For all my Jane/Lisbon readers who I've nearly killed with my latest multi-chapter fic.
A/N This little one shot came to me while I was working on my other story. I had written a small scene (in ch10 of Ashes, if you're following that too) that stuck in my head for the entire day. This idea somehow formed from that even through it has almost the exact opposite effect on the reader. Enjoy!
To Mend a Broken Wing
The entire team was gathered in the bullpen, going over the evidence in their latest case. Cho and Rigsby were glancing at photos and evidence posted up on the board. Van Pelt was typing away at her desk, trying to find any connections through bank records, criminal histories, etc. Lisbon was leaning against Cho's desk, her 4th cup of coffee still steaming in her hands and Jane, well Jane was where he usually was at times like these; on his couch, arms behind his head, eyes closed in thought. Everyone in the room jumped at the thwarp against the large window near Jane's couch. The consultant himself, nearly fell off the precious leather sofa at the sound.
Startled, but curious, the team walked over to the window and looked out. At first, no one saw anything. Then Van Pelt pointed to a small dark flutter of movement down on the blacktop of the parking lot. A bird, no doubt injured due to its collision with the window.
"It'll get hit by a car sooner or later." Jane said. "Probably for the best."
Van Pelt smacked him in the shoulder. "That's a horrible thing to say."
"Way of the world, right Lisbon?" Jane turned but the raven-haired woman was nowhere in sight.
Jane was about to go searching for her when he heard the click of her heels on the tile floor, most likely coming from her office. When he spotted Lisbon, Jane was surprised to see the box of said 'Lisbon loafers' in her hands as she headed towards the elevator. He immediately knew where she was going and followed her.
When they had made it outside to the parking lot, Lisbon spotted the injured animal first and circled it like a shark sizing up its prey. The bird, a simple grey pigeon desperately tried to flee from the two 'predators' but failed miserably. Only one of its wings was functional, the other hanging loosely at its side.
Jane watched as Lisbon made her first attempt at capturing the panicking animal. She managed to grab ahold of the bird but let go when the bird bit her.
"It's just a worthless Pigeon Lisbon. The best thing you could do for it is put it out of its misery. "
"No creature is worthless Jane." Lisbon said as she took off her suit Jacket and tried another approach. This time, Lisbon threw the material on top of the bird and then scooped up the entire bundle, pigeon and all. With the bird secured in her jacket, Lisbon carefully maneuvered it into the shoebox and replaced the lid.
Back in Lisbon's office, with the doors closed just in case, the team watched as Lisbon expertly fixed a home-made splint onto the pigeon's wing with a popsicle stick and some masking tape. Even MacGyver would have been proud. The bird bit Lisbon two more times, neither time breaking the skin. Then, the petite agent secured the splinted wing to the bird's body with some medical gauze.
Jane hated the pigeon. Not only was it constantly in Lisbon's care but she catered to it like one would care for a puppy or small child. It stayed in the office with her when she was working. She checked on it, first thing whenever they had been out on a case and took it home with her at the end of every shift. Lisbon even gave the leftovers of her lunch to the disease-ridden flying rat.
It had been a whole two months. How long could it possibly take for the wing to heal? Jane grumbled, as he lay on his makeshift bed in the attic. The sound of someone coming up the stairs stopped Jane mid thought. Concentrating, he knew by the footfalls that it was Lisbon traipsing up the stairwell. He waited for the loud screeching sound of the metal attic door being slid open but it never came. Jane frowned and stood.
He found Lisbon on the roof, with the shoebox in her grasp. Figures, Jane thought. He watched from a distance as she set the box on the ground and removed the lid. Jane noticed immediately, that the bird no longer wore a sling. Lisbon stared down at her new 'best friend' and the bird stared back for a moment before it shot up into the air, and quickly disappeared.
Lisbon looked lost when the bird took off, as if shocked that it really could fly.
Jane walked closer. "Looks like you did well, Dr. Doolittle." He said, announcing his presence.
"It was time." Lisbon said quietly. "Wing was probably healed a week ago but I wanted to be sure."
Wanted more time with the featherbrain to be more accurate, Jane thought but kept to himself. It was then he noticed that Lisbon looked sad.
"Cheer up." He said. "You did good, more than anyone else would have done. Thanks to you, the bird is free to fly and poop on people's heads again."
The comment earned a slight chuckle from Lisbon.
Jane picked the shoebox off the ground. "I think you're going to need a new one." He said, looking over the mangled box. Then he stopped, and stared at the name scribbled on the front of the box.
"You named the bird Patrick?"
Lisbon shrugged, walking back towards the door that led to the stairwell down off the roof. "Patrick the pigeon. It sounded right. Plus, it reminded me of you in some ways. Drove me crazy while I was trying to do paperwork, constantly needing attention, things like that."
Jane just shook his head.
Later, Jane was lounging in Lisbon's office while she typed away at one form or another.
"Would you mind making me some tea?" Jane asked, noticing Lisbon's face still looked a bit forlorn.
She glared at him. "Can't you make a perfectly good cup of tea by yourself?"
"Yes, but it's much nicer coming from you. Besides, you're the closest anyone besides me has ever come to making it perfect and you know what they say about practice…"
Lisbon sighed. "Fine, but only because I need to refill my coffee as well."
Jane smiled to himself as she snatched her mug from her desk and strolled out of the office.
Yup, getting Lisbon back in 'mother hen' mode was just what she needed. Jane would even pretend he was sleeping later so she could cover him with the old throw on the back of the couch and tomorrow, when she offered him the other half of her sub from Cornarro's, he would gladly accept. Jane's wounds may be a bit more complex than a broken wing but he would give in a little and allow Lisbon to try and heal him like she had with the bird. True, he would never mend completely but sitting there, back where he belonged in Lisbon's office, he thought maybe that wasn't such a bad thing because when Jane was really being honest with himself, he didn't really want to fly away.
fin
A/N Lol, I hope that made sense. Thanks for reading :D