A/N: If I stick to my plans, this should be the halfway point. Yay? Oh, and things aren't getting any happier any time soon, I'm afraid... x tromana

Part Four

"Good morning, little lady."

"Dada!"

Caitlyn held her arms out to be lifted from her bed by her doting father. He knew he had a habit of wrapping her up in cotton wool, but given his track records with families it was hardly surprising. He could feel the metal of his first wedding ring, cool against his chest and glanced down at the second, still emblazoned on his finger. It was Cait's birthday, and therefore almost two years to the day since his second wife had virtually disappeared off the face of the earth.

His work colleagues had tried their best to find her again. Of course, any research they did was strictly off the books, but they followed each and every shred of a clue with more energy than it was seemingly possible to. Unfortunately, Teresa Lisbon had also been a cop and she knew how to cover her tracks, too. She simply didn't want to be found yet but none of them were willing to give up on her either. Jane appreciated the show of support, anyone else would have given up on her a long while ago and by now, would probably be urging him to start moving on.

They'd only had one clue. One measly clue, but it was a shred of hope for them to cling onto. They had discovered Lisbon's SUV crashed in a ditch just across the borderline in Nevada, and it was obvious that the driver had got away on foot. That revelation, however, was slowly becoming a distant memory, less tangible and entirely useless. It had been so long since they had found it that the trail had inevitably gone cold and was of little use now.

All too quickly, he had to leave his daughter at her childminder's. Minelli, knowing he had to take full responsibility for the child, had been more than willing to allow him to work on a more part-time basis. This allowed him to be there for Caitlyn in her early years far easily than his previous hours would have done. The amount of work he did hadn't changed as he used to spend so long just lazing around on a couch. Luckily, he had plenty of savings to live off of. They were from another life, almost. As he drove to work, his mind naturally wandered onto the subject of his estranged wife. Being apart from her family must have had a detrimental affect on her, even with the depression. How could she heal without being around him and their little girl?

"Jane?"

He had barely realised he had arrived at work. Van Pelt was knocking furiously on his car window and he could see the glint of a ring on her left hand. Jane had known that Rigsby had been planning to propose, the slight shift in his attitude around his girlfriend had been sign of that. Obviously they hadn't thought to inform him for fear of upsetting him. Okay, so the fact that they were getting married exacerbated that dull ache, especially as it had been on his mind recently, but that didn't stop him wanting to be pleased for them.

"Van Pelt," he smiled weakly. "When did Rigsby ask?"

"Oh? Oh!" she smiled shyly in return. She blushed furiously and began fiddling with the ring again. It still felt foreign there, but she was beginning to get used to it now. "We didn't know what to… he asked me a fortnight ago."

"You could have told me."

"But it's been two years since…" she drifted off mournfully.

"I know, but it's also Cait's birthday," he replied. "And that is a good thing."

They wandered into the CBI headquarters together, whilst Van Pelt enthused about the details of Rigsby's proposal and her plans for Cait's birthday party that evening. As they emerged from the elevator, Jane's face fell as he saw someone at a significant office door, painstakingly peeling off letters that had been there for years. He felt slender fingers tighten around his shoulders but he quickly brushed Van Pelt off and stormed in the direction of Minelli's office.

Minelli smiled when he saw Jane at his door. He was looking forward to that evening; it was always a treat to see his granddaughter, after all. And it was her birthday so he was looking forward to thoroughly spoiling her. His face fell as he saw the thunderous expression on Jane's face. Jane didn't speak for a while, just stared at his boss for a few minutes, simply waiting, as if Minelli should be able to discern what was wrong from his demeanour.

"What is it, Jane?"

"What are they doing to Teresa's office?"

Minelli sighed. He had honestly forgotten that he'd asked for the work to be carried out today. It was only fair on Howard, though. He had been boss of the SCU for over two years now and was still technically only on a temporary contract. With no sign of finding Lisbon on the horizon, Minelli had offered him the job full-time. As a friend of the family and surrogate grandfather to her and Jane's child, he had every hope of finding the woman. However, as boss of the CBI, he had to face facts - that it was highly unlikely that they would ever see Teresa Lisbon again.

"It's Jonathan Howard's office now, Jane," Minelli replied. "I'm sorry, but I have to be realistic. Even if we found her tomorrow, I couldn't hire her again immediately. We have no idea what state she'd be in physically or mentally."

"So you're giving up on her?"

"No, no. That's not what I said."

"It's as near as damn it," Jane glared at him. "He can't even do his job properly. Cho's the one who ends up doing everything out on the field. You've hired a pencil pusher, Minelli. That's all."

With that, he stalked out of the room, filled with a tortuous rage. One wife had been taken away from him but he wasn't going to give up on the second that easily. He still had his hope even if it was wearing thin in those surrounding him.

Later that evening, he was perfectly civil to Minelli when he appeared bearing gifts on his doorstep for Caitlyn's birthday party. They, along with Rigsby, Cho and Van Pelt and a few other parents with dribbling toddlers ensured that Cait celebrated her birthday with as much style as a two year old could muster. Both Jane and Minelli particularly felt the absence of a certain dark haired woman that evening, as raw as the day she first disappeared and hoped desperately that she would turn up some day soon. Minelli knew it would take some time for Jane to even begin to calm down over the day's events. He knew that the stubborn consultant would come to terms with the changes eventually, if only for his daughter's sake, it was just a matter of time.