Warnings: maybe a little bit angsty at times...


"Yes, it is. He told me again actually – on Friday after the press conference. He came over to me and said that I was playing a dangerous game and didn't know whom I'd just crossed," Jane whispered, still holding on to Lisbon fiercely. "You were right, Teresa, it was a mistake to rile him up. Oh god, I'm so sorry. I was just indulging my personal dislike of him and now he's targeting you. I'm so, so sorry. I knew I'd screw this up. I always do with the ones I love," he added frantically, his hold on Teresa getting nearly hurtfully strong.

Lisbon managed to pry his hug open a bit so she could lock her eyes with his. "Patrick, please. You have to stay focused now. Nothing has happened to me and I can protect myself. And the team is going to do so as well. Please pull yourself together, love. There was no way you could've known on Friday. And though I didn't agree with your actions back then and thought you weren't thinking clearly, I don't see it that way now."

She stopped to search his eyes, but he was still in panic-mode it seemed. "Patrick, it was the right thing to do. You didn't know Bertram was Red John, and the director had to take responsibility for his lack in judgment. Now we know his motives were different of course, but with what we knew back then, it was only right he lost his job. I never disagreed with you on that point. I just didn't expect him to be sacked and was worried about the repercussions for you if he stayed in office. That's why I was angry with you."

She took his face between her hands, her thumbs wiping away the tears running down his cheeks without him realizing. "You haven't screwed up, imp," she whispered, for his ears only, before she continued with her usual voice. "We know who he is and we'll get him. But I need you with a clear head now, not filled with unnecessary guilt and regret. Please try to calm yourself. No one here is accusing you. We'll get him – together. We're the best damn team in this state, and we will get him, Patrick," she said with finality, and the others in the room expressed their affirmation.

One by one the three younger agents came closer and patted Jane on the shoulder and told him they didn't blame him. In the end the whole thing turned into the first group-hug the team had ever shared. Especially the men weren't that comfortable with it, but wordlessly agreed that these special circumstances demanded special actions. It was a reassurance for everyone in the room, that they trusted each other and would do everything in their power to bring this whole mess to a positive end – together - after so many years.

"Thank you," Jane finally pressed out, after they had released each other. "I thank you all for your support and friendship. I really appreciate it." His face was open for once in front of his colleagues and sincerity shone from it.


They went over the footage from the camera together afterwards and to their shock and dismay, they saw none other than their colleague Ron making his way up to the attic two times during the hours in question: The first visit had occurred at a quarter to three, when Patrick had been at home to get Lisbon clean clothes. The second one had taken place at a quarter to eight. It had been a close call, because only two minutes after he'd left, they could see Jane making his way up there.

"Guess, we found another mole," Cho commented without humor.

Van Pelt looked totally appalled. "Can you imagine? We've been working with him for years! He's always been so kind and helpful. How the hell does Red John manage to find all those minions?" This was actually a question that had been plaguing her for quite a while now. Intellectually, this new revelation didn't surprise her. After Craig nothing like this really could, but she still couldn't get her mind around the fact that seemingly nice and decent people could somehow be convinced to work for that psychopath.

"Well, not that I ever found the man charming, but Bertram has a certain way with people. You don't get into such a position without some people skills," Jane provided. "Furthermore, he must be a master of hypnosis among other things. Just remember what he did to Kristina."

He sighed. "There is a certain chance a lot of his confederates are actually programmed to do his dirty work. Anything else would be too big a risk anyway. Too many people really in the know are a liability he can't afford. He had to kill quite a few already, come to think of it."

He'd calmed down by now and was able to focus on the task at hand. A big part of his mind was busy coming up with plan after plan to get Red John, just to dismiss every single one of them right afterwards. But that was his modus operandi: he looked at every plan like it was a game of chess and played out different strategies and scenarios to figure out which one seemed the most fool-proof. This time he took extra care because he couldn't allow himself another mistake. Too much depended on him coming up with an airtight scheme – most importantly Teresa's life – and he most certainly wasn't willing to take any risks with it.


"I have to get back to my office," Lisbon announced a short while later. "I'm in charge right now and there'll be people needing me." She sighed, not happy at the prospect.

"At least one of you must always stay with her," Jane said seriously addressing his teammates. "She can't be left alone anywhere anymore. I would do it myself, but-", he looked down sheepishly, "-we all know I won't be much of a protector."

"Well, thankfully we keep you around for other reasons, so it's not that dire," Cho deadpanned.

"Maybe we should all gather in your office, boss. We could do it under the pretext of helping you with paperwork and such. We were in and out of your office the whole time yesterday. It wouldn't appear strange," Van Pelt suggested.

"If she gets as many visitors as yesterday, it would be a bit impractical, though," Jane objected. "Other than that I would feel most comfortable with all of us being close by."

"I don't expect that many people coming by today. Let's try it that way. If it doesn't work out, we'll find another solution," Lisbon replied.

"What about Ron, boss? Are we going to arrest him?" Rigsby asked.

She pondered the question for a moment, but it was Jane who spoke up, "If I may suggest something?" Lisbon nodded her consent. "It might turn out useful to have the mole still in place. We could feed him false information. We don't have a viable plan yet, so we should hold our options as open as possible."

"Sound reasoning, Jane. But he'll only be useful as long as he believes that we don't know about his role." Lisbon turned towards the other woman. "Van Pelt, who did you speak to in Security when you asked for the footage from the camera?" she inquired.

The redhead smiled. "It was Jake, boss. He has a bit of a crush on me." She blushed. "He promised he wouldn't tell anyone about my request." Suddenly the young woman looked slightly sheepish. "Actually, I forgot to mention that the camera wasn't supposed to be working last night according to Jake. There was some maintenance taking place but the technicians finished ahead of schedule. God, how could I have forgotten to tell you? This is important. I mean…"

Lisbon held up her hand to stop her. "It's alright, Grace. So much has happened and we're all in a state of stress. But this is good news. I guess Ron went up here without any disguise, because he believed that there wouldn't be any way to pin this on him."

"And it's a blessing, considering that your cell phone is most probably rigged, Teresa. Because this way it won't alert that bastard to the fact that we found his mole, even though he's overheard you talking to Van Pelt, requesting the footage," Jane added. "He'll just assume we didn't get anything."

The consultant paused a moment to think, then he continued, "We should probably try to act as inconspicuous as possible. We can't just all trudge down from here together. Lisbon does come up to the attic on occasion, but you three hardly ever enter this part of the building." He stopped again only to suggest a moment later, "I recommend that you leave one by one and that you make sure no one is watching you when you reach the bottom of the stairs."

Sharing his thought process for once, he went on, "Our mole will of course know that we've found the letter by now and might be in a state of unease, but we shouldn't give away too much. He'll notice our gathering in your office and probably interpret it correctly. But any other reaction from us would be absurd considering the circumstances. So all he'll have to report to Bertram is that we're acting exactly as expected."


The others nodded in agreement. They packed their gear and left the attic. Cho went down first, Van Pelt followed a few minutes later, and Rigsby made his way down next. Lisbon and Jane decided to leave together and engage in some open bickering while entering the bullpen because that was probably the sight people were most used to from them.

"So you're practically the boss-boss-boss at the moment, Lisbon. I hope you'll not succumb to the power-rush and turn into even more of a ruthless dictator," Jane teased her when they passed the break room, which was occupied by several agents from other teams.

"You better not provoke me, Jane. I'm finally in the position to sack you once and for all. No big bosses to hide behind anymore," she replied snootily.

"Ah come on, Lisbon. You know you can't manage without me. Who's supposed to close all the cases for you? Admit it: you're totally dependent on me." He grinned smugly.

"In your dreams, Jane. So maybe we won't catch as many bad guys, but at least I'd be rid of the worst guy." She cast him an apologetic look to take the sting out of her words, but he winked and let her know, he wasn't the least bit insulted.

"What can I say, you've finally figured out my secret weapon, Lisbon: takes a bad guy to know a bad guy. That's why you holier-than-though cops hardly ever catch them." He chuckled evilly. "But before you fire me, you should consider what I would be capable of on the other side of the law. I could start a reign of terror in this fine state and you'd sure as hell never catch me."

She groaned dramatically. "When you put it like that I'm afraid I'll just have to keep you, even if it pains me."

He chuckled again. "I knew you'd see it my way eventually, Agent Lisbon."


They entered her office and both released a sigh of relief. The other members of the team were already there and had set up their computers on her conference table.

"That went well," Teresa stated. "That show should've been convincing enough. Though really, Jane: a reign of terror? Should I be worried?" She raised her brows.

He grinned impishly. "Definitely, Lisbon. I've been planning my future carrier as a criminal mastermind for years. I know all your silly little cop tricks now, because you've so generously granted me insight into the heart of crime fighting. Who could possibly stop me?"

She rolled her eyes and slapped his arm lightly. "Well, mister. Only problem for you is I know where you live."

This caused snickers from all occupants in the room and lightened the mood vastly. They all concentrated on their work for a while, Lisbon at her desk, the other agents placed around her table. Jane was lounging on the couch deep in thought. Suddenly he jumped up. "Darn!" he exclaimed. "He knows that we know."

His colleagues, who'd all looked up at his totally uncharacteristic outburst, eyed him with confusion. "What do you mean?" Lisbon asked.

"Bertram. He knows that we know. This is dangerous. I should've known. I'm really off my game lately," the blond man ranted, his face a picture of annoyance.

"How could he possibly know?" Rigsby frowned.

Jane sighed. "The database of course. The man has excess to the CBI system. It all makes sense now. Bertram had or still has a high priority access. Remember the file with the video showing Darcy that was sent to our computer as if it came from outside the system? Guess it didn't." He cast them all a pointed look. "I'm sure he put in some kind of trigger to alert him as soon as someone called up his DNA profile," he added. "He always covers all his bases."

The others groaned when they realized that he was probably right. "What now? He must know we're on his track. Any idea what he might do?" Lisbon voiced the question they were all sitting with.

The consultant shook his head in dismay. "Other than sending a whole army of assassins in here to eliminate us all? No, I don't know what his next move could be." He looked defeated and added quietly, "Sometimes I sort of play around in my head with possible scenarios. I've always considered it a strong likelihood that the moment we get really close, he'd stage some kind of endgame. He sees himself as an artist. A final stand or last hurrah might be his choice." He exhaled audibly. "Then again, that could just as well be more like my own fantasy. I don't know."

"I think that is a distinct possibility, Jane," Cho stated. "During the last years this has turned more and more into a chess game between you and him. His motives for killing have changed. When was the last time he has actually acted according to his original MO?"

The consultant pondered the question. "Not once since Carter, who told me that Red John wanted to retire," he finally said. "Oh no! Don't tell me I'm the sole reason he's been killing lately? That if I'd given up, he'd have stopped his killing altogether?" He put his hands before his face in horror.

"No, Patrick," Lisbon replied warmly to reassure him. "You've just distracted him from his original game. Obviously he enjoys toying with you more than slaughtering random, innocent women these days. That's a good thing in my book." She got up from her desk and put a comforting hand on his arm. "Who has he killed personally since the Carter-incident? Panzer, that morgue attendant who'd assisted you with Rosalind, and your father. Guess, Keen should be added as well, though he didn't do it with his knife," she recapped.

Jane had lowered his hands and locked eyes with her. "You're right, Teresa. He's been concentrating solely on our little face-off. Panzer was killed both because he'd insulted him and also as a kind of favor to me." He sighed, a flicker of shame passing his face. "He even left some sort of message for me making that clear. Bret Stiles told me that Red John had admired my set-up."

He paused to collect his thoughts. "The murder of the morgue attendant was to get Darcy involved even more and to make it pretty hard for me to deny any longer that Carter hadn't been the right man. He wanted me to acknowledge that Red John was still out there. It also led to the FBI assuming that I was one of his disciples, which - as his attempt to gain my friendship in Vegas showed clearly - is exactly what he would have wished to happen."

He looked deep in thought, but continued to speak after only a short break. "Alex was personal, obviously. He'd found out that I didn't have the best of relationships with my father, who had also had the audacity to attack me with Red John's weapon of choice - with the intention of killing me, or at least hurting me seriously. So Alex had to die – again, like with Panzer, both because he felt insulted and as a kind of favor to me. Keen is just collateral damage, so to speak. The weak-minded minion who was about to break."

Patrick cast them all inquiring looks. "Now just one question remains: Why? Why the hell is he so obsessed with me that he's given up his original perversion over it?"


"Maybe what Keen said is actually not too far from the truth," Rigsby injected, his face showing deep disgust. "Maybe he really kind of loves you or something. I mean, in a very twisted sort of way."

"Hey, no need to pull such a face. I'm a pretty lovable guy," Jane tried to joke, but not even he found it particularly funny. He turned serious again and said, "If that is really the case, what could be the consequences for the current situation? Any ideas anyone?"

"One thing's for sure: he'll make this personal, Jane," Cho provided.

"And he'll want to try and dictate all the rules. So maybe your idea of a final showdown is valid," Van Pelt added.

"Which pretty much leaves us in a defensive position," Jane grumbled, pacing the small office like a caged animal. "I hate this. I'd much rather we could corner the bastard at our own conditions instead of sitting here and waiting for his next move."

Lisbon pulled him over to the couch and pressed him down on it. "Please try to keep your cool. You're not helping matters right now. And Patrick?" She eyed him warily. "Promise me that under no circumstances are you going and confronting him on your own in some hair brained scheme and under the pretext of wanting to keep us safe." Her tone was insistent and serious.

All eyes were on Jane now. He looked uncomfortable and cornered, but didn't answer, which disconcerted her. "Jane!" she pleaded, her eyes locking with his. "Don't even think of it. I swear I'll cuff you to one of the team if necessary. We're in this together and we need to act as a team."

He nodded, albeit reluctantly. "I promise. No going it alone."

They all sighed with relief.

"Now what? We stay here like sitting ducks?" Patrick inquired moodily.

"I see no other options right now," Lisbon answered, patting his hand.

"This is ridiculous. How is this supposed to work? Are we going to do everything together now? Like using the break room or the facilities? Or go out and get lunch? Are we all going to move in together as well? This isn't very practical, Lisbon. We need a plan," Jane ranted, pulling his hand out of Lisbon's hold.

"I agree," Cho chimed in. "I have no idea what sort of plan, but we can't just put our lives on hold like that. We don't even know when he'll make his next move. He's proven that he has the patience to wait for the best opportunities. He'll just wait until we start to let our guards down."

"I don't like it," Teresa said. "I know you're probably right, but I want to play this safe. I'm not willing to risk your lives."

Now Patrick took one of her hands and intertwined their fingers. "I understand your concerns, Teresa. And the last thing I want is for any of you to get hurt. But we can't leave it all up to him. Maybe we should try to use his mole. At least he doesn't know that we have exposed his minion. I need some time to do some serious thinking." He made to get up.

"Don't even think of going up to the attic on your own, Jane," Lisbon told him with a death glare and a matching grip on his arm.

"Teresa, please. I need some space. I'm probably the safest person in the world right now. He doesn't want to hurt me directly. Remember? He loves me," he tried to joke her concerns away and freed his arm, but all four agents in the office looked at him with less than friendly expressions.

Patrick lifted his hands in a pacifying gesture and rolled his eyes. "Okay, I get it. You win. I'll stay here like a good boy. Let's hope I'll be able to hatch out one of my ingenious plans with all of you hovering over me…" Shooing his lover off the couch, he stretched out on it and said with a snooty voice, "Expect a complaint about my unacceptable working conditions on your desk come morning, Agent Lisbon. If necessary, I'll take it up with your superiors."

She couldn't quell a short snicker and gave in to a sudden urge to ruffle his curls on her way back to her desk. "No superiors, Jane, remember? Just little old me on a power-trip, I'm afraid."

He snorted and grinned in her direction. "Power's already gotten to your head. You never dared to destroy my neatly groomed hair before. Guess I'm doomed then. We all are."

The whole team exchanged some amused looks and the mood was relatively light again. But Jane's next statement – though uttered in jest – brought them back to the difficult situation they were facing. "Now shut up, the whole lot of you. The genius needs time to think." And with that, he closed his eyes and retreated into his formidable mind.


TBC

A/N: I have to admit that I'm a tad disappointed I got so little feedback for the last chapter. I'd really been looking forward to getting your opinions on Jane's (or rather my) conclusions about Red John. I was/am rather unsure about it all, because I'm not exactly the most strategic thinking person and I'm always afraid that my logic is flawed and that I might've missed a fact that totally contradicts my deductions. As a matter of fact I'm not even that convinced Bertram will be revealed as the real RJ on the show. He's always appeared kind of too obvious for me to believe that he's Heller's choice (you know, like with the whole quoting Blake thing and his strange meeting with Kirkland...). But on the other hand there is a certain lapse in the logic of the episode "Strawberries And Cream" that indicates at least a connection of some kind between Bertram and RJ.

Anyway, I'm glad that those who sent me a review seem to agree with the logic behind my reasoning and that I'm not the only one who noticed the either 'slip-up' or clue in the Season 3 finale that served as the focal point of my conclusions.

I'd still love to get your opinions on the matter and can only hope that the lack of further reactions so far doesn't derive from your total confusion...

Last but not least: Reviews are like Lisbon's urge to ruffle Jane's curls - a power too strong to resist... (okay, I concede, that was a lame one).