"No!" Jane cried out as the bullet hit, the impact hard enough to slam Terry back against the wall, blood spraying through the air; groaning, she slumped down, keeping Jane and Maura from seeing where exactly she had taken the hit, but before either of them could move, Donovan aimed the gun at them, smirking slightly, prompting them both to freeze.

"Well", he then stated, keeping the gun tracked on Jane while he got out of bed, "the famous detective Rizzoli held at gunpoint. Not bad for a simple gangbanger, eh?"

"You can't be serious", Jane gave back, disbelief all over her face, "you do know that we got two more officers outside, just waiting for the first sign of trouble. One yell will be enough to get them both running in here."

"Enough time to pull the trigger twice", Donovan shrugged, his gall unbelievable to both Jane and Maura, "and getting rid of the two of you will give me really good street cred. You may not know it, but you're quite… infamous among us."

"Yay", Jane gave back sarcastically, even though it might not be the best course of action in the current situation; Maura gave her a warning look, while Donovan just chuckled, amusement in his voice as he spoke on. "Glib in the face of danger, I like that about you, Rizzoli. You know, I was impressed when you shot through yourself to stop that one guy, that took guts."

"More guts than you'll ever have", Terry rasped from the floor, prompting him to turn around in surprise, his eyes wide; before he could do more than that though, she had pulled the trigger, the gunshot deafeningly loud in the not all too big room, a strangled gurgle coming from him as he stumbled back, then fell on the bed, crimson staining the white sheets seconds later.

With a heavy breath, Terry let the gun slump back down, as if all the strength suddenly had gone out of her; and a second later, both Jane and Maura were by her side, getting the first good look at the wound now, the two exchanging a worried look when they saw that the bullet had hit her in the stomach, just a few inches left of her navel, the way blood was pooling on the floor at her back showing that it had gone all the way through.

"We heard a shot!" a male voice cried out before either the detective or the medical examiner had a chance to say something, "what… oh Jesus Christ!"

"Call an ambulance", Jane ordered without looking at them, "now!"

They both nodded and hurried off again, back out to the car; neither Jane, nor Maura even noticed though, both of them focused on the dreadfully hurt woman, the detective now grasping her free hand, ignoring that it was slick with blood.

"You saved us", she mumbled, holding Terry's gaze, "thank you."

"Couldn't finish", the killer whispered in reply, blood trickling from the corners of her mouth and down her chin, "didn't… get them all. You were right, though… didn't lessen the hurt."

"I know", Jane gave back, squeezing her hand tenderly while Maura moved to get a closer look at the exit wound, briefly closing her eyes at how bad it was, "but those you didn't get won't harm anyone ever again, either. We'll make sure of that, Maura and me, I promise, and you'll just have to hold on until the ambulance arrives, you'll be okay and then we'll help you…"

She realized that she was babbling and made herself shut up, and from the weak smile appearing on the other woman's scarred face, she had noticed, as well; she let out a small cough, accompanied by another pained groan, then shook her head, sounding tired as she replied.

"Too late", she mumbled, prompting Jane to shake her head while Maura just placed one hand on her shoulder, her trained gaze telling her that the woman unfortunately, sadly, was right, "but… doesn't matter. Got nothing left now…"

"No, you'll be okay", the detective insisted, "they're already on their way, and they'll help you…"

"…see her again?" Terry rasped in reply, her voice by now so weak that it was barely audible; and finally, Jane accepted the facts as well, forcing herself to smile at the woman who had been hurt too badly for the ambulance to arrive in time to save her, nodding as she now took the dying woman's hand in both of hers, holding it tenderly, trying hard to give her some comfort in her last minutes.

"Yes, Sweetie", she then confirmed verbally as well, "I think you'll see her again… and she'll be happy to see you, and you'll be happy again, with her. Say hi to her from us, will you?"

Next to her, Maura took in a watery breath, but didn't say anything, just rubbing the woman's shoulder soothingly; knowing that she would start to cry as well, should she look at her lover, Jane kept her gaze focused on Terry, who now smiled slightly again, her eyes glazing over as her time was nearing rapidly.

"Sorry", she still brought out, looking at the medical examiner now, "didn't mean… to scare you. Or hurt you…"

"I know", Maura replied in a choked voice, "I understand why you did what you did, and you're not alone now… Jane and I are with you…"

"Thank you", the other woman gave back, barely audible now; her gaze moved back to Jane, and something in her eyes prompted the detective to move slightly so she could pull her into an embrace, not even noticing the blood staining her clothes, holding her tight to herself as she breathed in, out and then not in again, her body going limp in the detective's arms as she died, finally finding the peace she had been seeking for so long.

For almost a full minute, there was complete silence in the room after she had died, neither Jane, nor Maura saying anything; then, Jane let out a harsh "Dammit!" and slammed her fist against the wall, startling the medical examiner out of her reverie and into grabbing the detective's fist, keeping her from repeating the motion and perhaps hurting herself.

"Dammit", Jane repeated, her gaze fixed on the dead woman she still held in her arms, "she didn't deserve this, she's as much a victim as those guys, maybe even more than them… Damn them all to Hell!"

"Jane", Maura tried to gain her attention, moving closer to her, mindful of the dead body she still was clutching, "Jane, look at me, come on..."

Her own tears were still drying on her cheeks, and perhaps, it was the sight of them which set Jane off; she let out a racked, halfway held-back sob, all the excitement of the last few hours and the emotional turmoil breaking free, prompting Maura to hurriedly wrap her in an embrace and hold her, closing her eyes when she felt the taller woman shudder in her grasp.

"She didn't deserve this", Jane almost whimpered, the feeling of Terry's blood drying on her clothing only intensifying her anguish, "going through all of this, just to die in the end, because of that… that bastard…"

"I know", Maura told her, rubbing her back soothingly, "but there was nothing we could have done, the bullet did too much damage…"

With another sniffle, the detective pulled back from the embrace, just enough so she could look at the dead woman between them; for a few more moments, she was quiet, then finally spoke up, her words breaking Maura's heart all over again.

"I'm sorry", she almost whispered, "I'm sorry we couldn't save you, and I'm sorry it had to end like this."

And with the last words, she carefully lowered the corpse to the ground, then came to her feet, prompting Maura to do the same; both wiped at their eyes to hide the traces of their tears, just in time to make sure their cheeks were dry when the officers came back inside, with the ambulance men in tow now, the two paramedics looking startled at the carnage they found in the room.

"They're both dead", Jane told them as she moved past them, not even looking at them properly; they exchanged another look, then got to work while Jane and Maura walked outside, both of them taking in a few breaths of fresh air once they were outside.

"I just want to go home now", the detective mumbled after half a minute of silence, looking at her lover, "can we please just go and deal with this all tomorrow?"

"Yes", Maura agreed at once, relieved that the taller woman had said what she had been thinking, "let's go…"

Nodding, Jane turned back to the house once more, giving it a long, thoughtful look; then, she turned away from it and walked back to the car, nearly letting herself drop into the driver's seat, staring out at the window as she waited for the officers to join them, her voice barely audible, just loud enough for Maura to hear when she mumbled to herself, prompting the medical examiner to give her another concerned look and reach over with one hand to place it on her arm. "Case closed. Well fucking done, Rizzoli."