A/N: Thank you everyone for your kind words in your reviews. I appreciate hearing from you. Makes it less lonely and more fun when writing.

Chapter 19

The next day... Thursday, 11:20 am

Lisbon's POV

"Hey Lisbon," she startled at Fischer's voice behind her.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay. What's up?"

"Abbott's looking for you."

"Oh, okay. Thanks."

"What're doing down here anyway? I thought Singh's team was reviewing the evidence collected by Lab."

"They are. Just wanted to have a look."

Fischer grabbed one of the evidence photos from her hand and looked at it. The photo showed how Vincent had transformed her bed into a torture area with bindings intended to hold her down by the arms and legs. The bindings were in an evidence bag in the Lab Division, but all the photos of the evidence were here on this table. It was the investigative team's job to ensure that the Lab collected all the evidence they needed for their case and to catalog it.

Wordlessly Kim dropped the photo on the table and took another. That one showed the two different camera stations he'd set up to record his attack. The warrant to search his dwelling and computer servers was still underway. As of an hour ago, they still hadn't been able to breach the firewalls on his laptop, cellphone, or servers.

Thankfully, Fischer stopped her perusal of the photographs. The tech team had taken photos of all the evidence in her room, including thorough photos of all her private things since they didn't know what was evidence and what wasn't. The most embarrassing photos were of the inside of her drawer with the box of condoms inside it and the inside of her panty drawer with her lingerie and her thongs very visible. She wasn't looking forward to the debrief where she had to account for all the items that we hers to ensure there weren't other items that he'd brought with him to the scene. She also had to let them know if anything was out of place or missing. Singh's entire team would be in that meeting... all except the mole Jane uncovered. He was in a holding cell awaiting interview.

"Why didn't we pick up anything on this guy during the date? We're trained," she said in frustration.

"He fooled a lot of women like us, Teresa."

"But he didn't fool Jane," she said looking at her friend and colleague in the eyes.

They'd discussed this subject before when they learned about Vincent. They had both been alarmed by the fact that he hadn't raised any red flags with them.

"We caught him and he's going away for a long time."

"Jane caught him," she corrected.

"I still can't believe he went behind your back like that, and that Cho went along with it."

She made a disbelieving noise with her mouth, "It's Jane."

"He's done that before?"

"Often," she answered distractedly.

"Oh."

"You can't be surprised; you know how he is."

"I do. I just assumed you were the exception."

"That Jane wouldn't play me?"

"Yeah. You're partners. I thought he was different with you."

She chuckled wryly, shaking her head.

"I'm a mark... just like everyone else. I don't get any special treatment," she answered truthfully avoiding eye contact with Kim.

The truth hurt. Jane manipulating her, instead of trusting her with his plan wasn't new, but she had hoped their new relationship status would have changed that. Sadly she'd been mistaken and she was obviously still very naïve where he was concerned. The worse part was that he didn't even think he'd done anything wrong. He actually thought she would go back to his trailer with him last night since her home was still a crime scene. He'd been surprised when she declined and hadn't tried to dissuade her. She ended up in a hotel room instead and slept fitfully for three hours before she had to be back at work.

"When can you go home?"

"Maybe tonight. The debrief's this afternoon. If they don't have to go back, they'll clear it."

Fischer made a face in a show of understanding for what was to come during the debrief. In all honesty, she wasn't in a hurry to go home; just the thought was making her skin crawl because she didn't know what Vincent had touched. Her cheeks flushed with anger again as she remembered who was responsible for her current state. It was Jane that had engineered Vincent's presence in her home without her consent and the subsequent invasion of her privacy by her colleagues and peers.

Kim scanned the evidence on the table and looked concerned.

"What he put those women through..." Kim trailed off, shaking her head.

She knew what Kim was thinking, she was thinking the same thing, that this could've been one of them. Until yesterday, they'd didn't have the full scope of Vincent's twisted attacks. They'd seen the previous evidence against him, they'd read the victim statements, which had been spotty at best, and had seen the photos of the women's bodies after their attacks but they hadn't known what he did to his victims when they were in and out of consciousness or how he prepped the bedrooms. Seeing the actual reality of what he had intended to do to her last night; what he had intended to do to Kim if they hadn't been alerted to the situation made her sick. A wave of nausea hit her making her heave unceremoniously.

"Are you okay?" Fischer asked her, squeezing her arm briefly in a show of comfort.

She took a few deep breaths, but it didn't help this time; she dashed for the garbage bin and vomited on the floor on her way there. Fischer brought the bin closer so she could finish vomiting into it but her body was in complete control of her at that moment. Fischer handed her a few tissues after she was done, and she looked at the mess with mortification.

"Sorry - I don't know why that just happened-"

"Teresa, don't apologize. It's okay. Just go lay down somewhere. I'll call facilities and get someone down here."

"I can handle it."

"No, you can't. You're pale and look like you're about to pass out. Please, go lay down and let me take care of this."

Jane's POV

An hour later...

Lisbon made her way back to her desk and he sat up to greet her; she looked a little rumpled as though she'd just had a nap somewhere. He hadn't seen her since last night after she'd declined his offer to go home with him. She was obviously still upset so he thought it best to give her time to cool down before approaching her again.

"Still mad at me?"

"I'm not mad," she answered flatly, her back ramrod straight as she activated her computer screen.

"Okay... are you still not mad at me?" he asked cheekily trying to coax her a bit.

She looked around discreetly to see if anyone was around then she swiveled her chair to face him. She looked discouraged, not angry as he'd expected.

"I'm not mad, Jane, I'm tired, that's what I am. I'm tired because my partner turned my house, my bedroom, into a crime scene, and I couldn't even go home last night to sleep! I'm disappointed because my partner lied to me... again... about something that affected me very closely because he didn't respect me enough to tell me his plan! And you know what else, Jane... I'm sad. I'm sad because you manipulated me; you used my feelings for you against me... and... you broke your promise."

He knew how to handle angry Lisbon, but not this. His heart dropped to his toes at the sadness he saw in her eyes.

"Teresa-"

"Jane, please," she said, putting her hand up in front of her to stall him from speaking. "Do me a favor and don't try to insult my intelligence now by denying what you did. Funny thing is... I'm not even surprised."

Trepidation skidded down his spine and he decided the best course of action was to stay silent; he wasn't sure what she thought she knew but he didn't want to engage her and give anything away.

"Huh... that's rich," she said staring at him in disbelief. "You didn't think I'd figure it out, did you?"

"Figure what out?" he asked cautiously.

"You really don't give me a lot of credit, do you?"

She shook her head, her eyes sadder than before if it was possible. She looked around the bullpen again and he followed suit but everyone else was busy and unaware of the situation brewing between them.

"I know that you made up with me the other night so I would be easier to manipulate," she said in a hushed tone.

His stomach dipped at her words; this was bad. He didn't expect her to figure out that part. Once he'd decided on his plan, he knew he had to get back on her good side to ensure her unwilling participation. He could deny the truth but he didn't want to continue to lie to her; it was unnecessary since the threat to her safety was gone.

"I'm sorry."

She looked surprised by his apology.

"I wanted to keep you safe," he explained.

"I guess that makes everything alright then," she said without much emotion.

He reached for her, but she pulled away, looking around to see if anyone had seen the gesture. Once she was satisfied they weren't being observed, she looked into his eyes as though she was looking for something and he did the same because he knew this wasn't their usual dance after one of his stunts.

He did lie and manipulate her, but he had to. He couldn't risk her blowing his plan by reporting back to Singh or Abbott. He couldn't take the chance that he would lose Vincent and live in fear of when he would attempt to attack her. He did what he had to do.

"He wanted you; he would've gone after you eventually," he justified.

"And you were right; but where does that leave us? I don't need someone to save me, Jane. I need a partner that respects me. You didn't even try to talk to me. You just assumed. And maybe I would've gone along with your plan, maybe not, but we'll never know because you didn't even try. You hurt-" she frowned and broke eye contact obviously struggling with what she'd been about to say.

"Up here," she restarted, indicating her head. "It's a constant ping-pong match of trying to figure us out. I don't know what's up or down anymore. I'm in a state of constant confusion... doubting myself, my thoughts, my feelings."

She shook her head as though to reset herself.

"Do you realize how embarrassing it was for me to learn from Wiley, that my partner went behind my back and treated me like a fool?"

"You're not a fool-" he placated, knowing she was purposely changing the subject.

"What would you call it then?" she interrupted.

"Teresa-"

"Forget it! It doesn't matter. None of it does."

She got up from her chair and went to leave with her files, but then turned around to face him again. His heart was racing at her impending departure, but he didn't know how to rescue the situation. Her next words were delivered in a hushed tone because of her distance from him.

"You know... you wanted me to trust you, but the truth is, YOU don't trust me. You just use me like you use everyone else. I'm just another pawn. There's nothing special about me."

"It's not like that," he defended, rising from his seat to go to her.

"It is like that," she said, taking a step back to maintain the distance between them, obviously fighting off tears. "If I was a real person to you, if our relationship was important, you wouldn't have done what you did. You wouldn't have manipulated me the way you did. Made a fool of me and a sham of our relationship."

His eyes were stinging with tears; he wanted to hold her. Every fiber of his being was fighting his rigid stance to stay where he was. He knew if he tried to touch her or hold her with their colleagues so near, he'd make the situation worse.

"Let's go somewhere private to talk," he managed to croak out.

"No. There's nothing you can say that can fix this."

His feet rooted to the floor as he watched her walk away.

Lisbon's POV

Later that afternoon… 1:50 pm

"Agent Lisbon... may I have a word?"

Shoot! She forgot that Abbott wanted to see her. She'd been working in the private office in the back ensuring all the paperwork for the sting was in order and hiding from Jane. Her emotions were all over the place and she'd needed a reprieve to think and sort them out. She'd said too much to him and she was feeling raw and exposed.

"Of course, what's up?"

"Walk with me. I have a meeting with the Director."

She joined him quickly and they walked at a pace toward the elevator.

"I just wanted to let you know that HR emailed me. They want your transfer paperwork and I have to start interviews if you're leaving."

"I thought I had more time."

"I can't put them off any longer. I bought you as much time as I could by having Cho and Fischer screen some candidates ahead of time, but if you're going, I need to start the process of replacing you."

Her mind raced, looking for a way out of this decision, but there wasn't any. Her romance with Jane was doomed; she'd always known it would end badly or it wouldn't end. She didn't need to stick around to watch it burn to the ground. She forced herself to say the words she didn't want to say.

"Put the transfer through," she said quietly.

Abbott paused in the hallway and made eye contact with her.

"Are you sure?"

"I am."

"You'll be missed," he said as he resumed walking to his meeting. "If you change your mind, you're always welcome to come back to the team."

"Thank you, sir."

He nodded and dismissed her. She stared down the hall as he entered the director's office. He had a meeting with Singh's director; damage control to clean up Jane's mess. She forced herself to not think about the decision she'd just made because she still had a mountain of paperwork to get through before her appointment with the specialist; they called earlier with a last-minute cancellation.

Jane's POV

He tossed the ball up above his head and caught it, the repetition of the movement allowing him to think more clearly. He'd been lying on the couch since she'd left him earlier, trying to figure a way out of the mess he'd created. He was still stunned by her parting words and the hurt he had obviously caused her.

He stopped his motion when he heard keys jiggling as someone approached him. He looked in the direction of the footsteps and almost groaned when he saw it was Pike. The man leaned against Lisbon's desk, crossed his arms, and said nothing. Two could play that game; he started tossing his ball again.

"Just ran into Teresa. She looks like hell."

"I'll pass along that compliment when she gets back," he answered snidely, not in the mood to talk to anyone, let alone Pike.

"Ran into Ravi as well. He's an old pal of mine. Told me all about how you highjacked his sting last night; made a fool of his team... and yours. Made a fool of Teresa, too. Teresa hates playing the fool."

He decided that it would take too much energy to interact with him and just remained silent.

"You know... I wondered what it would take for Teresa to see what a bad deal you are... looks like she finally made the connection."

He looked at Marcus non-plussed by his cryptic statement. He couldn't possibly know about their current situation.

"You had her... all you had to do was hold onto her. But you fucked up big time didn't you?" he chuckled.

He observed Pike quietly and noticed his body language. He knew something.

"What do you want, Marcus?"

Pike smiled broadly and chuckled at the same time.

"Redemption is a great feeling, isn't it?"

When he didn't respond, but simply raised his eyebrow at him, he continued.

"I'm here to gloat, Patrick. I'm here to let you know that once she's in D.C., she'll be mine again. I'll be the shoulder she cries on... the one that comforts her."

His body went still at his words, and his eyes shot to Pike's in surprise, giving him the reaction he was looking for.

"She didn't tell you, did she? This is better than I could've imagined."

Pike smiled wickedly at him, delighting in delivering what he thought was retribution.

"You're not a good guy, Patrick. You never deserved her. She deserves the best and I will be the one to give it to her... a house, a family... a committed relationship. She'll be in my arms and my bed in no time and now that she got you out of her system, it'll be smooth sailing."

He wordlessly sprang from his couch and took off in search of Abbott to confirm what Pike was saying, leaving the man in his wake. He was the only person with no skin in the game and he knew he would get the truth. When he didn't find Abbott in his office, his secretary told him that he was in a damage control meeting with Singh's director to deal with 'his mess'. He marched up to the meeting location and entered without invitation; all parties present were surprised by his entrance.

"Jane... whatever you need can wait until later, okay?"

He caught Abbott's warning in his words, but he didn't care. He's not sure why the man bothered anyway. When he didn't heed his words, Abbott finally excused himself and entered the hallway to speak with him privately.

"What can I do for you, Patrick?" he asked impatiently.

"Is Lisbon going to D.C.?"

"Yes, she is," he answered carefully, watching him for his reaction.

His entire body went numb. She never canceled her transfer. All this time he thought he was building a relationship with her, but she'd had a plan B the entire time.

"I'm sorry, Patrick. If it helps, I think this was a difficult decision for her. She only confirmed her transfer earlier today."

Bile rose in his throat.

"I know you're close but I hope you feel comfortable working with Cho and Fischer. You're doing a lot of good-"

He chuckled wryly at his words.

"What's so funny?" Abbott asked, regarding him quizzically.

If only he could answer that. Abbott thought they were close; so did he for a while... but it had all been an illusion. He'd been wrong about a lot of things apparently. A popular line from one of Shakespeare's plays came to mind.

"For 'tis the sport to have the engineer hoist with his own petard."

Abbott frowned as he left him. He walked back to her desk, but she still hadn't returned. He felt agitated, his thoughts colliding, a state he wasn't used to experiencing. He needed to talk to her; maybe there'd been a misunderstanding. His phone vibrated with an incoming text from Lisbon.

We need to talk

My place, tonight

He dropped to his couch and stared at the words on his screen; she was leaving. There'd been no misunderstanding. His agitation dissipated and a calm settled over him. How did his plan go so wrong? He'd expected Teresa to be mad at him, but the hurt he saw had been a surprise. How did he not see that coming? He underestimated the situation. She's obviously nursing hurt feelings. The proof was in what she didn't say earlier. She'd begun to tell him that he'd hurt her, but had stopped herself and had changed the subject. Lisbon didn't like talking about her feelings, so it must've been quite serious for her to even attempt to put her hurt into words especially when surrounded by their colleagues. But he couldn't see how what he'd done had been so bad that she couldn't forgive him. Why she'd leave him without giving him a chance to make it up to her?

There was no point going over to her place tonight. He already knew what she was going to say. Once Lisbon made up her mind, it was almost impossible to change it. He actually thought that he'd succeeded in convincing her they were a good fit, but he'd obviously been sorely mistaken; she'd had an exit strategy planned from the start. He stared at her words needing to see them to believe them. There was definitely nothing to gain by confronting her tonight or trying to sway her back to him; even if he succeeded in changing her mind, it wouldn't stick.

He scrolled up through her texts and smiled at one of her old messages; it was a kiss emoji with a heart. He looked at her empty desk and then around the bullpen. This place would be unbearably boring without her... it would be unbearable, period. He took a deep breath and got his legs under him. Whatever happened next, he knew that he had to give it time. He texted Abbott and told him he was taking some vacation time, then he grabbed her notepad and opened it to a blank page. He hesitated briefly but then reminded himself that showing grace was all he could do now. He scribbled his note and left it on her desk.

Have a great life in D.C.

I wish you every happiness.

No hard feelings.

J.

A/N: I wrote the ending to this scene in many different ways. I've been going back and forth with it for weeks now... so thank you for your patience.

We are almost at the end of this story. If there's something you want to see happen in this story before it ends, let me know in the reviews and I will do my best to fit it in. You have no idea how much your reviews change my story... it looks nothing like the original outline and I think it's fun how the story has changed so much from what I thought it would be. So keep them coming. :-)