DISCLAIMER: I do not own Rizzoli & Isles nor any of the characters from the show. I am writing this purely for entertainment, not profit. Rizzoli and Isles are property of Tess Gerritsen and TNT.

Please find the full disclaimers in the beginning of Chapter 1.

Chapter 6

As usual, Maura was right.

Jane woke up to a distant whimper.

She raised her head, and Maura turned on her arms, mumbling sleepily: "Did you hear it too?"

"Yeah." Jane offered, getting off bed, and Maura followed her.

They crossed the apartment to Jane's bedroom, and as they approached, the whimpering became louder. Maura turned on the lights on the corridor.

Liz was under the covers, her face almost sunk into the pillow, tears streaming her eyes squeezed shut, and she was threshing around lightly – they could see her legs kicking under the covers.

Maura sighed, and Jane sat by Liz side, her hand pressing on Liz shoulder, and gently speaking on her husky voice, that she could keep very low and still be heard.

"It is okay, Liz… It is only a nightmare… You are safe here…"

Liz sat in bed, panting, blinking hard, tears streaming down her face. When she saw Jane, she put her thin arms around Jane's neck, hid her face in the crook of Jane's neck, and sobbed.

Jane rubbed her hand soothingly up and down the girl's back, feeling the wild heartbeat against the girl's thin ribcage.

"They are dead…" she whispered, among sobs.

Jane felt her heart breaking.

When the sobs subsided, Jane talked very soothingly to Liz.

"I am sure they are taking care of you from wherever they are now, Liz. They put you in our path, so we could help you… You are not alone, okay?"

Liz nodded, tiredly.

Jane pushed her slightly to lay down again, and Jane stroke her temple for a few minutes until she felt the pulse under her fingers grow regular, and Liz' facial features grow slack. She was asleep again.

Jane waited for a few moments longer, before she stood and left the room, hugging Maura by her side on the door.

Maura turned off the corridor lights, while they walked in silence to their bedroom.

"I wonder how she managed to keep so controlled these past few days…" Jane mused, when she laid down again, this time Maura half on top of her, her head on Jane's shoulder.

"I guess necessity is the mother of ingenuity." Maura whispered back. "She needed to be strong to survive, so she was. But it is completely incompatible with her developmental age… It was just a matter of time for her to reach a breaking point. Luckily, she is in a safe space now where she can break down and have support…"

Jane kissed Maura's forehead, lovingly, and held her tightly.

Jane woke up early the following morning, mainly because Maura was not by her side. Jane extended a sleepy arm, and the bed was cold, so Maura had gotten up for a while now.

Jane stood, stretching, a bit concerned, and walked in the silent apartment, until reaching her bedroom, a smile spreading on her face.

Maura was lying on top of the covers, and Liz was still under covers, but had her head on top of Maura's shoulder, below Maura's chin. Both were asleep. Jane deduced Liz had another nightmare that Jane didn't hear, and Maura had been the one responding this time.

Jane walked back silently, allowing them to sleep a bit longer. After all, it was a Sunday, and there was nowhere they needed to be. Jane picked up her phone and moved to the sofa, responding to a few messages from her family from the previous evening.

Then she got a text from Dean.

"Text me when you wake up."

Jane replied.

"I am up. Coffee?"

"In ten minutes."

"Don't ring the doorbell – she is still asleep."

Jane closed the door between the two apartments for the noise not to wake up Maura or Liz. Then, she began preparing coffee for her and for Dean. She would prepare a nice breakfast for Maura and for Liz after Dean left, Jane promised herself.

Jane heard the light rapping on the door, and opened it for him.

"This text was so sweet it made me sick..." He teased her, showing the text about Maura still being asleep.

Jane shook her head, blushing. When it came to Maura, she was a softie through and through.

"Good morning to you too, Dean." She pushed a coffee mug on his hand, before sipping from hers, and motioned for him to sit in the sofa with her.

"What did you find out?"

"For Witsec it is case closed. The police managed to get the people who shot the couple. And the perps incriminated the people the couple was supposed to have witnessed years back in Chicago. The daughter was not a witness in the original crime, she was born when the couple was already in Witsec, apparently the mother was in very early stages of pregnancy when they were placed in Witsec. Police put a missing person's report for her – an Elizabeth Gringer."

"What would happen when she is found? Now that the suspects are in prison and her parents are dead? Could they get her back to her close family?"

"They could if there was any. But apparently the couple really didn't have any close living relatives, that was why it was so easy for them to go for Witsec in the first place. Both were only children, and both have lost their parents when they were young adults. If and when they find her, she goes into the foster system. She is going to be twelve in a few weeks, so she will likely spend the next six years in a teen shelter, and then she will be free to take the reins of her own life in her hands."

"And they are sure she is not in danger any longer?"

"At least Witsec does not consider it to be the case any longer. But, you know the drill. Hell, you live with the drill…"

Jane sighed, nodding, her pensive face buried behind her mug.

Dean finished his coffee.

"Will you tell me what this is all about?"

Jane thought for a moment, and knew she needed to come clean if she wanted him to be able to provide meaningful advice.

"We were having a picnic in a park yesterday, when we found her. She was hiding in the bushes, and we only noticed her because she picked an apple that rolled from our picnic blanket to the bushes. She heard what happened, Dean. She was on the attic of the house, hiding as her parents taught her to. When they didn't come to tell her it was safe to leave her hiding place, she waited until everything was quiet and came down, just to find her parents dead in a pool of their own blood…" Jane shook her head, her voice broken.

"Is she here?" he asked, gently.

"Yes, she is asleep. She had a few nightmares during the night, Maura was sleeping with her when I woke up. That is why I asked you not to ring the doorbell."

He scratched his head.

"If you show up with a missing kid, it will attract attention to the two of you."

"Yes, I know."

"But I could argue with Witsec that she heard the shooting. They might agree to change her identity and force the police to drop off the missing person's case. Witsec already knows about Dory anyway."

"But then the kid will be treated as a witness when she could live a normal life."

"Yes… Whatever you call normal in a teen shelter."

Jane sighed, her hand buried in her unruly dark curls.

"Maura also wants to know what destination they will give to the parents' bodies. She wants to make sure they get a proper burial."

"They are probably yet in the ME office, but I will find out more and let you know… Back to the kid…" his voice trailed off.

"Let us think about it…"

"Of course. Call me when you decide what to do next. I can try to help either way." He stood to leave.

"Thank you, Dean. I really appreciate it." She stood to walk him to the door.

"Don't mention it." He smiled at her, before closing the door behind him.