A/N: Occurs after Red Badge S02E03
Reviews and comments appreciated......

Messy Fo Cho
(Coffee Time)

A beautiful Sacramento morning was firmly in place as Grace, Wayne, Kimball and Patrick slid into the booth of the coffee shop across the street from CBI headquarters. They were "fixtures" and the waitress came bearing coffee and doughnuts, including one cup of tea, when she came to take their order, which as expected, was coffee and doughnuts, with one cup of tea. "Lisbon can take as long as she want's to get down here! I could spend the rest of the day here, if needed." Rigsby's statement seemed to echo the sentiments of all.

The booth they were in was next to the street, the wall about shoulder high with glass block to the ceiling, offering sunlight and privacy. Plants were scattered along the ledge top of the wall portion, providing a refreshing break from the sights and sounds of outdoor traffic.

"I think we can all understand if she's moving a little slow. Being framed for murder by your shrink can sort of mess you up," Van Pelt observed. "That has to be tough, especially if you fail the polygraph!"

There were general nods, including Jane. Jane stared, as unobtrusively as possible, at Cho. Cho had put his inscrutable face on, something he did when he didn't want to reveal what he was thinking. Jane wondered what he was concealing now, with such an innocent conversation going on.

"Where is that woman...." Rigsby started to say when the glass brick began to fracture and crumble inward. The sound of automatic fire split the air. Cho and Rigsby acted instinctively and instantly. Rigsby grabbed Grace, pulling her out of the booth and onto the floor. By the time he hit the floor, his gun was drawn and he was in a prone, ready position.

Cho had acted similarly with Jane, though Jane had initially resisted, not that his resistance mattered. Cho so easily overpowered him that the time differential between Grace hitting the floor and Jane hitting the floor could be measured in milliseconds. When two men burst through the entrance, they were met with withering fire from the CBI team. Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt, all had assumed the "position" and were ready. Training does pay off.

The two men were hit multiple times and dropped in their tracks. From outside there was a short burst of automatic fire, the sound of a nine millimeter glock being fired multiple times and then silence. "I'm coming in," they heard Lisbon shout as she opened the door and stepped over the bodies of the two mystery gunmen.

"I just can't leave you guys alone for twenty minutes," she spat." "What the hell happened?"

Jane was already examining the bodies and talking to himself. "Boss," Van Pelt asked, "are we victims or investigators?"

Cho was reloading his weapon, with one eye on the door. The "snick, snick" of him chambering a round caused heads to swivel, but Cho seemed to neither notice nor care. He put the weapon on half cock and slid it back into its holster.

"OK, everyone, check your magazines. I want to know how many rounds each of you fired." Lisbon bent to examine the bodies.

Rigsby announced that he had fired six rounds. Van Pelt said she fired eight while Cho had fired two. Cho, once again, was the center of attention. Lisbon examined the bodies, counting obvious wounds.

The first body she examined showed eight strikes. Four in the upper body, which was protected by body armor, one in the arm, three in the legs and one bullet strike just below the nose, at an upward angle that blew the back of the head off, spraying brains on the wall and out of the door. The second body had a similar pattern, except that lone bullet strike to the head entered the left eye, doing similar damage to the back of the skull and splattering an equal volume of brains across the area.

Jane looked over at Lisbon. "I have twenty that says the head shots are Cho's," he said.

Lisbon stood. "Good shooting, gang. Every bullet is accounted for in the perps, and that is no bet, Jane. I work too hard for my money to give it to you."

The sound of sirens announced the arrival of Sacramento's finest. Lisbon, being closest to the door, holstered her gun and held up her badge for the arriving police. The lead officer saw the badge and relaxed. Then he examined it. "CBI? How come you folks are involved and how did you get here so fast?"

Lisbon grimaced. "Just lucky, I guess. No, seriously, this is not our case. We are not on it. We just happened to be here when it went down."

All of the patrons, none or which had injuries more serious than that caused by flying glass, began to babble at once. Lisbon smiled for the first time. "We'll sit quietly in this booth while you get this mess sorted out, officer. We'll be good little witnesses."

Back in the bullpen, with several boxes of doughnuts from a grateful coffee shop owner, they discussed what had happened. Lisbon was not a happy boss. "I'm afraid my entire team will be on suspension or desk duty, pending being cleared for these justified shootings. Who knows how long that could take? Jane and I are the only ones who didn't shoot someone, and I can't see the two of us doing the work of the entire team."

Jane piped up, "Sure we could, Boss! Those two," indicating Grace and Wayne, "just moon over each other, and Cho is a ….."

The glares that met his Janesque humor kept him from proceeding. "Jane, shut up," four voices intoned.

"Do you think we were the targets," Van Pelt asked. "It's not too hard to figure where we get coffee."

"Nah," Jane replied. "If we had been the targets, or even if they'd suspected we were there, they'd have entered a lot more carefully. They thought the were going into a room full of unarmed people. We were not the targets."

They looked at each other, Lisbon being the first to speak. Then I wonder who was!"

oOOOo

Yes.... There is more to come....