The Cruellest Prison

"The cruellest prison is the one that we build for ourselves out of fear and regret" - Warehouse 13

Summary : What happens when Lisbon becomes a victim of the case her team is investigating?

A/N - This is a REALLY late birthday present for Laura, aka country2776! I didn't forget your birthday I swear! I started this before I left for Spain & I was hoping to get the first chapter up before your birthday, but I didn't have time so here it is! Hope you like it Laura! xx

"Alright team we have a triple homicide on our hands." Agent Teresa Lisbon announced as she walked into the bullpen holding a file in her hands.

The CBI team hadn't had a case in days so they all looked up eagerly at her words, she continued, "Three women were drugged last night at a hotel in Oakland, two of them died of an overdose and one is in a coma."

Rigsby frowned, "That's not the kind of crime we usually get."

Lisbon nodded, "I know, the drug and alcohol abuse unit usually takes these sort of cases, but this one is a little different."

"How so?" Jane asked from his couch, he still had his eyes shut and looked as relaxed as ever, without a glance in the mans direction Lisbon replied, "Most cases like this involve someone slipping the drugs discreetly to the victims, but in this case it appears that the drugs were forcefully given to the victims."

Sitting up, seeming more interested Jane said, "So they used the drugs to knock the women out?"

"It appears so." She confirmed, Van Pelts face darkened, "Which means-"

Lisbon nodded, finishing for her, "We might be dealing with a murderer and a rapist."

Van Pelt looked extremely dismayed by this news, Jane knew that she hated cases like this, he figured it had something to do with her past, but he hadn't had the nerve to ask her yet.

"I'll know if its sexual abuse just by looking at the bodies." Jane piped up as he stood up from the sofa, "So we're going to Oakland?"

Lisbon nodded, grabbing her jacket and making her way to the elevator with the team at her heels, "Yes we are, which means we have an hour and a half drive ahead of us."

Jane grinned, "I'm riding shotgun."

Rigsby and Van Pelt shared knowing looks, Lisbon groaned and Cho smirked, the next hour and a half could be amusing.

An hour an a half later a very amused Jane jumped out of the SUV along with a very disgruntled Lisbon, Jane had insisted on playing 'I Spy' the entire time and had gone in the huff when Lisbon had said that 'man with serious trust issues in a tractor' didn't count as an 'I Spy' sort of thing to point out.

So when they eventually reached the hotel it was a blessing, they flashed their badges and made their way to the first crime scene. It took Jane all of 5 minutes to make his decision on what had happened.

"Well she didn't get the drugs slipped to her, from the looks of it she was forced them and she put up a fight hence the blood and all, but her clothing is in tact and not rumpled which suggests she wasn't sexually assaulted." He mused to both himself and Lisbon who was watching him contently as he gave his judgement.

"So why would the murderer force her to take the drugs rather than slip them to her then?" She asked the all knowing pain in the ass with a frown.

Jane frowned slightly, looking closer at the body, "I think the murderer was afraid the drugs would be traceable if he slipped her them, if we found the glass with the traces on it we could get his fingerprints and catch him, whereas this way he wears gloves so we have no way of tracing him through DNA or forensics."

Lisbon had been nodding throughout his explanation and when he finished she smiled a little smugly, "Take that CSI." She muttered, Jane chuckled at her comment, Lisbon got really annoyed at the fact people thought solving a murder was easy because all you had do was 'get some fingerprints' like they did in CSI when there was much more to it than that.

"Why don't we check out the other body so you can look for any connections?" Lisbon asked and Jane nodded, "I think I know one already." He said as they left the women's hotel room and made their way along the hall to crime scene number 2.

Lisbon raised an eyebrow at him, disbelieving as always, "And that is?"

He shot her a sly grin, "I have a hunch that they are both secretly working for the government as some sort of protection to the state."

Lisbon frowned, "You mean like cops?"

Jane nodded, "Yup, the first victim works for the FBI."

"If she worked for the FBI do you not think the FBI would have put their own people on the case?" Lisbon asked, once again a little smugly, but Jane was already ahead of her in the game, "Not if they didn't want anyone to know she worked for them."

A look of realisation dawned on Lisbons face, "You think she was an undercover FBI Agent?" She asked, with a smug grin Jane nodded, "That's exactly what I think and if my hunch is correct victim number two is an undercover Agent for the Secret Service."

Lisbon eyed him sceptically as they walked into the second crime scene and after a moment of perusing the victims things he exclaimed, "a-ha!"

Lisbon looked at him sceptically again as he held up a blank metal square to her, he had found it in the victims pillowcase.

"Wow, a piece of metal." She said, feigning interest in the insignificant object.

Jane shook his head at her and held up a bag he had taken from the first crime scene with a piece of metal the exact same. Lisbon still didn't understand what he was getting at, "So they both have a bit of metal in their pillowcases, big deal."

"It is a big deal." Jane said as he bagged the metal square, "Because certain top secret agencies in the USA and in Canada give their Agents small pieces of metal like this with a tiny chip inside, the chip is highly protected and is a challenge for the worlds best hackers to get through the encoding."

Lisbons frown had deepened, "Whats on the chip?" She asked.

Jane eyes lit up and his smile widened, "Everything there is to know about the Agent, where they were born, when they joined whatever service they work for."

Seeing the significance now Lisbon caught on to Janes plan, "So now all we have to do is check if the third victim has one and if she does that means the murderer is drugging and killing government Agents?"

Jane nodded, "That's exactly what it means and I can bet you all the money in my bank it's because all of these Agents want this guy for something and that something will be listed in the chips, along with the name of the person they are pursuing."

Lisbon grinned, hurrying after Jane as they made their way up a flight of stairs to the third crime scene, "Well they were all in the hotel at the same time so they must be working together to catch one guy right? Or a group of people…" She mused.

"I think it's just one person, although he might have a few minions helping him on the technical side of things." Jane said and when he saw Lisbons confused look he added, "The hacking into government files part."

"Oh." Lisbon said, frowning a little, "So if the first victim was an FBI Agent and the second a Secret Service Agent, what is the 3rd?"

"My best bet...a Scientist." Jane told her as they reached the third crime scene, Jane made a beeline for the pillow and a moment later pulled out a third square of metal, identical to the first two, "Bingo." He said, shooting a grin her way.

Lisbons smiled at his enthusiasm, Jane was amusing to watch when he got excited about the things he was discovering, it was interesting to watch the cases mysteries unfold in his head, she could almost see the cogs turning as he made connection after connection.

"So we have the chips, the next problem is finding someone to get through the encoding on them." Lisbon pointed out and Janes smile faltered, "That could be the harder part." He admitted and Lisbon bit her lip, "We won't tell Hightower that." She decided as she smiled slyly at Jane, "We'll just go back and tell her how much progress we've made already."

Jane smiled at her, she could be sneaky when she wanted to be, but he found it amusing, "Of course, it will be our little secret."

Lisbon chuckled as they made their way back to the SUV to brief the rest of the team, "I bet Van Pelt could hack into the chips." Lisbon mused as they made their way down the stairs and past the first two crime scenes.

Jane shrugged, "I doubt it, Grace is good at getting minor information, but we're talking the highest level of security knowing to mankind here, there will be all sorts of firewalls and viruses to get past."

"That sounds bad." Lisbon pointed out causing Jane to smile slightly, "It is, but I think I might know someone who can do it."

"And that person is?" Lisbon asked when Jane didn't speak for a few minutes.

With a grin at his boss he replied, "Cho."

Lisbon frowned, "Cho? If Van Pelt can't do it how can Cho?" She asked, the line between her eyes appearing again.

"Did Cho never tell you that he used to work for the Secret Service?" Jane asked, seeming genuinely shocked, but behind it a little smug.

"No, he never." Lisbon mumbled, seeming annoyed that Jane knew this about the man and she never when she was his boss, "It's not in his file." She commented and Jane laughed lightly, "It's called the Secret Service for a reason my dear."

"Shut up wise ass."

To Be Continued!

A/N - Sooo…I'm not sure about this! Aghh I think it turned out better than I thought it would, but I also think it could be better… if that makes sense! Let me know what you think!

Oh and for those of you who read my other fic 'Life Goes On' I swear I haven't given up on it, but I'm going to try and update this too which means updates for this fic and 'Life Goes On' will be much less frequent, but don't worry I will finish 'Life Goes On'!

Thanks for Reading! x