"If we don't make it out of here alive," Maura started saying tentatively. They were in another active shooter situation, hunkered down in a crawl space.
"Mau, we're getting out of here," Jane snapped back, listening to the footfalls of the people downstairs. They'd been checking out a suspect's house, and they'd come home the same time as the person who'd killed the body BPD had found arrived. Frost and Korsak had been outside, and Jane had shoved Maura in a closet, then up into the ceiling, hauling herself up after her.
"Jane! Listen to me! Fuck," Maura said, and Jane's attention was drawn from the situation downstairs, so unusual was Maura's swearing. Her hand reached for Maura, took one of her hands.
"I'm trying to make sure we get out of here," Jane whispered. Maura nodded.
"But if we don't, you need to know. I've never loved anyone the way I've loved you." Maura's hand was sticky, and Jane looked down. Blood. Maura's blood was covering both their hands. Jane dropped the hand, lifted Maura's shirt, looking for the wound, stopping when Maura gasped in pain.
"Fuck," Jane agreed, shrugging off her jacket, pulling off her button down and her undershirt, shrugging her button down back on but not bothering to do it up as she pulled at Maura's shirt, pulling out a knife to cut it away from Maura's shoulder rather than trying to lift it over her head. She wrapped the undershirt around Maura's shoulder to staunch the flow of blood, and Maura's forehead pressed to Jane's chest. "It's going to be ok," Jane said, wrapping her arms around Maura, using one hand to text Frost.
"Did you hear me, Jane?" Maura's hand slid under Jane's open shirt, pressing against the scar on Jane's abdomen. "I love you. You need to know."
"I love you too," Jane said, listening for the backup, the ambulance she'd asked for. "More than anyone. Stay with me, ok? We'll be out of here soon, and it will just be one of those bad days in the office, huh?" Jane can feel Maura's tears on her bared chest, can feel Maura's uneven breathing. "Hurts, huh?" Jane asked, and Maura pulled back, looked up at Jane.
"All the time I've wasted," Maura said vaguely, her unbloodied hand coming up to cradle Jane's cheek, to pull Jane's face down so Maura could kiss her, lips salty from the tears still falling down her face. Jane had wondered what it would be like to kiss Maura, but never like this, while Maura was bleeding and crying, in obvious pain and fearing for her life. Never as a last wish, or whatever this was. But a kiss was a kiss, and Jane took it, returned it, cradled Maura in her arms as she passed out.
Maura's eyes opened slowly, reluctantly.
"Hey, you," a voice said, and Maura turned her head. The familiar mane of curly hair, blood on that familiar face. "They got the bullet out." Jane's hand was holding Maura's, and Maura stared down at their hands. Jane pressed a buzzer, but Maura wasn't ready to deal with anyone else. A nurse came and explained everything that happened, everything they did, and Maura just nodded, aware of Jane's hand in hers. Aware that she kissed Jane. The nurse left, and Jane smiled down at Maura as though nothing is wrong, as though nothing had changed.
"You were pretty insistent about how much you love me," Jane said finally.
"I've never been shot before," Maura defended herself, seeing Jane deflate. "It doesn't make it any less true," she admited, looking away. "I've been too scared to tell you."
"You can tell me anything. Just, not while we're hiding from an assassin and a murderer next time, ok?"
"How about while recovering from a gunshot wound?" Maura asked.
"Sounds good to me," Jane smiled, and Maura took a breath, flinching as her stitches caught.
"I love you," she said quietly, carefully.
"Love you too, Mau," Jane said. She learned in and kissed Maura, sat back down and kissed Maura's hand too. "Always will."