"Jane!.. Jane! Is she alright?" Maura screamed as she ran towards Sgt. Major Casey Jones who was helping Jane from the car, the chaos from the explosion that happened seconds before hand evolving all around them.

"Abbey, Abbey, oh my god Maura" Jane was unable to believe that her fellow hero who she had waved goodbye to seconds before was gone. Casey allowed Maura to take over and hold Jane as he went to help in any way he could. Maura held Jane tightly as they both stood shocked at what had just happened. Knowing that if Jane was there she would want to help, Lieutenant Sean Cavanaugh gave Maura strict orders to get Jane out of there while everyone else got all hands on deck to find bomb components at the crime scene.

Jane held her head in her hands as she entered her apartment "I can't believe she's gone",

"I know" Maura answered as she headed for Jane's drinks cupboard, although she knew Jane wasn't allowed alcohol while she was recovering she decided that after the events of tonight Jane deserved one to settle her nerves. Jane looked up with a puzzled look, "alcohol?" "It will settle your nerves" Jane took the glass and swallowed the whole glass full of Scotch that Maura had handed her, "Jeez I think that's long out of date Mau"

Maura sipped slowly "hmmm maybe a little but it's all you had, you know you should really keep a stock of some nice chardonnay's for times like these" Jane shot her one of her 'don't even go there' looks. Maura retrieved the bottle from the kitchen and refilled Jane's glass. The two women didn't know what to say to each other and ended up sitting on the sofa in front of a dark TV in silence, Jane's head resting on Maura's lap.

Over the past few months since the shooting this had become the norm for the two women to be nestled on the sofa together watching some pointless evening TV. Since the shooting Maura never wanted to leave Jane's side, since the moment she seen Jane pull that trigger that sent a bullet flying through her abdomen and into Bobby Marino she never wanted to go through the thought of losing her ever again.

Maura had been present at a great deal of witness interviews, hearing victims telling how when they seen their loved ones were shot, stabbed or beaten how everything went into slow motion, the world stopped, they lost the ability to feel pain or emotions, that they could literally feel their heart breaking in their chest, every time Maura listened, comforted and sympathised but not until that day, that day of the shooting at headquarters did Maura really understand what that felt like. As Jane hit the ground Maura was there, her hands on her stomach placing pressure on the wound, Korsak ran over immediately as there was a hustle of people making sure that medical attention was on its way but Maura heard nothing, she could hear everyone but she didn't know what they were saying she felt stuck in a bubble as she held Jane in her arms. "Don't you dare die on me Jane, stay with me!" Maura screamed these words louder as if the louder she screamed the more it would save Jane. Jane slowly closed her eyes while Maura held her screaming over and over again, as the paramedics took over Korsak and Frost held Maura back but the whole time she fought to escape their grasp, screaming through tears "I love you, don't you dare leave me, don't leave me!", Korsak and Frost must have held her with a great deal of force as a few days later Maura discovered bruises from where they held her but at the time Maura felt nothing but a numb feeling from her head to the tips of her toes, "she can't leave me, she can't, I can't go on without her, she's my everything. She keeps me sane, she keeps me normal, I've never felt so accepted, so loved, so at ease. Whenever I am with her nothing else matters because I know if Jane is by my side it will all be ok. I love her, I love her!" This kept running through her head the whole way to the hospital as she sat silent by Korsak in the back of a squad car. As Maura entered the ER she looked for Jane, for some sign of where she might be although Frost done all the formal enquiring while Maura stood back unable to speak, locked in the one spot watching and feeling everything move around her, watching the paramedics shouting as they tried to revive Jane from across the room, "she's crashing!, starting CPR!", Maura stood locked in place, watching her whole life dying in the middle of the ER. Frost turned to look at Maura who had now slowly started to walk towards them, "120 clear!...Charge to 200!... she's back let's get her to the OR" Sobbing hard Maura stood vacant in the middle of the floor, understanding exactly what people mean when they describe a slow motion experience, as if time has stopped, as if they could feel their heart breaking in their chest because at that moment Maura feel every inch of her heart ache with a pain she had never experienced before in her life, a mixture of love and loss.

As Jane felt herself slowly calm and begin to fall asleep in the silent room she was suddenly startled by something hitting her forehead, and again, Jane wiped it away and looked up, "are you crying?" Jane said to Maura as she adjusted herself to look Maura in the eye. Maura looked away without saying anything uncomfortable that Jane is seeing her so vulnerable, after a few moments of Jane remaining in the same position waiting for a response she finally turned to look Jane in the eye. "I thought I was going to lose you", "Tonight?" Jane replied a bit confused at why Maura was so upset. "No!" Maura standing up now and walking to the kitchen in a fidgeting manner, "The day you decided it would be a good idea to shoot yourself, that no one else could do the job properly that you had to do it yourself, you don't know what it was like watching you, thinking I was going to lose you forever!" Jane stood from the sofa not saying a word; Maura had kept all this to herself for months obviously the events which unfolded tonight had brought it all back to her. Jane reached the work surface where Maura's hand was resting, feeling the effects of the bottle of Scotch she and Maura had just shared she reached out and grabbed Maura's hand tightly "I'm so sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone, to put anyone through any pain I just wanted to save Frankie".

"I know that Jane but it was me who sat cradling you as your blood started to cover the ground, it was me who stood in the middle of the ER watching then resuscitate you, it was me that.." Maura's emotions took over and she broke down in the middle of Jane's apartment, months of emotions and heartache pouring out, Jane held Maura tightly in her arms, holding her so that the pain would hurt a little less but Maura continued to sob and explain to Jane what she went through as she sat for 57 hours at her bedside willing her to open her eyes again. Jane placed a kiss upon the top of Maura's head while repeating how sorry she was, how she would never leave her and that she loved her with all her heart, she would never hurt her again.

Those words stood out like a bolt of lightning in the sky "I love you with all my heart" is that what she really said? Maura pulled back from Jane to look her in the eye as Jane repeated how sorry she was but before Maura could ask anything about what the tall dark, badass cop had said to her Jane's lips had come down to meet Maura's.

Before Maura could analyse what was happening she was already pinned to the wall between the lounge and the kitchen in Jane's apartment, sharing a long passionate kiss with her best friend. The kiss deepened as Jane allowed Maura's tongue to enter, hands started to roam in a frantic state, as if they were running out of time, or making up for lost time. Maura felt a passion in her stomach that she had never felt before, even when she thought she was in love before nothing compared to this, there was a connection with this kiss, like the pieces of a puzzle had finally been pushed together, a feeling that made her stomach jump uncontrollably but not in an apprehensive way, in a way that if she didn't get more of Jane she was going to burst. When a knock of Jane's door startled the pair from their moment of passion Jane had moved onto Maura's neck kissing all the way down, they both stood there like two teenagers who had just been caught by their parents on the porch. Maura pulled her dress down which had been moved up to over her hips and Jane quickly done the buttons back up on her shirt which had been opened to allow Maura's hand more access, Jane quickly regained a normal breathing pace before opening the door and allowing Frankie to enter the apartment.

"Hey, oh hey Maura what are you doing here?" "I um…" Maura stumbled on the question forgetting her real reason for being over at Jane's in the middle of the night, "she helped me home and we had a nightcap thought it best for her to stay rather than drive" Jane stated, still feeling like she had just been caught by her parents. Frankie had come over to tell Jane how the case was going, sensing his presence was not exactly welcome in the apartment he made his excuses and left. Frankie was barely left the apartment when the two women breathed a sigh of relief, Jane broke the silence first "we really should head to bed", Maura agreed and they both headed for the bedroom without mentioning what had just happened prior to Frankie's interruption. Jane got ready for bed in her hot pants and tank top and Maura grabbed a pair of Jane's hot pants and red sox top and headed for the bathroom to remove her makeup, waiting in bed Jane couldn't help but smile at the thought of her and Maura and 'that' kiss, wow! Jane knew that Maura did something to her but she could never work out what it meant but now it seemed to all fit into place, it didn't feel awkward or strange or even new, it felt comfortable like they had been together for years, she felt like she had found her missing part that she never knew was lost. At that Maura walked into the dimly lit room, Jane's red sox top hugging her in all the right places and her beautiful glowing legs looking wonderful from the bottom of the top, Jane's face lit up with undeniable hunger to have those legs wrapped round her. As Maura climbed up and over the bed to her spot she caught Jane checking her out, as they made eye contact they both knew what each other was thinking without using any words, before Maura settled down in her space on the bed next to Jane she cheekily and undeniably checked out Jane's cleavage and gave her a wink. Jane grabbed the women who before tonight was her best friend and kissed her a long passionate kiss before switching out the light and holding the beautiful Doctor in her arms and falling asleep. But what does this mean for them now? They were best friends, then they kissed, where they still best friends or where they now something much more or had they ruined everything?