Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews; and sorry if it turned out to be a bit too creepy!

Chapter Twenty-One – Vital Symbiosis

"How could you not let me know?This isn't professional at all. When a member of our team becomes a target then it's paramount to make it clear. It changes everything! Don't you think it's the base of your job?"

Repressing the urge to break the nearest object into pieces, Jane focused on the wall of brick in front of her and took a deep breath. The patio of Maura's house looked suddenly too small. Oppressive. The scientist had stayed inside while Cavanaugh had urgently asked the brunette to follow him outside for some well-needed talk once he had learned about the threat and read the new message Maura had just received.

"Until now, we didn't know for sure it was linked to the case. There was a tiny hope... And... You don't seem to understand... It's very personal. It's about a side of Maura's life that she doesn't necessarily... You know... There are some things she doesn't want to put under the spotlight. It's nobody's business but hers."

Cavanaugh frowned and shook his head. His anger was controlled but an utter confusion kept him on the edge. Jane made a face, twisted her hands as she wondered how and why they had made it to this point. Why it couldn't go easier and the passing of time let them deal with their new relationship at their own pace.

"We don't have much information on the victims but what links them – all the time – is... Well, you do know the case. All these women used to or seemed to have an... Attraction... For women... The media as well as the BPD in charge of the investigation know about that so if they learn that Maura is now one of the potential next targets, they'll also get to know that she..."

A heavy silence wrapped them up as Jane's words disappeared in the night and her heart broke down into pieces. She had betrayed Maura, to an extent. She would never forgive herself for that. A bright – red – shade slid up on Cavanaugh's cheeks as he finally seemed to understand. Embarrassed, he rose an eyebrow and avoided the Italian's gaze on him.

"Oh."

How would she announce it to Maura? How would Jane tell her that she had violated her private life? A deep anger began to swirl in her stomach as a veil of tears burnt her eyes. She clenched her jaw and swallowed hard.

"Fine. This will remain between you and I but with the right consequences we need to take regarding the protection of Dr. Isles..."

Jane nodded timidly but remained quiet. The weight of shame had stolen her voice, reduced her words to silence.

Cavanaugh turned around and was about to step back in the house when he stopped; locked his eyes with the brunette's dark ones.

"I know what it is to lose your other half, Jane. I won't let that happen to you."

Sat on her couch, Jane closed her eyes and let the words twirl in her head. Cavanaugh's implicit remark had owned a subtle delicacy but had been clear enough. Her silence that had followed as well. She had not tried to correct him. What for? He had said the truth, a fact she accepted and handled as she had to.

"We have five female victims; living in the Boston area, age range is wide and they had never met each other. Their only point in common is their sexual orientation yet none of them had come out. The modus operandi is classic... The killer chops their head off – by night – in a quiet street, with a French sword from the 16th century. Until now the heads were missing. Catherine's one reappeared in a different location from the place we found her body. It is a white male – right handed – about 6'2; in his fifties. Very well organized but has no medical knowledge whatsoever considering the clumsy way Catherine's eyelids were sewed. He seems to choose his victims wisely and probably stalks them for a while before deciding to kill them... At a new place every time... As for the symbol on Catherine's forehead, it is unknown yet looks like a mandala of some sort."

Or a satanist emblem but Jane's research had been vain on the matter. Like the religious associations – anti-gay unions – she and Frost had gone to. They were stuck. Desperately stuck. Her frustrated sigh echoed the nonchalant movement of her head going backwards. The smell of shampoo went dizzily to her head as Maura sat back next to her. Comforting exhalations in the darkness of a sleepless night.

They hadn't alluded to the fiasco of the birthday evening but a brand new determination had risen from their souls to take control of everything. They needed to close this case and quickly.

The sound of a cardboard box hitting the floor pushed Jane to open back her eyes. By accident, Maura had made it fall down while sitting Indian style on the couch. A dozen of pictures had slid between the table and their seat. The honey blonde picked them up immediately and smiled as she took her time to look at them properly.

"Is it you?"

Jane nodded. The photos were old and their colors had faded away but the brightness of her smile was still the same; the innocence of her eyes. She laughed lightly – shrugged – and settled better against the blonde to go through the few shots of her childhood. Her snort filled the room as they stopped on a picture of her with another little girl.

"That bitch of Meredith. She refused to kiss me on the cheek in the school play while it was in the text. She said I wasn't popular enough."

In spite of the bad memories, a well-needed sweetness had wrapped both women without any warning. They had suddenly forgotten about the case - the stress of the past two weeks – and for the first time a warm light seemed to accompany their new relationship. It was an intimate moment. Comforting.

Maura put the pictures back in the box and turned around before letting her lips caress Jane's cheek in a soft, delicate kiss. Her fingers slid on the brunette's throat and disappeared in the depth of her neck just behind her curtain of black curls. She felt the smile curl up the corners of Jane's mouth under her lips.

"I wouldn't have hesitated and kissed you in a heartbeat."

The blonde settled on her partner's lap. Arms around her neck, her eyes wandered down Jane's face with a quiet meticulousness; studying every single feature, engraving each detail in her mind. The pale light of a lamp nearby embraced her skin of a golden shade and made it shine.

"I would have always kissed you in a heartbeat."

Her murmur died against Jane's lips in a urging kiss. A desperate one.

They should have found each other in the irrepressible desire of a shared happiness but instead the echo of a fragile life brought them together; rose their bodies to make them reach the intensity that only the most terrible feelings could bring.

Their respective shirts landed on the floor. A silent smile played on their lips at the skin-to-skin touch.

The contact wasn't simply wanted nor desired but necessary. Just like their caresses, the multitude of kisses that made them feel dizzy and eager for more. Alive, at the mercy of an invisible energy.

Everything was bittersweet but they couldn't help it. A melancholy had taken possession of their long and quiet sighs; their rough breath. One day – perhaps – circumstances would be different and a perfect serenity would embrace their nights, their strong feelings. But for the moment, they simply needed this kind of symbiosis. A vital one.

The climactic response is prompted by the release of the neurohormones oxytocin and vasopressin.

The metabolic activity in the cerebral cortex decreases while activity in the limbic areas of the brain increases. The cerebral cortex governs the conscious layers of the brain, playing a role in attention, awareness, thought process and memory while the limbic system controls the unconscious side of the mind.

Hormones increase senses and give a feeling of untouchable power to the subject. Of invulnerability.