Patrick Jane is insufferable. He trusts no one. No one, that is, except Teresa Lisbon. He trusts her to make his tea the right way. Cho's tea tastes like coffee. Grace's tea tastes somehow spiritual and Rigsby doesn't know the first thing about tea bags. Teresa Lisbon is the ONLY person he trusts to sit on his couch. If anyone else sits there, he tends to glare or vow revenge. He trusts Lisbon with edges of his past. He has told her - not the entire truth - about his abusive father and growing up the carnie way. He has spoken fondly of his deceased wife and daughter to Lisbon, trusting her reactions. She is the only person he trusts to keep him straight and sane. right?
During these past few weeks, Jane has seemed a bit more at ease. He has hardly caused any trouble for the team. There have been no wild shenanigans or spontaneous ideas. He has been dressing a bit differently, throwing off the jacket or the vest from his signature three-piece suit. Although he is still on his couch, Lisbon scarcely spots him lying down. He is usually sitting upright, flipping through the case files or scribbling in one of many little composition notebooks.
During one hectic case, Jane and Lisbon are sitting on the couch together. They are discussing the case while the rest of the team is spread out. Jane suddenly gets a call in the midst of a conversation. He glances at the ID and his face brightens a bit. He rummages through his notebooks and grabs one marked 'Dest. Help.'
"Be back in five." He gives Lisbon a reassuring smile before flipping his phone open and running upstairs.
Lisbon nods as she watches him leave. After awhile, she sets the case aside and looks over at the books sprawled on the floor. Lisbon moves over to straighten them and cannot help but read the labels to herself.
"Wedd. Cash; Nightmares; Who is RJ; My Family." She closes her eyes and opens the skinny book entitled 'Who is RJ.'
Lisbon flips it open to find every word on the page blacked out by a permanent marker. The third page finally has one word out: Revenge. On the sixth page, she finds 'is no longer' and on the twenty-fourth, she sees 'my objective.' Surprised, she flips through more pages, locating: 'I have', 'accepted the passing', 'and I now', 'have obtained', 'a secret; 'love interest'.
Without realizing Cho's entrance, she reads it all over aloud. "Revenge is no longer my objective. I have accepted the passing and I now have obtained a secret love interest."
"Not so secret, if you ask me."
"Huh?"
"Is that from Jane?"
"Yeah. I mean, no. I mean, it is his. It's in one of his books. Well, I. Uh, just don't tell him I read it?"
Cho smirks with a nod. Lisbon closes the book with a sigh then stacks them all up. She sets them beside Jane's couch then looks at the clock. It has been fifteen or twenty minutes since she had last saw Jane. She quietly makes her way upstairs, passing Grace and Rigsby. Before she reaches the open door, she listens outside. There is a nervous woman muttering to a sighing Jane.
"Destiny, I'm getting really tired of these mind-numbing guessing games."
Lisbon grins to herself making a psychological note of what her mentalist had just said. How contradictory.
"Well, I. how do I put this."
"Just spit it out. I'm right here."
"We're gonna have a baby!"
"What?"
"You're gonna be a father! Isn't that exciting!?"
Lisbon's jaw drops. After hearing this girl squealing about her pregnancy, everything grows silent around Lisbon. She stumbles down the stairs, slumping against the wall. She rests, sobbing, on the bottom step as Hightower struts by. Before the woman can utter a sound, Lisbon attempts to dry her tears and she makes a mad dash for her office. Her team members watch in surprise. Hightower gently follows into the bullpen, coming to a stop at Jane's astoundingly empty couch.
Lisbon locks her door and draws the blinds. She can't define the particular pang of hurt in her chest. It's not like she and Jane are dating. Still, it damages her, knowing her beloved consultant is continuing his personal life without informing Lisbon. They are friends, best friends. Or so she thinks. She has been around when Jane had been at his lowest. It suddenly seems as if she doesn't know him anymore. She kicks the couch he had bought for her. She empties a drawer in her desk, filled entirely with origami creatures, into a pile in a corner. She doesn't have the heart to destroy them. It isn't his fault. She blames herself for falling in love with a dented man.
Upstairs, Jane and Destiny are chatting just outside of the gated door. Jane bolts the outside lock and drops the key into one of his socks. They are laughing about some unheard joke.
"Why do you even keep a key?" She asks, pointing to his sock. "You basically teach your team how to pick locks, then you have, like, ten of them on your door?"
"Eh, carnie habit." He grins. "Besides, it'll give them practice."
"Sure. Thanks for being Calvin today. You really sound like him."
"Yeah, well, we were in the same circuit for awhile. I'll give him well wishes after you break the news."
"Thank you, Patrick. I hope Calvin takes the news as well as you made it seem. He's gonna be a first-time daddy. You're gonna have to baby-sit when we don't have a clue."
"I'd love to," He nods. "But hopefully, I'll be taking care of another tyke pretty soon." He looks down as he pulls off his wedding band and slips it into his pocket.
"Teresa would have to be crazy for turning you down. Did you do what I said?"
"Yes. I left the blacked out notebook on top, where she'd be sure to read it. I know how she gets when she's anxious."
"Just watch, you'll be engaged to her by the end of today."
"I hope you're right." Jane wholeheartedly grins as he pats his other pocket.
Destiny gives him a hug before riding the elevator down. Jane takes the stairs. He stops before the bullpen to catch his breath. Upon entering, however, he instantly realizes something is wrong. Hightower is waiting at his desk. Spice Girls music is blasting throughout the floor. Rigsby isn't eating but Cho is force-feeding himself, so as not to say the wrong thing. Grace is leaning in a chair, with her head at Lisbon's office window. She is on her cell phone, attempting a call. Jane's confidence flatlines. He runs over to Hightower.
"What's happening?" He demands to know.
"She's been like this for quite some time." Hightower mutters. "She came downstairs maybe ten minutes ago and just locked herself in."
'If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends. Make it last forever, friendship never e-ends.'
Jane ignores the team and immediately races to the office. He frantically knocks on the door.
'If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give. Taking is too easy, but that's the way it I-is.'
Jane successfully picks Lisbon's locks and barges in, locking the door back. Her tears are gone, stuck in time on her cheeks. Her eyes are red and puffy. Jane moves over and ejects the CD, mid-song.
"I was listening to that." She growls.
"Not anymore." Jane sits on Lisbon's desk, eying her. "What's wrong?"
"Like you don't know!"
"I don't." He states calmly. "And I really don't like to see you like this. Now, what happened?"
"Don't act like you care!" She snaps. "Just go screw up another family!"
His face goes blank. He moves to leave, then reminds himself of the number one reason he is here. He pats his pocket then moves to the couch and sits down. Lisbon watches his expressions change and she is in shock from her own words. She twirls her chair around, so she is facing Jane.
"I'm sorry." She sincerely apologizes. "I had no right to say that."
His eyes show a mix of hurt and lust, which only confuses Lisbon further. She wheels herself closer to her consultant.
"I went up to your thinking room after you took awhile, and I-" She stops, glancing down to his fidgeting hands. "Where's your wedding band?"
"In my pocket." He fishes it out and hands it to her. "Keep going."
She holds the object in her hand then feels tears stinging the cores of her eyes. Lisbon sets the piece of jewelry down on her desk and continues. "I overheard you. You and a girl."
"Destiny." He nods. "She's the wife of an old friend from a carnie circuit."
"She's married!?" Lisbon practically screams.
"Married and pregnant." Jane clarifies with a smile.
His grin drops when he notices how bent out of shape this seems to be making Lisbon. She leaps out of her chair and begins to pace.
"What's wrong with that?" He asks, more confused than Lisbon at the moment.
"Only a million things! Are you and this, this carnie guy still friends?"
"To be honest, we were never really too good of friends in the first place."
"How could you!?"
"Lisbon, you're starting to scare me, now. All I've done is-"
"Don't wanna hear it!"
"But all I did was prep her for telling Cal!" He yells over her.
"I'm not - wait, what?"
"She called me awhile ago and asked if she could practice with me before telling him. Cal's always had a bit of time settling into certain things and, believe me, being a father is no little step. So, I agreed to pretend to be him to help Destiny break the news in the right way."
"Oh! Thank God!" Lisbon collapses onto the couch beside Jane, face red as a beet.
Jane looks beyond bewildered. He leans back, trying to piece together what the complex conversation had been about and where it had originated.
"I thought it was you." Lisbon explains.
"Me?"
"I thought you were the one who had gotten her pregnant."
"What? No way!"
"So you don't love her?"
"Not in that way!"
"That's a load off my mind."
Jane now looks at her from the last statement. She feels her face becoming flushed again. She leans back and Jane sits up, almost slanting over her.
"Load off your mind?" He grins. "So, you'd rather I love somebody else?"
"I-I, Jane, this isn't fair."
"Anyone in particular you'd rather I love?"
"Come off it, Jane." Her face is redder than a tomato as he continues, hovering closer at each question.
"Would you rather I love you, Teresa?"
His eyes shine with honesty, although his lips form a sneer. Lisbon's mouth is too quick for its brain when she blurts out an answer.
"Yes."
She cowards and closes her eyes, awaiting for a surprised yell or a sudden crash. Instead, she feels something warm against her lips. Her back leans down as her head leans in. Pressure is applied to her chest as the kiss becomes violent. Jane holds her in place with an everlasting kiss then reluctantly pulls away.
"I love you, Teresa Lisbon."
=== Just think if this was how they admitted their feelings to each other! Please review. =====