A/N: Thank you for following this story and for all the reviews you have written! Once again "Song for Viola" by Peter Bradley Adams fits perfectly with the latter part of this chapter.

This is the final chapter and I do apologise...


Lisbon was lying down on the uncomfortable hospital chairs, hugging a blanket to keep warm. Jane had been brought in to the hospital an hour ago and the doctors were trying to bring his body temperature up slowly to be able to resuscitate him properly.

The doctors had told the team that there was hope as freezing temperatures would have reduced the oxygen requirements and lessened the chance of brain damage. If they could bring his temperature up without causing a system wide shock once the chilled blood started circulating again, they were carefully optimistic about Jane's chances.

Lisbon held on to that hope. She was cold, tired, emotionally drained and physically hurting like hell. The nurses had very quickly gotten her story out of Rigsby and had fussed around Lisbon, trying to make her as comfortable as possible. Her painkillers hadn't kicked in properly though.

The nurses had offered stronger painkillers, even morphine, but Lisbon had declined as she wanted to be clear headed when the doctors updated them and above all, she needed to be awake and fully aware once they let her see Jane.

Cho had been on his mobile again getting the update from Agent Allen and approached the rest of the team.

"We know now why Jane and the boss were targeted", Cho said to Rigsby and Van Pelt mistaking Lisbon to be sleeping. She emerged from under the blanket though and urged Cho on.

"The old couple was indeed the Mafia mastermind, pulling all the strings together and coordinating all the activities. The old man suffered a stroke all of the sudden few weeks back leaving him unable to communicate. As his wife didn't know all the details and he hadn't documented them all, she was desperate to extract the information somehow from his mind. Now that the FBI knows what to look for, they can see the signs of increasing instability within and between the different Families", Cho explained.

"Jane's reputation had caught the wife's attention earlier and as a last resort attempt, she decided to kidnap him, forcing him to cooperate by killing Lisbon and giving him enough information about his whereabouts in the middle of nowhere and Lisbon's fate that he wouldn't try to escape. Apparently they also threatened to kill us all if Jane didn't cooperate", Cho said grimly.

Lisbon shuddered. She couldn't even begin to imagine what had gone through Jane's head as he had apparently believed all they had said. They must have had good evidence to persuade him.

"The maid who helped Jane, is being transferred into a witness protection program. Although she doesn't really know anything what was going on in the house, she could recognise some important people and of course it was due to her note that the FBI knew about the house and its occupants in the first place", Cho continued.

"That's good", Lisbon said tiredly being grateful to the young woman. Without her Jane would still be lost and now would definitely be buried under the snow. She wouldn't have ever learned about his fate and would have been forever in that desperate limbo of not knowing.

They all fell silent again in the waiting room. They were all tired and very worried about Jane. Cho was also very worried about Lisbon and he promised to himself that he would look after her. He was feeling so angry and helpless. How was it possible that only one desperate and misguided person was all it took to tear apart the lives of so many people?

A doctor slipped in tiredly from the door facing the team. Even Lisbon sat up struggling, being helped by Van Pelt. The doctor started talking...

XXX

One week later

"...so that is the whole story in detail and here we are", Lisbon trailed off. She was sitting down leaning slightly forward. She was playing with a plain, golden wedding band that twinkled in the setting sun, turning it around and around in her hands.

"They gave it to me assuming that I was your wife. I suppose I made a bit of a scene", Lisbon chuckled, but became sad and serious again as she didn't get the flippant reply she had gotten accustomed to.

"I promise, I will take good care of it", she whispered.

She closed her eyes remembering Jane's genuine, happy smile. She concentrated on remembering all the emotions she had seen in his eyes when she told him that she loved him. She felt slightly comforted by the fact that he had known, it made her feel better.

Lisbon sat on the stone bench as the dusk fell watching the golden glow of the setting sun softening the edges of the world, creating a calm, warm oasis of stillness. She looked up when the first white, soft petals began falling as a gentle wind stirred the flowering tree above her.

She got up in the soft rain of whiteness, the petals swirling around her in the breeze. She got down on her knees, resting her forehead against the grey headstone letting her fingers trail the carved letters, her tears mingling freely with the falling petals.

She got up, palm against the sun-warmed stone and whispered, "Sleep well, Jane".

The end