Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars

"…e quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle"

- Dante Alighieri -

When agent Darcy came to tell him that the FBI had gunned down Red John not a single emotion showed on his face. He simply went on making his tea – almost as if he hadn't heard her at all.

Then he headed to his faithful couch and slowly sipped his beverage.

His mind was slowly processing the information. Red John was dead and gone. Was it really over this time?

He was supposed to feel angry about that. Didn't exact his revenge first-hand after all.

Much to his surprise, he found out that he didn't care. He was part of the joint team who had worked for months on catching the serial killer.

No big deal if his hand hadn't fired the bulled that had ended the man's life.

He actually felt… relieved. As if he had just woken up from an almost decade-long nightmare.

The long journey through hell was finally over. And he was still alive.

All of a sudden he felt dizzy and light-headed. There were a million things he could do now. He simply didn't know where to start.

"Jane… you okay?"

Dear Lisbon – of course she would be concerned about him. Darcy had probably told her by now.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"You sure?", she double-checked as she sat down next to him.

"Yep."

She rested her hand on his knee. A friendly, yet somewhat intimate gesture.

He reached for her hand and held it – as he had done that day in the desert. That was the single thing that really mattered to him. All the rest could wait.

"I meant what I said, you know."

Lisbon frowned slightly, unsure about what he was hinting at.

"Right before I shoot you – well, before I pretended to shoot you. I meant it – though I actually hadn't planned to say such a thing."

She paused for a moment. "Okay."

"So… what are you going to do about it?"

His tentative tone surprised her. Jane was always so self-assured that she couldn't quite believe he was actually at a loss for once.

She shot a quick glance at the empty bullpen. The guys were out on the field, and no one else was around. Even agent Darcy had excused herself and left.

So she did the only sensible thing she could think about at the moment.

Jane closed his eyes as her warm lips met his own. Looked like the stars still had something good in store for him after all…