Chapter nineteen
They had put a good long distance between them and the mansion when Jane stopped running. Maura had stopped trying to climb down, realising that Jane carrying her still run faster than Maura could on her own. The Detective led her into an abandoned building, entering through a a broken ground window. Only then did she set Maura down and stumbled to the far wall, settling heavily on the floor, with her back against it.
Maura saw that the front of her shirt was almost completely soaked with blood, blood that was all over her own clothes too. She made a move to go to her and try help her but Jane held a hand up to stop her.
''We...hide here... for now.'' She said through gritted teeth.
''But I have to go get Danny!'' Maura exclaimed, hugging herself against the cold.
Jane held her hand up again, the other taking outher phone to read the text she had received a while ago. She held out the phone for Maura to read also.
She tilted her head. ''I know exactly how you feel, but there is nothing you can do for your son. If you try to go to him now who knows what might follow you there. You will be putting him in more danger than he needs to be. Frost has Danny, he's taking him to a safe place as we speak. We'll join them tomorrow.'' She winced as she shifted her body to make herself more comfortable on the floor. ''I had given him orders to take him and hide him if something went wrong with the Council.''
''You had?'' Maura asked with disbelief as she settled next to Jane.
The Detective turned to her and even in the tiny sliver of moonlight coming through the broken window Maura could see the fire in her eyes. ''I told you I'd keep you and your son safe, Doctor.''
Maura nodded and reached for Jane's hand before she could censor herself. ''Thank you.''
She frowned as she felt Jane's skin. ''You're burning.''
''I'm healing.'' Jane explained. ''I need to shift to heal properly.'' She looked down at her clothes and made a weak effort to unbutton her shirt but her hands were slippery and she couldn't quite manage the buttons. She had to get them off before she shifted or they would rip and she'd have nothing to wear.
Maura knelt in front of her and slowly started to help her. ''What is going on?'' She asked softly.
''Hoyt used your hearing as a distraction. He always wanted to take control of the city, disband the council and be the sole leader of the supernatural community.'' Jane sighed, as she got rid of the shirt, something that left her in a bra and her jeans. The jeans would be harder and she took a break, breathing heavily. ''The people are not ready to accept werewolves in their lives, they're going to hunt us down and kill us.''
''What are you going to do?'' Maura asked.
''I'm going to kill him.'' Jane coughed before she could finish her sentence and Maura waited patiently but she jumped when she saw the think line of blood that trickled down the corner of Jane's mouth.
''Jane, you're badly hurt...'' She muttered, trying to take a better look at the Detective's injuries but the light was sparse and she couldn't make out much. ''There seems to be blood in your lungs.''
Jane huffed at her formal tone and slowly shimmied out of her jeans. Maura couldn't help but notice the extremely desirable physique under Jane's clothes. ''The nerve... to disturb my wife's grave like this...'' She grunted, tossing the clothes to away from her.
''I had no idea, you have to believe me...'' Maura urged, her hand on Jane's shoulder as she was knelt in front of her.
''I know.'' Jane reassured her. ''He is taunting me.'' She held up her hands, the twin scars showing in the middle of her bloody palms. ''He did this, I can't prove it, but I know he did.''
Maura took Jane's hands in hers, rubbing aimless circles over wounds long closed. ''How?'' She whispered, thinking about all the delicate bones and tendons in a human hand. She was freezing and she wondered if Jane couldn't feel the cold at all, even almost naked as she was.
''He drove scalpels through my hands, pinned me to my bedroom door. Then he went outside to my wife and child and killed them. He...'' Jane's voice came tight as she tried to force the words through the pain, both physical and emotional. ''He defiled her... and then he killed her.''
''I'm so sorry Jane...'' The Doctor bowed her head in silent understanding of Jane's loss, acknowledgement of the other woman's pain. She couldn't imagine losing Danny like this. Dennis had seemed irrelevant to their lives now.
''It took hours, I could hear them screaming, and I couldn't do a thing.'' Jane's voice softened as she lowered herself to the floor. ''My sweet Jasmine, she never saw Emma go. She still thought our baby was alive.'' She traces lines on the dusty floor. ''My sun and starts are both dead and he didn't even have the decency to kill me too.'' Another series of coughing fits wrecked through her body and she spared her last few human breaths before she shifted letting Maura know how she felt. ''Listen Maura, you're a really beautiful woman, and I truly like you. But right now, it's too soon to feel anything about you without feeling I'm betraying Jaz. It's only been six months.'' She looked up to Maura with a pained expression that had little to do with the bullet wounds on her body. ''I'm going to protect you with my life, keep both you and your son safe, but I don't want to stretch our...'' She hesitated. ''Friendship... past it's limits.''
''So you...feel something?'' Maura asked surprised. ''About me?''
''You're a desirable woman. You are smart and kind and gorgeous.'' Jane admitted smiling slightly. ''But it's too soon for me. I'm sorry.'' She reached out to touch Maura's cheek. ''We're only going to hurt each other right now if we rush things. I don't want to... hurt you, Maura.''
''It's okay.'' Maura agreed. ''It's too soon for me too. I've never...'' She looked away. ''You know. With a woman I mean...''
Jane nodded with understanding.
''And Dennis was the only man I ever...'' She shrugged. She had been so young and inexperienced when she had met him that she thought Dennis was the whole world. Now she saw there were more, other people in that world she found she desired more than she would ever be able to desire Dennis. Jane was strong and protective, yet gentle and loving.
''Let's not force things, okay?'' Jane asked carefully. ''Let's just... be friends.''
''For now?''
''I don't know. Let's just be friends.''
Maura smiled despite herself. Jane wanted to be her friend and even if it wasn't what she had wanted at first it was a start, it was something, more than she ever had. It was hard to have any friends whilst under Dennis' abusive control and she had lost contact with everyone from her childhood.
''I'd really like that, Jane.''
''Okay...'' Jane nodded. Then she looked down at herself. ''I really need to...uh...''
''Yeh, sure...'' Maura moved away from her and watched with fascination as Jane shifted, her body reforming and black fur blooming from under her skin. Her face elongated, nose pronounced into a snout, shoulders widening, fingers curling and turning into claws.
The creature that rose in Jane's place yawned. There still were obvious wounds where the bullets had pierced Jane's human body but slowly Maura could see the calibre being pushed to the surface of the skin, the wolfs body rejecting the bullets. They rolled down on the floor with a musical chime and the wolf sighed, dropping heavily onto it's side and resting it's head on it's paws.
''God...'' Maura muttered and from the way Jane's eyes followed her she knew she could hear her. ''You're gorgeous.'' Hesitantly she placed a palm on the wolf's shoulder and she jumped when the beast's head rose. She was suddenly aware that it could easily crush her with those massive jaws
but it just pressed its nose into her side and snorted. Maura could see the intelligence in its blue eyes, she could see Jane somewhere in there and she relaxed. She lowered herself to the floor, her body pressed against the wolf's to shield her from the cold. Her head on it's shoulder she could hear its massive heart beat rhythmically and the exhaustion of the day overtook her. She hadn't slept the night before and both her body and mind ached for some rest.
She fell asleep with her arms around a wolf and she awoke with a naked woman, the first rays of sunshine prickling on her eyes. Jane was still asleep, her chest rising and falling with every breath and Maura took the time to trail her fingers down her chest and stomach, where the bullet wounds had healed into barely patches of puckered skin. Her head was on Jane's chest and she was on her side, one leg draped over hers as the Detective lay on her back, one of her arms around Maura's body. Oddly what Maura felt wasn't sexual tension but warmth. She felt safe, safer than she had felt in a very long time, which she knew was stupid because the whole world had gone to hell the night before.
''Hey...'' Came Jane's voice, raspy with sleep. The Detective pressed a tentative kiss on top of Maura's head. ''Did you get any rest?''
Now that Jane was awake Maura felt suddenly self conscious but the Detective didn't comment on their strangely intimate position, instead she stroked Maura's back and stared straight at the ceiling.
''Yes, some.'' Slowly Maura looked up at her. ''How do you feel?''
''I'm alright.'' She closed her eyes and there was brief silence between them.
''Can I go see Danny?'' The Doctor asked, tension biting her voice. ''I really need to...''
''Of course.'' Jane agreed. There was another silence. ''Well, you need to get off me first...'' She said awkwardly and Maura jumped away.
''Of course.'' She muttered nervously and despite herself watched intensely as Jane got dressed. Somehow it was more provocative than getting umdressed, at least in Maura's' eyes. She couldn't find a way to lower eyes and Jane turned to her, challenging her with a straight-forward gaze..
blushed but she didn't look away and finally Jane smiled
"Seeing something you like, Doctor?" she asked. Maura finally blushed and Janis grin widened. reassured her. "You're experiencing something new, not only the whole super- natural thing but for thee first time You realised you like women. It can be confusing."
Maura nodded."Sorry." she mumbled."Didn't mean to stare. I've seen a lot of women naked but it was before I realised l was attracted to them. Sorry." she couldn't resist adding:"You have a magnificent body though.""
"Well..." Jane said,zipping up her jeans."Thank you, Dr Isles." She looked down at her bloodied clothes and made and made a noise of dissaproval."I look like Ijust walked out of a horror movie." she laughed. "Lets get going. I know you're missing Your son like crazy, but I've been in no shape to keep you safe. I'm sorry you had to wait for me."
"Don't." Maura stopped her. "You saved my me out of the mansion. I would never had made it out on my own." She sighed. " I owe you, Jane. For all you've done for me and my son. I will forever owe you .''
"Come on." Jane said, Instead of answering.
They slowly made their way through vegetation and Sparse houses, Maura feeling the ache of sleeping away from her own bed all over her body. She was surprised to she had parked it the night before, a sign of normalcy , her previous life before everything went to hell. was and she decided to silently accept it. She watched the Detective ease into the driver's seat without asking and she didn't comment on it. Jane knew, after all, their destination.
Just to break the silence, at some point of their drive Maura spoke.
"You can take a lot of damage and heal. lt's amazing."
drink or do drugs or get sick like with the flu , because my body processes everything too fast."
Maura wondered how that felt. "Have you always been a..." She hesitated. "Werewolf?" The word still sounded foreign .
"No." Jane admitted."I was attacked, turned against my will. I suggest ton don't ask other wolves about this, its a touchy subject."
her next question."I see why they would want to hunt the werewolves, but why would Hoyt want me?"
"Necromancers are uncharted territory, there's we telling how you can help him achieve his goals."
"Hardly!" Maura laughed bitterly. "I can raise a dead person,so what?"
Jane turned to her surprised. "You've never seen a Romero movie, have you?"she asked , and Maura felt the chill of realization creep up her spine.
"No..." she chocked . "He wouldn't..."
Jane's look said it all.
Thanks for all your reviews and follows and faves, you guys are do you thinkof this chapter?
LK