A/N:The penultimate Chapter folks - we're nearly there!
The hours tick away. Frost has found a safe deposit box belonging to Hughes at a bank in Portsmouth. He's waiting for an ADA to get a warrant signed so they can get access to what's inside it. Cavanaugh has organised a police helicopter to fly them to Portsmouth when they're ready. Frankie and Cooper are already there. They are held up at the Portsmouth Hospital waiting to see if Hughes regains consciousness. He's in a recovery ward after hours of surgery. The Doctors are only giving him a fifty-fifty chance.
CSI have gone over the remnants of Hughes residential address at Fresh Pond. They have found a computer and they are trying to recover data from its hard drive. They can't tell Korsack how long before they'll know if there's anything on it.
By 9:00am Korsack and Frost are on their way. They arrive at Portsmouth and are greeted by local police who take them to the bank in question. By 9:45am they know that Hughes planned to become Professor Charles Edwards. They have his new credit cards and passport, among some other certificates and things that lend authenticity to the new Hughes. Local police take Korsack and Frost back to their station where Frost does a search on everything he can find on Edwards.
Frost learns he's registered to teach part-time at the McGill University in Montreal,Canada. He contacts the University and finds out that Edwards has his home address listed at Colchester, Vermont. As he and Korsack are driven back to the waiting Police Helicopter, Korsack calls Cooper and lets them know where they're heading. Cooper and Frankie are to stay with Hughes and call Korsack the moment they are able to talk to him.
When they arrive in Colchester it's just after midday. Little do Korsack and Frost know that the house where Jane, Angela and Maura are being held captive will blow up in less than two hours! That is unless Maura can find the formula needed to deactivate the explosives.
Maura knows! Maura has worked for eighteen hours nonstop. The whiteboard is covered in notes and equations. She's even colour coded her notes on the board so as not to confuse things. She has the three computers operating and each with three different programs running deciphering various elements of data she's entered. The computers are crunching away but not fast enough for her. At one stage through the eighteen hours she had more test tubes being used then she could count. She's narrowed her analysis down to two. She knows she's close. Her heart skips a beat each time she wonders if she's close enough.
Angela walks into the room tentatively. She's terrified of disturbing Maura but she's equally terrified of not knowing where they're at. She and Pauline have had a bit of sleep; sharing the responsibility of caring for Jane. Jane still hasn't regained consciousness since Hughes struck her. Angela stands quietly looking at her daughter's best friend; Maura hasn't realized she's there. Maura's usual immaculate appearance is looking disheveled. Her hair looks like she's run her hands through it in frustration too many times. She's kicked off her shoes and her blouse is un-tucked around her waist.
Angela then looks at the clocks before interrupting Maura. She can't help wondering whether she has less than two hours to live. "Hi sweetie" Angela offers tentatively. ""how is it going" her question is full of hope. Maura looks up from her microscope. The image jumps across the room to Angela and shocks her. Maura's eyes are bloodshot; the rings that surround them are dark and puffy. Maura has a swollen and bruised lip and chin and horrific bruising around her neck.
"Hello..." Maura coughs; her mouth and throat are very dry. "Excuse me, hello Angela. How is everything downstairs?"
"There's no change honey; I'm so scared for Janey. Oh God Maura I'm so scared for all of us" Angela's voice shakes and tears tumble-down her cheeks.
"Try not to worry Angela, I feel like I'm close" Maura says; her voice somewhat flat. It doesn't fill Angela with confidence. "One thing you should do though, try to find all the blankets and cushions and other soft objects you can. When our time is up, I want you all in the room downstairs. Hughes might just have done you a favour by adding padding to the walls" Maura explains.
Angela stairs at Maura in disbelief, "what are you saying?"
"Angela you should be prepared. You should move Jane into the center of the room. You and Pauline should wrap the three of you in as much protection as you can; you never know; it could make a difference to your survival; it could keep you all alive."
"No, you said you were close Maura; you're going to do this; I know you are" Angela says. Maura's not sure who she's really trying to convince.
"Angela I'm not giving up; I promise. The thing is… I'm human and if I do make a mistake, you need to give yourselves the best chance to make it out of here."
"But what about you" Angela looks at her.
Maura smiles, "well I'll be up here entering the code. I'm going to wait to the very last minute. You never know; Korsack, Frankie and Frost could show up with a solution to save us all."
"Oh" Angela says without much enthusiasm.
Maura smiles again "on you go Angela, go and find as much protection as you can. I need to keep working. I'll come and give you a five-minute warning OK." Angela moves in to give Maura a hug; Maura instinctively raises two hands in front of her pushing Angela back. "Please don't" is all Maura says. Angela drops her head and leaves.
Maura painstakingly goes through all her analysis for the next hour and forty-five minutes. The computers have obliged her in time and the last piece of the puzzle is whether she uses 4 parts Cadmium or five. She runs the numbers again; eventually she's satisfied with five. She races downstairs and gets Pauline and Angela. She needs their fresher eyes. The three women return to the lab. Maura goes to the computer that will deactivate the bombs. She types in the formula she has written in large red letters on the board. C9H15O4 Cd5 Tl3
"OK, I want you both to double-check what I've typed in here. Don't touch the computer just double-check" Maura explains. "It must say exactly the same as what's on the board." As they do it, Maura has a last minute thought about the Thallium. She runs and grabs a computer report. She scans it looking for the Thallium as it relates to the level of oxygen. Maura breaks into a sweat. Her hands start to shake. Breathe she tells herself. With seven and a half minutes to go, Maura changes the Thallium back to two. Her confidence is shattered. This last minute error has left her feeling sick. She enters the new formula, 'C9H15O4 Cd5 Tl2'. "OK ladies go and get ready" Maura advises.
Angela looks at Maura; Maura tries to give her a reassuring smile. "Give Jane a hug from me Angela."
"Oh sweetie" again Angela tries to hug Maura but Maura pushes her away. Politely and with a smile but she refuses Angela's embrace.
"Angela, I'm so sorry. I've done everything I could; I promise. If this doesn't work I want you to know I'm so sorry" Maura fights back tears.
"I believe in you Maura, it will work" Angela smiles and then drops her head and leaves.
At 00:00:30 on the clock Maura moves her shaking hand to the enter button on the computer keyboard. She hits the key and holds her breath.
At 2:30pm the Doctors at Portsmouth Hospital walk into the room where Cooper and Frost are waiting. Both are pacing; frantic for news. "Officers; Dr. Jackson Hughes has died of massive internal injuries. He did not regain consciousness after the accident. He was pronounced at 2pm today. I'm sorry" the Doctor states in a formal tone.
"Damn!" Frankie's frustration comes though in his tone.
Cooper takes control of the situation. She thanks the Doctor. She then picks up her phone and calls Korsack. He and Frost are in the helicopter on their way back to BPD. "Hughes died" Cooper announces when Korsack answers. "We never got to speak to him."
"Ah hell" Korsack says in frustration. "Cooper, you and Frankie get back to headquarters ASAP. We've got to find another plan; there was nothing at Colchester that was of any help. We'll be there in fifteen" he explains.
Maura is already working on the antidote to save Jane when Angela and Pauline race into the laboratory; some five minutes after the supposed explosion. Maura doesn't have a chance to pull away as they go to embrace her. "You did, you did it!" They both shout with delight as they hug her.
Maura allows herself to feel their relief and exuberance for a moment. She smiles at both these women. She then looks at them in all seriousness. "It's not over;" she points to the other clock. "Pauline can you look around and see if you can find a phone or a way out of this building. Just don't touch anything; come and get me if you find something."
"Yeah sure; why shouldn't I touch anything" she asks.
"I'm just being careful" Maura explains. "They may not have gone off but the explosives are still there" she explains. "I just want to be sure he doesn't have other tricks up his sleeve he hasn't told us about."
When Pauline leaves Angela gives Maura another hug. "You are amazing you know that" she says. Maura's not comfortable but she doesn't push her away.
"You may not feel that way if I don't come up with an antidote for Jane" Maura says with trepidation in her voice. "Come on" Maura says as she picks up her kit to re run tests on Jane.
When Maura walks into the cell Jane is lying on the air bed in the middle of the room. In a circle around Jane is all the things Angela and Pauline had collected to protect themselves from the impact of a blast. Maura gets down on her knees to treat her friend. Jane is melting in a lather of her own perspiration. She is shivering despite being covered in blankets. She is very pale and to Maura's horror her pulse is very weak.
Maura's nerves and emotions are thread bare; not to mention the fact she's exhausted. She finds herself getting angry at Jane. "Come on Jane Rizzoli, help me here; do you hear me. You fight Jane; you fight." Maura's body starts to shake as the tears come. She is kneeling over Jane and Angela can't see her face but she can feel Maura's pain.
"She's a fighter Maura; Janey won't give up. I won't let her" Angela says. She touches Maura's shoulder.
Without looking at Angela Maura pulls herself together. "That wasn't very professional of me; sorry Angela" is all she says. She checks Jane's eyes; takes more blood and takes her temperature. She then tells Angela to stay with Jane as she races back upstairs to get back to work.
When Maura looks up again the clock staring back at her says 00:15:32. It seems to be dropping quickly. The other uncertainty for Maura is that Hughes said Jane would die in plus or minus ten or so minutes. Maura had also hoped that by now she'd have access with the outside world but Pauline had not found anything that gave her hope. Jane's life was in her hands. Of all the things that bastard Hughes could do to her; it was this. Maura would talk for the dead everyday of her life but fighting for the living was not her strength. Fighting for Jane terrified her.
The process for the antidote in theory was simple. Maura had to find the chemical elements that would balance the poisons. The thing that makes it tricky is what Jane's body is producing to fight the poisons. With all the information she has Maura has a degree of certainty that what's she's developed will at the very least keep Jane alive. She doesn't want to wait any longer. She takes her kit downstairs. When she gets to the cell Maura can see Jane's condition hasn't changed. Angela is mopping her brow with cool water and Pauline is sleeping.
Maura goes to Jane and takes her arm. She injects the antidote into it. Once done; all she can do is to wait. For the first time in twenty-two hours Maura can do nothing more. She sits and leans back against the wall of the padded cell. She fights the overwhelming urge to be ill.
Angela looks at Maura and asks the question she's terrified to ask. "Will she be OK Maura?"
Maura opens her eyes. "I'm certain it will keep her alive for now but the sooner she's in a hospital, the better I'll feel Angela." Maura shuts her eyes again. She desperately wants to sleep but deep down she knows her work isn't finished. As she relaxes for a moment she gets an idea. "Pauline; wake up. Pauline!"
It doesn't take much to wake Pauline. She's alert in no time. "What is it Doctor Isles?"
"What are you like on social media; twitter to be precise" Maura asks.
"I love it, I'm on twitter all the time" Pauline responds.
"Good, come with me." Maura takes Pauline upstairs. She plugs the computer into the network. "I was thinking we could use twitter to broadcast statements to Boston Homicide without making direct computer to computer communications" Maura explains.
"Why wouldn't you just email your contacts" Pauline asks.
"A. I'm not certain how to set up my email and B. I'm terrified Hughes might have traps set up for the explosives that are still everywhere. I don't want to do something that might trigger an explosion" Maura explains.
Pauline sets up a twitter account for Maura. Maura tells her what she wants to communicate. Pauline quickly puts in a hash tag for Boston Homicide and starts sending a generic message for Barry Frost to contact them on this twitter address. Maura tells Pauline to come and get her if they get a response. She goes back downstairs to watch Jane.
Frost is sitting at his desk. Frankie is pacing beside him. Korsack is in Cavanaugh's office copping a mouthful and Cooper is sitting at her desk at a loss. It's 5pm and Jane, Angela and Maura have been missing for about day; day and a half. There's been nothing for the team to act on since their last dead lead from Hughes. Frost's cell phone rings. He listens as someone explains that some nutter on twitter is sending messages for him to contact Dr. Isles.
Frost logs on to Twitter and opens an account. He starts following the hash tag for Boston Homicide as advised and starts to see the tweets coming in from an on-line version of Dr. Isles. He sends a response and waits.
Meanwhile Pauline nearly falls off her chair when she sees a tweet come in from Barry Frost. She runs down stairs to grab Maura. She and Maura race back upstairs to see what's going on.
"Pauline is there a way we can speak to this person without the whole world seeing" Maura asks.
"Yeah sure, lets direct message him" Pauline explains. "What should I say?"
"Well we need to be sure it is Frost" Maura says. She thinks then suggests the following message. 'If you're Frost; what's the middle name of your partner?' Pauline sends it.
Seconds later they get a response that says one word 'Clementine'.
"OK" Maura says. "Ask him what he needs us to do to trace this computer so he can find us." Pauline types away and waits. When they receive Frosts response Maura looks at Pauline. "Can you do what he's asking?" Pauline nods and sets the computer up for Frost. "Tell Frost the building is wired with explosives and to be careful" Maura adds. Pauline types another tweet. Maura leaves Pauline to liaise with Frost and goes back downstairs to check on Jane.
When Maura gets downstairs she checks Jane's pulse and it's stronger. She checks her fever and it's dropped. "Angela she's improving" Maura says and leans against Angela in pure relief. Maura explains that they've contacted Frost and she thinks everything is going to be OK. Angela hugs Maura and for the first time since she joined them in this hell hole Maura really appreciates the hug.