A/N: I can't believe I've already finished this. Strange mix of relief, happiness and sadness. I've absolutely loved writing this and hope you've enjoyed reading it, too.

In no particular order, I'd like to thank: Penelope Louise, WildDaisies10, mwalter1, Ebony10, corzalaura, PhoenixWytch, angelofrock1989, Madaboutthementalist, FallIntoAHellCalledLove, SpaceAnJL, kathiann, AlternativeRocker, yasminbanu786, Americanchick, JelloFanatic123, BottleOfStars, Habeous Corpus, dizzy - in - the - izzy, lil smiles, and Viktorija for leaving reviews, general encouragement and telling me off when I torture characters.

Hopefully, this last part is up to scratch and brings the story to a suitable closure for you.

x tromana

Part Ten

A Year Later

Lisbon couldn't help but smile as she pulled into the parking lot of Jane's apartment. She'd just helped to close yet another case with Narcotics, and truth be told, she would be sad to say goodbye to them. They'd helped her regain her confidence as a cop, remind her just how good she was at her job before everything that had happened in recent years. And they had adored having the formidable, albeit emotionally bruised and battered Agent Lisbon on their team. But Minelli, as usual, had given her an offer she just couldn't refuse. He didn't give her the whole details, but it was something to do with SCU staging a strike if she didn't get reassigned to them. Their determination to get the five of them working together again had been sweet, so she simply couldn't deny them that. It also helped that serious crimes was what she had lived for and she had missed dealing with the most complex cases that California could throw at her.

That didn't mean the past year had been easy, goodness no. With Caitlyn she felt like she had been going two steps forward, one step back. The girl was her own person and initially hadn't been willing to see Lisbon as an authority figure, never mind someone who could reprimand her when she misbehaved. Every gentle cuddle could easily become a slap in the face if Cait suddenly decided that Lisbon wasn't worthy and she found herself envious of the closeness Jane shared with her. But it was her fault, sort of. Maybe. Who could she blame for becoming so ill? She could barely remember the first year of her disappearance and only had scant memories of the second, too. That might have had something to do with spending so long under sedation due to having apparently been violent though. She'd been later informed of the car crash and how she had been insistent that people referred to her by her mother's maiden name.

And Jane. She knew, deep down, that she still loved him. Both as he was now and what he once was. That was a comfort, yet at the same time completely terrifying. At times, he became overprotective which whilst sweet, could become smothering. Like the morning after Grace and Wayne's wedding, when he was still asleep and she had woken up early to a daughter demanding breakfast. Half an hour later, she caught him tearing through the house, paranoid that she had left for a second time. Really, she had no idea just how he kept things together. He'd tried to explain once. About how he'd lived with thoughts of vengeance in his head for so long that nothing could be as bad as that, especially now that he was a father again. Lisbon hadn't quite believed him but soon learned she wasn't going to get anything else as an answer.

The arguments they suffered through were considerably worse than any before her disappearance. Anything seemed to be able to trigger one, her over-spoiling Caitlyn, her complete lack of memories from the time she had been away, who was driving, anything. At times, both of them seriously believed it could be over between them. He would return home to Caitlyn, sullen and surly, where even the charms of his daughter failed to cheer him up. She would silently cry herself to sleep, so as not to disturb Minelli. Her throat hoarse from the screaming matches and heart aching for the whole sorry situation to be different. Thankfully, as the months progressed, Lisbon noticed that they seemed to lessen in frequency as well as intensity.

As she walked into the apartment, she soon found a little girl wrapped around her legs. It had amazed her just how much Caitlyn had grown in one year, but it was becoming obvious that she was always going to be petite like her mother. Lisbon lifted her up, with many complaints from Caitlyn, and kissed her gently on the forehead. Something smelled good in the kitchen; Jane was obviously already preparing dinner. She knocked on the kitchen door and he spun around to see his two favourite girls standing in the threshold.

"Teresa, you're early."

"I'm sorry, should I go and come back later then?"

He laughed. "That won't be necessary."

Caitlyn was placed on the floor, and somehow a bar of candy had appeared in her hands. She ran off, delighted, leaving her parents alone in the kitchen. Jane wrapped an arm around Lisbon's waist and pulled her in closely. He pressed a soft, gentle kiss on her lips and then on her forehead before releasing her from his grip. He always looked forward to Fridays now because he had his wife at home for the weekend. For a few days he could pretend they were a proper family who didn't have problems to the same magnitude as they seemed to.

"How was work?"

"Oh, alright. Another case closed," Lisbon shrugged. "And an interesting talk with Minelli."

"Oh?"

"It seems I'm being reassigned," she answered. "If I wasn't, he'd have a problem with the entirety of the Serious Crimes Unit. They were threatening to stage a strike until I was, apparently. Something to do with them not being able to stand their current boss and wanting their old one back."

"I can't for the life of me think why," Jane replied, struggling to keep a straight face.

"You knew! Anyway, I don't know why Cho didn't take the position. He's more than qualified to be a senior agent by now."

"Cho's comfortable where he is, he's earning enough for a stable life and doesn't crave any more responsibility," he responded. "And you, you're doubting yourself. Don't. You can do this and that is why we want you back."

"Nothing to do with hating Howard then?"

"It has everything to do with hating Howard, too."

"He's a good man, Patrick."

"He'll be happier with Narcotics."

Dinner was relatively quiet. Lisbon and Jane avoided talking about work in front of Caitlyn. Their work was confidential, they didn't know what secrets could be leaked by a bubbly five year old, talking to friends as she played. For the rest of the night, they stuck to their normal routine, clearing after dinner, wrestling Cait into bed before snuggling on the couch with a good movie and a bottle of wine. Jane sighed contentedly and used the hand which wasn't draped around Lisbon's shoulders to push some stray hairs behind her ear. She glanced up at him, with an unreadable expression written across her features.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't do this anymore."

"What? But I thought…"

She laughed at him gently. "No, I can't be a weekend Mom and part-time girlfriend anymore. It's driving me mad. I want to be your wife proper again. That's what this signifies, right?"

She held up her left hand, indicating to the gold band adorning her finger. Jane couldn't help but laugh with her at his misjudgement. Though he'd never admit it to her, she had always been something of a blind spot when it came to his abilities. Yes, of course he could read her, just not as well as everyone else. Lisbon kept him on his toes and terribly threw him off guard from time to time.

"Good. Great. When can you move in then?"

end