Title: The Fire

Rating: PG

Pairing: None, just friendship

Note: The recent warehouse fire INSPIRED this story after an hour long conversation with a firefighter friend to today, ALTHOUGH no reference to real events are intentional ecce cc.

I obviously have no inside knowledge of what happened, or any insight in the policework that will follow.

All characters are EG's. All mistakes are mine.

Four months earlier:

Barbara was absolutely shocked, deep down to her bones, by what she was looking at. The warehouse was completely burnt out, a heap of burnt metal and wood, the stench of destruction still reaching her nostrils with a bang. The fire had started over two days ago, but until now it had been too dangerous for the police personnel to go even close to the site.

The entire building had finally collapsed yesterday, and the last of the fire had been put out in the morning. Barbara and Lynley were wearing their white plastic suits and masks to protect them, and they would only be allowed in certain areas of the burnt out building.

Barbara new they had months of work before them, and so did the fire department. They were all still grieving, 4 fire fighters dead and a still unidentified number of civilians that had apparently slept inside for lack of better accommodation.

Barbara's eyes suddenly teared up. This was just so sad.

Lynley saw her sorrow, and put his arm around her protectively. He had returned to work just 2 months before, and Barbara was wondering if this was a bit too much for him as a first big case.

They had been called in because there was a suspicion of arson.

The company to whom the warehouse belonged was basically bankrupt, and the owner had some hefty insurance policies taken out on the building just a couple of months before.

Barbara dearly hoped this was not arson, but she was pretty convinced it was. The fired seemed to have initiated at least in 4 places at once, and had been so violent, there had been flames seen over the tree line.

"Sir? Do you think the owner knew there were people sleeping in there?"

Lynley just looked at her silently. Only time and a very thorough investigation would tell.

He hugged her, and nudged her forward.

"Sir, you'd tell me if this is too much? Right?"

Barbara asked anxiously. She did not want to see him crash and burn on their first case after Helen's death.

Lynley smiled, a warm, reassuring smile and said:

"Let's get to work, Barbara. Winston will be here in an hour, with Lafferty, and I'd like to get a head start."

Together with all the other police officers, CID and locals, they moved forward, to start the excruciating evidence seeking that would take days and days and days.

Barbara secretly already longed to get back to her cosy room at the local pub, to take a shower and to sneak into bed. Lynley had been allocated a room in the local hotel with the other "higher ups", to his great dismay. He'd requested a transfer to the pub as soon as possible, with the excuse that it was much closer to the site than the hotel.

Barbara was going to talk to the manager about it. For sure that would be so much more efficient than waiting for central CID to act…..

Lynley said, so quietly that only she could hear:

"And you'll tell me if you're not ok? Right Barbara?"

And to his astonishment, she just nodded consent. He decided he'd sit her down every day during the case, and they'd talk to each other about things. He knew this was going to be a very hard case.

With that, he pulled her hoodie over her head, and when she had fastened it with the bands under her chin, they proceeded to collect the first data.

Later, they would know what was the worst thing they did find.

The sorrow in the village?

The bones of approx 15 men and 2 women they managed to assemble?

No. The absolutely worst thing was the remains of a child they found in the rubble. The fire had been so violent that only the teeth remained, and Lafferty believed it to be a child of approximately 3 years of age.

Barbara felt such anger that she just cried into Lynley's arms all evening long. She didn't even make it into her bedroom, she just started crying right in the pub, and Lynley sat her down and held her. Wild, childlike sobs shook her entire body, holding on to his shirt.

Afterwards, no one ever made any mention of it. Even the macho men of the police force who sniffed the first whiff of weakness a mile away and came down on it like a building collapsing, this time, no one even commented once.

Lynley thought they were more relieved than anything.

Somehow Barbara's tears were from them all.

Present day:

Barbara was wearing her only elegant black suit with the white blouse underneath. This was one court appearance she wanted to look good for, somehow, today she understood the power of appearance. And besides, the Old Bailey WAS the Old Bailey…..

She had even put her long red hair up. Actually, Azhar had helped her, he'd bought her two small combs to hold her hair firm on the sides of her head, and one bigger one that looked like a clam to hold her hair in a neat bun. A couple of rebellious strands still fell into her face, but she was actually very content with the outcome.

She'd been through her testimony about ten times with Lynley, and Hillier himself had called her into his office to give her the "Big Motivation Speak". Lynley had given evidence a couple of days before, the Company's defence team ripping into him, trying to twist his every word.

He was a bit worried about Barbara, but as it would turn out, the jury loved her direct, honest style, her simple appearance and humble language, in a case that was full of fancy lawyers and businessmen and twists and turns.

Barbara's testimony was one of the last before closing arguments, and she dearly hoped she had contributed to the conviction of men who at best, had no conscience to install fire sprinklers and to provide housing for workers working over 16 hours a day, and at worst had killed 17 adults and a child in an insurance scam.

Azhar had thought her a little mantra to keep calm during questioning, and now, she was silently repeating it to herself, until she heard the Judges voice:

"You may step down now, DS Havers!"

"Thank you, My Lord" she said quietly, and stepped down from the witness booth to go and join Lynley on the upper seats.

The judge excused everyone with instructing the jury on how to deliberate.

Lynley turned to Barbara and said:

"We should hit the pub, my treat. You can have all the fish and chips you want, you were fantastic! I bet deliveration will take days….."

Barbara smiled at him. She looked tired and pale, Lynley figured her blood sugar must be really low from the excitement and the concentration of giving testimony.

An hour later at the pub they were still eating, having been joined by Lafferty and Winston, when Lynley's mobile suddenly chirped.

"It's Ben, the jury is back already!"

That had been quick, they all tought.

They hastily got up, Lynley ran to pay the bill, and they all headed back to the courthouse, just in time to be let in the back door. Outside it was full of people wanting to see the trail and journalists and paparazzi photographers.

Everyone rose for the Judge. The anticipation was palpable, you could cut the tension with a knife in there.

Barbara was so tired she couldn't concentrate. Her ears were numbed by emotion, and all she wanted was to sit down. When the verdict was read, she couldn't understand it at first.

Only when Lynley gave her a big hug, a very rare public show of affection, did she realise the Company's bosses had been found guilty.

She suddenly felt like crying. Part were happy tears, part were sad tears.

She muffled into Lynley's shirt:

"Can we go home, now, Sir? I'm so tired……"

And Lynley understood. He nodded, and together with Lafferty and Winston, they slowly made way to his car. To go home.