A/N: And here's the epilogue. Also, because it seems it requires very little for me to take the hint and go write something else, there will be a sequel to this, entitled (somewhat cornily) Over the Rainbow. Hey, I wanted to keep the Oz theme going with the titles, okay?

Thank you to: dogeatdog, Viktorija, Frogster, Jisbon4ever, autumnftw, shadow and Famous4it for reviewing part ten. Especially so to dogeatdog and shadow, both of whom logged in anonymously. Also to Divinia Serit who beta'd this whole fic despite being overwhelmingly busy. It's all much appreciated.

x tromana

Epilogue

And this was what Teresa Lisbon desperately needed to remember:

It was cold that night and she was nibbling at her bottom lip. A nasty little quirk but one she somehow always slipped into whenever she was nervous.

She hated being around the docks, especially at night. It reminded her too much of her youngest brother, Thomas Lisbon. She knew this was his gang's haunt and explicitly went out of her way to avoid it. Lisbon didn't need reminding of her failures as an eldest sibling regularly. Tommy was at the very top of a long list of things that she'd stuffed up one way or another.

But she had to be here - it was work related. Or at least, that was what she kept telling herself. They were observing the gang, Tommy's gang, trying to find out who the murderer of Fred Johnston was. She was determined to get the answer, simply because it was her job to do so. And there was no way she was asking Patrick Jane for help either; she didn't need him to show her how to do her job. This was one case she was going to solve without him. Especially as Bosco had asked her for help, not Jane.

Though she needn't have agreed to help him with the case at all.

Damn her principles.

In between lip nibbles, she sipped at a latte. It was over two hours old now and pretty unpleasant, but she didn't have anything better to do than drinking it. Not until the gang turned up anyway and then, who knew what was going to happen?

Her eyes widened when she first heard the sound of approaching footsteps and then spotted a mass of people emerging from the shadows. This was what she had been waiting for. Without a second thought, she exited the vehicle. She needed to hear what they were saying if she had any chance of salvaging something of use from this otherwise wasted night.

When Tommy not only announced, but bragged about the fact he was the one to 'do in' Fred Johnston, Lisbon's hand was already at her hip and she had already partially drawn her firearm.

She needed the gang to disappear, but she knew Tommy had spotted and recognized her. Lisbon fired a shot, explicitly aiming away from anyone and anything where the bullet could do serious harm. As she expected, everyone fled barring Tommy. That was good. He was the one she needed to talk to - for more than one reason.

Tommy looked completely bemused to see her, of all people, standing in front of him. He stepped closer, sizing up his older sister. He'd taken after their father, a tall, stocky man whereas she had always been small and slender like their mother.

Lisbon dragged her eyes away from her brother for half a second. Just a gull, scavenging for food in the docks. Nothing for her to worry about. When she looked directly at Tommy again, he was pointing a gun at her.

That made things more equal, though she had hoped that family ties would mean he wouldn't cause trouble.

She was horrified when he fired his first shot, piercing the tire of her car. Obviously, he wasn't messing around.

And she knew that he was about to do it again, hence the reason she fired too.

After all, it was a case of kill or be killed.

Tommy's second bullet grazed her arm and she didn't even notice because she was too busy staring at him. At what she had done.

Normally, after spotting a gunshot victim, she would take the time to check the pulse points, for signs of survival. There was no point though. Her training meant that her bullet had found its target and he had died on impact.

Running on automatic, she picked up the bullet cases and shoved them in her left pocket. Then, she climbed into her car, started the engine and sped off, completely forgetting about the flat tire and the fact she had been there to gather information on the murder of Fred Johnston.

She fled, not because she was guilty of murdering in the eyes of the law - she'd merely been defending herself - and that was easily proven. No court would convict her.

It was because all she could see was herself, as an elder sibling, killing her brother when she should have been protecting him instead.

end