Authors Note: This is the last part. I hope you all enjoy it. Thanks to every one who reviewed and to Ebony 10 for being my beta. I recommend Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs as a snack while reading this. I love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, but the Eggs are just that much better.
Disclaimer: Tried to think of something funny to put here, but couldn't think of anything, so I'll just say that I don't own them, I wish I did, but I don't
Jane walked into the CBI building whistling. He waved at the guard as he walked by and nodded to one of the secretaries on his way to the bullpen. He stopped whistling when he got to the bullpen, seeing the looks on the faces of the people sitting there.
"What's wrong?" He asked, slightly worried. He had never seen the team looking so somber before.
"Lisbon needs to talk to you." Cho said, his voice noticeably lacking emotion.
Jane turned to walk to Lisbon's office and was surprised to see her standing behind him. "We're going for a ride Jane. I'm driving." She walked off toward the elevator, not looking to see if he was following or not.
They rode in silence for a while. They hadn't turned the radio on and, normally, Jane would have said something about it, but the way that Lisbon was acting had him slightly on edge. Finally he couldn't stand it any longer. "Are we going to a crime scene? Because we probably should have brought the others."
"It's a crime scene, but there's no need to bring the others. It's a cold case." She didn't volunteer any more information. After about half an hour of driving, they were winding their way through one of the more affluent neighborhoods in town. They came to a stop outside a large house with visible floor to ceiling windows. Lisbon got out of the car and stood on the sidewalk in front of the house, still close to the car, waiting for Jane to get out and join her.
"Jane," she said when he got out of the car and stood by her. "I have something to tell you, or show you—both, really. About your past. It's not going to be easy." She paused to take a deep breath and was surprised when Jane pushed her up against the side of the car and kissed her. She was too stunned to do anything, but that only lasted for a few seconds before her body took over and she started kissing him back. They stood on the sidewalk making out like teenagers for what seemed like forever, but was really only a few short minutes when the rational part of Lisbon's brain woke up and told her it was wrong to be kissing the man who's heart she would break with what she was about to tell him—the worst possible thing. Reluctantly she pulled away from him, which was difficult considering how close they were and the fact that she was pressed up against the car.
"What did you do that for?" She asked, slightly breathless. She was a bit stunned and having a hard time looking at him in the face.
"I didn't think you would let me after I tell you what I have to tell you." He said, reaching out and grabbing her hand, pulling her close to him again.
"What are you talking about?" She was still having a hard time concentrating. Her heart was just starting to slow down.
"Teresa," he started then stopped again. He leaned up against the car pulling her next to him so that they both were looking at the house. "Lisbon, I remember. All of it. I have for a little less than a month. That night I got my cast off, I had a nightmare. All I could remember was the blood, but it came back quick after that. My wife, my daughter, that horrible day, Red John. Everything." As he was talking, the grip he had on her hand tightened.
"Why didn't you tell us? Why keep pretending that you couldn't remember? Why the show?" She wasn't sure why he had kept up the pretense of not remembering anything, why he had kept being the jerk that everyone hated.
"At first it was just easier. I was only remembering bits and pieces at first and, eventually, it just became second nature. I realized that I preferred people not walking on egg shells around me. I had the fact that I couldn't remember anything to hide behind when I did something stupid at work. But it's starting to wear on me. I was purposely being a pain in the ass to get you to tell me. But that's not why we're here right now, is it? You're not angry," he turned at looked her in the face for the first time since he started talking. "You're scared. Why?"
"You got a letter at my place." She stopped. She didn't want to say more. Her plan had sounded so much easier to her when she was at the office.
"I've never gotten any mail at your apartment before. Where did it come from?" He was trying to help her out by asking leading questions and, for once, she didn't mind.
"It wasn't delivered by the mailman. There was no post mark or anything like that. It was just dropped in the mailbox." She stopped again, trying to think of how to say what was in the envelope. "I opened it. I thought it was odd and I didn't want it to be something to do with your past and Red John and you not remember and, well, I had my reasons." She was talking too fast now, rambling a little bit. Jane just stood there like he knew what she was going to say next.
"I don't really know what I expected when I opened the envelope: junk mail, hate mail, nothing important. What was in there shocked the hell out of me. Apparently Rigsby isn't the only one who's pissed off at the way you've been acting lately." She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a piece of paper that had been folded as if to fit into an envelope. "This is just a copy. I left the actual letter back at the office for forensics to look over." She handed it to him to read. The color drained from his face quicker than it had from Van Pelt's earlier that day.
"Red John." Those two words carried more emotion and pain than his entire speech had earlier. "What else did he send? It couldn't have been just this."
Lisbon sighed. She was hoping he wasn't going to ask. She pulled another piece of paper out of her pocket as well. "Just a copy." She told him as she handed it to him. He looked at it only seconds before he crumpled it up into a little ball in his fist. His face was distorted with anger and frustration.
"Nothing is going to happen to you, Teresa." He still used her first name, but for the first time she didn't mind. "I will find him and I will make sure of it."
She had never seen him this intense, not even when he told her of his plans for Red John that first time. "I'm a big girl, Patrick." His first name felt foreign on her lips, but seemed more appropriate in the current circumstance, "You don't have to worry about me. I think we just need to show him that you haven't forgotten."
"I hope you're right. If you are, what do you think I should do?" He looked sad now. Like his moment of anger had passed, but she knew that it lingered just under the skin, waiting to come back and attack at any moment.
"I think you need to go back to living the way you did before. Staying at your house, sleeping on the sofa at work, anything that was considered normal for you before the accident." She hated telling him this. She really wanted to say to forget about Red John, that they would handle him if he made good on his threat, but she knew that wouldn't be enough for him. He had enough guilt about his family's deaths. He didn't need the added guilt if something were to happen to her.
"Yeah, you're right. There's just one more thing I want to do before that happens though." He pulled her to him again and kissed her. It wasn't as intense as the last time, but still as powerful. It almost seemed a little sad and when they broke it off this time it wasn't with the same breathless excitement.
"You really should have done that sooner. I could have got used to that." Lisbon said quietly, pulling away and moving back to the other side of the car so she could get in. "Let's go, Jane. We've got work to do." They both got in the car and Lisbon started to drive. "I'm expecting a call from Minelli any minute now. I told the team to give us an hour before they told Minelli." As if on cue, her cell phone started to ring. It was indeed Minelli. "We're headed back now, boss. I know it was risky coming out, but I needed to make sure Jane remembered before I told him what was going on. Yes, I know. We'll be there soon."
"Looks like he's mad," Jane said quietly.
"Yeah, but he'll get over it. He always does." They sat there in silence for a few more minutes, neither of them wanting to say anything. When Lisbon started to get off the freeway, Jane finally broke the silence.
"Uh, Teresa...Lisbon, this isn't the right exit." He looked over at her nervously. He couldn't read the expression on her face. It was one he had never seen before.
"I know, just hold on a minute, ok? There's something I wanted to do before we go back." He just nodded his head, trusting her judgment. Still, he checked out the back window to see if anyone were following them. He was surprised when they pulled into a small wooded park. They parked in a spot that was impossible to be seen from the street. There was no one around that he could see.
"Teresa." He was finding it hard not to call her that now that he had been using her first name for more than a month, "What are we doing here?" Almost before the question was out of his mouth, Lisbon was out of her seat and straddling his lap. She was pressing her lips to his and kissing him like there was no tomorrow. It only took seconds for him to get over the initial shock and react to her. They were so focused on each other that neither of them noticed the man in the woods looking at them and taking pictures.
His face was hidden by the camera and the large hooded sweatshirt that he wore. He was snapping pictures in quick succession and chuckling to himself quietly. He had shown up here on a hunch, knowing that this little park was between Jane's house and CBI headquarters. He would leave the charlatan alone for now, but if Jane ever needed to be put in line again, he knew just the way to do it. He waited until the couple in the front seat were done and had driven off before coming out of the shadows. He now had all the ammunition he would ever need to make Patrick Jane his.
Authors Note: What, that's it! You can't end it there! See I know what you're going to say. I can end it there and I did. I may come back to this at some point and do a sequel, wouldn't that be fun? As always remember to review, reviews make me happy and encorage me to write more, so please review, even if it's just to tell me how anoyed you are at the way this ended.