This is my second chapter and it ended a completely different way than I had originally intended it to. I was originally planning to end the chapter with them all having a massive argument but i guess the writing took over and changed my mind, I'm sure that happens a lot. Please review my work, i would greatly appreciate your comments :)
Disclaimer: I own nothing, much to my disappointment.
Rigsby made his way to Cho's pristine kitchen and set down the still full pizza boxes on top of the counter. The three of them hadn't eaten anything, they had lost their appetite, which for Rigsby was about as serious as it got.
Wayne looked out into the living room at Cho and Van Pelt, they had such sadness and terror in their eyes. How did they get to this? A week ago they were happy, well not happy but normal, they were at work and all getting along fine. Now they were outcasts and barely talking to each other. They could easily turn on each other right now; Lisbon was angry at him and Cho for leaving Jane in that mall where he murdered Red John, Lisbon was getting some serious slack from la Roache and everybody else for not preventing the inevitable and Grace kept having these violent mood swings whenever O'Laughlin was mentioned. Just the thought of that man gave Rigsby a chill down his spine. The idea of that man being in cahoots with red John, setting Todd Johnson on fire, deceiving everyone yet playing happy families with Van pelt at the same time made him sick to his stomach. He always knew that man was no good for Grace, there was something about him that just irked him but whenever he mentioned it to the others they would just say he was jealous of his relationship with Van Pelt. Maybe that was true to some extent, but he knew deep down that there was something not quite right about Craig O'Laughlin.
Cho was sat on his couch, keeping a safe distance from Van Pelt. A part of him felt guilty about giving her the cold shoulder; he didn't mean to, but he had always been bad at this emotional mumbo jumbo and he had a feeling that any words of comfort he attempted to give her would be miss-construed in some way. Instead he had his head buried in case-files, the ones they had managed to sneak out from the CBI before being suspended that is, trying his hardest to concentrate and come up with a strategy on how to move forward. He always knew that taking down Red John would be a mammoth effort, he just never pictured how the aftermath would be just as difficult.
Grace stared at the large clock on the wall. Lisbon should be here with Jane right now, all of this sitting around business was driving her crazy and frankly she was starting to get tired of the looks she was getting off Cho and Rigsby. There was no hiding the mixture of sympathy and anger in their eyes and she knew exactly what they were thinking. How could she not know that her own fiancé was a mole for Red John? What kind of detective is she? Why is she still mourning his death?
They were questions she asked herself ever since she shot him up in that cabin. There was still a part of her that couldn't quite believe it; she had loved him, they were going to get married so how could all of that be a lie. She should be allowed to mourn the man that she knew and loved, not the monster working for a serial killer. She thought he had been too good to be true; he was smart, classically handsome, kind and supportive and made her feel extremely happy. The only other time she had felt like that was with Rigsby, but the rules of the job got in the way.
She thought back to Craig's finale moments and that his last act was to tear off the necklace he had given her as a wedding gift. Was this just to spite her? As she felt tears welling up in her eyes the sound of the front door opening brought her out of her trance-like state.
As Jane walked into Cho's house he felt the gaze of his colleagues upon him. They smiled warily at him but he wasn't greeted with the same enthusiasm that he usually was after they bailed him out of trouble. They were troubled, scared and probably unable to sleep. Lisbon stormed straight into the kitchen to grab herself a beer from the fridge. She had barely spoken to him in the ride over, despite his numerous attempts to lighten the mood with jokes about Mashburn.
He made his way over to the large white leather couch situated on the far end of the living room. He smiled. He would never had picked Cho as a white-leather man, it was obviously there at the insistence of a lady friend. Everything else was just as he had imagined; large wooden book case full to the brim with books that ranged from The Art of War to Pride and Prejudice, a large flat screen T.V which was probably only used to watch the occasional sports match and plenty of plants scattered around- he always knew Cho was the type to take care of a bonsai or two.
Cho and Grace were sat on the opposite sofa, trying to avoid looking at each other and Jane couldn't help but notice that Grace carried an awful amount of guilt on her face and he felt compelled to say something.
'I know what you're thinking Grace,' he said in a soft, even tone, 'you're feeling incredibly conflicted and are torn between rage, guilt and sorrow.' The team looked up at him, intrigued about where he was going with this and also relieved that he was the one to break the silence between them. 'The anger and sadness you feel is completely normal. You are sad, not just because you lost someone you love, but because he wormed his way into your life and tricked you into falling in love with him, hence your anger. However you shouldn't feel guilty. How were you to know his true colours? Red John is... was an extremely clever man as much as it pains me to admit it, and he wouldn't have managed to get away with his schemes for this long if he didn't have loyal, clever people who were willing to go to extreme lengths to do his bidding. And hey, if even i didn't suspect Craig of any wrong doing then how were you supposed to?'
With that Grace ran over to Patrick and gave him the biggest, warmest hug he had ever received, and he couldn't deny that he now felt a lot better. She began to sob heavily so he sat her down next to him and gently stroked her hair until she calmed down. He had never been that close to Grace. Even after all this time she had always been wary of Jane and his skills, in some respect she was more scared of showing emotion than Lisbon. He was glad therefore that he could get her to open up and let out all of the pain she was feeling inside.
Lisbon and Rigsby, who was toying with a large slice of Pizza, re-entered the living room and sat down next to Cho. They looked visibly relieved as if a giant elephant in the room was now gone. They had obviously been tip-toeing around Van Pelt for the past few days, none of them knowing what to say or do.
The hum of Lisbon and the team quietly going over case files, combined with Jane slowly rocking her was enough to send Van Pelt to sleep. Jane couldn't help but notice and take comfort in how peaceful she looked once asleep. He gently laid her out on the leather couch and tenderly placed a blanket over her. He began to make his way to the kitchen to make a much-needed cup of tea, but as he did he briefly caught a glimpse of Lisbon who quickly looked up from her case files and shot him a quick smile and a cheeky wink. She was glad to have him back.