You guys are the absolute best. Thank you so much for your continued support. Hopefully this chapter will give you some of the answers you've been looking for.

xxx

Jane's entire body shook as she woke, her nightmare playing on a loop behind her eyes. Maura's arm was draped across her waist, and her head rested on Jane's shoulder. Jane's mind didn't register the contact, her mind preoccupied with making sure her family were kept safe.

She was gentle in moving Maura's arm back over to her side of the bed, though the doctor hadn't slept properly in weeks, so Jane needn't have worried about waking her. She stood and made her way to the closet, the cool air in their bedroom sending a chill down her sweat-drenched back, before tapping in the code for her gun locker. She pulled out her Glock and a magazine of ammunition before loading. She rested her finger next to the trigger, ready to shoot as soon as she needed to.

There was a man in the house. He had broken in through the back door, using a glass cutter to stick his hand in and turn the lock. He had a gun, and his first target was Sara. Sara, who was sleeping soundly in her bed with her night light on. Sara, who was completely defenceless. Wasn't it Jane's duty to protect her family?

She made her way across the hall, past the top of the stairs, and stood at the door of Sara's room. The man was leaning over Sara, using the barrel of the gun to brush the hair from her face. Jane felt rage bubble in her stomach, and almost burst in right at that moment, her maternal instinct almost overriding her years of police training. She cocked the gun, making sure it was primed and ready.

"Hello Sara. You don't know me, but I know you." The man's voice came out as a hiss, and Jane felt her stomach contort with fear.

"That's it sweetheart, wake up for me." Sara stirred from sleep, rubbing her eyes as she clambered into an upright position. She shrunk back into the corner of her bed, arms wrapped round herself in a meagre attempt at defence.

"Your mommies have been very bad, and we need to teach them a lesson." He leaned over Sara and whispered so quietly that Jane had to strain her ears to be able to hear.

"Which mommy do you like best, Sara? Because you're going to have to kill the other one, I'm sorry to say." He stuck out his bottom lip as Sara's eyes widened, her head shaking from side to side. The man nodded his head in a reply, his icy blue eyes gazing deep into Sara's.

"Here, you've seen your police mommy use a gun before, haven't you? Take it."

He was just about to hand the gun to Sara when Jane burst into the room, the door crashing into the wall, and pointed her weapon at the man.

"Get away from my daughter." She growled, teeth bared.

"Mama?" Sara whispered sleepily as she woke up.

"Why have you got a gun, ma?" Jane shook her head, images blurring as she tried to make sense of the situation. She kept the gun pointed at Sara.

"This man is not a good person, baby. He's trying to hurt you." She shuddered, her teeth chattering.

"What man, mama?" Sara looked around the room in terror and pulled her blankets up over her chest, covering the lower half of her face.

"He's right there Sara, can't you see him? Please get away from my daughter, or I will shoot you."

"Ma you're scaring me."

"It's okay baby girl, nothing's gonna harm you, not while I'm around, see?" She moved her finger onto the trigger just as Maura rushed into the room.

"Jane? Oh, God, Jane. Can you hear me?" She moved to place a hand on Jane's shoulder but thought better of it when she saw the gun in her trembling hands.

"Jane, it's me. It's Maura. Jane, no one's going to hurt Sara. She's safe, we're safe. Please put the gun down."

"Can't do that Maura. He's gonna make her kill us, I know he is. Just like he did with Miller. He made me shoot him, Maura. And now he's gonna make her do the same. I can't let her go through that, not our Sara." Tears rolled down her cheeks and her entire body was convulsing.

"Jane, sweetheart, there's no one there. There's no one there. We're okay, there's no one else in the house but you and I and Sara." She stepped forward, afraid to touch Jane but running out of options as Jane's hands shook with increased intensity. She wrapped her fingers around Jane's hand, praying it wouldn't cause her to fire the gun. She spared a glance at Sara, who was weeping underneath her blankets.

"It's okay, Sara. Mama's just having a bad dream. We're all going to be just fine." Her voice wavered, but she felt a rush of relief as Jane seemed to relax before taking her finger away from the trigger of the gun. Maura, moving as slowly as she could, slid her fingertips between Jane's hand and the gun, prising it out of her grasp gently.

"There we go. We don't need a gun, my love. Everyone's okay. We're all okay. He's not here. He's dead, okay?"

Jane nodded, her arms falling to her sides as she regained control over her mind. She stumbled backwards, slumping against the wall and falling to the floor. Maura shut the gun in Sara's drawer and ran to her daughter, wrapping her in her arms and kissing the top of her head. She rubbed her back to try and soothe her as Jane sat in the corner, head in her hands.

"Oh God. Oh God, what have I done. Maura?" She looked up at her wife, who was sobbing into the top of Sara's head.

"Maura? Why are we in Sara's room? Is she okay?" She stood and began to move forward, but stopped when Maura put out her hand.

"Jane, please, just stay there. Sara's a little frightened, and I need to calm her down. Why don't you go back to our bedroom?"

"Did I do something bad? Did I hurt her?" She was hysterical, her voice coming out in rasps.

"She's okay, Jane. She'll be okay."

"Maura, please, what did I do?"

"I'll explain it to you later, it's not appropriate to do this in front of Sara." Sara herself was hiccupping softly against Maura's chest.

"Maura, for Christ's sake…"

"You pointed a gun at our child, Jane. Is that what you wanted to hear?" She took a breath, and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, let me just calm her down." Sara looked at Jane from beneath tear-soaked lashes, her bottom lip quivering as she clutched at Maura.

Jane's jaw fell open and her brow furrowed, and she felt as though all the air had been kicked out of her.

"I…I didn't… There was a man. Maura, I swear he was standing over her." She looked down at her hands, feeling the weight of the gun in them again. "Or… Maybe he… I can't remember." She pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes, shoulders hunching as she broke down.

"Jane, you have severe PTSD, as I've been trying to tell you for weeks. I knew you were suffering, but I told myself that you were in control. Clearly I was wrong." Maura's eyes shone with rage and she squeezed Sara tighter to her.

"Maura, I've been trying…"

"I've been telling you to see someone for weeks, and you just thought you could get better on your own? I never thought it would come to this." She pressed her cheek into the top of Sara's head, and stroked her face with the back of her fingers, shh-ing her gently.

"Please, Maura, tell me how I can make this better." She held out her hands, and Maura could see them trembling from across the room. Her chest hurt, and tears tumbled down her cheeks.

She looked deep into Jane's dark eyes and started to respond, but found that all she could do was shake her head.

xxx

So, there we go. Hopefully things are starting to come together now. Please do let me know what you thought.