Authors Note: So here it is, the last chapter. I'm sad to see it end, but it has been fun. Thanks to all who read and especially to those who reviewed. And a extra special thanks to Ebony10 for not only being my beta, but for giving advice and encouragement. This would have stalled back in the beginning if it wasn't for her.

Disclaimer: I know a lot of people don't add these to every chapter, but I would rather be safe than sorry. In case you couldn't tell, they are not mine.

It had taken him over two hours, but he had finally managed to convince his nurse that he was ok to get out of bed and go for a walk. He'd been trying to convince her that he didn't need to be in the hospital at all, but apparently his broken hand was going to need surgery to set right so he had to stay in the hospital at least over night.

He slowly made his way towards the ICU, dragging his IV stand behind him. He hurt, his head was pounding, his arm was throbbing, and he was walking with a limp, but none of that was important. He had convinced Grace to go home hours ago, only after promising her that she could come back in the morning to check on him before he went into surgery. He knew that the young agent hadn't been sleeping well since this whole thing started and he hoped the assurance that he and Lisbon were fine would be enough to entice her to sleep.

Jane finally realized the flaw in his plan when he reached the wing housing the ICU. He had failed to ask what room Lisbon was going to be in. Hoping that the nurses wouldn't ask him any uncomfortable questions, he walked up to the nurses' station and spoke with the nurse at the desk.

"I'd like to know what room Agent Lisbon is in, please." He tried his best to show her is charming smile, but knew it was falling short.

"You're one of the men that was brought in here with her? I'm not sure I should be telling you. One of you was supposed to have tried to kill her." He tried to decide if the nurse was messing with him or just doing her job.

"Please, I just need to make sure she's really alive. There was so much blood and she was unconscious…"His voice faltered at the memory.

"It's ok, dear. Room 118. There's a cop posted outside the door so don't try any funny business." Jane nodded and slowly made his way to the room. He nodded by way of greeting to the officer posted outside her room. He recognized him from the slew of cops that had been at Lisbon's apartment just the night before.

He went into her room and just stood there, looking at her for a few minutes before pulling a chair up to the side of her bed. He gently took her hand in his, being careful to avoid the wires that seemed to be coming from all over her body.

"I'm sorry, Teresa. I never meant for you to get hurt. I just wanted us to both be happy. I love you so much. I just never wanted you to get hurt."

He sat there holding her hand, stroking the parts that weren't covered in tape and wires and finally letting his eyes drift closed. He knew that as long as he was touching her, she would be ok.

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Cho was sitting in his boss' office. It felt like an invasion of privacy, but something had been bothering him. Now that Red John was in custody, or rather in the hospital in handcuffs, and Jane and Lisbon were both on the mend, he was going to figure it out.

Lisbon had gotten a large envelope of pictures that she said was from Red John, but there had been no note, no smiley face. She had to have been hiding something, that wasn't like her. He needed to make sure that whatever it was hadn't played a role in her injuries or in her neighbor's death.

He felt guilty going through the drawers in her desk, but knew that he needed to look and see anyway. He checked all the drawers, went through the filing cabinets, and then stared at the one remaining thing for him to look through.

He hadn't noticed that she had forgotten her work bag in the office the night before, but there it sat, under her desk, waiting her him to look through it. He pulled it out and sat it on her desk, looking at it. He was still looking at it when Rigsby walked by and stopped in the doorway.

"What are you doing?" He asked in a stage whisper. He quickly looked around the hallway to make sure no one was near before stepping into the office.

"Lisbon was hiding something. I think it had to do with the case. I was looking for it." His expression gave away none of his trepidation at the prospect of going through Lisbon's personal belongings.

"In her purse?"

"It's not her purse. It's her work bag." Rigsby just stared at him; to him it was the same thing, a woman's bag. Who knew what was in there? He sat across from Cho and took up staring at the bag. They had both finished the paperwork that they needed to for the case. They had finished it quickly, wanting to be able to get back to the hospital and their injured colleagues. But instead, they were sitting here staring at a bag.

It was the sight of the two men in the office that made Van Pelt stop and enter Lisbon's office. "What are you guys doing?"

"We're waiting to look in Lisbon's bag to see if there's something in there that would explain her odd behavior the last few days." Cho said in his usual monotone.

"You mean besides being stalked by a serial killer?" Van Pelt was clearly amused at the inability of the two men to open a bag. "Here, let me look."

She went over to the desk and quickly flipped through the contents. There didn't look to be anything interesting in it until she came to the last stack of paper. Pulling out the group of photos, she gasped. "Oh my…"

"What? What is it?" Rigsby asked, coming to stand next to her, but Van Pelt quickly pulled the pictures against her chest.

"Let's just say that I know who the man and the woman in the first picture that Red John left are."

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It had been just over three weeks since that night, that horrible fateful night. She had been in the hospital the whole time and it was starting to drive her crazy. Jane had been there almost the whole time. He had managed to talk his way into staying with Lisbon in her room while he was still in the hospital himself.

He had pins and plates put into his hand to set the bones. The doctors told him that if he hadn't tried to drive and then gotten into a kick-down, drag-out fight, he wouldn't have needed surgery, but Jane didn't mind. In his mind it had been worth it.

Red John had healed and less than a week after Lisbon shot him, he was transferred to the medical ward at a nearby prison to await trial for all the murders he had committed. Lisbon was occasionally upset that she hadn't been able to kill him, but considering how much blood she had lost, it was pretty amazing that she had been able to wake up long enough to keep him from killing Jane.

Lisbon's injuries had been a little more severe. The wounds to her stomach had been what had kept her in the hospital all this time. After Jane had been released, he had spent his every waking moment with her. Or so it seemed. There were times when he wasn't there and, as much as it surprised her, she missed him.

As happy as she was to be getting out of the hospital today, she was still apprehensive. She didn't think she would be afraid to go back to her own apartment. After all, they had caught Red John. He was going to rot in jail.

Van Pelt showed up to drive Lisbon back to her apartment, which surprised her. She had thought for sure that Jane would be the one to pick her up, but he hadn't been at the hospital all morning. Not that she minded. She had tried awfully hard to push him away, but still they had been getting closer during her stay in the hospital. Not that they weren't before, but even before, there were things she wouldn't have shared with him. Now, well, she didn't think there was any question of his that she wouldn't answer.

Grace hadn't stayed long when she dropped her off. Just long enough to make sure she didn't need anything before leaving. Lisbon sighed, sitting down on the sofa. She was alone. In her apartment, next door to where her neighbor had been killed by the same man who had tried to kill her.

She heard the doorknob rattling and had to fight the fear that rose in her. She was just trying to figure out what had happened to her gun (it had been cleared and according to Van Pelt waiting for her at her apartment) when the door opened and she heard the sound of something dropping followed by an all too familiar voice cursing mildly in the doorway.

"I thought I took away your key, Jane." Lisbon said, smiling.

"You were going to, but I distracted you." Jane replied, setting the rest of what had been in his hands onto the ground by the door and making his way over to the sofa. "Welcome home." He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before sitting next to her.

"I'm glad to be out of the hospital. I thought you were going to be picking me up." She picked up his hand idly, drawing lazy circles on the back with her fingers.

"I had some errands to run. I was hoping to be here when you got here, but I guess Van Pelt dropped you off a little early."

"So what are you doing here?" She looked over at him, noticing that he couldn't look her in the face.

"I almost lost you." He whispered. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."

"I know." She whispered back to him. "I heard you, in your house, when you were fighting with Red John." She felt embarrassed for no reason at admitting that she had heard him arguing with Red John, had heard him telling Red John that she was his reason to be alive, that she was the one who had helped him move on.

"Oh." Was all that he said. They sat there in silence for a few more minutes, just enjoying each other's presence.

"I didn't mean to push you away, Jane. You know that, right? I was scared and I wanted to protect you. I wanted to make sure nothing bad would—" Jane pressed his lips to hers, stopping her speech.

"I know." He said, pulling away. "I was just trying to protect you, too. It looks like we both did a bang up job of it." They shared a chuckle.

"What were you bringing in just now? Seemed pretty heavy, or awkward." Lisbon asked, turning her head to look at the door.

"Everything is awkward." He mumbled, holding up his hand. "Um, just some of my things." He said, uncharacteristically avoiding her eyes.

"Some of your things? What? Are you moving in with me?" She asked teasingly.

"Maybe."

"OK, well, I'm kind of attached to my guest room. My brother's coming to visit for a few days so you'll have to share a bed, I hope that's ok."

"I don't really want to share a bed with your brother."

"Who said anything about my brother? There are two bedrooms here after all." She looked at him suggestively.

"Are you saying you want me to move back in with you, to actually live with you?" He asked, moving slightly closer.

"I never wanted you to leave." She said before pressing her lips to his.

And Jane was never going to. No matter what.