A/N: Thanks, as always, to Miss Peg, whom this fic wouldn't exist without.

x tromana


Part Two

Sacramento, CA, USA, Monday, 06.13pm PST

Lisbon sighed and quickly, she glanced at her clock. It was funny how time always seemed to slip away whenever you needed it the most and yet, when you just wanted it to hurry on by, it dragged and dragged. She hadn't even made a real dent into the stacks of paperwork that had slowly but steadily been building up either. However, it could be worse. Jane could still have been there, bouncing that childish rubber ball up against her desk. Or tried to convince her to do something he deemed far more 'interesting'. She did try to make time to socialise with her team on occasion, to enjoy drinks with them and the like, but sometimes she just couldn't justify it. That was the price of power and all that.

Eventually, she hauled herself out of her chair. So, she hadn't even been working solidly for an hour, but if she didn't do something about it soon, the evening was going to feel even longer. It wasn't long before she was in the kitchenette, with a steaming mug of coffee in her hands. Briefly, she toyed with the thoughts of how Jane would respond to the situation. How he would comment on the way caffeine stunted growth and that she should cut down and drink a healthier alternative. She allowed herself to smile briefly. Sometimes, she wondered if the hard work and sacrifices were worth it. What it would be like to have a break from leading the team, if only for a week or so. Just to rejuvenate herself a little, free herself of the responsibilities of worrying what crazy stunt Jane was about to pull next.

She jumped as her cell phone rang and she quietly cursed at herself. It was ridiculous. Lisbon was used to having the object on her twenty four hours a day, seven days a week and permanently turned on. It was the nature of her job. If she was working, her phone was a necessity and if she wasn't? It was highly likely she was on call or if not, she could expect a telephone call from somebody important anyway. Sometimes, she wished they could go back to the days without the constraints of such devices, but the rest of time Lisbon remembered just how damn unpractical that was.

Besides, on this occasion it was her boss. There were no surprises there. As hard as Lisbon worked, sometimes it seemed like Special Agent Hightower worked ten times harder. And not only that, but Hightower also managed to juggle a hectic family life too. She knew there were people who thought she had her eyes on the position, maybe when Hightower left or something, but that couldn't have been further from the truth. Too much politics was involved in being a Special Agent and that was something Lisbon loathed. Besides, she liked the satisfaction of working with a close knit team in order to bring down the bad guys. It felt so much more fulfilling then pacifying people who thought they were better than the common man.

Anyway, there was a reason Hightower called. That was because of yet another case. Dead bodies could never wait until morning, but Lisbon knew she could at least be grateful that the callout hadn't occurred in the dead of the night. Then again, it also did no good to the mountain of paper she had been intending to conquer on her desk either. Quickly, she bid farewell to Hightower, wanting to get on the move as soon as possible. In a matter of seconds, she was already calling Jane.

"Ah, Lisbon. So you miss me already?"

"Shut up."

"Well it's a little hard to have a conversation with you on the phone if I…"

"You're a jinx, I swear. We have a case."

"How nice," Jane replied somewhat primly. "You only ever call to let me know people are killing each other or that we're about to catch a murderer."

"Whatever," Lisbon answered in response, knowing full well that he was exaggerating the situation on purpose. "How soon can you be here?"

"How about now?"

She jumped as she felt a hand graze her left shoulder and turned to see Jane standing just behind her. Lisbon narrowed her eyes; she should have remembered by now that Jane acted as if he didn't actually have a home to go to and merely used the headquarters as his base of operations these days. It wasn't healthy and though she told herself time and time again that there was little point in it, she continued to worry about him. Then again, it was only natural. They had known each other for the best part of a decade now; if anything happened to him, including Red John, she wouldn't forgive herself.

Bristol, UK, Tuesday, 03.17am GMT

"Fuck."

Rich knew something was up the moment he'd heard Alo's frantic voice on the other end the phone line. It had taken him less than hour to get to the quiet park, which was apparently abandoned in the dead of the night. Apart from Liv's prone corpse and Alo sitting beside her, hugging his knees and rocking to and fro, that was. This was just fucking mental, wrong. Something he'd never dreamed of happening, ever. Yeah, the group had its tensions but for that to boil down to murder? That was fucked up beyond belief. None of them were capable of that, were they?

Then again, Alo was the only one who actually knew how to handle a gun. His Dad had taught him as kid, had taken him out hunting for rabbits and the like. Access to it was no problem. But why Liv? It wasn't as if Alo had any particular problem with her. No, that was Mini who was still fuming over the Nick debacle.

Rich had always thought that Alo was essentially harmless, unless you had two long ears and a fluffy tail, that was.

Still, he closed the gap between himself and Alo with two long strides. He needed answers and fast. It didn't take a miracle worker to figure out that his friend had spent the evening getting completely wasted and hoping to get laid. Obviously, more than that had to have happened for this to happen though. Swiftly, he grabbed his best friend's jacket by the lapels and hauled him to his feet. Despite Alo's obvious panic, Rich calmly stared into his eyes and waited for Alo to pull himself back together again.

"What the fuck did you do that for?"

"It was an accident, alright? I didn't fucking mean it. We were disturbed and…"

"Swear it."

"What?"

"Swear it on something that fucking means something to you."

"I swear alright? I swear on the copies of Asian Fanny Fun I have under my…" Alo started, but drifted off when he saw the look of scepticism in Rich's eyes. "On Rags! I swear on Rags' life. I didn't meant to, okay?"

Rich loosened his grip slightly and Alo finally relaxed. He knew that of all people, Rich was the one he could trust. Besides, Rags wasn't something to joke about. He'd nearly lost his faithful companion once before through sheer idiocy and wouldn't dare risk it again.

"My parents. They're gonna kill me. They already thought I was a fucking useless shit-head," Alo whispered, relieved to finally have somebody to talk to. "You can fix this can't you?"

There was a note of timidity in Alo's voice that Rich hadn't been expecting. Normally, he was so full of bravado and arrogance, that it was easy to forget that sometimes, Alo was still just a vulnerable young man. That he was going about his life, drifting and directionless, hoping desperately that something would eventually click into place.

And now this. Theoretically, it could have been the last nail in the proverbial coffin.

It still could be, if they weren't incredibly lucky.

But Rich had a plan. It didn't take him long to think it up, either. He summarised it as quickly as he possibly could to Alo, all the while rummaging in his backpack for a specific something. There wasn't much he needed. Just a Swiss Army knife and something else. Alo's jaw dropped when he saw two yellow gloves dangling in front of his nose.

"Rubber gloves? Who the fuck carries rubber gloves with them?"

"Me," Rich responded promptly.

"Why?"

"In case I need to do some washing up."

"Yeah, but why?" Alo repeated, still completely bemused.

"I have eczema."

"Oh."

They fell into a brief silence, their eyes briefly lingering over Liv's body. Rich knew the playground design was somewhat fortuitous; the climbing frame had a perfect wall needed for his plan to work. But at the same time, it was still Liv. What he had to do felt wrong, like it was sacrilegious, disrespectful.

Still, she was dead and he couldn't do anything to help her now.

Alo, however. If they could pull this off, he could still live his life a free man.

"Pass me your knife."

"What should I do?"

"Nothing. Wait. Watch," Rich snapped angrily, not wanting to discuss the situation with him anymore. "Keep a lookout for other people. I don't fucking care."

All he wanted to do was get it done and get the fuck out of there.

Merced, CA, USA, Monday, 08.48pm, PST

The journey seemed to take far longer than Lisbon would have liked. Sometimes, she just wished that cases wouldn't crop up seemingly out of nowhere. That people could just take a break from killing one another. Then, she might actually have had half a chance of getting on top of her backlog of paperwork. It may have been dull, but it was still necessary, regardless of what certain individuals of her team thought. Besides, she hadn't really been in the mood to be in a confined space with Jane for any period of time. Or at least, she had wanted a break from him until morning. Of course, she had no such luck. Sometimes, she wondered if she ever did.

Still, they had finally arrived at their destination, only five minutes or so after Cho and Rigsby had. It was a hotel room. Comfortable enough to stay in for a while, but not excessively expensive. The lodger had personalised it somewhat, suggesting that he intended to stay put for a significant period of time. Probably due to work or family, as was usually the case. Jane quickly surmised that it was more likely to be the former than the latter, especially given the script slung carelessly on the dressing table. With a slight smirk, he eventually decided to join them to scrutinise the corpse of the day.

"So, what have we got?"

"Caucasian male, forty-two, died from two stab wounds, using a bread knife or something similar," Cho answered, supplying the information as quickly and succinctly as ever. "Coroner says he's been dead for at least four hours."

"Anything else?" Lisbon asked, a little frustrated at just how late it was already getting. "Name? Anything?"

"He's an actor."

Lisbon rounded on Jane. Though she was perfectly used to him plucking information seemingly out of nowhere, there were just some times when she really couldn't be bothered to deal with it. As he had already spent most of the day pestering her, this was one of those moments. She waited for him to explain himself, but of course, he just cocked an inquisitive eyebrow in her direction and offered a sunny smile. Of course, the perpetual thorn in her side wasn't done for the day.

"And how did you come to that conclusion?"

"Come on, isn't it obvious? The hair, the perfectly manicured fingernails? The suit that's expensive but not too expensive?" Jane asked, throwing out the details with casual ease, as if he hadn't spent the past five minutes scrutinising everything in the room. "It all suggests someone who has to look good for his career, yet is living on a budget and out of a suitcase. Oh and there's a script on the table. The 39 Steps. Interesting."

"Sorry I'm late," Van Pelt interrupted, quickly joining them. "I got held up."

She pretended to ignore the flash of jealousy in Rigsby's eyes. They both knew that 'held up' was another way of her saying she had been with O'Laughlin, but he had been reluctant to let her go so early into their evening. However, the bastard should have understood; he was part of the FBI. Therefore, he should have been able to comprehend that Van Pelt's career came above virtually everything else in her list of priorities.

"Right, Rigsby, I want you to find the local theatre, find out who didn't show up for tonight's performance…"

"It's Harrison Hayes," Van Pelt answered sadly, much to everyone else's surprise. When the eyes of the others all fell on her, she blushed slightly. "What? I saw him in a play last month."

Eventually, Lisbon took a few steps away from Hayes' body and headed towards the hotel room door. Forensics wanted to do their job and quite frankly, she had seen enough already. Besides, she had to get back to Sacramento that evening. Despite the fact that they had a new investigation, she still had to testify in court in the morning. That meant that the preliminary interviews would have to be conducted by the rest of the team. It didn't bother her much these days; they had all been working with one another for long enough to know they could trust each other. Well, that was provided that Jane didn't get any funny ideas and decide to mess everyone around.

"Van Pelt, I want you to organise rooms for yourself, Rigsby, Cho and Jane," Lisbon instructed swiftly. "The rest of you, question the cast and crew as soon as they come off stage. Call me as soon as you find anything."

Jane opened his mouth to protest, but Lisbon had already left the room. Normally, he would argue, but he quickly decided that it could still be theoretically interesting to question the actors. They were the kind of people who were always more inclined to hide under a mask. That was always fun to toy with. Besides, he could tell Lisbon probably needed a break from him. There were only so many of her buttons he could push without serious repercussions.

And anyway, he knew that she would be back in Merced by the afternoon. She could never leave her team to their own devices for too long without getting a little edgy.

TBC…