Chapter 2

Jane woke up with a start, something was wrong, did he hear...laughter? He gently shakes Teresa making her wake up, she lets out a sigh and snuggles closer to him whispering to Jane to go back asleep. The laughter comes again, closer this time and Jane immediately sits up seeing Charlotte giggling in the doorway.

"Daddy's with another woman!"

She started singing as she ran away, darkness immediately engulfing her little form. This time Jane shakes his wife more forcefully but she doesn't wake up she just turns away from him so Jane decides to follow Charlotte's ghost on his own. He enters the hallway carefully, trying not to stumble through the darkness.

"Charlotte?"

She reappears at the end of the hall giggling at him and running into her room, another voice enters the hallway and he turns around to see Marie crying, she's wearing Charlotte's night gown and her skin is slowly turning a ghastly pale. The dark chocolatey locks turning black and she looks up at him with faded blue eyes. She looks dead.

"Daddy I'm scared!"

Jane's about to go to her when he hears Charlotte screaming in her room and he immediately runs to Charlotte's room swinging her door wide open as Marie yells at him:

"Please don't leave me!"

The moment Jane enters the room he trips over Charlotte's dead body, falling into a pool of blood. The face on the wall grinning at him as Charlotte's door swings shut. Marie begins to scream on the other side, Jane trying to pry open the locked door to no avail.

"Daddy!"

"Marie!"

He tries again and the door finally opens, Teresa at the other side stopping him from running towards Marie.

"Patrick wake up!"

He looks at his wife and then at his daughter whose lying in a pool of her own blood but Teresa clasps both sides of his face and forces him to look at her.

"It's a nightmare Jane, she's not there! Now wake up! Wake up!"

He looks back at where Marie was standing and she's gone, Teresa's hands go from his face down his arms and she holds his hands.

"There we go, it's okay everything is fine."

"But-"

"Here let me show you something."

His wife turns on the light to reveal them standing in an empty hallway, just outside Charlotte's room.

"You slept walked all the way here, it's alright I heard everything."

"But Marie-"

"Isn't here, and neither is Charlotte. The only people in this house are you and me."

"..."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, stopping me was a mistake Teresa, I need to go back to work."

"But Jane it's 3am!"

"No! Don't you understand that this is my fault!? I left Marie! I left her and he took her! Marie is my fault, therefore I need to fix this!"

A stray tear falls down his cheek, followed by more.

"It's my fault Teresa. I left our daughter! What father does that?"

"It was a nightmare Jane! A nightmare! And now you're going to run off and waste away in this search of yours!? I get that you're guilty, but she's my daughter to! I'm hurting with you!"

"You don't get it Teresa, you just don't understand."

He waves her off and makes his way down the hallway and to the stairs with Teresa hot on his heals.

"Patrick Alexander Jane if you do not go to bed this instant I-"

Jane's dark expression silences her immediately.

"You'll do what Teresa? Tear up the map, get rid of the files? Don't think I don't know what's going on."

"Jane-"

They're now standing face to face downstairs.

"Admit it, you gave up on her. You don't believe I'll find her do you?"

She crosses her arms and glares at him, not backing down.

"I will admit nothing. Go to bed."

He's about to say something particularly nasty when the house phone interrupts their 'friendly' conversation and Teresa is the first to reach the phone. Her expression tells him everything as she hangs up the phone.

"Well congratulations Patrick it's another Red John case, you win."

She shoots him a glare before going upstairs to change leaving Jane in an awkward situation. Go near her or keep his distance? After all, his clothes were in their room and it's not like he can go to the crime scene in his pajamas. But she did forfeit, he won and she admitted it so clearly their argument must be over. Therefore it's okay for him to enter the room.

---------

"Nothing like a good murder in the morning."

Teresa says sarcastically as she enters Visualize with Jane next to her, the crime scene was on a stage where Bret Stiles would preach to his followers and the last thing she needed was a bunch of mental people trying to get her to join. Jane pats her on the back happily looking around, making fun of Visualize members was one of Jane's favorite past times.

"Look at them go! Manipulated and insane but they keep going, even at 3am. They're cattle Lisbon, all of them!"

"Any potential killers?"

"Too hard to tell, anyone you can manipulate is a prime suspect."

"So all of them then? Great."

Just as they arrive Grace comes over to stop them in their tracks.

"I really don't think you should do this one, it might be best for you to leave."

"Can't we just get on with the case!?"

"Well-it's just that...she looks like Marie."

"No!"

Jane immediately pushes Grace aside and runs to the body, desperately searching for one detail that would say otherwise. But he couldn't, the body laying in front of him was Marie. She had the same everything: her mother's brown hair and his blue eyes, there was no doubt that this was Marie.

"No..."

Lisbon is in complete shock, yes she had given up hope but she wasn't ready to face her daughter's death. She watches her husband fall to his knees, covering his face with his hands and it occurs to her that she needs to be the strong one tonight and take him far far away from this.

"Jane-"

"Where is Stiles."

He turned to Cho and Rigsby who were with the suspects.

"WHERE IS HE!?"

Jane spots Bret Stiles in the crowd and immediately attacks before Cho can do anything. He punches the old man who staggers back and. Before he can do anything Rigsby and Cho hold Jane back.

"Get a hold of yourself!"

"I'LL KILL YOU FOR THIS!"

"You are off the case!"

Cho deadpans and has to practically drag Jane away from a shocked Stiles. Teresa immediately comes to Jane's aid and tries to clean up the mess he's just made.

"I apologize, he won't attack you again. We're going to need the files of your followers dating before 1988 to present."

Stiles straightens his suite a little and glares at Jane.

"Don't worry Teresa I know a damaged man when I see one and I am not Red John, I do not kill my children. I'll send the files over."

"Your children? Don't you mean your cattle?"

Jane remarks pitifully from the background, he would strike at Stiles again but Cho was smart to cuff him to the pew.

"We're leaving now. Cho you're in charge until I get back."

"Cho said I was off the case!"

Jane whines as she walks over to where he is.

"Consider this suspension now I'm going to un-cuff you and we are going home."

"Teresa you can't be serious!"

She pulls out her cuffs and cuffs his wrist with hers, then sets him free from the pew.

"If you advance to Stiles these handcuffs will cut into the both of us, that's pain we don't need. We are going home."

"But-"

"Patrick would you please stop arguing with me! We are going home and I am never seeing this case again!"

Her eyes are brimming with tears, the armor beginning to break. She has to get out of here before the team sees her have a meltdown, she has to be strong just until they get back home and who knows what Jane's mental state will be in the morning.

"Okay, let's go home."

He says softly and let's her lead him away from the crime scene, Jane just lost his daughter all he has left now is Teresa and he doesn't want to lose her to. When they reach the car she undoes the cuffs and gets in the driver's seat, silently crying on the way home.

"Are you okay?"

"Just don't talk to me right now okay?"

She glances at him and then focuses on the road.

"I'm sorry Jane but I'm on the verge of a meltdown and if I talk I won't be able to hold it back."

"..."

"I am a strong girl, we will make it home and then I will cry but not now, not yet."

By the time they entered the garage she had become worse and staggered into the house with Jane by her side making sure she didn't fall. He took her to their bedroom and lied down next to her, neither of them bothering to change their clothes.

"I-I am a horrible wife."

Here it comes.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, *sniffle* I should've stood up for you but I-I couldn't. I *sniffle* just gave up on finding Marie and you poured your life into it and I did nothing!"

She sobs as she hastily wipes her tears away.

"I should've helped you but-I mean- it was 10 years long and after a while I just couldn't- I'm so sorry Patrick! I should've helped!"

Jane gently wipes away her tears and takes a deep breath.

"I'm a bad husband. You fell into alcohol and I should've seen it coming, it never hit me how far you fell until your drinking nearly killed you."

"....Sorry..."

"Don't apologize for that, Red John hurt us and I ended up hurting you. None of this is your fault Teresa, none of it."

She lets out a sigh as Jane plants a kiss on her forehead.

"Goodnight love."

"Goodnight Patrick."

----

Jane woke up early and snuck out of bed, in order to 'prove' his innocence Stiles would have clearly handed over the files and Jane just had to see them! So here he is making his way through the CBI with Grace being his target. She was so sweet and innocent it wouldn't take much for Jane to get her to give him the files. Suddenly as if from nowhere a small person rams into him, papers slipping out from the files she clutches to her chest.

"Would you look where you're going!?"

He froze when she looked up at him, it was as if he had run into last nights victim! The only difference was that this girl's blue eyes were bright and full of life, her dark brown hair cascading down her shoulders in waves. She looked so much like- but it couldn't be...

"S-sorry! In a hurry bye!"

She says and runs out of the CBI, a few more papers slipping out. Suddenly the Visualize files weren't so interesting anymore.

PLEASE COMMENT!!!!! Or at least vote ; ) LOL this has to be the longest chapter ever written!