A/N: Hi everybody. My apologies that it has taken so long to get this installment of this story out. I've been busy with some professional writing assignments, and real life has somewhat gotten in the way. I will try to do better next time. I don't own The Mentalist or any of the characters within, and I make no money off of any of this. I write for fun and not for profit. A special thanks to everyone who has been reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing. Reviews make my day, so please drop by to say hi. Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 10

Abbott moved around his desk, and perched on the edge of it, facing Jane and Lisbon. He studied Lisbon for a good while and then asked, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm all right. Sleepy. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"So I heard. You want to tell me what happened out there?"

"I-I thought someone was watching my house. Besides the uniforms, I mean." Jane and Abbott exchanged glances.

"What made you think someone was watching your house?" Abbott asked.

Lisbon made a face. "I had a reason. I don't know what it was, though." She felt Jane's eyes on her, boring into her. She refused to look at him, and focused what energy she had on keeping her body language neutral.

"Are you up to going to California? If you aren't, I can send Jane and Cho. Ms. Weymouth can depose you virtually if she needs to do so."

Suddenly, all Lisbon wanted was to get away from the office, out of reach of all of the questions, for a time. And, If Volker was in Texas, she wanted to be as far away from him as she could get. California would do nicely.

"Yes, I'm up to going. I think I'll be fine after I get some sleep."

As she finished speaking, there was a knock on Abbott's door. A second later, Fischer stuck her head in.

"Yes, Agent Fischer, what is it?"

"You asked me to check in with Agent Potts and have her make the airline reservations to California."

"Yes. Has she finished?"

All three of them noticed the look that crossed Fischer's face. She quickly recovered her voice and said, "Agent Potts has not reported in, and no one can reach her on either of the numbers we have on file for her."

"I see. Agent Fischer, will you escort Agent Lisbon out to her desk and make sure she's with you or Cho until Jane comes for her."

"I don't need—" she started to say, but Abbott cut her off.

"You shouldn't be alone until the concussion symptoms have abated completely. I need to talk to Jane for a few minutes. I asked you to come in mid morning because Dr. Storm has to clear you to fly. By the time he's finished, it should be safe for you to sleep, so I want you to let Jane take you home, and I want you to rest before you two have to fly to California. Maybe you can catch up on some paperwork, and I know you have friends in the building who will want to see you and know you are all right."

The last thing Lisbon really wanted to do was talk to anyone. She wasn't an extremely social person on her best day, not to mention when she felt detached from the world around her somewhat, and had a splitting headache on top of that.

Fischer, however, already had a hand on her arm, and eager to help, practically dragged her out of Abbott's office and helped her get settled at her desk, where she was instantly surrounded by friends and colleagues.

After Lisbon left, the two men sat studying one another. Finally, Abbott said, "I need some answers to all of this. I need to understand what's going on. It's my job to protect everyone on my team, and I can't do that if I don't have all of the facts."

Jane said nothing. He bit his bottom lip, obviously thinking.

"Did Lisbon tell you why she was out there?" Abbott asked, noticing that Jane had something on his mind.

"No. I think she's still sorting through everything that happened in her mind," Jane said.

"Do you think she remembers what happened?"

"It's a mild concussion. She probably doesn't remember what caused it, and she may need to sleep in order for it to make sense, but once she does so, I think she'll be able to tell us what happened."

Abbott looked a bit uncomfortable. "I have to ask you, Jane, if everything involving the Tommy Volker case was done by the book?"

Jane didn't answer. After a moment, he said, "I think someone should visit Millie's home to see if we can find her, or at least figure out why she isn't here."

An awkward silence fell between the two men. After a few moments, Abbott spoke again.

"We both know that your methods are not exactly orthodox. I won't deny that they get results, but if IA ends up getting involved in this, I don't know if that will matter." Seeing the look Jane was giving him, he spoke again. "I'm trying to protect Lisbon now."

"Why didn't you ask her?"

"Because she's more likely to lie to try to protect you. You have no reason to lie. Your deal with the FBI protects you from any repercussions that might come from this. Lisbon's career doesn't need the hit it would take if she's caught lying to the FBI, and she doesn't need to fail another polygraph."

Jane looked at him, refusing to allow the mild surprise he felt inside to show on his face or in his body language or micro-expressions. Instead, he schooled his face to a pleasant neutrality and asked, "You read her file?"

Abbott smiled. "Does that surprise you? I made no secret about how I felt about the corruption within the CBI, which also touched the FBI office in California, unfortunately. When the director asked me to go and get you and bring you back here to work for us, I needed to know what, and who I was dealing with. I read the files of everyone on your team at the CBI."

"And?"

"And, I liked what I saw. That's ultimately why you are here."

"Really? I thought I was here because your bosses decided that I could be valuable to the FBI, and Lisbon is on your team because she was one of my requirements."

Abbott ignored Jane's statement, and directed the conversation back to what they were actually talking about.

"Now that you both are here, it is my job to protect you, the team, and this office, as much as I can. You haven't answered my question."

"If I answer that question, and IA asks you, what will you tell them?" He paused, eyes locked onto Abbott's. "You'll tell them the truth, because that's your job. If I don't answer it, and they ask, then the only thing you can tell them is also the truth—that you don't know. I have to say, I think that's safer."

Abbott understood the man's logic, even if he didn't agree with it. He also knew it would do no good to argue with Jane. The man didn't change his mind because of other people, and he usually came out okay. He decided he would talk to Cho or Lisbon later. He might get further with one of them.

"Will you go with Fischer out to Agent Pott's house? Even if she's not there, maybe you can find some of those answers we need.

Jane nodded once and walked out the door.

(0o0)

The wooded area behind Lisbon's home was crawling with crime lab technicians, taking pictures and collecting evidence. The two uniformed police officers assigned to watch Lisbon and her house were directing traffic, showing the technicians where Lisbon had been found the night before, along with the shotgun, and coordinating with Cho.

A shout went up from a new grid of the crime scene that the forensic technicians had just entered, and there was the sound of people picking their way carefully through the brush, and then one of the uniforms approached Cho.

"I think you need to see this."

Cho followed him, stepping carefully to avoid destroying any evidence. As they walked around a bend in the trees, the trail widened into a clearing, and the uniformed officer stopped short, and pointed at the ground. Late summer insects swarmed a rather large something lying on the ground, and the smell of blood was heavy on the air.

Cho reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of rubber gloves. He blew in one of them to open it up and worked his hand inside. Picking up a small stick with his other hand, he moved some of the brush aside, disrupting the small insects and causing them to fly. He was shocked to see a small pool of blood there, with fabric sticking out of it. It was caught on a small, broken branch. After the photographer had taken the appropriate pictures of it, Cho took out a small clear plastic bag with a zip top and placed it inside. He handed it to one of the crime scene techs to take to the lab.

"Do you think this is where the shooting took place?"

The crime scene looked like it could have been the site of a shooting, but then again, it might not have been either.

"Did you find any evidence of a shooting, besides the blood?"

The uniformed policeman looked at him and said, "Yes. Before I brought you over, the photographer took some pictures with a special filter, and it shows blood splatter on the ground and on the bushes, consistent with where someone might have been shot and fallen to the ground. Oh, and one of the techs found this right in this area," he said, handing Cho a used shell casing that came from a shotgun.

"No body?"

"Nope. Nothing."

"All right. I'll let you wrap up here. If you find anything else that I need to see, call me."

Cho disappeared back around the house, dialing a number on his cell phone as he went.

(0o0)

Lisbon wasn't sure how much time she had spent at her desk this morning, trying to convince well meaning colleagues from all over the building that she was fine. She couldn't really complain, though. It was nice to be liked. It might not have helped her headache to talk to that many people, but at least it kept her awake. That, and the fact that Fischer kept her well supplied with a healthy dose of caffeine, in the form of coffee. She hadn't really believed Jane when he told her that she should probably should stay away from the caffeine while she had a concussion, and she was starting to pay for that now, feeling that she was ready for a couple of rounds on a ceiling fan somewhere, but she also knew that her energy was flagging and the coffee would help. She Besides, having Fischer fetch her coffee gave her a short break from the woman's constant presence. She liked Fischer—she really did—but Fischer seemed to be taking Abbott's orders very seriously, and if she were honest with herself, Lisbon was beginning to feel a bit smothered. As Fischer brought her the third cup of coffee, she studied the other woman carefully.

"I really appreciate everything you've done for me this morning, but I'm fine, Kim, really. I'm sure you have work to do. Why don't you go on back to your office. I'll promise to stay here at my desk, and you can watch me through the glass."

"All of the attention is driving you crazy isn't it? Kim asked.

Lisbon had the grace to look embarrassed for a moment and then nodded. The two women laughed.

"Okay. I'll leave you in peace, but only if you promise to let Wylie or Cho or me know if you need anything."

"Deal."

Fischer had just returned to her office when Jane walked down the hallway with Abbott and straight up to her desk.

"I'm going out to Agent Pott's house. I want to look around. Something doesn't feel right about any of this." He studied her for a moment, and then said, "Let Cho or Wylie know if this gets to be too much for you, and stay here until I get back. I'm not staying long."

Lisbon nodded to show she understood, She watched Jane walk into Agent Fischer's office next, and then she watched as the two of them got on the elevator together and rode it down stairs.

She settled in to try to do some work, thinking something productive might help her forget how badly her head was hurting since the caffeine hit. There was something she had told herself last night, after they all left the hotel, that she was going to check on this morning. She couldn't remember what it was. She decided she might as well check her email. She tried to log into the FBI systems three or four times without success.

She looked around at her colleagues in the bullpen. Wylie and Cho were each staying close to their desks for the moment, and each man was trying to watch her without her noticing they were watching her. They were extremely bad at it. With that thought, she was trying to determine how much time had passed since she had arrived. She finally focused in on the clock on her computer—three hours. That would mean it was right around ten o' clock. Had she really been here that long? As she was having this thought, Abbott appeared in the bullpen area, alone. Stopping briefly to speak to various other agents, he quietly made his way to Lisbon's desk. She spoke before he had a chance to do so.

"Did Jane and Fischer find anything at Agent Pott's house?"

"I don't know yet. They should be on their way back, so we'll find out when they arrive. I came to escort you downstairs, where Dr. Stone is waiting to check on your symptoms." Seeing the look on her face, he said, "He has to clear you to fly. Jane said to tell you he'll pick up the tickets and find you when he is finished. You should be able to sleep after the doctor clears you, so maybe you can catch a nap before you leave for California."

She nodded.

(0o0)

When Jane returned an hour or so later, he walked the building looking for Lisbon, determined to see to it that she rested. He finally found her, on the cot in one of the same holding cells he had found himself in for a time, sound asleep. Smiling the gentle smile he only showed to her, he moved over next to her and pulled the blanket covering her up over her shoulders. Then, he seated himself in the single chair in the room, and waited for her to wake up.