A/N: Please note this chapter also contains some dialogue directly from the series- which of course, I do not own or profit from. Cho is still in his canon role but I have decided to not include Kim Fisher and replace her with another familiar face from the FBI (because I always wondered what happened to him).

Thank you again for the kind reviews and encouragement.

Austin

In the end, the decision wasn't a hard to make. With Abbott's signature on his napkin of terms, they shook on it in a gentleman's agreement. By the next day he was on a bumpy international flight to Houston. From there he would be transported to the FBI Offices in Austin to complete the legal mumbo-jumbo.

Initially the risk of the decision and the excitement of re-entering his former life had him brimming with excited and nervous energy. But by the time of his arrival, he was feeling rather harried and jetlagged. He was also getting progressively more annoyed with the two tough-guy henchmen the FBI had sent to escort him here, who were leading (he would argue manhandling) him by the shoulders all the way down the path into the ultramodern all-glass façade.

"Jane." Kimball Cho sat waiting in one of the chairs in the waiting area for them.

His grumpy mood instantly lifted when he recognized the voice and a smile spread over his face.

"Cho… huh! You never cease to amaze me."

"I got it from here, guys." He showed the two agents his badge, they nodded, and relinquished Jane into Cho's custody.

Stoic as ever, Cho didn't appear too excited to see his old friend. But Jane didn't notice any trace of a grudge or anger in his eyes either.

"So you joined the FBI, huh?"

"Yeah. Finished training in Quantico 5 months ago."

"Wow. Look at you. Congratulations."

Cho had been the hardest of his former team members to get recon on. Pete couldn't track down his latest address or current place of employment. All of which now made perfect sense. Jane moved forward a bit, gauging whether Cho would be open to a hug – and when he predictably did not lean in, settled for a friendly shoulder slap instead.

"This way." Cho led Jane down a long hallway. He gave a sidelong glance, assessing his ex-consultant's appearance. Jane wasn't quite looking as dapper as the last time he had seen him – his hair and beard had grown out, and he had exchanged his dress shirt/vest combo for a wrinkled patterned button-up shirt. Out of respect for his new job he had at least left the sarongs back in Venezuela. "Where are your socks?" Cho eventually asked.

"Um… I don't know." Jane answered. "Did they put a chip in your neck?" The one thing that could usually crack Cho's icy exterior was a good joke.

"Not that I know of. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you just don't seem too happy to see me."

Cho released small sigh; subtle, but a telling sign of exacerbation coming from Cho. "I am happy to see you. I just wish it was under different circumstances."

"Why is that?"

"I don't think you and the FBI are going to get along very well. I don't think they really understand how you operate."

"Eh-…" Jane shrugged it off. "They'll loosen up once they get to know me."

Cho led him to an elevator which they took to the basement level. "They'll have you in a detention suite for now."

Jane's eyebrow shot up.

"It's not jail. Just a room. Bed, bathroom, the basics. Just until they get your contract formally sorted and you can find your own place."

"So, I can leave it any time then? If it's not a jail cell?"

Cho sighed. "Until that contract is signed, Jane, you are still a wanted man in the custody of the FBI. Don't try your luck, okay."

They reached their destination and Cho unlocked the door revealing a basic room. He'll relent that it wasn't quite a prison cell and seemed finely appointed. A single bed, neatly made, kitchenette with a kettle, en-suite bathroom. He could make do for the time being.

Before Cho left, Jane turned. "What about Lisbon? It was one of my terms that she work with me."

"They're working on it. In the meantime-" One last up-and-down that made Jane feel distinctly scrutinized. "Get some sleep. You look like shit."

Jane didn't miss the click of a lock turning in the door as Cho left. Free man, his ass.

Chicago – a couple days later

"Lisbon – do you have a minute?"

She was pulling off her bulletproof vest as she walked to her desk. The Homicide unit had just returned from a particularly brutal arrest of a murder suspect - a man, who after killing his girlfriend, her sister, and her six-year-old niece, had holed himself up in a house along with two of his friends. All armed. They seemed initially intent on committing suicide-by-cop. Thankfully all three suspects were now sitting in holding, cuffed and very much alive. It had been a tough case; some of Lisbon's new colleagues in this team were a lot more old-school than her. Although she had always been by-the-book, she had picked up out-of-the-box techniques from her years with Jane at the CBI and those were not always so well received. There would be a mountain of paperwork waiting for her at her desk. The Sergeant in charge caught her attention before she could get to all that though. She cringed, but obediently followed. She hadn't technically disobeyed her commanding officer's order, nor had she broken procedure at any point – but perhaps slithering through the basement window and surprising the perps with a gun to their backs wasn't exactly according to the laid-out plan either. She felt a lot like a little girl being called into the principal's office as she followed the Sergeant towards his office.

"Sergeant, if this is about today's arrest-…"

"No, no, it's not about today. Don't worry, you did good work. While you guys were out, someone came into the office looking for you. A feeb."

"FBI?" Lisbon's brow furrowed and the pair both stilled in the hallway. "What do they want?"

"He said it was a 'friendly visit'." He put up air quotations. Like many cops, her boss held an inherent dislike of the feds; not for any specific reason other than the traditional rivalry between state and local government. He had never overtly been skeptical towards her for her time spent in the CBI, but his guard was certainly up now that the FBI was asking after her. "I asked him to come back tomorrow, but he insisted on waiting. He's in my office. Look, I don't know what's it about and I can't tell you what to do, but-" He grumbled, careful with his words. "Be careful."

"Thanks, Sarge."

He extended a hand towards his office door, indicating that for her to enter. He stayed behind. When she opened the door she found a familiar but surprising face.

"Gabriel Mancini."

He turned and smiled at her. "Teresa. How have you been?"

The last time she had seen Gabe Mancini was at the Blake Association trials. As Reed Smith's partner, he was also run through the wringer of cross-examination. Initially the FBI was skeptical that he could not have known that his partner was dirty. But like her he had come out the other end exonerated of any wrong-doing. And also like her, it had left him burnt-out and jaded; his once-golden reputation tarnished. Through the course of the trial the two had become friendly, but had lost contact after she left for Chicago.

"What brings you to Chicago?"

"I needed to see you." He was smiling but his eyes were serious. "You may want to sit down for this one, it's a long story."

Mancini sat down and began to explain. Lisbon's heartbeat became progressively louder in her ears as he spoke, but she did her best to school her face. Jane was back in the US. Not in prison. The FBI had made him an offer to work for them, cut him a deal. He had arrived a couple of days ago and was at Headquarters right now, making it official.

"O-okay?" She asked. "What does that have to do with me? Why are you here?"

"Jane asked to see you. He insists on it. It's part of his terms." Lisbon rolled her eyes. Of course, he'd have terms, trying to negotiate with the FBI. "The FBI kindly requests that you join us at the Austin Headquarters to discuss those terms."

Lisbon scoffed. "Kindly requests." She grumbled under her breath.

"I suppose they sent me as the messenger because they knew you may have some-… bad blood with the Bureau. After the trial. Maybe they thought I could convince you, given our shared history."

She allowed a silent pause hang in the air, arms crossed and biting her lower lip.

"Teresa, at the very least you get to see Jane again." Mancini said, shrugging. "Maybe punch him in the nose for all he put you through. I'm sure no one at the FBI would bat an eye."

She chuckled humorlessly and slowly rose from her chair. She did want to see Jane again, but perhaps not for the reasons Mancini assumed. "Did you clear it with my superiors?"

"They say you haven't used any leave days yet this year. A quick business trip to Austin would do you good."

"When do we need to leave?"

Mancini looked at his watch. "We have time for you to head home and pack a bag."

FBI Detention center, Austin, Texas

Jane had been waiting at the meeting room for almost an hour. Abbott was a busy man - so he liked to say - but had finally arranged a meeting time to finalize Jane's contract. And now he was late.

Jane's foot was starting to tap with impatience, but stilled when he heard her coming. He was sitting with his back to the door, but he had never needed to see her face to recognize her. Those were her quick, light footsteps walking down the hall towards this meeting room. And that was most certainly her throaty voice conversing with her FBI escort. He turned when he heard the door open – and there she stood. Teresa Lisbon, in the flesh. Seeing her again felt surreal. He had made peace that he would never have the chance again.

"Hey." He greeted, smiling from ear to ear.

She chuckled, nervously but happy. "Hello."

He let go a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. He had been sure that she'd be happy to see him too, but there was always a small risk that it could have gone the other way. That she'd be angry at him for the way things had ended and the mess he had left her. He could never get a response from her to his letters, so he could only rely on his intuition to predict her reaction. And thankfully he was right (again).

The FBI agent behind her he recognized as Agent Gabriel Mancini - ex-Blake rat Reede Smith's oblivious partner from the FBI way back when. Having dropped her off safely, he politely excused himself to allow them some time to get caught up. "Thanks, Gabe." Lisbon called behind her. Hm - something to unpack there, Jane thought, but that could wait for now.

Once the door was closed, she took a step closer to him, gifting him her dimpled half-smile with a crook of her eyebrow. "Nice beard." She teased.

"Thank you."

"Thank you for the letters. They helped."

He couldn't hold back any longer, so he stepped closer and enveloped her in a tight hug. "Oh, I missed you." His eyes closed as he smelled her familiar orange-and-cinnamon scented shampoo.

"I missed you too." She replied. It felt so nice hearing her say that back.

"What's going on, huh?" She asked.

"Don't worry, you'll see. Just trust me."

She gave a skeptical look in reply.

Before they could converse any more, the door opened again and Agent Abbott entered holding several folders under his arm. He didn't bother with greetings.

"Jane-" He said, tossing a document towards him onto the table. "-These are the charges pending against you: homicide, obstruction of justice, aggravated assault, grand theft auto, etc. You're looking at twenty to life. But all of that could go away, if you agree to serve as a consultant for the FBI for at least five years. You'll be under my supervision, on federal parole – which may be revoked at any time at my discretion. You screw up, run away, or do anything that I don't like – you'll be in the jailhouse. Sign and we have a deal."

"Interesting. As you're aware, you have already agreed to some terms." Lisbon watched as Jane fished from his pocket what looked like a crumpled yellow cocktail napkin. He smacked it onto the desk with bizarre authority. Abbott, however, seemed unphased.

"I didn't agree to those. I signed indicating that I read them.

"Same difference."

"No, it's not. Believe me."

"Firstly – no parole, I'm a free man. And secondly – Lisbon has to work directly with me."

"Hey, hello-…" Lisbon started to interrupt. Mancini had said Jane had wanted to see her - not force her into a job without even running it by her first. Where does he get off?

The two men didn't seem to register her protest and continued their negotiation unperturbed.

"You won't need Lisbon, I've already assembled a team to work with you." Abbott argued.

"That's non-negotiable."

"I already have a job, Jane." Lisbon argued with a frown. "A good job. I'm not going to drop everything just because you decided to come back."

"We'll talk." Jane placated, before continuing to Abbott: "There are some other stipulations, easy stuff, but none of this applies-…" He slid Abbott's contract away, lifting his napkin. " These-"

"I don't think you're hearing me, Jane." Abbott said, his tone now serious and final. "You are on US soil now. I am the federal government. And I'm telling you: that is a napkin. This is the deal. Take it or leave it."

There was a brief pause where neither man broke eye contact.

"I'll leave it." Jane then said, with an odd sense of confidence.

Abbott shrugged. "Oh, that's too bad. You made a mistake. But, hey. Agent Mancini-" Abbott called, and Mancini opened the door, entering. "Mister Jane will be going back to his detention suite. Would you be so kind to escort him?"

Mancini shot Lisbon a sorry look, then walked around the table to help Jane up out of his chair. Lisbon fumbled for words, unsure as to what had just happened.

"Don't worry, Teresa." Jane said, smiling reassuringly. "We'll talk later, okay. It's so good to see you."

Then they left, leaving her alone in the room - slack-jawed and very confused.