Time stood still as Jane stared at the woman she considered her best and only real friend. Her mind flooded with images of the time they'd spent together, days catching the bad guys, nights in the Dirty Robber or at one of their homes eating Chinese food and sharing a bottle of wine. All the crazy things they'd got each other to do. Run marathons, drink beer from a can. Tears spilled from Jane's eyes and she dropped her gaze.

"Why Maura?" she croaked into the gaping chasm that had opened between them.

Maura didn't speak; instead she closed the gap between them and lifted Jane's face slowly. Jane could see the tension in her jaw and she sniffed loudly, trying to pull her face from the other woman. From the corner of her eye, she could see Maura searching the area behind her, as if she was looking for something. Jane's eyes flicked back to Maura's, studying them closely before looking away again. She dropped her head and suppressed a smile as Maura raised the scalpel in her hand and sliced a small piece of hair from the nape of her neck, bringing forward a tissue and wrapping it, and the scalpel inside.

"You don't want to do this Maura." Jane choked on the words, allowing the emotion that flooded through her to the surface. She had to make this good. She trusted her gut, she always had. What she saw in Maura's eyes had told her everything she needed to know.

She watched as Maura turned smartly and left the room.

Cavanaugh was purple with rage, his voice thundering around the entire floor and bring detectives from various departments into the hall to see what the commotion was.

Korsak and Frost were powerless to shield themselves from the onslaught. They'd had no choice but to explain the case as it was when Cavanaugh had caught them in the hallway.

"Find them!" he screamed "And if they're dead, I'll have both your badges!"

Frost and Korsak turned on their heels and ran to their car. They had no idea where to begin but time was short and they had to do something. So they sped to Robin Yoth's home, hoping against hope that Hoyt would have left them a clue.

There was a muffled scream in the hallway and Jane yanked hard on the handcuffs, trying to spin herself around to see where it had come from. She didn't have to try too hard, the door burst open suddenly bringing the screams into the room.

Hoyt appeared, his wiry form dragging Maura in by her hair. She held his hands, trying to get her weight off of her hair.

"Get your hands off her!" Jane bellowed as he came into full view. Hoyt paused and grinned at Jane.

"My my, aren't we the protective one." He smiled, nodding towards the door. As the woman approached, he shoved Maura into her arms.

"You bitch!" Jane growled, trying to get to the lab tech who was securing Maura into the chair opposite her.

Hoyt laughed.

"Tell me Jane." He said as the technician left as silently as she'd entered. "Did you think your little girlfriend had betrayed you?" he studied her, his head tilting slowly to each side as he awaited her answer.

Jane glared at him but remained silent. She refused to give him the satisfaction.

Hoyt nodded when Jane remained silent and turned his attention to Maura who sat in her chair, her head hung as silent sobs shook her shoulders. "Don't you touch her you bastard!" Jane shouted, her voice filling the room as Hoyt pulled Maura's head back, exposing her creamy white throat.

"Aww Jane." He smiled at her as he ran his fingers over the doctor's throat, the scalpel in his hand glinting in the dull light.

"Don't you cut her!" Jane's screams echoed in her head making the pounding even worse. She fought against the ropes holding her legs to the chair. He had been careful to make sure she couldn't reach him from her seat, even if she did manage to release her legs.

"No?" Hoyt asked, running the dull side of the scalpel across the milky expanse.

"I'll kill you!" Jane screamed. "I swear to god I'll put that scalpel in your heart."

Maura coughed back tears. "Jane." She whimpered. She could feel blood trickling down the back of her neck from the chunk of hair Hoyt had wrenched from her head. "Jane, please."

Jane slumped in her seat, watching Maura sadly.

"What should I do?" Hoyt asked, as he stared at the detective. The hatred in her eyes pleased him. She truly was a worthy opponent, she would die spectacularly. "She disobeyed the rules Jane."

He stepped back and regarded Maura with some interest. "You don't want me to cut her?" he asked Jane over his shoulder. "Ok." He said before she'd even considered answering. He drew back his fist and punch Maura square in the face, her lip exploding and sending blood spraying across the floor.

He heard Jane roar behind him, the sound of her shoes hitting the floor as she writhed and fought to get to him made him grin.

He turned and looked at her. Her swollen eye, the bruising that was forming around her jawbone the fire that flashed in her eyes, to his mind, she had never been more beautiful. Maura slumped forward, the impact having knocked her out cold.

Jane caught a sob in her throat and glared at Hoyt. "Tonight, you WILL die." She promised him softly as he laughed and walked from the room, pausing in the doorway.

"Don't worry Jane." He said, '"I'll be taking you with me."

Jane tried to wipe her face on her shoulder, the awkward way she'd been sat made the task impossible but she needed to wipe the tears from her cheeks before Maura woke up. She watched as Maura slept a forced unconsciousness that was undeserved.

'Broke the rules?' Jane wondered, 'what rules?' She wondered as she pulled against the ropes holding her ankles to the chair and winced as they cut into her skin.
When many minutes of struggling didn't yield any fruit, Jane slumped back in her chair. If she had a hair grip or something, she could pick the handcuffs and get herself and Maura the hell out of there. She studied her sleeping friend for any sign of the needed accessory but saw none. It didn't surprise her, even if Maura was wearing one, she would never let it be seen.

"Maura." She called softly. "Hey, Maur, come on sweetie, wake up."

Maura remained motionless, her head hung as her chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. "Maura!" her voice broke with yet more unshed tears. "Please wake up."

Maura coughed and groaned as she tried to reach up to feel her lip. Her head hurt and her lip felt crusty and swollen.

"Maura?" Jane looked up at her, her eyes filled with tears.

"Jane. Oh god, Jane." Maura studied her closely, taking in every tear stain, cut and bruise. "I'm so sorry."

Jane smiled warmly and shook her head. "Where are we?"

Maura shrugged. "I don't know Jane." She started. "I went to the bakery after you left to get some of those cannoli I know you enjoy, even though the sugar content is far beyond a sensible daily intake." Jane couldn't help but smile, a single tear rolling down her cheek. In times of stress and fear, Maura's default state was walking Google and, watching her deliver facts and figures about the nutritional content of her favourite pastry, Jane felt her heart fill. For so many months she'd ignored the growing sexual tension between them, pretending it was all in her head. Even Hoyt could see they were meant to be together, he only ever went after couples and now here she was, sat across from the one person in the world who understood her, who wanted her so honestly and unconditionally but had never made that first move. And now she was going to die without ever having experienced that kind of love.

"Jane?" Maura stopped. "I'm boring you?"

Jane smiled at her and shook her head. "No, I'm sorry, I just… we'll talk about it when we get out of here."

Maura nodded. "So, you have a plan?" she asked hopefully. Jane couldn't wipe the smile from her face, she'd never noticed the adorable dimple Maura had; how had she been so blind?

"Do you have a brain tumour?" Maura asked suddenly.

Jane frowned. "What? No!" she shook her head "No, I mean, no. I don't think so."

"Do you have a headache?" Maura continued. "Feel dizzy and nauseated? You're definitely having problems with your emotions."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Really Maura?"

"You could have cerebral contusion, it can cause…."

"Maura!" Jane said firmly. "I'm fine."

The doctor cocked her head. "Then why are you smiling?" she was clearly confused by Jane's reaction. "That's not the appropriate response to our situation."

Jane shook her head. "What rules did you break?" she tried to spin the conversation back to their predicament. If she could work out what Hoyt was playing at, she could make some sort of plan.

"Hoyt." She began, looking towards the door in case the surgeon returned. "He instructed me to come in here and slice your neck. I wasn't to speak to you or tell you what was happening."

Jane growled, low in her throat and it was Maura's turn to smile. She loved the animalistic way Jane expressed herself. It was raw, primal and sent all sorts of signals to her body. She squirmed in her seat.

"He said there was a…."she paused, trying to remember the term "corpse button on your chair and if I tried to help you, he'd kill us both."

"Wait, a what?" Jane asked. "Corpse… a dead man switch?"

"Yes. A dead man switch." Maura made a mental note before continuing. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you. But I wanted to check your chair."

It was all falling into place. Hoyt wouldn't use a bomb; it was too messy, too instant for his tastes. He liked the watching people suffer before they died, a bomb would take away his Big O. Hoyt wanted to terrify her, make her think that he'd gotten Maura on his side, to see Jane's reaction when her best friend came in to deliver the first cut.

"So why did you cut my hair?" Jane asked. It was the only part she couldn't understand.

"Hoyt said he had a camera, he expected me to bring back blood on the tissue to prove I had done it, so I cut a small strand of your hair and put that in the tissue instead." She grinned at Jane who returned her own smile.

"Don't worry, it won't show."

Jane frowned. "If he has a camera in here, then why would he need evidence you'd cut me?"

"Oh. Well yes. That's a good point." Maura hung her head, feeling ashamed that her logical mind hadn't made that connection.

"So there's no bomb and no camera." Jane concluded. "Do you have a pin or a clip or something like that?" she asked suddenly.

Maura grinned at her, a grin that lit up her face and a large portion of the room. "When I saw he'd handcuffed you." She swallowed slowly, in another other situation, having Jane handcuffed would thrill her no end. "I put a paperclip in my shoe."

Jane looked to Maura's feet. She was, as always wearing designer heels but her legs, like Jane's were bound to the chair.

"Erm, Maura?" Jane nodded towards the other woman's ankles. "How do you plan on getting to it?"

With an impish grin, Maura slipped out of her shoe and wriggled her foot. "I took Russian ballet remember?" She pointed her toes and pulled her leg up, the rope burning her skin as she struggled against it. "And Robin isn't very thorough and her work as a lab technician is substandard. I was going to replace her!" Maura wriggled her foot again, and with a final grunt, pulled it from the binding. "Et Voila!" she wriggled her bare foot at the detective.

"You're amazing." Jane marvelled. "But how is that helping us, unless you can bend that leg backwards and behind you, then we're no better off."

Maura rolled her eyes. "You really need to be more patient Jane." She said, leaning forward as best she could to try and get a look at the knot on her other leg.
Realising Maura's plan, Jane nodded. "Ok, it looks like a simple bow?" She couldn't hide the amazement in her voice. "It's tied at the front; you should be able to grab the end with your toes." Maura fumbled with the rope, her toes lacking the dexterity she had hoped.

"Maura." Jane hissed. "Stop!" Maura froze in place and stared at her. Jane's head was cocked as though she were listening to something. "Put your shoe on."

Maura didn't question her but slipped her free foot back into her Balenciaga shoe and waited.

The door opened and Hoyt strolled in, as though he were entering a casual party.

"Ladies." He purred, staring into each set of hate filled eyes in turn. "Are you enjoying my hospitality?"

"Screw you Hoyt!" Jane spat.

"Ahh Jane." He stood in front of her and smiled. "You still dream about me." He leered, his eyes roaming her body hungrily.

"Now." He continued his focus solely on the detective. "Which of these would you prefer I used on your girlfriend?" He reached to his hip and Jane instantly recognised the holster Maura had given her for her birthday set firmly on his belt. His gnarled fingers running over the leather as he smiled. "I have this lovely gun." He said, pulling the weapon from the holster and turning it over in his hand, "But they're so impersonal, barbaric." He turned suddenly, aiming the weapon at Maura's head.

"NO!" Jane screamed and fought vainly against her restraints.

He returned the gun to the holster and regarded Jane curiously. "You know you can't get free." He told her, "and that fat cop won't save you again."

She met his eyes with her own steely glare.

"So why do you fight me Jane? You know we're destined to be together." Maura curled her lip. She knew Jane would never reciprocate her feelings but she couldn't understand how Hoyt could think Jane would do anything other than kill him if she had the chance. Even she had more chance with Jane than he ever would.

"Or do you fight for her?" he crossed the room and smiled at Maura. "The good doctor." Stepping behind her, he grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her head back as he reached into his pocket. "She's beautiful Jane." He told her, inhaling the scent of her shampoo as he raised the scalpel.

"Don't you touch her!" Jane knew she was playing into Hoyt's fantasy. This was what he did, it got him off but she couldn't stop herself.

"I wonder if you'd still fight for her if she didn't have a face!" His whole demeanour changed as the scalpel slid from behind Maura's ear to just above her jugular vein, leaving a crimson trail of life in its wake.

"You bastard!"

Hoyt laughed as Maura shook with tears. His hand snaking down across the exposed area of her chest. Jane watched him, his filthy hand touching her far too intimately. Maura remained silent, she could feel her skin crawling under his touch and her stomach flipped. She forced herself to meet Jane's eyes, pleading with her. Jane bit her lip, tasting the coppery flavour of her own blood. She was making it worse by shouting, she knew it.

He traced the scalpel across her chest, not hard enough to draw blood but enough to send the icy chill of fear through both women. When both Jane and Maura remained silent, he glared. They were supposed to cry, or shout or call him names. They were supposed to suffer. He sliced open a three inch gash across the doctor's chest and, although she whimpered slightly, she made no further sound.

Ripping the gun from the holster, he held it to Maura's head. "What if I shoot your bitch right now?" he spat at Jane. She tensed her jaw and forced herself to look away from the deep red line that was oozing blood onto Maura's chest and between her breasts. Taking a deep breath, she hoped that her silence wasn't about to kill Maura.

Fury boiled under the surface and Charles Hoyt fought the urge to pull the trigger and blow the pretty doctor's brains across the cement floor.

Before he could make a decision, a quiet knock echoed in the silence. Robin poked her head around the door. "Doctor." She whispered. "There's a problem."

Hoyt growled and tucked the gun away again as he followed his apprentice from the room.

"Maura, oh god Maura, are you ok?" Jane asked as soon as the door closed. Despite her better judgement, Maura craned her neck to look at the wound on her chest. It was deep and would need stitching. Her neck stung but she could tell that it wasn't as bad as it could be. Hoyt was playing with them, he could have killed her there and then with one swift swipe of the scalpel but had chosen to toy with Jane. Small cuts that bled would prolong the blood loss and make death a slow process.

"I'm ok." She said, the tremor in her voice making Jane even angrier than she had been. She didn't remember when she'd stopped being scared but she wasn't. She was boiling mad and Hoyt was going to feel the full force of her wrath.

"Can you get the paperclip, I have an idea." Jane said. She was going to get them out of here. And when she did, she was going to spill Hoyt's black blood across Boston.

Maura took off her shoe and worked at the knot on her remaining bound leg, finally releasing it and freeing herself.

"Well done sweetie." Jane tried to remain positive, she needed Maura to focus if she was going to get out.

"Ok, slide your shoe under the chair, as close to the post as you can get it." She instructed, watching as Maura did what she asked. "Now, stand up and turn 180 degrees." Maura swallowed loudly, her neck was starting to burn from the cut and she was feeling a little dizzy.

"Jane, I don't think I can do this." She admitted. Jane looked at her, searching her eyes and pleading silently.

"I believe in you." Jane told her softly. "But we don't have much time. Please try?"

Maura got to her feet and shuffled around the post so she was facing in the same direction as Jane.

"That's it, you're doing really well. Now, sit down and get the clip out of your shoe." Jane watched as Maura slid down the post and reached for the shoe, her fingers knocking it over before she pulled it to her and retrieved the paperclip.

"Now, this is going to be hard Maura but I know you can do this." Maura inhaled, forcing her mind to focus on Jane's voice instead of the terror that pounded in her.

"Take the paperclip and straighten it out to the first bend." Jane said softly. "Then you need to…."

"Hold on Jane." Maura fumbled with the clip. She wasn't as adept at working this way and even this simple task was taking its time. "Ok."

"Put a small end into bottom of the keyhole of the cuffs. You can feel it with your fingers."

Maura ran her fingertips over the cold metal, finding the hole and guiding the paperclip in.

"The bottom?" she asked, suddenly unsure if she was doing anything right.

"Yeah." Jane was getting irritated, she knew they didn't have a lot of time and yet she didn't want to rush her friend. "There's the large bit, then near your wrist, it gets smaller."

Maura closed her eyes and pictured the shape of a standard keyhole. Teasing the metal slowly, she managed to get it into the right place. "Ok, I have it." She sounded uncertain but waited for Jane to tell her what to do next.

"Now, bend it towards your body so that it's flush with the cuffs." Jane instructed her. She had never been so glad to be a cop. After a robbery had gone wrong at some point in the 60s when a cop had been handcuffed with his own handcuffed before being shot with his own weapon, BPD had run courses on escaping from your own handcuffs with the most basic of implements.

"Ok, I've done that." Maura told her.

"Good, you're doing really well." Jane was amazed at how composed Maura could be. "Now, take it out without straightening it again." She paused, giving her time to get it right. "Then put the hooked end back in the same place so that the hook is pointing to your body, press away from you and twist your wrist at the same time." She held her breath.

Maura got to her feet suddenly and turned to face Jane, holding both her hands up. "You're the best." She grinned as she crossed the floor and started untying Jane's legs quickly.

"Oh Jane." Hoyt's nightmare sing song echoed in the corridor and Maura skidded back to her seat, taking care to drape the ropes around her ankles again before holding her hands behind her. Hoyt sauntered back into the room he had blood coating his hands and Jane knew he had disposed of the problem that had interrupted them earlier. His eyes were drawn immediately to Maura's chest, the blood had run noticeably, covering the bosom of her dress with a dark stain.

"Maybe you're feeling a little left out." He stood before the brunette and ran his fingers over her heavily bruised cheek. Jane grinned at him. "Maybe I am." She replied huskily. "Wanna play?"

She brought her knee up hard and fast into Hoyt's groin as she used her limited range of motion to try and head-butt him. The action knocked Hoyt off balance and Jane kicked at his chest, sending him flying back into Maura who caught him by the hips as he landed with a crunch on her lap.
He bellowed at Jane, seemingly unaware that Maura had just caught him, and charged at the detective, his scalpel aimed at her throat.

BANG!

The gunshot echoed around the room, deafening everyone in it. Jane felt the air leave her lungs in a rush and she started at Maura, the weapon raised in her hands. She looked down at lifeless form of Charles Hoyt, the top of his head bearing a large hole where the bullet had ripped through hair, skin and bone. He slid down her body, leaving a bloody trail over her skin and clothes before crumpling on the floor.

Jane grinned as Maura lowered the weapon slowly before setting it on her chair. She wiped the blood splatters from Jane's face and smiled warmly. It was all she could do not to lean in and kiss her. "Wanna get me outta these cuffs?" Jane asked. She felt it then. All those things that Maura had written about in her journal but never let Jane see, she felt in that moment. The heat radiating off the doctor, the desire that burned in her eyes. Her heart rate increased even more as Maura brushed her face gently.

Maura found her paperclip and worked the cuffs quickly, releasing Jane.

"Y'know something?" Jane said softly. "You really are a badass!"

Maura scooped her into a hug, squeezing the detective for all she was worth. Jane inhaled deeply, the warm cinnamon smell of Maura's shampoo filling her senses and warming her soul.

They pulled apart slowly and Jane reached for her gun. "Let's get out of here." She took Maura's hand and led her from the room, leaving Hoyt's lifeless body staring at the wall.