A/N: Here we go! Thanks everyone for your reviews to the last chapter. I'm sorry it took so long, but I had stuff to do for uni and real life was knocking at the door of my room.

I still hope you're enjoying this fic as much as I do! Thanks to Idan for betaing!

Liefs

(4)

Jane found her in the small kitchen area of the precinct, where she was just about to put some of the bitter tasting filter coffee into a paper cup. She was still shaking slightly; the news someone had killed three people she could connect to her past was still making her uncomfortable.

He hadn't been happy at all when he'd put two and two together after Fischer had told her the names of the other victims. There was no such thing as coincidence.

Lisbon flinched when he put a hand on her shoulder, hoping she wouldn't spill the coffee in her cup. "I want to take you out for coffee. Real coffee, not the bitter black colored water they pass off as coffee here."

"I'm not so sure that is a good idea, Jane," she answered.

As always, Jane didn't care one bit about what she thought. He took the cup from her hands and emptied it in the sink. "Come on, you need some fresh air, a coffee and some sugar to get your circulation going."

She hesitated for a moment, but she knew Jane was right. The coffee really tasted bad and she needed some fresh air.

Around ten minutes later, they sat at a table in the closest Starbucks to the precinct. Jane had ordered her a large hazelnut latte and a double chocolate muffin to go along with it. Oh God, how long had it been since she'd had a sweet treat like this super chocolaty muffin here?

Jane raised an eyebrow when she didn't even try to suggest the muffin had too many calories and she'd rather not eat it. Until now, she hadn't even known how hungry she was.

"God woman, you eat like you haven't seen food in months! Is Marcus not feeding you enough?"

She tried to ignore the slight edge in his voice and just shrugged. "We're working. It's harder than I expected it to be. There's not much time for breakfast and stuff."

His lips formed a thin line while he eyed her from top to bottom. Her pullover hung loose around her shoulders, her cheekbones were more prominent and her wrists were so small he could see her bones through the thin layer of skin. How could he have not recognized this when he'd seen her in the bridal dress shop this morning?

It made him so angry, he had a hard time controlling his breathing. Although he'd always been kind of a pain in the ass, he'd always made sure Lisbon was eating enough and not living on coffee and energy bars.

Marcus displaced her to D.C. and now he didn't even make sure she was well taken care of! The bastard! Next time he saw him, he'd have to have a word with him.

Jane pushed his blueberry muffin toward her and took her empty plate. "Eat."

"I'm full, Jane… I can't possibly eat two!"

"Of course you can. Please. Eat it."

She looked at him nervously before she took a bite from the blueberry muffin. Maybe she should really consider having a better breakfast tomorrow. But skipping meals had become a habit.

"So, you and Marcus are getting married? When were you planning to tell me that? After you got back from your honeymoon? Or after you gave birth to your first child?"

She choked on her muffin and he patted her back carefully. "I don't think I want to have this conversation with you, Jane," she coughed.

"That's too bad, because I do. I think we should have a talk, Lisbon."

"I don't want to talk about stuff that is none of your business. You know what, I should just go." She rose, but Jane grabbed her wrist.

"You have to stop running away from me, Teresa. Please. I… I missed you. Please sit down and talk to me."

They stared at each other for over a minute. Lisbon could see he was still hurting, but she was still angry with him for everything he did. He had no right to be hurt, because she was the one who had been hurt in the process.

"Fine," she finally growled. "We can talk. But not about Marcus, my wedding or what happened in Miami!"

"You drive a hard bargain, but fine, I accept that. Although you do realize that we have to talk about these topics sooner or later." He took a sip of his tea while she sat down again, staring at her hands.

"How is work?"

Now she looked up, raising an eyebrow. "How is work, really?"

"You don't want to talk about your private life, so I have to ask you about your work life. Do you not like it in D.C.?"

"I do," she answered quickly. "The team is nice and there's a lot to do… It's much calmer when you don't have to pick up after someone's crappy schemes, you know?"

"You mean it's much more boring," Jane grinned. "So why are they not letting you go in the field yet?"

Lisbon didn't wonder how he knew she'd been stuck on desk duty for the first six months. "I think they want to see how good I really am, before they let me go… I had to do lots of desk work when I came to Austin."

"Yes, but that was because Abbott didn't know how good you really were. I thought Don offered you the job because he knew that you're an excellent agent. Why would he put you on desk duty?"

"I don't know, Jane. But I'm sure I'll get to go into field once I'm back."

"I'll make sure you will," Jane muttered, but Lisbon shook her head.

"No, you won't. It's none of your business and I don't need you to fight my battles for me, Jane. Look, I really should go home now."

"Are you staying with Tommy and Annie?" Jane asked. Of course he knew she was. Her relationships to her other brothers were fine, but she didn't get along so well with her sisters-in-law, so she preferred to stay with her little brother Tommy and her niece.

"Yes, I am."

"How is Annie? I haven't heard from her in a while."

She sighed, her eyes wandering over to the exit door. She wanted to leave so badly, because she felt awkward around him. He wanted to talk about her, about her wedding, Marcus and… them. But she didn't want to. She had a wedding to prepare for and in three days, she'd marry a really nice guy who tried to make her happy.

"Annie is fine. She's doing really well in school and wants to become a police officer. Tommy is not so happy about it, but she's too stubborn for her own good."

"She's just like her aunt," Jane smiled, "Have you taught her any of your clever police moves yet? Like taking down a suspect twice your size?"

For the first time since she was with him, she cracked a smile: "Oh, she keeps asking me to, but Tommy will kill me if I do. Though on the other hand, he wants me to show him some moves to scare the potential boyfriends off. I have to show her at some point though, because she really hates the bridesmaid dress Marcus' sister got her. She says it's the least I can do for her if she looks like a giant cotton candy at my wedding!"

"I'm sure she'll look beautiful. Just like her aunt."

Silence settled between them. Lisbon sighed loudly and clutched her cup of coffee tightly.

"I know you don't want to hear it, but I'm sorry for what happened, Teresa. I'm not asking you to believe me, but…"

"Jane… please don't."

"We have to talk about it at some point, Lisbon!"

"Why can't you just understand I don't want to talk about it?! You hurt me Jane, hurt me deep like no other man ever has. Multiple times. You tell me you want me to be happy and then you set up this whole scheme… you know what, forget it. It's over! I'm in a relationship now, I have a new life and I am going to marry Marcus on Saturday."

"But you're not happy with him! Come on, Teresa, he's boring, he's…"

"Don't you dare say anything bad about Marcus! Unlike other people, Marcus doesn't lie to me, he doesn't leave me at a beach, he doesn't just vanish for two years, he doesn't… You know what, you've had your chance, Jane, and you screwed it up big time. I will never forgive you."

With this she rose, grabbed her purse and coat and headed toward the exit.

"I guess this means I'm still not invited to the wedding?" Jane called casually.

"Screw you!" was Lisbon's answer, before she ripped the door open and vanished.

The coffee house had become awfully quiet after their fight. People were staring at Jane, whispering with their partners.

Jane ignored them; he just stared out of the window, his cup of tea in his hands.

Xxxxx

When he returned to the precinct, he wasn't surprised to find out Lisbon was gone. Cho and Fischer were sitting at a table opposite each other, staring at some print outs from files and their laptop screens.

They both looked up when he entered the room and sat down on a chair close to Cho.

"Where's Lisbon?" Fischer asked curiously. So she left the coffee house right away and didn't come back here, Jane gathered.

"You pissed her off," Cho just stated without looking at him. His eyes were glued to his laptop screen and something which looked like a list.

"Meh. Women just always have to have the last word."

"That's not true!" Fischer said, annoyed.

"See?" Jane grinned. "What do you have there?"

"While you took Lisbon out for coffee, Cho and I sat down and connected the cases. Wiley did a background check on Lisbon and it turns out she was right. She knew the three victims more or less. At least they're all connected to her." Fischer got up and walked over to the whiteboard.

Jane suddenly realized there was a picture of Lisbon in the middle, the pictures of the three victims placed around her. "You don't think Lisbon did it, right?" he asked with an edge in his voice.

Fischer shook her head. "No, she's got alibis for the timeframes of the murders."

"What a relief," he mumbled sarcastically. "I wish I could be proven wrong, but there's no such thing as coincidence. Someone is killing people from Lisbon's past for a reason. What cases has she worked on in the last six months?"

"We talked to Don in D.C. Lisbon has mostly been on desk duty in the last six months and if she interrogated someone, it was at the HQ. He can't think of anyone who'd have the available resources to pull something like this off." Fischer came back to the table and sat down. "That's why we're going through old cases from the FBI, CBI, Cannon River and SFPD where Lisbon was involved."

Jane put a finger on his lips, thinking. "You do realize you're dealing with at least over 200 cases we are talking about! It would take weeks to look through them. Also, people were mostly pissed off with me, not with Lisbon. Cho. Name five people you think could pull something like that off."

Cho looked up, seeing how Jane walked over to the whiteboard and took a black pen.

"Carmen."

"Interesting choice. He's tried to frame Lisbon for murder once. That's why she doesn't trust psychiatrists anymore. Go on."

"Haibach's sister."

"Rigsby killed her brother. After everything they did to the team? Definitely worth looking into."

"What about Ridley and McKay?" Fischer asked.

"McKay is an art thief. Also, he'd be trying to kill me instead of Lisbon. But Ridley is a good choice. He doesn't have a problem killing people and he has the connections. He hates us for bringing down his human trafficking ring."

"Erica Flynn," Cho said.

"She's a cold blooded killer, but she wouldn't risk being caught with murder. She's manipulative and likes to have the upper hand, but I don't think this is a game she would play. Still, we should look into her, see if she's back in the game somewhere."

"Walter Mashburn," Fischer suggested.

Now Jane smiled. "Why would you think Walter Mashburn would want to kill people from Lisbon's past?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, he has enough money and he was involved in two cases when you were still with the CBI."

"Well, you're right. He has enough money and contacts to pull something like this off, but you have to believe me when I say that Lisbon and Walter had a very… special relationship. He's not a man who would kill the only woman who ever dumped him."

"Teresa and Walter Mashburn?!" Fischer looked at him with her mouth open, but Jane just shrugged and exchanged a knowing look with Cho.

"What about Volker?" the Korean asked.

Jane's face turned hard. "Volker. Yeah, he could be our guy. He probably wants to take revenge on Lisbon for destroying him. He'd have enough money to pay someone off to do the killings for him. He's dangerous. If he's the one we're looking for, we have to be careful."

Jane wrote the name on the whiteboard and stared at the list. There were probably more, and by the look Cho and Fischer gave each other, there was a name on top of their tongues no one dared to say.

"What?"

Fischer cleared her throat. "Have you ever considered… Red John?"

"Red John is dead," Jane said quickly. "I killed him. I choked him to death with my bare hands. He got what he deserved and in the end he was just asking for mercy like the pathetic, weak man he was." It sounded so cold when he said it that way.

"Yes, maybe he is dead, but that doesn't mean his network is. Maybe the Blake Association is trying to get back at you though Lisbon."

Jane shook his head once again. "No. We got all of them. Even if we didn't find any, it would be too early to come back to the surface."

Fischer got up and walked over to the board, taking a pen herself. She could see the panic in his eyes and knew bringing the memories of Red John back was the last thing he wanted. But they were investigators, they had to look at every possible angle.

So she wrote Blake Association down on the board and put the pen away. "Okay, we have seven suspects who could have a motive to take revenge against Lisbon. We should ask her if she can think of anyone who would want to hurt her. Maybe there is someone from her past we don't know about, someone who's angry with her. Let's each pick two and we'll be looking into the Blake Association together, okay?"

"We should go and talk to Lisbon," Jane suggested.

"No we won't, Jane. Don't you see she's pissed off at you? She's got so much going on with the wedding, we shouldn't drag her into this more than necessary." Fischer made a point, but he didn't like it.

"You could have still told me. If you were in my position, wouldn't it be something you'd want to know?" Cho and Fischer remained silent.

Xxxxx

After Lisbon had left Jane at the coffee house, she'd walked straight to Annie's car and drove to her school. She'd promised to pick her up after lunch time. She didn't care for being too early, but she just couldn't bring herself to go looking for another dress. Not after what happened this morning.

She turned off the motor and looked at Tommy's old school with a soft smile. Lost in thought about her childhood here in Chicago, she didn't feel her phone until it rang for the fourth time.

Sighing, she pulled it out of her pocket, hoping it wasn't Jane who was calling her. She was wrong, it was worse. Gina's number was blinking on the screen. For a moment Lisbon considered just letting it ring, but she knew Gina was going to call Marcus and he'd call her to tell her to call Gina back – which she didn't most of the time.

"Lisbon," she answered the phone, suppressing another sigh.

"Teresa, this is Gina, hi! I just wanted to let you know that my plane arrives tonight and a friend of mine is going to pick me up at the airport."

Lisbon nodded slowly, before she realized Gina couldn't see her through the phone. "Oh, that's great."

"Yeah, you're so busy, I don't want you to go through any trouble to pick me up. You're free tomorrow, so we can set up the decoration and everything for the location? I have to talk some things over with the florist and the man who will bring the doves, but I really want you to have a look at it."

Doves? When the hell had Gina asked her about doves? Oh God, this wedding was going to be a big grab bag. "Yeah, actually I'm busy. My old team is here and has a case which kind of involves me… Would you mind taking care of this? I'm sure everything is going to be fine the way you planned it." Yeah, this was going to be Gina's little version of a dream wedding, not hers.

"Are you really sure about this, Teresa? I don't want you to feel like I'm the only one making decisions here."

You were the one who made them the whole time, why suddenly think I should have a say in this? Lisbon thought and rolled her eyes. "No, it's fine. Marcus and I love that you take so much time to take care of everything."

"Okay, you have no idea how relieved I am right now. Marcus told me you went dress shopping today. How'd it go?"

Oh no, what was she supposed to say? She couldn't possibly tell her she hadn't found a dress yet. "Fine, it was good, I think I found something very nice. I'm sure Marcus will like it."

"Oh that's good. I was actually kind of worried, because you took so much time to buy the most important piece for the wedding. Okay, listen, I'm at the airport and the check-in will start in a few. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure… have a safe flight." She hung up on her soon to be sister-in-law and banged her head on the steering wheel. "Dammit, dammit, dammit… Holy crap!" A tap on her window made her jump.

Annie was standing next to it, a smug grin on her face. She walked around the car and got inside, giving Lisbon a headshaking look.

"What?"

"I heard you talking to Gina. You're such a bad liar, Aunt Reese. You don't have a dress." The younger girl threw her black bag on the backseat and waited for an answer.

"No, I don't, but I'll find one… Why are you even out yet? I thought class isn't over for half an hour!"

"The teachers let us go early, because we cracked the case at the beginning of the session," she explained, shrugging. "So what happened that you weren't able to buy a wedding dress?"

"What case?"

"In the beginning of every lesson, he gives us a mysterious murder to crack, and if we manage to crack the case with just ten questions, we're allowed to leave 30 minutes early. Mr. Baldrin thinks as a police officer you have to think abstract sometimes and be able to put everything together, even if some pieces of the puzzle are missing. He's really smart, kind of like Jane. And he's so good looking!"

"Annabeth!" Lisbon warned her niece, but smiled at the same time. She was incorrigible.

"What? Is a student not allowed to have a thing for a good looking teacher? I'm not a baby anymore. So, now I answered your questions, it's time to answer mine. What happened with the wedding dress?"

"What happened to my sweet little niece?" Lisbon mumbled in response, although she was very proud of her. Annie would become a damn good interrogator one day. Perhaps she could persuade Cho to give her some tips after the wedding was over.

"I was in the shop, trying on some dresses, when suddenly Jane and Cho came in. Jane ruined everything and I didn't buy one. Are you happy now?"

Annie's eyes sparkled in excitement. "Jane is here? I thought he wasn't invited for the wedding? Oh can we go see him, please?"

Lisbon shook her head. "He isn't invited, they're here for a case. And no, we will not go and see him! We have to find a dress now and you will help me, you hear me? Otherwise Gina is going to kill me when she comes over tomorrow and wants to see the non-existent dress I told her about!"

"You're such a bad liar, Aunt Reese, even I could tell you didn't get one and I was just listening."

"You always have to have the last word, don't you?" Lisbon grumbled, before she started the car and drove off to the nearest bridal store.

"It's a Lisbon-disease," Annie just answered, winking at her.

Today was going to be a long day.