Not 100% happy with this chapter but I wanted to try and give u guys an update, again may b a delay for the next one depending on how mental work is due to the Holiday!

As all hope was fading and Maura had resigned herself to the inevitable gloomy depths of death a noise began to ring out. Far away and indeterminable at first but its insistence brought Maura back from the clutches of the darkness. She frowned at the unrelenting noise as it sounded as if it were coming closer and closer to her. It wasn't until it was ringing in her ears that the recognition clicked in. My phone! Hope sprang alive in her heart and the darkness lost its hold. She opened her eyes and was blinded by light.

Jane braced herself as she took hold of the door handle. She had been warned that the smell at this crime scene was even worse than the last, if that was even possible. Jane set her jaw and swung open the door into the large warehouse. The smell nearly floored her and her eyes immediately watered. She began walking over to the body hanging from the rafters when she spotted something behind the body. She walked around the hung corpse and gasped at the wall behind.

Once the initial glare of the light had subsided Maura looked around in shock. She looked at the grim face staring at her and she swallowed nervously. "Wha-" her throat burned and she couldn't ask what she wanted. The blaring noise was still insisting to be heard and she looked down at her phone ringing and picked it up still in a state of shock "D-Doctor Isles." Her voice was barely audible.

Jane snapped a photo of both the body and the wall before frowning as she noted there was no flower. She began hunting using the smell as her guide, it lead her to the body and nowhere else. She would have to wait for the medical examiner to cut the body down. She closed her eyes and prayed it wasn't Dr Pike, the man was insufferable. Her prayers were answered as she heard the familiar click of heels approaching her back. Her eyes flew open and she turned to face Maura with concern. "Why are you here?"

Still unsettled by her disturbing nightmare that she had to explain to the poor worried nurse tending to Paddy Doyle, Maura retorted sarcastically "I am in fact the chief medical examiner for the state of Massachusetts, and as such my job is to examine bodies and crime scenes such as this." Jane was still looking at her with such compassion that it almost broke the ME's professional resolve. She stalked away from Jane and stood underneath the body. "Victim, heavy set Caucasian male." She turned to the green faced team who had followed her in, she gestured at the body "Let's get him down please."

Jane looked at Maura with unease, she looked as deathly pale as she had at the last crime scene, she didn't want her friend to exert herself, especially if this whole thing was something to do with Paddy Doyle. "You don't look so good." It was lame but it was the only thought Jane had in her head.

"Why thank you detective, it's always nice to be complimented." On the outside Maura was cool and collected but on the inside she was very much still shaken up by that all too real dream. She tried to push it out of her mind and concentrate on the body being lowered. "The smell seems to be emanating from the corpse this time." As the body was laid flat on the floor Maura was left with an un-obscured view of the wall behind. She gasped at the sight.

"How is he?"

Maura was stunned; not only by Jane's question, which came at the wrong time but also by the scrawl across the large warehouse wall.

"Maur?" Jane took a tentative step closer to the ME who appeared to be hypnotised by the writing on the wall. "Pretty creepy huh?" Maura was still staring unblinking at it. "Wanna bet it's blood?" Jane's attempt to be jovial fell on deaf ears as Maura simply nodded. Jane stared at her friend as if she were a stranger; Maura doesn't guess. Maura doesn't bet. Maura won't commit to anything other than a red brown stain. What's happened? Is it Doyle? Is he-? Jane's thought trailed off as she couldn't bring herself to think of the consequences if he had...

Maura felt sick and dizzy as she stared at the words; Do you remember? Something about the message didn't sit well with her and she could feel that same blackness from her nightmare creeping up around her, trying to reclaim her. After what felt like a century she managed to tear her eyes away from the words and knelt down by the body. She frowned at the victim's throat; it was much larger than it should have been. "There appears to be something lodged in his throat."

Jane watched her friend as she stared at the bloody message, she didn't think Maura could get any paler but the more she looked at the words the paler she got. Jane moved closer at one point; completely convinced that Maura was going to black out again. When the medical examiner suddenly switched to the body confirmed Jane's worries. The detective watched as Maura extended the head back to gain access to the throat.

Maura watched her tweezers disappear and she felt around the area until they hit something solid. She positioned her tweezers around it and heard a metallic clink as they collided. She slowly and carefully extracted the object as Jane knelt next to her. They both frowned at the object for a moment until Maura gasped in realisation.

Jane heard Maura gasp and looked at her, she had begun to tremble again, her hand so unsteady that she nearly dropped the object. Jane grabbed her hand and took the tweezers off her; not wanting to contaminate the evidence. As she did so Maura's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed.

The blackness had returned, stronger than before and it dragged Maura down to the abyss, she was powerless to resist. She could hear Jane's voice calling out to her but she was fading fast and couldn't answer her. Just as she had succumbed to her fate she felt strong hands grasp her and pull her back to the light. She blinked her eyes open and stared straight into the chocolate eyes of Jane Rizzoli. Maura began crying and couldn't stop herself.

Jane gathered her friend in her arms as soon as she could pass the evidence to a crime scene technician, she sighed in relief as soon as Maura opened her eyes but her relief faded fast as the ME began sobbing in her arms. "Maur? Maur what's wrong?" Maura simply shook her head rapidly and buried herself tighter into Jane's arms. Jane felt her heart break; how can I help when she won't tell me what's wrong? "I'm here Maur. I'm here." She held onto her tighter and let her cry.

"I-I-Ice pick."

The voice was so small and feeble and so unlike Maura that Jane nearly missed it "What? Ice pick?" Maura nodded and Jane suddenly put the pieces together. "He had the end of an ice pick in his throat?" Jane's whole body grew cold as she realised that Frost and Dean were right. This all points to Doyle. She frowned as she shook her head. She sighed heavily and lifted Maura's chin "Gonna take you home ok?" Maura shook her head and Jane gave her a stern look "You're not ok Maur, you need some rest."

Jane passed over to Frost and told him to get another ME in to do the autopsy but not to start without her, she'd be back soon. She raced Maura back to her house, tucked her up in her luxurious bed and sat with her until she fell asleep. She called her Ma and asked her to come home early and look after the medical examiner. As Angela came to take over she gave her an affectionate squeeze. Jane glanced once more at the sleeping form of her best friend; she looked peaceful for the first time in days. Jane nodded determinedly I'm gonna fix this Maur. I swear.