Chapter 8

As Maura was falling asleep on the ground Jane was doing the exact same thing beside Paddy on their way to the house. The pain that was running through her veins had subsided in the last few hours becoming more of a dull roar. When she was able to stop concentrating on everything around her and what she was planning to do, she tried to discern whether the pain the felt in her chest every time her heart beat was because of the beating she had received or because of the absence of Maura.

Her physical pain was evident to Paddy; it was her emotional pain that he found almost impossible to discern except when they were specifically speaking about Maura. Jane Rizzoli was like a high wall of self-preservation that had been built up over a lifetime of heartbreak and losses.

Jack began to stir awake in the bedroom upstairs and in the same moment a car pulled up with the headlights off and a woman was slowly waking from sleep in the woods.

Paddy decided that it would be better to park a ways away form the house just in case Jack was watching and happened to see Jane. Of course the detective implored him to just act normally, but he would not comply.

The car came to a stop with lights off and Jane could just see the house at the end of the lane. There was a moment of silence until Jane decided that she would fill it with something that had been eating away at her ever since she learned of Paddy's involvement with all of this.

"Paddy how could you let this happen? I have held my tongue for as long as I can but I just can't anymore. You let him take her away and then you just watched. Why the hell didn't you call me? You've called me for less than this."

"This was how it had to happen."

"Enough with the bullshit old man; tell me what you're hiding."

She could see the internal struggle develop in Paddy but just waited, her face expressionless.

"He got some information that would have put me away in a RICO case and he would have used it and he knew where I was hiding. I found the mole –

"You son of a bitch! You're covering your own ass! Do you even care about the woman in there?"

"Jane –

"No! You don't get to speak. Stay in this fucking car and don't you dare move or I will shoot you." Her voice was such a deep growl, with such intent and promise in her eyes that he stayed glued to his chair. No one had been able to instil such fear in him since his father.

She got out of the car and although they had discussed otherwise and he had planned all of this very differently, Paddy stayed in the car.

Slowly and carefully Jane crouched and made her way over to the house. She used the bushes around her for at least some cover and moved from cover to cover until she was about 100 metres from the house. Mentally she was taking notes about the possible layout of the building from what she could see of the outside and where she guessed Maura might be. She made her way to the back of the house, deciding that the front was too exposed to be safe.

Jane eventually ran out of cover the closer that she got to the house and so she had to sprint to put herself flush against the building and out of the way of any windows from where she might be seen. She tried not to make any noise when her body came into contact with the outside wall.

Inside, Jack heard a small sound and stood from his chair. He grabbed the gun that he had hidden in the bathroom, under the sink, and switched the safety off.

Just as Jack made his way out the front door, Jane had put her gun in its holster and kicked down the back door that Maura had locked on her way out.

Her gun was in her hand before the door hit the ground and she was ready for a fight, despite her injuries groaning against every movement. Jack was outside of the house but he still heard the commotion inside. He made his way back towards the front door and leant himself against the frame so that he could lean his head inside without Jane having any kind of clear shot at his body. He twisted the doorknob and let the door swing open.

Just as Jane was about to turn the corner, leaving her back to the front door, she noticed a movement and quickly but quietly moved herself to the staircase on the other side of the room. As she made this movement, Jack snuck a look inside the house and saw her dark hair as she got to cover behind a wall and immediately felt his anger rise in his throat. He bit back the need to shoot aimlessly into the house out of anger and instead moved his head out of the door and punched the wall. With his composure returned he set himself a plan in his head. However, Jane was used to working at a much faster pace than Jack and so as soon as she heard the bang outside she took her chance to run up the stairs. They led to a single door, which was open so Jane made her way inside. Once she was in the room and had assessed her surroundings she closed the door behind her and turned toward the window. Immediately she noticed the broken pane and the blood on the jagged edges. Her heart began to beat faster and she knew that it was Maura's blood. She couldn't help but rush over to the window and look out, preying and hoping that Maura's body wasn't at the bottom. She was met with only grass and broken glass. But she did notice what looked like footsteps leading to the forest. It was at this moment that she realised that Jack no longer had any control over this situation and for the most part he knew it.

As she was contemplating her next move she was forced into making a quick decision as the creak of floorboards made its way to her ears. She made her way over to the door and stood behind it, gun at the ready, waiting for Jack to open it so she could slam it back in his face. In a moment of genius, she picked up a pillow from the floor, that she assumed Maura had used to muffle the sound of glass breaking, and threw it out the window, hoping that it might make some kind of noise that will make Jack think she had left through the window. As the pillow hit the lower awning she heard some muffled words from the other side of the door and then it violently swung open. Just as she saw Jack with gun raised taking a step towards her, she kicked the door back towards him and it slammed him in the face sending him falling back down the stairs. Three gunshots rang out as he fell, his reflexes trying to save him from what had already been set into motion. Jane ducked when she heard the first shot but didn't bother to check herself when the shots stopped, instead deciding to take out her revenge on Jack as soon as possible.

Maura was alert and so the sounds of the gunshots drew her attention towards the house that had been her prison. The doctor's mind, not usually accustomed to throwing assumptions her way, simply whispered 'Jane' and the honey-blonde was running faster than she ever had towards the house.

Jack was at the bottom of the stairs and so was Jane, however, the detective had a considerable advantage over the man. She turned him onto his back, sat on his chest and pulled out her gun. As he came to, she smiled at him and it was most sinister. Feeling the surge of power as her heel had connected with the door and watching him fall down the stairs into a heap had filled her with a confidence that she would now translate into violence.

"What did you do you to her! Where is she!"

With each question Jane slammed the handle her gun across Jack's face. With each hit her anger grew, imagining all of the things that he might have done to Maura. Her anger grew to something that she had never felt before and as Jack's face became covered in blood and the gashes across his face grew, she began to lose herself.

And then the man beneath Jane began to laugh. His smile widened and the white of his teeth almost glowed through the red of his blood. She stopped in her questioning and her assault and was taken aback by this sudden, almost mad, change in demeanour. His laughter began to slow and Jane could see as his lips formed words that although he had lost the battle, he was going to try and win the war.

"I hope that you have this much fight left in you Jane when she leaves you because you are not enough. You can't give her the things that she needs, let alone the things that she wants. Your family has no history, your name has no importance and when you're dead and buried, history will gladly leave your un-extraordinary life from its pages. And so will Maura. She will leave you Jane, and when she does, you will end up even worse than me; because at least everything I did, I did to myself, but you have been so weak as to let someone else have the power to do this to you. I pity what will become of you when she's finished with it. And so should you."

Sunlight moved so slowly in between the man's words. The brunette was frozen in place; her anger had risen to such a degree that she had forgotten how to breathe. This man, this disgusting man, had seemingly spouted to her the remainder of her pathetic life as he saw it. She saw the malice in his voice turn his eyes a darker shade. She felt the gun in her hands and her index finger played with the trigger, all of the different parts of her screaming for the power to make a decision. Then the sun was interrupted. A figure walked into the room and brought a calm over the house. Jane returned to herself and dropped her gun. Her thoughts had become centred and her heartbeat was now at a regular pace, undeterred by adrenalin, anger or fear.

Maura had heard every word and seen every bit of anger from the moment Jane got on top of Jack. She had been standing in the doorway with a gun in her hand, waiting for her big brain to tell her what to do. And that was when she heard every word fall out of Jack's mouth and drape itself heavily over Jane and so did Paddy, standing in the door way, having decided that he would still attempt to accomplish what he had intended all along.

All at once chaos broke out. Maura said Jane's name and the brunette couldn't help but turn her head to a voice that she thought she may never hear again, Paddy said Maura's name and Jack screamed as he lunged from underneath Jane in her moment of distraction, found his gun on the floor behind him and pointed it directly at the detective's head. Before Jane had time to move two shots rang out and then everything went silent.

Maura dropped the gun from her hand, the barrel still hot from the shot she had just fired, and Paddy made his way over to Jack who had fallen backwards after two bullets entered his chest. After making sure that the younger man was dead, Paddy made sure to grab the gun that Maura had used and slip it into the back of his pants along with his own. He walked over to the two women, both still processing what had just happened, kissed Maura gently on the top of her head and made his way towards the front door of the house. He said something about taking care of the situation and for the two of them to make up a story as a cover when they got home.

Before he left he turned back and said, "Take good care of her", to neither one of the women in particular but perhaps he meant it for both of them.

The commotion settled and for the first time in what felt like longer than forever, Jane looked across a room and her deep brown eyes settled into the glowing hazel that she had come to know as home. The anger just left her body, her heart returned to the beat only Maura could lower it to, pain was only dull and her head was clear. Maura took silent steps towards Jane and the detective attempted to move herself towards the doctor, her injuries and fatigue severely slowing her down.

When they reached each other Maura's hands instinctively but gently moved towards Jane. The brunette's hands laid palm to palm on Maura's and as they moved closer their hands naturally slid along each other's forearms and then around each other's waists. Their foreheads came together and Maura could feel Jane whimpering softly, she could feel her detective on the verge of collapse. So she brought her hands to either side of Jane's face and gently cupped her cheeks, feeling that she had lost some weight and noticing just how tired she looked. When Jane's legs began to shake Maura grabbed her waist and led her over to the wall. Jane slid down until she was sitting and her head fell between her knees.

Maura moved to stand and walk around the house but Jane grabbed her wrists and said only her name followed by a whispered 'please'. So the doctor sat beside the battered detective and Jane's head fell into Maura's lap. The blonde's fingers naturally intertwined themselves in the thick brown curls that she had missed so dearly and tears began to fall down her face.

They stayed like that for a few minutes until Jane decided that they should leave in order to avoid getting into any more trouble than they had suffered already. Maura helped her up slowly and helped Jane outside and to the car. Both women looked out for Paddy but they decided that he had somehow organised for his own ass to be covered, should anything go wrong. And after the conversation Jane had had with him before she went into the house, she was more than sure that his plan of escape had been in place long before most of anything else that had happened today. Maura put Jane in the passenger seat and reached over the detective to pull her seat belt over and buckle it. Just as she was about to move herself out of the car to go to the other side, Jane grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled their lips together. She moaned into the kiss and Maura had to support herself on the frame of the door to keep from falling into Jane's lap. As they pulled away from each other Maura could see the beginnings of a smile creep into the corners of Jane's mouth. Jane opened her eyes and looked deep into Maura's and it was almost as though she was surprised to see Maura so close to her; that having her taken away for so long had forced her to think that perhaps she may not be coming back.

Maura's brow crinkled like usual when she was looking at something that she didn't understand but then Jane's face changed to something of love and home and Maura began to understand what she was doing. It was the same feeling that the doctor had when Jane had walked off of the boat wrapped in a blanket after she had jumped off a bridge and into the Boston Harbour in order to save Paul. She was convincing herself that Maura was real and that the skin she was touching belonged to Maura and that her mind wasn't trying to trick her into believing what she needed to stay alive.

And in that moment, Maura looked into Jane's eyes, saw her soul and felt her exhale a deep breath that she had been holding in for months.

Although the two would have liked to have 24 hours to spend some time together and discuss a plan, Jane knew that if she didn't call this in then she would be in even more of a shit storm than was already guaranteed.

There was little talk in the car on the way to the hospital. Jane implored Maura to let her go home, that she was not in bad a shape as she looked, but the doctor refused and threatened to poke Jane in her bruises if she didn't comply. After that discussion was finished the drive was silent and the only movement from either woman was Jane placing her hand on Maura's left knee, and the doctor bringing her left hand off of the steering wheel and on top of Jane's. Fingers intertwined just as they used to and Jane continued to convince herself that nothing had been lost.

After being admitted into Emergency Maura followed Jan to all of her examinations and tests, using her Dr status to get her into basically wherever she wanted, but really she was not willing to let Jane out of her sight. When they were left alone in the exam rooms when doctors had to retrieve test results Jane and Maura naturally moved closer together.

Eventually all the tests were completed and Jane was prepped for surgery to repair the internal damage that had been done from the beating that she had received. There was some minor internal bleeding and fractures to her arms that would have to be left to naturally heal on their own. She was told repeatedly that doctors were surprised that more damage wasn't done and by the fact that she had been able to even walk so soon after the event. Every time this was said, Jane looked at Maura as though giving the world her answer, that it was only Maura that kept her going.

Although the medical examiner tried she was not allowed entry into Jane's operating theatre and only after a conversation with the detective did she relent and submit to stay in the waiting area. She took the opportunity to call Cavanaugh with the hospital's phone and being to explain to him everything that had happened. He did not sound pleased in the slightest, however, he did say that he was glad that Maura was ok and that she and Jane had their places in the BPD waiting for them when they were ready.

When she mentioned Paddy's presence and how everything had ended the lieutenant told her that he would handle the investigation himself and that he would need both Jane and Maura to come to the precinct and make formal statements as soon as possible. Maura held back no details, despite knowing that Jane may have planned it a little less differently, because she knew that what she wanted was to do the right thing above all, even if that meant giving up her biological father.

Once Jane was out of surgery Maura was immediately at her side and monitoring every aspect of recovery. Every time Jane's nurse came in to check her chart and he vitals Maura was ready with every stat. This only needed to happen twice before the nurse, Jamie, asked Maura if she would like to fill in Jane's chart and be the one who was basically in charge of all of the simpler aspects of Jane's hospital stay. Of course the honey-blonde accepted and was extremely gracious towards the young nurse.

Jane came out of her drug-induced sleep slowly and was brought comfort when a blur of honey-blonde came across her face. Even before she was able to focus she tried saying Maura's name but was shushed by her lover in order to have a sip of water first. A soft hand almost wove its way around and up Jane's right arm, settling her heartbeat and also her thoughts.

Maura gave Jane ample time to properly wake up before she told Jane about her conversation with Cavanaugh. Of course there was an onslaught of questions but eventually Jane relaxed and trusted that she would be able to work this out.

After the formal conversation was done with, Maura sat herself on the bed beside Jane and absentmindedly began to play with Jane's curls that seemed slightly limp compared to the last time she had had them between her fingers. Tears began to roll down her cheeks and Jane pulled her down so that she was safely encased in the detective's arms. Her sobbing became heavy and laced with the torture that she had suffered these last months. Jane ran her fingers through Maura's hair and brushed her lips over her forehead hoping to bring her some calm. Eventually Maura fell asleep and Jane negotiated with Jamie to let her stay the night past visiting hours because it was necessary for her recovery. The door was closed, and for a few hours Jane was able to remain more blissful and relaxed than she had felt in months.