A/N: Wow, this chapter took a lot of brain power. Seriously. Trying to think of stuff that makes sense as I proceed with life, sitting in a chair just thinking of stuff, leaking thoughts onto a word document, and proceeding to make sense of that stuff... Hope it's 'kay. This story has changed so much since the original plans. In fact, I think the original plan has completely gone out the window. XD But meh.

- Thanks for the reviews on last chapter!

Chapter 6. Into The Darkness.

Steadily, I moved forward, examining every single detail of the building before me. My brain and my heart were in overdrive, and my eyes were whizzing as they scrutinised the surroundings. I travelled silently, feeling the ominous touch to this situation I was in, but the wind didn't seem to care. It was no more silent than road works. It whistled around the brickwork in the old police department, and brought tiny stones tumbling across the concrete. It battered the trees that resided along the brick walls of the car park, bringing leaves swooping through the air and touching only for a second on the ground before they were whisked up again. I felt the cold chill of both wind and shade bringing goosebumps to my skin and sending waves of icy sensation through my body. I shivered, passing a shiny new sign stating the imminent demolition of the building and the date and time of the event. Tomorrow morning, ten o'clock. Plenty of time.

Soon, I found my hand curling nervously around the metal of the door handle. I could see the reflection of Lisbon and the SUV in the glass. I hoped they weren't too close. Red John had stated that I come alone, and if he knew they were there, I dreaded to think what would happen.

I stared at her reflection, watching, even this far away, hearing the worried musings of her brain.

I brought myself quietly out of my trance, and pulled the door wide open, disappearing inside, into the darkness.

Once inside, my footsteps seemed to echo off the walls, creating far too much noise for my liking. I began to wonder where I should be headed. I cautiously trailed my eyes over the reception area. It was small, cosy, reflecting a sense of friendly, tight-knit community, ironic considering the purpose of the organisation which had once used the building. Marked, worn floorboards ran underneath my feet, leading up to a desk, slightly placed to the left to allow for a door into the rest of the station. The word 'Reception' read across the front of the desk in letters which would have illuminated with a little electricity. The badge of the Sacramento Police Department still displayed proudly above the receptionist's chair space, despite the inevitable fate of the building. It was obvious that chairs had once lined the walls from the sets of small, square marks on the floor. Two doors were positioned along the right wall for men and women's toilets.

I stepped forward in the stream of dusty, dull light which poured through the glass doors. I tugged at the vest again, getting frustrated at the tightness around my torso. I was having a debate in my head; the pros and cons of leaving it on or taking it off.

Pros: Higher level of comfort, feel like a daredevil.

Cons: Lisbon will hit when item removal has been discovered. Might get stabbed by Red John. Get injured because of item removal, and Lisbon will hit, despite injury.

Ok, let's keep it on.

I walked forward towards the front desk, peeking over the top, maybe to check for a clue or something that would help me now that I was here. I wasn't sure. There wasn't anything there, but suddenly there was a loud voice echoing off the walls, coming from a loud speaker in the corner of the reception. Pushing my heart rate back down again, I stared up at the speaker, listening to a voice which was chillingly familiar.

'So, Kristina Frye, tell me about yourself. What was your childhood like? Your family? When did you realise that you could speak to the departed?'

I watched, my teeth gritting and a sort of silent anger filling me from head to toe. But at least Kristina was here...wasn't she? A quiet sound over the speaker sounded simply like a crackle at first, but then I realised it was a moan...and I broke into a run, throwing open the doors to the right, heading in what I imagined to be the way to the interrogation rooms. I jogged along the corridor, only seeing offices and record rooms on each side of me. Coming to a dead end, a small rectangular window hanging above me, illuminating the dust showering down over me, I spun on my heel and found a door I had missed to the right, through which, was a flight of stairs. I skipped every other step on my way up, my heart pummelling.

'How about you show me how your contacting the dead works, hmm?'

Stumbling out of the stairwell onto the second floor, my eyes darted along the corridor, seeing doors, and more doors, up until the corners at each end, making a U-shape.

'How about you summon someone for me?'

I ran towards the end, pushing off the wall as I rounded the corner into a shorter corridor. Coming to the end, I discovered a large rectangular space, of which there was a square set up of tables in the middle, and numbered doors running around the outside. There seemed to be two doors to each room. One must be for the interrogation room, and the other for the observation room. All the blinds on the doors were turned down, but I could see slim slices of light escaping from the door placed exactly central along the far wall. I took long, deep breaths, as I made my way forward. Swinging around the tables, my eyes were fixed only on the shards of light creeping from that door.

I kept telling myself that this time around, I was in control of the situation. I wasn't tied down, I wasn't powerless. Whatever I wanted to happen, would happen, and there was nothing to stop me.

'How about you summon Patrick Jane for me?'

My heart was so loud in my ears it could have been in my head. I kept creeping forwards, trying not to make any noise. I paused at the door to the interrogation room, stooped over just beside it. Carefully, I looked up through the blinds.

Inside, I could see a table, and Kristina, sat across from a dark hooded figure on the right-hand side. There was a cup of steaming tea on the table before the hooded figure. As I recoiled from the blind, I was shaking violently, and my breathing was raggedy as hell. I tried to think up a plan, probably something I should have done beforehand. What was I meant to do? I was unarmed, unprepared...the only things I had with me was a protective vest and a haunting image in my head of Lisbon staring after me.

I slowly composed myself, imagining myself in pieces, and slowly pulling myself back together. It was a personal therapy session. Then, I stepped fully in front of the door and pushed down on the handle, throwing the door wide open and launching at the dark figure, tackling him to the ground. I heard a frenzied, muffled voice from above.

As I slowly pulled up, I realised something was wrong. There was no movement coming from the heavy form I had just pulled to the floor, and the arm I had a tight grip of felt rubbery and squishy. I tore back the hood and the mask. What I saw, instead of a real man, was a man made out of orange ballistics gel. I stared wide eyed, uttering silent curses.

A violent chill ran through my body as a deep, monstrous laugh echoed from the loud speakers. I stood slowly, teeth gritted and my eyes stinging with tears. I looked down at Kristina. Her lightly applied mascara made smudges of black around her eyes. And only now did I realise that she was wearing an oxygen nasal tube. She only gazed sadly at me, tears tumbling down her cheeks and running over the duct tape on her mouth. It was then that I realised I had walked straight into a trap.

The tea cup before me didn't contain a liquid which resembled tea in any way. It was far too late when I stepped away from the 'steam.' My head started to turn fuzzy and my vision clouded. Only a few more seconds and I crumpled to the floor like a sack of potatoes. The loud thump of my body hitting the ground echoed in my ears, before the only thing that I was aware of was that endless laughter, mocking me, making me realise how stupid I was that I thought I could have just caught him. Slowly falling into unconsciousness, I felt my face become moist with bitter salty tears...

Stood by the SUV, my expression of worry hadn't changed since Jane disappeared into the building. I kept shifting my weight from foot to foot agitatedly. Cho was next to me, his arm hanging out of the window, as he sat inside the SUV.

'What do you think is going on in there?' I asked.

'I don't know,' replied Cho in his usual flat tones, 'but if Red John is in there, it's not likely to be anything good.'

I wished I hadn't asked him now. It just made me worry even more.

'I don't get what he wants this time. What's the use in just giving Kristina back, but risking his life, and threatening Jane's at the same time? What's he getting out of it?'

Cho shrugged. 'If we understood what Red John wanted and what his aims were, we would have caught him by now.'

I looked from the building back to Cho's watch.

'How long has it been?'

Cho studied the face of his watch. 'Uh, about half an hour.'

'I don't like it.'

Cho looked up at me as I stared at the building, maybe willing its walls to turn transparent so I could see where Jane was and if he was ok.

'We should go in,' I said authoritatively.

'He said Jane shouldn't bring anyone else,' Cho stated.

'Screw Red John. Besides, Jane didn't bring us. We came with him. I want to know that everything's alright.'

I want to know if Jane's alright I told myself.

Cho seemed to study my set expression for a while until he nodded. He turned to Rigsby and Van Pelt. 'We're going in.'

The two other agents nodded and began climbing from the car.

I readied my glock before me, making sure it was properly loaded a few more times than necessary.

Myself, Cho, Van Pelt and Rigsby created a line in front of the SUV. I surveyed my team, my family, minus one. They nodded in return. It was time to help the last family member.

I took the lead, quickly manoeuvring forward towards the old Sacramento PD. My shoes scuffed up dirt and stones as they quickly shuffled along the concrete. Brown-green leaves tumbled across my path, the odd one crunching underneath my footsteps. Making no delay in reaching the door, I threw it open and swung my gun around, covering the entire reception area with a single sweeping glance.

'Clear!' I pronounced, hurrying for the door next to the front desk. As I charged through, the team split behind me, checking the doors that lined the corridor, but I headed straight for the stairwell, and the second floor. As I burst out into the corridor, pointing my gun out before me, I noticed a disturbance in the carpet; a long trail of carpet fibres being pushed down in the opposite direction to the rest. Drag marks? I followed the path around the corner and saw a wide open space ahead at the end. Tables situated in the middle, and doors lining the three walls.

I crept around, still following the carpet trail, and watched it disappear into a room placed central along the furthest wall. I swallowed hard and made my way forward, fingers twitching on the trigger of my CBI issue glock. I flicked my head to remove a stray hair from my face. Slowly reaching the door, I carefully put my hand forward and snatched the door handle, sending it flying open. I hastily brought both hands back to my gun and swept it around the inside.

I stared, my heart beating a mile a minute, at Kristina as her head shot up to look at me. My breathing became raggedy and heavy as I noticed the over turned chair on the floor. I hurried round to Kristina, the only witness, and examined her quickly before slowly removing the duct tape from her mouth. Her arms were secured behind the chair with a set of handcuffs, and her ankles tied with lengths of cloth. With just a centimetre of her lips visible, a low whimpering sound ensued. The whole length of tape was soon removed.

'What happened Kristina?' I enquired of her, trying hard to control the panicked edges of my voice.

'Red John...he's taken Patrick,' she whispered.

I swore under my breath, my heart almost stopping.

'Where?' I uttered.

'I...don't know. He just...dragged him away.'

I turned on my heel and slammed my fist on the wall. 'Shit. I'll tell the team to get in here. I'm going after him.'

The psychic nodded slowly as I rushed out of the door, following the carpet trail back again.

This was bad. Really bad. God knows what Red John would do to Jane...God knows what Jane would do to Red John. My throat was dry as bone as I followed the drag marks back to the stairwell. The drag marks created as Jane's lifeless body was pulled away...

'Shut up!' I muttered to myself as I ran up the staircase to the third and last floor. I heard the pounding of footsteps from below and looked over the rail. The team.

'Cho! Come with me! Third floor! Rigsby and Van Pelt, Kristina's on the second floor, go and get her!'

'Ok boss!' Rigsby yelled back up.

Cho was soon behind me. 'Where's Jane?' he asked through hurried breaths as we came hurtling round the bend at the top of the stairs to the third floor door.

'Red... John,' I panted, crashing through the door and coming onto another corridor. There was no carpet here, but I could see the odd fresh scuff mark on the wooden floorboards. I guessed Jane's shoes had left them as he was being dragged. I followed them to the end of the corridor, where they ended at a wide open window. My palms slapping on window sill stopped me from becoming a projectile out the window.

Just below were a set of fire escape ladders and platforms. I jumped swiftly onto the metal grill and stumbled across to the first ladder as I watched a dark figure slamming the doors of a dark blue van shut. I swore again, jumping down the rest of the length of the ladder and starting on the second of three. The figure turned momentarily, and although his eyes and nose were hidden by the shadow of a hood, I could just make out a wide, haunting grin, silently laughing at us as we desperately tried to reach them in time. But even as I started on the last ladder, I knew we were too late.

The driver's door slammed shut, and in a cloud of dust, dirt and stones, the van was screeching away into the distance. I dropped down to the ground from the ladder and watched the van swerve around the side of the building and away onto the road, with no one to stop it. I felt a lump building in my throat and tears crowding my eyes. I kicked a stone with as much force as I could, sending it flying into the distance. Throwing my glock to the ground, I turned on my heel, my hands on my hips. I looked up at Cho, a tear running freely down my pale cheek. He simply looked, as I gritted my teeth.

'DAMN IT!' I yelled, pushing a hand harshly into my hair and grasping my fringe tightly in my fist. There hadn't even been a registration plate on the van. There was no way of tracing it. And Jane was inside. Oh god, Jane was inside.

'Why didn't we get someone to go in with him? We should have done that! ... Screw Red John!'

I turned on my heel, snatching up my glock from where it had bounced and landed. I marched off, feeling more and more emotional by the second. I could feel that lump in my throat, forcing tears into my eyes, creating dirty trails down my cheeks as the flying dust clung to the moisture. I collapsed back against the side of the building, and I let my head fall back against the brick. I hit my head hard. Slumping to the ground, I buried my face in my hands, immediately turning my palms slick with tears.

'Jane...' I murmured.

A/N: Green button below + clicky clicky = Happiness for moi. :D