Chapter 9 - A Client & A Cure

"Come on man, toss me for it."

Cho took his eyes off his computer monitor as he addressed Rigsby. "No."

Turning back to his screen, the matter closed, his friend persevered, "But you got them talking again, you know, instead of yelling at each other. And you're second in command, you know, you have that air of authority about you."

"Then I'm ordering you to do it. I've had enough of that circus for one day."

Rigsby peered into his boss's office and watched as Jane took a seat opposite Lisbon as they continued to speak to each other. "He sat down. That's a good sign, right?"

"Depends," Cho replied, "means he's no longer a moving target. Easier for Lisbon to throw something at."

Rigsby looked at the sheets of paper in his hands and bit on his lower lip. "Okay. Here goes." He expelled a breath as Van Pelt came back to the bullpen with a coffee, smiling softly at her fiancé as she did so. Noticing his fraught expression she asked, "What's up?"

She followed his gaze into Lisbon's office. "He came back? When?"

"About five minutes ago," Rigsby replied as the two of them stood watching the scene in front of them.

"She's not yelling. Neither is he. Maybe they've made up already."

Cho snorted from his desk in response.

"What?" Van Pelt asked, "It's possible."

Cho leaned back in his chair to address her, an eyebrow raised. "All Jane'll do is agree to a truce so he can work the case. No way is he letting go of this that easy."

Van Pelt rolled her eyes. "Misery guts." Then she smiled as she indulged in a little fantasy. "Well I think they'll make up. They've been through too much together to let it continue like this for much longer."

"I hope you're right, babe," Rigsby replied, shaking his head, gathering the papers in front of him once again.

"What's that?" Van Pelt asked, nodding to the stack in his hands.

"Client list for the gallery. I was about to give it to the boss but thought I'd let them finish talking first. You know...in case they're making amends like you said." He tried to give the words an air of confidence.

Another snort from Cho. This time he added, "No you weren't. You're afraid of what'll happen in there when you mention one name on the list. In case another fight breaks out and they take it out on the messenger."

Rigsby glared at Cho before shrugging his shoulders at Van Pelt. "Walter Mashburn's on the list."

Van Pelt frowned for a moment before she nodded. "Oh...Oh! He had a thing for Lisbon, didn't he? A couple of years ago."

"You think anything ever happened between them?"

"I...I don't know. I think she liked him, though. But so what? It was ages ago and it was just a fling if it did, nothing serious." She grinned suddenly, "Although...maybe Jane'll realise what he let go of if he sees someone else interested." She grabbed the papers off him and began to take a couple of strides to the office, stopping as the door opened and Lisbon walked out, closely followed by Jane.

As they approached the bank of desks Lisbon cleared her throat, gaining Cho's attention so that her three team members watched her as she began to speak.

"Okay, guys. Jane and I have talked and we're going to try this again. We apologise for the blow up earlier. We're going to make sure that doesn't happen again. Jane has confirmed he wasn't involved in Costas' murder so we move on and look at Janet Walker's in isolation. If we need to revisit Costas' at a later stage then we will." She looked at Jane for support and confirmation but received nothing but a small shrug and nod in response.

An eye roll later when she realised this was all she was going to get out of him she continued, her voice back to its professional tone once again, "So... what have we got so far?"

Van Pelt piped up. "Just got the client list for the gallery."

Lisbon nodded. "Okay. Good place to start. There was nothing taken from the house so more than likely it was someone she knew who murdered her, not a random robbery where she caught the perp." She turned to Jane who was looking out the window and appeared disinterested in the conversation thus far. "Unless you have somewhere else for us to start, Jane. Any likely suspects that you met you think we should question first?"

"Wouldn't I have told you if I had?" he replied, a scant look in her direction, his tone condescending.

She clenched her fists, making a mental note to go to the shooting range later to expel some tension when this day was over. She turned back to her team. "Okay, guess we do this the long way. Background checks on everyone on the list. There were no hesitation marks on her body so more than likely someone with a previous history of violence. Look for that first when you go through the list. How many people on it?"

"Almost two hundred," Rigsby replied, "gallery's been up and running for a while."

Lisbon puffed a breath. "Okay. Jane, any thoughts on how to narrow it down?"

"Janet was strong, fit. She attended the gym regularly-"

"Right," Lisbon interrupted, not wanting to hear anymore about his ex's physical stamina, "so we narrow it down to those who would only be able to physically overpower her, should remove some of the older candidates straightaway."

She addressed Jane again. "Man you suspect or would it be possible for a woman to overpower her?"

He shrugged. "Uncertain. My instinct would be a man but a woman trained in combat, someone like yourself or Van Pelt, would certainly be capable also."

Lisbon nodded. "Fine. Split the list up between you. See what you come up with within the parameters agreed."

Jane added, "I want to look at all the background checks as they're ran so I can begin interviewing sooner rather than later."

"Fine-" Lisbon began to say as Van Pelt interrupted. "Uh...boss?"

"Yeah?"

Van Pelt spoke to Lisbon but looked sideways at Jane simultaneously. "Uh...well actually there is a name on the list that we've come across before."

"Oh, who?"

"Walter Mashburn."

Lisbon's lips parted and she blushed as Jane's eyes quickly flicked towards her. Van Pelt kept her expression calm but knew she'd just hit a bull's-eye. He covered it a second later but she saw a hint of jealousy in his eyes and she inwardly smiled to herself.

"Walter?" Lisbon confirmed.

"Yeah," Van Pelt replied, "he bought quite a few pieces from her over the years so my guess is that he probably knew her pretty well. He might be able to give us some insights who might be behind this as he's known her longer than Jane."

"Ah...yeah," Lisbon replied slowly, looking at the ground. This was all she needed. Two exes back in the same day. She mused that it must be like buses. She turned her head quickly to Jane, needing verification that this wasn't part of the secrets he was holding onto in relation to the case. "Did you know Mashburn was a client of hers?"

The look of shock that greeted her gave her the answer before he spoke. "No, of course not. I would have went to him myself if I knew."

"Okay, Van Pelt, give him a call, see if he can give us any thoughts on who might have killed-"

"Shouldn't we check he has an alibi first, Lisbon?" Jane interjected, bite to his words. "He has been at the centre of two murder investigations before."

Lisbon tilted her head back. "You...you think Walter could have killed her?" she asked in astonishment.

"Well we're not all as experienced as you in seeing his softer side," he snapped before drawing the jealousy from his tone and replacing it with softer prudency. "To answer your question, no, I doubt he's capable of it but shouldn't we cover all angles just in case?"

She covered the triumph she felt in seeing Jane affected by Walter's reappearance into her life with a placid face. Now he knew a little of what she had felt at the thought of him with another woman. "Van, Pelt, call Mashburn, see if you can verify his alibi for the night in question. If it pans out see if he can add anything of interest."

"Shouldn't you call him?" Cho asked her.

"Me?"

"He's more likely to open up to you instead of Van Pelt," Cho commented. "Has a thing for you," he added, his face devoid of expression, "you know, sexual."

Lisbon's cheeks flamed again and she could feel Jane's gaze burning into her, reddening them further. Before she spoke he did.

"Cho's right. You should call him, Lisbon." A pause followed and he added, "Why? Is there a reason you don't want to? You two have a falling out?"

He was pushing her buttons and any reasoning that Jane wasn't aware of her intimate encounter with Mashburn was dashed instantly. They had never discussed it when they were together but evidently he knew about her night with Walter. Unlike with Jane, she and Mashburn had left things amicable between them after their brief encounter in his hotel room.

She looked him straight in the eye. "Absolutely not. Fine. If that's what you really want I'll call him myself."

Before she took a step towards her office she hung on to his gaze for another moment, checking this was the route he really wanted her to go down and where it might lead her.

"Then what are you waiting for? Call him," he replied calmly, challenging her with his eyes.

Lisbon glanced at the vial on the seat beside her as she drove to the hospital. Her heart hammered in her chest and she prayed that this wasn't some hideous plan of Red John's to humiliate her. She pushed his words to her to the back of her mind. Jane would understand. He would do exactly the same as she had done. He'd saved her before, killing a man who could have given him Red John's identity in order to do so. So perhaps she was more important to him than Red John. And if she doubted that he'd just told her that very thing before kissing her. Red John didn't know Jane as well as he thought he did. She knew him better. As she abandoned her vehicle at the front of the hospital she grabbed the container and rushed to Jane's floor. Her team were waiting in the corridor outside Jane's room sitting on plastic chairs. Cho was reading a book and Rigsby had his arm around Van Pelt's shoulders. When he saw her approach he removed it quickly. Like she cared what was going on between them at the moment.

Van Pelt jumped up from her seat immediately. "Thank god, where have you been?"

Lisbon grasped the vial in her hand tighter and asked her, "How is he?"

"Holding in there at the minute. He was asking for you again twenty minutes ago. He's...he's pretty delirious, though. He began to shout at Rigsby, thought he was his father, I think. He's...he's not Jane anymore." Tears fell from the redhead's eyes but stopped a sob when she noticed the object in Lisbon's hand. "What's that?" she asked her boss, suspicion in her tone.

Ignoring her question and sniffing her own tears away Lisbon looked into the room and saw the doctor and a nurse were in Jane's room. Van Pelt added, "They threw us out. They said they're trying to stabilise him. He's started to have some seizures and the doctor said him getting agitated by us being there isn't helping."

Lisbon closed her eyes briefly before nodding at Van Pelt. "Everything's going to be alright," she said firmly, needing to believe the words herself.

As she opened the door Jane was lying in the bed and mumbling incoherently, his eyes closed tight. A nurse was checking his vitals and drip as the doctor wrote some notes on his chart. "Try this," Lisbon said, holding up the yellow liquid and gaining the medic's attention.

"Agent Lisbon-"

"Lisbon!" Jane suddenly shouted clearly, his eyes still shut. "Lisbon," he repeated softly.

"You need to inject this into him," she said, barely able to say the words as she took in Jane's appearance, his face sweat stained, his lips almost blue and his hair limp and lifeless. He opened his eyes but looked up at the ceiling, seemingly unaware of where he was. "Lisbon," he whispered again.

"I'm here," she said immediately, rounding up to the side of the bed and taking his hand in one of hers, gripping it tightly but feeling no response in return. Eyes on the doctor again she held out the vial. "Please. Try this."

The doctor took it from her and eyed it warily. "I have to know what it is first, Teresa."

She ran her free hand over Jane's hair and whispered, "I don't know what it is and I can't tell you where I got it. But...please...it's his last chance."

"This is extremely irregular. I just can't-"

"I don't give a damn!" She dropped Jane's hand and pulled the gun from her holster, pointing it at the doctor. The nurse screamed, attracting the attention of her team outside. Van Pelt was the first in the room. "Boss! What the hell!"

Ignoring her Lisbon relaxed her breathing and said to the doctor in the calmest tone she could muster. "Try it. I'm begging you. One way or another, this is happening."

The doctor shook his head slowly and sighed. "Fine. You can put the gun down. I'll do it."

Lisbon swallowed hard and put her gun away, turning a deaf ear to her team members' questions as to what was happening and focusing on watching the doctor inject Jane with the fluid. She grabbed his hand again in both of hers and whispered, "It's going to be okay, Jane. You're going to be okay."

He turned his head towards her, frowning, and smiled. "Thank you for making me sometimes feel like a good man, Teresa," he whispered before closing his eyes again.

A lump in her throat she stroked his hair again. When she felt able to speak a few seconds later she asked the doctor, "If it works how long until we know?"

The doctor, showing remarkable resilience for a man who just had a gun pointed at him a moment ago replied, "Well if I had a clue what it was you just gave me I'd be able to answer your question."

"I'm...I'm sorry," Lisbon offered to the doctor and the nurse. "Feel free to press charges."

The doctor shrugged. "Well let's see if Mr Jane recovers first. If he doesn't then we'll need to press the matter further."

The doctor whispered something to the nurse and she began to flick some switches on the monitor Jane was attached to.

"Doc?" Lisbon asked when the two medical staff communicated to each other silently, using hand gestures and nods.

"Patience," the doctor replied, the word rolling off his tongue slowly, his eyes fixated to the monitor.

A small smile began to creep across his face and the machine made a beeping sound.

"Doctor?" Van Pelt asked, coming closer to Lisbon.

"Blood pressure's stabilising," the doctor replied. After a second he added, "Heart rate's up too."

"Well that's good, right?" Rigsby muttered to Cho, earning him an eye roll in return.

"He's going to be okay?" Lisbon asked, tears falling down her face and grasping the cross at her neck.

The doctor laughed softly, shaking his head. "Well, there will be tests I need to run to check on any internal issues the poison may have caused but it looks like you've just saved his life."

A/N: Yeah, I know, Jane is still acting like a stubborn idiot. I promise he won't for the entire story (but I admit for a large part of it he will so you may want to jump out now if you can't take much more of it) but better times ahead (in the past) now that he's been cured. And the reappearance of Walter Mashburn in the present to stir things up a little. Thanks again for all the wonderful support for this story. I'm genuinely blown away by the interest in this one. I guess a lot of you like an angry Jane!