Teresa awoke a bit early on Tuesday morning, already at six. Opening her eyes, she saw immediately that Patrick's side of the bed hadn't been used at all. She remembered the state he'd been in last night and hoped he'd gotten at least a few more hours of uninterrupted sleep on the couch.

She got up and went downstairs at once to check on her lover. Worry crept over her when she found him nearly in the exact same position she'd left him in on the sofa. Could he really still be asleep or was something wrong with him?

She stepped closer. His breathing was even and deep. She sighed with relief. Obviously his body had won out over his overactive brain for once and collected what it needed most urgently: sleep.

Carefully so as not to disturb him, she tiptoed upstairs again to shower and get ready for work. When she reemerged downstairs well over half an hour later, Patrick had started to stir, clearly on the verge of waking up. She walked over to him and tousled his hair gently. His mouth turned into a smile and he opened drowsy blue-green eyes. "Morning sleepyhead," she greeted him warmly. "You slept for more than ten hours."

"Morning, Emy," he croaked. "Guess I was a bit tired."

She chuckled. "That's the understatement of the year, imp."

She pecked him on the lips and straightened herself again. "Why don't you get ready while I make breakfast? Will you manage a shower on your own without wetting your arm?"

He propped himself up slowly. "I'll need a plastic bag or something. To put over the bandage. But other than that I'll be fine."

While she went to the kitchen to get him a bag, he got up and stretched with a groan. The nearly eleven hours on the couch fully dressed hadn't been exactly friendly to his back. But other than that, he felt refreshed. So many hours of uninterrupted sleep were a very rare luxury for him. Teresa came back with the plastic bag and he took it and went upstairs.

He came back down about half an hour later, hair groomed but still a bit wet, freshly shaven and dressed in a clean three-piece-suit. He looked well rested and some color had returned to his cheeks. Teresa felt relieved. His ashen complexion from the day before had really worried her.

"Oh, we're having eggs, splendid," he said happily. "Thanks, Teresa," he added, rounding the counter and pulling her into a sweet kiss. "Did you sleep well, my dear?"

"Yes, though I missed my pillow. But I didn't have the heart to wake you. You really needed to sleep and I was afraid you might not drift off again. How are you feeling? You look much better than yesterday," she stated.

He caressed her cheek with the back of his left hand and answered, "I'm fine. The arm doesn't hurt too much anymore and now, after the hot shower, my back's decided to forgive me for the night on the couch as well. So all in all – I'm much improved."

They took a seat on the barstools beside the counter to eat their breakfast. Twenty minutes later, at 7.30, they were ready to leave. "Do you want to take your own car, or are you willing to let me drive you once more?" she inquired.

"It's alright. You can give me a lift again. I'm still on that pain medication, so it's probably better that way," he answered while they were walking over to her car.

"You are acting astonishingly mature I must say. I'm actually quite impressed. I didn't know you had it in you," she teased him. She unlocked her SUV and took her place at the wheel. He got in on his side as well.

"Thanks, I think." He grinned. "Maybe I'm finally growing up… I even have another appointment with our lovely Medical Officer today. I just couldn't resist her tempting offer. You know how it is… me being a man and all."

Teresa chuckled. "Nice try, Jane. But I happen to know Gloria, and while she is a truly nice person, you won't be able to make me jealous with a 62 year old."

"For all you know I could make a fetish of mature females. It's not uncommon for men who grew up without a mother," he said with a wicked smile.

"I put my full trust in Berta and her qualities as a mother figure, beard or no beard," she replied with conviction.

He leant a bit over, careful not to disturb her driving, and pecked her on the cheek. Afterwards he whispered in her ear. "And you would be right of course. To be honest, Gloria is scary. That's why I'll go."

Teresa laughed heartily at that. "I told her to be firm with you. Guess she followed my advice."

"She threatened to drag me to her treatment room by my ear. She's dangerous, Teresa," he whined. "And YOU egged her on to boot? You are a mean one, Agent Lisbon. And you are supposed to PROTECT me."

She snickered. "Oh my poor baby. You know what? If you keep a stiff upper lip at the doctor's, you'll get another ice cream afterwards."

"Not that I'll ever say no to such an offer, but for the record: I'm not five years old, Teresa." He pouted.

"If you could see your face right now, imp, even you yourself wouldn't be sure about that any longer." She snickered again.

After parking and making their way through the usual security in the lobby, they entered the bullpen about five minutes later and went to their normal spots: Lisbon into her office, Jane to his couch, though he only took a seat on it for a change. Having just slept on a sofa for over ten hours could do that to you. After a moment, he decided to go up to the attic instead.

Teresa had just stepped into her office and closed the door, when her cell phone rang. She saw on the display that the call came from someone at SacPD. Either a new case in town, or something about Jane senior, she thought.

"Agent Lisbon, CBI. What can I do for you?"

"Good morning, Agent. This is Officer Keen. I have bad news, I'm afraid." She heard the man at the other end of the line say. "I'm actually on my way to you. Just wanted to give you a heads up. I'll be with you in about five minutes."

"Well, thanks. Should I inform my consultant?" she inquired.

"Actually, I would prefer it if we could talk alone first," Keen replied.

"Okay, see you soon, Officer." She hung up.

She took off her jacket and started her computer with a very bad feeling in her stomach. Whatever this was about, she knew she wouldn't like it. Maybe that bastard Alex had brought up some old story and accused Patrick of a felony or something to discredit him. He had threatened him with that after all. She could just hope she would be able to get her lover out of it unscathed. Before her thoughts could produce other terrible scenarios, someone knocked on her door. She called her usual "Come in" and Officer Keen appeared. He took the offered seat in front of her and looked at her gravely.

"I think it's best, if I don't beat around the bush," he said and Libbon nodded. "Alexander Jane was found murdered in his cell this morning. All indications point to the perp being the serial killer Red John. I understand that you're the leader of the investigation on his case?"

She nodded again, speechless from shock. This couldn't be happening, her mind cried. She sat still for a full minute staring like an idiot, before her professionalism took over and she turned all business. "Give me all the facts, please," she asked.

"Well, as far as the coroner could say at first glance, Jane was killed some time between two and four am. His throat was slit and he has multiple incisions that at least at first glance look like the work of Red John, as far as the forensic team could say. They have been to two other of his crime scenes before, so they do have a certain knowledge on the subject." The officer cleared his throat and gathered his thoughts before continuing. "There was a bloody smiley face painted on the wall just across from the cell door. A letter was attached to the body." He dug into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "The original one's evidence of course, but I brought you a copy." He handed her the sheet.

It was white and the text was printed out, the font the same she'd seen Red John use before when communicating with Patrick. It read:

It seems that arrogance will yet be the downfall of all Jane-men: no one is allowed to touch my Patrick with a knife but me.

My dear Patrick: Take this as both punishment for rejecting my generous offer and as a token of my continued willingness to be your friend.

Teresa: Take good care of him for me.

Sincerely, RJ

"This… this is sick," she stammered. Her face had lost its color more and more with every word she'd read. That she'd been addressed in the letter as well and what that last sentence implied filled her with cold fear.

She needed to compose herself and she needed to do it now. She couldn't very well fall apart in front of an officer from SacPD. The question was, what was she supposed to do. She decided to call the rest of her team sans Jane into her office immediately. She hoped they all had arrived. What to do with Jane, though? He wouldn't forgive her, if she didn't inform him at once. But on the other hand, was he stable enough right now to take this blow?

First things first, she decided. "Thank you, Officer. My team and I will be there to examine the crime scene shortly. It was very thoughtful of you to come by and inform me personally. I appreciate it," she said.

"No problem, Agent. I assumed the Teresa mentioned in that letter is you, so I thought you should know before you came to the scene. Forensics have been over the place of course, but other than that, it's all still intact. I'll take my leave now. I would wish you a good day, but somehow I doubt, that there's a chance for that."

Lisbon went out to the bullpen and found, to her great relief, that Patrick wasn't on his couch, so she could ask the others to follow her into her office without him being any the wiser.

Her grave expression alarmed the three younger agents. In her office, they all sat and looked at her in anxious expectation.

Lisbon came to the momentous decision, to be completely open with them. "I need your help and advice," she said earnestly. "I'm about to reveal some things to you, that I'm not really comfortable with giving away, and furthermore, I probably shouldn't be the one to tell you some of those facts. But I see no other solution. I need your promise that everything we talk about now stays in this room."

She looked every one of her team in the eyes and got only serious nods and looks of confirmation.

"Okay. The man who attacked Jane with a knife on Sunday was found murdered in his holding cell this morning. There's a very high likelihood that the killer was Red John," she explained. She paused a moment because all three listeners had gasped in shock and obviously needed a minute to compose themselves.

"Ready to hear more?" she asked and her team mates nodded. "Well, what you don't know is that the man who attacked Jane was his father."

Another round of gasps could be heard. The youngest member of the team reacted the most as expected. "Oh my god! His own father?" Grace exclaimed. "And Red John killed him for it?"

"Thanks Van Pelt, for the concise summary of the facts," Teresa huffed.

"Sorry, boss," the young woman said shamefaced.

"No, it's alright, Grace. Sorry for reprimanding you. Tension levels are a bit high right now, I guess." She cast her agent an apologetic look.

"There is more to tell, I'm afraid. Red John left a letter on the body."

She read it out loud.

Cho cast Lisbon a pointed look. "He knows about you and Jane."

"It seems like it. Which means, he must have a very close eye on us. And he has an inside source at SacPD or the DA's office. Not that that surprises me," she answered.

Rigsby looked very confused. "What do you mean, Cho? What about Jane and the boss?"

Lisbon answered instead. "Well, that is the other matter I need to talk with you about. I'd rather not do it at this point, but I see no other solution. This is a rather delicate situation and I'm not at all comfortable with this." She paused, her expression having turned very tense. "I'll just come right out and say it. Jane and I are involved in a romantic relationship. It's a very new development, only a few days in fact." She blushed a bit as she spoke.

Van Pelt and Rigsby looked at her in open-mouthed shock. "You… you and Jane?" Wayne stammered helplessly. "But why?"

Teresa suddenly found the humor in the situation and that gave her the necessary strength to compose herself again fully. "Well Rigsby, I thought it would be the perfect way to keep him on a short leash. Wouldn't you agree?"

Rigsby nodded stupidly and Van Pelt couldn't help but give a small laugh, which helped her to get over her initial shock. "I think it's about time," she said emphatically. "I mean, you've been in love with each other for years."

Lisbon raised her eyebrows in astonishment. Had she really been that obvious about it? Well, at least Wayne hadn't known, not that that was much of a consolation.

That was the exact moment her office door opened and a curly head looked inside. "Is this some sort of conspiratorial meeting? Why wasn't I invited? I love a good conspiracy," Jane said.

TBC

Thanks to all who've reviewed the last chapter. I'm still waiting for the sun to show itself, but you made me all feel some warmth...

I hope I managed to surprise you a bit with this chapter. Feel free to let me know.