A/N: Sorry, that it took me so long to write this chapter. I just had too much to do, together with all the excitment about season 7 airing so soon...I just didn't find the time/motivation to write. I'll finish this with a short epilogue, hopefully before this week is over. Thanks a lot for reading this; that means a lot to me.

Stan seemed struck for a moment, obviously shocked by her response.

Jane couldn't even remember that he'd moved but he suddenly found himself at Lisbon's side. She looked up at him, her eyes full of unshed tears. She wanted to run again; he saw it as clear as day.

Jane put a hand on her arm and the fact that she let him was only another proof of how hurt she was.

„Let's go", she murmured, not even glancing at her brother. Jane shook his head.

„No", he spoke as softly as she had. „We need answers, remember?"

She took hold of his arm, as if to support herself. It was a small gesture but it filled Jane's heart with warmth. She trusted him; she considered him her family.

„Teresa", Stan finally found his voice again and it had clearly lost it's edge. „I didn't mean what I said, you know?"

Jane could feel Lisbon tense at his words.

„No, I don't know and frankly I don't care. You don't want to help me. Fine! We're going to find Jimmy without you, but I swear Stan, if something happens to him because we're too late...!"

Her voice trembled and she couldn't finish the sentence. She tried to turn around but Jane hold her back. „Wait." He whispered, fighting against the urge to just leave with her. She was uncomfortable and all she wanted was to leave this room, but he wouldn't help her if he let her run away again. At least not in the long run; that's what he told himself but it wasn't easy. It didn't help that he was partly responsible for Stan's reaction, that he actually evoked it. He was the reason for the pain he now saw.

"You don't understand, Teresa …" Both Lisbon and Jane turned around and looked at Stan. His voice almost cracked.

He run his hands over his face, apparently not any better in hiding his feelings than his sister.

"It's all my fault. If I hadn't given him that stupid money", he sighed and sat down at the table, "all of this wouldn't have happened." The way he looked up at Lisbon, he reminded Jane of a young boy; ashamed and terrified that he might have disappointed her.

"I just wanted to fix this without causing any more problems. I don't want you to get hurt,"

"Maybe you should start from the beginning, Stan." It was the first time that Karen spoke since they came back.

Lisbon didn't let go of his arm but Jane could literally see how the tension and anger melted away. He knew the look on her face very well. It was the same expression of compassion she'd showed towards him so often in the past; he hadn't always deserved it. Hell, he still didn't deserve it, or her for the matter.

"Stan, whatever you did or didn't do. I'm sure this wasn't your fault." Lisbon finally released his arm, but Jane was not yet ready to lose contact with her, and moved his hand to her back. She never lost faith in people; never giving them up and always forgiving them for their mistakes.

Stan sighed, his gaze fixed on his hands.

"How about I make us all a nice cup of tea?", Jane suggested, finally letting go of Lisbon, even if he didn't like it. She smiled at him, thankfully. He knew that she needed some time with Stan alone.

Karen seemed to have sensed the same.

"That sound's like a great idea. Why don't I help you." She signalled him to follow her and with a last glance back at Lisbon Jane left the room and closed the door behind him.

The kitchen was small, but very clean and homely. Jane couldn't find a better word to describe it. He saw the kettle the moment he entered the kitchen and was so free to fill it with water and place it on the stove.

"So…", Karen said, looking at him curiously, "you're Patrick Jane."

"Guilty as charged", he said not avoiding her gaze. He pointed with his head towards the door. "I'm sorry for what happened outside. It wasn't nice but I needed them to …" he searched for the right words to describe what he meant, but Karen beat him to it. "You needed them to stop hiding behind excuses and finally tell each other the truth?"

He couldn't prevent a apprehensive nod, "Exactly."

Seeing how much his behaviour hurt his sister had finally fuelled Stan to open up. Honesty was the keyword. Only after Teresa openly and unmasked showed him her feelings, he'd done the same. Jane had expected this; this seemed to be another thing that run in the family. He made that experience himself. Being honest and open about his own feelings was the only reason why he was now standing here; not in these kitchen necessarily, but at Lisbon's side. He and not Marcus Pike.

"We heard a lot about you over the years", Karen said, still looking at him.

"Stan didn't seem to recognise my name", Jane countered her, but she waved her hand to dismiss his words.

"Stan is horrible with names, always has been. If I tell him that you're THAT consultant, he'll now you; believe me."

Do I meet the expectations?", Jane asked asked her, curious to know what Lisbon told them about him.

Karen grinned. "I guess you do. It was always difficult to imagine a single person doing all those things, but now that I've seen you, saw how you worked, it all makes a lot more sense."

She took a teapot out of the cupboard and placed it beside the stove. "She always talked about you, you know", she suddenly said, in a rather quiet voice. Jane didn't say a word, even hold his breath for a moment.

"She never really talked about her boyfriends", Karen continued. "And the few times she mentioned a name…for sure the next time we saw her that man was no longer part of her life."

She looked up at him again.

"But she always talked about her consultant, about you; every single time."

Jane chuckled to mask how moved he truly was by her words. "I guess I gave her a lot to complain about."

Karen laughed. "Yes you did. Honestly, I still can't believe some of the things she told us." She put two teabags into the pot.

"She might have complained a lot, but she always enjoyed talking about you." Jane fixed his gaze on the kettle. He couldn't prevent wondering what else she told them about him; about his past.

"I don't think she realised it, but I've rarely seen her as happy as when she talked about you. She cared about you; a lot. She never said it, but we all could see it — she was devastated after you were gone."

Jane still didn't lift his gaze.

"And now you're back and she followed you to Austin."

There was a unspoken question in Karen's last words.

"Did she…", he started, and then reconsidered his questions, "do you know about my past?"

It wasn't a topic he was keen on talking about. But this was Lisbon's family, they deserved the truth.

Karen nodded, hesitantly. "She never really talked about it, but hey…" she smiled at him wearily, "of course we goggled you. It explained a lot."

A loud whistling noise cut through the silence that followed her words. Jane took the kettle from the stove, glad to gain a few minutes. He poured the water into the teapot.

"We probably should go back and see whether they're both still alive" Karen joked, after a few minutes of awkward silence.

Jane nodded. "That sounds like a great idea." He took the teapot while Karen took four cups. Jane opened the door for her and she'd almost walked past him, when she suddenly turned around and fixed him with a serious gaze.

"Don't hurt her, Patrick."

Jane shook his head, too surprised for answer. She'd already left when he finally found his voice again.

"I won't, never again."

It was late evening and darkness had settled all around Jane. A few snowflakes whirled through the dark sky, only faintly illuminated by the streetlights.

With Stan's help they'd found Jimmy and after a great deal of persuasion from Lisbon and Stan; or more precisely after a great deal of shouting and arguing — he'd given in and told them everything he knew.

Jane'd stepped outside of the police station, which they used as temporary headquarters, for a moment to get some fresh air. It had been a long and loud day; he took a deep breath and embraced the calm.

He didn't turn around as he heard the door being opened, and shortly afterwards closed again. He recognised Lisbon's steps immediately. They hadn't had a moment for themselves since this morning and he half expected her to follow him.

What he clearly hadn't expected was the way she suddenly wrapped her arms around him; holding him fiercely. Such public signs of affection were not really her thing, especially not in front of a police station. Even if it was late, the building behind them was still full of officers and any moment someone could step outside and see them.

"Hey", he put his hands over her's on his chest. "Are you ok?", he asked, slightly worried when she didn't loosen her grip.

He rather felt her nod than that he understood her murmur against his back.

"I'm fine."

He turned around in her embrace, even if it wasn't easy and hugged her likewise.

"Thank you, Jane", she said in a low voice , "for everything you did this morning. I don't think Stan would have told us the truth otherwise."

Jane suddenly couldn't look at her; her eyes were full of trust and love. A sudden wave of guilt rushed through him.

Lisbon chose precisely that moment to poke him lightly in the side. "Don't you think I don't realise what you did there…", she began, "you played me not less than my brother."

Jane still avoided her gaze.

"I'm sorry", he said and he meant it. In the morning he thought there had been no other way of achieving their goal, but now… he wasn't so sure any longer. Maybe there would have been alternatives, maybe he just should have asked her to be honest with Stan…

"Hey!" Lisbon's voice interrupted his thoughts. She framed his face with her hands and forced him to look at her.

"It's ok Jane. I know why you did it." She spoke very softly and brushed her thumbs over his skin.

"I needed this. I would have run away if not for you; thank you." He wanted to believe her, but part of him still felt bad, as if he'd betrayed her. Somehow she must have seen it in his eyes, because she pulled him down to her and kissed him.

"It's ok", she whispered again after they broke their kiss and he buried his face in her hair. Now he was the one holding on to her her very tightly.

"Besides", she said, soothingly running her fingers through his hair, "you did warn me beforehand; sort of."

Jane lifted his head and looked down at her. "Does this mean I'll always be off the hook in the future as long as I give you a warning?"

She poked him in the side again, this time with a bit more force.

"Don't go too far, or I might change my mind and still be angry at you." The smile on her face said something different and Jane finally allowed himself to smile back at her.

"What's up next?", he asked her then, still not stepping back.

"We're going to our hotel and sleep."

He grinned at her, "I probably would have guessed that myself. I rather meant what's going to happen with your brother?"

Lisbon leaned into him and closed her eyes, clearly tired.

"Jimmy is going home", she said, stifling a yawn, "it would be too suspicious if he stays the night at the police station. Unfortunately it's not suspicious that he got arrested in the first place; that's nothing new."

Jane felt her tense up slightly and pulled her closer again.

"You let him out of sight?" – "Not really. The Chicago police will survey him, for his own safety." She sighed and he knew that she wanted to do it herself…but it already cost them a lot of persuasion to be allowed to help the police at all with Lisbon being a relative and all that; she couldn't insist on more.

"And then tomorrow everything will be ready for the trap…", she looked up at him. "Talking of tomorrow. We should really go; you need enough sleep to be ready."

Jane dismissed her words with a wave of his hand. "For a bit of Poker? What do you take me for. I could do that in my sleep. Besides, I'm used to function on only a few hours of sleep; you should know that."

"Jane – that's not a joke! It might be dangerous, I want you fully rested and alert." He heard the worry in her voice and placed a soothing kiss on her forehead.

"It will be alright Lisbon, trust me. You and half the police of Chicago will be in the building; Jimmy and I couldn't be safer than at that Poker table."

"I hope you're right." She said and stepped back. Jane shivered involuntarily in the cold, now that he lost contact to her warm body.

That's probably why he didn't protest as she ushered him inside to collect their things. Maybe it was time to get back to their hotel, if only to make her feel better.