Thum-thum thum-thum thum-thum.

Maura froze. The steady noise coming from Jane's chest ringed in her ears, taunting her almost. She slowly pulled away looking up into such a familiar face that was so different. She could feel her breathes getting quick, her own heart beating fast trying to keep up with her mind.

Jane had a heart beat.

In a blink of an eye Maura's fingers were pressed firmly against Jane's neck, feeling for the proof, looking for the facts that pointed towards all of this being real. Jane looked confused, letting her hands drop from around Maura. The blonde could feel her fingers move ever so slightly with each pump from the strong muscle that sat at the center of Jane's chest.

Maura took a step back, stumbling. She fell to the floor, the heel of one of her shows snapping as it got caught in the grated floor.

"Ozomter larinf?" Jane asked, her arms going out as if she was going to catch Maura as she fell but couldn't get to her in time. Maura could feel the panic rising.

This can't be real, how could it?

But the woman in front of her was living proof that this was real. That going through that light passage had somehow transported her here, wherever here was. Jane leaned down, trying to help her up.

"No!" Maura shouted, shoving Jane's shoulder away from her and crawling backwards her eyes dancing around the room. There was that thing again coming into the room and looking between a fear stricken Maura and a very confused Jane. Maura's head hit the wall and she curled up into, trying to make herself invisible from this woman, this imposter and that thing. Jane crouched down, until one knee was resting against the floor, her hands up palms towards Maura.

Palms that were scar free.

Maura could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, could feel the fear prickling its way over her skin, making it erupt in goosebumps.

"Maura." Jane knew in the back of her mind that she wasn't pronouncing her name right but she tried anyways. She watched as tears starting to fall down her face. One minute they were hugging and now the woman was crying harder now. Then she opened her mouth, finally speaking in broken tones, hiccups making her repeat herself.

"You're dead. I saw you die. I WAS THERE. I WAS HOLDING YOUR HAND WHEN YOU DIED. YOU…. YOU… YOU HAUNTED ME AFTER YOUR DEATH…I saw you die." Jane had no idea what she was saying and she looked over her shoulder at Shafter all three of its eyes closed tightly; confusion.

"Maura…" That was the only word that Jane knew that Maura knew. So she repeated it, trying to calm down the crying woman. She reached out her hand but the blonde smacked it away screaming a word, while shrinking closer into the wall, her eyes wild, face red, arms wrapped around herself, knees drawn tight to her chest. With one last look at her Jane stood up walking away from her.

"Jane…" Shafter hummed when she walked by her.

"What?" She could feel her shoulders tensing, her body ready to snap.

"Would it be wise to leave her here by herself?" all three eyes half closed; worry.

"I'm going to go get her some water maybe that will calm her down." She didn't wait for Shafters reply, her boots thudding heavily against the floor, Charkgin stepping out of her way saluting her.

The door let out a soft whoosh as it opened for her granting her access to the small kitchen/R&R room the Charkgin had aboard their ship. It was deathly quiet. Not another living soul in there but Jane. As her boots hit the ground the room woke up, lights turning on. It was circular, right underneath the helm, windows lining the walls giving you a perfect view of the black hole.

She walked right past the kitchen area, its chrome twinkling in the light, spotless. She walked right up to the railing, the window towering over her, her arms leaning against them, the cold biting into her flesh. She shifted her weight, one hip rising higher than the other as she let out a sigh. There off in the distance she could see it. She could see Hapsha. Her four long wings jutting out from her engines that were burning a brighter blue than she had ever seen them. The outside lights were off, in fact. She squinted her eyes trying to look into the windows that ran along the ship. All of the lights were off. She watched as asteroids smashed into the shield, blowing up into smaller pieces.

She looked over to her left, watching as bright light was being sucked into nothing. Her hand rubbed across her face, loosening the frozen muscles. She hung her head, locking her fingers behind her neck, her forehead resting on the bar. Konif was out there. Practically her sister was out there. And she was here.

What she would give to change places with her, what she would give to protect her.

Jane took a breath, trying to calm down the rising guilt. She closed her eyes. The hum of the ship slowly fading out, the thudding sounds of the Charkgin walking above her fell into sync with her heart beat.

Breathe in through your nose out through your mouth.

Her mind turning, racing, shuffling through memories. A smile tugged at her lips remembering the first time she had met Konif.

"MOVE!" Jane shouted, Holotablets tucked under her arm as she full out sprinted. She was late, she was very very late. She took the steps up into the large capital building three at a time, people jumped out of her way, grumbling about her running through the marbled hall ways. Her shoes clapping against the floor with each step she took.

Today were her final exams, today she would figure out if she could graduate high school and move on to the Orion military academy. She skidded around a corner not seeing where she was going when she crashed into someone. They fell to the floor; limbs sprawled out, Holotablets clattering to the ground.

"Son of a." Said a high voice from underneath her.

"Oh god, I am so sorry!" Jane rasped, quickly detangling herself. A red head sat up, glaring at her.

"Watch it dude." Jane's face flushed at her tone.

"I said I was sorry." She quickly grabbed the other girls Holotablets for her, handing them back. The red head slowly got to her feet, craning her neck up to look at Jane. Jane thrusted the tablets back, bending down to pick her own up.

"Look… Sorry again… But I gotta…" Jane didn't elaborate as she bolted back down the hallway, feeling the other girl's eyes burning into her back. She skidded to a stop taking a breath right about to open the menacing oak doors when someone yelled.

"JANE!" The read head ran down the hall, stopping right in front of her, air rushing past them both. "You gave me one of your Holotablet by accident."

"Oh. Thank you." Jane quickly grabbed it, the girl's voice stopping her again.

"Good luck with your exams." Jane smiled at her before pushing through the doors just as her watch went off, telling her that her exams are starting. She barely made it.

She had walked out of that room, exhaling loudly. She had gotten a ninety percent on it, only needing seventy to graduate and be able to attend the military academy. The lanky brunette looked down at the Holotablet that the red head had given back to her.

She knew my name. Jane thought, clicking it on.

There was a self note there that she didn't write.

"Jane, I figured your name out because it says at the top." Oh yeah. "But there's this party tonight in honor of graduation and I think you owe me a better apology than that. Come? Hang out?" –Olga Konif.

Jane stood up again, facing the window. She had gone to the party, the little red head looping her arm though Jane's as soon as she saw her, telling her that she was wearing such cute shoes. They hit it off instantly, they spent all night ignoring everyone else, sitting in a corner, rolling with laughter. They had been best friends ever since. Her eyes scanned out over the wobbling lights and flying rocks, spotting Hapsha again. It looked odd to her; it looked like it was being stretched. She could tell that the cockpit was just reaching the edge of the where all the matter suddenly disappeared, the edge of the black hole. They seemed to be frozen in time, Jane could only wonder what it was like were Konif was. She sighed again, pushing off of the railing heading to the sink.

Maura rested her head against her drawn up knees, crying. How could this be real? How could any of this be real? Her hands gripped her scalp, nails digging into her flesh. Her head throbbed from where she had hit it against that wall when she was…

Was what? Maura thought through her dying down sobs. She closed her eyes remembering the feeling of being pressed through whatever it was that she was forced through. Maura felt someone standing a little bit away from her and she curled up harder, trying to make herself invisible, trying to make herself forgotten.

"Icht mzarnf." The voice hummed. It fluxed and bounced around the room they were in. In the back of Maura's mind she knew she heard that voice before. Slowly she lifted her head, looking at the thing standing a few feet back at her. Its blue eyes were doing something, they were changing colors. Wisps of green danced out from away the pupil. Its third eye closed, the lid making it disappear, blending in with the color of its skin. It took a soft step towards her, its boots scraping against the ground. Maura's eyes darted around and she exhaled, scared at what it was doing.

It rose its hands up, showing her the sign "I'm not going to hurt you." The holes in its neck slowly started to close, it not making any fast movements, trying not to startle her. Maura's breathing hitched when it finally opened a hidden mouth, taking another step closer to her. Her eyes danced around the things face. A second ago there was no mouth, but now here it was. She could see pointed teeth jutting out of gums, a paste looking tongue moving up and down swallowing saliva. The thing didn't have any lips that Maura could see. Slowly, the thing lowered itself in front of her, sitting with its legs crossed, its knees jutting out. With the holes still closed in its throat the thing appeared to be holding its breath, leaving its mouth open slightly.

It's trying to make me more comfortable… The thought suddenly struck Maura. Her eyes moved down quickly, seeing it reach in its pocket pulling something out of it. It was a small kit a red symbol on the top of it. The thing was a few inches in front of her and it dropped its eyes looking down at the kit, opening the lid with its long fingers. There was suddenly a loud humming noise. Maura looked back down at the things neck, the holes were open again, but this hum sounded different, it sounded louder and deeper than when it talked.

It lifted something in its hand, pointing at Maura's cut on her head. Its eyes changed, opening the third one back up, changing the color back to blue and half closed its lids. Maura watched with fascination, her mind seeming to forget that she was aboard a ship in the middle of space. Her tongue flicked out, biting her lower lip thinking. Slowly she moved forward, sitting crossed legged also, their knees just touching. She let her hands drop inside her lap. The thing's hum grew louder as it slowly, not trying to scare her, dabbed at the cut. She scrunched her face at the sharp pain that ran through her body but didn't say anything. As the thing worked she looked at its other hand, sitting on top of what she would guess to be a thigh. She reached her hand out, before stopping herself and pulling back.

The thing stopped its movements, watching the internal battle Maura was having. It lifted its hand placing it palm up on her knee, going back to work with its other. Like a child on Christmas, Maura grabbed it. She was careful, not wanting to hurt the thing in front of her that was showing her such kindness. She flipped the hand over and over in her own, studying it. Its skin was a pale green but there was something else to it. She lifted it, letting the harsh white light from the ceiling shine down on it better. As she moved it back and forth it shimmered with blue. She squinted looking closer. She ran her thumb over where she was looking at feeling them.

Scales.

This thing was covered in scales. As she looked back up at its face she could see them. They were tiny and made it look like it had normal skin. The holes in its neck wobbled as it sucked in air. Her eyes were drawn back down to its hand, thin webbing stretched between each of its three fingers. The space between its thumb and pointer finger was able to stretch a little bit past the length of her thumb to pinky finger, making the webbing curve and form a half dome shape that was finished with the other web that ran between its pointer finger and middle.

"You're a marine based species." Maura suddenly found herself saying. She looked up into the things eyes. "It's fascinating that your fingers have more than three joints, not to mention the face that your arm has two elbows." She stretched its arm out. As if understanding what she wanted to see the thing folded its arm, making a square shape with it. It let its arm stretch out fully again before turning it. The section between the two elbows turned, allowing its forearm to turn also. It's hand did a 360. Maura let out a laugh staring at the arm.

"With the ability to turn your hand three-hundred and sixty degrees must be truly something when you are in water." She looked at the things arm longer, bending it this way and that. It took her a few minutes to realize that it was done cleaning up her wound. She let go of its hand with a soft "oh" her mind no longer distracted with the anatomy with the thing sitting in front of her it started to turn. She could feel the panic start to settle in. Of course her mind would conjure up a species she would be fascinated with.

But this is real. Maura thought to herself. She was divided, torn. Half of her was able to accept this, was able to accept the freaky possibility that she was somehow transported to this place and Jane was very much alive. But the other half of her was screaming, was lashing out, trying to get her to wake up, and trying to get her to be able to go back to her home.

Maybe I did kill myself… and this is my afterlife.

Maura's scientific mind yelled at her, calling her stupid. There was no such thing as an afterlife, no such thing as a happy ending. Movement caught her eye. She looked up as the thing ducked its head, trying to catch her eye. It placed its hand against its chest and spoke again.

"Shafter." It gestured to Maura, who promptly replied with,

"Maura."

Shafter? Maybe it wasn't asking for my name. But her mind went back in time to when she was standing in that room with Jane and she had first seen the thing. Jane had said something; in the mix of sounds she had remembered hearing the word Shafter. Maybe that was its name.

"Maura?" It said her name perfectly, no sense of an accent except for the humming. She smiled, feeling a little odd at talking to this thing.

"Shafter," it seemed to hum louder at the sound of its name. "I know you don't understand me. It seems no one can, but thank you for fixing my head injury." She pointed at the now bandaged wound on her head to show it what she was talking about.

"Maura, Itsl zarfimph." It hummed back at her. Maura smiled her eye was drawn to the window behind Shafter's head. The ship had turned again, giving her a good view of what was outside.

Shafter watched as the smile on Maura's face fall, her face grew into a grimace, her pupils dilating. Her shoulders drew up as she wrapped her arms around her body, bringing her knees up again. Shafter didn't know what Maura was say, but this it knew. It could feel Maura's rising panic, feel her fear radiating off of her. It did the only thing that it could think off.

The hum coming from Shafter's chest grew louder and it made Maura's racing mind freeze. Her eyes were drawn to its, no longer looking out the window where the black hole sat, staring at her, mocking her. Her shoulders slowly fell, the tense muscles relaxing, her eyelids drooping. She felt her head loll forward, her forehead resting on her knees. Off in the distance she heard the sound of footsteps but sleep took over her. She didn't remember hitting the ground.

Jane paused as the door opened walking in just as Maura slumped over, Shafter catching her. She almost dropped the glass of water as the humming reached her ears, her knees giving out for a second before she could catch herself. The Charkgin were able to reach amazing pitches with their voices, but what was most impressive was the one that made Humans fall asleep almost instantly. Shafter had used it on Konif when her father had died, helping her get rid of the nightmares by staying up all night, humming to her.

"Shafter…" Jane said softly, the humming stopping. A rush of blood was sent to her head making her ears ring before clearing.

"I'm sorry Jane," Shafter was standing next to her grabbing the water out of her hands. "She was distracted by me for a few minutes but something changed and I was afraid that she would hurt herself." Jane glanced over at the blonde woman who was lying on her side on the ground, her legs curved, and her arms lying next to her.

"Jane, you are bleeding." Jane brought her hand up to her neck pulling away seeing red. Shafter walked over to Maura, grabbing the kit, while Jane leaned against the railing waiting. Her friend cleaned up the cut quickly, trying to keep busy. Jane's hand grabbing onto its shoulder made it freeze.

"She'll be alright Shaf…" The alien didn't say anything just started putting things away. Jane ran a hand over her hair sighing. "We should start rounding up the escape pods and give relief to them. Do you think you can go up to the cock pit and have them send a message to all of your ships? We don't have enough room for everyone but we should get hurt people, if there are any, aboard to help them." Shafter nodded casting a look back at Maura. "Don't worry about her; I'll take her up to one of the crew beds."

"Alright, see you in a bit." Shafter walked out, the door emitting a soft woosh as it closed behind the tall Charkgin. Jane walked over to Maura, fiddling with her Simitu suits options, making sure it would aid her in picking up the blonde. But as she bent down, carefully slipping her arm under her knees and shoulder, she stood up fast.

Lighter than I thought. Jane walked slowly, not wanting to jar the sleeping woman. Her head was resting against her shoulder, her breaths even and controlled, much different than when she had felt Jane's pulse. Jane looked back down at the blonde, who sighed in her sleep. Her makeup was smudged from her crying and Jane marveled at it. Makeup on this woman was beautiful, now a day's people plastered it on. She had worn it, along with Konif, when they had to go to formal military occasions and they got looked at by the other woman, disgusted that they wore so little.

But the way the eye shadow curved along her lid blending in with her natural color. The dark eyes made her sharp nose softer looking, not dominating her face. Reddish blonde hair flowed along Jane's arm, curling here and there. Jane looked up as she turned the corner, coming to the crew sleeping quarters. Beds were built into the walls, the hallway stretching down them. The beds were longer than a Human needed, the Charkgin having to make everything bigger because of their size. Picking a mat in the far back of the hall, not wanting anyone to wake Maura, she carefully laid her down, her head falling daintily against the pillow. She bent over, grabbing the shoes that were on Maura's feet. High heels? Well there's something we finally have in common. She let them both fall the floor, one of them broken. Jane stood up walking over to the closet and grabbed two blankets, one would be enough, but she didn't know what Maura liked. She laid the soft blanket over the sleeping woman, making sure her feet and torso were covered. Ships were always cold no matter how hard you tried to keep them warm due to the coldness of space always pressing against them.

She tucked the other one between Maura and the wall, slowly pulling back, but something stopped her; a hand clasping onto her arm, holding onto tightly. She looked up into hazel eyes that poured so much fear out of them. A small tear leaked out of one eye, slowly trailing down her face, getting lost in her hair.

"I know you're not real and I know that when I wake up you'll be gone, all of this will be gone… But… I don't want it to be," Maura's voice cracked and her eye lids drooped. Jane watched as Maura fell asleep again. The way Maura's voice sounded so hurt and how that tear had escaped. Jane could put together that what Maura said was important, maybe even hurtful. She waited a few minutes, stuck in her bent over position, before slowly pulling her arm out of Maura's grasp. She pulled the curtains closed before turning around and heading towards the cockpit.

Jane's boots thudded with authority, being the highest ranking military officer aboard the ship. But Jane didn't use her rank to over throw the Charkgin that seemed to be in charge. They started to swing around, connecting with the other seven Charkgin ships that were floating out in space, all receiving orders to open communication channels with the escape pods, seeing if anyone was hurt. Shafter stood next to Jane, translating when needed. But the operation seemed to be moving smoothly. She threw an occasional glance out of the massive windows, spotting Hapsha. It was odd only being able to only see half of the ship the rest being plunged into the black hole. There was still that odd way were it looked like it was being stretched.

The Captain chewed on her lip, looking down at her Omnicuff, wanting to call Konif. Her mind raced with what could possibly be going on inside of Wing A. She shut her eyes trying to stop the image of a lifeless redhead swam to her mind's eye. She rather felt then saw the green light on her Omnicuff click on. Swiping her finger across it Officer Carlson's face appeared. He saluted her and waited for her to salute back before speaking.

"Good to see that you made it out of the science lab OK Captain Rizzoli."

"I can say the same to you. Do you have any hurt with you?"

"No I don't but, Dr. Veronica White is aboard with me…," he paused looking at something down on the ground. "She said she found this out in the hallway." He pointed his cuff down at a greenish brown shell of some sort.

"What is that?"

"We have no idea. But we looked at where the shell opens up and there are two arms and a head. We think it's an animal that may have come through the portal…" he paused again, not knowing if he should ask. "Permission to speak freely ma'am?"

"Granted."

"Veronica says you and a woman were shot out into space. Is that true?" Jane cleared her throat speaking.

"Are you alone Officer?" She saw as he stood up and walked away from the group of people, she waited, watching the background behind his rugged face change. "Yes. A woman did come through. So far all we are able to figure out is that her name is Maura. I don't want you telling anyone else, I want to keep this under wraps as long as possible. We already have enough on our plates." She then filled him in on what was going on with Hapsha, telling him to spread the word. She hung up with him, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Do you think the Orion Fleet will force you to come home when you tell them about Maura? I'm sure regulation insists that you call them immediately," Shafter hummed. Jane thought back to Maura's sleeping face being contorted into pain as the Orion fleets scientists poked and prodded at her.

"Right now, I don't give a damn about regulation. I just want to wait this entire thing out and keep Maura a secret." Shafter nodded telling her that that is understandable.

Maura woke to the sound of someone talking. It was deep and raspy, but soft as if they weren't trying to wake her. She slowly opened her eyes. She was lying down in a soft bed, a blanket on top of her. The area that the bed was built into was large and a curtain was drawn closed on her right. That's where the voice was coming from.

Slowly she lifted it open and saw Jane stand up, turning her back to the blonde, using the wall to brace herself as she kicked off her shoes. She was speaking in a whisper. The language was harsh, the words long and drawn out. Maura could just make out the face of Shafter in one of those weird orange frames that she saw earlier. Jane seemed to end the conversation, the hallway she was standing in dimmed a little as the screen disappeared. She heard the brunette sigh heavily then her eyes grew wide. Jane started to undress. First pulling off the black jacket she was wearing, tossing it into the bed opposite of the blondes. She pulled her shirt off letting it fall to the floor before dropping her pants. She was wearing a full body suit of some sort; it was a dark grey giving off a purple sheen. Instead of the long raven locks that Maura's eyes were used to, Jane's hair stopped just past her shoulder.

Jane slipped her left arm out of the sleeve and then she carefully maneuvered her right out of the sleeve, letting the top part fall loosely around her waist. Maura's eyes were drawn to the slim silver cuff the encased Jane's right forearm. She had seen it earlier, her fascination peeked. However, her eyes got wider if possible, there along Jane's back, large, puffy scars ran the length of them. The major one looked like someone just took a steak knife to her flesh.

They look like someone whipped her.

Maura's historical part of her mind raced, gasping a little. Do they whip people here? Her eyes racked over the strong back, pausing at the bra buckle, her mind thinking about all those times she undid Jane's in the month of their dating. Her stomach lurched and she let the curtain fall, rolling over on her side.

Jane stopped moving, her ears picking up a soft sound. She wasn't sure what it was but it almost sounded like a gasp. Jane knew she had her back towards where Maura was sleeping, her scars in full view. But when she looked over her shoulder the curtain was still closed. Jane stared at the curtain a second longer before grabbing some lotion Shafter had found and started to put it on her back. After a few years with these scars Jane's reach had improved, almost able to get all of the scars with the lotion now. It helped release the tight skin around them, making the pain go away. When she was done she pulled the Simitu suit back up and slipped into the bed, leaning over and grabbing her pants and shirt. She left the curtains open, thinking that if Maura did wake up she could just look out and see Jane sleeping there, not wanting to worry her.

It had been six hours since they had came aboard the Charkgin ship, trying to get aid to as many people as possible. Jane even went to other ships, her presence calming people after the rumor that she was sucked into the vacuum of space spread like wild fire. Jane had been leaning against the railing in the cock pit, yawning and nodding off. Being awake for eighteen hours straight not helping her racing mind; Shafter had forced Jane out of the cockpit telling her to go to sleep.

But sleep never found Jane.

Konif clicked out of the video chat with Jane and Shafter, wiping the tears away. She could hear Jane's raspy voice in the call with the short little Professor and the Commander but didn't care to listen. Instead she distracted her mind with shutting down systems along Hapsha.

"Deary, are you alright?" said a high voice. The Professor was standing next to her chair, worry on his face.

"Yeah," her voice cracked so she cleared it trying again. "Yeah… I just want to get this over with ya know?" she felt Commander Jacobs walk up to her left.

"Indeed I do know," said the little man.

Konif stilled her movements looking out the massive window, Jacobs and Palmer following suit.

"We're really doing it then?" she whispered, more to herself than to them. A hand squeezed her left shoulder, the Commander finally speaking up.

"Get the ship ready pilot. I want to get this over with." Palmer rocked on his feet. They listened as the sound of energy being turned off throughout the ship, making an eerie, dvvvv, sound. Finally, lights turned off out on the bottom floor of Wing A, casting it into darkness, then the lights where they were, making the man gasp a little and finally the first floor. All three humans stilled as the ship became a ghost, the sound of Palmer shifting echoed throughout the large empty room, bouncing back to them making it seem like someone else was one board. Palmers face looked older and ghoulish because of the strange glow of Konif's screens.

"Commander, I think you'll have to be the one that goes and turns off the gravity." The darkness of the ship making Konif lower her voice.

"Right, while I'm at it I think I know where some space suits are." There was no need for space suits aboard the Hapsha, their Simitu suits providing them with air and an environment long enough for them to fix anything outside.

"If you think you can find some, that'll take a load of stress off of my back." She heard the sound of Jacobs light steps fade out as she headed over to the elevator. Konif's hands flew over the controls, guiding Hapsha into the spiral of light that was being swallowed up by nothing. She made sure the ship was perfectly lined up, before turning the throttles. She watched as the meter passed their normal cruising speed, then their normal cryosleep speed and then into the red zone. Sensors turned on, flashing red and telling her "Warning warning warning." The ship started to shake, letting out a groaning noise as the speed threatened to rip it apart. Konif shut the massive shutters over the windows, not wanting to take any chances. Small Holoscreen's showed up at her station instead of spanning out over the dark windows, trying to save power.

"Let's get this over with."

*rolls around on the floor becuase of all of my feels* I love it when you guys guess and throw in your own idea and talk to me about how I can't kill off Palmer or Konif. It makes my day. I read every single review and grin like an idiot when you guess put in your feelings.

It makes me feel that you guys are just as invested with this story and the characters as i am!

So! If you want to spew out all of your feelings towards reading this or ideas please lay them on me!

Thank you everyone who reads and Thank you everyone who reads and reviews!

~By the by~ The next chapter is going to be all aboard the Hapsha, maybe going back to the Chargkin ship where Shaf, Maur, and Jane are at the end. But... yeah. heads up.

okokok, stop talking now.

Take Care! -FTP