Alright, here it is! Thank you guys for taking the time to read this story and share your thoughts with me. Y'all are seriously the best, putting up with me being away for an extended period of time, and I appreciate you so much! I hope you guys have a wonderful holiday, regardless of how you celebrate it, and if you don't at all, I hope your day is peaceful. Be safe out there, have fun, and, as always...

Read on!

Maura awoke to Jane thrashing in bed and quickly turned the light on as she laid her hand over Jane's chest. "Jay," she whispered, "wake up, darling, it's just a dream. You're safe, Jay, but you're going to rip your stitches. Jay, please." She continued using Jane's name and kept her hand on her chest, feeling her breathing stutter as her eyes opened suddenly and she stared up at the ceiling in confusion for a long moment.

Dark eyes, ringed with shadows from too many sleepless nights, flicked over to her face as comprehension dawned and her mouth opened for a wracking cough. "Shh, it's okay. You're okay, you're safe. You're home, do you remember? We left the hospital three days ago once the doctors were satisfied you were healing well and your fever was under control."

Jane nodded slowly and gestured at the cup of water on the bedside table. Maura let her sip slowly from it and set it back on the table, helping Jane to sit up slightly and sliding another pillow behind her back to keep her upright. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"It was just…him. Again." Teary eyes wouldn't meet hers, and Maura's heart broke as she gently eased Jane's lower lip out from between her teeth, rubbing her thumb over the cracked skin while she waited for Jane to calm some more. "He keeps haunting my thoughts. I killed…" She swallowed and held her trembling hands in her lap like she could still see the pistol in her grip. "I killed him," she whispered.

Maura watched a tear fall off the edge of her nose onto the duvet and slid closer. Her fingers burrowed into the thick mass of riotous curls so she could knead the tension from her neck. "I wish you didn't have to do that. But, Jane, you saved me. You kept us safe. And, my fierce bearcat, you got rid of a true monster. He has no power over you, do you hear me?" She took Jane's chin in her fingers and waited for her gaze to lift. "He has only as much power over you as you let him. Let the dead lie, darling; the living are here, now."

Silence reigned as brown eyes searched hazel. Maura's back was beginning to stiffen when Jane leaned into her, forehead pressed against her shoulder and arms winding around her waist. "I really love you sometimes, ya know?"

Shock froze Maura for a second, then she melted against Jane. "I'm so goofy for you, it's disgusting," she murmured. She pressed her lips to Jane's temple and inhaled her clean, lavender scent.

"Can I get some cash?"

"Bank's closed til you're better," Maura said. "I don't want to risk you getting sick again. It took so long for you to get to this point; I'd rather wait until you've stopped coughing and can stand without looking like a foal on its first legs." She worked up a smile at Jane's pout and bussed her temple again. "Let's go back to sleep, Jay. Morning is still a long ways off."

Jane sat at the kitchen table, sipping some coffee and wincing as she shifted and the stitches dotting her back pulled painfully. She swallowed the brew and sighed as her throat complained a little, but hummed when Maura leaned in the doorframe and knocked on the wood with a charming smile on her lips. "Morning, Maura."

"Jay. You're looking dapper this morning." Chapped lips bussed her temple as Maura got a cup out of the cupboard and sat down next to her with steam curling from the mug. She gently nudged Jane's leg and glanced up and down at her snappy button down and suspenders loosely pulled over her shoulders. They sat in companionable silence as they sipped their drinks; Jane jumped when the door slammed and her coffee nearly sloshed over the rim. "It's okay, Jay, it's only Susie and Kent."

"Where did they go this early? I thought those two owls didn't know this time of day even existed."

Kent walked into the kitchen with a dramatic pout on his face and a hand on his chest. "I'm wounded, Jane, wounded, I say! Here Susie and I went to such trouble for you-"

"Excuse me?"

Kent grinned and nodded at the door, snickering when Jane's jaw dropped. Frost and Korsak hovered in the opening with relief and fear in their eyes, no doubt cataloguing the myriad bruises and cuts on Jane's exposed skin. "Guys." Jane got up with a little effort and hobbled over to them, throwing her arms around their shoulders and pulling them close. They closed their arms around her waist immediately, Frost grinning almost manically as his eyes welled up while Korsak brushed back her wild hair and murmured into her ear with his eyes shut.

Maura sat back contentedly as they held the embrace for another long moment and Susie snuck past them, grasping greedily at the coffee that had been in Kent's hands and sipping it with a groan. "It should be illegal to get up before seven, boss," she muttered, eyeing Maura balefully and ignoring Kent's dismayed cry.

"It's worth one night's missed sleep, Susie."

"My coffee!"

Maura and Jane stood side by side with Susie and Kent as the coffin was lowered into the half-frozen, snow covered ground, all solemn faced and standing shoulder to shoulder across from the priest who had said his prayers over the casket. He left with a hushed murmur of well wishes to Maura and they stood silently as some grave diggers began shoveling ice and dirt on top of the coffin. Jane twisted her fingers through Maura's, squeezing gently and biting her lip when Maura returned the gesture faintly.

Once the men left, they seemed to relax and Maura let a tear streak down her cheek. Jane gathered her into her arms, cradling the back of her head against her shoulder so Maura had a dark place to cry. Her hands twisted through Jane's long coat, holding them together as her shoulders shook. Kent and Susie ducked their heads, he brusquely wiping away a tear from his cheek while she sniffed forlornly and kept sneaking glances at the freshly turned dirt.

There was some shuffling behind them after a while, and everyone turned to find a young brunette with wildly wavy hair and a dodgy, sorrow-filled expression on her face lingering behind them near another tombstone. "Uh…'lo. Maur, I, uh – yeh."

Her heavy English accent and red-rimmed eyes threw Jane, but the others apparently knew the young woman as they swarmed her. Jane found herself tugged along behind Maura by the hand to the young woman, who was wrapped into a hug by Maura.

"Sarah."

"Um, hey, I jus'…I'm sorry I'm late," she mumbled into Maura's shoulder as she hugged her back with one arm. "I was comin' to – I had somethin' to show her, but…guess that's not happenin' now." Sarah wiped at her eyes and sighed, meeting Maura's gaze again. "I can introduce you though. This is my daughter…Kira." She pulled her arm out from behind her back and a small girl, barely three by the looks of her, gradually came out from behind her coat. She stared up at the adults with wide brown eyes and rubbed beneath her nose with her fist.

Maura got down on her knees and extended her hand toward Kira slowly with a trembling smile. "Hello, sweetie. I'm Maura."

"This is your auntie Maura, baby, 'member me tellin' you about her?" She carded her fingers through Kira's unruly hair and nudged her forward gently with a sad smile.

"Mama…aunnie Mo?"

"Yeh, baby, that's auntie Maura."

Kira regarded her with serious eyes for another moment before throwing her arms around her neck and nuzzling into her shoulder. "Aunnie Mo, I been'a good girl, mama says we see you an' Gran'ma S if I'm good. Wanna meet Gran'ma now?"

Tears filled Maura's eyes as she held Kira more tightly, rocking her from side to side gently. "Why don't we go back to the house, Kira; your mama and I will tell you all about Grandma S there, okay? Let's go."

In the privacy of the bedroom, Maura stood behind Jane, hands on her shoulders as she dragged the open ends of her shirt down her arms. "We don't have to do this tonight if you aren't ready, you know."

"It's been two months, Maur. They've long sine healed; I should be able to look at the damn things without feeling his hands on my skin, under my skin." Jane shivered as she spoke and Maura let the shirt fall to the ground, splaying her fingers across Jane's back, on top of her bra. She traced the narrow scars that were visible near the nape of her neck and pressed her lips against the skin there. "Will you stay here with me? I – I want you to help me."

"Of course."

Jane took a deep breath as she reached back to unsnap her bra and let it fall to the floor, standing with her head bowed and her hair parted around her neck as her muscles trembled. Maura let her hand trail down Jane's back, feeling the dips and bumps of spine, and drifting to the side to curl her fingers around her ribs, she stepped up to mold her front against Jane's back. "You're beautiful."

Jane laughed hollowly. "With this on my skin? Know any better lines? Because I haven't been avoiding looking in a mirror for two months for no reason."

Maura kissed the nape of her neck and stepped back, tracing the scars with her eyes for a moment. She reached out and started at the top of one arcing scar, letting her finger run down the clean, narrow mark to an intersecting line, and followed that across Jane's spine to the opposite side. Jane stood stock still but for the trembling of her hands, flat against her thighs, and Maura took one of her hands and slowly led her to the bathroom off the bedroom. She walked Jane up to the mirror and shut the door, revealing the other mirror she had purchased to hang on the door, directly opposite the one over the sink. Jane shut her eyes immediately, clenching her fists atop the vanity and leaning over the sink with a frown on her lips.

"Jane." Maura ran her hands down Jane's arms, drawing the strain from them with a simple touch, but she refused to open her eyes. "Jay, darling. Open your eyes."

"I…Maur, what if – he's still there?"

"What if he isn't?" Maura kissed her shoulder, staring at her tightly closed eyes in the mirror. "What if you only see me and you? What if he no longer exists? Open those beautiful peepers, Jay."

Slowly, Jane pried open one eye, meeting Maura's gaze through the mirror, and she smiled wanly. Maura kissed her skin again and stepped back so Jane could see all the scars on her skin, watching with quiet pride as Jane studied them and slowly straightened. Her shoulders squared, her eyes brightened, and her hand curled loosely around the lip of the vanity as she peered more closely at the fading marks. "They're…so small."

"They've healed well." Maura ran her palm over the bottom of the scars that walked up her abdomen, drawing a shaky exhale form Jane. "They're only scars, Jay. They're only as important as you make them."

"I guess so." Jane turned and took Maura's hands, drawing her against her front. She set her hand on her waist and let Maura run her hands up and down her spine. "I guess things aren't so bad anymore, huh?"

"I've got my own personal angel, so I'd say they're pretty damn nifty, actually." She spread her hands across the marks on Jane's back, hiding half formed wings and the shape of feathers with her fingers as she stood on tiptoe to buss Jane's lips.

Jane tipped her head down and caught her before she could pull back completely, nipping her lip and drawing a happy sound from her. "Only pretty nifty?"

"Well, I would say they're the elephant's eyebrows, but someone still won't let me neck with her," Maura said coyly.

Jane smirked as she dragged Maura toward the bedroom. "We should remedy that. And maybe, if you play your cards right, there will be some nookie in the near future as well." She winked and Maura laughed as they tumbled onto the bed, eyes flashing with affection and hands wandering as they sank into each other, shutting out the rest of the world.