A/N: With thanks to: 666BloodyHell666, Idan, wantingmore, Katrina and Loes-chan for reviewing part sixteen.

And to everyone who favourited/reviewed this at all. I never expected any sort of support for this kind of story, so I'm truly grateful to everyone who gave it the time of day.

x tromana

Epilogue

Dark shadows cast over the skies; entirely appropriate for a funeral. Perhaps, less so, for the funeral of a serial killer, Lisbon mused. She had been insistent on giving Jackson Roberts that right. He had given her many fairly happy years. That was before they had been tainted, at the very least. Still, as a Catholic, she believed he deserved that honor just as much as anyone else did. And as he had no living family, beyond her, it fell on her shoulders to organize the whole thing.

Jane had been a bit skeptical about her decision, but she couldn't blame him for that. He still suffered with the loss of his family day in, day out. She had lost something too, but it was harder for her to pinpoint precisely what that was. It all felt foreign, intangible. In his death, she had also gained something too. Lisbon felt freer than she had done for a long while; no longer was she constricted by the binds that tied her to Red John. Maybe this was what closure felt like? All she could do was hope that she was right.

Nobody else attended the funeral, but she never expected anyone to do so. Everybody else only saw the monster that was Red John. They forgot that there was a human behind the mask, a tortured soul behind the knife. She liked to think she had gone some way to easing his demons, or at least for a little while, though in reality she probably knew that she was wrong. After all, he had continued to kill long after she had been on the scene. He had never really, stopped either.

Through the ceremony, she remained in a stony silence. Jane held onto her hand tightly and refused to let go of her. She was grateful for his presence, even though she had to make him swear that he wouldn't spit on the grave after Jackson had been buried. He'd said that he was only coming to support her throughout the ordeal anyway. She still wasn't sure whether or not she believed he wouldn't, but it didn't matter. Not anymore, anyway. Silently, she hoped that he would gain something from it though. It was a way for him to say farewell to the man who killed his family, and his demons. He'd already promised that he wasn't going to leave the CBI (or her) any time soon. That one she actually did believe.

It started to spit with rain when they were at the graveside. Lisbon maintained her steady silence, even when Jane let go of her hand. Originally, she wasn't going to place anything at the site, but after a moment's thought, she twisted the wedding band off of her finger and placed it neatly by the cold, hard stone. The engraving stated only his name and no clues as to his murderous identity. She offered a silent prayer for his soul as she straightened up and wasn't bothered by the rain in the slightest. If anything, she welcomed it; it washed all sins away.

Now, it well and truly was over.

Jane took hold of her once again as they walked away. The further away they got, the more tightly he held onto her. It was almost as if he believed she would be washed away with the rain if he didn't hold on. She looked upwards and a weak smile briefly flashed across her face. Between the clouds, there was a peek of sunshine. It warmed her spirit to see something like that.

"I'm sorry, Lisbon," Jane whispered and he sounded like he truly meant it.

"I know."