Tiny tw for alluding to rape and abuse nothing graphic at all. This is part three of my four shot, but I think I'll write an epilogue for it too.

TW for light mentions of sexual and physical violence.

Maura grunted in exhaustion as she pulled the semi-conscious woman out of the lukewarm bathtub. She had regained consciousness for a while and was now lightly snoring. The blonde carried the frail woman to her bed and laid her down on the cover, ignoring the spreading water stain on her sheets.

The woman's body was covered in goosebumps, which was a good sign. Maura gently removed the woman's undergarments and tried not to cry at the sight of all the blood that stained them. She grabbed the heaviest pajamas she owned out of her dresser and gently covered the shaking brunette with them. Maura ran out of her bedroom and whipped open the hall closet, taking out every blanket that she owned. The pile was so tall that Maura has to bounce off the wall a few times, trying to find her bedroom door.

Once inside, Maura threw the pile of blankets on the bed next to the woman. She covered her up with all of them, and walked back into the living room where her son was sitting on the couch. He was quietly watching television, but Maura knew he was nervous and trying to behave. His little hands were grabbing at the corners of his t-shirt, and his leg was bouncing-a trait he'd picked up from his mother. It kind of broke her heart to see her son this distressed, but she would explain it as best as she could. Maura walked quietly into the room, grabbed the remote, and muted the television.

"Hey, Hunter, what happened- that was really scary, huh?" Maura knelt down on the floor and looked her son in the eyes. His lip was quivering, but he held steady. Hunter just reached out towards his Momma, who hugged him. He nodded into her hair, and whispered, "Is she okay? I got out some of my jammas, but I think she's too tall"

"I know that you did, sweet boy. I love that you have such a big heart. You're such a wonderful son, did you know that? Can I ask you a very mature favor thought?" Maura knew that her son was scared of having someone he didn't know in their house, but she just needed to help this woman.

Hunter just nodded, slowly untangling himself from his mother's embrace. He wiped his eyes quickly and listened for his new set of instructions.

"Okay, I know that it's only 8:00, but would you mind going into your room. You aren't in trouble, but I don't want you to scare that lady. It looks like she's going to need someone to help her, and I don't want you to worry. Remember when I worked at the hospital? You weren't very old, maybe...three? But, I used to help people just like her, so I'll be okay. Can you do that for me baby boy?" Maura cupped his cheek, and rubbed her thumbs along his face. With a determined nod, Hunter kissed his Momma on the cheek and walked towards his bedroom. He only made it halfway before he turned around and ran back towards her, grabbing the remote and shutting off the television.

"Love you, night Momma" Hunter blew her a kiss and walked back to his room, closing the door softly behind him. He turned off the lights, and got into bed. Whoever that woman that his Momma brought in, he wanted to help her however he could. His Momma had taught him one thing when things were bad at home: Everyone is someone's child, and you always need to think about that before you speak to someone. His teacher talked today about not being a bully, and he thought that this would make a good topic in class tomorrow, if anyone believed him. Even though it was early, Hunter was exhausted after the craziness. He quickly fell asleep planning the story he would tell everyone tomorrow.

Maura went to the kitchen after turning the lights off in the living room, and put some tea on. She checked all of the locks, and went into the laundry room. She stripped out of the wet and dirty clothes she was wearing, and slipped into a pair of flannel pants and simple tank top. She threw her clothes right into the washer, and started it- she would finish them tomorrow.

The kettle beeped, and Maura walked back into the kitchen. She shut the laundry room door, and turned off the hallway light. She inhaled the smell of her lavender tea and sighed. She poured herself a cup, and poured a small amount in a portable mug in case that woman woke up. Maura carried both cups, and a magazine in between her teeth. She had to do a very awkward hip check to the light switch in the kitchen, nearly spilling everything in her grasp. She walked into her bedroom to see the woman's chest still rising. She set her tea and magazine down on the other side of the bed, and got under the covers. She debated waking the woman, who was still warming back up.

After a few minutes of deliberation, Maura decided to slowly wake the woman so she could be aware of her surroundings. Slowly, as not to scare her too badly, Maura touched her shoulder, which was still cold through the fabric of her clothes, but not nearly as freezing as she was about an hour ago.

"Hey. Hey. I don't know who you are, and I'm not sure how you ended up in my barn, but you're safe. You're in my bed, so don't worry if you don't know where you are. Can you open your eyes for me please?" Maura said as sweet as she could manage. She started to run her hand over the shoulder of the woman. After a few moments, the brunette's eyes fluttered open, and she shot up in bed. She scared Maura so badly that she nearly fell off of the side of bed.

"W-Wher-ohh" The woman must have been in so much pain, Maura figured after remembering all of her wounds. The woman just curled her hands into her chest and started to rock back and forth. She was shivering and her teeth were chattering, showing just how cold she was.

"Hey, it's okay." Maura whispered, reaching out to her "I found you in my barn, and I took you in here. You're safe, but you were in the snow. I want to make sure that you warm up. Do you want some tea?" Maura started to ramble, she hadn't really thought about what happened after the woman woke up. Would she want to stay? She really wasn't fit to go back inside.

The woman looked at Maura, sizing her up. Maura handed her the travel mug, before realizing that her hands probably were too cramped to hold the cup. She put a finger up, asking for just a moment as she ran back into the kitchen. She didn't bother to turn on the light as she rummaged through the drawers, finally emerging with a straw. She bumped her toe on the edge of the table and cursed to herself. Finally, Maura hobbled back towards the bedroom, careful not to make too much noise.

When she walked back in, the woman noticed her limp and frowned. Maura just waved away her concern and climbed back into the bed. She plunked the straw into the mug, then held it out to the woman. Cautiously, the woman started to drink and coughed a bit at the warm liquid. Maura set the cup down in the woman's lap.

"Do you have any idea how you ended up in my barn?" Maura asked, with a slight head tilt. Who would purposefully go outside and get lost in the snow?

"I escaped." the woman muttered. She shivered so hard that the mug almost tipped. Maura quickly removed it and set it down next to her on the end table. Remembering that she also had tea, the blonde sipped it quietly and waited for the other woman to explain further.

"Where am I? I don't remember how long I ran for. I don't even know how long.." she sighed and looked away. She really did not want to be here, she didn't even know this woman. But, she hadn't escaped just to die outside.

"You're in Iowa. We live just outside the Davenport City limits, where did you come from?" Maura offered her the tea again, which she refused.

"Jane. I'm Jane. I- I used to live in Boston. But, he took me.I don't even know how old I am- what year is it?" Jane turned her head to look at Maura, who quickly wiped away a tear. She wanted to help this woman so much, but she had only known her for less than three hours.

"Hi Jane, I'm Maura. I also used to live in Boston. It's 2010, what was the year when you were taken?" Maura tried her best to keep herself from panicking. She tended to have terrible flashbacks when she spoke of Boston.

"2000, I think." Jane muttered. She felt dizzy, so she let herself fall back into the bed. She was famished, but the thought of food made her wants to throw up.

"My goodness; how long have you been outside? It's only 20 degrees out there?"

Jane just shrugged. She really didn't even remember how she got to the barn in the first place. Everything was hazy, including the past nine years. All she could remember now was pain and loneliness.

"Hey, don't freak out, but you need to warm up. Do you feel okay? I can make you some soup?" Maura asked, finally taking a moment to notice just how beautiful of a woman Jane was. She had long brown hair that fell in chunks around her thin face. She looked to be of Italian or Spanish descent.

"I'm really cold, I just can't get warm" Jane shivered again so violently that Maura feared she would start seizing.

"I have an idea but I want to run it by you first Jane, okay?" When Jane simply nodded, Maura continued. "You need human contact. I don't want to scare you though. I need your skin to touch mine, okay?" Maura said slowly gauging her reaction.

"I don't know. I don't really like to be touched" Jane tried her best to stay calm. She knew that this woman wasn't going to hurt her, but after years of physical and emotional torture, Jane's psyche was broken."

"Well, can I tell you a story that might make you trust me a little more?" Maura asked. She finished off her tea, and snuggled down into the blankets. She turned towards Jane and slowly brought both of her hands out the blanket to show Jane where they were at all times. Jane nodded again, and brought the covers up to her chin.

"Well, in the other room over there" Maura pointed to the closed door across the hall."That's my son, Hunter. His f-fath-father, was my hu-husband." Maura stuttered- a habit she had when she was really nervous. She did not like to talk about her past, but if it helped this woman- even the tiniest bit, she would do it.

"He, he was a good husband at first. I mean, I never really loved him- his family was quite close to mine when we were growing up. So, naturally, we were destined to marry. He developed quite a gambling problem right before Hunter was born. He never told me, but I knew that he had squandered away his family's money. In the beginning it was purely emotional. He would berate me for my parent's wealth and mock my profession. I was a medical examiner for the B-B-Boston Police Department, and Garrett- that was his name- did not like that. He couldn't find a job to his liking, so he tried to steal money from my parents." Maura took a few shaky breaths and waited a moment to start again.

"Once Hunter was born, Garrett just went south. I assume he didn't like my focus to be on our- my son, so he tried his best to make me want him. I refused his offers for sexual favors, until he no longer asked. After that, he quit asking, and just made me do those things for him." Maura broke out into sobs, she'd never said any of this out loud, and talking about it just made her hurt all over again.

"When I fell pregnant again, Hunter was almost four. He was so excited to have a sibling. But, Garrett was not happy that I'd become pregnant. He insisted that I terminate it and when I refused, he...well...manually solved the problem. Neither Hunter nor I were allowed outside unless it was necessary. His mother walked my son to school every day, and filled his head with horrible lies about life and how evil I was." Maura stopped, she could feel her vision narrowing and her chest tightening. She didn't want to start having a panic attack, so she just gulped down some air and tried her best to even out her heartbeat

"Hey" Jane's rugged voice ripped Maura out of her downward spiral. "Hey, are you okay? I'm sorry if I-"

"No, no, you're fine. I just don't talk about my past often and I-I-I just wanted to tell you t-that I'm b-b-b-broken too." the blonde stammered. She was embarrassed for her outburst, she had done so well since she'd left. She gasped as she felt a cold hand grab hers under the blanket. She looked up to see a face of understanding.

"We aren't broken, just bent. We are strong women, right?" Jane said. She motioned for Maura to scoot it and immediately relaxed when she came into contact with the blonde. She was already feeling better than she had when she woke up.

"I'm sorry" Maura sniffled and wiped her tears away. "I have no idea why I trust you so much, I'm generally very afraid of people" Maura let her thumb slide back and forth over Jane's ever-warming hand.

"I don't know why I'm still here, I don't really have any place to go. So, I kind of have to trust you. I mean, no offense I guess" Jane shrugged, hoping that the blonde would understand her anxiety.

"I understand, Jane. I'll make you a deal: if you stay here for a week, I'll feed you and nurse you back to health. After the week is up, you're welcome to leave if you want. I won't hold any of your choices against you." Maura bargained.

Jane seemed to think about it for a bit and eventually agreed. She really didn't want to go back outside in the cold, and this woman had food. Honestly, she'd die if she left any sooner.

"Okay, but only under one condition" Jane said. She didn't want to feel like a freeloader, and she didn't want to scare Maura's son, or make them uncomfortable.

"Sure- what?"

"Let me do the dishes at least?" Jane smiled and laughed lightly. Maura then laughed and nodded. She loved to hear the sound of the brunette's husky laugh.

Jane smiled and laid back into pillow. Maura turned off the light, and snuggled into the other woman, who was almost warmed up. She'd have to remember to take some of the blankets off her later. Jane inhaled the smell of lavender shampoo and realized that she'd laughed earlier, she hadn't laughed in nearly a decade. Both women fell asleep with smiles on their faces, despite their terrible pasts.

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