They had been walking for what seemed like hours but in reality Jane knew was only a few minutes. The sun was going down and they still had no idea where they were. "I can't even tell what direction we're going in Maur, all these damn trees look exactly the same!" she growled as her foot got caught on some shrubbery, yanking as hard as she could to free herself.

"I can't help you Jane, I don't know where we are either" Maura looked at her, a small frown making its way onto her face.

Jane reached out and brushed her knuckles across her cheek gently, "It's okay, I'll get us out of here" Turning back the way they were headed Jane extended her arm behind her as she walked forward, waiting for Maura to take her hand. "Cmón Maura, its getting dark and I really want to get home."

"I'm lost Jane."

"What?" the detective spun around to face the doctor and to her surprise, Maura was still standing where she'd left her. "What are you doing?"

"You need to find me Jane" Maura took a step back, "wake up and find me Jane."

Jane's brow creased and she watched her girlfriend step further away from her. "Find you? Maura what are you talking about?" She blinked and the doctor was gone. "Maura?"

"Find me Jane."

"Maura!" Jane shot upright in bed, chest panting and sweat running down her face. "What the hell was that?" she squinted at her clock, it was almost 5am. She flopped back against the pillows, turning on her side to face the window. She could see the faintest hint of colour gracing the dark sky that signalled the start of a new day. Saturday, she smiled briefly, Maura's coming home.

The thought of her honey blonde doctor brought her dream back to the forefront of her mind, what the hell was that dream about? Running a hand over her face Jane sat up, groaning as her head protested the movement. "Damn you Frankie and your stupid beers" she growled, recollecting the previous night at the bar with her brother and Korsak. They'd tried to take her mind off missing Maura, and it had slightly worked. That's probably why I dreamt that, the logical part of the detective's brain tried to rationalise, I was worried cause I couldn't get hold of her, that's all.

Shaking her head at the thought she checked her phone, no new messages. She frowned, hoping Maura might have tried to contact her at least throughout the night. Must be really crappy phone service. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed she stood to get ready for the day, pushing her worries to the back of her mind.


Wyoming

Maura leapt forward and slid the bolt shut with a loud thud. Stepping back she took a quick glance out the window but could see nothing except cold darkness. But someone out there could see me, she realised, anyone looking in would be able to see them due to the light of the fire. She sank back down onto her rug, fear creeping into her bones. Maybe one of them got up in the night to check the weather or answer the call of nature. Even if it was her turn to sleep, Maura wasn't sure she'd even be able too.

She sat for a while, shivering under her blanket while her companions slept on. Her eyes stayed glued to the door, watching as the snow melted under the heat of the fire. Her thoughts turned to the last time they'd had snow in Boston, she'd been driving to a crime scene when it had really started falling hard.

She'd just parked her car behind Jane's and was stepping out, unfortunately for her the shoes she'd been wearing didn't have much grip and Maura remembers the panic as she realised her feet were slipping from under her. "Maura" Jane had called her name as soon as she'd seen her start to teeter, dashing across in time to grab her around the waist and keep her upright. "Thank you for catching me" she'd smiled, squeezing Jane's forearm tightly.

"Always" Maura whispered, wiping away a stray tear that had made it way down her cheek as she uttered Jane's reply. Her chest constricted tightly at the thought of Jane, God did she miss her more than anything. Glancing to the window she noticed the sky was now an ever lighting grey as the night made way for the day. Rising to her knees she crawled over to the fireplace, noting that the amount of firewood had dwindled and they were down to the last few logs. They'd found plenty of wood in the outside shed but she had no doubts that it was damp, if they wanted more for later it'd have to be brought in and dried out as soon as possible.

She looked at the others still sleeping and sighed, accepting that the person to collect it would be her. Maura pulled on her gloves and rearranged her jacket and gloves, tucking her pants into her socks and boots she stood and unlatched the door. Taking a breath to brace herself for the cold, she quickly opened the door and stepped out. Glancing around her she didn't see any other footprints, but the raging winds could've easily blown them away. Okay Maura, just get the wood and get back, she nodded to herself and started down the steps. Only the steps were completely buried in snow causing her feet to slide out from under her sending her crashing to the ground. Pain shot up her spine and Maura had to bite her lip to stop a yell of agony escaping her throat. Her eyes closed briefly as she reached around her back and tried to rub the pain away. Sitting for a moment she tried to relax but it was just too cold to do so. Using the porch railing as support, Maura pulled herself to her feet and slowly made her way down the steps.

By now the sun was out and it looked to be a clear blue sky head. How lovely, she thought bitterly, perfect weather and we're stuck in hell. Maura trudged around to the side of the house where the woodshed was. Reaching up to grab a log from the top of the pile she tugged, but it did not give an inch. It was frozen in place. Bracing herself against the pile she pulled harder, determined to complete her task. Suddenly the piece in her hand broke free and sent her stumbling backwards, catching her boot on something under the snow she tumbled to the ground, again.

"God, seriously" Maura grumbled, feeling it in her bottom and lower back. She glared at the snow where she'd tripped, lashing her foot out at whatever tripped her. She frowned when her boot came into contact with something solid, no wonder I fell she huffed, leaning forward to dig around in the snow. Under her hands she felt a large solid object, too big to be a log and completely frozen solid. Her gloved hands brushed the snow away to reveal whatever she'd caught her foot on, and she froze in her place as it came into view.

"Oh my god" Maura stood, turned and hurried back to the house, completely forgetting about the wood she'd been trying to collect.


I know it's short and another cliffhanger but I wanted to give you something, more coming very soon. My laptops being a right bastard and making it very hard for me to deal with, so my apologies friends. thanks for your thoughts and reviews :)