Author's note: I have been overwhelmed by all the follows and likes that I'm getting from this story and I truly appreciate every one of them. Some of the science things will probably not be true, but hey, they sounded good enough to pass hehe. Also Cryptozoology is a real science studied based on the mythical and strange creatures, a fact that I found fascinating. Reviews are more than welcomed.
Jane was making her way to the front of the house, still a little baffled after meeting Dr. Isles. She expected the woman to be the complete opposite of what she saw today on the crime scene, something that left her a little bit unbalanced and rather pleased. One thing that she valued in women was their professional ambitions, and based on what she had heard about Dr. Isles, she had the whole package, along with grace and recognition to value her intel on the case. She had to admit that she was a little mad at Korsak for not telling her the whole story, especially after his speech of trusting one another, because if there was one thing that Jane hated the most was lies. The truth, no matter how painful, was way better than a nice lie, which earned her a bad reputation among partners during her time as a cadet. No one wanted her as their partner because she always spoke her mind-up and didn't hesitate to remark the mistakes of others. She knew that it wasn't the best of behaviors, but in this world that she chose, one dominated by men, it was either take the ropes and drive or let them pass over you. She chose the first one.
"I thought we were going to be honest and trust each other." Jane said while looking at Korsak. "And the first thing that I notice is that you held important information from me."
"I did it because I wanted your unbiased assessment." he said while motioning for them to go outside. "I wanted to get your opinion on what you saw, a new set of eyes."
She looked at him, expecting to see the hint of dishonesty in his eyes, but instead finding nothing. She exhaled. "It looks like a one man job, well planned and studied since he knew exactly where things were and was meticulous enough to only leave evidence in one part of the house. Nevertheless, not enough evidence to allow us to pull a DNA sample, because I assume that the Boston PD already analyzed that semen and didn't find a match." she said while looking at Korsak for confirmation.
He nodded. "This may sound a little strange to you, especially if this is your first case, but the creature that we are hunting is one of the most ancient and dangerous that we could face."
"Maybe if we had this conversation one week ago I would have laughed, but after seeing all of this I'm willing to accept a little bit of craziness." she smiled softly at him.
He smiled back and continued. "The real expert in Cryptozoology is Dr. Isles, but I guess that I can make you a short description of what we are facing. The idea of vampires did come from these creatures, who really do appear only at night and drink blood as a means of survival." Korsak told her while looking to the sky. "They tend to be really old and smart, able to blend in with the people and look as common humans. One way of identifying them is their eyes. They tend to always be blooded and their irises black. Some use contact lenses, the ones that have abandoned drinking human blood. Nevertheless, some like our killer have refused to this new way of life, and are usually very careful in their killings to not draw attention to themselves. To have one victim of these creatures in a space spam of two weeks is normal and usually classified as a mug crime, but to have three killings and six victims is a dangerous thing. It means that the creature enjoys killing and is on a killing spree. And now that the woman has disappeared, it has changed things."
"You mean like convert her?" Jane asked surprised, not caring if her question was stupid or not.
"It's not impossible, and I have heard some of these creatures talk about apprentices who are converted by them and followed until they reach independence from their masters." he said while going to meet with Frost, who was running towards them.
"Dr. Isles told me to inform you that she found traces of saliva on the couch, sadly since the killer is not on our database we are unable to get a name, but what she can get for us is the age and stage of life in which the creature is." he said while looking at the two of them.
"So he took the woman to train her." Korsak said. "I wonder what he saw in her to do this."
"When you come back to headquarters, make sure to bring a picture of the couple." Jane said to Frost. "There is something there that we are not seeing yet." she said quietly while going to the black car. "I want to be on the autopsy of the victim, if that is ok with you?" she asked Korsak.
He nodded at her and smiled. "I'm pretty sure Dr. Isles will enjoy the company."
Jane looked at him for a while, remembering that he could read minds. This made her change her thoughts, focusing them on guns and shoes and dummies that she could hit. Anything to shift her focus on Dr. Isles and recounting their meeting. She saw Korsak look at her deep in concentration, this making her want to flee from the scene, not trusting herself and her thoughts. He smiled ammusely at her, probably aware of what she was trying to do and told her to come meet him as soon as she had something. She quietly nodded and went to the car, embarrassed enough to expect the earth to just swallow her.
Maura was going over the previous autopsies made by Dr. Pike. Seriously, how that man graduated from Harvard was still a mystery to her. She dreaded meeting him, and since she was her chief it was an obligation to have a weekly meeting in which she would hear his complains and unconformities with the station. If her mother hadn't taken so much time in educating her about etiquette and politeness towards others, she knew that a long time she would have exploded.
"People in this department undermine my qualifications." he told her angrily. "Me, a graduate from Harvard, being told what to do by a woman who barely graduated from public college." he scoffed at the last part. "I'm just glad that Detective Rizzoli was moved to another department."
Maura looked up in surprise. She had expected to just sit there and listen to his ramblings without paying much attention, but as soon as she heard Jane's name she looked up. "I thought you admired her Dr. Pike."
"To acknowledge that someone is smart and admire someone are two completely different things." he said, also surprised that Maura was paying attention. "Take you for example Dr. Isles, you are a very clever woman." he started to say.
Maura looked up at him, daring him to continue that line of thought. He didn't seem to notice or care, perhaps too excited that he finally had the opportunity and attention of the doctor.
"But if based on years on the field, school of graduation and dedication to the job, I would be the best choice for Chief Medical Examiner. I know all of the detectives of the homicide department and they seem to like me too, which is a plus."
Before Maura even had the opportunity to answer to all of those remarks, someone talked.
"I think Dr. Pike has a very high opinion of himself, don't you agree Dr. Isles?" She saw Jane tell her.
She couldn't take her eyes off of the detective, who seemed to walk confidently inside the room, smiling to Dr. Pike who seemed too shocked to refute. This made her smile even more.
"I'm sorry for intruding, but I couldn't help myself after I overheard Dr. Pike's comments. It seemed that a little clarification was needed and I thought: Gee, maybe I can do that, since I am a detective and all of that." she said while continuing to smile.
Dr. Pike seemed to find his voice and smile again, wanting to confirm his statement. "Why of course Detective Rizzoli, I was just explaining to Dr. Isles how I have more credentials and favorability over her."
Jane surprised them both by laughing. "Ok, you gotta be shitting me if you truly are that delusional."
"Language, Detective Rizzoli." Maura scolded her, but still smiled at her remark.
Jane saw this and smiled too. "I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but if it depended on you, you would say that a 9mm bullet is the same as a 6mm, which in fact you have done." she whispered the last part conspirationally to Maura, who laughed a little.
"Also, no one likes you that much Dr. Pike, in fact, when we were notified that you would assist us on a crime scene, we used to draw a straw to see who would be the lucky one that had to go through it with you." she continued to say while looking at Dr. Pike, whose face of smug changed to one of embarrassment.
"I understand that you are saying this in order to make Dr. Isles feel better Detective Rizzoli, which is why I will ignore your recent remarks."
"Please do not." Jane almost screamed. "I have been waiting so long to say them, if you ignored them it would make me very sad." she said while mocking him.
"Well, at least in front of Dr. Isles you are trying to be more polite towards me and not like your usual "funny" self" he told her while holding his breath.
"It's better being funny than "point-Dexter" the know it all, which in fact you even aren't." Jane answered him while smiling.
Maura was just looking at the two of them arguing, too intrigued to try to stop them from attacking each other. Also, she felt quite happy that Jane was taking the time to defend her from Dr. Pike and at the same time say what she has on her mind.
"Well... I'd rather be "point-Dexter" the know it all than the "Hoy Paloy!" he finally said at her angrily.
Maura instantly held her breath, the insult making her get instantly angry with Dr. Pike. When she looked at Jane she saw that she was thinking about how to counter his attack, and that was when she realized that Jane didn't know what a Hoy Paloy was.
"Good one Dr. Pike." she told him sarcastically, trying to give herself more time and a clue of what that even meant.
"I bet you don't even know what that means Detective." he said with an air of superiority that made Maura intervene, which was truly unlike her.
"It means "common." Literal translation is "The Great Unwashed" Maura said quietly to Jane, who looked at her and besides herself smiled.
"Classy, hiding your insults in Latin Dr. Pike." she answered him back, sure that she had got him.
Maura lowered her gaze, a little bit embarrassed that she didn't actually specify to the language of the sentence. "It is actually Greek." she told Jane while glancing at Dr. Pike and seeing him have a big smile on himself.
"Oh! The geek that knows Greek. Do you realize how ridiculous that makes you sound. With your fake air of superiority, what you end up doing is embarrassing yourself, which is what the department truly talks about." Jane told him while watching his smile disappear, instead angriness showing instead.
"Really?! Well, they call you a bitch behind yours." he spat.
Maura instantly got up. "You will apologize immediately to Detective Rizzoli unless you want to be without a job by tomorrow morning." she told him angrily.
This made Dr. Pike look up at Maura, fear in his face. He had never expected the Dr. to react so passionately to their discussion, and now that his job was on the line, he realized that he had to be more careful about his remarks of Detective Rizzoli. "I apologize for my comments and that they offended you." he murmured angrily.
Jane smiled and looked to him, taking his hand. "And you are right, I am a bitch. So next time you think about comparing yourself or doubting the capabilities of Dr. Isles, think it better because I will find out." she said while going out of the voice, leaving the two doctors look surprised. "I will wait for you until you are done Dr. Isles."
"Don't worry, we are done." she said to Dr. Pike, who immediately got the message and left the two of them alone.
Maura was quietly making her way to the table where the body of the man was lying. She saw that Jane was already putting her gloves on, expecting to be part of the autopsy in more ways that the detectives that worked with her usually did. She had been surprised when she didn't react badly to the crime scene, especially when they were lying so close to the body. She smiled at the memory, already noticing that she was becoming quite protective, in her own way, of the young woman.
"What are you smiling about Doc?" she heard Jane ask her with a hint of amusement on her face. "Sorry if I stepped out of line a few moments ago, but I just couldn't stand there and hear him gloat about his 'expertise'" Jane said while making a gauge sound. "I'll tell you a secret: One of the biggest reasons that I was looking forward to leaving homicide was that I was not going to do one more crime scene with the man." she said while smiling.
Maura smiled back, already liking the honesty of Jane. "That's quite alright, and I do share your feelings of discontent. But, Dr. Pike, as bad as he can be, is competent enough to take charge of the easy cases, which means less work for me." she said conspirationally.
"And talking about cases, before we start to talk about ours, would you feel weird if I ask you some personal questions?" Jane told her embarrassed, watching Maura smile at her while putting her gloves on, a smirk on her face. "You don't have to answer them if you don't want to."
"I guess I can indulge you with some answers to the many questions you probably have." she said while encouraging Jane to look at her.
"Are you human?" was the first thing that came out of her mouth. Seriously Jane, that was the first question that you thought about?!
Maura just smiled a little, taking her question seriously. "Yes, I am. All of the members of the unit are human."
"But?..." Jane said, knowing that there was something else Maura was not saying.
"But some of us have certain "abilities" that help us and make us be considered to form part of the unit." Maura said while looking at Jane's reaction. She saw a big smile on her face.
"Like Korsak that can read minds?" Jane asked excitedly. This is just like X-Men.
"Well, not exactly. You see, the X-Men were mutants that had their DNA mutated and that allowed them to have powers. I believe that what applies to us is far more simpler than that." Maura smiled at her. "And you said that part about the X-Men aloud." she added when she saw Jane's face of surprise. "And what Detective Korsak does is not actually read minds, although he likes to promote it as that way, but instead he is able to see everything 3 seconds ahead of the normal time in the space continuum universe."
Jane looked at Maura as if she had just spoken alien. "So basically, Korsak is in another time frame than us and that is why he is able to know what will happen?" Jane asked insecure.
Maura smiled brightly. "That is exactly it! You know, not many people are able to understand the concept of time and different universes."
"Well, I did have a VHS of Back to the Future." she said while smiling shyly. "So what ability do you have then, and how are you able to have these abilities and the rest of us humans cannot."
Maura smiled and went to the microscope, taking Jane's hand and bringing her along. "The reason why I wanted to become a Medical Examiner was because I wanted to give a voice to the dead, to help them find peace for themselves and their families. What I never understood was why it was so easy for me to follow this path, this way of life. One day, I got a letter from Detective Korsak asking me to meet him and here I am." Maura said absently. "The ability I have is to recount moments of the lives of people that have died." she said quietly.
"You can see their last moments and what happened to them?" Jane asked horrified.
Maura nodded. "It's a curse but also a gift. It usually allows me to help find certain things that science cannot, a face, a sentence that can lead to the killer."
"Have you found something about this one?" Jane asked quietly.
"No, this is actually the first body that I will personally examine. You see, after 24 hours go by, our brain stops working, and when the brain stops working it is impossible for me to access its memories, because that is what I watch, their memories."
Jane nodded, not knowing what to say. Maura noticed this and smiled at her warmly. "Do not feel bad for me Jane, sometimes it is a gift to be able to see all of this. I can see the love of the families of the deceased, their last good memories of previous times and so many more things. The key in living with this "ability" is to understand that one should not fear death, because it will come, that is a fact."
Jane looked at Maura, speechless at how smart, intelligent, thoughtful and wonderful this person was. So what she saw when she looked at the victims was truly what the person was, their essence, reason why she always treated them with respect and care.
"Would you like to see it too?" Jane heard Maura ask her.
Jane looked up to her, speechless. "Is that even possible?"
Maura smiled. "After many years of meditation and practice, I have developed the ability to share what I see with the person that touches my hand."
Jane was not going to lie, she was scared of what she could see, of the horror that the man lived and how painful it must have been to watch the love of his life be taken away from him by an evil man. Maura seemed to notice this because she took Jane's hand again and took her to where the refrigerators were, looking for a name in the middle of all of the compartments. Finally finding the one she was looking for, she opened it.
"From what we found out, this woman died of natural causes, a long fight with cancer. As you are aware, we are demanded by the state of Massachusetts to certify causes of death, and because of that every body is brought here to be inspected by a medical examiner. I can't promise you that you won't find something pleasant, but at least her death was natural. Would you still like to see the world through my eyes?"
Jane looked at Maura's eyes: they were the most beautiful shade of hazel that she had seen, sometimes even changing to green. She was terrified, but those eyes were also calming and inviting, as if asking her to take a leap of faith and open herself to the reality of the world. She nodded and took Maura's hand, who in turn closed her eyes and touched the temples of the woman.
Jane immediately felt herself in a black hole, a hole that was endless and that had nothing in it. Little by little she felt it moving forward, as if fast-going to a certain moment in the middle of nowhere. She closed her eyes and opened them again, looking at what seemed to be a white room. She tried to get up, but she couldn't, her body not strong enough. On her sides she saw people who were crying or sleeping, and from her lips she felt foreign words that meant to calm and put at ease. One woman stood up from the group, one who approached her and nodded to every word she said, tears coming to her eyes near the end of her speech. Closing her eyes again, she went back to a time where she was walking down the street, an umbrella in her hand and a heavy dress that was too hot for such a warm day. On the side of the street was a man waving at her, and for some reason she felt butterflies in her stomach, demanding her to go forward and approach him, which she did. They looked at each other, and for a while said nothing at all, silence that was interrupted by the man, who just looked at her and said: 'You finally made it home.'
Jane opened her eyes again and saw that Maura was looking at her, a stray of tears and a sad smile in her face. She was speechless, too shocked by what she had just experienced. It was not looking at the memories, as Maura had put it before, but it was living the memories, which made things become more personal, more real. Now, now she understood clearly what Maura had meant with the sentence: 'Sometimes it is a gift.' Now knowing what else to do she went and hugged Maura, who although taken aback by the gesture immediately returned it.
"That was so beautiful Maura, thank you for sharing it with me." Jane whispered to her while continuing the hug. You are so beautiful. So complexly beautiful.