A/N: Another series? Dude, what's up with that? Where are all my one-shot ideas? Anywho, here's my next yarn. I'm going to be cheeky and ask that you push my reviews up to 280. I'd adore the love...or even the indifference, if that's what you want to post. I heart all of it.

Gone

"Announcement, people."

Lisbon's voice tipped three heads up in the bullpen as she walked into the center of two desks and one beaten leather couch. Their occupants gave her their attention, Rigsby and Cho leaning back from their computers and Jane lifting half-assedly from the couch. Once Lisbon was satisfied she had their attention, she pressed forward, wanting to keep this as short as possible.

"Right," she put her hands in her black jacket pockets and took a deep breath. "Just letting you know, Van Pelt will no longer be working with us in this unit."

Cho's brow contracted with mild confusion and Jane's head cocked as it always did when something vaguely interested him.

Rigsby's eyes shot wide, darting from the empty desk across from him before darting right back to his boss. It had been vacant for the past few days now. They'd all come into work and it just...sat there. Empty. She never kept photos or personal things on its surface, so nothing really tied her to the stapler, tape dispenser, or other bits of office supplies, aside from her fanatical need to keep them organized in a certain way. It had irked him, not knowing where she was. But he had assumed it was the flu or a family thing back in Iowa. She hadn't said anything, but her absence had been okay'd by the boss and worked around, so he figured nothing was really amiss. Meanwhile, he had been regarding her lonely-looking desk as a placeholder until she got back. He had imagined her sitting in it, quietly getting on with her work, unknowingly giving him the stability of being in orbit around her. Glancing at it now, he suddenly felt panicky. It wasn't a placeholder, it was a vacuum. Sucking. The air, his calm, his mind. Sucked clean out the window.

"What are you talking about?" he asked worriedly.

Lisbon noted his lost little boy expression and mercifully ignored it. "Just what I said. Grace is no longer with us. Interviews for her replacement will follow in due course." She bit her lips and dipped her eyes briefly, an acknowledgment that she wouldn't say more, before bringing them back up. In the name of professionalism, she kept her gaze between her two agents, even though she just spoke to one. "I'm sorry, guys. I had no say in this."

Cho's mind sped through the various possibilities and figured on two of the most probable scenarios. One, Grace had been transferred for her abilities and was needed for a covert op that Lisbon couldn't elaborate on. Two, she'd quit the CBI and hadn't wanted a fuss.

He exhaled sharply and made his peace with either one. He liked Grace. He wished her well. One blink to his boss in acceptance and he went back to his work.

Jane's mind sped through considerably more. He also imagined those two likelihoods and filed them away under possibilities, but his puzzle-love needed more information. He regarded Lisbon closely as she stood for a few seconds more.

Rigsby's mind processed nothing. Shock had short-circuited everything but paralyzing fear. He couldn't think. Only feel. And the scariest feeling was that something was horribly wrong. Grace wouldn't leave her job, not even for him. She'd fought long and hard for her position and held it in such a mean grip that her desk probably bore fingernail marks. This was her life. Suddenly she's friggin' Houdini. And Lisbon, always the first to tell them everything they needed, had given him squat. And she knew it. He'd seen the look she'd divided between him and Cho. She was sorry. Which meant that whatever was going on wasn't something she agreed with.

His chest froze up. His ribs lost their ability to expand for his lungs. He couldn't breathe.

"Boss."

She gazed at him, hearing everything in that word. She bit her lips again, shrugging. "Sorry."

As she slowly walked back towards her office, Jane spoke for the first time.

"Lisbon. Your favorite color. Right now."

She turned to him with a quirked, incredulous gaze and shook her head in befuddlement. "Blue," she tossed at him, waving her hand in dismissal and walking away.

Jane nodded, satisfied with her answer, and settled back into his couch. When he spoke, he spoke to no one in particular.

"She's still in California."