Disclaimer: I don't own, I rent.

A/N: So, uh, it's been a while, huh? First of all, I am SO unbelievably sorry about the terribly long wait! I'll admit, I definitely hit writers block with this one and it took me a while to get invested in it again. Hopefully I won't have that problem again and we can get back to regularly scheduled updates! Enjoy!

Chapter Nine
"Their Reunion"

She looked at her surroundings; still unable to fully accept the situation she was in. She leaned forward, rested her head on the bed in front of her and closed her eyes gently as the steady beeping lulled her to sleep for the third night in a row.

She opened her eyes seconds later, startled to see it was bright in the room again. It was the first night in weeks she had slept more than an hour or two without waking. One quick look at the machine in front of her told her that no change had been made while she was unconscious and she let out a deep sigh before closing her eyes once again and resting her forehead on the pale hand that rest in hers.

She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and jumped at the contact. When she had fallen asleep, she'd been the only one in the room; she wasn't expecting anyone else to join her for a few more hours.

"Why don't you go get something to eat? You've barely left this room since we arrived."

"I can't. I can't leave her. What if she wakes up while I'm gone?"

"Sweetie, they have this thing called a cell phone. I can use it to call you if she wakes and you aren't here."

She shook her head adamantly and squeezed the hand in hers a little tighter, silently willing the owner to wake.

"What if I bring you something? Will you eat it…please? For me?"

She sighed again and thought about it for a moment before nodding slightly. She hadn't had much of an appetite for the last two weeks and she knew it was beginning to show. Her normally slim waist felt unusually bony and her shirts no longer clung to her quite like they used to. If she had to guess, she would say she'd dropped at least ten pounds.

She watched as Angela left the room, and she turned to Jane once again. She looked so small lying here, white sheets surrounding her, battered and bruised, hooked up to machines; it simply wasn't fair.

Maura felt the tears welling up in her eyes again, but she forced them down, refusing to cry today. She had shed far too many tears in the time that Jane was missing; she didn't want to cry anymore.

She'd gotten the cliff notes version of what had happened to her from Lieutenant Marshall, and to be perfectly honest, she wasn't sure she wanted the details. She knew enough to know that Jane was tortured for days. She was beaten, she was tied up, she was burned, and she was even shot. The shot to her abdomen was what landed her here in the hospital, and was also the reason she had yet to wake.

The rest of her team was able to finally locate her and luckily they were able to get her here before she bled out.

Barely.

Riley Cooper wasn't as lucky. Maura shuddered at the thought of having to tell Jane that her undercover partner didn't return from their mission, but she knew she had to be the one to do it. Jane was going to be upset and Maura knew she hated to fall apart in front of anyone else.

"Please wake up, Jane," she whispered softly, "please."

She stared at the brunette's face for what felt like hours, hoping and praying that she would see some sign that Jane was going to wake sometime soon.

Angela came with Maura's breakfast, but couldn't stay long; she needed to get back to work. Maura felt herself dozing off again and squeezed Jane's hand a little tighter before leaning forward once again and resting her head on their entwined hands.

It could have been minutes or hours later, Maura had no clue, but she felt something moving against her, though it took her a moment to place what the sensation actually was. Slowly, she became aware of the fact that it was Jane's fingers, twitching slightly in her own, which had awoken her.

She glanced up toward Jane's face and nearly exploded with tears when she saw Jane's open eyes staring back at her. For days she had wondered if she would ever see that sight again and she was thankful to know that Jane really would be okay.

Of course, okay was a relative term. But she was here. She was alive. And that was more than Maura had dared even hope for a few days ago.

Jane opened her mouth slightly, trying to speak, but her mouth was too dry and her throat too scratchy to make any noise. As if reading her mind, she watched as Maura rushed to the other side of the room and filled a small cup with water, waiting patiently for Jane to finish with tears in her eyes.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes," Jane said when she'd finally finished her drink, a slight smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

Maura let out a laugh that was half giggle and half sob and wiped the tears from her eyes with one hand as she squeezed Jane's with her other.

"I'm so happy you're awake, Jane, I was so worried, it's been days now and you were missing for so long, I was so afraid I would never see you again."

It all came out in a rush, Maura's nerves taking over. All the anxiety and adrenalin from the past few weeks came pouring out of her as she finished with a huge sigh of relief.

Jane was okay.

Jane was awake.

Everything was going to be okay now.

"What happened, Maur? I don't…I can't really remember much."

Maura took her seat next to the bed once again, scooting it impossibly closer to the brunette. She took her girlfriend's hand in her own and let out another sigh before beginning to recount the story of what had happened while Jane was undercover.

"You were shot," she continued, a new wave of tears leaving her eyes when she realized that was the first time she had said that out loud, "You were so lucky they found you when they did. Any later and…and you probably wouldn't have made it. We were so worried, all of us, your parents and I have been here for days, just hoping you would wake up."

"I'm sorry I put you through this, Maur. You didn't ask for this. I should have listened to you when you told me not to do it."

"Jane, listen," Maura began, "I don't ever want to keep you from doing something that's important to you. And I know that's probably not what you expect me to say, you probably expect me to say that I don't ever want you to go back, that it's too dangerous and it would be too easy to lose you. And to be honest, that's what I've been thinking for days now."

Maura took a deep breath before continuing, almost shocked at what as coming out of her mouth.

"But this is what you want to do. You love this job. I know you do. And I love you. So I'll learn to love it, too. I support you, and I'm always on your side."

She finished with a slight smile, an attempt to tell Jane that she really was okay with her career path, even though it scared her to death. But Maura had learned a lot about herself in the past few weeks. Of course she had been a wreck, how could you not be when the love of your life is missing and in danger?

But she had learned how strong she could be. How much she could handle. And if Jane wanted to do this for the rest of her life, she would make sure she was supportive of that.

"Maura," Jane said simply, the name coming out as more of a sigh of relief than anything else. She'd wonder for days if she would ever get to see her girlfriend again. It was one of the only things that kept her going while she'd been held in captivity.

Well, that and making sure her partner made it out alive.

With that, Jane gasped, panic filling her eyes. Maura could sense the tension and ran her hand across Jane's forehead and down her cheek in an attempt to sooth her.

"What is it, sweetheart?"

"Riley…she was shot, I remember now. Is she…is she okay?"

Maura's eyes darted downward, unable to hold Jane's gaze. She didn't want to have to say the words that she knew she needed to. She knew Jane would blame herself and wouldn't believe that there was nothing else she could have done.

"Jane, I…I hope you know that it is not your fault. No one blames you or anything, it all happened so fast, there was nothing more anyone could have done."

She paused, taking in a deep breath. Jane sensed her hesitation, but she had no patience for Maura avoiding the issue right now.

"Where is Riley, Maura?"

"Jane, I'm…I'm so sorry. She didn't make it. Riley is dead."

- R & I -

A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger, I do like to be dramatic. Don't hate me! Also, I just want to say, thank you so much for all your reviews, guys. They really mean the world to me and I really do read and appreciate every single one. :)