In Nomine

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Comments: I went ahead and put up two chapters to get you all going. Again, looking for any beta readers for the future chapters...its looking at about 13 chapters from here. Reviews are very much appreciated!

Chapter 2- To Second Thessalonians

He barely got to the parking lot in time, and slid into his seat as her SUV blew by him. Waiting a few seconds, he backed out and settled in several car lengths behind her. He had to be careful, considering how identifiable his vehicle was.

She didn't seem to notice him as they went into the industrial district, and he fell further back as traffic thinned. His time with the CBI had taught him many useful skills, one of them being tailing effectively. Jane tapped his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently. Where could she be going down here?

Her car turned down an alley, and he pulled up along the street, hopping out. Patrick Jane jogged up to the corner and watched as she got out and checked her gun. Lisbon slid her weapon back into her holster and pulled open a rusted door. Jane moved into the alley as the door thumped closed behind her.

He gave her twenty seconds. Quietly, Jane pulled the door open, simultaneously putting his phone on silent. He carefully closed the door, keeping it from slamming. It was dark and took a few moments for his eyes to adjust. Unease filled him. This wasn't exactly the place to meet a boyfriend.

He heard a voice, a man's voice, and stopped, listening. It was indistinct, but he heard Lisbon respond to him. Moving forward, he took cover behind the many boxes and pieces of broken machinery that littered the floor of this obviously abandoned factory.

"The kid followed me, I had no choice," an older man's gruff voice said.

"This will be the third, Halloway," Lisbon said irritably. "You're going to blow my cover if I have to keep cleaning up your messes."

Jane peeked out behind his cover. Several men stood behind Halloway, lounging in the darkness, all armed. Halloway looked familiar, but Jane couldn't place him.

"Listen, bitch. I do what the Chief tells me to, and your job is to clean up messes. You'll do what's necessary to keep us in the clear, or I'll tell the Chief that you're being uncooperative."

At Halloway's tone, his flunkies seemed to tense and hands found weapons. Jane quickly began typing out an emergency text message to Van Pelt, just in case things went south. What the hell was she doing in here without backup?

"I know what my job is, Halloway, and I do it well. That unfortunately can't be said for us all." Lisbon's voice was scornful, arrogant. Jane wasn't sure he had ever heard her use a tone like that before. She was one of the most humble people he knew.

Halloway had her against the wall, off her feet, before Jane could take a breath. He was a huge man, seeming larger in comparison to Lisbon. They seemed frozen in a tableau, each simply staring at the other. Jane detected no fear from Lisbon, didn't see it in her green eyes. All he saw there was a smoldering anger. Jane sent the text message and hoped the team hurried.

He felt sweat break out on his brow. Dare he do something? Could he do anything if Halloway was intent on killing her?

"The Chief is not going to care if I kill you, Lisbon. You're just a tool, easily replaced." His massive hand was around her neck. Jane tensed and started to stand, until he saw what Halloway had apparently just seen.

Lisbon had a gun against his chest, and his face grew cautious.

"Put me down, Halloway," she rasped. "Or I'll have another mess to clean up."

He dropped her after a moment and stepped back, hands in the air. Four weapons were trained on her and she took an unsteady sidestep that put Halloway between most of them. Lisbon quickly regained her balance with only the slightest massaging of her neck to show that she'd been discomforted.

Jane was very confused about Lisbon's role in this, but it wasn't sounding good. What messes was she cleaning up? What messes was Halloway making? Who was Halloway? Who was their Chief? What cover would be blown? He hoped Van Pelt arrived without sirens, like he told them to, and came in quietly, like he'd said. These thoughts raced through his head even as the strange performance continued in front of him. Halloway was nervous but belligerent, trying to assert authority over Lisbon. She completely ignored his attitude, holding herself apart from him and his men, as if she were in a different league.

"You're unstable, Halloway," Lisbon warned. "You need to get a hold of yourself, or you're gonna blow this all to hell. If you do, I can guarantee you that turning yourself in won't keep you safe from the Chief. Or me. Now get your act together and tell me what the hell happened." Now Lisbon was invoking the Chief's name with the authority that Halloway had attempted to and failed.

It worked spectacularly for her. Halloway's shoulders slumped slightly, and he gestured to the four men behind him. They holstered their weapons, reluctantly, and Lisbon followed suit after the last man had.

"I staged a chase with a buyer," he said reluctantly. "Kid was supposed to stay with the car, and he didn't. He was too smart to be fooled, and too dumb to go along. The buyer killed him, but this is my second partner dead in a year. I'm under suspicion. I can't complete this deal. The buyer is scared off."

"He doesn't trust you, so you can't send your…friends." Lisbon gestured absently in the direction of his minions. They scowled at her dismissal. "So what do you need from me?"

"I need you to meet with the buyer tonight. And I need you to step into this case somehow, get me cleared."

Lisbon shook her head. "The first I can do. The second, you're on your own, Halloway. I already exerted my influence in your other partner's death, I can't do it a second time without drawing suspicion too."

Suddenly it clicked. Jane recognized the man, a cop, whose longtime partner had been killed about nine months ago. Jane had always had reservations on the case, but Lisbon had closed it quickly, clearing Halloway of charges. His mind was racing. The part of him that trusted Lisbon so much fought with the logical portion of his mind that was slowly processing that Lisbon might actually be a dirty cop, and had been for a while.

He nearly jumped as Van Pelt touched his shoulder. She had a vest on, and Cho and Rigsby were behind her, just as silent. Her gun was out.

"I don't care. You're a trusted CBI agent. No one is going to suspect you. Just do it."

"You aren't my boss, Halloway. I take orders from one person only, and I won't do it unless he tells me to," Lisbon said stiffly. "My team isn't full of idiots, and they're going to catch on to what is going on. I can't clear you again without giving up my cover—and yours too. What about that is so hard to understand?"

"The hell is going on?" Van Pelt breathed into Jane's ear.

Jane shook his head.

"Give me the buyer's info, and I'll deal with him," Lisbon said, holding out a hand. "If the Chief has an idea to clear you without giving us both away as dirty cops, then I'll do it. But I'd be careful, Halloway. Your days might be numbered." Lisbon's voice was darkly amused as he handed her a piece of paper. Halloway gulped, but he glared at her.

This was like a totally different woman. Jane wasn't quite sure what to think. She read the paper and then pulled a matchbook out. The little slip of paper burned brightly for a second, and then she dropped it and the match to the ground.

The three cops behind him had heard enough, and they moved. "CBI, freeze!" Rigsby bellowed, as the three of them took defensible positions, guns out.

Lisbon turned slowly, her hands coming up, her face grim.

Halloway chuckled, even as he held his hands up. "So much for your cover being intact, Lisbon."

She didn't even favor him with a glare. Jane could almost see her mind working.

Suddenly, shots rang out from behind Lisbon and Halloway. Lisbon calmly moved off to the side, pulling her gun from its holster. Halloway pulled his as well, seeking minimal cover, but fired towards Cho's position, yelling obscenities and taunts toward the CBI agents. Jane huddled between Van Pelt and Rigsby, wishing he had a vest too.

Lisbon took cover, cursing Jane. She knew it was Jane, had to be Jane that followed her, or convinced the others to do it. She knew she had two options, and didn't like either of them. She could try to convince her team that what they had seen wasn't really what it seemed. Lisbon shook her head. There would still be investigations and mistrust, and the likelihood of things going very wrong was high.

The alternative was to break ties with the team now and maintain her relationship with the Chief. She didn't know the Chief—no one on her level did. She did what he asked, though, and had moved up in the organization since her recruitment nearly two years ago. She couldn't do her current job with them any longer, but perhaps there was something else she could do, if she held this together here. Someone else could take her job—there were always cops that could be turned.

Halloway was still shooting like a maniac, keeping Cho pinned down. Rigsby and Van Pelt had each taken out one of his goons, but the other two had moved into more defensible positions and the result was a pretty heated gun battle.

Either way, Halloway had outlived his usefulness. Lisbon, only ten feet from the large man, fired a bullet into his skull. He dropped to the ground, dead before he hit. Now he couldn't talk to either the Chief or the CBI. Swinging her weapon over to her former teammates, she watched, deciding.

Her gun found a good line on Van Pelt, and when she came out of cover, Lisbon fired twice, carefully, precisely. The other woman dropped and was quickly pulled back under cover. The last goon, unable to escape, continued to fire, and she slipped out the back door, hearing his cry as he was hit.

She hopped in Halloway's sporty car and sped off.

To Jane, the gun battle seemed to last forever. When silence fell, it seemed to him that everyone moved in slow motion. Van Pelt moved barely out of her cover, trying to get a line on the last few gunmen. Two distinct shots sounded, and with an involuntary gasp, Van Pelt dropped next to him.

"Grace!" Rigsby bellowed, but his attention was torn from her as another wave of gunfire forced him to react.

There was a quick pause before both Cho and Rigsby returned fire. Jane pulled Van Pelt fully behind the barrier. Blood was welling up from a graze on her arm, but it wasn't serious enough for her to be unconscious. As he ripped through the buttons on her shirt, Jane pulled the Velcro on the vest frantically.

The bullet had gone through the vest right over her heart, but he saw no blood. Suddenly Van Pelt coughed, and Jane pulled a small book from her chest pocket on her undershirt. Not just any book, the Bible. The bullet was lodged all the way to Second Thessalonians.

"Dammit, she got away," Rigsby growled. "Is she alright?" he asked anxiously, towering over Jane. Cho glanced at Van Pelt, saw she was conscious, and moved outside the barrier.

"I'm fine, Wayne," she murmured, favoring him with a reassuring smile.

Jane held up the Bible. "Handy things, Bibles," he commented.

"Why the hell would Lisbon shoot Van Pelt?" Rigsby asked. "That could have killed her! Lisbon knew that! Right over her heart!" His voice was full of rage as he knelt down beside her.

Van Pelt seemed shaken as Jane held a clean handkerchief of his over her graze. "For once, I'm not really sure what to think," Jane admitted quietly. His eyes met Van Pelt's, but she closed them with a sigh of discomfort. He could hear sirens in the distance.

"All five are dead," Cho reported. "Lisbon went out the back after shooting Van Pelt. I need to call Minelli. Rigsby, you're with me. Jane, get Van Pelt to the hospital and get that bandaged."

"I want to go to the hospital," Rigsby said sullenly.

Cho shook his head. "I need you here, Rigsby. It's not serious. She'll be fine." His tone was matter-of-fact and brooked no argument.

Rigsby scowled at Cho, but didn't protest further. Jane put a supporting arm under Van Pelt, and she stood unsteadily.

Jane helped Van Pelt into his car and angled toward the nearest hospital. His mind was jumbled, full of thoughts, of analysis, trying to figure out if he should have seen this coming. He should have, he knew. He just couldn't piece it together.

"Do you always keep a Bible there when you go to a scene?" he asked her suddenly. She was very pale, her head resting against the side of the car.

"If I wear a vest, yeah. My dad served in Desert Storm, and he always kept one there. It saved his life once. I've always done it, more as a good luck charm than any thought that it might save my life like it did his. Guess it was a good idea."

Her eyes were closed, her voice quiet, but it seemed strong. She was going to be alright, he told himself.

"You were really lucky," he noted.

"I can't believe Lisbon's a dirty cop," Van Pelt said bleakly. "She seemed so…I don't know. I really admired her, Jane."

He could hear the hurt in her voice, but he didn't think it was her wound talking.

"I should have seen it coming," Jane admitted quietly. "Of all people, I should have seen what was going on."