A/N: Sorry if there's any mistakes in this part. Editing stuff is rather hard when you have someone talking at you, ugh. Anyway, this is the last part and I'm rather relieved I've finished it in time.

Thanks to: Jadestar1981, Country2776, yaba, WildDaisies10, Divinia Serit, Ebony10, Chiisana Minako, Famous4it, ch19777, mtm, Viktorija, Frogster and Dogeatdog for reviewing part eight. You guys are completely awesome. Thanks to everyone who has support me whilst writing this fic, it's been a crazy month.

For twin, as I've been taunting her with it and didn't get it up before she had to go out. I'm sorry, forgive me?

x tromana

Part Nine

"Why should I believe you?"

Cho's tone was skeptical and had it been anyone else he'd been talking to, Jane knew that the person would probably be puffing, sighing and tapping their foot in frustration by now. But that wasn't Cho's style; he'd learned how to control his emotion displays through his stint at juvie and then, in the military. It wasn't that he was stoic per se, he just had a massive amount of self-control. Still, it didn't stop Jane from showing his frustration. He knew he'd pushed the boundaries with the entirety of the team, but lives, or rather, a very specific life was at stake here and if Van Pelt could still trust him, why couldn't the rest of them?

"I need you to trust me on this one," Jane pleaded, knowing full well that Cho was virtually immune to his charms.

"Fine, but if you're wasting my time…"

"I'm not, believe me, I'm not."

Relieved that he had finally worn down Cho's resolve, Jane bolted to his car as the Asian agent followed behind more warily. Ultimately, the reason Cho agreed to go with him was the fact that Jane had appeared on his doorstep at all, rather than heading straight to Lisbon's house. Normally, the blond would dive headfirst into dangerous situations without much regard for his safety or that of others, so the fact that he was practically begging for back up spoke volumes of the circumstances. As he climbed into the Citroen, Cho checked for the presence of his firearm before pulling out his cell phone. Jane may have been certain that he was right, but Cho didn't want to turn up on his boss' doorstep, disturbing her privacy when there was absolutely nothing wrong.

With a sigh of frustration, Cho eventually stopped trying to ring. Five calls, three voice messages and still no luck. What made him feel worse was the fact that Lisbon never went anywhere without her cell phone as you never knew when an emergency might arise.

"She's not answering," he murmured, glancing darkly at the blond. "She never ignores a call."

"I told you," Jane replied grimly.

Cho nodded slightly and they fell into a dark silence, both dreading what they may find in barely a couple of minutes time when they arrive at their destination. Needless to say, when Jane spotted Lisbon's car, with its door still open and her belongings scattered underneath it, he started to panic. Hastily, he pulled up, not even bothering to park correctly and Cho flew out of the passenger side. Lisbon's front door hadn't been closed properly, merely pulled to and drawing his gun, the Asian agent pushed the door open as Jane caught up with him.

"Stay behind me," he hissed at Jane. "He's probably armed."

Jane nodded, heart in throat, hoping that they weren't too late. He cringed as his foot hit a creaky step shortly before they heard the crash of something sounded suspiciously like a human falling to the floor. Suddenly, in a flurry of action, leaving Jane slightly confused as to what had actually happened, Cho knocked the knife out of Lafayette's hand just as it hovered above Lisbon's exposed stomach before wrestling him to the ground and handcuffing him. It wasn't until Lisbon plaintively called his name that Jane realized where he was and what he was meant to be doing. As he tentatively approached her, unsure how she'd respond to his presence in her home, Cho pushed past him with the criminal, stating that he'd wait for Rigsby to pick them up and take them to CBI headquarter. The look on the agent's face spoke volumes and Jane nodded wordlessly, agreeing to look after Lisbon for as long as feasibly possible.

"My head hurts," she whimpered as Jane's fingers fumbled with her bonds. "I…"

"Shh," he replied and once freed, he helps her scrambling to a sitting position. "You're safe now, you're okay."

"How did you…"

"Later," he replied firmly while she trembled slightly. "Later. We need to check you're okay first."

Quickly and ignoring her discomfort, he took a quick look at the back of her head, frowning when he saw a small gash, which had already clotted over. Better that than her bleeding out, but she was likely to be suffering from concussion. Unable to control himself and desperate to confirm to his senses that she was still alive, he threw his arms tightly around her shoulders and pressed a firm kiss to her temple. She didn't flinch under his touch and her anger with him had temporarily abated, replaced with a sheer relief at being alive. Tentatively, she wrapped her arms around him and found herself clutching his jacket tightly. They only parted when five minutes later, a paramedic walked in, having been summoned and let in by Cho. He left seconds after the medic's arrival, heading back to the CBI headquarters to question the criminal with Rigsby.

Jane watched agitatedly as the paramedic fussed over Lisbon. She had scowled irritably as the auburn haired woman flashed a penlight into her eyes, took quick measurements and ran various tests on her reactions. Despite the fact the blow she had received from Lafayette had rendered unconsciousness, she had somehow managed to talk the medic out of hospitalization and instead agreed to remain at home under observation. Jane hated the way she winced while holding her hair firmly out of the way so that the other woman could clean the open wound before placing a white dressing to it. He had a feeling that the moment she had left, contrary to instruction, Lisbon would insist that he drove her back to CBI headquarters.

Almost as soon as the front door had closed, Lisbon rounded on Jane and as expected, demanded that he drove her to work. He sighed, annoyed at the fact that Lisbon showed so much disregard for her own wellbeing, especially when she grew so concerned if any of her team so much as picked up a paper cut. Unwilling to give into the desires of the brunette, he instead locked and bolted her front door before turning back to her. Whether she liked it or not, she needed to rest and he was going to observe her as he'd promised the paramedic before she had left. Even though she argued throughout the whole process, he wasn't relieved until she was wrapped up in bed, dozing and he was sitting uncomfortably on the chair she'd been tied to only a couple of hours ago. He smiled briefly as she shifted in her sleep. Forty-five minutes until he'd have to wake her to ask the basic questions as instructed. She wasn't going to be best pleased then.

Yawning expansively, Lisbon glared at Jane as he placed a steaming mug of coffee in front of her beside the two slices of toast she was meant to be eating. Ignoring the food, she immediately picked up the drink and gulped appreciatively despite the fact it was still boiling hot. Jane smirked at her as he sat beside her. Every hour he'd woken her to check that she wasn't deteriorating and when he'd eventually woken her for breakfast, she'd been in a particularly grouchy mood. When she eventually pleaded to be taken to work, he relented. He knew he'd have to explain how he knew that Lafayette was attacking her sooner or later.

"Right," she said determinedly after she had closed the door to her office. "How did you know?"

"Luck? Common sense?"

"Jane," she answered warningly.

"Here."

He pulled out a box of objects and warily, Lisbon stood up to have a look inside. With a frown she rifled through the bagged and tagged evidence, all meticulously prepared by Cho. She pulled out various scraps of paper detailing Lafayette's preparations to target her both as a child and last night, photographs of countless children he'd killed and mementoes he'd obviously stolen from their rooms.

"I got Van Pelt and Rigsby to pick it up last night, when you were dozing."

"Oh," she answered, not quite sure what to make of it. "Where did you find it? Cho and Rigsby…"

"Yeah, they may have searched in house, but they forgot about the hollowed space underneath his garden shed."

"Ah."

"There is enough for you to get a conviction now, right?"

She nodded as her fingers came into contact with a piece of jewelry. Carefully, she lifted it out and let out a strangled sob when she recognized the locket that her mother had given her for her eighth birthday. She'd thought she had lost it years ago and it had never crossed her mind that it had been stolen, least of all by Lafayette. Lisbon wasn't quite sure how to feel, being reunited with such a sentimental item after so long separated from it.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

They fell into silence again until Lisbon spoke once more.

"If it's okay with Minelli, d'you want to work…"

"I thought you'd never ask," he interrupted, flashing her with a bright smile.

Jane threw his arms around her again and after approximately half a minute, which felt significantly longer, she pushed him off, sending him a dark glare in response. She sat down at her desk and observed him seriously.

"Don't think I have completely forgiven you yet."

"I don't."

"Good, because you really screwed up."

"I know."

Lisbon bit on her bottom lip to prevent herself from smirking. She'd never seen Jane look quite so apologetic before. Instead, she softened her gaze and smiled gently at him.

"But you did save my life," she finally acknowledged. "Thank you."

"Meh, it was nothing. Just look at the amount of times you've saved mine."

"I mean it."

"I know."

"I have work to be getting on with. Don't you have a couch to be breaking in?"

"Yeah," Jane grinned and settled on the black leather couch in her office. "This one. You're not out of the woods yet and I need to keep an eye on you."

Lisbon scowled at him as she picked up her pen and pulled a form out to fill in. This time, she'd give into his whims. After all, he was only looking out for her and besides, they had a lot of rebuilding to do.

"You're going home early, by the way, Lisbon," Jane spoke lightly. "You need to take it easy."

He laughed as she threw the pen at him and it landed neatly in his lap. She squealed slightly when he threw it back it her. It felt good to be back in her presence.

end