AN: Thanks for everyone who read/reviewed Shiver. I remain, as always, floored by your responses. I'm not ruling out adding on to that story, but this story has been a long time coming, and I wanted to start posting it rather than work on other things.
State of Grace is the third in the multichapter trilogy that began with Into the Blue and continued with When I Fall. (Despite its title, the story isn't actually about Van Pelt, though she does appear quite prominently.) It's not necessary that you read the first two, though it may help you follow some of the references the characters make because these stories diverged from canon after the season five finale.
Basically, the team took down Red John together, then Jane and Lisbon were forced into exile in South America as Abbott looked to dismantle the Blake Association. Cho has since become an FBI agent, and Rigsby and Van Pelt moved out of California, began a life together, and are now expecting. The previous story ended with Cho heading to South America to fetch Jane and Lisbon - he tells them it's now safe to return home and that Lisbon's father's death (previously thought to be a suicide) is being reinvestigated. This story opens with the team meeting up again for the first time in over a year.
Thanks for sticking with me on this crazy journey! I hope this lives up to expectations.
And as I've done for the other stories in this series, the titles for the chapters come from song lyrics - in this case, Taylor Swift's State of Grace. She, of course, owns these lyrics.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist.
Chapter 1: This Love Is
The elevator doors opened, and Teresa Lisbon got her first glimpse of her new home.
Or, at least, her new workplace, though one could argue that for her they were one and the same. Take her previous position at the CBI. She'd definitely spent as much time in the bullpen as she had in her Sacramento condo. Probably more.
Lisbon took in the bullpen of the homicide floor of the Austin FBI field office in a matter of seconds, her eyes sweeping from left to right. There was an open briefing area to one side with large televisions and a very official air to it; on the other side of the room were glass panels which encased smaller interrogation rooms. Between the interrogation rooms and the briefing area sat multiple large desks, all with the new Mac computer model that had been released earlier that month. Lisbon looked over at Patrick Jane, her eyebrows raised.
They certainly weren't in Sacramento anymore.
Jane allowed her to see one moment of uncertainty cross his face before he rearranged his features. Lisbon looked ahead, her features now as unreadable as his own. Cho, who stood slightly in front of them, began to move forward, and Lisbon and Jane fell into step behind him.
Cho led them past a breakroom, and Lisbon pushed down an image of Jane there, stocking the cupboards with tea. Instead, the trio continued forward down the hall, and Cho knocked brusquely on the door to a large office marked with clear, capital letters.
SUPERVISORY AGENT DENNIS ABBOTT.
Cho stepped into the room without waiting for a response, gesturing to Jane and Lisbon with a curt nod to follow him. Lisbon caught a glimpse of Abbott, a welcoming smile on his face, before a flash of red obscured her vision and the strong arms of Van Pelt were flung around her.
"Lisbon!" said the redhead enthusiastically, and Lisbon's arms automatically reached up to return the hug. She was surprised to find her eyes misting over a bit; Lisbon tightened her arms briefly around Van Pelt to hide the unexpected show of emotion.
A second later, Van Pelt released her to hug Jane, and Lisbon was again engulfed in a second pair of muscular arms—this one belonging to a much taller body. "It's good to see you, Lisbon," said Rigsby softly, and Lisbon hugged him back fiercely, unable to speak.
They broke apart, and Lisbon caught Van Pelt staring between her and Jane, her mind obviously calculating. Lisbon realized that she'd never officially told the group that she and Jane had become involved—obviously Van Pelt was looking for signs of their relationship status, though she was far too tactful to ask any questions with Abbott right behind them.
Lisbon rolled her eyes. What did Van Pelt think had been going on in South America for over a year? Did she think that Lisbon had followed a mere friend into exile, that a mere friend had taken her away from her family and her life?
Well, said the logical part of her brain, Jane had never been a mere friend.
It was true. Lisbon would do anything for Jane, whether they were in the widely understood definition of a relationship or not.
Suddenly Van Pelt's interest in the status of their relationship made a lot more sense. Jane shot Van Pelt a dazzling smile and a nod to answer her unspoken question.
Van Pelt beamed. "We have so much to catch up on," she said.
Cho snorted. "You could say that again."
Rigsby's eyes darted over to Abbott, who had stood up from his chair and now leaned against the front of his desk. "Later," said Rigsby, and Lisbon nodded.
Abbott extended his hand to Lisbon and then Jane. "How was the flight?" he asked by way of greeting.
"About as good as we could have hoped for," said Jane. "How are you, Abbott?"
Abbott smiled. "Well, thank you."
Lisbon spoke up for the first time. "I never got a chance to properly thank you for what you did for us on the Red John case," she said. "And for everything you did after, what with the Blake Association and all. We…we're…"
Jane finished the thought she couldn't articulate. "We're indebted to you, Abbott. Thanks for all you did to bring us back home."
Abbott shrugged. "Well, I do stand to gain from getting the team back together, so to speak, so I'll be the first to admit my actions could be seen as self-serving. But I was just as eager as all of you to see the end of Red John and his association. The bastard deserved far worse than he got."
Lisbon nearly shuddered, remembering that what Red John had got was multiple bullets in the chest and head from herself, Cho, and Jane. Then she felt Jane's steady warmth as his arm barely brushed hers, and she attempted to put those memories behind her.
"So that's really the goal, then?" said Rigsby, as the two women sat down in the chairs in front of Abbott's desk. Cho remained at the door, leaning against the frame, and Jane moved behind Lisbon, putting his hands on the back of her chair and leaning against it. "You're reassembling the CBI team?"
Abbott crossed his arms. "That's the plan," he said. "It's not a secret that I was impressed by your work in California. It would be practically a crime for the five of you to vanish from law enforcement, and what better place to get back into the swing of things than at the FBI? And with the promotion I got for hunting down the Blake Association, I'm looking to put together a team. I'd prefer to start with a solid foundation that's already cohesive—and perhaps add a couple younger agents—than to start from scratch." He paused and then continued. "As was explained to you, you don't have to make your decision now. Let's work a case together, see how you all feel about it before you decide to move to Austin. Then you can decide."
Lisbon looked around at her former—and soon-to-be future—team and knew they were all thinking along the same lines she was. This team was a family to Lisbon. She'd follow them anywhere in the world if they could all stick together.
There really was no decision to make.
Abbott clasped his hands in front of him as he continued speaking. "Listen, I know it's been a long day of travel for you all, but I'm going to have to make it a little longer." He turned towards his desk, and Lisbon saw for the first time a stack of files on his desk. She noticed that the files appeared heartbreakingly thin—the case probably had very little evidence for them to go on. Abbott handed the files to Cho.
"That," he said, "is all the FBI has on the case of Robert Lisbon. As of right now, his death is still considered a suicide, but I'm thinking that will soon change."
Lisbon stiffened at the sudden mention of her father. She couldn't remember the last time she'd heard someone say his name out loud.
It had been over a decade at least.
Jane came around to sit on the edge of her chair, and she took a deep breath to calm herself.
"To make a long story short, a joint Chicago PD and FBI investigation turned up new evidence on a mobster named Lansky. He's now facing multiple life sentences. As you could predict, Lansky wants to deal: he's promised to give us details on the death of a Chicago fireman—Lisbon's father—who died about thirty years ago. Normally," added Abbott, "I wouldn't give this jackass the time of day. But because his intel relates to you, Lisbon, I thought it was worth looking into. I figured you'd want your team—and no one else—to handle it."
"You figured right," said Lisbon, her voice steely. Van Pelt nodded in agreement.
"All right then," said Abbott. "I have your flights to Chicago booked for tomorrow morning. As of now, Cho is the only official agent working the case—the rest of you will serve as civilian consultants. I'll get you the contact information of the Chicago agents and detectives who are working on the case. They don't have much more info than you'll get from those files," he said, indicating with a gesture to the folders Cho held, "but hopefully they can be of some help. In the meantime, you know how to reach me."
After leaving Abbott's office, the team made themselves at home in the bullpen: Lisbon, Cho, Rigsby, and Van Pelt all commandeered a desk, though Jane decided to sit on the floor near Lisbon, muttering something about the lack of suitable couches in the general vicinity. Despite the case that loomed overhead, Lisbon cracked a smile. She wouldn't be all that surprised if one day she walked into the Austin bullpen to find Jane's old, beaten up, brown couch behind her desk.
In fact, she looked forward to it.
The team made short work of the files, exchanging them between one another and discussing things that they thought were worth noting.
Which, unfortunately, didn't seem to be all that much.
Since the death had been ruled a suicide right away, there wasn't much in the way of documentation of the scene. Lisbon was relieved to find no pictures—not that she needed any. She'd been the one to find him, slumped on the ground with his gun in hand.
It wasn't the kind of thing she was likely to forget.
Jane began to hover ever nearer to her desk the longer they poured over the files. After two hours of this, they decided that making a plan of attack for when they touched down in Chicago would be more productive. Eventually, it was decided that the body would need to be exhumed. Van Pelt and Cho immediately volunteered to be present, obviously hoping to keep Lisbon away.
Lisbon shook her head. "This is…this is something I need to do," she said. "Really, it's alright."
She felt Jane's hand on her shoulder from where he stood behind her. It was the first display of affection he'd shown for her in front of the others since they'd arrived in Austin, and she felt her stomach twist.
"It's not alright," said Jane. "No one should ever have to exhume their father. But you don't have to do it alone—I'm coming with you."
Lisbon looked up at him, intending to argue, but his expression was resolute. She nodded instead, and the rest of the team decided that Cho and Rigsby would interview Lansky to see what new information he had—and whether it was legitimate. Van Pelt would begin an intensive search into the Lisbon family financial records and anything else she could get her hands on.
They walked out of the FBI building together, and Lisbon couldn't help but be reminded of when they'd done the same in California. Her eyes welled up, and Jane slipped her his handkerchief surreptitiously.
When they'd passed the glass doors leading to the parking lot, Lisbon stopped. Four faces turned towards her.
"Thank you all," she said, still clutching Jane's handkerchief. The cool Austin winter air snaked around her, and it became blatantly apparent to her that she and Jane were a long way from their South American paradise.
But that didn't matter—because now she was home.
Her team nodded. "Anything for you, Lisbon," said Jane, obviously speaking for the others. He gave her a quick kiss on the temple and turned to Van Pelt, who looked delighted at this obvious indication of their relationship. "And Grace and Rigsby—congrats, by the way. Pregnancy suits you both. You're positively glowing—especially you, Rigsby."
Cho snorted at Rigsby's startled look and clapped him on the back.
"You told them?" said Rigsby, clearly disappointed.
Cho cracked a smile. "Didn't have to. Lisbon figured it out. One year alone with Jane and she's basically his protégé."
Jane grinned. "Oh, she's far better than a mere protégé. You'll see."
"He taught you how to hypnotize people, didn't he?" asked Rigsby, looking wary.
Lisbon grinned and looked at Jane. "Among other things."
Van Pelt giggled, her smile stretching from ear to ear. "I missed this," she said. "I missed us—this family we had."
Jane shot a meaningful look at Lisbon before speaking.
"The family we have, Grace," he said. "Not had."
Van Pelt nodded, and the team began walking into the night again.
"Right. The family we have."
AN: Thanks for reading! I expect this story will contain about 10 chapters, as per my usual with multichaps, so there's lots more to come.