A/N: Hey there you guys! This tag has been on my computer since the episode aired last year but I never found the time or inspiration to finish it. Well I did now and hope you enjoy! Also I hope it shortens the time of this super long hiatus for you. Am I the only one who misses our writers Donna, starry, Mlee, Idan, waterbaby and their incredibly amazing fics?
A huge thank you to the lovely Idan who still finds time to beta my stuff although she's so busy!
By the way she told me this tag reminded her of her own story Wedding Planning (which I totally forgot about but I reread it anyways, so that's what you should too ;) )
Episode Tag 6x03: "Red Wedding"
"With this ring, I take you Patrick, to be my husband.
"I promise to love you without reservation, comfort you in times of distress, encourage you to achieve all of your goals, laugh with you and cry with you, grow with you in mind and spirit, always be open and honest with you and cherish you for as long as we both shall live. I love you."
With this, she put the ring on his finger and gave him an overwhelming smile, and then it was his turn to put the ring on her finger. Her eyes were so full of emotion, Patrick was almost at a loss for words, but the showman inside him came out and flashed her a happy grin.
"With this ring, I take you Angela, to be my wife.
"Many people spend their lives searching for their soul mate, their one true love. Some people are lucky to find the person they can truly call the better half of themselves, while others spend the rest of their lives searching and never finding. I am happy to count myself among the lucky ones because I found you.
"I love you, Angela. I know you are the only one for me, my one true love. I am happy and I am grateful that you came into my life, that where others have spent their entire lives looking for the other one, I have found you. And now that I have found you, I shall never let you go. I promise you that I shall hold you and cherish you and give you my heart, that I shall support you and care for you. Faithfully, I shall always stand steadfast by your side with your hand in mine, regardless of what life brings us. I take you now as my wife and I shall remain your husband for the rest of my life, until death do us part."
He slipped the ring on her finger and didn't wait for the priest to declare them husband and wife, but grabbed her and kissed her immediately with all his heart.
Thinking back to that moment, he'd never thought the last words of his vow were meant literally. Until death do us part.
Jane threw a piece of muffin toward the ducks in the pond, which were chasing after it like they hadn't eaten in days. Weddings… Marriage… Rigsby and Grace seemed so happy. He wished he'd been there, but he'd have had a hard time not crying, so he organized his surprise for the happily married couple instead. Rigsby would like the salute and Grace would love the carriage.
She'd always wanted a carriage – he knew, because most women who grew up as daddy's little princess did.
He smelled her, even before he heard her. The light scent of cinnamon and vanilla the wind carried toward him made him smile.
Lisbon sat down next to him, taking a piece of bread to throw it at the ducks. "You missed the ceremony," she said after a while.
"Meh… I had different stuff to take care of." Of course she knew why he hadn't been there, but she didn't point it out, which he was very thankful for.
"The carriage was a lovely idea. Thank you."
"It was the least I could do. I hope they will be happy… They've been waiting such a long time."
Lisbon laughed. "Oh god, remember the first year Van Pelt joined the team? It was horrible! I could have killed Rigsby for corrupting our newest team member! It's kind of sad things didn't work out in the first place."
"No, it's not," Jane murmured. He looked up into Lisbon's questioning eyes. "I mean… they were both too young to really commit. Neither of them was ready to give up their job for a relationship. It wouldn't have worked out. They've grown up now. Rigsby has a child and after everything Grace went through with O'Laughlin…." He stopped at the thought of Red John's minion, the one who'd shot Lisbon. It happened a little less than two years ago.
Out of reflex, Lisbon touched her shoulder, putting a little pressure on the place where she'd been hit by O'Laughlin's bullet. "We are close, Jane."
"I know… But the closer we get, the more dangerous it becomes. He stops at nothing to get what he wants."
"Do you think he will go after Wayne and Grace?" Lisbon asked a little breathlessly. The thought hadn't occurred to her until now.
"I don't know… He already went after you, Teresa." She shivered a little, remembering how she'd gone to check on Brett Partridge. She didn't remember much after finding his body. The next thing she could remember was waking up in the hospital next to Jane after a horrible nightmare.
Jane leaned a little closer to her so their shoulders touched.
"It's too bad they didn't wait a little with the wedding. Ben would have been a very cute ring bearer."
"Well, he could still be the ring bearer at your wedding," Jane suggested with a grin on his face.
Lisbon leaned back and raised an eyebrow: "So you're suggesting Ben would make a good ring bearer at my wedding? Do you know something I don't know?"
"Why is this thought so surprising to you? You could have a wedding, Lisbon."
"That would suggest I have a boyfriend first. And seriously, who would date a workaholic cop with no social life who is trying to catch California's worst serial killer – let alone marry one."
"Just for the record, you were the one to bring up the part with the no social life. Don't be ridiculous, there are men who would want to marry you." He threw the ducks another piece of bread.
"Enlighten me, Jane," she laughed.
"Now, let's see… you'd want to be married in church, probably your family church in Chicago where your parents married. Though I think you wouldn't say anything if he asked you to marry here in California. You wouldn't care, as long as it's a church or a little white chapel and your brothers and the rest of the family were there."
Lisbon raised an eyebrow. "Interesting thoughts, Jane. Though if he asked nicely I would marry him anywhere he wants – except in Vegas! Continue."
"On your wedding day, you would be all excited but also a little scared, because we both know you are afraid of commitment." She wanted to say something, but he held up a hand. "You would freak out, but your groom would come, kiss you and tell you everything would be fine. Then you would hit him, because he saw you in your beautiful dress, but he'd tell you he'd only looked you in the eyes."
"Yeah, I probably would hit him if that happened. Maybe I would be nervous, but I wouldn't freak out, Jane. My groom would be the one freaking out a little, because he's afraid of this big step, too. It's even possible he'd get into trouble on the wedding day and I'd have to bail him out or something," she said.
"So he is a trouble maker?"
"Maybe." Lisbon grinned. She knew exactly who she was secretly thinking of as her groom, and she was sure Jane knew too. It was too nice to stop now, though.
"Well, one of your brothers would pick you up at your house and ask you if you really want this, because he'd have no problem turning the car around and driving you to the airport right now."
"Does that mean my brother doesn't trust my groom?" Next time Jane met one of her brothers, he'd probably end up with a broken nose or something.
"Yeah… you know I think there would be certain difficulties between them, but your brothers love you, so they will do whatever you want. They will threaten him, though, that if he should ever break your heart again, they're gonna kill him."
Lisbon swallowed, when she heard Jane say "again," because he was right, he had broken her heart… more than once.
"I wouldn't let them kill him, I'd kill him myself," she explained with a warning tone in her voice.
"That's my girl. So after you persuaded your brother to drive you to the church, beach… wherever the wedding is going to take place, you would get out of the car and Minelli would be there waiting for you, ready to walk you to the altar."
She was taken aback by the mention of her old boss. But Jane was right. Minelli was a kind of father figure to her, so he'd probably be the one to walk her to the altar. She hadn't really thought about it yet. The thought was kind of sweet though.
Jane continued, "Minelli would stop in front of the doors, asking you if you really want to go through with it. He'd understand if you would want to back off right now. Then he would point to your brother in the car, who is still waiting for you to grab your gear and run."
"I wouldn't though," Lisbon added quietly.
Jane gave her a smile. "No, you wouldn't. You'd take his arm and let him walk you down the aisle, at the end of which end your groom, Cho and Grace are waiting for you."
"Are Cho and Grace my bridesmaids?" she asked, laughing at the thought of Cho in a princess pink dress with a tiara.
"No, he'd be the best man. Though he also thinks you're crazy for going through with this."
"What would my groom do?"
"He'd be close to tears, because you look like an angel in your white dress. He'll be thinking it's a dream, but you will reassure him it's not with a quick kiss on the cheek. Then the wedding would start and your groom will enjoy every moment because after all these years and everything you went through, he finally gets to marry the woman he's loved for years, unable to tell her."
"Jane," she whispered, grabbing his hand. He looked at her, both knowing they weren't talking about a random wedding, but about their wedding. He hadn't even told her he loved her – well he had, but he'd taken it back. Jane knew he couldn't risk anything while Lisbon had a target on her back when it came to Red John. She wasn't safe. And he wouldn't give the man another opportunity to destroy his life.
He had to finish it, wanted her to know how much he wanted it to happen without telling her for real. They were still in their little fake bubble, so why not finish it off?
"Ben would bring the rings… they are gold and simple, but yours will have three little emerald studs, like your eyes."
"I'd love that…"
"I'd say my vows, telling you how much I love you and put the ring on my finger."
"I would do the same," Lisbon whispered, leaning against his shoulder. They didn't look at each other, both caught in their own little daydream.
"It would be perfect," Jane said.
She just nodded. "It would. It would be a nice wedding. I hope it will happen someday."
He caught her little desperate grasp for hope in her voice. Hope was all she needed and not really something he could give her right now. Red John's shadow was hanging over them like Damocles' sword.
"Someday, Teresa. Someday, it will."
He threw the last piece of bread toward the ducks, thinking about how different his wedding would be from the one with Angela. It would be a little painful but good. But one thing at a time. He had to kill Red John; that was at the top of his list. Everything else had to wait, no matter how much it hurt him… or others.
Jane glanced at Teresa and smiled. "We should get going. I arranged a small reception at the hotel for Wayne and Grace after their carriage ride."
"Okay," Lisbon murmured and got up. She wanted a wedding just like he'd described. Maybe one day she'd get one.
Xxxxx
They left the bench at the pond and walked toward the car, not noticing the shadow behind one of the big trees which had been watching them the whole time.
Red John watched them leave and smiled.
