A/N: Sorry for the delay. I've been feeling rather uninspired as of late so the last few parts for Redress are still in the works. Thank you to everyone who have been reading. Special thanks to Lysh my beta, the other two parts of the Snacklepop monster for encouraging me and to Susan who reviewed all three chapters. As a bonus I give you the first of many cameos (hopefully) in this fic. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: It's four in the morning. I know that has nothing to do with me not owning anything, but I thought I'd throw that out there.

Chapter 3: Capital Idea

She scanned the crime scene photos scattered across her desk. Two bodies. Two different COD's. Yet, one glaring similarity. She lifted the photo at her fingertips. She pictured Hunter's bright eyes, so full of life, a far cry from the bloody face glaring up at her. Three perfect stitches held his left lid together, matching ones crisscrossed its pair shut. Those once bright eyes, gouged from its sockets. A signature? A message? Questions still eluding her. She was so deep in thought, she failed to notice she was being watched until her office door clattered open. Glancing up, she expected to see Minelli. Instead, a different set of blue eyes were staring back at her.

"Hey."

"Sam, what are you doing here?"

He stared at his feet for a moment.

"I heard about Letko. I wanted to offer my condolences."

When he looked back up at her, she folded her arms coolly across her chest.

"What are you doing here?" she asked again.

"I just wanted to see how you were holding up."

"I'm fine."

"Are you?"

"I'm fine," she repeated. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I know that the two of you were close…"

"Is there something you want?" she interrupted calmly. "Because I'm really busy, you know, trying to catch a murderer."

"Okay. I get it. You don't want to talk about it," Bosco paused, running his hand along the edge of her desk. "But on the off chance you need someone to talk to, you know where to find me."

He bent towards her, a wry smile flitting across his face. She simply smiled at him in return, reclining back in her seat. Without another word, he turned around, almost colliding into Jane.

"Sorry, blind man coming through," her blond consultant called out as he brushed past Bosco.

Lisbon bit back a laugh at the comical face Bosco pulled before she watched him disappear out the door. She then turned her attention to Jane. A scowl replaced her amused grin as he flopped down onto her couch. She chose to ignore him, focusing instead on the coroner's preliminary report in her hands.

"I'm fine, Lisbon, thank you for asking," Jane announced dramatically. "I'm touched by your concern for my safety but you shouldn't waste your energy worrying…"

He purposely paused in midsentence, as though he was waiting for her to scold him about protocol. However, at that moment, she had neither the patience nor the energy to deal with his childish behavior.

"Lisbon?"

"What is it, Jane?" she sighed.

"This is the part where you yell at me."

"And what good would that do exactly? You're just going to do whatever you want anyway, regardless of what I have to say."

He was quiet for a moment, his brows drawing together.

"Okay, what's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. I'm trying to conduct an investigation and you're off traipsing the city pissing people off. Business as usual."

"Person," he corrected. "I pissed off a person."

"And it almost cost Rigsby an eye. He's already injured enough as is."

"It wasn't my fault that Horowitz is deceptively fast for a man of his stature."

She glared at him. She was jealous of how completely relaxed he looked, his hands clasped lazily across his stomach.

"I thought you'd be in there with Cho questioning Horowitz. He was your catch of the day."

"Eh, the interrogation was going nowhere. Besides, he's not our guy."

"Perfect. You pissed off an innocent man."

"Innocent men don't run."

"Then why was he running?"

"Hadn't filed a tax return in over five years. Plus, he had an alibi," Jane yawned. "Boring."

"So we're back to square one."

"Cheer up, Lisbon, we'll catch a break. In fact, one should be arriving oh, right about… now."

Lisbon stared at her closed door, impatiently tapping her foot.

"Any second."

She was about to resume reading when she was interrupted by a soft knock on the door before Van Pelt entered.

"I found something."

From the corner of eye, she could spot the smug smirk settling across Jane's face. She got up and followed in Van Pelt's wake, leaving Jane to his own devices. As Lisbon peered over Van Pelt's shoulder, she came face to face with a mug-shot of a younger and more disheveled Franklin Greene.

"The professor has a record in Virginia. A couple of B&E's, minor drug possession, nothing big. What's interesting is the name he was charged under."

"Isaac Greenstein," Lisbon read off the screen. "So he changed his name, straightened out his life, moved to California for a fresh start…"

"Let Grace finish," Jane interjected as he moseyed over towards them. "I think she was just getting to the juicy part."

Lisbon rolled her eyes as Van Pelt pulled up a new window. A candid snapshot of a pretty woman instantly filled the screen, her arms wrapped tightly around a young boy.

"We got lucky," Van Pelt quipped.

"Greenstein didn't just leave behind a criminal record," Lisbon mused aloud, "he left behind a family."

"Wife's name is Allyson McCreedy. She and their four year old son, Max, live just outside of Georgetown."

"Have you contacted McCreedy?"

"Not yet. Did you want me to call her?

"No, I'll take care of it. Good work, Van Pelt."

Her compliment earned her an earnest smile from the rookie agent as Lisbon returned to her office. She noticed Jane lingering in the bullpen for a while longer, eyeing him suspiciously when he eventually rejoined her.

"You need to slow down, woman. I can't exactly keep up in my current state."

"Not my problem, Jane."

He unleashed a boyish grin on her as he once again settled down onto her couch.

"Did you get anything new from forensics?"

"Aside from what we already know, nothing yet. Why?" she asked skeptically.

"Curious. Our lab is way too slow."

"They're back logged, cut them some slack."

"You could call in a favor from your contact in D.C."

She didn't dignify his suggestion with a reply, not to say that the thought hadn't crossed her mind. An hour earlier, she may have even gone as far as suggesting to Minelli that she wanted to deliver Hunter's remains in person.

"Or we could just pay a visit ourselves. I hear our fine Capital is beautiful this time of the year."

Staring at him in disbelief, she shook her head.

"We aren't going anywhere."

"But you are."

She sighed, feeling too emotionally drained to play Jane's mind games.

"You need to quit feeling so guilty," he said suddenly.

"Excuse me?"

"Hunter's death, you're blaming…"

"You know, putting an entire country between you and me is sounding more appealing by the second."

"Already done, my dear Lisbon. I got Van Pelt to book us our tickets. You like having the window seat, yes?"

"No, I don't," she snapped. "And for the record, Van Pelt isn't your personal travel agent."

"Good, be angry. Let it all out."

Grabbing the photos and her folder, she stormed out of her office, slamming the door loudly behind her. She wandered into the break room, releasing the breath that she had been holding in. She dropped her belongings onto the kitchenette table and turned on the kettle. Despite the fact she was still thoroughly annoyed with herself for allowing Jane to get under her skin, she did feel slightly better. Not that she would ever admit it to his face.

TBC...

Chapter 4 Preview

"You know what we need?"

"No, but I get the feeling you're going to tell me even though I don't care."

"Peanuts," he answered breezily. "I want some."

"Stop being so demanding, we're not in business class."