Well, here it is, y'all! The final chapter to my tiny multichapter :D I'm kind of nervous about this conclusion, so I'd really appreciate some feedback from all my loyal readers ;D Once again, my main goal was to stay somewhat realistic and true to the characters' reactions. I'd like to address a couple things:
1. snowflurryflake-yes, I'm almost positive the ending of the Red John saga won't go like this, in that Jane has nothing to do with his death. But honestly, my main goal was really to show the interactions with Jane and Lisbon and focus more on the character growths. I don't have the imagination or the time to really stay true to exactly what should happen. :P And what fun will season 6 be if I'm right? xD Thank you for your kind review; I do appreciate it even though I may not have been entirely accurate. :)
2. Guest from 8/2-Thanks for analyzing the time frame, I really didn't spend much time on that. All I did was a rough estimate and the conclusion I came to was that Jane worked with Lisbon at the CBI for 10 years near the end of season 5. By the time this storyline airs in the show, it will be roughly another year, and I assumed RJ killed Jane's family approximately a year before working at the CBI, so I estimated about 12 years since their deaths, and 11 years at the CBI. Your time line is a little more scientific, so thanks! But I'm taking mine and running with it, since it's not that significant to the story.
Okay, and with that, here we go! Fingers crossed you all love it-thank you all so much for reviewing and favoriting and reading; I appreciate y'all so much! :)
We've been walking a thin line,
You've got one hand on the devil, baby,
And one hand in mine.
But don't let go,
No it's not too late you know.
-Where We Belong, Thriving Ivory
She was working late again, and Jane didn't know why. Everyone else had gone home—it was just Jane and Lisbon in the building. The difference was, Lisbon was working and Jane was lounging on his couch. They hadn't said a word to each other since Jane's return—two whole days ago.
When the clock struck eleven, Jane sighed, stretched, and pulled himself off the couch. He made his way to Lisbon's office and stopped in her doorway, without a word. She didn't acknowledge his presence either, deep in her work. Quietly, Jane walked up to her desk and stopped.
Still nothing.
Lisbon kept right on working as if there was nothing, or no one, in her office.
Jane slipped his hand in his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, folded expertly into a frog. Gently, he placed it on her desk, a smirk tugging at his lips. Lisbon forced herself to keep her eyes on the paper, but still jumped when the frog hopped up a few seconds later. Jane grinned.
"An origami frog, huh?" she said, still refusing to meet his eyes or look at the frog.
Jane nodded. "Your favorite," he said, his eyes sparkling, but Lisbon still refused to look into them.
Jane stood staring at Lisbon, not talking. He tucked his hands in his pockets and swayed back and forth, glancing around the office.
Lisbon finally threw down her pen and stacked papers together, finally drawing her exasperated face up to lock eyes with Jane. "You're not leaving, are you Jane?"
Jane shook his head, smiling. "Nope. Not till I get what I want."
Lisbon sighed, moving the stacks of papers off to the side of her desk. "Okay, Jane, what do you want?" she said, tired and irritated.
"I want to play a game," was Jane's excited reply.
"Really, Jane? Now?" Lisbon said with an eye roll.
"Oh, come on, Lisbon. I gave you a frog, the least you can do is humor me with a game!" Jane whined.
"A frog I didn't want!" Lisbon retorted. "But fine." She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. "Make it fast."
Jane grinned with excitement and walked over to her couch to sit down. "Okay, we're each going to tell each other three secrets the other has tried to keep for all these years. And then we'll see if the other already knew about them. I'll start."
"What is this, Jane?" Lisbon exclaimed, annoyed, as she drew her eyes away from him.
"Stay with me Lisbon! Okay. First one: you found out, without my knowing and without telling me, that the object in LaRoche's beloved Tupperware container is a tongue."
Lisbon gave him no response.
"Yeah . . . Kudos keeping that from me for so long. It took me awhile, but I finally managed to figure it out." Jane shuddered. "Ew, we'll discuss the sanity of LaRoche later."
"We'll discuss the sanity of you later too," Lisbon shot back.
Jane grabbed his chest, as if he was wounded. "Ouch, Lisbon. Hurtful and unnecessary!"
Lisbon only sighed heavily, rolling her eyes.
"Your turn," Jane said with a smile.
"Fine, Jane," Lisbon responded, sitting up in her chair. "Okay, um, you're really a hateful and tortured man who thinks he has it all together but really has no idea who he is or what the hell he plans on doing with his life, but he acts like he has it all together. And he doesn't care who gets hurt when he tries to figure himself out."
Jane stopped smiling, but nodded. "Harsh, but true. See, you can read people, Lisbon!" She rolled her eyes.
"My turn again. And you tried desperately to hide this from me, probably because you're worried about what I'll think about you. But fear not, I don't think any less of you because of it. Three years ago, you slept with Walter Mashburn. For the life of me, I can't figure out why, though…" Jane said, running his hand through his hair thoughtfully.
"Allow me to enlighten you," Lisbon said, narrowing her eyes as her face reddened. "Because I wanted to feel something for once in my life."
"Did you?"
"Yes, for a moment. And I was happy."
"I'm glad, Lisbon," Jane said with a nod.
"And for the record, I think much less of you after you had your little episode with Lorelei," Lisbon shot at him.
"Now, Lisbon, that's not fair," Jane said, holding up a hand.
"You're right, Jane, it's not. Not to me." She was infuriated now.
"I know, Lisbon, I know." Jane stared deeply into her eyes. "I'm sorry, Lisbon, I am." Lisbon only drew her eyes away from his and shook her head, seething. "Your turn," he said gently.
"I don't want to play anymore," she said, shaking her head, refusing to look him in the eyes.
"Just because you don't know any other secrets about me?"
Lisbon didn't answer.
"Fine," Jane agreed. "But let me finish my turn. I have to say one more."
"Whatever, Jane," Lisbon said, pulling her chair back up to her desk and looking at the papers again. "You'd better make it fast though. I'd like to leave before midnight."
"Okay, I will," Jane agreed with a nod. "The third secret you've tried to keep from me and from everyone else. You're in love with me."
It was like all the air had been sucked out of the room. The sudden tension released, so much more intense than normal, made it hard to breathe. The way he had said it, how fast he had said it. Without warning. Lisbon was sure it had never felt more hot in her office.
She immediately dropped the papers, but she refused to look up. She knew Jane was watching her, she could feel his eyes burning into her head. But she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing, even though she knew her face was flushed and her hands were trembling even as she sat there.
"Get out, Jane," she said through her clenched teeth, still staring at her desk. "Get the hell out of my office."
"You can't keep pushing away, Lisbon," Jane said as he stood up from the couch.
That was the last straw.
"I can't keep pushing?!" Lisbon shot her eyes up and looked him square in the face, her eyes and face burning. "Me?!" She shot up out of her chair and walked right in front of Jane. "After you leave me not once, but twice, after you sleep with another woman, the mistress of Red John, for God's sake, after you tell me you love me, after you string me along and put me through hell and pull me this way and that way and throw my feelings off a cliff, you say I can't keep pushing away?! You blame me?" Lisbon poked him hard in the chest. "Go to hell, Jane," she muttered, turning her wet eyes away from him.
"There is no hell," Jane said softly.
"Oh, there is for people like you."
Jane fell silent. "I deserved every word of that," he finally said.
"I know you did!" Lisbon shouted. "I should keep going too!" Her eyes were misty. She couldn't stand to look him in the eyes. Not his beautiful, sad, hurt eyes.
Jane nodded. "You should." He looked her right in the face.
"Shut up, Jane!" she shouted, crossing her arms in her chest. She fought back the tears.
"What do you want?" he asked her softly. Lisbon still swayed her eyes to the right and the left, but never into his eyes.
"I—I don't know anymore Jane," she answered with a sigh, tucking her hands in her pockets.
Jane didn't hesitate. He took a step closer to Lisbon and wrapped his arms around her. He pulled her close to him, holding her head against his chest.
Lisbon didn't fight it. She fell into his embrace, closing her eyes as the tears fell. She pulled her arms up to rest under her chin, between her body and his, and allowed herself to completely fall in his arms.
Eleven years. That's how long he had wanted to do this, to hold her. Sure, he had hugged her three times, but that was nothing. That was between friends, and that was too quick. That was when he was still in danger, when she was still in danger to be taken and killed by Red John. That was before. This was now, this was new.
Lisbon forced herself to bite back her tears, trying to tell herself that he wasn't worth crying over. She tried to tell herself that, but the truth was that he had always been worth crying over.
"You hurt me, Jane," she mumbled against his body as he rubbed her back soothingly.
"I know," he said softly, resting his head on hers. "I know."
"I thought you weren't coming back. I thought I did something wrong."
Jane pulled her back, grabbed her shoulders, and looked into her tear-stained eyes solemnly. "Look at me, Lisbon." Slowly, she drew her eyes up to his.
"You did nothing wrong. I'm the one who was wrong. I let you take the fall for my problem with Red John. He almost killed you, and I did nothing to save you. I could only watch as he grabbed you, threw you, stepped on you, held a gun to you. I did nothing. I promised I would save you and protect you, and I failed. I promised I wouldn't leave you. You had to save yourself." Jane's eyes dropped. "Just like you always have."
Lisbon shook her head furiously. "No, no, Jane. We are partners. We work together. I save you, you save me. And you have saved me countless times before. And I've saved you. That's how it works."
"He just, he had the gun pointed at you, and then the team, and I guess I thought that if I shot him he'd get you, and I wouldn't be able to live with myself," Jane admitted, turning his head to the side. "I'm not mad you killed Red John. I'm just mad you had to."
Lisbon only shook her head, a smirk tugging at her lips. "Well, I guess we're even, because I'm mad you ran away."
Jane sighed heavily. "When the guy you've been after for twelve years suddenly dies, it's kind of shocking, Lisbon. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left. But if it makes you feel better, all I thought about was you and how much I hated myself because I did that to you."
Lisbon smiled, her eyes still misty. "Good."
Jane smiled, and dropped his grip on her shoulders. Lisbon took a deep breath. "What you said before you shot me . . . You remember, don't you?" she said, almost uncertain.
Jane gave her a small smile. "Is this one of your guesses for my game?" he said, his eyes shining.
Lisbon blushed. "I suppose."
"Well, the rules are you have to tell me the secret. I can't tell you. I can only confirm it," Jane said.
Lisbon nodded. "Okay." She breathed in. "Then I'd say you remember it."
Jane nodded, without a word.
"And I'd say you meant it."
Jane smiled. "Well, you used up all your secrets on me for this game."
"Yeah, I know," Lisbon said. "But you have to confirm it."
Jane didn't move for a few seconds. But after awhile, he reached out with his right hand and placed it under Lisbon's chin, tilting her head up. Slowly, almost painfully slowly, he leaned his head in and placed his lips gently on her left cheek.
He allowed them to linger as he breathed in her smell—vanilla. And trust. And love, and admiration, and bravery, and selflessness. He closed his eyes and let his lips linger on her cheek, pressing them sweetly against her soft skin.
She had closed her eyes under his touch, his warm touch sending shivers up and down her spine. And when his lips had met her skin, she gasped quickly, and then relaxed. She had never felt more calm. She had never felt more loved or more at peace. It was like his touch sent electricity throughout her body, and she relaxed. He was gentle, loving, slow.
When he finally broke away and dropped his hand, Lisbon's eyes were still closed and she shivered. His lips on her skin had been something she had never thought she'd feel. It was magical, trusting, loving, the way he rested his lips, even if only on her cheek.
Jane looked into her eyes one more time, and with a nod, he brushed past her, giving her arm the tiniest squeeze as he did. Lisbon watched him go, and for the first time, she didn't doubt that she'd see him the next day. She knew he was coming back.
She loved him, he was right.
And he loved her, she was right.
And Red John was gone. Over. Burning in hell where bastards like him went, not where broken and beautiful men like Jane went.
"Love you."
"Lisbon, look at me. Lisbon, I'm not leaving you, okay? I promise."
One day she'd feel more than his lips on her cheek. One day maybe he could let go and learn to really love, and maybe then she could too.
In due time, she told herself. In due time.
Thoughts? :)
