"All the lights going dark, and my hope's destroyed."

Untitled part

The blade stroked her cheek. She held her breath. So far he hadn't used it against her. He was only threatening her to and running it up and down her body to scare her. And scared she was. Terrified even. It was so out of character for her to be paralysed by her fear that usually was more of a strength propelling her forward. Not today. Today was different. She was different. A few months ago, she had turned down Casey's proposal and found out that she was pregnant. She had decided to keep the baby (her mother was ecstatic to be a grandmother again) and to raise it alone. Well, almost alone as she had asked for Maura's help and unofficially made her the godmother of that unborn child when she had told her that she wanted her to have the baby if anything happened to her. She hadn't expected that the eventuality would come before she even got to know her child.

Her kidnapper had no care in the world for her. She was only the incubator of that baby. He would get rid of her as soon as the child would be born. She was due anytime now, but she refused to give birth to her child in those conditions. Her kidnapper had dressed her with one of those thin hospital gowns and strapped her down to an obstetrics table to have a full access to her and check for the right moment. Her hands were cuffed somewhere above her head. She couldn't see her feet, but she could feel the harsh rubbing of the restraints against her painful and swollen ankles. Duct tape was covering her mouth to prevent her from screaming or saying a word. He was always looking at her with amusement although she could never see his face. He made sure to always wear a mask or to stay in the shadows. It had to be someone she knew.

He ran the blade down her neck, down her chest and stopped at her swollen abdomen. She struggled against her restraints. The position was far from being comfortable, and her body was in constant pain at that stage of her pregnancy. He didn't care. He just wanted her to be in the position to deliver the baby.

"Oh, no, dear Jane. Do not squirm like that. You'll hurt our precious baby. That's not what you want, right?"

Jane shook her head. His honeyed voice was making her sick. She had to control her sickness, or she would choke on her own vomit and die. She couldn't do that to her baby. She had to stay alive to protect it, to protect it from the bad guys.

He smiled and placed a soft kiss on her abdomen, just above her belly button. The baby kicked which amused their kidnapper. He placed a hand on her belly. She closed her eyes, silent tears falling down her cheeks.

"Soon, my beautiful baby. Soon."

His touch was making her sick, but she couldn't move or push him away. She had to bear his touches and sweet voice. He was barely ever talking to her. He was only interested in the baby. She trembled. She was so cold and his touch so warm.

"I'll be back in a moment, love. I still have a few things to deal with before your birth. Keep an eye on your mother, alright?"

Jane's cry was muffled by the duct tape on her mouth. The baby was kicking hard in her belly and it was hurting her. It was sensing her distress and reacting to it. Maura would tell her that all of that stress could cause her to go into early labour. For once, she wished her friend was wrong. She wished to be found before the labour started.

His eyes were cold when he looked up at her. His voice was hard when he told her that she better not move while he was gone. The door slammed shut behind him causing Jane to jump. He locked it, just in case, and finally, when she was sure he was gone, Jane allowed herself to cry.

Less than twenty-four hours ago, she was grumpily waddling out of the precinct after Cavanaugh forcefully sent her on maternity leave. She was certain that Maura had gone to him since she wouldn't listen to her rambling about stress causing premature labour. Jane hadn't gone on the field for months and had been assigned to paperwork since then. A boring task that at least was keeping her safe inside the building. Well, when she was nosing in the cases her partners were working on.

She was grumbling for form, but she was glad to go home, to her home. Maura had offered her to settle at her place, using a lot of arguments as to why her flat wasn't suitable for a woman in the last stages of a pregnancy. She had been right on one thing: the stairs were hell to climb with the extra weight, back pains and swollen ankles. She couldn't sleep on her couch anymore and her bed didn't offer her the sleep she was craving for. She was spending most of her nights to move around to find a position in which her pains were bearable. Some nights, she couldn't even sleep.

That had been one of those nights. She had turned off her phone (after letting Maura know that she was going to sleep so that she wouldn't worry and rush here) and gone to bed early. She had managed to doze off after a long while. She was aware of her surroundings but unable to move. She had sensed a presence in her flat. Someone unfriendly. He was on top of her on the bed and his hand was on her swollen belly. He was stroking it as if the child was his, but it couldn't be Casey. He was miles away and had been clear on the fact that he wouldn't come back any time soon, even after she told him for the baby. She had tried to squirm out of his touch and call for help but he had placed a hand on her mouth.

"Hi, Jane. Sorry for disturbing the little one's sleep. I'm gonna fix that."

He had pulled a syringe out of his pocket, pulled off the cap with his teeth and tapped the needle to remove any air bubble. Her eyes had widened. She couldn't reach her phone, couldn't call for help. And the needle had pierced the skin of her neck, pushing the sedative straight in her carotid artery (how did he even find it in the dark?). It had taken several minutes for it to work. She had struggled as much as she could but had no chance against the drug. She had fallen asleep faster than she had these past few weeks, and had woken up as a captive of that man willing to steal her baby...