Disclaimer: I own Nothing

A/N: I had most of this chapter written before I took my test induced hibernation. That's over now for good or ill so I decided to finish the final scene of this chapter before turning my attention to Double Talk tomorrow afternoon. My life is still rather a mess and while I'm trying to sort that out I appreciate everyone here who understands.

Anonymous Reviews:

Michelle: Thank you so much, I hope this chapter meets your expectations.

Anonymous: More like a continuation but I was going to be hunted down and forced to write it if I didn't get started on it soon.

Ilovetea: There will be a few, not entirely sure how many yet. Probably not as long as some of my other fics but we'll see how far this one goes.

Jisbon: Annie will continue to be her fun naughty self, just wait till you see what she does next.

Bethany: Thanks I'm so glad you are excited for this.


Chapter 2: Everything Will Change, Nothing Stays the Same

When he disappeared I was devastated. He'd become more than a friend to me over the years and to watch him walk away in so much pain destroyed me. But the silence that followed was worse. Not knowing is a fate I hope no one endures. I called, even put out a missing person's report that was disregarded since he'd done nothing more than run away. He doesn't know this but I even made the drive to Malibu to identify a body. For six hours I thought he was dead.

Of course he came out of nowhere, in a church no less, to explain it was all a plan, a ruse to get Red John. I was so angry he abandoned me, but anger didn't last long. I stayed in that church and cried after her left, cried and thanked God that he was alive.

I thought my pain would end after that. I was wrong. The next year was the hardest of my life. I watched him sink to a new level of obsession while chasing Red John's follower that Jane had taken as a lover once as a part of the plan. I spent that year trying to catch up and praying that he survived, that I survived. That was all I could do. Watch and hold my tears until I could shed them alone.

From Tyger Tyger by Teresa Lisbon


Lisbon woke up that morning completely unsettled. It took a while for her to get through Annie's interrogation and there was no way she would find sleep with that anvil weighing over her head. She gave up on the institution at five in the morning and instead took a long jog on the beach. The cool salty hair was invigorating and it cleared her head, helped her assess the situation she was in.

Jane had come by the night before, freaked out because she was getting married. He'd come and found out about Dani. Now she didn't have any idea of what he would do next. Him freaking out about the wedding was surprising but understandable. Love wasn't something he lacked, it had to be hard to watch her attempt to be with someone else. But he could have changed things if he wanted to, if he could. Either way the best course for both of them was to try and find some measure of peace, even if it was apart.

But that last point was much more complicated with Dani's existence. Lisbon knew that Jane was going to be belligerent and attempt to see his daughter; he'd said as much the night before. But he couldn't commit to staying either. He wanted what he wouldn't allow himself to have; he just didn't want anyone else to have it either.

After facing that frustrating conundrum, Lisbon made her way back to her home, shaking the worse of the sand off her feet and showering what remained away. Then she took care to dry her hair and style it just so, she had the time. Finally she dressed in her simple professional clothes. Her desk job meant she could wear heels but twenty years of habit was hard to break. Then she went downstairs to zap through morning shows until she heard Dani stirring.

Her daughter was an early riser, no telling where she'd gotten that from. Dani came running down the stairs in her little blue princess nightgown. "Mommy!" she shouted, just happy to live. That was her daughter.

Dani soon lay sprawled on the floor watching morning cartoons while her mother decided that pancakes would be a good treat for that morning. She had the first few on the griddle when Annie came stumbling down, still sleepy-eyed. She was still young enough that sleep was only a suggestion. "Pancakes?"

Lisbon nodded. "They'll be ready in a moment."

"Interesting choice. You distracting her or yourself?"

"Shh," Lisbon hissed, "She's right in the living room."

Annie stepped closer, her eyes sparkled. "You're not going to tell her the psychic is back?"

"He's not a psychic and no I'm not."

"Why?"

"Because he's gong to leave soon and that will be the end of it."

"Is that what he said?"

She shook her head. "He didn't have to. It's what he's always done."

Annie was quite for a moment before asking. "Are you going to tell Chris?"

That wasn't so easy to answer. Lisbon hesitated before hedging. "I don't think it concerns him. All he knows is that Dani's father isn't in her life and that hasn't changed."

"You sure?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Because he seems more like a guy who goes after what he wants instead of leaving it alone," Annie said. "I think he wants you and Dani."

"You met him for five minutes six years ago and five seconds last night," Lisbon reminded her, "I think I know him better than you."

"Yeah but I'm not in love with him and afraid of him at the same time."

That caught Lisbon off guard. "Excuse me?"

"Please, don't deny it. I'm not blind and I read your book, it's obvious."

Lisbon didn't look her niece in the eye but turned her attention back to the pancakes. "I was in love with him, but a lot has changed since then."

"No it hasn't, you're still in love with him," Annie declared, crossing her arms over her chest. "And marrying Chris won't fix that."

"My marrying Chris has nothing to do with him," Lisbon insisted, "and you cannot seriously be insisting that I should be with Jane."

"Are you kidding? I think you should head for the hills because that guy is messed up," Annie told her honestly, "But like it or not your stuck on him like a fly in a web. I just don't know if you'll die before he devours you."

Lisbon wrinkled her nose at that description. "I'm not stuck on Jane."

"I am not stuck on Jane."

"Bullshit. All you do is think about him, stare at those damn photographs"

"Don't cuss and you are wrong. I don't stare at his photograph."

"Yes you do."

"You know I don't need love advice from a person who thinks bar hopping is a way to meet the right guy." Annie looked stunned by her aunt's harsh words…so was Lisbon. She never talked to her niece that way. Ever. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."

"Jesus Christ you have issues."

"I'm just stress out…you know with the wedding planning and all that stuff."

"The psychic coming back..."

"This has nothing to do with him."

"Fine, what about DJ? When are you going to tell her that her dad is in town?

"I don't know and don't you dare tell her anything."

"She should know. She's always wanted to meet him. You remember what happened at Christmas."

Lisbon grimaced. "I know," she sighed heavily and shook her head. "It's too complicated right now. I don't even know what he is planning to do. For all I know he might have left the state already. I'm not going to get Dani's hopes up only to watch them be crushed."

Annie studied her aunt carefully. "And if he does decide to stick around?"

She looked away again. "He won't," Lisbon said definitively and then in a much softer tone. "He never does." She turned around and met her niece's eyes. "Breakfast is ready, don't say a word about him."

Annie rolled her eyes but kept her mouth shut as Lisbon called Dani from the other room. At least she was keeping her secret for now, that was all Lisbon could as for.

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Lisbon called Kate from the road on her way to work. As soon as her friend picked up she cut off any pretense of hello. "My office. Now!"

"What happened?"

"When you get there," Lisbon explained. She wanted her friend's advice but this was not something she wanted to talk about over the phone.

She hung up after that and turned her attention back to the road. But her mind was elsewhere, back to Jane and her sitting on the stairs after he learned he had a second child. Arguing with her niece in the middle of the kitchen. Last Christmas.

She and Dani had packed up what little cold weather gear they'd had to spend the holidays with her brothers and their families. It had gone well until James's oldest had brought a few friends over. It was impossible not to notice Dani, a house full of dark brunettes and she had long curly blonde hair. One of them had made an insensitive remark about how she must have been adopted which led to Dani running to her in tears thinking that she wasn't her real mother.

That was when Lisbon had made the hard decision to tell Dani the truth about where she came from. So sitting in a guest room at James's home she pulled out one of the pictures she kept squired away in all of her things and let Dani know who her father is. She'd given her a partial history, explaining simply that he was away, that he didn't know about her but that they had loved each other very much.

Dani had stared at the photograph for a long time, finally understanding where her blonde hair and magnificent smile came from. She wanted to keep the picture and it was still sitting in her room to this day. But the photograph wasn't enough; Dani asked dozens of questions about her father. But the one that was consistent was "why?" Why did he leave?

So not long after returning to Los Angelas Lisbon tucked her daughter into the car and drove to Malibu so that Dani could meet her older sister. She'd questioned her right to be there, feeling almost like she should apologize to Jane's wife but her daughter had finally understood the sobering truth about how she had come to be. She asked about what happened and it took a bit more explaining for her to recognize that she shared a father with Charlotte Jane but not a mother. In the end her daughter didn't care about halves or wholes, it was her sister's grave she was at and that was what mattered the most. She understood how it made her father sad, she might not know why that meant he wasn't with her but it was enough for her to have that connection with him.

But nothing prepared Lisbon for walking back to the car and noticing that her daughter wasn't holding her stuffed doll Susie. When she asked Dani had told her simply. "It's scary underground, I wanted Susie to make my sister feel better."

That innocent gesture had her crying most of the drive home. It had hurt her to know that Jane had no idea this precious child existed…but she was so afraid that bringing them together would destroy that innocence.

Lisbon had to wait another twenty minutes in her office before Kate finally walked through the door; the visitor bade displayed on her blouse. "I was in the middle of a big chapter so this better be damn good."

Lisbon met her eyes. "Jane came to my house last night, begged me not to marry Chris and then found out about Dani."

Kate gaped at her before dropped unceremoniously onto the chair. "Oh. My. God."

"Tell me about it."

"Holy shit! How did this happen?" Lisbon endured even more outbursts from Kate as she explained what happened the night before, including Jane's initial reason for coming to her home, then him spotting the photograph of their daughter and subsequently learning the truth. Kate looked like a woman enjoying her favorite soap opera that was unfortunately Lisbon's real life.

"Well I guess you know for sure he wasn't just passing through," Kate told her with a smirk.

"I don't know what he is going to do," Lisbon admitted, "I just don't know what I'm going to do. This is all a huge mess. It would be easy if Jane would just leave again."

"And devastating," Kate pointed out, "do you really think he'll just walk away from his child?"

"He walked away from me."

"You and I both know this is not the same thing."

Lisbon looked away, hiding the tiny bit of jealousy she was feeling at that comment. That was something she had started wrestling with since last night, the fact that if Jane did stay it was only for their daughter and not for her. In some ways it just didn't seem fair. "I'm not sure if Dani will be enough anyways. I know he loved me and he probably could love Dani, except he has a problem with allowing himself to have things. He'd probably feel like she'd be better off without him."

Kate shook her head. "God he's a real mess if he believes that."

"You know just as well as I do he isn't just a mess, he's a disaster."

"Maybe he's spent the last few years picking up the pieces."

"And maybe tomorrow I'll crowned queen of England." Lisbon's phone rang just then and she looked down to see Jane's number on her phone. She'd never taken him off her contact list and he'd never changed his number…she hadn't either.

"Is it Buckingham Palace?" Kate asked.

"It's him."

Kate's eyes widened as Lisbon lifted the phone to answer it. "Put it on speaker!" she whispered harshly and Lisbon looked at her in horror.

"Hello, Jane," she said as evenly as was possible.

"You never changed your number," he pointed out.

She almost rolled her eyes then. "Neither did you." They didn't acknowledge why they had both gone out of their ways to keep those numbers the same. She knew why she had; she'd always secretly hoped he would call her again. Even if it was almost two years since the last time his number had lit up her phone.

Jane ignored the implications too. "You know why I've called you. Shall we skip the unpleasant preliminaries? I want to meet my daughter and you don't want me to."

"I do want you to meet her," Lisbon insisted. "I just want to make sure you don't hurt her in the end."

"Or you don't want me to hurt you."

"Both of us," Lisbon admitted, "but mostly her. She's young and doesn't understand heartache. I don't want her asking me why her father has left."

"What about asking why hasn't been around her whole life?" Jane replied, "His ignorance on the subject might be the answer to that."

"Perhaps," Lisbon agreed, "But can you honestly say that it wouldn't have been that way otherwise?" Jane was quiet and Lisbon felt a bit of smug pride in that moment. "That is exactly our problem." She glanced over to see Kate silently applauding.

"What I might have done is irrelevant now," Jane pointed out, "we'll never know what would have happened if I'd known about Danielle. The only thing that is important is what we will do in the future."

Lisbon considered that, knowing he was probably right. The past was over, he could be angry about it but there was nothing they could do. Of course he was more concerned over what sort of presence he would have in their lives now, if he decided to have any. "That all depends on you," she explained, "And how much you can give."

"We'll have to discuss this."

"I'm working," she said quickly, feeling scared at the idea of actually having to open her life up to this man again.

"Then tonight."

"I'm not sure, it's a little sudden and I…"

"Tonight," Jane insisted, "I'll go to your home and we will have a real talk about all of this."

Lisbon knew she was stuck; she couldn't even lie to the man over the phone without him knowing about it. She would have to do it his way, at leas for once. "All right, I'll see you tonight."

She hung up her phone and breathed a long sigh, when she looked up she saw Kate still staring at her. "What?"

"You're seeing him then?"

"He wants to talk about Dani," Lisbon explained, "and what we are going to do."

"Which is?"

"I don't have the faintest idea."


Jane was a bit mixed after the conversation with Lisbon, not unusual given how much of a whirlwind his current emotions were in. He'd been trying to figure everything out all night but really he was right back where he started when he first saw that little girl sleeping in her bed. He knew what he wanted, but he'd always known that. As Lisbon stated it was less about what he wanted and more about allowing himself to have it.

If he were honest with himself then he would admit he'd wanted her. He'd wanted Teresa and he'd wanted to have a family with her. That some something he'd known for a while, even before Red John's death. After the monster was gone and the possibilities were open he learned a hard lesson about obsession, the lengths that you went to in order to achieve it did come back to haunt you. She'd accused him of not knowing how to exist in a world without Red John, that wasn't far from the truth. But really it was about wondering how to live in a world where he wasn't sure he belonged. He still wasn't.

He pulled out Teresa's book again, flipping through on chapter till the next. He wasn't entirely sure what he was looking for until he found it.

The basement was as chilling like you would find in any horror film but nothing was quite as terrifying to me as Jane's cold indifference, his anger at my pulling the plug early. I don't regret that, I never have. We saved that girl's life and deep down I know Jane was felt relief in that moment too. But I also saved Jane's life, which was another reason why I did what I did. Red John would have come and he would have killed him. I didn't want Red John that way. I couldn't risk any more lives, not the girl's and not Jane's.

It killed me to hear him say he didn't care. That nothing mattered to him more than getting Red John. That he would sacrifice anything for revenge. I truly believed that and in that moment I think he did too.

But we were both wrong.

I was talking to Maya, trying to calm her down while the rest of the officers secured the scene. It was a mixture of negligence and luck that allowed Hardy to stand up from the stretcher and grab a gun. For a full second he and I locked eyes. I had my hand on my own weapon but there was no way I would be able to pull it fast enough before he pulled the trigger. I saw it in his eyes. He was going to kill me. Red John's man was going to kill me and I couldn't stop it.

Then there was the gunshot and I felt no pain…because Hardy hadn't pulled the trigger.

I didn't see Hardy fall to the ground, I didn't see him collapse and I didn't hear anyone screaming. All I saw was Jane with a shotgun in his hand and the look of absolute relief in his eyes. The same way I felt when I saved someone I cared about very much. Then he threw the gun away as if it bit him and ran to Hardy, hoping with his dying breath that he would reveal Red John's name. But Hardy died laughing and we still didn't have any answers.

There were only a few things we learned that night. Red John was more powerful than anyone had ever thought. He had more friends than we realized and many in law enforcement. He had a sick fascination with Jane and enjoyed the game he was playing too much. Jane was willing to sacrifice his own life and most anything else to get to Red John.

He would let himself die…but he wouldn't let me.

I never asked him why he shot Hardy and we never spoke of it again. That was the beginning of something that still haunts me to this day.

I'm certain it haunts him too.

Well she was right about that.

Jane often wondered if Lisbon realized how transparent she was even with her writing. While she obviously took pains to disguise her true feelings in the end they were as clear as the sun. But she never did outright say how both of them felt; just like they had finally indulged in private she never betrayed anything in public. But then again she didn't have to; she always wore her heart on her sleeve even with a pen in her hand.

But he'd missed her clue about their daughter. She'd managed to hide that much.

Now he had to sort it out, had to find out if it was possible to have the child from the woman he'd deemed himself unworthy of. At first it seemed clear that he should stay away from both mother and daughter, but he didn't have the same pain and reservations as he'd had years before. Perhaps time had convinced him.

Perhaps living miserably without the woman he loved had done that too.

There was a fierce knock on the door that surprised him. Jane wasn't expecting anyone, unless Teresa had tracked him down to have their talk sooner than later. But no, she was trying to avoid it entirely. Perhaps her fiancé was more of the jealous type then he had once assumed.

But both guesses were wrong. It only took him a moment to recognize Kate Duggar, her picture on the book jacket was helpful but she was also the same woman he'd spotted with Teresa at lunch just the day before. Up close he could see she was several inches taller than Teresa and certainly a bit more of a power grabber than his pocket rocket. Or maybe it was just because she was looking like a pit-bull facing a thief at the moment.

"Ms. Kate Duggar," Jane drawled out, "the picture on your jacket cover does not do you justice."

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I feel like I should be asking you that," Jane pointed out. "Seeing as we've never met I'm a little impressed you managed to track me down and took the time to come here yourself."

"I'm a true crime novelist, I have more than a few cops who owe me some favors. It wasn't that hard to trace you," Kate explained simply, "Now answer my question."

"I'm certain you already know. I came here to see Teresa and now I'm staying because of the additional knowledge of my daughter."

Kate shuffled a bit, pushing her purse higher on her shoulder. "It's been four years, it's a little late for you to suddenly come back into her life now."

"Not it hasn't."

"Excuse me?"

"I could argue that I never really left her life," Jane replied. "My daughter has been with her all along and if you believe I stopped following her, admittedly not as close as I should have, then you are mistaken."

"Your drunken phone calls don't count."

"Our talk last year at Cho's wedding certainly does." Kate didn't say anything so Jane took the opportunity to continue. "You know more than enough to realize that very little has changed between Teresa and me."

Her eyes flashed then. "She's getting married in a few weeks."

"That has no bearing on her feelings for me."

"Did you not hear what I just said?"

"Of course I did, but if you were so certain that Teresa wasn't still in love with me then you wouldn't be here. You'd be comfortable with the knowledge that there is no risk for her losing her heart again and therefore being hurt…which I have done far too often."

She glared at him. "Well at least you admitted that much."

"It is never my intention."

"But you never do anything to prevent it," Kate pointed out. "You walk into her life, use her for revenge, let her fall in love with you and do nothing to stop it and then tear it to shreds with everything you do to get what you want. Then when it's all over you walk away, come back, break her heart and leave again. That's all you've ever done with her." She eyed him carefully. "You know what I found when I met her? Nothing. She'd lost everything she'd worked for because she'd sacrificed it for you and then you walked away, leaving her alone." Kate cast her eyes away now. "The only good thing you did for her was Dani. Don't screw that up for her now too."

Jane was certainly affected by her words but truly it was nothing he hadn't already known or told himself over the years. He'd always seen how his actions had hurt her, had always known she'd gone home to her apartment alone or some other dark safe place so she could hide her tears from everyone. He wasn't sure if anything was different now either, wasn't sure if he was capable to stopping hurting her.

"But that's the important thing," Jane replied, "My child. I have another child and I have the right to at least know she exists. I have the right to be in her life."

"Not if you'll only cause more pain."

Jane bristled a little now. "What right do you have to be involved with this? This is not your family."

"I'm the shoulder she cried on for six hours when she couldn't keep it anymore," Kate shot back.

"But I'm the father of this child, I'm the one made these mistakes and I should be given the opportunity to fix them."

"I'm not sure I agree with that."

"Like I said, that isn't your call," Jane reminded her. "This is between Lisbon, myself and our daughter but not you." Kate clearly didn't like that categorizations. "I respect you for what you did for her, you've been an amazing friend for her through these years. But that doesn't mean this is your choice."

She looked a little smug. "And what about Chris? Doesn't he have a place in this?"

Jane had all but for forgotten Lisbon's fiancé to be perfectly honest. Jane considered that minor complication for a moment. "That all depends on Lisbon and what she wants. But he's not Dani's father either."

Kate couldn't dispute that. "I think you are underestimating their relationship."

Jane smiled. "No, you're trying to undervalue ours."

She paled a bit, not quite as sure of herself at least on that score. "I only want what's best for Teresa and Dani. I don't think that's you. What do you say for that?"

"I don't know," Jane admitted. "But I want the chance to find out."


Lisbon spent the evening after work spot cleaning her home, as if Jane was going to come and judge her for having dust on her shelves. But she was mostly just trying to keep herself busy so she didn't hyperventilate at the idea of Patrick Jane coming to her home so that they could discuss their daughter. That wasn't something she'd ever really prepared herself for, not since she'd decided that telling Jane about Dani was an impossibility.

But now he knew and they would have to come to some agreement. Not that Lisbon actually thought he would stick around to be in Dani's life. Right now he was just confused and frightened, he wanted to be with her but when the dust settled he would decide to walk away. It was the exact same thing that had happened four years ago.

And when that happened she didn't want her little girl to be hurt like she was.

"You know, I don't think he's going to care if the silver is scratched," Annie said dryly. She was sitting on the couch flipping through the channels after giving up on trying to help her aunt while she was going through her crazy cleaning fetish.

"This isn't about keeping the house clean, this is about keeping me from getting hysterical."

"Why?" Annie asked, "It's not a big deal. He'll come over and you'll talk about your kid. You wanted this once, remember?"

"That was four years ago when I actually thought that the best thing for her was for him to be involved." Lisbon reminded her niece, "Things change."

Annie gaped Lisbon. "You really think that he shouldn't be able to see his kid?"

"I don't want him hurting Dani."

"What is he going to do? Push her down the stairs?"

"He'll leave! He'll break her heart."

"Are you sure? Maybe you need to give him a chance," Annie said, "after all, he already lost one daughter. Why would he walk away from another?"

"Dani isn't Charlotte," Lisbon told Annie, then looked away and said very softly. "And I'm not Angela."

She turned to find Annie staring at her, a mixture of sadness and pity in her eyes. "Do you really think that's why he left?"

Lisbon looked away again. "It doesn't matter. He left, he can't take that back. I can't trust him with my child and that is that." She sighed heavily and met Annie's eyes. "Dani is upstairs, can you get her ready?"

"For what? You want her dressed up to meet him?"

"She's not going to meet him. You are going to take her out."

"I am?"

"Yes," Lisbon insisted.

"But it's Friday night!"

"So?"

"So generally I prefer to hang out with someone over the age of four, preferably of the cute male variety."

Lisbon glared at Annie. "You have a lot of Friday nights ahead of you. But since you are living with me right now I'd appreciate it if you did me a favor and took my daughter out."

Annie was still annoyed at the idea of her big plans going up in smoke. "What exactly am I supposed to do with her?"

"Take her to the movies, to get ice cream, bring her to the park. I don't really care as long as it is appropriate and away from here." Lisbon explained, "And do not bring her back until I call you and tell you that he is gone."

"Are you kidding me? Not only do I have to babysit D.J. but I have to kidnap her as well? Do I hide her in a blanket and carry her out to the car too?"

"Stop being dramatic. Just do this for me."

Annie sighed and got to her feet. "This is ridiculous. You know that right? He's her father, not Charles Manson."

"Just get Dani."

"All right, I'm going," Annie said and headed up the stairs, muttering under her breath about feeding the kid tons of sugar as payback. That was fine with Lisbon; she could deal with taking care of a sugar crazed four year old for one night if it meant protecting her child.

A few minutes later Dani came rushing down the stairs with her little pink Nikes on. "Annie says we are going out!" Dani exclaimed, all smiles and happiness.

"Yes you are," Lisbon said, "Just a fun day with you and your cousin."

"Yay!"

"Well someone is excited," Annie remarked, earning another black look from her aunt. Contrary to her complaints she really did love the little troublemaker, she just didn't like having her plans ruined. She also had her own opinions about Lisbon's love life, especially in regards to her upcoming wedding.

"Come on, D.J." Annie said, ushering the little girl out of the door. "We're going to have some girl time."

"What about Mommy?"

"Mommy is going to stay here and do some work," Lisbon told Dani, "it'll be boring grown up stuff. So it's just going to be you and your cousin."

While Dani would have preferred having her mother with her, a day out with her cousin was still more fun then spending time alone in the house. She was all smiles while Annie led her out of the house to her beat up Camry. Lisbon watched Annie buckle Dani into her the child seat, sent her aunt another look before getting into the car herself and driving away.

Lisbon breathed easier once they were gone, now Dani would be safe when Jane came over for their talk. She still tried to find some way to keep herself busy, even going upstairs to change her clothes. That part was pretty ridiculous, she wasn't trying to impress Jane, she was engaged for God's sake.

Finally there was a knock on the door and Lisbon let out a nervous breath before slowly walking towards it.

Sure enough, Jane was on the other side, looking rather calm himself. Apparently both of them had been trying to prepare for this moment. For a few seconds all they did was look at each other, there was a lot of weight behind the gaze, so much between them and now even more than he had originally assumed.

She stepped aside to let him in, neither one of them had said a word yet. Jane walked inside of her home; the first thing he looked at was the picture of Danielle that first informed him he had another child. He studied the photograph again but didn't pick it up, instead after a few moments he moved on down the hallway.

Lisbon was still at a loss as to what to do, she wound up just standing by her front door wondering exactly how she got to this place. Jane was in her home, looking over pictures of their daughter, that wasn't something she had ever prepared herself for. She shook her head and followed her former lover who was still looking around her home, the same way he used to do at crime scenes. He was taking it all in and figuring out everything about her life with just some quick glances.

She saw his eyes land on the table laden with unopened wedding presents and she found herself blushing. When she looked up Jane was staring at her again, a mask hiding the emotions in his eyes. "You came here to talk," Lisbon reminded him, "perhaps we should do that."

Jane turned away, looking at a row of Dani's baby pictures that were resting on a table. "Where is she?"

"Not here," Lisbon told him, "Annie took her out for some quality time. I figured it would be best if we talked uninterrupted."

Jane smirked darkly and shook his head. "No, you weren't thinking of our talk. You merely wanted to keep me from seeing her."

Well he was right.

"It still would be better to discuss this without a four year old distracting us." Lisbon insisted.

"I wanted to meet her," Jane reminded her, "Preferably while she was awake this time."

She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling that same protective instinct all mothers had. "No. Not now, not yet. Not until you prove you aren't going to just walk away and hurt her."

"Is that what this is about or are you merely doling out petty vengeance?"

"Don't talk to me about revenge," Lisbon growled, "we've been down that road before. This isn't about what happened between us, I just don't want my daughter hurt the way I was." She looked away, her voice softening. "I wasn't mad that you left, I expected that much."

When she met his eyes again she saw he looked a little ashamed himself, guilt could do that. She sighed. "You're here, you know about Danielle, you're the one who wanted to talk. Tell me what you came here to say."

Jane straightened then, shaking off whatever sadness had pervaded him again. "Why do you think I'll hurt our daughter?"

"The same way you hurt me," Lisbon replied, "you'll leave and she'll be left wondering how to pick up the pieces of her life."

"This isn't about you," Jane reminded her.

"I'm her mother."

"And I'm her father."

"I know that," Lisbon said, "but it isn't that simple. You know that we don't always get what we want, not after everything that happened, what you decided."

"I didn't decide to not be in my child's life, you did," Jane insisted.

"You made that choice when you walked out of my life," Lisbon replied.

That raised Jane's ire. "That isn't exactly what happened and you know it. None of that gives you the right to keep my child from me."

"What would you have done?" Lisbon asked, "Would you have come back?"

He was quiet for a moment as he considered that question. Then he shook his head. "I don't know…you never gave me the chance to find out."

"You don't know," she repeated, "and that's why I didn't tell you."

Jane was caught off guard by that statement and she took some satisfaction in the fact that he couldn't dispute her. He turned away; picked up a picture of their daughter she had resting on the end table. It was when she was two years old at a studio; she was sitting on a chair wearing a little white dress, grinning widely with her green eyes lit with wonder. Jane set the picture back down and met her eyes. "And what were your plans if I hadn't shown up?"

He was implying her plans had changed. They hadn't of course.

Lisbon shrugged. "Nothing, just keep raising her as I have been."

"With Chris."

So that was the problem.

"Chris and I are still getting married," Lisbon told him, she wanted him to know that she was still pressing forward.

"And he was going to raise my child?"

She rolled her eyes. "He's not a bad man. You met him, you said so yourself."

Jane didn't respond to that, just asked another question. "Was he going to adopt her?"

Lisbon bristled a little at that, Jane was sounding like Chris was trying to steal what was rightfully his…which wasn't too far from the truth. "We discussed it but it wasn't going to be an easy task. I put your name on her birth certificate so you would have to sign away your rights, which would mean telling you. So the point was moot anyways."

"Interesting, you told the Cho, your family and the government but not me." Jane remarked, "I wonder who else knew. I'm assuming Grace and Rigsby."

She shook her head. "No, they know I have a child but…but I didn't tell them it was with you."

"Why not?"

"Why would I? They had already left by the time you and I started sleeping together, the only reason I told Cho was because he figured it out." She looked down at the floor. "I only told my family…and Kate."

That intrigued Jane. "You told your writing friend?"

"Yes, when we were writing the book." Lisbon explained, "It wasn't an easy time and I needed to let things out. I didn't intend to tell her but…but then it all came out. I felt a little better after that. Finally I had someone who could help me sort through the mess my life had become."

Jane nodded, understanding that desire at least. "I could tell you became close with her. It's good that you finally have a friend like that outside of work."

"Well I gave up a lot of things after you left," Lisbon explained, "like my job."

"You didn't give up the CBI for me."

"No," she agreed, "I gave it up because it wasn't worth it anymore. I had built a team, a family and when we finally got what we wanted…we went our separate ways. I couldn't keep working in a place that was merely a shadow of what it once was; I couldn't stay when I was stuck in the past. I had to forge my new life, that included my daughter."

Jane studied her, his eyes calm and focused. "You were running," he stated with authority.

"So were you," Lisbon pointed out, "the difference is that I stopped. Can you say the same?"

She had him there and he knew it.

"Perhaps I lacked incentive."

That stung but he didn't notice. It implied what she'd always been afraid of; she had never been enough for him. Yes he loved her but not as much as she loved him, not as much as he had loved the family he lost.

That begged the question if he could love his child with her?

"Danielle isn't incentive," Lisbon hissed, "She's my child."

"You know what I meant."

"Of course I do, but she isn't some experiment for you try out and see if you like it. She's a little girl who shouldn't wonder why her father doesn't stick around when she begs him to."

"You aren't even giving me a chance," Jane pointed out, "how are we supposed to know if you don't let me try?"

"Because it's better to protect Dani then to risk you destroying her."

Jane shook his head. "I won't do that."

"And how do I know that? For that matter… how do you?"

It was a damn good question, one neither of them knew how to answer which was the crux of their problem. Until she could be certain that Jane would stay and be a father to their child then she would do everything she could to protect her, which included keeping them apart.

Something she learned very quickly she wasn't good at.

The sound of the front door opening alerted Lisbon that something was wrong. Then she heard Dani's little feet running through the house. "Mommy! We got ice cream and Annie gave me one with sprinkles and cherries and—."

Dani came to sudden stop right by her mother as soon as she saw the man standing in the living room. She stared at him, her eyes wide with shock, awe and a bit of fear. Annie followed her cousin in at a much slower pace, a small smirk on her lips.

Jane's expression was almost identical to his daughter; he stared at her like she was the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen.

Lisbon was just filled with rage.

"I told you to wait until I called!" she snapped at her niece.

"Oops, must have made a mistake," Annie replied flippantly.

"Don't you dare be smart with me, you did this on purpose!"

"Yeah I did," Annie admitted, "Because it was the right thing to do." Jane tore his gaze away from his daughter long enough to meet her eyes. Annie snorted. "Don't thank me, I'm not on your side. I'm on DJ's."

"Then you shouldn't have done this!" Lisbon exclaimed.

Dani was still staring at Jane, tears filling her big eyes and then slowly leaving wet trails down her cheeks. "Mommy," she whispered, pressing against her mother's legs but still keeping both of her eyes on him.

Jane took a step towards her. "Danielle…it's okay. I'm..."

"I know who you are," Dani interrupted him, still clinging to her mother.

That surprised Jane. "You do?"

She nodded. "Mommy showed me a picture…but she said you weren't coming back."

"She was wrong," Jane told her softly. "Because I'm here now." He squatted down to her level but she held onto her mother tighter. "I'm here and I want to get to know you." His voice was gentle and sweet, he'd always had a way with children, he always could win them over.

So it was surprising when he reached to touch her hand that Dani shouted "No!" and then ran away, rushing up the stairs to her room.

All three adults were surprised by Dani's flight, but Jane was the one who looked devastated. Lisbon surprised him by turning on Annie. "Look what you did!"

"I didn't do anything."

"This wasn't the way for her to see him," Lisbon insisted, "now she's upset."

Annie looked chastened by that. "I'm sorry."

"Later," Lisbon replied harshly, "just stay out of this for now." She didn't give either one of them another glance, but turned on her heel and headed up the stairs.

Dani's door was shut; she'd slammed it as hard as a little girl could. Good thing she didn't quite know what locks on the door were for yet. Lisbon quietly opened the door to find the room empty except for her daughter's soft crying. Lisbon sighed and knelt down on the ground to peek under the bed, Dani's favorite hiding place. She really was too much like her father, even finding a secret place to disappear where her mother couldn't go.

"Baby, it's okay," Lisbon said gently.

"Is he gone?"

"No," she answered honestly, "he's still downstairs."

"Why?"

Lisbon shrugged. "I think he's still hoping to talk to you."

"No," Dani insisted. "I don't want to."

This was all surprising to her. She had been honest with her daughter about where her father is but had also taken pains to explain that he wasn't a bad person, just broken. Her little girl had always shown a curiosity about her father, asking many questions and staring at his picture. She thought Dani would be excited at the idea of finally meeting him; instead she had fled like he had the plague.

Lisbon sighed. "If you want me to get him to leave. I will." Dani didn't say anything, but shrunk further under her bed. "Dani, do you want him to leave?" The little girl didn't look at her mother before nodding her head a little bit. "All right," she said, moving away to stand up. "I'll tell him to go."

"No!"

Lisbon leaned back down to look under her bed, one eyebrow arched. "No?" Dani wasn't looking at her again. "Honey, do you want him to go or not?" But her daughter wouldn't meet her eyes, just stared down at the carpet under her bed. Lisbon shuffled so her head was resting on her hands and her palms were flat on the floor. "You know, I remember when you first asked me about him." Dani peeked up at her mother for an instant before looking away, Lisbon just continued. "You wanted to know where he was, what he looked like, you even asked me if he liked pizza and pancakes." She chuckled a little at that memory, Dani's lips twitched too. "You had all of these questions, but you really wanted one thing." Lisbon met her daughter's eyes. "You really wanted to meet him."

Dani didn't look away this time, she was afraid though, that was obvious. "Why don't you want to now?"

Her little girl shrank back. "What if he leaves?"

Lisbon felt her heart splinter and break at her daughter's words, it was something she knew all to well. She was asking the same question herself. "I don't know," She admitted, "He might leave again. I don't know what he'll do." She reached over and stroked one golden curl. "But he's here now, he's here and he came to meet you."

Dani didn't look comforted by that. "It'd okay if you don't," Lisbon told her, "You don't have to see him…but this might be your only chance. You might regret it if you don't at least say hi to him. Would that be so bad?"

She shook her head a little. "Will he like me?"

Lisbon smiled now. "Of course he will. He'll love you." It wasn't a lie. She knew Jane would love Danielle not just because she was his daughter and she was so amazing and incredible, so easy to love. But because he could love, deeply and truly, the kind of love that was all consuming for him and the one he adored.

Unfortunately said love could be what forced him to keep away.

But she could shield Dani from that, could try and keep her from getting too close. She'd done what she could to keep her from knowing he was here but now that she knew, Lisbon thought it wouldn't be bad for her daughter to at least meet her father, if only so she could look back as she got older and think 'I met him and he loves me'.

And she couldn't get Jane's devastated expression out of her head, it was a pain she never thought she'd see when he watched his daughter run from him.

Lisbon saw her daughter weakening. "Come on. Let's go say hi to him. Let's go meet your daddy."

Dani nodded her head one last time and let her mother pull her out from under her bed. Then she tucked her little hand inside of her mother's and stayed close to her side. Lisbon was quiet as she led her daughter down the stairs.

She heard the voices first, not that she was expecting anything less.

"She's right, this wasn't the way to do it."

"I thought you would be thanking me."

"Forcing this on her was bound to be overwhelming, but I am grateful for the attempt."

"Please, if my aunt didn't have first dibs, I'd punch you myself."

"I have no doubts."

She almost smiled then, she knew he was. But she squeezed Dani's hand tighter and stepped into view, the little girl shielded by the partial wall that hid the stairs. Jane immediately stepped forward. "Is everything okay?"

Lisbon nodded and met his gaze. "It's fine, actually she'd really like to meet you." She heard him catch his breath the second she came around the stairs, their daughter's hand clutched in hers.

He stared at her with the same expression of shock, wonder and awe. But he was afraid too; there was no hiding that. "She doesn't have to," Jane said gently, but his eyes were begging for her to step closer.

Lisbon was going to answer but her daughter did the talking. "I want to," Dani said softly. She stayed close to her mother but her big green eyes were focused on him. "Hi," she piped up.

Jane chuckled a bit but there were tears in his eyes. "Hi," he replied. He knelt down again to be on her level but stayed a couple of steps back, being careful not to push her. "You look so beautiful," he whispered.

Dani smile at the compliment. "Mommy says I look like you."

"Well you didn't get that hair from me," Lisbon muttered.

"You have her eyes," Jane pointed out, "and they are as big and beautiful as hers." Dani's mother blushed then but the little girl just grinned. She liked being told how pretty she was. Jane took a risk, moving just a little closer but Dani didn't flinch now. "I…I honestly don't know what to say. I'm happy just looking at you."

That made the little girl giggle a little, she was starting to relax a bit, no longer gripping her mother's hand so tight. "Did you have a picture of me too?"

Jane shook his head. "I didn't know you existed until last night."

"Oh, is that why you never came home?"

He hesitated, meeting Lisbon's eyes. "Possibly." Lisbon felt that pain; he couldn't even say if he'd have stayed. "But I'm here now," Jane continued, "I'm here and I want to get to know you. That's the most important thing for me."

Dani looked at him thoughtfully. "Why?"

Jane smiled sweetly. "You're my daughter, of course I want to know you." He looked her over carefully. "Don't you want to get to know me?"

She was quiet for a few seconds before nodding her head. "Yes."

He was relieved then. "Good, but we'll take this slow. I don't know about you but this is all a little scary for me."

Dani smiled gently. "Me too."

"And I promise, I'm not going to leave, not unless you get sick of me," Jane told her, making her giggle again. "Shake on it." He held out his hand and Dani looked at him a little uncertain, but she was already warming up to him. She reached over and placed her tiny hand in his, giving him a bit of an enthusiastic shake. It was obvious Jane was reluctant to let her go.

But he did and Dani stayed at her mother's side, still a little nervous but that was being rivaled by her excitement. Lisbon patted her daughter's shoulder. "Why don't you let Annie get you ready for bed. You can say good night while me and daddy talk."

The title slipped from her lips. It was what she'd always called him when she and Dani talked.

Dani didn't notice. "Okay." She hugged her mother's leg. "Good night, Mommy." But she stopped and met Jane's eyes again. "Good night, Daddy." She didn't go over to him, but just being called 'Daddy' was enough to make Jane's heart melt once more.

The little girl hurried over to her cousin who took her hand, Annie eyed both adults before leading her up the stairs. For the moment her indiscretion was forgotten as the more important matter of Dani and Jane's burgeoning relationship needed to be discussed.

Jane couldn't take his eyes off his daughter as she was led up the stairs by her older cousin. Lisbon watched Jane, seeing the absolute awe in his eyes still. She didn't know if that was just because he still was adjusting to seeing Danielle…or if he would always be grateful to have a second child.

Finally he turned to look at Lisbon. "She's amazing."

Lisbon nodded. "Yes she is."

"You didn't have to bring her back down…"

She shook her head. "Dani wanted to, she's always wanted to meet you she just was afraid. She didn't really want you to go."

"I'm glad," Jane admitted. "And I'm grateful that you have told her about me. You didn't have to do that."

Lisbon sighed. "Yes I did, she deserves to know where she came from."

Both of them were quiet for a moment as they considered what happened, what they would do and were things could go from here. Lisbon didn't like any of her options because now she couldn't just go back.

"So what now?" Jane asked, but he must have had a good idea.

"She's met you," Lisbon reminded him, "and this isn't going to be enough for her."

"Or for me," Jane stated."

She sighed. "Then we'll have to set something up. Something easy and slow, something that we'll all be comfortable with."

"And your fiancé?"

"Let me deal with Chris," Lisbon replied, blushing a little at the reminder. "Besides, we still don't know how long this will last."

"I'm not going anywhere," Jane stated definitively.

She knew he meant that. Seeing his daughter had changed something inside of him, made him surer, firmer…like he was finally planted on the ground. But she'd heard this song before.

"I'll believe that when I see it."


A/N: Well Jane and Dani finally meet and now Lisbon has to figure out if there is a way to work Jane into her new life. We'll see what Chris has to say about the new turn of events.

Now Double Talk, I promise. I have all afternoon tomorrow and I finally know where I'm going with it.