Oh my goodness! How long has it been? Like three or four days? Wow! This is really fast for me, especially considering this chapter is almost three times as long as the others! Well, at least in pages. Seriously, it's like ten pages on Microsoft Word. Well this is the epic finale and there was just so much I wanted to include and I kept adding more. I hope it was worth it. Thank you to everyone who reviewed any and every chapter in this story, I honestly loved every single review. They make my heart smile. I've said it before and it's still true. You know when your chest feels all funny inside almost like your heart is getting bigger and it's a good feeling? That's what your reviews do to me. Seriously. And now you guys have got me addicted. So I won't be able to stay away from the FF scene for long, I'll need my fix of writing and reviews. So any of you that like how I write, do not fret, I will write more. Okay, enough of my gratitude, onto this epic, monster finale to Life or Death.

Life or Death

"We have a picture of the nurse from his hospital ID card." She said. "You're not going to believe this."

"What do you mean I'm not going to believe it? I'll believe anything that'll get our daughter back." Jane exclaimed, causing Van Pelt's brow to furrow.

"Did you run it through facial recognition?" Lisbon asked, still in shock but more in control of herself now that she'd relieved some of the weight off her shoulders.

"We didn't have to. We knew who he was the moment we saw the picture. We have a B.O.L.O. out and it won't be long before we find him." Van Pelt said.

"For God's sake, who kidnapped Adrianne?" Jane asked. He was becoming more on edge each passing minute and Van Pelt could understand that. She'd been just outside when Lisbon had dropped the bomb on him and she had to say that she'd be freaking out as well if she'd just received the same information that he had.

"Michael. Michael kidnapped Adrianne. He escaped from prison, I just confirmed it with the prison warden, and he knew someone who gave him the job no questions asked. We've got his guy heading to the CBI for interrogation. Gary Harrison was his name, he's in charge of the personnel here at the hospital and he had access to your medical records. That's how Michael knew which hospital you'd be at." Van Pelt said.

"Thank you, Van Pelt. Go catch the son of a bitch. Bring my baby back." Lisbon said. She would give anything to be able to go with them to interrogate this Gary Harrison and save Adrianne herself but she was on strict orders from the doctor to stay put. She knew that putting up a fuss would just waste precious time that they needed to find her daughter. So she would wait, it would kill her a little inside but she would wait.

Xxxx

Van Pelt was in the SUV with Rigsby in the passenger seat and Cho at the wheel. They were on their way to the CBI to interrogate their suspect, well their suspect's accomplice.

"So let me get this straight. Michael, Lisbon's psycho-serial-killer-ex-boyfriend escaped from jail to kidnap her daughter? Why?" Rigsby asked. "I thought he wanted to kill Lisbon, why kidnap her daughter?"

"Because he thinks it's his daughter? I don't know." Van Pelt responded.

"Well then he's right. It is his daughter. But I didn't really peg him for a family man." Rigsby said.

"I can't tell you what he's thinking, but I can tell you that he's wrong. The baby isn't his." Van Pelt shared.

"What? But Lisbon was seeing him for six months before he tried to kill her, at which time she found out she was about a month pregnant. Explain to me how the hell it wouldn't be his child." Rigsby said.

"About four or five months into her relationship with Michael, she suspected him of cheating on her. She sought Jane out for comfort… and that's exactly what he gave her." Van Pelt informed her teammates.

"What? How does that…" Rigsby started, not understanding the connotations of her words.

"They had sex." Cho said.

"So it's Jane's baby?" Rigsby asked.

"Yes." Van Pelt said.

"Whoa. Didn't see that one coming. Did you guys?" Rigsby asked, grabbing some of the fries left over from their lunch.

"Yes." The two answered simultaneously.

"I guess Red John was more right than we knew." Rigsby muttered.

"What? What are you talking about?" Van Pelt asked, alarmed.

"'You two look so cozy sharing a house, sharing a bed, and expecting your first child together. It really is too cute. Someone really should do something about that, and I know just the guy.' Ring any bells?" Rigsby stated.

"The creepy letter Lisbon received months ago. How did you remember that?" Van Pelt asked, astonished.

"Jane has showed me a few tricks over the years." Rigsby said.

"Couldn't get rid of that memory palace?" Cho asked.

"No…" Rigby said,

Xxxx

"You, Gary, are going to tell us where Michael is." Cho said across the table. They didn't have time to waste so Cho was interrogating the accomplice. Everyone knew that if you needed a suspect cracked, Cho was your man.

"I'm not telling you anything." Gary said stubbornly.

"You and I both know that you will. Once I apply the right threat, say to send you away to prison for the rest of your sorry life, you'll tell me everything I need to know. So how about we skip all that good stuff and get straight to the point? Where is Michael?" Cho said with his face of steel.

"You have no idea what he'll do to me…" Gary said. For all he was, he was not someone able to stand up to people. That was how he'd ended up in this mess in the first place.

"I have an idea. But as scary as Michael is, I know that my boss, the woman whose child Michael kidnapped, is a hell of a lot scarier. And don't even get me started on the father." Cho said.

"The father? Michael's the father. He's only trying to be with his baby girl." Gary said, his eyes darting around the room, unable to focus on any one thing.

"You see, that's where you're wrong. It's not his baby, never was. He's kidnapped an innocent child and once he figures out that he's not the father, what do you think he's going to do to her?" Cho said. "So you're going to tell me where they are and you're going to tell me right now."

"I can't." Gary whispered.

"Well then, I hope you enjoy prison." Cho said, getting up to leave.

"No, you don't understand. It's not that I don't want to tell you; it's that I don't know. He didn't tell me where he was going." Gary said.

Cho walked out of the interrogation room, heading for the bullpen. He couldn't believe it. Couldn't they just catch a break? It was the boss's daughter; they had to bring her back alive.

"Did you get anything?" Rigsby asked upon Cho's entrance into the bullpen.

"Nothing." Cho said. "He doesn't know anything."

"Man." Rigsby exclaimed, banging his fist on the desk in frustration.

"Guys." Van Pelt said from her desk. She'd been working her magic on the computer for the past twenty minutes to no avail.

"What?" Cho asked. He crowded around her desk along with Rigsby. They were bordering on desperate.

"I checked all Gary's known addresses, the police said there was nothing there, not that I expected much. But I didn't find out that the two, Gary and Michael, were from the same town and after a little more digging I found that they went to the same school. So after calling up Gary's mother, she told me that they were best friends and still were to her knowledge. So I was thinking, if your friend needed help what would you do?" Van Pelt explained, talking as fast as her tongue allowed her while still being coherent.

"Give them what ever they need." Rigsby provided.

"Exactly. And what do newly escaped prisoners need?" Van Pelt said.

"A place to stay?" Rigsby guessed.

"Cash." Cho said.

"Exactly, so I checked Gary's bank accounts for recent withdrawals of a suspicious amount. There were none so I checked his credit cards. One was just used ten minutes ago in a variety store not too far from here. I've informed the local L.E.O.'s of this and they're searching abandoned buildings. They'll call when they've got something." Van Pelt said.

"Let's go." Cho said. "We're not going to sit around while Lisbon and Jane's daughter is missing. Come on."

Xxxx

Lisbon lay in her hospital bed, her nerves stretched to the max. Jane had left soon after Van Pelt, mumbling something about needing time to think. She understood that, she really did, but that didn't take away from the sting of rejection she felt when he walked out that door.

She felt alone, not only in the physical sense. Before, she could still feel Jane when he was gone, he was on her side, and he was coming back. But now, she didn't know f he was coming back or not and he was definitely not on her side. Not after she kept something like this from him. She should have told him, but how could she? It wasn't something to be brought up casually. Hey, Jane, I know you thought my baby was Michael's but guess what? It's yours. Not likely.

She could only hope that he would return. She could only hope that the team would bring her baby back safely. She could only hope. Man this sucked.

Xxxx

Van Pelt, Rigsby and Cho were at the last abandoned warehouse in the area. Everywhere else had been checked and revealed nothing. They waited for the head of police to give the go ahead before entering the warehouse. Once the signal was given, they stormed through the warehouse, flashlights on and guns raised. Every member of the cavalry was wearing their bulletproof vests upon the explicit orders of the head of police.

The trio turned a corner, splitting away from the group to go down a hallway. At the end of the hallway there was a door. They moved to their positions on either side of the door, Rigsby on one side and Cho with Van Pelt on the other. Cho kicked in the door and they filed in the room. They all just stared in silence, shocked at what they saw.

"Call Lisbon." Cho said.

Xxxx

Lisbon was sitting in the chair, staring out the window. She'd had enough of sitting on the bed and she needed a change of scenery but they hospital staff didn't trust her not to run away if they let her outside. They were probably right.

She heard a noise that broke her out of her daze. Jane still hadn't come back and she was getting worried. It took her a second before she realized that the noise that had interrupted her musings was still going and that that sound was her phone.

"Lisbon." She answered curtly.

"Boss, it's Rigsby." Said the voice on the other end of the line.

"Hey Rigsby. Anything new?" She asked anxiously.

"Sort of. Gary didn't know anything but he lent Michael his credit card. He got a hit at a variety store so we checked all local abandoned warehouses in the area. You know, in case he was hiding out in any of them. And we got nothing." Rigsby said, dejected.

"Oh. Well at least you guys are doing something. That's more than we can say for me." Lisbon said. She'd gotten her hopes up when Rigsby started talking about what they'd found out. She was beginning to think that disappointment was one of the worst things in the world. But she knew firsthand that losing a child or a loved one topped it all.

"Boss, listen to me because I'm only going to say this once. You have not done anything wrong; this is not your fault. By letting us take care of it, you are doing so much for your daughter. I can't imagine what you're going through but I do know that you don't have a clear head, understandably so. So I'm telling you that you are doing the best thing you can for your daughter. I don't want you thinking otherwise. Where's Jane? He should be talking sense into you, not me." Rigsby said.

"He's, um… he's gone." Lisbon muttered, her voice cracking on the last word.

"He'll come back. He always does." Rigsby said. Lisbon didn't get to experience this side of him very often, at all really, and she was pleasantly surprised at how good he was at this. His words could have been spoken by anyone else and had no impact on her but paired with his reassuring tone it got through to her. She felt herself starting to believe it.

"Thanks Rigsby." She said.

"Welcome, boss. Hey boss, just a second I think Grace has something." Rigsby said quickly. Lisbon heard some shuffling on the other end and some inaudible voices talking. It was frustrating, not knowing what was happening and she almost voiced this but then Rigsby returned. "Boss, Gary's credit card was used in payment for a motel room. Gary's still here so it's most definitely Michael. I guess Grace was right; Michael must not have had any cash on him. We're heading out now. I'll call you with an update later."

Before Lisbon could say anything, the dial-tone rang in her ear. Great. Now she was even more on edge. But at least something was happening; at least this meant it was almost over.

Xxxx

"How do you suggest we proceed?" The head of the SWAT team asked Cho.

"I'll go in with Rigsby and attempt to negotiate. You'll have your sniper ready to take him out if he doesn't co-operate. Remember, there's most likely a child in there with him, a baby, so we have to get this right." Cho said. He walked over to where Rigsby and Van Pelt were setting up.

"What's the plan?" Van Pelt asked.

"Rigsby and I are going in to try to talk him into giving us Adrianne while the sniper gets ready to take the shot in case it goes south." Cho said. Upon Van Pelt's expression he added further explanation. "I didn't think it was a good idea for you to go in, knowing what he does to women."

"Good point, he would get worked up and no one wants that." Van Pelt said. No matter how long it had been since she joined the team, she still sometimes felt the need to prove herself. But she was getting better at putting those feelings aside when she had to and this situation was no time for those feelings to surface.

"Good. Let's go." Cho said to Rigsby. The two went up the stairs to the second floor of the motel. They approached the room cautiously. Cho rapped on the door.

"Michael, open up. CBI." He yelled. When there was no response, he used the master key that he'd gotten from the manager and opened the door. "CBI!"

"Hey, quite down. She's sleeping." Michael said, rounding the corner from the bathroom with Adrianne in his arms.

"Michael, I need you to but Adrianna down and back away. Put her in the crib and put your hands on your head." Rigsby ordered.

"I don't think so. She's my daughter and I plan to keep her a while." Michael said, staring at the baby's face with an expression that looked something like fondness. Almost.

"But she's not." Cho said. He knew full well that aggravating Michael could end in two ways, one of which was not good, not good at all.

"What are you talking about? Of course she's mine." Michael said, only fazed slightly. Adrianne started crying and he began to rock Adrianne in his arms gently.

"She's not, and we have a paternity test to prove it." Rigsby bluffed.

"You're lying." Michael said.

"No he's not; it's back in the car. Come with us and we'll show you." Cho coaxed.

"I don't believe you; Teresa was with me when she got pregnant." Michael said, brushing off their words.

"What do you think she was doing when you were off killing those women?" Rigsby taunted.

"I know who she wasn't doing, any other man while I was away." Michael said, getting irritated.

"She's a grown up woman, a woman with needs. Don't think she wouldn't think twice fulfilling those needs without you." Cho said, internally cringing about talking about the boss like that.

"You're, you're lying." Michael said, his face getting red. It was clear that he wasn't calm and in control anymore.

"Oh but he's not." Rigsby said.

"You want to know who the real father is?" Cho asked.

"No, no. You're wrong." Michael said, getting angrier by the second. He put Adrianne in the crib beside him, pulled a gun from where it was concealed at the waist and pulled the trigger.

But he wasn't the only one.

Xxxx

Lisbon's head whipped up from where it was resting in her palms when she heard someone knocking on the door. She perked up, hoping it was Jane behind the door coming to tell her that he forgave her for keeping her secret from him and that he loved her. Yeah right.

"Boss, it's Van Pelt. I've got someone here who wants to see you." Grace said with a giant grin on her face as she opened the door and entered the room with Adrianne in her arms.

"Adrianne!" Lisbon shouted, getting up from where she was sitting by the window and running over to Van Pelt. She took Adrianne in her arms and placed a kiss atop her head. She gave Van Pelt a semi-awkward one-armed hug while holding Adrianne in the other. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for bringing my baby back."

"No problem." Van Pelt said, hugging her back before letting her go.

"What happened?" Lisbon asked after the initial shock of getting her baby back had worn off slightly.

"Cho and Rigsby went to the room to try to get Michael to give her up. It wasn't easy, they had to change tactics but they got him to put Adrianne down in the crib, out of harms way. He pulled out a gun but before he could harm anyone the sniper on the roof of the motel across the road shot him. He didn't make it." Van Pelt summarized.

"Thank you for getting her back safely. Tell the guys thanks too." Lisbon said, her attention going back to Adrianne.

"Will do boss." Van Pelt said. She saw the tears of joy running down Lisbon's face and excused herself from the room.

When she walked out of Lisbon's room, she was met with Cho and Rigsby drinking coffee. Rigsby extended the one in his other hand towards her.

"Thanks." She said. "This is just what I needed."

"Cheers to that." Rigsby said.

"Any sign of Jane?" Cho asked.

"No, and judging from the redness of Lisbon's eyes when I got there, I'd say he hasn't been there since she told him about Adrianne's parentage." Van Pelt said. "I hope he pulls his head out of his ass and gets his act together soon."

"Give the guy a break; she gave him one hell of a bombshell with that one." Rigsby said. "He probably just needs to sleep on it."

"He's a father now." Cho said. "He can sleep when he's dead."

Xxxx

Lisbon walked into the nursery with Adrianne to put her to sleep for the night. Van Pelt had dropped the two of them off at her place, offering to stay and help out to which Lisbon politely declined. She really just needed some time to herself tonight. She didn't think she'd be sleeping much tonight, with or without the help of her newborn baby.

"Looks like it's just you and me tonight, kiddo." Lisbon said, gently lowering Adrianne into her crib. Once she hit the soft mattress, Adrianne's eyes fluttered close. "Someone's a little sleepy huh? Well you've had quite the day, you deserve some rest."

Once it was clear that Adrianne was indeed sleeping, Lisbon grabbed the baby monitor and headed to the kitchen, wanting to grab a midnight snack. She'd just poured herself a glass of milk when the doorbell rang. She wasn't expecting visitors.

"Hey." Lisbon said when she opened the door to her unexpected visitor.

"Hey." Jane said. "Cho called me and told me that they brought Adrianne back safe and sound. Could I—could I see her?"

"Oh, yeah of course. She's your daughter too." Lisbon said, stepping aside to let him through the door. "You know, you can be as involved in her life as you'd like. I know that after Charlotte… well it's your call."

"What?" Jane asked, startled. He followed her to the nursery and looked on at the sleeping baby girl. A smile crossed his face when he saw her chest rise and fall in gently breaths. "I told you that I'm going to help you with this baby, her being mine only makes that statement even truer."

"I thought you'd left me." Lisbon whispered, looking down at her feet.

"You make that very hard, even temporarily. Look, I know how hard it must have been for you to keep that from me. You don't know how happy it made me to hear that she's mine and not Michael's. Thinking of him with you, his child in you, I didn't like it. Then to find out it's mine… I'm the happiest man in the world. Just, tell me one thing." Jane said.

"Anything." Lisbon said, she owed him that much.

"How did you know for sure that she was mine?" Jane asked.

"The note from Red John, well it freaked me out and I'd always had an inkling of a thought that it could possibly be your baby. Well, after that I asked my doctor to run a paternity test that only confirmed what I knew in my heart was true. Michael and I were careful, but with you… well you've never been one to play it on the safe side and you convince me every time." Lisbon muttered, blushing slightly.

"That long?" Jane asked.

"Yeah." Lisbon said.

"You've gotten quite good at pulling one over on me. I'm going to have to watch my back from now on." Jane said with a smirk.

"Does this mean you don't hate me?" Lisbon asked in a quiet voice.

"I think you'd find it quite hard hating someone you love." Jane said.

"You—you love me?" Lisbon squeaked. That caught her off guard.

"How could I not? I guess the question is if you love me too because I can guarantee that it's not going to be easy getting rid of me now." Jane said with an anxious glint in his eyes despite his teasing tone.

"You really don't know?" Lisbon asked. She stared up at him in wonder.

"How about you enlighten me?" Jane said.

"How about I let you suffer in ignorance?" Lisbon teased.

"Or… you could make this easier on both of us and just tell me." Jane said, inching his way closer to her.

"I don't know, I think I like knowing something you don't…" Lisbon said, unable to suppress her smirk. When she saw the discouraged look on Jane's face she let out a soft laugh. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you. But you should be grateful that I'm letting you in on this secret. I really don't know if you can handle it but here it is. Patrick Jane, I love you."

Jane enveloped her in a loving embrace and pressed a kiss to her sweet lips, silently promising her forever.

Another story comes to an end. I do believe this was a successful story, definitely my favourite of mine so far. It's a little different than what I usually do, at least I think so, but I do think it turned out nicely. I have another story in the works but it's going slowly and it will just be one long one-shot. But I'm absoutely loving it! Just something to look forward to if you enjoy my style. Anyways, please leave a review! I'd love to know your overall impression of this fic, I love hearing from those who read this. Even if you've never reviewed this story before, I'd love to thank you individually for reading. I figured out how to reply again! Yay! So leave a review. Seriously, I won't bite... hard. :p Thanks again 3