The message was waiting for her in her room, leaning up against the clock on her bureau.
She's so pretty, Janie. I can see why you like her.
Why you care about her.
Have you hugged her yet, Janie?
Inhaled the scent of her shampoo?
I know you haven't done anything with her yet.
But you want to.
Can't do that if she's not alive, now can you?
You know where I am.
Come talk to me, alone and I'll let her live.
I'll be waiting, Janie.
Make sure you use your lavender soap.
It crumpled in her fingers. She scanned her hands, the scabs had finally vanished. She clenched her fists and for the first time in days, there was no pain to accompany the action. She glanced at the clock. 9:42.
She sprinted quietly down the hall to the weapons room and loaded herself up. She knew where all of her detail should be. She knew where he was.
Their place, their basement. She should have thought about it before, should've prevented it. She placed as many weapons on her gear clad body as she could, and then she went to Maura's bedroom window. It was the only one with a wide enough ledge for her to step out on.
She descended the wall like a spider, muscles flexing with the exertion, but the adrenaline was pumping through her veins to her rescue now and nothing would stop her from rescuing her friend. From rescuing the best friend she'd ever had, aside from Frost.
As soon as she touched the ground, she ran to the trees, using the greenery for cover. Her glamour kept her invisible and she made quick progress along the streets of Boston, searching out that one lonely building.
She threw caution to the wind. He already knew she was coming, already knew she'd follow his instructions to the letter if only to prevent harm from befalling Maura. She was playing right into his hands, but what else could she do?
Silence was for suckers. She kicked the door open, loudly, and let the sound echo through the cavernous interior. The stairs were close to silent at best when she'd last descended them, but she stomped down them heavily this time around.
The first thing she saw was a pair of hazel eyes peeking through a curtain of blonde hair.
Maura fought against her restraints the moment she saw Jane come down those stairs. She tried to get the words out through her gag, tried to scream at her to run, to save herself, that she could take care of herself, but the words wouldn't form past the cloth.
"Janie, how wonderful of you to join us!" Hoyt called cheerfully, and Jane spun at the voice, locating his relaxed form in an armchair in a corner of the room. "I was just saying to the lovely doctor, how great it would be if you didn't keep up waiting and I am so happy to say you haven't disappointed us."
"Let her go!" Jane snarled, unsheathing a seraph blade from the scabbards at her back, and pointing it at him.
He clucked his tongue. "Now, now, now, Janie, is that anyway to treat your humble host? I invited you into my space, and you repay me by coming armed?" He sighed. "I suppose I should've been more specific in the letter I left you." He got up from his chair and slowly walked over to the captive blonde. "Alas, we'll have to do things the hard way."
Gesturing to the table at Jane's left, he instructed, "Please unarm yourself and place all your lovely weapons on that table."
Jane didn't move.
Hoyt shook his head, sighing heavily. "Must we really do this Jane?" He pulled a scalpel from behind his back and leaned over Maura, placing the blade against her neck. A ribbon of blood started dripping down her skin.
Jane threw her weapons on the table, first her swords, and then her whip and daggers. "Get away from her."
Hoyt chuckled, but stepped away.
"Now let her go," Jane demanded.
He seemed to contemplate the thought for a moment, before grinning widely. "No, I don't think I will. She's useful; helps keep you in line."
She trembled with anger, "You said-"
The grin dropped as quickly as lightning could flash, and he corrected her sternly, "I only said she'd live." He adopted the smile again and tossed her a pair of plastic cuffs. "Put them on and sit on the table over here."
Seething, Jane did as she was told, hopping up onto the cold metallic table that was about six feet away from Maura and Hoyt. Thoughts trilled through her brain as she tried to figure out a way to get them out alive.
"Stop trying to think your way out of here, Janie, you know I'm not going to let you escape this time." Hoyt tsked. "Meet my business partner instead, John Stork."
A tall, Marine-cut man emerged from the shadows from behind the stairwell. "Sir, we'd better get moving. Eventually they will notice that both of them have disappeared."
Hoyt nodded indulgently then turned back to Jane. "You'll have to excuse my friend, I picked him up from the army and now he thinks I'm his senior officer. I've tried to get him to call me Charles, but to no avail."
"Sir," the soldier insisted.
Hoyt sighed. "Yes, yes, alright. Tase her and let's get her in the van."
Jane didn't even see the darts before they embedded themselves in her clothing and washed her through with volts of 26-Watt electricity. Her muscles contracted and she couldn't move when 'John Stark' heaved her over his shoulder and carried her up the stairs.
The last view Jane had of the basement was of Maura still tied to the chair, a tear leaking out the corner of her eye as Hoyt whispered something in her ear. Their eye contact never broke until Jane was out of the basement. She fought to move, but she was paralysed completely.
Stark tossed her in the back of a van with a dull thunk.
"Careful!" Hoyt reprimanded harshly, slapping the back of his head.
"Sorry, sir."
"Get in and tie her legs together."
The van started up and moved along the streets; Jane couldn't tell where they were headed. She vaguely felt Stark immobilising her legs with what sounded like plastic cuffs.
It felt like hours, and they rarely slowed down. It must've been the highway they were on, but Jane had no idea where they were going to. Along the way, she regained the use of her muscles, but with her bindings so tight into her skin, there wasn't much more she could do that roll around.
Finally, Stark hammered on the partition between the back of the van and the cabin and the vehicle rolled to a stop. Stark jumped out of the back, and another noise told her that Hoyt had also exited the vehicle. The door to the back of the van closed almost entirely and she could hear them talking quietly. Using her knees and her bound hand, she searched in the darkness for a weapon, anything she could use to defend herself.
She could hear gravel crunching underneath their boots, the sound indicating they were still far enough away from the door.
She dug into a bag, and found a bottle. In the light from the moon coming in through the crack in the door, she could just make out the label: 'In Case of Emergency'. Well, she thought, that sounds promising. Their footsteps got closer and she tucked the bottle underneath her body, pushing the bag away from herself just as the door opened.
"Janie," Hoyt called. He poked her foot. "Time to wake up now, sweetheart." The van shifted as he stepped inside. She felt him move closer and then kneel own beside her. "Come on now." His voice was right by her ear.
She flipped over and threw the bottle in his face, happy when the spell inside attached to his skin and his face started to melt amidst the flying magical sparks. He dropped the seraph blade he'd stolen from her cache upon the table and let out an anguished scream as he tried to move the spell from his face.
Stark dove into the back of the van, a gun leaping into his hand from his side holster. Jane grabbed the seraph blade with both of her hands awkwardly, whispered its name, and knocked the gun from his grasp. He charged at her, sending the seraph blade flying and forcing its light to sputter out. They grappled, rolling around in the floor of the van, while Hoyt jumped outside, and rubbed his face in the ground, trying to get the magic off of his face.
Jane's fingers grazed the gun and in the next movement, she'd taken hold of it and fired a round at the soldier. He fell limply on top of her, making her use all of her strength to move his crushing weight off of her chest. She took up the seraph blade again, tossing the gun to the side, and cut the restraints off of her limbs.
Hoyt was still sprawled on the ground when she joined him out in the open. The spell had almost worn off, leaving the right side of his face fully disfigured. She placed one foot against his neck, so he couldn't choke out another spell, and placed the other on his wrists.
She drove downward with the blade, through both of his palms at once.
"Now we match," she declared, wiping a bead of blood from her temple. A swift kick to the bass of his skull knocked him unconscious. She pulled the cell phone the back of her utility belt and called the Institute.
"Jane, where the hell are you?" Frost's voice asked in lieu of a greeting.