A/N: Finale time for me tonight. Very excited about that! Still mostly spoiler free, so it's all good.

Thank you to: Famous4it, watchyouwalk and Jisbon4ever for reviewing part ten. Also to ch19777, as always, for betaing.

x tromana

Part Eleven

Lisbon settled back in her chair and lifted the latte to her mouth. For half a second, she inhaled the rich scent before sipping at it. She gazed out across the river, feeling relaxed for the first time in months. When Minelli had told her she was having a mandatory leave, she had been horrified and upset. Finally, after two weeks into her break, she realized that her boss' intervention had genuinely been for the best. He had been right; a lot had happened to her lately. Stronger people had cracked under that kind of pressure - Jane's hospitalization was testament to that. If she hadn't been careful, or if Minelli hadn't taken action, she could quite easily have followed him to the mental institution.

She sighed heavily. During her vacation, she had taken the opportunity to start straightening out her house. It provided her with an ideal distraction from everything that had been going on lately, especially as she didn't have work to focus on. Minelli hadn't even allowed her to take home some notes on her other open cases to study while on leave. The house seemed like an endless task though and there were still boxes she was yet to unpack. They mainly contained pieces from her childhood, items she had inherited from her parents. Part of her didn't really mind leaving them hidden away; her youth hadn't exactly been the most positive and she didn't need to be actively reminded of those specific nightmares. Especially not when she had to deal with all manner of problems in her line of work. There was only so much grief a person could deal with at any one time.

Unfortunately, having mostly dealt with her home, that meant she was finally having to face the daunting task of sorting herself out. So much had changed in such a short space of time. Minelli's perception of her had been completely shattered and Lisbon knew that it was going to take a while to rebuild that respect and trust. Her job had also been turned upside down. She wouldn't be able to ask Jane for his opinion, or use his tricks to help wheedle out a confession on particularly challenging cases anymore. When she returned, Minelli would probably have finally hired that rookie he had been promising her for months on end as well. Then, there was the loss of the Red John case. To say that she wasn't bitterly disappointed would have been an understatement. She could understand why he had taken it away from her. She lacked experience compared to the other senior agents and she was getting too close to the case. However, she had always hoped she would be the one supplying the answers to the eight families of the victims of Red John. Apart from her very recent doubts, she had always thought herself more than capable of bringing the serial killer to justice.

Then there was Jane.

She knew she loved him. Or rather, she had loved the man she had known before his breakdown. He challenged her, frustrated her, entertained her, made her want to hit her head against a brick wall repeatedly, made her smile. He had even managed to help her improve some of her skills as a cop. If somebody had told her that when she had just left the academy, she would have laughed in their face. What could a law enforcement officer learn from a fake psychic who flagrantly disobeyed rules in order to find the answers in his own way?

However, there were no guarantees that she would get him back. The mind was a fragile and complex thing. Something she only understood vaguely; just enough to be able to tell when a killer was telling her a bare-faced lie or to manipulate a guilty man into confessing to a crime he'd committed. But to understand what facets really made somebody themselves was beyond her. Probably beyond Dr. Miller as well, though she had more of a chance of understanding it than she herself did. Sophie had been entirely honest with her the last time they discussed Jane's fate. She was hopeful that he would make a full recovery, but couldn't make any promises. Nor could she guarantee a time frame, either. Medicine simply didn't work like that.

She couldn't waste her whole life waiting, hoping, for something that might never happen.

But equally, could she desert a sick man when he seemed to need her the most?

Was it fair for her to take the decision out of his hands entirely?

Should she try and ask him? Was enough of him left around to be able to make such a decision?

Would cutting him out of her life ease the heartache she was currently suffering from or would it simply make it worse?

Why did the whole matter have to be so complicated?

Lisbon rested her head on the metallic table and tried to refocus. Maybe the answers would seem a little clearer later on. This wasn't a situation where she could just have the solution immediately to hand. It was too complicated for that. Really, she needed somebody understanding to talk to, to help her straighten out things in her mind as well as to get it off her chest.

"Hello, stranger."

She knew that voice. Looking up, she broke out into a small smile.

"Sam?"

"I thought I recognized you over there," Bosco said, reciprocating her smile. "Can I join you for a drink?"

xxx

Sophie glanced at the wall and her heart sank.

She had thought she could trust him with a glass tumbler. His test results showed that he wasn't quite as far gone as he could have been. Jane still had some sense of self, which was more than could be said for some of her other patients. Then again, Lisbon had been adamant that he knew how to manipulate people to get what he wanted. Not enough for him to have passed the tests, but enough for it to not look as bad as it actually was. Sophie didn't like that; it made her job more difficult. How was she supposed to know when he was telling the truth and when he was pulling the wool over her eyes? She was here to help him and just wished that he would acknowledge that rather than resisting every step of the way.

Carefully, she opened the door and locked it firmly behind her.

What a mess.

Shards of glass were scattered across the floor, with one particularly large one covered in blood. The smiley face on the wall leered back down at her and Sophie shuddered. Briefly, she wondered what it must have been like for Jane, walking into his family home and seeing a real Red John smiley face staring back at him. The horror, the dread, knowing what you were about to see when you finally tore your gaze from the wall and actually dared to look at the floor. Seeing the people you cared about the most butchered, like animals taken to a slaughterhouse. What it must have been like for the cops who faced it time and time again, being reminded of the failure each and every time they did so. Helping people get better seemed so much less daunting than that.

"Oh Patrick, what are we going to do with you?"

He was huddled up in the corner, physically shaking. His right hand was clenched firmly over his left forearm as he attempted desperately to stem the blood flow. Sophie was certain that it looked significantly worse than it actually was; like he had spent some time actively encouraging the blood to rise to the skin's surface. The ashen look on his face suggested he hadn't even realized what he was doing to himself.

"Red John… he was here. He…."

"Red John isn't here, Patrick. You're alone."

"He tried to kill me!"

"You haven't had any visitors. The log states that-"

"I don't care what your fucking log says," he snapped back with a snarl and proffered his arm underneath her nose. "Now tell me that I haven't had any visitors!"

Sophie had to take a step back to stop him from actually hitting her again. The bruises on her shins and arms from when she had to physically restrain him two weeks ago were only just beginning to fade. He had been in the middle of a hysterical fit, then. It was another one of those moments when he had been convinced that Red John was in the room with him, trying to hurt and maim him. Instead, it was just her and a couple of orderlies, but he hadn't been physically capable of recognizing them. It was worrying her just how little progress he was making. If anything, he was regressing rather than taking steps forward. She didn't expect miracles; she had been in the business for long enough not to hope people would be cured over night. But he had been on medication for enough time for it to start to have some effect. She'd have to look into alternatives; his reactions to his supposed Red John victims were getting more and more violent. It could be possible that he was having an adverse reaction to the drugs they were administering.

"Okay, okay. Let's get you cleaned up and you can tell me about it."

His entire hand was caked in blood, but that didn't stop him from launching into a fast description of the supposed attack. Jane certainly wasn't lost for words; though Sophie knew from what Lisbon had told her about him that that was something out of character for him. If faced with a problem, Jane tended to bottle it up and work out the solution on his own. The very fact that he had just opened up completely to her didn't fit with what he was like before his breakdown. Though he seemed happy enough to accept her help to clean up the wound, it didn't stop him from lacing his words with malice. Jane actively blamed her for his injuries, stating that it was a dereliction of duty. Sophie knew that he was right; though his story was completely nonsensical, she shouldn't have supplied him something he could injure himself with.

That was entirely her fault.

For some reason, she became convinced that Jane was going to cause her nothing but trouble.

xxx

"So," Lisbon started as Bosco settled down opposite her with his own cup of coffee. "What brings you to Sacramento?"

"Work."

"Work? You haven't started working for the Feebs, have you?"

Bosco smirked at her obvious distaste of the FBI. Clearly, there was still no love lost between the two institutions and the rivalry was as bitter as ever. It was only natural; they were competing agencies and there was only so much funding available. If one of them got a crime that the other thought they had jurisdiction over, the battles between the brass could get very messy. Things weren't that much better lower down either. Lisbon had seen other senior agents completely lose it over what would usually be insignificant details whenever they clashed with the FBI. She prided herself having not fallen into that camp yet, but there was still time.

There (almost) always was.

"No, of course not. I'm one of you now."

"You're heading up my team until I'm allowed back?"

"Yes. They're good guys; they're missing you."

"I miss them too."

"I know."

They fell into a restive silence. It wasn't painfully uncomfortable, not like it could have been. It was just the feeling of two old friends, relishing in the moment of becoming reacquainted with one another. Lisbon was quietly thrilled that Bosco had joined the CBI; so often, she felt as if she were battling against the other lead agents, despite the fact that they were meant to be on the same side. At least now, she was virtually guaranteed to have somebody else fighting in her corner if needs be. Her years with the SFPD had been some of the happiest of her life, partially due to Bosco. It was only natural that seeing him again would lift her spirits, just when she needed it the most.

"What about Amanda and the boys?" she asked tentatively.

Bosco's face fell. Automatically, Lisbon reached over and covered his hand with her own. She wasn't sure what had happened, but the memory was obviously still very raw for him. As quickly as she had touched him, she pulled away. It had been a long time since she'd last seen him and somehow, the action felt a little inappropriate. Like she was stepping over some kind of unwritten boundary.

"Still in San Francisco."

"Oh."

"She left me. Then Minelli offered me the job and I snapped his hand off," Bosco answered, "I thought it'd be the ideal new start."

"Is it?"

"I think so," he admitted and Lisbon smiled slightly. "I still get to see the boys though. About once a month. It's not enough, but it's better than nothing."

"That's good. It's a shame you're not here under happier circumstances."

"Enough about me. What's happened to you?"

"Oh this?" she stated nonchalantly, her eyes flickering down, resting on the plaster cast for half a second. "It's nothing."

"It's a broken arm," he retorted, knowing full well that he was stating the obvious.

"A car crash, about a month ago. My fault. I was lucky."

"That sounds like there was somebody less so."

"I don't want to go into it," she replied, somewhat coldly.

"Fine. But you seem different. Sadder, somehow…" he said, trailing off a little. "Is the accident why Minelli insisted you take leave?"

"Sam…"

"Okay, okay. If you don't want to talk about it, I won't make you. But if you change your mind…"

"I know. Thank you."

Bosco glanced at his watch before draining his coffee in one go. He was running slightly late for a meeting with Minelli. That was never the best way to impress a new boss. But then again, it had been years since he had last seen Lisbon and he wasn't going to waste a chance opportunity at that small riverside café. Though he had been in Sacramento for two weeks already, he simply hadn't had the chance to meet up with her. Now that he was working for the CBI, he genuinely hoped that he would see her a lot more, especially once she was back to work and he was heading his own unit rather than hers. He'd missed having her in his life.

"I gotta go."

"Okay… well…"

"Yeah," he said, somewhat lamely. "We shouldn't leave it so long, next time."

"We shouldn't," she agreed quietly.

"Well, duty calls."

"Don't remind me," she replied, pained by the fact that he was working with her team and she wasn't. "Say hello to Cho and Rigsby for me."

"Will do. I'll call you."

She watched as he twisted around the tables. Her eyes didn't leave him until he disappeared from view. It was only then that she looked down at her own drink, which was getting colder by the second.

"Yeah," she acknowledged, though Bosco was already long gone.

TBC…