DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rizzoli & Isles nor any of the characters from the show. I am writing this purely for entertainment, not profit. Rizzoli and Isles are property of Tess Gerritsen and TNT.

Please find the full disclaimers in the beginning of Chapter 1.

Chapter 8

They kept walking, both limping now, their boots crunching the snow beneath their feet. When they saw the first sign with a street and village name, Jane stopped to check her paper map. They had covered 25 out of the total 52 miles they needed to cover in those three hours they had managed to use the bikes. The other 27 miles would need to be completed on foot.

Jane calculated that they would take about fourteen hours to cover that distance on foot at their current pace. What meant the rest of this night, and another night in the worst case. Jane stored the map, and began moving again, Maura just mirroring her motions, quietly. In her mind, Jane was also calculating if their meager food ration would last enough for the duration they would need it to. She was pretty sure it wouldn't.

But she realized that concerning was pointless, it was not like they had any other alternative anyway.

So, she kept pushing, trying to forget that every step felt like a bell ringing on her head, just paying attention to Maura's limping and her own.

When her watch marked 5AM, she began paying more attention to their surroundings. When she saw a boat-shed by the water about an hour later, she decided it was time for them to call it a night and rest.

The boat-shed had only an old rusty bolt, no lock, and Jane opened it quietly, checking inside with her flashlight. It had been sacked and there was nothing inside. She motioned Maura to enter, and bolted the door from the inside. She turned around, and found that Maura had already slid exhausted to the floor. They had biked for about three hours, but they had walked for another nine. The problem was that they were slowed down by their tired muscles, their injuries and shock, their lack of proper food, and the cold. Still, checking again the map, Jane concluded her forecast still seemed to be possible. One more full night at most, and they should be back.

She noticed Maura was already asleep, seating as she was. The pain on Jane's head was pouncing. Jane used the fact Maura was not looking, and popped another two painkiller pills on her mouth, before scooping some fresh snow on the now bloodied towel to put on her head, securing it again with the woolen hat. Then, she pulled a piece of tarp from a corner to cover the ground, moved to sit on it and pulled Maura gently to her side, and without waking her up, moved to make her lay down with Jane, spooning Maura and trying to impart as much body heat as she could.

Jane was exhausted, and soon the synced pounding in her head dissolved into oblivion.

Jane woke up terribly sick. She let go of Maura, that was still asleep in her arms, and sat heaving. There was nothing on her stomach to throw up, but it didn't make the nausea go away. Jane breathed slowly, leaning her head back against the wall of the shed, until the dizziness and the nausea subdued a bit. She fished another two painkiller pills and popped them into her mouth. Her arms felt like lead.

She finally checked her watch. A bit over 5PM. Exhaustion and hunger were keeping them asleep even in the most uncomfortable situations for long stretches at a time. It was good at least not to give them time to think, to dwell on the enormity of what had happened and what they still had to overcome to get back to safety.

Jane sighed. She was concerned about her injuries. But she was way more concerned with Maura's state of mind. It was as if Maura was lost in her own world since this happened. And the fact they had not had a chance to talk… Jane also would avoid talking. She couldn't afford Maura having an explicit breakdown until they were back to safety.

Jane's eyes went wide when she saw blood on the tarp she had used for them to lay down. And it was fresh. She looked with attention, and realized it was coming from Maura's calf. Damn. She touched her own, and pulling the leg pant up, saw an ugly blister of blackened blood, the size of a golf ball, but hers was intact. She covered her own leg again, and moved to wake Maura up. They would need to dress the wound before they could keep going.

"Maura?" Jane called gently, a gloved hand stroking Maura's temple.

Maura didn't even stir.

"Maura?" Jane tried again, her hand squeezing Maura's shoulder.

"Wh…" Maura moved, and groaned loudly.

"Your leg seems to be bleeding." Jane explained softly, helping Maura to sit up.

Maura looked pale, and spent, and weak. She didn't move, just kept looking at Jane's with heavy lidded eyes.

Jane moved to pull the leg of Maura's pants up, and Maura gasped as Jane winced seeing the amount of blood. It was clear this had been a similar blister to Jane's, but it had broken, and it was still bleeding.

Jane unbolted the door and scooped some clean snow on her glove, bringing it to Maura's leg. Maura winced and closed her eyes tightly, clenching her teeth. Jane found one of the spare socks, and handed it to Maura, who improvised a bandaged around the wound, lowering the leg of the pants again and tying the hem inside the boot.

Jane then picked the tin with dried nuts, opened it and handed it to Maura.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Maura asked, picking her handful of nuts and handing the tin back to Jane.

"No, I already ate my ration before waking you up." Jane lied again, closing the tin and storing it back into her backpack, not before discreetly checking the contents. Less than a handful of nuts remained.

Maura munched on hers slowly, making them last. Jane then shared the thermos like they did the other night, and then filled it with fresh clean snow, storing it on her backpack.

"It is completely dark outside, we should get going." Jane stood up, supporting herself on the shed wall until she felt steady enough to move, and offering her hand as a support for Maura.

"How much further?"

"We should get there by dawn." Jane lied, considering how much worse Jane was feeling today, and how much worse Maura looked today… They would need to do record time, and Jane knew they would likely be slower than before, not faster, but Maura didn't need to know that.