Courting Disaster Chapter 21: One Traitor to Go, a rizzoli & isles fanfic

Authors notes: Sorry they are longer than normal.

Thank you ssa-rtune for the beta read, although any remaining mistakes are mine and mine alone. If you spot anything major please feel free to let me know, especially as I have a bad habit of thinking one word and typing another!

In reply to one reviewer, Mike was a red herring, sorry if it caused any confusion. Please feel free to send me reviews, I do read and appreciate each and every one.

I must also say thank you for my nominations in the Rizzles fanfic awards, both for Courting Disaster and as a new author, please go and vote for me if you've enjoyed my stories. Although it was humbling and unexpected to just get this far.

Sorry for the slight delay from my normal posting times. Some of it was real life because I like to write when I know I can get a good day in. This allows me to focus unhindered for several hours and lets the muse flow. And as of late I've not had as many of those days as I would have liked.

More importantly, I delayed posting thanks to the awful events in Boston because this chapter deals with explosions. It seemed crass to post something like the following chapter so close to the event.

Although I am from the UK Boston was a city Dad knew well from work, and he loved the place. This attack reminded me of the awful explosions we used to get in the UK from the IRA, indeed we had a fire bomb which happened in our county town many years ago, a place as idyllic and peaceful as you could imagine.

And I can also remember our school being evacuated at least twice when we were about 6 years old because of bomb threats …. Believe me when I say that is something that stays with you! Although the school was amazing, the teachers being calm and collected not adding to the worry we all felt at that time.

If the terrorists aim for fear they never fully succeed, however, I remember the relief felt in the UK after the IRA stopped bombing, and it saddens me that this is still going on all these years later in another guise. *shakes head*

It never fails to amaze me that these people think this sort of thing is the answer to differences. My thoughts and prayers are with those affected.

One thing we should be thankful for is the number of medical personnel of all types who were already on site in Boston, I expect some lives will have been saved as a result. Our family has close ties with UK medical personnel, the UK police - including very specialist police roles - the UK fire department and the UK armed forces, and I am always intensely proud of any member of those services who do so much for others, no matter where in the world they reside.

So, for all the reasons above, this chapter is dedicated to all those caught up with the cowardly Boston bombings, as well as for all those who have been affected by any terrorist act.

Chapter 21: One Traitor to Go.

Sitting looking supremely confident Graham didn't seem at all concerned by his present predicament.

"He's too relaxed," Jane said as she watched the Doctor through the observation glass. "Whatever he had planned is going to happen despite him being caught."

"He's going to expect you to lose your temper with him," I decided, looking at the man's facial reactions closely. "As far as he's concerned he's got the moral high ground and if you react negatively that will only reinforce his view."

Bruce Thompson, Barry Frost, Frankie Rizzoli and Sean Cavanaugh had all joined us to watch the interrogation, although none of them said anything.

Just then we were interrupted by Elizabeth entering the observation room. "I've just heard," she said making her way to the glass divide, shaking her head in disbelief. "Peter I could understand, but not Graham."

We waited, allowing the other Doctor to form her own opinion of the man sitting in front of us, finally she said. "He's calm, too self-assured. I'm sorry Jane, but I don't think you should question him, he wants you to be the one to talk to him, that's why we need to send in Maura with you so she can ask the questions."

"What?" I said in surprise. "I have no experience in questioning suspects, what good would I do?"

"I understand you once interviewed Charles Hoyt Maura. I'd say that makes you qualified, especially since the circumstances are not too dissimilar. It's not going to be so much about what he does or doesn't say, but what his facial expressions will tell you. Having Jane there in a purely observational role will be distracting for him, and that's what you need, a distraction because anything else is not going to get answers out of the man."

"So I just need to lean on the wall and look threatening?" Jane smirked.

Elizabeth smirked back. "Well, not too threatening, but yes, essentially that's what I want you to do."

Jane shrugged, and her lips pursed in a half smile. "I think I can manage that but if he goes to hurt Maura then all bets are off!"

Elizabeth smiled and leaned over to pat Jane's cheek. "My dear, if he goes for Maura you'll have to fight the rest of us off with a stick. We'll all want a piece of the man."

"Too damned right!" Jane declared, obviously pleased by the way people wanted to protect me. "Okay, let's get this over with, after you," and she waved the way forward. I smiled and entered the room.

Sitting opposite Graham I took a moment to watch him watching us. I could feel Jane's presence behind me and knew from previous experience at the BPD she had taken up a stance leaning against the wall, ankles and arms crossed with a look of indifference on her face. I tried to mirror that look, but it was hard when I had worked so closely with the man for a little over a year. Finally I broke the silence. "Why Graham? Why did you feel the need to betray New Boston?"

He shrugged. "Why not?" He counted, indifferent to my question. He glanced down, and casually cleaned out a fingernail.

"Surely there had to be a reason, and I'd like to know why you couldn't talk to me about your concerns rather than take this course of action?"

Looking up to pierce me with an unwavering gaze, Graham's eye's slid to the side for a second as he took in Jane's posture. "We needed to stop and think about protecting our interests more, the bunker can't afford to be too giving when it comes to helping those affected by the virus. I want to protect our assets for us and us alone. And I'm not the only one here who thinks like this, there are others." Again that quick glance to Jane, and I immediately knew he was lying about other people helping him, he was hoping to draw out a response from the brunette.

"We have no evidence of more people within New Boston being involved in your scheme," I countered quietly.

The gaze settled behind me for a fraction longer this time before Graham replied. "Then you haven't got all the evidence, there is so much you don't know. Maybe your precious Detective isn't as good at her job as everybody seems to claim."

I ignored the comment about Jane. It was an obvious jibe to get me to react negatively so I kept my voice calm. "Would you tell me then, let me know what we're missing?"

The response was instant and harsh. "No!" And for a fraction of a second the blasé attitude broke before Graham was able to pull himself together again.

"What are you frightened of Graham?"

"Nothing," he spat, finally some real emotion showing. "I am afraid of nothing."

I almost turned to watch Jane knowing on some subconscious level that she had shifted her position slightly. Forcing myself to focus on the man in front of me I said. "Everybody is frightened of something. Fear is one of the many emotions that help keep us human."

"Hah, human, we're not human, we're just playing the role, pretending we're doing all this good when all we're doing is dooming the future of the human race, I couldn't let that happen." This time the glare at Jane was unflinching, and Graham appeared to be trying to out-stare the person behind me. Another thing I knew from experience, trying to out glare the former Detective was a mind game he could never win.

"From your reaction I would have to hypothesis that you're scared of Jane." Pushing the other Doctor like that was a risk, but I felt it was worth trying.

And Graham faltered, before he said angrily. "I will never be scared of that fucking freak!"

Jane moved so quietly and so suddenly even I jumped when she slapped her hands onto the metal table, the noise echoing around the room loudly when she said in a low tone. "You should be scared," and as quickly as she had arrived she was gone, and settled back into position behind me almost as though she hadn't flinched a muscle. It had the desired effect when Graham started to talk.

"What happens when the other freaks start living here? They'll start to think they're better than us. Then they'll be forcing the humans out and for what? So that we can say we helped them?!" Graham was ranting directly at Jane now, and I just let him talk, with luck he would let slip the plan against the bunker. "When the access tunnels blow there will be no stopping those who are going to help me reclaim the bunker for the use of the human race alone. Those stupid enough to want the antidote are welcome to it. I never thought it would work, I couldn't believe it when that happened; I had to bring forward my plans to take control." Graham paused, realizing what he had said, and scowling he glared at us both before adding. "I'm not saying any more, you'll never find the explosive before it detonates."

Hearing Jane shift behind me I knew the conversation was over, and without another word I got up and we left the room, solid in our togetherness.

The moment we got back into the observation room and the door closed, Jane rounded on me and said urgently. "How many access tunnels are there?"

"Twenty," I replied. "But not all of them lead to the exterior of the shelter. I can only think of six that have access to the outside, three vertical going up to the meadow above, and three horizontal that lead to the cliff face."

Before we could say anything else Tommy burst into the room and spotting Jane said. "We've got a big, big problem. That group I told you about were already on their way here, they heard about an attack that was about to be made on New Boston. Only this time there are going to be about one thousand attackers. They're due to descend any moment."

I knew I had paled at the news. And with wide eyes I looked at Jane. "That's going to stretch our weapons resources to the limit."

Jane thought for a moment shaking her head. "Tommy, find out all you can about the attacking force, and if that group of yours want to come inside the shelter to help they're more than welcome. I'd also like to talk to them if I can but I'll understand if they want to get as far away from here as possible. Korsak, get people armed and ready by all the access tunnels, but I don't want anybody other than security with explosive experience in the tunnels themselves." There was a slight pause. "No wait," Jane added earnestly. "Get people who were in Nam looking for the explosives, if he used that method before he's likely to have used it again."

Bruce said, "You can count me in for one tunnel, I'll take the big air vent on the east side, that's the most awkward to get into and I know it from my work."

Jane nodded and Tommy and the older men took off without another word.

Jane turned towards Elizabeth. "Get a triage center sent up, I hope we won't have to fight if we can find the explosives in time, but I want to be ready for possible injuries."

"I'll get right on that," the other Doctor said without hesitation. "Katie Mossel can set up the Trauma Unit. I'll have people reporting directly to her."

"Understood," Jane acknowledged as Elizabeth also left the observation room. "That leaves five tunnels and the main bunker inhabitants. Frost, you go and organize getting people and livestock back inside the shelter, and then I want you to take a small number of defenders to the emergency exit. I don't think that will be compromised but I don't want to take any chances."

Barry started to argue, but Jane cut him off before the first word left his mouth. "No Frost, with your arm you won't be as good in a fight, you know that, but I need somebody we trust at that exit. I understand you want to be there covering my back, that's what always made you such a good partner, but you'll be covering everybody's back doing this."

I could see Barry wasn't looking happy, but finally he nodded his head, and clapping his good hand on Jane's arm he said. "If I hear anything on the radio that indicates you're in trouble I will be there for you partner, orders be damned."

Jane smiled briefly. "I know, thanks, now get outta here."

That left Frankie and Sean; turning to her former Lieutenant Jane said. "Sir, I'll leave you to organize defense in any other areas you feel might be at risk. You know who would be best suited for what job."

"Agreed, we need to keep the entrances guarded whatever happens, I'll go back to the security office and organize things from there. Good luck Rizzoli."

"Thank you Sir," and then we were down to three. Frankie looked at his sister expectantly.

"You're gonna hate me Bro, but I need somebody I trust on this," Jane started to say before Frankie interrupted.

"You want me to guard that piece of shit," the younger Rizzoli didn't sound surprised as he looked through the window at Graham. "Damn it Janie I'm worth more than that and you know it!" For the first time since Jane's return her brother sounded angry at her.

"Frankie, that's not what I think, I really do need somebody I can trust guarding this snake. I think Graham was lying when he said there were other members of New Boston involved in this attack, but if by any chance he was telling the truth I need somebody here who can't be compromised. Nobody is to get in or out of that room. Do you get what I'm saying?" Jane looked at Frankie pleadingly, begging him to understand that this wasn't about protecting her brother, this genuinely was about having somebody that she trusted with her life guarding Graham.

"Fuck Janie," Frankie growled. "I might understand it, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about this."

"I know," Jane reassured her brother. "And if I had anybody else to guard him I would, but keep your ears on the radio, if I hear of any attempt to try and get him sprung I'll give you a heads up."

Finally Frankie just shook his head and said. "Alright, but you owe me."

Jane grinned. "Fair enough, Maura and I are going to help check the tunnels, and we'll be on radios so at least you'll know what's going on." Jane patted her brother on the back. "We'll be back as soon as we can."

Hugging me goodbye Frankie said to both of us. "Just be careful out there."

Jane's grin grew wider. "Always, see you later."

And with that we were on our way to the central room where we knew Vince Korsak would be setting up his command area.

Again the bunker was responding like a well-oiled machine. We often held defense drills against attack, although we had never thought we'd need to take into account a traitor from inside New Boston. Joining Vince in the main central room, we elbowed our way past the queues of people who were waiting to be armed. Mike was at the older man's side, and when he saw me approach with Jane he nudged Vince to get his attention. Looking over to where we were Korsak waved us across and handed over the task of arming people to one of the other security personnel. The four of us made our way to a quieter part of the room. "We have one tunnel left to investigate. People are already checking the rest, Mike will join you."

"Which tunnel is it?" I asked jostled by passing people.

"The side tunnel that emerges at the top of the cliff, do you know which one I mean?" Vince had to raise his voice to make himself heard over the clamor of voices and rattling armaments.

I nodded. It was the tunnel I had been in the day of the first anniversary of our arrival in New Boston, the one where Angela had found me with that welcomed mug of coffee.

"Has anything been found?" Jane asked while we fitted ourselves with radios and earpieces, Jane added extra ammunition to her belt, and I took control of a crossbow and a quiver of bolts.

Nodding Vince started to lead the way towards the tunnel. "Bruce has reported in, his tunnel is clear, he was heading out to help the people in the one next door to his. The group Tommy saw have arrived and were helping him shore up the defense of the main entrance. I had a quick word with their leader, no point in you talking to him, they didn't know any more than they told Tommy."

"Well, that was better than nothing," Jane admitted. "At least we got a heads up of some kind, knowing the strength of the attack has given us enough time to arm everybody."

Various voices crackled in my ear as security made their numerous reports. "Re-tune to channel twelve," Vince told us as he nodded his assent at Jane's words. "We're keeping that channel clear for tunnel clearance and main entrance security only."

Satisfied we were as equipped as we could be, Mike picked up a small tool kit and leaving Vince to his task we made our way out to the tunnel.

Two minutes before we entered the tunnel a male voice in my ear said. "This is security three. We have contact with an unknown device, over."

We all glanced at each other. Jane palmed her radio. "This is security one. What does it look like security three? Over."

"It looks to be a cylinder connected to the entrance door closure, not big, but enough to compromise the locks if it blows, I can't see a trigger at the current time, over."

Leaving her radio silent for a moment Jane finally pressed the button and said. "Korsak, what sort of trigger switch would you expect on these things?"

"Clock timer," the older man said without hesitation. "A radio controlled device would be more accurate, but unlikely given the materials available, it's probably hidden underneath the canister."

Although Vince wasn't there Jane nodded at his information and keyed her radio again. "Security three, did you hear that? Look for a clock timer, likely under the device, over."

There was a slight pause while the security team looked for the trigger, I could feel sweat build up along my forehead from the stress of waiting to hear from them. Finally there was a crackle in my ear followed by. "Confirmed security one, it is a timer, crude from the looks of things. Smith says he can disarm it easily enough, but you might want to know the countdown is down to the final ten minutes, over."

"Acknowledged," Jane glanced my way, a grim look on her face. "Let us know if you have any problems, over and out."

"Copy that, over and out."

"Does that give us enough time?" Jane asked as we resumed our trek towards the access tunnel.

"Barely," I conceded.

"Better up the pace then," and Jane started to jog towards our destination.

Knowing the tunnel better than anybody else Jane sent me ahead, although she wasn't too keen having me take the lead, but the brunette acknowledged I would be able to spot something that wasn't right sooner than she would have managed. In our ears we heard two other teams find and disarm bombs, and unfortunately they all seemed to be in different parts of the tunnels which didn't give us an easy starting point, and that left two tunnels to be checked. Our progress was slowed right up because there were a lot of pipes and conduits that wound their way through the metal structure and they all needed to be inspected. Jane was keeping a close eye on the time, and had told me she wasn't going to hesitate in evacuating the tunnel when we got down to the two minute mark. Frustratingly we were only a few seconds away from leaving and we only had another ten foot of tunnel to check. I turned towards Jane, and she must have seen the look on my face because she said. "No Maura, we don't have time, we'll just have to take our chances with people managing to make their way inside. At least they won't be expecting us to be directly defending the tunnels."

Grabbing my arm she started to pull me back towards the corridor, pushing Mike in front of her with her free hand. "Come on, move, move," she said urgently.

Reaching the exit Jane stood by the doorway and made sure we exited before her, and just as she turned to leave we heard an enormous 'whump' sound and a cloud of dust erupted from the door coating all of us, but especially Jane. Coughing she waved the worst of the dust away from her face and grabbed her radio as we heard the team from the last tunnel confirm that their bomb had also exploded. Keying the mouthpiece Jane said. "All security to tunnels five and six, repeat all security to tunnels five and six, expected breach."

Hearing the acknowledgements we readied our weapons, and took shelter behind some buggies that were parked in the main corridor. The lights were flickering dangerously and I realized the explosion must have damaged some local systems. The shadows that were cast reminded me of the strobe lights on the Merch's dance floor and it was disorientating until my eyes adjusted. It didn't take long before long we were able to see the first of the invaders leaving the doorway and soon a firefight erupted between us and the rebels. Luckily we had the better positions because the raiders were emerging from a doorway, and that reduced the numbers which could attempt entrance, and it also provided us with a narrow target. We were holding our own, although my main concern was the fact that we only had a limited amount of ammunition with us. Jane must have thought the same thing because she keyed the radio again, "Korsak, get some extra supplies to our positions as soon as possible."

"Ten-four," the reply was gravelly. "We're just confirming that we only have two breaches."

"Don't be too long," Jane said immediately. "What we have here isn't going to last much longer."

"Five minutes max," Vince promised before signing off.

Mike was crouched on my left, Jane on my right and although I had a crossbow, it was still proving effective against the invaders because I had ample room to load the bolts and aim the bowstring. Each person we hit was pulled away by their comrades, and they appeared to be sent back to the external entrance. I could only hope they were being treated for their wounds, and not just pushed out of the shelter to fall to their death. Knowing how ruthless some of the rogue groups could be I wasn't confident that the injured would receive medical attention. Focusing on the invaders I was amazed that they continued to throw themselves into the line of fire, it was as if they thought they could overwhelm us by sheer numbers, but because they were limited by the narrowness of the door it allowed us to pick them off easily. They were accurate with their own weapons though, and we had to continue to take cover especially when they had guns in play. Jane had to duck more than once, and I was worried about her being the most exposed of us. Within the five minutes we had been joined by several more security guards, and as promised Vince appeared with extra weaponry and ammunition. Making his way to Jane's side he silently handed off the things she needed before rearming Mike and me. Once that was done he sat to Jane's right and joining in the defense of the bunker said. "How many people are we dealing with?"

"Hard to tell," Jane's reply was nearly drowned out by the noise from the guns being fired, and having nowhere to really go the smell of cordite hung thickly in the air. "I've counted at least fifty people so far, they just keep coming, no way are they willing to negotiate."

Vince grunted when a bullet chipped a piece of concrete from the floor and the small piece of shrapnel clipped his left cheek. Waving me off when I moved to check him over he said. "They probably haven't heard that only one of the other tunnels was breached. So far that tunnel has been contained as well."

"Has there been any news from Frost?" Jane was cut short when a bullet caught her on the right arm, causing her to swear and drop her gun. Rushing to her side I was relieved to see it was only a large graze. Thanking my decision to wear a cotton shirt today I tore off a strip from my sleeve and using that I was able to control the bleeding fairly easily. Vince and Mike took up the main area of defense while I worked. Silently I looked at Jane and although her eyes were pained, she wasn't in too much discomfort, and she smiled at me reassuringly. It was then that I realized that I must have looked extremely worried, so I smiled back, squeezed her hand, gratified to have the gesture returned and we returned to our places.

Seeing our return Vince was finally able to answer Jane's question. "No attempt has been made on any of the entrances. It looks like they have focused all their efforts on the tunnels. There is no way of knowing what the attackers who have been kept out of the other tunnels will be doing. Tommy is tracking as many as he can with the external cameras."

Forced to duck again the lights suddenly gave out, coating the area in total blackness. Muttering Jane grabbed a flashlight and brought it around in time to see a handful of attackers slip past the security detail in the confusion. "Shit," she said vehemently. "Korsak call that in, I'm going after them."

"Jane wait," I cried out as she moved, and she halted for a moment and looked at me quizzically. "I'm coming with you," I declared, leaving no room for argument.

Not looking at all happy by my avowal, Jane finally nodded curtly and we cautiously made our way up the side of the corridor, hearing Vince in our earpieces letting Sean know some attackers had managed to make their way inside the bunker.

The darkness extended into the corridor, and I was pleased to see that the rooms off the structure had been closed and doors either locked or barricaded. That would limit the area the attackers could go, and soon we caught up with the six men who had made their way inside. Halting alongside another buggy we crouched low and Jane peered around the cover carefully, seeing that half the invading force was protecting the rear of the group. Unfortunately the rebels had found an area which was covered with spare wooden barrels and those were providing them with a lot of protection from attack. Noting that they had been brought to a halt by a few armed people from within the bunker Jane took a moment to try and figure out a way of getting the group to surrender. Finally Jane shouted to make herself heard above the noise, her voice coming out in an even deeper tone. "Give it up, you can't win, if you surrender you can go free."

The immediate response was a volley of gunfire that strafed the side of the buggy. "Well I guess that answers that!" Jane muttered, letting the gunfire die down before she took up a more attacking position. Moving I situated myself to her left so I could lay down covering fire if required. Looking at the taller woman I asked. "Do you want to wait for backup?"

Shaking her head Jane replied. "If that was any indication there's no time to wait. We need to act, and soon."

"Any ideas on what we can do to reduce casualties?"

"None," I could tell by her voice that Jane was frustrated. If nothing else survivors could be interrogated to help stop this kind of attack in the future; breaking into my thoughts Jane continued in the same tone. "The trouble with these types of people they have no regard for lives, and it doesn't matter if it's others' lives or their own. They would rather commit suicide by another's hand than surrender, and if they can take the people they perceive as the enemy with them so much the better."

"It's going to be an out and out fight then," I said.

Looking at me grimly Jane answered. "Yes, so do exactly what I say. The last thing I need to be worrying about is your safety."

"Jane," I started to admonish before she interrupted.

"I know, I know, you have changed the last year and have fought battles before and are quite capable of looking after yourself. However that was before we got together, things are different now because we have our future, and Cameron's future to think about."

Silently I nodded, Jane had made some very valid points, and I knew if the thought of losing Jane hurt me as much as the thought of her losing me must have been, then it was something neither of us would bear very well. "Alright," I finally said. "What do you need me to do?"

A slight smile played on Jane's lips while she moved marginally so she could get a better shot. "Try and get those bolts between any of the gaps, if you can force them to move out of the central ring of barrels it will give us a better target. Wait for my signal." And with that Jane concentrated on her radio asking Sean to pass a message along to the people ahead of the invaders, once it had been confirmed they understood the plan Jane looked back at me. "Alright," she said. "Let's do this."

Carefully I took aim with the crossbow, and although my preferred weapon was a compound archery bow I knew I was accurate enough with this to do as Jane had asked. It only took three hits between the barrels before we both sensed movement within their defenses.

"Keep going." Jane urged me in a low voice, her full attention on the scene unfolding in front of us.

Without warning an old beer bottle with a lit rag in the neck was thrown our way. "MOVE!" Jane yelled, recognizing the Molotov cocktail as it arced towards our position. Scrambling out of the way we just managed to get to a safe distance before the bottle exploded into smithereens, sending lit gasoline in all directions. Smoke from the projectile was not too thick, but the chemical smell in the air was cloying and made me cough violently. Reaching up the wall I blindly managed to grab a fire extinguisher that fortunately we had spread out at regular intervals, and following the instructions was able to put out the flames, the foam added to the nauseating atmosphere and it forced us to retreat a bit further until we found clearer air to breathe.

"Fuck," clambering back to a crouched position and coughing almost as violently as me, Jane quickly had her gun raised and was covering us. Before I could react with my weapon I was startled by the appearance of Lydia at our side, she was carrying more ammunition and bolts, plus a crossbow and quiver of her own.

Before I could question the blond woman she thrust the extra bolts into my quiver and said. "Tommy was with me when the attack started. I'm good with a crossbow and wanted to help."

Seeing the determination in the younger woman's face I could only nod and looking at Jane I could see her raised eyebrows at the declaration.

"The more the merrier," Jane finally agreed. "Help Maura lay down fire into their defenses, but watch out for those Molotov cocktails, if they had one then they're likely to have more."

"It was a common form of weapon with Greg and his group, they used to laugh at their victims while they burned," Lydia said quietly, the pain from witnessing such events still clearly visible in her eyes. Pulling herself together she added. "Normally they would carry two per person. If you have six attackers then I would expect a minimum of twelve missiles."

Knowing that information was an important piece of intelligence, Jane looked at me and commented with a worried tone. "I only saw six of them, but that's still one Hell of a lot of flames within a confined area."

"Yes," I agreed. "The last thing we need is an out of control fire, I think we'd better get Mike down here to deal with that, he's had the training."

Keying her radio again Jane relayed the new information to the security office, and I heard the confirmation of Mike coming to our aid in my earpiece.

Reaching us a few minutes later Mike scurried crablike to our side, and not only was he geared up to fight fires, but he also had three extra gas masks with him. "Here," he said handing them over. "They're not ideal, but they will help stop you inhaling the chemicals from the gasoline and smoke."

Gratefully I took one, knowing all too well the damage chemicals could do to a person's system, and we only had two respiratory specialists on staff. That was one infirmary visit I didn't want anybody to have to go through. Showing Jane and Lydia how to fit the masks correctly Mike then turned his attention to the fire threat.

"Has it only been gasoline so far?" He queried succinctly, his voice muffled and odd sounding through the gas mask.

I nodded, and looking grim the young man moved to take over control of the fire extinguisher. "Don't think about fighting any fires, but equally don't get in my way."

"Understood," Jane said. "I want to draw them to the outer edge of the barricade, that's where they threw the last missile from."

"Then I need to be at your side to get the flames under control as soon as possible."

Taking a calming breath, I looked at Jane and she led us all forward, slowly we made our way past the scorch marks left behind from the gasoline, and we were soon at the buggy which had been caught up in the fire. Luckily it was still structurally stable and made a good place to continue our attack.

With the gas mask limiting my view I wasn't as accurate as I had been before, and I was grateful to have Lydia at my side. True to her word she was extremely accurate with a crossbow, and between us we had the rebels moving back to where they had been and not unexpectedly another Molotov cocktail was heading our way. Moving rapidly we retreated and let Mike deal with the fire quickly and efficiently, allowing us to get back into position with very little time lost. This was repeated another nine times, and although the immediate area was showing considerable damage from the flames, overall the corridor was holding up well, in part thanks to Mike's work.

"Eleven down, that should be one to go." Jane noted, her voice eerily deep because of the gas mask. "If you see the chance to take any of them down, don't hesitate, they need to be stopped."

With a deep calming breath, not enjoying the slightly tinged rubbery taste caused by the mask I mentally prepared for the final assault. It wasn't long in coming, and to our surprise the men decided to try and break their way past us and the flames. Seeing what they were doing Mike held off with the extinguisher, not wanting to give them an easy exit. To my dismay the men continued forward regardless and those that weren't engulfed by fire we cut down with our weapons. As soon as the last man fell Mike hit the fire with some foam.

Exhausted I leaned against the wall breathing heavily, soot on my skin mingled with the dust from the tunnel explosion, and with sweat running down my face, as well as my front and back I felt exceedingly uncomfortable. I looked over to see Jane was as emotionally and physically drained as I was feeling. With an effort I made my way to slide down the wall; Jane joined me and I rested my head on her shoulder as she wrapped an arm around my waist. Eventually Mike signaled that we could remove our masks and gratefully I freed myself from the claustrophobic confines of the rubber. I looked across the corridor to see Lydia had mirrored our sitting position on the floor, and she looked relieved that the fight was over. All of us had suffered slight burns to our arms, but nothing major, and our clothing was battered and torn. Jane's face was liberally streaked with soot and sweat, and I imagined it mirrored my own look. Knowing we would be gratefully getting back to a shower later on, I took the time to relax against the taller woman.

"We need to find out how Korsak and the others are doing," Jane finally said after a few moments.

"No rest for the wicked," I smiled slightly, just enjoying the closeness for as long as possible.

Struggling to her feet, Jane reached down and helped me up before helping Lydia. "Let's go and see how everyone else is faring," she said tiredly. And starting down the corridor we returned to the tunnel entrance.

What we witnessed when we arrived back at the tunnel was the rebels breaking off their attack. A few seconds before we arrived we'd heard Korsak giving that information out over the radio, and the second tunnel was also confirming the retreat of their attackers.

I knew the most dangerous part was going to happen next, security would need to clear the tunnels, and then we would need to re-secure the outer doors. Tommy helped us with that aspect of the bunker defense. We knew there wasn't room for more than fifty people at a time to be in the tunnels, and watching the camera he was able to count off the number of people emerging from the exits. Once he'd reached the fifty mark, Jane and Korsak led the way into the tunnel to clear it of any remaining invaders. This was their territory, one I had to concede I would be little use doing, they had the training and I had to trust that training to see them safely through the task ahead.

A scant five minutes later Vince and Jane had returned, confirming the tunnels were finally clear and being held secure by security until maintenance could arrive and repair the damage to the outer doors. It was time for a debriefing and then we could think about making our way home.

Just before we headed out to the debrief, the radio crackled, and Jane and I immediately tensed, expecting more bad news. I have to admit, what we got wasn't quite what I was expecting.

"Janie! Maura! Tell me you, Tommy and Frankie are all okay?" Angela's voice seemed even more high pitched than usual, and I wasn't sure if it was the radio distortion - or if it was because of the stress. Hearing her mother's voice, Jane shook her head slightly in exasperation.

"It's because she cares." I reminded Jane with a slight smile, which she returned.

"I know, but c'mon - she couldn't wait? These radios are for authorized personnel only."

"True, but we know how insistent your mother can be. Don't blame whomever it was for handing their radio over."

Jane laughed lightly, hearing Frankie and Tommy in resigned tones confirming their safety as we began to tiredly trudge towards the security office. "Don't worry, I won't be too hard on whomever it was that gave her a radio." Jane said.

"Aren't you going to answer?" I queried.

Nope," Jane smirked, "we'll be there in a minute or two, she can wait." Putting an arm around my shoulder, I leaned into Jane slightly, feeling as content as was possible under the circumstances. I could only hope this was the worse we had to face from the rebels. At least for now.