Greetings all!
Welcome to the final chapter of Fire in the Blood!
Thanks for reading! I hope you've enjoyed the journey, and I really thank those folks who have hung around several years to read the conclusion.
Please send some love JaneyGWF's way, she has a lovely story to read that you can go check out. She has tirelessly edited this whole story, and has been gently prodding me along to get this out to you as soon as possible. Which is now.
Enjoy!
Maura sat in grass for the first time in many months. She breathed deeply, appreciating the feel and smell of fresh air rather than recycled institutional air. The flames reflecting around the sunlit field made her skin glitter in a slightly red tint, drawing more than a few awed glances from the group of humans gathered around the airfield.
Susie Chang was currently bustling everyone along, chastising anyone who stopped to gape at either Maura or the towering inferno that currently occupied most of the runway and a lot of the nearby forest. The flames had spread several miles over the past eight months in most directions, and were still spreading as they worked. Maura couldn't even see the hangar or any trace of the plane that had originated the explosion, they had all been consumed.
Maura closed her eyes, just allowing her senses to take in everything. She could feel the heat, smell the ashes and soot, as well as the scents of the human scientists, journalists and emergency services gathered around. She could also hear the sounds of vampires shifting through the trees, hidden from the humans but never from her. She could hear everything, either with her own ears or with her mental awareness.
Once she became accustomed to the sensations around her, Maura turned her attention inwards. Gathering her thoughts, she reached out with her mind and attempted to make contact with the only mind she hadn't heard in months.
"Jane, I don't know if you can hear me. I wanted to try and explain what's been happening, what we're attempting, before we start. It might not matter, but I at least want to try. Betty thinks I'm wasting my time, but she and the coven also can't guarantee it won't work.
"So, the last time I saw you was during the battle with the Volturi. You bravely ran into the clutches of Catalina in an attempt to save my mother from her own mind. Well, the first thing you should know is that you succeeded. She has completely recovered, and has gone back to Boston. She is no longer plagued by visions whenever vampires are mentioned, which is very fortunate given recent events. You saved her Jane. She is so much happier than she has ever been, her relationships with Cailin and myself have improved immeasurably, and she has been able to really get on with her life. She is so grateful to you. She has made great strides increasing the reach of her clinics, and there is a new one opening soon that I'm certain will have your name on it.
"My other mother Constance is also doing well. She has been working with the Cullens to get the hybrids good homes, as the Cullens couldn't keep all of them. They have settled in nicely for the most part, and the Cullens are keeping in close contact with them to make sure they are okay. Most are with human families, but three are being raised by vampires that came forward to help. Rosalie couldn't bear to let them all leave, and she has a new family of five that she and Emmett are raising. Renesmee, Edward and Bella's daughter, has become the role model for an entire new race, and all of the Cullens are heavily occupied keeping it all under control.
"Esme has needed the distraction, as the loss of Carlisle hit her hard. It hit all of them hard. I'm not sure if you were aware enough of the events of the battle, but Carlisle was killed, as were Aro and the rest of the Volturi. We managed to save a few, those who hadn't been irrevocably bonded to Aro, but the majority of them burned when the plane exploded. I have often thought that I should regret the loss of life, but I honestly think the world is better without them. Some people are just unable to change, they will always be toxic, and I believe the Volturi fell into that category. I suspect you feel the same.
"Anyway, I was telling you about Esme. Her children have been with her at all times, I think they are worried she might try and join Carlisle, and since she has a history their fears are somewhat justified. However, I think the family has pulled together as well as can be expected. They are completely unknown to the world at large, and after the deaths of both the Volturi and the Romanians there are few in the vampire world who know them either.
"Betty and the coven have been very busy, thanks to me. I outed vampires rather abruptly, and they immediately went into damage control mode. There has obviously always been a risk of exposure, despite the many safeguards in place, but they never truly believed that it might happen. They relied too much on the safety that the predictive aspect of the network provided, and as I came out to the world when the network was still reforming, nobody got a heads up. Nobody could predict what the world would do. While that wasn't exactly why I decided to come forward when I did, I admit that I probably took a small bit of satisfaction in surprising them.
"The broadcast of my confession went out to the local news area, and the coven managed to stop it going national. However, once I had been cuffed and put into the sheriff's car, I contacted them via the newly repaired unconscious network and convinced them that it was time to tell the world. We had been hidden for so long that vampires had become almost superstitiously frightened of humans finding out, and while there are some valid concerns surrounding exposure, being hidden is also a crutch preventing any forward progress. It is also a shield that protects murderers, torturers and serial abusers, and that aspect was enough for me to take a stand. After a loud and spirited debate via the network, enough of the coven finally agreed with me and started to talk next steps.
"By the time I reached the local police station, we had agreed upon a plan. The coven would ensure that all vampires in the network were informed of the imminent revelation of our existence. They would make it clear that the murder of any human would no longer be covered up by the authorities, the coven, or the Volturi. This meant no more cover ups, no more mysterious disappearances, and no more memory modification, which I was appalled to discover was common practice among governments and law enforcement agencies by the coven to protect vampires across the world.
"Any consequences of performing illegal acts would from now on be borne by individuals, and the coven agreed that they would be approaching governments around the world with a proposal to grant citizenship to vampires living in their countries with the understanding that vampires would be beholden to human laws, the same as any other citizen.
"We knew that this would create an absolute nightmare of legalities, opinions and conflict, but it was the best way forward we could see. The fact that I had turned myself in and would allow myself to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law would be used as an example to both races. Humans would need to show that they could be trusted to enact the law fairly, and vampires needed to show that they could obey the laws of humanity now that they were no longer biologically hardwired to kill at the smell of blood.
"Obviously, there was going to be a rough transition period. The revelation of vampires would upend the human world-view, upsetting religious, military, economic and most other minds in at least some way. I was never going to allow the network to be abused in order to force people to accept anything, and my mental powers ensured nobody in the coven had the strength to successfully fight that assertion, which meant the transition would need to be handled with good communication and a lot of demonstrations of compliance from vampires, starting with me as an example and possibly a scapegoat. However, as much as I would not allow mind control to influence the course of this new situation, I was willing to use the network to make the change as bloodless as possible.
"Vampires around the world had already noticed the change in their instincts imparted by the new network subliminal information. A surprising number were happy about the change, and wanted nothing more than to stop killing and re-join the human race. Others were more like Catalina, and took perverse pleasure in their murdering ways. Instead of allowing them free reign, the coven used their considerable resources to hunt these vampires down, imprisoning them in various safe houses that had already been constructed around the world by the coven for situations like this. They would be given the opportunity to reform, but the likelihood was that they would need to be turned over to the authorities or executed. The peace we were hoping to build with the humans was too fragile to allow violent and unrestrained vampires to roam free, but we hoped that this would be a once off occurrence that would pave the way for a long lasting sustainable new world.
"I honestly struggled with the morality of using the network to capture these individuals, as my new abilities could be almost godlike in my capacity to dictate law and justice. However, I also realised that we would need to track down people who broke the law no matter what, and my new methods simply increased the efficiency of their capture and eliminated the risk of injury during the apprehension process. If we had somehow gained these abilities while still human, I believe we still would have decided that getting criminals off the streets was worth the potential backlash. Of course, if this had happened while we were still human I would have had you to talk this all through, and to keep me balanced and on the correct path, but I hoped that the coven would serve that purpose in your absence.
"The coven allowed my interview to air to the world at large around an hour after I reached the local station. The police watching me had obviously already either seen it when it first aired or heard about it, so they were already rather frightened of me, but when the world's media started panicking they followed suit. It didn't take long before I had a whole station worth of guns pointed at me, held by very shaky hands, while nobody was watching the other occupants of the station.
"Fortunately the sheriff had adjusted to the new situation quickly, and managed to talk down her officers without bloodshed. As she did, I managed to interject that there was a minor prison break in progress, and the officers finally noticed that one of their prisoners had snuck away with the keys to the cells. The sheriff ordered the other officers away to deal with the situation, leaving us alone to talk. After a few minutes of discussion, I heard the voices in the cells pick up, and realised there was about to be violence. I quickly excused myself, snapping the handcuffs and speeding into the next wing of the building. I managed to step in front of a bullet that had been fired at one of the officers, the prisoners apparently getting a gun somehow, and immediately disarmed everyone in the room, including the officers, to prevent any more shots. I shuffled the prisoners back into their cells, locking the doors, and sped back to the sheriff, depositing all the retrieved weapons and getting down on my knees with my hands behind my head.
"After she finished screaming at her officers for allowing the situation to occur and escalate, she eventually thanked me for intervening, and made sure to include my actions in her report when the FBI came to remove me from her custody. She never did cuff me again, realising that it was both ineffective and unnecessary.
"I was transferred back to Massachusetts for trial and possible eventual incarceration or other punishment, partially because my crimes were committed in that state and also because nobody really knew how to manage a vampire prisoner and the state of New York was happy to pass the buck. I had a surprisingly calm and professional transfer, mostly because everyone was too scared to be in the same room with me unless they had no choice.
"Once I was brought back to Boston, I was initially taken to an underground bunker and sealed behind a reinforced door, with only an ancient intercom for communication. I was left in isolation for almost a week, with no food or contact with anyone other than the guards. Of course I was in constant contact with the coven, but the humans didn't realise that at the time. By the end of the week I was extremely thirsty, but to my great joy I still didn't feel that overwhelming desire to kill that had plagued my early days as a vampire. It was a lonely and uncertain time, but I had plenty of hope that the situation would be resolved.
"As much as I despised the loneliness and missed you terribly, I did relish the opportunity to finally think through everything that had happened to me with no immediate threat or rush. I could take my time processing who I was, who I wanted to be, and who I am. There were a lot of uncomfortable realisations along the way, as I am obviously far from perfect and blame myself for a lot as you know. However, I started to find more peace within myself, and I believe I am on a good path towards being someone I can be comfortable with.
"I am more settled about everything that has happened since becoming a vampire. I still greatly regret Angela's death, of course. That will be a source of great anguish for my entire existence. I also regret the deaths of the vampires I have killed or caused to be killed, even though they all meant us and others great harm. However, I have come to terms with the fact that I did the best I could with the information and circumstances that I had at the time, and have been unable to think of anything I could have realistically done to avoid any of the outcomes that eventuated.
"All of the events have shaped where we ended up, and I believe there is great potential for the world to come through this time better than it started. Vampires now have the ability to resist their murderous urges, which allows them to contribute in meaningful ways instead of hiding. Humans can gain a better understanding of how the world really works, and find new ways to connect and communicate with each other. It took a lot of thinking, but I believe I have started to come to terms with everything.
"I also had the time to stretch my abilities in an attempt to map their limits. So far, I have not really discovered any. I am capable of reaching any mind on the planet that is connected to the network, which is essentially everyone that does not suffer from a mental illness, or some other factor akin to Bella's shield. I can access the stored memory of people who used to be connected to the network, allowing me to talk with them as if they were in the room with me or merge with them and experience their memories. I have had several long and emotional conversations with Angela, the first person I found as soon as I realised I could. She somehow bears me no ill will, which shouldn't surprise me given the amazing woman she was, but it will still be a very long time before I can accept her forgiveness. She is very anxious to have you back as well, as you can imagine Jane.
"I am also able to affect any mind within the network, either manipulating their emotions, erasing memories, or outright controlling their actions. I immediately ceased using this ability as soon as I realised what I was capable of, as this form of abuse of power goes beyond anything I believe should be possible or permissible. I very much despise the fact that I have this ability, and am determined that it will only be used in the most dire emergency.
"I am not as scared of myself as I was, although I admit to scaring myself a few times with new discovered uses of my mental powers. The sheer scope of these abilities to strip free will from others is staggering, and I spent a lot of time thinking about ways to limit that power in case I ever lose sight of my morality. I have had many conversations with specialists around the world in order to create contingency plans in case someone, vampire, human or otherwise, finds a way to subvert the intended function of the network for their own gain. There are many minds, including a few vampires and werewolves, finding ways to prevent mental control, to stop vampires physically, and other safeguards that I am trying my best to avoid discovering.
"I suppose that is my roundabout way of saying that although I spent a long time alone, it was well spent. While I waited in my isolation, vampires had come forward to their governments all across the world. Most had been poorly received, and I was forced to intervene with some brief telepathic suggestions and visual illusions before violence broke out to help the vampires escape unharmed, and without harming humans. Relations were still extraordinarily rocky, but the lines of communication had been opened. Most countries had issued some sort of executive order that vampires were not to be harmed or approached while they worked out what to do in the long term.
"The coven was at the forefront of communications, contacting all the most powerful leaders in the world and arranging an emergency summit. By the end of the first week after the vampire revelation, a shaky truce between humans and vampires had been negotiated, mostly out of fear that vampires would start killing indiscriminately if a truce was not brokered. The next stage of negotiations would be started once human scientists had a chance to understand the new species that had just appeared in their midst and present their findings. I helped by advising whoever I could from my bunker, and waited for progress to be made on my case.
"In the end, the support of a few of our friends and my arresting sheriff was enough to convince the judicial system that I could be held as any other prisoner would be with no issues. It took less than that isolated week for the humans to realise that they couldn't hold me unless I wanted to be held, which meant that every officer I encountered was terrified of me. I admit that it still hurt, seeing fear on faces of people that used to be colleagues, but I did my best to ignore it and push through. I was put into solitary confinement at Framingham, mostly for the safety of the other prisoners, not that they were in any danger from me.
"Obviously I couldn't have visitors to begin with. My first visitor was my attorney, who turned out to be Paul Wescourt. He had mostly recovered from his ordeal and falling off the bridge, but he is still in a wheelchair as the damage to his spine was irreparable. Despite still being in recovery and physical therapy, he had pushed to be assigned as my advocate after my mother went to him, explaining the part I had played in his rescue and the circumstances of my current imprisonment. The first thing he did was arrange for a supply of animal blood to be provided for me, for which I was extremely grateful. He seemed to relax after my eyes faded from a starved black to a red tinged orange, which led to a closely documented explanation about the implications of vampires with red eyes.
"The following weeks and months were filled with legal meetings, as I explained everything that had happened to me since discovering the existence of vampires. I left out no details, as I feel that honesty is the only way forward for vampires and humans. He explained that my best option would be to ask for a plea bargain, since I did technically murder a human, but I maintained that I needed to set the right precedent for vampire justice at the hands of humans and take full responsibility.
"The trial was fast tracked as much as possible, as both sides of the discussion wanted my situation resolved and precedents set. Although the world knew about vampires, the distrust and fear meant that there were very few publicly visible examples. My trial provided the content for the world, with my face prominent in every nightly news broadcast in multiple countries for weeks on end. The trial began four months after I was arrested.
"As there was no dispute over the evidence or the admission of guilt, those parts of the trial went very smoothly. What was more crucial, and of greatest importance to the future of vampire-human relations, was the question of my ability to prevent my actions while experiencing the instinct driven blood lust of a newborn in the presence of live human blood. Debate raged in the media, legal arguments were made on both sides, precedents from human law were raised, rejected and debated. Experts on psychology were brought in supporting both points of view. I was doing my best to stay out of the thoughts of everyone involved, as I wanted no temptation to intervene either verbally or telepathically.
"In the end, Paul brought in a representative of the coven to testify from the perspective of the vampires. The court was in as much furore as the first day of the trial, with the media swarming for blocks around the court house. The representative was chosen carefully, a relatively new vampire but one who had managed to subsist on an animal diet and that had yellow eyes.
"His testimony supported my statements, and the agreeing statements that my circumstances could not have been avoided. The Volturi were strongly blamed for the entire circumstance, with the exception of my initial turning which was attributed to the rogue vampires responsible for the creation of the hybrid baby that had initially bitten me.
"The verdict was going to be controversial no matter the outcome. The jury deliberated for almost two weeks, and the debate raged in the wider world just as fiercely. Some wanted me to burn like a witch as an abomination against nature. Some saw me as the next step in evolution. Some saw me as a woman in dire circumstances beyond her control. Some saw me as a criminal who should be dealt with the same as any other human murderer.
"Almost eight months after my confession in front of a camera, the verdict was delivered. I was not found guilty of murder. I was found guilty of vigilantism, with a sentence of six months in captivity, which was already served. I would also be required to act as a liaison between vampires and humans in the US for no less than three years. The coven had already positioned me as the visible face of vampires in the US, as they had with other 'safe' looking vampires in other countries, so this condition was not surprising. I accepted the verdicts with some surprise, as I was honestly expecting a more harsh response to the murder confession, but the jury had been convinced that it was beyond my control. I admit that their verdict helped to reinforce what everyone else had been telling me, that there was nothing I could do the avoid Angela's death once the circumstances had unfolded the way they did, but honestly I don't think I'll ever truly forgive myself.
"With the trial finished, I was free to act as a free woman, as long as I fulfilled my liaison duties as well. This meant I could openly participate in the pursuit I had been setting up for months: finding a way to retrieve you from the inferno at the airfield.
"I had contacted Susie telepathically the first night I was in custody and explained everything. After giving her a few days to absorb the information, I contacted her to ask for her help with your situation. She had already started to investigate, and within a week had acquired some equipment and travelled to the site with the assistance of Hope, Cailin, and some of the lab staff.
"They quickly discovered that the fire was still burning, and was in fact spreading, but at a rate far too slow to be natural. The flames were also not as hot as the visual clues should suggest, also indicating an unnatural fire.
"Over the following weeks of observation, along with a few test burns of various items and substances, they concluded that the fire was spreading just fast enough to maintain the level of energy being expended, but no faster. It was only dangerous to objects and people in its path, and was unlikely to spread with any speed unless something changed. However, the rate that it was spreading would put several local properties in danger within the next year, and would endanger the nearest town in less than two years.
"They had performed all possible scans and tests on the fire to try and find you, or some way to contact you, but had been entirely unsuccessful. The flames showed no sign of intelligence or emotion, acting as normal flames in most ways.
"However, thanks to Susie, Frankie and Tommy, the whole world knows exactly what this fire means. They know what you mean. You are an invisible hero to the whole world. You are credited with the destruction of the Volturi and the prevention of Aro's takeover. You are a vampire that has never tasted human blood other than from blood bags, and has never killed. No other such vampire exists that is willing to be known to the public, and the coven wants you back badly to show as an example of how vampires could one day be seen. The humans want you back to understand how you are different from the rest of us, and to understand if you live up to the hype. I admit to contributing rather strongly to the image the world has of you, as I can't help but be honest whenever I am asked about you. You are now and have always been my hero, Jane.
"So, that brings us to today. We have lots of theories, but most of them I will not allow to be tested as they endanger too many people. I will only allow myself to undertake our most promising action, and I will bear the consequences alone. So, now you are up to date, and it is time to find you. I hope this works, Jane. It has to work. But if it doesn't, I love you and I miss you."
Maura stood from her place in the grass, allowing her eyes to close and her senses to flow over the nearby surroundings once more. She felt that the science team was ready for her, and Susie was holding them back out of respect. The media was churning around in agitation, waiting for something to happen. The military unit was highly alert, watching all the other groups with caution and distrust. The various onlookers, including Paul, Frankie, Tommy, Hope, Constance, Cailin and some of the Cullens, were patiently waiting, happy to allow her this moment of reflection.
She cast her mind over the nearby forest, revelling in the calm of nature. Small creatures scurried about, larger ones stomped and crashed through the undergrowth, trees stretched towards the light and flexed under their own weight, insects swarmed and consumed and were consumed. It was all so normal, and calming, and right.
Opening her eyes, Maura strode with purpose towards Susie, the crowds taking note and becoming more excited. She nodded to Susie, who stepped forward with a vest containing all manner of equipment and cables.
Turning away from the onlookers, the two shared a quiet moment as Susie helped attach the equipment. "Are you really sure about this Maura? I mean really? Just because we haven't thought of a different solution doesn't mean it's not out there. We could take more time, bring in more people. Maybe the coven has another idea."
Maura grabbed the shaking hands of the fussing woman, understanding her fears but knowing there was no other way. "Stop worrying Susie. We've been over this. For months. We've tried everything we could think of that had even a tiny chance of working. You knew this moment was coming, and I need you to be brave for me, ok? Like you were in the morgue that day. Like you have been every time I contacted you. You've always trusted me, for some incomprehensible reason, so don't stop now. I have this, I promise."
Maura paused for a moment, not wanting to undersell the danger of what she was about to do to either of them. "But if it does go wrong, remember that I'll still be around. Everyone is still around, in the network, in some capacity. If I feel like I'm about to…go, I'll push my mind into the network. I'll contact you through people like Edward and Alice. No matter what happens, this isn't the end, ok?"
Nodding sharply, Susie released her grip on Maura's hands, giving her a quick hug before retreating to the monitors and other technicians. Maura waited for her to check the readings, receiving a nod of confirmation before turning towards the inferno.
As she walked forward, the crowd fell into a hushed anticipation, the cameras whirring frantically as Maura approached the edge of the flames. The grass cracked beneath her feet, dried and deadened by the exposure to months of the intense heat. Her keen senses were quickly drowned out, occupied only with the brightness, the continuous roar and the heat.
She paused at the edge of the fire, closing her eyes for a moment as she sent out one last mental plea, a hope that she would be heard.
Then she opened her eyes, held her hands away from her sides, and stepped forward.
The heat immediately engulfed her, and she felt her skin begin to burn. She was completely blinded by the white-hot flames as they licked her skin, and she could feel the equipment melt and fall off her body. She continued to walk forward, having no sense of direction but hoping that she was still heading in the direction of the centre of the inferno.
After a few steps, she reached out a hand, and realised the flames were eating past her skin now. Her vision went dark as her eyes stopped working, and she felt the heat driving quickly through her body. With a mental anguished sigh, she prepared to push her mind into the network, and started to let go of that last hope of seeing Jane again.
Abruptly, she felt an unnatural calm surround her, and the ferocious heat faded. A void with no light, no heat, no sound, surrounded Maura. Instinctively she reached out into it. She wasn't sure exactly what she was reaching with, as she was sure she had felt her body leave her consciousness, but she was sure she could somehow feel something. There was some kind of figure at the edge of her awareness, a shape or a presence within the inferno that was now a comforting blackness.
Bracing for whatever happened next, Maura yelled into the void. "Jane!"
The form reacted immediately, flinching away from Maura and into the void. Maura didn't feel any sense of recognition from the figure, but she moved whatever body or thought she was now composed of closer.
She could still feel the figure dancing away, but now there were other shapes coming into her awareness. She brushed against one, and found herself caught up in a memory of a family trip to a baseball game. Another contact threw her into a memory of pain, hands clasped over a bleeding bullet wound. Flinching back from that memory found herself being thrown from side to side in a racing car, exhilaration flooding her senses.
Pulling back, Maura had a brief moment to realise that these memory forms were being thrown towards her, like barriers in front of a pursuer, before she was buffeted by several at once. A flash of Red Sox red gave way to a tableau of Boston PD blue, pushed aside by a pink bed, tumbled aside by the yellow jaundiced face of a man about to die of cancer but taking one last try for revenge.
Maura steeled herself and resolutely pushed forward, charging through the memories and hoping she wasn't damaging anything. The vision of Hoyt was left behind, along with practice at the gun range, drinking a cold beer after a case, laughing in the squad room, snuggling on the couch watching tv, arguing over an arranged date, and scratching behind the ear of a beloved pet. Each vision was getting more intense, accompanied by a burst of emotion as well as the visual elements. She could feel the fear, the joy, the contentment, the anxiety, and they all started to feel familiar. They started to feel like Jane.
Mentally bracing, Maura pushed forward towards the densest cluster of memories she could feel. She was buffeted as she reached through, feeling every possible impression of her friend's life as she made slow, inching progress. As she got closer to something that felt important and precious, she felt the sharpest emotions yet; fear as striking as a hot poker, pain that crippled her whole self, love and joy that buoyed her being and propelled her forward, pulling her towards where she needed to be. With a final push, Maura's consciousness toppled through a wall that felt like the heaviest emotions and brightest sights a human or vampire could experience.
Finally, Maura broke through the wall of memories and saw the figure, indistinct and huddled away from her. She gently reached out, creating a smooth and calm point of contact.
Maura could feel the uncertainty that was the figure's entire existence at the moment. It was so spread out, it had lost any sense of self, and had mistaken the scattered parts of Jane for foreign entities.
Still ever so gently, Maura started to pull the fragments together, reintroducing them to the figure one at a time, in as close to a sensible order as she could manage. The figure seemed frightened at first, but soon started to anticipate the next memory, even after the painful ones.
Maura had no idea how much time was passing in the real world as she carefully pulled the figure back together, so similarly to how Jane had pieced her together once before. The comparison gave her slight pause, as she remembered how traumatic that experience had been, but she continued on, remembering that she had been grateful for the chance to continue living after she had managed to process the events.
After an indeterminate amount of time, the being seemed to calm, and moved closer to Maura, seeming to be past the initial hesitance. The shape in front of her darkened as it started to become more solid. The void surrounding them started to lighten, and Maura could perceive definition in the shape before her. There was a body, clearly humanoid and vampiric but with no distinctive features.
Maura started to add her memories of physical appearance down the bond, remembering everything she had available about what Jane looked like. She saw a nose push out of the face, hair start to sprout from the head, the form lengthening as it attained the correct height, the limbs stretch as they took on Jane's lanky proportions.
Abruptly Maura started to feel her own body again. It was rippling with odd sensations, and she couldn't see or hear anything, but she could feel her limbs regaining form, her features returning, and her body starting to work again. Her eyes reformed and reopened, seeing a maelstrom of energy surrounding her and the figure in front of her. Looking down, she saw they were holding hands, and standing face to face as the fire and light swirled towards them and into them. Maura watched in amazement as the skin on her hands reformed, glittering slightly in the bright flickering that was starting to die down. Her arms were soon covered as clothes formed over them, something similar to her black vigilante wear. The form in front of her was wearing similar clothes, and seemed to be nearly complete as the last pieces of fabric formed and the light started to fade.
Finally, the fire went out completely, the wind died down, and Maura looked up at the face in front of her. She saw brown eyes open and look at her curiously, while the mouth below them curved up into an uncertain smile.
Maura smiled cautiously but hopefully. "Jane? Can you understand me?"
Jane glanced down at her hands, flexing them gently, before looking back and answering, her voice as gravelly as ever. "Maura?"
Maura almost collapsed with relief, and couldn't resist lunging forward and pulling Jane into a crushing hug. "There you are! Finally, there you are! Oh, thank you! I missed you so much!"
Maura felt Jane's arms shakily grip her back, before tightening in her familiar hug. "Missed me? How long was I…?"
Maura pulled back with a laugh, keeping hold of Jane's arms as if she might disappear at any moment. "What's the last thing you remember?"
Jane opened her mouth to answer, before shutting it again and looking puzzled. "I think I remember…we were attacking the Volturi. I got Hope out of the plane, and then…it gets a bit fuzzy. I think I remember…maybe fire? Or flying? Or…trying to hold myself close…I think I was trying to make sure something didn't get away, I didn't want people to get hurt?"
Maura nodded as the words spilled out tinged with uncertainty, jumping in with details as gently as possible. "You saved all of us. Something happened with Catalina, and the whole plane exploded with you inside. My best guess is that she was trying to drain your energy, and your power was keeping the energy flow balanced by pulling against her, but when Aro lost control the energy balance was disrupted, creating a huge explosion. Somehow, you managed to shape the blast, so that all the Volturi we were targeting were killed, but none of our allies were hurt. You were gone, but the fire where the plane had been behaved unnaturally. I quickly realised that you had somehow used your powers to manipulate energy, and converted your own body into energy, possibly to absorb as much of the excess energy as you could. I hypothesised that the new form was so unfamiliar to you that you might not remember yourself, or how to change back."
Jane was looking troubled, so Maura continued. "I theorised that you might be able to use me as a sort of template if I walked inside the boundary of your inferno, and hoped that you would recognise me enough to ensure I wasn't immediately killed by the heat. It turns out, I was correct. I had explained the plan telepathically to you a few times before I tried it, just in case you could hear me."
At the mention of telepathy, Jane frowned in vague recognition. "I think I might have, sort of. What you're saying sounds familiar, like I had a dream about it or something like that."
Jane glanced around the area they were standing in, taking in the acres of scorched land around them still shrouded in heavy smoke, and her expression suddenly turned furious. "Wait, you just walked into a giant inferno on the vague hope that I might somehow recognise you and not burn you to ash?"
Maura shrugged and lifted her hands in front of her placatingly. "I considered it a leap of faith. I was fairly confident in my hypothesis, but we had tried every other course of action open to us. I stand by my decision."
Jane sputtered for a moment, before grabbing Maura into another hug. "Never again, you hear me? I don't care if I somehow turn myself into a rock, my life is not worth you dying, understand? You don't need me, you'll be fine by yourself. You've been fine since this happened, right?"
Maura smiled into Jane's neck, relishing being able to hug her friend again. "I was okay, you're right. I didn't do this because I couldn't survive without you. I did this because my life, everyone's life, is better with you in it, and you didn't deserve to be left here by yourself if there was anything I could do to help. And I will absolutely do it again, no matter what you say, so how about you try not to scare me like this ever again, agreed?"
Jane pulled away with a spreading grin, unable to stay mad at Maura. "Agreed."
Maura smiled wider, the fact that Jane was actually in front of her in one piece starting to sink in. "You got your normal eye colour back."
Jane tilted her head slightly, looking at Maura more closely. "Huh, so did you. Wait, are we not vampires anymore?"
Maura frowned, and closed her eyes, reaching out with her vampiric powers. She immediately felt everyone gathered at the airfield, and could read their minds just as easily as before. She found Edward, and communicated that they were ok before returning her attention to Jane.
Glancing at her still vampirically pale skin, she smiled wryly. "I think we're still vampires, you just gave us a little piece of our old selves back."
Jane frowned in concentration, looking at her hand with great focus. After a few moments, the skin shifted, with the colour matching Jane's original skin tone from before she was turned. "Um, I think I might be able to fix that, if you want. I think with a bit of help from that big brain of yours, I might be able to change you back."
Maura stared at the spot of skin for a few moments, feeling a scramble of emotions. But after several long seconds, she reached out and covered the warm and human feeling skin. "As much as that is a fascinating and exciting prospect, I don't think I want to go back."
Jane looked up in surprise, her expression shifting quickly to confusion. "But I thought you hated this. Being a vampire, losing your place in the world, the blood, the powers, all of it."
With a sad smile, Maura nodded. "I did. It was very difficult, right from the beginning. It has all changed me, and I don't think I would have chosen to go down this path if I had been asked back then. But it did happen. I did change. And the person I am now wouldn't be able to go back. I'm not the same woman I was, I want different things now, and I can help people more like this than I could have as a human. I'm not going to go so far as to say I'm happy with how my life has gone, but I'm content with the path forward from here. Does that make sense?"
Jane simply smiled, and pulled back her hand, the skin returning to the shimmering white hue of a vampire apparently with a thought. "It does. And I'm glad we're on the same page."
The pair took a moment to appreciate being back in each other's presence, with Jane stepping away slightly to stretch her limbs and make sure everything was working as she remembered. She froze and abruptly turned back to Maura. "So, I have a vague memory that there is about to be a massive media circus, because my brothers can't keep their mouths shut. Is that about right?"
With a laugh, Maura grabbed Jane's hand and pulled her towards the waiting crowd. "It's only partially their fault. You saved the world, Jane, and I couldn't help but make sure everyone knew it."
Jane pulled back on Maura's hand, looking troubled. "I didn't, though. I just wanted to protect you, and our friends, and stop Aro. It was the same that I always do, we just stop the bad guys."
With a nod, Maura stepped close to Jane, putting a comforting arm around her side. "And you did stop him. And now everyone will want to say thank you."
Jane rolled her eyes, as always hating any attention her job had inflicted on her. "It was a group effort. C'mon, don't make me do this. Can't we just go home?"
Smiling widely, Maura turned them both towards the waiting crowd, seeing lots of cheering figures, smiles and hearing the welcoming calls. Jane's brothers stood out, breaking ranks from the crowd and starting to sprint over. "We can go home, Jane. Thanks to you, we can both go home."
Well, that's a wrap!
I hope you've enjoyed the journey, it's been fun! This has been a weird and wonderful adventure for me, and I really appreciate those of you who have sent me encouraging words.
Thanks everyone!