whole ordeal. Like she didn't like Jane being here, a part of it, any more than Jane did.

The detective sighed, closing her eyes. The feeling of coming out of the animus, that was what really worried her about the experiment. Even with Hoyt, with every hostage situation she had been a part of, Jane had never felt that out of control, unable to make use of her own body. She suppressed a shiver at the very thought of her own body, her own consciousness becoming something other than herself. She grasped onto the pillow, trying to shake the thought out of her head, unable to.

Maura's hand on her back woke her, making the detective start, jumping up, reaching for her gun only to remember that she didn't have it on her. That it wasn't hers any longer. She swallowed, trying to catch her breath, something that had gotten away from her again. Laying her head back against the pillow once again, Jane opened her eyes, never noticing when she had closed them. Only the desk lamp was on, and the lights outside of the room had been dimmed, if only slightly.

"Why are you here." She managed to whisper out, trying to gain her composure again. Maura's hand slipped off her back, resting awkwardly at her side.

"I brought food." She lowered her eyes briefly, before raising them again to Jane's. Jane swallowed, nodding her head in acceptance, before rolling over again.

"I'm not hungry." She heard Maura's light sigh, knew the woman was upset. She wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around the blonde and tell her that everything would be alright, even if she didn't know how.

"Please Jane, eat. After the experience of the animus, you're bound to be at least slightly hungry, if not famished beyond-"

"Maura, no. I'm not eating." She was hungry, but she wasn't going to admit it. Not when she was hurting so badly, after the sick joke that this woman had played on her.

"Jane, please-"

"No."

"For me." The word froze in the back of her throat, and the detective found herself nodding, swallowing her indignant reply. She sat up slowly, her back stiff from being so tightly curled up, taking a bowl from Maura's hands. She paused a moment, locking gazes with the blonde woman.

"Have you eaten yet?" The blonde paused, before Jane tilted her head to the warm soup. "Share with me, at least. For me." The blonde nodded slightly, still standing awkwardly beside the bed, gaze diverted downward.

"You were crying out, like with Hoyt." Her voice was soft, barely more than a whisper.

"I know." Jane breathed out, sliding her hand over the edge of the blanket. The mattress shifted with the doctor's weight as she slid closer, resting her hand gently on Jane's forearm, asking before she moved again. The detective made no movement, and she could almost hear Maura thinking about her next reply, before sighing.

"I didn't want to be a part of this." Jane swallowed the warm food, her stomach almost thanking her audibly, before she offered it to Maura, who started to refuse.

"Eat." The doctor did as she was told, still thinking about her next statement, before returning the bowl.

"I didn't want to damn you to this awful experiment." She shook her head, hair shimmering in the dim light. "I had a choice Jane, but-"

"Then why did you do it!" Her voice was so angry, and she regretted it almost immediately, wanting to reach out for Maura, pull her in tightly.

"It wasn't what you think,Jane!"

"Than answer my fucking question, Maura! Why the fuck did you do it!"

"It was either you or your brothers!" The hand slapped over the blonde's mouth made Jane pause, her eyes hardening. "No, Jane. Not the way you think. I didn't mean, not the way it sounded."

"I don't believe you. Get out, Maura. Stay away from me. I never want-"

"The animus will kill you, Jane." She stopped, abruptly, grasping the doctor's face with her left hand.

"The animus will what?"

"Its going to kill you." The tears streaming down Maura's face as she controlled her voice, trying to stay in control of her emotion, failing. "Slowly. Undetectably. You're mind will go, in something only referred to as the Bleeding Effect. You'll stop being you, and then you'll lose not only your mind, but your body." Jane shifted, placing the hot soup on the dresser, before slipping her hands around the doctor's, forcing her to look into dark, chocolate eyes.

"Is that why you chose me, not Frankie, Tommy?"

"I can't lose you Jane." The detective snorted.

"I'm sentenced to death here, Maura." The irony of the situation wasn't lost on her.

"Jane, you would hate me. If your brothers died, how would I live with myself?" The detective's mouth opened to make another sassy death- related comment, when Maura shook her head. "You're strong enough to survive through it. It has been done before. Only once, but I know you can do it, Jane."

"You have too much faith in me." Jane swallowed, shaking her head. "I felt awful, coming out of that machine. That other being. I almost completely lost control of my body, Maura. If you hadn't been there..." She shook her head, lying back again, pulling the blonde down with her, a smaller hand resting on her abdomen, their gazes locking. "Will you be here, Maura? When I die?"

"Always." The word was as light as if it was only a breath, and it meant more than either of them were really ready to admit. Maura's fingers trailed over rock hard muscles, over the other woman's arm.

"Then I'll do it. I'll continue on with this experiment." She swallowed again, securing an arm around Maura's waist, anchoring them together, as if she was frightened that the doctor would get up, that she would leave in the middle of the night. "I'll follow through to the end. As far as I can. For you though, not for him." Maura nodded, slipping one of her hands into Jane's hair, resting the detective's head in the cavern of her neck, holding her close. "Only ever for you. And promise me, Maura. Promise me that no matter what happens, you don't get Frankie or Tommy mixed up in this mess."

"I promise." They were silent for awhile, until Maura was certain that, by the even pattern of Jane's breathing, the lanky detective had drifted off to sleep. The blonde slipped her hand through dark curls, running a thumb down the woman's jawline, before she pressed a light kiss to her forehead. "I promise, I will find a cure for you. I can't let you die, I can't lose you."