Author Note: Thank you everyone for the lovely comments, and for following/favouriting. I hope you enjoy this one...
"No…Maura," Jane said, lifting her lifeless body into her arms and cradling her. Tears stung her eyes. "No."
She buried her face into the crook of Maura's neck, her skin was still warm and it smelled like the fancy, expensive shampoo she'd purchased the week before. Jane's hands shook as she clung to her, her heart thumped against the now still heart of the woman she cared deeply for. When she pulled away, her eyes landed on Maura's face.
But it wasn't Maura anymore.
Ricardo's large brown eyes stared back at her. His limp body so broken and small. Tears caught in the back of her throat and she choked on her emotions, finally allowing them to break through her defences. She closed her eyes, the tears strolling like bugs on her face, down to her chin.
She opened her eyes. Jane's breath caught in her throat, gasping for air. She reached out to her side, to the empty bed. The numbers still ticked by, even across town they were seared into her brain. She reached for her cell phone on the bedside table and pressed the call button.
"Maura," she said, her heart settled at the sound of her voice.
"Jane?" She sounded confused. "It's two thirty in the morning."
"I just wanted to check that you're okay."
"Why wouldn't I be?"
The question threw her completely. Why wouldn't Maura be okay? It was a dream. She was fine, they were both fine. Except that Maura wasn't, not unless Jane could save her. She pulled her pillows up and leant against them.
"I had a dream," she said, realising how ridiculous it sounded.
"What happened?" Maura asked, her confusion dissipated and she went into friend mode. Jane appreciated her taking the time to talk to her, despite the late hour.
Jane recounted her dream in full detail, leaving nothing out. It couldn't hurt to unburden herself as much as was feasibly possible. Given that she couldn't share with Maura her true feelings surrounding her future, her dream death would have to suffice.
"Oh," Maura said. Silence on the other end of the line made Jane worry further. Eventually, when she spoke again, her tone was a little more detached. "Dreaming of me dying could mean you're lacking a quality that I embody. Alternatively, it could mean that the way you feel about me is dead, or there is a significant change occurring between us."
She couldn't speak. Maura's words hit too close to home in ways she couldn't quite process. Jane didn't want to have to deal with losing Maura now or in the future, which meant her feelings were well and truly alive and well. Though reminding Maura of that caught in her throat.
"There's also an interpretation that to see a child die can symbolise a need to let go of immaturity and seek a more serious attitude."
"So, my head is telling me to grow up?" Jane asked, scoffing.
"Jane," Maura said, her voice trailing off into the silence.
"It's just a dream, Maura," she said, shrugging it off as best as she could. "Besides, since when were you a Dream Doctor? I thought you didn't believe in fate, astrology, and other mumbo jumbo?"
Maura took a deep breath before she started up. "I may not believe in generic offerings based on the day you were born, but dreams come from the unconscious mind, a place we've yet to fully understand. Whilst many interpretations of dreams appear to be clutching at straws in some respects, there could be some truth in them."
"What are you saying?" Jane asked.
"I may not believe that you're dreaming about my death because our relationship is changing, but maybe you're still worrying about Ricardo's death and how your desire for fun might have had implications within your control."
"You're saying I caused Ricardo's death?"
"No." Maura paused. "You know the autopsy proves otherwise. But that doesn't stop your unconscious mind from considering that your occasional desire to behave immaturely might have been counter intuitive to saving his life."
Pulling the bed sheets up around her shoulders, Jane sunk back under the covers. She listened to the silence. She didn't know what else to say, but she didn't want to hang up.
"We have work in the morning," Maura said, hinting that their call was due to come to an end. Jane bid her farewell and placed her cell phone back on the bedside table.
The woman stood beside the victim's bed the next morning. Her dark blonde hair a shade lighter than her sister's. Jane watched from the corridor, analysing the woman's sadness over her sibling's injuries. It was very rare that she was tasked with solving a murder only for the the victim to survive. Usually time would tell if she continued to remain alive, but the numbers over her head suggested she was out of the woods. The irony that her sister's countdown was lower didn't escape Jane's notice. When the woman stepped away from the bedside, Jane inched forwards and waited for her to exit the room.
"Sarah Hughes?" she asked. The woman nodded. She held a hand out to her. "I'm Detective Jane Rizzoli, I'm working on Alice's case."
"Oh, hi," Sarah said, wiping at a couple of stray tears. "Do you know who might have done this?"
"We're currently chasing a number of potential leads. If there's anything you know that might help."
"Of course."
Jane straightened her shoulders and stood upright. She hated having 'the' conversation. "Your sister was found in an alley, dressed in very little, in an area known for prostitution."
"Ali was not a prostitute," she said, her tone harsh and her eyes narrowed at Jane.
"I'm sorry, I had to ask," Jane said. "Do you know why Ali might have been there?"
"She has some friends, they're pretty shitty people. They go out drinking together and often leave her on her own in bad neighbourhoods. She's called me to come get her countless times. I don't know why she continues to go out with them. If she'd just called me, none of this would have happened. I've told her she should be more careful," Sarah's voice trailed off, strung up by the tears catching in her throat.
"I know this is hard," Jane said. "If you could give us any names, we can try to find out if they know what happened."
Sarah nodded. "I, I have a key to her apartment. She never logs off her email account. I can find the information."
Jane placed a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you."
"Is that everything?" she asked. "I need to go and pick my son up from the babysitters."
"Yes, you've been a huge help."
Back at BPD, Jane took the elevator down to the morgue. On seeing Maura, she paced towards her and pulled her into her arms. She didn't care that Maura was in the middle of talking to Susie, she just needed to feel her physically close.
"Jane, what," Maura said, stepping back, her brow furrowed.
"It's so good to see you."
Maura raised an eyebrow. "I didn't die in real life."
"No," Jane said, her eyes travelling to the numbers above her head continuing to count down dangerously close to zero. Her heart sunk. In the hours she'd spent away from Maura, she'd hoped that something might change to rectify the issue. But nothing had.
"Do I get a hug?" Susie asked, a smile spread across her face. Jane just stared at her. Susie held up her hands and turned to walk away. "Alright, no hug."
"Did you see Alice?"
"The doctors say she's stable," Jane said, careful not to sound too enthusiastic about her recovery. "Frankie's going to meet the sister at Alice's apartment to find out the details of some people she's been hanging with. You got anything?"
"Considering I don't have a body, very little," Maura said, walking across to Alice's clothing laid out on a table. "I do, however, have seminal stains on the inside of her clothing and tearing around the leg bands of her underwear. The likely cause being force, something which could have occurred from passionate intercourse. Without doing a thorough examination of Alice, I can't tell whether this was consensual or not."
"Can we get a DNA sample?"
"Already sent to the lab," Maura said. "We're running it through the system to look for a match. It's gonna take some time."
Jane sighed. "So we have a victim with blunt force trauma, who has either had sex or been raped. My money's on the guy who fucked her and left her for dead."
At her desk, Jane flicked through the case file. Everything about the case should have been open and shut. They had obtained video footage of Alice at a bar with a man, DNA evidence that would likely link him to the scene, and a newly acquired doctor's report highlighting evidence of forced penetration. Unfortunately, the man had covered his head up with a hood making identification impossible. The DNA evidence was the only thing they had that could identify their likely killer.
"Have you seen Korsak today?" Frankie asked, perching on the corner of Jane's desk.
"Dropped in to see him before checking in with the victim's sister. He's bored as hell and can't wait to go home."
"Good," he said, smiling.
Jane smiled back. His eyes fixed upon hers. She wanted to look away, but the numbers above his head were too captivating. She'd barely taken time to really look at what she was seeing. Every time she paid any attention, she was usually too focused on the information it was sharing and not the numbers themselves. It was like staring at a timer, knowing it wouldn't run out any time soon.
"Janie?"
"What?"
"You're staring, at my head," Frankie said, looking up and running a hand over the top of his hair. His fingers slipped through the ghostly numbers. "Everything alright? You're behaving kind of strange."
"Fine, Frankie," she said, refocusing her attention on his face. "You get anything from the apartment?"
"Got a couple of names, uniform are chasing them up. Unfortunately, they're both female."
"Well there goes that theory," Jane said, slamming her fist down on the desk.
She let out a sigh and rubbed her eyes. She had no idea where to begin trying to save Maura, the only thing she had to go off was the case. If she could solve the case before Maura's countdown ran out, maybe she could save Maura. Much of the day she'd spent trying to distract herself. She had to fight the urge to set up camp in the autopsy room, or Maura's office. Despite wanting to do everything she could to save her, the day was already half over and she was getting nowhere.
"You should go home," Frankie said, running a hand across her shoulder. "You look exhausted."
"I'm fine," she said, snapping. "We need to get this guy."
"If this is about Korsak."
"It's not about Korsak."
"The case with the kid, then." Jane reached out and flicked Frankie's ear. He flinched. "Ow!"
"Would you lay off? We're a man down, I've not had a lot of sleep, and you're doing my head in." Jane stood up and leant forwards, wrapping her arms around Frankie's shoulders. "But I love you, so quit bugging me and go find out if your girlfriend has found anything on the traffic camera footage."
Frankie rolled his eyes and stood up. "Nina is not my girlfriend."
"I'm a detective, baby brother," Jane said, raising an eyebrow.
"We slept together," he said, smirking. "Twice."
"Ah-hah!"
"Don't ah-hah, Janie," he said, shaking his head. "It's been three weeks. She's not even talking to me now, except about the case. I guess it's over. We had some fun. Now we're not."
"I'll check myself then," said Jane, slapping Frankie on the arm playfully. "I knew you two were getting on well."
Entering the BRIC, Jane watched the numbers above Nina's head count down, as she stared intently at her computer screen. She took a step towards her and hovered by the desk, waiting for Nina's attention to be drawn to her.
"Nothing yet," she said, barely glancing up.
"Come on Nina," Jane said. "We're counting on there being another way to identify this guy."
"I'm working as fast as I can," she said, sitting back in her chair and placing her hands across her stomach.
The movement of her fingers caught Jane's attention and she followed them down across to her stomach. When a very small, very faint countdown covered her hands, Jane's eyes bugged.
"You're pregnant!" she said, before she could stop herself.
"Wha," Nina began, opening and closing her mouth as the words disappeared into the silence.
"I'm sorry," Jane said. "I don't know where that came from."
"How did you know?" Nina asked, closing her eyes. "I haven't told anyone."
Jane lifted her shoulders apologetically. "I guessed. Frankie said you two had hooked up and…"
"We hooked up?"
"Bad choice of words," she said. "He didn't use them. I did. He said it was over."
Nina shrugged.
"He'll make a good dad, Nina," she said. "He's dependable, he's got terrible dress sense, but what dads don't? You should at least tell him."
Nina's lips curled into a smile. "I'll think about it."
"That's all I ask," Jane said. "I promise I will keep it to myself until instructed otherwise."
"I'd appreciate that."
Jane took the stairs down to the morgue. Her need for some peace and quiet, away from the hubbub of the squad room, and the case, was barely placated by the time she reached Maura's office. She hovered in the doorway, watching Maura work. Her fingers typed away on her laptop as her life slipped further and further away. A lump settled in the back of Jane's throat and she coughed in an attempt to clear it.
"Oh, hello Jane," Maura said, closing her laptop and motioning for Jane to take a seat.
"Hi," she said, sitting down opposite her.
Twenty-four hours had passed since Jane had first discovered Maura's fate. She contemplated telling her, but her reaction the previous day left her feeling unable to do so. But she was Maura. She was a fountain of knowledge and she would know what to do. She was also a highly trained medical professional who wouldn't think twice about getting someone admitted to hospital to run tests for brain tumours, and mental health disorders.
"Is this a social visit, or do you have an update on the case?" Maura asked, clasping her hands on the desk in front of her.
"I just wanted to spend some time with you," Jane said, forlornly. "Remember when I used to come and sit here and watch you work?"
"Distract me, more like."
"I haven't done that in a while."
"You did it last week, every day."
"I was providing you with moral support."
"Whilst I conducted a routine autopsy on a heart attack patient?"
"Your work ain't pretty, but someone's got to do it."
"What is this really about, Jane?"
"Can't a detective watch her favourite medical examiner at work?" Jane asked. Maura stayed silent. "Whatcha working on?
"I'm preparing the financial documents for the current year so that the accountant can approve them."
"Riveting," Jane said, rolling her eyes. Maura tried to contain her smile, but a smirk escaped. Jane breathed deeply, holding on tightly to the emotions lingering in the air. "You know I love you, don't you?"
"Yes, Jane," Maura said, smiling. "And I love you. Now, can I get back to work?"
"Yes," Jane said, standing up. Her brow creased as she watched the numbers continue to fall. "Maura, isn't your annual medical overdue?"
"My annual medical?" Maura asked. "I don't think so. It's been about eight months."
"You should go for another one," Jane said, walking out of the room before Maura could question her.
Author Note: So, what do you think? Will Jane be able to solve the case and save Maura in time? Will Maura go for her annual medical early? Will Frankie find out he's going to be a dad? Find out next time, right here, haha. ;)