A/N: You have no idea how much your comments mean to me. They can defeat any kind of Writer's Block. Your excitement to read becomes my excitement to write. You-are-the-best! Now have this chapter as a reward :)

Chapter 4: Polaroid

"Max, why did you hide yourself in our trunk?" Cho asked the boy.

Max Raffin regarded him with dejected eyes. They were standing on the asphalt; cars driving past them now and then.

Cho didn't need Jane's skills to read the boy's mind. He knew this particular mien from self-experience. The childish need to be into the scheme of things. The anger at being left out. He could see the boy wasn't really regretting his actions. He was just disappointed in being caught. The show of repentance was just that: a show. One he'd put on a couple of times himself when he was a child.

"Will you answer the question?" he demanded.

Vega, who had been observing in heeding silence, raised a restraining hand before him. "It's ok", she said in a friendly voice, "Max, we won't punish you or anything. We just need to know why you were in our car".

Cho waited for the boy's answer, making it clear with his expression that he wasn't buying.

"Fine", he finally gave up. "I thought maybe I could help with the investigation. Plus I didn't want to stay home anymore", he confessed.

"How would you help with the investigation?" Cho inquired.

"Me and my sister had a special kind of connection. I could always tell what she was thinking. Same with her. Maybe I could… provide some insight", he said.

"Does your mother know you're here?" Cho asked.

"Like she would care", Max scoffed.

There was a clicking sound. The back door of the car slowly opened. Jake rose from his seat, his sleepy eyes darting around, searching for them.

Before Cho and Vega could react, Max was soaring past them, heading directly at the teenager.

"You!" he shouted, shoving him with his hands, "How could you let her be kidnapped? I trusted her with you! She trusted you!"

"Max!" Jake exclaimed; taken aback.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Cho intervened, trying to loosen the boy's grip on Jake's shirt. Vega also grabbed him from the other side.

"Stop it!" Cho yelled, finally separating them.

A few moments passed as the tension withdrew itself.

"Max, I'm sorry, I couldn't do anything to prevent it", Jake apologized.

"What do you mean you couldn't? Where were you, jackass?"

"I was back at our hotel. I woke up to find a message where she said she'd be back in two hours. But she never did", Jake explained; his voice at the verge of insanity.

Vega listened to him with fresh interest. "She left a message?" she wondered aloud.

Jake drew his gaze toward her. "Yeah, why?"

"Did she say where she was going?" Michelle asked him.

Jake shook his head. "She just said she wanted to see something". He turned to regard Max then. "So you don't think I did it?" he asked.

Max seemed to have calmed down. "You wouldn't be standing if I did".

"Enough", Cho interrupted. "Max, you will go back home… once we're done with this operation".

Max who was about to protest, relaxed his posture.

….

Day of confrontation

Slowly, the blankness of sleep receded, letting the first strands of sunlight brush her eyelids. She tried to repel it, squeezing her eyes shut.

Then she heard it: an overpowering kind of silence. Not the kind that came with sleep, since she could perceive no deep rhythmical breathing at her side.

However, the feathery weight on her left hand told a different tale.

She opened her eyes. Only to fall into the green-lit ocean that were his. He didn't seem to react at being caught staring. Instead, his features were relaxed; his eyes washed in deep thought.

She gave him a quizzical look, finally succeeding in earning a sleepy smile from him.

"Hi", he greeted her.

She freed her hand from his touch to push away a lock of blond hair from his forehead. "Hi", she greeted back, her voice thick with sleep.

"Slept well?" he asked her.

"Yeah, you?"

"Uh…" he grimaced.

"How long have you been awake?" she asked cautiously.

"I don't know… three-four hours?" he mused.

She stared at him in shock. "God, Jane".

"A simple Jane would suffice", he said in a solemn voice.

"I'm serious", Lisbon reprimanded.

"Well, I was thinking…" he confessed.

"What?" she asked, though she could already guess what it was, judging from the conversation they'd shared the previous night.

His lips pressed together, forming a thin line across his face. After a moment, they loosened up.

"Remember when we first met?" he asked suddenly, surprising her.

"You mean when you provoked poor Hannigan to punch you in the face so that I would feel guilty for your sorry ass and accept you in my team?"

"Well, this is a way to remember it", he agreed.

She smiled despite herself. "Okay, how do you remember it?"

He was silent for a moment, trying to find the right words. Lisbon sensed that this was going to get serious.

"You see... after Angela's and Charlotte's death, I would manipulate anyone to get to my purpose. I didn't care".

Lisbon cowered her shoulders, preparing herself for whatever painful truth his lips would utter next.

"But then, that day, I looked into your emerald eyes; the nobleness and honesty in their depths, and all I wanted was to treat you with fairness and discretion. It was so overwhelming and I didn't like it. I couldn't afford to be caring. Not when I was so determined to take my revenge. But I just couldn't help it. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't see you as another pawn. Of course, I realize now that it is what kept me sane back then—this connection to my… human side", he admitted.

Lisbon was speechless, her mind travelling back to that particular moment, remembering the feelings of loss and damage she'd derived from him, trying to relive the moment from his perspective. But he was wrong.

"Patrick, you were already human enough. You always were. It's just that sometimes bad things happen to good people. It's not because of me your obsession didn't corrupt you. It's because your heart would never allow you to become something else", she told him.

"Maybe. But still, I was kind of lost at the time. And you helped me in …not losing myself any further".

"Why are you telling me these things?"

He locked her eyes in a firm gaze. "Because I need you to know exactly what you mean to me".

She felt a lump in her throat; a sudden moisture in her eyes. Those words. She wondered if he realized how similar they were to the ones he'd used three years ago, before abandoning her in a godforsaken beach. It was no wonder she felt an instant repulsive reaction at them. She searched for a different subject of conversation and suddenly remembered they had a plan to follow through.

"We have a long road trip ahead of us. We'd better start getting ready", she said and drew the covers aside to let herself out of bed.

….

"Should we eat something before hitting the road?" Jane suggested.

Lisbon, who was just about to check them out of the hotel, stopped in her tracks. "You mean like breakfast?" she inquired.

"Yeah, why not? We still have time", he claimed.

She considered that for a moment.

"Cho and Vega are gonna be waiting for our signal to carry out the arrest", she reasoned, her professionalism dominating.

"Oh come on, I'm sure they could use some rest before the whole action starts".

The idea of starting her day like a normal person sang to her. But she knew that this kind of privilege was not meant for the life she'd chosen. She wondered then if he'd somehow sensed this particular need of hers, since he always seemed to know what she was thinking.

"Jane and Lisbon", announced someone then, his voice sounding strangely familiar.

They both exchanged a quizzical look, before turning to see if it was who they thought it was.

Lisbon took in the man's sparse white hair, the warmness of his eyes, his thick beard and compared them to the image that had been imprinted in her memory for years.

"I thought I'd never see you two again. Guess I'm not that lucky after all", the old man said, feigning a grumpy voice.

Her lips stretched to an over-extended smile. "Virgil?" she exclaimed.

Minelli smiled warmly at her. "It's good to see you, Teresa". He turned to regard Jane. "You too, Patrick".

Jane nodded shyly. "It's good to see you, too, Virgil", he said whole-heartedly. "Nice beard", he commented.

"Thank you", said their old boss.

Lisbon could see that there was a silent understanding going on between the two of them. She mentally noted to ask Jane about it later.

"So what brings you here?" she asked Virgil.

"Oh I'm here with my wife, May. We're enjoying the casino", he explained.

Lisbon was about to react at this news, when Jane's voice sounded first.

"May?" he repeated with a spark of enthusiasm. "Is that…?"

Lisbon turned to look at him.

"Yes, she is", Minelli answered. "The one you introduced to me. I was trying to find you and say thank you, but… you were busy", he explained.

"Yeah, it's fine. I'm glad you two worked it out", Jane said.

"Where is she?" Lisbon asked then.

"She's upstairs", Virgil answered.

The old man studied them for a moment. "I heard CBI was shut down", he said, throwing furtive glances at Jane.

"Yeah", Lisbon admitted. "We're with the FBI now", she said.

"Oh, glad to hear that. I hope this man isn't giving you a hard time anymore, is he?" he said, pointing at Jane.

Lisbon stole a glance at her boyfriend, not sure if she should share the news of their relationship or not. She decided it wasn't the time or the place for such revelations.

"We've learned to tolerate each other", Jane answered, somehow reading her thoughts.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, bringing her back to reality.

"Actually, you will excuse us Virgil, but we're kind of in the middle of a case right now", she said. "I hope we can catch up at some point".

"I understand", Virgil said. "I hope so, too".

Hesitantly, she moved closer to give him a warm hug. Minelli returned her gesture, just like her dad used to do before her mother died.

"You two need anything from me, please don't hesitate to tell me", Virgil announced after they broke their hug.

Lisbon nodded, feeling suddenly emotional. "Thank you", she said warmly.

Once Virgil left, she answered the call.

"Yes, Cho, we were just checking out. You can carry on with the plan".

….

Orange Cove, Fresno

After spending the night in Reedley, a nearby city, they were finally in position. The adrenaline was pulsing in Michelle's veins, ever since they had crossed the sign that welcomed them to the city.

The door at the driver's seat opened, startling her out of her reverie. Cho sat in the car and closed the door behind him. He turned around, toward the back of the vehicle, holding the item he had bought in his hand.

"Here", he said.

Jake, who had lowered down to avoid being witnessed in the car with them, took it and started examining it.

Max stretched in his seat to take a look as well. "What is this?" he asked.

"It's a Polaroid Instant Digital Camera", Jake answered, his voice sounding busy. He drew his eyes toward Cho. "So where is this going to take place?"

"There's a Water District around the city for the irrigation system. This is the exact address you'll need to be. You know the rest", Cho explained, handing him the address.

"Yes, I do", Jake said with determination.

"You're ready?" Cho asked him.

"Let's do it".

…..

"Arrested: Polaroid Serial Killer".

The man sitting behind the counter drew his stare upwards, casually sipping his strawberry juice through a straw.

"Excuse me ma'am", he said in a deep, elegant voice; raising his finger, "can you raise the volume on that please?"

The bartender nodded politely and did as he requested.

The screen displayed a middle-aged Korean man talking to the media.

"The killer had been leaving photos of his victims at the crime scenes. At first, we thought it was some sick game of his, but then one of our colleagues realized the photos were a puzzle, one that indicates his next murder location. We don't know why, but he seemed to have an obsession with the colors of the rainbow. See the first victim was found in Blue Lake, then the second in Greenbrae and the last in Golden Gate Bridge. It was easy to figure out that the next location would have to do with orange, since the last photo displayed a fake sunset. Orange Cove was the first place we visited. Luckily, we found Jake Rowland, the long-missing boyfriend of the first victim, taking photos with a Polaroid camera. We believe he was plotting his next murder".

The screen changed to show a footage of a young man shouting at the camera, as he was being forced into the back seat of a SUV.

"I was trying to help with the investigation! I would send the photos to the police to warn them myself!" he was screaming.

The screen changed back to the Korean man.

"In the end, it was really a perv with an obsession for photography and rainbows", he said.

"In other news…"

The voice of the woman reporter was barely a chirping in his ears. He finished his strawberry juice making loud sipping noises. After fumbling in his jacket pocket for money, he placed several dollars on the counter and turned toward the exit door.

Once his back was at the bartender, he let a smirk take full display on his face.

The bells at the door jingled as he pushed it back. He casually fixed the collar of his long black coat, before walking out into the soft drizzle.

Time for some action.

A/N: Your reviews are what keeps this story going on. Let me know what you think of it so far. Also, tell me if you found the Jisbon part a little bit cheesy, because I wasn't sure when I was writing it. Anyway, I thought Patrick needed to say this stuff to Lisbon, because she seems to be blind at what considers his feelings for her.

Next Chapter: Don't miss the final conclusion of Jane's plan.