Disclaimer - The Mentalist belongs to Bruno Heller and CBS. Not me. Obviously.
A/N- So, I'm back again. Sorry that there's been such a long wait for this chapter, but unfortunately my attention was taken up by one of my other stories. I haven't forgotten about this, however, and the season finale last week was enough to get me back to writing about Patrick Jane and the CBI. This story is wrapping up now, and there should only be one more chapter after this one - if I've planned it right, of course. I hope you like it!
Blood Ties
Part Four
From behind the one-way glass of the interrogation room, Jane watched his father with careful eyes, trying to push away the feeling of apprehension that was building in his chest. He stoutly ignored the concerned looks that Lisbon and Grace were shooting him, focusing instead on Rigby and Cho's questions, and on his father's reactions. A thrill of nervousness began to rise in him as he stared at Alex Jane's face. He took note of every mannerism, every flicker in the man's features, anything that could suggest deception, but deep down, Jane wasn't sure it would be enough. Jane hadn't seen his father in over thirty years but the man still had an affect over him it seemed. He couldn't get a clear read…
Alex Jane looked calm and expressionless. He looked for all the world as if he had nothing to hide - a sure sign, in Jane's opinion, that he was hiding something very big. Jane had seen that look too many times during his childhood; the smug smile, the sharp eyes…
His father was looking at Cho like a predator would a prey.
"So, Mr Jane," Cho began calmly, glancing towards Rigsby as he took a seat in front of Jane's father. "Tell me about Jimmy Landon?"
"He's an old friend," Alex replied nonchalantly. "I believe I have already told that to my son. Where is he by the way? Hiding like the coward he always was?"
The small jibe barely registered for Jane, who had heard much worse from the man over the years. From the corner of his eyes, however, Jane noticed Lisbon give him yet another concerned look, but he ignored it stoically, instead focusing his intense gaze on the man on the other side of the mirror.
He couldn't let his father get to him. He had to stay in control, keep calm and alert. He was smarter than his father, he knew that, but the older man had always had the upper hand when Jane had been growing up. Jane wasn't a child anymore though, and he refused to let his father get the better of him anymore. This was his life; he'd be damned if he was going to let his father screw it up for him. The sooner he was gone, the better.
Thankfully, Cho ignored the small jibe about Jane as well.
"Jane's busy," Cho replied, barely missing a beat. "Back to Landon. How did you two meet?"
"Is my lawyer here yet, Mr Cho?" Alex replied with an infuriating smile. Jane hated that smile; the insincere look that told his chosen mark that they were being played. Looking at the man, Jane felt his anger grow even more.
"Agent Cho," corrected Cho. "And no, he isn't."
"Then I'm afraid I have nothing to say until he gets here."
"Like hell he doesn't," Jane muttered. He was done being intimidated by that man. It was time to get control back.
"Jane…" began Lisbon, but he was already out the door before she could stop him. He stormed around the corner and pushed his way into the interrogation room, using every ounce of his careful control to stay calm.
His father looked up at his entrance, but if anything, the man's smile just got wider and his eyes took on an air of triumph. Jane got the uncomfortable feeling that he was playing right into the man's hands, but it was too late to back down now. Cho and Rigsby shot him confused looks but he ignored them, staring unflinchingly at his father instead.
The man smiled calmly. "Ah, the prodigal son – "
"Did you know a man by the name of John Greening, Dad?" Jane interrupted, glaring at his father as they had their own private battle of wills.
"I don't know what you're talking about." The infuriating smile was still there, but there was a hint of surprise in his eyes. Oh, he knew John Greening alright…
"Jane…?" began Cho, but he was interrupted by Lisbon, who had seen fit to follow her consultant into the interrogation room.
"Jane, what are you doing?" she snapped angrily, but Jane saw the concern in her eyes.
"Interrogating our suspect of course," Jane replied lightly, although inside the anger was burning in his mind.
"I thought I was only answering a few questions?" mocked Alex Jane, smile widening further. It infuriated Jane.
"You can't be in here, Jane," Lisbon told him firmly, her deep concern barely concealed. Jane saw her glance towards Rigsby, and he almost expected her to have him escorted from the room. Jane's anger grew, although he didn't entirely blame her. This was his father though. He didn't care what the 'powers that be' thought; he wasn't going anywhere.
"Come on, boy," interjected his father. "Listen to your girlfriend."
"She's not my girlfriend," Jane snapped angrily. He knew he was losing control but there wasn't anything he could do about it. Everything he had been ignoring for the past thirty years was clawing its way back out now. Every slap and punch he had endured during his childhood, every lonely night and exhausting day.
"You still with that Angela, then?" his father asked, having sensed Jane's weakness. Lisbon and the team looked shocked at the mention of Jane's late wife, and Jane wasn't reacting too well himself. No one mentioned his wife these days. No one. "She always was a pretty, young thing…
Jane lost it. He stormed over to the man with barely concealed fury. Rigsby, who had been standing beside Alex Jane, quickly sidestepped out of the way, apparently quite happy for Jane to have a go at the man himself. The whole team seemed angry on his behalf, and if he wasn't so angry himself, he might have been touched by the gesture. But as it was, Jane could barely see past the red in his mind. His father had mentioned Angela. Angela…
"Shut up, you bastard," Jane told him angrily. "Don't talk about her…"
"She left you, did she?" Alex said, although his tone was anything but sympathetic. Jane growled in response, and he was finding it intolerably hard to control his anger. Something his father had obviously noticed…
"Jane…" Lisbon began, uncharacteristically nervous and unsure.
"Son, I think you've got some anger issues," Alex continued, pouncing on Jane's lack of control. "Maybe you need help. I could probably get you the number of your mom's shrink. Though it never did her any good – "
SMACK.
Jane punched him, fist clenched as he swung towards his father's face with as much force as he could. Anger swirled through his mind, making it difficult to think. He heard a voice, someone telling him to stop, but it barely registered. All he could think was that his father should never talk about his mother like that…
"Get Jane out of here."
He felt arms pulling him back, but he fought them with every bit of strength he had. He tried to get another punch in. His father had to pay. He had to pay…
"Cho, get him out of here. Now."
"C'mon Jane," came Cho's voice from behind him. It was calm, momentarily nullifying the rage that was still pumping through Jane's veins. Cho pulled him back, and Jane gave up the fight as the smaller agent pulled him from the room.
"He's shouldn't have said that, Cho," Jane muttered as the red began to lift from his mind. He looked back though the open door of the room at the carnage he had left behind; at his father lying on the floor, the overturned chair and Lisbon's pale, shocked face. "He shouldn't have said it…"
"I know, Jane," Cho said quietly. "Come on, let's go and get you a cup of tea or something."
Jane nodded, although his thoughts for once were a jumbled mess. He hated that he had lost his carefully constructed control, something that had taken years for him to build; and in front of the team as well.
His father shouldn't have said that though…
As she watched Cho drag Jane away from his father, Lisbon tried to keep control of her own emotions. Never had she seen Jane lose it like he had just then. Even when Red John cases came up, he'd always managed to stay in control of himself, and in control of his own mind. He'd never been violent, even when they'd dealt with the scum of the earth. For all his talk of revenge, Lisbon had always thought that Jane simply didn't have it in him to attack anyone. But to see him attack his father like that...
There and was something deeper there, something that she didn't quite understand yet.
What the hell was going on?
"You should really make that boy go and see a shrink, Miss Lisbon," came a voice from the floor, jarring Lisbon from her troubled thoughts. Alex Jane picked himself up, gingerly poking at his bleeding nose, a look of triumph on his face.
"Agent Lisbon," she corrected coldly as she fought to regain control.
"Whatever," Alex Jane simply shrugged in reply, dusting himself off as he turned to face her, defiance in his eyes. "Either way, I think I'll be going now."
Lisbon didn't answer, but she knew that they had little choice but to let him leave. Quite apart from having nothing to hold him on, Jane had just assaulted the man. They'd be lucky if he didn't sue.
"Rigsby," Lisbon began, knowing that the tall agent was still in the room. "Please escort Mr Jane here from the premises."
"Yes boss," Rigsby replied tightly. Her agent grabbed Alex Jane firmly by the arm, his anger with the man clear and Lisbon had half a mind to ask someone else to do the job. Hopefully Rigsby wouldn't do anything too stupid though...
"Van Pelt," Lisbon said as an afterthought. "Go with them. Then get back to checking that list of known associates."
"Okay boss," Van Pelt replied, her concern for Jane clear. She followed the two men out of the door, leaving Lisbon alone in the interrogation room. She sighed deeply as she picked the chair up and righted it, deliberately prolonging the moment when she would have to go and deal with Jane. Hopefully Cho had calmed him down by now, although that would be of little comfort in the grand scheme of things. He'd attacked a suspect; a suspect he shouldn't have even been talking to in the first place. Jane had ignored a direct order from her.
"Dammit Jane," she muttered as she made her way out of the interrogation room. Why could nothing be simple with that man?
She eventually found the two of them in the kitchen, Jane nursing a hot tea, and Cho drinking a coffee. Cho caught her eyes as she made her way over towards them both, but Jane didn't even raise his head.
"I'll get back to work," Cho offered quickly, sensing easily that she wanted to talk to Jane alone. Her team really were showing their worth today.
"Okay, Cho," Lisbon agreed gratefully, before turning her attention back to Jane.
He looked terrible. His nose, still obviously sore from where he had been punched earlier in the day, was bright red, a contrast even more stark due to his pale face. Jane was rubbing the knuckles of his right hand as well, although his thoughts seemed to be miles away.
"It's been a long time since I've punched anyone," Jane began quietly as she joined him at the counter. "I'd forgotten how much it hurt."
"You're an idiot, Jane," Lisbon said, although there was no malice in her tone.
"I know," Jane agreed quietly. He still refused to look up at her though, and Lisbon felt her worry for the man increase.
"Dammit Jane, you promised."
"Actually, no I didn't," Jane replied, and Lisbon saw a flicker of the man's usual attitude returning. "You asked me to promise, and I said I'd try. I have tried. It's not my fault that the man's unbearable."
"Did you have to punch him though?" Lisbon asked, although she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.
"He mentioned my mother," Jane said tightly. Her consultant seemed to be struggling with something, but she knew she couldn't force him to talk about this. Not when it seemed so blatantly personal.
"You don't have to tell me, Jane," Lisbon said quietly.
"But you're my priest, Teresa," Jane said, a small uncertain smile finally making its way onto his face as his eyes rose to meet hers.
Lisbon smiled at the reference to their conversation the day before, but apprehension built quickly within her. She'd seen the man low before, but this was different. Jane looked broken…
"She killed herself," Jane continued quietly. Lisbon had to strain herself to hear him. "My mother…she was sick. Depressed, I expect. Living with him didn't help. She killed herself when I was five."
Lisbon didn't know what to say. She didn't even know if there was anything she could say. 'Sorry' seemed so inadequate now.
"I'm sorry, Jane," she said anyway, simply for lack of anything better. She couldn't say that she knew what he was feeling, but she certainly understood now why he'd reacted in the way he had. Truthfully, she would have done the same thing. Any of them would.
"It was a long time ago," Jane shrugged as he picked up his tea for a sip. "It's just…when he mentioned her, I couldn't help it. He shouldn't have said that."
"Are you okay?" Lisbon asked quietly as she watched him drink his tea.
"Has he gone?" Jane asked, completely ignoring her question. He seemed a little calmer now, although there was a look in his eyes that she couldn't quite decipher.
"Rigsby's escorting him off the premises as we speak," Lisbon replied with a nod. "And Van Pelt's keeping an eye on Rigsby to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
"Like I did, you mean," Jane replied with a small grin, looking a little more like his old self. "Oh, don't worry, my dear. I quite understand. I'm not offended."
"I'm not being offensive, Jane," Lisbon shot back. "It was stupid."
"Well, yes, it was," Jane replied cheerfully, although it still seemed a little forced to her. He seemed better than he had been two minutes previously though, so she was grateful for that at least. "But it's done now. No use crying over spilt milk."
"Well, it goes without saying that you're off the case," Lisbon told him sternly, making it clear that she wasn't budging this time.
"Ah, I thought you might say that," Jane replied, his expression showing no surprise whatsoever. Annoyingly, he smiled. "Well, in that case, I think I'll go for a nice walk instead."
A walk. Damn the man, he just couldn't let things go.
"You're off the case, Jane," Lisbon repeated with a glare.
"I heard you the first time, Lisbon," Jane replied innocently. Lisbon didn't believe his act for a second. "But as I just said, I think I'll just go for a walk."
"Stay away from your father, Jane," Lisbon warned as Jane put his empty tea cup in the sink. "You're in enough trouble as it is."
Jane sobered. "Trust me, I'm not going anywhere near him."
Against her better judgment, she found that she believed him for once. Whatever he had planned – and she was certain he had something planned – it probably didn't involve punching his father again.
"Okay, Jane," she sighed resignedly. There was no controlling the man when he got like this. "Just be careful."
"I'm always careful," Jane replied cheerfully, as he began to leave, looking almost back to normal now. "I'll be back soon, Lisbon."
He shot her a smile as he made his way out of the room, but it did little to comfort her. In fact, it only made her worry about the man more.
"Dammit, Jane," she muttered.
A/N - So how was it? I realise that Jane was a bit out of character in this chapter, but hopefully I've written the plot well enough so that Jane's reaction is at least believable? I know that I've taken liberties with his mother's story as well, but since we know so little from the show, I came up with my own idea. I hope you liked it! Please let me know your thoughts, but most of all, thanks for reading!
