Disclaimer: I do not own Rizzoli and Isles. But they live in my brain for a short while everyday.

Author's Note: Hey guys. Glad I'm still keeping people entertained. Here is your warning, this is a pretty dark and gruesome case, and Maura is taking it hard. This is a longer chapter and the next instalments (five this time, not four) will be just as long, maybe a tad longer. Enjoy!

xoxoxox

Maura showed her ID, and put on the pair of gloves waiting for her at security. She spotted Frost and Korsak. "What have we got?"

"Female, 21. Name; Femke Timmermans. International student from Aruba." Korsak said. "Then we have Henry Luton. 24, also a student. Both of them at BCU."

Maura was lead to the first victim. Oh my… She pulled at her medical gloves anxiously and looked at the pair of scissors hanging out of the back of the young woman's neck. She heard a gurgle behind her and looked to see Frost flee to puke into a biohazard disposal bag. She sighed, knowing the young man had been trying hard at the sight of blood and gore, but she decided to let this one go. Blood along the woman's neck had dried, but had also trickled down the her back. The female in question was slumped in her chair, one hand on the table, and the other in her lap. "Weapon appears to have pierced the rectus capitis posterior muscle of the neck. I couldn't tell how long the scissors are."

Korsak, who had sensed Maura's unusual unease about being in the library, approached her back. "Just do your best," he soothed.

She nodded. "Do you know where they're from?"

"Standard kitchen scissors. Allex," Frost pointed to the brand.

"See if you can get any prints, I can't do anything until evidence is sustained."

The sergeant behind her sighed. "No prints, Doc. No fibers, no nothing."

"Could be nylon, powder-free latex?" She looked and Korsak shrugged.

"Nobody could find a thing."

She growled and looked at the body of the small black woman in front of her. She frowned and brought herself round to stare at the young woman's face. "Lips are bruised, chin is also darkened. The killer had her mouth shut as she was killed." She felt strange, almost wanting to hear Jane's probable joke about the necessity of being quiet in libraries. She wanted to go home, but she knew she wouldn't get any sleep tonight. Her fingers measured the approximate length of the scissors, and she looked at the proportions of the handle. "The scissors would have pierced the cerebellum, pons, possibly the pituitary gland." She sighed and continued to look at the young woman's injuries. Taking a breath, Maura looked at the pool of blood on the study desk, then held in a gasp. "Left thumb is missing." She shuddered and watched as a tech opened the book on Byron. Now she wanted to puke. Snugly fit inside of the book was the said thumb, blood dousing the writing on the 348th page. "Left thumb has been found." Maura heard Korsak groan behind her and looked back. "You okay?"

"Haven't seen anything as crazy as this since… I dunno." He held his mouth shut. She nodded.

It took an hour for Maura to gather the evidence from Femke's body before she ordered the crime scene technicians to take the body back to the morgue. "Ready for the next one?" Korsak asked and the blonde nodded with a gulp.

She was lead to another desk at the other end of the Rare Books and Manuscript department, until they came to another group of forensic techs. Maura looked at the noose wrapped around his neck. She loosened it gently and looked at the rope burns, vivid on the skin. "Less traumatic to the eye, right, Barry?" She gave a kindly look her best friend's partner and watched him gulp. "Cause of death, closure of the carotid arteries, jugular veins… ligature strangulation… it would have caused cerebral ischemia."

Frost frowned. "Why strangle someone with a noose when it's so obvious the vic didn't do it?"

"Why kill at all?" Maura shrugged. For some reason she felt partial to help with the case now Jane was out on sick leave. "Did CCTV get anything?" This, she looked at the security guard who was shuffling on his feet looking helpless.

Korsak rolled his eyes. "BPL doesn't have CCTV. They claim the building is too old to install wired cameras."

Maura laughed bitterly. "I suppose lessons are made for being learned."

Frost shared a glance with his boss who shook his head and waved it off. "How's Jane, Maura?" He asked, changing the subject to make the situation a little lighter.

The blonde paused her inspection and she looked at the older man. "She's okay… Good actually. No nausea for the last three days… she's still not eating much. I think it's more psychological than anything. Sitophobia."

"Sit-o-what?" Frost's nose wrinkled.

"Sitophobia," Maura supplied calmly, noting the noose knot wrapped at the back of the young black haired man's neck. "The aversion to food. All she can eat right now is toast and cocoa-puffs." She looked closer at the strangulation site. "Strangled from behind… He was also unaware of his killer."

She heard her phone go suddenly and looked anxiously at Korsak. "Excuse me for a second?" The bearded man nodded. She pulled off her gloves and through them into a disposal bag before picking up the vibrating cell. "Hello?"

"I can't do this," Jane said with finality. Her voice was drowned out by incessant crying from Mia who was screeching her head off as she clung to Jane's shoulder for dear life. The brunette paced, and jiggled but the tot still didn't calm down.

"Can't do what, honey?"

"Maura, can you not hear that noise? It's going to make me deaf in a minute if you don't tell me what to…. Oh hey come on," her voice softened considerably. "Shhh…Tell me what you want and we can both go to sleep," she said gently to the red-faced baby. It was no good. Mia screamed harder.

"Jane? Listen to me…"

"Listening… just about."

Maura leaned against a bookshelf and sighed. "Have you fed her?"

"She's not hungry… keeps spitting out the bottle." Jane whined, bopping up and down to soothe the tiny girl but to no avail. The blonde's head thumped against her shoulder in frustration causing the detective to panic. "I put up her pop-up crib, she won't sleep in there, she won't sleep on my chest, she's dry, I changed her diaper… I dunno what I'm doing wrong." She lay Mia back down in the little tent-like crib and watched as her mouth widened the more she cried.

"Jane, have you winded her?" For some reason, the phonecall was a small relief from the gruesome deaths in front of her.

"Oh crap…" She slapped her forehead. "What do I do?"

Maura sighed. "In the changing bag there's a burp pad. Put that on your shoulder…"

"Oookay," Jane rummaged frantically thought the bag and found the thick blanket like cloth. She draped it over her shoulder. "Done…"

"Now, pick her up," the doctor's voice sounded out over the entire library to help Jane hear better. "Place her over your shoulder and rub in circles on her back. This could also be a gentle pat, whatever she's comfortable with."

Jane rolled her eyes, her friend sounding like she was doing a demonstration video. She did what Maura said though and Mia continued to bawl her little eyes out, now shaking in discomfort until the detective heard it. The small expulsion of gas, and then a small gag. "She just barfed on my shoulder, didn't she?"

"Possibly," Maura smiled. "You better now?"

"Yeah," Jane smiled, "I'm the best babysitter ever," she chortled.

"I bet you are," the blonde replied with a smirk, hearing the sarcastic snort of her friend down the phone. "Jane, I have to get back to work… Keep her on your shoulder, you can wind her some more, then she should fall asleep."

"It's bad isn't it?" Jane whispered. She could tell by Maura's harried voice that this was a hard case. There was silence. "I wish I could help." She swayed gently with the infant who was now babbling happily against her neck.

Maura rolled her eyes, "What are you gonna do? Sling the baby on your back and do all your investigating like that? Jane…"

"Jesus, I was just trying to give my support!" Jane snapped slightly. She paused. "I hate that it's got you wigged. What's going on?"

Maura sighed and looked back to Henry Luton, whose fingerprints were being taken by forensics. "I'll tell you when I get home."

"Maura…"

"I've got to go, Jane."

"Maura!"

The doctor growled. "What is it?"

"You're not coming home tonight are you? You're gonna leave me here with the rugrat."

Now tears flooded Maura's eyes. "This… it's horrible."

The detective, who had decided to rest on the couch with the quieting baby, now sat back up again when she heard her friend's tone. "Maur…"

"It's… one woman, a pair of scissors penetrated through the very top of her spinal column, straight into the brain. In her neck, Jane… her thumb was cut off and placed inside the book she was reading. The next, a young man… strangled to death by a noose. A noose, who does that?"

Jane had gotten up again and began to pace, slightly thankful that the walking was putting the infant to sleep. She slipped the cloth from her shoulder and tossed it into a carrier bag. "I hate this."

Maura sniffed back tears. "I know you do."

"If… if that stupid fucking doctor would just clear me… we'd be fine."

The blonde sighed with a gentle smile, then saw Korsak pointing to his watch. "Sweetheart, you can't eat anything but toast and cocoa-puffs at the moment without it causing you to dash for the bathroom."

Jane was getting frustrated and she paced faster. "Text me when you're on your way home."

"I will, better than that, I'll even ring you." the doctor nodded.

"Ooooh," Jane chortled.

"I've got to go, or Vince is going to be asking me when he's going to meet the boyfriend."

Jane spluttered a little, but couldn't keep the smile off her face. "Hey, Maur?"

"Yes, Jane…"

"I love you."

Maura was too stunned to even move, or say anything. She didn't even know what to say back. Mumbling a quick, "Me too," she hung up the phone and wiped the wide eyed expression from her face as well as she could.

The detective looked at the phone in her hand and put it on the kitchen tabletop with a sigh. Maura was really freaked, and she didn't like it; but she was also right. There was no way in hell Jane could ever get to the crime scene without the urge to throw up. She groaned. She was becoming like Frost and it annoyed her to no end. Sensing quiet, she sneakily looked at the baby on her shoulder who was now soundly slumbering. Her heart did a little jump of jubilation before she tottered over to the crib and gently laid Mia down. Doing a little celebratory dance, it took a second for her to realize what she was doing before she looked around self-consciously. "She said, 'me too'." Jane tried not to let the sense of urgency in Maura's voice get to her. She still said it. But she didn't say, 'I love you too.' Is that different? Doesn't 'Me too,' mean that she didn't really mean it at all? Was she just saying it back because she could, and she didn't want to hurt me? The detective rolled her eyes. She was too new to this love stuff. She realized she had no idea what she was doing and she growled before picking up the pop-up crib slowly, bringing it into Maura's bedroom.

She gently let it down to the floor, watching in amazement as the baby didn't stir an inch. "You really are adorable," the detective hushed and found a suitable place to put the sleeping child. She sighed and pulled off her sweats and t-shirt before crawling into the double bed. They had begun sleeping together in the same room ever since Jane's nightmares intensified about serial killing delivery boys. She trusted nobody with food at the moment, and both of them had to accept this was going to be a very long recovery.

Maura woke to a loud wailing coming from the next room. She frowned in worry and dashed out of bed, taking a right turn until she reached the next room down the corridor. Knocking gently, she heard no command, just more wailing and crying. Her hands shook as opened the door, peeking inside to see Jane thrashing about, a sheen of sweat on her skin.

Hurrying over, Maura sat down at the edge of the mattress and put her hand against Jane's chest. "Wake up, Jane…"

Just more moaning. She shook the brunette a little until Jane leapt from the bed and put her hands around Maura's neck. "JANE!" Maura bellowed, "It's me! It's Maura…" She saw panic in her friend's eyes. "Just, let go. Let me go…" She soothed and waited for the fingers to loosen.

Jane was still incredibly fuzzy, and the doctor secretly guessed that her friend wouldn't remember it. The cop just looked at her vaguely and began to cry. "Mau… Maura.."

"Shhh, I'm here," Maura hushed and pulled her down to sit on the bed. Jane immediately huddled close and began to sob into the woman's shoulder. "Let's go to my room… Come on…"

Jane nodded slightly and held Maura's hand as she was pulled around the dark house, flinching at any sound she heard from Bass or Joe. When they were inside the immaculate bedroom, she felt Maura tugging on her clothes. "Wh… What are you doing?" She tested her hoarse voice out into the night air.

"You're soaked to the skin," Maura fussed and pulled off her friend's sweats.

"You don't need to baby me." Jane grouched. When Maura stood up, the detective held in a gasp at two slightly cold hands on either side of her face.

"I am not babying you. You are a grown woman, but you're also going through a lot of psychological distress. You are untrusting, and speculative and you're not the Jane I know. Now get in that bed, and I'll help you go to sleep."

"I'm scared…" Jane whispered.

"Scared of what?" Maura pacified her with gentle tones to her voice.

Jane sat down and rolled into the woman's bed, still warm. "Everything… how did we not know, Maur? A… Anything could have got me… but some fucking Szechuan noodles? Seriously? That's what nearly killed me?" The thought of food made her go green. She held her mouth shut.

"Jane?" Jane's eyes were wide. "What is it, are you going to be sick?" Maura asked and sat back when Jane dashed out of the bedroom and the blonde was greeted to the common sound of gagging. She looked at the ceiling and groaned, before standing up, resettling her nightclothes and approaching the on-suite bathroom where Jane was hunched over the toilet bowl, heaving. "Sweetie…" Maura crouched down and rubbed the woman's thin back.

"This sucks," Jane spluttered.

"Your body's still recovering. The high levels of cortisol in your body won't do much, either" Jane sniffled and felt a small kiss to her shoulder. "I want you to get help."

"What? No!" Jane whined. "You mean see a shrink?"

Maura shrugged and handed the woman some tissue. "An appropriate psychologist may help you with your recovery, yes." She waited for a long while as Jane mulled the idea over. "You all done?"

Jane frowned and nodded. "I hate being a burden."

Maura groaned. "Not this self-pitying again, Jane… I do not think of you as a burden. You are my best friend… now let's just get some sleep. Please. You're killing me here."
Jane gave a little giggle and wiped her mouth with her hand before padding to the sink and swilling her mouth out with some Listerine. She was led back to the bed and hesitantly lay down under the covers where Maura reached out. "Turn around," the doctor ordered.

Jane's expression was one of pure hilarity and her eyes widened, eyebrows at her hairline. She peered at the younger woman's face."What?"

"Turn over…" Maura said again, this time more gently. Jane shuffled, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. She turned around though and was unable to hold in the sigh of contentment when she felt nimble arms wrap around her waist. One hand held her belly and stroked gently, playing with the downy peach fuzz below her navel. "Feel better?"

Jane's breath caught. "Absolutely," she whispered.

"Good," Maura seemed happy with that. "Sleep." And so Jane did, snuggling back into her big spoon of a friend. It was the best she'd slept in a long, long time.

oxoxoxo

"You okay?" Korsak looked at the blonde who came back and put on a new pair of gloves. Maura sighed and looked at him wearily.

"Jane's having a little trouble at home."

"Wh…is she okay?" He looked concerned.

To this, Maura gave a small snort. "We were supposed to be babysitting for a friend of Angela's. I had to leave her with a six-month-old."

"Janie? With a baby?" Korsak chuckled.

"Exactly," Maura laughed at his incredulous look. "So she phoned and I was greeted to the sound of a very unhappy infant." She shook her head, her ears still ringing.

Korsak shook his head in disbelief. "You've changed that girl. She hates babies."

"Oh she still does," Maura chirped. "It took a lot of convincing."

"I'll bet," he said, watching her as she left to re-examine the second body.

"Time of death, doctor?" Frost asked, as Maura as given some calculations to look over from one of her techs.

Maura checked the body's joints and limbs.

"He was found, when?"

Frost looked at his notes. "Timmermans, found at 7.40, Luton at 8pm. He's a little more hidden." Maura nodded.

"Body in its first stages of rigor, just like Femke," Maura she felt around the bicep and calculated the strength of stiffness. "We've been here for around 3 hours… I'd say time of death for both of them was around 6.30. Lab tests will confirm this."

Frost seemed happy with that. "I'm gonna head back, see what they've got for us."

Maura nodded as they began to cart the man's body away. "Looks like I'm going back too…"

"Follow you there?" Frost asked.

"Sure," she nodded and watched him leave. Taking off her gloves, she grabbed her handbag but was stopped from turning when Korsak caught her.

"Dr. Isles, go home."

"Go home?" Maura frowned, shaking her head. "Are you out of your mind? There are two bodies there, I need to go to the lab."

Korsak sighed and looked at the woman's deep-set eyes. "You are too tired to drive."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm driving. You buy coffee, but there is no way I'm letting you into that car of yours, Maura. No way."

She huffed and nodded, shouldering her handbag before stomping out of the library.

The ride over to the precinct was uncomfortably silent until Vince broke it. "Jane settling in okay?"

"She's fine," Maura nodded, her mind inadvertently rushing back with arms wide open to the probable image of Jane fast asleep in her bed.

"Good… good," Korsak nodded. "Are you together?"

Maura's jaw dropped, then moved it to try and close her mouth. "What?"

"Are you two an item? Or are you just making everybody think that," he said slowly.

Maura didn't reply, just slouched further into the car seat. She was relieved when the car stopped and she practically ran out of the vehicle.

"Maura!"

"What is it?" She snapped.

"Oh… umm, you forgot your bag," he held up the leather Vivienne Westwood Berkley bag. She walked up to him and muttered a thanks before walking up the horrible steps to the police department. "And Maura!"

"What?" She turned to him, tears in her eyes. She knew the emotions were from lack of sleep and the long day but that didn't help matters much. She needed coffee, now.

"You can talk to me, you know?" He patted his chest with a pointed look. "I did when I was scared. You can if you are…"

She swallowed and nodded, then turned her back; the prospect of caffeine seemingly too far away.

To be continued...