A/N: I realised I'd forgotten a couple of people so I thought I'd add them as well :) This one would be set from Death Trap onwards.
Tenacious
Matt Burke was a bull dog of a man. This was not in the sense of him being a lean, mean, killing machine but rather due to the tenacious bent to his character.
Once he latched onto something he hardly ever let go.
It was this stubborn tenacity that enabled him to solve cases, though it could be off putting to those he interacted with. It was also this stubborn tenacity that made him resent those who displayed a similar determination.
Although he had been grudgingly impressed in that respect by Jackie Reid.
Jackie had been an almost unstoppable force of nature in her crusade to clear the name of Michael Jardine. The fire in her eyes as she stood up to him, stubbornly refusing to believe the worst had surprised him. He was used to people backing down in the face of his own considerable stubborn streak, but Jackie had refused to break.
He supposed that he shouldn't have been surprised.
He had heard the reports about the two of them; known that they had worked together for a very long time. The loyalty amongst Jardine's team had been impressive, but the bond between Michael and Jackie had been extraordinary.
He hadn't put much stock in the whispers around the station about the two of them. He had known they were close of course, but knowing it and seeing it in action had proved to be two completely different things.
Burke had first noticed the latitude that Michael gave Jackie, had noticed also the closeness that they both displayed. Both had seemed entirely open with the other, Burke doubted that there was anything about Michael that Jackie didn't know or vice versa.
There were other things as well, such as the particular lilt to her voice whenever she said his name, a certain light in her eyes when they spoke and an all consuming fire in her manner when she defended him.
He had never seen such stubborn tenacity.
It had almost been like Michael was in her blood; she had known him that well. Somehow her faith in him had given her the strength to stand up to all opposition and to face up to Michael's killer to get the truth.
No doubt about it, Jackie Reid was a tough woman when she wanted to be. But the fire and steel she had shown in her defence of Michael had been something terrible to behold.
He had been working with Jackie for several months now and he hadn't seen her display the like since. True, she could still be stubborn but somehow it lacked the passionate conviction that she had displayed then.
In the past few months he had seen her back down many times, but the only time he had ever seen her break was when Michael died.
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A/N: I have this theory that the reason Jackie and Burke didn't get on so well in the beginning is because of her crusade in Death Trap and the latitude that Michael gave Jackie. I reckon Burke thought Jackie took that as her due, so he excluded her a little to make a point (silly man, he didn't realise it was just how things were) :P Plus he probably just didn't understand why she took his death so hard.