"Oh my, this is fascinating!"
"I second that Doctor, it is quite fascinating"
Were the praises coming from two women kneeled over and examining the body. Jane gave Frost a sideways glance as if to ask "what the hell?" Frost just gave her an amused smile and shrugged his shoulders. Jane reasoned that it has to be something huge, something disgusting, guts everywhere, puke all round type of crime scene because those were the ones that were harder to solve and they allowed their medical examiner a.k.a. Google Mouth to go on and on about stuff that Jane had no idea existed much less cared about. "Huh, this must be gruesome" Jane thought.
What greeted them was nothing to be that exited about though. What was out of the ordinary though was that both Maura and Suzie were there. Usually the Asian assistant stayed in the morgue waiting to run some tests or prep the room for the arrival of their newest victim. Not today it seems, as Suzie was kneeled right opposite Maura and they were both so engrossed in their conversation and praise over what Jane assumed was a "great" murder (Right! As if those ever exist.) that they did not hear the detectives approach.
Jane took a minute to take in the scene around her. They were in a isolated area of a forest just outside city. Local farmers grew and breed some boars and pheasants for the wanna be hunters to come and shoot at. For the life of her Jane could not understand how shooting birds and pigs could bring pleasure to someone, but she was not going to judge and receive a power point presentation followed by chart filled lecture presented to her by one Maura Isles for judging people and their hobbies. She liked beer and baseball as opposed to shotguns and roasts so she was going to leave that be. Returning to scanning the scene around her Jane took in the wet grass, broken branches and mud tracks all leading down the hill and right to the body. "musta tried to claw their way outta here and to a nearby ranger station" she thought. From the looks of it Korsak was already onto that as he gave her a nod and started in the direction of the hill.
Finally Jane's eyes land on the victim, a woman, early to mid 20's, dark hair and casual clothes. Hardly something a hunter would wear, no matter the surroundings, skinny jeans and a hoodie is not something you wear to hunt. May she just doesn't know much about hunting, maybe it was just that casual. As Jane scans the body for any signs of ripped out guts or slit throat she is confused to have only find a clean headshot. And yes she must admit that it is an incredibly clean and very proportionate headshot right between the eyes, it is still just a HEADSHOT. Raising her eyebrows quizzically at Frost, she can see that he is just as confused as she is as to what is so very "fascinating" about this. Finally deciding that she wanted in on the fun and fascination of this case she takes a deep breath, silently preparing herself for the lecture on headshots she is about to receive and bites the bullet.
"Ladies, care to share what is it that is soooo fascinating about this particular HEADSHOT?" she asks with as much sarcasm as she could manage.
"oh my, Jane, I did not see you and Frost there! Suzie and I were so engrossed in this particular case, that we must have slipped into our own world of terms and hypothesis that I am very happy to share with you and dete..." Maura's exited rant was cut off by Jane's less than exited
"Later, Maura, tell me all about it later. Right now I want to know, I mean hypothesise as to why there is a hole in that woman's head." Pointing to the woman's head Jane went over and joined Frost that was standing by the victims head right opposite Suzie.
"Right of course, Suzie why don't you explain to the detectives our findings." Maura smiled at her assistant
"Gladly doctor. What we have here is a woman early to mid 20's with a very small and clean gunshot wound to the head, no other visible signs of struggle except for this scar tissue here" Suzie pointed to the woman's eyebrow to a still read and inflamed gash that would have soon developed into a nasty looking scar right across her left eyebrow. Suzie was back to talking about the victim but all Jane could do was look at the woman's face and scar. It looked so familiar yet insignificant at the same time. Jane's breath cough in her throat, she's seen a gash like that before...
"all in all the victim would have been in pain on the impact at which the gash was created but after about an hour or two all she would have felt was some minor stinging..."
Flashback
"the pain will be gone in an hour or two and all you'll feel is some minor stinging soldier... you'll live!" a friendly looking nurse was tending to S who seemed to have a nasty gash on her face that will likely scar. Jane sat in bed leaning against some pillows that helped her sit straight without putting much weight on her newly bandaged back.
"Aye, okay mama Maribel I'm fine, really!" S said with a smirk and a playful swat at the nurse's hands that were holding her chin in a gentle yet firm grip.
"You're going to get yourself killed one of these days and then who am I going to have to stitch up, huh?" nurse scolded back just as playfully.
"I'm sure there are plenty of soldiers around that could use some of your magic touch mama M!" does she ever get tired of smirking all the time? Jane thought
"Flattery will get you nowhere on this old ship, young lady... Just be careful out there will ya?" that tone... Angela used it to when she had to bring Jane home from yet another hospital trip.
"You know I can't promise you that M!" and just like that the conversation turned from playful to a grim reality this warzone seemed to bring with it. The nurse sadly nodded and with a hug went about tending to other soldiers in the med tent that Jane was brought to. Looking around Jane wanted nothing more than to get out of this bed and make everything right in the world. There were too many wounded, some never to walk, see or hear again because of one blast they were caught in or the other. Over the years the smell of hospitals has become something of a stability in Jane's life, yet she would never get used to how much emotional pain that smell seemed to bring with it. On one hand hospitals were meant to help people. Get them better... At least that's what you'd tell your kid when you first bring them to one and they start freaking out and crying. But on the other hand hospitals were a place of death. A place where people try to stop the inevitable. One way or the other we all end up there... waiting to go. Some way before their time, others IN their time. But is there really such a thing as "your time to go"? In Jane's mind if you die young, you have just enough time to have fun, see the world, make some friends and then avoid the pain of growing old and being forgotten. But that was her opinion and she will keep to herself unless asked for it.
"Whatcha thinking about there friend?" asked the deep raspy voice of her saviour that dropped at the foot of her bed carelessly, barely missing the footboard with her head.
"Holy shit, your face looks fucked up friend" Jane said back with amusement and sarcasm dripping from that sentence.
"aye, ladies love the scars, 'sides it ain't that bad, your back on the other hand, now that's fucked up man! What was it doc pulled outta ya? Like 10 nails or something?" damn that smirk to hell right along with that weird ass accent.
"14... and it felt like my whole ribcage got taken out right with them!" Jane answered rubbing her still aching sides. She was shocked how easy it was to just banter back and for with this woman laying at the foot of her cot.
"pssh... 14 is not that bad man, when I was 10 I stepped on a porcupine! Bastard ran away... me? I had a swollen foot for 3 freaking days! Why the hell are you laughing for, man! That was real pain! You don't know shit!" crossing her arms over her chest S was doing her best to glare at Jane who could not hold in her laughter even if she tried.
"H O L Y. S H I T. A freggin porcupine?! Jesus..." Jane was working her way towards hysteria, and not being able to suppress her laugh any longer S followed right along with her.
They stayed like that for another 15 minutes just laughing and sharing stories from their lives until S finally remembered that they haven't really been introduced properly.
"Damn, I forgot... Name's Lera by the way... I don't believe we've been formally introduced" seriously her mouth will get stuck in one of those smirks one day if she continues to flash them every time she speaks.
"Jane, but you've obviously knew that already!" Jane replied with ease.
"I might have... Jane" she winked, friggin winked at Jane.
"alright there Casanova, care to tell why I'm really here though? And why did we have to make sure people thought I was dead?" and just like that the smirk was wiped of the woman's face and replaced by a blank expression that for some reason scared Jane to no ends. Before Lera started to speak though, Jane took a quick look at the woman... or rather girl that was sitting in front of her. Lera could not have been any older than 24-25, had the same olive coloured skin as Jane, deep hazel eyes that looked nearly yellow in the sun that was shining through the windows of the tent they were in, and had the most weird ass hairstyle Jane has ever seen a soldier or any other guardian of the law wear. The sides of Lera's head were shaved short, leaving a very thin layer of hair visible. Toward the centre of her head though, there was a long streak of hair left that was in a tied in a tight ponytail behind Lera's head. All in all it just looked like a weird ass mohawk just a little longer. Her lips were full and perfectly shaped if only a little dry, but that was understandable in a climate like the one they were in now. Everything about this chick seemed weird to Jane, she was just a kid. With a weird accent, weird hair, weird scar fetish and she were apparently a sniper too. Everything was telling Jane that this seems fishy, no way in hell was this kid ready for war, but then again, she did pull Jane's ass out of that blast zone and to a hospital, so Jane was going to trust this kid and see where it leads.
"... and I'm going to start from the begging, cause you were clearly to busy checking me out to listen to me talk!" okay so she deserved the right to pull that smirk off right now, Jane was not going to fight against the obvious and pretend that she did not just analyze this woman in her head.
"So anyway, the boss will debrief you soon enough but I'll give you the short version. Some dude has been supplying the rebels around here with weapons and information, maps of our outposts, supplies drop off time tables. You know, everything that has any kind of importance to us. Then after awhile bodies of our men started showing up near our camps, all shot two times, one in the chest other in the head."
"execution style?"
"you betcha! So long story short, you used to be a detective, no? So I'm guessing boss wants you in on this, seeing as you haven't been in the army too long you are not a well known face around here. Plus it help that people think your dead, you know."
"makes sense... what about you? You tagging along for this one?" Jane was actually looking forward to know a little more about Lera, and working together would provide a good opportunity to find out exactly what a kid is doing playing with the big guns!
"I just follow the orders I'm given, if the boss says I'm with'cha, then I'm with'cha. If the boss says I gotta pull your ass outta fire again, I'll do just that." Okay so this kid was cocky and egoistical, that did not however save your ass from a bullet so Jane was still not convinced.
"whatever kid! Long as you don't actually touch my ass, we're all good!" Now it was Jane's time to smirk.
"Don't know if I can promise you that Rizzoli!... anyway next body should be on its way to the morgue, so put your clothes back on, cause we are goin to look at some dead dudes"
And so Jane found herself getting dressed. She was tired she would be the first to admit that, but duty calls as they say, so she found herself getting ready no matter her state. Looking to the left she saw Lera stifle a yawn of her own and wondered when was the last time either of them actually had a goods nights rest. May be once all of this was solved, she will take a leave and sleep on a beach in Miami somewhere. Sip on a cocktail, watch the sunset, whatever it is you do on a holiday. Her holiday musings were interrupted by a oh so familiar:
"The body is here guys, let's go!"
End Flashback
"The body is here Jane, let's start."
Huh? What? When did they make it back to the station from the crime scene? How did she not remember anything? God she was tired, she needed the sleep and the lack of it was catching up to her... May be once they solved this one she can actually get the sleep she needed.