LET SLEEPING BLOOD LIE

Chapter 34 - United

"So here we are" Jane murmured locking the door behind them.

The lounge/kitchen/dining room of the tiny apartment seemed only slightly bigger than Maura's entire wardrobe, a luxurious sized wardrobe mind you. The wallpaper looked original, yellow and faded. There was original wood panelling along one wall and the wall lights illuminated the room in a creepy eerie sort of way. The carpet was an antique pattern yet looked hardly worn. It was not in the running to win any awards for style.

There were 3 televisions along a wall, two playing different news channels. RT on one is playing an item on President Donald Trump firing the director of the FBI, James Comey. Al Jazerra presenter is talking about starving children on the other screen. She notices a flash of anger in Jane's eyes as they land on the muted screen, it is a video of a 2 year old malnourished unresponsive child on her crying mothers lap.

"Seven years of UN sanctions in Iraq are the reason for 1.5 million deaths, and Madeline Albright thinks the price is worth it." Jane growls suddenly causing Maura to jump.

The third television was a black and white image of the street outside the building with a clear view of the garage entrance they had just driven in to park.

The one and only window was boarded up from the outside, stripes of light trying to sneak through the gaps causing horizontal lines of light on the wall opposite showing up particles of dust free to explore between the two locations.

The meager furnishings in the tiny room consist of an antique ham radio in the corner on a formica bench with small handwritten bits of paper crudely pinned to the wall behind it. The radio shared it's space with a few empty BPD mugs and an electric jug. A bar fridge tucked underneath it. And the seating was two old wood and steel school chairs from the 50's. One chair pushed against the wall and the other in front of the radio which bleeped to itself on occasion like R2D2.

There is a plaque over the bedroom door with a quote on it she doesn't recognize "Bankers own the earth. Take it away from them but leave them with the power to create credit; and, with a flick of a pen, they will create enough money to buy it back again... If you want to be slaves of bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, then let the bankers control money and control credit. - Sir Josiah Stamp"

Jane looks up and follows Maura's gaze as she reads the plaque,

"Josiah was President of the Bank of England in the 1920's, the second richest man in Britain, he said that at the Commencement Address of the University of Texas in 1927. Shannon put that up, said it reminds him of who really runs the show." she chuckles to herself at the memory of Shannon trying to hammer in the nail to hang it up. He might be an incredible and intelligent hacker...or spy, but they both knew directly behind the plaque were two holes where he had missed the nail and put the hammer into the drywall, and slipped off the chair in surprise leaving the hammer hanging out. Jane thought the hammer in the wall was art and they should leave it. Shannon however wanted to hide the hole, accidentally made another hole with his second attempt and eventually got the plaque up...with the help of Jane.

A simple clock on the wall told Maura it was now close to 9am. They had stopped at a McCafe on the way and Maura had eaten one of the most unappetizing and un-nutritious meals of her entire life, but she didn't care. Maybe it was the sleepless night, the stress, the fear, or the discovery of Jane's new world and the feeling like everything had changed and could never be the same. She had eaten it all, facing Jane, her eyes full of questions. Then as they sat in the tiny cafe they watched the light peek through the windows as daylight breaks outside. Dan Simmons, Private Investigator, has been advised his services are no longer required. And then she had agreed to come here, she couldn't remember exactly why right at this moment...it did however seem perfectly logical at the time. Something about a meeting point and it being safer. Jane had told her no one lived there it was just a safe house and meeting point. Either way she had agreed to come for at least one night and then Jane would drop her home and possibly disappear as she did so well.

The bathroom was so tiny and basic she was sure no more than one person could fit at a time and even that would be a tight squeeze. You could easily sit on the toilet while taking a shower. It would have been impossible for the door to open into the room itself.

She cringed when Jane pushed open the bedroom door. The window in here was also boarded up but drapes hung loosely in front partially disguising it. There were 2 single beds and nothing else. It looked clean enough and the beds were made. The comforters where grey and drab. It certainly needed a woman's touch.

Maura dropped a day bag on one of the beds wondering how comfortable it would be.

She wanted to ask Jane everything and nothing. Every question racing through her mind was loaded, even the simple questions. She had already been guessing what Jane's answers would be. And she hated guessing...she didn't guess...usually. And now she was suddenly quite unsure of what she wanted anyway.

As she examined the room her fingers tingled with the newness of the situation and her mouth was so dry she wondered if her lips might be stuck together. She felt she looked a mess and she was physically struggling with the intensity of where she found herself.

Walking back out into the doorway between the bedroom and the living room, she watches as Jane finishes emptying some supplies she had brought with her into a hidden wall cavity in the wood paneling. It was so well disguised she hadn't even seen it when they walked in.

"I can't stay here." she blurts out without her own permission

Jane closes the cavity gently and just smiles at Maura softly and apologetically, "It gives new meaning to crappy little apartment huh?" she chuckles, "Just one night. Ok?"

Maura looks around the tiny space wondering why anyone would choose to stay here. She looks back at Jane who hasn't moved and shows only apprehension.

"Why here? I can get us a really nice hotel room. A suite...with...with at least a couch. And..."

Jane makes a move towards her, and one and a half strides she has crossed the entire span of the room to the doorway, then she lets out a heavy breath, "And room service, and a bathroom with a hot bubble bath and a hundred dollar a glass champagne..."

"I'd settle for a bathroom I could get changed in." Maura half smiles

"And a balcony with a view of the city. And a super king sized bed with a million count Egyptian cotton sheets..." Jane's eyes almost glaze over lost in the daydream

"And you in it wearing nothing at all." Maura's slightly darker eyes are staring into Jane's deeply, and returned equally, studying, lovingly, sexually charged. Jane bites her lower lip in thought.

Just as Maura is about to step into what she is sure will be a romantic embrace, Jane blurts out, "Nope, nope, wouldn't work."

Maura's mouth drops open, "Excuse me?"

"Please may I take a rain check on that though?" Her grin is seductive and cheeky all at the same time

"Why?" It is not a proper sentence, but it's as much as Maura can get out.

"Why? Firstly, you'd have to pay in cash and use fake names. Secondly, you wanted to come here, remember, instead of me dropping you off at your own house. Your house already has a super king sized bed and a bathroom so big you could have a runway fashion show in it while making snow angels."

"Yes Jane, but as you said you would 'drop me off'. I want to be with you right now. We have been apart so long and I'm afraid you'll run off again." She says while attempting to give Jane her dirtiest stare.

"What? What did I do?" Jane responds defensively to the look

"Do you want the whole list, or just the most pertinent and recent bits?" Maura says while raising one eyebrow

"Oh har har Maur'. You should do stand-up."

Maura grins pleased with herself, then pouts, "Pleeeaasssseeeee can we go somewhere nice."

Jane raises both her eyebrows

"Errr. I mean Nice-errrr." Maura corrects

Jane laughs and gives her a peck on the cheek.

She wants to be with Jane but not here. Her mother wouldn't even have set foot in the door of this place. And if her mother knew she planned to 'stay' here...intentionally...she, well, could even be disowned.

But this was Jane, and Jane was real, not discriminatory, Jane was reaching out and no way in hell would her aristocratic upbringing interfere with this, whatever 'this' is exactly. She had to see this as an adventure. Like a camping trip or undercover mission. Roughing it.

"I would like for you to meet Shannon. I am to meet him here soon." Jane shrugs

"Really, the suit from the photo?"

"No the other guy. The one with dark hair."

"Why do you need to meet him?"

Jane sighs, "Let's sit down."

Maura scans the room again marveling at the simplicity of the place, "Where?"

"Beds?" Jane shrugs, her tone adds that there really isn't another option

One small stride later and they sit opposite each other on the single beds, knees touching.

"Surprisingly comfy." Maura tries to break the tension giving a little bounce to which the bed responds with a few annoying squeaks.

Jane clears her throat and keeps her face serious, "I don't even know what to say or how to begin. It's all so...big."

Maura just nods solemnly

"What do you know?"

Maura tilts her head slightly frowning, "I know a lot of things Jane. You'll need to be more specific." After a long silent pause Maura speaks again, "I know you've been avoiding this conversation for months. I know you don't want to talk about certain things. I can't say I believe everything I've seen or heard lately but then I cannot make an informed decision until I have all the information. In regards to our relationship specifically, I know I love you very very much. And I'm also very afraid for you."

Jane's lip quivers slightly as she gives Maura a look that says 'I love you more than words can say' and she sighs softly, "I just wish it could be like this forever, like it is in this moment, right before we have this conversation."

Maura watches as Jane studies some imaginary thing of fascination at her feet before looking up slowly, "I'm going to do something extremely stupid."

Maura frowns "Is that news? I'm not sure I needed to sit down for that."

Jane half smiles and a twinkle appears in her eyes. Maura's attempt lighten the situation works although Jane still wishes the ground would swallow her whole.

Her response is unlike her usual quips and sarcastic checkmates, she can only chew on her lip.

And this unusual behavior gives Maura a sinking feeling in her stomach, like something is very off, "Jane, Are you telling me because you want me to talk you out of it or are you saying goodbye?"

"I don't know, neither I think."

Maura's reaches out her hand and squeezes Jane's hands, "Sweetheart, there is absolutely nothing to do in this place, so take all the time you need."

Jane smiles while huffing air out her nose, in almost a muted laugh or a silent snort.

"I just don't think you are going to think i'm very sane after I tell you what I think and what I know. With you here it all feels so...surreal." Jane whispers, her voice low and husky, she runs her hand through her hair forcing it out of her way, then she sighs heavily and closes her eyes

"You can tell me Jane." Maura's voice is soft and understanding, it's music to Jane's ears.

"I don't really know what to say, how to sum it up. There's just so much and it all needs the rest of it to make sense." Jane pauses thinking about how she was first introduced. "Did you ever watch the Matrix?"

"I believe so"

"Morpheus offers Neo a choice, to take the red pill you stay in Wonderland and find out how deep the rabbit hole goes, or take the blue pill and the story ends, you wake up in your bed and you believe whatever you want to."

"Okay..." Maura frowns not understanding the connection

"The truth is like the red pill, and once you know it, you can't un-know it. No one can be told what it is. You have to see it for yourself and there is no turning back. And it's not nice, it's not fun. It's mean, it's cruel and treasonous and you wish sometimes you could wake up and it's all been just an unpleasant dream. You wish that you could just forget everything you know or find some way to believe it's all a lie, that it is not real, and go back to the way things were before. But then you...you also want more, you have to know everything. And then the pieces start to come together and you recognize it wasn't random, it wasn't wrong place wrong time. And you get so so angry."

"Jane?"

"You know what happened to me, I know you do even if I never really told you. And it was awful, it was like nothing i've experienced before. I had no control...none. No choice to take it standing up or lying down..."

Maura comfortingly squeezes Jane's hand she has in her grasp as the rest of Jane becomes erratic and anxious

"...And the fear...fear for you, fear for me...It took 2 weeks for me to be able to have a shower, and I still drive past you house several times a day to check you're ok. But when I was with you I could forget it all, forget everything...for awhile. I'm sorry if you ever felt I used you. You've helped me so much. In what you've said, and haven't said. Being there for me...I don't think there are words really." She pauses, trying to make her brain make her heart make sense.

"Always Jane, I'll always be here for you."

Then they sit, facing each other, knees touching, for the of longest moments.

If we are afraid to tell the truth, we are enslaved already.

"Maura, I thought I was doing all this to keep you safe. I was pretending it was the only reason. Fear was the other reason but I didn't want to face it. And when I needed to justify myself I used what happened to Hamish. And when that wasn't enough it was because of what they did to me. Now...I just feel I have to, I need to. I have to finish this. It's not fear or anger. Sure they are there, but that should stop me from getting in deeper. Maybe it's injustice that drives me now, or maybe it's that if I do nothing then that's what will happen...nothing. It's like I can't live without the truth anymore. I just need to know."
Maura strokes Jane's hands gently, encouraging her on

"But you are my oxygen. You keep me breathing. I have no idea what would have happened to me without you. Even when I shut you out, It was because I had to. I couldn't have you on my mind. But I needed you to breathe. I - Does that make sense?"

Maura frowns and purses her lips thinking, "Not as much as I hoped it would."

Jane pulls Maura's hand to her lips and kisses it, "So, No." she chuckles the tension in her body dissapating, "My heart just doesn't have words right now."

Maura nods slowly, "Jane, your wall, where are you going, where is it leading you?"

"That's an unanswerable question. What I was doing was tracing the people that took me...it just happened to be a lot bigger than I imagined. But I've met a bunch of people that are looking at the bigger picture. They call it the 'new world order'."

Maura opens her mouth to spout out a bunch of information about the topic then closed it again wondering if this is the place or time to use knowledge to ground herself.

Jane smiles and nods knowingly, "Tell me Maur."

Maura opens her mouth again, relieved to be able to contribute, "The phrase 'new world order' was explicitly used in connection with Woodrow Wilson's global zeitgeist during the period just after World War I, during the formation of the League of Nations. And was mentioned by George Bush in a speech of September 11, 1990. The phrase Novus ordo seclorum translated 'New World Order' appears on the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States designed in 1782, and has been printed on the back of the United States one-dollar bill since 1935."

This gets her an amused chuckle, "But what is it and how deep does it go. Has it been part of a plan for that long? ...as long as the one dollar bill has been printed? or longer? Is it a conspiracy or a coincidence?..."

Maura silently watches Jane, fascinated by the excitement and determination dancing around in her eyes when she speaks.

"...And would you really want to know if it was?"

It's not a question, it's a consequence, Maura understands that now. This isn't just information trading or research. It is the choice, the going down the rabbit hole. The red pill or the blue pill.

Would I want to know if there was a conspiracy to rule the world and everything on it

Jane continues again, but slower, like she is waiting for Maura to stop her, to question her, or to laugh like it's some sort of joke, "Ricci has ties to Skull and Bones. In order to be a director of the CIA you must be a crusading Knight of Malta and it doesn't hurt if you are a member of Skull and Bones either. In order to reach the highest levels in the Pentagon establishment, you must be an illuminated Freemason and/or a Knight of one order or another. Ricci's family has ties to a lot of things. And him having to face a judge for murder was unacceptable. I took me weeks to understand that the CIA is only under the government when it comes to national security. If they call it an 'international security' matter then they are above the government, they've positioned themselves to be a higher authority than congress, the President and the constitution."

Maura frowns and nods then jumps as a male voice booms across the room.

"I say the CIA stands for 'criminals in action', cause those bastards use false flag events to start wars and cause conflicts with other countries, and never admits their part in crimes against humanity. Anything "international" is the CIA's concern, including currency wars, market wars, banking wars, cyber wars, and the wars on drugs and terrorism."

Shannon steps forward, his hand out in greeting, "You must be Maura, I'm Shannon. A real pleasure to meet you."

Maura takes his hand cautiously wondering if she should correct her title or not.

"I see you're filling her in on the fun and games." He says to Jane but keeps his eye's fixed on Maura's for so long that she turns to Jane to check everything is alright.

Jane clears her throat and pulls a face at Shannon who laughs, "Sorry. I can see now why she would kill for you." Then he releases Maura's hand still smiling, "Everyone is considered a terrorist until proven innocent according to the Patriot Act. The CIA can label anyone, or any agency or company as an "international security" threat, even without evidence. And that is what they wrote in Jay's file...'terrorist'. It gave them unrestrained permission to take her under the guise of international security."

Jane watches Maura watching Shannon, she watches her mouth open in shock, her brow crease, and feels Maura's grip tighten on her hand.

"So...Jay", Maura looks from Shannon to Jane, "You're after the CIA then? Is that the stupid thing you're going to do...try and stop them?"

Jane looks at Shannon for a moment considering her answer before turning back to Maura, "No. Shannon want's to stop them. He's even convinced Trump is trying to stop them without getting himself assassinated like Kennedy did. But then there is still the banksters that control the CIA. I'm pretty sure to stop them all is impossible...I erm, I'm just going to...to talk to one of them."

Then she turns casually to Shannon again.

Shannon scratches his chin, "We were hoping Jay would join us but for now we are working towards a common goal. Maybe one day though."

Jane nods to him, "Maybe. One day. And the files are in the cupboard."

Shannon nods back, winks at Jane and leaves them alone again

"How is talking to one of them stupid, Jane?" Maura scowls her face up like it's painful to say

Jane sighs, "I want...revenge"

"That does sound a little imprudent."

Jane runs her hand through her hair defensively, while Maura ponders the conversation, then she looks up at Jane worried, "You would kill for me?"

"Jeez, Maur', Jane reaches out and take's Maura's hands squeezing them tightly, "Of course I would."

Maura swallows, "Have you?"

"No..."

"Are you planning too?"

Jane reaches up and strokes the side of Maura's face softly with the back of her fingers

"I thought I was, but then I realized I was going to do it for me. This is on me Maur', not you, this is not your burden to bear."

"No Jane, please don't. Please just stay with me, let it go"

Jane pulls her close and kisses her temple softly whispering, "I can't"

She pulls away and looks deep into Jane's eyes, she see's the despair, and the hope. She know's that Jane needs to do this her way. She can only do what she has always done, love her and hope she will never loose her. Maura pulls Jane into a deep kiss and it deepens with every second that passes. She feels the gratitude from Jane's touch, senses the freedom she has given her, and she relishes in it.

...to be continued ...

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