Jane was in a much better mood after a good night's sleep, and her mood got even better when she noticed that her table companions had already eaten breakfast, apparently being early risers which left her a few more minutes of peace before heading out into the wildness with a bunch of strangers. . Maybe this whole thing wasn't going to be so bad after all she thought while swallowing the last gulp of coffee. .

She climbed into one of the jeeps which were waiting in front of the hotel for the safari, whistling a tune. The elder couple she had to keep an eye on was in the same vehicle as she and this would make surveillance easier. "May I?" the blonde interrupted her thoughts, pointing to the empty seat next to her.

Jane glanced around quickly to notice that all off the other seats had already been taken. She nodded and stored her small backpack into the spot between her legs. Doctor Isles was wearing some Khaki skirt this morning and a greenish-grey blouse. Her head was covered by a sun hat and the sunglasses in her face made her look like a Hollywood star.

Her behavior matched the impression she gave as she held her hat in a very stylish manner during the ride back over the bumpy road into the bush. It was going to be hot, Jane thought, flipping down her pilots to shield her eyes from the burning sunlight and its reflection by the sand in the desert. She had decided for some navy-blue shorts and a white linen shirt. Her whole outfit was rounded up by some white sneakers.

The countryside was nothing she had ever seen before, and she hitched a breath when the convoy of Jeeps passed one of the rare waterholes where some zebras were drinking. "Aren't they beautiful?!" the doc exclaimed suddenly after being silent so far.

Jane at first jumped at the sudden outbreak and then glanced at the blonde who gave a thorough explanation about the zebras beginning from their biological classification to their eating habits over their mating habits and much more. The brunette listened thinking that the woman must be a cyborg or so. How could one person know so much? She noticed how all the cameras were directed towards the beautiful animals and also took some pictures with her mobile.

Next, they stopped for some giraffes. The animals were eating peacefully and ignoring the ahs and ohs from the spectators obviously used to the tourists. After some more rambling about some facts, they moved on.

By the time they had passed the elephants, Jane had strangely gotten accustomed to never ending flow of information which relentlessly left the docs' mouth. She listened to them attentively while always keeping an eye on the couple which was showing no strange behavior. Well at least their behavior wasn't much stranger than the ones of the other travelers.

Around midday they took a break by an old tree in the middle of the desert. Jane who had to use the toilet left the group to walk towards some bushes where she could pee without being seen by the others. Satisfied by the sudden silence when being far away from the excited chit-chat of the others she gave a sigh. Turning her head to check if she was undisturbed, she almost got a heart attack as she saw a snake laying in the sand nearby.

"I swear. The snake was so thick and her head.. oh my god… her head was so big that she could doubtlessly eat one of those elephants." She later told Maura who gave her a doubtful look as if Jane was telling a lie or was crazy. The brunette spread her arms and made some faces to underline her story while her heart was still beating hard.

"I never heard of a snake of this size." The blonde shook her head and Jane swore that she had seen it with her own eyes. Maura insisted that it was scientifically impossible for a snake to grow that big and eat an elephant. Jane finally gave up with a shrug when feeling that Maura probably believed that she was suffering a heat stroke. She simply walked back to the waiting jeep with a grunt.

The blonde was silent for almost the rest of the drive which made Jane feel uncomfortable. Therefore, she jumped off the vehicle as soon as they were back to the hotel and went to her room after making sure that the couple did the same.

She regretted that she had forgotten to take pictures of the giant snake which could proof that she was not crazy, but unfortunately, she had been kind of frozen by the surprised encounter. When she called Gabriel after a long soothing shower Marcella was giggling happily in the background. "I have to feed her." Gabriel apologized after a few minutes and they hung up. A knock on the door startled Jane and she walked over to see who it was.

Only covered by some shorts and a tank top she faced a meticulously dressed Maura Isles who wore a pale face. "What's the matter?" Jane asked while opening the door wider so that the blonde could walk into the room. The doc swallowed hard and walked past the brunette on wobbly feet.

"Here, have a seat while I get you some water." Jane said, wondering what could possibly shake up such a seasoned ME. "Spider." Maura exclaimed as she dropped onto the edge of the bed where Jane had invited her to sit. The brunette who was leaning over the minibar to check its content turned at her in disbelieve. "A spider? That's what it's all about?" she almost laughed but withheld it when seeing the serious nod. "A huge spider. She was sitting on my underwear when I opened the drawer."

"Wait!" Jane held up a hand, glancing at the blue skirt and white blouse. "I shut it close and quickly threw on some outfit to come over." Dr. Isles explained with a blushed face. "Is that what you call quickly throwing on some outfit?" Jane asked incredulous motioning to the blondes clothes. "Yes. I know, it's horrible but…"

Jane couldn't contain her laughter any longer. Did that woman even know how gorgeous she was? Probably not. "Horrible indeed…" she mumbled and returned to the bed with a bottle of water. Feeling the urge to help, she followed the blonde back to the room next to her own to check out the problem.

Prepared to face and kill a monster spider she slowly opened the drawer to find nothing but the lingerie inside. Cautiously she stirred in the other woman's underwear, feeling weird. She couldn't help but notice that the doc didn't only have a good taste when it came to sexy outfits, but also concerning her lingerie.

"I swear she was there, right there." The blonde pointed to a white silk pantie while glancing over Janes shoulder. "Well she's not here anymore." Jane tried to give a reassuring smile to a dead serious face. "Where is she then?" the blonde asked, sounding scared.

Right, worse than a spider in your room, is a spider in your room from which is hiding. Jane chuckled. "You said yourself that spiders here in the city are barely dangerous. Just let her be. She'll reappear or find another guest to bother."

Maura gave her a doubtful look before mentioning that it was already time for dinner. Jane opened the door for the blonde and subconsciously placed her hand to the small of her back as she walked through it followed by Jane.

R&I

The good doc was silent during their meal and Jane who began to feel sorry for her, offered to take another look to see if she could find the annoying animal after dinner.

"Maybe we can chase her down, Dr. Isles." She said with a wink.

"Please call me Maura. Dr. Isles is so formal. And we are going to spend almost three weeks here."

Yeah right. Jane cringed at the thought of the long vacation. She gave a small smile to the blonde. "Okay, but only if you call me Jane." Maura nodded and they shook hands again.