A/N: Wow, can't believe the great response my little story is getting, thanks so much for all the lovely comments, they're spurring me on.

Chapter 11 – Worry

Lisbon's eyes widened. 'What the hell!', looking at Abbott and then at Jane.

Jane's eyes were still focused on the smiley face on the paper, his face expressionless, the cogs in his mind whirling on overdrive.

'Thoughts, Jane?' Abbott asked, eyeing him with a mixture of suspicion and concern.

Jane didn't answer but continued to look at the face on the paper, memories flooding back to him that he thought he had finally put to rest.

Lisbon looked over at him, worried herself now, seeing the same Patrick Jane she used to see in the attic of the CBI building towards the end of his hunt, a mixture of sadness, anger and emptiness across his face. She hadn't seen his face like this since he had come back from the island and she wanted nothing more than to take him in her arms and hold him close.

Before she could say or do anything Jane spoke, his eyes still transfixed on the image in front of him. 'How was she killed?' he asked quietly.

Lisbon felt her stomach churn and prayed to god they weren't about to find another young girl gutted, looking at Abbott for a response.

'Looks like strangulation' he replied. Lisbon exhaled, feeling guilty at her relief.

Jane finally looked up and gave the evidence bag back to Abbott. 'Were her eyes open or closed?' he asked evenly now, his demons put to the back of his mind once again.

'Open, why?'

'Just that most people who strangle someone close the victim's eyelids afterwards, maybe because of feeling shame or guilt at what they've done. It's interesting that this killer didn't feel the compulsion to do that, obviously.'

'So, what does that tell us?' Abbott asked.

Jane shrugged. 'Guess whoever did this feels no remorse for their actions, it was perhaps a justified kill for them.'

Lisbon finally spoke again. 'Justified kill? She was a young girl going to college, what possible harm could she have done to warrant this?'

Jane turned his face towards her, a little surprised at her outburst. 'I'm not saying what they did was right, Lisbon, I'm just trying to look at it from their perspective.'

She nodded and looked back at Abbott. 'Is the body still in her room?'

'No, M.E. took it away for the autopsy.'

'Were there any signs of sexual assault?'

'Not so far, no, body was fully clothed, lying on her bed. She hadn't turned up for a lecture and according to her friends she never missed one so they went to her room to find her after class. They said if they hadn't seen her eyes staring up at the ceiling like that, they would have thought she was asleep.'

'Are there any cameras in the hallway?'.

'No, none present-'

'I need to see the room' Jane interjected.

Abbott looked at Lisbon, then at Jane and replied, 'Okay, go ahead.'

Jane started to walk off immediately and Lisbon called after him. 'Hey, aren't you going to wait for me?'

He turned his head and replied, still striding forward, 'No, you finish up here, I'll see you up there.'

Lisbon turned her face back to Abbott, unable to hide the anxiousness in her eyes.

'Is he going to be okay on this one?' he asked her, genuine worry in his tone.

'I hope so' she replied honestly.

Lisbon caught up with Jane in the corridor leading to Kerry's room. 'Hey Jane, wait up!'

He stopped and waited for her, smiled and asked her 'So, did Abbott ask you if I was about to crack up then?'

She looked up at him, her hand touching his arm lightly, eyes full of concern. 'He's not the only one worried about that.'

He looked down at her, took her other hand and said gently, 'I'm okay, Teresa, I was obviously a bit shocked earlier but I'm okay now. I promise.'

She looked up at him, unconvinced, but let it go for now. 'Okay then, let's go see her room.'

Cho was there when they arrived, removing her laptop. 'You guys up to speed?' he asked evenly.

Lisbon nodded. 'Creepy, right?'

'No doubt. I'm going to get this to Wylie, see if he can pull anything of interest off it', pointing to the laptop. 'Her friends are waiting to be questioned further, you want to take care of that?' he asked Lisbon.

She nodded and replied 'Sure.' It was still strange when Cho gave her an order but was proud of the agent he had turned out to be.

Jane was walking around the room, looking at photographs on Kerry's desk and the books in the bookcase, his mind formulating the type of person she was.

Cho was about to leave when he turned back, saying in a clearly uncomfortable manner, 'Lisbon, can I talk to you for a moment, outside?'

Lisbon was mildly surprised. Kimball Cho was definitely not one for heart to hearts. Jane smiled as she left the room.

'I believe you and Jane are a couple now, is that true?' he said in his usual monotone voice. Lisbon was more than surprised now and merely nodded in return, unsure of what to say. 'Okay then' he nodded. 'Then I guess I'm happy for you both.' He turned to go and added, 'I've told him if he hurts you again I'm going to break his kneecaps.' She smiled at his back as he was leaving, shaking her head.

She went to see the friends, introducing herself and taking a note of their names, warding off questions about Kerry and telling them she would be back soon to question them.

Lisbon re-entered the room to find Jane lying on the bed reading a text book called Serial Killer Psychology. She couldn't help but think this was ghoulish, considering a young girl had been lying there strangled a few hours earlier.

He didn't take his eyes off the book but asked her brightly, 'So, did Cho tell you about him threatening me with violence should I break your heart?' He sat up on the bed, smiling at her now, the book on his lap.

She smiled back. 'Yes, so you better behave yourself.'

She looked around the room now, a wistful look on her face.

'What is it?' he asked.

'I don't know, just thinking what a shame this is, a young girl with so much life in her.' She paused and added, 'I was hoping my first case back would be something more...normal, not something that would make us think of the past.'

He smiled up at her. 'Oh, so you wanted a run of the mill murder then?'

She looked down, shaking her head. 'You know what I mean.'

He put the book down, got off the bed, shut the door and took her in his arms, kissing her gently. She held on to him until he broke away, a little shaky despite his earlier promise that he was fine.

He went to the window and looked out, the old CBI Jane look back on his face. 'Did you know that part of the criminology course here has students studying Red John? I've just been reading about it. He paused then added, 'Looks like Kerry Matthews was writing a thesis on him, she had all the books where he's mentioned and the passages about him are highlighted.' He shook his head, hatred filling his face as he continued to look out the window. 'He would have been so pleased that he reached such notoriety' he said dryly.

Lisbon approached him, touching his arm again. It seemed to pull him out of his trance as his face softened looking at her. She thought for a moment at first then spoke. 'Really? I guess it's morbid fascination, yes, but it's probably no different to these kids than studying Jack the Ripper or Ted Bundy. They didn't know him, didn't see what he was capable of with their own eyes.' She paused, chastising herself for mentioning that, and then added, 'He's just another character in a book for them, Jane.'

Jane nodded, looking down. 'He was a character, all right' he replied wryly.

'So, do you want to interview the friends with me?', trying to focus his mind on something slightly less destructive than the memories flooding his mind now, a trick she had often used effectively on him at the CBI.

'No, you go ahead, I want to have some more time to look around here, I'll read your notes and see if anything pops out to me' he replied, his hands on her arms.

'Okay, then, I'll see you back at the office' she said, kissing him on the cheek. Something in him broke at the thought of her leaving him even for a short time and he pulled her back, kissing her softly, then deeper until she pulled away.

'Jane! Just because I'm feeling worried about you at the moment doesn't mean you get to take advantage of me!'

'That's a pity' he said, smiling, the joke enabling him to let go of her finally.

Before she left the room he said to her 'Ask them what they know about her family - parents, siblings, and so on. And ask them what she wanted to be when she graduated.'

'Okay, why?'

'Just trying to build up an image of her, that's all' he said brightly, turning his back to her, a worried look back on his face.