A/N: Hello everyone! Wow what a day for the fandom! We are nominated for 3 categories for the PCA's AND got the premiere date for the 7th season on November 30th! PLUS A TWO HOURS FINALE!

I advise you all vote for The Mentalist, because this year we really really have to win this!

And if you need a break, please take the time to read my new chapter here ;) I hope you enjoy!

Special thanks to Idan for betaing and waterbaby who took the time to go back and review every single chapter of this fic! Also a HUGE thank you to all of you faithful readers! You're amazing!

(8)

It was almost past lunch time when Fischer and Lisbon finally arrived at Tommy Lisbon's house. Tommy and Cho were sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee when the women stepped in.

Tommy rose immediately, hugging his sister tight. "Cho told me what happened. Are you all right?"

"I'm okay, thank you. I'm so sorry for all the mess Tommy. Where is Annie?" Lisbon apologized. She hated to drag her family into this, but she had no choice. Everyone was a target now, especially Tommy and Annie, because she was living with them.

"Annie is upstairs. She's really upset about Father Andrew's death. She liked him a lot." Tommy gestured toward the coffee table, where Cho was about to pour the hot beverage into two cups.

He noticed Fischer looked exhausted and felt sorry for her. This case wasn't easy for any of them.

While Lisbon took the cup from Cho, she looked around, noticing the absence of one specific person. "Where's Jane?"

"I'm here," a muffled voice came from the living room. Lisbon raised an eyebrow but didn't go over to see what was going on. Jane finding the time to take beauty naps showed how much he cared about the case. Instead she turned back to Tommy and Cho, who pulled out the Snickers wrapper.

"We found this in the trash can from one of the neighbors. She said she saw a dark van driving up and down the street during the time of the murder. The man in the van threw this out of the window in her front yard," he explained.

"Are we sure it's from Carmen?" Fischer asked, sighing.

"We should give it to forensics, but who knows how fast they can track down any fingerprints. Still, it's a lead, the only lead we have at the moment." Cho gave the plastic bag to Fischer, who tucked it inside her jacket pocket. She turned to Tommy.

"Mr. Lisbon, Agent Lisbon ordered that a vehicle with two members of the Chicago PD be on the lookout in front of your house. I advise you and your daughter to not leave the house except in the case of an emergency until we can make sure no one is going to harm you."

"Oh come on, you want to lock us up in our own house? I was a bounty hunter for five years, I can take care of myself. We don't need the police in front of our house."

"Tommy please, it's for your own safety," Lisbon said, giving him the big-sister-attitude. "It's just until Marcus arrives tonight. Jimmy and Peter also have protection in front of their houses. I don't want anything to happen to you or Annie when I'm not here. I want to find Carmen before Saturday."

"Do you really want to go through with this wedding even though so many people were murdered?" Tommy asked, looking at her like she was insane.

"That's not your decision. The two officers will watch this house, whether you want them to or not." Lisbon put down her cup of coffee, her eyes locked with her brother's. The staring contest was on, but neither of them wanted to give in. After over a minute of silence, Tommy finally nodded, his gaze wandering over her head to the living room.

"Very wise to listen to your sister," Jane said in a pretty nasal tone.

Lisbon turned around, surprised to see Jane holding some kind of ice pack on his face, particularly his nose. "What the hell happened to you?"

"I think your brother had some unfinished business with me. This family's got a hell of a punch." Jane firmly pressed the ice on his nose, closing his eyes in pain.

When Tommy Lisbon had arrived at his home, Cho had greeted him at the door. They came into the kitchen and the next thing Jane knew was that he was lying on the floor, his nose hurting and bleeding. Well he guessed he'd deserved that. Tommy hadn't said another word, not even apologized, while Jane picked himself up and wandered toward the fridge to get some ice from the freezer. It was a silent understanding between the two men.

Lisbon gaped at her brother, not sure what to say and debating if she should say anything at all.

"It's okay, Lisbon. No hard feelings," Jane reassured her. Tommy silently nodded.

It was Kim who reminded Lisbon of the time and told her to keep going. They switched partners – Cho would accompany Lisbon to her meeting with Gina, who'd called to tell her she found a new church, while Fischer and Jane would drive back to the precinct to bring the Snickers wrapper to the crime techs.

"I think we should check the traffic cameras and see if we can find the van our witness mentioned. Jane? Are you coming?" Fischer asked, slightly annoyed when she saw her consultant wasn't even looking.

"I'll just go upstairs and say goodbye to Annie, okay?" He didn't wait for an answer, instead walking up the stairs to the second floor, where the bedrooms were located. To his surprise, he found Annie's bedroom door open. He entered the room quietly, not wanting to disturb anyone. Lisbon was sitting on the edge of Annie's bed, caressing the sleeping teenager's hair.

She looked up, her face full of concern, and Jane stepped closer. "I thought you and Cho already left."

"I wanted to see how she is… Cho said you were there for her. Thank you."

Jane looked at Annie's sleeping silhouette and smiled softly. He stepped closer to the bed and knelt down so he was at the same height as Lisbon. "She's a great kid… smart, strong, ambitious with a big heart. She's so much like you." He wondered exactly how much Lisbon had told her family… about Miami and everything, because for some reason Annie was still on his side, hadn't given up on him and Lisbon.

Lisbon smiled, her hand resting on the mattress now. "That's what Tommy always says. She's too smart for her own good sometimes. Yes, she is strong – apparently she's got a hell of a punch!"

"Just like her aunt and her dad," Jane grinned. His nose still hurt, but it was nothing in comparison to Lisbon's punches. Tommy Lisbon could learn a thing or two from his sister.

"I hope she won't make the same mistakes I made though."

Jane covered her hand with his, surprised when she didn't pull away. He could see the flash of bitterness passing over her face, and he wondered what mistakes she was thinking about. Was it marrying a man she didn't love? Was it falling in love with her consultant who broke her heart over and over again until she finally couldn't take it anymore?

Lisbon looked at him for a fraction of a second, and Jane knew what she was thinking about. Things could be completely different if he hadn't been such a coward. She could have been his months ago, but he'd been stupid enough to think she would wait.

Annie murmured something in her sleep and turned away from Lisbon. She pulled her hand away from Jane's and got up. "We should go," the brunette mumbled.

She was halfway out the door when he stopped her by taking her wrist. "Lisbon… please. I want to talk to you, just the two of us alone."

She flinched like a deer in the headlights, pulling her hand away from his grasp. "There's nothing more to talk about, Jane. I have to leave now, Cho is waiting." Without another word she turned around and left.

There is so much to talk about, Jane thought. Sighing, he leaned against the door, feeling watched all of a sudden. "Enjoy the show?" he asked while turning around.

Annie looked at him, a somber expression on her face. "Don't let her have the last word in this, Jane. She needs you, don't you see? You have to fix this."

"I know… I just don't know how." They looked at each other, their gazes saying more than words. Finally, Jane nodded and walked downstairs, where Fischer was already waiting.

Xxxxx

It was late in the evening when Lisbon dropped Cho off at the precinct and drove Annie's car toward the airport to pick Marcus up. He'd offered to come with her, but she'd declined. She didn't want Cho or anyone else to be there when she picked Marcus up.

After everything had gone wrong since she arrived in Chicago, this afternoon, for the first time, something had gone right. When Cho and she arrived at the new church Gina had picked out for them, she was relieved it was a really nice place.

The priest, a younger man, had explained she wasn't the only one looking for a new church on short notice. There were three other couples, all their weddings taking place next week, who'd asked if he was able to squeeze them into his full schedule.

The priest had told her God was always there for his sheep and so he would be. They could marry in St. Cecilia on Saturday; they would just have to come by tomorrow to talk about the final things for the ceremony.

Gina would be taking care of everything else – the music, the flowers, the seating, the rings. The wedding would take place just like they had planned. Lisbon had been relieved nothing was standing in the way of her wedding… except for four murders and her former psychologist who probably wanted to take revenge. Oh, and there was Jane. But the wedding would still take place. She wanted it to take place, didn't she?

There was no chance to back out now – not that she wanted to back out. She wanted this wedding. She had agreed to marry Marcus the moment she had left the Blue Bird Inn in Miami. Everything was set now. Teresa Pike. Mr. and Mrs. Pike. The lump in her throat grew bigger and bigger.

She switched lanes, careful to not break the speed limit. The only time she had broken the speed limit in the last three years had been that night when Jane abandoned her during sunset. Usually he was the one to break the speed limit, something she'd always hated. Marcus never broke the speed limit; he was always playing by the book, just like her. Did that make them boring? With Jane, nothing would ever be boring, but the days with Jane were over.

She had excitement in her job. Not yet, but there would be. She had excitement in D.C., too! They had a great apartment in a nice neighborhood, and they could even share the yard with the other people who lived there.

"There are two offices. I thought it would be nice, so we each have our own space," Marcus grinned. Lisbon was talking to him over the phone, while he went apartment shopping in D.C.

"I'm sure you're going to love it. You can have the office with the view of the park, if you want to. It's right next to our bedroom."

"That would be nice," she smiled. Although she'd promised herself to not turn into a workaholic again with her new job, she liked the idea of having her own room.

"I will take the other one. It's a little bigger, but in case we need another room, we can always move your stuff into my office."

Her smile fell a little and for once she was glad he wasn't able to see her. "What do you mean?" She knew what he meant, of course she knew, but she didn't want to say it out loud.

Marcus laughed nervously. "You know, Teresa… I know you haven't accepted my proposal yet, but in case we want to make room for a new family member…"

He was talking about a dog, right? Please let him say it is a dog! "Wow… uh… yeah…I…"

"We don't have to decide anything now, Teresa. I know everything is going fast, but I'd really like if we could not close the door on this option, okay?"

"Yeah… Listen, I have to go, we have a case." She was glad he couldn't see all the color had drowned from her face.

"Of course, Love. I'll see you tomorrow evening. I love you."

"Me too…"

Marcus was in his early 40s… he wanted to be a father. Not just a father, the father of their child. Marcus Pike Junior. Oh God.

Lisbon took three deep breaths so she would not panic. This was not the right time to be thinking about this. She wondered if there ever would be the right time. It wasn't like she didn't love kids and want to be a mother herself, but she'd raised three boys when she was very, very young… She loved her new job, too! Marcus earned enough for both of them, but she didn't want to become a housewife. Also, she wasn't young anymore. Even if she was fit and healthy, there would always be a risk of miscarriage.

"Stop it. Everything is going to be fine. You don't have to decide anything," Lisbon told herself. It was just the usual panic every bride felt before her wedding. She'd dealt with lots of problems before.

Once Marcus arrived, things would be a little easier, at least she hoped so. He was calm, he was sure about this, he could help her make decisions, maybe even take some of the responsibility from her.

"If this wedding puts too much pressure on you, I'll buy the next available tickets to Vegas. Just say the word, okay?" He took her hand and kissed the finger with the too loose engagement ring.

Lisbon glanced at her hand, the too loose ring reflecting the dark orange of the streetlights. It looked almost like a warning signal.

Oh, she was a terrible, terrible fiancée! She loved Marcus, loved him very much. He was a good lover, too, just not her… love. If her mom were still alive, she'd have been happy her daughter had a good man like him at her side. Marcus was a good man. He was stable, dependable, sweet… perfect for her. And he loved her, he'd told her so many times. The thing was she hadn't.

She swallowed hard. She couldn't think of a moment when she had ever told him she loved him. Three simple words, I love you. There was the occasional "love you" before she hung up the phone, and the regular "you too" whenever he told her he loved her… but she'd never said it.

Was it because she still loved Jane?

She drew in a sharp breath at the thought which had just crept into her head. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! No Teresa, this is not the place and not the time. He broke your heart – more than once!"

She'd successfully pushed any deeper thought of Jane away for the last few weeks, but now that he was here in Chicago, everything came rushing back. She had to close the door on this, once and for all. She was going to marry Marcus. They would spend their honeymoon in the Caribbean and would return home after two weeks. If Marcus still wanted to have children, maybe they could try. It didn't mean it had to work. Everything was fine.

"Everything is fine, Teresa. You can deal with Jane and Carmen, you have dealt with them before. Everything is going to be fine."

Maybe, if she repeated it often enough, she'd finally start to believe it. God, why the hell was the feeling this wedding was a huge mistake not going away?

For a moment she wanted to decide everything was Jane's fault, but even he couldn't be held responsible for everything. Fischer was right. She'd held him responsible for a lot of things lately – with good reason to.

"This is all so messed up," she mumbled.

Xxxxx

Everything happened way too fast for her to react. She was driving down Interstate 90 toward the airport. Soon, she'd have to switch to the 194, which would take her directly to the airport. A car had been following her for a while, but she hadn't bothered to check, because there were more important things to think about. Lots of people could be driving toward the airport tonight.

A black van sheered out of the line right behind the car behind her and sped up until it was even with hers. The window was down, and a man dressed in black pointed a gun and shot. Lisbon looked to her left, shocked at what was going to happen, but the first shot had already hit her windshield, which cracked.

She ducked down, losing control over the vehicle, which made a rapid turn to the right when the tires were hit by bullets and exploded. It spun around twice, hitting the grass verge next to the road. Lisbon yelped in pain when her head met the airbag in the driver's wheel and the car was stopped by a tree which threw her forward once more. The already damaged windshield shattered.

Her head was spinning and hurting, her vision unclear so she had to close her eyes; her breath was coming out in sharp hitches. She heard a car stop and looked for her gun to protect herself. Please, please, please, no… no…

She needed her gun, she needed to stay conscious.

"Lisbon! Lisbon, can you hear me?"

"Jane…?" she whispered, surprised. She must be dreaming. How else could Jane be with her now?

"It's okay, Teresa, I'm going to open the door now. You have to help me. You have to push!" She felt him tugging at the door, but it wouldn't open. "Please, Teresa, it's damaged, you have to push." However, she didn't have the power to push the door open. Her head was thumping like crazy and suddenly she tasted blood. She must have bitten her lip when her head hit the airbag.

Jane's attempts to open the door stopped, so for a moment it looked like he'd really been just a hallucination. But then the door of the passenger seat opened.

Jane climbed into the vehicle, his facial expression blank and horrified. "I'm going to unfasten your seatbelt and pull you out of the car now Lisbon. Careful…"

Lisbon heard the click of the seatbelt and felt two hands pull her closer to the passenger side. "Can you move your legs?" Jane asked, concerned.

She could only nod. With a lot of effort, Jane managed to pull her out of the vehicle, picked her up and carried her to his waiting car. It was the car which had been following Lisbon.

"My head," she whispered, shutting her eyes once more, burying her face in his shoulder. He smelled nice, comforting even. Jane had always had this special smell – half cologne and half him. She felt him pressing a kiss on her forehead when he opened the backseat door with one hand to carefully let her down.

"I know, Lisbon, I know… You're bleeding." Within seconds, he pulled a handkerchief out of his trouser pocket and wiped away the blood from her lips. His fingers accidentally brushed them, which made Lisbon open her eyes once more.

"How… Why are you here?"

"Annie told me not to let you out of my sight – a very good choice," Jane explained. He was really thankful he'd made himself follow Lisbon to the airport. His gut feeling had once more been right.

"There was a car…"

"I know. I got the license plate. They came up behind me and before I could do anything they started shooting at your car. I don't think they wanted to kill you though. The man with the gun was a very good shot. I think Carmen wanted to scare you."

"He did." She looked up into his eyes, slowly regaining control over her mind. Her head still hurt like hell, but she could manage to keep her eyes open for longer than two seconds. "You saved me, Jane."

Jane gave her a sad smile. "I'm always going to save you Lisbon, whether you like it or not. Is your head the only thing hurting?"

"Yes… It's just the shock, I think. I'm not injured… I hope."

"Oh Lisbon…" He cupped her cheek with his hand and she leaned into his touch. It felt good to be touched by him, almost natural. His hands were so soft and warm, so comforting. It was nice. After a moment, she lifted her head again, so Jane pulled his hand away.

"I should wait for Fischer and Cho…"

"No… wait." It took her some effort to scoot over, but she managed to make enough space so Jane could sit with her. "Don't leave."

Jane looked at her, his expression still full of fear for her. She was glad he'd been following her. Under any other circumstances she'd read him the riot act, but now…

He sighed, whether it was relief or tension she couldn't say, and got into the car next to her. He put an arm around her shoulders, careful to not touch her hurting head. Lisbon leaned into him, dropping her head against his chest. She could hear his frantic heart beat. Still, it was soothing her, calming her down, and for the first time in six months she was happy to have him with her.