Okay, I know it's been ages since I updated that story... But have no fear, I won't abandon it, no matter what :)

"It doesn't look very good, you know." Hannah, the CBI's doctor, examined Van Pelt's swollen wrist carefully. "What on Earth happened to you?"

Van Pelt shrugged her shoulders. "A kid hit me with a baseball bat."

"Oh yes, I should've guessed. By the way, you shouldn't let children play with heavy objects. It may be dangerous."

"I didn't give it to him! What the hell is wrong with you?" Van Pelt snapped angrily. "I'm a cop, not a babysitter, for God's sake."

Hannah raised her hands. "Okay, okay, I was just kidding. You don't need to yell at me."

Grace sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm not in the mood today."

"Apology accepted." She smiled. "Now, about your wrist... You should have an X-ray done, but I don't think it's broken. Just don't strain it and it will be fine. Maybe stick to the desk work for some time?"

Van Pelt shook her head. "It's impossible, not now."

"Yeah, I've heard what happened." Hannah nodded. "It is terrible. Do you have anything already?"

"Not much, just some random clues and pure guesswork. But we're working on it."

"Kick the bastard's ass when you find him."

Van Pelt finally smiled. "Sure thing. Thanks for help."

"You're welcome. I hope you won't need medical attention any time soon, but you know where to find me." Hannah returned the smile. "Take care, Grace."

When Grace entered the bullpen, Rigsby and Cho raised their heads.

"Did you check the results?" she asked, waving towards her computer.

"Not yet, we waited for you." Cho watched her curiously. "What happened to your wrist?"

"Long story. But it will be fine in a week or two." She sat at her desk and typed something, then shook her head. "Adam Powell has clear record, there's nothing worth mentioning. And Mary Roberts... A ticket for speeding, four months ago. Nothing more."

"I thought so. We need to search that building, maybe we'll have more luck there."

Rigsby nodded. "I got the warrant and spoke to the forensic guys. They can go there at any moment."

"There's no point waiting." Cho stood up. "I'll go with them, I'd like to see the building."

"Who's the owner?" asked Van Pelt.

"At the beginning it belonged to Subway Enterprises, a huge steel company. A few months ago, however, their president made one wrong decision and they went bankrupt. The city council took over the building and they now try to sell it, with no success so far."

"Means no one will be interested in our search. Good. What about the three witches?"

"I called all of them, we can come tomorrow and ask as many questions as we'd like to. They are ready to help any moment."

Van Pelt smiled weakly. "Your personal charm is priceless. I think there's no need to visit all of them together. Each of us can go question one of them, it will be faster that way."

"Good idea." Rigsby nodded, took the visiting cards from the table and handed one to Van Pelt. "Lady number one, Mrs Rebecca Lopez. Lady number two, Mrs Tanya Conelly, is for Cho, and I'll take Mrs Sarah Hascott."

Van Pelt read the address and placed the card in her pocket. "If you want to join the techs, you should go," she reminded Cho. "We'll stay here, in case anything comes up."

Cho stood up. "Try to dig into Powell's life. Childhood, schools, university drama club, anything. And check why he's got a gun license." He grabbed his wallet and, after a moment of hesitation, his gun and left.

Evenings in hospital were very quiet. After all the bedlam of the day demanding family members left, patients fell asleep and nurses could finally rest for a while.

Lisbon was enjoying the blessed silence. She lay in her bed, perfectly still, trying not to wake Jane. He had fallen asleep only half an hour earlier, and she could see he desperately needed rest. He always slept very little, of course, but there was a huge difference between 'very little' and 'nothing at all'. He hadn't really left her bedside since Friday - apart those thirty minutes in the morning when he had gone to the headquarters to break the news to her team, which, by the way, hadn't ended very well - and he had done his best to stay alert all the time.

Lisbon knew that he hadn't slept at night, for any time she'd woken up - because of the pain, nightmare or just a noise outside - he'd been next to her in ten seconds, worry written all over his face.

She appreciated his presence. Although she would never admit it, she was scared as hell. She never feared known dangers, they were part of her job. A drug dealer pointing a gun at her was something she knew how to deal with. She could handle a lunatic with a knife, a gangster's girlfriend kicking and scratching, a suspect running away and Bertram yelling at her for fifteen minutes consecutively. All of these just made her heart beat a little faster, she knew what to do, and it was somehow reassuring.

But that one was different. Lisbon couldn't look danger in the eye. Didn't know who was responsible for it, what they wanted, where and how to search for them. She couldn't fight the invisible enemy.

All of that made her authentically terrified, and she was really grateful for Jane's presence. Whether he held her hand in the darkness, murmured soothing words or just sat there doing crossword, she felt better. Safer.

Jane stirred, as if he felt Lisbon was thinking about him, and opened his eyes.

"Hello, Sleeping Beauty," she joked.

He ran his hand through his hair, making it even messier than it had already been, and smiled. "Hi. What's the time?"

"Half past eight."

He winced. He let her out of his sight for half an hour. "I didn't mean to fall asleep at all," he said.

"Why not? You keep repeating that sleep is good for your health," Lisbon teased. "And make me sleep most of the day."

"You misunderstood, my dear Lisbon, as always. It's good for your health, not mine. I didn't get shot recently, you know."

"Doesn't mean you're a robot." She smiled gently. "Go home and get some rest. I'm not running away, I promise."

"Just try, and you'll be grounded here for the next two hundred years," he murmured. "I'm not going anywhere."

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Is there a chance you will listen to me one day?"

Jane grinned. "Not even the slightest."

Jeff lay in his makeshift bed thinking about the events of the day. The three agents - rather scary at first - turned out to be very nice. He wondered what it was like to chase dangerous criminals on a daily basis. "Dad?" he whispered. "Are you asleep?"

Adam shifted a little. "It's nearly midnight, of course I am. What's up?" he asked sleepily.

"How do you think, what should I do to become an agent? Like, you know, agent Rigsby."

Adam turned to face his son. "Finish school, go to police academy, have good grades and get chosen by the FBI," he said. "But I thought you detested cops."

"Cops, not agents. They're so cool."

"Oh, really? What's the difference, then?" Adam's white teeth flashed in the darkness as he smiled widely.

"Are you kidding? Agents chase down murderers, solve complicated cases and put dangerous criminals behind bars. A cop can give you a ticket for speeding. Or yell at you for not going to school." The boy crossed his arms.

Jeff's experience with the police wasn't very pleasant so far. Every visit of the officers revolved around his education, or rather lack of it. He didn't care, he was perfectly fine without it. How would English literature help him in everyday life? Sure, can't wait to start classes. I'm so thrilled!, he usually replied with a smirk.

But if it was agent Van Pelt who asked him to go to school, who knows? Maybe he would think about it...

Drifting off to sleep, he thought about the three of them. Agent Rigsby, tall and muscular, so confident and bossy... Agent Van Pelt, a kick-ass redhead... Her smile when he finally got the guts to apologize for hitting her... He winced when he thought of her swollen wrist. That was incredibly stupid of him... And agent Cho, with his mysterious, emotionless face expression... Like a silent assassin...

Jeff finally gave himself up to tiredness, plunging into wild dreams including the three agents in ninja costumes, fast as lightning, fighting villains with no effort...

At that very moment, Jeff's heroes were indeed fighting villains, but it wasn't as spectacular as he thought.

It was well past their working hours, but no one noticed it, and even if they had, it wouldn't have changed anything. They weren't going to waste a single minute.

"Did you find out anything?" Cho sat at his desk with a cup of coffee in his hand.

Rigsby shook his head. "Nothing that could be useful. Powell had an ordinary childhood, attended an ordinary school, had ordinary friends, ordinary Spanish lessons, then an ordinary university degree. He met a girl, got married, Jeff was born. Then there was a divorce that left him penniless and a downward spiral from then. But he's clean, apart from the obvious fact that Jeff doesn't go to school."

"What else can we do?"

"Tonight? Not much."

"Did the techs find anything in that building?"

Cho shrugged his shoulders. "There are footprints on the stairs leading to the roof, but that won't help us much. Besides, Powell said he'd been there a few times."

"Was there anything on the roof?"

"It rained on Saturday. Even if there had been anything to find, water had already washed it."

"We're back to square one." Rigsby looked dejected. "Now we can only go through all Lisbon's cases and see who would have a motive." He smiled dryly.

"Let's." Van Pelt straightened a bit and turned her computer on. "It's worth a try."

Cho watched her sceptically for a while.

"Please?" Van Pelt looked determined. "We have to do anything that seems to be just a tiny bit useful, or I'll go crazy."

"Okay." He sighed and switched his own computer on as well. "Where should we start, how do you think?"

Rigsby shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno. From the latest case, I guess."

Van Pelt shook her head. "That will take ages. For starters, let's check if any of the people Lisbon put behind bars have left prison recently."

"So we're going for the vengeance scenario?"

"I think it's the only reasonable one, as for now."

"I can think of another one that is equally reasonable," said Cho quietly.

The three agents exchanged worried looks, but none of them dared say it aloud.

Red John.