I hope you enjoy. Thanks for the feedback. It's very appreciated. -PVB

Cracks In The Foundation – Chapter 2

She took a small sip of her coffee and replaced it in her car's cup holder. She checked her watch and yawned. She was sure she looked like a sleep deprived zombie, but that wasn't exactly a shock these days. At first, it hadn't been this bad; she'd coped well enough with things—a stiff drink here, a take-down of an uncooperative suspect there to make her feel better, better now that things were more serious, her coping consisted of late-night scouting and surveillance. She guessed getting only three hours of sleep a night for over four months would make her look horrible.

She turned to the papers strew across the passenger side seat and frowned. She had scribbled incoherently on most of those lists when things didn't pan out It wasn't like she hadn't gotten any tantalizing leads in the case she was pursuing on her own, but it was a job scoping out people, slimming people off her list. She had set her mind to it, and she would figure it out. She wasn't sure that her recent move to the FBI sector was helping her cause. Nobody wanted to drive back into the world of the Blake Association again. As far as they were concerned, that case was closed and the group disbanded and weeded out for potential rehashing. Even Abbott, who had given her a glowing reference to the California FBI, had his reservations. Before departing back to his home base of Texas, he had warned her about delving into things that were closed. Still, she could not shake a connection to the most recent development that dived her into this…obsession.

"Obsession," she said out loud, almost laughing with how absurd it sounded. That was something Jane did, not her. She shook her head to immediately rid herself of thinking about Jane. It wasn't anything new; she had been doing that since he left a year ago. She'd catch herself and change her thoughts to something less depressing. "Get it together, Teresa."

The tap on her driver's side window nearly frightened her to death. She clutched at her rapidly beating heart and chuckled as she reached over to put the window down. Looking up at him, she could see that Virgil Minelli looked as bad as she probably did. His baggy eyes and wrinkled face peered at her, though a small smile played at the corner of his lips. Clearly, he was amused by the scare he gave her.

"You scared the crap out of me!" she exclaimed to her ex-boss. "I wasn't expecting you so soon."

"Is there any way I can talk you out of this?" Minelli asked, pressing a folded bit of paper into her hand. "I feel like every time I give people lists, bad things happen."

She knew he was referring to the list of Red John's accomplices that Minelli had given Jane. Again, with the thoughts of Jane in her brain, she shook her head automatically to dismiss it. She looked down at the paper and back to her boss.

"Thanks, Virgil," said Lisbon. "I know you had to go through back channels for this. I appreciate the help." Without Minelli's help, she would be nowhere. He had given her two other lists with names, but her digging and scouring around had easily wiped the names on them off. This one, she hoped, would be more promising.

She glanced back down at the paper and scanned the names. Some names she did not recognize, but others she did, including a judge she had once used to get a warrant for Tommy Volker. She was surprised to find her name there, but even more astonished when she came across Agent Gabe Mancini of the FBI, who was not part of the CBI as the others on each list had been.

"Mancini?" Her voice picked up in disbelief as she glanced at Minelli. "He's FBI. I'm thinking more along the lines of CBI."

He sighed and blew out an exaggerated breath. "What about O'Laughlin? He was FBI. Or what about Smith? He's gone MIA, and he was in the group and also an FBI official." He hesitated for a second, and then, "You can't trust anyone, Teresa. This is why this is so ridiculous! You're going to get yourself killed diving into this! Especially if what you say is true!"

"The Blake Association is just as responsible for Red John's crimes as he was, Virgil! They covered up his crimes for him. Letting this go would be like letting Red John go, and we both know how that went, don't we?" She bit back the rest of what she was thinking. It wouldn't do her any good to continue her rant. He knew the unspoken feelings. She could see it in his eyes. "Don't look at me like that."

She felt him reach in and place a hand on her slim shoulder. "If this is about Jane, I'm sure he wouldn't want you to take any unnecessary risks." He met her gaze evenly, but he knew she wouldn't admit it to him. Even if she hadn't come to him almost a year ago and poured her heart out to him, he would still have guessed it had to do with Jane.

"It's not," she insisted. "This is about getting every last one of those bastards, Virgil. The FBI won't listen to me, but I am telling you that something is going on."

"You can't go this alone, Teresa," he told her in a fatherly tone. "You have to get help from somewhere if you really insist on continuing with this stupid mission of yours." He sighed. "I worry, Teresa."

"You know Van Pelt and Rigsby have a new baby," she told him, "and can't get involved. Cho is my boss now. Do you think he'd let me do this if he knew?"

"Maybe if…"

"No," she replied immediately, shaking her brunette hair around her shoulders. "I'm not tracking down Jane. I said what I meant, and I don't want him around."

"You are still a terrible liar," Minelli said with a soft chuckle. "You were irrational, and you regret it, but instead of correcting the problem, you are being completely stubborn!" He let go of her shoulder. "Not everyone has the moral compass you do. His anger was justified, just like your actions were. But it's pointless to tell you that because you won't listen. I don't expect anything less." He sighed once again and leaned down into the window. "Please tell me you are going to be safe, Teresa. Don't do anything stupid."

She laughed and watched as he stood back. He watched her start her car and back out, wave to him, and head off. He waited until the last of her tail lights were around the corner before he pulled out his cell phone from his pocket. He dialed a familiar number and waited.

"Cho," he said as soon as the other end became active, "she's on the move. You might want to find Jane. He's the only one that is going to either get her killed or help her out. Either way, I think it's time."

Minelli felt dirty for snitching on his best agent of old, but he couldn't live with himself if something happened to her, and he knew that Cho could not contain her, no matter how much he threatened her. She'd just do it, anyway. The only person who could keep her in check abandoned her, but somehow, Minelli could only see this ending one way if Jane didn't come back to help her out.

He shuddered at the thought of Lisbon's demise as he listened to Cho tell him they located Patrick Jane. He shuddered again for what this possible reunion could do for their already broken foundation.

Reno, Nevada, 24 hours later

The stagnant air around him comforted him somehow. The thick cigar smoke lingering around the bar was like an old friend greeting him every night. The blaring lights and music thumped wildly around him as he stared at his nearly empty glass of Cognac. A year of sitting at the same place, at the same time every night made the whole drinking-at-the-bar thing kind of stale.

He felt the same as he did the day he left the CBI and his makeshift family. He was beaten down and worn so thin that he was an open book to people, not that anyone ever came up to him and actually spoke with him besides the barman. He had resorted to past behavior, including swindling people into believing he could tell the past, present, and future, and mingling in some little counting cards from one of the casinos scattered around, and making some decent cash to sustain himself. It wasn't Vegas, but it was good enough. By day, he was the old Patrick Jane from long ago, and by night he was a sad, depraved man who was just trying to live out his life in solitude knowing he would never feel the satisfaction of avenging his dead family.

The one thing he still thought about was Lisbon. He was still upset with her for what she had done, but the months had shaved some of that away. Rational thoughts stole his anger from him and replaced it with common sense with what she thought was the right thing to do at the time. Still, he could not envision himself seeing her again, which is why he decided to move away from her and the memories she invoked, both negative and positive. He still couldn't forgive her for betraying him so badly.

He picked up his glass, downed the last bit of booze, and lifted himself from the bar. Slapping a ten down on the counter, he turned and made his way (swaying just a little) back to his room just above the bar. It had been an extra room for the barman, but when he didn't need it, it was offered on a prorated basis to Jane, who took it. It was better than living in his old, cramped car, which is what he was doing before.

It took him a few tries in his inebriated state to get the key in, but finally, the door swung open and he went in. He made his way through the small living area and sat on the couch. After years of sleeping on Lisbon's couch and the bullpen couch, a bed wasn't exactly comfortable for him anymore. Besides, he hated sleeping in a bed alone. He hadn't really wanted to sleep in a bed since Angela's death, but a necessity for the job didn't allow him to choose often.

"How did you find me?" Jane asked, his eyes focusing on the chair to his right.

He had seen Kimball Cho's outline when he entered but decided to wait until he grounded himself from the booze spinning his head around in waves. He couldn't really be shocked that he was here—he was astonished that one of the team members hadn't come sooner. He wouldn't lie to himself, he thought it would be Lisbon.

"I'm a detective," Cho told him bluntly. "You just hid poorly."

"Friends in high places." He chuckled. "I wasn't exactly hiding." He looked at his old colleague for the first time and noticed he had aged considerably. "You look like hell."

Cho nodded. "Thanks. You look like the hounds of hell dragged you back up and spit you out," he answered. "I guess we're even."

"I guess we are," Jane conceded. "What are you doing here?"

"We need your help."

"I'm not going back, Cho," he said with an unsteady shake of his head. "I am finished. I meant it."

Cho reached beside him and pulled out a folder. "This will change your mind."

Jane stared at the folder for a few seconds, trying to outweigh the curiosity hitting him squarely in the chest and the need to distance himself from anything that had to do with his former profession as a consultant. His heavy-lidded eyes rose to meet Cho's. If he took this folder, he wasn't sure his resolute stance to never go back would hold. In fact, it was pure intuition that told him so. Sometimes he hated how in tuned to himself he was.

"Why didn't Lisbon just come here herself?' he asked finally, a tingle riding sharply down his back as he said her name for the first time in a long time. "I'm assuming she sent you."

"She's in trouble," Cho replied succinctly.

His eyes darted back down to the folder, and he felt himself reach for it, snagging it from Cho. "And you think I can help her?" His eyes raised back up for a brief moment to once again meet the agent's eyes. "You think I want to help her?"

"I think you'd do exactly as she did for you when you needed it." He was straightforward. "If you don't help her, she's going to be in deep crap. You owe her for all the time she put up with your crap."

He shook his disheveled locks at Cho. "I don't do that anymore, Cho. And…" he hesitated. He wanted to say that he didn't think he could help her, but he knew that was a lie. No matter what Lisbon was into, he was sure he could. But with everything she had done to him, he didn't think he would help her. But then, Cho was correct. She had stepped up and helped him in his hour of need.

Cho sighed heavily and ambled to his feet. He was clearly ready to leave, but Jane wasn't willing to let him go just yet. He rose, too, and took the folder from his old team member. There were no words needed, and Cho didn't say anything as he opened the folder inside.

"She's poking around where she shouldn't be," Cho told him as he watched his eyes scan the folder. "I don't need to tell you what the Blake Association can do. You've lived with what they can do."

His face contorted at the mention of the faction of police and high-up officials that participated in corruption and ethic code violations. "The other reason is the fact she doesn't want my help," he concluded, looking down at the single sheet of paper inside, trying not to focus on the Blake Association mention. "They were disbanded, weren't they?" He looked at Cho in slight confusion. "Let me guess," he said with a deep, rattling sigh, "something else came to the surface."

"You could say that," was Cho's honest reply. "That's another reason I am here. You got her into this mess, even if you didn't pull the strings yourself. Since you abandoned us, she's been swinging on the deep end, Jane. She's taking risks that she shouldn't."

"We had an understanding." Well, maybe not about her taking risks like she seemed to be doing. It sounded like this was her way of coping. He knew when he left her in that dusty, dirty attic that he had broken her heart. It did not take a mentalist to see the shattered pieces on the floor around her.

He glanced over the folder, and it seemed that something did indeed slip to the surface. Reede Smith escaped a maximum-security prison somehow—he would correctly assume with some help from members of the BA that were not so closely scrutinized and passed on because of how insignificant they were. Or, an even scarier thought, it was someone so high up that nobody would suspect was involved in the group.

"Maybe she didn't understand you as well as you thought." Cho's voice broke in, but it was distant and almost like bad reception.

Yeah, Jane thought, how astute. "How is Lisbon involved in this?"

"She believes someone helped Smith break out of jail," Cho explained. "She's been trying to track him down, but he's always one step ahead of her. She thinks someone within the old CBI circle is helping him and trying to get the BA back together again on the low." Cho sniffed the air stiffly. "She's treading in bad territory, Jane."

"Didn't you try to stop her?"

"You've met Teresa Lisbon before, right? Yeah, I think we both know why we didn't. She's getting reckless." He furrowed his eyebrows. "She learned from the master." His eyes trained on Jane pointedly.

He sighed heavily and closed the folder. He licked his suddenly dry lips and tried to keep himself steady on his feet. There was no way he could help her. Going back wasn't an option for him. He couldn't deal with what she had done, and he had distinctly remembered her "clean break" she wanted from him. How would she feel even knowing Cho came all this way to ask for his help in whatever occurred? He wasn't even sure how he felt about it.

He handed the folder back to Cho and sat back down on the couch. "I can't do it, Cho. I'm sorry. It's not what I do anymore."

"You're leaving her high and dry. I get it. I thought you'd try to repay her any way you could for what she's done for you." He walked past Jane before turning around as he got to the door. "Even if you hated the ending, Jane, she was there for you all the way to the end." He turned and opened the door. "Now you want to fade away when her life is in danger. You're a coward."

He closed his eyes and let Cho's words confuse and constrict his mind. He knew he was right; Lisbon had been the only one to see him as a human being and less like a victim like everyone else had. She had, indeed, stayed by his side even to the bitter end when she decided to take matters into her own hands. He always told her he'd spend his life owing her, and he still meant every word of it. And he knew Lisbon valued her job—coveted it even. He owed her something, even if he still was bitter with her about the way things ended. He owed her his help, as she owed him his revenge. He didn't expect her to make good on her end, but he had a chance to at least pay her back for her kindness and help over the years. From what he could gather, she was in a very serious situation with dire consequences. He knew from experience how that could turn out. It happened to him years ago.

"Cho," he said softly, rising to his feet unsteadily, "wait."

"Change your mind?" Cho asked.

"Yes," he confirmed. "It's probably the alcohol doing it, but I have a way to repay her for what she did for me up until Red John's death." He shook his head. "But I won't stay. I help her and then I leave her, understood?"

Cho raised an eyebrow. "Fine," he told him. "Wouldn't be the first time."