A/N: I realized this morning that there were some issues viewing the last chapter, but that should be fixed now - if any of you got updates and then couldn't read it, now you can (I hope)! Sorry about that...
Also, just thought I would give you guys a heads up that time skips ahead rather frequently in this story. There's always an indication somewhere in the chapter of how much time has passed, you just have to pay attention. ;)

Thanks to Iloveplotbunnies and Jisbon4ever for reviewing chapter one, and to everyone who alerted/added this story to their favorites.

Chapter Two

Lisbon can almost feel her eye twitching as another stack of papers thuds onto her desk.

"More Jane complaints, Boss." Van Pelt states, a bit wistful as she slides the paperwork across Lisbon's desk.

"Great," she mutters. "Just what I need. More paperwork."

She directs her best withering glare at the intimidating stack that is already present before peeking at the pile in her outbox. She's barely made a dent, and now her workload has just doubled.

"Ow," she moans pitifully as her head makes contact with her desk repeatedly.

"I'll just, um...yea…" Van Pelt stammers before backing quietly out of Lisbon's office, closing the door behind her.

When I get my hands on that man…

"Lisbon!" Speak of the devil. "There you are! What's keeping you holed up in here so long?" The cheerfulness in his voice only serves to fuel her anger.

"You, actually," she growls, raising her head to glare at him.

"Me?" The look of utter confusion on his face is almost worth it.

Almost.

"Yes, you! Do you realize how many people you annoy on a daily basis? This many, Jane!" She taps the offending stack of paperwork with her pen for emphasis.

"Do you realize that I have to make excuses for you every single time someone complains? And these are only the official complaints! Triple the amount you have here and that's about how many times someone has talked to me in person regarding your behavior. And you've only been here for three weeks! You represent the CBI now, Jane. You can't just go and do or say or act however you please!" She's on her feet at this point, leaning her hands against her desk, while Jane slowly backs a few inches away.

"Meh, I beg to differ, Lisbon. I think your most recent closed case rates speak for themselves." He punctuates his smug statement with a wink before quickly backtracking out of her office.

"Good riddance," she mumbles under her breath.

An hour passes silently as Lisbon whips through the pile of papers, the monotonous ticks of the clock the only sound to break the quiet. She sets the pen down to flex her cramping hand, pleased that only a fraction of the original paperwork monster remains, when she hears a knock on the door.

"Go away, Jane!" She mutters loudly, only looking up when the door creaks open. "Oh, Boss. I'm sorry, I thought you were Ja-"

"Jane, yes. I heard. Lucky for you, I'm not," Minelli interrupts with a small smile. "Anyway, you have a new case." He approaches her desk to hand her the file. She takes a quick glance just to see where they're headed, not even reading the details surrounding the case so far.

"I really am sorry for yelling at you. I just assumed..." she trails off and looks up to see his retreating form.

"It's no problem, Lisbon!" he calls over his shoulder.

She swipes her jacket from the back of her chair, sliding it on as she steps into the bullpen.

"Grab your things, guys. New case."

-xxx-

The stench of blood assaults Lisbon's senses before they've even reached the door that conceals the crime scene. She nudges the door open, her face slowly draining of color as her attention is immediately caught by a smiley face painted on the wall in blood. For a while she only stares at it, her muscles completely stiff as the taunting smile stares back at her.

Jane walks past, noting with some bemusement that Lisbon is completely zoned out. He'll just have to fix that.

"Lisbon. Hello, Lisbon. Are you in there somewhere?" His voice grows louder when she doesn't respond, and he eventually brings his mouth so close to her that she registers his warm breath tickling her ear. "Teresa! Snap out of it, woman."

She turns to face him, a flush of embarrassment bringing a bit of color back to her cheeks. It doesn't go unnoticed by her that he pronounces her name as though it were spelled with a 'Z' instead of an 'S', and she would be lying to herself if she claimed she didn't somehow like the way it sounds. Or love it. She snaps out of that train of thought before it goes any further and channels her embarrassment into anger.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Jane? It's Lisbon. Not Teresa."

She turns toward the victim's body, squinting her eyes against what she knows she will find; his modus operandi is always the same, the only exception so far being that of her brothers' murders. The young girl lying dead in front of Lisbon appears to be in her late teens or early twenties. Her dark brown hair is styled in a classic bob with bangs in a straight line across her forehead, and her eyes, although lifeless, sparkle like emeralds – fitting, considering their bright green tone.

The rest of her body is barely recognizable through all of the blood and knife marks. Her own hand moves subconsciously to her throat, massaging it against the pain she feels from one glance at the girl's slashed throat.

"Hm," Jane mumbles to no one in particular from the left of the body. He leans forward after examining his hands, which appear to be covered in short dark hairs, and takes a big whiff of her hair before staring intently into her eyes. "Her hair has been recently cut and dyed, and she's wearing colored contacts."

"Tell me something I don't know," Lisbon grumbles to herself.

"How did you already know that?" Jane pipes up, his voice piqued with curiosity. Well, I thought I was speaking to myself.

"Because..."

She considers telling the truth for less than a second before sticking with her routine response, "I've worked these cases before. They're all the same."

Her voice is still and cold. All the while, the truth echoes in her mind, words so loud she's almost sure the whole room can hear as they pierce her brain.

Because that girl is me when I was seventeen. That's how I know.