AN: Thanks for all the feedback on Chapter 1, Sam's chapter! I'm glad you all love her character as much as I do! This chapter is focused on J.D., i.e. "the new guy in the mail room is hot..." I just felt so sorry for all the other staff in the CBI losing their jobs - sentimental fool here! Please do review, and if you want to guess who the next chapter will be focused on, whoever gets it right can have a shoutout! :) I hope you enjoy!

The alarm buzzes too early for his liking. J.D. had arrived back just last evening from San Francisco. He'd had a wonderful few days' break, visiting his sister Emily", her husband and their new baby daughter. J.D. was delighted to be a new uncle, and had spent his time in San Fran falling deeply in love with the perfect little girl he knew he would treasure for the rest of his life. He couldn't wait. Emily and her husband would make amazing parents, he was sure of it already. They had been looking forward to this for so long and J.D. couldn't have felt happier for them both.

He could have felt a little more well-rested, however, but J.D. slaps his alarm off and rolls out of bed, all the while wishing for a few hours' more rest. He's already running late, so J.D. ends up rushing out the door, one sleeve of his coat hanging off his arm, putting his bike helmet on, the straps hitting his chin, the picture completed by the piece of toast in his mouth.

Twenty minutes later, things are looking up, coming round the corner before the CBI, J.D. knows he's only a few minutes late. Pedalling hard, he rounds the corner, and looking down to make sure his ID is clipped to his jacket, he approaches the security desk. Tommy, the security guard, is nowhere to be seen. He must be inside, J.D. thinks, dismounting from his bike and pushing it past the barrier to the car park. He's looking down at his bicycle, so J.D. is almost in the middle of the car park when he realises he's the only one around. What the hell? He thinks, looking round at the deserted car park and the darkened building. Pushing his bike on over to the front entrance, J.D. abandons it and jogs to the door, his face pressed up against the glass to peer inside. He tries the door, but it's locked. J.D. hasn't got a clue what's going on, and he's panicking a bit now, which is unlike him. For a brief second he wonders if he actually did get out of bed this morning, that maybe he'll awake shortly to the sound of his second alarm. This place, usually so bustling is now like a graveyard, and it feels very unsettling. J.D. runs round to the side entrance but it is locked too. He's backing away from the building when he hears a loud voice approaching urgently from the front.

"Excuse me, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

J.D. jumps and looks round to a man he doesn't know.

"Who are you?" J.D. thinks his own voice sounds like a child's compared.

The man pulls out a badge and holds it out. "FBI Special Agent Dennis Abbott is my name. I have to ask you what you're doing here."

"FBI?" J.D. is saying, not fully in control of the words coming out of his mouth. "This is the CBI. I work here. I work inside here."

J.D. is aware of another car pulling up behind what must be Abbott's vehicle.

"You don't work here anymore, son," this man Abbott is saying, but he can't be right.

"Huh?" J.D. is saying now, and then looks up and sees that it is Agent Lisbon that is approaching, from where her car is parked, just behind Abbott's. She somehow manages to look both vacant and determined at the same time. "Agent Lisbon," J.D. almost shouts, going to her. "What the hell is going on? Who is this guy? He's sayi-"

Lisbon looks up at him. "J.D., please." She looks at him strangely. "I- How have you not heard?"

J.D. has always liked Agent Lisbon. She's very pretty, of course, and she's successful, but she's so lovely. She always says hello, asks how he's doing. When J.D. started back in the mailroom a few years back, he'd fancied her a bit. A few times he'd noticed her there, hanging around, maybe waiting on something or other, he'd thought. He'd smile at her and she'd smile back, and then a few moments later she'd have disappeared, until the next time. A couple of years ago at the Christmas party was the first time they'd really got talking properly, and they'd been hitting it off great, and then someone had pointed out the mistletoe above them. He'd kissed her on the cheek then and pretended not to notice her blush, for he was sure he'd been blushing too. They'd got coffee once or twice but he'd never dared cross that line with her. He supposed he'd put her on a bit of a pedestal, and besides, she'd always seemed very close to that blonde consultant she had. Mr Jane. Still, they were friends.

She's looking up at him now.

"I-uh, I've been away. San Francisco..." he mumbles. "My sister..." he trails off.

Something seems to occur to Lisbon then. "Your sister," she muses. "She had the baby?"

"Yeah," J.D. can't help the broad grin that spreads across his face. "A little girl."

Lisbon smiles. "I'm glad."

Abbott clears his throat.

Lisbon looks down to her shoes, but when she knows Abbott isn't looking she steals a glance back at J.D. and he catches her smile and roll of the eyes.

Abbott begins telling J.D about the events that have unfolded here since his departure a few days earlier. It seems so thrilling, and so unbelievable that J.D. can't quite take it all in. When Abbott is finished, he looks to Lisbon for confirmation.

"It's been one hell of a week," she says.

J.D. nods.

"Agent Lisbon," Abbott says, turning to her. "Call in your team, won't you?"

"I did," Lisbon says. "They're on their way."

"And Jane?" Abbott asks, looking at her, eyebrows raised.

"I don't know," Lisbon says. "I called him. No answer."

Abbott pulls out a key from his pocket, and turns to face J.D. again. "Sorry about your job," he says, with a sly smirk, and turns away, heading towards the front entrance. J.D. gets the impression he's sort of enjoying this.

"I am sorry," Lisbon says.

"Me too," J.D. replies. "I can't believe it. I really liked it here. And you, sorry for you too. What's next for you, Agent Lisbon?"

"I've no idea," she says, and she sounds sad. Come to think of it, J.D. realises, she does spend a lot of her time here. He has seen her here many mornings, already in and settled by the time he makes his first round of the morning, before many other people are in. And often he's seen her late in the evenings too. Almost always there, sometimes alone, sometimes with Mr Jane, but solid, dependable, always there. Dedicated would be a good word, he thinks. He realises with a start that his working days with her are over, at least for now.

"End of the CBI," he muses. "I can't believe it."

"Yeah." She sighs. "You know, I really loved it here. Loved it."

"You could tell," J.D. says, and Lisbon smiles. Then her lovely face is sad again. She gestures to where Agent Abbott has entered the CBI building.

"I'd better go," she says. "My team are coming in to meet with Abbott. We've got a lot to discuss."

"And Mr Jane?" J.D. asks, before he can stop himself. He's got to know, once and for all.

Lisbon starts, and looks up at him, and when he meets her gaze, he sees nothing but unguarded love in her eyes at the mention of her consultant.

"Jane? This Red John stuff drives him round the bend, but I'll try and keep him right, as always. He'll be fine. I'm well used to dealing with him."

So there it is. She's spoken for, clearly. It was what he'd always known, really. Of course she is, they're always hanging round together, laughing together, always just together. Ah well, J.D. thinks, at least he makes her happy. He'd like to know she'll be happy, even if he isn't going to be around to see her anymore.

"Take care, Agent Lisbon. It's been a pleasure," he says, and before he knows it, she's hugging him, and he hugs her back, embracing her tightly in the deserted car park of their little CBI home. She withdraws then, but her arms rest still on his.

"Be well, J.D," she says.

He nods, and with a final smile she turns to follow in Abbott's footsteps. She turns at the last moment and holds up a hand in farewell. He does the same, and when she's gone and once again he's alone in the abandoned, detected parking lot, he goes and collects his bicycle.

He supposes he'll just head home and go back to bed. Funny how half an hour ago it was all he wanted in the world, and now he'd give anything for a normal day at work.

That evening, J.D. phones his sister and tells her what's happened. Emily is shocked, but she's sure it will be fine, knows it will all sort itself out. She's suddenly become very wise now that she's a mother. J.D. smiles. Then Emily's baby starts to cry and she says she'll call him back, but he tells her it's fine. He might go to bed early. No reason why though, it's not like he has to get up for work in the morning.

It's then he flicks on the telly and muses through the stations as he munches on a bowl of cereal. It's then he sees what's happened on the news. Red John has been killed, and though he has not been apprehended, the main suspect by a long mile is one Patrick Jane who is believed to be on the run. He's not thought to be dangerous, and poses no threat to the public, strange as that seems. It's then he finds out that Agent Lisbon and her team have been arrested. It's only then he jumps and tips his bowl of cereal into his lap.

Agent Lisbon, arrested? Just hours ago they'd said their farewells. Perhaps after he'd left her there she'd fallen right into Abbott's trap. Perhaps it might have been prevented. Maybe he should have done something, but what? He would have been of little use to her, anyway. You could never try and protect someone already so much better than yourself, he thought.

Surely it was all a misunderstanding, easy to do after all that had happened and all that had been revealed in the CBI in the last few days. They would all be fine, if a little hurt and disheartened by the week's events.

Lisbon would be fine, and Jane too. Once they had each other, nothing could stop them, J.D. was sure. They'd be fine, and he would too. They'd miss the CBI a little along the way, just as he would, that's all.

And that was fine, too.

It had been one hell of a place.