Grace groaned as she stepped out of Rigsby's car; her head was pounding, her legs ached, she was exhausted and she knew perfectly well she needed a shower. It was all she could do to keep herself conscious, let alone upright. All she wanted to do was get cleaned up, changed into something warm and comfy and curl up in her bed with a cup of hot tea. The last day and a half had both drained and freaked her more than she would ever let on.

After thanking Rigsby, she headed straight up to the changing rooms and found the spare clothes she kept in her locker laid out on a bench for her. Someone must have picked the lock. For a change, she honestly didn't mind, as long as they hadn't gone through her stuff or anything. Rigsby had called Lisbon in the car to let her know that he had found Grace and that he was bringing her back to HQ. She guessed that her boss probably had something to do with it.

Once she had showered and changed, she headed back down to the bullpen. It felt nice to back in the warm room, the buzz of computers, the click of keyboard. She found the background noise strangely relaxing.

'Grace?'

The redhead spun around to see her boss, a mixture of relief and concern on her face. They both smiled as Lisbon realised Grace wasn't injured and uncharacteristically pulled her into a tight hug. They clung to each other for a moment. Lisbon's relief to have her friend back was overpowering her usual defence mechanisms, while Grace was just glad to have some company that wasn't a figment of her imagination, a grumpy, homicidal hooker or Wayne Rigsby. Human contact.

'Don't you ever do this to me again, you hear?'

Grace smiled slightly. 'I'll do my best.'

'Good. You scared the crap out of me.'

'I'm sorry..'

'Wasn't your fault,' Lisbon said quietly, rubbing Grace's back comfortingly. 'I'm just glad you're alive.'

'Alive and kicking.'

'Yeah, well make sure you stay that way. There's no way we're losing you. I need another woman around to help me deal with this lot.'

'I'm not going anywhere, don't worry.'

'You'd better not be. Look, they're about to interview Penn. You want to sit in?'

'Please, yeah. I'd quite like to know exactly why she tried to kill me.'

'Go for it. Want to go out for a drink later?'

Grace grinned and pushed all thoughts of her bed and a cup of tea out of her mind. 'Thought you'd never ask. Meet you in Foley's about half eight?'

'You're on. See you later. And for goodness sakes, please try to stay out of trouble.'

The redhead couldn't help but chuckle at that. She let her eyes wander down to the necklace on her desk. Even if it was her fault, Lisbon had definitely forgiven her. That much at least was a comfort.