"We should just give him some time Jane, I'm sure the Professor will talk soon enough," Shafter hummed. She closed her eyes, remembering waking up this morning, how easy it was then.

"Jane! Jane wake up!" She had been dozing for thirty minutes before the humming of Shafters voice pulled her out of her idle mind.

"Uh! Yeah, yeah I'm up." She sat up rubbing her hands over her face. When she let them fall she saw Maura was already up, with her legs outstretched, toes pointing at her, her back resting against the wall. At least she's not crying. Jane thought. "What's up Shafter?" she asked, rolling her shoulders. She looked down at Shafters orange face in the Holoscreen of her Omnicuff.

"Hapsha, it's coming out of the black hole now." She stood up so fast the top of the bunk hit her head.

"Ah!" She gripped the top of her head, falling back down onto the bunk. Movement caught her eye and she looked up. Maura had scooted forward, as if she was going to come over to where Jane was sitting holding her head, but thought better of it. Her bare feet were resting against the floor and her outfit looked wrinkled and tight, most likely uncomfortable. Jane slowly stood up this time, careful not to hit her head. She smiled; a soft sigh escaped her as she spoke to Shafter again.

"That's great news. Have you been able to contact anyone?"

"No we haven't but the ship seems to be looking fine so far, it appears to only be half way out though. I am nervous to see if they have survived. We have yet to fully understand black holes and I wish to see them again." Jane wanted to go see Hapsha, see her ship finally come out of that thing that was outside but her eyes were drawn to Maura again. She was looking away, her hands fiddling with each other.

"Shafter, I'll be up there in a few minutes." Shafter nodded its head hanging up. "You want some clothes?" Jane asked, then sighing remembering that Maura didn't understand her. Feeling Maura's eyes on her, she walked over to a locker, digging around. The only thing she found was a pair of boots. "Fuck." Jane said, she turned towards Maura holding them up. She couldn't help but laugh as Maura raised her eyebrows.

Maura looked at the black boots Jane was holding up. Did she really think that I would wear those? She asked herself raising her eyebrows. Her stomach dropped as laughter came from Jane. Her face was relaxed, mouth opening up, and her shoulders shaking as her voice lifted, letting it ring out. This was the first time Maura had seen Jane fully smile or laugh, always giving her the hard face or a sympathetic one.

"Shvizz lornik canjuic hishhht nimpf," Jane said through laughs, holding the boots out again. Maura looked down at her bare feet, feeling the coldness of the floor seep through them. She looked over at her shoes that sat on the floor; one of them had a broken heel no longer able to hold her up. With a sigh she held out her hand grabbing the shoes from Jane. She slipped her foot inside of it, wiggling her toes.

"They're a size to big… but I think they'll work," Maura spoke. She was speaking more to herself than to anyone else now. Jane took a small step forward, catching Maura's eye, before kneeling down in front of, trying not to spook her. The brunette placed her thumb against the toe of the boot and waited. Humoring her, Maura lifted her toe, indicating that the boot was indeed too big.

Maura froze, as the smell of Jane hit her. She closed her eyes inhaling. Lavender flowed over her and something else, something she had never been able to name but it was there too. She felt eyes on her and when she looked down Jane was looking up at her from her place on the floor, looking confused.

"You smell just like you used to, before you…. Well… before all of this." Her voice cracked a little bit, causing Jane to look even more concerned. Maura lifted her hand, gently pushing some hair out of Jane's face, her heart pounding at being able to touch her again.

She feels so real. That thought seemed to be going through her mind a lot now. Jane parted her lips, speaking softly.

"Jusht czunch einez Maura?" Maura smiled at the use of her name, looking into brown eyes, losing herself in them.

Jane continued to look at Maura, still feeling her hand against her face. Her eyes were a soft hazel. She watched as they flickered down and then back up again. Jane swallowed, feeling Maura's pinky slowly move over her neck making chills cascade down her body. Maura's smell washed over her, flooding her senses. Vanilla numbed her mind, making her forget where she was. Jane quickly stood up, taking a step back, breathing deeply. She coughed awkwardly before pointing down the hall saying,

"Uh… We should probably go to the… uh… yeah." She started walking, looking over her shoulder at the blonde who seemed reluctant to stand; but followed after Jane after a few more seconds of thinking. They walked down the hall in silence; it was only interrupted by the sound of Maura's stomach growling. The woman next to Jane blushed, but she just smiled at her and patted her stomach also. Maura stepped closer to Jane as they passed a few Charkgin who were going about their business. Their hands brushed and Jane wondered again why this woman was so fascinated with her.

She walked past the stairs that led to the cockpit and headed to the R&R room, needing to feed Maura and herself. The Hapsha was in the back of her mind, she had to fight the urge to sprint to the cockpit and look out the window, or to call Konif's cuff, and she needed to know if the redhead was OK. They stepped into the room, two Charkgin were sitting on some chairs, talking to each other with their movements. Maura watched them, as they moved subtly, their eyes changing. Jane dug in the fridge, if they were lucky they would find something they could eat.

She pulled out a small loaf of bread, smiling at the small victory. It wasn't much but it was better than nothing. She pulled a piece out and handed it to Maura, who took it slowly. Jane ripped off a piece popping it into her mouth, closing her eyes at the flavor. She looked at Maura who ripped off a chunk just like Jane but sniffed it.

"What, you guys don't have bread were you come from?" she asked. Maura put in her mouth, chewing thoughtfully. Her eyes grew wide as she fully tasted it; she ripped off another piece eating it before she finished chewing her other, hunger over taking her manners. Jane walked around the blonde and headed over to the railing, looking out the windows.

There, the massive ship, with its four wings was coming out of the black hole. Light pooled around it, escaping the same way the ship was. The ship itself was dark, the lights still off. She squinted looking harder at it, it was stretched still just like the last time she had seen it but the end of the ship was just coming out of it, the thrusters burning pure white, the heat moving the large ship forward and out of the jaws of the beast. She felt hope swell in her chest, the ship looked just fine; she'll be able to see Jacobs, Konif and Palmer within the next few hours.

The redhead pushed herself out of the way as a sonic blast hit the wall where she was. Lights danced around as both of the woman moved.

"Hailey! Holy shit! It's just me!" Jacobs stared at her, anger growing in her eyes.

"Don't play games with me you son of a bitch!" Jacobs yelled, smacking her free hand against her head. Konif raised her hands, showing she wasn't armed.

"Hailey, calm down. I'm not who you think I am," a shiver passed through her body and she said that. She closed her eyes for a moment, stopping her jaw from shaking, the cold still racing through her body. A shift of light made her open her eyes, Jacobs fired at her. Konif pushed off hard, the sonic blast grazing her leg. Her Simitu suit shield held but the blow made her spin, bruising her leg. The blast bounced off of her, and hit the wall again. Konif gripped her leg, gasping as her foot started to go numb from the hit.

"I killed you and I can do it again!" Jacobs yelled, but she wasn't aiming at Konif, she was aiming at an exposed section of the wall. Someone had removed the panel, no doubt fixing something before this mess happened. A bright red fuel line ran underneath the wall. It flickered in the light from Jacobs cuff as she pointed her sonic pistol at it. Konif knew a fire wouldn't break out with the lake of oxygen, but an explosion would still happen.

"NO-" Konif screamed, but she fired. The explosion propelled Konif backwards, hurtling her down the hall. She felt bits of metal slam into her as the fire ripped through a large section of the wall. A piece zipped by her, cutting her cheek. Her back slammed into the wall; suddenly warnings erupted from her suit.

"Warning, oxygen tank compromised. Warning, oxygen now at fifty percent and dropping. Warning." Konif gasped, she could hear the air hissing out of the small tube that rested along her spin, the small tube that granted her life. She twisted in the zero-G trying to cover the hole with her hand but she couldn't reach it. A part of her mind heard screaming behind her but she was too focused on her own problems to worry about the noise behind her. Her eyes scanned the hall, remembering the space suit that Jacobs had found.

She was next to storage unit twenty two, the one she needed was down the hall. The hissing was getting softer, she looked down at her suits stats, and her oxygen was down to thirty percent. With a look behind her she propelled herself forward, gaining speed. She bent her leg, going to push off of the floor; she let out a scream as pain jolted through her body. The blue shield bubble she was in started to flash red, telling her that her oxygen was getting too low.

She spotted the door and gripped the railing on the wall, stopping herself. She smacked her hand on the button; it opened silently, showing her a bulky space suit. She floated there for a second frozen, trying to remember how to even put one of these's things on.

"You have to pull it out and unzip it from the back, remember, just like I showed you." Konif didn't turn around to know who was talking. She gripped the bulky thing, bracing her leg against the frame, gaining leverage. The helmet floated around the small closet as the suit gave way from its locks.

"Warning, oxygen levels at ten percent. Please refill immediately." Konif's breaths were coming in shorts bursts, most of her air escaping through the hole in the tank making her panic. She shoved her legs into the suit not caring for the pain in her left thigh. She held up her left arm, breathing heavily, she connected her Omnicuff with the suit, turning it on. She felt the zipper on the back do itself up, as she turned and reached into the closet reaching for the helmet.

"Warning, oxygen levels now depleted, please refill immediately." Konif gasped, not anticipating the loss of the air so soon. Her gloved hands brushed the helmet as her mind screamed at her to hurry up. Finally she grasped it, slamming it down over her head. She heard the locks slide into place and then air blasted out of ducts in the helmet. Konif gulped, panting as the air rushed at her granting her life. Looking through the plated glass down at her Omnicuff she saw the oxygen levels of the suit, less than fifty percent.

"Fucking cut me a break," she mumbled to herself turning the bulky suit that was much too big for her towards were Jacobs was. Jeff was standing there, bleeding everywhere, making her shiver harder. She doesn't let her eyes linger to long on her dead father, instead started to make her way down the hallway, the suit hard to maneuver.

"Oh… no," she said softly, closing her eyes as she stopped herself. The hall was lit by the lights on the helmet. She could make out fuel coming out of the damaged line, a large section of the wall gone. She pushed herself over, grasping the emergency shut off, pulling with all of her strength shutting it off. The air from the suit was musty and it made her sneeze. She gasped, blood from her cut floating away forming little balls in the air. She turned looking towards were the Air passageway was, clenching her stomach as she looked at the person floating there. Jacobs was slowly turning, motionless in the zero-G. A massive piece of shrapnel jutted out of her head, her eyes already misted over. Konif straightened herself out, brushing the bits of metal out of her way.

"Alex this is Konif, do you read me?" she asked, forgetting about the little man that was in the cockpit by himself. Static was her answer.

"Maybe he's busy firefly."

"And maybe you're not real!" she yelled turning herself around, facing nothing. Then suddenly the ship lurched, she was holding onto the wall railing so she was flung with it. Groaning echoed all along the walls, the metal fighting against the black hole. I need to be in the cockpit. She gulped turning towards the Air passageway, careful not to touch Jacobs, the suit just fitting and headed towards the H.C.C., willing herself not think about Jacobs's body.

"Alex!" Konif yelled as she pulled herself out of the Air passageway. The little man was curled up just floating there. "Alex! Are you OK?" She stopped herself just in front of him. He didn't respond to her and flashing coming from her console caught her eye. She stared at Palmer for a second longer before settling herself in front of the Holoscreens.

"Here goes nothing," she mumbled to herself. She looked at the Holographs of outside, pitch black. The flight path looked normal and she could feel the slightest of pressure pulling down on her, the ship was entering its arch. The redhead punched in the code for the automatic flying controls came out.

"Specialist Pilot Konif, Manuel flying has been engaged."

"Do you want a fucking medal for your observation skills?" she asked Andi, grabbing the stick and pulling on it.

"Jane, you just got here in time, Hapsha is almost out of the pull of the black hole!" Shafter hummed. Jane and Maura had made their way upstairs, the blonde talking a mile a minute about something, she kept pointing at Hapsha; Jane could only listen to the odd sounds she was making and the way her voice rose and dropped. Shafter hummed louder when it spotted Maura who smiled back at it.

"Captain Rizzoli!" a Charkgin shouted. "Someone aboard Hapsha is attempting to make contact with us." The Holoscreen shined softly then went black, colors flickered across it.

"GET SOOOOMMMMEEE!" They heard Konif's voice before they actually saw her. A distorted image of her popped up, her image freezing and then unfreezing, her voice not matching her lips. "Does anyone read me? I repeat, does anyone read me?" Jane looked at the Charkgin who was in charge, closing its third eye, letting the bottom two fill up with blue; happy. It nodded its head at her, she stepped forward her voice rasping out.

"We read you loud and clear Pilot Konif."

"It's good to hear your voice Captain, damn good." Jane noticed Konif was in a space suit and she saw Palmer floating behind her in a ball.

"Konif, how much longer do you think we need to wait before coming aboard?" she glanced out the window as she said it, the ship's thrusters still burning.

"I still think we should give it a few more minutes, I can still feel the pull of the black hole…." She trailed off and what Jane could make of her face was worry.

"Konif is everything alright?"

"Commander Jacobs is… dead ma'am." Konif grew formal in the role of bringer of bad news. Jane felt her stomach drop. She rubbed her forehead, frustration making her shoulders tense. Just one thing after the next. Hailey Jacobs face flashed before her. She ran her hand through her hair, surprise the stress isn't making it grey.

"She was good person…," Jane cleared her throat. "We'll take care of all of this mess when we get aboard. How's Palmer?"

"Jane… some things happened while we were on our little mission. It's easier to explain in person," she paused. "But the Professor is fine, just not speaking."

Maura watched the interaction between Jane and the redhead woman wondering this woman was to the brunette. Shafter was standing next to her and its humming increased when it saw the redhead also. She looked up at it asking,

"How do you do that?" Shafter glanced down at her, third eye closed; bottom two filling up with blue. "How do you do that!?" she asked. Her mind raced with all the possible answers but the thing turned away from her, stepping up next to Jane speaking. The redhead smiled, talking back. Maura could only understand a few words and Jane and Shafter's names and that was all. She felt so lost.

She leaned against the railing that lined a window, looking at the large ship. She remembered being thrown out of something, hitting her head. She touched the bandage. And then the next thing she knew, Jane was holding her and they were floating around in space. A shiver passed through her body.

Jane was walking up to Maura when she saw the shiver. She slipped off her jacket, placing it on the blonde's shoulders.

"Oh, Thank you Jane," she said, pulling the jacket closer. The brunette smiled, mostly at hearing her name. She paused before leaning back against the railing, looking over the cockpit and not the window. She glanced at the woman, tapping her on the shoulder. The blonde looked at her, wondering what she wanted. Jane pointed at herself,

"Jane," and then pointed at the blonde. She already knew Maura's name, but she knew she wasn't pronouncing it right. She cleared her throat saying Maura's name the best she could.

Maura straightened up facing her, understanding that she was trying to pronounce her name right. Slowly she sounded it out for the brunette who repeated it to herself, finally saying it right.

"Maura?" She smiled at Jane, nodding her head. Hazel eyes locked with brown as they stared at each other. The brunette however, dropped her gaze, smiling to herself, glad that she was saying Maura's name right. Jane looked down at her hands, rubbing them a bit, mostly to give herself something to do, wanting to past the time. She felt Maura's eyes on her but she didn't look up.

Maura watched as Jane rubbed her left hand slowly. Her stomach dropped as she watched the motion. How she had seen Jane do it so many times before, trying to let the blood flow back into her fingers. Jane stopped, and laced her fingers together, letting them fall in front of her, the backs smooth and un-damaged. Maura looked up and found Jane looking at her confused.

She reached out, Jane's eyes on her and then placed her hand in between the brunettes shoulder blades, letting it sprawl out. Maura knew she was touching them, touching the scars that Jane would always have. The brunettes face went white, her eyes widening.

She felt Maura's hand pressing against her biggest scar that ran the length of her back. The back of her neck prickled and she felt the hair rise. She quickly stepped out of the touch, turning without looking, and walked over to Shafter needing to distract herself.

Jane sighed, rubbing her hand against her face again, pulled out of her memory. She looked over at Maura who was looking around and squeezed her shoulder to get her attention.

"Shafter, do you mind if you stayed with Maura? I need to make rounds, see how people are holding up." Shafter hummed, looking at Maura who glanced between them. Jane let go of her hand turning taking a step back, trying to make it clear that the blonde should stay; she nodded her head, smiling and looked over at the alien, saying something.

Jane turned fully, skipping down the steps, stopping when she reached where the little man was standing, and his face in his hands.

"Professor?" Jane asked softly, waving her hand at the people around them, dismissing them. He looked up, looking at Jane with such sad eyes, almost on the brink of tears.

"I saw them Jane, I saw them." She took another step forward.

"Who?"

"My daughter and grandson, he was such a handsome little boy."

"How Alex, how did you see them?" She now rested her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not sure. I know they're dead Jane, but, I can't help but feel at peace with seeing them one last time." She motioned for Dr. Peirce to come over now.

"Professor, are you willing to go with Dr. Peirce and get checked out, I want to know that you're okay." He smiled up at her, a tear trickling out and patted her hand.

"Of course deary, of course. I'll be alright in due time I suppose." He still looked stunned when he walked away with the doctor. She caught the arm of a passing doctor,

"Is Pilot Konif still at the medbay?"

"Yes Captain. She seemed fine when we got here but fainted when she was being escorted down there." Jane dashed up the stairs, slipping into the elevator with a few other people before the doors closed. They all stepped a little bit out of her way, giving her space. As soon as the doors opened she bolted down the hall, just barely missing people.

"Woah woah! Captain slow down." Dr. Adams said.

"Konif is she…?"

"She's fine Captain, just tired that's all. She's resting now, you can see her if you want to." Jane thanked the doctor before slowly making her way into the Medbay, a few people occupied the bunks, Konif in the far back one. Jane stood next to her bed looking down at her. She had a bandage on her cheek and her leg braced.

"Hey…," Konif's voice dragged out as she saw Jane standing there.

"Hey yourself. How you holding up kid?" Konif swallowed, licking her dry lips.

"Better then I was earlier." Konif's eyes misted over before she slowly shook her head, clearing it.

"Konif what happened?" The redhead's face grew hard, her remark sharper than Jane anticipated.

"You'll get your report soon enough Captain Rizzoli." Jane frowned at Konif's tone but dropped it. But she stayed next to her side talking to her, trying to forget about all the problems that awaited her as soon as she went back to the H.C.C.

Assssssss promised, here's chapter 13.

Did you guys like this climax? Because I sure did. Tell me what you think, you don't have to if you don't want to... no pressure.

Thank you everyone who reads and reviews and thank you everyone who reads.

Take Care - FTP

P.S. Man... Killer in High Heels was a good episode. 3