(A/N): Okay, many apologies for this chapter. I hate this episode and I can sum up why in two words. Kristina Frye. Anyway, that is no excuse for the lateness of this chapter, and I swear I will do better with the next chapter. I don't think im entirely happy with this chapter, especially the ending, but I figure I've kept you waiting long enough, so please, let me know what you think! Many thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and I love all you guys!

I do not own the mentalist.

Hopefully I will see you guys soon,

HeavenSkye x

Through Thick and Thin.

Chapter 7.

Seeing Red. (1x07).

The sound of Lisbon's cellphone woke both Jane and Lisbon up at two o'clock in the morning. It had been a week since the closure of the casino case, a week since they'd informed Minelli of their marriage.

Lisbon rolled over from where she was cuddled up to her husband's side, answering the phone with a sleepy, "Lisbon."

"Isn't it Jane now?"

The snarky voice of her superior woke her fully. Lisbon sighed, shoving Jane in the shoulder to make him get up. "Minelli. Sir, I'm still called Lisbon at work. What's happened?"

"New case. Luitenant Governor asked for your team. I've sent an email with more details."

"Yes sir." Lisbon responded, slightly more alert. "Sir-" She didn't get any further when the call abruptly ended. Lisbon set the phone down again with a sigh, eyes full of hurt. To say Minelli hadnt been happy would've been a severe understatement.

She shook her head to Minelli's questions, tightening her grip on Jane's waist. "No sir. I, uh we, wanted to tell you something. We're… We're married, sir."

Minelli stared at the pair in shock as the pen he was holding dropped to his desk with a thud. Jane tightened his grip round his wife's shoulders as he felt her fingers tighten on his waist. Abruptly, Minelli began to laugh, causing the husband and wife to glance at each other questioningly. Even Jane couldn't fathom the reason behind Minelli's laughter.

When he could stop laughing, Minelli wiped his eyes free of tears and smiled happily at the pair. "That was a good one."

"Sir?" Lisbon asked in confusion as realisation began to dawn on her husband. Jane turned her slightly so he could speak directly to her.

"He thinks we're joking, love. He thinks it's a prank we're pulling on him." He told Lisbon gently. Lisbon frowned back up at him.

"But why would he think that?"

"Ask him yourself." Jane gestured towards Minelli, who had watched the conversation between lead agent and consultant intently. Lisbon turned to him, her eyes a little watery, though she would deny it profusely if anyone questioned her on it.

"Sir, we're not joking. We've been married over a year." Lisbon told him softly. Minelli shook his head.

"No, no. It can't be- It just can't be true."

"It is, Virigl." Jane told him firmly. "We got married when we put in for that two week vacation eighteen months ago. We married on the beach with her aunt and best friend there as witnesses."

"No…" Minelli responded just as firmly, his anger growing by the minute. "No, Teresa, he's no good for you. Tell me you didn't marry him!"

"I can't, because it's true." Lisbon told him. "And Patrick is good for me! I love him Virgil!"

"And I love her too." Jane added, pressing a kiss to the side of his wife's head.

"Out!" Minelli yelled, standing up and pointing to the door. "I… I don't know what to think. Out."

"But Virgil-" Lisbon started, only for Minelli to turn his back on the woman he thought of as a daughter. Jane steered her gently to the door, though she kept glancing back in hope that Minelli would have something else to say.

Jane kissed the side of her neck, bringing her out of her memories. "He's not angry at you, my dear."

"It certainly seemed like it." She responded as she climbed out of bed and went into the bathrrom. Jane followed her almost immediately, wrapping his arms around her from behind.

"Sweetheart, please. He's angry because he didn't know, and he's angry at me for stealing you away. I agree with him, but I'm far too selfish to let you go now." He smirked, pressing another kiss to the back of her neck, causing Lisbon to shiver.

"Are you sure? I… I don't…" Lisbon trailed off, unsure how to voice her fears and worries. Jane nodded into her hair, understanding the words she couldn't find, the worries she was unable to say out loud for fear they'd seem more real.

"He'll get over it, and be back to being your father figure in no time, Teresa." Jane told her gently before letting her go reluctantly. "Okay, we have a crime scene to go to, right?"

…

Jane, Lisbon, Rigsby and Cho arrived on the scene whilst Van Pelt went straight to the offices. Lisbon felt almost bad for the rookie for being stuck at her desk so often, but quenched it ruthlessly. Rigsby had had to go through it before her, and at one point both Lisbon and Cho had also gone through the trials that came with being the rookie on the team. It was just how it worked.

Under the cover of handing Lisbon her jacket, Jane squeezed her hand gently, comfortingly before climbing out of the SUV, Rigsby and Cho following his lead as they both waited for Lisbon to get out of the vehicle and lead them to the crime scene. Once there, they were met by a tall, well-built man with dark hair that looked at Lisbon in a way that Jane disliked, but he didn't say a word. If it was any other woman, they would probably play up the attraction angle, but his wife probably didn't even realise that the guy leading them up to the body was attracted to her, let alone that Jane was mentally blowing him up with his mind. He fought an affectionate smile, knowing it wasn't exactly appropriate for the situation, and Lisbon would most likely kill him for it later.

"Thank you for coming so quickly," The man told them, his eyes skittering over all four CBI employees. Clearly, the man was a little unsure as to who was in charge of the CBI team.

"Your victim is the wife of Macon Tennant." Lisbon responded calmly, coolly, as they ducked under the police tape cordoning the scene off. "Founder of CalSure Financial? Close friend of the Lieutenant Governor?" She asked when he didn't seem to recognise the name.

"We got to use the chopper." Rigsby chimed in, sounding almost too excited.

The man glanced at him for a moment. "Cool." He said dismissively. Jane grinned internally. Clearly the man had just realised that Lisbon was the boss of the team, and wasn't sure how to deal with it. Most men didn't know how to react to such a young and petite woman in a power of authority, and Jane was always interested in seeing how they treated Lisbon.

He snorted under his breath as he heard Lisbon berating the man and informing him that CBI was there to essentially take over. How he loved it when Lisbon got bossy. He snorted softly again as he remembered the last man in a small town that had tried to get to know her on a personal level during an investigation about six months before. He'd somehow found where the team were staying and had come knocking on Lisbon's door with a bouquet of deep red roses.

"Officer Dennis, what- what are you doing here?" Lisbon asked nervously, clad in a t-shirt and leggings, her body blocking Jane from the small town officer's view on her bed, sprawled out and shirtless. They'd been relaxing and watching TV when the untimely knock had sounded on the thick wood.

"Here. I got these for you." The man managed to get out, practically shoving the bouquet at Lisbon, who only just managed to catch them.

"Uh, thank you." Lisbon tried her best to sound pleased, but failed a little, something that Jane started grinning at. "They're lovely."

"Yeah." Dennis started shifting on his feet slightly. "So, I was wondering, would you like to go to dinner with me?"

Lisbon's eyes widened as Jane started silently laughing on the other side of the door. He could practically hear her trying to mentally come up with an excuse that didn't involve saying that she was busy relaxing with her husband in their room.

"Uh, that- that's sweet, Dennis, really but I can't." Lisbon said as sweetly as she could. "These flowers are beautiful, really." She added, trying to smile as best she could. Dennis had been eyeing her so obviously all through the case that even sweetly oblivious Rigsby had noticed, all the men becoming even more protective over her than usual. Dennis was an arrogant ass, but essentially harmless. Just full of talk, really.

"Why? Do you want to skip dinner and go straight to dessert, Teresa?" He asked, eyeing her up and down and leering. Lisbon's eyes almost bugged out of her head as she glanced back inside the room, locking frantic eyes with Jane, begging for him to help her so she didn't have to hurt him. Grinning, he got up from the bed, happy to help her out.

He reached the door, one hand coming to rest protectively around her slender waist. "Teresa, who's at the door?" He asked sleepily (falsely) before locking eyes with the over-confident officer in the doorway. "Officer Dennis, what a surprise." He said in a tone conveying it was anything but a surprise. "Look, I'm sorry, but Teresa promised to spend the afternoon with me so…" he trailed off, kissing Lisbon swiftly on the lips before pulling her inside the door and slamming it shut in the shocked officer's face.

Lisbon immediately dropped the roses into the waste basket as both hands moved to circle his neck and he moved in for another kiss from his wife.

"She was with me."

Jane was pulled from his daydreams of his wife to see a tall willowy woman walking up, in a long skirt and wrapped in a thin shawl, strawberry blonde curls pulled away from her face. Her face was sharp, angular, and her eyes were beady, intense, taking in everything. Jane instantly focused on her.

"And who are you exactly?" The officer asked the question everyone else was thinking.

"My name is Kristina Frye." The woman responded curtly, tightening her hold on the shawl. "I was Rosemary's spiritual advisor."

"I'm sorry, did, did I hear that correctly?" Jane asked incredulously as Lisbon fought a snicker at her husband's expression.

"Miss Frye, you were with her where?" Lisbon stepped in before Jane could say any more, knowing him to well to allow him to continue.

"At my house. We had finished a session. We had contacted her husband." She responded almost serenely.

"Her dead husband?" Lisbon clarified hesitantly.

"Hmmm." Jane sounded torn between disdain and amusement at the 'spiritual advisor'. A lot of what she said reminded him of how he used to con people who genuinely cared about their lost loved ones. A few years ago, he'd have been spouting all of it off too, but he was a different man now. He chanced a quick glance at his wife. A better man now, too.

"He knew this was going to happen to her." Kristina told them authoritatively, as though she was smarter, and better than everyone else at the scene. The entire CBI team wanted to snicker, though they were too professional to do so. "He warned her that she was putting herself in terrible danger."

"From whom?" Lisbon asked sceptically.

"I don't know. I'm merely a channel." Kristina responded, looking a little far away and dreamy.

"A channel for what?" Lisbon questioned.

"For the energy of the departed souls." A forced smile accompanied Kristina's words.

"Okay. Oh, so you knew that this murder was going to happen?" Jane asked flippantly. Lisbon glanced at him. She knew as soon as Kristina spoke that Jane would go crazier than usual, but she just hoped he wouldn't go too far. She knew how much he hated the psychic business in the few talks they'd had on the subject, and she hated anything that reminded him of who he used to be, what he used to do.

"I didn't know. Her husband knew. I just passed the warning along to Rosemary." Kristina defended herself instantly.

"Okay, got it." He turned to Lisbon, his expression half angry, half amused, like he wasn't sure which emotion would win. "Uh, by her own admission, she's either a channel for the energy of the departed souls, or she's involved in this murder. So you got a choice. You can call Ghostbusters, or we can take this lady downtown."

"Miss Frye, would you mind coming to our office in the morning and answering a few more questions in detail?" Lisbon asked diplomatically, sending another warning glance at her husband. If Kristina was the killer, they still had to have her co-operation.

"If I could be of any help, I'd be glad to. Please, call me Kristina."

Jane started laughing, which started another 'debate' between himself and Kristina, one that Lisbon watched in amusement, wondering who would win. Eventually, the detective from earlier escorted Kristina back under the tape. Lisbon shook her head in amusement as Jane grinned at her.

"What? This is gonna be fun, at least."

"For you, maybe." Lisbon grumbled as they walked back to the car.

"Well yeah. That's what makes everyone's day, my dear."

…

A few hours later, Lisbon, Jane and Van Pelt sat at the conference table in the bullpen with Kristina Frye. Jane instantly took note of the expensive silk blouse the woman wore, and threw questions concerning her 'services' at her, watching closely as she answered each question promptly. He felt Lisbon watch him in warning, though he knew she was hiding her amusement at the conversation. When they had finally gotten time alone, she'd asked him not to go overboard in his ridiculing of the spiritual advisor, and he'd agreed, but only on his version of overboard. He wasn't cutting the con-woman any slack. He watched in amusement as she avoided the questions about Rosemary's enemies and the like, and what people would take advantage of the woman. He baited her and goaded her until she finally lashed back, giving him her reading of him.

"I think you act assured and arrogant but inside you are troubled with deep guilt and self-loathing. A recent trauma in your past, perhaps? But you're more than a little unstable." She abruptly turned to Lisbon, a knowing gleam in her eyes as she smiled at the brunette agent. "You have your work cut out for you." Lisbon looked at her, torn between amusement at the generic characterisation of her husband, and worry that the woman actually knew that she and Jane were married.

"You're good." Grace said, awe in her voice.

"Please." Jane bit back sarcastically, and the moment was lost within all the other comments they flung at one another.

…

"How are you feeling?"

Lisbon looked up from her computer to see Jane's concerned face staring at her from the doorway. She shrugged. "Fine, I guess. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Teresa." Jane let the door shut behind him as he made his way to her desk. "I know you saw Virgil earlier." Lisbon flinched a little. She'd seen Minelli as she'd been walking into the break room for a cup of coffee, and the man had looked at her before shaking his head with a glare and walking, well more like storming, away from her as fast as he could without drawing attention to himself.

She swallowed heavily, looking up at her husband with unguarded eyes. Jane easily read the hurt and despair in them as she stood up from her desk. Instantly, he wrapped his arms around her as she buried her head into the place where his neck and shoulder met. "It hurts, Patrick. I thought, well, hoped that he'd be happy for us."

"I know, sweetheart. Ssh, it's okay. Do you want me to talk to him for you?" He didn't want to, but he'd do it for her. Lisbon shook her head.

"No, he hates you more than he hates me right now." She straightened up. "Let's just solve this case already."

"Of course." Jane turned to leave when Lisbon's voice made him pause.

"She knows about us, you know."

He turned back to her with a slight nod and a wry smile. "I know, Teresa."

…

After speaking with Jeremy Hale for a few minutes, purposefully ignoring the eyes he was making at Lisbon, Jane wandered off around the house. Jeremy Hale was a player, anyone with eyes could see that, and Jane knew that was how he'd taken advantage of Rosemary. Jane would put money on the man oozing just as much charm if they would've brought Van Pelt with them as well. What Jane didn't quite know for sure was whether Jeremy had killed Rosemary or not.

He found himself in a light, airy room that was clearly being used as a studio for Jeremy. Jane looked around carefully, his eyes taking in details that were out of place with the room only being used as a studio, but only when he found some professional-looking photographs of the victim did he call out for his wife.

Lisbon found him in less than a minute, closely followed by Rigsby and Jeremy. There was a small debate on Jeremy's fortune in finding Rosemary and her money before Jane moved into his real topic of conversation. "You say Travis left because he and his mom had a fight. You sure about that?"

"Well, of course. I was there." Jeremy shifted uncomfortably, eyes boring into Jane's even though the consultant knew he wanted nothing more than to look away.

"I think Mrs Tennant turns a blind eye towards her son's problems because he lost his dad. He didn't leave because of her. He left because of you." Jane accused calmly, wandering about the cluttered room.

"What are you talking about?" Jeremy asked slowly, though Jane could see that his comment had hit home for the man.

"I think this was Travis' room." Jane said before adding, "There's old poster tape here on the walls. There's stickers behind this door and dents on this wall where a lacrosse ball was hitting it. Travis plays lacrosse, doesn't he?"

"He used to, before he got into drugs."

Jane continued on with his analysis, rightly deducing that Travis had argued with Jeremy over turning his room into a studio without his input on the issue, and again with where he felt that Travis would feel most safe when kicked out of his haven, a place that change would not reach him in the form of his mother's boyfriend.

…

Interviewing Travis, Lisbon couldn't help but feel sorry for the kid. She didn't really believe that the shaking kid sat before her really killed his own mother, but she had to ask the questions anyway. She made her voice light and unthreatening, knowing that after dealing with bad-tempered and easily angered people like Jeremy Hale, any raised or angry voices would shut the kid up quicker than she could apologise. She took another look at Travis Tennant. She knew that the drug allegations had to be looked into, but aside from that Travis seemed like a good kid, if a bit lost.

She turned as the door to the observation room opened and Jane allowed Clara in, standing up and moving out of the way as Clara and Travis hugged each other tightly, Clara comforting her little brother.

Lisbon slipped into the observation room with Jane, letting Cho keep an eye on the two siblings in the interrogation room. Almost immediately, Jane wrapped Lisbon up in a quick hug. "I know you hate the idea of parentless children, but it's all gonna be okay."

Lisbon nodded into his shoulder before pulling back and adopting a more neutral expression. "Okay, let's just solve this case okay?"

Jane nodded in return, holding the door leading to the corridor open for her, smirking at her suspicious look as she passed through the doorway in front of him.

…

"Spoke to Rosemary's probate lawyer. Guess who she just added to her will?" Rigsby asked the team as a whole as he looked up from his computer screen.

"Kristina Frye." Jane responded instantly, turning over on his couch to fix Rigsby with an intent stare.

"Ink wasn't even dry yet." Rigsby returned.

"Kristina told us she knew in advance that Rosemary was in danger. Why would she tell us if she's guilty?" Grace asked, causing Jane to want to roll his eyes at the utter faith and naivety of the rookie.

"How diabolically clever of her. Make us dismiss her as a suspect because she made herself look like one." Jane pondered, ignoring the bemused stare of his wife. Lisbon knew why he was focused so much on Kristina, and he knew it amused her, and would probably amuse her even more if Kristina turned out to be innocent.

"Or maybe, just maybe, she has a rare and precious gift and is trying to help us." Grace retaliated, causing Lisbon and Rigsby to try to hide grins, both sceptics after everything in their lives, not to mention having a cop's intuition where psychics and such were concerned.

"A rare and precious gift." Jane scoffed as he got off his couch. "Tell me, who gets these gifts anyhow? And how come no-one ever has the gift for seeing horse race results? And how come dead people always talk such tedious drivel?"

"Play nice." Lisbon warned him, although she was smiling. "Van Pelt's entitled to her opinion."

"Not if it's wrong. This is like believing in the Easter bunny." Jane retorted, smiling as he realised the ridiculousness of the conversation they were having.

"Who says there's no Easter bunny?" Rigsby teased with a grin, making Lisbon and Jane smile too, though the latter two knew he was half saying it to convey that he'd agree with the redheaded agent on pretty much anything, making his crush on her even more obvious than before.

Their teasing was interrupted by Van Pelt's line ringing, and she pushed herself back in her chair to answer it. After she'd finished, she looked back over at the team minus Cho, smiling specifically at Jane as she relayed her information. "That was Kristina. She said she's picking up on something." She glared at Jane for his sarcastic noise in response. "Something that might help us." She specified.

"Why don't you go talk to her?" Lisbon told her. Jane immediately perked up.

"I'm coming." He exclaimed, moving to get his jacket from the back of the brown couch.

"Does he have to?" Van Pelt asked with a sigh to Lisbon. Lisbon smiled and shrugged.

"If she's conning us, we need to know." She reminded the rookie as Jane appeared beside the redhead.

Van Pelt shrugged. "She isn't. I can tell." She told Lisbon and Rigsby as she walked out the room. Jane followed her, grinning to himself as he heard Lisbon call after him, knowing his wife's words were meant just for him.

"Behave."

…

"She's a fake." Jane muttered to Lisbon as the team got ready to drag the reservoir nearest to the Tennant household. They were alone in the latter's office, Lisbon having wandered in to grab her suit jacket and the keys to the SUV. Lisbon turned to face her husband, sympathy on her face.

"I know that, but we've got to check it out. You know we do."

"I don't like it." Jane answered in return, scowling a little.

"Is it because she's everything you hate now, or because she's good at doing what you used to?" Lisbon asked shrewdly. Jane made to reply, only for the door to open and Van Pelt looked in.

"We're ready to go." She said, looking happy at the thought of there being a real psychic and her beliefs being proven right. Jane rolled his eyes as Lisbon nodded and followed the rookie out of the office. Jane sighed but, after a moment, followed his wife.

…

Jane watched in the distance as the team bounced theories round and the detective who had originally been on call for Rosemary's body walked over to Lisbon. Jane narrowed his eyes. The detective wanted a promotion in his near future, so he wanted to arrest someone quickly, which Jane knew wouldn't sit well with his wife. Lisbon was methodical, and would only arrest someone when she was convinced they did it, and not a moment sooner. Her sense of justice wouldn't allow for anything short of an airtight case.

"You guys gonna arrest Travis Tennant, or you want us to?"

"Sorry, Detective, but everything we have right now is circumstantial."

"Well, I go with my gut. 90 percent of the time if it feels right, it's meant to be."

"What about the other ten percent?" Lisbon returned, smiling as the detective walked off, clearly understanding that the woman would not budge on the matter. Jane walked over to stand beside the brunette woman.

"If anyone needs arresting, it's Kristina Frye." He commented, causing Lisbon's smile to widen into a grin. "She knew that Rosemary was in danger. She knew where to find the car. The murder weapon. Which means that she either does have supernatural powers or she was involved in the crime."

"Come on." Lisbon smirked at him. "She simply did what you do so well. With an air of confidence, she made an educated guess. Where else would you dump a car around here? She's a good guesser." She reasoned logically, knowing it was the only way to get through to her husband when he was like this.

"Well yes." Jane had to concede that she may have made a perfectly reasonable point. "That's a possibility too."

"Yes. And that's what you object to, isn't it? Not that she's a con artist, but that she's so good at it. Maybe even better than you." She prodded, though her voice stayed soft.

"Not at all, I- Alright, yes. Not better than me mind you, but she is good. And it's the good ones that are the most dangerous." Jane said slowly, shaking his head as Lisbon continued to smirk at him. He moved in a little, ready to kiss the smirk from her face when Van Pelt spoke up, reminding the pair that they were not alone.

"Excuse me, but you might consider the possibility that she's actually honestly in touch with something beyond your understanding."

"That would be golf, and musical theatre from the '30s and '40s." Jane quipped back, hackles immediately raised at Van Pelt's clear beliefs in psychics when he knew full well they were all con artists and fakes.

…

Travelling back to the Tennant house, they were informed that Jeremy Hale had left, and Travis became upset when they told him his alibi was not as airtight as he thought. Jane pulled Lisbon away to Jeremy's studio, where she called Rigsby to put an APB out on Jeremy Hale.

Jane then filled her in on the possible whereabouts of Jeremy, showing her a picture of another woman dated a few weeks earlier with a hole in made by a heel. Lisbon nodded and made to leave the room when Jane stopped her, pulling her by her arm away from the door.

"Lisbon, Teresa, look, I- I know I'm not the most… rational on this case."

Lisbon raised her eyebrows, but smiled. "It's hard to be, considering what you once were. I do need to ask you to stop ragging Van Pelt though. She is entitled to her beliefs."

"They're wrong though." He protested, only to shut up when his wife kissed him abruptly. After a moment, Lisbon pulled away, blushing a little.

"It doesn't matter, Patrick. She'll only get more defensive the more you push her on it. Just lighten up a little, okay?"

"Fine." Jane moved in to kiss her again. "But that doesn't mean she's right."

"I never said that."

…

"Hey, boss, check this out." Rigsby called as he heard Lisbon walk out of her office, presumably to get more coffee from the break room. Lisbon turned and walked up to him, coffee mug in hand just as Van Pelt got up from her desk and made her way over as well. "Info on Kristina Frye. In the last ten years, each of these people left her name in their wills. Paydays ranging from ten to two hundred thousand dollars."

"Maybe the psychic and Jeremy had a business relationship fleecing vulnerable women." Lisbon suggested.

"So maybe Jane was right." Rigsby responded.

"It doesn't prove anything." Van Pelt inputted almost angrily. Lisbon felt like rolling her eyes herself at the rookie. It was fine to have your own beliefs, but they couldn't get in the way of the cases, something that Van Pelt was doing. Of course, she knew objectivity went out of the window in some cases, namely Red John cases for a start, but the new agent's naivety was starting to get to all the team.

"But it's a good place to start a conversation with Frye." Lisbon countered evenly, trying to get Van Pelt to a stage where she thought things through fully rather than relying on the first half of a statement. She wasn't quite at her full potential as a cop yet, but she'd get there. Eventually.

…

Cho and Jane went to see Kristina Frye, Cho under strict orders to attempt to make Jane behave himself around the strawberry blonde psychic and Jane under strict orders to behave himself, which he fully intended on disregarding.

Kristina firmly denied fleecing money from sick people, but freely admitted knowing Jeremy Hale, and sleeping with him upon occasion. Jane grinned at her.

"Have you spoken to Rosemary yet?" He asked sceptically with another grin.

"Yes, I have." Krsitina returned with a similar charming grin to his.

"Oh, you did. What did she say?"

"She seems quite taken with you. She said you're a good man. A deeply misguided and damaged man, but good." Kristina smirked.

"Well, that's very flattering. Did she happen to mention who killed her?"

"No. She didn't know. But she wants me to keep trying to help you as much as I can."

"Now that you mention it… I'd love to hear your CD recordings of your ssessions together."

"Absolutely."

…

Jane watched with amusement as Rigsby and Van Pelt chatted in the break room. Rigsby was convinced they were talking about microwaves when she was talking about the immorality of trying to expose Kristina Frye using a séance.

He interrupted when he saw Rigsby getting uncomfortable with the conversation, especially when it descended into supposedly raising dead people. Van Pelt turned to argue with him and didn't see Rigsby creep up behind her.

"Boo!" He exclaimed, causing her to jump and turn to glare at him for his childishness. Both Rigsby and Jane started chuckling at her reaction, which caused her to glare even more.

"Yeah, laugh. Go ahead." She shot at Rigsby before turning on Jane. "It's really important to you that Kristina's a fake, isn't it? Because if she's not, if she does have a gift, everything you mock, everything you discredit, everything you stand for gets turned upside down."

Jane cleared his throat. "Yeah. True. Unlikely, but true."

"What if your family's looking down at you tonight from the séance, trying to talk to you, but they can't, because you won't believe?" She demanded.

Jane swallowed. "Well, that would be very sad." He said softly, knowing there were tears in his eyes, as there always was when someone mentioned his family. The only time he didn't get quite so teary eyed was when he was discussing them with his wife. Lisbon was his family now, his second chance at happiness, and whilst he still hated knowing he'd gotten his first wife and daughter killed, Lisbon was slowly helping him believe that it truly wasn't entirely his fault.

Van Pelt teared up, knowing she'd crossed a line by mentioning his family. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

Jane shook his head. "No, that's okay."

…

"What's wrong?" Lisbon asked softly when she returned to her office to find Jane sat on her couch, staring into the distance, cup of tea in his hand. She set some paperwork on her desk and sat down beside him, taking his free hand into her own gently. "You having second thoughts about the séance?"

"What? Oh, no." Jane took a sip of his tea. "It turns out, dear Grace is more passionate about the afterlife than I thought." He looked at her, knowing she could see the fear, pain and grief in his eyes, along with the love he had for her there too. Lisbon swallowed a little, moving her free hand to cup his cheek.

"Patrick Jane, you are a good man, and your wife and daughter would be very proud and happy for you right now. Please remember that."

"How did I get so lucky to have you?"

"I ask myself the same thing all the time."

"Oh, so you wonder how I got so lucky to have you, too?" Jane quipped to lighten the mood. Lisbon shook her head with a smirk, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips, knowing the blinds to her office were shut and no-one would see them.

"No, ass, you know what I meant. Tell you what, after this case is closed, do you want to talk some more about the vacation?" She asked.

Jane shook his head with a low chuckle. "That's a surprise woman, as you well know."

"Not even a little hint? For your wife?" Lisbon pouted playfully, causing Jane to laugh again.

"You'll like it, Teresa. That's all you'll get me to say."

"You want to bet on that?"

"Not a chance."

…

"How did you know it was me?" Clara asked in the interrogation room, after being arrested for her own mother's murder. Jane stopped at the doorway and turned back to her.

"Well… it didn't occur to me until later." He admitted. "When you started trying to pin the blame on Jeremy." He moved to sit down. "But when you first came in here, you expressed horror that your mother had died in the gutter. Not on the road, not on the sidewalk, but the gutter. And how could you have known that she died in the gutter, unless you'd been there."

"I did it for Travis." She admitted, eyes watering.

"And for yourself." Lisbon pointed out.

"She said that she would protect us!" Clara burst out. "She promised my dad that she would! Parents are supposed to protect their kids!"

"Yes they are." Lisbon replied softly, feeling sorry for the young woman before her. She knew that parents were supposed to protect their children, but she also had experience that showed that that wasn't always the case.

"Can I see my brother now?" A teary Clara asked.

"Sure." Jane told her, getting up and walking out to get Travis for her.

…

"I talked to your wife."

"Oh, hang on that's-"

"Ah ah." Kristina glared at him, silently reminding him of his promise not to interrupt. Jane sighed. He knew she meant his first wife, Angela, and not his second, Teresa, and that was what had made him try to interrupt. He didn't know what the woman was going to say, but he was pretty sure it wasn't anything he wanted to hear. "Ever since your wife and daughter were killed, there's a question about that night's events that's been tormenting you, yes? Yes?"

"Yes." Jane admitted reluctantly.

"Your wife wants me to tell you that your daughter never woke up. She didn't know what happened. She wasn't scared, not even for a second."

"You done channelling?" He demanded harshly, not caring about his tone. "That's it?"

"That's it." Kristina confirmed.

"Thanks." He muttered, not able to look at her as his eyes filled with tears.

Kristina got up and walked to the door. "Goodbye Mr Jane. Oh, and your second wife? Agent Lisbon? She loves you so much. Let her in. Let her share your pain."

She didn't get a response and she walked away just as Jane's shaky control over his emotions broke and tears fell down his face rapidly. His little girl, his angel, oh his baby. He knew logically that Kristina was probably making it all up, but if only…

He wanted her to have been asleep, wanted to know that even though she was dead, she had never known the pain he knew his wife had felt, wanted to believe that she'd been asleep and stayed that way.

He never saw Van Pelt in the doorway, but he heard the door close softly, allowing him privacy as he sobbed at the renewed pain of the loss he felt, the loss of his wife, of his baby girl. It had been five years, and yet he still felt as though he'd opened that door only yesterday, his gaze falling upon the butchered bodies of his wonderful wife and darling daughter.

…

"Patrick, come on. Let's go home."

Jane looked up to see Lisbon stood in the doorway, watching him quietly. He had no idea how long he'd actually been there, but it was dark outside, and Lisbon wore her coat, car keys in her hand. As soon as she saw his red rimmed eyes and puffy face, she threw the car keys on the table and crawled onto the floor beside him, a place he'd moved to after around an hour of crying whilst sat on the table. Immediately, he pushed himself to lie down sideways, resting his head on his wife's lap, arms wrapping around her waist.

"She said… Charlie was sleeping. She- She didn't feel a thing." He managed to choke out eventually. Lisbon soothingly stroked his hair away from his face, but didn't say a word, knowing that there was nothing she could say to make it better. There probably would never be the right words to say, and he didn't need empty statements, not from her.

Jane snuggled further into his wife's embrace, soaking up the comfort. He would never ever forget Angela or Charlotte, and would never stop loving them either. But lay there, with Lisbon, he knew that they would be happy that he'd found someone to love once more, someone who brought out the best in him, just as Angela had done. However for now, he would rest in the knowledge that his baby had been spared the pain of being conscious whilst she passed away.

TBC…?