Thank you Elliesmeow for catching yet another spelling error. Actually I blame Microsoft Word for not recognizing the word "consumate."

I thought I should mention that all my stories are un-betaed so all mistakes are mine.

Happy Easter!

Chapter 21: Flames

Tuesday, 6:00 PM

After a lengthy, persuasive, and in-depth explanation from Jane on his intentions, Cho had finally agreed to be dropped off. Jane knew Cho wasn't far behind him and was probably already calling for reinforcements as Jane drove away. To be honest, Jane hadn't wanted to go into this alone, but he didn't want to risk Lisbon's safety by bringing someone along.

Jane was driving his car now, heading down the narrow dirt path leading into the remote regions of the woods. His blue Citroen wasn't really inconspicuous as he moved slowly through the green foliage surrounding the road. His eyes scanned the path ahead of him, a nervous tingling in the pit of his stomach. He was no less confident, but he couldn't help but worry. No plan was full proof.

Suddenly Jane hit his brakes as a man and a woman stepped out in front of his car with guns drawn. Jane smiled. Show time.

Jane recognized Gavin's red hair streaked with gray and his deep, confident blue eyes as he pointed his gun at the car. Rebecca was at his side, her light brown hair, with a strand of purple, fell in front of her amber eyes and cast a thin shadow across her face. She seemed nervous and worried and the angle at which she held her weapon expressed uncertainty. Jane doubted she would shoot him, so his eyes focused on Gavin.

"Get out of the car." Gavin ordered in a calm, but firm tone. Jane smiled at the man and turned off the car, keeping the key in. He then opened the door and stepped out of the vehicle, using the car door as a shield. "Drop your weapons." Gavin furthered, eyeing Jane suspiciously. Jane held up his empty hands to show his innocence.

"No weapons." He explained with another confident grin. Gavin took a step forward, gun still pointed at Jane, and the consultant shifted closer to the car. "But don't get any closer or I'll run you over." He threatened, hoping Gavin would listen and not try to shoot the unarmed man. After all, he still wasn't sure Jane had even brought the money. Gavin paused and took a step back.

"Are you alone?" He asked, his eyes scanning the forest around them.

"Do I look like I'm alone?" Jane asked, exploiting the man's paranoia by not giving a direct answer. Gavin frowned.

"Do you have the money?" He questioned, an air of frustration in his voice.

"It'd be pretty silly of me to come without it." Jane shrugged, smiling incessantly. His smile fell. "Where's Lisbon?" He asked in a firm tone.

"Boss wanted us to make sure you were alone." Gavin explained, a hint of spite in his voice when he said 'boss.' Jane knew it wasn't good that Gavin harbored negative feelings towards his boss because that would make him more likely to disobey him and take the money for himself, killing Jane in the process. The consultant unconsciously tightened his grip on the car door. "They'll come." Gavin furthered, lowering his weapon. The tension declined slightly as they waited for Matthew and Lisbon.

Tuesday, 6:00 PM

"So you two have no idea what's going on and you went along with it anyways?" Minnelli asked incredulously as he looked down at the two agents. They had been over this several times now, but apparently Minnelli had little else to focus on. Both Rigsby and Van Pelt could tell the man was worried about his agents and that he was frustrated with being useless.

Rigsby and Van Pelt were sitting in the two chairs placed in front of the boss' desk. Rigsby had adapted Jane's carefree personality as he leaned back in his chair with his legs crossed. He had stopped fearing for his job hours ago and was now just waiting for any news on Lisbon. Van Pelt, however, was sitting upright, a permanent mask of worry on her face.

"It's no different than you. You let him leave." Rigsby replied, feeling he had used this argument before.

"What about Cho?" Minnelli questioned hopefully.

"As far as we know Cho's with Jane." Van Pelt answered solemnly.

"Comforting." Minnelli muttered. "You don't actually think he'd go in there without back-up, do you?" He asked uncertainly. Van Pelt and Rigsby shared a look. "Of course he would." Minnelli remarked, throwing his hands up in the air in defeat.

"We need to have faith in him." Van Pelt commented. Before Minnelli could respond his phone started ringing.

It was Cho.

Tuesday, 6:22 PM

Jane had eventually closed the door to his car and was now leaning against the hood. He was now more nervous than ever, his hands fidgeting. He no longer feared for his own life. Instead, his mind was now torturing him with all the possible reasons for Matthew's delay. The scenario that bothered him the most and made him close his eyes was the image of Matthew burying Lisbon in the dirt after killing her. If that was true, Jane knew he'd be next. If that was true, he wasn't sure he'd try to save himself. Jane shook his head, knowing he was nearing a breakdown if he didn't see Lisbon soon.

Gavin paced impatiently while Rebecca was sitting on a fallen tree near the road.

The woman's amber eyes were focused on Jane, whose eyes were closed and whose fingers unconsciously toyed with his wedding ring. She tilted her head curiously and after a few minutes of internal debate, she finally decided to ask.

"You're married to this girl?" Rebecca asked, hiding her sheer curiosity under a shield of animosity. Jane opened his blue eyes and fixed her with a curious look. He was clearly caught off guard by the question and it took him a moment to realize he was absently twisting his ring around his finger. He glanced down at the ring before meeting Rebecca's eyes.

"No." He answered simply. Gavin frowned at the conversation, but kept pacing.

"You're wearing a wedding band." She pointed out, citing his contradiction with a frown. Jane returned his gaze to the ring.

"It's complicated." He explained. As much as he didn't want to talk about Lisbon with her kidnapper, he couldn't help but indulge in the distraction. It was far better than imagining Lisbon's possible murder. He involuntarily shuddered as her limp body flashed before his eyes.

The wedding ring was a subject Lisbon had never brought up. Jane had caught Lisbon looking at the ring on occasion, but she never said a word and Jane had always been thankful for that. He wasn't sure what he would say if she ever asked. He knew it was wrong to keep it on now that he was involved with Lisbon and a few times he had almost convinced himself to take it off… yet there it was, perfectly fitted on his finger, a constant reminder that he had a wife.

"Isn't it always." Rebecca muttered solemnly, her gaze casting downward. This comment immediately drew Jane's attention… and Gavin's.

"Stop your chit-chat." Gavin threatened cruelly. Rebecca shot him a glare, but remained silent. Jane knew from the beginning that Rebecca was all talk and that she wasn't a killer, so he began to wonder why she was going along with all this. She obviously didn't enjoy being involved.

"Why are you doing this?" Jane inquired curiously and directly, ignoring Gavin's glare. Rebecca looked worriedly in Gavin's direction.

"Isn't it obvious? I need the cash." She answered in a firm tone that was undermined by the hesitation in her eyes.

"So you let these sexist pigs treat you like crap?" Jane remarked coolly. Gavin spun on his heel and narrowed his ice blue eyes.

"Stop talking." He ordered and silence ensued. Gavin finally stopped pacing. Jane eyed Rebecca expectantly and she finally caved under his penetrating gaze.

"Don't judge me." She told him, her voice breaking slightly as shame briefly swept across her face. Jane tilted his head so he could observe her better.

"You feel sorry for me." Jane observed confidently. Rebecca's eyebrows furrowed.

"Why would I feel sorry for a cop? Jaden's dead because of you." She countered viciously, yet Jane noted how her grief wasn't for Jaden at all. The way she said his name was more spiteful than anything else. Despite this, Jane could tell she did feel grief for someone.

"You didn't really mean what you just said." Jane explained evenly, easily reading her body language and the expression in her eyes. "You didn't like what Jaden did to Andrew." He furthered, explaining the spite. Jane knew he was nearing the truth because as soon as he finished Gavin moved towards him with fury glistening in his eyes.

"Be quiet." He snapped, but Jane's curiosity overcame his better judgment.

"You loved Andrew, didn't you?" Jane furthered. He watched Rebecca's eyes as she tried to hide her sadness. Jane immediately knew he was right. Rebecca was ashamed because she was defending her lover's killer. When she lost Andrew she stayed loyal to the group, having no one else to turn to.

"For the last time, keep your mouth shut." Gavin yelled and Jane's focus quickly shifted to the tall man towering over him. Jane had always considered himself of average height, not too tall, but not too short; however, now he felt vulnerable and small in comparison to Gavin. Jane's inquiries had distracted him from the real threat and now the man had closed the space between them and had disabled his primary line of defense. Gavin's next words made Jane's blood turn to ice in his veins. "Let's just shoot him and take the money." He announced, pulling his weapon. Jane froze, knowing he had no chance of running away without being shot. His skin paled and his eyes were brimming with fear as he glanced down at the gun hovering at Gavin's side.

"Boss told us to wait." Rebecca interjected in Jane's defense, taking a step towards the two men. Despite her involvement, she was clinging to the hopeful idea that the exchange would go smoothly and that no blood would be shed.

"Why?" Gavin scoffed, raising the barrel of the gun and pressing it against Jane's chest. The consultant found he couldn't speak, able to feel the cold metal of the gun through his shirt. His heart was pounding and he found it hard to breathe knowing that any breath could be his last. "He's unarmed. Let's take the money and run. We can split it 50/50." Gavin reasoned as his cold eyes focused on Jane.

"Cutting deals, Gavin?" Matthew interrupted from behind. Gavin froze and turned to face his boss. Matthew frowned angrily, but Jane's focus was elsewhere, mainly centered on the terrified woman beside him. Relief overwhelmed him as he looked Lisbon over, head to toe. Her face was scratched and bruised, her lip was split, and blood accumulated around her wrist as her hands were tied together with rope. To see her alive had such a profound effect on the blond-haired man that he couldn't process what happened around him as Gavin returned his gun to his holster and stepped away from Jane. The consultant paused as he focused on her eyes. Pure horror shown in them as she feared he was going to be killed right in front of her. It absolutely terrified her that Jane was alone. After his mind finally caught up with him, he stumbled backwards, putting some space between him and the kidnappers.

Matthew grinned as Jane briefly lost his composure and held a gun to Lisbon's side. Jane cursed himself for screwing up so early in the game. He had effectively proved he was unarmed and he had let the kidnappers get too close to him. Had Matthew not arrived, he would have surely been dead.

"Mr. Jane." Mathew addressed him with a sinister, confident grin. Jane straightened himself, his eyes never leaving Lisbon's. He flashed her a brief smile meant to tell her everything was okay. Lisbon was reluctant to believe him. "Here's your girlfriend. Show us the money." Matthew announced in a straightforward manner. Jane paused, glancing between Lisbon and Matthew before edging towards his car and pulling out the briefcase. He pulled out a wad of cash and held it up to prove to the kidnapper that the bag was full of money. Matthew grinned victoriously, knowing there was nothing between him and his well-deserved cash. Then he paused, finding it all too easy. He turned to Gavin.

"Did you check the car?" He asked forcefully, daring him to say no. Gavin frowned.

"Why would I check the car?" Gavin countered. Mathew scowled at him.

"You idiot! What if he has someone hiding in the car!" Matthew exclaimed. Gavin turned away angrily and responded by pulling his gun and pointing it at Jane.

"Step away from the car." He ordered. Jane smiled slightly, everything starting to work as planned. He took a few steps away as Gavin carefully checked the backseats and the trunk. Meanwhile, Jane dropped the bag at his feet and inconspicuously reached his hand into his pocket while everyone was distracted by Gavin's search of the car. Jane concealed the box of matches in his palm while still holding on to the wad of cash in his other hand. Matthew turned back to him with a devilish grin.

"You shouldn't have come, Mr. Jane." He told him and Lisbon visibly tensed beside him, her green eyes warning Jane to run. He couldn't recall ever seeing her so scared. His light blue eyes pleaded with her to trust him. Her shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. "It's very stupid of you to come alone and without a weapon." Matthew laughed, not believing Jane's stupidity. It was just too easy. Jane ignored his words, opened his palm, and pulled out a match. "There's nothing keeping me from shooting you both." He added, his deep gray eyes focusing on Jane's hands. He fearfully turned his weapon on the consultant and Lisbon cringed, using all her will not to scream out. She wanted to lunge at Matthew and disarm him, but her hands were tied, she felt critically weak, she was outnumbered, and Jane would be killed before she could stop him. All she could do was stare and pray that Jane had a way out.

"What are you doing?" Matthew demanded and Jane just flashed him a clever smile as he struck the match against the box and it burst into a glowing flame. Lisbon frowned, unsure of what Jane was doing.

"Matt, I've always been curious…" Jane remarked his eyes watching the flame. "What color does money burn?" He asked, holding the match towards the wad of cash in his other hand. Matthew's eyes darkened.

"You wouldn't. That has to be hundreds of thousands of dollars right there!" He exclaimed incredulously, still pointing the gun at the consultant. Gavin and Rebecca just stared as Jane lit the money and it began to smolder, smoke erupting from the glowing pieces of paper. The fire danced in Jane's blue eyes as he looked at Matthew. He tilted his head sideways and quirked his eyebrows, easily proving Matthew wrong as the money slowly burned.

"Boss, he's burning our money!" Gavin announced, demanding Matthew do something. Everything they had worked for was going up in flames.

"Orange. Hm… very predictable." Jane commented as his eyes returned to the burning money.

"Stop!" Matthew directed, but Jane was quick to reply.

"Why?" He laughed with an indifferent shrug. "You were right. I don't care about the money." He explained, truly enjoying the pain he was causing the kidnappers.

"I'll shoot!" Matthew threatened, raising his gun with the intention of shooting the consultant.

"Don't!" Lisbon shrieked, unable to stay quiet. Jane's gaze drifted to Lisbon before locking with Matthew's gray eyes.

"No you won't or I'll drop this flaming wad of cash on the rest." Jane threatened knowingly. Matthew suddenly noticed that Jane was holding the burning money over the rest. If he dropped it, all the money would go up in flames. Matthew froze, intrigued by Jane's plan. He had evened the playing field, using the money as a hostage.

Jane cringed as the fire started to sear his hand, the paper turning to ashes. He quickly pulled another match and struck it before dropping the remnants of the money onto the ground floor. He then stomped out the flames while simultaneously holding the new match over the briefcase. He grinned once he had finished, knowing that that had been one of the more challenging parts of his plan: not to burn himself too badly and not to give the kidnappers a window to shoot him without losing their precious millions. Well, to be honest he had only halfway succeeded, his hand now covered in blood and the pain involuntarily forcing tears into his eyes.

Gavin took a step forward and Jane quickly turned on him. "I wouldn't if I were you." He announced with a victorious grin. "Now… let's try this again, shall we?" Jane commented nonchalantly, directing his smile at Lisbon, who was watching him curiously. He turned back to Matthew. "Drop the weapons." He ordered. Rebecca quickly lowered her gun and set it on the floor while Gavin and Matthew hesitated. "I'm unarmed and alone, remember?" He reminded them.

"He's bluffing." Gavin reasoned uncertainly.

"Am I?" Jane asked skeptically. "You shoot and everything you worked for-killed for-goes up in flames." He explained as the flame flickered in the waning light. The forest was starting to darken as twilight set in. Matthew nodded towards Gavin and they both placed their weapons on the floor, kicking them away.

"Very smart, Mr. Jane." Matthew remarked. Jane noted an air of confidence still lingered in his voice and Lisbon's eyes seemed to confirm his suspicions. Matthew still thought he could succeed and Lisbon knew why. Something Lisbon had said during the ransom call suddenly echoed in his mind.

"Just hanging here with my four new friends."

They had a fourth man… an ace in the hole.

"Teresa, is that all of them?" Jane asked, referring to the guns. Lisbon nodded. "Let go of her." Jane ordered Matthew with a menacing glare. Matthew released his firm grip on her arm and she immediately pulled away, pausing a foot away from him. She glared at her kidnapper before suddenly charging him and kneeing him in a very sensitive place. The man yelped and hunched over, nearly falling to the ground.

"Asshole!" Lisbon spat angrily, tempted to release another blow. Instead she moved away and quickly grabbed his gun off the ground while kicking the other weapons away from their respective owners. It was a hard feat considering how her hands were roped together and she was finding it hard to walk, her knees threatening to give way. Jane looked deeply concerned as she managed to make it towards him. She stood next to him, shoulder to shoulder, her gun pointed at Matthew. Gavin started moving backwards, edging towards the trees, but Jane saw what he was trying.

"Na-ah, don't even think about it." Jane taunted and Lisbon pointed the gun at Gavin. Realizing that the matches were rendered obsolete by Lisbon's gun, Jane blew out the flame. A brief silence overtook the small roadside clearing. The songs of birds died away along with the rustling of the trees in the wind. All was eerily still.

"Patrick, what do we do now?" Lisbon whispered, now leaning against his shoulder, using him for support. Jane's eyes darted towards his car.

"Cho should be bringing reinforcements any moment." He explained, wondering what was taking Cho so long.

"That's your master plan?" Lisbon asked incredulously and Jane couldn't help but smile as Lisbon took on her usual authoritative tone.

"It's worked so far, hasn't it?" He replied. Lisbon's eyes revealed worry and she tightened her grip on the gun.

"They have a fourth man." She whispered, her eyes scanning the trees for the sniper. Matthew grinned, but said nothing. Jane's hand grasped Lisbon's arm as he edged them closer to the blue Citroen sitting idly on the road. They left the money on the ground.

"I know, but he won't shoot as long as we have the gun on his boss." Jane responded quietly, pulling her with him, but never turning his back on the three kidnappers in the clearing.

"If we run, we're dead." Lisbon told him, glancing at his eyes before returning her gaze to her target. "We can take him hostage and use him as a shield." She said in a slightly louder voice, her eyes narrowing dangerously as she watched Matthew Peters.

"There's no honor among thieves." Jane explained. "When they realize the money means more to them than their boss and that the cops are coming, the guy's going to snap." Jane furthered in a barely perceptible voice. Lisbon had to admit Jane had a valid point. Jane turned and hurriedly pulled her towards the car. Lisbon never let her gun drift away from its target, Matthew.

"Get in the car." He ordered Lisbon, his ears picking up on the sounds of sirens heading in their direction. No doubt the fourth shooter would hear them too. Lisbon eyed him dubiously, questioning whether Jane would follow. "I'll follow, just get in." Jane furthered, waving her to hurry. She put her trust in him and obeyed, dropping the gun as she rushed towards the passenger side and opened the door with her hands still tied together.

"Shoot him!" Matthew yelled into the woods as soon as he was no longer a hostage. Gavin darted towards his weapon. Jane dashed towards his car and quickly jumped into the driver's seat, but before he could start the vehicle, shots rang out, shattering the blue car's windows.

"Teresa, get down!" Jane yelled as he placed his hand on her neck and shoved her downward to hide her from the onslaught of bullets. The sirens got louder, but could barely be heard over the gunfire.

"Reverse! Patrick, put it into reverse!" Lisbon ordered, her voice panicked. Adrenaline rushed through his veins as he set the car in reverse and slammed his foot down on the gas pedal.

The car quickly pulled backwards at full speed and Jane had to use the rearview mirror to narrowly miss hitting several trees lining the dirt road. A bullet from Gavin's gun impacted the windshield and Jane ducked instinctively. Lisbon didn't sit up, absolutely terrified as bullets hit the car. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this scared and she had nothing to reassure her except the hope that Jane and her would both make it out alive.

The car abruptly stopped, the force pushing her back up and against her seat. She could hear sirens wailing around them and the exchange of angry voices. The gunfire had stopped. They hadn't hit anything so her first thought was that Jane had been shot and had released the gas. Fear overwhelmed her again. She opened her eyes, not even remembering when she had closed them, and looked beside her to find Jane gripping the wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white until they were almost the same color of his paling face. Blood stained the steering wheel as he pressed his burned palm hard against it. His eyes were wide with shock and from this angle she really couldn't tell if he was injured. Glass shards littered the car and Lisbon could see police officers rushing past the broken windows towards the scene in front of them.

I've pretty much written the rest of this story. :) Yay!

Reviews are always appreciated.