When Lisbon emerged from her office, her face was pale and she was carrying three letters. She handed them to Cho. "Can you give these to my brothers?" she said quietly.

Cho tucked them in the breast pocket of his jacket. "Sure, boss. Will do."

"Thanks." She took off her cross necklace and handed it to Van Pelt, who was seated at her desk. "Grace, I want you to give this to Annie for me."

Grace looked stricken. "Are you sure? It could be… you know, comforting, to have it with you."

"I'm sure," Lisbon said. "I wouldn't want him to, uh, take it from me." Jane grimaced at the thought of Red John ripping this symbol that represented so much of who Lisbon was away from her. The rest of the team was equally appalled. "Annie should have it," Lisbon said hastily, in an effort to get past the sticky moment.

Van Pelt looked unhappily at the necklace in her hand. "I'll make sure she gets it."

"Thank you," Lisbon said. "Will you do one more thing for me?"

Van Pelt looked up and met her eyes. "Name it."

Lisbon smiled wryly. "Teach her how to knock down someone twice her size for me, will you?"

Van Pelt looked to be on the point of tears. "Sure thing, boss," she managed, ducking her head to conceal the tears welling in her eyes.

Lisbon put her hand on Van Pelt's shoulder. "Thanks, Grace."

Keeping her head down, Van Pelt reached up and blindly patted Lisbon's hand with her own, muffling her quiet sniffles with her other hand.

Lisbon's hand slipped from Van Pelt's shoulder and she looked at the rest of the team. "All right. Let's go."

They all rode to the Griffin Theater together. The brief moment of peace the card trick had afforded them was over, and the tension had returned to the group tenfold. Cho drove. Lisbon was in the front seat, with Jane and Van Pelt in the middle and Rigsby in the back. Jane rather wished Lisbon was the one next to him. Grace was doing her best to contain herself, but she was inclined to be weepy. She was understandably upset that this was probably the last time the team would ever be together before the fatal loss of two of its members, but Jane found the experience of witnessing someone grieve for him before he'd actually died rather uncomfortable. Lisbon, on the other hand, was sitting in tense silence. For once, Jane had no idea what she was thinking. Nonetheless, he would have appreciated having a few moments of being close to her before they walked to their deaths together.

When they pulled up to the theater, the parking lot was empty, and the place looked gray and desolate.

Cho parked near the edge of the parking lot, away from the main entrance of the theater. He cast a glance around the abandoned theater. "The valet here sucks," he remarked.

Lisbon choked out a startled laugh, and Jane felt the sound pierce his chest like a knife. Would this be the last time he ever heard Lisbon laugh? He'd catalogued a thousand of her smiles in his memory palace, but had he ever thought to take the time to parse the distinct tones of Lisbon's laughter? Surely he had, but why was his mind a blank? She had a wonderful laugh. He hastily tried to commit the sound to memory, but he'd been unprepared- the echoes were already slipping away.

Lisbon got out of the car, and the rest of them followed suit.

Cho checked his watch. "Quarter to four."

"They're not here," Rigsby said, sounding panicked. "No one's here."

"They will be," Jane said. "That, or they're already inside."

Van Pelt shuddered. "God, I can't stand this."

Jane wasn't wild about it either. "I suppose we ought to say our good-byes now," he commented.

Lisbon grimaced. She hated good-byes.

Jane couldn't blame her. As good-byes went, these were bound to be pretty awful.

He started with Cho. He stuck out his hand to the other man gravely. "Farewell, my friend."

Cho shook his hand. "It's a brave thing you're doing," he said seriously.

"Meh," Jane said, scuffing his heels on the pavement. "Lisbon's the brave one. I'm just along for the ride."

Cho met his eyes. "I'm glad I know you, Jane."

"I'm glad I know you, too, Cho."

"You're not as bad of a guy as you think you are, you know," Cho informed him.

"Perhaps you should put that on my epitaph," Jane said. "'He wasn't as bad as everyone thought.'"

Cho looked at him. "This sucks."

Jane chuckled. "That's what I like about you, Cho. You always cut right to the heart of the matter so succinctly."

Cho shook his head. "Look, I know it doesn't look good right now. But I hope we're wrong about how hopeless this is."

"That would be nice," Jane agreed.

"If we are," Cho continued. "Don't hesitate. Just kill the bastard and come back to us."

Jane smiled wryly. "I think I can promise that."

Cho shook his hand again. "Good luck."

Jane turned to Rigsby.

Rigsby looked like hell. Jane supposed that was to be expected, when one was trading the lives of two colleagues for the hope of seeing one's only child alive again. He put his hand on Rigsby's shoulder. "We're going to get Ben back, Rigsby," he said quietly. He had to believe that. If he and Lisbon were really going to do this colossally stupid thing together, he needed to believe it wouldn't all be for nothing.

"This is nuts," Rigsby muttered. "Lisbon isn't really planning to just hand herself over to Red John without a fight, is she?"

"I'm pretty sure that's exactly what she's planning to do," Jane said.

Rigsby swallowed. "For Ben?"

"You've known her a long time. Does that really surprise you?"

Rigsby looked sick. "But you have a plan, right?" he said. "You were just messing with us, like always, earlier. I mean—you're not really going to let her give herself up to Red John, are you?"

Jane shook his head, for once not having an answer ready at hand.

Rigsby, however, interpreted this as affirmation that Jane had an idea of how to pull a rabbit out of a hat, after all. He breathed a sigh of relief. "I hope you've told Lisbon what the plan is, at least," he said. "She's going to kill you if you keep her in the dark on this one."

Jane found he couldn't bring himself to tell Rigsby the truth. Let him have that hope, he reasoned. At least until his son was delivered safely to him. Once he had Ben back, nothing else would matter.

Jane went to Grace and hugged her.

Her breath hitched in her chest and her fingers fisted in the back of his jacket as she hugged him back.

Jane held her close, and leaned his head close to her ear. "Rigsby's still in love with you, you know," he whispered.

"You really want to talk about that right now?" she whispered back, incredulous.

He pulled back. "If not now, then when?"

"You and Lisbon are probably about to die, and you want to talk about love?"

"Certainly. Why would I want to talk about death when I could talk about love?"

She sighed. "I suppose you have a point."

"It's the most important thing in the world," Jane said. "Don't let it slip from your fingers- grab hold of it with both hands and don't let go."

Van Pelt glanced at Lisbon, who was talking quietly to Rigsby. "I'm sorry you never got your chance," she said sadly.

Jane followed her gaze. "Me, too," he said, realizing as he said it that it was one of the most honest things he'd ever shared with Van Pelt. One more regret to chalk up to the list.

He kissed her on the cheek. "Be well, Grace."

His good-byes completed, Jane found he didn't want to linger with the group. He stood a little to the side, watching Lisbon as she hugged first Rigsby, then Van Pelt, murmuring soft words of reassurance to each of them in turn.

Then she addressed all three of them together. "Look, guys, I know this is… a setback." Understatement of the century, Jane thought. Lisbon continued. "But don't give up. Red John was too quick for us this time, but the Serious Crimes Unit can outlast him. He's gotten cocky, pulling stunts like this one. I, for one, intend to make sure he regrets making the mistake of messing with this team. I know it's been a long, hard journey, but you're close now. You're going to bring him to justice in the end. I'm certain of that."

Cho spoke for all three of them. "We won't let you down, boss."

She gave him a smile, and despite the circumstances, it was a real one. "I know you won't. I love all of you, you know that?"

"We know," Grace said tearfully. "We love you, too."

Lisbon gave them all one last look, standing there shoulder to shoulder, watching her miserably. "Take care of each other," she said at last. "And stay safe."

There was nothing more that could be said—at least, not in the time remaining to them- so Lisbon took her leave of them and joined Jane.

"You ready?" she muttered to him.

He wasn't ready. After so many years of thinking all he wanted from life was the chance to face Red John face to face, he found he wasn't ready to die after all. He looked at the woman beside him, thinking that he would have traded anything in the world for a few more moments with her. "Yeah."

"Let's go."

She started to walk towards the theater, and Jane fell in step beside her, feeling the warmth of her body against his shoulder and breathing in the intoxicating, spicy scent of her.

As they approached the theater door, he panicked. He put a hand on her arm. "Lisbon, I—"

She stopped. "Yeah?"

He let his hand fall from her arm and looked into her green eyes helplessly. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

She shook her head. "It's not about what I want. It's what needs to be done."

"Aren't you scared?" It wasn't what he'd meant to say; the words tumbled out of their own accord.

She met his gaze. "Yes. But I'm not going to let that stop me from doing what I have to do to save an innocent boy's life."

He scrubbed his face with his hand. "There are some days that I really hate how noble you are, you know that?"

She hesitated. "Listen, Jane… it's not too late for you. You don't have to come inside with me."

"The hell I don't," Jane said indignantly.

"I know you must be scared, too—"

"The only thing that scares me is the idea of losing you," he said sharply. "If you go, I go, Lisbon. That's already been decided. I just—I can't believe this is how this whole thing is going to end."

She smiled at him a little sadly. "In some ways, it's a fitting ending to our story, don't you think?"

"A protracted and painful death by a madman wielding a knife?" he said sarcastically.

"That's not what I mean."

"What do you mean, then?"

"This is our life's work, Jane. Yours and mine. We've done what we set out to do. We've brought down Red John."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "He's going to kill us, Lisbon," he reminded her.

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. He's finished, Jane. This is his last hurrah. The team knows his name. They know who he is, and they're going to stop him."

"And your life isn't too high a price to pay for that?"

She shrugged. "There are worse ways to die. At least we're going to die doing something important. Something with honor. That's more than most people can say."

"Saving Ben," Jane murmured.

For the past ten years, he'd thought he would die exacting revenge. Dying to save someone else wasn't something he'd expected to do, but as a reckoning of his life, he supposed it was better than anything he'd ever had reason to hope his life would amount to.

She nodded. "Keeping one more family intact." She took a deep breath. "Look, I know I should send you away. I shouldn't let you do this for me. But for what it's worth, part of me is thankful for your stubborn refusal to be sensible and let me do this alone. I'm grateful to have someone I trust next to me in this."

He looked into her eyes. "I told you a long time ago, Lisbon. I will be there for you, no matter what."

She reached out and squeezed his hand. "I know you will."

She let go of his hand and put her hand on the door handle. "Now, come on. It's show time."

She pushed the door open and entered the theater, Jane close by her side.