Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist, if only I were so lucky.
A/N: I wrote this before the premiere of season 5, it doesn't really change anything or affect it, so I don't know why I'm telling you. Doesn't necessarily have to do with the six months Jane was away. Anyways enough rambling, enjoy!
She was surrounded by people, yet she felt utterly alone. And empty. This meeting had to be the longest in CBI history. During the last 10 minutes she had effectively tuned out the talking. Zoning out, she was staring across the room, at nothing in particular really. Her eyes were focusing on immediate things in the room, but her mind were miles away.
People were small talking among themselves now. The murmuring hum of voices rose and fell in intensity depending on the popularity of the subject.
She couldn't seem to concentrate anymore. And it irritated her. One person, one man, shouldn't hold this much power over her. It was unacceptable.
That didn't change the fact that everything had been dull ever since he left. Days seemed more rainy and grey, work seemed more hopeless than before, and she felt sad and alone. It was not right. This wasn't how it should have turned out, it was all wrong. But that was just life, unfair. It would go on without taking notice of the pain and the heartache, devouring it, along with the good times, without discriminating.
Distant laughter reached her ears and the muscles in her face contracted automatically to make her mouth grimace into something resembling a smile. She nodded politely when someone who was talking looked at her, not really listening to what they were saying. She just hoped she wasn't agreeing to anything boring, stupid or too much unlike her. Not that she really cared much these days. She knew her team wouldn't blame her for accidentally getting them on protective duty for some bigwig, they all felt a similar loss.
The buzz of her phone woke her from her trance she excused herself and on her way out the door she fished it out of her pocket. Briefly glancing at the caller ID, it said UNKOWN. 'Great' she thought, 'It was probably another case. That would keep her busy and take her mind off of certain things for a while.'
"Lisbon." She said confident and ready for business.
"It's me." All it took was two words and something inside her melted. Something she didn't even know was frozen in the first place. She hadn't heard the voice, currently on the other end of the phone, for months, yet she recognized it instantly.
The excess water was pressing its way up through her throat so no sound escaped her mouth.
"Lisbon, I need your help."
She was supposed to be angry, but all she felt was a sense of relief.
After all these months she was finally warm inside again, all the remaining lumps of melting ice had now reached her eyes as their last station before leaving her body for good, and she felt a few tears slide down her cheeks.
She was all alone in the hall, but she felt surrounded. Surrounded by what felt like... love. This realization was all new for her. However she didn't have time to explore this new discovery. She was needed.
She wiped her cheeks, took a breath to steady her voice, which would otherwise betray her.
"Where are you, Jane? I'll be right there."
He told her. She hung up, composed herself and walked out.
A/N: That's it for this fic. Short one, I know. I'm working on a longer one for a change, but let's see if I finish it first, I'm not promising anything, but I'm hopeful about it. It might be a while though, I'm most likely going to be more busy than usual irl.
On another note Lisbon always forgives Jane and drops everything to help him. I'm not really sure if I like that, it doesn't always seem that smart and it's rarely beneficial for her. I guess it's right what they say 'loves makes blind'. :)