Thank you all for your lovely reviews. I decided Lisbon needed a bit of a break and some TLC, so that's what I'm giving her, courtesy of one Patrick Jane. The format of this one is therefore a little different, so I hope you'll bear with me.
The Day Off
It had been a busy couple of days. The team had been called in for a politically sensitive case early on Saturday morning and although it had been an easy one to solve, it had still taken up most of the weekend. Consequently when Monday morning rolled around, Lisbon wasn't especially enthusiastic about getting up and going to work. She was starting to feel that work was a bit overrated. There's nothing like a lack of appreciation to kill a person's motivation.
Emerging from her home, she was nonplussed to see Jane's car parked across the street. Jane was leaning casually against it, as though it was the most natural thing in the world for him to be waiting outside her home for her. First the couch in her office, now this. What was up with him? When he saw her, his face lit up, and he trotted across to her to say good morning.
"Jane, what are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you. We're playing hooky today, you and I, and I thought it would be easier if I picked you up here."
"Playing hooky? Are you insane?" She was looking at him like she really feared that he was.
"Oh, come on, Lisbon. You deserve a day off. Live a little."
"Easy for you to say. You're not the one whose job is being threatened." It came out more snappishly than Lisbon had intended.
Jane backed off slightly. He sighed.
"Okay, fine, spoilsport. I was hoping I could get you to believe that you were doing something forbidden and exciting, because you could use a bit of that in your life, but since you're such a worrywart, I admit that our day off is totally by the book. I filled in forms and everything."
"You're just saying that to trick me into doing what you want!"
"Not so, Lisbon. Did you know that you've accumulated so much leave that the department is, by law, going to have to force you to take a vacation soon? The guys in Personnel were almost pathetically happy to see that you were asking for a day off. Not that one day will make much of a dent, but it's a start."
"Except that I didn't ask for the day off."
"Meh, they don't know that. And you wouldn't want to break their little hearts by taking it back now; that would just be cruel. Think how dreary their jobs must be if they got excited by the fact that Agent Lisbon has finally decided to take a day off. I can only assume a betting pool was involved. Honestly, woman, do you never take leave?"
"You're one to talk. You must have accumulated just as much leave as I have."
"Nope. All those enforced vacations that Minelli made me take apparently count as leave. Your half a day's worth of suspension during the Carmen mess is rather dwarfed by all the weeks of mandated leave I've had." He grinned at her cheerfully. "You can call the office and check, if you don't believe me. Take your time. I've got all day."
Lisbon pulled out her phone and called the office. Larry in Personnel confirmed that her leave papers were all in order and that Agent Cho had been advised that he was in charge of the unit for the day. Larry also told her cheerfully not to worry about a thing and to just have fun. She had to admit that Jane was right – Larry did sound bizarrely invested in her day off. She looked at Jane suspiciously.
"What did you tell these people?"
"Nothing." Jane was looking much too innocent for her to find that credible. "Are you going to call Cho now?"
He knew her too well. She turned a little away from him and called Cho.
"Hey, boss. Everything's under control. Nothing exciting has happened, but if it does I'll let you know. Have a good day." He hung up before she could say a word.
"Of course," she said to Jane with exasperation, "The whole team is in on your little 'kidnap Lisbon' plan. I should have known."
"The trick with a successful plan," Jane explained, "is attention to detail. Now that we've got all that out of the way, how about you lose the gun and badge and we go out and have some fun."
Lisbon bit her lip thoughtfully for a moment. The idea of a day off was immensely attractive. She really could use the break, but...
"What is Hightower going to think with us taking leave less than a week after her arrival?"
"That it's long overdue? You have just worked seven straight days, you know. And if she talks to Personnel about it, believe me, she'll get an earful! Stop procrastinating, Lisbon. We're wasting daylight here."
Lisbon turned reluctantly and went inside. She left the door open for Jane to follow her in.
"I'm going to change my clothes. I won't be long."
She disappeared upstairs and Jane allowed a big grin of triumph to spread across his face. He wandered about looking at Lisbon's possessions while he waited. She didn't give him much time to poke about, though, returning downstairs in record time wearing jeans and a very pretty top that made Jane's mouth go a little dry (which, he supposed, was at least less obvious than drooling). She had dispensed with her badge and gun, and Jane, who could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen Lisbon without either of those powerful symbols of her authority, thought she seemed somehow different without them. Lighter. More carefree. Considerably less scary.
Lisbon blushed slightly at Jane's appreciative scrutiny.
"I have a condition," she said.
Jane grinned. "Of course you do," he said.
"You have to wear jeans today too. If you don't have any, we can go and buy you some."
Jane was amused.
"I own casual clothes, Lisbon. What do you take me for?"
"How should I know? I've never seen you in anything other than a three piece suit. Or," she added as an afterthought, "a tux."
"We'll stop by my place and I'll change," Jane said, reckoning he'd gotten off pretty lightly as far as conditions went.
"Where are we going today, anyway?"
"Anywhere you like," Jane said, "and failing any suggestions from you, I will take charge of the entertainment. I have food in the car, gas in the tank and a map in the glove compartment. The day is yours, Lisbon."
Ushering her over to his car, he opened the passenger door for her and waited politely for her to get in. Lisbon was feeling strangely nervous about this whole unexpected turn of events, so she decided to distract herself by taking out the map and pondering her options while Jane drove them to his apartment. When they arrived, he hopped out while she was still fiddling with the map and hurried around the car to open her door again for her.
"Are we on a date or something?" she asked, quirking her eyebrows. Jane often opened doors for her, but only if he happened to be in the vicinity. He wasn't normally quite so assiduous about it.
"Just being chivalrous, Lisbon," Jane said. He wasn't about to admit that it did feel rather like a date, though that hadn't actually been part of the plan for the day. The distinctly date-like flutter that he got in his stomach every time he looked at her had shown up all on its own, proving once again that Jane's plans never went exactly how he expected them to.
Lisbon followed Jane up to his apartment with considerable curiosity. She hadn't been inside his home before and she wasn't sure what to expect. Jane left her gazing about his sitting room while he went to change. It turned out that Jane owned a great many of two things: books and CDs. There were shelves and shelves of them, plus piles of homeless ones that hadn't yet cracked the nod for some shelf-space. She wandered about interestedly, trying to take in as much as she could while she had the chance. Jane's tastes in both music and literature seemed to be very eclectic, as he had a dizzying range of both. Lisbon was so absorbed in reading the book titles that she didn't even notice Jane's return until he cleared his throat.
Lisbon turned around and was rendered momentarily speechless. Jane in jeans and a casual top was unexpectedly... hot. She swallowed, embarrassed at her reaction, and even Jane had the grace to look a little shy. She'd have bet the farm that he'd rub her nose in it, but he was clearly too pleased, and, if the truth be told, too flustered, to be obnoxious about it. He'd grown unaccustomed to wearing anything other than his suit, and he felt almost as though he and Lisbon were two different people today. Two people who were seeing each other with new eyes and clearly liking what they saw.
She broke the awkward moment by saying, "How do feel about roller coasters?"
Jane smiled. "Thrill seeking. Interesting choice, Lisbon. I love roller coasters. Which one did you have in mind?"
"How about Six Flags?" she suggested. She had always wanted to go there, but had naturally never taken the time to actually do it.
"Six Flags it is," Jane said cheerfully as they headed back out to the car. He had a feeling it was going to be a good day.
00000
Hightower liked information. She knew that the more accurate your intelligence was, the greater the chances were that you would succeed – particularly when it came to controlling other people. Although she was quite gifted at reading people in her own right, she was never averse to getting a second opinion. To that end, she decided to drop in and pay the new CBI psychiatrist a little visit. Dr Williams stood up politely to greet her.
"Agent Hightower, this is a surprise. What can I do for you?"
"Dr Williams. I know you've only been here for a few weeks longer than I have, and you might not have had a chance to meet with everyone yet, but I did notice that there were some files you haven't yet signed off. The ones I'm specifically interested in are Teresa Lisbon and Patrick Jane. Is there some issue there that I need to know about?"
Dr Williams looked at Hightower appraisingly.
"As you know, my files are completely confidential," she said. "However, my reason for not signing off on their files is actually a fairly simple one. I'm sure you know what happened to Agent Lisbon with the last CBI psychiatrist she was required to see?"
Hightower nodded. "Unpleasant business, that," she said.
"Well, from what I can tell, he was merely one in a long line of people in a position of trust or authority in her life who dramatically failed to live up to the role. Mr Jane is in a similar position, but his defense mechanism for coping with it is markedly different to hers. He uses cynicism and complete independence, while she places her faith in the rules and the system, rather than the individual people. And, since you seem concerned, I can assure you that they are both coping exceptionally well, considering the odds stacked against them. The only reason I haven't signed off on them is because I feel that I owe it to them to at least try to show them that some people are trustworthy and have their best interests at heart. The events of the last week, however, have not helped my cause."
"It's my job to make them do their jobs effectively, not hold their hands and cure their hang-ups," Hightower said, not taking this criticism of her methods very gracefully. She instinctively respected Dr Williams, and didn't like being subtly reprimanded by her.
"Undermining your best agent might not be the most effective approach," Dr Williams pointed out.
"You like Lisbon, don't you?" Hightower said, interested.
"Very much," Dr Williams said. "I have yet to meet anyone who doesn't."
"They've both taken the day off today," Hightower said, changing tack. "Presumably they're together." She watched the doctor to see her reaction. Dr Williams seemed surprised and pleased.
"I imagine that's Mr Jane's doing," she said, smiling. "Agent Lisbon is, I'm afraid, a workaholic. I'm glad he took the matter into his own hands. I'm sure a break will do her good."
Dr Williams and Hightower eyed each other for a moment, then Hightower nodded and said, "Well, thank you for your time and your candour, Dr Williams. I wish you success with your project." She looked ever so slightly amused.
00000
Who knew it would be so easy to make Lisbon happy? Jane liked roller coasters well enough – speed always pleased him – but Lisbon... well, she loved roller coasters. Jane had used a combination of charm and bribery to make sure that they were right at the front of the roller coaster, and it had been completely worth the effort. Sitting next to Lisbon and watching her being as perfectly happy as he'd ever seen her was the most rewarding experience Jane had had in a long time.
When they came back to earth after their ride on the Boomerang, Jane asked Lisbon when she'd last been on a roller coaster.
"Not since I was ten," she said, heading eagerly over to the Kong roller coaster.
"Ten! Why have you waited so long? You obviously love it."
"I just never got around to it," she said, shrugging.
Jane gave her an exasperated look. "Honestly Lisbon, you need to learn to prioritise fun occasionally."
"I'm having fun now," she said, giving him a big smile. Well, what could he say to that?
Jane spent the morning following his little roller coaster junkie from one ride to the next, doing his little bit of magic to get them the best seats and then sitting back and watching Lisbon having the time of her life.
By lunchtime they had done all the rides at least once and they both agreed that they had probably done enough loop-de-looping for one day. Jane reminded Lisbon about his picnic lunch, and asked her if there was anywhere in particular she'd like to go.
"It's your turn to choose," Lisbon said to him.
"I'd like to go to Muir Woods, but since we can't picnic there, we could go to Muir Beach first, have our picnic and then go to the woods afterward. How do you feel about redwoods?"
Lisbon looked enchanted. "Oh, I've always wanted to go to Muir Woods," she said.
"Let me guess. You never got around to it?"
Lisbon punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Well, aren't you glad? It makes it all the more fun to go today."
With Lisbon taking care of the directions, they made it to their destination without any difficulty. Jane lugged his picnic basket out of the car and staggered to the beach with it.
"Must be a lot sandwiches in there," Lisbon said, raising her eyebrows in amusement.
"What makes you think I brought sandwiches?" Jane asked.
"Well, you do have a bit of a sandwich fetish," she said, grinning.
"Prepare to be amazed, Lisbon," Jane told her, setting the basket down with a thump. "This, my dear, is a gourmet picnic. Not a sandwich in sight."
Lisbon was suitably impressed with the meal Jane had prepared. Clearly he had gone all out, and she was rather touched that he'd gone to so much trouble. After they had eaten, they sat in companionable silence for a while, watching a family with several small children who were splashing in the waves and swinging on early childhood's exhausting emotional pendulum from ecstasy to tears and back again.
Jane's attention was actually more focused on Lisbon than the noisy children, however. He was trying to work out exactly what it was about off-duty Lisbon that made her seem so different from Lisbon: Law Enforcement Professional Extraordinaire. After a close scrutiny, he concluded that it was because she actually seemed relaxed. Well, sort of relaxed, anyway. Normally Lisbon seemed to be permanently poised for action, as though she was in the middle of a war zone and danger lurked on every side. But now, when she was just being an ordinary citizen doing ordinary things, she had shed all that keyed up tension and was just being. It might, of course, have just been the after-effect of the morning's adrenaline rush. Either way, Jane was a fan.
The walk through Muir Woods was spectacular. The redwoods were almost incomprehensibly tall and they made the forest floor cool and damp, with atmospheric lighting and the thoughtful weighty silence of ancient trees. Jane and Lisbon were too taken with their surroundings to want to talk, so they just wandered along the paths taking it all in in hushed wonder.
The most unexpected event of the day happened when they were walking up a steep narrow section of path. Jane had been slightly behind Lisbon with his hand in its accustomed spot in the small of her back, but when he drew level with her again he dropped his hand to his side, accidentally brushing it against hers in the process. Without stopping to think about it, he slid his hand into hers and held on. Her only acknowledgement of this surprising development was to slide her fingers between his and squeeze his hand ever so slightly. And so they continued their walk under those wonderful trees linked together, silent, confused and strangely happy. It was just one more item to add to the growing list of things they should talk about, but probably never would.
The drive home to Sacramento was quiet, with that happily tired silence that comes after a day spent in serious play. They were halfway home before Jane said softly, "You don't have to worry, Lisbon. I will never let your job fall victim to my stupidity. Don't even give it another thought. This is all on me, and I'll do whatever needs to be done."
Lisbon turned to look at him in the gathering darkness.
"I haven't really been left with any choice but to trust you. I have no control over this situation at all."
"Your mistake is thinking that you ever had any control," Jane said. "The only person anyone ever has any real control over is oneself, and even then, only some of the time. When people work together, they have to mutually agree who will be in charge, but the leader only has as much power as the members choose to grant. The control still lies with each individual. I've never been good at agreeing to allow someone else to be in charge of me, but for what it's worth, I've granted you more power over me than I ever have anyone else in my adult life. I know it's nowhere close to what you need in order to be considered competently in charge of your team, but it's the best I can do. I am sorry that it causes you so much grief, though. I'm sorry I cause you so much grief."
"I know, Jane. Do you think I don't know you by now?"
Jane smiled. "I think you know me as well as anyone ever has," he said.
"I'd know you even better if you let me read your journal."
"It's still driving you crazy, is it?" Jane said.
"What?" Lisbon asked, feigning ignorance.
Jane took his courage in both hands. As Dr Williams had said, it was time for him to step up. "I was saying that I try to keep people at arm's length because it's safer that way, but that you had slipped past my defences. The sentence you read was my explanation as to why I find it so hard to keep you out."
Lisbon sat very still. She was experiencing an almost dizzying sense of happiness, rather like the feeling she'd had on the roller coaster, but much scarier.
"I haven't had much luck keeping you out either," she said, making Jane smile. "You're very persistent."
"I know," he said airily. "It's one of my many fine qualities."
00000
After Jane had pulled up outside Lisbon's house, he reached under his seat and whipped out his journal.
"Can I come inside and do my journaling with you before we call it a night?" he said hopefully.
Lisbon laughed. "You've really taken to journaling like a duck to water, haven't you?" she said.
Jane shrugged boyishly. "It's just another medium for me to be clever in. You can never have too many of those."
He followed her into her house, and she set him the task of making tea while she went to fetch her journal. Jane decided to make toast as well, having worked up an appetite after the day's exercise. Lisbon was unsurprised to find him making himself at home in her kitchen. Helping himself to other people's food was one of his trademark characteristics. Since he was making her some too, she was happy to let him get on with it. It was nice to be looked after for a change.
Lisbon's Journal: Week 4, Monday
Jane kidnapped me today. We'd worked all weekend, so it wasn't that unreasonable, but it still felt irresponsible and decadent to not be working on a Monday. I haven't taken a day off just for the fun of it in... well, I'm not sure if I ever have. I've taken days off before, obviously, but it was always for a very specific reason. Today we just took the day off for no reason at all. It was strangely exhilarating, actually.
Jane took me to Six Flags to ride on the roller coasters. I haven't done that since I was a kid and my whole family went to an amusement park for the day. It wasn't nearly as big as the one we went to today, but it impressed the socks off 10-year-old me, and I've always remembered it as one of the highlights of my childhood. And I think I'll probably always remember today as one of the highlights of my adulthood. Riding roller coasters was as amazing as I remembered it being, and Jane made it even better by always getting us the best spots on every ride. I'm not sure how he does that kind of thing, but for once I wasn't complaining. He was really sweet about letting me go on as many rides as I liked – not that he didn't enjoy it too, because he clearly did, but I think he would have stopped a lot sooner if I hadn't been there.
Afterwards we went to Muir Beach to have the picnic Jane made. He's rather an amazing cook. He made things I don't even know the names of, but they tasted like heaven. He really is an interesting guy. How did he get to be so good at such wide range of things? I'd love to hear more about his childhood and where he learned all this stuff, but he's pretty closed-mouthed about his past. He did tell me he'd never been to high school, though. I hope one day he'll elaborate a bit.
We went walking in Muir Woods, and it really is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. I can't imagine how I managed to live in San Francisco all those years without ever going there before. Jane's right, I do need to prioritise some fun in my life sometimes!
On the way home, Jane told me that I didn't have to worry about my job, that he'd take care of it. I don't even want to know what he means by that, but it was surprisingly comforting to hear him say it all the same. He also told me the context of the line I read in his journal, which is kind of a big deal for us I think. I never thought he'd be honest about that. Well, I assume he was being honest, anyway. No, I take that back – I'm sure he was telling the truth.
Did you say something to him on Friday when he took the journal pages to you? Because I feel like maybe you had something to do with all this. If so, then thank you. Today means more to me than I can say.
Jane's Journal: Week 4, Monday
I'm sitting in Lisbon's house right now, watching her write in her journal, and I don't think that I'm being overly optimistic in my assessment when I say that she actually looks happy. And not just pre-Bosco, pre-Carmen, pre-Hardy happy; she's happy in a way I've never seen before. And I made it happen. I'd like to immortalise this moment as one of my finest masterpieces!
I thought about what you said, and you're quite right. This is my mess to fix and it's up to me to make sure that Lisbon is not a casualty of war. I told her she didn't need to worry; that I'd make a plan. Obviously that won't stop Lisbon from worrying, but at least she knows where I stand on the matter. I don't plan to let her down and I think she realises that.
In the meantime, I got her to take a day off and do nothing but have fun. It took her mind completely off all her troubles and, I have to say, fun Lisbon needs to get a chance to come out and play more often! Luckily for me, she has about a zillion days of leave backed up, and the Personnel guys are getting a bit antsy about it, so I've got plenty of good reasons as to why she needs to take more time off and come out and play with me. After today, I have hundreds of ideas of things we could do, and I intend to persuade her to do every single one of them.
And you'll be pleased to hear that I did eventually tell her the context of the sentence she accidentally read in my journal last week. After today there didn't seem much point in not telling her. Lisbon and I are, as you pointed out, inextricably bound up with each other. There's no point in denying it or getting all hung up on how it happened. The thing to do now is to figure out where we go from here.
00000
After they had finished their journaling, Jane decided it would be wise to remove himself from the immediate vicinity of Lisbon's tempting off-duty self. She was becoming more alluring to him with every passing minute and he needed to go home and give himself a pep talk. She didn't help matters by giving him a wholly unexpected kiss on the cheek as he went out the door.
"Thank you for today, Jane. I had a wonderful time," she said, and was rewarded with the gratifying sight of a thoroughly discombobulated Patrick Jane. Although he rallied his formidable forces with his usual impressive speed and flashed her his most charming grin in farewell, she wasn't taken in. She had just discovered that she had considerably more power over Jane than she had previously realised, and the revelation was startling, confusing and rather wonderful. She definitely had some thinking to do.
TBC