A/N: I really didn't want to watch Kate being shot again, but the story idea wouldn't leave me alone. I don't own Rizzoli & Isles. I hope you enjoy. RIP Kate.

XXXXX

After a long day at the precinct, Jane Rizzoli plopped down on her couch next to Joe Friday and grabbed the remote. After a few minutes of flipping through the channels she found something.

"Hmm… this looks interesting." She stopped on a crime drama show that she's never seen before. A few minutes into the show, one of the characters caught her eye. "Holy crap, she looks a lot like Maura."

More and more minutes passed and, even though she's never seen any previous episodes, Jane found herself completely engrossed in the storyline. Or at least in one Caitlin Todd. If Jane didn't know any better, she'd say Maura did some acting on the side, but, considering how bad a liar Maura is, that could never be true. Even so, Jane was amazed at the similarities. The only very noticeable difference between the two was the hair color. Of course, Jane could pinpoint the more subtle differences. She could tell that Kate doesn't care much about her clothes, at least not as much as Maura does. The way Kate holds herself is vastly different than Maura. Most importantly, Jane notes to herself, is the eyes. Kate's eyes don't hold the same depth, the same fascinating complexity that Maura's does. They don't have the same ability to draw Jane in and make her never want to leave.

Of course, Jane didn't know any of that. All she thought is that they "look different".

The episode was almost over and Jane was leaning forward, eyes glued to the TV as she watched the final scene.

"We got one terrorist inside, I don't know if I got him but he stopped shooting." Agent Timothy McGee said into his radio, while he crouched behind a car.

"Hold your position. We'll flush him," was the reply from Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

"Okay," McGee nods. The camera cuts to the rooftop.

"I'm out." Gibbs said, checking his gun.

"Me too." Kate said. She glanced up just in time to see a door open on the other side of the roof.

"Shooter!" Jane hears Agent Todd yell before she dives in front of Gibbs. Jane sucks in a breath as she saw her take the bullet and fall hard on the ground.

Gunfire commences as the other two agents attempt to take out the bad guy. They succeed.

"Kate?" Agent Tony DiNozzo asks, rushing to the fallen agent's side. Jane couldn't keep her eyes off the screen. She watched as Tony took off Kate's Jacket to reveal a bullet proof vest. Just as Jane hears Kate say "Oww" she lets out the breath she didn't know she was holding. Seeing someone who looked and sounded so much like Maura almost get killed had really affected her. Her heart ached as she saw the Maura look-alike groan in pain.

"Protection detail's over, Kate." Gibbs said onscreen.

"Thank god!" Jane said. She was glad the emotional roller coaster this episode made her go through was pretty much over.

"You did good." Tony said, patting a still groaning Kate on the shoulder.

"For once, DiNozzo's right." Gibbs said.

Kate laughs. "Wow, I thought I'd die before I ever heard a com-"

A shot rings out, causing Jane to jump in her seat. A split second later a red circle appears on Kate's forehead, showing the trajectory of the shot. It was dead center. Her blood splattered everywhere, spraying the two other agents. Kate falls backwards, hitting the ground with a thud.

Jane's heart stops. She stared at the TV, unbelieving. A tear makes its way down her face.

Suspenseful music played as the camera moved to another rooftop. Ari Haswari looked up from his gun. "Sorry Caitlin."

The camera moved back to Kate. Her eyes were dead. Blood was spilled onto the ground, staining the rooftop beneath her.

Jane couldn't watch anymore, even though there was no more left to be watched. She could barely breathe. Sure it was just a show but the picture of this girl who looked scary similar to Maura just lying there, eyes blank, dead, was chilling to Jane.

Jane shook her head, violently, as thoughts of that actually happening to Maura invaded her mind. "There's no way that would happen. Maura would never put herself in a situation like that. And besides, if anyone were stupid enough to threaten her, I would find that son-of-a-bitch and kill him myself." Joe Friday looked up at Jane just as her expression softened. "I don't think I could live without her," she whispered.

"Wait… this is crazy!" She tried to convince herself. "I've made it my whole life without even knowing she existed. I could certainly survive if she's gone." Her voice wavered at the end, telling her it was pointless to even pretend that was true.

Jane sighed as she decided to just forget about it and go to bed, where she had a fitful, nightmare-filled sleep.

XXXXX

Jane arrived to work a little earlier than usual. She didn't put her things down on her desk. She didn't say hi to the guys. She didn't even clock in. She just headed straight down to autopsy.

She pushed open the door and scanned the room. It was devoid of people, or at least living ones. She walked a bit further in to see a figure on the floor that was previously hidden by machines. Jane's heart rate shot up as she recognized the blonde hair and carefully matched attire.

"Maura!" She crouched down and leaned over the M.E., grabbing her by the shoulders.

The blonde's eyes flew open. "Jane? What are you doing? I was trying to meditate. Certainly you recognize the corpse pose." She sat up, revealing the yoga mat beneath her.

"Corpse po- You know what? That's not funny!" Jane stuck an accusatory finger in Maura's face. "I thought you were-" She couldn't continue. Her voice was uncharacteristically breaking, unable to hold that much emotion. Her eyes started to water.

Maura looked at Jane and, even though she wasn't really that good at reading people, she knew there was something deeper about Jane's reaction. "Jane, are yo-"

"I'm fine. Totally fine! Just never do the corpse pose in a morgue again! Okay?" Jane, still on the verge of tears, turned and left, mumbling a few expletives under her breath as she went. She turned into the bathroom down the hall to try and pull herself together before she went back to her desk.

"Wow, you looked like you were on a mission today with the way you went down to Maura's lab, did you finally tell her?" Frost asked before finishing off the last of his donut.

"Tell her what?" Jane looked puzzled as she started to do the things she normally does when she first arrives.

"You know… how you feel." Korsak joined in.

"How I feel?" Jane shot them both a 'what-the-hell-have-you-been-smoking' look. "How I feel about what? ...Puppies?" She sat down.

Frost sighed. "So you didn't tell her you love her?"

"Love her?" Jane's look turned into pure comical disbelief. "You guys must not have any lives if you come up with crackpot ideas like that one." She logged into her computer, and then looked back up. The guys were still looking at her. "Don't you have work to do?" Even though Jane was not the boss, the look in her eyes was enough to convince them to not say anything else.

Jane laughed to herself at the ridiculousness of it. Like Maura would ever love anyone like her anyway. Wait… it's not like she was in love with Maura so why did that matter? Jane squeezed her eyes shut, sighed, and then got started on some paperwork.

It was a slow morning. No homicides, suicides or even freak-accidents to get called into. Jane was done with her paperwork in about an hour, so she had nothing else to do. She kept looking around for something to entertain herself with and her gaze kept lingering on the hallway that leads her to Maura's lab.

Trying to avoid any unwanted attention that she was sure the boys would give her, she tried to smoothly make her way over there. Mission accomplished, she thought, until she looked back and saw a knowing smirk on Frost's face. She sneered at him before making her way to autopsy.

"Hey, Jane!" Maura greeted her while she was leaning over a body that was delivered earlier. She finished stitching up the Y-incision before taking off her gloves and turning to the brunette. She looked at her expectantly.

"What?" Jane asked.

"Are you here for any specific reason?"

"Can't I just want to be with my best friend?" She asked, avoiding eye contact though she wasn't completely sure why.

"Is that one of those 'trick questions'?" Maura asked cautiously. She was always being made fun of for her lack of social skills. She wasn't sure if this was one of those times or not.

"Seriously?" Jane almost laughed at the look on Maura's face. "No, I just … finished my paper work and thought I'd come see what you're doin', that's all."

"Oh! Well I just finished an autopsy. It was requested by a family member, which is odd because he was under the care of a physician for a long time illness when he died. It's usually only requested whe-"

"Maura," Jane interrupted. "I'm not here for a science lesson."

Maura's face fell. "Oh… Well, then. I… don't have anything else to do today unless someone brings in another body."

"Okay, sweet. Wanna grab some early lunch?" Jane glanced at her watch. It was about eleven.

"That's fine with me. Let me just wash up and I'll meet you up there."

"Or I'll wait for you to wash up." Jane insisted, following Maura's worried gaze to her open laptop. Jane made her way to it.

"Jane, you really don't want to-" She cringed as Jane opened it and saw what was on the screen.

"'My best friend is acting strangely, what should I do?' Really, Maura?"

"I was worried about you. Your reaction to the corpse pose earlier seemed a bit much."

"You could've just talked to me."

"Well I tried, but lately you've been a little-" Maura hesitated.

"A little what, Maura?" She said a bit too forcefully, causing Maura to flinch. Jane softened her tone. "Please… tell me?"

Maura opened her mouth but then thought better of it and paused before she answered. "Over lunch?"

"Fine. Just go wash up." Jane moved her hands in a shooing motion.

XXXXX

The pair sat down at a place they've been to together many times before. It was fancy enough to appease Maura, but still served beer for Jane.

"So? You gonna tell me now?" Jane asked. She spent the whole car ride trying to get it out of her.

"Let's order first."

"Maura." Jane warned.

"Order first, then I promise we will talk." Maura looked into Jane's eyes, her soft gaze seemed to mollify the brunette.

"Can I get you ladies something to drink?" The waiter asked, pulling out his order pad and a pen.

"Iced tea." Maura said, smiling pleasantly at the attractive waiter.

"Coke." Jane snapped, feeling a rush of jealousy, causing the waiter to walk away from their table rather quickly.

"See, Jane, it's things like that that make me worry about you."

"Like what?" Jane honestly had no clue that she even did anything out of the ordinary.

"If that guy wouldn't have left as fast as he did, I'm afraid you might have caused him some harm."

"Well, didn't you see the way he was looking at you? If someone's gonna get hurt, It'll be anyone who decides to fuck with you." Jane said passionately.

"Jane, please, language!" Maura scolded. "But at least now we are getting to the bottom of this. Why do you think he wants to… well, you know."

"I don't think he is… I guess I'm just afraid that he might." The image of Kate lying dead flashed back to her. Jane shuddered. "Let's just say I saw something I wish I didn't see."

"Hmm…" Maura tapped on her chin in thought. "You know, Jane, conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder is very common in your line of work. You should see a specialist. Dr. Dave Smith is an excellent psy-"

"No, Maura, it's not something I saw on the job. It's… actually kind of stupid."

"Well if it's causing you distress it can't be that… stupid."

Jane sighed. She might as well get this over with. "Last night I was watching TV, and I found this show. I've never seen it before but it looked interesting. At the end of the episode, one of the characters was killed."

"Jane, it's normal to become attached to fictional characters and mourn their loss," Maura assured. "But that doesn't explain-"

"I'm not done. The character… looked a lot like… you."

"Like… me?" Maura questioned, unsure if she heard her correctly.

"Yes." Jane said softly. She really didn't want to be having this conversation out here, in the open. Maura reached across the table and put her hands on Jane's. Jane looked up into Maura's eyes. She spoke, her voice was filled with fear. "I don't want to lose you, Maura. I don't think I could keep living without you."

Those words hit deep into Maura's heart. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. She continued staring into the chocolate orbs in front of her while she formulated a response. And for once, she found herself at a loss for words.

"Maura? You still there?" Jane asked after a long moment.

"Yeah… I just-"

"Okay, one iced tea." The waiter interrupted them and placed the beverage in front of Maura with a wink. "And one Coke." He avoided eye contact with Jane and all but threw the glass on the table.

"Thank you." Maura said.

"Not a problem." He seemed to think he had a chance with the doctor, with the way he was flirting with her. "Figure out what you want yet?"

"I think so. Jane?" She redirected her gaze back to the brunette.

"Yeah… the burger and fries." Jane said distractedly. Maura's hands were still on hers and, because she was leaned over, her breasts were squished up against the table, drawing more attention to them. Jane couldn't seem to keep her eyes off them. It wouldn't be the first time, either.

"The grilled trout with lemon sauce, please." He nodded as he wrote down her order. "Thank you." He walked away with a glance back to Maura but she had already turned back to Jane. Hmm… It appeared as though Jane's gaze was directed quite a ways below her face. "Jane?"

Jane jumped, her head snapped back up, almost giving her whiplash. "Yeah?"

"Were you just… nevermind." Maura figured it was probably best to forget about that for now. It's not like she would actually be interested in her anyway. "Where were we?"

Jane remembered her recent confession and fought back a blush. "I don't know." She lied.

Maura's eyes brightened as she recalled the previous conversation. "I remember. You were being unusually sweet." Her smile broadened. "But your fears are irrational. After all, Jane, you are the one with the dangerous job."

"Is that your way of telling me you're afraid to lose me?" Jane prodded.

"I'm not afraid to lose you." Maura said bluntly. It felt more like a knife to Jane. Maura saw the look on her face and tried again. "What I meant was… you constantly surprise me. And, while I know that death claims us all at one point or another, I know that you won't go without a fight. Your life has been threatened on multiple occasions and you managed to pass those tests with flying colors." Maura leaned even closer now. "Jane, I'm not afraid to lose you because I believe that's impossible. You're constantly expanding limited human boundaries and, if I wasn't trained in death, I would believe that you could live forever."

"Wow… and I thought I got mushy." That was all Jane could even think to say.

There was a comfortable silence between the two until their food came. The waiter, once again, flirted shamelessly with Maura and ignored Jane.

"Can I get you anything else?" He asked. Maura shook her head. "Are you sure? Cuz it looks like you could use my phone number." He placed a napkin on the table with his phone number on it and then walked away.

"Seriously? Are guys just getting lazier with these pick up lines or what?" Jane rolled her eyes, irritated at his advances.

"I don't know… I think it was cute."

Jane looked at Maura and snorted. "Please, you think Bass is cute."

"Bass is cute!" She insisted. "You don't think tha- what did you name your tortoise?"

"Doyle." Jane said while dipping a french fry in some ketchup.

"Doyle?"

"What? You name yours after some barely heard of scientist and I can't name mine after a famous detective author?"

Maura looked insulted. "William M. Bass is not 'barely heard of'! He is a world renowned forensic anthropologist who has spent years of his life trying to-"

"Okay, okay, Maura. I'm sorry. And, yes, I think Doyle is cute. But it's cuz he's so small. Bass is… well, not."

"He's cute in his own way." Maura said, cutting into her fish with the proper utensils. She winced as pieces of lettuce fell from Jane's burger as she picked it up.

"Sure he is."

XXXXX

They arrived back at the police station to find nothing had really changed. Frost and Korsak were bickering about one thing or another and she had no new cases to work on. She decided to just follow Maura down to her lab.

"Today is such a slow day." Jane complained.

"Would you rather be working a triple homicide?"

"Why would you say triple?"

"It's a large number that's still within the statistical range of possibility for this area and time of year."

"Sorry I asked."

Maura put her purse down on an empty table and then walked over to the detective. "Jane, I can't help but feeling as though your irrational fear of losing me is stemming from a place deeper than just the television show you watched last night."

"Wh- what makes you say that?" Jane asked nervously. She wasn't even completely sure herself what was going on with her.

"Your voice quavered when you told me. Quavering usually stems from weakness or fear, both traits uncommon to you."

"Because I am afraid, Maura. I've never met anyone like you before. You make me feel things I never even thought possible. I don't want to go a single day without you near. I…" Jane came to a sudden realization. "I think I'm in love with you." She said more to herself, but Maura heard it as well. Jane looked back to Maura. "But that doesn't matter. You should just call whats-his-face." Jane turned to leave but was stopped by a hand grasping her shoulder.

"Jane… I just think you should know that I'm in love with you too. I mean, how can I not be? You're strong and so very passionate about your work. I am in constant awe of what you do on a daily basis and I can't imagine living the rest of my life without you."

Jane smiled and thought of the perfect response. She leaned over and gently kissed the edge of Maura's mouth, eliciting a smile out of the blonde. Maura kissed back with more fervor before pulling back and grinning at Jane, knowing that she had finally found the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She leaned over and placed another kiss on the awaiting lips before her.

Jane and Maura decided it wasn't so bad not having any work that needed to be done. Especially since they could lock the autopsy room doors from the inside.