A/N: Not to worry! I wasn't going to leave you in suspenders for long!

Chapter is a bit short but I'm working on the next one to have up hopefully by the end of the week.

There were so many emergency personnel on that part of the road, the town had to redirect traffic so as to not interfere with procedures. Besides, Hal Bircham was on the loose and it would be of best interest that he didn't have the opportunity to carjack someone.

Sinjin was tended to by paramedics and carted off to the hospital. Tori held his hand until he was loaded into the doors. He was still conscious but advised not to talk excessively by the EMT. She wanted to ride with him but had to stay behind. Tori knew there would be questions. Lots and lots of questions.

Chief Dubois was walking up to her, wearing her dark blue/nearly black police coat.

"Vega? Are you alright?"

"I am..." she sighed, looking forlorn at the leaving ambulance van. "But Sinjin isn't."

She looked down at her bloody hands.

"I tried to stop the bleeding and..."

Helen waved for somebody to bring a towel over so that Tori could clean the man's blood off of her.

"Just calm down," the chief told her. "You did one hell of a job, officer!"

Tori started cleaning herself as best she could with only a rag. She would need some warm water and dish detergent. Helen leaned and looked past Tori at a now free Traylor Greene talking to Beck while Andre was handing her some hot chocolate and checking if she needed another blanket.

"I was worried we would have victim number three, but you stopped him."

Tori looked back and in the middle of the conversation, Traylor's eyes wandering over to hers and her lips quivered at her savior. The Latina could only nod. It was a victory seeing her still alive. But she was still kicking herself about Sinjin and losing Bircham.

"Thanks, Chief but...still feel like a failure."

The older woman put her arm around Tori. Her heart went out to the detective. It was this moment that she knew what her father was talking about. Tori had great character. Only a true hero would do something so monumental and feel like they didn't do enough.

"And I'm sure Harris over there is taking it to heart that we didn't find her sooner. We're only human, Vega."

The tan woman sighed, clutching the now dirty towel.

"I guess."

A plain car pulled up to the scene and Cat from the crime lab got out of the driver's seat, her red hair tied into a tight ponytail. Tori was wondering when she would get here as the scene couldn't be touched until Cat Valentine had her way with it.

What Tori didn't expect was who got out of the passenger door.

(Oh, fuck. What's she doing here?)

Jade stepped out, dressed in a long black jacket and holding what looked like a tackle box. She momentarily eyed Tori with that contemptuous look she had been accustomed to and followed the shorter woman with a flip of her long hair.

(Seriously, how does that bitch get her hair to do that?)

Helen walked off to meet with her two detectives who were still getting a statement from Traylor, leaving Tori alone. She decided that she wasn't going to let Little Miss Morbid intimidate her and approached them with the intent on saying hello to Cat.

Jade was tying her own hair in a ponytail, chuckling about something with Cat. Those two were tight as well, Tori could see. Once the Latina entered her immediate vicinity, there went the medical examiner's posture.

"Ugh, its you!" Jade huffed with disgust.

"Love you too," Tori held up her hand playfully. "How's it going, Cat?"

The redhead blinked her own brown eyes back at Tori's.

"Oh, hi Tori!" she smiled professionally. "So, what happened here? I only got the gist."

"Guy was speeding, driving without plates. Sinjin pulled him over and we found out it was the vehicle we were looking for."

Jade was grinding her teeth. Tori could hear it and just ignored her.

"The girl we found in here..." she pointed to the open rear hatch. "Was pretty worse for the ware but right here..." Cat illuminated where Tori indicated with a flashlight. "I don't think that's hers. Doesn't look fresh."

Cat drew closer to the small dark stain. She was sure of it but took what looked like a pen out of her pocket and shined a black light on it.

"That's blood alright," she nodded. "Let me get a sample and we can have it tested."

"You don't think it's too old?" queried Jade, aware of the depreciation value of DNA evidence.

"If we're talking weeks and not, well, years and years, our new equipment should be able to check this out."

The medical examiner just crossed her arms, humming to herself.

"I don't care what they say about you, Vega! You're at least consistent!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Blue eyes squinted.

"If you keep letting the same man slip between your fingers and having someone new taken to the ER, people will start noticing a pattern!"

With a shit-eating grin, the blonde walked off but she was being followed.

"HEY!"

Jade didn't look back and kept walking. She made it to another parked ambulance when Tori grabbed her shoulder and swung her around.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she scowled.

"Seriously, what is your fucking problem?"

Now Tori was the one standing with her arms folded.

Jade never saw fire like she was seeing now but she wasn't backing down.

"You know what MY problem is?" she snarled. "You. Coming to my town, big city detective with something to prove. Think she's going to be Queen Shit up here in little Langley!"

"ENOUGH!"

Her cry of hitting her absolute limit was punctuated by a weighted fist against the broadside of the meat wagon to her left. The sound visibly startled Jade and she was bemused by the dent she left in the vehicle.

"I've had enough of this! And I've had enough of YOU!" Tori turned around, shaking her head. She was mildly cackling like she was tweaking. "I swear to God, ever since I put on this badge I've done nothing but EAT SHIT from people! What is it about me that others find so offensive?"

She looked back at Jade who was speechless.

"WELL, ANSWER ME!"

The pale woman had nothing.

"I am so sorry that my very existence - my presence in your town, your fucking majesty - was an affront to you! Listen, West, I don't know your life and you don't know mine! And after this, I could give a shit about where you came from. Because right now, I regret ever meeting you!"

Tori rubbed her forehead which was beading sweat.

"So, do me a favor and just stay to your job and I will stick with mine. For Christ's sake, we are on the same team. Aren't we?"

"I don't know, are we?" Jade finally challenged.

The Latina took a step closer and the medical examiner actually flinched.

"You know what? I packed my shit and came all the way up here because your precinct said they needed help. Where were you this whole time? I understand you fucked off for like a year!"

"How fucking DARE YOU!" the blonde pointed. "So, it's MY fault that things went to shit when I left?"

Tori chuckled.

"That's just it," she shrugged. "You're pissed that the world didn't stop spinning while you were gone."

A vein popped on the medical examiner's forehead.

"GO. TO. HELL."

"You know...its pretty clear from you bedside manner that you don't know much about talking to the living, do you doctor? So, why don't you leave me alone and save your sassy comments for the morgue!"

Now that she had gotten all of that off her chest, Tori turned to see a doe-eyed Cat looking a bit shaken. Her evidence baggie was trembling in her hand.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Cat" she told the redhead, her tone dropping to a softer one. "I'll see you around, okay?"

She left the petite scientist with a friendly smile as she walked away. The few onlookers quickly went back to what they were doing.

Jade's heart pounded even after the red hot detective had left. She had kicked her own share of asses verbally but never was she on the receiving end of one. And as raw as she was at getting publicly dressed down like that, Tori's words echoed in her head.

Traylor was taken over to hospital for analysis, looking rather malnourished on top of her bruises and cuts and who knows what injuries they couldn't see! It was a comfort to go from this dark house where it was her and this maniac to the bright bastion of wellness with doctors and nurses watching over her.

She went through triage and emergency didn't find any internal bleeding or anything critical after some quick x-rays. Traylor was cleared to go to her own private room upstairs where a police detail was placed at her door. The nurse smiled encouragingly at her as she showed her the remote for adjusting the bed, controlling the TV and to alert them for assistance.

Meanwhile, they gave her an IV to help her for a while. Right now, she was relegated to liquids only for the rest of the day. If Bircham had starved her, they didn't want to reintroduce solid food too early or its coming right back up. They want to make sure she can handle food before giving medication a try, which would be tomorrow morning at the latest.

The woman breathed a small sigh of relief for the first time in over a week. Even before her abduction, she was on edge. The killings of Bethany and Lin really spooked her. Traylor turned her head at the sound of knocking on the doorway. She turned to see Beck standing there.

"How you holding up?" he asked.

Now that the shock of finding her alive had dissipated, Beck was a bit more relaxed. Traylor hadn't seen much of him compared to his partner. He definitely wasn't the bashful newbie that he was when she propositioned him, albeit semi-seriously.

"You only saw me two hours ago," she smirked though her eyes were achingly grateful. "How's the guy doing...the other officer?"

"Oh, Sinjin?" Beck blinked. "Don't worry, I heard he'll pull through."

Traylor closed her eyes and felt free to allow her head to embrace the pillow.

"You tell those two cops I owe them a dinner!"

Beck chuckled.

"I've met them. They would be the first to say no chance! You being alive is reward enough."

"Where's Andre?" she asked.

"Downstairs getting some coffee," he thumbed toward the hallway. "Oh, by the way..." he grabbed a bag he had off to the side just out of her sight. "We just converged on Bircham's house on Whidbey Island." Beck put the bag down on the small wooden table held up by ad adjustable metal post on wheels. "Your...um...personal effects? Phone, purse."

She shook her head.

"Yeah, there wasn't much on me when..."

Traylor licked her lips and stared at the bag.

"There was...no sign of him...but we put out an APB on the guy. Before we didn't have a face to go on."

She bit her lower lip, mind racing on how to broach the topic weighing on her heart.

"Beck, can you get Andre and let him know that I've got something to tell you both?"

The Canadian leaned in.

"What's that?"

"I know what happened to the Bellevue girls."

A/N: DUN-DUN-DUN!

Also, Tori tried to be nice but it was three strikes and she was out of patience for Miss Jade.