Thank you for all the reviews, they are appreciated. Sorry this one took me so long to update, kind of got caught up in one of my other stories and figgin muse for this one decided to go on hiatus. She's back now so, enjoy…

"So let me get this straight, the guy driving the car, is a ghost?" Jane said incredulously.

Nervously Frost looked at Korsak, "we're running what we have through facial recognition, but it's a long shot.

"Okay, okay…" more to herself, "what about Joey? Do we know what his connection is to this case yet?"

"Not exactly." Korsak said carefully.

"Korsak what the hell does not exactly mean?" the pounding in her head intensified with her raised voice, "aw shit…" putting her head between her hands she waited a second while the wave of nausea passed over her.

Once it passed she wiped the sweat off her forehead and looked at the others. They hadn't said a word, though she could see how worried they were. "I'm okay…really…I'm fine, well" she said looking at Korsak.

"The little girl's family is a big contributor to one of Joey's "sponsors"" the look on Korsak's face as he air quoted sponsor was priceless. Everyone knew that Joey was a brown noser. He would have made a decent cop if he could stop kissing brass' ass and balls, but no, that was his thing, he had juice. He knew people who knew people and owed a lot of them favors. Apparently now a favor was coming due.

"So what is the family trying to hide," thinking out loud, she remembered her meeting at the child's house and how the door had practically been slammed in her face. "They know who killed her" she said to herself. More loudly, "they know Korsak, they know who killed her. Remember there was hardly any forensic evidence where she was found…So, how do we get to them?"

"We?" Maura said suspiciously, "Jane there is no we, you are out of work for the rest of the week. Your follow up is not until Monday morning." Unafraid of the look Jane was giving her, "you need to rest!" she insisted.

"Maura come on?" smiling at the M.E. she was surprised when there was none reciprocated.

"No!"

"Friday then…compromise, I won't go to work but I'll see what I can do behind the scenes. Nothing strenuous Maur just talking to folks," Jane waited, she needed Maura's support since she couldn't drive, especially now and Maura was picking up the rental car tomorrow.

Korsak and Frost waited for Maura's response. Maura looked at Jane and knew that she would do it anyway, but she was offering to compromise, she was trying to be considerate of Maura, which is the only reason she agreed.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

By Friday morning, Jane was feeling a lot better, she was still suffering from occasional headaches and some dizziness but she felt better. Maura was right; she needed to get some rest. Jane still couldn't remember the accident, and the driver of the other car hadn't been found yet so they had no way to tie in the accident to their work on the cold case, yet.

Joey had tried to come by to check on her yesterday and Jane smiled, remembering Maura's reaction when he showed up at her door. Jane had been lying on the couch asleep when he came by. She chuckled as she remembered the possessiveness in the M.E.'s voice when she spoke with him.

Yesterday:

"I'll tell her you came by Detective."

"But…I mean is she all right? I heard about the accident…"

"She'll be fine, she's sleeping." Maura refused to give him an inch.

"Okay, well, tell her I'll see her when she goes back to work then."

"Certainly Detective." Maura's voice had been cold and unforgiving.

Chuckling to herself she finished getting dressed. Pulling on her slacks she could feel the soreness in her body. Her leg was paying the price for her forced inactivity this week but she couldn't start rehab again until after her doctor's appointment.

Fixing her shirt and throwing her blazer on, she felt like herself again. Grabbing the cane by the bedroom door, she went to join Maura in the kitchen for breakfast.

Walking up behind Maura, Jane wrapped her arms around her and nuzzled the back of her neck. "Hey…"

With a coy smile Maura leaned into her, "Hey yourself Detective, feeling better this morning I see"

"Yes ma'am I certainly do" Jane let her hands explore a bit more before reluctantly removing them when Maura turned around. "Thank you." She said kissing her lightly.

"For what?"

"For making me rest, for compromising…well…for being you." Ducking her head she was suddenly embarrassed.

Maura lifted her chin, and kissed her back, gently at first, then more searchingly, passionately. Parting her lips, she sought Jane out and found her willing and wanting the same. Pulling Maura in closer, Jane ground against moaning as Maura sucked at her tongue. Breaking the moment for breath they looked at each other both wanting more.

"You're welcome." Maura said as she walked past her.

Hand on her chest; Jane tried to slow her breathing down. They hadn't been intimate since before the accident and Jane was feeling that right now.

"You play dirty Maur, you know we can't do anything right now." Jane had an appointment to meet with the Sunday school teacher at the church in less than an hour.

Taking Jane by the hand she sat her down in front of a cup of coffee and some scrambled eggs. With a peck on the cheek, "we always have tonight." Taking a seat next to her, Maura took a sip of her coffee and watched as Jane struggled to compose herself. She had to admit she would never tire of making Jane crazy. The effect she had on the detective thrilled her, as did the effect Jane had on her.

They ate in silence as Jane contemplated all the possibilities that the night held.

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Taking a seat, Jane waited for the teacher. As she did she looked around at the pictures on the wall and saw that some were from the current school year, while others were from previous students.

Unconsciously rubbing her thigh, Jane was surprised when the woman said her name.

"Detective Rizzoli? Are you okay?" Janice Wilson was young, mid to late twenties and had been teaching at the school for four years.

"I'm sorry I was just distracted by the pictures on the walls." Jane waved a hand at them all.

Looking back at her, "Ms. Wilson, Libby Davidson, do you remember her?"

"Libby…poor thing," Jane could tell that Libby had left an impression on Ms. Wilson. "She was such a beautiful little girl, it was terrible what happened to her, she suffered so much in her young life."

"Ma'am, I'm sorry but, may I ask what you meant by that?" Curious, Jane wondered about her choice of words.

"By what?" she said

"The suffering in her young life…what did you mean by that." Surprised at the question, Ms. Wilson looked at the door and back at Jane before answering.

"You're the police…surely you know…" she said carefully.

Shaking her head, "Ma'am, I'm not sure I understand what you're trying to say. I just recently began investigating this as a cold case. I wasn't the original officer, nor, was I involved with the original case. I'm trying to get some background information on Libby and as her teacher, I believed you could help." Seeing the younger woman's discomfort, she softened.

"Ms. Wilson, there is obviously something on your mind regarding Libby. I know it's difficult to talk about her but I need to know what you meant by your remark." She watched as the young teacher weighed her words.

"Libby was a very special little girl. She was gentle, always willing to help but she…she didn't like to be touched. The first time one of the other teachers touched her on the arm to get her attention she screamed and ran to a corner of the room. It some time to calm her down and her parents were called…. she didn't come back for two weeks." She stopped speaking as she looked at Jane.

Encouragingly, "there's more isn't there?" Jane said.

"When she came back, she only wore long sleeves and long skirts and she didn't speak very much to anyone."

"Did she speak to you?" Jane asked gently.

"She said she was punished for letting anyone touch her."

"What!" Jane found it hard to believe what she was hearing.

"Detective after she came back, she barely spoke and stayed away from everyone, she tripped and fell and when I helped her up she started crying uncontrollably. There was no consoling her. I asked my aide to lead the class out and I sat with her. I asked if she wanted me to speak with her parents and she told me they would punish her again because she allowed me to touch her." She closed her eyes at the memory of that beautiful little girl.

She let me pull up her sleeves detective…she had burn marks, bruises, open sores…it was terrible. When I started to cry she comforted me." Tears ran down her face as she remembered.

Jane leaned over and took the younger woman's hand, taking strength from it, she continued. "She asked me not to cry and that she knew it was God's plan…can you believe that, she was six. When she was found a few weeks later…well I thought the police would realize the abuse, irrespective of her murder. You're the first person to ask me questions about her you know. They spoke to my supervisor but not me."

Sitting back in her seat Jane tried to process what she was hearing. Now the evidence of abuse that was apparent in the complete autopsy made sense and someone had covered it up. Not just someone, a cop.

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Jane waited for Frost to come pick her up. Maura had gone in to work to recheck the full autopsy report again for her. Standing outside the church, had to put her shades on to protect her eyes. Thanks to her concussion, she was still sensitive to bright light. Jane knew she was going to have to speak with Libby's parents about the abuse and dreaded having to talk with Cavanaugh about it but she would. Maybe we could arrange it for Monday afternoon" she hoped to be cleared for work by then.

"A cop, it had to be Joey," she needed to talk to him and see what information she could get from him without letting on what they knew so far and they needed to find the driver of the sedan. She knew one person who might be able to help.

Frost honked the horn as he pulled up.

"What are you smiling at Frost?" her questioning look made him smile even wider.

"You…you are positively scary you know that?" Barry shook his head as she settled herself in and rested the cane between her legs.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You, I mean damn can you look any more badass? Look at you wearing black slacks and suit jacket the white shirt the dark shades, your hair is all wild and the black cane in your hand, I mean who the hell would mess with you." The earnest way he said it made her look down at herself.

Jane busted out laughing, "for the love of…just drive will you…"

Chuckling Frost looked over at her, "so, where are we going?"

"Rondo, we're going to see Rondo" Leaning back in the front seat, she closed her eyes against the pounding that was slowly building behind her eyes.

"Jane…Jane!"

"What?" eyes wide she looked at Barry, "what?"

Smiling, "we're here." She had fallen asleep almost as soon as he drove away from the church. He knew she still wasn't up to all of this but she wasn't about to let anyone else do her job.

"Thanks, Frost, wait here okay?"

"Be careful Jane" this was not the best neighborhood and he hesitated to let her go alone especially now. The look on her face though told him he said the wrong thing.

"Frost, are you serious? Didn't you just call me a badass? How many times have I been out here alone…come on." Jane shook her head angrily as she walked away from the car. She hated being treated like she couldn't handle herself.

Muttering under his breath, "I said you looked like a badass."

As Jane approached the group hanging out by the bar, one of them caught her eye and let the others know.

"Hey baby, watch lookin for?" the young Latino looked her up and down appreciatively.

Realizing he couldn't be more than twenty years old, she ignored him and talked to the group.

"Anyone seen Rondo? He's supposed to be meeting me here." She stood her ground in front of the group and leaned on her cane.

"Rondo? Come on baby you don't want ol Rondo, you want one of us," this from one of the other men.

"Look, I'm just looking for Rondo guys, "she eyed the four men carefully keeping them all in her line of sight. She wasn't officially back on duty, so the badge she carried was just that, a badge, she hadn't been cleared. "shit" she thought.

She knew Frost was watching and hoped it wouldn't become necessary for him to come over but…

"We ain't seen Rondo sweetness but we see you." The young Latino eyed her hungrily.

Rolling her eyes she realized this was not going to end well at all. "You know what guys, I'll go give him a call." Turning to leave the young punk grabbed her arm, "where you going baby?"

Grabbing his hand, Jane twisted his arm around his back and pushed him toward his friends. "let it go guys, I'm a cop," she said.

"Yeah right, since when do we have gimp cops, huh?" laughing at her, the punk moved in again.

His fingers had barely touched her arm again when she brought the cane across his left knee. As he went down, she brought the cane back across the side of his head. She could hear Frost coming up behind her and watched as the other men backed off. Their friend was on the floor out cold and Jane was standing there with the cane in her left hand ready to take the rest of them on.

"You okay?" Frost was breathing hard after his little sprint.

"I'm fine" she said, "where the hell is…"

"Yo Vanilla! Long time no…damn…what happened to him." Looking from the guy on the ground to Jane standing there with her cane, it didn't take too long to figure out.

"He disrespect you?" he said protectively.

"Something like that, I don't think he'll be doing it again anytime soon though." She watched as he tried to get up and stumbled.

Softly she said, "I suggest you get the hell out of here, now."

Lurching to his feet, he reached his friends and rounded the corner.

"You don't want to arrest him?" Frost was surprised, normally…

"We don't have time for that, besides, I really don't think he'll try something like that again." Turning her attention to Rondo, "You're late." She said flatly.

"Sorry V had some business to attend to first, you know" he whispered.

"But damn Vanilla you lookin badass like that, killer cane." He sounded impressed and was clearly taken with her appearance.

"Oh for…Rondo…focus…I need some help."

"Your wish is my command."

"I need you to find out anything you can about anyone hiring out for a "car accident" in the past week." Rondo would be able to help her pinpoint where to look.

"Already happen or in the works?" he asked.

Lifting her pants leg to reveal the bandage, "Already happened."

"Damn Vanilla you can't catch a break, can you?" Rondo was impressed; this woman was made of steel…

"Guess not," she admitted ruefully. "Think you can find something?"

"If its out there Vanilla you know I will" smiling he looked her up and down, "damn but you fine!"

Laughing, Jane just shook her head at him "Hey, be careful this time okay," nodding toward his arm, "no hero stuff. You call me I'll come, got it?" she said forcefully, she wanted no one else getting hurt because of her.

"You got it Vanilla."

So we now know some of what happened to this child. FYI, I am drawing on an actual case I worked on in PA, so a lot of the info on the autopsy and the abuse the child suffered is real. I may work in more details but I haven't decided yet.

As you can see, badass Jane is back. I only wonder what will happen if Joey is ever on the receiving end of that cane… :)

Let me know what you think, remember more reviews=quicker updates.