Chapter 10:

A/N: I had a hard time writing this chapter. I think I started it about 4 times… threw it out, became uninspired…then all this stuff happened, I'm going to be moving in June-July, I'm starting college this fall so I signed up for my classes, I went to a funeral out of state, found a dog-returned it to it's owner, sat around tinkering with a computer until I fixed it (GEEK!), lol, yeah, just crazy… I also saw some previews for the show I was an extra on back in December, called Teen Wolf, and I'm pretty excited for this to air now… it's weird seeing the actors on that show, because they are so not serious at all in real life (lol, well at least the 2 main guys b/c I was around them all day, and they were clowns and I was messing with their heads all day- that was fun! haha!)- that show starts on June 5th on MTV, so you should check it out and see if it's your cup of tea or not. I'm honestly not much for supernatural horror stuff, but hey, I'll be tuning in for sure. LOL!

ANYWAY… (See? I often go off on so many tangents… it's my ENFP personality type… you must take one of those jung and briggs myers personality tests online to determine your own! Do it, it's extremely accurate!) I got another review recently so I decided to try to rough it out and begin it again. Hopefully you guys are still with me even though I've left you all hanging for 2 months *weeps* I love my readers!

Thank you to all my reviewers for the last chapter: Jisbon4ever, Meltedchoccobutton, 24Mentalistlover, gilmoregirl1988, xanderseye, Anna, Fallon the coyote Pirate (who found me on my Deviant Art geminimoon3 account from a little doodle I did for this fanfic!), Meggie Girl, Mentalistlover, 13 Jo, Time Lady 802379, and my writing buddy on my geminivids youtube, The Foamfoam52.

Up until now, I've been trying to keep this story alongside the season 3 story line… of course, I knew eventually I'd have to branch off and now the time has come. I am taking a bit of a risk with some minor characters, but I wanted to have an impact, whether the show actually turns out this way or not.

In any case, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please let me know what you think! I love hearing your thoughts, I read all my reviews and they are like candy for me! Haha! It actually keeps me coming back for more. The conclusion is near… I vow to finish this! Please help remind me to come back. :D

PS:

To Time Lady - Well, there's certainly another part for Mrs. Scott to play in this story… you will find out soon! You are right to think twice about her… she may be much more involved than meets the eye!

Lisbon was in disbelief. There was no doubt in her mind that she was no longer able to trust the man she had worked alongside for the past seven years. And although she still held some sort of affection for him, Lisbon was never going to look at Patrick Jane the same way again. He was always a loose canon, and she knew this when she had first agreed to worked with him. But his antics the night before had far surpassed any insanity she had seen in him before. Lisbon knew he was a capable man. He was, in some ways, a full blown sociopath and it would only be too easy for Jane to cheat, lie or even commit murder with little more than a blink of an eye. In some sense, Lisbon always hoped- or imagined- that Jane had some instinct of right and wrong, or some sort of empathy that he hid from others. That he just tried to pretend that he didn't care… She could see now that she was wrong. After seven years of working with him, she didn't really know Patrick Jane at all.

Lisbon had rolled out of bed after a sleepless night. She had tossed and turned endlessly, still thinking about Red John and all of the events that had taken place right under her nose without her even knowing. She wondered what other secrets Jane had been keeping from her and if there was more to be discovered in that little attic room of his. It was odd really… Jane leaving such personal information in such a public place. Of course, most of it had been in codes, but there was something to be said of that, being that Jane didn't even trust anything to be put inside his own desk under lock and key. Perhaps he had been hoping that with their previous knowledge of this, that they wouldn't search for anything important. Or… maybe he had just been sloppy.

Lisbon put the key in her van's ignition, sighing from exhaustion as she did so. The day was still dark, without the sun fully risen and sleep was beckoning her back to her apartment. Lisbon always left early though… She always tried to get to work early so that she could organize things before her team arrived. She could already imagine who would show up in which order: Jane would arrive first… or sometimes he'd already be waiting for her when she came in. He was a chronic insomniac and usually couldn't wait to get to the CBI so he could get some quality sleep on the couch. The second to arrive would be Van Pelt… wanting to appear eager for her work, she would always get to the office ten minutes early. Next would be Cho… exactly on time, very punctual. Last would be Rigsby, usually slouching in a few minutes late.

At first, when the team was put together, Lisbon had chewed Rigsby out every day for being late. He'd make a variety of excuses from traffic to car problems, and eventually even Teresa Lisbon herself gave up on it. She figured he spent those few minutes to fix his hair, but at least he would look nice- which was more to be said of than her consultant, who usually adorned himself in wrinkled, faded suits and the same grimy old shoes he had been wearing since he started at the CBI. Lisbon knew that she need not even bother trying to convince him to dress nicely. It would just bring up many arguments that would go in circles, until Jane somehow made her feel guilty for even suggesting it.

Lisbon pulled into the parking lot, beside Jane's weird French car. It was predictable that he'd already be there. She slammed her car door, glancing at his silver mobile, thinking to herself that the thing was a death trap, only fit to be placed in the dump yard. She couldn't understand why Jane wouldn't at least save up for a newer car that wasn't breaking down all of the time. She bet that if Jane added up the repair bills that he had spent on that old piece of junk, he probably could have bought a brand new Mercedes.

Shaking her head, she smiled to herself. Jane was definitely a one-of-a-kind… just like that car of his.

Lisbon entered the CBI, greeting the cute guy that worked in the mail room as she passed. He had the prettiest eyes… She suddenly felt a rush of guilt as she thought about Brad and the unanswered voice mail messages on her cell phone… she'd have to make a mental note to call him back later.

Lisbon entered the empty lift, selecting her level as she headed up to work. Her mind returned to the Red John case and the earful she received the night before from Jane.

"Red John is planning something... He's about to make his move... that's why he's made it clear to us that he's involved in the inside job... he's gotten rid of the people he needed to get out of his way, and he's about to make his next strike. The best part about this, is that I've already been onto him for months without him knowing. This is going to give us the upper-hand. This is Red John's mistake." Jane's eyes had gleamed in excitement as he explained his discoveries.

Teresa didn't know whether to commend him for his brilliance, or to strangle him for not telling her anything. She honestly didn't know why she was so surprised. He was extremely secretive and liked to play with the fact that knowledge equaled power. He often kept her in the dark to continue his illusion of all-knowing. He didn't seem to understand that sharing information with the team was detrimental to both safety and solving the case. But what did she know? They were still the top team in the CBI somehow, even with crazy Jane and her sloppy team that often let him pick up their slack. Lisbon supposed she should just relax and let things be. She was steadily getting better at this (especially since she had started taking yoga classes), but she still had control issues that needed to be resolved.

Lisbon poured herself some coffee in hope that it would revive her and get her through the day.

She tossed her sandwich that she brought from home inside the fridge, hoping no one would go in and raid the refrigerator. This brought up a bittersweet memory of her ex-team leader and friend, Sam Bosco who had eaten her lunch that very same day that he had been shot inside the CBI offices. A pointless killing orchestrated by serial killer Red John. Every time she thought about this, a silent rage would enter her, and so she tried to push it out of her mind. She wasn't like Jane, who obsessed over such morbidity night and day. She couldn't imagine being filled with such hatred all of the time. At times she forgot, as he smiled and made jokes, but then, she'd see it in his eyes…. That same desperation she had seen the night before in the attic room when he had attacked her.

Lisbon sighed, checking her clock. She had somehow managed to kill ten minutes just standing at the counter thinking and sipping on her coffee. Placing her empty mug in the sink as she left the kitchen area, she turned down the hall, going to the bull pen where her team would soon be arriving. Moving forward she saw that it was completely empty… Was Jane perhaps upstairs? She glanced at the clock on the wall… even Van Pelt seemed to be running late… Lisbon glanced at the untouched desks…

"It's 10 o clock, do you know where your children are?" Jane said loudly behind her, mocking the low voice of the announcer that used to say this on tv back when they still did stupid stuff like that.

Lisbon jumped. "God, Jane!" She turned sharply to give him a dirty look and he grinned widely. Lisbon's grumpy expression melted and she found herself chuckling at him despite herself. "You're such a jackass."

Jane was still smiling as he said, "I know."

Lisbon cocked her head at him, raising her eyebrows. "What's this? A new technique? You're agreeing with me now?" She asked.

Jane rocked on his heels, his hands stuffed deeply into those wrinkled suit pockets. He shrugged, "Maybe." His eyes twinkled. He acted like nothing had even happened yesterday. Jane had to be the strangest man Teresa had ever met… he didn't even seem to have any ounce of regret for the events that happened yesterday- no awkwardness… nothing. He seemed to be in good spirits, like yesterday had never even existed.

Lisbon shook her head in disbelief. "You know, I can't believe you."

Jane blinked, confusion brimming in his expression. "What?"

"You. Just you." Lisbon said. "You're unbelievable."

Jane frowned, "What do you mean?"

Lisbon sighed in exasperation. He just never would get it. In some ways, maybe that was just for the best.

"Oh never mind."

Out of the corner of her eye, Lisbon saw Cho enter (heading toward the kitchen) and she glanced at the clock once more. "Huh, Van Pelt must be running late today. Let me know when she gets here… I have some things for her to look up for me." She said.

Jane murmured in agreement and Lisbon saw that he was already making himself comfortable on the couch, so Lisbon decided to head back to her office, both her and Jane blissfully unaware that anything unusual was even taking place.

Yesterday Night:

The car rumbled on over the roads. Craig O'Laughlin and Grace Van Pelt had been driving for about 40 minutes. They had left the office when Grace had gotten off her shift and Craig said that he had a surprise waiting for her. She had felt somewhat bad for the way Rigsby looked when he thought that she couldn't see him. He congratulated her enough times and commended Craig, and yet, somehow a bitterness still managed to resonate in Wayne's voice. She supposed there was nothing to do about that now though. Rules are rules.

"Are we there yet?" Grace teased, sounding like a whiny child. She sat in the passenger's seat with a black blindfold on- all part of the surprise, so Craig had claimed.

"Not yet." Craig replied, his eyes firmly set upon the road in front of him.

Grace sighed, settling down in her seat. She had to hand it to Craig- he certainly had creativity in all of his dates, but the fun and excitement of this one was already beginning to die off. Never before had she been taken to a secret location blind-folded, and as this started out as entertaining, this car ride was becoming very long winded. She asked several times if they were lost, but Craig's answer was always the same: No.

"Where are we going?" Grace asked, feeling a little tired of this whole mystery. Wishing only to take off the itchy blindfold to see where they were headed.

"It's a secret."

"We've been driving forever." There was a hint of annoyance in her tone, though she tried to remain cheerful for the sake of their relationship. "Really, Craig… Where are you taking me? I have work early tomorrow morning."

"Don't worry about that." Craig replied. Something about his voice made Grace feel a bit uncomfortable. He never sounded like that when he spoke to her in the past. Something about his tone was cold and hard, where it was usually soft and sweet in the past. Something about this didn't seem right and she just wanted this ride to end.

Several minutes of silence passed as Grace pondered this and the best way to ask to stop the car. She squirmed in her seat. "Can we pull off somewhere? I have to go to the bathroom."

There was no answer.

Then, with no warning, the car suddenly turned sharply (Grace grabbed onto her seat arms to steady herself) and the vehicle began bouncing as they seemed to be going down an off-road with gravel or grass. Grace thought-or hoped- for a moment that they were about to reach their destination, but the car's speed did not diminish as it went over the uneven terrain- What in the world?

"I'm taking this thing off." Grace warned, as she reached for the blindfold.

"Don't take it off!" Craig shouted at her gruffly, he swerved the car as she pulled it off.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Grace screamed at him as he jerked the car back onto the gravel road. She never seen him act so crazy.

This whole thing was like she had stepped into a nightmare... The skies were darkened and there were woods on each side of this desolate path. She didn't recognize her surroundings at all and it didn't look like any fit place to have a picnic. Grace frowned as she looked at her beau; Craig had beads of sweat gathered on his brow, as he gripped the wheel firmly with white knuckles- his eyes set on the path in front of him. Grace stared at him. "Craig, what's wrong? Where are we going?" She asked.

Again, no answer came from him.

"Stop the car." Grace said suddenly. She didn't like this situation at all, and just wanted to go home.

He didn't answer her and ignored her request.

"I said, stop the car!" Grace reiterated. "Take me back."

She stared at him, as he drove along not communicating with her. His eyes were shifting nervously over the road in front of him. Fed up, Grace grabbed her door handle, but Craig suddenly reached out and grabbed ahold of her forearm tightly, swerving around the road as he did so. She slapped him off. "STOP THE CAR, CRAIG!" Grace shrieked. "You're going to get us in an accident!" She shouted as he sped up.

Angrily and fearfully, She grabbed the wheel from him, but as she did, he pushed the gas pedal down to the floor and the car raced along the road, speed increasing steadily from 45 to 60... to 80 miles per hour. Craig tried to pry her hands off, but Grace held on tightly- determined to hold on so they wouldn't turn over. They were both shouting at each other.

"LET GO!"

"SLOW DOWN!"

Suddenly, the road vanished, but the car continued onward and off the road. The headlights highlighted the trees in front of them as the car bounded towards them. The car bounced hard and leaned to the right causing Grace's hands to come off the wheel as they dove down into the ditch at top speed, her teeth clanged together painfully. Grace dug her feet into the floor and screamed in panic as she grabbed whatever she could to brace herself for what was to come. Was this really happening? The car was out of control and heading straight for the trees. She raised her hands to guard her head just before the jolt of the collision…

There was no preparing for it.

The car impacted with the tree trunk, whipping her forward and backward… There was both numbness and heightened senses as she heard the sounds and saw everything happening as if it were in slow motion… There was a crashing, glass shattering, airbags exploding painfully into her face. Something wet was running down her forehead and dripping into Grace's eyes… then, everything went black.

-A/N:

I know, I know, sort of short right? Reviews would be loved!