The characters do not belong to us.
Chapter 16
In the lodge, Maura and Sasha sat laughing and talking with several of Gina's friends. They were delightful and welcoming, fascinated by how Maura and Sasha met.
"Sasha!" Maura grabbed her sister's arm. "The little girl over there-I did her autopsy. Her father killed her. I've never-I don't ever know how they end up on my table. She was seven!" She pulled out of Sasha's grip and went to the girl.
"Hi," the girl said with a grin. "You like my dress?"
"Yes. It's pretty. What's your name, sweetie?"
"Amy."
"Hi, Amy. My name is Maura." She did not want to cry here. This was a happy place.
"Maur?" Sasha's voice was soft but Maura heard it as though she were right next to her, not a few feet away. "She seems happy. Carefree."
Maura nodded. "Yes. She does." She wrapped her arms around her sister's waist. "I never want to leave here."
Sasha melted into the embrace. "Me either. Nothing bad can touch us here."
"Maura Isles and Sasha Connor?" a female voice said from behind them.
Maura turned and found a young woman with brown hair standing a few feet away. "Yes. That's us. I'm Maura. Can we help you?"
The woman smiled. "I can see why they call you Dr. Isles. I can help you. I'm here to take you to the main house."
"Main house?" Sasha asked, her hand tightening around Maura's. "I don't understand."
"There are three levels here. This is for new arrivals-those that are waiting to hear if they will be here for a little while or-well-eternity. You are in the waiting time but it looks as though you will be here awhile. You will be downstairs in the main house and we'll fit you for your gowns. Wings come when you're sent to the upstairs, when you're here forever."
"Wow," Sasha breathed. "Well, we want to stay here as long as possible."
At the rehab center, Kate could not stop crying. It had been three days and her cousins were still in limbo between life and death. Kate no longer took an interest in any of her therapy. Abby was becoming increasingly worried.
"Why aren't you doing anything but staring at the wall and crying? That's not going to bring Maura and Sasha back..."
Kate shot Abby a glare. "They're not gone!"
Abby backed up with her hands in front of her as if in physical defense. "Cool it, Kate. This attitude isn't helping anything." Abby lowered her head to be closer to Kate's eye level. "You do want to progress and live a normal life, don't you? Or I can tell Gibbs you want to give up. It's your choice. And your life."
Kate sniffled a little. This tough act wasn't paying off. "I miss them, Abby."
Abby's face scrunched around like it did when she was trying not to cry. "I'm sorry," she muttered as she enfolded Kate in a hug.
Maura and Sasha stuck together as they followed the woman-Regina, she introduced herself as-led them through a field as far as the eye could see and to a lone castle atop a hill. It reminded Maura of the house on Downton Abbey.
"Okay, I am never leaving," Sasha said. "This is incredible. Wow."
Not only was the outside amazing but the inside made Maura nearly drop to the floor right in the doorway.
There were columns and rich colors of burgundy and navy and gold in the upholstery of the furniture and on the massive rugs that covered the most expensive appearing marble floor Sasha could imagine. The woodwork made the sets of Titanic look amateurish as they set the tone for each color to shine, surrounded by its intricate carving and detail. It seemed to go on forever, corridor after corridor. The windows let in beams of light that looked like solid golden shafts reaching to the floor from the heavens. Each room was more beautiful than the next and had a curious effect on the sisters. It was as if it wiped clean all attachments to any other place, including their lives on earth.
"This is amazing!" Maura said. Her voice was higher than normal, a sign she was about to burst from excitement. "I can't even-"
"I know. I never want to leave."
They wandered through the house and at every turn Maura had someone come up to her, thanking her for bringing closure to their deaths. It seemed as if everyone stopped to thank her. One woman thanked her for bringing her daughter's killer to justice.
"It was a team effort," she told the woman.
"Still, that man is behind bars because of you," the woman-Susan-replied. "And I get to spend eternity with my special little girl."
Maura wasn't sure how to reply. It was happy and sad all at once. "That's-"
"I know. Cancer took me."
They bid their goodbyes and hurried off. Maura stared after them.
"Okay, who don't you know here? Did you cut into everyone's bodies here?" Sasha remarked.
Maura swatted at her. "Insensitive. Have a little respect."
Sasha held up her hands, palms out. "Okay. Okay. Sorry. Being around people you've-helped-makes you cranky."
Maura stared at the stream of people moving past them. "It's just sad, that's all."
Sasha shook her head, confused. "I don't see how you could be sad here. I'm not at all. Even if I think about it, I find it impossible."
In Boston, things were very opposite. Hope and Elise kept constant vigil over the sisters. They lay in the same room, mirror images of lifelessness with only an army of machines keeping them barely alive.
In the rehab facility, Kate grew even more despondent and Abby worried that she would end up in the hospital herself for her refusal to eat or drink. Gibbs cradled her in his arms as she sobbed.
"You're endangering your progress if you don't sing," he told her.
"You can't expect me to sing," Kate retorted. A tear choked her. "Those CDs are all from HER."
Gibbs stroked her hair and whispered in her ear. "I know."
Kate began to sing in a barely perceptible tone. "Where are you? Where have you gone without me? I thought you cared about me. Where are you? Where's my heart..."
She stopped when the sobs took over.
Kate opened her eyes, expecting to see Gibbs' face. Instead, white puffy clouds greeted her. She looked around and realized she was on the ground, in snow. She sat up, expecting to feel sore or dizzy. None of that occurred. In fact, she felt like she did seven years ago. She looked around, not quite sure what to make of her surroundings. But a voice and footsteps somewhere close brought her from her survey.
"Ow. Dang it." The voice was close and familiar. "Hello? Is anyone here?"
Kate exhaled. "Jane! Right here!"
"Jane! What are you doing here?" Kate asked.
Jane brushed the snow off as she approached Kate. "It's me. But where are we?" She helped Kate up and the two stood there for a moment, taking in their surroundings.
"It would be a little hard to explain," Kate began.
"Try me," Jane remarked.
Jane sighed. "When I was in a coma for seven years I was-here. I lived on the bottom floor of that castle." Kate pointed through the trees. "This is also where I met Maura and Sasha. I suspect given their conditions that they are here now."
Jane stared at her with wide eyes. "So what does that make me? I'm not injured or sick."
Kate smirked. "Sleeping, detective." She grabbed Jane's arm. "Sleeping and dreaming," she giggled.
Jane vaguely remembered holding Kate's hand and falling asleep. On the third day of not eating or drinking, Kate had collapsed in Gibbs' arms so they had brought her to the hospital. The official diagnosis was exhaustion and dehydration with a beginning of malnutrition. It turned out that Kate had been neglecting her body longer than anyone knew because Jane and Gibbs thought it had only been one day. As she was settled into a bed on the fourth floor, she had been ashamed to ask Gibbs to stay with her after his annoyance at her foolishness. So Jane stayed instead. The next thing the detective knew, she was waking up in the woods. Covered in snow and brush, she had very quickly located Kate.
They tromped through the snow. Though Jane was in good physical shape, walking through snow in the shoes she wore proved hard on her ankles.
"Okay, really? We've been walking for hours."
Kate looked at her. "Maura was right. You do complain a lot. Relax. This is a peaceful place."
Jane glared at her. "Are you sure you're not Maura's clone, too?"
"Are you sure you're not President of the Complaining Club," Kate retorted. She folded her arms. "You want to see Maura and Sasha or you want to stand here and whine like a five year old?"
Jane rolled her eyes. "Let's go do what we came here to do."
"That's more like it," Kate said in a self-satisfied tone. She pointed out in the distance. "It's over here."
Jane squinted in the harsh light of sun reflecting off snow. She couldn't see a thing in the direction Kate was pointing, but she trusted her enough to follow into the void.
In a back room of the castle, Maura twirled in her new gown. The silkiest outfit she'd ever worn. "I feel like a child in a candy store," she said to her twin, her wore a matching gown.
The gown was gold and white and fell to her ankles. Her hair ran down her back in its usual curl.
"I feel like we're about to have tea with the queen of England," Sasha commented with a smile as she too admired the gown. "Come on, let's go mingle."
Normally Maura would've protested, but as she knew almost everyone here, she wasn't scared. They ventured out of the dressing room and into the main house.
"Sasha, Maura!" A woman who'd introduced herself as Emma came toward them. "You look fabulous. Come. It's time for tea."
"Wow, we really are having tea," Maura whispered, following Emma and her sister into a large dining room with a long white table cloth covered table that never seemed to end.
Sasha looked at the room in admiration. "We are! It's fabulous."
The sisters let Emma guide them to a table by the window. She set down two cups of tea that seemed to materialize out of thin air before them. Sasha studied the china because it reminded her of something she just couldn't remember. But it was a pleasant feeling, though not a clear memory of anything certain. She ran her finger along the silver dipped rim of the pure white cup.
"I'll be back with the rest," Emma promised.
They nodded and thanked her before disappearing into ponderings of their own.
"Maura, have you ever seen china like this?" Sasha asked. "I feel as if I have, but it came in a dream or something."
Maura shook her head. "No. But I like it." She took a small sip of tea and let out a contented sigh. "Mmm. Heaven."
Sasha grinned and they lapsed into an easy flow of conversation. It was the first time they'd been able to talk without the fear of sickness. Maura was enthralled with stories from Sasha's childhood. They spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with each other and with others.