Chapter 9 - Walking on Glass

Jane breathed deeply upon entering their bedroom. Fortunately, Forensics had gathered any evidence of the shooting already and Abbott had ordered someone to board up the windows until replacement panes could be found and fitted. But glass shards still littered the wooden boards, covering their bedding at its centre like an ice storm had hit it. Chunks of wood from the dresser, wardrobe and a nightstand lay like kindling alongside.

He'd been so hyped up on getting everyone out of there earlier he hadn't had time to appreciate the complete devastation of what he had formerly considered the safest place in their murder infested world. The place now looked like a dark and distant memory of its former cheery and cosy self. Instead of muted sleep inducing colours it was now the opposite – a dark shadowy world that would surely induce nightmares.

"You okay?" Fischer asked quietly as she stood in the doorframe watching him as he stood in the middle of the room.

He realised he hadn't covered up the dread currently rising in him and the fear of what might have occurred earlier quickly enough in his expression. He beamed a smile at her he struggled to bring to his eyes. "I don't think we'll be getting the security deposit back, do you?" he quipped.

Unconvinced, she laughed softly. "No. I'd say not."

He averted his gaze from her increasingly pitying one and went to work on grabbing a couple of holdalls and some clothes from a drawer. He opened a drawer and a small square box fell to the floor and rolled towards Fischer's feet. She picked it up and arched an eyebrow at the unmistakeable black velvet jewellery box.

"Thanks," Jane said, grabbing it out of her hand and placing it in his holdall without looking at her.

"I won't tell," she teased, pleased to lighten the depressive mood that had settled on the room. She knew how to battle Jane and needle him but she had no idea how to be sympathetic when he showed emotions openly. That was Lisbon's job, thankfully. Bickering and one-upmanship was much safer ground for both of them.

"Tell what exactly?" Jane said, shoving some underwear into a bag with his back to her.

A smile in her voice, "You know what."

He could tell she was grinning like the cat who got the cream. She continued, "But you should be careful where you hide that thing, pretty easy for Lisbon to find it just shoved into a drawer like that."

"Hm. It is a pretty terrible hiding place."

He let his words hang in the air as he turned and shot her an enigmatic look as he fetched some toiletries from the bathroom.

She was still frowning when he returned. "You haven't figured it out yet? Oh, come on, Kim, try a little harder."

She spoke with uncertainty. "She already knows about the ring. You already asked her to marry you."

"Bravo," he stated, grabbing a suit from the wardrobe and double checking it for bulletholes.

"She turned you down?!"

He sighed loudly and faced her fully with both eyebrows raised and a gentle smile. "Go on, take your best shot. Not often you see me fail at something. Get it over with."

To his surprise she blinked rapidly at him instead, more intrigued than set on revenge for his many misdeeds and tricks against her. "Why did she say no?" she asked simply.

He tried to get them back on an even keel, back to the comfort of gentle ribbing. "Why does that matter? You think she's too good for me, anyway, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, naturally...but you two are good together. That's obvious to anyone."

Unsettled by her truth finding instead of a rigorous bout of mocking he shrugged slightly. "She didn't say no, exactly. She just..." Another shrug. "Anyway, doesn't matter. Not really a priority at the moment."

He grabbed both bags, a suit hanging over his arm. Brightly, "Okay, all set. Let's get out of here, shall we?"

"M-Mom?" Lisbon said, tapping Annie Lisbon's shoulder slightly. The word still sounded foreign to her ears after all the years apart. When she'd entered the room quietly she took in her mother's features unobserved for the first real time since she'd seen her again. More pronounced lines etched the once familiar face that hadn't been there years ago, her hair coarser and shorter than she recalled as she touched it lightly. She'd filled out slightly but was still as slim and slight as she remembered. Smaller, even, now that she was an adult herself. Her gaze extended to her sister, one cheek showing and covered from her neck by a blanket draped over her. Her mother had done that, she knew. Just like she used to do with her first daughter when she was sick or tired too. Unbidden resentment bubbled up in her that she shook her head in an attempt to release and to rationalise. That's when she woke her mother, her own emotions and how to deal with them could wait. Now she needed some answers.

"T-Teresa?" Annie croaked, green eyes meeting Lisbon's. She jumped up quickly from the chair and hugged her tightly. "Oh my god, sweetheart, thank god you're okay!" With her hands on both of Lisbon's upper arms she assessed her like the nurse she once was. "Are you okay? They told me you were but-"

"I'm fine. Honestly."

She battled to release herself from the embrace. Suddenly she was stifling hot and couldn't breathe. She took a long step back to catch her breath. In addition to seeing her mother's shocked and vaguely hurt expression in doing so she saw her sister sleepily open her eyes, another carbon copy of her mother's and her own.

"Hi," the younger woman said sheepishly. "You're Teresa."

"Hey," Lisbon responded quietly. She glanced at her mother. "I'm sorry. I-I don't know your name, I'm afraid. I had no idea you even existed, in fact." She was ashamed immediately after she said it but she meant the dig to hurt, her emotions battling to allow for much politeness.

"I'm sorry," Annie cut in. "This-this is Hope, Teresa."

"Hope," Lisbon repeated.

"Hi," Hope replied sheepishly, moving off the couch to stand awkwardly opposite her. "It's...it's good to meet you, Teresa."

Lisbon nodded slowly, grateful the young woman didn't come closer but stowing away the piece of information just imparted. So, while Hope was a secret from Teresa, Hope was aware she had a sister. But for how long? Forever? Or was the knowledge of a sister just a recent development for her too?

Lisbon tried to smile, "Good to meet you too."

Their mother laughed with unease. "This is something I've waited for a long time," she said, tears brimming. "My two girls finally together."

Lisbon felt her temper rising again. Why hadn't they met long before now? Why had her mother stayed away for so long? Why had she allowed one daughter to grow up with a mother and the other without one? More questions raged through her head all battling for dominance. She suddenly felt like that same teenager abandoned all over again and wanted nothing more than to act accordingly - to stomp her feet, yell, cry, break something. She had to get out of the room before she burst into tears and allowed the mixed emotions she was experiencing to spill out in some kind of contemptuous rant.

She quickly realised it was going to be impossible for her to take their statement in her current state, she wasn't thinking clearly and the magnitude of the events of the past seven hours (was it really only seven hours?!) was beginning to hit her hard.

She managed some civility, acutely aware she was treating her mother like any other witness to a crime, speaking to her with the same calm professional distance practiced over years in law enforcement. "I-Actually, I just popped in to say hello. I have some work to do. But I'll have one of my team take a statement from you in a few minutes, mom."

Surprised, "You-you can't do it? I'd like to explain-"

"No. I-I have some other stuff I need to attend to. I'll grab Agent Vega. She's excellent, really and she'll take good care of you."

Disappointed, "O-okay then. And then what happens?"

"We keep you both safe until we eliminate what happened to you in Chicago as a motive for the attack on myself and Patrick."

"I-I can't believe this might be my fault, Reece. If I'm to blame for you-"

"Let's get your statement, shall we? We don't know anything yet," she interjected before her mother was a sobbing mess.

"Vega," she called to the young agent as soon as she entered the bullpen, a quick pit stop to the bathroom required beforehand to fully compose herself back into FBI agent mode from resentful child.

The young woman jumped up from her seat immediately. "Yes, ma'am."

She rolled her eyes. "I've told you before to either call me Boss or Lisbon, Vega."

"Y-Yes. Sorry, Boss."

She barked out her orders to interview her mother.

"You want me to do that?" she asked, surprised. "I know you haven't had much time to talk to them yourself and I thought maybe you'd have liked the opportunity to catch up-"

Wylie, at his computer, glanced up momentarily and shook his head. Vega was heading for trouble. He'd been working for Lisbon a little longer than she had and still had to earn her respect never mind question her orders.

"It's not your job to decide assignments, Agent," Lisbon stated firmly. "You have a problem with what I'm asking you to do or should I ask someone else and assign you to filing duty?"

"No! No, ma-, Boss. Of course not."

Gruffly, "Get to it then."