Jane watched her approach, his apprehension growing by the second...She may only have stood five feet four in her bare feet but Teresa Lisbon was one of the most formidable women he had ever met, but as she sat down before him, eyes staring almost right through him, her knuckles opaque as she gripped the receiver of her telephone, Patrick had to take a breath...why had he agreed to this? She really was the last person he wanted to see right now...and also, the only person.
He didn't get chance to say a word, although his usual pithy greetings probably would have gone down like a lead balloon under such circumstances. Teresa launched straight in, eyes ablaze, her voice rising several octaves as she went through him sideways, bordering on hysterical on several occasions.
He hung his head as her tirade continued, every word she fired at him, he knew was true...she questioned his sanity, his pig headed arrogance, his almost wilful disregard for innocent bystanders...
He knew he was in major trouble, there was no doubt of that, a throwaway remark and his trademark cheeky smile was not gonna wash this time...but as his head lifted and he finally met Lisbon's agonised gaze, the only emotion he felt, was just how ashamed he was.
She was the last person on earth he would ever want to let down...but as she finally ran out of breath, she uttered the six words he had expected to hear from the second the guard had opened the reinforced steel door...Why did you do it...Patrick?
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, it wasn't so much the beseeching tone she used, it was the mere fact that she had called him Patrick!
Lisbon almost never referred to him by his Christian name...NEVER! she usually fired JANE! At him in varying degrees of disdain from revulsion, through irritation to all out exasperation...but in the eight years he had known and worked under her...she had almost never called him Patrick...well, not to his face.
He was so floored by this that it took him several seconds to recover his faculties and when he did, he found his mind asking more questions of her, than she probably had of him...his ocean green gaze met her emerald green stare, trying to read one another without words, Lisbon growing more impatient by the second, but when he spoke, she wasn't expecting a question in return.
" Is that the real reason you have driven 100 miles to see me Teresa"? he murmured, his voice softer than even Jane had expected and instead of the usual angry scowl that covered her pretty features, Lisbon's jaw slackened as her lips parted and a gentle gasp escaped, confusion reigned,
" Is that...what? What's that supposed to mean? don't try and play me Jane...I asked you a very simple question..."! she stammered angrily watching in stunned amazement as her erstwhile consultant casually leaned back in his very uncomfortable plastic chair and allowed his eye brows to crinkle as they wandered nonchalantly up his forehead ,
" I don't need to explain to you, of all people Teresa, why I took out a gun and shot that bastard dead..." she folded her arms in pure defiance and narrowed her eyes meanly at him,
" I thought you and I had an understanding...damn it! I have put up with your crap, I...I've defended you to every law enforcement agency under the sun for near on eight years...I...I had your back on all your crazy schemes...I risked my neck...the careers of your colleagues...and for what...for you to do as you always do...please yourself..."! she bit down on her lower lip to stop it trembling and Patrick watched closely, he could see her entire body quivering now, but he wasn't sure if it was pure rage or...something else entirely...what he would have given to be able to reach out and hold her.
" I'll repeat my question..." he added coolly gauging her reactions again, eyes widening in disbelief at his tone but as soon as they met his stare, the words died in her throat " Why did you really drive 100 miles to see me..."?
" God damn it Jane! I'm your superior...you killed one of my most wanted...I'm the investigating officer on this case..."!
" You didn't ask your wise assed consultant why he killed Red John...Teresa...you asked me...Patrick...husband and father...why he killed the bastard who murdered his family in cold blood"? for a moment she looked absolutely baffled by his line of questioning, this was no time for guessing games, for riddles,
" I...I...don't know what you mean...I...had to come see you...I" he shifted in his seat, leaning in towards the glass between them and his eyes wandering around her face, taking in all her fine features,
" Teresa...you called me Patrick...You have never called me Patrick in all the time you have known me...so I'll ask you again...why did you drive all that way to see me"?
Teresa felt her heart trip unnervingly...the truth was she hadn't been ordered to make the drive to Folsom at all, probably in the next seven days when Jane's papers were processed and the CBI began to delve into the slew of evidence they had been feverishly gathering from Craig O'Loughlin's home and of course Red John's address since that fateful afternoon...then the A.G would have sent her to interview Jane...But that morning, she'd woken up after another restless night and an unexplained force had her call the jail for a visitors pass and the next thing she knew, she was in her car charging up the interstate...
Her skin prickled uncomfortably, she may as well have been sat there as naked as the day she was born, nothing escaped this man...she'd always been highly doubtful that he possessed any kind of super powers...but as he sat there behind the glass observing her, it was almost as if he was right there inside her head.
" It...It's your name..."! she blustered to a disbelieving shake of his head and an adorable smile,
" Try again...",
" Jane..."!
" I kinda liked the way you said Patrick...a whole lot better" this time a scowl was forthcoming, unfortunately a blush was creeping up her neck as well " C'mon...I'm stuck in this place for the foreseeable future...you might as well tell me exactly what is on your mind right now...chances are this might be the last chance you get" her eyes went saucer-like with panic,
" Don't say that..."! she gasped and he shrugged resignedly
" Just sayin'..." tears pricked the corner of her pretty eyes and it was his turn to look astonished, he'd had a hunch, but such a show of emotion was something he hadn't really counted on, she cursed under her breath, dainty fingers impatiently whisking stray tears away as they continued to escape,
" Did it ever occur to you...that maybe...just perhaps I...we...we were all worried about you huh? I know you may not have much regard for the team...Van Pelt, Rigsby...Cho...but we all...we have all thanked our lucky stars from the second you walked into the CBI all those years ago...I thought...I thought we had finally pushed through the...the selfishness...the arrogance...the Me against the world shit? huh..." again his gaze was calculating, unnerving and Teresa sat there skin crawling even more than it would do had she been interrogating a vile child sex offender,
" Rigsby, Cho and the lovely Van Pelt know how fond I am of them, they know how highly I regard all of them, they know that It's been an honour for me to work with you guys..." his sultry ocean eyes fixed on her own, the warmth, despite the surroundings and the circumstance was unbelievable, Patrick Jane had never looked at her this way ever before...her heart began to throb, a dull ache filled her entire chest cavity " Teresa...why are you really here sweetheart...the truth...why have you driven, 50 miles at this time of the morning...you sure as hell have not come here to read me the riot act and to tell me I have let my colleagues down...they were here yesterday afternoon...they have already told me themselves" he informed, scoring a direct hit, her face crumbled, her lower lip wobbling alarmingly and tears began to tumble over her beautiful cheeks.
" You are such...such an asshole..."! she hiccupped to a sexy little smirk,
" Oh...charmed I'm sure"? the air between the pair of them crackled with static sexual tension before he leaned a little closer to the glass and as Teresa had seen on many sappy afternoon movies, usually when she had raging flu and a temperature over 104, he lifted his big, masculine palm to the glass, pressing it to the cool surface, his eyes begging her to do the same and before she could question her sanity...she found herself mimicking his actions,
" I had to see you...I needed to know that...that you were ok"? she could almost feel the force of his emotions as his gaze turned sorrowful,
" Teresa...I never meant to hurt you honey...you know that..."? she half nodded, heart still tripping at him calling her honey,
" You warned me...all those years ago...you told me in no uncertain terms that you would take his life...I just...I guess I just...I thought maybe my influence would rub off on you, that you would see that...our way was the way it had to be..."? she ended simply and he hung his head once again,
" Teresa...he had a gun...he brought back up..."
" So...so did you Jane...you had the A.G sat beside you, you had two armed CBI agents with you...and you had a hand gun...it was pre meditated...you cannot deny that..." this time his eyes glittered with tears,
" It wasn't simple revenge when all came to all...I sat there, with this...ogre...sat before me, taunting me...telling me my life would be meaningless unless I moved on...Teresa...I could not move on, whilst Red John was still drawing breath...It simply was not enough for me to know he was sat in a prison cell somewhere rotting...but still breathing...He is not one man...the guy is an army...I could not move on, knowing that even though he was locked up...other women...children...anyone, would still be at the mercy of this psychopath and his disciples...I couldn't move on, knowing that the woman I've been falling in love with for the last eight years...would still be in harm's way, every single second of the day...whilst this guy was still pulling people's strings... while she was with me"! he declared so forcefully, his entire body trembled.
He made his confession in such a way that she almost missed it to begin with...it slipped from Jane's lips so easily that he barely knew he'd made it...but as Teresa slowly digested what he had said I couldn't move on, knowing that the woman I have been falling in love with...I have been falling in love with...falling in love with...those few words began to echo in her mind...her eyes lifted slowly until she met Jane's aqua green gaze and her lips parted slightly as the breath she had taken slowly escaped.
" Falling...Falling in love with...me..."? she stammered, the strength in her voice gone completely but his eyes never left her own,
" You had to know Teresa..."? his fingers pawed a little at the glass, desperately wanting to feel the heat in her delicate finger tips " You couldn't have mistaken my feelings for you..."? she gulped hard, her throat was so tight right now, she honestly felt like she would either choke to death, or suffocate,
" But you...you spent months pushing us away...pushing me away"? she croaked eventually and the remorse she saw before her was almost unbearable,
" I had no choice sweetheart...Every person who has ever got anywhere close to me...bad things happen to them...Once I realised how I felt about you...I knew my only option was to distance myself",
" Ohhh good plan...how did that work out for you"? she huffed sarcastically to be greeted by the lazy smile she loved so desperately,
" I figured if I slowly withdrew...you and the team...you'd let me go...I could slip away and...you would be safe..." she gathered her wits and frowned back through the glass,
" I...you're not making sense...you profess your love for me...yet you were prepared to walk away...to let me go...regardless of how I may feel about you now...You didn't even give me the option of...showing you how I feel...proving to you that...whatever happened...I would be there for you...you arrogant...selfish...sonofabitch..."! Teresa almost wished she could reach out and throttle him through the glass when a cheeky smirk curled the corners of his lips and a fire lit his beautiful eyes,
" Ahhhh...there's the spark...the passion I fell in love with",
" God damn it Jane...stop...stop tossing that word around...it's meaningless now...how the hell am I gonna reciprocate...You expect me to leave here, knowing how you feel and I..."? her voice wavered alarmingly as she realised she had now in a roundabout way, confessed that she felt the same way, and judging by the joy etched on Patrick Jane's handsome features, there was no way on earth she was gonna be allowed to forget she'd said it or take it back.
" Teresa...my love...just knowing that...I wasn't mistaken, just the thought of having someone out there who gives a damn about me...you have no idea how much better I feel...I just wanted...I just needed to hear you say it..." he paused and their eyes met again, the glow of adoration in both " So I'll ask you again...why did you really drive all this way to see me at stupid o'clock in the morning"? this time there was no holding back, Teresa Lisbon summoned up what little emotion she had left and let fly,
" I needed to see you...I wanted to be with you Patrick...I had to let you know I was here for you...I'm gonna get you out of this god forsaken place...I love you so much...you arrogant, cocky, irritating, stoopid...bastard"!