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The car had come out of nowhere. And then everything happened very fast. The deafening crash of metal hitting metal and Vega's scream. A second of adrenaline and panic shooting through her body before her head hit the steering wheel and everything went black.
*
1 day earlier
"If you stare at it a little longer, the file will start talking," Jane murmured against her ear, wrapping his arms around her waist and placing a kiss on her neck. "And then it’ll explain to you in a very boring bureaucrat voice that it can't tell you anything new. We're still gathering information at the moment."
Lisbon shook her head and raised an eyebrow expectantly.
"And what do you suggest instead?"
He shut the file and turned her in his arms until she was looking at him. Gently, he brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Relax. We'll think of something. The brain works 80% better if you're well-rested."
Lisbon lowered her arms with a grin. "You made that number up."
Jane grinned. "Yes. But it's still true."
"Jane, these aren't just any people. This family has a lot of money and influence, and they only killed this woman because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. If it were that easy to prove anything against the Marshalls, they'd already be in jail."
"Easy - certainly not, but you have the best solve rate in all of California, Agent Lisbon." He gave her a kiss on the forehead and she slowly wrapped her arms around him. "I promise you, we'll get them."
*
Before Lisbon could even open her eyes, she felt the throbbing pain that seemed to spread through every fiber of her body. Her head was pounding and the ground she was lying on was hard and cold, only worsening the pain.
She forced herself to open her eyes and looked directly into big blue eyes that were staring at her. The eyes were so close to her face that she jumped and recoiled until she hit a wall. She sucked in a sharp breath, closed her eyes for a moment, and then looked around the room.
The room was small and dark, the walls and floor made of stone. A small, barred window was high above her head, a wooden door was in the wall next to it, and a dim lamp hung from the ceiling. Crouched against the opposite wall sat a small boy.
He had pulled his legs up to his body and was staring at her over his knees.
Her pulse slowed a little and she took a few shaky breaths. Her ribs ached with every movement and her head still throbbed but she tried a friendly smile.
"Hey," she said quietly, stretching her legs carefully. "You scared me."
The boy didn't move, but he continued to keep a close eye on her. His jeans and arms were dirty, she could see dried blood on his small hands, and his brown hair fell into his eyes. He couldn't have been older than six.
"What's your name?" she asked.
The boy's fingers closed around each other so tightly that his knuckles stood out white.
"What's your name?" he brought out.
"I'm Teresa."
The boy waited a moment, then his fingers loosened and he rested his chin on his knees.
"My name is Tobin. My mommy says I can't talk to strangers. But I don't know where my mommy is."
"Your mom's right about that. But I work for the FBI, so I think you're allowed to make an exception."
"What's FBI?"
"It's like the police."
At that, the boy slid a little farther into the room and sat up. "You work for the police?"
"That's right."
"Then you're here to save me?"
Lisbon had rarely ever wished so badly to be able to say 'yes’.
"I'll try," she said, "How long have you been here?"
Tobin lowered his head. "I don't know."
"It's okay. Is someone bringing you food or water?"
"A big man."
"Okay. Do you know how many times he's brought you something?"
Tobin stretched out his arms and showed her ten fingers. "More than this many times."
A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. Then she remembered how long the poor boy must have been sitting in that dungeon.
"He comes through that door?" she asked, pointing to the wooden door beside her.
Tobin nodded.
Lisbon took a deep breath and forced herself to stand up slowly. Her ribs ached and a twinge ran through her hip, forcing her to brace herself against the wall. Her hand wandered to her holster, but her gun was gone. She gulped and pushed herself off the wall. The door wasn't as solid as it looked and didn't quite close on the floor. If she were in better shape, she would have tried to pry it open, but doing so would only aggravate her injuries. If Jane were here, surely he’d have an idea how to pick the lock, but Lisbon couldn’t think of a thing to use for that right there.
"Was anyone else here, Tobin? My colleague was with me, did you see her?"
Tobin shook his head. "The man only brought you, and then you slept for a long, long time."
*
Jane had just made his second cup of tea when Wiley's phone rang.
"Um, Cho, could you - " Wiley held the phone out to Cho after listening to the person he was talking to for a few seconds. Cho stood up and Wiley handed him the phone. The sideways glance Wiley shot him was enough to make Jane pause on the way to his couch.
"Okay," Cho said quietly, but his eyes darted to Jane for a moment, too. "Where? – okay - yes, we're coming."
"What's going on?" Asked Jane as soon as Cho had hung up.
"That was Austin PD. They found Lisbon's car."
For a moment, time seemed to stand still for Jane. The air was forced from his lungs and his throat tightened. His heart contracted painfully and his hands nearly dropped the cup.
"What does that mean, Cho?" His voice sounded hollow in his own ears.
"Looks like an accident. But Lisbon and Vega are gone. Austin PD has the place locked down big time. I said we're coming."
Jane felt like he was going to pass out. Every thought had been erased from his mind; there was only darkness and the feeling of falling. Lisbon was gone. Fear. He almost threw up, when the anxiety hit him. It was like he was drowning in it.
"Jane?"
He hadn't realized Cho had addressed him, but now he was standing right in front of him.
"Cho," he brought out quietly.
Cho patted his shoulder. "I know. I asked if you wanted to come."
He could only nod and set his cup down on the nearest desk and follow Cho wherever they went.
They had to find Teresa. Because he couldn't imagine a world where they didn't find her.
*
Lisbon stepped under the window and reached out, but she could barely reach the bottom of the bars.
"What's the last thing you remember before you came here?" She asked.
"I was at the park with my mommy. I had ice cream, a really big one," Tobin told her. "But then the big man came and my mommy told me to run, but the man could run faster than me. And he brought me here and now I don't know where my mommy is. Do you know where my mommy is?"
Lisbon turned around. Tobin looked up at her with such hope that it broke her heart. Slowly, she lowered herself to the floor in front of him.
"Unfortunately, no. But my friends work for the police too, they'll find us. And then they'll find your mom, too."
Tobin's eyes lit up. "Really?"
She smiled weakly. "Really."
"But what if the man hid us so well that your friends can't find us?"
"Then we'll find another way out of here."
For a few minutes they sat in silence, and Lisbon wanted nothing more than to be in her apartment, or in Jane's Airstream, or in the office - anywhere but this dungeon. That's what they got for messing with the Marshalls now. A family like that wasn't going to have their affairs interfered with, much less interrogated - not even by the FBI.
She thought about Vega. Was she still alive? Certainly. She had survived the accident, after all, and the car had hit them on her side. But where was Vega? Had they left her behind? Or was she being held somewhere else? She only hoped Vega's prospects for escape looked better than hers.
And she thought about Jane. About how worried he had to be. Probably not sleeping, blaming himself for not protecting her - the fool. As if it would have done any good if he had been in that car with her. How she'd love to be with him now. They'd play poker maybe or listen to the jazz station on the radio and cook some simple pasta or maybe she'd talk him into watching The Bachelor and he'd tickle her and cold-read the contestants' life stories, even though she was sure he was making at least half of them up, and every commercial break he'd try to lure her into bed until they finally made love on the couch.
"What happened to your hands?" she asked Tobin, trying to distract herself from thoughts of everything she might never have again.
Tobin looked down at his hands. "I hit the door too much," he muttered.
"Let me see." She held out a hand. Tobin slid closer to her and hesitantly placed his small hand in hers. She looked at the cracked knuckles and bruises and gently stroked the back of his hand with her thumb.
"Can you move your fingers?"
Tobin wiggled his fingers without making a face. Lisbon breathed a sigh of relief. "That was a good idea, but I'm afraid there's no one here to hear us," she said.
"Yes. No one has come." He withdrew his hand and looked her in the eye. "What happened to you?"
*
Jane looked at the broken car as if through a veil. The car was on its roof, it must have rolled over, the driver's side was dented - the local police said the other vehicle must have collided there - and the rear was completely destroyed by a tree that must have finally slowed the car down. There was glass and metal shards everywhere and he could see blood on the airbags.
There was no sign of Lisbon or Vega. Cho and Abbott were talking to police deputies right now, probably asking for forensics and more roadblocks and maybe traffic camera footage, but Jane didn't need all that to know this was related to the Marshall case.
The other car had to be badly damaged. No one committed a hit-and-run after an accident like this without a valid reason. And no one else would be megalomaniac enough to kidnap two FBI agents. After all, they had to be alive - corpses would probably have been left behind. That meant they wanted something from them. Maybe Lisbon and Vega had found information - no, Joseph Marshall wasn't sure whether they had found information that might be useful to him or that they might have already passed on. That was why he had them kidnapped.
He needed to see Joseph Marshall. He was the father, the head of the family, he had to authorize such work, he had to know who was doing it and where Lisbon was. Marshall was also an excellent liar, a sociopath without scruples, but he would make him talk.
He turned away from the wreckage of the car and was striding toward his own car when someone grabbed him by the arm. He looked Cho straight in the eye.
"Leave it," Cho said calmly.
"What?" Jane asked, almost out of reflex. Cho had known him long enough, but the innocent expression automatically took its place on his face. Everything inside him, it seemed to him, was running on autopilot right now. His heart was hammering in his chest, his head was so flooded with thoughts and emotions that he couldn't grasp any of them, and the blood was rushing through his veins with so much pressure that it was ringing in his ears. He knew only one thing for sure: he had to find Teresa, and his body was only following that one command.
"You're not going to the Marshalls by yourself," Cho said.
"Fine, I won't." He tried to pull his arm back, but Cho wouldn't let go.
"I mean it."
"Okay." He looked Cho in the eye for a moment. "Then come with me."
Cho took a deep breath, let go of his arm, and straightened up. "I'll drive."
*
The first time the man came to bring them food, he didn't speak a word to them. She stood in the corner of the room, Tobin behind her, and the man kept a gun pointed at her the whole time while he put an opened can and a bottle of water on the floor and threw two spoons with them. She asked about Vega and what he wanted, but the man didn't even bother to point out that he would shoot her if she made even one wrong move.
When the door closed behind him, she wanted to scream in frustration. She would have preferred to bang on the wall or the door and demand to be let out. But that would have served little purpose and would only have rattled Tobin, so she just let herself sink to the floor against the wall. She was an FBI agent, she had to think of something, but without her gun, injured and locked up, she saw little chance of escape. Damn, her head was still pounding and her whole body ached and now she was dizzy too.
Tobin tugged on her sleeve and held the can out to her. It was ravioli - something, after all - but her stomach was obviously not convinced. Just the smell made her nauseous, her head seemed to burst, and the room began to spin. She pressed her fingertips into the hard floor and closed her eyes. She took a few deep breaths while trying not to vomit. That might have worked better if each breath hadn't triggered a stabbing pain in her chest. Still, she opened her eyes and forced herself to smile weakly.
"You go ahead and eat," she brought out. Tobin looked at her hesitantly, but his hunger seemed to prevail. The next moment he had leaned against the far wall and was eating the ravioli from the can.
Lisbon closed her eyes again and tried to breathe away the nausea. Damn, she thought, the last thing she needed right now was a concussion.
"Are you okay?" asked Tobin suddenly.
She looked at the boy and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay."
Tobin watched her as he chewed his ravioli, then put the can down, stood up and got the water bottle. He knelt beside her, unscrewed the cap, and held the bottle out to her. "You get to drink first," he said.
Lisbon had to smile. This poor little boy had been in this dungeon far too long and yet he was going to share the food with her and let her drink first.
"Thank you," she said, taking the bottle and drinking a few sips. She was careful not to drink too much. Tobin needed water too, and who knew when they would get some next.
The water felt good. It was pleasantly cool and settled her stomach a bit. She handed the bottle back to Tobin. "You need to drink some too," she said.
The boy obeyed, drank almost a quarter of the bottle and finally capped it. Then he turned back to his noodles.
Lisbon closed her eyes.
*
The Marshall estate was bigger than anything Jane had ever seen, and he had seen some big mansions in his life.
He clenched his jaw and his shoulders tensed as Cho stopped the car.
"Try to keep it together," Cho said quietly as they got out.
"You know I can't promise that, Cho."
"I know."
Jane nodded as they climbed the stairs to the entrance. "But I'll try."
"Good." Then Cho rang the doorbell.
If Jane had believed for only one moment that he could beat the truth out of Marshall, he would have done it. He knew it, and Cho knew it, too. But Marshall was too smart, too organized, too proud for that, and they both knew that, too. Instead, he had to hope that something about Marshall's demeanor, his apartment, or his employees would tell him something useful. And once Teresa was safe again, he could always think about how to make Marshall's life a living hell.
*
"I want to try something, Tobin," Lisbon said after dinner was brought to them the next day. She had again failed to bring down a bite, and she wasn't sure how long she could run on just water when she was already dizzy.
Tobin looked at her curiously. "What is it?" he asked.
"You see that window there. It's pretty far up, but I think I can lift you up and you tell me what you see. Okay?"
"Okay."
They slowly stood up and stepped under the window.
"Ready?"
Tobin nodded and she took a deep breath before lifting him up. A sharp pain ran through her side, her legs wanted to give way under her, and tears sprang to her eyes. She gritted her teeth, though, and breathed against the pain, but she knew she couldn't hold even Tobin's light weight for long.
Tobin reached for the bars that were placed in front of the window and luckily pulled himself up on them. She wasn't sure if the boy was intentionally trying to help her or if he was doing it automatically, but she groaned in relief.
"What do you see?" she pressed.
"There's a yard, it's all dirty. And a fence. And there's a forest behind it."
"Do you see anything else? A person or a car?"
"A cat!" Of course, the last thing she needed.
"Is it bright outside?"
"Yes, but it’ll be night soon."
The stabbing pain stretched from her chest further down into her abdomen, and she barely managed to set Tobin safely back on the ground before she sank to her knees.
"Does it hurt?" asked Tobin.
Lisbon stretched out her legs and leaned against the wall. She took a few deep breaths, trying to imagine Jane's voice as he let her pain seep out of her just through her breathing.
"A little bit," she said breathlessly as Tobin knelt by her.
"What do we do now?"
"We wait. I'm sure my friends will find us soon." At least, she hoped that. After all, she didn't know how else to free herself. Frustrated, she gritted her teeth. She felt like crying. Damn it, she was an FBI agent and not a new one, she should have thought of something better. But the pain in her body seemed to be fogging her head and attacking her nerves. She was just so incredibly tired. She just wanted to get into her bed and snuggle up to Jane and listen to his heartbeat until she fell asleep.
She blinked a few times to hold back the tears and swallowed down the lump in her throat.
"Are you tired?" she asked softly.
"A little," Tobin said, and as if in confirmation, he yawned.
"Then get some sleep. I'll be careful."
"And you wake me when your friends come."
A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Sure."
"Okay." Tobin sat down and looked around indecisively, as if there was some place in this room that was cozier than any other. Finally, he tentatively rested his head in her lap.
For a moment she looked down at him in surprise, then she slowly began to stroke his hair and his back. "Would you like me to sing you a lullaby?" she asked softly.
*
Of course, they hadn't gotten anything out of Joseph Marshall, and with a sociopath like him it was also difficult to tell whether his exaggerated composure was to cover up a murder or was an expression of triumph over a kidnapping. Judging by the two goons guarding his study, he was well aware that they knew he was behind the kidnapping, and they were just enough to keep Jane from going for his throat.
The bullpen was a hive of activity. Abbott had ordered every agent in every unit under his command to work on the case. No one was to take a break, go on vacation, or take time off until they found Lisbon and Vega.
They were all working intently. Traces of the vehicle that must have hit Lisbon's car were examined. Hours of traffic footage were sifted through and anyone who could possibly be connected to the Marshalls was questioned.
Jane knew it had to be that way. He knew Marshall was behind it, but he was also smart enough not to be easily convicted. They had to turn over everything connected with Marshall, and for that they needed a warrant, and they could only get it with sufficient suspicion - yes, he'd listened to Teresa ranting to him about all the paperwork over the years.
It was maddening that he could do so little himself. He couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, couldn't even think a clear thought. There seemed to be a crushing weight on his chest and he hid the trembling of his hands behind his back. The fear of losing Teresa was so numbing that he couldn't even scream or rage - that only happened inside him. The fear, his racing heart, and the silent lamentations almost suffocated him. But he couldn’t break down. He had to keep his mask, because if he didn't, everything inside him would collapse, too. And he didn't know what he would do then.
He had already asked Wiley to search everything he could find on Marshall. Everything and everyone who could even somehow be connected to him and the family.
Jane himself had spent half a day in the car outside the Marshall mansion, thinking about the chances of getting caught and possibly killed if he broke into the house, and, whether he would find anything at all even if he did make it inside. He heard Teresa's voice in the back of his head, scolding him for even thinking about it, telling him it wasn't even a plan, just his desperation talking.
He didn't notice how the hours passed, but suddenly it was dawn and Joseph Marshall's limo pulled up. Jane sighed in defeat and started the engine of his own car.
*
They were awakened by the door slamming open. Lisbon jumped up while still half asleep and backed into the far corner of the room. Tobin clung to her leg.
The big man stared at her blankly for a moment, then opened his mouth to speak for the first time. His voice was deep and rough. The words from his mouth sounded as hard and sharp as shards.
"You. Come with me." There was no particular passion in his voice. He almost sounded like a manager giving the same order for the third time.
Lisbon lifted her head, jutted her chin, and pushed Tobin a little farther behind her. "Where are we going?" she asked.
"None of your business."
"Why?"
"You'll see. Come on now. Or I'll come for you." He cracked his knuckles threateningly.
Her mind raced. What chance did she have of overpowering the man? She was trained for hand-to-hand combat, after all. But then her eyes fell on the gun stuck in his waistband, half-hidden behind his leather jacket. Could she take the gun from him? If not, he would possibly kill her or, worse, Tobin. Maybe she would have a better chance of escape in the place he would take her. Maybe she would even find Vega. Yes, that was her best chance. Her heart was pounding up to her throat.
The man's patience must have run out, because he drew his gun and pointed it at Tobin. "Now," he said firmly. He didn't have to spell out the threat.
She released Tobin's small hands from her and squeezed them encouragingly. Tobin looked up at her anxiously and she looked him in the eye. "I'll be back," she assured him. Then she walked toward the man slowly.
*
There were few things harder to obtain than a search warrant for a rich, influential man.
Jane had to admit that even attempts at intimidation fell on deaf (and expensive) ears with judges.
Maybe he would break into Marshall's house after all. Maybe he would turn one of his men. Maybe he'd borrow one of Teresa's guns.
"Lisbon and Vega know what they're doing," Cho said. Wiley nodded, probably more to convince himself.
"We're the FBI," Abbott declared with an extra dose of confidence. We get what we want.
Jane only wanted Teresa. Every fiber of his body just screamed for her, and his chest ached the more he thought about it.
*
She couldn't remember the last time she had felt such pain. The man had led her into a cool warehouse and tied her to a chair. The hall was dusty and little light fell through the barred windows. Around her were discarded machines, stored tools, and old furniture. She could have expected the questions, but she had been so focused on looking for a possible way out that she hadn't even thought about why she was there in the first place.
"What did Simmons tell you?" The man asked. Eleanore Simmons was a cleaner for Joseph Marshall and the woman Lisbon and Vega had paid a visit to before they had been kidnapped.
"Nothing." Lie. The blow hit her unexpectedly anyway, making black dots dance before her eyes. Her jaw throbbed painfully.
"Who else knows what she said?"
"She didn't say anything."
The next beat hit the other side of her face.
"Who else did you talk to?"
"No one."
She could literally feel her rib crack and a sharp pain move through her chest. She couldn't suppress a small cry of pain. Then she took a shaky breath. She could still breathe. It hurt, but not as if ribs had punctured her lungs.
By the end of the day - and it could have been minutes or hours - she wasn't sure she could hold herself up. Her head was pounding, every inch of her body ached, and she was so, so exhausted. When the man finally gave up and pulled her along, her only consolation was that she hadn't given him a single piece of information. It would keep her alive. They wanted to know what she knew and until they could be sure, they would keep her there and that gave her friends time to find her before Marshall got tired of it.
The man didn't push her back into Tobin's cell. This room came without a lamp. The window was bigger, the room smaller, and there was another woman sitting on the floor. Vega.
Lisbon stumbled in and slumped against the wall as the man closed the door. She just wanted to sleep, her bones felt like lead.
"Agent Lisbon!" Vega was at her side, eyeing her anxiously. "I'm so glad to see you."
Lisbon was glad to see her, too, but she could barely appreciate that. Only now was she aware of the metallic, thick taste of blood in her mouth, and the next moment she was throwing up. There wasn't much she could vomit, but her stomach clenched for several minutes while she retched and coughed and tears ran down her cheeks. Then her vision went black.
*
The bullpen had emptied almost completely. Even though Abbott had rhetorically forbidden his agents to do so - they had to sleep eventually. Those who remained stared at their computers or tried to pry information out of any Marshall associates. The sun was almost down and Jane hadn't slept properly since the day of the kidnapping. He felt drained but not tired, and he couldn't bear to be alone in Lisbon's house or in his Airstream. He couldn't sleep without her anymore. Not really.
He hadn't noticed when she lay next to him every night, but now he was painfully aware that her warm body against his, her familiar scent, and her steady breathing were the protective walls that kept his nightmares at bay.
Only his old couch in the bullpen brought him some comfort and once even a little nap while Wiley's fingers, pecking away at his computer keyboard, forced him to sleep.
Now, however, he sat on his couch and stared at the floor without seeing anything until a weight beside him caused the cushions to sink in. Abbott's presence was as unmistakable as his authority. Sometimes unyielding and cold as steel. In that moment, warm like a fireplace.
Jane lowered his head. "I don't know what to do without her, Dennis," he admitted quietly.
Abbott put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll find her."
Even he noticed how thick his voice was when he said, "I can't go through this again, I can't.... I couldn’t take it." The words wanted to stick in his throat, his heart raced and his eyes burned. He stood outside the door of his old bedroom again, for days now. He saw it when he closed his eyes and it popped up when he thought about how Teresa must be doing.
"You won't have to, Jane."
Abbott squeezed his shoulder but fear still choked him.
*
When Lisbon woke up again, Vega was sitting right next to her. She straightened slowly, though every muscle in her body protested against it.
"How are you feeling?" asked Vega as she handed her a half-full water bottle.
"Been better." She took a sip and eyed Vega. Her face also showed some cuts and bruises. "What about you?"
Vega straightened up a bit. "It could be worse."
"I guess that's true," Lisbon muttered. She looked around the room. The small window was barred, but rays of sunlight streamed in, making the room seem brighter than it really was. "What happened to you?" she continued to ask.
"They asked about Simmons."
"Me, too. What did you say?"
"Nothing."
Lisbon breathed a sigh of relief. Vega was smart. She was a good agent. And that's why they would get out of this. Vega was still young, she had a good career ahead of her, and she would have it. And she herself would soon be able to fall asleep and wake up next to Jane again. If the Marshalls wanted them dead, they would be by now. They were trained for this sort of thing. They would find a way to get out of this hole.
*
In the end, everything happened much faster than they’d thought. The sun was just setting over Austin when Lisbon and Vega managed to outwit the big man who brought them food and escape from their little cell. Almost simultaneously, a dozen FBI vehicles showed up in front of the Marshalls' property. The compound had to be really huge - all Lisbon and Vega could make out of the run-down little building they had been trapped in was the blue lights and loud voices in the distance.
As quickly as they could, they made their way through the small forest. Like moths, they headed purposefully toward the light.
A forensics worker noticed them first. They must have looked frightening, Lisbon thought, as his eyes widened and he nudged his colleague. He called for Abbott, and the next moment her entire team stepped onto the deck.
Seeing Jane - with bags under his eyes and every muscle in his body tense - she could breathe again for the first time. He just stared at her for a moment, as if she were about to vanish into thin air, before he finally got moving and came toward her. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he pulled her close, burying her face against his neck. She breathed in the scent of his detergent, his aftershave, and something that smelled like the forest and something that just smelled warm and familiar, like a summer day.
He held her so tightly that no leaf could have fit between them, yet she grabbed his jacket, just so he wouldn't let go. All the worry and tension and fear flowed out of her, leaving her so exhausted she wasn't sure she could stand on her own.
He pushed her away from him just a tiny bit so he could look at her, and she tried to smile at him because she had never ever been this glad to see him in her life, but - she suddenly realized - tears were running down her cheeks instead.
Jane brought his hands to her cheeks and gently wiped them away with his thumb. He kissed her forehead and in the next moment slipped off his jacket to put it around her shoulders. Then he pulled her back against his chest. "I am so glad to see you," he murmured, his voice trembling with tears.
She lifted her head, grabbed the collar of his shirt and kissed him. The gentle pressure of his lips on hers made her forget even the pain in her cheek. He tasted of safety and love and she didn't even care that all her colleagues could see them.
When they broke the kiss, he looked at her as if she was the most precious thing the world had to offer and just as tenderly he put his hands around her face. "You need to get to the hospital," he said as he anxiously eyed her visible injuries.
And then it suddenly occurred to her. The last bit of adrenaline her body could muster rushed through her veins and she straightened abruptly. "Tobin," she breathed. "Come with me. I need you to pick a lock for me!" She ran, pulling him along by the hand until he stopped abruptly.
"Teresa! Teresa, wait!" He held her by the arms. "What's wrong?"
"There was a boy locked up, we have to help him, come -"
"Hey, let the others do it, let -"
"No, no, Jane, that boy has been there alone for far too long, come on."
She continued walking toward the rundown building she had left with Vega only minutes before. She barely noticed that Jane was calling for Abbott and finally caught up to her. She was glad he had had the presence of mind to let an agent with a gun know, because even before they reached the building, the big man stumbled toward them. Abbott, however, made short work of him and handed him over in handcuffs to one of the other FBI agents.
Lisbon led them down a narrow staircase. To her right, she saw the small dark hallway at the end of which had been Vega's cell, and a little farther ahead on her left, she recognized the door that Tobin and she had stared at so often.
Jane gently pushed her aside as he knelt to pick the lock. Abbott had raised his gun as a precaution, but when the door finally swung open and no obvious danger met them, he lowered it.
Teresa entered the room first, though Jane and Abbott made moves to hold her back. She wasn't acting very professionally, she knew that somewhere far in the back of her mind, but right now she couldn't care less. Only half of her brain seemed to be functioning at all, the rest of it overlaid with pain and exhaustion and worry.
"Tobin?" she said quietly. The boy was cowering in the far corner of the room, and only when he saw her did he straighten up.
"Teresa!" Tobin through his arms around her neck as soon as she got to her knees and she hugged the boy tightly, even though a hot, stabbing pain ran through her chest. Tobin hid his face against her shoulder and she stroked his head as she straightened up. He didn't weigh much, but he had his whole body clinging to her, so she was glad when Jane put an arm around her to catch her. "You came to save me!" murmured Tobin against her shoulder.
"I promised you I would."
"Where have you been?"
"It doesn't matter." For a moment she looked Jane in the eye. "My friends are here. This is Patrick and Dennis. They're here to help us."
Tobin raised his head and looked skeptically from Jane to Abbott. "Did you find my mommy?"
"What's your mommy's name?" asked Abbott.
"Andrea."
Abbott smiled reassuringly. "We're looking for her, Tobin. I'm sure we'll find her. But right now, we should get you and Agent Lisbon to a doctor." He shot Lisbon a pointed look.
Tobin looked up at her uncertainly. "He's right." She also noticed her body rebelling more and more against the extra weight. Her muscles were burning and the twinge in her chest was becoming unbearable. "Do you think you can walk on your own?"
Tobin nodded and she set him back on the ground. She held out her hand to him and led him back to the Marshalls' mansion and the ambulances that were waiting by now. Vega was already being treated there. Cho gave instructions to the forensic team, although he kept looking skeptically at the paramedics. As soon as they reached the mansion, Abbott picked out a team of FBI agents to search the grounds for possible additional hostages. And Jane grabbed Wiley's arm, who had just come from Vega.
"Wiley, would you take this boy to a doctor?" he said.
Wiley and Tobin looked at each other in almost equal surprise. Tobin's grip on Lisbon's hand tightened a little more. She wanted to protest, but she could feel her head getting heavier and heavier and the dizziness catching up with her faster with every second she spent on her feet.
"I told you my friends are with the police, Tobin. You don't have to be afraid, they'll take good care of you," she explained calmly. Tobin still looked at Wiley skeptically.
"I can show you my GameBoy," Wiley said. "When we wait for the doctors."
Tobin furrowed his eyebrows. "Don't you have a Nintendo?"
Wiley smiled. "I do, but not in the car."
Tobin seemed to think for another moment, then he let go of Lisbon's hand and took Wiley's instead, as if the fact that he owned a Nintendo was the ultimate vote of confidence.
*
She had vomited twice on the way to the hospital - each time with intense pain in her chest that brought tears to her eyes. The paramedics had immediately moved her to a stretcher and started checking her for worse bleeding. Then, when she threw up for the first time at a bend in the road, they had also taken her blood pressure and decided that they could still justify drawing her blood.
Jane sat by her head the whole time, stroking her hair, and she had never been so glad to have him with her. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so miserable. Now that she was lying down and the adrenaline was wearing off, the exhaustion and pain hit with a hammer that almost took her consciousness away. She only peripherally caught how they put an IV in her left hand and how she was taken to the hospital for x-rays.
By the time she regained consciousness, it must have been late. The sun had completely disappeared from the sky and the moon had taken its place. A clear liquid was dripping down the IV into her hand and Jane was sitting in a chair right next to the cot she was lying on. When he realized she was awake, a smile spread across his face and he sat on the edge of her cot. He took her free hand between his and rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb.
"Hey," he said softly.
"Hey," she murmured, "what time is it?"
"Almost midnight."
"Oh. Did the doctors say anything?"
"Actually, they wouldn't tell me anything because we're not married," he shook his head disapprovingly. "But Abbott put his FBI foot down. You have two broken ribs and a lot of bruises and minor wounds. But they're still waiting for your blood work."
"Why blood work?"
"They want to rule out the possibility that you were poisoned. That's why Vega and Tobin are still here, too."
"How are they doing? Did they find Tobin’s mom?"
"Not yet. But they are doing pretty okay. Tobin just has a few bruises and he's probably a little malnourished - nothing that can't be fixed. Vega's arm is broken and she's got a couple of lacerations, but otherwise she's fine."
Relief spread viscously through her body like honey. They were all okay. They were all alive. And she could hopefully get home to her bed soon, take a warm shower, and snuggle up with Jane. And then she would catch up on a lot of sleep first.
She was straightening up a bit when there was a knock at the door and a young doctor walked in, looking almost as tired as Lisbon felt. He studied a note on his clipboard intently before looking up at her.
"Teresa Lisbon, right?" he asked.
She nodded. "That's me."
"I'm Dr. Alliston, and first of all, I have this for you." He handed her a small orange can of painkillers with her name on it. Gratefully, she accepted the can. "Your two lower left ribs are broken, but you have no internal bleeding. With a little time and rest, you'll be fine. All you'll feel otherwise is heavy bruising, which should get better in a few days."
Lisbon nodded. It could be worse. Dr. Alliston looked at his clipboard again.
"Then I can go?" Lisbon asked after a brief pause. She really didn't want to spend a night in the hospital unless it was absolutely necessary.
"There's one more thing," Dr. Alliston said, looking up again. His gaze drifted to Jane, and Lisbon squeezed his hand.
"He can stay."
"Suit yourself. We have your blood work and we couldn't detect any foreign substances." Lisbon breathed a sigh of relief. "However, your hCG level is very high – it seems you're pregnant."
Jane abruptly straightened up and looked at her. Her heart skipped a beat, too. She could only stare at Dr. Alliston.
"I take it from your reactions that you didn't know."
Her heart was hammering way too fast in her chest as she slowly shook her head. This couldn't be happening. She couldn't be pregnant, not after days of not eating or drinking sensibly. Not after she'd been in a car accident and kidnapped. Not after her whole body had suffered so many injuries. She couldn't be pregnant. How would any baby survive that?
The thought choked her and she squeezed Jane's hand so tightly that her nails left marks on his skin.
"If it's okay with you, my colleague will do an ultrasound and then you can go home."
She nodded as if in a trance. She didn't even catch how Dr. Alliston said goodbye. Only when Jane gently squeezed her hand did she break out of her stupor.
"Jane..." she murmured, but when she looked at him, his eyes glowed.
It wasn't until he noticed her expression that his expression became concerned and he lovingly brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked softly.
"I'm pregnant," she whispered.
"Yeah, I heard."
She could only continue to stare at him.
"That's good, isn't it?"
"I - I don't know."
Jane squeezed her hand and stroked the back of it with his thumb. "Talk to me, Teresa. What's wrong?" he asked quietly.
She could only take a shaky breath, fear still paralyzing her body.
"Hey, we're a team. I'm with you," Jane said. "Whatever it is, Teresa, I'm here. I just need to know what's scaring you." He put a hand under her chin and made her look at him.
"It - how would a baby get through that?" she murmured.
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Well, it's our baby."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"That means if it's half as strong and stubborn as its mommy, then we don't have anything to worry about."
She shook her head and gave a stifled laugh. "It doesn't work that way."
"I know." He leaned in and gave her a kiss. "But you're not in pain or bleeding, are you?"
She shook her head.
"Then we might as well believe it's healthy."
She nodded slowly.
"That's what's scaring you? It's not that you don't want it?"
She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face against his shoulder. "I had no idea how much I wanted a baby until I knew it was there," she murmured.
*
They didn't have to wait long before a nurse came to pick her up for the ultrasound. The nurse pulled her IV and led her into another small room in another wing of the hospital. She answered a row of questions for the nurse; that it was her first pregnancy, that she had no bleeding, when her last period had been.
"Why didn't I notice I was two weeks late?" she murmured more to herself than anyone else when the nurse had disappeared.
"I guess we had other things to do," Jane replied.
She reached for his hand and looked up at him. "Patrick -"
"It's going to be okay."
"How can you be so optimistic?"
"I believe in you. And we have each other, no matter what. I'm so glad you're here, Teresa, I - I was so afraid I'd never see you again."
"I was scared, too," she admitted.
When the doctor told them that their baby was developed perfectly for the seventh week and was also able to show them the beating heart, tears ran down her cheeks again. Jane wiped them away along with his own and kissed her lovingly.
"I was right," he murmured against her lips.
"Shut up," she whispered, but the smile on her face belied her words.
"What about the X-ray?" She then asked the doctor. "And the painkillers - will that hurt the baby?"
She handed the can to the doctor and she looked at the label. "I will give you painkillers that are suitable for pregnant women. And don't worry about the X-ray. I heard you had a rough couple of days - it was necessary. And the little ones are much more robust than you think. This early, it's all-or-nothing anyway. That means you can't get rid of a healthy baby that easily, and your baby is developed completely normal so far. If you get any bleeding or pain, get it checked out, otherwise you shouldn’t worry too much. You've already gotten through the worst of it." The doctor stood up and handed her the sonogram. "You should still take it easy the next few weeks."
*
By the time she was finally able to go home, it was late at night and she was so tired that she felt like only Jane's hand on her back was keeping her upright.
Abbott had indeed been waiting in the hospital lobby, and when he saw her, he rose from his chair. "Lisbon, how are you?"
"To be honest, I'm pretty tired."
Abbott smiled and buried his hands in his pockets. "I'm sure you are. I don't want to see you in the office the next two weeks, I hope that goes without saying. Get some rest."
She smiled. "All right, boss." They were almost out the door when Abbott called out again, "Oh, and Jane?"
Jane turned and looked at Abbott expectantly. "That goes for you, too!"
A grin spread across Jane's face. "Thanks, Dennis."
*
She fell asleep in the car and only woke up when Jane opened her door, kissed her forehead, and asked if he should carry her. She made it to the bedroom on her own, though, and immediately flopped down on her bed.
Jane had disappeared into the bathroom and had turned on the water in the bathtub even before she could ask him to. He knelt in front of her, took her hands in his and placed kisses on the back of her hands. "I'm so glad you're here," he said, and she could see tears in his eyes. She stroked his cheeks and leaned her forehead against his.
"I love you, Jane."
"I love you." He broke away from her and wiped his eyes before sitting up. "You go take a bath and I'll make you something to eat, okay? How do sandwiches sound?"
"That sounds wonderful, thank you."
Before he could leave the room, she reached for his hand again. "Hold on. Can - can you help me?"
She pointed to her clothes. Now that she was home and the painkillers she'd gotten at the hospital were wearing off, she noticed every ache in her body. Her cheek throbbed uncomfortably, her ribs ached with every breath, her arms and shoulders burned from fatigue and bruising. Her hip still hurt and she wasn't sure she could manage to undress on her own without tears.
"Of course."
He knelt in front of her and carefully brushed the socks off her feet. Then he held out his hands to her and helped her stand up. He looked deep into her eyes before he began to unbutton her blouse. He was always gentle with her, but she had never known him to touch her so carefully. Each of his touches was feather light and he kept looking into her eyes to make sure it was okay what he was doing. They had made love so many times that he knew very well how to get her out of her clothes the fastest, but this time he was slow and careful, with warmth instead of fire in his eyes, always careful to cause her as little pain as possible.
She sucked in a sharp breath as she had to turn her upper body a little so he could slip the blouse off her shoulders, and the next moment he was kissing her as if to kiss the pain away.
His fingers were ghosting over her ribs and her shoulders, over the blue and green and purple discolorations there, without really touching her skin, without causing her pain, all the way to the clasp of her bra.
When he knelt in front of her to undo the button of her jeans, he breathed a kiss on her belly and she buried her hands in his curls. He looked up at her and smiled at her again, as if he couldn't believe she was really standing in front of him, as if she was the only thing that mattered in this world.
His hands carefully ran down her legs as he slipped her jeans and panties off her body. He rose and held his hands out for her to step out of her clothes. Then held up her bathrobe for her.
*
She already felt considerably better when she got out of the bathtub. The warm water did wonders to her battered muscles and she had to be careful not to fall asleep in there. She searched her closet for the largest T-shirt she owned that would put as little pressure on her injuries as possible. In the end, she took one of Jane's and lay down in bed.
Jane came into the bedroom just a few minutes later and set a plate of grilled cheese and a steaming cup of hot chocolate on her nightstand. He then retrieved another hot water bottle, an ice pack, and a bar of her favorite chocolate and joined her on the bed.
Lisbon shook her head in amusement. "Are you trying to get as many calories and sugar as possible in front of me now?"
Jane grinned. "That's right, my dear. Because you've had far too little of that the last few days."
She took a sip of the hot chocolate and one of the sandwiches and leaned back into the pillows. "Thank you."
She watched him as he changed into his pajamas and joined her in bed, and as soon as he was sitting next to her, she snuggled up to him.
"If our baby gets stubbornness from me, what does it get from you?" she asked, her eyes already closed.
"Hmm, good looks?"
She poked his side and she could hear the laughter in his chest. "Good taste," he corrected and she felt him press a kiss on the top of her head.
"We need a bigger house," she murmured.
He gently ran his fingers down her spine. "We'll worry about that later."
"Okay," she whispered. She was so filled with the pleasant warmth of his body, her soft bed and his regular heartbeat anyway, that she fell into a deep slumber a moment later.