A/N: I'm soooo sorry that this chapter has taken me so long! I promised myself I would not take so long updating this story, and here it is well over a month! (runs and hides) I hope this one was worth the wait, enjoy it! (still ashamed)

Rating: PG-13

Special Thanks: Cosmic Castaway for listening to me and reading of this. Thanks for the help. Also to all of you who have taken the time to reply to this, believe me it has helped me out immensely!

Spoilers: Takes place after the Series Finale.

Brotherhood of Camelot Chapter Two: Through the Smoke

The wait for the detectives to get to the crime scene seemed like an eternity, which was weird because the station house wasn't but a few blocks away from where this whole situation was playing out. Or maybe it wasn't that long at all, they were just all extremely impatient to get this over with. Of course walking up to a fire that had a dead body in it was hard on all of them, and they could only hope that the person was thrown in after they were dead, seeing as being burnt alive was probably one of the worst ways to go.

Bosco and Denison stood back at their car since nothing could really be observed. That was another bad thing about a fire crime scene, every bit of evidence was pretty much destroyed. In all reality every one of them, firemen included, were hoping that it was some innocent bystander caught in the hands of their own evil destiny, and they could close off on this quickly, but it was too sketchy.

A few moments later an unmarked Crown Victoria police car pulled up which marked the arrival of the crime scene detectives, two that Bosco really hadn't gotten to know very well. The detectives over at the 7-9 house seemed too self absorbed and he didn't want to clash with them more than he already did, already experiencing enough of that when he was at the 5-5 station. He and Denison made there way to the detectives, two older men who had been doing this since before Bosco was even thought of.

Neither said anything to the two beat cops as they looked into the dumpster that was still smoking. The firemen waited as well, waiting to be released since it was in fact a crime scene, and partly for curiosity as well.

"We won't be able to tell anything from this until we get a medical examiner to look at the inside of what's left of the lungs." One of the detectives replied as he backed away, feeling instant stomach nausea, even though he was used to seeing stuff like this.

One of the firemen couldn't help but ask, "And what will that do?"

Glaring at him like he was from another planet, the other detective replied in a subtle, yet sarcastic tone of voice. "They have ways of doing experiments to see if there was oxygen flow through them during the fire. Luckily there's some lung left in this body to tell." He turned back to his partner, shaking his head. "Now to tell if there was fowl play, that's the part I really love about my job."

Bosco looked back at their RMP and then to the detectives, forgetting they had two people in the backseat. "We gotta go, we got two girls in our backseat that need to be taken to central booking." He and Denison started walking back to the car when one of the detectives yelled back to them.

"We'll catch up with you two back there. Don't go anywhere, I need to know exactly what was going on when you drove up on scene."

Detective Faith Yokas had fallen into her new department, Major Crimes like she had been doing it all of her life. Detective work fit her well, and she had one of the better conviction rates of most of the detectives that had been doing this job a lot longer than she had been. She worked hard to get where she was, but in the midst of her success she never forgot where she came from. There were certain times she did miss the old crew she started with, practically everyday. The camaraderie she had with the men and women of the 55th was something she'd probably never experience anywhere else. Sure, the people she was working with now were close and bonded well, but it would never compare.

Often times when she got to thinking about it, she'd try and block it out in fear of going on a roller coaster ride of emotions. There were good memories as well as bad ones, and they always seemed to bring a tear to her eye. She didn't realize how bad she'd miss everyone until they were gone, yet another cliché that lived up to its own words.

She felt more memories flood her mind quickly, but stood up, trying to bring her attention to something else in the room to keep her thoughts far away from where they were quickly going. She spotted the coffee machine in the back corner and grabbed her mug, practically desperate to get her hands on something to stay busy.

"Yokas, you okay, you look a little pale." A man with a thick New York accent stood about five feet away from her. He was always set on giving her a hard time, but it was all in good fun to keep the mood light. That was a necessity in this job since you dealt with such negative stuff everyday.

"Yeah, I'm good." She of course would never admit to what was wrong.

"Lieutenant Miller keeping you up late at night again?"

Faith flashed him a sarcastic smirk as she walked back to her desk. "Someone's gotta make up for your lack of sexual activity now don't they?"

That left him speechless. "Yokas, you always make sure I can never have a good comeback for you. Damn your good." He walked by, patting her on the back. "Be careful out there, I gotta go get some work done."

"Don't hurt yourself trying." She laughed a little bit, then opened up a manila folder to begin her work on an open case that she was working hard to solve, a case that had been giving her problems for around a month. Her mind couldn't' help but think back to old times though, which made her work even that more strenuous.

"It sure was weird seeing Carlos again." Ty replied as they looked around the crime scene to see if they could find any witnesses that could fill them in on what happened. They planned on going to tell the victim's family afterwards, both of them pretty much putting it off as long as they could.

Finney nodded as his eyes scanned the crowd that had gathered behind the yellow police tape. He was growing agitated at how many people got thrills over such harsh events, but that was people for you. "You people need to backup!" He yelled as he motioned his hands towards them, waving them away. "Is there anyone here who saw what happened?"

At first no one said anything, a once very loud crowd grew so silent you could practically hear a pin drop. Both Ty and Finney stood and stared for a moment, realizing everyone was scared for their own safety about being a rat.

"If anyone saw what happened, we can hurry and get these pieces of trash off of the streets and you won't have to worry anymore. Or you can keep quiet and they can kill more people," Ty retorted, hoping that might break the silence that settled in. They waited a few more moments, and no one had even acted like they saw anything, so they made their way back to their car.

"Ain't that America for you?" Finney said as he got in the driver's side. "50 people out and about and not one is willing to help out." Before he fully got in the car he felt someone touch his shoulder, and he quickly turned around, seeing an old lady with her grandson, both still wide-eyed from fear. "Can I help you with something ma'am?" He asked, watching Ty as he made his way over to the other side of the car.

"We saw what happened." Her voice was shaky and she couldn't look either of them straight in the eye. "I was scared to say anything back there, I don't want them hurting me or my grandson for this."

"If you tell us what you saw we can take them in and you'll be safe."

"What exactly did you see?" Ty was hoping it was enough to get a suspect because it was evident everyone was very scared.

She paused as she looked at the crowd of people who began to dissipate, going back to their everyday lives. She began to talk, but hesitated, grabbing her grandson's hand and squeezing it hard. All she wanted to do was take him out to the park to play, not to be haunted with the image his young eyes saw for the rest of his life.

Finney noticed the hesitation, "Would you like it better if you came in with us to the department?"

"No, we can go to my house, I just don't want to be out on the street. Follow me." She made her way across the street, still holding the little boy's hand as she walked up the steps to her row house. They went in after her, taking notice to the clean, yet small home, which was normal for this part of town. "Sorry I'm causing so much trouble, would you like some tea or something?"

"You're being no trouble at all, just take your time. And thanks for the offer, but no thanks." Ty said as he examined the home. It was like second nature to him now to scan everywhere he went.

"Go play, Jake. I'll be done with these nice men in a minute." She watched him run up the stairs and out of site, then swallowed hard. "It was a black SUV. Had several black guys in it, I think a white guy too. Loud music, the kind that makes your head pound. The car they shot was just minding his own business it seemed like, they came around the corner and that's how it happened."

Finney looked at Ty. "Sounds like someone we know. You have anything else we can use ma'am?"

"That's all I saw, after the gunshots started I was trying to protect Jake."

"Well thank you for all of your help. That's enough information to get things going." They both shook her hand, making their way back out on the street.

"Let's go bust down some doors," Ty said with a smile. This turned out to be an easier case than either two thought it would be.

Manny Santiago never truly got over the death of Sergeant Maritza Cruz. Sometimes she was very hard to work with, there was no arguing that, but he had grown really fond of her in the short time he worked along side her. She knew her job, and had improved on it the last year of her life. She was so strong willed and assertive, but sometimes that was used in a negative way.

One of the things he never understood about her was how she handled being sick with Leukemia. How she went out in a blaze of glory it was evident that she didn't want to be held up in bed with machines hooked up to her, she went out like she should have.

Since the day she was buried he made a daily trip to her grave, placing a single rose in front of her headstone. With each day that passed he was able to walk up that cemetery hill a little easier, but knew her death still tore at his heart. He knew deep down that when she was alive she didn't think of him the way he thought of her. He respected her, even on some days felt attracted to her, but knew that she didn't feel those things back to him, but that didn't matter.

He bent over, placing the rose he had picked out for the day down on the moist ground, then stood up, wiping away a stray tear that had found it's way down his cheek. Some days he still couldn't believe she was gone, like he expected to see her at work, like he was in denial about the whole thing. He placed his hand on the cold stone that marked where her body lay, then slowly turned and walked away, down the same path he now knew like the back of his hand.

"See you soon, Maritza."

Finney was so anxious as they pulled up to the location of the people they suspected did the drive by. They pulled the car to the curb a few buildings down as they both stepped out, along with their backup.

"We'll take the front," Finney said. "If I know these guys it won't be a complicated deal."

"You better find some wood bud, don't want this to back fire." Davis said as they walked up, getting into position. He then stuck his fist out, impacting it with the metal door of the old architecture style building. "Police, open up!"

Some clanking and movement could be heard on the other side. "Who is it?" A low voice spoke, probably trying to hide some things going on.

"NYPD, open the door!" Finney said, growing annoyed quickly.

The door slowly opened, and there stood the man they were looking for, in the flesh. "Can I help…you?" He stuttered on his words, it was evident he was caught off guard, but knew exactly why they were on his doorstep.

"Ray Smith, I think you know how you can help us." Davis said as he moved in, cuffing him. "You were right Finney, this was really simple."

"I didn't do anything! It was my cousin! He's in Baltimore, he fled!" The man tried to jerk away from Davis' grasp but he was much weaker, and he only hurt himself. "Come on man, you know I'm not capable of a drive by!"

Finney cocked his eyebrow and laughed as he helped Davis get him into the car. "Who said anything about a drive by? You really ought to observe your rights, and know that you can keep your mouth shut. In your case it's pretty vital." He got in the driver's side, putting the car into gear. "You know, somehow I feel that this case was too good to be true. How'd we get so lucky?"

"It wasn't easy, we are just that good." Davis winked as they drove down to the station house.

"Hey Boscorelli, we found out the identity of that body in the dumpster." The main detective on the case, Jayce Carlton, caught him in the hallway. "Thought you might want to know before all the rumors start flying around."

Bosco looked at him out of the corner of his eye, not sure why Carlton was being so friendly to him about it since they never got along. "Yeah? Who was it?"

Carlton flipped through some papers then showed him a picture of the guy to see if he recognized it. "Notice who it is?"

Bosco looked up at him and back down, running his hands through his hair. "No way, that's not the desk sergeant." He clicked his tongue as he thought, continuing to stare at the picture as if it was going to tell him the answer. "Jack Larson?"

"Yep. Never missed a day of work in the 30 years he's been on the force, and his chair was empty today. They ran a DNA test, came back to him. He was also alive when it all happened."

"What was he doing in a dumpster?" Bosco asked as they started walking down the hall.

"That's what I'm going to find out, but something fishy is going on, that's for sure."

Bosco nodded as they parted ways. "Keep me posted."

Rescue One in Hell's Kitchen had seen it's share of car fires, so this one they were on was nothing more than routine for them. "I think car fires are such a waste," One of the younger men said as he walked by, glaring at the orange and blue flames coming from what was once an automobile.

"A waste? Isn't every fire a waste?" Another spat back as they pointed their hose on it, already extinguishing a lot of it.

"I know, it just seems like we get more and more of these, I guess people have stopped caring about their cars. Makes you wonder where the owner of this car is at. Probably torched it themselves to collect insurance on it."

"Yeah, well I wouldn't bet on it."

"What makes you so sure?"

The older firefighter pointed at the car that was now all put out, and through the thick smoke that still lingered around it was obvious there was a body in the driver's seat, so burnt up no one could even tell the sex of it unless they were trained in that field.

"I think we found the owner," One said as they all stood around, pretty much in shock. The scene grew quiet except for the sizzling sound of the metal still extremely hot from the flames that were once growing around it, as well as water dripping down from the fire hydrant. They all stood around a few more moments in awe, and it finally clicked in their heads what needed to be done.

"Someone might want to call the police department."

TBC….

Thanks to all of you reviewers, you know who you are! It's greatly appreciated! Hope you haven't forgotten!