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A/N: Donna here. I just wanted to thank you all for reading and reviewing this story. It was certainly a labor of love for both Hayseed and me. And thanks to her for this wonderful idea, and for allowing me to tag along with her. It's been a true pleasure.

Chapter 6: Conclusion

Jane awoke slowly, first his mind registering his own consciousness, before he heard familiar voices speaking in hushed tones.

"What an idiot," said Kimball Cho.

"I think he's a hero," said Grace Rigsby adoringly. "Risking his life to save the boss's."

"No," replied Minnelli, "You're right, Kimball. Man his age has no right to be climbing five flights in one go. Now, had it been me…"

Jane heard Wayne Rigsby chuckle. "All of you are right, to some degree—"

"Hush, all of you." This was Lisbon, whose small hand was in his. "He needs his rest."

They complied as if she were still their boss of old, and Jane grinned. She was still the spunkiest, most wonderful woman in the world. When the silence extended, Jane gradually opened his eyes, squinting against the fluorescent light of his hospital room.

"Did somebody die?" he croaked over his dry throat.

There was a chorus of "Jane!" and Lisbon squeezed his hand, bending over his bed to kiss his cheek. She smelled achingly familiar: the lily of the valley hand lotion he'd bought her for Christmas.

"Thank God," he heard her whisper, as her warm lips left his cool cheek. He missed that warmth immediately.

His eyes fully open, he beheld her beautiful face, no less adorable to him with the added lines about her eyes and lovely mouth.

"Teresa," he managed hoarsely, and just as she had always anticipated his needs, she placed a straw between his lips and he sucked down blessedly cool water.

His eyes rested on the others in the room, welling a bit as he beheld gray-haired Cho, stoically holding vigil at the foot of his hospital bed. Grace stood nearby, her sherry eyes bright with unshed tears, her once titian hair now the palest strawberry blonde, bound in a low bun at her nape. She was a bit thicker around her middle, but that's what thirty years and three children could do to a woman. Then there was Rigbsy, the only one among them who hadn't retained his full head of hair. Balding and somewhat portly, the tall man stood by his wife near the window, grinning in that pleasant way Jane remembered.

"My old friends," Jane said, touched deeply by their presence there, by their loyalty in coming to be with Lisbon as she waited. "Thank you."

They all joked and offered equal chastisement and congratulations on a case well-solved. And it was then that a knock came on the door of Jane's private room. Rigsby went to open it, and the next moment, Jane smelled the spicy scent of pepperoni and cheese.

"Case-closed pizza!" Rigsby announced, setting the box on the rolling table near Jane's bed.

"You're kidding," said Cho. "The guy just woke up."

"I missed lunch," said Rigsby defensively. "It was a long drive…"

Jane grinned. "You guys eat up. I think I'll stick to Jell-O and hospital gruel for now."

"Your story was all over the news," said Grace, shaking her head as her husband snagged two pieces of pizza, one for each hand. She lowered her voice in imitation of a newscaster: "Elderly sleuths bring down a murderer and an assisted living drug ring."

Lisbon frowned, but Jane's smile widened in appreciation. "Really?"

"It wasn't exactly a ring," said Lisbon.

"I saw another headline that called you a pistol-packin' grandma," offered Rigsby over a mouthful of pizza.

"Well that's not very specific," said Cho. "Lisbon uses a Glock."

"And she's not a grandma," added Grace. "Well, not yet."

"Seriously though," said Rigsby, "I can't believe you two. Who would have thought you'd still be solving crimes at your age?"

"We still got it," said Jane. "And don't forget Virgil here. Best undercover job since the Wolcott case, remember?"

"Oh, my God," exclaimed Grace, her eyes turning nostalgic. "The pickup artist! Cho, you were so great."

"Well, you should have seen Virgil," said Jane. "He would have given the Ice Man here a run for his money." Jane's smile seemed suddenly to take much more effort.

Lisbon noticed right away. "I think he's getting over-tired, and his doctor is due any minute to check on him."

"All right," said Minelli. "We can take a hint. Come on kids." The old man moved to Jane's bed and placed a frail hand on his arm. "Glad you're okay, Jane."

"Thanks, Virgil. For everything."

Minelli's winked one blue eye at Lisbon and nodded, hobbling slowly toward the door. Cho stepped in to offer his old boss his support. Rigsby said his goodbyes and snagged the pizza box while Van Pelt left Jane with a kiss on the cheek and a reassuring smile for Lisbon.

Alone at last, Lisbon began fussing over Jane's bedding, moving to press the page button for the nurse to bring him his dinner. She actively avoided meeting his eyes. Jane stayed her, his hand over hers.

"Hey," he said. "Slow down, Teresa. I'm all right."

Lisbon stopped what she was doing and stared at her husband. To his dismay, her lower lip began to tremble, her eyes filling with the tears she had been holding back since he opened his eyes.

"Come here," he whispered, and she sat on the bed beside him, weeping with relief into his neck. His hand came up to rest on her soft hair, and he kissed her temple tenderly.

"I could kill you for going up those stairs like that," she said. "That is probably the most selfish thing you've ever done in your life, and that's saying a lot."

"Well, I almost took care of the killing part myself," he said, remembering with a twinge of his newly modified heart, his desperation to get to her, to save her as he had tried to do for most of his life. When he thought of how closely he had come to losing her, how closely they had come to losing each other, the old doubts and fears borne of his first wife's death suffused him with horrifying familiarity.

"Well, you had no business—" she began.

"Bailey was going to kill you," interrupted Jane seriously, arching his neck away from her so he could look into her face. "There was no choice, do you understand? I would do the exact same thing again under those circumstances."

She saw the intensity of the love in his eyes, and as she had done for nearly forty years, she forgave him completely.

"You're lucky I love you so much," she said, shaking her head in mild exasperation.

Jane reached up a hand and wiped at a tear at the corner of her misty green eye.

"That, my love, is an understatement." He pressed his lips to gently to hers.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A week later, Jane sat in Lisbon's old wheelchair at Oceanside Commons. They were outside on the patio, Jane in the sun, Lisbon sitting beneath an umbrella in a deck chair, reading a crime novel on her tablet. Jane dozed in the warmth, the sound of the distant waves soothing and relaxing his active mind.

He was breathing much easier now, both literally and figuratively. His ticker had been modified with the latest technology, completed by the top robotic surgical machine on the market. He felt better than he had in years, and though he would never admit this to Lisbon, he wished he had done this five years before. There were no guarantees in this life, as Jane well knew, but his doctor predicted the procedure would extend his life indefinitely.

They agreed to spend his brief convalescence back at the assisted living facility, where they were now treated like celebrities by the staff and fellow patrons alike.

His eyes still closed behind his sunglasses, Jane reached out and took his wife's hand, feeling her comforting touch warm him even more than the California sun. This, thought Jane, was most definitely the life. Suddenly, however, a shadow blocked the sun, and a familiar voice jarred him from a refreshing catnap.

"Well, don't you two look like a couple of movie stars at the beach."

A handsome young man in Marine Corps fatigues stood before them, a gorgeous redhead at his side. Jane had to blink twice to register that the young woman was not in fact her mother, though her sparkling blue eyes most certainly came from her dad.

Despite her own recent surgery, Lisbon jumped spryly to her feet, reaching up to embrace her son, tears springing to her eyes.

"Oh, Austin," she breathed, happiness threatening to make her heart burst. "My beautiful little boy."

Austin chuckled at the irony of her old endearment, as he towered over his mother now by a good twelve inches. He kissed his mother's cheek and squatted down by his father, while Lisbon moved to hug Maddie Rigsby.

Jane's chest was still tender from his surgery, but he sat up straighter in his wheelchair to receive his son's strong embrace. He patted him on the back, closing his eyes in sheer pleasure, pride, and gratitude. He took Maddie's hand, kissing the back of it so gallantly, Lisbon rolled her eyes.

"When did you get back stateside?" Jane asked, as Austin pulled up a chair for first Maddie, then himself.

"Yesterday, actually. Maddie picked me up at Travis, and she was kind enough to drive me down here."

"Hmm…that was very kind indeed." said Jane knowingly, pleased when Maddie blushed. Just like her mother, he thought nostalgically.

"We're so glad you're home," said Lisbon, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands. "How long can you stay?"

"Well, that's the thing, Mom." He took a deep breath. "I've decided to retire from the Corps. I've accepted a job offer…from the FBI. I have to spend several weeks at Quantico, but given my connections," he said, his eyes twinkling, "I'm getting put on the fast track."

"What?" said Lisbon excitedly. "You're kidding me! That's wonderful!"

Jane's reaction was decidedly mixed. It had been scary enough when he had enlisted in the Marine Corps years ago, and there had been many arguments in which Jane had tried to talk him out of it. The idea of sending his only son into harm's way was nearly too much for him to bear. It had taken a couple of years before he accepted it, and while he had hidden his fears from Austin, Lisbon had known how upsetting it was for him. She had felt the same, of course, but she looked at his duty from the perspective of a retired cop. Serving your country was a calling, Lisbon felt, while to Jane it had started as a means to a personal end, an occupation filled with too much death and corruption.

But Austin had distinguished himself in battle, had made Jane as proud as if he had earned those medals and stripes himself. But Jane had hoped that once Austin left the Marine Corps, he would find some cushy civilian job and settle down. Glancing at Maddie, he could tell that she had wanted the same thing for Austin. She had likely been hesitant about being with a man who was always inches away from possible death. This, Jane realized, had been the real stumbling block to their forming a relationship beyond friendship, not the slight age difference. Jane well knew what that was like.

Maddie's lips were pursed into a tight smile. She had barely said a word beyond welcoming pleasantries, and something told him the drive from Northern California had been a tense one.

"What field office would you be working from?" asked Lisbon hopefully.

"Well…that's the thing. I want to stay in California, but there's an opening in San Diego…or one up in San Francisco." He avoided looking at Maddie. "I haven't decided which yet."

Jane glanced at Lisbon. She too realized the reason behind the kids' tension.

"That is a choice," she said, trying to calm her own personal excitement that their son could be down here closer to them.

Beside Austin, Maddie's eyes watered, and she stood jerkily. "Excuse me," she said, and she trotted down the path toward the beach. Austin remained seated, watching helplessly as she left. No one said anything for a long moment.

"Have you told her how you feel?" asked Jane.

When he looked at his father, Jane recognized his son's expression completely. It was the ache of indecision, the fear of putting himself out there, of taking what he really wanted and running with it, damning the consequences.

"Not in so many words," he admitted. "She must know how I feel, what she means to me." He laughed humorlessly. "Hell, I've been trying to get her to go out with me since we were kids."

"She might know it in her mind, sweetheart," said Lisbon gently. "But until you say the words out loud, she won't know it in her heart."

Jane reached out for his son's arm, looking intently into eyes as green as his own. "Listen to me, Son. Don't be an idiot, like I was once. These days are precious—trust me, I know- and you're wasting them by not asking for what you really want in life. This other stuff, the where's and the wherefore's—that's just logistics. If you love each other, you'll find a way to work it out. But you've got to take that first step."

Austin stared bleakly out at Maddie, who had taken off her sandals and was staring out at the Pacific, her long hair blowing in the wind, her skirt billowing around her. Jane and Lisbon understood exactly what the young couple was feeling. They were taken back to that long ago day at a Florida resort, when it had boiled down to making the choice between merely existing and truly living.

"If it's your father and I you're worried about," Lisbon said. "Don't. We'll be fine. We're only a few hours away from San Francisco. And that's a hell of a lot closer than Australia, isn't it? We won't have to go months without seeing you."

"You know what to do, Austin," added Jane, sitting back in his chair. He had confidence his son would do the right thing.

Austin stared at Maddie, saw her beginning to walk further down the beach. Further away from him.

He stood abruptly, kissing each of his parents on the forehead with a loud smack.

"Thanks," he said. "I love you guys!" He took off at a full run toward the beach.

Lisbon rose and sat on her husband's lap, watching as her only child finally left the nest for good. Sure, he would come home from time to time, bring his wife and children, but he would never be completely hers again. And that, she realized, was how it was supposed to be.

She sniffled a little as she watched Austin take Maddie's arm, turn her around and finally confess how much he loved her. Maddie appeared to stare at him in shock for a moment, and then she was in his arms. Lisbon closed her eyes and made a sound that was half sob, half laugh.

"You're a good mother, easing his guilt like that about us," said Jane, kissing her graying hair.

"No," admitted Lisbon. "Just a realistic one. I never would want him to resent us for holding him back. And you were right. We wasted a lot of days once upon a time by not being honest with ourselves, or with each other."

"Perhaps, but I think we've more than made up for the first ten with the last thirty, don't you agree?"

She smiled against his chest. "Definitely."

They watched the young couple in the distance, holding hands, talking animatedly as they walked on the beach, no doubt beginning the long arguments that would lead them to the good stuff ahead.

"Why couldn't you have confessed your true feelings for me on a romantic beach instead of in a stuffy old airplane?" Lisbon mused conversationally.

"Aw, Teresa, you know I never do things the conventional way. It's all about the show, the drama, about leaving them wanting more…"

"Well you totally failed then, my love," she told him with a contented sigh. "I've never wanted anything more than this…"

Snuggling into his chest, Lisbon listened happily to the strong beating of her husband's beautiful heart.

THE END

(Hayseed here) This concludes our little peek into the imagined future of our favorite characters, and we thank you for reading! It's been great fun to write with Donna and I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.