As an apology for my previous mix-up and delay. I am posting two chapters to keep everything moving along smoothly. Things will get better for our two leading ladies, I promise!
Previous Review responses
Terri411 - Thank you for sticking around and consistently sharing your thoughts! It absolutely helps to know that people are still interested and sticking around for this. I recognize its a bit longer then most other fan fictions!
sweetkid45 - Absolutely! We will have to see how this all develops, but I can promise you that Jane and Maura will come to full fruition; because dammit if we all haven't waited long enough!
Xenagabbyrizzilsles - I am glad Ch. 35 illicit some positive response. Its hard to mix tender moments with high impact!
MPOV
Maura was not unaware of the name Hoyt. It was part of the reason why Boston had intrigued her as much as it had. Normally a city of this size would not have peaked her interest. She had trained so hard, spending hours investing herself in science, learning and perfecting; to go to a smaller precinct. To have spent time at a smaller precinct, in a smaller city. There was little prestige in it, her mother had told her: 'if your going to insist on pursuing this as your...career; as least let me have some prestige when I speak to people about you.' There was little doubt that her curiosity had been peaked at hearing that Boston had such a cruel and unrelenting serial killer.
In passing conversation, she had learned of the medical examiner botching evidence. Of detectives being pursued with an unrelenting furry; and something about fine china. The details of course were sketchy, and most conversations turned quickly from details of the case to details of evidence lost and the problems with an aging workforce that were on their way out but refused to give in to the relentless drumming of time long having passed them.
So when she had been offered an opportunity to interview, she let that intrigue play itself off as professional appeasement. In reality, she had all but made up her mind, she would be the medical examiner for the Boston Police Department. During her interview process, she mused to herself that all of her training, her years of dedication to mastering her craft, lead her to the moment she knew she would accept the job that would be inevitably offered to her.
Maura, however, was not expecting what had unfolded before her. She watched as the room appeared to implode like a dying star. Korsak turning paler then she thought possible as all blood drained from him. Frost frantically tapping at the computers all around him, grabbing his phone and all manner of electronic devices from his desk drawer. And Jane. Jane was the star. Imploding before her very eyes. She did not know the voice, it held no favor for her. But upon seeing Jane's reaction, watching her nearly crumble to the ground at the first few syllables.
She rushed to Jane's side, immediately recognizing the signs of someone about to faint. Somehow she managed to lower her to a chair and attempt to cajole her out of her stupor. She stared into Jane's unseeing eyes, lost somewhere in the recesses of Jane's mind, as tears streamed down her face.
And she felt helpless.
It was not until Jane appeared to come back from whatever pit she was lost in. Until Jane's voice, drowning in despair, whispered his name. It was not until she had seen the strongest person she knew; her anchor crumbling before her very eyes, that she realized who Hoyt was to Jane. It was not until that very moment, that she realized why she was here.
It was Jane. It had always been for Jane. But for a different reason now. She gently caressed her face, wiping her tears as they continued to fall of their own free will, Jane's hand gently covering her own as if willing herself to believe that Maura was in fact there with her. Fear seemed to drench every inch of her body as she gazed half lucidly around the room. Somewhere, Maura was vaguely aware of the baritone voice cooing something undoubtably self serving. She watched Jane's face carefully, trying to read micro expressions on someone who seemed frozen in fear.
"How...?" Jane whispered more to herself then to anyone else in the room.
"I don't know, Jane." was all Maura could muster, trying to maintain her composure. She was never emotional, and yet something about watching Jane crumbing in front of her was causing her walls to crumble and a desperate need filled her. A longing to pull Jane into her arms and never let her go until she was fully healed from whatever torment she was trapped in.
Maura's voice seemed to pull her out of whatever internal anguish she was left in. Familiar brown eyes searched for her, she gently pulled Jane in, afraid that any sudden movement would spook her beyond ability to be brought back from. "Maura?" She questioned again, seeming to be gaining her senses, "Why is my face wet?" She rubbed her hands again, marveling at the wetness she felt on her own hand.
"You're crying, dear" Maura whispered back, wiping her other cheek.
"I'm crying?" Jane asked, still staring at her fingers. "When did I start crying?"
"It's ok, Jane. Its just your bodies reaction to the trauma." Maura bit her lip, trying to stop herself from going into her comfort of science babble. Trying to stay in the moment with Jane, afraid that anything behind basics might teeter her over the edge.
"Oh..." was all she offered back. Jane stared a her fingers with such intense concentration, rubbing them gently, then firmly against each other. As if attempting to rub away any trace of saline from them.
Just as suddenly as she had watched Jane's star implode, the walls were back up. Jane stood so quickly it almost knocked Maura backwards into the wall of her desk. She watched Jane absentmindedly wipe her nose on her arm, sniffle once; and then turn and begin barking orders.
Maura's mind reeled at the change of pace. One moment she held a wilting flower in her hands, and the next, a very real lioness was pacing across the room demanding answers and shouting obscenities.
"How?" Jane bellowed stalking across the room and staring Frost down.
"I...I don't know...it..." Frost trailed off staring haplessly at the computer monitor.
"Jane?" Korsak slowly inched forward, concern imbedded so deeply in his face that Maura was certain it would forever remain. "Are...you?" He softly intoned, appearing afraid to set Jane off again.
Jane whipped her head around appearing to see him for the first time. "I'm fine." She replied softly, almost getting lost again in her thoughts. "I wanna know how this son of a bitch did this." She growled low and Maura was certain she could see heat rising from her body.
"I recorded it." Frost looked up finally from the computer.
"What? What the fuck does that mean?" Jane ran her hand through her hair making it impossibly wilder then it normally was. She paced as her hand pinched the bridge of her nose.
"What he said" Frost held up his phone, "I recorded it. We can play it back? See if we can get anything off it while I try to trace its source?"
Maura finally moved forward and stood next to Frost, "can you put it on a speaker? Most cell phones don't have the speaker range to catch the nuances we would be listening for." She watched as Frost opened a desk drawer and produced a small speaker with a wire that he plug it into the phone.
Maura turned to Jane as Frost hesitated pushing play. Jane didn't seem to notice them staring at her, she just stared at the speaker, body tense as she waited for words to erupt once again. "Jane," Frost hedged, looking at Korsak for support.
Korsak put a gentle arm on Jane's shoulder, "maybe you should take a walk? You don't want to hear this again."
Jane's shoulders narrowed, she tensed under the tender gesture from Korsak. "No."
Maura's protective instinct kicked in "Jane, maybe he's right?" She pleaded with Jane as they stared at each other, she couldn't watch her crumble again. Not if she had any way of stopping it from happening.
"Play it." Jane took a step forward towards Frost as she growled out the words. They came out as more of a growl then pronounced words. Korsak began to protest but Jane silenced him with a simple raising of her hand, never letting her eyes falter from Frost who fumbled for a moment, almost dropping his phone as he pushed play.
"Hello. Jane." Came the familiar words and Maura watched Jane's body tense again, she was about to take a step forward and close the gap between her and Jane. She watched as she took in a deep breath and appeared to center herself.
"Remember me? Do you. Think about me? Jane." Maura focused her ears on the words, something felt off about it right from the beginning.
"I bet. You never thought you would never see me again. But I just couldn't stay away. Jane. I bet. You still. smell like lavender."
Jane's body bristled at the statement and clenched her hands in such a tight fist that they looked white. Maura noticed a shiver move through Jane's body as her mimicked the same action. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the tone. What was it about his voice?
"Do you. Remember me? How much fun. We had together."
"Stop!" Maura snapped her eyes open as Frost tapped the screen to stop the recording. "Play it from the beginning again" Maura commanded.
"Maura? Jane rolled her eyes "let's listen to the whole thing before we start rewinding it, ok?"
"No, Jane listen to me. Something's off." Maura could feel the answer creeping in, it was just at the edge of her mind, she just needed to piece it together.
"Yeah, he's supposed to be in maximum and yet he's here tormenting us" Korsak scoffed as he leaned against his desk and folded his arms. "None of this makes sense Maura."
"No...just...trust me." Maura turned to Frost "play it from the beginning. Please"
He looked to Jane who shrugged her approval and pushed play again.
"Hello. Jane. Remember me?"
"Stop!" Maura's pulse quickened as things started to click for her. "Can you forward it a bit, to just before we stopped?" Frost nodded and after a second pushed play again.
"Smell like lavender. Do you. Remember me? How much fun. We had together."
"From the beginning again please" Maura breathed in slowly and closed her eyes trying to block everything else out around her.
"Hello. Jane. Remember me?"
"Back to where we left off" Maura murmured, trying to keep her concentration.
"ender. Do you. Remember me? How much fun."
"Stop!" Maura's eyes widened as everything clicked into place for her.
"What is it Maur?" Jane was now next to her trying to read her face and gain some understanding.
"Can't you hear it?" Maura felt almost giddy with realization. She frowned as blank expressions were returned to her. "The breathing?" Maura offered, waiting impatiently for them to catch up. "His cadence?!"
"I don't get it?" Frost finally spoke up, still holding his phone out.
"Detective Frost, can you put together the two parts and play them again?" Maura knew she had to be certain of what she was hearing before she would offer any more information. It was Imperative that she get this right, for Jane's sake more then her own sanity.
"Uh, sure? It'll take me a minute" Frost offered with raised eyebrows.
"Maura," Jane whined, "just tell us what your hearing." Maura simply put her hand up to silence the protest that Jane and Korsak began to offer at being kept in the dark. She kept her eyes on Frost, knowing that if she looked at Jane she might crumble and offer an unproven theory.
"Ok, here," Frost offered, simply pushing play again.
"Hello. Jane. Remember me. Do you. Remember me? How much fun. We had together."
"Do you hear it" Maura finally turned to Jane, hardly able to contain her excitement at her discovery.
"Hear what?" Jane raised an eyebrow in response.
Frustrated Maura turned to Frost "cut the end, right after 'remember me' please".
Frost tapped a few buttons and pushed play again.
"Hello. Jane. Remember me. Do you. Remember me?"
Maura was certain of it now, she nodded to Frost as he played it again. There it was. She could feel Jane and Korsaks gaze on her as they waited rather impatiently for an explanation. "Listen to his words Jane, the pace, his breathing." Maura offered as Jane knitted her brow in concentration.
"It's the same." She softly offered.
"Normal cadence wouldn't have the exact same pause, the exact same breath meSured at the same time." Maura offered to Korsak and Frost who still appeared lost. "It's a recording."
Frost's face winced as he tried to understand Maura, but before she could dive deeper into an explanation Jane cut her off "it's been pieced together. It's him talking but not him." Frost groaned as realization hit. Jane began rummaging through her desk.
"What the heck are you two talking about?!" Korsak exasperated as he turned to Frost and Maura for an explanation.
"Where's his interrogation tape?" Jane demanded, nearly dumping the contents of her side drawer on her desk.
"Shouldn't it be in evidence?" Maura offered, walking towards the door.
"Got it!" Jane held up a small tape in triumph as Korsak brought a tape player over.
"Jane!" Maura was about to chastise the detective for not following proper evidence protocol when she was cut off.
"It's a copy Maur. I kept it just in case I needed testify again." Jane softly smiled at her, trying to cut off a well placed scolding before it started.
"Here" Korsak handed her the remote as he took a step back. Jane fumbled with the machine for few moments searching for a particular location.
"How do you know where to look?" Maura softly asked, watching Jane's brow narrow once again in concentration.
"I have watched this so many times." Jane sighed "I have it memorized." Maura saw the same sorrowful look fill her features and it was hard not to reach out and try to caress them away. "There." Jane pushed play and winced again slightly as his voice burst forth.
"I knew, of course, that no one would remember me. No one pays attention to..."
Jane stopped the tape and ask Frost to play his recording as she rewound it again.
"Hello. Jane. Remember me. Do you. Remember me."
"Would remember me."
"Holy shit" Korsak softly breathed. "It's the same."
"Someone must have taken this recording and spliced it together to make it sound like he was talking." Jane's low husky voice filled the space as everyone processed what was happening. "Is that possible?"
"Sure!" Frost offered, leaning against his desk and rubbing his eyes. "Haven't you ever seem Home Alone?"
"No." Maura responded automatically as three sets of eyes turned simultaneously on her.
"How have you never seen Home Alone?!" Frost asked incredulously, his voice going up an octave as he rolled his eyes.
"I have never even heard of it." Maura offered sheepishly, feeling out of depth at admitting it.
"Not even the first one?" Maura shook her head. Ok, so." Frost leaned forward "this kid gets on the wrong plane, and ends up in New York and..."
"The point?" Jane interrupts him, her hands rubbing small circles around her temple.
Frost bristles at being cut off "he has a tape recorder and uses it to record people's voices and plays it back to get stuff done." Frost mumbles, the air having been deflated from him.
"Ok? Sooo..." Maura tried to make the connection between a lost child and Hoyt, but was drawing a blank.
"So if a kid could do it a decade ago, it wouldn't be hard to replicate now!" Frost finished with a flourish, feeling useful again.
"So someone took Hoyts voice from his interrogation and used it to deliver a new message to make us think it was him?" Korsak stood again and moved towards the machine, taking the tape out.
"Well that's still unproven detective" Maura smiled softly at his scoff "we will have to do a voice analysis test and compare the entire structure against the original to validate that the source is the same"
Jane stood and started pacing again "so they take his voice, dub it, hack into the computers and play it when they know we are here. Listening." Maura watched her walk back and forth, the controller bouncing off her lips as she walked. "Why not use the same voice as before?"
"Because that voice is in our lockup" Korsak interjected, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "He had to do something different because we have the original voice in custody. They must have gotten the tape and put together the message to throw us off!"
Maura frowned. She hated theories, and it felt like they were just throwing around wild accusations without any evidence to prove it. She didn't say anything though, because as far fetched as everything sounded, it was no less incredulous then the reality she had been living in for the past few weeks.
Jane stopped moving for a moment and stared at the blank computer monitor, "but why? Why risk getting caught, or throwing us off the trail?" She looked up and connected with Maura's eyes, frowning slightly "Why target me? You were the officers focus."
"Seriously." Frost rolled his eyes "what would be stupid enough to target a detective and an M.E.? Inside the police station?"
Jane's voice lowered to an impossible octave as she growled out "Not what. But WHO?"
"Whom" Maura corrected automatically, smiling with a flourish.