A/N: Thanks so much for the huge response you guys are amazing! I have good news too, I was accepted at the university I wanted to go and that's why you get the chapter now lol!

I hope you enjoy and like the little drama in here ;)

Thanks to Idan as always for betaing! She's sooooo wonderful and I LOVE her new story The Pretender omg! Go and write a review to her lastest chapter NOW ;)

Liefs

(3) Look at what I'm given

"I… I knew him."

Now three pairs of eyes were locked on her and she knew she had woken Cho's interest.

"How?"

"He… he killed my mom."

Cho stared at her in shock, while Lucy let out a cry and put her hands over her mouth. The only one who still hadn't said anything was Jane.

"I mean… if it's him. He was 18 back then…" she swallowed hard. She'd thought of Luther McKinnley often in the years after her mother died, wondered why he had to drive that stupid car in a drunken state and hadn't even stopped once he'd hit her on her bike.

Paramedics had told her dad she could have survived if someone had called the ambulance sooner. Things could be different now, but they weren't.

"I am so sorry," Lucy mumbled, expressing her condolences. "I always knew he was a bastard but I never knew he'd killed someone."

"It was an accident. He drove drunk… It happened 28 years ago. Thank you though."

"I'm sorry I have to ask you this, Lisbon, but where were you on Monday evening?" Cho asked professionally. He knew that now the connection was made, he had to treat her like a suspect.

"I was back in D.C. My plane arrived in Chicago yesterday morning." It was just common procedure, she knew. Cho had to ask these questions, though it still felt weird to justify herself in front of her former colleague.

"Miss Hall, I'm sure Agent Lisbon won't mind waiting a little until we finish the conversation. Is there any place private where we can talk? It won't take longer than a few minutes. Jane, you stay here."

Lucy looked from Cho to Lisbon, who nodded at her. She led the Asian agent into a room in the back and closed the door.

Lisbon was sure he'd done it on purpose, leaving Jane here with her, but, well, she couldn't run from him her whole life. She looked up, meeting his eyes. The silence was bone-crushing.

"You look beautiful," he finally managed to say with a sad smile.

She looked down to smooth the fabric of her dress. "Thanks, the dress is nice. I don't know if I'll take it though."

"I don't mean the dress, Teresa." Lisbon bit her lip and turned around to walk over to the long mirror. She could feel Jane's eyes burning a hole in her back. For some reason, she started to hate the dress, when she looked in the mirror again. Or maybe it was just because Jane was suddenly standing next to her in his dark blue suit without a vest, hair slightly tousled from the rough Chicago weather. He was looking directly at her through the mirror.

There had been times when Lisbon had allowed herself to daydream. There had always been this thought about how she would look in a wedding dress, her groom right next to her. In fact, if someone took a picture of their reflection in the mirror, they would look like the perfect couple. The problem was just, they weren't. She was with another man, she would marry another man, because he'd shattered her heart so much that she was still not done putting the pieces back together.

"Lisbon, I'm…"

"Don't, Jane," she cut in, raising a hand, "I don't want to hear it."

"I'm still sorry for what happened. You have no idea how sorry I am."

"It's too late, Jane," Lisbon whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

"I know," he answered, his voice full of hurt and regret. "I want to make it up to you, Teresa. I miss you. Please. I will do anything."

She just shook her head, closing her eyes. Just then, Lucy and Cho emerged from the back and Jane stepped away from her.

"We're done, Jane. Let's go," Cho announced. Jane threw Lisbon one last longing glance, before he walked over to Lucy and took her hand. He leaned down to her, whispering something inside her ear, too low for anyone to hear it.

"Thank you, Mr. Jane," Lucy smiled.

"Bye, Lisbon, see you Saturday." Cho nodded goodbye to her and left the store, Jane right behind him. The two women waited a little and watched them vanish down the street before Lucy brought up the courage to clear her throat.

"What a coincidence to meet your colleagues right here… I'm very sorry for the interruption. How do you like the dress?"

"I hate it," Lisbon answered, walking over to the dressing room, "I'm not sure if I'll find a dress here today. I'm sorry. Could you help me get out of this?"

"Oh that's too bad. But you shouldn't give up so fast, Teresa. Maybe we could agree on one other dress? Just to see if you like it or not? I have this one here…" She walked over to the dresses and counted to the third on the right hand side, then pulled it out.

Lisbon looked up, an annoyed expression on her face, which changed the moment she saw the dress. It had a long, not too extreme ball gown cut with a basque waistline, a dipped neckline and put on lace sleeves in an interesting flower pattern. The dress itself had no ornaments, just a simple white bow around the waist to separate the bodice from the skirt. It was beautiful.

"It… it looks a little like my mom's," she mumbled, walking closer to touch the dress. "Hers didn't have lace sleeves, they were shiny silk… but the bow and the rest… it's beautiful."

"So would you like to try it on?" Lucy asked with a smile. Lisbon nodded simply and walked back to the dressing room to get out of the dress she was just wearing.

Lucy helped her to undress and put on the wedding gown she'd just shown her.

"It's perfect!" Lisbon exclaimed, while the other woman fastened the zipper and buttons.

"Yes, I kind of forgot about it. Thankfully Mr. Jane was so nice to tell me you'd like that one. We're almost done, then you can go and look at it in the big mirror."

"Stop," Lisbon said, raising a hand. "What did you just say?"

"I'm almost finished…"

"No, the thing with Jane!" She turned around to Lucy, her expression darkening. Lucy awkwardly took a step back.

"He… before he left he said I should show you this dress because he was sure you would love it… I… did I do something wrong?"

Lisbon looked at her stunned. How dare he? How dare he think he got a say in which dress she was going to wear to her wedding! "That son of a bitch!" Of course he would be the one to find the dress for her! But no, she wasn't going to walk down the aisle with a dress Jane picked out. She didn't care that it looked like her mother's, she didn't care it could be the dress. For the umpteenth time, Jane had ruined it.

Was this some sort of revenge for not inviting him to the wedding? He wasn't even invited and would probably still ruin it, but not with her, no. She'd tell him once and for all that she wasn't going to put up with his crap a second longer.

"I don't want this dress," Lisbon stared angrily.

"But you haven't even seen it in the mirror."

"I don't care. Would you please help me out of it?" Lucy did as asked, a puzzled expression on her face. She wasn't used to dealing with angry brides. Of course there were the picky ones from time to time, but Teresa here was mad for some reason. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything about Mr. Jane's choice of the dress. There had been some tension between the two of them, but what did she know? She was just trying to make her customers happy.

"I'll just take this one," Lisbon decided after she changed back to her old clothes again. It was the third one they'd picked out in the first place.

"But you haven't even tried it on."

"I don't care, I just want to be done with this crap." She threw her jacket on and waited for Lucy to put the dress in one of the huge boxes so she could carry it home. The thing was just, the other woman wasn't moving.

"I am sorry, Teresa, but I won't sell this dress to you."

"Then give me another one! I don't care."

Lucy shook her head. "No, I won't. You know, a wedding dress is not something you just buy. It's supposed to be a part of you and get you though one of the happiest days in your life. I don't know what is wrong, but I'm sorry, I cannot sell you a dress under these circumstances. Maybe you should decide what you want first, then come back and look for a dress."

"I just want this stupid wedding to be over with," she mumbled furiously. "Keep the dresses, it's okay. I'll marry Marcus in a work suit. Still, thanks for your help."

Lisbon walked out of the store, the wind chimes jingling when the door opened and fell closed again. What a mess.

Xxxxx

Jane and Cho were just around the corner when Jane couldn't hold it in any longer. "Did you know Lisbon is getting married on Saturday?"

"Yeah," Cho answered coolly.

"Well I think my invitation must have gotten lost in the mail then," Jane assumed. It had to be the mail. She would invite him, right? On the other hand… Cho was the one to answer his silent question.

"Why should she invite you?"

"Because we are… were partners. We've known each other for more than twelve years! Does that not mean anything?"

Cho silently raised an eyebrow telling him exactly what he didn't want to hear. Of course she wouldn't invite him to her wedding. Hell, if he were in her shoes, he wouldn't have even talked to him back there in the bridal shop. After six months of no contact, they saw each other while she was trying to buy her wedding dress. He didn't believe in coincidences, so their meeting had to have a reason. But why?

"You know why she didn't invite you," Cho said while getting into the car.

"Oh, I do? Why, is she afraid I'm going to persuade her she could do better than Marcus?"

"I hope you don't mean yourself. You have to accept it, Jane. She's gone. You screwed it up."

It was the truth, but sometimes the truth hurt. Well, in this case it was the familiar rush of pain through his bones whenever he thought about his lost chance with Lisbon. Cho was right. Marcus was good for her. She'd looked amazing in the dress she'd been wearing, but it stung. It stung that she was going to marry another man in three days and he hadn't known.

It was just like her leaving all over again. In three days, she'd be committed to Mr. Marcus-you-stole-my-best-friend-Pike. Oh God. Maybe she would change her name to Mrs. Pike. Lisbon was traditional, she would change her name… she took marriage very seriously and once they were married, everything would be over.

Jane felt sick to his stomach. He should be happy for her. A good guy, marriage, kids – that's everything he'd ever wanted for her… He wasn't happy though, no.

"Don't do it, Jane," Cho warned him.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah, right. This time, she's going to shoot you."

Jane just shrugged. He didn't care about death as long as he knew that he'd tried. Maybe this was his last chance to tell her how he felt about her. It wasn't fair, but he'd never been one to play fair.

Xxxxx

Chicago PD had given their team a small conference room with two computers so they could start their work on the murder cases. There were a few boxes on the table which contained information about the two other murders and a board with pictures and time notes of the victims and possible suspects.

Fischer was just off the phone with Abbott when she walked back into the conference room, where Jane and Cho were waiting to tell her about the interview with Lucy Hall.

"Dearman is not happy that we took his case. What did you get out of Lucy Hall?"

"She hasn't been in contact with her father. She said she threw the letters away without opening them. I don't think it was her," Cho answered.

Fischer nodded and sat down on one of the uncomfortable chairs. "Any ideas, Jane?"

Jane looked up, his facial expression hard. "Oh, now we're sharing stuff?"

"Excuse me?" the female agent asked, throwing Cho a glance. The Korean just rolled his eyes, before he simply stated, "We saw Lisbon."

"You knew she was getting married and didn't think it was something I might have wanted to know?!" Jane accused her immediately.

"Well Cho didn't tell you anything! He got an invitation, too!" she answered, wincing when Cho threw her a death glare. "Also I thought you got an invitation but you didn't want to go, so…"

Jane rose from his seat and left the room like a pissed teenager. After the door closed behind him, Fischer let out a sigh. "What the hell was that? When did you see Lisbon? I thought the wedding was on Saturday."

"She was at Hall's store picking out a wedding dress. She was in the dressing room when we went inside."

"Crap. He saw her wearing the dress?" Cho just nodded, looking to the door. He wasn't sure if Jane was listening to their conversation from outside, but whatever.

"I told Abbott it was a bad idea to come here. He's been acting like a crazy man for six months now; Lisbon's wedding will make it even worse. What should we do?" She really seemed desperate for an answer, but Cho didn't have one. He still couldn't get over the fact that there might have been more than friendly feelings between his former boss and the consultant. When Abbott had laid everything out to him in Islamorada, he'd had a hard time accepting it.

"We should stay out of it."

"You think so?" she asked uncertainly. "We have to find this stupid serial killer and send Jane back to Austin as soon as possible. And from now on, there will always be someone with him wherever he goes, so he doesn't do anything stupid, okay?"

"Are you volunteering?" Cho asked.

"This is not a joke, Kimball. If we're not careful, things could end badly – for Jane and Lisbon." She gave him a hard look as there was a knock on the door.

"Yes!"

It opened carefully and a small brunette woman in a black puffy winter jacket walked inside.

"Lisbon," Fischer gasped. Lisbon gave the two other agents a smile, before she closed the door behind her.

"Hi, uh… They let me in because I showed them my badge." She looked around, her eyebrows furrowed. "Where's Jane, I thought he was with you guys."

"He didn't take the fact that you didn't invite him to your wedding well," Fischer answered carefully. A shadow crossed Lisbon's face, and she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Well, he should have thought about that before he ruined everything! Never mind, I… I came here because of Luther McKinnley. Have you found out anything about who might have killed him?"

"We can't give out information about an ongoing investigation," Cho said, but Fischer shut him up by waving a hand.

"It's okay, Cho. I think it's only fair we let Lisbon in on the investigation, since he killed her mother." Now both of them looked up to her, a stunned expression on their faces.

"How'd you know he killed my mom?" Lisbon fidgeted with the end of the belt of her winter jacket. She hadn't told anyone the name of the man who'd hit her mother on her way home from work, not even Jane. So how did she… oh. "You read my file."

Fischer shot her an apologizing look. "Well, back when the whole law enforcement system in California broke apart, we had to investigate you and your team, because you were the ones who caught Red John… Also, we had to keep an eye on you, because you received Jane's letters. Abbott wanted me to know who we were dealing with. It's part of the procedure, Teresa." Her voice was a little defensive, but Lisbon just nodded. She should have known as much, since she'd been working with law enforcement for so many years. It was still weird to know Fischer and Abbott probably knew more about her past than her own team.

"It's okay… I didn't know McKinnley died until I overheard Cho and Jane talking to Lucy Hall this morning."

"Yeah, I heard. Have you found a nice wedding dress?" Fischer wondered, and of course Jane took just that moment to push the door open and come back into the conference room with a steaming cup of tea in his left hand.

For a second they could all see the surprise about Lisbon's presence in his face, but he hid what he was feeling fast enough. "Lisbon. What a surprise. We haven't seen each other in six months and now twice in one day."

The woman in question didn't answer, she just threw him an angry look. She would get back to him later.

"I'll tell you later," she told Kim, before she took off her jacket and hung it over the seat of a chair. "What's the thing with McKinnley? How was he murdered?"

Fischer got up, trying to act professional with the building tension in the room. Jane was watching Lisbon like a hawk, but she didn't seem or rather want to notice. "He was found dead in his apartment last night. He had several gunshot wounds in his body, two in his head."

"Maybe it was an act of revenge or something," Lisbon suggested.

"We don't know. What we do know is that there were two similar murders with the same M.O. in just one week."

"Do you think they are connected?"

"The same guy killed them, of course they are connected somehow," Jane mumbled, annoyed. He didn't meet her eyes when Lisbon shot him a look.

"We haven't found a connection between the other victims just yet. They grew up in separate parts of the city, and as far as we know, they didn't have anything to do with each other. The first victim was an old woman named Zelda Higgins, a former middle school teacher, the other one Antonio Valentini, owner of an Italian restaurant in the city."

While Fischer continued, Jane suddenly sat down his cup of tea and rose. He walked over to the opposite side of the table where Lisbon was sitting and leaned on it.

"… got called in when Agent Dearman wasn't able to handle the case, so… Jane, you okay?"

Jane stared at Lisbon, who was looking at the table, eyes wide in shock. "You knew them," he stated. "You knew the victims."

Lisbon looked up, her face pale and her mouth slightly opened. She swallowed hard. "Yes… Mrs. Higgins was my English teacher in Middle school and Tony… I used to work with him at his father's restaurant to make some money when I turned 16, since my father wasn't in shape to work anymore. Someone had to bring money home for food and to pay the bills." They all knew what she was talking about.

"It could be a coincidence," Fischer murmured.

"It's not. I think we found our connection between the murder victims." Jane straightened up again, his eyes meeting Lisbon's.

"I can't believe this! McKinnley, Mrs. Higgins, Tony… It's… It's like someone is trying to kill my past."