Spoilers: Minor spoilers for 4x02 Little Red Book and a season 2 epi I think, I don't remember which epi the quote is from.
Disclaimer: If you make an inventory over what I own The Mentalist isn't among it.
She had said it before, and she'd meant it. Getting Red John was worth losing her job over. That however wasn't exactly what had happened. Yes, they'd gotten Red John. And yes, technically she'd lost her job, well actually she hadn't so much lost it as she'd been degraded. Right now, at this very moment she was taking inventory down in the dimly lit CBI evidence storage. 'Two 9 mm guns, four 9 inch knifes, 20 unmatched shoes, one bloodstained white shirt with five bullet holes.' And on and on it went.
Oh this was a nightmare. So many useless things, being boxed up and forever forgotten down here. Again not quite true, of course the things weren't useless, they were evidence, they helped solve crimes, just like she had done, only in a slightly different way. She should be glad she had been allowed to continue working with the CBI, if you could call this working. 'Five letters, one hat and seven rings.' Putting things in boxes and labeling them, a monkey could do this. But she understood the reasoning behind the director's decision, and she had agreed to it as well.
It would have been bad press. The CBI would have had to take serious heat if they'd fired the person responsible for ridding California of its most notorious serial killer, right after the fact. It would have been political suicide for Bertram, and he knew it, which was the reason she was still here, only in a less prominent position. This way everybody won, well except for her. But as far as work went she loved the CBI, and wouldn't want to be in any part responsible for its destruction. It was a fine establishment, and a lot of good people worked here. And with the economic crisis and California being all but broke, the government didn't need much of an excuse to finally pull the plug on an institution that wasn't proving its worth.
That's why after Red John's demise, everybody had been stepping extra cautiously, almost looking over their shoulders everywhere they went. The media were vultures, once they caught even the slightest of news about anything really, they would blow everything out of proportions. So her dismissal had been a no-go from the get-go after closing this particular case. It was already spinning out of control all by its own self. Sure the bad guy was gone, but not everybody was satisfied with the way it had been handled. In the end it all came down to politics, which was very tiring and irksome. And that description matched her current job situation just fine. Now where was she..., right: 'Three bolt cutters, one cardigan and a square 3 by 5 plastic container with nothing in it.'
xXx
She didn't regret killing Red John. Not even for a second. In fact she'd had no choice. She'd been scared afterwards though. Wondered what it would do to Jane, and to their friendship. But after a few weeks of mild depression, sorrow, and moping around, he'd gotten over it, and now he seemed happy. At least she hoped he was happy. Months had passed since then and things had changed. Dramatically so in fact. The team had all been assigned to other teams, and she'd warned them to just keep their heads down and play along this time. Absolutely no tricks! They could keep their jobs and then maybe someday they could all work together again, if they wanted to when the time came. They did see each other around the office from time to time though. They said hi and they talked, but a shift had occurred, they all felt it, and slowly adaptation would have it that they settled into their new roles. Not forgetting but moving on, moving forward.
Jane had quit consulting, without Red John and without the team he didn't see the point. But he still came for a visit from time to time. Mostly to see her, but he did have a tendency to wander of. She didn't mind though. His visits brightened her otherwise rather boring days. And she was sure he did it to check up on her, making sure she didn't get into trouble. Well without him there, there wasn't much of any trouble to get into. And at the moment though she welcomed the change, it wasn't really the right time to chase after criminals, there were other priorities and it gave her a chance to work her way up again. She could do that, she'd done it before. It might not be so easy this time, but she was up for the challenge. Always a fighter, that's what she was. Never giving up, and never settling for less. But it would have to wait a few months. She stroked her belly gently.
For the time being, this was perfect. At least Jane thought so. Low stress, fixed working hours and no tackling suspects. He was such a worrywart. Not that she blamed him. She liked being taken care of for once. It was sort of liberating, letting him worry. And it was nice payback for all the grey hairs he had caused her over the years. But at times she was still frustrated about her job, no doubt about that. And that was why she weekly stopped by the shooting range on her way home, sometimes more often depending on her mood. Jane joked that the poor baby was going to need hearing aids as soon as it was born. She had been worried about that as well at first, but the midwife and doctors had assured her that the loud sounds would do no harm as long as the baby was safely resting inside of her, so after the birth she wouldn't be taking junior with her to the shooting range for a while. That would have to wait 'til he or she was big enough to be able to hold a gun, if he or she would want to or ever be allowed to by his or her father. If Lisbon ended up with a mini Jane she'd have her hands full either way and have enough to do to keep them out of trouble, so being afraid of weapons would be a good thing, then at least she wouldn't have to worry about her kid playing with guns.
xXx
She didn't know it at the time, but she'd been pregnant when she'd shot and killed the man that was about to end the life of her unborn child's father. There had been so much blood, hers and his and Red Johns, and it had looked like a slaughterhouse in there. It wasn't until she was being checked over in the hospital, that she found out she was pregnant, imagine her surprise. She'd told him as soon as she found out, thinking she would lose her nerve if she waited. Might as well pile up all the news at once than deal with the fallout later. He'd cried and hugged her, or more like clung to her. But she knew he had needed time. She sure had been relieved though, not sure how Red John's death mixed with impending fatherhood would be received. But she had been delicate, and she'd given him the space he needed to deal, and eventually he'd found his way back to her.
Getting pregnant had not really been on her agenda. And it couldn't have come at a stranger time. There had always been something between them. They'd been best friends for years. And over that period they'd developed feelings for each other. But they both knew that as long as Red John was out there, friends was all they could be, anything else was too dangerous. Hell ignoring each other had done no good and Red John had already targeted her while just being friends, so being anything more would just complicate matters more. Then suddenly there had been evidence, very convincing evidence no less, that Red John was dead. Well it had convinced Jane, which was hard to do. He had been so depressed and she had been so worried. And suddenly they'd ended up in each other's arms. Seeking warmth and comfort and life. For a while they'd been floating, sneaking around like Rigsby and Van Pelt 2.0 but hiding it much better, at least that's what Jane had thought. Forgetting what he himself had said one time 'It's impossible to hide, when two people are in a relationship.' Everything had been rosy. Then the unthinkable happened... Red John resurfaced. And with him all the troubles of yesteryear, only this time he meant business. And suddenly everything crumbled. The showdown had been awful, luckily nobody knew she had been pregnant or it could have ended up being far worse.
But that was all in the past now. She was happy, Jane was happy and the future seemed bright. Now if she could just reach that top shelf. She jumbled the 10 by 20 inch box, stretching, her fingers just barely able to reach. Trying to push the box over the edge and onto its place on the shelf. Her belly doing nothing to help her balance. Too late she realized she probably should have taken the little ladder. And before she knew it she was falling backwards. She let out a little yelp. But she didn't hit the ground, instead at the last second a strong pair of arms grabbed a hold on her just under her arms, holding her for a beat before lifting her gently up until she was standing on her feet again. Thinking it was her supervisor she was about to politely say "thank you." But before she could even turn around a familiar voice spoke: "And I thought you couldn't possibly find a way to get hurt doing this job." There was a faint accusation his tone.
A smile graced her features as she turned around and kissed him. He felt immediately disarmed. Then concern flashed in his eyes. "You should be more careful."
She exhibited a tiny hint of anger at being told what to do, but didn't say anything.
"Maybe you should think about taking your leave soon." He pressed ever so slightly.
Her eyes narrowed. "What are you saying exactly?"
He gestured towards her stomach. "I'm just saying... maybe you should... take it a bit easy."
"I'm not incapable of doing my job."
"I never said you were. It's just..." He thought for a minute then went for being a smartass. "If you insist on staying, I'd have to never leave your side, seeing as you obviously need some kind of mattressed floor down here... or maybe a trampoline. Then you'd never have to worry about not being able to reach the top shelves." That earned him a little glare, but he continued on merrily, not able to stop himself now he'd started. "But you know, too much jumping around and I'd start to worry about the development of the kid's motor skills. He might think he's able to fly, and one day he'll just float away from us."
"Or she." Lisbon interjected. "And you're nuts by the way." She said while swatting him affectionately on the arm.
He rubbed the offended area. "And yet you love me."
"Strangely enough, I do." She admitted.
He smiled at her knowingly "And I keep telling you it's gonna be a boy."
"If you say so." She brushed him off. "But I'm warning you. You better not start following me around, you'll drive me crazy and it's not like there's that much space down here to begin with."
"Plus at the moment you occupy about 50% of that space." He quipped.
"Are you calling me fat?" She raised her left eyebrow at him questioningly.
"I wouldn't dream of it. Besides you're not fat, you're beautiful."
She smiled inwardly, hiding it, but nodded ever so slightly. Approved. "Lucky save." She said, her tone still tainted by warning. "Just wait, I won't stay beautiful forever, when I get old I plan on getting really fat and just sit around watching TV and eating cake all day." She said with exaggerated conviction.
"Liar!" He gleamed.
"I am not." She pouted.
"Okay then, when you're old and fat I'll be bald and ugly. Then we'll fit together perfectly."
"No please don't ever go bald, I need your beautiful blonde curls, how else am I going to survive?"
"And without them you can't drag me around like a cavewoman either."
"You'd like that wouldn't you?"
"Sure." His smile as cunning as a foxes, then he turned slightly more serious. "Look I can promise you curls, but I can't promise you blonde curls, at some point I will go grey. But you are the mother of my child and I can promise you that I'll always love you, no matter where you are, what you look like, and what you're doing."
"Only because I'm the mother of your child, or?"
"No of course not, I love you for who you are."
"And what if I go senile?"
"Seriously? Now you're just being difficult." She just looked at him like 'well?'
He sighed. "I'll love you... for who you were, who you are, and who you will be... always."
His efforts weren't in vain, but were rewarded by a bright smile and a loving kiss.
"I actually talked with Bertram and my supervisor a few weeks ago and also this morning, and... I can start my maternity leave tomorrow." She confessed.
"Why you sneaky little..." He faded out his own sentence, before looking at her funny. "And then you thought, hey why not fit in one final accident before you leave this place for a while."
"Jane, it's called accidents for a reason. It's not like I went to work this morning going: 'hey I know what I'm gonna do today, I'm gonna go fall down in isle D3 today.' I didn't do it on purpose."
"No but you did do it."
"I would have been fine, a few bumps and bruises, I've been through worse. It's not like it was that great of a fall anyway. I weren't even standing on the ladder or anything." She was a stubborn one.
"Still. You're making me worry. I'll be going grey before you know it."
"Ah sweet is the fruits of vengeance." They both smiled, but at the same time knowing there was a deeper meaning behind that statement. "Come on," she said "Help me get these boxes up. Then let's go home."
A/N: I have no idea what kind of strange things they keep for evidence, or how they store them, so please don't shoot me for any inaccuracies.
And for the record I have no beef with people doing inventory work, categorizing and labeling stuff, I'm part of that business myself (being a librarian), so no insults there, I truly love it!