A/N: Thanks for all the lovely comments to my last chapter. This one is a bit heavy going but the next one will be much lighter to finish off this story.

Chapter 6 – Confrontation

Jane and Lisbon sat in the car waiting for Jimmy to come down from his apartment before they all made their way to Stanley's house for dinner. They had dropped him off earlier to get changed.

Lisbon tapped the steering wheel after beeping the horn.

'We don't have to tell him if you're not ready' Jane said at her side.

She looked over at him. 'I'm ready. I'm just a little nervous in how he's going to react. He's the eldest brother and he's more protective over me than the other two.'

Jane nodded. At only a couple of years younger than Lisbon he had seen much the same side of her father that she did he envisaged. He would have been acutely aware of how things were before their mother died and how different they became afterwards. The other brothers were younger and he imagined Stanley and Teresa would have banded together to save their brothers from their father's attacks, preferring to make themselves targets than their younger siblings. Jane's hands gripped the sides of the bottle of wine in his lap. He was glad the man was dead or he would have had a hard time not killing him for how he had treated Lisbon and her brothers as an outlet for his own grief.

'You're going to break that bottle if you hold it any tighter' Lisbon said, beeping the horn again. Jimmy's face appeared at his apartment window and he waved to them, motioning that he would be down shortly.

Jane's hands loosened their grip. He had an overwhelming urge to hug her then shook his head in surprise. Sometimes he still forgot that he didn't have to hold back on those feelings any longer. He moved the bottle to his feet and released his seatbelt.

'What are you doing?' she said, her eyes set in a question.

He enveloped her in a hug and kissed her passionately by means of an explanation before moving back to his seat.

'What was that all about?' she asked.

Jane shrugged, lifting the bottle back into his lap.

Jimmy arrived at the car and sat in the backseat.

'Okay, buckle up' Lisbon said. Jane glanced over at her, giving her a wry smile. It wasn't just Jimmy's seatbelt she was referring to.

'Where are the kids?' Lisbon asked as they sat at the dinner table. The first ten minutes had been spent in almost total silence and the tension in the room could be cut with a knife. If it hadn't been for Jane complimenting Karen on the meal she'd prepared Lisbon feared her words would have been the first ones spoken.

Karen replied, 'Oh, they're at camp with the Church, overnight stay.'

Jane bit back a comment about the Catholic Church indoctrinating people at an early age. Lisbon glanced over at him beside her, no doubt worrying about him saying that exact thing. He took a mouthful of his beef, hiding a smirk. She really knew him so well sometimes.

The table lapsed into silence once again as the five of them resumed their dinner.

As Karen and Jimmy began to clear away the dishes Lisbon cleared her throat. Jane readied himself for the reaction. 'Stan, there's something I didn't tell you when we were here yesterday.'

Stan passed a plate to his wife. Jane wished that Lisbon had waited until all the crockery and the silverware had been put away. 'Oh, what is it, Reese?'

She put her hand on top of Jane's and gave it a squeeze. Jane intertwined their fingers and stared at Stanley.

Jane saw his eyes flick from their hands to his sister and then him. Stan's eyes narrowed before Lisbon spoke.

'Jane and I...I mean Patrick and I...we're together. You know, like a couple.'

Stan kept his eyes on Jane. 'You and my sister are sleeping together?'

Jane wanted to make a joke about not much sleeping going on but instead he replied, 'Yes. I love her very much.'

Stan got up from the table and paced in front of it. He reminded Jane of Lisbon when she was trying to decide to punch him or not.

'Stan, I want you to be happy for me. But even if you can't be I'm a grown woman and I've made my decision no matter what you think.'

Stan stopped pacing and looked at her, simmering fire in his eyes. 'I want to talk to you alone.'

Jane squeezed her hand. 'I think that's a good idea but afterwards I want to talk to you alone, Stanley.' His eyes bored into Stanley's making sure he realised he wasn't leaving his house without a discussion having happened between them.

'Fine.'

Lisbon and her brother went into a small room that he used as an office.

'What the hell, Reese?' he said, shaking his head. He wasn't angry anymore but confused and worried. 'Have you forgotten what a mess he left you with when he left? How much of a mess you were in?'

Lisbon nodded. 'I know. I was in a bad place. But that was almost three years ago, Stan. I'm okay now and he's not that man any longer.'

'People don't change that much, Teresa. And even if he has suddenly turned over a new leaf and wants to make things up to you how can you forgive him for what he's done? He's a cold blooded murderer, Reese. How can you be with a man like that?'

Lisbon shifted uncomfortably in the desk chair she sat in. 'He did what he thought he had to do. What would you do if someone murdered Karen and the kids and you blamed yourself for it?'

'I would let the authorities take care of it like he should have.'

'You don't know that.'

Stanley shrugged. 'Okay, you're right I don't. But what I do know is that I would never kill someone unless there was no other option. At least when he killed that Timothy Carter guy he said he had a gun. I could at least understand that. But McAllister, he was down already, Reese. He didn't have to kill him. And strangulation...it's...it's...psychotic.'

Lisbon sighed and nodded her head. 'I'm not justifying his actions, Stan. But you have no idea what that monster did to him. He didn't just kill his family. He tormented him for ten years afterwards.'

'Look, I sympathise, Reese. I truly do with what he went through. But...I can't help it. I can't help how I feel about him. How did he explain it to you, what he did? Maybe that'll help me understand him better.'

Lisbon shrugged. 'We've never actually talked about that day' she said in a soft murmur.

Stan stood at the window, shaking his head. 'So you're with a man who murdered his nemesis and you're now both playing happy families together and brushing that little fact under the carpet.'

'We haven't brushed it under the carpet. We've just put all that happened back then behind us. We want to concentrate on our future, not the past. We both spent too long hunting that damn man for him to continue to spoil our lives now. Stan, we're not kids anymore that have to protect each other. I know what I've gotten myself into. I'm under no illusion about him. He's the most infuriating man I've ever met and he can be selfish and egotistical. But he makes me happy, happier than I've ever been in my life. He's the only man I want to be with for the rest of my life. And it's not like I'm exactly perfect either, I have plenty of issues myself. But he wants me too despite my bad moods, my insecurities, my commitment issues, my impatience and my stubbornness. He makes me feel safe and loved and he respects me. I'm not asking for your permission. I'm just telling you how it is.'

Jane paced the floor of the living room while Lisbon spoke to her brother.

Jimmy walked back in from the kitchen and took a seat on the couch.

'You'll wear a path in that carpet there if you continue with that. You don't want to piss Stan off anymore than you already have.'

Jane nodded and sat down beside him. He knew if Lisbon had to take sides she would take his but the last thing he wanted was for her to be estranged from them because of him. He stared into the fireplace.

'She'll talk him round. Don't worry' Jimmy said, flicking through a magazine beside him.

Jane turned round to him, confused. 'Since when are you on my side?'

Jimmy shrugged. 'I'm not. I'm on Reese's. I know better than anyone to not get in the way when she's made her mind up about something.'

Jane smiled back. 'Yeah, that's true enough. She's stubborn, all right. So, does that mean we're okay at least?'

Jimmy put the magazine down. 'Guess so. But if you hurt her-'

'I understand. Although you should let your sister give you some lessons, you need to use the first two knuckles to really get a good punch in.'

Jimmy smiled back. 'I'll do that just in case. Look, thanks for earlier, for helping me get out of that mess.'

Lisbon and Stan came back into the living room. Jane looked at Lisbon and knew within two seconds it hadn't gone well.

He got up from the couch. 'Stan, you got room in your appointment schedule for me now?' he smiled.

Stan rolled his eyes. 'Suppose so.'

As Jane passed Lisbon, he took her hand, kissing her on the cheek and giving her a look that he hoped portrayed that everything was going to be okay.

As they got to the office Jane looked around. 'So, is this going to be a formal interview? If I'd known I'd have brought my CV.'

Stan continued to stand, staring at him.

Jane expelled a breath. 'Okay, what do I have to do to make this right?'

'You could always break up with my sister.'

'Not happening. Next?'

'Is this some kind of joke to you?'

Jane stood opposite him, his eyes boring into his. 'I'm in love with Teresa. The last thing that I'd call that is a joke. Look, I get it. Wanting to protect her from someone with my history.'

He shrugged and smiled sadly. 'As much as I tried to tell her I was no good for her and as you're well aware pushed her away many times she wouldn't let me. She always fought for us, even when we were just friends. I thought in the beginning it was just a need to fix me, make everything all right like she no doubt tried to do when you were kids but she instinctively saw a good person inside of me, even when I couldn't see it myself. I trust her implicitly so I'd like to believe, now at least, that there's some truth in that.'

Jane sat down on the chair, looking up at him. 'Some people used to say that I became a better person after my wife and child were murdered. Not to my face, obviously, but I could see that's what some thought. It might sound strange but I can understand it. I didn't con people out of their life savings anymore; I wasn't interested in materialistic trappings and so on. But the truth is...the truth is that it was she who made me want to be a better person.'

'Yet you still hurt her, time and time again.'

'I did, yes. I wanted to protect her from Red John. As Teresa and I got closer I became more worried that he'd come after her. I tried to keep her at a distance and sometimes hurting her was the only way to do that.'

Jane rubbed his hand across his cheek before looking back up at him. 'I'm not going to apologise for killing that man, Stanley. If that's what you want from me then you're not going to get it and we may as well stop this conversation now.'

'Why did you strangle him?'

Jane sighed and looked up at the ceiling, thinking before shaking his head. 'I don't know. I didn't have a knife on me at the time.'

Jane caught the surprise in Stanley's face that he thought he was making a joke.

'Sorry, I didn't mean that to sound flippant. I can't tell you why exactly but it's the only time I've ever felt rage like it in my life. Pure and utter hatred for what that man did to me and my family. And I'm not just talking about my wife and daughter. He'd killed others I knew too. He decapitated a counsellor I saw after Angela and Charlotte died, amongst others, a good woman. He hurt your sister drew a smiley face on her in another victim's blood. I found her that night and I thought she was dead.'

Tears pricked at Jane's eyes at the memory as he stared into space. 'I thought I'd lost her then. I could barely breathe and wasn't even sure at first I found a pulse as my hands were shaking so much.'

He looked back up at Stanley. 'She's my entire world, Stanley. She's the most precious, most honest and most decent thing I have to live for. And I know I don't deserve her but I'm too selfish to give her up. She's the reason I'm still alive. She's the entire reason I didn't just kill myself after murdering McAllister. I'll never leave her again and I'll do everything in my power to make her happy for the rest of our lives. I want to marry her, have children with her if she wants that, grow old with her. Just give me time to prove it, that's all I'm asking.'

Stanley leaned against a desk, opposite him. 'Jesus, you have it worse than she does' he replied, rolling his eyes.

Jane saw a glimmer of a smile tug at his lips and nodded, smiling inwardly.