A/N: Thanks so much for the great reviews!! I love them! This chapter is set a few hours after the end of Red Hair and Silver Tape, but if you haven't seen that episode I think you'll still be able to read this, if you don't want spoilers. Reviews are definitely appreciated :)


He was worried about her. There was really no other way to put it. He had never seen her like this before, and that was what was worrying him. He knew that shooting those two people had had an effect on her, but he really didn't think it would be this big of one. She shot people all the time, right? It was part of the job.

And so it was his worry that made him continue to pretend to sleep on the couch until everyone else left. Everyone except for her.

******************

Lisbon was sitting in her office, staring blankly at her desk. She felt sick, and angry, and depressed, and she didn't know why. She had shot tons of people before. It was always in order to protect either herself or her team mates. But she never felt this way. Sure, she was always a little shaken after taking another human life. But she hid her feelings, and after a little while, she got over it. She pushed it to the back of her mind and buried herself in her work so that she didn't have to think.

But right now she couldn't help it. Faces of the two she had shot and killed earlier swam before her eyes. She regretted killing them. Even though they were sick and twisted and borderline evil, she still didn't feel right about having taken their lives. It would have been better for them to rot in jail.

Lisbon sighed and pressed the base of her palms into her eyes, letting her elbows rest on her desk and her hands to support her head. The faces of all the people she had killed flashed through her mind. Some faces were blurry, the ones she couldn't remember very well, but others, like the ones she had just shot, were perfectly clear.

You could really never get away from death when you were in this line of work. They solved murders, for starters. But it was the feeling that came after the cases were solved. It was the way your heart ached when you knew that an innocent person had been killed because you weren't quick enough to save them.

It was the guilt, about killing and not being able to prevent the killing of others, which caused this kind of grief.

It was knowing that it was your fault.

"Lisbon?"

She jumped, so consumed by her thoughts that she hadn't noticed Jane approach. She looked up, surprised that her vision was blurry with unshed tears.

She cleared her throat. "What?"

Jane wanted to hug her. She looked so vulnerable, something that was extremely, extremely, unusual for Teresa Lisbon. Her eyes were glassy, and she looked broken. Sort of like something had caused a great fortress to crumble.

Jane took a few steps towards her. Resisting the urge to reach out and touch her, he spoke. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She looked away from him. She hated people seeing her as anything other than the strong independent agent that she was.

"You saved my life, you know." Jane spoke softly. He knew exactly what was bothering her, and he wanted to make her see that it couldn't have been avoided. "So I suppose thanks are in order."

Lisbon glanced at him, and shrugged her shoulders. "What was I supposed to do? Let him shoot you?"

"You know, for a minute there, I really thought it was all over." He said. "I thought you left."

Lisbon swallowed, and glanced at him again, before looking away. "Maybe if I would have stayed then they wouldn't be dead."

"Stop." Jane said. His tone was so different from before that Lisbon looked straight at him, and he held her eyes with his. "Lisbon. We saved the girl. We found the murderers. Isn't that what really matters? The world's probably a better place without those two anyway. Stop beating yourself up about it. You did the right thing."

"Murder isn't the right thing." She said, staring at him. Her voice was full of emotion, and Jane felt like she could see into his soul. His mind flickered to Red John. Murdering him was his goal, what he was living for. His revenge was worth his life…wasn't it? Jane shook his head slightly. Now wasn't the time to think about that.

"Sometimes there's no other way." Jane made his voice soft. Lisbon looked down at her desk.

"You don't think I know that? I've worked at the CBI for years, Jane. I know that sometimes you have to kill them." She squeezed her eyes shut. "But it still doesn't make it right. And a little part of me dies along with them."

Jane stared at her blankly. That wasn't what he had been expecting. He took a step towards her, but Lisbon stood up. She swiped her hand along her cheek where a lone tear betrayed her. "Lisbon."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Jane took hold of her wrist when she tried to walk past him. "Let me drive you home." She turned her green eyes on him, and Jane once again felt like she could read his mind. "Please."

She didn't answer him at first. But, finally, she nodded. Jane placed his hand on her shoulder, just like he had done at the graveyard, and the two silently left the CBI building.


A/N: The next chapter will be a fluffy one, I promise! I just couldn't get this idea out of my head. Please review, it makes me happy!