A/N: Hey guys! I was watching "See One. Do One. Teach One." earlier today, and I realized that the character of Marisa was never seen again after her one appearance to check up on Jane. I want to believe that she just went on her merry way in law school after that episode, but the fact that Stark used an accurate profile of her to get Jane into the van pretty much convinced me that she didn't survive the attack on Jane's apartment. So, I decided to write this one-shot just to tie up some loose ends and bring the character's story to a proper close. If there's one thing that this show has taught me, it's that everybody deserves closure, no matter how you get it. Therefore, I dedicate this story to Marisa Rodriguez—dedicated student, bold neighbor, and good friend to our Janie. I hope you enjoy it!

Jane was home too early—it was barely sunset, and she never came back to her apartment until well after twilight. Some nights, she didn't come back at all. A bought of serious vacuuming and reluctance for visitors implied the existence of a particularly tough case for the detective earlier this week—she should hardly be around. Did they close the case already? If so, why wasn't she out celebrating with her team?

Marisa Rodriguez glanced up from her assortment of law books and notes, puzzled by the sounds coming from the apartment down the hall. 'Sounds like she's rearranging the furniture,' the student thought to herself, staring in the general direction of the din. 'Funny…I've never heard this ritual before.'

The elephantine noises faded after a few moments, and soon were replaced by a muffled clamor of two voices, arguing. Marisa thought she recognized her neighbor's rough undertones and shrugged to herself, turning back to the books. 'Must have gotten her brother to help her with the heavy lifting.'

CRASH!

Startled, Marisa immediately rose to her feet. "What the hell?"

She jumped again as another crash resounded. Forgetting about studying completely, Marisa ran to her door and opened it. "Jane?"

She could hear the sound of shattered glass hitting tile and stepped cautiously into the hallway. "Jane, are you okay?"

Another loud crash sent vibrations across the floor. Marisa leapt back over the threshold of her home, slammed the door behind her, and leaned against it, heart and thoughts racing. 'What the hell is going on in there? Should I go see? Oh, God, should I call the police? No…Jane IS the police…'

Something else dropped and she made up her mind, hurrying towards her studying table. 'I'll have them dialed, just in case,' Marisa though to herself, desperately shoving books aside in search of her phone. When she found it, she punched in 9-1-1 and ran back to the entrance of her apartment. As silently as she could, she opened the door and slipped into the hall, heading for the last door on the left.

'Stay quiet. Stay calm. Stay alert,' the law student chanted over and over in her head as she crept towards Jane's door, stepping as lightly as she could. The detective had once conducted a safety seminar for their building, a few days after her first homicide case was closed, and Marisa never forgot that bit of advice about high-pressure criminal situations. 'Stay quiet. Stay calm. Stay alert.'

"How much more, Doctor Hoyt?"

Marisa froze, mere inches from Jane's door. Hoyt…she recognized that name…

"Everything. Everything until somebody calls the cops."

"Yes, Doctor Hoyt."

Jane wasn't in there. Two men were ransacking the apartment. Marisa hit the 'call' button on her phone and lifted it to her ear, heart pounding. 'Hoyt…oh, God…" She had to stifle a gasp as she realized who one man was. 'He was her first case…he almost killed her…'

"911, what's your emergency?"

Marisa mentally shook herself and took a deep, silent breath. "There's a robbery taking place in my building," she whispered as loudly as she dared. "Two men—one of them is an escaped convict, I'm sure of it. Please, send officers immediately!"

"What's your address, ma'am?"

"Washington Street, off of Massa—"

CRASH!

Her hand flew to her mouth to muffle her cry, but it was too late. The door flew open and she was yanked violently inside Jane Rizzoli's demolished apartment, phone flying across the room as the man who grabbed her threw her to the floor.

"Well, well…what do we have here?"

Shaking violently, Marisa didn't dare raise her gaze past her attacker's shoes, and stayed silent. 'Stay calm,' she ordered herself. 'Stay calm.'

"Doctor Hoyt…"

Marisa glanced sideways. The younger man was holding her phone, which was miraculously still intact, in one gloved hand. "She's contacted them."

The law student saw the 'call ended' screen blink once, twice, and then go dark. A deep feeling of dread settled into her stomach as the man dropped the phone and crushed it under his boot.

"You've just done us a huge favor." The man in front of her crouched to be level with her, and she saw the glint of a scalpel held in his hand. "Tell us your name, won't you? We're all friends here now."

Hoyt's voice was rough, but very quiet. Marisa finally looked up to meet his icy blue eyes and knew immediately that she wasn't going to get out of the apartment alive. 'Dear God…give me strength…'

Hoyt tilted his head when she didn't answer. "Come now. If you want, I'll introduce myself first. I'm Doctor Hoyt." He tapped a finger to his chest, and then gestured to the young man still standing a few feet away. "And this is my apprentice, Doctor Stark."

"I know who you are," Marisa heard herself say, voice cracking with sudden anger. "You killed all those women. You would have killed her, too, if you'd had the chance!"

A smile broke out onto Hoyt's face. "I'll get another chance tonight. You've made sure of that." He gestured to the shattered phone under his apprentice's feet. "And I'd like to be able to tell her who helped me this time. Therefore…I need a name."

A cold, calm defiance flared up inside Marisa as she met Hoyt's gaze once again. She didn't feel afraid anymore—only anger. With all the confidence she could muster, the brave student replied in a slow, even voice. "Jane Rizzoli."

The grin on Hoyt's face slowly faded. He glanced at his apprentice and then to the ground, shaking his head slowly. "You disrespect me. That is not your name."

"Well, it's the only one you're going to get," Marisa spat back, her heart racing. "It's going to haunt you for the rest of your life. You'll always be one step behind her, no matter how hard you try."

With reflexes like lightning, Hoyt seized her upper arms and hauled her to her feet. "You're trying my patience," he growled, his voice dangerously low.

Tears were streaking down her cheeks, but the words kept flowing, like they were always meant to be said. "I know her and she doesn't give up," she said through gritted teeth. "I don't care what you do to me, Hoyt, because one day, Jane is going to turn around, and that is the day you'll die by that scalpel you're holding."

A pain-filled expression crossed Hoyt's face for a split second. The change in his eyes brought Marisa crashing back down to Earth, gasping as the full weight of the situation fell on her heart. She shut her eyes and began to pray desperately again. 'Please, God, bring me in peacefully…keep Jane safe…'

She barely felt it when Hoyt dropped her to the ground, and didn't hear him ask Stark for the taser. Marisa thought of her parents. How proud they were when she said she wanted to go to law school. What would become of them, once she was gone? She thought of her sister, fighting her way through college, and silently willed her to not give up. 'I won't give up on you.'

Only when the cool blade of a scalpel pressed against her neck did she break away from her thoughts and look up again, straight into Hoyt's pitiless gaze.

"How does it feel to know that my eyes will be the last you look into?"

Lastly, she thought of Jane. And finally, she had the courage to face Death head-on.

"How does it feel, knowing that someday, her eyes will see the life leave yours?"

Hoyt smiled humorless and didn't say anything. The taser switched on. Marisa heard a siren wailing in the background and two more tears slipped down her cheeks. 'Be safe, Jane. Bring me to peace.'

Suddenly, every nerve in her body was on fire. And just as suddenly, she didn't feel anything at all.

"Detective Rizzoli?"

"Yeah?"

"Doctor Isles asked if you'd I.D. the body?"

"…What body?"

"I'm sorry, I thought you knew…Doctor Isles said it was your neighbor? Young female, twenties?"

"Marisa?…Oh, God, no…no, come on, no, no…!"

The funeral was quiet, small. Frankie left right after the service at St. Joseph's, but Jane had insisted that Maura come with her to the ceremony at the cemetery. She didn't want to be alone with the Rodriguez's.

"I never wanted this to happen, Maura," Jane muttered to her friend as the ceremony concluded, spacing herself from Marisa's family. "God, I should've killed that bastard when I had the chance."

"But that isn't you, Jane." Maura put a warm hand on her friend's arm, stopping her several yards away from the gravesite. "You won the moment the gun returned to your hands, and you knew it." She looked her friend up and down and wished Jane would meet her eyes. "Fighting to kill wasn't an option any longer. He's back in custody, Jane, and you have to believe that you did the right thing."

"No, I don't have to believe anything, Maura," Jane snapped, shoving her fingers through her unruly hair. "Marisa is dead because of me, because of Hoyt, and I—"

She turned away when her voice cracked, one hand on her hip and the other over her mouth. Maura watched her with deep concern, knowing that Jane was fighting back tears as hard as she could. After a moment, she reached up to disentangle a small clump of purple flowers in her hair and held it out to her friend. "Here."

Jane glanced at the bunch, her big brown eyes shining brightly in the afternoon sun. Maura stroked one of the blooms absently. "Medicago falcate. Known as 'lucerne' in its natural habitat. I'm growing it in my kitchen."

"Scientific study?" Jane asked quietly, her voice muffled by her hand.

Maura slowly shook her head. "They're pretty to look at. And they symbolize life."

A silence fell as Jane simply looked at the flowers, not moving an inch. When her gaze flicked upwards again to meet Maura's, the smaller woman gave her hand a little shake. "Take them. Give them to her."

It was another couple of seconds before the detective reached out to take the flowers without a word. She visibly shook herself and straightened, turned to face Marisa's closed grave, and walked towards it as steadily as she could. The Rodriguez's were still a little ways away, so Jane crouched down next to the headstone, staring at her young neighbor's carved name intensely, as if it could turn back time and bring her back to life. "Rest easy, Marisa," she whispered, and set the flowers down next to the large pile already there. "I am so, so sorry I wasn't there for you."

Tears sprang into her eyes and she tried to blink them away. "I promise you, I will give that man everything he deserves. He isn't going to get away with this. I won't let you die in vain."

Soft footsteps told her that Maura had arrived at her side. Jane quickly wiped her cheeks with one sweep of her hand and stood up. "I'm not going to let her death be worthless," she whispered, her gaze never leaving the flowers.

Maura placed a hand on her friend's waist. "It's over, Jane."

"No, it isn't over." It wasn't an argument—it was a statement. "He's going to find another way to get to me." With a shaky sigh, Jane reached across her body to lay her own hand across the ME's. "But when he does…"

She trailed off, and Maura squeezed her palm gently. "You'll be ready?"

Jane met her best friend's stare. A deep sympathy and even deeper affection shone in Maura Isles' hazel gaze, and the detective felt a wave of peace wash over her. She squeezed back. "Only if you're there to keep me sane."

A smile broke out on Maura's face. "Always."

They left the cemetery hand-in-hand, and never spoke of the moment again. But in the back of her mind, Jane kept the memory of Marisa alive. She knew that if and when she met Charles Hoyt again, it would provide all the strength she needed. Marisa deserved to rest in peace, and Jane wasn't going to stop until she saw that justice through.

A/N2: Reviews? I'd like to know how I did, capturing the drama and everything. Thank you for reading! :)