Disclaimer- They are like little action figures I do not own, but have the incisive need to play with. CBS owns them. Mr. Heller made them. No money is, was or ever will be made from this.

[Chapter 13]

The evening sun beat down across his bare shoulders and back giving them a first degree burn as he sat on the porch with the shotgun still in his hands. He stared at the body and felt a twinge of guilt. Rigsby wondered if things would have been different if he never cooked that first batch. That is one of the biggest gambles he ever took in his life. Each batch of volatile chemicals he mixed, was a recipe for disaster, one miscalculation could have been catastrophic.

In the end it did end catastrophically.

Troy laid in the grass staring up at the sky. The shotgun hit center mass. The 00 shell imbedded pellets into the man's neck, chest and heart.

Rigsby was lost in thought. He didn't notice first car to pull up to the scene, an Impala. Sloan and Davis hopped out of their car.

"Put the gun down! Get down on the ground!" The bulletproof vested Marshals approached through the front gate.

The second vehicle to the scene was a Tahoe.

"Don't shoot! He's CBI," Lisbon jumped out of the truck. "That's my agent. He's CBI. That's my agent!"

"There's Hillard." Sloan kicked Troy's stake away. He reached down to look for a pulse. "He's dead."

"Cho! Check the perimeter," Lisbon ordered.

Rigsby didn't look away from the body or acknowledge anyone's presence.

"Hey Rigs," Lisbon called as she walled up the path. "Rigsby!"

Rigsby mind snapped back to the here and now. He looked up. "Oh, hey boss. Sorry must have zoned out for a moment."

"Did he say anything to you? About why he kidnapped you?" Davis pointed to Troy's body. "Do you know who hired him?"

"Who are you?" Rigsby asked.

"Back off!" Lisbon warned. She didn't like Davis tone and they didn't seem too concern about her agent's welfare.

"I'm Sloan. He's Davis. Were with-" Sloan said.

"Marshal's service. Fugitive task," Cho cut him off and stepped into their path. There was something about them he didn't like. He glared a warning to back off. "It's all clear boss."

An ambulance pulled up, then another. Followed by three SUV's, a squad car, a fire truck, and an armored van.

"Rigs, I'm glad your okay," Lisbon put a hand on his arm. "Come on. We need to get you check out by the paramedics. Where's Jane?"

"Jane! He got shot. He's in the house," Rigsby exclaimed. He was about to stand but Lisbon grabbed his arm. "Boss?"

"Stay here and sit." She asked. Lisbon nodded to Cho. The other man leaned on the entry post keeping Rigsby company. "Is there anyone else in the house?"

"Yeah. There's Humpty, but he's unconscious in the basement," Rigsby informed her.

She entered the abandoned house with Davis and a few deputies behind her. They swept each room.

Lisbon bee lined for the kitchen and found Jane where Rigsby left him. He had his head down on the table, resting on one arm.

"Jane!"

"Hey Lisbon, sorry I missed the meeting, you wouldn't believe the day I'm having," Jane looked up towards her. He was sweating and a little pallid.

"I see that," Lisbon crouched to Jane's level. "Medic! I need help here. Where's that ambulance?"

"Where's Rigsby? Is he okay?"

"He's sitting on the porch with Cho."

"Oh good. I heard the shotgun blast, but no one answered me when I called. I would have gotten up but, well..."

"I need some help in here..." Lisbon yelled out.

"You wouldn't happen to have any ice cream on you would you? Rigsby's been talking about it all day and I really want a sundae."

"Jane, hang on. I'll get the paramedics."

"Wait."

Lisbon turned back when Jane grabbed her by the hem of her pants, slipping something into her pocket unnoticed.

"Jane? It's okay. I'll be right back I'm only going to the front door," she assured him. "Don't worry. I'll be right back."

Jane nodded. "I'll wait right here."

Davis looked down at the table and frowned. There were several pictures scatter on it. They were the ones that Troy showed to Rigsby.

"I think it's an interesting... resemblance, don't you think? The man has the same eye color.. jawline shares similar characteristics... a first cousin or uncle or something? Has the same color hair as his mother, but a little more gray, but my only point of reference for Rigsby's mother is an old photo in his wallet..." Jane said to Davis.

"You've been through some trauma, Mr.-"

"Jane. Patrick Jane. Yes... this day has been... traumatizing. I haven't had a cup of tea all day."

"What's going on?" Lisbon asked.

"Nothing. The man in the basement's dead," Davis said.

"All the kings horse and all the king's men..." Jane quipped.

"Over here." Lisbon waved the paramedics over.

The paramedics swooped in to do their thing, attaching tubes, masks, injecting needles applying bandages.

Davis scooped all the photos back into their manila envelope and stormed away.

The scene was now buzzing with activity from law enforcement to paramedics.

He stood up and dropped the shotgun down on the worn path. Rigsby walked past the body without a second glance, past all the law enforcement personal that scurried around the crime scene, past the crime scene tape, not caring that he snapped it in one angry swipe.

Rigsby climbed into Lisbon's SUV.

"Are you okay?" Cho asked. He reached though the driver's side window and stared the car. Lisbon had left the AC on when she shut off the car and the blast of cold air hit Rigsby.

"I'm fine. Thanks, " he gave him a tired smile, then leaned his head on the head rest. "I just need a moment."

"Boss said to take you to the hospital to get check out. She's going with Jane. He's going to be fine. Just lost a lot of blood."

"That's good to hear. I'm fine. Just a little banged up."

"She said it's an order." Cho climbed into the driver's seat. "Besides you look dehydrated, sunburn and your cradling you hand. We'll get a big gulp and something to eat after and you can tell me what happen."

"Thanks Cho."

"What are friends for?"

Rigsby reached over and turned the radio on.

He took a deep breath and sighed. The vibrations of the drums shook his seat, lulling him with a familiar rhythm. Each pluck of the bass wrapped him like a security blanket wicking the tension away. Each guitar riff played, drowned out events of the day. He immersed himself in the music, each beat was like his heartbeat, reminding him he was alive, blood pumping in his veins moving forward.

Forward. Never back.

Rigsby glanced out the window. The corner was loading the body into the van.

He was determined not to let the past pull him down, like it he'd seen it do to his father, uncle, and now childhood friend.

Cho climbed into the driver's seat.

Rigsby nodded. "Let's go."

Jane sat in his hospital bed propped up by two pillows, a pen in his hand, and a Sudoku book sitting on the tray in front of him. His lunch also sat there, lime jello untouched.

It was a few days later. The shotgun blast left several holes in him. None of the pellets hit anything major. It took surgery to remove them all, but it went without out a hitch and the doctors were happy with his progress.

There was a soft knock on the door and Rigsby poked his head in.

"Hey."

"Hey, come in. Sit."

"I'm sorry."

"For what? This is water under the bridge. I meant it when I said it wasn't you're fault. You didn't shoot me. You tried to stop it. I'd take the apology if you shot me," Jane said. "I also meant what I said in the basement. Mums the word."

"Really?"

"Did I duck my head?"

"Thanks Jane." Rigsby laughed. "I brought you something. I had to sneak it in my pocket. Apparently they don't want anyone bring outside food into the hospital rooms. It should still be fine."

"What is it?"

Rigsby pulled a paper bag out of his pocket and placed it on the tray.

"Mint chip sundae."

End

Whoo hoo! I completed my very first action story. :D

First off, thank you to everyone who left a review, story alerted or added this story to their favorites. Those actions alone make me ecstatic :D

I'm going to end this part of the story here, because my brain has episodes, and this is the end of this episode. Jane and Rigsby got themselves un-kidnapped. There is a continuation to this, but I don't have a title. I do have the first chapter. It will will be posted when I name the story.

That was fun (and sometimes frustrating and aggravating). It was a learning experience. I've learned cliffies are fun (sorry, lol). I read through a lot of web pages on 'how to write action stories'. I also learned that I like writing banter between Rigsby and Jane, and might have to stick them together more often. I also learned that I can't see the typos anymore and that I really need a beta. Does anyone want a job?

I hope you enjoyed my interpretation of Rigsby's past. This whole story started with a random thought of "What if Jane got kidnapped and it wasn't his fault" and a plot of fifty words.

There were two completely different ending written for this. This one flowed better, but turned out more agnsty than I wanted. I wanted to write an non angsty story. Oh well..

I think the story turned out all right as a whole. I'm kinda mad at the flow on some of the chapters, but that's just me. And I missed some of the plot points I scribbled down, like giving O'Laughlin poison ivy, cause he fell face first into a bush, then down a hill, into some rocks. Couldn't make it work with the story.

Please read and review. No flames.

Thank you for reading!