Author Notes: Well, here we are, at the end of the story. Thank you to everyone who has commented, favourited, followed, etc. Whilst I mostly write because I enjoy it, any readers of my work are a bonus, and feedback in any way really spurs me on. So thank you. Also, thank you for your patience. I know there was a big break, but I hope it's been worth it in the end. Enjoy the final chapter.

Frankie sat across from Jane, his shoulders hunched over his desk and his head in his hand. Jane watched him, her eyes trained on his head, hoping desperately that somehow the numbers would return and she could go back to saving Maura's life. If the risk wasn't already removed.

"They still there?" she asked, ignoring the room full of people who could potentially hear them.

"Yes, they're still there," Frankie said, groaning.

The whole situation made no sense at all. Jane doubted, for the briefest moment, ever being able to see anything at all. It was so far removed from her experience of reality. But now Frankie could see the countdown. She stood up, an idea formed in her mind. She gripped hold of Frankie's arm and dragged him out of his seat.

"What are you doing?" he asked, fighting against her, but she was too strong.

"Move," she said, pushing him out of the room and towards the elevator.

She pushed the button for the basement and waited. Without a word, she tapped his back the second the doors opened and he stepped inside. Jane hoped Maura was in the lab, or her office. When they found her in neither, Jane felt her heart beat faster. They turned back to the elevator and Maura exited the bathroom.

"There you are," Jane said, holding a hand out for Frankie. He stared at her, his brow furrowed. Jane glared.

"I don't understand what is going on," Maura said. "I have work to do, perhaps you can continue your sibling thing upstairs."

"Wait," Jane said, resting her hands around Maura's arms from behind. She pointed to the top of her head and Frankie's eyes travelled upwards. Maura moved her head, consciously aware of something going on above her.

"What?"

Frankie's eyes grew wide. "Holy smoke."

"We'll leave you to it, Maura," Jane said, stepping away and walking towards the elevator. Frankie stood in front of Maura, his mouth agape. "Frankie, come on."

"Why are you staring?" Maura asked.

He shrugged his shoulders and stepped into the elevator beside Jane. She hated to lie to Maura, or omit the truth, well, she hated it sometimes. She wished she could explain but something weird was going on and she couldn't explain it without dragging Frankie into her already unusual delusions.

Jane tapped her foot against the floor. She wanted to ask, yet the very thought of the answer was enough to leave her shaking. She slipped her hands into her pockets to disguise the tremor.

"How low was it?"

"Twenty eight point four six," he said. "What does that mean?"

"It means Maura's running out of time."

"What happens when it gets to zero?"

Jane smacked him across the arm and returned her hand to her pocket. "What do you think happens, Francesco?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. The elevator doors opened. "It can't mean that."

"I've seen it with my own eyes," she said, stepped out. "We need to do something."

"What?" He shrugged his shoulders again and followed her. "What's going to happen?"

"The only thing I know is that Maura's number went down when she saved Alice. I don't know if there's a connection, but we need to find out. We need to get Tony Scott back in custody."

"We've got two officers on her room at all times," Frankie said. "If he returns to her room, he's going to be refused entry. But we have nothing to hold him."

"Then we'll have to find something."

x

With her gun in its holster, Jane stood beside the hospital room door. She slipped her jacket over her shoulders and waited. They were ready. The day before, Tony Scott visited the room at the exact same time as his first visit.

"You sure Maura's in her office?" Jane asked.

"Sure as I can be," Frankie replied.

She wasn't convinced. They had just a couple hours left before Maura's countdown reached zero. They'd wasted most of the last day coming up with a plan to attempt to stop Tony Scott. In reality they had very little to go on, and no reason to actually arresting the man should he turn up at the hospital.

"Alice is safe in the other room?" Jane asked, checking everything one last time before Tony Scott's scheduled arrival.

"She's three doors away, no one else knows where she is."

"The officers are all in position?"

"Jane," Frankie said. "We're ready."

"Let me just check on Maura," Jane said, taking her cell phone out of her pocket and dialling Maura's number. "Hi, it's Jane."

"How can I help you, Jane?" Maura asked. "I thought you were busy, at the hospital."

"I am. Where are you?"

"I'm visiting Alice."

"What?" Jane asked. She turned to Frankie, her eyes wide with anticipation and concern. "Why are you at the hospital?"

"I figured while you're trying to apprehend her probable attacker, I would keep her company."

"No, Maura, turn around and go home."

"Jane, I'm."

The call cut out. A tingling sensation travelled across the back of her neck. She turned to Frankie who only stared back at her.

"Maura's here," Jane said. "She's visiting Alice and her phone cut out."

"Bad reception?" Frankie asked.

"I don't know."

She checked the time. In the fussing around, it was already five minutes past the hour. As if on cue, Tony Scott rounded the corner. He marched towards the room, ignoring Jane and Frankie. They let him pass, hoping his actions would force their hand. They watched from the doorway as he moved towards the bed. He reached out and ran his hand across the sleeping form of their decoy.

"Alice, beautiful, I'm here."

The officer they'd assigned to the task of playing the part of Alice mumbled a little, and pulled the bed sheets up tighter around her head.

"I won't let anyone hurt you again. I promise. You're safe now."

"Mr Scott," Jane said, stepping into the room. "I wanted to ask you a couple of questions, about the night Alice was attacked."

Jane looked to Frankie who looked back at her. This wasn't what was supposed to be happening. He was their guy. She was sure of it. But the way he spoke, the way he touched her, was filled with nothing but love. Probably stalker, obsessive love. But she saw no malice in his actions.

"You told us you saw her outside the club, didn't you?"

"Of course I did," he said. "It was the first time we made love."

"The condom," Jane whispered. "You raped her."

"No, I'd never do that," he said, shaking his head. "She wanted it to happen. She was just scared. Her boyfriend can be pretty jealous."

A loud clattering travelled down the corridor from the direction of Alice's new room, followed by the screams of a woman. Jane set off at speed, retrieving her gun from its holster as she skidded to a halt outside Alice's bedroom. The room was empty. Alice lay on the floor, her face stained with tears.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

After a brief nod from Alice, Jane turned to the corridor. A tall man, who she recognised to be Jason Harrigan, stood a few feet away. His hand was tightly wrapped around Maura's chest, a scalpel in his grip. Maura's eyes danced from Jane, to the knife, and back again.

"Let's not do anything too hasty," Jane said, stepping forwards.

He pressed the blade against Maura's neck and a small amount of blood leaked from a wound. Maura scrunched her eyes up, her chest heaved up and down.

"This doesn't have to end badly," Jane tried again. She stepped backwards. "Please. Just let her go. You don't have to do this. We can work something out."

"No, we can't."

He moved backwards, Maura stepped back, on her tiptoes, as she tried to keep the blade away. Jane swallowed. The blood dribbled down her neck, a small, thin, red line.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Jane asked. "Alice left the club, you went back to play a set, and then you came out and she was with a guy from work."

"She lied to me," he said. "She told me he was stalking her. She lied."

"No," Jane said. "She didn't lie. She didn't want to be with him. He raped her. But you didn't see that. You were too busy crushing her skull."

Feet shuffled across the floor. Jane turned around, and Frankie stood behind her, his gun out in front of him.

"Did you arrest Scott?" she whispered behind her.

"Torres and O'Brien are taking him in."

"Please, Jason, put the scalpel down." Jane refocused her attention on Maura. She stared into her eyes, pleading with her to hang in there. "If you hurt her, you're hurting the Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. If she dies, you go to jail for a very long time."

"No," he said, backing up further. "We're going to leave."

"We can't let that happen," Jane said, holding a hand up to Frankie. A couple of other officers joined him. "Why don't you just put the scalpel down and we can talk about this?"

"No," he shouted.

"Jason, listen to me," she said, still gripping the gun in front of her. "If you don't do as I say, you will not make it out of this hospital alive. Do you understand me?"

"You shoot me and I'll kill her," he said, pressing harder with the blade. Jane closed her eyes as the amount of blood intensified.

"Okay," she said, turning around. "How's it looking, Frankie?"

"One hour, nine minutes."

Jane lowered her eyes and holstered her gun. She searched her mind, hoping that somehow she would figure out a way to save Maura without taking the life of a man who was obviously desperate. Given the position she was in, if Jason caused Maura more serious injury, she would bleed out. Her death wouldn't necessarily happen immediately, but it was clear from the situation that either the fatal blow would happen now, or he would get his wish and take her away. She lifted her hands and glanced down them. The shot wasn't clean. Whatever they did, they risked harming Maura. Then she saw the fire exit sign above a door behind Maura and Jason.

"I'll be back," Jane said, loudly enough for Jason to hear.

She walked away from Maura, away from Frankie and the other officers. She didn't stop walking until she reached the elevator. She took it up a floor, before running down the corridor and opening the fire escape. She took the stairs two at a time, flying down until she reached the door. She opened it slowly, cautiously.

"Think about what you're doing," Frankie shouted down the corridor. He barely acknowledged her as she moved behind Jason.

Before he could sense her presence, she jumped on him, her hand wrapped around the fist with the blade in it. She tugged it back and pulled him towards the wall, smacking his wrist against the window ledge until he dropped the scalpel.

"Jason Harrigan, you're under arrest," she said, forcing his arms behind his back as she slapped her cuffs over his wrists. Frankie ran down the corridor and she handed Jason over to him. She'd done her bit. Before Frankie could walk away, she grabbed his arm. "How's it looking?"

He looked to Maura. "Healthy. You know I'm no good at fast math, but I'd say she's got years."

"Thank God," Jane whispered, placing a hand on her chest. She gasped for breath, the running catching up with her. She knelt down on the floor and pulled Maura into her arms. "Thank God you're okay."

Maura ran a hand across her neck, her fingers soaked in blood. "Nearly. Thankfully it's just a surface wound."

"Don't do that to me again," Jane said, hugging her tighter. She slipped her chin onto Maura's shoulder and closed her eyes. She could feel blood soaking her shirt, but she didn't care. "I love you. Don't die on me."

"I wasn't planning on doing," Maura said, a weak smile across her face.

"Let's get you checked out."

x

Back at the police department, Jane finished off her paperwork. She placed it in the file and put the file on her desk. She was exhausted. The lack of sleep, and increased worrying, had taken its toll. She was ready for a beer and an early night.

Frankie entered the room. He stood in front of her, his hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face. "When's is gonna go? It's driving me crazy."

"You gotta save someone's life," Jane said. "I think."

"How am I gonna do that?"

"Don't ask me," she said.

"Well how'd you do it?"

"I saw your number go down and I pulled you from the road."

"It's that simple?"

"It was for me."

He shrugged his shoulders and leant against the corner of the desk. "You got any idea what Nina wants to talk to me about?"

Jane felt the tug of her lips. She attempted to keep her face straight. "I think it's up to Nina to tell you, but you might want to look at her stomach."

"Look at her stomach?" he frowned. "What does that even mean?"

"You ready to go?"

Frankie turned around as Nina entered the room. She slipped her jacket around her shoulders. He glanced down at her stomach and his eyes grew wide. He turned back to Jane and she merely nodded.

"Sure," he said.

Jane laughed to herself as Frankie's eyes remained wide, and his mouth agape. He looked petrified, but she knew it'd be okay. He was a decent guy, after all. She stood up and retrieved her own jacket from the back of her chair. She folded it over her arm and walked towards the elevator.

x

Unlocking her car door, Maura walked up beside her, a smile on her face and a bandage over her neck.

"Hey, you," Jane said, showing off her pearly whites. She ran a hand along Maura's upper arm. "How you doing?"

"I'm fine," Maura said. "As I suspected, it was nothing serious."

"I'm never gonna let anyone hurt you again," Jane said, reaching her arms around Maura's shoulders and pulling her in tight. She cared too much about her to lose her.

Maura pulled back. "Thank you for your concern, but I don't intend to be apprehended in a corridor again anytime soon."

"Let's stay away from hospitals," Jane said. She locked the car again. "Dirty Robber?"

"That would be lovely."

They fell into step beside each other, Maura's arm linking Jane's. They'd taken that walk time and time again. Nothing every really changed. Jane was happy. For the first time in a couple of weeks, she was okay. Maybe now everything could go back to normal.

"Jane," Maura said, once they'd ordered their drinks and taken a seat in a booth.

"Yeah?"

"How did you know something was going to happen to me?"

"I didn't," she said, shrugging. She forged her best innocent expression. "I guess I just got scared. After Ricardo and his dad, then Korsak, I worry about you."

"You don't need to worry about me. I'm fine."

"Now you are," Jane said, sipping on her beer.

"Nor do you have to worry about Korsak," Maura said. "He's coming home tomorrow."

"Really? That's fantastic."

Maura smiled and swallowed a mouthful of wine. She reached a hand out to Jane's, and Jane took it. The gentle squeeze of Maura's fingers around her own made her feel so much better. Everything was falling back into place.

"I saw Frankie on my way to your car," Maura said. "He looked terrified. Do you know what's wrong?"

"Let's just say my baby brother is going to be changing a lot of diapers in about eight months' time."

"How?" Maura asked.

"What do you mean how? My brother's sperm got inside Nina's vajayjay and now they're having a baby."

Maura's lips curved at the edges briefly. "I didn't even know Nina and Frankie were seeing each other."

"I suspect they'll be seeing a lot more of each other from now on."

"Aunt Jane."

"Sounds weird, doesn't it?"

"Only about as weird a Detective Jane." Jane smacked her playfully on the back of her hand. "Ow."

"You deserved that."

Maura placed a hand on her neck. "But I'm injured."

"Injured," Jane scoffed and supped on her beer. "Anybody tries to injure you again and I'll shoot them."

"Thank you, but I'd rather you didn't land yourself in jail."

"You're forgetting that I know the mistakes people make when they commit murder."

"And you're forgetting that I'm an expert medical examiner."

"You wouldn't autopsy the body."

"I would."

"But you're my friend."

"So?"

"So, you'll be on my side."

"I'm on the side of the law."

"You'd choose the law over me?"

"Maybe," Maura said, with a smirk.

"I change my mind," Jane said, gripping Maura's hand tighter. "I don't love you after all."

"Doubtful."

THE END