Hi all,

So, first of all, I'm so very sorry that it has taken 6 months to continue this story. I promise that it has not been in any way abandoned, life simply got busy. Thanks to everyone who messaged me in attempt to encourage another chapter, I really appreciated the reassurance that people wanted to read more.

Thanks as always to JaneyGWF, who has also been steadily encouraging me to continue for months. She has still been tirelessly betaing for me, despite her own hectic life.

As always I make no promises as to an update schedule, but I absolutely promise that this story will be finished!

I hope you enjoy, please let me know your thoughts!

Maura could feel her limbs shaking with pure awareness in response to abruptly regaining control of her body. She tightened her grip on Jane, and felt Jane's arms hold her closer in response. The smile that had adorned her face automatically at the sight of her best friend, alive and well, dissipated as the enormity of the ordeal she'd just endured crashed through her consciousness and she let out an emotional and pained gasp. She heard Jane say something in a worried voice, but her attention was focused inward, trying to get her mind around everything she was feeling and remembering.

The memories she could immediately access were a blur. She remembered being powerless. She remembered something else having complete control over her mind and body. She remembered being utterly absent, as if her soul had been removed from her body, leaving only a shell.

She remembered a strange vampire with red hair.

Pushing away from Jane, Maura looked around frantically, and upon finding nothing amiss turned back to Jane with a frightened tone. "Where did she go? What happened?"

Jane carefully put her hands on Maura's shoulders, her response quiet and calming. "It's okay. Betty just went to get us some, uh, food, and to give us a few minutes. We're safe, nobody is going to hurt you."

Maura looked around a few more times, her eyes flashing across every surface in search of threats. Her body slowly relaxed as she accepted what Jane had said, her harried breaths finding no trace of vampire on the afternoon breeze. Jane gently rubbed her hands down Maura's arms in a comforting gesture, her face full of worried concern.

Maura slowly got to her feet, pulling away from Jane and walking away a few steps. Everything felt slightly off, as if her brain was still recalling how to send signals to her body, but the sensation was lessening with each passing moment. She breathed in deeply, revelling in the feeling of her body stretching and adjusting to her movements. Her hands found their way to her torso, her fingers finding smooth unblemished skin through the gaping holes in her clothes. She frowned in confusion, and closed her eyes to try and remember exactly what had happened.

She recalled pieces of the last few days, but her memories felt strange, as if she was remembering them with a different personality than the one she'd inhabited while making the memories. She clearly remembered everything in the boiler, up until the point where Jane had ripped the last piece of metal out of her torso. Prior to that moment, her strength had been gradually fading as she used her powers continuously to help Jane. The drain on her energy, in addition to the searing agony she'd been ignoring for days, had noticeably and rapidly increased as soon as Jane started removing the shrapnel from her body. Her thoughts had also started to scatter, and it had become impossible to think coherently or logically. When the last piece of intruding material had left her torso, she had crumpled in pain, but also started to lose awareness and control of her body. She had immediately gone blind, which made her verbalise one last whimper, and her hearing had faded quickly as well. She had felt Jane pick her up and carry her, for a long time. She didn't remember any sounds or sights, only the impression of Jane's arms supporting her and the sensation of speed. When the motion had stopped, she thought she had finally passed into the realm of death.

Then she had been revitalised by the taste of blood, her limbs moving and her senses activating with sluggish capability. Her body had reacted to stimuli, both the smell of prey above her and the presence of a rival vampire, with only the barest input from Maura's mind. She had no control, no way of reacting consciously. Maura didn't remember being present in her own body, she simply remembered what it had instinctually done. It didn't feel like her consciousness had been buried, or simply inactive, it had been gone.

To her surprise, Maura retrospectively gained an unusual insight into her instincts, being able to remember them operating completely separated from any intelligent thought. She now understood that her vampire instincts found no particular enjoyment in the taste of blood. To her bestial consciousness, blood was simply food, a necessary fact of life. It responded with complete focus and an indomitable will, but not because it wanted the blood, or wanted to take pleasure in getting it, simply because it needed it. There was no planning, no moral ambiguity over right and wrong, only a primal imperative to eat and survive.

Maura realised with shock that whatever had happened to her had made her completely forget who Jane was at the time. She had responded to her as an enemy, an unknown, because she had no inkling of anything to the contrary. Maura remembered with horror and disgust how she attacked Jane, over and over again, despite the fact Jane was clearly desperate to help her. Her instincts couldn't abide the presence of another vampire when she was injured and there was blood in the air. There had been no emotional impetus behind the attack, no shame when Jane had defeated her clumsy attacks, no sense of satisfaction when her body was finally sated and healed. She had simply reacted on instinct and moved on to the next situation, without planning or reflection.

Then, after submitting to Jane's dominance and following her meekly, Maura remembered smelling a vampire moving towards them. She had taken up a defensive posture, growling and snarling like a beast despite her weakness. She remembered seeing a red-haired, red-eyed vampire, Jane speaking to her, then nothing. She had lost all awareness of the world, and everything had gone black.

Maura turned back to Jane, who was still on the ground watching her, with a burning need to understand. "Jane, what happened? Did someone attack me? Is that why my mind feels so…"

Jane looked extremely uncomfortable, but quickly jumped to her feet and walked to Maura with concern. "Are you still in pain? Did I miss something? Please, tell me what's wrong, I can try to fix it."

Maura reflexively jerked away from Jane as she tried to reach for her face. Her expression contorted in horror as she remembered the next part of the last day's events.

After losing consciousness, the next thing Maura could remember was the impression of warmth. Something was touching her face, and she was leaning against something firm with her head propped up. It seemed like a long time until anything changed, and for all that time Maura was still without thought, without a sense of self. Then she gradually felt her other senses activating, fuzzily becoming aware of the sounds of a forest, the whisper of a breeze. Though her eyes were almost completely closed, she could just make out the faint light of stars as they disappeared into the light of dawn. Despite her growing awareness, she was still without any ability to move.

Suddenly her sense of smell and taste had slammed into existence, and she realised that her mouth was full of blood. Every faint instinct that existed in her threadbare sense of self screamed to swallow, to seek out more, but she was still cut off from her body. She endured a kind of tempting torture as the sweet scent enthralled her whole self and her vampiric instincts returned with full force, but something still held her motionless against her will.

Finally, the torment ended as she regained the use of her body abruptly. Her instinctual self wasted no time in gulping down the blood in her mouth and immediately lunging for the nearby source, a bag sitting on the ground. She ignored the two vampires around her until one tried to take her food, which made her respond aggressively with a closed fist. Again, there was no emotion behind the action, only an instinct to protect herself and her food source. Maura could further understand her instincts through remembering them operating independent of any conscious thought, observing how she had reacted to blood, then threats to her being able to retain possession of the blood, then threats to herself. Nothing else triggered her instincts, only stimuli that were a physical threat or a potential rival in the hunt for food.

She remembered feeling her limbs freeze again, just as helplessly as before, but without the pressing weight of her body being drained of energy. Then she had suddenly been freed, immediately attacking the red-haired threat, only to find herself tackled to the ground with her face pressed into the soft soil. As before, Maura remembered herself struggling violently against her attackers, without success. She eventually submitted to the iron grip and glared at her captors, but her inner vampire had known it was beaten and simply settled down to wait for an opening.

Maura remembered hearing Jane talking to the other vampire, but the words didn't make sense. Something about making progress, and continuing with something. Jane had sounded tired and distraught, but then the sensation of her instincts reactivating had continued. Maura remembered several attempts to escape her restraints, precipitated by another awakening of instincts or senses, all of them motivated purely by instincts rather than conscious intentions, but none of them gaining her anything.

Eventually Maura remembered the first flickers of intelligence returning to her mind. She had stopped struggling, finally able to understand that she was being helped. She had started looking curiously at Jane, although she still didn't remember who she was. The rudimentary deductive processes that were starting to awaken in her mind were trying to learn and understand, curious about this woman touching her face and concentrating fiercely.

Maura remembered the next part of her ordeal with great trepidation. She recalled the restoration of her language skills and knowledge, all being fed into her mind piece by tiny piece. The horror of the experience came from the fact that she had no control over her own mind. Her attention had been dragged between each new piece of information, whether she wanted to remember it or not. After her mind had reconnected with each item, it was brutally directed to the next one, over and over again. Some connections prompted her speech centre to engage, and she would start talking, rattling off nonsense words as her brain struggled to sort through the multitude of random information. The desolation and revulsion she felt at the recollection wasn't coming from the fact that Maura objected to being given back the elements of her life, it was the helplessness and complete sense of subjugation that came from being unable to control even her thoughts.

Finally, Maura started remembering personal details. It started with her childhood. She saw her earliest memories, progressing from her first interactions with her parents, to the first time she'd been left with the staff, to the day she decided to ask her mother to send her away for school.

She quickly discovered that the experience of regaining memories and knowledge one scrap at a time gave Maura a unique insight into the way her mind worked. She had always known her personality was built from an immeasurable amount of building blocks, all shaped and placed and linked together by her experiences, but the way her mind had been forcibly guided through the recreation of those pieces showed her exactly why she was the person she had become.

She revisited a young Maura first starting to learn about inherited genetic characteristics at the age of eight. She had run to her mother, distraught, when she realised that either her books were wrong about how recessive and dominant genes influenced genetic makeup, or she was horribly ill with a disfiguring disease. You're not normal, you need to figure out what's wrong and fix it. Her mother had calmly explained that she was adopted, and that her biological parents were unknown, which put Maura's mind at ease about her physical body, but sent her mind into a whole new realm of confusion. There must have been something wrong with you, so you need to be better so nobody needs to get rid of you again. Her parent's continual absences from her life had quickly become the norm, forcing Maura to learn to enjoy her own company and not seek attention. Nobody wants to be pressured into liking you, just be perfect and let them notice if they want to. Servants and nannies would only be with her when they were getting paid handsomely for the privilege. People are too busy with their own important lives to notice yours, just be patient and be pleased with any attention they can spare. Her school companions would only spend time with her at their parents' request, or if the needed help with a project, or if she had a new toy they wanted to try. Nobody likes other people out of genuine affection, they only express affection when they need something, so make sure you always have something to offer. It had been clear at a very young age that she was bright and curious, but she had never felt overly proud or entitled because of it, she had merely acknowledged the fact and continued on. Everyone must be as smart as you, it's only because you're too dumb to understand social interactions that you have all this space in your head for academic knowledge.

Her higher education flashed past her mind's eye in an organised procession of classes, information, colleagues and lovers. Everyone wants to be the best, you cannot trust anyone as they are only trying to exceed your brilliance and rob you of any importance or meaning. She became an outstanding scholar, a mentor, and graduated with honours from every academic venture. If you share your knowledge and wealth with others, they will remember your intelligence and your generosity, and you will matter to them.

Her career flowed into her memories as a series of brilliant accomplishments, as she shone brightly, the epitome of forensic science, lauded and celebrated, only to return home to an empty house and a silent tortoise. Nobody will remember you for your insufferable company, your only viable option is to become the top of your field and be remembered for your outstanding work.

When her life had been changed by the entrance of Jane and her family, it had taken years for Maura to even start to consider that they liked her simply for being herself, without any ulterior motive. People always want something, they never actually like you, keep being generous and kind to ensure they stay in your life. She had never thought they had any malicious intent, however she was always waiting for the moment she would discover that she was no longer needed. They are getting to know you too well, they will soon realise the faults that everyone else can see and abandon you, just like the rest. In recent years Maura had been fighting with her inherent nature, trying to overcome her deep-seated shortcomings of self-esteem and belief, but she could never fully rid herself of the fear that Jane would one day tell her to leave and never come back. You have become weak and dependant on these people, and you're too tired to care that it will leave you destroyed when they leave you, since you'll never be truly good enough.

Each part of this convoluted construction of responses and beliefs was forcibly marched past Maura's consciousness in a never-ending parade of facts, each making itself known before connecting with the rest of the chain and catapulting Maura's mind on to the next. She could remember there being mental blocks around all of her ingrained beliefs, barriers she had built around her personality quirks as if those traits were precious, but for some reason those blocks weren't returning with the memories, only the information that had previously been hidden behind them. She could see the gnarled conclusions that had shaped her behaviour, and prevented her from trusting, loving and believing in her own worth. It had almost felt as though she could start to address the root causes of those long maligned self-esteem issues, but then the process had continued and her mind was unfeelingly yanked away into the next memory.

She had felt her body reacting to particularly intensely emotional memories by reciting the thoughts experienced at the moment the event had happened. In retrospect, she was extremely embarrassed by the personal demons she'd disclosed, knowing that Jane must have heard all of it, but at the time she'd been powerless to prevent whatever force she was under the influence of from propelling her mind to the next painful memory.

Finally, after her final admission of her current greatest fears in response to a residual taste of human blood, she had regained control over her body, only to find Jane looking down at her in fretful anticipation, her hands still touching Maura's face. The same hands that had been holding her down, that had wrested control of her mind away.

Maura jumped back from Jane in stark realisation, revulsion permeating her voice as she understood the source of her ordeal, if not the reason. "It was you! You were restraining me! You somehow took over my mind!"

Jane's face crumpled in hurt and confusion. "What? No, I…well, yes, but no!"

Jane stepped forward with outreached hands, making Maura instinctively flinch away and scream in terror. "Don't touch me! Don't you dare touch me!"

Maura looked at Jane properly as they both stumbled way from each other, taking in the red eyes and the perfected pale skin, and thinking about everything they implied. Her friend had become a vampire, after proclaiming loudly that it wasn't what she wanted. Perhaps she blamed Maura for that after all, and she had used some new powers on her as punishment. Or worse, perhaps what Maura had done during Jane's transformation had altered her mind, making her a sadistic torturer like all the Volturi they had met. Maura felt like she was going to throw up, a sensation she hadn't experienced since becoming a vampire, at the thought that Jane might have done this to her on purpose. It was completely contrary to everything the Jane she knew was capable of, but she had learned over the last few months that there were very few things she could consider impossible.

Choking down her panic, Maura tried to steady her croaky voice and discuss this rationally. "What, exactly, did you do to me Jane?"

Jane held out her hands to placate her panicking friend, her voice distraught. "Nothing, I just…okay. Apparently I have some kind of energy powers. I can see it, and I can do stuff with it. I could see in your brain that there was damage, some sort of black absorbing sickness that was killing you. I just fed in my own energy, to make it stop. Then once that was taken care of, I had to go back in and turn all your brain cells back on, one at a time, because your whole brain was completely drained. It took a while, and you sort of woke up halfway through, and you were all scary and violent, but then you started spewing google, and it looked like it was working. I did restrain you for a while, but I didn't have a choice! You were going to hurt yourself! I just tried to help your brain work again, but I wasn't using any mind control on you! I swear, Maura, I wouldn't do that to you."

Maura turned away in shock, realisation pervading her consciousness, a hand over her mouth. What had seemed like a torturous attack from her perspective had simply been Jane trying to help. The hours she had spent in an unthinking paralytic limbo had merely been an unfortunate side effect of Jane's powers, and without those powers Maura would probably be either mindless or dead.

Jane started wringing her hands, habitually kneading the now-healed scars, her voice pleading and apologetic. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were getting hurt from what I was doing. But I won't apologise for trying. You didn't see how bad you were, Maura. You were dying. You were gone, and there was a brainless vampire in your body. I knew it had only happened because you helped me, and it had cost you everything. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't try everything I could to help you."

Maura nodded slowly, her scrambled memories agreeing with everything Jane had explained. She remembered Betty encouraging Jane to continue, she remembered Jane fretting over her ability to fix whatever was broken in Maura's head, and she remembered how hard Jane had tried to get it right. There was no feeling of malice in any of her recollections, only desperation and persistence in the face of hopelessness.

Maura took a few moments to really look at her friend's new appearance, beyond the vampiric additions, and had to smile. Her natural beauty had been perfected by the vampiric transformation, with flawless skin, voluminous silky hair and chiselled features, but she could still see her Jane underneath it all. From the way she rubbed her hands together anxiously to her lopsided posture when she stood, everything about her was still familiar and comforting. Maura sighed again, realising she was panicking over nothing. Jane was clearly still herself, and she hadn't intentionally done anything to hurt her.

Maura closed her eyes for a moment and revelled in the feel of her own thoughts, her own feelings, and her own memories. Her clarity of mind was returning gradually, and she accepted that she had misread the experience as an attack, when in fact she had instead just undergone the vampire equivalent of lifesaving surgery. Maura felt the tension leeching out of her body as she slowly came to terms with the whole experience, at a pace only a vampire could achieve, and comprehended that there was no reason to be afraid of Jane.

Her fears assuaged, Maura finally smiled genuinely at the realisation that they were alive, together and okay. She opened her eyes, looking at Jane, who was still watching her anxiously, trying to figure out how to help. She had always tried to help, no matter what Maura had done, no matter what the obstacle was, no matter what anyone might think. She had stood by Maura despite her nature, despite her history, despite her misunderstandings, despite her mistakes, and despite her inability to ever fully understand Jane's friendship. Maura abruptly realised that Jane thought she was angry at her for saving her life, when the truth was that Maura owed her everything.

Without another word, she ran over to Jane and pulled her into a rib cracking hug, causing Jane to squeak in surprise before returning it gratefully. Maura basked in the sensation of comfort that hugging Jane provided, having been deprived of any hugs that felt right since her transformation. Hugging humans had just felt wrong, since they were too hot, too soft and too breakable. This hug felt like coming home.

After a few long moments, Maura pulled away and smiled at Jane. "I'm sorry. Thank you, Jane. I think I understand, and I realise now I owe you my life. And my sanity. I'm sorry I got confused and panicked."

Jane grinned happily, drawing Maura back in and speaking into her hair. "I think you're allowed a bit of a freak out. It's seriously the least I could do, after all you went through. You've done so much for everyone. You know, Frankie is only alive because of you. I owe you more than I could ever repay."

Maura suddenly realised she had no idea what had happened to him. "Is he somewhere safe? Did you get him out of the power station before we came here?"

Jane nodded calmly, encouraging Maura to stop worrying. "He's fine. I dropped him at a gas station, he should have called for help. He is probably home by now, or helping out at BPD. I'm not exactly sure, I haven't had any way to contact anyone to find out what's going on."

Maura felt guilty for keeping Jane away from her family, before she realised it may not have only been due to Jane's preoccupation with treating Maura. She also realised contritely that she had been so preoccupied with her own trauma that she hadn't checked in on Jane's situation or well-being. "So, you're a vampire now. How is that going so far?"

Jane snorted at the change of topic. "Well, I got to punch a bear. I think that's been the highlight."

Maura pulled away with a disbelieving look, which made Jane laugh. "I'm serious! I had to try and find something for you to eat, and it turns out I don't have any vampire instincts at all. Seriously, it's embarrassing. It took me ages to find anything, but I eventually found this big bear. I had no idea what to do, so I punched it in the face, and it passed out."

Maura chucked, still not quite sure if that was the whole story. "I wish I'd seen that! Thank you for doing that for me."

Jane smiled at the sound of Maura laughing, glad to see her slowly returning to normal. "So, are you okay? Any pain, any fuzzy memories, any missing languages?"

Maura shook her head slowly, taking a moment to try and match her memories of learning things to the information stored in her head. "I'm not in any pain, and my injuries seem to have healed without scarring. Well, except for my throat, which is still a little scratchy, but it isn't painful."

Jane looked a little sad at the reminder. "Yeah, I couldn't really do anything about the venom scars. It seems to be the only thing that can really leave a mark on us. I really need you to promise me that you won't try anything like that again, okay? I mean the overworking your powers, the drinking blood full of venom, the picking a fight with a scary vampire in a cloak, all of it."

Jane sobered at the reminder of how close she had come to losing her best friend. "You really scared me, you know. I think you scared yourself pretty well there too."

Maura nodded seriously, her humour dissipating as well. "It was fine when it was happening, I didn't have enough awareness to realise how terrifying it all was. But now, I can remember what it felt like to lose my intelligence, and my sense of self. I think I'd rather take on the Volturi than go through anything like that again."

Betty chose that moment to reappear in front of them, startling the pair apart. "Well, that is a very interesting way to put it. Hi, I'm Betty, nice to meet you!"

Maura flinched away from the newcomer before snarling angrily, dragging Jane with her as she backed away. She may have decided to trust Jane, but a complete stranger was a different story. She felt angry at the intrusion, and defensive in preparation of the world throwing another horrifying experience at her before she was done recovering from the last. Honestly, she was completely done just taking what came without a fight, and she wasn't afraid to show this other vampire exactly how she felt.

Betty seemed to realise her mistake, dropping the bag she was carrying and raising her hands in surrender. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. How are you, Maura?"

Maura thought she could hear genuine concern under the bubbly voice, but she still answered aggressively. "Why do you care? What do you want from us?"

Betty sighed, her eyes flicking across to note Jane's defensive stance mirroring Maura's. "Okay, I can see we need to talk this out. Are either of you thirsty? I imagine the past few days must have left you both a little drained."

She carefully crouched down, opening her bag and showing the pair the contents. They noted at least six blood bags inside, still stamped with the blood bank identification labels.

Maura's lip curled in distaste as soon as she realised Betty was offering her human blood. "No. I'll pass, thanks."

However, instead of listening to Maura's reply, Betty reached into the bag, withdrawing one of the plastic containers and tossing it towards Maura. She caught it easily, immediately noticing that Betty had taken the cap off and blood was starting to leak out of the tube.

Maura abruptly felt her instincts spring to life, trying to force all conscious thought out of her head in a blind rush to get her to drink. It was a familiar feeling, one she had felt and succumbed to multiple times since becoming a vampire. However, this time was different. She recognised the sensation from her memory of being a mindless shell, and armed with her new deeper understanding of her own mind found it absurdly easy to brush aside her animalistic impulses. She ruthlessly suppressed her inner vampire, pushing it back into the oldest part of her mind and imprisoning it behind a layer of ironclad control.

Maura did little more than blink in the time it took to gain complete mastery over her vampiric urges, and instead of drinking from the open container she held, she offered the bag to Jane. When Jane shook her head, smiling proudly at her friend's blatant display of control, Maura tossed the bag on the ground at Betty's feet in disdain. She crossed her arms defiantly, knowing from the surprised look on Betty's face that she had just passed some kind of test. "As I said, we'll pass."

Betty picked up the bag, her strained expression giving away the slight struggle with temptation she endured in the time it took to get the lid back on. She dropped the blood bag into her satchel and closed it carefully, her face a mixture of confusion and wonder as she took in the sight of the two women facing her with a strong united front.

Betty straightened and clasped her hands primly in front of her, a slight smirk on her face as she addressed Jane and Maura. "Well, I guess that's that. I think I owe you a few explanations. Unfortunately, we'll have to do this on the run. Follow me please, and keep up."

Before Jane and Maura could argue, Betty turned and sprinted away from them, disappearing into the trees without a trace. The pair looked at each other doubtfully, before they nodded in resignation and followed Betty.