A/N: Well, we've come to the end of another fic. There's some darkness here, but I hope you will find a bit of light to go with it.

Chapter 11: Conclusion

No concussion for Lisbon, just a bit of hypothermia and a few cuts on her hands obtained when she'd reached out to try to stop her fall. And, her head ached.

Sitting in the Emergency Room, with a too-long sweat suit and socks borrowed from Van Pelt's gym bag, a heated hospital blanket wrapped around her, Lisbon could feel that her body temperature had finally risen back to normal. Jane sat at the end of her bed, rubbing her feet—the last part of her body refusing to warm up.

"Funny how you turned out to be the one to have cold feet," he teased.

"Yes," she said. "The irony is not lost on me."

He continued to rub, looking up at her with a loving gleam in his eyes. He had shed his wet jacket and vest, but still wore his damp shirt and pants, and his feet were uncomfortably wet in his brown shoes. But he didn't care. Having Lisbon there, alive and safe, was all the warmth and comfort he needed.

"And I've heard of being up to your neck in hot water…" he added.

She raised an eyebrow at his bad jokes. "Are you finished?"

He grinned. "Once I get you home, it'll be your turn to heat me up."

"Please, make it stop!" But she was smiling when she said it.

He abruptly stopped rubbing her feet.

"No," she almost whimpered. "Not that!"

He happily resumed his pampering, and she rested contentedly back against the pillows.

"You know what sounds like heaven to me?"

"Hm?" he said, just enjoying her nearness.

"A hot shower and a warm bed."

"That can certainly be arranged." She caught his wicked expression and blushed a little.

At that moment, the rest of the team arrived. They were all pleased to see the rosy glow on her cheeks.

"Ardiles called," said Cho. "He heard about the events at Empire Mine."

"And…?" Lisbon prompted.

"He wants to press another charge against Barto-making false statements to a state agent. He wanted to know if there was anything else you wanted to add."

Jane and Lisbon exchanged looks, and Lisbon sighed heavily. In her fit of anger at being at the bottom of a flooded mine shaft, she had thought of all kinds of ways she'd like to punish the Cherish—and she didn't mean in any way the masochistic girl would appreciate.

"No. And I'll call Ardiles to get him to drop that charge. The girl just needs help. If having kinky sex was all she'd done, I'd say live and let live. But falsely accusing someone for a kidnapping, vandalizing our cars, attempting to drug Jane, sending me on a wild goose chase—all that shows how troubled she really is. This girl has a lot of problems, but I think if she is given the chance, she might be able to straighten up. She's too young to be in prison with those tough women. She might never be saved."

Her team looked at her in disbelief. Neither of the men could imagine showing mercy toward such a bitch.

Saint Teresa strikes again, thought Cho.

As for Van Pelt, she seemed to understand Lisbon's decision. "I think you're right," she said. "Prison would harden her and maybe create something even worse when she got out."

Rigsby shot her a look that was somewhere between castigating her as a suck-up, and awe at her charitable viewpoint.

There was a brief awkwardness, in which the team keenly felt the intimacy hanging around their boss and consultant, Van Pelt smiling a little as Jane continued unabashedly to massage Lisbon's feet. They gave their excuses and well wishes and left Jane and Lisbon alone, just as a nurse arrived with Lisbon's discharge papers.

"You mean I'm sprung?" She said, happily signing and initialing where directed.

Jane grinned. "You're not the only one."

Lisbon flushed again at his adoring gaze.

Jane's brightest smile spread across his face, and the nurse caught her breath at its beauty. She took Lisbon's paperwork, shaking her head in wonder.

"Lucky girl," she murmured, her envious eyes on Jane.

"Yes," said Lisbon. "I know."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lisbon got her shower (with Jane's help), but the warm bed came only with some grateful cuddling that night, the physical and emotional exhaustion lingering longer than the cold of their adventure in the mine. Jane spooned her flannel-clad body against his bare chest, his nose buried in her newly washed and dried hair, which smelled once more of coconut. He breathed her in like pure oxygen, glad beyond words that she was safe in his arms.

They'd swung by his motel room in the SUV he'd been borrowing to grab a change of clothes and a few toiletries. He hadn't been formally invited back to her apartment, but when she'd tiredly let him drive, and held his hand across the armrest as they left the hospital parking lot, Jane didn't think he was being too presumptuous. Not that it would have stopped him anyway.

"Lisbon," he whispered in the darkness.

"Hmm?"

"Do you love me?"

There was a moment's hesitation, and Jane smiled, knowing that she was a little surprised at his question, and, like the cop she was, she was analyzing any possible meaning behind it.

"Yes," she finally answered.

"Then swear to me you will never run off half-cocked without some sort of plan that involves backup. Least of all to save my sorry hide."

"No," she said. "Not unless you can promise the same."

She turned in his arms to face him, her fingers sliding into his hair. He chuckled.

"Never. You look up half-cocked in the dictionary, and there you will find my picture."

He knew she was rolling her eyes. "I think you're also there beside charlatan, manipulator, ass, jerk, egotist, liar—"

He stopped her litany with a kiss, and she laughed against his mouth before the sweetness of his lips made her forget everything else. He drew away, but not before he felt the pulse skipping madly in her throat.

"And you, my smart-mouthed darling, are in there beside seductress, and, paradoxically…saint."

"Is that the way you see me?" she asked, stifling a yawn.

"Frequently-both at the same time."

"Well, I'm afraid I'm in no condition to be either at the moment."

She snuggled against his chest, and he felt her warm breath against his skin as she yawned again. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"That's all right, my love. You deserve a break from both after the day you've had."

"Hmm," came her sleepy reply.

"You're warm and safe now. Go to sleep, my sainted seductress."

Jane held her until her breathing became even, and she slept trustingly in his arms. And then, much to his surprise, he too succumbed to the oblivion of peaceful slumber.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

One month later…

Jane sat across from Cherish Barto in the common area of Sacramento County Center for Mental Health. She was thirty days into her ninety-day evaluation period, and in Jane's non-professional opinion, her stay seemed to have had a positive effect on her. She sat across the table from him, wearing soft knit pants and a t-shirt, her face devoid of makeup, her hair hanging down her back in a long, dark braid. She appeared much more serious, and genuinely contrite.

"I'm surprised to see you," she said softly, her hands nervously fingering a tissue.

"I promised I would visit."

"After what I did…I never expected to see you again."

He shrugged, dropping that line of conversation. "I'm just glad you're getting the help you need. The doctor says you've made a few breakthroughs."

"Yes." She averted her eyes a moment in embarrassment, then looked bravely up at him again. "You were right, Mr. Jane. But it was my uncle, not my father who…who abused me as a child."

Jane nodded. "I'm sorry. It's not too late to press charges against him."

She sighed. "Yes, it is. He died two years ago. My shrink says that's probably what triggered my…erratic behavior."

"I see."

"I was wrong to have lied to you, to have manipulated you and Agent Lisbon as I did. I hope you'll be able to forgive me someday."

"I'm no judge," he said simply.

She nodded her thanks. "I also remembered what happened when you hypnotized me. It came back to me about a week ago. We never had sex, did we?"

"No. Convincing you of that was the only way I could think of to get Lisbon's location out of you. I'm sorry it came to that."

"I don't blame you, Patrick. I was horrible back then. I don't deserve your mercy."

"I have discovered, Cherish, that seldom do any of us get what we truly deserve."

"Well, I must thank you anyway. And thanks for visiting me. I haven't seen anyone besides my mother in about two weeks. My friends stopped coming. I suppose they heard about everything that I did. I disgust them now."

"Then they are no true friends. When you get out of here, find new ones."

"I will, Patrick. Can I count you as one of them?"

"I've only ever wanted to help you. So yes, you may call me friend if you like."

They spoke another ten minutes of her therapy sessions and her hopes for the future. When he rose to leave, he let her hug him. There was definitely something different in the embrace-nothing sexual at all, but a bit of fear and desperation. When he pulled gently away, he saw that she was crying.

"You're a good man, Patrick Jane," she said, smiling through her tears. She wiped self-consciously at her eyes with her wadded up tissue. "Please send my apologies to Agent Lisbon. And I-I hope you two are very happy together."

"We are," he said. "Good luck, Cherish."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Four months after that…

After five months of living together, Jane should have been used to being interrupted at inopportune moments. When the call came, he'd been kissing his way down Lisbon's flat stomach, both of them breathing heavily in anticipation.

"Don't answer that," he said, his tongue circling her navel. Her hands tightened briefly in his hair, and then, with a disappointed groan, she rolled away from him to answer her cell phone.

"Lisbon," she said breathlessly.

Jane moved to her back, resuming his kisses down her straight spine. She shivered and attempted to slap him gently away. He just chuckled and continued while she spoke into the phone. He was amazed at the steadiness of her voice as she gave orders to Cho. Well, we couldn't have that. His hands snaked around to cup her breasts, and he pressed his erection against her bottom. She drew in a sharp breath, and he chuckled softly in triumph.

Then her body stilled, and her hand came down to stay his on her breast. Jane stopped distracting her, and focused belatedly on what she was saying.

"They're sure it's her? Okay. We'll be right there."

"Who is it?" Jane asked, a feeling of horrible dread settling into the pit of his stomach.

Lisbon sat up and flicked on the bedside lamp. Jane blinked in the sudden brightness as Lisbon turned to him.

"It's Cherish Barto. They found her body in a house in Carmichael. She'd been strangled."

"Oh," was all he could manage.

He rolled to the other side of the bed and stood, reaching for his clothes where he'd tossed them over a chair earlier. They both dressed in silence, and left Lisbon's apartment ten minutes later.

They arrived at the townhouse Cho had given as an address, and already police cars and a CSU van were parked in the driveway. The summer night was warm and balmy, a full moon hanging low in the sky. Van Pelt met them and walked with them inside.

"This was another empty rental house owned by her mother," Van Pelt explained, "like the last one we'd found her in. Someone called in an anonymous tip."

She led them up the stairs to one of three bedrooms. The forensics unit was still taking pictures and gathering evidence.

"Would you give us a minute, guys," said Lisbon, flashing her badge. The men departed, but seemed a little miffed to have their work interrupted.

Jane took in how the room had been decorated in a tacky jungle theme. Framed velvet pictures of leopards and tigers hung on the walls, and the unmade bed sported a leopard-patterned duvet. Upon the thickly shagged, avocado green carpet lay Cherish, naked, her delicate throat mottled by the obvious imprints of large, male hands. But what was most disturbing about her was her bulging, wide-open blue eyes, staring sightlessly up at the ceiling. Ruby-red blood from her hemorrhaged eyeballs dried on her cold, pale cheeks.

Jane felt his heart lurch as he looked at her.

"Mother of God," said Lisbon softly behind him. She watched Jane squat beside the girl's body, his golden mane bending low to examine her throat.

He looked up at Lisbon and Van Pelt, his eyes grim. "Erotic asphyxiation would be my guess," he said.

Cho and Rigsby had joined them, moving into the room to look sadly down at the young woman's horrible end. They'd overheard Jane's pronouncement.

Cho nodded in agreement. "That was my thought too."

"I can't believe people get off on being nearly choked to death," added Rigsby. "This is how tragic accidents happen."

"Poor girl," said Van Pelt.

Jane rose. "Has her mother been notified?"

"Not yet," said Cho.

Jane definitely didn't want to be a part of that. He'd had enough of informing parents that their children were dead.

"I'll go," volunteered Van Pelt.

"You want company?" asked Rigsby.

"Please."

Lisbon nodded, and the pair left to fulfill their dreaded duty.

"Any progress in tracing the anonymous tip?" she asked Cho.

"Yeah. The cell number was traced to Jimmy Roberts. Sac PD is picking him up."

Lisbon and Jane looked at each other, startled at this announcement.

"Maybe it was murder after all," said Lisbon. "She ruined his life, his reputation."

Jane looked again at the dead girl. "I'm sure your coroners will have a more professional opinion, but I maintain it was a sexual fetish gone wrong. She was an addict, Lisbon; so is Roberts. It was an accident, or he wouldn't have called."

"You up to questioning him?" she asked.

"Nah, Cho can handle it. If you don't mind, I'm going to sit this one out."

He brushed past the remaining agents, went down the hall and out to the Citroen, newly painted and gleaming beneath a streetlight.

Lisbon caught up with him.

"Can you get a ride with Cho?" he asked numbly.

"Sure. Jane—"

"Another little girl, lost, Lisbon," he said mournfully, his eyes on the moon.

"But we did our best to help that girl, despite how screwed up she was. It could have gone either way, honestly. But you're right; she was addicted to this lifestyle. More often than not, addicts go off the wagon the moment they're free from jail. Cherish was another sad case of that, even though her prison was a mental health facility."

He sighed heavily, and leaned back against his car for support.

"Is it wrong of me to be grateful sometimes that Charlotte doesn't have to see this miserable world we live in?"

Going against all her rules of professional conduct, Lisbon leaned against him, wrapping her arms around his torso and laying her head on his chest. His heart beat strongly beneath her ear, and she felt overwhelmed with love for this man, who often hid his deeply held pain behind sardonic remarks or a blinding smile.

"No. If I were a parent, I would want to protect my child from the horrors of the world."

She heard his heart jump a bit. "Do you want to be a parent, Lisbon?"

"Yes," she replied, her voice barely a whisper. "I was afraid to ask how you'd feel about that."

"I don't know how I feel. I never even considered the possibility. Until now."

His arms came up to hold her tightly. This was a strange conversation to have, outside the house of a crime scene.

"It would be my chance to do so many things differently."

She didn't contradict him. Whenever she'd observed him over the years with children, it had always both warmed her heart and constricted it at the same time. He adored children, and she had no doubt that he'd been a wonderful father. Back then, he just hadn't had his priorities straight. But she knew Jane wouldn't make the same mistakes again, not with their child.

"I'm ready when you are," she said, feeling her own heart accelerate. "You know, biological clock and all."

He smiled and drew back to find her lips. "You'll be the first to know," he said, his eyes sparkling down at her.

"Boss," called Cho from the porch. "Sorry, but CSU needs to ask you something."

"I'll be right there," she replied. She looked up at Jane, her brow knit in concern. "Are you going to be all right?"

"Yes," he said. "I'll see you at home."

She gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"Home," she said with a shy smile. "That sounds really good. I love you, Patrick."

He smiled at the rare use of his first name. "And I love you, Teresa."

He watched her hurry back to the house, all business once more. They both had felt loss in their lives, both had made mistakes. The lost little girl that had been Cherish Barto had brought them together, had made them realize that what they could build together was healthy and strong, not clouded over by the sins of their past.

For once in his life, Patrick Jane was able to find the good in tragedy. With Lisbon by his side, everything from here onward was sure to be nothing but good.

THE END

A/N: Thank you for reading and supporting this story. I hope you enjoyed it. There's more ahead for me in this fandom, including multi-chapter fics and episode tags. As long as I'm inspired and you're reading them, I'll try to keep them coming. If you don't want to miss any of my upcoming stories, please put me on author alert. See you back here again soon!