Authors Note: I have misplaced my flash drive with all my story stuff on it. This is bad. It means that I have to either find it, or completely re-work and re-write what I had already had done for the next chapter. This is my poor attempt not to get yelled at when you get to the end of this chapter. You'll know what I mean when you read it. Thanks to Ebony10 for the beta, and to all the lovely people who reviewed this.

Disclaimer: There are only 2 new episodes this season. This is how you know they are not mine.

Jane pulled into the parking lot of Lisbon's apartment complex, not surprised at the number of police cars that were there. The rest of the neighborhood seemed to have decided that this is where they needed to be and the Sacramento PD had their hands full keeping the crowds and press back. Jane walked up to one of the officers and flashed his ID badge before slipping under the thin yellow police tape.

He didn't notice any of the team hanging around outside the apartments and knew that they were all either with Lisbon, or in the apartment of her late neighbor. Jane decided to check Lisbon's apartment first and slipped in the door, unnoticed by the crowd and the cops who were supposed to be watching.

The first thing Jane noticed was the silence. The second was the sick, sweet smell of burning tomatoes. He quickly went into the kitchen and noticed two pans on the stove, both turned on. One had less than half an inch of water in the bottom and the other was popping and hissing spaghetti sauce all over the stove. He quickly turned off both pans and carefully grabbing the pan with the scorched sauce in his good hand put it in the sink and filled it full of water.

He knew Lisbon wasn't there. She would never let her kitchen get to such a state, even if her neighbor had been killed. He decided to look around anyway, just to see if anything was out of place. He noticed that her gun and taser were not in their usual place nor were her keys hanging up by the door. She must have gone somewhere.

He stepped out of her apartment as quietly as he had come in. Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed Lisbon, but her phone went straight to voicemail. He was just getting ready to walk back to his car when a voice called his name. He cringed slightly, but plastered a smile on his face and turned.

"Van Pelt, fancy meeting you here." He said jovially, clasping his hands behind his back. If she saw his hand she would ask questions that he didn't want to answer.

"Where were you? Lisbon was asking for you. Did you see her?" She was standing in front of him and didn't seem to notice his slight discomfort.

"No, she wasn't in her apartment. I thought she was with you." He tried not to let the panic show in his voice.

"No, I left her there. She said she wanted to call the family." Van Pelt was clearly worried. She called out to one of the uniform cops. "Hey, did you see a brunet woman about 5' 3" coming out of this apartment?"

"Yeah, she looked liked she belonged and knew what she was doing. I didn't stop her." Jane cursed under his breath. "Should I have stopped her?"

"No, it's alright. Did you see which direction she went?" Van Pelt asked him, ignoring Jane's extraneous comments.

"Parking lot." He said gruffly before heading back to his spot on the yellow tape.

Jane reached both hands up to his face and flinched at the pain in his hand. This was not good. She could be anywhere.

"Jane, what did you do to your hand?' Van Pelt asked, reaching up to grab it.

"Nothing. Just a flesh wound. I'll be fine." He tried to pull it back, but she held tight to his arm.

"I think it's broken. You should have that looked at." The concern was evident in her voice as she turned his hand over in hers.

"It's fine. I should go look for Lisbon. She shouldn't be out there by herself. She probably went to find me." He succeeded in pulling his hand away, even though it hurt like hell when he did.

"Let Cho and Rigsby go. We need your help inside." She said, glancing back down at his hand.

"Give me a minute. I need some air, OK?" Jane said, giving her a smile that he knew would convey trust and care.

"Ok, but don't wait too long." Jane nodded at her and watched her walk back into the apartment. He waited until she was inside before he turned and headed back to his car. He had a pretty good idea where Lisbon was headed. He just hoped she would wait there for him.

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Lisbon pulled up to Jane's house. His car wasn't in the driveway, but she decided to go inside to look around anyway. Van Pelt hadn't mentioned if Jane had taken his own car, although she had assumed that he had. She was sure he would show up here eventually.

She wasn't really surprised that the door wasn't locked. If Jane had been upset, he might be distracted enough not to lock the door behind him. She walked into the house and called out to him. He didn't answer, not that she was expecting him to—he likely wasn't here after all. She made her way up the stairs. She knew where she was going. She was drawn to the room—it was as if the face was calling to her.

She opened the door and walked in, staring at the face. She noticed that there was something different about it this time. There was a bloody hole in the wall right next to the face. Jane had been here after all. She walked up to it and fingered the jagged edges. He probably had a broken hand after that.

She heard a door slam somewhere below her and went to reach for her gun. She cursed silently when she realized that she had left it back at her apartment in its normal spot next to her taser. She walked quickly over to the door and stood with her back against the wall. She looked out into the hallway, but didn't see anything. She shook her head. This was ridiculous. It was probably just Jane. She moved away from the wall and turned to look at the smiley face again.

She didn't even have time to react when she felt an electric jolt surge through her body. She collapsed to the floor, withering in pain as she felt another jolt. She saw a face come into view just as she was blacking out. The face was speaking. As if through water, the voice reached her ears.

"Nice to finally meet you face to face, Agent Lisbon."