ring around the rosy,
pocket full of posies,
ashes, ashes,
we all fall down…

The cold metal of the handcuffs encased her wrists with a finality she couldn't comprehend. Tears burned down her cheeks, hotter than the fire she'd just narrowly escaped. The guilt she'd been harboring, the burden of the secrets she'd been carrying, it was all bubbling to the surface – surrounded by the desperation she suddenly felt when Kurt, so consumed with anger, refused to listen to what she had to say.

This was all her fault. She knew that inherently. But she needed to explain to him why… and it was killing her that he refused to let her do so.

He pushed her back to her knees on the floor, hands cuffed behind her back, as he dialed the all too familiar number for backup. She saw out of the corner of her eye that as he mumbled instructions into his phone, his gun was still aimed at her. His eyes met hers briefly over top of the barrel, and the absolute rage that invaded his gaze was too much for her to handle. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and turned away.

She thought she had done what was best… had done what she needed to do to protect him, but seeing where the cards had fallen, if she had to do it all over again, she would have come clean from the start. She was always her strongest when she was by Kurt's side, and she liked to believe she had made him stronger too. But now, they were nothing. Two shells of their former selves… shattered to pieces by her naivety. She thought she could handle what she was getting herself into… it was 'all her plan' after all. Thinking back to her last conversation with Oscar, she shook her head, realizing how stupid she'd been to trust him... and to believe she had any say in how it all went down. They were both just pawns in the game. Her… Oscar… Kade… Marcos… Carter... Mayfair… Weller… all just cogs in the machine. And that machine's purpose? That's what she desperately needed to find out.

The sound of sirens in the distance broke her reverie. Her heart pounded as the tears continued to stream down her face. She was terrified of so many things - the consequences of her actions since she first met Oscar, the thought of who she really must have been before all this, the terrible things she and the others had planned, and, most importantly, of what her friends were going to think of her now. They'd trusted her, had allowed her to operate alongside them… and she'd betrayed that trust a thousand times over.

She grunted as Kurt suddenly yanked her unceremoniously to her feet, her arms still aching from her earlier restraint… and escape.

"Kurt, please…" she pled once more, trying to get him to listen to her, to hear what she had to say.

"Don't," he warned, his voice so low, she knew it was pointless to try again right now.

He led her to the door where they met a slew of CSU agents.

"Bag and tag everything," Weller instructed as he pushed her over the threshold towards the street. An SUV was waiting at the curb. He opened the back door and shoved her into the back seat… an action that caused fresh tears to run rivulets down her cheeks. In all of the times he'd been angry with her, livid at her, he'd never treated her like this before... like a criminal.

He slammed the door behind her, which caused her to jump. She watched out the window as he pointed at the driver and then his SUV, which she only now saw parked a few houses down from hers. The FBI agent then situated himself behind the wheel and waited.

She watched as Kurt walked to his car and pulled out onto the street. Once he passed them, the SUV fell in line.

Inside the elevator at the NYO, with Kurt's hand wrapped firmly around her upper arm, Jane did her best to keep from losing her cool. She was about to come face to face with her family, with the only people in the world she loved and cared about, and she was absolutely terrified to do so.

The bell suddenly dinged overhead and her breath hitched in her throat.

Kurt shoved her forward and she started walking.

It was akin to that scene in the movie when the perp is finally caught and the valiant savior walks him or her across the floor for all to see. As all focus turned to Jane, time slowed down with each step that she took. Her eyes were permenantly stuck to the floor. She was a coward and she was weak… she knew this because as hard as she tried to meet the stares that she felt from all across the room, she couldn't lift her gaze. She couldn't bear to see their faces, to see the betrayal they felt, to know that she could have, and should have, done something to stop it.

They were nearing the hall that lead to interrogation when a familiar voice suddenly made Jane cringe.

"Kurt?"

His fingers squeezed tighter around her arm, stopping her from walking forward.

"Kurt, what are you doing?"

Jane turned as Kurt pulled her around, both of them coming face to face with Allie.

"She's under arrest, I'm bringing her to interrogation," Weller replied.

"Under arrest for what exactly?" Allie asked.

Her question made Jane blink in surprise. She felt so guilty for all that she'd done, she didn't even realize that Kurt had arrested her without any real, concrete reason. She knew once she started talking, he'd have about a million reasons to put her in jail, but he didn't know anything yet. She supposed the suspicion of who she was now that Taylor Shaw's body had been located was a major cause for concern, especially considering the access the FBI had given her, but that didn't necessarily warrant an arrest, not without concrete proof of foul play on her part.

"For being an imposter, for infiltrating the FBI with malicious intent," Kurt answered.

"What?" Allie replied, clearly in total disbelief. "What does that even mean?"

Her question was met with silence.

"What the hell is going on Kurt?" she asked, raising her voice.

"Don't worry about it Allie," Kurt replied then as he turned Jane around and pushed her towards interrogation. "I've got it under control."

"Kurt, wait," Allie called after him. "You can't arrest her without probable cause. Where's your proof?"

He paused, knowing that Allie had him on that one. He opened his mouth to retort when Jane suddenly stopped him.

"No," Jane interjected. "He's right to have arrested me." The truth was she had nothing to lose. This would be her only way to explain everything. Besides, if they let her go, Shephard, whoever he was, would be after her for what she did to Oscar. Jane no longer had any allegiance to her former life and she needed to convince the FBI that she was on their side.

Allie balked, eyes widening.

"Just give me a chance to explain," she continued, her eyes finding his for the first time since they left her house. The anger was still there, along with a hurt so haunting, she lost her breath.

"Keep walking," Kurt replied as he averted his gaze.

Her eyes found the floor once again as he escorted her down the hall.

A/N: Last night's season finale was so good! I can't wait to see how this all plays out next fall… until then… I'm going to take my own stab at it. I apologize for this first chapter… I just had to get something down on paper today. This will be a multi-chapter fic that explores their new beginning, so I promise to take more time with my chapters in the future. Let me know what you think!