A/N - The camel aspect mentioned in this chapter - just so you know, it happens! My father was speechless the first time he saw it in the nineties. Just check out Youtube, search Camels, Toyota pickup!

Chapter six

"You bastard!" Jane looked over her shoulder at Mark, who was trying to prop himself against Fred, as he burst out laughing at Jane's reaction. She looked back at the bathing block, and tugged on the towel she had slung over her shoulder which had begun to slip down a little, and tightened her grip on the small wash bag, plus the pile of clean clothes she also carried. "You said it was a tin sheet shack type thing! With cold water!"

"You didn't." Fred sounded shocked, and began laughing as well. "Oh well played my son!" and he clapped Mark on the back.

"My son? You and your weird assed English expressions." Jane muttered under her breath, turning back around to face both men. "So I'm assuming there are proper showers in here?"

"Yes. With hot water." Mark finally wheezed, as he began to control his fit of giggles. "And a bath if you want one. Its got a shower curtain that you pull around it to give you privacy. Just make sure the curtain is left open if you decide on the bath when you've finished, so other women see it isn't occupied and they can use it and rinse it out afterwards. Nothing worse than going for a bath to have ring of soap scum still present. We have an electricity generator on site, which is why we have power, our own water bore hole and drainage system."

Jane walked over and shoved him in the chest playfully, realizing the dull drumming noise she had heard from the moment they had arrived must be the generator Mark was referring to. "So, where are we going to meet up once I've had the luxury of a bath or shower; I've not decided which yet."

Mark straightened up a little, and pointed to another white single storey concrete block building just a short distance away. "That's the canteen block. We can meet you there for breakfast."

"Do you have coffee?" Jane's mouth was almost salivating at the idea of some coffee.

"Yes Jane, we have coffee, tea and even a selection of fruit juices. Cereal, fruit, croissants and toast are the only food offerings though. No eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes or similar. The milk can be a little dodgy though on any given day, so I wouldn't recommend the cereal unless you know it's okay."

"Right, so noted, no cereal." Jane began to turn back to the bathing block, before looking back over her shoulder just as she started to disappear through the doorway, "Revenge is a dish best served cold! Remember payback is a bitch!" she yelled back at the two men, who both suddenly straightened up at her words.

"She's serious isn't she?" Fred stage whispered, as Mark audibly swallowed. "This is all your fault!" he then said, his voice accusing, with a slap on Mark's arm.

"Hey!" Mark exclaimed, "She might not do anything?" His voice sounded a lot more hopeful than he felt.

"Mark this is someone who works in a male dominated field, where practical jokes must be rife! Of course she's going to do something, and I bet she's got years of practice as well. You and your bright ideas." Fred shook his head as he began to walk off. "I need a cup of tea!"

Jane emerged from the bathing block feeling better, even if she was already sweating through her clean shirt. She had discovered it was like being at the beach, and that sandy grit got everywhere, and it was impossible to be completely clean, but compared to what she had felt like, it was as if she were positively gleaming. Jane then quickly hurried back to the small block where they were sleeping, and placing her towel out to dry and disposing of her dirty clothes and wash bag, she sauntered back toward the canteen block. Walking in, she saw Mark and Fred, who waved her over.

"Quite the swagger she's got going there." Fred murmured as they watched her coming towards them. "There is more to this story than we know. Is your gaydar pinging? Because mine is going off the damn chart."

"I know." Mark agreed, with a wry smile. "Whatever the story is, at the moment, it's none of our business."

"Then we should make it our business." Fred argued quietly, but his protests were stopped as Jane finally came close enough to overhear them. "This talk isn't over." he said softly, before looking across to Jane with a smile.

"It's all self service." Mark quickly explained as he stood up and guided them over to where food and drink was set up along one wall. Jane grabbed a tray, and was drawn immediately to the coffee, which she dispensed, and pulling the paper cup up to her nose, inhaled.

"I think you're supposed to drink, not sniff it." Mark said, earning him a slap on the arm and a chuckle from Jane, who then ignored him as she looked across the rest of what was on offer.

Jane then grabbed a banana that didn't look as it if was too far gone or overripe and a croissant, before heading back to the table. She settled down quickly, and the three of them ate and drank in companionable silence. Just as Jane was draining the last of her coffee, someone walked in, and seeing them shouted across the room.

"Oi, Fred, satellite phone call for you." The messenger glanced down at a scrap of notepaper he had, "Says here it's a Doctor Maura Isles."

Three people scrambled out as quickly as they possibly could, all thoughts of food and drink forgotten, eyes from other people in the room swivelling around to watch the three of them launching out of the door as if they were on fire, leaving a very bemused messenger still standing in the canteen.

"Maura!"

Mark's voice sounded like heaven, even though it was slightly distorted. Maura felt herself already relaxing, knowing her friend was at Juba.

"Maura? Talk to me woman!" Mark's voice sounded slightly more urgent, and Maura was suddenly aware she had failed to acknowledge him, and the silence must be worrying.

"I'm so sorry Mark, it's just so good to hear your voice." Maura spoke quickly, as she settled back against the hard chair in the small cramped office of the clinic in Gumruk, the satellite phone held firmly against her ear. "It was also unexpected." she admitted. "I was expecting Fred, because I thought you were still away for another week."

"I was," he agreed, omitting the small but very significant fact that he had returned early after Constance had pleaded with him to bring one Jane Rizzoli to the compound. "We got recalled. Have you heard about the loss at Mogadishu of two long standing members?"

Maura stiffened in her seat. "No, I hadn't. That's awful."

"Things are getting tense. You need to return to Juba as soon as possible. Lekongole clinic was also attacked as well as your camp. Gumruk so far is the only place in the region to escape. I don't need to tell you how lucky you have been."

"I know, I was told that the order to evacuate back to Juba had been issued yesterday but we were already in the midst of an attack so didn't get it until we arrived here." Maura took a deep breath. "It has been... difficult."

"Darling, are you okay? Is there something you're not telling me?" Mark could hear the tension in Maura's voice, and was suddenly concerned she hadn't told him everything.

"I'm fine." Maura was quick to reassure. "It wasn't the most pleasant experience to face, but we got out uninjured, and with the most critical patients alive. We stayed here for the night and we're just going through final checks, and getting the few patients that came with us settled. We should be back in about five or six hours, so long as there are no unexpected surprises on the way. I've charged this phone up, and it'll be on the whole journey, in case we need to call in. I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to a bath! A proper, bona fide bath, followed by a coffee. As much as I enjoy tea, I am not ashamed to admit I've missed my coffee." Maura said with a light laugh, and it was mirrored by Mark's own chuckle down the phone.

"I will make sure it will all be ready for you when you get back. I might even throw a croissant in there for you."

"My hero." Maura replied, her tone growing serious again, as she was reminded of the times she had said the same words to Jane, and her breath hitched in the throat for a second, and she was pleased no-one else was close to see her moment of weakness and that Mark was at the end of a phone and not in the same room. Maura hoped he hadn't picked up on her mood, and inwardly sighed when he spoke up again, seemingly unaware of her very small, but significant emotional melt down.

"I've told you, I'll happily parade around in a cape, a big red S on a t-shirt, with my underpants on over my trousers." Mark teased.

"Pants! Not trousers, but pants!" Maura sank back into the old habit of them teasing each other and their language differences.

"Yes, pants over my trousers... as in underpants, underwear, Y-fronts." Mark said, his voice light again.

"Oh too much information is now being shared. Somethings should stay strictly between you and Fred. How is Fred by the way?" Maura suddenly felt guilty for failing to ask about him already.

"Oh he's well." Mark winked across at Fred, who was sitting alongside a very tense looking Jane. "Let's just say there is a new person in camp, and he seems to have met his match. She hasn't let anything get past her so far. He's beginning to run out of ideas."

"Really?" Maura's next words weren't able to come out, as she closed her eyes, knowing how much like Jane she suddenly sounded and how she seemed to have unwittingly picked up one of her favorite expressions.

"Yes, really." Mark replied, unaware of the turmoil one simple word had elicited with Maura, but he watched with interest as one of Jane's eyebrows cocked up and her interest was obviously captured even more.

"I cannot wait to meet the person who has Fred at such a disadvantage." Maura was quick to gain her composure. She then looked up as the leading doctor of the Gumruk clinic appeared in the doorway. "Listen I have to go, but we'll see you later."

"Gods speed." Mark said softly, "We will await your arrival eagerly, coffee and croissant at the ready."

Jane felt like she could hardly breath as Mark ended the call, and he looked across at her with a questioning expression.

"So far, out of respect, I have not delved too deeply into why Constance asked that I accompany you to find Maura. I gathered that Maura made a decision in haste, and Constance believed you would be the best person to come and talk to her. Nor do I wish to disrespect you or Maura in any way, but it is now clear this is more than a simple friend coming to talk to another in need. Is there anything we need to know before Maura arrives?"

"Act in haste, repent at leisure." Jane let out a self deprecating laugh. "Kinda fits here. You're right, this is a lot more complicated than I think I can even begin to explain to you both. Suffice to say, Maura could either kill me, run even further away, simply smack the crap out of me, or if I'm really lucky I might just get away with a verbal lashing."

"Sounds like a bit of juicy salacious gossip." Fred piped up, with a twirl of his hand. "I say, you tell us everything, after all, where are we going? We're all stuck in this compound until Maura arrives back this afternoon or it could even be this evening." Fred looked at his watch with an exaggerated motion, "Which by my reckoning gives us at least five or six hours of doing nothing but twiddling our thumbs. So, spill!"

Jane rolled her eyes. "You know, if anyone else would have said that to me, they would have been walking around bow legged for a week, not able to sit down."

"Ah, but I'm not just anyone, and besides, I'm irresistible." Fred countered, with a flash of a grin, before lowering his voice. "So, tell Aunt Fred all about it." He then reached over and patted Jane's one forearm, before setting back on his chair, crossing his legs in a dramatic fashion, hands clasped in his lap, a grin still across his face.

Fred sat there, slightly slack jawed as Jane finally ended her tale as to what led her to being in the middle of the Juba compound awaiting Maura's return. He finally gathered his wits, and pulled himself a little straighter in his chair, looking across to Mark, who was looking equally as shocked. Jane shrugged her shoulders as she took in the expressions on both men.

"I did try to warn you." was all she could think to say.

"I'll say!" Fred was the first to speak up. "You do know when Maura sees you she is going to go fucking ape-shit!"

"Fred, language!" Mark admonished him, making Jane laugh, drawing a look of surprise from Mark and Fred.

"You.." Jane pointed to Mark. "It reminds me of Maura and me," Jane paused for a second, "Maura and I, Maura and - forget it - it reminds me of Maura when she's having an aneurysm over my language. That or my lack of grammar. 'I hate it when you forget Mr Adverb.'" Jane mimicked, as she explained why she had found it so amusing.

"Oh darling, I can sympathise." Fred's hand shot out and gripped Jane's with a look of pure sympathy crossing his face. "It's a cross though we have to bear for those we love."

"Yeah, well I'm not sure I'm ever going to get the chance to prove to Maura how much I love her. I made a lot of mistakes over a very short space of time, mistakes I'm still trying to work out how Maura will forgive me over." Jane admitted, with a slight shake of her head. "The biggest mistake being Agent Gabriel Fucking Dean."

"He used you Jane. He used emotions to get you to trust him, where ordinarily you never would have said anything. He was an FBI agent, not some jerk off the street." Fred's voice was soft as he tried to console the obviously distraught woman. "Yes, your judgement wasn't as good as it might have been, but we all make mistakes, and Maura will come to realize this."

"Mistakes don't cost lives." Jane argued back, venom in her voice. "Dean died because of me, and Doyle effectively has no quality of life left. He would probably be better off dead, rather than the hell he is now having to live."

"Dean died because he ran into a building without adequate back up. Had he warned you of his intentions, at the very least he could have worked with you, but you had no idea what he planned to do, therefore you couldn't have prevented it. You were ready to take the shot from your position to bring down Kevin Flynn, you had a clear shot did you not?" Mark took up the argument.

"Yes, but that's not..."

"Listen to me. You had a clear shot, but Doyle fired first and then Dean interfered. You've said yourself, on reflection Doyle didn't make a move to show any sort of danger to Dean, it was almost as if Dean was calling out just for the effect and didn't give Doyle time to drop his gun, and took the shot anyway. Whatever the reason, Dean had a personal problem with Doyle, and decided to do something about it, against orders. You on the other hand went by the book the whole time you were in the factory. Even if you hadn't told Dean about Patrick Doyle, do you really believe he didn't already know, and that you just gave him the conformation he needed?" Mark sat back and watched Jane carefully, sad to see she didn't seem to be allowing herself any forgiveness in the whole mess.

"It sounds to me as if Dean would have been there anyway. Why else turn up in Boston when he did? Maura is intelligent enough to know you had to act as trained, and on reflection she most certainly must already have come to that conclusion, not matter how much she questioned it. She will also know that on more than one occasion, you turned a blind eye about Doyle, out of your love for Maura, even if it meant going against everything you believe in as a police officer and detective. That somehow you would have covered the use of Doyle's gun that killed Kevin Flynn or cover that Doyle was there to protect his daughter. Whatever the decision, both would require that you would lie to protect Maura, and deep down she knows that." Mark persisted.

"It still doesn't absolve me of the decisions I made about Dean." Jane said quietly.

"Maybe not, but as we've already said, mistakes happen, and sometimes you have to forgive yourself before you can even expect others to. Maura would know that at some point you would have to attempt to arrest Doyle, the outcome could have easily been the same. Who's to say that on another day, its the same situation, but different outcome. Hindsight is a wonderful, but also very powerful and destructive thing. There is no doubt you and Maura have a lot of talking to do, but I'm sure that it will work out for you in the end."

Jane smiled weakly at Mark and Fred, and with a sigh got up, and uncharacteristically gave both men a light hug. "So, when is the grand tour of this joint you promised to give me first thing this morning happening?"

Maura got out of the Cruiser, stretching as she did, before finding a suitable bush to relief her now very full bladder. Walking back, Michele then disappeared behind the same bush, coming back a few minutes later with a look of relief across her face.

"I'll drive in from here if you wish." Michele said, since Maura had taken on the driving from Gumrak. Although only an hour and a half from Juba, it was a difficult drive by anyones standards. Alice was already in the back, having been the first of them to hop out for the impromptu toilet stop. She had declared complete disinterest in doing any driving, insisting she was happier being a passenger.

"It would be nice to get a break." Maura admitted, as she pulled a bottle of water from the middle console, taking a sip, before offering it around, and having been declined by both other women, screwed the top back on, placed it back in the holder. "I'm just going to take the opportunity to call in and give Juba an updated progress report."

Maura didn't even blink as a Toyota pickup truck passed them at that moment, with a camel lying down in the back, roped in. Alice though looked on in awe, still not used to the sight that was commonplace in many African countries.

Maura, having called in with an update, put the phone away in her rucksack, before climbing back aboard, Michele already settled in the drivers seat. Just at that moment, Stefan drove up behind them, and pulled in alongside Michele's side, both winding down windows.

"You okay?" Stefan asked, looking concerned.

"Toilet stop." Michele explained quickly. "You want to travel in with us now we're together again?"

"Sure." Stefan looked at his two passengers, who both nodded, and without another word, he wound his window up, and pulled in behind Michele.

Jane was lying down on her bed, when Fred came in. "I've just heard, Maura is due in any time now, they've been spotted pulling up by the front gates."

It was enough for Jane to jump up, and she began pulling her boots back on, adrenaline flooding through her body, her hand automatically going to her left hip, only for her to realize she wasn't carrying her gun. She hadn't known just how much of a comforting habit reaching out to feel the butt of her gun in the holster had become, until she was forced to be in a situation such as this without it.

Maura got out of the vehicle, and blew out hard, before turning around, and giving Alice a fierce hug.

"We made it!" Alice's voice betrayed the relief she felt in the statement.

"Yes, we did." Maura looked around, and was just as relieved to see there was no line at the checkpoint. "Next stop, a bath."

Jane watched as Maura walked through the checkpoint, a small rucksack slung on to her back. She was followed by a dark haired small women, who briefly hugged Maura, before disappearing in a different direction. Jane's eyes were then drawn towards a tall very attractive blonde, who Maura then pulled into a hug that went on for a lot longer than the previous one. Jane felt her stomach tie up in knots, as they then kissed each other on the cheek, and still holding hands tightly, began to walk further into the compound. They looked far too close for Jane's liking and since it was so unlike Maura she almost had to do a double take. Had she been too late? Had Maura already moved on, despite her promise to return and she only loved Jane? Had her love for Jane made Maura aware she did have feelings for other woman after all?

"God I'm going to be sick." Jane managed to say, before she ran towards the toilet block that was mercifully right behind where they were standing, darting in to the nearest unoccupied stall, barely getting to it in time before her stomach erupted, much like it had the day of the warehouse.

Maura looked up, and seeing Mark and Fred, she turned to Michele, finally releasing her hand. "Vous êtes magnifiques, Michele."

Michele smiled down at the shorter woman. "As are you, now go, say hello to your old friends. I want to find somewhere to sleep for a week." Michele lent in and once again, kissed Maura on both cheeks, before walking away with a wave.

Maura turned back to face Fred and Mark, and a frown crossed her face as she saw a look that she could only describe as disappointment or disapproval on both their faces. She decided the events of the last couple of days was enough for her to misreading the signs, so she smiled and walked over towards them. She was shocked when neither man reached out towards her.

"What, no hug?" Maura asked as she got close enough, unsure quite what had happened for them to be so... cool towards her.

Fred raised his eyebrows. "Didn't take you long to move on." He said rather cryptically, increasing Maura's confusion.

"Move on?" Maura stood back a little. "What on earth are you talking about."

It was at that moment that Jane, looking haggard, her face pale, reappeared in the doorway of the nearby toilet block, right in to Maura's line of vision. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth. "Jane." she barely whispered, shock registering on her face. She stumbled as her legs betrayed her, and she struggled to remain upright. Seeing her falter, Mark finally moved, a hand coming up to her elbow, steadying her. Once he felt Maura was settled again, he pulled back, giving a look to Fred.

"I think we should leave you two to talk." and both men walked off, leaving the two women staring back at each other, neither sure what to say or do next, the shock still registering on both their faces.

It wasn't until Jane went deathly pale and sprang back towards the toilets did Maura move, following her inside.

* Vous êtes magnifiques - Well my rudimentary French did massacre this the first time around, thank you to those who nicely pointed out what it should be - * You are magnificent.