Everything in Jane's world had come to a halt. She barely had time to process what was happening before Cavanaugh slammed into her, tackling her to the ground. She saw Frankie ushering Angela and Maura behind the couch, keeping them low and invisible from the windows. Korsak, close to her left side, was belly-crawling towards his radio.

Her blood rushing in her ears almost drowned out Vince's voice. She vaguely heard him saying "officer down! Officer down!" and the realization hit her like a punch in the stomach. The officer down was FROST. Her partner. Barry Frost was dead on her best friends porch. This couldn't be happening, this had to be a dream.

The next thing Jane knew, she was being unceremoniously rattled into the back of an ambulance. Panic set in and she threw every punch and kick she could from her position on the bed. Strong hands grabbed her and she felt a pinch above her elbow. Her eyes darted around and locked on with the soft-hazel green of Maura's.

Maura bit her lip and quickly wiped tears away with her free hand, pulling the needle from Jane's arm with the other hand. "You need to rest." she choked out. Her voice creaked with agony. "No, Maur, don't make me sleep, please..." muttered Jane, the medication already setting in. "Jane, please, get some rest."

"Maur, I love you."

"I love you too Jane." smiled Maura weakly.

"No, Maur, I..." Jane's eyes fluttered shut.

She woke again hours later, stretched out on her own bed. Her eyes, still drowsy from the drugs, rolled in their sockets a few times before they settled on her best friend, perched on the edge of her bed reading. "Maur..." croaked Jane, reaching towards her with feeble hands.

Maura's head snapped towards her and in one fluid motion, she was leaning over Jane and checking vitals. "You passed out and went into shock, I convinced them you'd be better off waking up at home, you've been asleep for almost nine hours and I was worried I'd given you too much medication or you'd never wake up and I was reading about the after effects of trauma and..."

"Maur, don't google mouth me before my coffee."

Jane's heart leapt into her throat as the morning came flooding back. She'd said that exact thing to Maura this morning, before Paddy and Frost and all this hell.

"Maur, what happened?"

Maura's lip shook. "Jane, I don't think -"

"MAURA." growled Jane. "If you don't tell me I'll get up and go into the office."

Maura bristled. "Keep threatening me and I'll tie you down."

Jane tried her hardest not to think too hard about that sentence.

Maura wrung her hands, something she never usually did. "Barry was shot by a sniper."

Jane groaned in pain. Her partner, her friend.

"Did we catch who did it?"

"No, not yet. We did find that the shot came from one of my neighbors rooftops, about eight houses down the street. It would have been incredibly difficult to make. That's also why we didn't hear the shot."

Jane's brow furrowed. "What was he doing out there alone?"

Maura's face crumpled. "He wasn't alone, Jane, he had three new cadets with him. The youngest was nineteen. They were KIDS. Barry was TWENTY NINE. They're all GONE and it's because of ME and -"

Maura was cut off by Jane throwing her arms around her neck. "Shhh, Maur, it's not your fault, shhh, I promise."

When Maura's sobs slowed to hiccups, Jane asked her the question she hadn't wanted to.

"What did you mean, your fault?"

Maura took three deep breaths, steeling herself.

"CSU found the note on the roof where the shots were taken. It was a book of newspaper clippings. Paddy, me, Hope and... and..."

Jane brushed Maura's hair back from her face. "Who, Maur?"

Maura looked up into Jane's eyes. Jane was heartbroken by the pain and sadness she saw there. She wanted to hold her, kiss her, tell her how much she loved her and how she would die to save her from this. The thought struck a chord in Jane. WOULD she have to die for Maura? Would that be how she went out?

Maura's voice was even softer than it had been before, as though the weight of the world was pressing on her chest.

"There was you, Jane."

Jane blinked twice. "Well, I suppose they know we're friends, whoever they are. They'd know how close we are and -"

"That wasn't all, Jane. It was the photo we took at your mothers wedding. It was Angela, Sean, Frankie, Tommy and you. Even TJ was circled."

The bile rose in Jane's throat. She, Cavanaugh and Frankie knew the dangers of being police officers. It made you a target, whether you were involved or not. But her mother? Tommy? Her baby nephew? How could she protect them all?

"That's not everything, Jane."

Jane's eyes widened. She wasn't sure how much more information she could process.

"There was a picture of this man, Korsak says his name is Lou Bredgen. He's wanted up and down the country for mob-related things. He's a bad, bad man Jane."

Jane took the proffered photo and saw what she was supposed to see before she read the writing at the bottom of the page. She saw the same tilt to the eyes, the same jawline, the same hair colour. The same half-smile and posture.

It was a mugshot. At the bottom of the page, someone had crossed out his name in red ink, and written his real name at the bottom.

Liam Patrick Doyle.

"I have a brother, Jane."

Jane dropped the page and looked at her best friend, who had curled her knees to her chest.

"I have a brother, and he's every bit the monster that my father was."