AN: I started the In Case series one year ago this month, so now seems a fitting time to end it. Major thanks to plyshkins, who has translated this series into Russian, as well as to those of you who've followed/favorited/reviewed the stories so far. In case you're new to the series, the onehots in order are: In Case, Yours, Of Photographs and Promises, Ya'aburnee, Maelstrom, and Where Lovers Part. Hope you all enjoy this last installment, which picks up with Jane and Lisbon meeting at their final rendezvous point in Mexico.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist.
It takes her less than two seconds to find him as she scans the baggage claim area at the airport.
She watches as he weaves in and out of the crowd between them, never breaking eye contact. He grins suddenly, and she can't stop the smile that spreads across her face in return.
And finally, finally, his fingers reach out for her, linking at the small of her back as he pulls her against him. She buries her head in the crook of his neck as he lifts her off the ground, one of his hands moving up her back to hold her more tightly.
Jane kisses the line of her jaw, and she feels moisture on her cheek. She's confused for a second before she realizes that it is not her who is crying but him. He sets her on the ground, and she stretches up on her toes to give him a light kiss.
Lisbon shifts her purse on her shoulder and lifts her hands to his face. "You okay?" she asks, concerned. He's normally emotional when they meet, after all, but somehow…today feels different.
Jane just kisses her again. "Absolutely," he says against her lips. He pulls back, and she is floored by the look on his face.
He looks happy.
Truly, radiantly, unconditionally…happy.
"I have a surprise for you," he says, and she runs her hands over his shoulders and down his arms to take his hands. She pretends that she doesn't feel him trembling.
Whatever the surprise is, Lisbon thinks, it must be good news.
They link arms and head over to the baggage carousel, where they wait for a few minutes before her bag arrives. Though she reaches for it, he grabs it from her and pulls it along behind him, his other hand never letting go of hers.
Twenty minutes later, Jane hands their cab driver a generous tip and offers his hand to Lisbon as she climbs out of the taxi. "Gracias," says Lisbon as the driver retrieves her bag from the trunk. She takes in the bright orange walls of the hotel in front of her, contrasting intensely against the sea-green of the ocean sprawling out behind it, and she glances at Jane.
Somehow, the sea-green of his eyes is more exquisite.
He pulls her along, and she follows, laughing.
When he closes the door of their hotel room behind her, he immediately presses her against it, and she is reminded of their time in Africa as his lips find hers again.
She unceremoniously drops her bag to the floor.
After a few minutes, her brain seems to regain some inkling of functioning, and she pulls back from him. This does nothing to dissuade his lips, which now move across her collarbone.
She attempts to string together a sentence.
"You said you had a surprise?" she manages.
He grins against her skin and pulls away slightly, reaching into the breast pocket of his shirt. He grabs something then presses it into her hand.
Lisbon looks down, confused.
It's a copper bullet.
"Jane?"
He just grins at her.
"Jane, where did you get this?"
His hands fall to her hips as he begins to speak. "I picked Mexico as our last rendezvous for a reason, Lisbon," he says. "Other than the fact that it was in your time zone, that is."
She looks at him blankly.
He continues. "I got here a week ago," he says.
"Why?"
He takes a deep breath. "To exhume a body."
"What?" she yelps. Whatever she'd expected, it hadn't been that.
"I had help!" Jane hurries to assure her. "I made sure to go through the proper channels."
She glares at him. "Does that mean you dug up a body in the dead of night, Jane? Because I don't think our definitions of 'proper channels' are the same."
"No!" he says. "Cho helped me. He's with the FBI in DC now—but he flew down for a few days."
"And why didn't I hear about this?"
Jane rolls his eyes. "Because I wanted to surprise my wife with the news that I'm coming home two months early."
He says this in a rush, and she struggles to comprehend it.
She gapes at him.
"You—you are?"
He nods, and she is breathless.
"When I go back to the States, you're coming with me?"
He nods again, his face becoming blurry in front of her because of the moisture welling up in her eyes. He leans in to kiss her, but she stops him.
"Jane, how does exhuming a body allow you to come home?"
He reaches down to her hand and pulls her fingers back to reveal the bullet in her palm.
"The man we exhumed," Jane says quietly, "was assassinated by Dennis Abbott. Cho and I found this bullet in the body—it'll be a match for Abbott's gun."
She reaches out for him with her other hand to steady herself as she tries to comprehend this. She finally puts it together. "You're going to blackmail a federal agent into dropping the murder charges against you?" she asks in a whisper.
Jane shakes his head. "Of course not, Lisbon," he says lightly. "I've already done it."
"Jane!" she nearly shrieks. "Do you know what the consequences are for blackmail? Especially considering you want to blackmail an FBI agent?"
Jane shrugs. "Meh," he says. "Abbott and I already made a deal. He's gotten the charges dismissed, Lisbon—as long as he never hears from me again, it's going to stay that way." He looks at her strangely. "I'm free," he says after a beat. "Lisbon, we're free."
But she doesn't believe him. Damn it, why can't he see how inherently problematic this plan is?
"What if he changes his mind, Jane? What if he decides to come after you?"
Jane shakes his head. "He won't."
Lisbon sighs. "How can you be so sure?"
"Abbott, like any mere mortal, has a weakness."
She raises an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.
"His wife," Jane says. "Abbott's wife is up for a big promotion in DC. He's under an immense amount of scrutiny, Lisbon, and any blemish on his record means she won't get the job. Plus, there's always the threat that if this comes to light, he'll be thrown in jail—his career will be ruined. I'd say that's enough incentive, wouldn't you?"
Lisbon ponders this, but she can already feel her resolve crumbling.
She bites her lip.
"The charges are already dropped?" she asks.
Jane reaches into his back pocket, nodding, and pulls out a rumpled piece of paper and a passport. He hands both to her.
She unfolds the paper.
It's a plane ticket—the same flight that she will be on at the end of the week when she flies home to Washington.
"I bought this as soon as Cho gave me the all-clear. He brought me the passport, too. I'm not sure how he got it all arranged, but I've learned not to question him."
Lisbon opens up the passport and bursts into tears upon seeing Jane's picture.
Startled, Jane reaches for her, pulling her against him again. One of his hands moves to cradle the back of her head, and one traces the outline of her spine. He rocks them from side to side gently.
In a few minutes, Lisbon has composed herself enough to take a couple deep gulps of air.
"Does this make up for me not getting you an anniversary present in St. Petersburg?" Jane asks, the smile evident in his voice.
Lisbon lets out a teary chuckle. "Jane, you flew me halfway across the world so we could spend our first anniversary together. I think that counts as a gift." She looks up at him. "But this—this news is the best gift you've ever given me."
"Hmm," he murmurs. "Guess I'm setting the bar pretty high for myself."
"Yes," she responds, smiling against his skin. "Yes, you are."
A week later, they exchange Mexico's sandy beaches for the towering mounds of snow in Washington.
He's a year and three months late, but he carries her over the threshold of her home, setting her down only to lean in and kiss her again.
He pulls back slightly to reach for the clasp of the necklace she'd given him before they'd parted all those years ago. He removes it from his neck and fastens it around hers once more.
She is immediately reminded of her words, spoken to him in a whisper when she'd thought they'd never see each other again.
Just in case.
There is a world of difference between where they are now and where they were. She smiles softly, thinking that they have literally crossed worlds to make this work.
She looks up at him and knows she would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
When she wakes up the next morning, he is beside her.