A/N: Uh...about Lash of the Whip...Red Letters occurred XD Longest chapter ever, right here! 4, 360 words - six and a half pages. Sorry, I just couldn't stop XD

Chapter 13. Cardiac Arrest.

'We'll find him, I promise,' I told her as I stood at the door, a reassuring smile on my face for the young girl sat cross-legged on the bed. She nodded slowly, giving me an unsure smile. Whether the doubt in that smile was because she was worried that we wouldn't find him, or she was scared about staying in the psychiatric hospital now, I wasn't sure. I shut the door behind me softly, turning to Rigsby before searching the corridor for Dr. Newman. I saw her striding towards us.

'Did you find your visit useful?' she asked, 'Sorry I had to leave for a bit, I gathered you'd be safe enough.'

I nodded, 'Eleanor started talking.'

She came to a halt, a confused frown spread across her features. 'What?'

'It seems that something we said unlocked her,' I replied, 'She started talking about her brother.'

'Wh...What did you say?' Dr. Newman marched forward, looking through the window in Eleanor's door.

'We just mentioned Jacob to each other, and she reacted,' I explained, 'Jacob is her brother.'

'B-but...' she stuttered, 'Ten years... and you took ten minutes.'

'I would say that we would want to move her to a hospital closer to Sacramento, but right now, she's still an important aspect of our case, and we would like to keep her here so we don't upset anything, or make unnecessary problems for ourselves...'

Dr. Newman nodded slowly.

'We'll call you if anything changes,' I told her, turning to leave.

'Hang on...' the doctor called, coming round from her shock, 'I need to let you out.'

She jogged a little to catch up and came to match my stride beside me. 'Is there anything you can tell me about this brother?' she asked me.

'Not really. A lot of it is to do with an ongoing case. We can't share that information.'

The doctor nodded. 'Can you tell me why she's been silent for the past ten years? Why she draws the faces?'

'No.'

Dr. Newman buzzed open the gate for us when we reached it. I kept refusing to tell her anything about the case, and she was becoming more and more frustrated, but I couldn't help her. Eleanor was an important part of the Red John case, and if we told anyone anything about what we'd found, or moved Eleanor from the hospital, it was likely that Red John would find out one way or another, and then we'd have serious trouble on our hands. Eleanor had to stay here, and the doctors had to remain unaware of the reasons that Eleanor had fallen into silence; unaware of her dark past. It was for their protection. I nodded a thanks and farewell as we left the hospital, leaving Dr. Newman flustered and confused.

We were half way across the car park when I spoke to Rigsby. 'I wish we were able to take her with us,' I said, 'I would feel better knowing she was with us rather than in there. She's scared.'

'Well, as you said, if we move her, Red John might figure out and something worse could happen. It's a matter of protection for everyone. If we get closer to him, then he might try and stop us, by any means necessary. And we still don't know if Jane's gone back to him - we don't want to upset Red John if he has.'

I nodded, but it didn't mean I had stopped worrying about Eleanor. She was like a small girl, surrounded by four white walls and a host of doctors. They'd be flooding in there soon, studying her again, and trying to figure her thoughts out...poking and prodding at her. I hated the thought of it.

I clicked the key to the SUV, releasing the locking system as we got closer.

'Uh...I need to go back to the waffle café.'

'Why? You're hungry again?' I asked hopelessly.

'No...well, yeah, but I need to go to the toilet.'

I nodded. 'Ok, meet you back here.'

I watched as Rigsby jogged to the sidewalk, and then over to the other side of the road to find the café. My hand was on the door handle of the driver's door, but I felt like I needed some more air before the long drive back to Sacramento, so I took a set towards the patch of grass just a little way in front of the SUV. I took a deep breath, letting myself down onto the slightly dried grass, stretching my legs out and propping myself up on my hands. I heard a car door open and shut somewhere behind me, and an engine rumble into life.

I closed my eyes, letting my head fall back a little, and felt the cooling shade of the palm tree above wash over me. A soft breeze picked up strands of my hair, draping them over my face, like the wind was sighing. I let myself relax, trying to release all the feelings that I had inside, letting the breeze take them away into the distance, wherever that would be. I controlled my breathing, slowing it, keeping it calm, like I was taught by my yoga teacher. I was feeling so peaceful by the time that Rigsby came back, that I jumped a little when he called my name. I opened my eyes, smiling at him. I laughed when I saw his arms cradling a take-away box of waffles. I looked at my watch as I stood. My prediction of one hour had apparently been correct.

'Let's get back,' I said, climbing into the SUV and keying the ignition.

'Do you think we'll be able to catch him this time?' I asked Rigsby, switching my gaze from the road to my passenger. It was half an hour since we'd left Fresno, and the majority of it had been spent dipping in and out of conversation at odd intervals.

Rigsby looked at me. 'I don't know. We seem to have a better chance of getting through on a personal level though. I bet he doesn't know we found his sister. I don't think he was expecting that much. Or maybe he didn't think, even if we did find her, that she'd be able to tell us anything.'

I nodded. 'I hope for Eleanor's sake and Jane's that we do find him soon. It's painful seeing them both. Eleanor's still attached to him, despite the damage he caused her, and Jane's painfully obsessed. They're probably Red John's two most personal victims.' My eyes were stinging with emotion, but I quickly blinked it away. I didn't want to crash, emotionally or physically. I felt Rigsby's hand cover mine on the gear stick, the warmth creeping up my arm. I checked the rear view mirror, trying to distract myself. But that was when I saw a flash of movement, only tiny, but still visible, from the back. I blinked, creasing my eyebrows together.

'What was that?' I murmured, sending a brief glance over my shoulder.

'What was what?'

'I thought I saw something move in the back.'

Rigsby looked to the back of the SUV, 'Huh?'

I saw a lay-by coming up on the right, so I pulled over, still casting brief glances at the rear view. I stared for a few seconds once the engine was off, just to see if the same movement would happen again, and trying to figure out if I was seeing things. Nothing happened, so I jumped out, moving towards the tailgate. At first, upon opening the back, I couldn't see any more than the usual kit and bits and bobs that were usually in the back. But then I saw some blankets and coats in the furthest right hand corner move. Just a twitch, but still a move. I could feel my pulse picking up as I reached for the edge of the pile.

'What is it Grace?' Rigsby called, just as I took a fistful of coat into my hand. I composed myself for a few seconds, before ripping the cover off a small figure huddled in the back.

'Eleanor!' I cried, removing all the coats and blankets from the young red haired girl.

'I'm sorry! Please don't take me back there! I don't want to stay there!' she blurted in a panicked frenzy.

'What are you doing?' I replied in disbelief, 'How did you escape?'

'I'm sorry, I just snuck out behind you, I was scared, and I wanted to stay with you and I wanted to-'

I stared as her big eyes looked tearfully out at me.

'I'm not crazy...' she whispered.

'Eleanor, they'll be looking for you, they'll worry! And we'll get in trouble... It's safer there!'

She blinked, a tear tumbling down her cheek as she scrabbled out of her corner and into my arms again. 'I feel safer with you...' she mumbled into my shoulder, 'You helped me.'

I slowly brought my arms around her back, giving her a soft squeeze.

'We've got to take you back...' I told her softly.

'No! Please...please don't!' I could feel her tears soaking the shoulder of my shirt and wetting my shoulder, 'I want to stay with you. You'll keep me safe.'

Rigsby slowly made his way round to the back of the SUV, digging his hands deep in his pockets as he watched us. 'What are we going to do?' I whispered to him. I was lost. If we didn't take her back, then the doctors there would panic, and try and find her, probably blaming us. If Red John found out in some way that she wasn't there, then there would be trouble, and if we took her back to CBI, Hightower would have a heart attack when she found out we'd taken a patient from the psychiatric hospital without permission.

Rigsby didn't seem to be able to answer, so I tried to make up my own mind, but there was hardly anything I could do. I sighed, pulling Eleanor back and looking into her tearful eyes. 'If we take you with us, you've got to promise to be good. We can't have any trouble or the situation will get worse and people will find out. We'll protect you at the headquarters, ok?'

Eleanor nodded eagerly, and her face told me that she would do her best. I asked myself briefly what the heck I was doing as I led Eleanor to the back seat of the SUV and opened the door for her, but I couldn't take her back seeing how much she hated the place. Rigsby shut the tailgate before returning to his seat.

'We're gonna be in so much trouble for this...' I murmured, getting back in the SUV.

Rigsby didn't reply at first, and I was worried that he thought we were doing the wrong thing, but after a while he said, 'We were unaware that we were taking her from the hospital, and when we discovered her in the back of the SUV, she refused to go back. We could do nothing without causing danger to ourselves and the girl in question.'

I nodded with a flicker of a smile, checking back on Eleanor, who sat in the seat behind me, staring out of the window at the trees rustling in a light breeze.

'Ok.'

Just under two and a half hours later, we were pulling into the CBI parking lot. Rigsby was half asleep in the passenger seat, and Eleanor was looking round curiously, studying the CBI building through the back window. I suddenly realised how totally unsuitable it would be to walk a girl dressed in white scrubs into the CBI considering we were supposed to be keeping this low profile right now. I nudged Rigsby out of his slumber and motioned towards Eleanor.

'We need to get her some other clothes. We can't walk her in like that.'

Rigsby watched Eleanor as she moved to each of the windows, looking out at the surroundings in fascination. She'd been doing it the whole journey, which wasn't really surprising after ten years in a psychiatric hospital, without seeing the outdoors.

'Are there any in the back?'

'I don't know.'

'Check.'

I nodded, getting out and opening the tailgate. Eleanor turned her eyes to watch me as I rummaged.

'We're finding you some new clothes to wear, so you'll look normal when we go in, ok?'

She nodded with an enthusiasm you would hardly expect if you'd seen the state of her in the psychiatric hospital. It was like the room was compressing her, making her look and feel depressed and cornered. I smiled back - her happiness was infectious. Soon, I found a pair of worn blue jeans and a black t-shirt amongst the mess in the back, along with a black checked hoodie. I passed them over to Eleanor. The white plimsolls wouldn't matter too much once she had some normal clothes on. She took them, and I closed the tailgate, stepping round to lean back on the window to give her some cover as she changed in the back seat. Rigsby did the same on the other side.

Soon, I heard a light knock on the window I was leant against, and I turned to see Eleanor inside, the new clothes almost the right fit on her, just a little too big. I opened the door for her, letting her climb out onto the concrete. She looked up at me from underneath strands of reddish hair that had fallen into her face, a shy smile on her lips.

'Much better,' I told her, smiling myself. I nodded in the direction of the headquarters, 'Come on then.'

She followed me towards the building, almost hiding behind me, but half way across the parking lot I felt her hand slip into mine. I looked around at her. Her fingers were curled over the edge of the hoodie's sleeve as she held a corner between her teeth nervously. Despite her twenty-seven years of age, she still acted like a child. Whether that was because she had mentally restarted herself and returned to being a child because of what she'd experienced when she was older...or whether it was because she had simply been frozen in time for so long, that she didn't know how to be an adult, I wasn't sure, but she was like a shy young child all over again. I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze as we stepped inside the entrance.

Eleanor seemed to be scouring the surroundings with eager interest, even though she still had the sleeve in her mouth. I could see her eyes flick one way and the other, looking at people passing by, and the bustle of activity all around her. I guided her round to the queue we would have to wait in before getting to the elevator. As we came to a halt, she looked at the beeping frame of the scanner just beside us with fascination, as people emptied their pockets into trays at the side and then stepped through it, gathering their things on the other side. She had a questioning look on her face as she watched, but she didn't say anything. Soon, I was at the front of the queue and I showed my I.D to the security guard. He nodded, 'Hi,' but looked at Eleanor, who was still biting on her sleeve, 'Who's that?'

'She's...the sister of a suspect in an ongoing case. We're bringing her here for protection,' I replied swiftly.

'She'll need to go through the scanner then,' the guard replied nodding in the direction of the other, shorter queue.

'Yeah.'

I walked Eleanor round to the two-person-long queue on the other side of the barrier, still holding her hand. 'Just step through and I'll meet you on the other side,' I smiled. It came to her turn and I let go of her hand, nudging her forward so she could go through. She stopped in front of it, letting her sleeve drop from her mouth to her side, examining the frame for a moment before cautiously stepping through to the other side. I followed her after depositing my keys and wallet into a tray. She smiled at me, seemingly amused by the scanner, even if it hadn't beeped. Collecting my belongings, I put them back in my pockets and retook her hand as I watched Rigsby step through security in the other queue.

Once in the elevator, I looked at Eleanor, 'So...you want a drink or anything when we get there?'

She nodded simply.

'What do you like?'

'I don't know...' she replied, watching the buttons of the elevator flash as we moved up the floors.

'You ok?' I asked, turning to Rigsby.

He nodded, 'Yeah.'

'You just seem quiet.'

'I'm a bit worried, that's all. When Hightower finds out or something.'

'Well, we'll just have to tell the truth. She's not going to make us drive another three hours to take her back. It'll be fine.'

The doors of the elevator pinged open on the third floor and we got out, Rigsby heading straight to the bull pen, and Eleanor and I going for the break room.

'So, we've got tea, coffee, I think we have some juice, some water...what would you like?'

Eleanor stood in the threshold of the break room, looking around at all the different appliances and furniture before her eyes finally settled on me. 'Juice...please,' she answered quietly.

'Ok...' I opened the fridge and grabbed the orange juice from the door, pouring some into a clean glass from the cupboard before putting it back and handing Eleanor the glass. 'There you go.'

She took the glass, taking a small sip from the very top of the glass' rim. Taking another, I watched her turn on the spot and survey the surroundings again. She began forward slowly, towards the bull pen, taking further tiny sips as she went. I followed behind her, watching her curiosity take her around the room. She stopped in front of Jane's couch, simply looking at it, and drinking more orange juice like it was a fuel to keep her moving. She stepped forward. 'Who sits there?' She seemed to notice an unfilled indent on the couch's cushion.

'Uh...our friend. It's his couch, but he's not here right now. We don't know where he is...'

'He's the one my brother hurt?' she asked quietly.

I gazed sadly at the couch, wishing that Jane was sat there right now so we didn't have to worry. 'Yeah...he is.'

'What's his name?'

'...Jane...Patrick Jane.'

Eleanor nodded, continuing to look at the empty couch. A few seconds later, she moved forward with a sip of orange juice and sat cross-legged on the middle cushion, looking down at the indent in the cushion on her left.

If I hadn't been listening properly, I would have missed what she said next.

'I'm sorry, Patrick Jane,' she whispered, talking to the empty space on her left, 'Sorry he hurt you too.'

I watched, my eyes beginning to sting with tears as my stomach drew in with a sharp breath. Eleanor shuffled further back into the couch, drinking some more of her juice. 'Jacob just got sad after mom died,' she again spoke to the empty space, like Jane was sat there to talk to, 'I hope you'll be ok.'

I turned on the spot, a tear escaping my eye and rolling down my cheek. I walked back to the break room, taking one of the seats and landing in it heavily. I swiped the tear from my face, only for it to be replaced by two more. I breathed in and out, slowly, shakily. I only had a moment alone though, as Cho entered. He stopped, pausing and looking down at me. 'You ok?' I wiped the tears of my face with my sleeve and dabbed at my eyes. 'Yeah. Fine.' It wasn't hard to understand why he looked completely unconvinced, but he didn't venture further as he continued his trail towards the sink.

'So...where's Lisbon?' I asked, still drying my face.

'Uh...she went home to get some rest. She's got someone there with her.'

I nodded.

'What did you find in Fresno?' he asked, filling the kettle with water from the tap.

'Uh, yeah, we found Eleanor.'

'Yeah?'

'Mhmm.'

'Did you get anything out of her?'

'Well, apparently, she's been silent for the past ten years, but Rigsby and I brought up Jacob when we were in there with her, and she suddenly opened up again, like he was the key to her silence.'

Cho nodded, turning to lean on the counter.

'We found out what happened to her, sort of. Seems Jacob might have tortured her or something to get her into a psychiatric hospital instead of her sending him to one. We think he's sorry for what he's done though. Apparently he came back to visit her at one point, apologising and saying he loved her.'

Cho nodded again, 'So what's happening now?'

'Well, we tried to leave her there, because we thought it would be better if we didn't move her, just in case Red John found out.'

'Tried? What do you mean?'

'Uh, she escaped and crept into the SUV when we weren't looking. We didn't find her until half an hour into the journey.'

'So you took her back right?'

'...Not exactly.'

'What do you mean, not exactly?' Cho asked slowly.

'She didn't want to go back.'

It was then that Cho looked up to see a red haired girl sat on Jane's couch.

'That's her isn't it?'

'Yeah...'

Cho stared at the girl. I turned to look too. I could still see she was talking to the empty space on the couch.

'She's crazy isn't she,' Cho said bluntly.

'No. She's normal, just a little timid.'

'She's talking to a couch. She's crazy.'

'No, she's not.'

'What have you done?'

I offered a goodnight to the guard that had been assigned to protect me at my apartment before shutting the door behind me, kicking off my shoes and making for the stairs. I half stumbled up the steps towards the bedroom. I was drained of energy now. I wasn't sure whether that was because I was worried about Jane or whether it had taken all my energy to fess up to Cho at the CBI, but either way, I was shattered and I wanted nothing more than rest.

At the top of the stairs, I ran my hand through my hair with a yawn and slowly made my way to the bedroom door. Pushing it open with one hand, I looked at the bed, with all its welcoming comfort and softness. I felt every inch of me desiring the comfort and warmth of that bed right now, but I had to stop. I had to stop because something about the room felt off. It didn't matter that it was reasonably dark due to the pulled curtains and the steadily fading light outside; I could still sense something...

Then I saw it, the shadow lingering in the corner of the room, just outside the milky glow of the moonlight. I stood my ground.

'Jane? Is that you?' I asked as confidently as possible.

The figure remained static, and I had begun to think that it was just my imagination, but it was then that it moved forward, none too slowly, and pushed me back to the wall beside the door. My breath caught in my throat, and I found it hard to breathe, like I'd been winded. Jane was holding me, his hands firmly, but gently at the same time, holding my wrists to the wall either side of my head. I was scared, and I was beginning to wonder what to do as I put up a meagre fight to my friend's hands. I felt like I wanted to yell out, and get him safely to the CBI, but at the same time, I was transfixed by the green eyes staring at me as he pinned me to the wall. I could feel the lack of harsh force to my wrists. Butterflies were flittering around my stomach, and I realised I'd breathed in to the extent that my ribs were protruding from underneath my flesh. I slowly let it out, my throat tight and dry.

I watched as he observed my face, like he was reading me. Slowly, I could see him draw closer, the look in his eyes robbing me of the strength I had left to fight. I could feel his lips brushing up and down, and I couldn't help it as my head fell slightly to the side to allow him better access. His lips didn't kiss; they simply skimmed the surface of my flesh, his breathing sending shivers through me. My heart began to beat out a new rhythm; fast and heavy. I knew he could feel it as his chest just touched my own.

'Jane...' I let out breathlessly as his warm breath tickled at the fine hairs on my neck. My breathing was thick and heavy as I felt him trail a line of moist, delicate kisses across my skin. I couldn't deny the heated feeling I felt inside. I pressed my head back against the wall, my jaw unable to stay closed, as a heavy sigh fell from my lips. I wished I could let my hands explore, but they were still pinned back, so I settled for the sumptuous kiss that he was applying to the space between my neck and shoulder.

'Jane...' I repeated huskily. At the sound of my voice, he began moving his kisses upwards until they reached my chin, only millimetres away from my bottom lip. It was unbearable. I felt like I would burst. But it was only a few seconds before his lips took mine, passionately, but caring at the same time. I couldn't help myself. I couldn't tell myself that it was wrong, he was hypnotised, this wasn't him speaking, I couldn't do anything more than return that love-hungry kiss that he was giving me. It felt too good. It was...hypnotising...

His hands were beginning to slide down my arms; travel toward my body. It wasn't long before they were trailing up and down my sides, applying a gentle pressure that made my whole being tingle and shiver. His fingers picked out my t-shirt from the waistband of my jeans, until his hands could reach my flesh underneath. I took in a sharp breath as the coolness of his skin hit mine, sending goosebumps rippling across my stomach. He held my sides, wrapping his arms around my back, his lips still latched onto mine as he picked me off the floor. Wrapping my legs around him, I clung to him, unable to take my lips away from his.

Slowly, he turned round, taking me towards the bed. I revelled in the feeling of his body so close to mine, the warmth of his being against mine making me feel hot and flustered. We landed on the bed heavily, and I scrabbled back to lay comfortably before he straddled me on all fours, replacing his lips on mine, more hungrily than before. Slowly, he moved downwards, his hands pushing up my loosened shirt until he could run hot kisses from my navel to just below my bra.

'Dammit...' I muttered, my heart beating like a drum. Now that I hadn't got my lips locked on his, I could unfortunately bring myself to think, just for a second. But that was all it took. I reached for my waistband and in a matter of seconds, the click and whirr of handcuffs brought it all to a stop.

A/N: ...Reviews? XD