AN: I thought I was done with the story, but someone was expecting more. So, I am going to add just a few more chapters and end it properly! :)


"Sign here and here and here," the warden instructed O'Donnell as he pointed to the dotted lines that she needed to sign.

Joyce couldn't be happier than she was right now. The papers she was about to sign would show that she was the custodian of Charles Hoyt, and that she had the right to move him to her house and take care of him.

It didn't take much persuasion on Joyce's part. With the position she held and the services that she offered, the state saw it as on less invalid to take care of, to spend money on. And the fact that he was now paralysed was more than enough reassurance that he wouldn't be a menace to the public.

But the state failed to think it through – it wasn't Hoyt's ability to be mobile that made him dangerous, it was his mind. And they were giving another twisted mind, Joyce O'Donnell, another sadistic mind to bond with. What the state was creating was a monster.

Joyce smiled when she signed the last line with a flourish. "Thank you very much."

The warden merely grunted, took the papers back, and shuffled back to his desk. Joyce headed out to the horse drawn carriage with a flat wooden bed, where Hoyt had already been laid out. She smiled down at him before joining the driver in the front and gave him the address. When they reached, the driver helped to move Hoyt up to the room Joyce had prepared for him.

"I hope you like the room here. Tried to arrange it as comfortably as I could," Joyce said as she sat the next to the bed.

"It's good enough. Definitely a sharp relief from all those white walls. But, I don't want to talk about comfort, I want to talk about Jane."


The doors to the saloon swung open as Frankie strode in. He was dressed in worn out breeches and a shirt that was patched up in several places. There was dust all over him and he looked like one who needed a thorough shower. Striding over to the bar, he ordered a mug of beer, the normal kind. The bartender that poured his drink looked intently at him.

"Where you from?" the bartender finally asked.

Frankie looked up with blood shot eyes, greedily gulping down the beer and wiping his mouth with his sleeve after he slammed the mug back down on the counter. "From somewhere," Frankie choose to ignore the question and got straight to the point. "I'm looking for someone, his name's Jedidiah Romana. Ever heard of him?"

The bartender scratched his stubbled chin. "Oh, him. He got married to that pretty gal, uh, what's her name…."

Frankie spit the beer out his mouth. "Wait, he's married?"

The bartender gave Frankie the stink eye as he got the cloth to wipe the mess up. "Yeah, about a month or so. Oh! I remember the wife's name now, Maura Isles." The bartender smiled at himself, proud of the fact that he had recalled the name. "They just had a simple ceremony. Nothing much. In fact, we were all kind of shocked when we found out that she had married Jedidiah. There's not much we know about this guy." The bartender stared at Frankie. "Why're ya looking for him? You do kind of look like Jedidiah."

Frankie retained his neutral, tired expression and hurriedly gulped down the rest of his beer. "Nothing much. Just a buddy of mine." He got off the stool and tossed a few bills onto the counter top. He pulled out another bill and flapped it slightly. "Just curious, where does this Maura Isles live?"

The bartender eyed the bill with hungry eyes. "Go out, turn left and walk all the way down to the sheriff's office. Then turn left again and walk straight down until you come to the first house. That'll be Maura Isles' house."

Frankie slid the bill over and nodded his head in thanks, before trudging out the door.

As he walked out, he caught sight of a tall young lady who was trying to take her heavy valise out of the carriage. The driver, focused on gossiping with one of the town members that had come up, was oblivious to the fact that his passenger needed help.

Dashing across the street to help her, Frankie was soon by her side. "Here, let me help with that," Frankie said as he easily hefted the valise off the carriage. But instead of handing it back to the lady, he kept his grip on it. "Why don't I help you carry this to wherever you are staying? It's quite heavy."

The lady looked at Frankie with crystal blue eyes, and Frankie felt his breath catch in his throat. That's one fine looking lady! And he was right. The lady had an exquisite face with high cheek bones, the perfect layer of blush and lipstick, and the long brown lashes that covered her blue eyes every time she blinked. She blushed slightly when she looked up to find Frankie staring at her.

"O-okay," the lady replied. "I would appreciate your help. It is quite heavy, and I booked a room at the motel a few blocks down."

Frankie nodded and started to follow the lady down to her motel. As soon as they reached the entrance, she turned around and held her hand out for the bag, which Frankie promptly handed over. "Thank you so much for your help. I'm Joyce, by the way."

"Frankie," he said as he extended his hand. Joyce daintily shook his hand and blushed even more. "Uh, how long are you going to be staying here?"

"Oh, I don't know. A few weeks? I'm here to look for a job. Not sure what I want yet, but will keep a lookout."

"Well, if you need any help, just call on me. I'm going to be down at this couple's house – Jedidiah and Maura."

Joyce managed to keep a calm expression. "Is that so? I'll try to drop by soon then." This is just too easy.


Jane grunted as she swung the axe down and split the log in half, lengthwise. She reached out her gloved hands and pulled the wood apart, letting it drop to the floor. Picking up another log, she did the same to it, then set the axe down and began to smooth the wood out with another smaller axe. She was in the process of making a bigger bed frame for herself and Maura.

There had been a few nights when one of them ended up on the floor because the bed just wasn't big enough for them to sleep however they liked, and also wasn't big enough for them to comfortably do what couples do when they get married – have sex. So Jane started plans for building a bigger frame to accommodate them.

She had already done the legs and the general frame of the bed. All she needed to do was just to add the planks in. Maura was in charge of getting the mattress done, which was mainly just stuffing the cloths with broomsage and also making sure that she had some fowl feathers and down to stuff the pillows with.

Sitting down on the ground, Jane decided to take a breather. She picked up the towel and wiped her face and neck. She wished she could take her shirt off, but anyone could just pop up and she didn't want to risk it. She leaned back on her elbows and looked up at the blue sky. Closing her eyes, she tried to relax her tense muscles.

Presently, she heard soft footsteps approaching her way. Cracking an eye open, she saw Maura holding a pitcher of some cloudy liquid and two empty glass cups.

"I thought I'd come out and share some lemonade with you," Maura said as she sat down beside Jane.

Jane sat up and smiled at her wife. "Thank you, it's so damn hot out here." Jane took a grateful gulp of the cool liquid.

"Language, Jane, language."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Yes, ma'am."

Maura looked over at Jane and saw some moisture left behind from the lemonade still lingering on Jane's lips. Reaching her hand out, Maura used the pad of her thumb to swipe away the moisture. Before she could remove her hand, Jane grabbed hold of Maura's wrist and kissed the back of her hand. Maura blushed slightly at the romantic gesture. Wanting to return the favour, Maura leaned in a bit more, bringing her other hand over Jane's shoulders and pulling the both of them closer to each other. Maura's lips sought Jane's out and she pushed herself on top of Jane, almost lying on top.

Jane willingly let Maura take the lead and followed whatever her wife wanted. Jane moaned into Maura's mouth when she felt a leg rub between her own legs. The kiss was starting to get heated when the both of them suddenly heard a loud ahem coming from somewhere near them.

The both of them sprang apart, Jane immediately standing up and moving in front of Maura, an instinctive action that made Maura smile. But, Maura wasn't ready when Jane wavered a bit and looked as if she were about to faint. Rising up, Maura put a supportive arm around Jane's waist and looked at her. "Jane, you all right?"

There was no response as Jane continued to look at the man who was standing in front of them. Maura turned to look at the man and nearly gasped when she saw a good looking young chap who bore a strong resemblance to her Jane. Looking back up at Jane, Maura asked, "Is that…?"

"Frankie?" Jane whispered.