Author's Note: After There Will Be Blood, I was so relieved to have this alternate universe to retreat into. While I'm probably not being kinder to them, at least they aren't hurting each other! Thanks for reading!

Chapter 32

Jane had dinner on the table when Lisbon and Grace walked through the door, aided by Lisbon's text letting him know when they left the office. She'd grumbled about his request back when he first made it, but by now she recognized the benefits of having her meal on the table when she arrived. Lisbon wrinkled her nose a little at the strong smell; she wasn't a big fan of curry, which was why Jane had made one of her favorite salads as well. And a truly decadent dessert would make sure she left the table satisfied.

After dinner, Grace pulled an assortment of gadgets out of her bag and went to work. She started by sweeping for electronic surveillance, which alerted Jane that Lisbon also thought they needed to strategize. He poured her another glass of wine and asked, "So. When are you planning to call your brothers?"

She caught herself mid-grimace. "It's late back east. Maybe this weekend. I have to call them all on the same day, to prevent any hard feelings."

He knew her reluctance wasn't about him, but about the questions and disapproval she would face. He still didn't like it. "We could make up formal announcements and mail them."

"Oh God, that would be worse," she groaned. "They'd think there was something wrong for sure. Besides, then they'd call me, probably at the least convenient time."

"Would you rather do one of those online video chat things? Then I could be there with you and field some of the questions." He wanted to make this easier for her, but he had a feeling she wasn't going to let him.

Lisbon was shaking her head before he even finished speaking. "They'll misinterpret that as you being controlling. We might want to do it later, but the announcement has to come from me. I just dread explaining why we didn't invite them."

"Assure them that they can come to the church wedding. We could even do that in Chicago," he suggested.

She looked surprised. "You were serious about that?"

"Of course." He reached out to take her hand. "If it will make you happy, I'll do it."

She smiled, but there was a doubtful tinge to it. "It would probably make me a nervous wreck and make you regret marrying me at all."

"Not possible," he assured her.

With a sigh, she reflected, "I think this would actually be easier to explain if I was pregnant."

"Of course it would," Jane said, frowning a little. "But fake pregnancy gets tougher to pull off as time passes."

"I could pretend to have an early miscarriage."

It disturbed him that she was dreading telling her brothers she was married so much that she was considering lying to them about having a baby. But of course, her brothers weren't the only audience they had to worry about. "Is that what Lorelei wanted to tell you? That we need to get pregnant as soon as possible?"

"Yes. She said I should give in before it costs lives." She took a deep breath. "And that he watches me very closely, down to what I buy at the drugstore."

"Hm." They would not only need to be sneaky about obtaining condoms, he realized, but start buying pregnancy tests and prenatal vitamins. "Okay."

She shivered. "It creeps me out."

He squeezed her hand. "I know. Me too."

Grace came out of the bedroom holding something. Her frown told them what it was even before she held the small bug out for them to see. They stared at it in horror, until Jane gave in to the fierce rage boiling up inside him and got to his feet, snatching it and throwing it to the floor so he could stomp it into pieces. Grace checked her equipment and said, "Okay. It's not transmitting anymore."

Lisbon's eyes were wide in her pale face. "Was that there last night?" she asked faintly.

Grace said, "I'll check the front door surveillance." She dug a tablet out of her bag and fiddled with it.

Jane looked down at Lisbon, wishing there was something he could say to lessen her horror that their wedding night might not have been private. But he was too furious to think. He wanted to break something, preferably Red John's neck.

He was useless in this state, so he let himself pace, working off some of the adrenaline while he tried to focus enough to use biofeedback to clear his head. Lisbon sat completely still, barely breathing, watching Grace. Jane happened to be glancing at her the moment she found what she was looking for, and her expression told him instantly that the worst was true.

Lisbon saw it too, and a terrible, wounded sound came out of her before she bit down on her lip to stop it.

Grace turned her worried look from Lisbon to Jane, obviously uncertain whether she should continue. Then she visibly decided the sooner she told them what she'd found, the sooner she could get out of here. "He's dressed as a maintenance guy in a cap, but we caught some of the face. I'll see what I can do with it. He came in yesterday at 11:07 a.m. and left at 11:10, and he's the only one on here except you guys."

Lisbon pulled herself together. "We need to start sweeping every time we come home. Tell Cho we need more scanners."

"Sure, Boss. I'll leave this one with you," Grace said. "Um, I'll go get started on the photo. I've set up an account on our server that looks like it's for someone in Petty Crimes, in case he's monitoring my activity. He won't know we have this. Though he'll know we've found the bug, of course."

Neither of them said anything, so she got to her feet, putting the tablet back in her bag. "Thanks for dinner," she said awkwardly.

Jane's hosting instincts kicked in, and he latched onto the idea of useful activity. "Let me pack you up some leftovers."

"Oh, you don't need to do that."

"Come on." Jane gestured for her to follow him into the kitchen, giving Lisbon some privacy. He found a container to put the curry in and handed it to her. "Would you like some of the Sacher torte?"

"This is too much," Grace protested. "But yes, just a little piece."

Jane cut two large pieces. "Please, Grace. No need to pretend you're going to eat it alone. I hope you enjoy it. And thanks for everything."

Grace nodded eagerly. "At least it was just one night. And now he knows you aren't faking it. Right?" Then she blushed, realizing what she was really asking.

Jane shook his head. "If he had any doubts, he knows we're well and truly married now. Thanks for the help, Grace."

"Let me know if there's anything I can do," she responded as they walked out to the living room. She still looked worried, but he was afraid any attempt to smile would only make things worse.

"We will. See you in the morning." Jane closed the door behind her and slid the deadbolt home before going back to the dining room. Lisbon was no longer there. He found her in the bedroom, kneeling to check that the gun she'd secured to the bottom of the bedframe was still there. "I don't think he robbed us blind in three minutes."

Lisbon withdrew the gun and ejected the magazine, checking that all was in order. "Three minutes is a long time if you know what you're doing," she replied. "He could have swapped out the ammo for blanks, or any number of other things. I need to check all the guns that didn't come with us."

Jane repressed a remark about living in an arsenal. Given the discovery that someone had been in the apartment, it appeared that Lisbon's careful stashing of weaponry was more prescient than paranoid. "I'll clean up the dishes," he said, since it appeared Lisbon would be busy for the next hour or so.

While he finished off the wine left in their glasses and cleaned up the dining room and kitchen, he went over what the bug would have revealed. They hadn't talked much about Red John, or any plans for the future; all the listener would have learned was that he felt guilty about the loss of his wife and daughter, that he thought Lisbon might outlive him, and that they were deeply in love with each other. Also that they had a vigorous and satisfying sex life. It was the last part Lisbon was having the problem with, he knew. But of course urging her to talk about it would only make things worse.

Lisbon had taken over the coffee table for her weapon disassembly project, so he sat down across from her when he was finished. This was something she could practically do in her sleep, so he didn't worry about distracting her.

"We should run."

She shook her head, not looking at him. "We already talked about this, Jane. He'll just come after the people we care about if we do."

"Not if he thinks we're dead."

At least that got her to look at him. "Another fake death scheme? Right, because he'll never be suspicious of that."

"We'll have to be convincing, of course. Not just driving the car off the cliff with no bodies ever found. And we won't be able to go together. One of us has to stay and prop up the cover for a reasonable amount of time. The question is, which one of us is in more danger? And I suspect it's you." He sighed. "So we'll need to be on the lookout for a corpse matching your description. Then it'll be simple enough to engineer a fatal shooting while on a case. I will, of course, have a psychotic break and survive you only because of the vigilance of my colleagues, who interrupt my suicide attempt at the last possible moment. I'll then be tucked safely away in the psych ward until he gets bored with me, after which I'll escape and never be heard from again." He wasn't looking forward to more time in a mental institution, but nothing else would be realistic. "The team can find my badly decomposed body at some future date if necessary. Meanwhile, we'll meet at the prearranged rendezvous and start our new life. And Red John will have no reason to go after your family or the team."

He had her full attention now. "And you think you'll be safe in the psych ward? Seems to me you'll just be a sitting duck. No. It's too big a risk."

"Well, I could go first. You'd be strong enough to keep going, except you might allow Grace to move in with you for company. Eventually you might decide to move back to Chicago to be near your family and die in a car crash on the way."

Lisbon shook her head again. "My family would have to believe I was dead too."

"If you go first, it would save you having to tell them you're married." He meant it partly as a joke, but the look she gave him told him she didn't see any humor in the idea.

"I'm not going to put them through that, Jane."

He leaned back in his chair. "See, this is why I don't normally tell you the plan in advance. You always have so many objections."

"You make it sound like I'm just trying to be contrary. But my family is important to me, and I'm not going to cause them grief if I can help it. It was bad enough when you pretended to kill me—at least I was able to call them within a day or so after they got the news, so it hadn't sunk in yet. But to let them really believe, hold a funeral and all that—no." She sighed. "They were really angry the last time, Jane. I had to promise not to do something like that again. I don't want to be forbidden to see my nieces and nephews because my brothers think I will only cause them grief."

He realized she was immovable on that point. So all his fake death scheming was for nothing, because it would do no good to fake his and leave her for Red John to focus on. Still, he felt her brothers were being unreasonable. "You don't think being stalked by a serial killer qualifies as a good reason?"

"I'm not going to tell them about that."

"You don't think they'll believe you?" he asked curiously.

"No, they know your history. But I'm afraid I'll get an ultimatum—quit my job or not be allowed to see my family because I'm too dangerous to be around."

That, he understood. He'd abandoned some of his old ties when Charlotte was born out of a desire to protect her from the darker side of life. If he'd known anyone who was being stalked by a serial killer, he would have kept them away from his family at all costs. Damn. He'd never, ever meant to put Lisbon in a position where she had to choose. But it helped explain her dread of telling her brothers she'd married him. "So that's why you don't think we'll be expecting visitors. They think I'm dangerous to be around."

"Practically radioactive," she agreed. "They can't understand why I haven't moved on and gotten a promotion to a nice safe desk."

"If we're staying, they'll get to see why, because if you're pretending to be pregnant, you'll have to give up most field work. Which will assuredly drive you, and thus the rest of us, crazy in short order."

She sighed. "Lorelei said he'd give us time, as long as he thinks we're trying. So we fool him as long as we can, then maybe go to a fertility clinic for a while. Then maybe fake a miscarriage or two. At some point he'll have to accept that maybe we can't have a baby."

"Or he'll make a mistake, get caught, and we can choose to do whatever we want," Jane said, because the future she was painting seemed bleak indeed. "He obviously doesn't realize we're filming everyone who comes in the door, or he'd have warned his flunky. If we watch closely enough, we'll find something that leads back to him."

"Hopefully soon," she said.

He pondered their situation as she went about her tasks. Soon she was satisfied that the guns were in working order and loaded with real bullets, and she got up to put them back in their hiding places. Then he heard her go into the bathroom and start to brush her teeth, apparently intending to go to bed without telling him that she and Grace thought Red John might have a sexual interest in her. He wasn't surprised, but he was disappointed.

He got up from his chair with a sigh and went into the bathroom, wrapping his arms around her from behind and dropping kisses into her hair while she brushed her teeth a little too enthusiastically. She rolled her eyes at him in the mirror.

"What I don't understand," he said, "is why he's so keen on us having a baby if he's obsessed with you. Wouldn't he want to have you for himself?"

Lisbon froze for a moment, then rinsed and spat. "How did you come up with that?"

He chuckled. "Teresa dear, do you honestly think you can hide from me that you're upset? I knew you wouldn't tell me about it, so I cleverly tricked it out of Grace."

"I didn't think you'd take it seriously. You've always said Red John was yours, and you were the one he was interested in." She turned to look at him.

"In the beginning, yes. But when he realized that you were the one keeping me going, he must have become interested in you too. And Lorelei has remarked that we are a lot alike, so it's no mystery to me why his interest became attraction."

"Do you think that's true, then? That you're alike?" She was clearly hoping for a negative answer.

He grimaced. "I believe there are some critical differences, the most obvious being that I do not enjoy killing people. But he's obviously clever and good at manipulating people, so there may be a superficial resemblance, yes."

She tilted her head a little to one side, thinking something he couldn't quite read. Then she said, "That's good to know, if I ever meet him again. I like to think I've gotten pretty good at dealing with you over the years."

"I hope you never do meet him again," Jane said fervently.

"Me too." She folded her arms around herself, betraying her fear at the thought. "But if I do, I'm worried he'll be able to hypnotize me. He did it once; doesn't that make me susceptible? Can you teach me how to resist?"

"He can't do it against your will, Teresa. You had to let him do it before. I don't know how he convinced you, but he did."

"I can't imagine agreeing to that."

"I can. You thought you were saving a life, probably your own. And therefore mine." He didn't like to think of how frightened she must have been to see putting herself in Red John's hands as her best option.

"I wish I knew what happened," she said softly. She lifted her gaze to him again hopefully. "We haven't really talked about it since right after it happened. And you still thought I was fragile then. But I'm not now. Do you think you could hypnotize me and retrieve my memories?"

He stared at her. Whatever he'd been expecting, that wasn't it. "Teresa, he wouldn't make it that easy. With all the things he put in your head, there could easily be a defense we aren't aware of. I don't want to risk it."

She swallowed, then said softly, "We both know that if he wants to take me, he will. And you might not be able to find me. I need to know what to do if that happens."

He drew her into a fierce hug. "Whatever you need to do to stay alive. Because I will find you." He knew he was clutching her too tightly, but he didn't seem to be able to loosen his grip.

"Okay," she whispered, hugging back.

mmm

Lisbon knew it wouldn't do any good to push him tonight; he was obviously as freaked out as she was, just hiding it better. She just wanted to go to bed and forget this day ever happened. Every moment she was awake, it just kept getting worse.

She'd dealt with knowing she was Red John's target by consoling herself that her death at his hands, though painful and prolonged, would be a finite event, and afterward she would go to heaven and see her mother again. But the idea that he might want something more than to cut her up was terrifying.

And Jane had dealt with the idea that his nemesis might kill her by resolving to kill himself immediately afterward, but if she were missing instead, that escape wouldn't be available to him. He would torture himself with guilt and run himself into the ground trying to find her.

She wondered if she didn't owe it to him to run after all, despite what that would mean for her family. If Red John killed or kidnapped her, they would face grief either way, after all.

But they had some time, as long as they pretended to be playing along. Maybe they'd come up with a better solution, or better yet, catch him.

She gently pulled away from him and finished her bedtime routine. He stood motionless for a moment, then went about his own. After checking the locks on the door and windows, she slid into bed, turning on her side to face the edge. When Jane slid in behind her, she turned her head for their goodnight kiss, then took the hand he laid on her shoulder, threaded her fingers through his, and held their clasped hands against her chest. She had a vivid flash of memory, a rush of relief from back when his touch had been her lifeline.

"I didn't," Jane said quietly, sounding a little uncertain. "I didn't pretend it was you while I was with Lorelei. I was tempted, but it...felt wrong. Like I'd be insulting you. And I didn't want to have that in my head if we ever did come together."

"I'm glad," she murmured. "I wouldn't like being mixed up with her in your head, even for a night."

"I know." He buried his nose in her hair, breathing in deeply. "And I am so sorry that our wedding night is tainted now. I tried to make it beautiful for you."

"You did," she assured him. "Nothing changes that." She sighed. "At least we didn't talk shop. All he knows is that we acted like any other couple on their wedding night. Which I assume is what he wanted us to do." She decided not to mention how creeped out she was that now Red John knew what she sounded like when she came. It couldn't be helped, so she would just have to learn to live with it.

Jane was silent for a while, then said, "I just keep coming back to the same question: why in the world would he want to listen to us? If this is about creating a new family he can take away, there's no need to bug the place."

"Maybe he wanted to make sure we weren't pulling some kind of con?"

"Oh please. He didn't need to have someone break in here to confirm that we're a real couple. He knew that back in Seattle, remember?"

Lisbon remembered the photos and took a moment to be grateful that there hadn't been any video set up by their intruder. She had no desire to become the next Internet porn star. "To see if we're playing along? Do you think he heard you opening the condom wrapper?"

"Possibly, though it might have been drowned out by you yelling at me to hurry up already," he replied. She could hear the smile in his voice.

"I was not yelling," she said with all the dignity she could muster. "You were being slow on purpose."

"I was savoring the moment. I hoped you'd join me."

"That wasn't the moment I wanted to savor," she retorted.

He chuckled and kissed her cheek. "Admit it: you enjoy yelling at me."

"No, you enjoy making me yell at you," Lisbon clarified. She scooted back and snuggled closer.

"Guilty," he admitted, dropping a kiss behind her ear. After a long pause, he murmured, "I wish you'd tell me what's really bothering you."

She let out a long sigh. "I told Lorelei that I didn't think Red John really loved her since he sent her to sleep with you. She said my definition of love was too narrow, that he'd sent her to you because he loved her. No other gift would do."

"Hm." Jane didn't comment, obviously thinking.

"So what if..." Lisbon swallowed. "What if he expects a gift in return?"

Jane slid his other arm under her and wrapped it around her waist, holding her firmly against him. "I make no claims to enlightenment or selflessness; I'm an unrepentant selfish bastard. And I will never willingly share you with anyone, for any reason."

"I know you won't," she assured him. But of course Red John might not care about the "willingly" part.

"We're taking precautions," he said. "You never go anywhere alone. We turn on the motion detector and alarm when we're here."

"And you need to stop wandering off at crime scenes."

"I admit," he said, "I'm not really seeing how that contributes to your security."

"The easiest way to capture a cop is to get her to turn herself over willingly. All he needs is leverage," she pointed out.

Jane stiffened. "Don't you dare. Don't you ever for a moment even consider it!"

"You expect me to leave you to a terrible death? Have we met?" she demanded.

"Okay. No wandering. I'll stay within earshot of either you or our armed colleagues," he said, sounding annoyed.

"Thank you." She pressed a kiss against his knuckles.

His sigh ruffled her hair. Then he whispered in her ear, "I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered back. "Good night."

"It always is when I'm with you."

She hummed in agreement and closed her eyes, banishing all thoughts of their enemy and concentrating on her husband's warm embrace.