The next morning Jane woke up to the smell of fresh coffee. She had slept deeply once she had resolved her inner turmoil, feeling surprisingly well rested despite only sleeping for around four hours. Bouncing out of bed she made her way to the kitchen to find Maura waiting, staring at the cup of coffee she held carefully in her hands.

As Jane entered the kitchen Maura glanced up, her expression a mix of guilt, shame and hope. Jane gave her a huge smile in return, glad that she was there. Maura seemed to take some courage from the look, some of the uncertainty falling away as she held out the coffee.

Jane took the cup, taking a quick sip before grabbing Maura around the shoulders in a hug. Jane placed a soothing kiss on her temple before casually flopping down into a nearby chair. Maura's face had changed to amazement, her big brain trying to figure out how Jane had gone from the awkward silence last night to this happy demonstrative woman.

Jane smiled again. "I realised what my problem was Maur. I was panicking about not being able to work if I was like you. As you know being a detective is a big part of who I am, and I was panicking about who I'd be if I couldn't be a detective anymore. But once I realised that was what was holding me back I knew I was being ridiculous and there was nothing that would stop me from being there for you. So yes, if it came down to it I would become a vampire to make sure you weren't left all alone."

Maura's expression changed into one composed of relief and guilt. "I'm so sorry for asking that of you Jane, I feel terrible for wanting your life to change just for me. But I have to admit that I couldn't talk myself out of wanting it, I tried all night. I just can't imagine what I would become if you weren't here to keep me grounded."

Jane squeezed Maura's shoulder. "And that's okay, I'm glad you told me. Now, we have murders to solve!"

The pair made their way to work, their silence companionable rather than strained. They both felt like a heavy weight had been lifted and were more at peace than they had been since Maura had first been bitten.

When Maura walked into her office the first thing she noticed was a new stack of files. Quickly scanning through them she realised Susie must have stayed late compiling any and all information about everything that had happened while she'd been away. Maura could practically see the guilt dripping off the files and decided she needed to try again to smooth things over.

Maura picked up the pile of files and made her way to Susie's lab. The criminalist was hard at work on the samples from the latest victim and didn't realise Maura was in the room until she subtly kicked her foot on a table to announce her presence. Susie jumped, fortunately not taking any of her equipment with her.

"I'm sorry Susie; I was trying not to startle you."

Susie jumped to her feet, grabbing the files out of Maura's arms. "It's no problem Dr Isles, as you know I tend to scare easily when I'm working. Were the files okay? Did you find everything you needed?"

Maura nodded. "Yes thank you. I assume I have seen files on everything that passed through the morgue while I was away?"

Susie nodded, her shoulders slumping a little at the reminder of her self-perceived disloyalty. "Absolutely, that's everything that happened."

Maura felt guilty again. "Susie I understand why you didn't have the files for me, it's really okay. There was no harm done and it has all been resolved now. Please don't dwell on it."

Susie just nodded glumly and stared at the floor. Maura knew there was probably nothing she could say to make Susie feel better, so she moved back to her office to leave her in peace. Hopefully with time Maura could restore Susie's confidence and reassure her that she still trusted her.

The rest of the week passed quietly. To everyone's surprise there were no more bodies found in connection to the vampire case. The only bodies through the morgue were two suicides, three unattended deaths determined to be from natural causes and an accidental drowning. None of the scenes involved open wounds, so Maura had no difficulties processing the evidence.

Jane, Korsak and Frankie continued to run down fruitless leads, looking into everything from the victim's jobs to high schools to favourite foods, in every case finding no links between either the victims or locations of body dumps.

Friday was shaping up to be another quiet day, so Jane decided to do something different. Since she and Maura had been absent for the majority of the deaths she floated the idea of the two of them revisiting each scene to see if they could come up with any new ideas, which Korsak agreed to since they were almost out of options.

Jane had decided to start at the factory they had first been taken from. Neither of them had been back there and it felt like there might be some closure there. Maura simply nodded when Jane suggested it, not really sure how she felt about it but agreeing to come and see the place.

As the pair walked through the factory they were both lost in their own memories. This was the place where Maura had taken her last human steps, and as she retraced them she reflected on the difference in her perception. She could now make out the far walls of the factory where before they had been cloaked in shadow and dust. She could hear the vermin in the walls. She could smell the musty remnants of old packing boxes, the dust, the….vampire.

Maura froze, grabbing Jane's arm. She had smelled the distinctive odour on the victim found on Monday, it was unmistakeable. However Maura could tell that this was a different vampire scent than the one on the body.

Jane had whipped out her gun when Maura touched her, looking around for whatever had spooked her. Maura shook her head at Jane, motioning for her to stay behind her as she moved further into the factory. She could just pick out the trail of the scent, the vampire's path going from the front entrance to the room where they had found victim number five, then presumably back out.

As they moved into the room, Maura focussed on her sense of smell, she could pick out the scent of the vampire mingling with the horrible odour she had identified as her own human scent, along with Jane's. She also detected minute traces of dried blood and brief flashes of all the officers that had passed through the scene.

Jane realised what Maura was doing and holstered her weapon, moving to the side of the room to stay out of the way. After around ten minutes of sniffing around Maura concluded she had gleaned all she could from the scene. There had definitely only been one vampire and she was fairly sure it was a new scent that she hadn't previously encountered. This seemed odd since she and Jane had assumed the vampire that had threatened them had been the one to remove them from the factory, but this new information suggested that she had an accomplice.

Jane listened carefully as Maura explained what she had found, her brow furrowing in concentration as she processed. After considering their next move Jane suggested visiting the hospital they had been held in to see if Maura could compare the scent to something there. Maura agreed, but recommended going after dark so nobody would see them going to a location they had denied knowledge of after their return.

Jane nodded and they continued on to the next crime scene, an abandoned warehouse around twenty minutes away. Maura immediately picked up the scents of several vampires as she entered the room and motioned for Jane to stay against the wall while she tried to sort them out. Jane obliged, using the time to look over the scene and try to glean some useful information of her own, although she wasn't hopeful since she had already studied the crime scene photos in detail.

Maura spent the next twenty minutes following trails around the warehouse. She followed one familiar trail from the front door to the location where the body was found, between two rows of palette shelves. The scent matched the one at the factory, so this must be the vampire that took the two of them.

At the body site the scent was joined by five others, all mingling around the body site. She didn't recognise four of the scents, but the fifth matched the scent left on the body she had examined on Monday. There was an additional odour that she couldn't place, it reminded her of the smell of ash or smouldering embers but it was unlike any residue she had ever smelled.

She managed to find the path the five additional vampires had used to enter and leave the warehouse and followed it. There was no trace of the abducting vampire's scent on this path, so it seemed as though they must have left via the front. Maura eventually traced the scents to a broken window on the back wall where she surmised the group of vampires must have jumped out of the building. As the crime scene was several weeks old the scent outside the building had been erased by the weather.

Maura finally returned to Jane, confused about what she had learned. It seemed there were lots of different vampires involved in some capacity, but it made little sense that several vampires would attend this one scene when it was obviously well within any one vampire's capability to tamper with the evidence enough to hide the truth. Both women were worried; there was clearly a lot more going on than they were aware of. Maura was also worried that she hadn't caught the scent of the female vampire that had threatened them. This scene had been discovered four days after they were taken, meaning the vampires could have been here around the same time that Maura had woken up and they had left the hospital. The timing was too coincidental, but they lacked any information that would help them make sense of the timeline.

The rest of the crime scenes were unremarkable. Maura could only detect one vampire at each one, and in each case it was one of the five that had been in the warehouse. She never detected the vampire that had abducted them again. She also didn't detect the vampire that had threatened them.

By the time they finished with the last crime scene it had gotten dark, both women too engrossed in the investigation to have noticed how late it had gotten. They decided to go back to the precinct to check in before making their run to check out the hospital to ensure nobody would think to look for them.

Frankie and Korsak had been unsuccessful in finding any new leads, both leaving frustrated and heading to the robber before Jane and Maura returned. Maura hadn't received any calls from her staff about new bodies, and after checking in with the night staff she was ready to leave, satisfied that everything was in order.

The pair went back to Maura's house to relax for a few hours before making their next potentially emotional stop. Jane was particularly nervous about returning to the empty hospital; she still had nightmares about that place. They picked up some takeaway for Jane, who had forgotten to eat during the day as usual, and settled in to watch a movie.

As the credits rolled Jane sighed and poked Maura, wanting to get this over with. Maura glanced at Jane and decided she needed something to take her mind off what they were about to do.

"How about we go the fast way? The area is relatively quiet so it might be better not to take either of our cars, someone might notice them."

Jane looked at Maura in disbelief. "The fast way? You want to carry me there?"

Maura smiled, knowing how much Jane's pride would be hurt if anyone ever saw the petite doctor carrying the tough detective like a baby. "I was more thinking a piggy back sort of arrangement, but I could carry you if you prefer? Or perhaps a fireman's hold, although you wouldn't have a particularly interesting view from that vantage point. Or I could just sling you over my shoulder, although that presents similar difficulties from a visual perspective."

Jane sputtered. "No thanks Maura, I don't really want to travel across Boston at super speed staring at your butt the whole way."

Maura laughed. "I just thought you might enjoy experiencing what it's like to travel at that speed while you're conscious."

Jane smirked; she had to admit she had been trying to come up with an excuse to do this. "Okay, but we're doing a piggy back. If we got seen in any other position I don't think I could live it down."

Maura smiled in agreement and stood up, turning her back to Jane. "Climb on."

Jane looked confused. "Shouldn't we go outside or something first?"

Maura glanced back and shook her head. "I don't want anyone to see us leave, so I'll take us out the window and not slow down."

Jane suddenly felt nervous about trying this. "Window? Really? You want to jump out a window with me on your back? What if I get scraped off? Can we please just go up on the roof or something and start from there?"

Maura looked slightly hurt at the suggestion that she would let Jane splatter against a wall, but caved when she saw how scared Jane suddenly looked. "Fine, let's go to the roof."

Jane took a deep breath then headed for the top floor. Maura just laughed as she followed, wondering how Jane thought she was going to climb from there. Maura managed by climbing out the window and jumping the two meter gap to a sloping section of the roof, but she knew the six meter drop would give Jane pause. Sure enough, when Maura followed Jane into the room she found her gripping the window, measuring the gap with her eyes and shrinking back towards the safety of the hallway.

Maura moved next to her and opened the window, turning to Jane with a smirk. "Ready?"

Jane looked at her with her usual 'really' look, this time with a dash of panic thrown in. Maura laughed and swung her legs out of the window, balancing on the tiny ledge outside. "Come on, trust me."

Jane looked torn between staying and running, but finally took two shuddering breaths and moved over to the window. Grabbing Maura's hand in a death grip Jane carefully manoeuvred her long body out of the window, her gaze fixed determinedly on the roof and not on the ground. Maura gently put her arm around her waist, transferring Jane's weight from the ledge onto her own body. Jane still had a tense grip on the window sill so strong her knuckles were turning white.

"Let go Jane, I've got you. I won't let you fall."

Jane looked in Maura's eyes, searching for reassurance. She found whatever she was looking for, letting go of the sill with a whimper and throwing the freed hand around Maura's neck.

Maura smiled in amusement before tightening her grip carefully and jumping towards the roof. Jane let out a small yelp before biting her lip and falling silent, her arms both tightening around Maura. As they landed Maura tried to move away and let Jane regain her equilibrium only to find Jane was attached like a monkey, her eyes clamped shut. Maura's laugh was enough to get her to prise one eye open, and seeing that she was safe Jane shakily uncoiled her limbs from around her friend, using Maura for support as she sank down onto the roof. She still didn't let go of Maura's hand as she relaxed slightly after feeling the solid roof beneath her.

"Don't ever do that again!" Jane finally found her voice, still slightly choked with fear. Maura laughed again and Jane joined in, her laugh a mix of relief and embarrassment. She had never been particularly scared of heights, but that was when there was a handrail or window separating her from a long drop. She knew if she had been with anyone else she couldn't have done that.

Maura sat down next to Jane, happy to spend a few minutes relaxing on the roof before they left. Jane slowly eased, her pulse returning to normal as she enjoyed the view. Maura's house wasn't situated in a particularly picturesque location, but they could still see a nice vista of lights.

Jane glanced over at her friend, taking a moment to observe and evaluate. Maura looked calm and serene, more at peace with herself than Jane had seen since she was human. She seemed to have really accepted and embraced her new life. Jane cast her eyes over Maura's outfit, noticing her lack of shoes, which reminded her of a question she had been meaning to ask for a week.

"So, Maura, why have you stopped wearing high heels? I don't think I've seen you in a pair since you came back." Maura's face lit up, pleased to be talking to Jane of all people about fashion.

"Well it isn't really by choice. When I'm at work I need completely enclosed shoes, and all the boots I own that are enclosed happen to be flats. I have some new boots on order which should be more appropriate. As far as outside of work, I haven't really been anywhere except here and the forest, so I prefer to go barefoot. I find that being able to feel the ground more directly helps gauge the strength of my strides more accurately, which helps prevent accidents."

Jane's ears pricked up. "I'm sorry, accidents?"

Maura looked nervous, like she had just been busted. Her voice came out an octave higher than normal. "I may have misjudged a jump one night when I was heading out of Boston and hit a wall. Which was an important structural component of a house, which was fortunately vacant at the time."

Jane snorted. "Maura are you saying you accidentally knocked a house down?"

Maura squirmed. "Not entirely, just one of the walls and some of the roof. I checked into the owner, the house is insured and wasn't in immediate use, so there should be no harm done. I'll keep apprised of the situation and somehow make an anonymous donation if the owner encounters any difficulties."

Jane burst out laughing. "Well now I feel better about refusing to jump out a window on your back."

Maura tried to level a glare at Jane, but failed and started laughing as well, an embarrassed hand over her eyes. The two settled back into a comfortable silence, looking at the view and enjoying the calm.

Jane eventually felt settled enough to move to the next phase of this adventure, although her pulse picked up again when she realised Maura would have to jump them down off the roof in order to move away from the house. She had trusted Maura this far though, and despite the unfortunate story she had just heard she was determined to keep trusting her.

Jane suddenly stood up, still holding Maura's hand and tugging on it to raise Maura to her feet. "Alright speedy, let's get this over with."

Maura smiled, turning around so Jane could jump up on her back. Jane felt ridiculous as she leapt at Maura, feeling hard arms securely cradle her legs and wrapping her own arms around a cold neck. She positioned her head on Maura's right so she could see where they were going, tucking her legs in as close to Maura's body as possible.

Maura glanced at Jane to check her uneasy passenger. "Ready? Comfortable?"

Jane sighed. "Surprisingly yes to both. Let's go."

Maura smiled and turned towards the path they would need to take to cross the city, taking off without any further warning. Jane shrieked in her ear, her head burrowing into Maura's neck and her limbs contracting tightly. Maura ran around a block before jumping up onto another roof so she could stop and check on Jane.

Jane realised they had stopped but didn't move. "Are we there yet?"

Maura laughed heartily, wishing she had thought to take a video of this moment. "No Jane, we've only gone a block, I just wanted to tell you to open your eyes and enjoy this, you're missing it!"

Jane groaned, but after a few seconds lifted her head and huffed. "Okay, I'm ready."

Maura took off again, and Jane didn't yell. She managed to keep her eyes open, gaping at the sight of buildings and streets whipping past under Maura's feet. Maura had become quite well practiced in navigating the city at night on foot over the last few weeks, so there were no issues avoiding all the humans still out at this late hour. Jane started to feel ill watching the road whip past so dragged her eyes up to look at the surrounding city.

Jane took in a shaky breath as she saw buildings come flying at them before Maura carefully steered them between cars and trees, negotiating the obstacles with ease. Jane watched in amazement as Maura jumped over a truck, rotating in mid-air to land securely on the footpath and continuing on without pausing. Maura jumped suddenly, flipping onto a row of apartments and flitting along the balconies, touching each of the landings for mere milliseconds.

Maura was thrilled to hear Jane exclaiming in wonder at the sight of Fenway Park approaching; she had taken this route on purpose in the hope that the sight of the familiar landmark would be soothing. Jane's limbs started to relax into a firm hold, no longer crushing against Maura's neck so hard she was sure there would be bruises on her arms in the morning.

Finally the pair reached the abandoned hospital. Maura stopped just inside the entry and released Jane's legs carefully while reaching back to steady her friend. As expected Jane's limbs were shaking and unsteady, her hand grabbing Maura's for support as soon as she released her neck, but her face was adorned with a huge grin and her eyes were alight with joy.

"Oh my God Maura, that was amazing!"

Maura smiled, excited to have been able to share this experience with Jane. They stood in the hallway for several minutes as Jane recovered, her fear having been replaced with exhilaration at some point during the journey.

As Jane regained her breath and equilibrium Maura started sniffing around surreptitiously. She could clearly smell Jane's scent all through the hospital, trailing into every room she could see. This must have been while she was in the midst of her transformation; Jane would have searched the whole building multiple times.

When Jane could stand unaided the pair moved into the building, the exuberance from the trip over replaced with a wary trepidation. Without discussion they returned to the room where Maura had been restrained and paused in the doorway, taking in the scene silently.

The room had been cleaned up since they left. The floor was still broken, but it had been tampered with to make it seem due to rusted structural beams. Maura could smell the vampire that had threatened them all over the room. Moving closer to the hole she could see that the basement had also been tampered with; the beams that had held her immobile had been removed and the concrete remaining looked as though it had fallen naturally instead of being smashed out of the floor.

Jane noticed that the small fridge and backpack had been removed as well as the twisted remains of her gun. She went to the bathroom and found that the sealed bin had also been removed, the room smelling vaguely of disinfectant. Jane felt a twinge at the realisation that there was no evidence of those long days spent here panicking, stressing, waiting. Although she had mentally come to terms with everything that happened and her part in it, she still felt an emotional twinge being in this place, the scared and trapped feelings coming back more and more the longer she was here.

Maura realised that Jane was gone and decided to do a fast lap around the whole place, looking for anything Jane wouldn't have been able to see as a human. Apart from the scent of vampire there was nothing unusual in any of the rooms. She hadn't felt particularly emotional about returning here, as she was completely unaware for almost the entire time. She didn't remember being brought in, or restrained, or anything that was going on around her until she woke up with Jane crouched over her. Since there was nothing she could glean to help work out what all of this meant, Maura was ready to go home. She returned to Jane and saw that she felt the same, the detective doing her best to conceal the uneasiness she was obviously feeling.

Maura turned around, wordlessly indicating that Jane should climb aboard. Jane took one last look around before settling in to her position, Maura's arms closing over her legs protectively. As the pair shot across the city there were no excited gasps or smiles of wonder; both women were churning through their troubled thoughts.

Although they had discovered that there were at least seven vampires involved in this debacle there was no way to know if they were working together or if some of them belonged to the rogue element the female vampire had mentioned. As Maura carefully let Jane down in her kitchen, Jane having trusted her to make it through the window in one piece, the pair looked at each other with the unspoken understanding that there was still a lot they needed to know, and neither of them liked it one bit.

A/N Hi again guys! I realised I forgot to answer the guest review from a few chapters back sorry! The short answer is that I won't be giving out spoilers, so if you want to know about Maura's eyes changing colour to yellow or if she has any special powers you'll have to wait and tune in after a few more chapters! I hope you guys enjoy this one, it was fun to write!