Author's Note: I wanted to write one last chapter to finish this story off, sort of like the final scene we always seem to get at the end of an episode. Maura and Jane needed to reflect on what happened as well as reflect on themselves. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews and kind words. I hope you have enjoyed Serendipity. ~Cissy

Chapter 14

They sat on the couch together, Jane wearing a pair of sweat pants and a BPD t-shirt and Maura dressed in her black yoga pants and an off shoulder cream coloured top. A blanket covered their legs and the credits of some dodgy chick flick rolled across the TV screen. Two empty glasses stood on the table next to a half empty bottle of red wine. Neither of them spoke. Most of the evening had been spent in mutual silence as they both tried to process what had happened today.

"Do you really think it's better this way?" Jane asked as she looked at Maura.

The honey blonde swallowed. "He was never going to get better, Jane. He would have spent the rest of his life on medication and if he ever stopped taking then, the voices and hallucinations would have returned. Without medication Ryan would continue to murder women until he was stopped. Or killed. Schizophrenia is a horrible disease."

"He was his father's son. Who would have thought that they would both suffer from the same illness and commit the same crime?" Jane asked. "Did you see some of the pictures in his drawing book? He drew those images long before he killed those women. The detail was scary. The red hair, the necklace..."

"I don't think we'll ever find out if Ryan knew who or what his father was," Maura sighed. She couldn't shake the overwhelming sadness. "The voices in his head had been with him for a long time, maybe even since childhood." She heaved a sigh. "Did you tell Alex and Mike that we solved the case?"

"I got Frost to do it. I wasn't really in the mood to talk about what happened." Jane's voice was soft and laced with raw emotion. "You know what I can't get my head around? That Ryan just never got to be a normal kid. He never stood a chance."

She rubbed her forehead. She had a terrible headache and she doubted the large glass of wine had done anything to aid it. When she dropped her hands back in her lap she stared at them, at the scars that sat across the back of her hands. For a second she saw them again, covered in blood. Ryan's blood. It had reminded her of that day when Hoyt got to her. There had been blood everywhere. Across her hands, her arms and her face. Afterwards there had been only silence. Just like now.

"Are you thinking about him? About Hoyt, I mean?" Maura asked carefully when she noticed the sudden dark look in Jane's eyes.

"I don't think there will ever be a day I do not think about him," Jane answered solemnly. "The scars will always be there to remind me of him."

Maura moved closer and carefully took Jane's hands into her own. Her thumbs grazed across the swollen skin. "Maybe they should remind you of how strong you were. You saved another woman's life that day, Jane. Catherine Cordell is alive because of you and you survived what that monster did to you because you are strong. You didn't let him destroy you. He can only break you if you let him."

"I don't want to talk about Hoyt tonight," Jane said and Maura nodded in understanding. "I don't want him to become part of our life, Maura. He was never a part of you before; I don't want him to be a part of you now." Dark eyes met hazel brown and Maura could see the anguish and the pain. "I don't want him to be a part of us."

"Okay," Maura whispered and leant in to softly kiss Jane's lips. Just as she pulled away she could taste the salt of a lonely tear. "He'll never be a part of us."

"Have you tried calling your parents?" Jane asked. Mere minutes after leaving the crime scene Jane had called Angela and told her that she loved her, no matter how irritating she was at times. She wasn't sure what had brought it on but the urge to just hear her mother's voice had been insanely strong. Perhaps it was because of Louise Wyatt. She had accepted her son's death. When Jane asked her if she was all right she had answered that her son had died a long time ago. Jane had never heard something so powerful and profound and sad before. She admired Louise. She looked up still smiling at that memory and saw how Maura's face fell. "Oh Maura, what happened?"

"Answering machine," Maura said and averted her eyes. "The time difference with Paris is rather significant."

"Time difference my ass!" Jane said sharply and Maura looked up in surprise when she heard the sudden harshness in Jane's voice. "You'd think that any parent would find it inside themselves to call back their daughter when she leaves a message, even if it's the middle of the night or even if they've been out all day and they come back in, tired and worn out." Blazing eyes met Maura's. "What sort of parents are they?!"

"The type that's too caught up in their own lives," Maura sighed and shook her head. "It's ok, Jane. I am used to being alone. They never had much time for me when I was growing up. Why would that be any different now?"

"Because they don't see what a beautiful, smart and amazing woman you have become!" Jane flared up and she smiled when she saw Maura suddenly blushed. "They are missing out on so much, Maura." She looked down at their hands, still linked. "And don't you ever say you're alone when you have me. I am here and I am not going anywhere else."

"Not even your apartment?" Maura asked.

Jane pulled a face. "What if I say I like it here?"

"Then maybe you should stay," Maura whispered and rested her head on Jane's shoulder. "At least for tonight."

The dark haired detective looked down at their hands, Maura's fingers still covering her scars. Maura's soft hair tickled the side of her face and Jane suddenly felt as if she had finally come home. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

They would face the future together, Jane thought. Badass criminals and deranged killers couldn't keep them apart. They would solve their cases like the brilliant women they were and she would come home at night and she would take Maura in her arms, just to remind herself that this was where she belonged. Tough as nails Jane Rizzoli had finally found something that made her feel like she was part of something. She didn't have to try and be anything other than herself in front of Maura. To Maura it didn't matter she was a woman in a man's world. Maura was a woman in a world full of death. Their oddities and choices had brought them here, to this moment, and Jane was perfectly content with that.

Ryan Wyatt and Thomas Graham had been very sick men, beyond the help of anyone. Their illness made them the monster that robbed women of their lives but at the same time their illness had brought Maura into her life. Perhaps it was a sick twist of fate but Jane would be perfectly happy if she'd never have to deal with another serial killer again.

She slipped her arms around Maura's shoulders and pulled her closer, softly kissing the top of her hair. The credits on the TV had stopped rolling and Jane slowly became aware of her eyes getting heavier. Without really realising it she slipped off into a peaceful, dreamless sleep, with Maura resting against her chest. The medical examiner smiled as she softly placed a hand against Jane's heart. To feel it beating underneath her fingertips brought tears to her eyes. Jane had survived and now she was here. They would both survive. She was used to being alone but she would never have to be alone again.