A/N: Here we are, guys! Finally the last chapter of my story. Thanks to everyone who faved and followed it and especially those of you, who always reviewed! You reviews really kept me going! I always love to read them and although some of you might have had second thoughts about this story, I'm so happy so many of you decided to stick with me until the end.
A special thanks goes to Nerwen, Mlee, Idan and Totorgs, who helped me with the plot and especially the writing of this story, because as a German, writing so much in English isn't as easy as it may seem.

I have others stories in mind, but I have to concentrate on my studies for a while so don't expect anything from me any time soon (okay I know myself I'll be posting the first chap of me new story rather sooner than later lol so no worries). If you liked this extreme AU style, please let me know, because I have more ideas spinning around in my head and they totally want to be written down.

Again a huge thank you to all of you for reading!

Liefs Eva

Epilogue

Teresa had been crying almost the whole flight from LA back to Chicago. But when she exited the plane, it was time to stop grieving for the things she couldn't have and start being happy to see her brothers. They didn't know she was coming. She'd told Tommy she'd visit them, but not exactly when, so that's why no one was waiting for her, when she pushed the cart with her heavy suitcases out of the exit.

It was time to look forward. She would try to rent a little apartment with the money Jane gave her and get a job. Perhaps Tommy could move in with her until he went off to college, so he wouldn't have to live with Aunt Julie anymore. That was the only person Teresa wasn't looking forward to seeing: Aunt Julie, the bitter old widow of their father's older brother who'd died two decades ago.

Teresa had never liked her, not even as a child. She was mean, selfish, and hated kids. It was a wonder that after their father's death, she'd agreed to take the four Lisbon children into her care. Julie wouldn't have done it if she hadn't gotten the child support out of it.

A cab drove Teresa to her aunt's house. She tipped the driver generously after he offered to help her carry the suitcases to the front door.

"Reese, is that you?", someone asked in shock. Teresa turned around, to see her brother standing in the door frame, looking at her like she was from another planet.

"Tommy." She put her purse down next to the suitcases and hugged her little brother tight. "I'm so happy to see you."

"I can't believe you're really here! Look at you! You look amazing! What have you done to my sister?"

"Oh hush Thomas! I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too, Reese." Tommy grinned at her and helped carry her suitcases inside. "I didn't tell anyone you were coming, but I think we should call Peter."

"We will, just let me settle down first. The last few days were a bit… exhausting."

"Of course. It's good to have you back, Sis," he said honestly.

"It's good to be back," she whispered.

Three weeks later

She had managed to hide her past as a hooker, but there was no way she'd been able to withhold the fact that she'd never been at the Police Academy at all. She felt ashamed to tell her brothers, and it was even worse when Aunt Julie told her what a failure she was. But her brothers were proud of her, just like they'd always been.

They were just happy to have her back. Aunt Julie let her know exactly what she thought of her every day though.

That's why Teresa had been looking for a little apartment for her and Tommy from the first day she was back in Chicago. They had been able to move there a week after she arrived, both happy to finally be rid of their aunt.

She had managed to get a job as a waitress and worked shifts at the grocery store around the corner to finance the rent for their apartment. Teresa didn't want to take any more of Jane's money than necessary, because if Tommy didn't get the scholarship, she would have at least a little to support him.

It was Friday when she came home late at night from her shift at the restaurant, too exhausted to do anything but sleep for the next eight hours before she had to work at the grocery store.

She was surprised when she found Tommy sitting at the small kitchen table, already wearing his pajamas. "Tommy, why are you still up? It's the middle of the night!"

"No school tomorrow, Reese. I've been waiting for you to come home the whole evening! Look, you got your first mail in the new apartment! It's like we officially live here now!" Teresa rolled her eyes and kicked her shoes into the corner.

"I bet they are bills anyway. Let me see."

"They don't look like bills to me. This one looks really fancy, like some kind of invitation. Is that what you've been keeping all your pretty clothes for?"

"Oh shut up and give me the envelopes," she mumbled and sat down on the second chair.

The first envelope really seemed very formal to her, until she realized where it came from. "It's from Grace! Looks like their wedding invitation…" It was more than that. There was an invitation, two plane tickets to Los Angeles, and a letter from Grace inside.

Dear Teresa,

It's been hard to get a hold of you because you didn't call and I didn't know where you were staying, so I contacted Mr. Jane who was kind enough to give me your new address. I think he misses you terribly.

Things went totally crazy after you left. Wayne came back home from the final meeting on the Friday you left and told me Mashburn offered him a cooperation with his company. He accepted and now our company is safe! You talked to Mr. Jane, didn't you? I knew it, I knew he'd listen to you. You have no idea how thankful I am. I owe you so much, Teresa.

It was like a miracle, because when we went to the hospital that Saturday, Virgil had woken up! He must have felt his company was safe!

There is so much I have to tell you, so please call me back immediately once you get this. I know you have my number.

Love, Grace

"What is it?" Tommy asked curiously, grabbing for the invitation.

"It's from my friends Wayne and Grace. I guess we're going to LA this summer."

"What?!"

Teresa held up the two plane tickets. "Yes, Grace sent me two tickets, so it seems like I'm allowed to bring someone. Would you like to come?"

"Of course," Tommy grinned, "I've never been to LA! Thanks, Reese. So what's the other thing about?"

She smiled at him and put Grace's letter away. "Let's see… Okay that's weird."

Tommy raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to open the second envelope. She hesitated a little before she carefully ripped it open and pulled out a bunch of very formal looking sheets. Her facial expression went from confused to happy, back to confused and excited at the same time.

"What is it?" her brother asked impatiently.

"I… this… I think they got the wrong person, this can't be right!"

"Why? What's wrong, Reese?" He reached over to take the bunch of sheets out of her hand, while she kept staring at the table. It didn't take long for him to figure out what was going on.

"Holy crap, Reese! You got offered a scholarship at the Police Academy in New York! How the heck did you manage that?"

"I don't know," she whispered, perplexed.

Tommy jumped up to pull her from her chair into a hug. "This is your dream coming true, Teresa! This is it. You're going to be a cop like you always wanted to! It says you have to take some tests and an interview first though. But I'm sure you can manage that! You did before, right? Someone up there must really love you," he grinned.

Teresa still couldn't believe this was happening to her, but Tommy was right. Someone really did love her enough to make this happen for her.

Three years later

She couldn't hide her big smile when she was finally called to enter the stage to receive her graduating diploma in her shiny dark blue uniform. All the nervousness she had felt before was gone and she was perfectly happy.

Teresa shook the mayor's and the police commissioner's hands, and received their congratulations for being one of the three best graduates of the year. Someone gave her a small bouquet of flowers and led her over to the large group of graduates, who were already waiting.

The lasts words were said and the ceremony was over. People were applauding and after an eternity of picture taking, they were finally allowed to throw their white gloves into the air.

Quickly, Teresa said goodbye to the friends she made at the Academy to walk down the stage to her waiting family. Her brothers were there and so were Wayne and Grace with one-year-old baby Maddie.

"Congratulations, Teresa," Grace whispered and placed her child into her husband's arms so she could hug her friend. "I'm so proud of you."

"We are all proud of you, Sis," James agreed.

She couldn't hide the grin on her face. "Thank you, guys. I would have never been able to do it without you."

"Meh, I knew you could do it," someone behind them said. This voice. Teresa turned around to see no else but Patrick Jane standing behind her, a big grin on his face and his arms wide open like he was expecting a hug. He hadn't aged a day since she last saw him on that last night they'd made love.

Over the years she'd tried to contact him, had hoped to find him at Grace and Wayne's wedding, wanted to thank him for arranging that scholarship for her... She'd sent him dozens of letters, telling him she missed him, asking him to call her, but he hadn't answered. Not a word, not a call, not a text…

The anger bubbling up inside her was so huge, she couldn't control herself when he started talking. "Congratulations, Teresa, I'm so ha… aaaah!" Jane winced and held his nose after the totally unexpected punch in the face.

"That's for leaving me in the hotel room that night with nothing but a stupid letter and a plane ticket," she yelled angrily, waiting for him to look up and face her.

Jane carefully touched his nose with his thumb and his index, testing if it was broken. Damn, that woman had always had a hell of a punch, but it felt like they had some special training class for punching people in the nose at the Police Academy.

"I guess I deserved that one." He cracked a smile, totally not prepared for the second punch to follow right away that knocked him down on the floor. "Dammit, woman!"

"That's for ignoring me for over three years, you selfish bastard!" Her brothers were about to hold her back when she stepped forward to grip Jane's shirt and pull him up, but Teresa wouldn't let them.

"And this," she whispered when their faces were so close not a hair would fit between them, "is because I love you, you idiot." She pressed her lips to his, kissing him with all the emotion she'd stored up over the years.

Yes, there had been a point when she tried to get over Jane, but no guy she dated could ever come close to him, so she'd given up trying to date and fully concentrated on her studies.

"Who the hell is this guy?" James mumbled, watching his sister kissing the blond man with so much passion. It was a little weird, because she was still his sister and making out in such a very public place wasn't what he would expect of her.

"She never told you about Jane?" Grace asked, surprised.

"Wait, that is Jane?" Tommy wanted to know. The redhead grinned, stepping forward to gently tap Teresa's shoulder, because she'd started to moan into Jane's kisses.

"Without wanting to interrupt the two of you, I think you should postpone this little make-out session until later."

Reluctantly, Teresa and Jane broke apart, her face a little flushed with embarrassment. "As much as I hate to say this, I think Grace is right, Teresa… We have a lot to talk about. But first we should celebrate your graduation properly. You're all invited for lunch!" Jane announced. He took her hand and wouldn't let go of it, neither in the car, nor during most of the lunch.

Later that day

It was early evening, when Grace and Wayne excused themselves, while Teresa's brothers had the decency to pretend they wanted to check out the New York City night life.

"I missed you so much," Jane whispered into her ear, when they exited the restaurant and got into the waiting limousine.

"You could have contacted me," she accused him, but she wasn't angry anymore. He was there now, wasn't he? He was with her and she'd make sure she never let him go.

"I know and I'm sorry, Teresa. I got all your letters, and you have to believe me when I say it killed me that I wasn't able to write back, but I wanted you to have this chance., I wanted you to fulfill your dream."

"But you didn't give a damn about what I wanted, Patrick," she mumbled.

"Isn't that what you wanted?" he asked, pointing to her uniform. "I think you look pretty hot by the way, Officer Lisbon."

Teresa hit his shoulder with the back of her hand. "Shut up, you. Of course this is what I wanted and I am thankful for everything you did for me. I know that scholarship came from you and I also know the rent of that little apartment I have here was only so cheap, because you tipped the owner off and paid the other half. Don't you dare smile at me like that , Patrick Jane! I know it was all you."

"What can I say…" he smirked.

"What I wanted you to know is that you didn't have to do any of this. Maybe I wanted to be a cop, but have you ever thought that I wanted to be with you, too?"

"Teresa," he said, reaching for her hand, "all your life, you've been doing things for others, and this is the first time you did something for yourself. Yes, I admit I helped you financially, but you're one of the three best graduates of this year and you did that all on your own. This has nothing to do with me. I'm so proud of you. I wanted to give you this chance, so you could find out what you really want."

"But I want you, Patrick! I always wanted you. I love you, I never stopped!" she explained for the second time today.

He captured her lips with his, teasing her with his tongue. "I love you too, Teresa. More than anything. And this time, we will decide together what we do next."

"Oh I got an idea," she mumbled, shifting her body, so she was sitting on his lap and starting to unbutton his shirt.

"My, Officer Lisbon, is that how you deal with criminals?"

"Only with the thief who stole my heart. You have the right to remain silent."

He moaned, when she moved on his lap once again and put more pressure on his hard-on. "I don't think I can be silent if you continue like this…"

"Anything you say or do will and can be used against you."

"I don't have a problem with that," he whispered, finally able to get rid of her blouse and her bra.

"You have the right to consult… oooh God." She moaned when he caught one of her luscious breasts with his mouth, teasing her tip gently.

"I don't think I will need God for that, my dear. It may have been three years, but I still know how to make you scream."

"Then shut up and kiss me," Teresa panted, her fingers fumbling with the button of his trousers.

"As you wish, Milady, as you wish…"

THE END