Author's Note: I owe another round of apologies for not updating sooner, especially to those of you who've taken the time to let me know you're enjoying this story. I've got three major projects going at once at work, so there's not as much bandwidth for writing since I'm exhausted when I get home. But never fear, I won't let it come to a complete halt! I was so pleased that so many of you enjoyed the wedding night, so now, without further ado, here's the morning after.

Chapter 31

Morning came much too soon, as Lisbon had known it would. At least she wasn't woken by the harsh bleat of the alarm, but by warm hands sliding up her body. She hummed a little, noncommittally, and opened her eyes to see Jane smiling at her.

"Good morning, wife," he said, pressing a light kiss to her lips.

"Good morning, husband," she responded, concealing a grimace at how weird it felt to call him that.

He seemed to see it anyway, chuckling. "Ready for our first day on the job as a married couple?"

"It doesn't matter if I'm ready or not," she pointed out. "It's happening anyway." She laid her head on his chest, listening to the reassuring, steady thump of his heart. "I'm just dreading all the comments."

"It matters to me," he said, running a hand up and down her back. "If you really aren't ready, we can take off our rings for the day."

"No," she said immediately. She wasn't going to begin their marriage by lying about it. Since she wasn't his supervisor anymore, at least on paper, there was nothing anyone could do to them because of it. And she didn't want him to think for a second that she was ashamed or had regrets. "I'm not taking off my ring."

She felt him smile against the top of her head. "Good, because I'm not taking mine off either."

The alarm went off, and they both groaned in protest. Then they exchanged a kiss and slid out of bed to get ready to face the day.

mmm

Jane had expected to have his enjoyment of this day limited by Lisbon's lack of enjoyment. She was the one who had broken the rules by getting involved with him, in their colleagues' eyes, and he knew how sensitive she was to anything that called her leadership into question. And while the congratulations he would receive from the guys would be of the back-slapping variety, women could be awfully catty. He was confident she'd handle the situation well, but he knew it would be stressful for her.

One of the advantages of not trying to hide their relationship anymore was not having to argue about carpooling. Jane didn't mind leaving his car, since he had absolutely no intention of going anywhere without Lisbon today. Or possibly ever again.

They arrived early, which was good since it took quite a bit longer than usual to get through security while receiving congratulations and answering questions. They had only a few minutes to themselves upstairs before the parade of curious people who'd heard the rumor began. Jane stayed in Lisbon's office, holding off the most intrusive questions with his well-timed commentary, until he noticed that Rigsby had come in, completing the team. Then he slipped out to have a word.

"Hey Jane," Rigsby greeted him. "How's married life treating you?"

"I have no complaints about the first twenty hours," Jane replied with a smile. "Lisbon's hoping for a new case to get us out of the office, though."

"No such luck," Cho said.

"So what's up?" Grace asked.

"I can't come say good morning?" he grinned.

She rolled her eyes. "You could, but you haven't."

"Right," Cho agreed. "So what do you want?"

"Just to remind you all that being my wife is a high-risk job. I want your help keeping an eye on her."

Cho nodded, folding his arms. "You think we're too stupid to figure that out, do you?"

"No," Jane said, making sure to sound completely truthful. "Just making sure we're all on the same page."

"We got this," Rigsby said. "The boss doesn't go anywhere without one of us."

"Right," Grace added. "No need for you to drive her crazy hovering."

"Excellent." Jane clapped his hands together. "And to show my gratitude, I will now go buy you the most ridiculously expensive and complicated coffees you can devise."

"And breakfast?" Rigsby asked hopefully.

Jane grinned. "You didn't eat enough at my expense yesterday?"

"I never did get any cake," he replied.

"Coffee cake it is," Jane promised.

mmm

Lisbon had never been so glad to hear her cell phone ring, but at this point she would have welcomed a basket full of snakes if it would clear the gawkers out of her office. "Lisbon," she answered it, waving goodbye to her well wishers as they reluctantly filed out.

"Agent Lisbon, Stan here. Just wanted to update you on what we've found so far, if you have a moment."

"Sure." She looked around for Jane, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Anything interesting?"

"We found the young man who left the gift at the hotel desk. We're waiting on his phone records, but we think he also called in the change to the cake."

"Great. Has he given you anything?" Lisbon felt she had to ask, even if she already knew the answer.

"He washed up on shore this morning. Surfing accident, apparently." Moore sounded dubious.

"Yeah, right."

"We're tracking down his buddies now, but I'm betting this was a pretty low-level guy if he was so disposable."

"You're probably right." Lisbon didn't miss the days of chasing down Red John leads she knew deep down weren't going to produce any breaks. "Well, good luck anyway."

"Be sure to let me know if Lorelei says anything interesting, and I'll keep you posted if we turn up anything," Moore said.

Lorelei. Crap. She didn't want to spend the first day of her marriage thinking about her husband's ex-lover. "Thanks. Talk to you later."

Lisbon glanced into the bullpen. Jane had vanished, probably on some mysterious errand. Maybe now was a good time after all. If she had to see Lorelei, she'd rather do it without Jane and be spared Lorelei's efforts to get his attention, as well as Jane analyzing her reactions to what Lorelei had to say.

Decision made, she went into the bullpen. "I'm headed over to see Lorelei Martins. Let Jane know when he shows up, will you?"

The three of them exchanged looks, and Cho said, "I'll go with you."

"No, thank you. I think this'll go better if it's just girl talk," Lisbon replied.

"Oh," Van Pelt said, "then I'll go." She got up and began putting on her jacket.

"What's going on?" Lisbon demanded, hands on her hips, though she was pretty sure she knew.

"Come on, Boss," Van Pelt said. "I won't get in your way."

"I shouldn't have to point out," Lisbon said, annoyed, "that you do not take orders from Jane, at least not without clearing them with me first."

Cho said, "Like we need Jane to tell us you're in danger. We have to take basic security precautions, Boss. There's an overt threat against your life."

She sighed, looking at each of them. They weren't going to back down, probably because they were right. "Okay, fine. Let's go."

mmm

How Lorelei managed to retain her femme fatale aura even in prison orange was a mystery Lisbon had no interest in solving. She wished she'd taken a little more time with her makeup this morning, though she'd secretly enjoyed Jane's interference with that process: he'd kept trying to steal kisses while she threatened him with her mascara brush. Well, maybe she had a honeymoon glow, she thought. The sex had certainly been intense enough.

Get a hold of yourself, she thought as Lorelei was brought into the room. She did not need to compete with Lorelei for Jane's attention anymore. The ring on her finger was proof enough of that.

Lorelei spared a moment to size up Van Pelt, and Lisbon hid a smirk. She was so used to Van Pelt's looks that she didn't think about them anymore, but Lorelei was obviously miffed by the presence of someone more beautiful.

"Hello again," Lisbon said, not bothering to make her smile look sincere. "I'm told you have something you want to tell me?"

"Hello to you too, Agent Lisbon. Or do you prefer to be called Mrs. Jane now?" Lorelei had obviously spotted the wedding ring—or had a very efficient source of information.

"Agent Lisbon will do fine," Lisbon replied. "And this is Agent Van Pelt."

"Nice to meet you," Lorelei said, looking at Van Pelt again. "You're one of Patrick's friends too, I take it."

Van Pelt smiled coolly. "Yes, I am."

Lorelei looked amused. "It's good you're protecting her. Poor Patrick, I'd hate for him to be widowed twice."

"Is that what you wanted, to warn me that Red John wants to kill me?" Lisbon let her own amusement show. "Because I've known that all along, thanks."

"And you got married anyway. It must be love," Lorelei mocked.

"If you have a message for me, please get to it," Lisbon replied. "I'd like to get home before it gets too late. My husband's cooking me a special dinner tonight."

"That sounds nice. I hope you enjoy it," Lorelei said. "And I hope you aren't expecting me to be jealous. Patrick was an assignment, nothing more. He was sweet, but he could never hold a candle to Red John."

Lisbon nodded. ''It's always better with the man you love. Best if he loves you back. But I'm sure you know that."

Lorelei laughed. "Are you trying to ask if Red John loves me? Because of course he does."

"Really? The men I've known would never send the woman they love to sleep with another man."

"That's because their love is selfish and narrow. They can't see the larger picture. Red John sent me to Patrick because I am special to him. No one else would be a fitting gift."

Van Pelt snorted. "Oh, come on. Red John sent you to Jane because you look a little like Lisbon. He's barely looked at a woman in ten years, except for her."

Lisbon gave her agent a reproving look, but that seemed to be the right thing to say to get under Lorelei's skin. "You know nothing."

"I bet he pretended it was her the whole time," Van Pelt continued.

"Grace!" Lisbon hissed, shocked.

Lorelei tried to get her calm back. "If he did, that was his loss."

Van Pelt gave Lorelei the unfriendliest smile Lisbon had ever seen. "I wonder if Red John pretends you're someone else too?"

Oh, that hit home, Lisbon realized, surprised, as Lorelei snapped, "He doesn't need to. If he wanted me to be someone else, I would be, for him." She took a deep breath. "As I said, you don't definition of love is too narrow."

Lisbon said, "I guess so. I'd have a big problem with it if my husband slept with other women. And I'd think he was full of shit if he tried to justify it by telling me my definition of love was too narrow."

Van Pelt nodded. "You'd probably punch him in the nose."

"I'd start by punching him in the nose," Lisbon corrected. "And if I found out he raped and killed my sister, I'd string the bastard up."

"Oh, not that again." Lorelei rolled her eyes. "Agent Moore told me that story. That's all it is, a story. You'll never make me believe Red John killed my sister."

"Don't you want to know the truth?" Lisbon asked.

"Yes. But you won't tell me the truth. You only want to manipulate me. And you're not even very good at it."

Lisbon shrugged. "You're right about that. Jane complains all the time that I'm a terrible liar. But you don't have to believe me; it's the FBI's case. I'm sure they'll solve it. So, if you don't really have anything to tell me, I have places to be."

"I have some advice," Lorelei said grudgingly. "You should give him what he wants."

"Who? Red John?"

"Yes."

"And what does he want?" Lisbon asked, though she already knew.

"He wants Patrick to be happy. And a man who enjoys children as much as he does should have one of his own."

"He did," Lisbon retorted. "Red John killed her, brutally. A little girl who never harmed anyone, who didn't even understand why he decided she had to die. And that's the man you're defending, Lorelei. As long as he's in the world, I'm not putting another child at risk."

"You'll change your mind," Lorelei predicted. "When you see what your selfishness costs, you'll give in. You might as well save a few lives and do it now. Even if you have to go see a specialist."

Lisbon ignored the implication that she was old. "So you're saying Red John will start killing people again if I don't get pregnant? How long do I have?"

"He understands it might take a while. But he'll be watching to make sure you're actually trying. Be very careful, Mrs. Jane. He has friends everywhere. He can get your medical records, check your prescriptions, see what you''re buying at the drugstore."

All of that surveillance would leave a trail, no matter how well-disguised, Lisbon thought. "Really? He watches me that closely?"

"Yes." Lorelei looked smug until Lisbon spoke again.

"For a long time now, I'm guessing. Jane says he didn't talk to you about me, so when you said you'd heard so much about me, it must have been from Red John."

Van Pelt made a little "ah ha" noise under her breath. "Oh, I get it. So Jane wasn't the only one pretending you were Lisbon."

Lorelei glared at her. "You know nothing."

Lisbon tried to conceal how her flesh was crawling at the idea that the serial killer thought of her at all, much less while having sex. She thought she'd leave out this part of the conversation when she talked to Moore—and Jane.

"Well," she said, getting to her feet. "This has been interesting. Don't worry, Lorelei. The fact that he hasn't had you killed yet means he must be fond of you."

"Tell Patrick I hope he'll come visit me again," Lorelei replied. "I could use some stimulating conversation."

Lisbon and Van Pelt were silent until they got back in the SUV. Then Van Pelt said, "Well, that was interesting."

"A little too interesting," Lisbon replied. "You've been taking interrogation lessons from Jane, apparently."

"I just know her type," Van Pelt said. "She can't believe a guy could want anybody else more than her. You and Jane should go see her together; her head would probably explode the first time he looked at you like he does." She paused. "All that stuff about how she wasn't jealous? She was lying. If Red John talks about you all the time, she was probably really happy thinking she was taking Jane away from you. But now she knows she failed at that."

Van Pelt's satisfaction was so obvious that Lisbon wondered what Lorelei was in her past. "We learned some new things. I just wish I knew what to do with them."

"I guess Jane's going to have to start picking the guys' pockets for condoms," Van Pelt said, trying not to grin.

Lisbon reflected that she'd liked it much better when her sex life was off limits in conversation. "Assuming Red John doesn't have someone going through our trash."

Van Pelt made a face. "Wow, I wonder how far down on the serial killer disciple food chain you have to be to get stuck with that job?"

"Whoever it is probably got caught making smartass remarks about the boss' sex life," Lisbon muttered.

Van Pelt bit back her grin and turned to look out the window, censoring any further remarks.

mmm

Jane was lounging on Lisbon's couch, enjoying a cup of tea, when Lisbon and Van Pelt returned. "So," he greeted Lisbon as she entered her office, "did you have a nice conversation?"

Her expression wasn't what he had expected. She wasn't angry or annoyed, her most common reactions to Lorelei. She looked thoughtful and...disturbed, he decided.

"Nice isn't what I'd call it." Lisbon sank onto the couch beside him with a sigh, sitting so close their shoulders touched. Whatever had her off balance was bad enough that she wanted reassurance, he thought. And that meant she probably wasn't going to talk about it in the office.

It was getting late, so he thought there might be a chance of getting her home soon. "Well, at least it's over. Let's sneak out early, have a delicious dinner, and celebrate our first full day of marriage."

She smiled a little at his hopeful expression. "Sorry, but I have to get some work done, since I lost part of the day going to see your ex-girlfriend."

She said it matter-of-factly, but he knew she was poking at him a little, so he said, "That makes her sound so much more important than she ever was."

"She did tell me you were only an assignment," Lisbon remarked.

"Oh, so you did talk about me." He let his curiosity show, but not his trepidation.

"You can thank Grace for that. You've been a very bad influence on her."

"Oh?" Jane was having a hard time envisioning Grace willingly sticking her nose into what she knew had been a very tense triangle.

"I think Lorelei reminded her of someone she really hated."

Okay, that he could see. Add that to the instinct to protect Lisbon, and Grace might have turned into a tiger. "I'm sorry I missed it."

He felt Lisbon shiver and turned to look at her. Something had definitely happened to upset her, but from the way she was trying to hide it, he realized she had no intention of telling him what it was. He would get it out of her eventually, but he hated that she was upset and not letting him help. "Anything I should know?" he asked casually.

She sighed. "Red John watches our every move, including what we use for birth control. And if he thinks we're not playing along, he'll start killing again. So I'm really hoping you have a brilliant plan ready for me by the time we get home."

"I'll do my best," he promised.

Lisbon nudged him affectionately with her shoulder, then got up and went to her desk. He sipped the last of his tea, then said, "That's a long, dusty drive. I'll make another pot of tea."

She smiled at him. "That sounds perfect."

Jane pondered her behavior as he brewed the tea. He'd honestly expected her to revert to the brittle anger she'd displayed every time Lorelei came up after his return from Vegas. Had marriage so completely altered her perspective? Or had whatever upset her somehow made her appreciate his presence in her life? He really needed to figure out what it was.

Lisbon was deeply engrossed in reports when he set the mug of tea on her desk, and she didn't look up as she thanked him. He resisted the urge to drop a kiss into her hair and said, "I'll leave you to it. How late do you think we'll be? Do I have time for a nap?"

"You can go on and get started on dinner if you want," she replied.

"Then how will you get home?"

"I invited Grace for dinner. She can bring me."

Jane was taken aback. He'd been looking forward to an evening alone with her, but he knew she must have had a reason for extending the invitation. "Ah. In that case, I think I will. I'll just go ask if she has any requests."

She waved vaguely at him, and he headed out to the bullpen. Rigsby was on the phone, and Cho was typing intently, so he made his way to Grace's desk. "So," he said quietly, "any preferences for dinner?"

"Oh, don't go to any trouble," she said, smiling up at him. "I'm coming over to work."

"The laborer is worth her hire," Jane quoted. "So pick something."

"Hm. Something spicy," she decided.

"Arrabbiata or curry?" Sometimes good manners were just annoying, he reflected.

"Oooh. Can you do curry?"

"Of course," he said, pretending to take offense. "Curry it is. I'm off to get started. I trust you will bring her safely home."

"I won't let her out of my sight," she promised.

"Thank you. And to put your mind at rest, I assure you I'm not offended by what you said to Lorelei."

Grace blushed. "Oh. I didn't think she'd tell you. I was out of line. But I think it was useful to know Lorelei has doubts about whether Red John really cares about her or is just using her." There was an imploring quality to her gaze. "I was just trying to get under her skin."

"Oh, no need to justify yourself to me," he said airily. "I've lost count of how many cases I've solved by provoking people. Lisbon too, most of the time."

"Yeah, but you never cared if she punished you," Grace said.

"Don't worry. I am living proof Lisbon doesn't hold grudges. And she secretly enjoyed seeing you unnerve Lorelei."

Grace looked dubious. "I don't think she did. I mean, she didn't mind when I said you probably pretended it was her, but it creeped her out when I said Red John did too."

Only a lifetime of practice enabled Jane to conceal his instinctive recoil. "True, but the important thing is how Lorelei reacted. Anything we can do to help Agent Moore turn her is good."

"I guess," Grace said.

"Well, I'd better get started on dinner. See you later. Oh, and you can assure Rigsby I will send you home with leftovers."

"Hush," Grace murmured, refusing to look at him.

Jane made his escape, thinking hard. He had been assuming all along that Red John was planning to destroy him by killing his second wife and child, but what if something more sinister was in his mind? He'd always been grateful that Red John didn't rape his victims first, but Miranda Martins' case showed he was capable. What if he planned for them both to survive his attack so he could continue playing his cruel games? Lisbon was strong; she could survive anything Red John did to her short of murder. But Jane knew there were things he could not recover from, and he couldn't imagine living with the guilt of knowing Lisbon had suffered simply because they loved each other.

He was beginning to think it was too dangerous to keep playing this game. He needed to change the rules.

Lisbon was right. He had planning to do.