Crimson Contention
A/N: I apologise for my fail at writing the previous chapter two. I admit that it was late, and my idea didn't translate too well onto paper. However, I have now revised this chapter, and I hope my second attempt is better. So, I present my revised Chapter Two.
Chapter two (Revised)
"Mr Jane. Mr Jane. Mr Jane, wake up." A distant voice called him back to consciousness.
Jane groaned and moved his head. An unfamiliar hand against his face caused his eyes to snap open. He focussed onto a pair of light brown eyes framed by long lashes leaning over him not far from his face. He tried to move his right hand, but found that it was tied down. "Where am I?" he asked, his voice croaky.
The woman in front of him stepped back, and Jane could see that it was the blonde woman he had seen leave the restaurant… how long had it been? Jane didn't know how long he had been unconscious. "You're in good hands, Mr Jane." She said, reaching forward to caress his hair.
Jane glanced down at himself and the surface he was lying on. He was lying on a four-poster bed in a sparsely decorated room. The sheets smelled of moth-balls and dust. His right hand was tied to the post next to him, but his left one was free. He ran his hand through his curls, and assessed that he had a nasty lump on the back of his head. Aside from that, nothing seemed to be wrong. He glanced at the woman, who seemed in awe as she stared at him. "What day is it?" asked Jane, glancing up at the woman.
"It's Monday," she replied. "I'm sorry that Sophia hit you so hard. She doesn't know her own strength, and didn't mean to knock you out for so long."
Jane read the genuine concern in the woman's eyes, and attempted to sit up. The woman put her hand on the back of Jane's arm and pulled him upright, leaving her hand on his arm for slightly longer than necessary. She trailed her fingers up his arm, and Jane shuddered slightly. "What's your name?" he asked casually.
"My name is Maria," the woman replied, brushing some of Jane's hair away from his face. Jane reached up and grabbed her hand lightly. He pulled it away from his hair. Maria's eyes widened at the casual gesture. "I'll go fetch Sophia," she said, a little breathless.
Maria stood up and left the room, leaving Jane to assess the situation he was in. He was tied to a bed in a room with one large window and very little other furniture. It was three days after his visit to the restaurant, and Jane suspected that these women had been waiting for him to leave. He remembered watching the women leave, and realised Sophia – he guessed it had to be her – must have stumbled because she had been seen by Jane.
Just then, the two women returned. Sophia was considerably shorter than Maria, with dark red hair and eyes the same shade as her sister's. She looked Jane over appreciatively and muttered something to her sister. Jane watched her cautiously as she stepped up to the bed and ran her fingers carefully through his hair. 'What is it with these women and my hair?' thought Jane with some disdain as Sophia's fingers caressed the hair at the nape of his neck.
Her fingers brushed the lump from where she hit him, and he winced. "Maria," said Sophia. "Go and get some ice for Mr Jane."
Maria gave one last, wistful glance at her sister before hurrying from the room. Sophia turned back to Jane. "How do you know who I am?" asked Jane warily.
Sophia shook her head. "All in good time, Mr Jane."
Jane sighed. "Can I at least get something to eat?"
Sophia nodded and disappeared. Maria passed her at the door and headed over to the bed. She gingerly pressed the icepack to Jane's head, and he winced. "I'm sorry, Mr Jane," she mumbled.
"Please," he said, taking the icepack from her. "Call me Patrick."
"Yes, Patrick," said Maria.
Sophia returned carrying a tray. Jane could see that it contained a bowl and a spoon, as well as a glass of water. Jane handed the icepack back to Maria and took the tray gratefully. "Thank you, Sophia," he said, looking the shorter woman in the eye.
The bowl contained soup, and Jane wolfed it down, not realising how hungry he was until he started eating. Maria turned to Sophia. "Let's give Patrick some privacy. I'm sure he's still exhausted."
Sophia nodded, and the sisters left together. Jane finished his food and placed the tray onto the floor. He lay back on the bed and studied the dull grey material suspended above him. His eyelids began to droop, and his brain felt fuzzy. His eyes closed, and he dropped off to sleep gain. His last coherent thought was of Lisbon, and how worried she must be.
XxxxxxxxxxxX
Lisbon sat at her desk, head in hands. They had no leads on Jane's whereabouts, and that was beginning to worry her. The restaurant had provided their internal surveillance from that Thursday night, and she was busy scanning through the footage. She watched Jane enter, and saw where he was sitting. She saw something of interest and leant in closer. The footage showed two women leaving the restaurant, and one of them looked back. Lisbon watched the woman stumble, and wondered why. She paused the footage and walked to her door. "Van Pelt," she called.
Grace Van Pelt walked up to her boss. "Yes, Boss?"
"Can you get me a blueprint of the restaurant Jane was in, complete with camera positions?"
Van Pelt nodded and disappeared to her desk. Fifteen minutes later, the blueprint appeared on Lisbon's desk. She plotted the trajectories of the camera, and, with Van Pelt's help, translated the direction of the woman's glance onto the blueprint. It was directed at the back corner. Lisbon gasped when they looked at the footage from a different camera. "Jane was sitting there," she said, pointing to the screen.
Van Pelt ran the faces of the two women through facial recognition to see if they could get any hits. Lisbon left the office for some much needed coffee. She returned with two cups, and held one out to Van Pelt.
"We got a match, Boss," said Van Pelt, taking the coffee.
She pulled the information up onto the screen. "Maria Evans," read Lisbon. "Age twenty-nine. No priors. The other one?"
Van Pelt pulled up her information next. "Sophia Evans. Age twenty-eight. One prior for assault."
Lisbon picked up her badge and gun. "Get Rigsby and Cho. We're going to find out if they know anything."
A/N2: I'm personally much happier with this attempt (maybe the fact that it's not midnight has something to do with it), and I hope you enjoy this one better than the last one I did. Please review, and tell me what you think. Thanks.