A/N: Thanks again to all you lovely people who are taking the time to read and review this one. I'll be away for a week or so soon so next update may be a little slow in coming. But this chapter is the lengthiest to date so hope you enjoy and makes up for that somewhat. And so pleased the majority of you like the addition of Mashburn, I'm looking forward to writing him for the time he'll be in this story. And a little more of a nicer Jane coming up (kind of) along with a revelation of his real interest in the case.

Chapter 10 – New Beginnings

Lisbon sat at her desk and called Mashburn's office, leaving a message for him to call her in relation to a current case. Whilst on the phone with his secretary she found out that he had been in Europe brokering a deal on the night of Janet's murder and was relieved he wasn't going to be a murder suspect for a third time. The few hours following passed in relative peace and quiet until she saw Wainwright appear at her door.

"Just heading home, Lisbon, but wanted a word first."

"Sure, what's up?" she replied brightly, putting her pen down and clasping her hands in front of her on top of the desk.

"Wanted to check how Jane's settling in."

She shrugged. "Everything's fine. No problems so far."

"That's not what I heard. I was informed there was an altercation earlier between you two in the middle of the office in front of your people. I wouldn't call that fine."

She blushed in embarrassment, wishing she'd just come clean to her boss, shrugging again. "Yeah, well, that was a mistake obviously. Things got a little...heated between us. But we've talked since. I assure you it won't happen again."

Wainwright nodded slowly. "I hope not. You need anything from me to help smooth the waters?"

She suppressed a smile at his misplaced thinking that he could help make things better between her and Jane. "Nope, we're good but thanks," her tone a little too light. She knew he'd seen through the cheerful facade she was putting on when she saw his expression turn anxious.

"Okay, well let me know if I can do anything. Night, Lisbon."

As the team got to work on running background checks Jane became reacquainted with his couch. He held back a contented sigh as he eased himself back into the leather and looked at Elvis on the ceiling. He realised he wasn't totally successful in hiding his enjoyment of this part of being back when Van Pelt chipped in beside him, "See, I knew you must have missed us too."

He rolled his eyes, "I've missed my couch, I'll agree to that at most."

He closed his eyes to shield them from Van Pelt's less than subtle surreptitious smile as she tapped the keys on her computer keyboard, lulling him into a sleep.

He opened his eyes, squinting as the bright sunlight came through the blinds in his hospital room. 'Not dead yet', the first three words that entered his head. He glanced at Lisbon, asleep on a chair at his side, her hair covering one of her cheeks. She looked exhausted, dark circles underneath her eyes. A beeping sound beside him drew his attention to the monitor he was attached to and he frowned, reading his vitals. Blood pressure looked normal, pulse rate looked better too. He felt weak as hell and had a splitting headache but he felt almost human and in better control of his mental faculties. He turned to Lisbon again, moving slightly on the bed as he did so. Upon hearing the creak she opened her eyes.

"At last, you're awake. How are you feeling?" she smiled with warmth and affection in her tone, mixed in with tiredness.

He went to speak but the words caught in his dry throat. She immediately got up and placed a glass of water to his mouth, helping him to sit up to take a sip. "Just small sips, don't gulp it."

His throat moistened he nodded and she placed the glass back on the table beside him. "What's going on?" he frowned, his voice hoarse as he lay back on his pillow.

She grinned, "You're going to be okay, Jane. You're going to be fine."

He attempted to take the words in but his brain was obviously still not functioning at its full capacity. "But...how?" he finally said.

He saw her swallow hard and she shook her head before words came spilling out of her mouth. "A cure was found. You're going to be weak for a few days, maybe a week, headaches, dizzy spells, especially if you try to do too much too soon. So you have to take it easy, Jane. No stress either. So none of your foolish games or tricks to get out of here. That's an order. You'll be on a drug regimen for a couple of weeks to get your vitals and cell levels back up to what they should be and you'll need to careful about what you eat for a while but-" She took breath to stop herself crying, "but the important thing is that you're going to be fine. You're going to live."

He continued to frown at her, unable to find the words to reply and wondered for a split second if this was a hallucination. He was vaguely aware he had one about his father the last time he was awake.

"Jane?" she urged when he didn't respond.

"Is this real?" he asked softly.

She grinned and laughed. "Yes, it's real." She sat beside him on the bed and took his hand in hers, squeezing it. "See, real?"

He blinked rapidly for a second, looking down at their hands. He ran his thumb slowly over her knuckles and felt the softness of her skin. He breathed in, inhaling her unmistakeable scent. He finally looked her in the face, "I'm really going to be okay?" he asked, his voice breaking.

"Yeah, you are," she nodded.

"But how?" he persevered. "They were able to work out a cure?"

A moment's hesitation. "The doctor injected you with it a few hours ago. It stabilised you pretty quickly."

She stared into his blue green eyes, seeing hope in them at last, a spark of life once again. She thought about Red John's words, wondering if he might have been correct. Would she see the warmth she saw now in them change to anger, hurt, hatred even if she told him the truth? Would the stress of hearing how he was cured put back his recovery? Would he refuse the treatments he had to continue with to get back to full strength? Could she even lie to him effectively?

"What's wrong?" he asked, seeing the worry in her expression. "Afraid I'm going to be a bad patient over the next few days?"

She laughed to cut the tension, "I'm not afraid of that. I already know you're going to be a bad patient."

"Then?"

"Jane, the cure-"

"I don't care."

"What?"

"Well I know by your face that you've done something to find it for me. Something perhaps not entirely legal. The doctor had given up hope. So had I to be truthful. But...but you never stopped looking, did you?" he asked in wonderment.

He laughed softly, shaking his head. "I'm guessing you pointing a gun at someone probably came into play somewhere along the line. I'm assuming you were able to get your hands on some experimental drug from one of the large pharmaceuticals or something like that. I don't care what you did to get it. Probably best I don't know in case I'm called to testify against you in court."

He stopped talking for a second and frowned, "I won't have to do that, will I?"

She had placated the doctor and the nurse earlier into not filing charges against her. She shook her head, unable to fully get her thoughts in order but briefly wondering if this was some kind of divine intervention that was telling her not to tell him the truth.

He smiled. "Good. I'm just thankful that you didn't give up. Thank you, Teresa. Thank you for saving my life."

He woke to the once familiar sound of Rigsby and Cho debating the finer points of hot dog toppings as Van Pelt continued to work at her computer, choosing the wiser option to tune them out. He sat up, stretching his shoulders as he had done on many occasions, gaining her attention. "Good sleep?"

"Passable," he replied, yawning, glancing at his watch. It was in fact the best sleep he'd had in months even if it was only for a couple of hours. "You got something for me to look at?"

Van Pelt gestured with her head to the stack of papers on her desk as she continued working. "Should be enough to get you started."

"Thanks," he replied, getting up and flicking through them.

"You're not going to leave things with Lisbon like this, are you?" she asked as he stood at her side, papers in his hand.

"Do me a favour and stop interfering, Van Pelt. You think I didn't see through your little ruse earlier? You really think Mashburn showing up is going to make me act like some kind of jealous fool? If Lisbon wants to get involved with him then that's her business. Nothing to do with me and I'm not about to get in the middle of it."

The sharpness in his retort made her smile slightly. "Yeah, you really don't sound jealous at all," she replied, sarcasm in her tone.

Ignoring the remark he replied, "Like Lisbon said we're going to have to work together on this case. We don't have to be best friends for us to do that effectively. So quit the matchmaking. I suggest you concentrate on your own wedding and relationship and not ours."

She glanced up at him and gave him a withering look. "You realise by acting like you have done since you've been back you're being petty not to mention an idiot, right?"

"That's your opinion."

"No, that's the truth," she replied, flicking her hair and turning back to her screen.

The slight kerfuffle had attracted the attention of Rigsby and Cho. "Everything okay?" Rigsby ventured, looking between Jane and his fiancée.

"Yeah, we're good." She glanced at Jane. "Right?"

He nodded, turning to Rigsby. "Yeah, we're fine. No need for you to get on your white horse and come to her rescue. She's more than capable of fighting her own corner. We were just having a frank exchange of views."

"He's right, Wayne. Go back to work."

As Rigsby went back to his desk and Jane was about to sit back down on his couch he noticed Wainwright leave Lisbon's office, his lips stuck in a thin line, his posture tense. Without thinking he walked over to her door and opened it, sticking his head in, "Everything okay with Wainwright?"

She was shocked by his sudden casualness and detected a note of concern in his tone. She took in his slightly ruffled hair, ascertaining that he'd just woken from a nap. Maybe he needed to be fully awake to be testy and hostile with her.

She shrugged, "Yeah, he heard about our little...exchange earlier. I told him it wouldn't happen again."

"Okay. You talked to Mashburn yet?"

Drawing her eyes back to the paper in front of her to hide her blush, "Left a message with his secretary for him to call but he has an alibi for the night in question."

Jane clicked his tongue. "Well I'm sure you're happy about that at least."

She murmured under her breath as she wrote on the paper, "Yeah, good to know that both of us haven't slept with murderers, huh?"

He smiled faintly hovering at the door for a second. As he moved from it on an impulse he moved back again, her head still in her paperwork. "Uh...just wanted to say that I do appreciate the team's help with this case."

Taken off guard she gaped in surprise. "Okay...it's...it's no problem, Jane." Her tone professional she asked, "Anything with the background checks so far?"

"Just started to go through them but should be ready for some interviews in the morning."

"Sounds good, I'm going to go home soon. It's been a long day."

"Yeah, it has that," he replied softly, looking off to the side.

"Jane, you know that I know there's more to this case then what you've told me."

He shrugged slightly. "Was there a question attached to that statement?"

She puffed out a breath. "You can still trust me despite what you might think. Whatever is going on here you can tell me. I just...I just want to help."

He licked his lips nervously. "I'll see you in the morning, Lisbon."

He bit his bottom lip as their eyes locked on each other before he turned on his heels and left.

She leaned back in her chair and shook her head. That man certainly knew how to imbalance her emotions. She was ready to kill him one moment to almost feeling sorry for him the next. Almost.

"Hey you," Jane smiled as she entered the hospital room.

"Hello, you look better," she replied. "You've got some colour in your face at least."

She placed a cup of herbal tea on the tray in front of him along with a brown paper bag. "A blueberry muffin?!" he exclaimed before opening the bag and frowning at her.

She grinned, "Just blueberries for now. No refined sugar or caffeine just yet."

He sighed, plopping one of the berries into his mouth, "Mmm," he murmured unenthusiastically as he chewed, before shaking his head. "You're enjoying this diet regimen a little too much, Lisbon. And I've noticed you won't allow Rigsby to visit alone. You're afraid of me hypnotising him into bringing me a cheeseburger, aren't you?" he teased, his eyes twinkling.

"Yeah, like you'd be capable of hypnosis in your condition," she countered.

"You would be surprised what I'm capable of in my weakened state, my dear," he replied softly, his eyebrows raised.

Blushing she looked away, "Well, do as your told and you'll be out of here in a few days."

A moment passed in silence as she looked out the window. "Look at me," he said softly, reaching out to take her hand. "Please?"

She drew her eyes to him, panic making her heart rate increase. She knew he must have felt her pulse rate do the same. In the day since he'd come round they hadn't talked about the kiss between them. Instead they had relaxed into familiar territory of her bossing him about during his recovery.

"I don't regret it, Teresa. I'm not embarrassed I said what I did. I meant it. Every word."

She swallowed hard, "Jane...you're all hyped up on adrenalin or something. You're not ready to make that kind of statement."

He thought for a second. "Are you sure it's not you that's not ready to hear it?"

She shrugged, her mind taking her into dangerous territory, "I...I'm not sure," she said honestly. "We work well as friends, why change that?"

"Because I don't want to just be your friend anymore. And I don't think you want to be just mine either."

She asked the question she was up to now afraid to ask. "What about Red John?"

He nodded, obviously expecting her to ask, "I still want to catch him. I still want my revenge. But...but I'm not willing to stay stuck in this half life just to pursue him any longer at the cost of everything else I could have. I want to move on from that. With you." He shook his head and sighed. "I'm not saying it's going to be easy. And...if we were to start something and he were to find out it would increase the risk to your life-"

"I'm not concerned about that," she interjected.

Smiling, "I know you're not but I am. Until he's caught I can't offer you everything you deserve. We would have to keep it as quiet as we could." Looking down he sighed loudly. "When I think about it some more I'm really not offering you much."

He raised his head and stared back at her, intensifying his gaze, "But I promise that if we do take this step then whatever time we do spend together I'll make sure it's fun, romantic, whatever you want. I'll give you one hundred percent of me when I'm with you."

"Jane, I-"

"Don't answer me now. Think about it." He laughed softly. "Despite my earlier bravado I'm really not in any state to woo you at present."

"Woo me?" she smiled, raising an eyebrow. "Who says that nowadays?"

He grinned back. "Give me a break, Lisbon. I'm a little out of practice at this kind of thing."

As she packed up some papers to read through when she got home and turned off her desk light she exited her office, glancing at the brown leather couch on her way. It was empty as it had been for a year but she smiled as she saw the unmistakeable indentation of Jane's body. As she dropped her coffee cup in the sink she saw his turquoise teacup on the drainer. She lifted it, running her fingers around the rim and sighed, smiling.

"If you like it that much I can buy you a set."

The voice interrupted her and she almost dropped it. Exhaling in relief she put it back on the drainer carefully and turned around.

"Walter. I expected you to call, not show up," she said, frowning slightly.

"Just doing my civic duty in answering the call of Law Enforcement. Of course, when it's my favourite CBI Agent that needs my help then that may have hastened my involvement," he grinned.

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "How have you been, Walter?"

"All the better for seeing you, Teresa," he responded, his eyes taking in her frame. "Although you do look a little weary. And it looks like you haven't had time to eat I suspect. Come on; if we're going to talk then let's do so over some food."

"Walter-" she warned.

He held his hands up. "I promise! No ulterior motives!" More seriously he asked, "This is about Janet Walker, correct?"

"Yeah, how did you know-?"

"It was in the press and I was a good client of hers. And you already checked I had an alibi on the night of her murder." He smiled again. "At least this time I'm not a suspect. That was getting a little old, I have to say."

He came a step closer. "I knew her for a while. I'll help any way I can. But who's to say we can't have a little catch up at the same time."

"Fine. But nowhere fancy to eat." She gestured to her work clothes. "I'm not exactly dressed for fine dining."

"Well you could come to my place-"

"Stop," she laughed. "Behave yourself."

Jane settled into his motel room and made himself a cup of tea. He sat on the edge of the bed and sighed loudly. It had been a hell of a day. It had been a hell of a year truth be told. He put the cup down and glanced at the file box he'd just brought from his car. He lifted the lid and pulled out the folder from the top. Janet Walker was written on the front in his own handwriting. Opening it he flicked through his handwritten notes on her, observations before he'd met her and conversations he'd had since he'd introduced himself. He'd listed the names of all those she had mentioned to him while conversing on one page along with those he had met himself while in her company. Out of his inside pocket he took out a copy of her client list and began to cross check the names against each other, making notes against those that matched.

He had a list of a couple of hundred people. He was certain one of them was Red John.