I don't own Blindspot or any of these amazing characters…

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"You were shot in the chest?" Kurt looked at the large discoloring bruise covering Jane's chest in disbelief.

"Guess you were right about wearing the vest," Jane tried to lighten the mood.

Kurt didn't respond, he was staring at the evidence of just how closely he'd come to losing her…again.

"Kurt?" Jane dropped the pretense that everything was fine when she saw his struggle.

"What else?" He worried, his eyes meeting hers.

"That's it," Jane hastily assured him.

Kurt nodded his head and turned away. Jane watched him head into the bathroom with a worried frown. When he still hadn't come out ten minutes later she walked over to the door and knocked softly.

"Kurt?" She worried, "You okay?"

There was a muffled assurance and she retreated to sit on the bed.

Five minutes later the bathroom door opened and Kurt froze when he saw Jane patiently waiting on him.

Her heart ached when she realized his eyes were red.

"Kurt…" Jane stood up and walked over to enfold him in her arms.

He stood stiffly for only a moment before his arms came around her and held her tightly.

"I'm sorry," Jane whispered into his neck. She should have told him about the near miss before he saw the damage for himself.

"You know how necessary you are to me," Kurt told her.

"We are in a dangerous situation," Jane agreed, "But we're both careful."

"Not careful enough," Kurt insisted looking down at the bruise still gracing her chest.

"Kurt…" Jane didn't know what she could say to reassure him.

"I have spent the majority of our marriage, either looking for you or facing the prospect of losing you," Kurt said bluntly.

"I'm sorry," Jane raised her hand to cup his cheek.

"You are necessary to me in a way you clearly don't understand," Kurt accused her.

"You're just as necessary to me." Jane insisted.

"But you don't fear losing me," Kurt argued, "Because you haven't had to face it."

"I do fear losing you," Jane admitted, "I watched that building explode…" She couldn't go on.

Seeing the anguish on her face, Kurt closed the distance between them and pulled her against him.

"I'm sorry, you're right." He kissed her forehead.

"The reason I sent you to pick up Cade's family," Jane whispered, "Was because I can't risk losing you again."

Kurt rested his forehead against Janes, "What a pair we make."

"Yes," Jane agreed, "The perfect pair."

"So what now?" Kurt pulled back and kissed the tip of her nose.

"I have a boo boo than needs to be kissed better," Jane suggested looking up at him with an expression that had immediate effect.

"Do you?" He smiled.

"Think you're up for it?" She teased.

He leaned down to kiss her and she could feel the effect she had on him.

"I guess so…" She smiled.

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Rich looked at the computer screen in front of him before running his agitated hands back through his hair in frustration. He'd recently dyed it blond so that he wouldn't be recognizable. It only made him more noteworthy if that were possible.

Jane looked from his frustrated face to Kurt. The amusement in her expression had his heart lightening.

They shared a smile.

"What could possibly be amusing?" Rich demanded petulantly.

"Nothing," Jane hastily reassured him. Silently wondering why he hadn't dyed his beard…

"Maybe if I slept half the morning away," Rich went on grumpily, "I would be in a better mood too… or weren't you two sleeping?"

Jane clammed up. It was enough of a confirmation for Rich, even if he hadn't caught the wink a very satisfied looking Weller gave his wife.

"I have literally not slept and you come in here all…happy. How dare you?" He was truly outraged.

"Leave them alone," Patterson insisted, standing up and walking over to them. "They deserve a little happiness."

"So do we!" Rich argued, "For all we know our application to adopt is going to be thrown into the trash."

"Your…what?" Jane was looking between Patterson and Rich in surprise.

"It's not our application," Patterson snapped, "It's my application."

"You didn't read it huh?" Rich smirked over at her.

"What'd you do?" Patterson stopped what she was doing to look over at him.

"Two parent families have an advantage in the adoption process," Rich insisted.

"But I'm not a two parent family," Patterson reminded him.

"You are now," Rich denied.

"Why would you think a dark web hacking felon would make a good co-applicant?" Patterson was outraged.

"Don't be rude," Rich chided, "Of course I didn't put any of my former antics in the application."

"So…you lied," Patterson accused him.

"Well," Rich reminded her, "You didn't exactly read the form, so you kinda lied too."

"You and Rich are trying to adopt a child?" Kurt was looking at Patterson with a stunned expression.

"Apparently," Patterson all but growled.

"A parent," Rich laughed, "I see what you did there."

Patterson closed her eyes and began to count, "It hardly matters now. No way would anyone give me a child."

"Well, I'd offer to do it naturally…" Rich started.

Patterson's glare stopped him.

"I didn't know you wanted to adopt," Jane was looking at Patterson in surprise.

"It's just that Bethany's so sweet…" Patterson admitted, "I really want that."

Jane looked over at Kurt in concern. He was already missing Bethany…

"Why not have one of your own?" Kurt asked her.

"With Rich?" Patterson's outrage was evident.

"You could do worse," Rich snapped, "And have, if you'll recall."

"I'm sorry," Patterson hastily assured him. It wasn't fair to make Rich feel inadequate too.

"It doesn't have to be with Rich," Jane reminded her gently.

"Who else would it be?" Patterson reminded them, "Even before we were wanted fugitives, I didn't exactly have a lot of options."

"What about your liaison with Lincoln?" Rich asked her pointedly.

"I…" Patterson's face was on fire, "I don't think that getting involved with the nephew of the current Director of the FBI is an option right now, plus, that was really just a moment."

"You slept with Weitz's nephew?" Tasha asked from the doorway.

This just kept getting better…

"I didn't know who he was at the time!" Patterson protested.

"That didn't stop you," Rich reminded her.

Jane and Kurt shared a look of surprise.

"Was this at the same time he was in our offices training?" Reade was hoping not.

"I didn't know who he was!" Patterson continued to protest.

"But you slept with him anyway," Rich was not being helpful. His comments fueled by her outrage over their shared parenthood.

"So," Tasha began to tease, "You met the nephew, slept with him and then found out who he was."

"And then slept with him again." Rich said in an aside.

"Rich!" Patterson was ready to kill him.

"I'm just saying." He wasn't contrite.

"Besides that," Jane brought the topic back to the original one, "You're trying to adopt?"

Patterson shot her a grateful look before she realized exactly what Rich had been up to. He knew introducing Lincoln would make her want to change the subject, even if it meant admitting she'd been planning to adopt.

Rich was looking too satisfied.

"Rich and I are trying to adopt." Patterson explained to Tasha and Reade.

It was Rich's turn to look distressed.

"What?" Tasha had never been more speechless.

"We talked about it and Rich filled out the paperwork. He's really looking forward to diaper duty." Patterson smiled in satisfaction when she saw his face drop.

"I don't think…" Rich began.

"I think you will make great parents," Kurt winked at Patterson.

"Now, wait a minute!" Rich protested.

"Daddy Dot Com," Jane joined in, "I can see that."

"I know what you're doing," Rich accused them.

"Supporting our friends," Tasha caught on quickly.

"You're trying to freak me out," Rich insisted.

"If anyone would understand teenage rebellion," Reade encouraged, "It's you."

"Very funny," Rich hadn't anticipated the tables being turned on him.

"A lifetime commitment," Kurt smiled at Rich, "That's a big step."

Now Rich was looking slightly sick.

"I wonder what Boston will think?" Reade said casually.

"Look," Rich was getting agitated, "I was just trying to help Patterson out. I'm more like Uncle Rich who will help you hide the body."

"You're reformed," Jane reminded him.

"Says the woman currently hiding with me in a bunker from law enforcement," Rich reminded her.

Jane couldn't argue with that.

"It hardly matters now," Patterson reminded them.

"We're going to get our lives back," Kurt insisted.

"I know," Patterson didn't exactly look convinced.

"How's the work going on the phone?" Tasha worried.

"It's not," Rich admitted, "Even with the upgraded hardware we aren't any closer to being able to extract the data from what's left."

"Why not?" Reade worried.

"It's not only broken," Patterson reminded them, "It's encrypted. Rich was almost able to hack it before he was taken into custody, but once he was forced to hide the phone, all of that was lost."

"So if he did it once, can't he do it again?" Kurt asked them.

"Not without the right tools," Rich denied. "I don't have any of my programs and we don't have the large data processors that we used when we were in the FBI lab. Did we mention that the phone is also broken?"

"So what can we do to get you what you need?" Kurt asked them.

"We need a replica of this model phone," Patterson explained, "And we need access to the FBI servers."

"You hacked into their system before," Brianna reminded her, "Can't you just do that again?"

"No," Patterson denied, "Well, I could get in, but I need to literally hijack almost all of their systems and it would still take all night. No way could I do any of that without them immediately becoming aware of what I'm doing."

"Then we'd lose whatever access you still have," Jane realized.

"So we give up?" Briana looked distressed.

"No," Patterson denied, "I need to find a way inside."

"They are definitely watching for that after our last visit," Jane immediately denied.

"What if we don't break into the FBI," Tasha insisted, "What if we use the hard line at Reade's?"

"That might work," Patterson admitted, "But I'm sure they've taken that out by now."

"We still have the one at our apartment," Kurt reminded them.

"They might have overlooked it," Patterson looked over at Rich.

"Kurt hasn't been the Assistant Director for a long time," Rich agreed, "It's probably our best option."

"I think we should try both," Tasha insisted.

"Why?" Reade worried.

"Two reasons," Tasha explained, "If they're waiting for us to try something, we can buy Patterson the time she needs by distracting them."

"What's the other reason?" Rich asked her.

"It might hide the fact that Weller and Jane still have access. If we misdirect their search, then if we have to go back in again, we'll still have that avenue available." She insisted.

"Can you get into your back door, without leaving a trail?" Reade looked over at Patterson.

"The only person that could find my trail is Rich," Patterson insisted.

"Aww…." Rich was looking at her with a misty expression.

"Not now," Patterson growled.

"So who's going to go with Patterson and who's going to be the distraction?"

"Since its Reade's apartment," Tasha offered, "I think that Reade and I should take Rich and be the distraction."

"Take Rich…" Rich protested.

"It should be Jane and I," Kurt denied, "They know that Rich, Jane and I are alive. They aren't sure you are yet. Let's keep it that way."

Reade could see that Tasha wanted to protest.

"He's right," Reade insisted.

Tasha held her argument.

"If you get into a jam," She insisted, "We're your backup."
"Fair enough," Kurt agreed.

"When do you want to do this?" Kurt looked over at Patterson.

"We need to reassemble the phone first," Patterson told them.

"Fair enough," Kurt shared a look with Jane.

They both knew the danger of what they were undertaking, but if they wanted their lives back, it was a risk they would have to take.

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"You're hiding." Nigel said from behind her.

"We're all hiding," Patterson looked over at him briefly.

"Not physically hiding," He chided.

Patterson glared over at him.

"Stop it." She warned him.

"I'm trying to help you," Nigel claimed.

"I don't need your help," Patterson insisted, "We don't have this type of relationship anymore."

"It wasn't all a lie," Nigel said softly.

"I'm not listening," Patterson warned him.

"You might not want to hear," Nigel denied, "But you need to."

"Why?" Patterson turned to face him, "How can rehashing any of this help me?"

"The woman I knew was open and engaging," Nigel reminded her, "She'd faced tragedy, but still was searching for her version of happily ever after."

"Well," Patterson turned away, "I'm not that person anymore."

"I think you are," Nigel denied, "You just don't trust yourself to find it."

"Who's fault is that?" Patterson pointed out.

"Partly mine," He admitted.

"Partly?" Patterson looked at him in astonishment.

"But it's partly yours too."

"Oh, yeah?" She tried to ignore him.

"You were hiding even before you met me," He accused her. "When David wanted you to move in together, you used your work as an excuse."

"Nigel…" Patterson warned him.

"When we were seeing each other," He went on, "David was the key to your reluctance."

"He was more than that!" Patterson all but yelled, "He died because of ME! How could I be free to find happiness after that?"

"None of this was your fault," Nigel denied, "David's death was tragic, but he made his choices, just like I did."

"Why are you doing this?" Patterson demanded.

"Because I overheard your conversation with the team," Nigel admitted.

"My adoption," Patterson clarified.

"Exactly," Nigel confirmed, "You're sabotaging that relationship like you have all your other ones."

"Oh," Patterson scoffed, "You think I'm going to be approved to adopt with all of this hanging over my head?"
"No," Nigel denied, "Of course not, but once this all gets cleared up, you're going to use it as an excuse to stop trying."
"If this gets cleared up," Patterson said seriously.

"I've been on both sides of this team," Nigel smiled, "This will get cleared up, but when it does, don't sabotage the rest of your future, for what happened in the past. You owe yourself that."

"Why do you even care?" Patterson demanded.

"I loved my first wife," Nigel said softly, "And if I hadn't been so consumed with how she died, I could have loved you. I was hiding every bit as much as you are and arguably it ruined my life. I've had a lot of time to think about my mistakes."

Patterson stopped what she was doing and turned to face him.

"You helped Jane and now you're trying to help me," Patterson acknowledged, "Why?"

"At some point you either have to die or you have to start making amends." He pointed out,

"So you're sorry for what you did?" She confirmed.

"I'll live the rest of my life with a mountain of regrets," Nigel agreed, "But one of them will not be standing by while you punish yourself for things outside your control. You deserve to be happy, whatever form that might take."

"Thank you," Patterson told him. She didn't know why, but suddenly she felt a weight she hadn't even known she'd been carrying fall away.