Gosh, this was such a beautiful bitter-sweet goodbye, I didn't know how to take it.

Awesome:-)

Love this so much. Thank you for writing it! Looking forward to seeing what happened if RJ would have been caught!

I have just reread this story before starting "Caged Tyger" and realized that I haven't left a review yet. Sorry!
It's beautifully written and so heart wrenching! Totally in character, too. Great work that I am happy you decided to continue!

Second time around, a year later.

"[...] her fingernails scraping his chest like tiny daggers dipped in guilt [...]"
What an absolutely gorgeous turn of phrase. Grabs your attention right away, I love it.

And you know what, past those first few sentences, I was so immersed in your story that I completely forgot to take notes. Each sentence flows into the next one, then the next one, again and again, until I got to the end of the story before I could pull out enough to analyse it as it deserves. So, congratulations. Considering the way I read (and/or watch TV shows, with pauses every time emotions run too high), that's quite a feat.

My heart bleeds for Jane here. Lisbon as well. She was given a raw deal, between all the crap she went through, directly and indirectly because of Jane, and because she loves him. But Jane... What should be a night of triumph is bitter defeat for him. And the way you write him lost, without purpose, about to leave everything behind, it ties my stomach in knots. I have absolutely no doubt that, had the show decided to take that route, this is exactly how it would have happened. Not to mention everything you wrote about Red John is true. He WOULD have found a way to escape and/or to turn this into a second round (at least if Kirkland didn't make it to him first).

(As an aside. "It had to be said," you had Jane say to Lisbon by the end of this story. Was this a deliberate call back to Bosco's love declaration in 2x08? If so, it's beautiful and subtle and really well done. And if it wasn't intended, it's still beautiful and subtle, and your brain is an unknown genius. )

This is an amazing one-shot. Really. There's a lot of quality stuff written and posted in this fandom, but once again you prove yourself worthy of the very top shelf. Everything I read here is so completely believable it hurts with the absolute, painful accuracy of a new Red John episode. I don't give that praise lightly (and you know I don't give praise lightly as a general rule), so I hope you know I mean it. Every word of it, to quote a certain favourite red panda. Eagerly await that sequel you promised.

Beautiful story, with characters true to themselves in a perfectly impossible situation. I'm usually not one to clamour for sequels, but this one clearly would have been an exception if you weren't already planning one. Really interested to see where you're planning to go with this!

Heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time! Fortunately Jane's resentment doesn't overshadow his love for Lisbon. Thanks for writing this, and I'm so glad to know there's a continuation planned!

Oh my GAAAAWWWD! SO GOOD! I teared up! I worried it might be sad but it ended so happy! (And I don't know what you have planned for later, but as of now I'm going to just imagine he decides not to leave! ...and as my brain wanders, oh gawd, don't have him leave and then come back because he can't live without her and she's got some new boyfriend! Although, hey, he could get her away from some other guy easily enough! Ok, I'll quit playing psychic now cause we all know there's no such thing as actual psychics! LOL!) This was great! And I have to say, I remember reading your prompt and this still totally surprised me! Because when I read "what if RJ was in the limo in Vegas" my brain immediately thought he gets shot instead of Wainwright, but it didn't get that far! Darcy wasn't there! They catch him! I love all of this! It was great and sweet and ooooh so good!

The subject of what would've happened if they had catched RJ alive is a very interesting one and has mostly been left unexplored, at least to what I'm aware. I enjoyed reading about the first waves of that storm. In the future I would really love to read more. I'm intrigued to find out what kind of picture your imagination will paint of it.

I liked it that just before confronting Lorelei and RJ Jane replayed the memory of not answering to Lisbon's question regarding if he had meant it when he had said "Love you". And although things had then gone wrong from Jane's point of view, he had gotten himself together in the attic and made sure he told Lisbon the answer she and both of them deserved, the truth.

When the setting changed from Nevada's desert to the attic I enjoyed the athmosphere you had created in your writing. The contrast between Lisbon's feelings of hesitation and anxiety and Jane's aloof but determined behavior charged the athmosphere and made me as a reader voraciously take in sentence after sentence. Jane's character dominated the space whereas the presence of Lisbon's character was diminished, up until he walked to her and allowed himself to express his softer side. I loved the ending. I barely managed to read through the last sentences for apparently I had gotten something in my eye... Thank you for writing this mayzee.

Very nice. Sad as well.

Nooooooo! Don't leave Jane! Hope you continue this - great groundwork.

Extremely sad, but also believable outcome. I've always wondered how Jane would have dealt with Lisbon being able to keep her promise. It's good to know that you plan on getting back to Jane having to deal with the fact that his nemesis will still live and still try to haunt him at some point (and needless to say, I'll be looking forward to this story).
As for this..."Goodbyes are hard" really is a wonderful line and sums this one up perfectly. Janes reasons for keeping them all those close in this particular moment really made sense, and it's good to know that he acknowledged/respected their need of finding some closure like that. I especially liked that Jane thought of the possibility of this ending a pyrrhic victory even in this moment.
My favorite dialogue was the "I didn’t come here for forgiveness/No? Then why do you look so guilty?" one, because it showed how well they know each other.
And that ending, wonderfully emotional even though it's sad to know that they'll be parting after this kiss. Thank you for writing this!

I could see this actually happening on the show

Very clever and you articulate beautifully what we have all pondered at some point: what would have happened if...? Everything you write is believable and true to character, and I must say I am, for once, "rooting" for Jane here.
I must say I was extremely relieved AND excited to read that this is your groundwork for a multi chapter!
Can't wait.
But even as a one shot, this story works perfectly.
Great job. Thank you so very much !

So beautiful ! Loved it ! I cried my eyes out! That was so good!