Sorry about the delay but internet signal on the road has been virtually non existant. So I'm sending two out tonight and possibly one more tomorrow, if I don't haven't finished the third chapter to be posted by then I'll post a special for you. An in between story that introduces some key players for Burn. It's only going to be about 6 chapters and I have two done and working the third.

I'd like to thank my friend Zarosguth for becoming my beta, he's been following my stories since the first post. Appreciate your help, send me stuff and I'll do the same. Any remaining mistakes are mine and mine alone.


After calling the State Police, Colin had been forced to leave in response to a fight on post leaving Kate and Jane on stood on a pair of two by ten planks of wood as they examined the body of LeBron Ellis. Both women were so engrossed at recreating what had happened to him that neither noticed the plain clothes Inspector Richard Rollins from the Illinois State Police show up. A Marine guard quickly briefed him on the discovery of the body and the Inspector took issue once he was lead into the bathhouse and found two women hunched over the body.

"Excuse me!" He said with authority, "This area is a crime scene. You need to leave now."

Jane looked back at him with a glare, "Take it easy there, Andy Griffith. We're Homicide."

He bristled, "From what department?" He glared, hoping they were at least from Springfield or the County Sherriff's Office, but no such luck.

Kate looked back, "She's Boston PD and I'm NYPD." She looked back at the body, then to the wall and pointed, "He tried to catch himself there."

Jane nodded, "Nothing to grab onto so down he went."

The Inspector stepped towards them then and Kate held up a hand, "DON'T!" She shouted.

He hesitated before continuing. "This isn't New York or Boston."

Jane glared, "If you take one step inside this room, you endanger all of us."

He stopped, "Why?"

"The tile work has some kind of lubricant on it and it's very slick." Kate answered, "That's what killed him."

"Almost took out the posts head medic earlier." Jane added. "That's why we're standing on planks of wood with nails in them."

"Well that's really nice of you but you're out of your jurisdiction by about a thousand miles." He growled, "So I'd appreciate if you'd get the hell out of my crime scene."

"Here we go," Kate muttered. She looked at her partner.

Jane straightened, "You a Homicide Detective?"

"Criminal Investigations, Illinois State Police." He said.

Jane rolled her eyes and turned away, "Oh boy."

"How many Homicides have you closed?" Kate asked him.

"Look, ladies. I know you both work for big time cities but this is Illinois, I'm under no obligation to compare experiences."

Kate looked at Jane, "That means very few."

"If any," Jane said and turned back to him, "I think you're making a mistake. We were asked to investigate by the Provost Marshall because of our experience."

"You'd be pretty foolish to throw that away." Kate added.

"The Provost Marshall?" He said incredulously, "Fort Justice is not a military installation. It's private property and with all due respect. I don't need a couple of weekend Detectives telling me how to run my investigation, particularly when they'll be on their way back to wherever they came from next week."

"Ah, arrogant and pig headed at the same time." Jane said, "How efficient of you."

Kate looked down at her watch. "It's ok Jane. We've got everything we need out of here. We'd better get back to the CQB."

She nodded and her voice was filled with distain, "Yep. I guess we should leave it to the professional now." She stood up and walked along the plank and stood before the inspector. "The Provost Marshall knows how to contact us."

Kate followed her out. "Have a nice day." They peeled the surgical gloves off and dropped them in a bucket by the door as they headed out.

He shook his head. Big City Cops who think they know everything. He turned back to the body and eased across the plank.


CQB Round 4, NYB Taskforce

They stood at the door awaiting the entry buzzer. As usual they were the last team running the CQB today. Standing on either side of the door, they stared at each other. Both had put the task of tracking down who ever had killed Sergeant Ellis out of their minds as they stood ready to take on Colin's latest bag of surprises.

Jane clenched her fist tightly and released it again. Some minor relief flooded her hand as Kate pointed her gun at the ground two handed. Adrenalin surged through them as they waited.

As customary with Jane being left handed, she was on the door since it swung in from the right allowing Kate's weapon to enter first. Since they often switched positions during the scenarios it wasn't an issue with Jane.

She leveled a hand as the overhead light started blinking. Five seconds to go.

The buzzer sounded and Jane grabbed the door and twisted the knob, shoving in with her elbow. Kate swung in and immediately backed out as red paint soared through the door.

She came back so fast she hit the wall and fell on her ass. Jane stared.

"That's new." She said as she swung her arm in and popped off two paint rounds into the dark.

Kate flopped down on her belly and eased into position. With a nod Jane swung her arm in again and fired. More paint flew back but the light muzzle flash gave her an idea about the drone's location. She aimed and fired and the paint stopped.

She eased up from the ground and ducked inside, Jane right behind her.

There's the surprise, she passed to Kate with a glance.

Kate blinked at her, too easy. Keep your guard up.

Colin watched from the control room as they navigated the hallway to the warehouse. Cleaning out and securing each room. Officially, he was rooting for his creation but inside he was rooting for his friends.

Jane eased into an empty room at the end of the hall and stopped. She looked around as Kate came up behind her.

What, she sent.

"An empty room," she said and passed a look at her partner, there's no reason for an empty room.

Kate nodded and they checked it out thoroughly. They looked at each other and took positions near the door and headed towards the massive simulated freight warehouse. They eased out slowly.

In the control room Griggs looked at Colin who nodded while he watched the monitors.

"Here we go." He said as he flipped a switch. "Silent Tom is up."

Colin held his breath as he watched the new drone ease down to the floor with no sound. It ran on a hydraulic gimbal that descended from the ceiling and it was so quiet that it had been sneaking up on contestants all day.

Kate looked around the warehouse from the hallway, trying to hear over the slight hiss of a loose air fitting somewhere. Unlike before, there was virtually no fog, visibility was good and she couldn't see any drones. She eased up to the edge of the room and noted that Jane hadn't moved.

She was about to turn to her partner when Jane slammed into her, shoving them both out into the warehouse as gunfire erupted from the hallway, splattering paint right where they had been standing. Jane continued to push Kate but she raised her arm up behind her and fired. Green paint smeared Silent Tom and it stopped. Two drones emerged from crates nearby and Kate popped off two rounds and hit both in the face. One went down the other one didn't. Jane saw it and fired, again it was shot in the face but it didn't stop. They looked at each other in disbelief.

"What the hell?" Colin said to the monitor, "They got it, twice, shut it down manually."

Griggs typed into his keyboard but froze when the drone opened fire.

Jane watched the drone roll towards them and her gut twisted tightly. Her bad feeling intensified as the drone closed. Acting purely on instinct, she grabbed Kate's collar and dove away from the crate, yanking her partner off her feet right before the crate was shredded into splinters. Kate's eyes went wide as both women regained their footing and ran for the door. More shots fired and the false wall they were next to was stitched with bullet holes. They veered away. The drone didn't want them going for the door.

"LIVE ROUNDS!" Jane screamed at the top of her lungs, "LIVE ROUNDS, SHUT IT DOWN!"

Kate dove over two crates with Jane right behind her and the area was peppered with gunfire.

"EMERGENCY STOP!" Colin hollered.

"It's not shutting down!" Griggs yelled.

Colin blasted through the door to the control room and ran as fast as he could around the CQB hangar pulling his 45 in process. He kicked the door open and ran head first through the L shaped hallway.

He roared out a battle cry as he entered the warehouse. The drone twisted on the treads and fired at him, almost wildly.

Colin leaped over the crate and fired in mid-air as he saw Kate and Jane dive behind the sea container. Jane fired a tight group of paint into the drone causing it to return fire. Sparks flew off the sea container as bullets ricocheted off it.

He landed in a combat roll and fired again, aiming for the chest plate that protected the Drone's CPU from paint rounds. Two rounds bounced off the shoulder joint. The third hit but it didn't penetrate. The drone made for him, spraying rounds only when it had a clear shot as if it knew that it couldn't be hurt.

Kate popped up from the sea container and hit the drone again. It spun and fired. Colin targeted the back plate for the battery case and let loose before running for more cover. His 45 spent he dropped the mag and reloaded a fresh one before he combat rolled through a false wall and into an office.

"That's it, lad," he said out loud to himself, "Confuse the bastard." He said as he ran out of the room. He slammed a shoulder into another wall and crashed through behind the warehouse edge wall. He looked up to see Jane stepping lightly along an overhead catwalk; her pistol was out with no magazine in it and the slide open. He pulled a mag out of his vest for his nineteen and held it up. She saw it and nodded while holding a finger over her mouth.

Gunfire erupted and the false wall behind him was stitched. He slammed a shoulder into the wall intent on knocking it over when he heard other drones activate. They came out simultaneously and each started spraying their paint rounds at the renegade.

"That's it Griggs!" He shouted, "Pour it on, lad!" He ran along the wall and pulled his knife to loosen a hinge pin. Once out he shoved and made a gap big enough for him to pass through. He ran towards the sea container and tossed the magazine in his hand straight up. Jane caught it easily and slid it in place.

"Not yet!" He shouted as more gunfire bounced around him. Several of the drones were between him and the renegade taking the hits. Griggs had them running cover. He rounded the sea container to see Kate on a crate.

"Mag," She said.

He tossed it up to her and he climbed up, "You got a plan?"

"Shoot the red one till it stops moving." She said as she slapped the extended magazine in place.

He shouted to the ceiling, "Aim for between the shoulder and chest plate. That's where the computer is!"

"Waiting on Jane," She said as he rolled onto the container.

He looked up and Jane wasn't there. She was on the far side of the room almost over top of it. She nodded to Kate.

"Crazy bitch says fire when ready." She said smartly.

Colin rose up and let loose the forty five. She too fired a barrage of fire. Fifteen .45s and twenty 9mm bullets tore into the arm pit of the drone. It swung away from the other drones it had been tearing apart and opened fire before going quiet. He watched as the guns automatically switched the custom built magazines and as it did so, Jane dropped from the ceiling on an electrical cable she had cut loose. She fell damn near on top of it and shoved the gun into the damaged pit area and emptied her magazine into the area at varying angles. The drone turned sharply and froze before firing a single shot and finally going quiet.

Jane held on tight not trusting that it was done. Her breathing was ragged and her hands hurt but she held on even though her gun was empty.

Her fearful face told him that she wasn't going to let go.

"Cut the wire plug at the base of the skull." He said loudly.

Jane didn't hesitate. She pulled a knife and ripped the wires out as fast as she could.

"It's done, Jane." He said, "You can let go now."

"Fuck you, Colin." She shouted indignantly. "When you can stand in front of it, I'll let go."

He laughed and jumped down. He walked up casually and stepped up onto the drone's tread.

Pulling a flashlight he shined it at the drones arm pit and found a black heavy plastic weave stuffed inside. He fingered it lightly.

"Kevlar," He said heavily and looked up at her, "Damn thing has a goddamn Kevlar vest stuffed into the computer box." He jumped down and stood at the back.

"Lift your foot." He said and she did, he opened a panel and yanked out a large black switch. "Battery connector," He said, "It's got no power so it ain't playin' possum."

She glared at him. "And the wires you had me cut?"

He held a hand up to her. "Motion sensors, mics, and cameras are in the head. You made sure it couldn't track you as you ran if it was playing dumb."

She took it and allowed him to help her down. Kate came up to her and yanked her into a hug.

Jane was stunned, not being a hugger she wanted to push her away but she had just done the scariest thing she ever thought of. So she embraced her then shoved her back. Kate didn't let go.

"You fucking crazy bitch." Kate said over Jane's shoulder. "You could have gotten yourself killed."

"Hey," she said, "I'm still here aren't I?"

Kate backed up and looked at her. It was false bravado and they both knew it.

"What the hell were you thinking, Jane?" She shouted.

Jane stared at her as if Kate had lost her mind. "That my partner's life was in danger and I had to do something. My life for my partner's, remember?"

Colin stared at her, "I thought that was some bullshit line that you were runnin' to defend Kate the Human Cannonball over here."

Jane's nerves had settled down and her wits had returned too, "Well now you know that I mean it." She looked at Kate, "My life for my partner's, with no regrets."

She hobbled toward the hallway and Kate grabbed her.

Jane looked over at the younger woman, "Help me out? I twisted my ankle on that landing."

Kate nodded as she pulled Jane's arm over her shoulder and grasped her pistol belt.

As they moved toward the door, Colin stared in disbelief as Kate helped Jane down the hallway towards the front door. The camaraderie that he had seen between them had now been tested by battle and had been made strong. He doubted anything could come between them now. Before they exited the building he heard a raspy voice echo down the hall.

"And who are you calling a crazy bitch?"


Building 283 – 1830 hours

Olivia and Elliot came back to the Hangar to find Kate and Jane hunched over the bar which was covered by stacks of files. Each had a stack of papers in hand and was making notes on legal pads as they perused. Jane was resting one foot on a stool that was wrapped in an ice pack and Kate was keeping an eye on her partner as they sorted, read, and restacked paperwork.

"I brought a little morphine for the pain." Liv said as she pulled a cold Boston Lager out of a case and handed it to Jane.

She grinned and she popped the top and took a healthy swig, "Mmm. Now that is a good beer."

Liv nodded, "They always do taste better after the adrenalin wears off." She looked at the Italian, "So how are you really?"

"Bitchy and sarcastic as ever," Kate grumbled, "I swear the only way to stop her mouth is to kill her cause you can't kill her spirit."

Jane snorted, "I'm from Boston. We're a tough breed."

"Those winters you guys have, I can see where the ice water in your veins comes from." Liv said with a laugh. She looked around the bar and shook her head, "What's with the homework?"

"Jeez," Elliot waved a hand at the papers spread out everywhere, "It's starting to look like my desk in here."

Kate didn't bother to look up, "Got a DB today and Colin doesn't think ISP will keep him in formed."

"So we're running our own investigation." Jane added. "Not that ISP would appreciate it."

Liv shook her head, "I thought you two were supposed to take it easy." She pushed a stack over and set down a takeout bag of food and pulled a beer for Beckett. "Colin said you repelled from the ceiling onto the drone."

Kate straightened and retrieved her beer before sitting gently. "She's either the bravest woman I know or the craziest, I can't figure it out."

Jane reached to a stack of files and opened the top one. "On to the case, Sergeant Ellis from Detroit PD slipped and fell in the shower room. The walls and floor were coated with something we're loosely calling a lubricant. Looks like soap scum but once wet is some really slick shit."

Kate tossed a stack down, "Found out that he was involved with a few of the games. Colin told us about a breakfast that was poisoned and a woman who got her underwear hosed in mace. The six man team from Dallas was poisoned yesterday. The woman was attacked on the second day of the games."

"Now with our own attack," Jane groaned, "we're searching through the game registrations to find a few suspects who might have been involved with the same games."

"What we hadn't counted on was the massive amount of people who play these games plus we also have all of Reservations' information, and a complete run down of all activities on post. So we're having a hell of a time trying to sort it all."

Liv passed out containers of Chinese food and pulled up a stool. Elliot retrieved beers for them and sat down after clearing a small space to work with.

"Give us some specs on what we're looking for and we'll get this mess cleaned up before last call." Liv said with a clear tone of authority.

"But remember that we're SVU, so we look for different kinds of leads." El added.

Jane glanced at Kate as she started to lay out the theory to her friends.

Liv stared at Jane, amazed at how effective she was at reading a situation. She watched in complete awe as she and Kate worked right through the case, bouncing off each other as if they had always been partners. As if they were like her and Elliot. Truly it was a shame that they weren't partners for real.

Elliot looked at a page as he chowed down on the sweet and sour chicken. "It's a good theory. But what's the motive, to affect the outcome of the games? It's not the Olympics or the Superbowl."

"It has to be personal," Kate said and received a nod from Jane, "Like you said: this isn't some major sporting event. It's bragging rights for cops."

"The sin of pride," Jane said quietly.

Liv caught the tone and her mind drifted back to two nights ago. Finding Jane lost and curled up in the shower under frigid water. She had made sure that no one was in the hangar the next morning in case Jane wanted to talk but she hadn't. She just groaned about oversleeping and disappointing her partner. Liv hadn't asked about the episode because she honestly doubted if Jane remembered it. But it's not pride, Jane. And loving Maura isn't a sin. She did not know Jane well enough to have that conversation.

"Have you told Colin your theory?" Liv asked Jane more to shake the black haired beauty out of her thoughts.

"He's out helping one of the victims move into new quarters." She said. "Ostrowski didn't feel comfortable in the barracks so he moved her to the officers bungalows, next to a friend of hers named Abby Ward."

Elliot stifled as grin and Liv rolled her eyes. Kate shook her head as she poked through documents and forked through some rice.

"What?" Jane asked.

Liv couldn't help it. "Abby Ward is the reason for the no guest rule in the house."

Kate grumbled something about loud and kept working.

Jane looked around, "Okay, new girl is confused and needs a critical update."

Elliot stabbed a piece of chicken and passed it to his partner. "She's loud."

"Loud." Jane said in a confused voice.

Kate dropped her chopsticks in the carton and looked at her partner. "Yes. She's loud."

Confusion plainly evident she looked to her partner then Elliot and then to Liv.

Liv wiped her mouth and explained. "Last year, Colin brought Abby back here. She spent the night in Colin's loft where they had sex."

"A lot of sex," Elliot added. "And she's loud."

Jane's eyes went wide. "I take it that it disrupted the house?"

"You could say that." Kate growled. "Abby's a nice person but comes off too tough and very quiet."

"Until you get her clothes off and then she's very vocal." Liv said, "As hammered as we were, no one got much in the way of sleep that night."

"The next day," Elliot continued, "We had a vote before they got up and it was agreed in fifteen seconds that no more guests come back to the house during LETO."

Jane leaned back and adjusted her ice pack. "How did Colin take it?"

"Embarrassingly," Kate said with a smirk "I know he doesn't act like it but he's rather bashful when it comes to sex."

"He was more embarrassed by Abby than anyone else." Elliot added. "But that didn't stop him from laying her all friggin' night long."

"He's the reason she moved to officers bungalows." Liv said, "They keep in touch and hook up a couple times a year."

Jane shook her head with a grin and looked around, "Wow. He wasn't kidding when he said no one wants a repeat of last year."

"Nope," Liv said, "He wasn't."


Jane's Room

Liv gently worked the blood back into Jane's hands as she sat on her couch with a pillow propped under her foot, her hands expertly removing the pain that had built up the last few days. Liv hadn't said much over the last day or two and Jane was beginning to get a bit concerned.

She sighed audibly as Liv's fingers pushed against her skin. She tried to keep an image of Maura in her head but after the dream she had a few nights ago, she wasn't sure that she trusted her body. Good old fashioned catholic guilt filled her at the thought of that dream and she promptly shoved it out of her mind. What was so wrong with her that she couldn't control her own mind and body?

"Your very tense, Jane." Liv said in Italian "Are you alright?"

"Just had a long, dangerous day," She replied, "I go on vacation and get sucked right back into a murder case."

"With a side of running for your life," Liv added.

"Hey, I don't run." She scoffed as she changed out hands, "I might withdraw but I never run."

She shook her head and laughed, "Okay there, Super Jane. No reason to get techy."

She chuckled as Liv worked out the last few spots in her hand and was surprised when the older woman didn't let go.

Liv gently stroked Jane's slender hands careful to go around the two scars. She wanted to ask but she wouldn't. It was what they did here.

Jane watched as Liv stared at them. Her eyes were not judgmental, merely curious and she felt her armor cracking open a bit more.

She pulled her hand out of Liv's causing the older woman to look up. Jane could see the question but she also saw the determination not to ask. With her recent episode she felt that she should at least say something if for no other reason than to relieve the pressure building inside her. Liv had been true to her word and hadn't asked or judged or anything else that would make Jane question her.

So she let out another piece, "A serial killer got the drop on me and stabbed me through both hands. My partner took him down and now he's in prison."

Liv stared at her then nodded. "It's a dangerous line of work you have."

Jane shook her head, "I couldn't do what you do for a living."

She stood up and sat down next to her. Jane had opened up a bit and confided in her, she felt that she should do the same.

"I do this because I was a child born from rape." Liv said.

Jane snapped her head around her eyes meeting Liv's again.

"She kept me and it was a hard way to grow up. I guess you could say that I have some issues with it and that's why I work in the SVU, bringing down scum bags like my biological father."

Jane rested a hand on her friends, "I guess we all carry scars."

Liv patted Jane's hand, "Yes. We do."

"I've seen Colin's." She said softly. "I know Kate has some, too."

"Elliot is no different." Liv said, "Though he's not likely to say anything; Male ego of dealing with your own issues."

"I can understand that." Jane said knowingly.

Liv smiled and squeezed her hand, "I imagine you can. That's part of what makes us who we are. The women in this house are strong and independent. The men are tough and resilient and we blend well. Mostly because we understand each other and each of us carries our own scars. Some you can see like you, Colin, and El. Some you can't like me and Kate."

"I guess that's why I feel so at home here." Jane said with a light smile.

"I knew that when I met you." Liv said, "You're one of us, Jane and we'll always welcome you. No matter what burdens you, you can let it go here with no judgment, no condemnation and no pity."

Jane stared at her. Does she know? The thought sent a shiver down her spine.

She didn't want anyone to see how damaged she had been from Hoyt. It was bad enough that Maura saw a part of it. Regardless of what Olivia said, Jane would not show weakness. She couldn't.

Liv saw the thought in Jane and knew that the Italian was going to need time to let go, just like she would need time to come to terms with herself and her sexuality. She knew Jane's type very well, stubborn and hard headed. Jane would go through this in her own way and it would be painful, both in her PTSD and her awakening. All Liv could do was be her friend should Jane need it.

She patted Jane's hand again and said goodnight before heading to her own room. Once she locked herself away, she dug out her phone and looked up Dr. Maura Isles on the internet. She found a blonde woman Jane's age and she was beautiful. Liv could easily see the attraction. She found the Doctor's email and logged on to the PTSD site that had helped both her and Stabler. She knew that Jane wouldn't accept Liv's help but maybe she'd take Maura's.

From the site, she sent Dr. Isles a link so that the doctor could find her friend some help. In the subject column she typed in a note that should get Maura's attention. The email sent, she shut down her browser and lay down for bed. She hoped Maura would do the right thing for her friend. It was a needless worry.


Home of Dr. Isles

Maura heard the chime from the laptop indicating an email. The sender was anonymous and Maura would have deleted it but for the words that glowed on the screen.

She won't admit it but she needs this. Maura, please take care of her.

She opened the email and clicked on the link. It was a list of Doctors who specialized in PTSD. Highlighted was contact info for the ones around the Boston area with several more just inside Rhode Island and Connecticut. The ones there were labeled discreet.

Maura put a hand to her mouth as she realized that the person sending this meant for her to help Jane. She immediately typed in a response and emailed it back. It was returned a few minutes later tagged "no reply mail". Who could have sent it to her?

It puzzled her but she knew better than to ask Jane. She was too private about things like this. So Maura quickly made a plan to get her new friend this information.