AN-PLEASE READ! This story comes with a serious TRIGGER WARNING, and I'm not going to ruin the plot by spelling out all the potential triggers, so please proceed with caution if there are any subjects that are hard for you to read. It is your choice whether to read the story; I don't need to read anyone's angry reviews on why I shouldn't have written it just because they didn't take the warning seriously. If you don't like stories where very bad things happen to main characters, don't read! If you do like stories with a dark plot so long as our ladies work towards happiness together and all ends well, then please do read! :)
Secondly, this story fits in around canon events from seasons 6 and 7, but I changed the way some things happened. For instance, it takes a day longer to find Maura when she is kidnapped, so more happens during her kidnapping. Alice's motivations in stalking Jane are also different. Just letting you know these changes are intentional! :)

That said, please enjoy!

Chapter 1

"Did he hurt you?"

Maura didn't know how to answer, so she didn't. She just started to cry, which made Jane tear up as well. She was grateful when they put her into the ambulance and Jane said she would meet her at the hospital once she had wrapped up at the crime scene. She had most likely discharged her firearm. She said the man was dead; she didn't say she had killed him herself, but Maura knew she probably had. There was always a ton of paperwork to go through after that. That gave Maura some time to figure out what she was going to tell Jane, and what Jane already knew.

It meant Jane wouldn't be there while she was examined.

At the emergency room, all the poking and prodding seemed to take forever, and Maura wished Jane could be there to hold her hand. She knew it was better this way, though. She wasn't clear on who was behind her kidnapping or what it was they were after, but she did know every bit of torture she'd endured had been intended to hurt Jane. He'd taken her picture; he said he was going to make Jane watch her die. And she knew he was right. Seeing her suffer would hurt Jane, and she didn't want Jane to be hurt. She wondered if he'd had time to send those last pictures. Probably not, she decided. If he had, Jane probably wouldn't have asked if he hurt her, which meant she still didn't know. Maybe there was a way for Maura to retain some level of control, to keep this from hurting Jane any more than necessary.

They said they wanted to keep her overnight for observation. She didn't like that, but she understood, and she allowed herself to be wheeled to a private room.

"Could I possibly take a shower?" she asked as the nurse helped her into her bed. She was already wearing a hospital gown, her clothes taken away to be processed.

"Yes, of course," said the nurse. "I can unhook your IV for a bit. Do you need any help in the bathroom?"

"No, I'll be all right."

Another nurse came into the room. "Dr. Isles? There's a Jane Rizzoli in the waiting room. She's been asking about you. Should we let her come up?"

"Yes, of course," said Maura. The shower would have to wait, because Jane would want to see her right away.

Jane came in with a bouquet of flowers. "Hey," she said, wrapping Maura in a hug. "How are you feeling?"

"Still a bit weird from the chloroform exposure, and I'm sore all over, but I'm going to be fine. No serious injuries." That wasn't a lie, was it? Physically, she was going to be just fine.

"Good. I was…I was really scared. I got that picture of you, and…"

Maura's heart sped up. "What picture?"

"The one of you in the chair, with your lip bleeding. I could see that he'd cut your hair off, but I didn't know what else he'd done, or what he was planning to do. I just, I knew you were still alive, at least when the picture was taken."

So she hadn't gotten the other pictures. Good. "I don't even know what he was planning. I'm just…glad to be out of there. I just want to go home."

"I know, sweetie." Jane rubbed her back. "Is there anything I can get for you?"

Maura shook her head. "I'm going to take a shower right now and wash off the grime from that old hospital. Then I suppose I should try to eat something."

"Have you even had anything to eat the past two days?"

Maura shook her head. "He didn't give me any food or water. He wasn't…planning on keeping me alive long, I suppose."

Jane cringed, squeezing Maura's hand. "Go take your shower then, and we'll have dinner together. You can't keep going without food or water."

The hot water felt good on Maura's sore muscles, though there were places where she was so badly bruised that even the gently falling water felt painful. She watched the dirt and grime go down the drain, along with blood. How much was hers, and how much his? She would never know, but it bothered her to see their blood mixed together like that, indistinguishable. She didn't want any part of herself intertwined with any part of him.

She washed her hair, what was left of it, and soaped up her body, scrubbing harshly to get rid of any dirt and germs left from that awful place. Nothing she did seemed to make her feel any cleaner, however. It's psychological, she told herself. I'm getting clean. But she couldn't quite convince herself, so she scrubbed harder, trying to exfoliate her skin. As she scrubbed, images flashed through her mind of her time in the abandoned hospital, of the things he did to her. She became nauseated, then lightheaded. Suddenly, the room spun, and her feet lost traction.

"Maura?" Jane burst into the bathroom and, seeing Maura on the floor, was at her side immediately. "Maura, what happened? Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Maura looked around in shock. She didn't remember falling. "I think I just lost my balance."

Jane turned off the water. "Well, you've been in here long enough. You have to be clean by now. Come on, let's get you dried off and get you some food. Your blood sugar's probably low." She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around Maura, patting her dry. "Damn," she said quietly. "You've got some nasty bruises."

Maura nodded, looking down. Her wrists were bruised from the handcuffs, and there were bruises all up and down her arms in the shape of fingerprints. They were on her ribs and legs as well. She looked away.

Jane handed her a clean gown and helped her back to the bed, pushing the call button as soon as they got there.

"What are you doing?" Maura asked.

"Calling a nurse. You fell."

"I'm not hurt."

"Well, I'll let her be the judge of that."

Maura sighed and tolerated further prodding from the nurse, then got hooked back up to her IV and ordered dinner. She felt too nervous to eat much, but she could tell Jane felt the same way, so she pushed herself to eat as much as she could stand, knowing Jane would only do it if she did.

"You must be exhausted," Jane said when their food things had been taken away.

Maura nodded. "I haven't slept much. And when I did, it was while chained to a pipe."

"Not in the bed?"

"The bed?"

"Yeah, there was an old hospital bed in the room. We could see tracks in the dust where he dragged you from the pipe to the chair and back again, and also from the pipe to the bed."

"Oh, he would move me for pictures, but the rest of the time he left me chained on the pipe."

Jane touched her hair, looking pained. "I'm so sorry, Maura."

"It's not your fault."

Jane heaved a sigh. "I know, but whoever's behind it is after me."

Maura caught Jane's hand and squeezed. "Will you stay with me tonight?"

"Yeah, of course! I'd probably sleep better here anyway."

Maura nodded and scooted over, making a space for Jane. She looked up at her hopefully.

"Yeah, okay," said Jane. "We could use some togetherness after the experience we just had." She took off her shoes and got into bed beside Maura. Maura gratefully curled up against her, and, to her relief, Jane put her arms around her. "You're shaking," she said.

"I'm scared," Maura admitted.

"Well, you're safe now. No one can hurt you here."

"I know." She tried to fight it, but the tears came anyway. Jane kissed her head and rubbed her back, murmuring soothingly that everything was going to be okay. She wanted so much to tell Jane everything so Jane could comfort her, really comfort her, but she was afraid it would be too much for Jane right now. She was under so much stress, and they still didn't know who was behind all this. All they knew was that someone was willing to go to any lengths to hurt Jane.

But if Jane didn't know the worst part, then at least that couldn't hurt her, could it?