Hi all!

Welcome back to this story! I know, it's been a while. As most of you probably know, I decided to focus on Don't Speak in order to get that finished, which is why this one hasn't been updated since...a while. Why haven't I been updating since DS finished you ask? Life got busy is all! But thanks for the random PM prompts a few people sent me, it's nice to have hope that people might still remember this one exists too!

As always, before we proceed, I must thank JaneyGWF, my faithful beta, who has also been oh-so-subtly prompting me for months to get on with it. Thanks!

Now, without further ado, enjoy!

Jane woke up with a start, reflexively tensing and immediately regretting it as pain shot through her arm. She tried to relax with a pained groan, realising she'd managed to twist in her sleep so she was lying awkwardly on her left side. This, coupled with her bone-deep fatigue from the previous day's activities, made for a rude awakening. It felt like every piece of metal in her rebuilt arm was just a little bit out of place, pressing intrusively against her muscles and rubbing painfully over her bones.

Moving as little as possible, Jane glanced around and ascertained that she was in her own bed. She didn't remember moving there, so she suspected she'd had vampiric help after she fell asleep on the couch. Her inability to stay awake wasn't surprising, since between the trip out to the forest on Maura's back and the emotional conversations with Constance and Hope, she was exhausted and sore.

Jane tried to roll over and check the time, but another painful twinge through her arm stopped her and elicited another yelp of pain, this one a little louder. As she froze and gritted her teeth, she heard her door open and someone zip into the room.

Maura gasped as she appeared in the side of Jane's vision, her face panicked. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

Jane groaned again as she shifted to try to see Maura better. "I'm just laying on my arm wrong. It's okay."

Jane felt Maura's hands touch her gently, lifting her body and taking the weight off her injured arm. "Any better?"

Jane tried to help, and choked back another yelp when her entire body protested. "Yeah, but can you put me down on my back?"

There was a sensation of vertigo as Jane felt herself spun in the air, her back finding the bed faster than she had expected. She couldn't help tensing in surprise, which prompted a pained wince and another worried gasp from Maura.

Maura let go of Jane as soon as she was situated, flitting out of the room and returning within seconds holding a glass of water and a handful of pills. Her voice was harried and rushed as she started rambling. "I'm so sorry Jane! I must have dropped you too fast! I underestimated how gentle I should be, and you must be sore because of how much exertion I put you through yesterday, I should have known better, I just didn't think about you being injured, and I let you over exert yourself, and I kept you out late, I'm so sorry, here have these, what else can I do to help?"

Jane cracked an eye open somewhere in the middle of the rant, and could see the guilty look on Maura's face as she started spiralling, her speech accelerating until Jane couldn't make out individual words. "Okay, first, slow down. Second, this is so not your fault. Third, can you help me out with the pain for a minute, just until my meds kick in?"

Jane felt immediate relief as Maura focused and her power wrapped around Jane like a comforting mental blanket. "Of course! I'm so sorry, I didn't even think!"

Jane realised that she could feel the difference in Maura's emotions coming through her power. In the hospital, Maura's power had transmitted her feelings of anxiety and agitation along with the pain relief. There had also been an undertone of fear and her compulsion to run in order to protect everyone. Now those feelings were mostly gone, despite the overwhelming remorse that was still evident in Maura's expression. The dominant emotions felt more protective and loving, rather than fearful and apprehensive. It seemed as though the conversations they had been having had eased Maura's mind at least partially, especially with regards to her loneliness and isolation. Having had her mothers find out her secret and accept her despite her recent history had probably also assuaged some of her fears and worries, since she now had someone besides Jane on her side. It no longer felt as if Maura was seriously considering leaving.

Jane couldn't help smiling as she comprehended how much better Maura seemed after reconnecting with her life. Maura frowned in confusion when she saw the pleased expression. "Why are you smiling?"

Jane just smiled wider. "You feel more like you today. You feel more settled, more okay."

Maura frown deepened ambiguously, but she let the comment pass unanswered as she helped Jane sit up and take her medication. As she gulped down the fistful of pills, Jane watched Maura carefully, comparing the feelings she was transmitting to the expressions flitting momentarily across her face.

She seemed to be fighting against herself for some reason. Her general mental state seemed more settled and calm, but there was something specific bothering her today. She looked reluctant to meet Jane's eye to use her power, and once she had repositioned Jane on the bed Maura had pulled further away than usual. Jane slowly realised it reminded her of each time Maura had found something unsettling about her new state when she was discovering the pitfalls and quirks of being a vampire. She had a tendency to pull away, as if she was scared of hurting someone, every time she found a new reminder that she wasn't human.

Jane briefly considered bringing it up, but Maura looked like she was still trying to figure it out herself. So, instead of pushing, Jane decided to wait and see if Maura would open up. It would be a good test to see if Maura was truly comfortable enough with their current closeness to admit troubling truths, or if she would still resist telling Jane things for fear of inconveniencing or disturbing her.

They sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes until Jane started to feel the effects of the medication. Since she had missed dinner last night, the first thing she felt was a wave of dizziness, which Maura noticed immediately. "Jane? Are you alright?"

Jane nodded weakly, slumping back more heavily into the pillows. Maura panicked at the sight, her voice rising in pitch and volume. "Jane? What's wrong? What do you need?"

Jane groaned in exasperation. "Maura, calm down! I'm just hungry, it's not life threatening!"

Maura leapt into action, immediately vanishing from the room in a blur. Jane could hear her bustling around in the kitchen for a few moments, before she reappeared holding out an apple. "Eat this, I'll bring back something more substantial in a moment."

Jane sighed as she disappeared again, biting into the apple without protest. She really didn't feel that bad, especially now that her muscles had stopped tensing and she was lying in a better position. But she hadn't been quite awake enough to put up her usual tough front, and it had obviously seemed to Maura like she was worse than she was. And since Maura seemed determined to blame herself for every tiny thing that went wrong, she was completely overreacting.

The sound of urgent banging on her front door made Jane freeze. She wasn't expecting anyone today, but after all the conversations and revelations of the previous day, it could be anyone.

Before she could try to sit up, Maura reappeared in a panic. "It's Frankie! He sounds really agitated, he's calling for you! Jane, what should I do?"

Jane attempted to roll onto her side, before immediately wishing she hadn't. Maura's power flowed through her again before she could even cry out, but she had felt enough to know she wouldn't be able to move for a while yet.

Considering her options as she lay back and tried to relax, Jane came to a decision. "You're going to have to let him in."

Maura looked even more panicked. "But he hates me! With good reason! I don't want to upset him, I've caused enough damage here today already!"

Jane wanted to roll her eyes at Maura's apparently inexhaustible guilt, but she knew this issue came too close to too many painful subjects for her to risk diminishing the importance with sarcasm. "I already talked to him about this. He knows we've been talking, and he specifically said that he was ready to see you again. Trust me, it'll be okay."

Maura started fidgeting nervously, mulling over Jane's words. "Are you sure he meant it? You know how Frankie is, he'd say anything to make you feel better when you're injured, even if it wasn't entirely true."

Jane sighed. "True, but I'm pretty sure he meant it. If not, we'll find out now, and then we'll go from there. Now go let him in, before he breaks my door down."

Maura listened to the insistent banging, then rushed out of the room, apparently agreeing with Jane's assessment of his urgency. Jane forced herself to stay still, trying to hear what was going on. She could make out their voices, but not the words, much to her frustration.

After a few minutes her door opened, and Frankie stuck his head in hesitantly. "Hey Jane. Are you okay? Uh, Maura said she broke you, or something."

Jane gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm okay, she's completely overreacting. I just slept wrong. Are you okay with her being here?"

Frankie frowned momentarily, before his expression became more neutral as he crossed to the bed and sat next to Jane. "I can't say I'm thrilled to see her, but I said I was okay with this, and I intend to mean it. Eventually. I'm working on it."

Jane nodded carefully, mindful of jostling her aching joints. "That's pretty great of you Frankie. We both appreciate it."

The two siblings sat in awkward silence for a few long moments, before Jane couldn't stand it. "So, you're here too early for a casual visit, spill."

Frankie sighed heavily. "Yeah. I need to talk to you about something. Actually, I probably need to talk to both of you. Can you come out to the kitchen? I think Maura's making us breakfast, and I saw you've got a whole bunch of files there that are probably relevant."

Jane suddenly felt uneasy. "Why would the files be relevant? What do we need to talk about?"

Frankie met her eyes seriously. "Vampires."

Jane bolted upright, ignoring the pain as she reacted without thinking. "What?"

Maura appeared next to the bed, her expression shocked. "What?"

Frankie promptly fell off the bed with a yelp as Maura's unexpected arrival startled him. Maura glanced at him apologetically before rushing to help Jane, who had just noticed with a grimace how much sitting up had hurt. Jane quickly found her legs hanging off the side of the bed and her upper body supported against Maura, her head spinning both from hunger and the surprise of hearing her supposedly safely ignorant brother utter that forbidden word.

Frankie glanced between them, clearly reluctant to have this conversation, but seemingly resigned. "Good poker face guys. I'll meet you in the kitchen."

He got to his feet and stomped out of the room. Maura and Jane both gaped after him, Maura frozen still as a statue while Jane breathed rapidly in panicked and pained shallow gasps.

Jane found her senses first, giving Maura's side a firm elbow poke to bring her back to reality. "Do you think he knows? Did someone tell him?"

Jane could see that fear was the prevalent emotion in Maura's eyes as she finally responded. "I don't know! What if he does know! Jane, too many people already know! If the Volturi find out, they could all be in danger!"

Jane gestured impatiently for Maura to help her, the discomfort lessening as she got to her feet and put her arm in a sling. "We aren't going to find out by sitting here speculating and worrying. Let's just go ask him what he meant."

Maura nodded emphatically in reply, her expression still terrified.

With Maura gently supporting her, Jane was able to make it to the kitchen and sit at the bench next to Frankie, who had positioned himself next to the pile of files Constance had given them the previous night.

Maura quietly asked if Jane would be alright without her assistance, waiting until she got a definite yes before she moved back to her breakfast preparation. The three maintained a tense silence, Jane and Frankie staring at the bench and Maura resolutely concentrating on the cooking, until plates of eggs appeared in front of the two humans in the room.

Jane dug into her breakfast awkwardly, her coordination with her non-dominant hand still not great. She saw Maura twitch towards her, as if she wanted to help by feeding Jane herself, but thankfully she restrained herself with a frown.

Frankie pushed the food around his plate, looking extremely uncomfortable. After a few minutes, he dropped his fork in defeat, leaning back in his chair and staring at Maura unapologetically. Maura's shoulders dropped as she curled in on herself, self-loathing and shame clearly evident in her entire being.

Jane grimaced at the tension in the room, and decided she needed to break it. "Frankie, just ask whatever you need to ask. Stop staring."

Frankie frowned. "Fine. I need to know the facts about vampires. What they can do, what they want, and most importantly how to kill them."

Both women just gaped at him. He huffed before continuing. "I don't want to kill you, Maura. I trust Jane and she says you're ok. But I need to know what I'm about to walk into."

Jane recovered first again, while Maura seemed to be frozen in place again. "Frankie, how do you even know Maura is a vampire?"

Frankie rolled his eyes. "Please, like it was hard to figure out. She can't go out in sunlight without all those extra clothes. I saw her super speed and strength in the warehouse. Ma's cause of death was exsanguination, and you both admitted that Maura was responsible for that. How many more clues did you think I'd need?"

Jane just felt confused. "So why did you let us think you didn't know?"

Frankie shrugged. "It seemed important to you, and you had enough to worry about with your recovery and all. I didn't want you to worry about me too."

Maura finally moved, looking scared. "Frankie, have you told anyone that you know?"

He rolled his eyes again. "Of course. 'Hey Lieutenant, you know our missing Chief Medical Examiner? I think she was turned into a vampire, randomly killed my mother then disappeared. Think we can close the case now?' No! I haven't said a word to anyone, not even Dad and Tommy. Korsak and the others in homicide with access to the case information probably figured it out too, but nobody was talking about it."

Maura breathed a sigh of relief, but Jane leaned in with a concerned frown. "What do you mean 'was'? Are they talking about it now? Did something happen?"

Frankie nodded sombrely. "That's why I'm asking now. You know about the serial killer murders, the one we thought was involved in ma's death before moving to New York?"

Both Maura and Jane nodded uneasily. Frankie's eyes flicked to the pile of case files on the bench, which had the most recent murders from New York on top.

Frankie sighed in resignation. "They're starting a task force to look into it. Some of the murders happened at the same time, or too far away from each other to be the same person. The investigators in New York think that there is a cult responsible. They've asked for detectives from all the cities involved to join the task force, to try to find any leads. Everyone is stumped, since there's no forensic evidence, no DNA, no witnesses, no links between victims, nothing except the cause of death."

Frankie's gaze fixed on Maura, his expression somewhere between accusing and regretful. "They have a working theory, mostly because of your part in the case. They think the cult kidnaps people, drugs them and then brainwashes them until they're indoctrinated. They think that's what happened to you guys when you disappeared. It makes sense that you weren't hurt, if they were trying to brainwash you, not hurt you physically or ransom you or whatever. The theory is that the drugs didn't work on you Jane, so you were let go, but it did work on you, Maura. They think that ma was some kind of initiation, and you passed, so you ended up leaving and hiding with the cult somewhere."

Maura looked conflicted after hearing the police theory about her, but chose not to address it. "So, you're going to New York to join this cult task force?"

Frankie nodded. "I leave tomorrow. And they're not calling it a cult task force, they're calling it a vampire task force."

Jane straightened in her chair. "What? I thought they were convinced this is all a cult thing?"

Frankie scoffed. "On paper they are, but everything about this just feels wrong. I think the detectives in the task force buy the cult line, they just think the vampire name is a bit of a joke, but I don't think the brass does. I'm not sure who called it a vampire task force, but I think that someone knows what's really going on, and they're using us to make it look like they're trying to do something about the murders while they ignore or cover up the real problem."

Jane nodded slowly. "The response from the brass hasn't made sense on this case right from the start. You guys had multiple murders with the same M.O., not to mention us going missing during the investigation, but the FBI was nowhere to be found. The press has never gotten wind of the numbers of victims, they never noticed the hybrid mothers, and there has never been a massive public outcry about any of this. Plus there's the fact that I've never been interviewed about any of this since I gave my witness statement after the warehouse. You're right Frankie, there is a lot more going on here than we know."

Frankie allowed his sister to finish before jumping in with a question. "Go back, hybrid mothers?"

Jane winced, having not meant to give away that part of the story. She looked at Maura, who still seemed extremely stressed, but who also looked resigned.

Maura met her gaze and nodded. "We should tell him everything. He needs to know the full story. I'll call my mothers and ask them to come over, they would want to know about this too. We may as well all be on the same foot."

Jane nodded in agreement. "Yep, everyone on the same page would be good for a change."

Maura frowned in puzzlement, while Frankie barked out a surprised laugh. "I can't believe you guys still do that."

Jane smirked at him. "I know, telepathic super powers and she still can't use slang properly."