A/N: No Jane in this chapter but he'll be back in the next.

Chapter 21 - Memories

On Lisbon's last day there were presents and tears and the whole team went out that evening to wish her well. She had a few too many shots of tequila thanks to Abbott and poor Wylie had fallen asleep on the table as he tried to keep up. Cho had hugged her and re-introduced her to his girlfriend Adele, the surgeon who had saved her life a few months earlier. She even thought she saw a tear in his eye. Maybe Cho was finally getting soft. Fischer and Tim were as close as ever as they flirted outrageously with each other.

'Have you decided on what to do with your house yet?' Tim asked when Fischer was at the bar.

'I'm going to sell it. It's a big step and one I couldn't make before but it's time. Time to move on.'

'With Jane?'

Lisbon shrugged as she took a sip of beer. 'I have literally no idea.'

Tim smiled and decided to change the subject. 'I'm glad you said that you want to sell the house. I'd like to buy it.' Fischer sidled up to them as he nodded to her and he added, 'Actually, we'd like to buy it, we'll give you a fair price and would save on the realtor fees.'

Lisbon grinned. 'Wow, that's a big step! Congratulations, I'm so happy for you both.' She stood up to give them a hug, a tear slipping down her cheek. 'I'd love you to buy it, it's a great house.'

Lisbon looked round her living room one last time. Everything had been labelled and was due to be shipped over the next few days. She touched one of the boxes lightly, the one that contained Jane's letters and their photographs together. She had never thought of herself as a sentimental person but that arrogant loveable annoying fool had somehow turned her into one, at least some of the time. Maybe it wasn't just Cho who was getting soft.

As she got on the plane she couldn't help but think back to the flight in Miami. That feeling was nothing new. Every time she took a plane she thought of that moment. This time she wasn't running away from him, though, she was running back to him. Despite what she had said on the phone to him, she still wasn't sure she was ready to face him.

As the plane descended she took in the sight in front of her. This city had so many memories for her. Some good but so many bad ones too and a shiver ran down her spine. It had been over three years since she had been here. She looked up at the sign as she made her way through the airport. It read, 'Welcome to Sacramento.'

She hired a car and drove to the apartment she had rented temporarily until she found somewhere bigger to live and her house sale had gone through. She knew she was going to be so busy with work she probably wouldn't see much of it in any case. After a fitful night's sleep she got up early the next morning and went for a run. She wasn't due to be in the office until after the weekend but couldn't resist a visit before then so got changed and drove the familiar route.

She parked her car and looked at the old CBI Headquarters building in front of her. She couldn't help but smile. She had loved this old building and always preferred it to the coldness of the Austin office. She hoped it hadn't changed too much on the inside. She remembered the conversation with Abbott a few weeks before.

'Agent Lisbon, take a seat.'

'Yes, boss?'

'I have a job offer for you.'

'I thought I already had a job.'

'Very amusing. Do you remember your old headquarters at CBI?'

'Of course I do.'

'Well, it's being re-opened as an FBI field office in around a month's time.'

'Really?

'Yes. I've been asked to ask you if you wanted to run a Serious Crimes team from there. You did it before at CBI so you're the obvious choice. You'll also need to help with the set up of the new office. It hasn't been used since...'

'Since you shut it down?'

'Precisely. So are you interested?'

She had been given a set of keys and got into the elevator. Her mind went back to all the times she and Jane rode in it, all the bickering and all the flirting, all the times he had left her on the other side of the door, not knowing if she would ever see him again. As she arrived at her floor her eyes looked up at the stairs to the attic. She wasn't ready to face those particular memories just yet so walked into the bullpen instead. It was still strange being the only one here. Everything was as she remembered it. The partition walls had been removed but the offices remained, a smattering of plastic chairs stood against the walls, dust thick on them. The last few weeks here had been truly terrible. She remembered Abbott questioning her incessantly about Red John and The Blake Association. Red John was dead but Jane had left too, leaving a gap in her heart she never thought she could fill. The truth was she never did fill it until he came back and they finally admitted their feelings. Then he ripped her heart apart all over again. She sighed and looked at her office door. It still had her name on it and it made her smile. She walked inside and more memories overwhelmed her. Playing poker with Jane for gummy dinosaurs, him needling her about her paperwork, him lying on the couch he bought her as they chattered away into the night. Shouting and throwing things at him when he decided to do things his way without telling her. Buying her that damn pony and seeing her in her bridesmaid's outfit. She laughed out loud as she remembered him calling her 'an angry little princess.' The hug he gave her and telling her he loved her before pretending to shoot her and then taking it back later. Telling her about his nervous breakdown, the first time she had seen true honesty in him. She wondered if that was when she had begun to fall in love with him. She sighed again and walked around the other offices, memories of him bursting into interrogation rooms and telling suspects to go, the memory of Lorelei telling her that she and Jane were lovers, the flirting with Erika Flynn.

She walked back into the hallway and exhaled deeply, taking the stairs to the attic. She pulled the door away and swallowed. Jane's old desk still sat where it always did. Obviously it wasn't worth enough for the FBI to sell it or reuse it. She walked up to it and saw a tea stained circle a saucer would have made and touched it. She looked around the room. These were the worst times for her as his hunt came to an end, concealing himself away from everyone and preparing himself for his final battle. He had won in the end she supposed but how many years of his life did Red John take from him? When he had left her after she was shot she couldn't help but think that, even dead, Red John was still winning in his own way. What kind of a victory had it really been? She didn't believe in ghosts but this room still affected her and she shivered, coming back down the stairs.

She walked over to where Jane's old couch would have been and dusted off a plastic chair. She sat down and looked at her phone. She had told him she would call and listen to what he had to say. She scrolled down to his name and looked blankly at the screen.