AN: Just a warning, this chapter is DRAMATIC. There is also a little M-rated stuff. Please let me know what you think.

"This is impossible." Maura's usually composed demeanour was slipping as she leaned back in her seat, a hand resting against her forehead as she closed her eyes.

She had been scouring through Rachel's research and the papers from her office for hours, yet still she had more questions than answers. Each page seemed to throw up a new dilemma and it was all getting too much. Her head was swimming with problems, and she couldn't see a way out.

"I mean", she continued to think out loud, not really caring at this point whether Harriet was listening, "why was she even in Bedford?"

Harriet shrugged. "I have no idea. Look, you've done a lot of reading. Why don't we just leave…"

"It makes no sense." Maura cut in. "If she was going to Bletchley the next morning, she could have travelled from Oxford. And if she was going to stay in a hotel, there are closer towns than Bedford. If she was in Bedford, it was for a reason."

Harriet nodded. "I agree. But we don't have that information, okay?" She tried to keep her tone gentle as she spoke. "I think it's time we left this to the police. We're going to end up getting caught up in this, and both of us have lives to get back to."

"But she shouldn't have been there. I don't think you quite understand what I'm implying. If Rachel was in Bedford, then she was most likely there to meet someone. And that someone may well be her killer."

"Maura."

"And I still have no idea what Mercurius is. Is it a name? A person? Another code? I just have no idea, and there's nothing in the literature we have here about it and I just want to…"

Harriet pressed her lips firmly against Maura's. As she pulled away, she smiled into Maura's wide open eyes. "You need to learn to switch off."

Maura nodded, ignoring the warning voice in her head. "Maybe you should show me how" she whispered, the seductive tone in her voice simultaneously sending a shiver down Harriet's spine and through Maura's stomach.

Leaning in, Harriet once again took Maura's lips in her own as she ran her hand up to tangle itself in honey blonde curls. Moving closer, she lowered herself onto Maura's lap, straddling her firm thighs and deepened their kiss.

"Hmm" Maura hummed at their contact, feeling her body (and her resolve) weaken as Harriet's hand began to massage the sensitive skin of her neck. Needing to feel something more, Maura pressed her hands into the back pockets of Harriet's jeans and pulled her forwards. Slowly, her hands kneaded the firm flesh, forcing the woman on top of her to move with her in a rocking motion.

Harriet threw her head back as Maura's lips and tongue traced along her chest, marking out the lines of her protruding collar bone. Their hips rocked together and both women moaned audibly as the friction increased.

"We should" Harriet began, panting, her eyes darting up the stairs.

"Yep." Maura stood, her hands gripping Harriet's thighs as she leaned in for another bruising kiss, giving in to her physical desire. With the darker-haired woman's legs wrapped around her waist, Maura stood, kicking the chair over behind her has she moved. Stepping carefully over the papers they had been studying, Maura tried to best to keep her balance as Harriet's lips pressed against her neck. Losing her balance as teeth grazed her skin, she knocked into a side table and watched as a lamp and a vase fell to the floor.

"Don't you dare stop to clean" Harriet growled into her ear, taking her soft lobe into her mouth. "I want you."

Reaching the bedroom, Maura threw Harriet down and crawled on top of her. Leaning in, her hips pressed against Harriet's centre and she felt the woman's legs grip tightly around her middle once again. Between kisses, Maura pulled off her top and threw her bra to the floor. Harriet's mouth quickly attached itself to the newly exposed flesh and, as her teeth lightly grazed a rosy nipple, Maura's mind went blank.

/

The lights were on.

The living room floor was covered in paper.

A chair had been tipped over.

But nobody seemed to be in there.

Jane moved away from the window and rapped lightly on the door.

/

"Oh fuck!"

Harriet threw her head back as Maura's fingers entered her.

Quickly finding her rhythm, Maura used her tongue to trace circles around her swollen centre before drawing her sensitive nub into her mouth.

It wasn't long before the woman before her came apart, shuddering as she gripped at the bedsheets.

/

Shards of glass crunched under her boots.

The remnants of a light bulb and a vase carpeted the floor at the entrance to the living room.

Stepping into the space, Jane's mind catalogued the evidence as her heart raced.

This looked like a crime scene.

This could be a crime scene.

A sound, maybe a voice, travelled from upstairs.

Walking quickly, Jane followed.

/

"Oh!"

Harriet couldn't help but smile as she watched Maura's expression change. Her fingers continued to thrust as she pressed her lips to her centre.

"Oh God!"

Maura threw her head back as Harriet used her mouth to stimulate the sensitive flesh of her throbbing core. Closing her eyes, Harriet deepened the contact and quickened the pace of her fingers.

"J… Jane!"

Maura's walls began to quiver, a warm pool forming between her thighs.

"Jane!"

The soft cotton of the bed sheet folded as Maura's fists grappled against the mattress.

Her eyes wide, she felt her orgasm pulse powerfully through her body.

The door opened.

Dark eyes met hers.

"Jane!"

Maura pulled away, sitting herself up, and grappled behind her. Quickly, she pulled a pillow over her head and pressed it against her body, covering as much flesh as she could.

Harriet stayed frozen in her place, covered mostly by the sheets.

Time seemed to stop.

The three women simply stared, each trying to make sense of what was happening.

The pressure in the room built, the atmosphere stifling and uncomfortable.

Silence.

Maura opened her mouth and took a breath. "What are y…"

The bedroom door flew shut and Jane's heavy footsteps made their way down the stairs.

The front door slammed.

Maura pulled herself to her feet, throwing on a hoodie, a pair of sweatpants and Harriet's running shoes. As she approached the door, she glanced back at Harriet. "I'm sorry. I have to…"

Harriet lifted a hand, silencing her friend.

"Just go."

/

"Jane!"

"Jane, stop!"

Maura shouted as loud as she could as she ran down the street, trying to catch up with the angry stomping of her best friend.

"Jane! Wait!"

Pausing on the corner to catch her breath, Maura watched as Jane turned slowly to face her.

Even in the dark, lit only by street lamps, it was clear that she had been crying.

"Jane!"

As Maura began to run again, Jane hailed a taxi and climbed in.

The red tail lights faded as the car rounded the corner and headed into the city.

"JANE!"