4. FOR A MINUTE

Six days of angst had gone by when I was woken up that morning.

Angst, because I wanted to have seen Jane. I wanted to have seen him, because I knew facing him would be the hardest part, but he had not been there in my holding cell one single time. Maybe he hated me too much to even look at me once again. Maybe knowing he had trusted the last person he should have had been too much for him. I wondered how he was, and worry pierced through my chest like a sharp knife.

Anyway, that morning I had the impression I was woken up much earlier than usual; it turns out they wanted to transfer me. They took me, handcuffed, to a van, and drove me to a penitentiary. I did not even see which well because there were no windows in the rear part of the van, where I was, alone. I was thinking to myself… a penitentiary. They are taking me to a penitentiary.

I was glad they did not chop my hair off – even as an officer of the law, I was not at all familiar with whether that was part of the procedure of admission or not, and I feared the possibility, ridiculous as it may sound. They did have me remove all my clothes and kept all personal objects – basically my necklace. They gave me an orange uniform, just like the ones real inmates had to wear.

Real inmates. What part of that was not real?

If Lisbon were eating or drinking anything, she might have gagged. In fact, even with nothing to help, she almost does. That must be the reason why Bertram did not want to order anything. She stares at him, her expression blank, in fact, her face looks a bit paler.

"Are you all right, Agent?" Bertram asks casually.

Lisbon cannot find her voice and, worse still, she cannot find an answer, as though she has not even understood the question. Bertram calls the waitress with a wave of his hand and she promptly stands next to their table.

"Would you mind bringing some water for the lady?"

"No sir, not at all," she swiftly turns around and disappears.

This is when Lisbon stands up in a flash.

"I'm not drinking any water, I'm not…" she intended to continue that, but the suddenness of her movement and her state of shock make her dizzy, so much that she has to lean on the table for balance.

Bertram just sits there, watching her.

"Be strong, agent, because I'm not done. Wait for your water, you're gonna need it."

"I had never thought I would ever be locked in a cell in a penitentiary" may sound very cliché, but I really had never considered that as a possibility. I was, however, whishing I had not only considered but chosen that option instead of having been a cop first. Or at least that the other inmates did not know that I had been one. But they knew. And I was bullied every single day for it.

Thankfully, I was alone in my cell, but at the times when I had to be in a larger group, I would hear insults, have stuff thrown at me and even my food would be spat at.

On the third day, when we were outside for sunlight, a group approached me, and I recognized the leader, even though I could not remember where I knew her from. She soon made that clear, though.

"What are you doing here, pig?" she asked.

I did not answer.

Neither did she say another word. She just hit me so hard on the mouth that my sight went black and I fell to the floor.

"This is payback for sending me here," she said.

Already able to see, I looked up at her and remembered; she was the murderer in a case we had investigated about two years before that. She and her friends left me there, on the floor, and I stayed there, feeling sick at the taste of my own blood.

That made me realize how sick I was of that whole crap.

And, of course, no word from Bertram yet.

"I wanted to tell you about my latest assignment," Bertram informs, looking directly into Lisbon's glaring eyes.

"What assignment, you son of a bitch? You know you're not getting out of this cafe alone, don't you? I'm gonna arrest you."

"Hold your horses, Agent," he looks extremely calm, as opposed to his interlocutor. "So, my current assignment is to frame you as Red John's mole in the CBI."

"Why?" she asks between clenched teeth. "Hightower's already been framed."

"Yes, but Jane didn't buy it," is his matter-of-fact explanation.

Lisbon shifts in her chair.

"What makes you think he's gonna buy it if you frame me?"

"Because you're gonna help me and make him buy it."

Lisbon squints at his certainty.

"Why would I do that?"

"To catch Red John, of course."

As soon as Lisbon arrives home, she goes straight to her bedroom, kicks off her shoes and lies down on her bed. After her conversation with Bertram, she called LaRoche and Cho to tell them she was not feeling okay and had to go home for the rest of the day. That was, in part, true; after all, how could she be feeling normal? But the reason why she really decided to go home is that she has to make a decision, and a very important one.

The plan is simple: they would frame her, she would be arrested and go to prison. Everyone had to buy it, including her team and, especially, Jane. Once Red John was convinced Jane believed Lisbon to be guilty, they would be one step ahead in catching him, especially if Bertram has the serial killer's trust. Then he would team up with Jane and the unit, tell them about the operation and, after Red John had been brought to justice, she would be exonerated.

"What about Red John?" she asked Bertram while they were still at the cafe. "What are you gonna tell him to explain why I'm volunteering to help if the reason is to try and catch him?"

"It was actually his idea," Bertram said, taking an envelope from inside his jacket's pocket. "But I was supposed to persuade you in a different way."

He offered her the envelope, and she took it. Inside, there were pictures of her brother, Tommy, taken without him noticing. By the different clothes he was wearing, she could tell they were from several different days.

Those pictures still trouble her mind now.

Because, intending to catch Red John or not, the threat still stands. Red John does have a man watching Tommy's every move and, just as easily as the guy had been able to take those pictures, he could take a shot at him. Which puts her in a position in which she is not able to refuse the assignment either way.

But then, Lisbon cannot be sure she trusts Bertram. He says he is Red John's mole, but that he is still on the side of the good guys and that he only accepted that position when it was offered to him because he hoped that might help catch the killer; but how is she supposed to know that for sure? Because, even if he started out with good intentions, what if he was brainwashed by the murderer like all his other accomplices?

The fact that he told her he is going to frame her and that she could use it to her advantage attests to his good intentions in that he could have just shown her Tommy's pictures and threatened her. However, he could also be pretending to be on her side just to maintain her trust and make her believe he has her back so she does not try to circumvent the plan somehow. It is brilliant, she thinks. So how is she supposed to decide whether to trust him or not now? And she cannot even tell anybody about any of this. If only she could tell Jane.

Tommy's pictures appear once again in her mind. Well, her decision is as good as made.

On the fourth day, a guard approached my cell bringing a visitor, and when I saw the silhouette, I knew instantly. Jane. My heart ached; I did not want to see the way he was going to look at me. I had prepared so much for the moment I would face him when I was still being held at the CBI, why did he have to show up when I was unprepared? Well, when did he ever do anything when I was prepared for it? But I had to be. I had to be ready, no matter what. I just sat there in my bed, doing everything I could to show no emotion as he slowly approached me. Then I saw his eyes. They were cautious, anxious, analyzing me. For the first time since I had met the son of a bitch, he looked like he did not know exactly what to do or how to act. And that just broke my heart.

But he could not see that.

So I focused on glaring at him; glaring at him as though I hated him, as though he was the one responsible for all the misery in my life and in the lives of the people I cared about. I focused all my energy on that, even the tears I wanted to cry.

"Lisbon," he said, just a whisper, causing a chill to go up my spine.

I said nothing. From uncertainty, he went to tentatively glaring back at me. Like he was not sure yet whether he was supposed to hate me or not. I wanted to tell him he was.

"I had to come here," he said, serious as I had only seen him a few times before that. "I had to hear it from you, to hear you say you did it. Otherwise, I won't believe it."

I did not move. I had to put all my effort into that reply. I looked down, and faked a smile.

"How much more proof do you need?" I asked, then looked up at him again, focusing on scowling at him with as much hatred as I could fake.

He did not seem convinced.

"I need you to tell me you did it," he insisted.

It was torture. But I had to go through with it. I stood up, and approached him slowly, looking deep into his eyes, alternating my focus between either of them.

"I did it," Lisbon says, glaring at him still.

Jane watches her, in silence, for a long while, his eyes carefully measuring her features. Then he sighs loudly, with a small smile.

"For a minute there, Lisbon…" he whispers, shaking his head. "For a minute there!"

She maintains her glare, but not as sure of it as before. He takes a few steps towards her, causing her to take a few steps back, hesitantly.

"What?" she asks, confused.

She reaches the bed, so she has no choice but to stop taking steps back. She faces him questioningly.

"I knew you hadn't done it," he says, visibly relieved.

He has made me, is Lisbon's first thought. She had known that it was very likely that this was going to happen, especially because he has shown up unexpectedly, but she never really had a plan in case he caught her in the lie, neither does she have one now, tired as she is of the assignment.

"W-what the hell are you talking about?" she asks, as if to make him give her some time, even if she does not know what to do with it.

"No point in lying to me any further. There are no cameras here, I made sure of that. The only cameras are in the hallways and they can't film us in here. There are no microphones either, I checked. I can be very thorough."

Lisbon cannot help but smile at that.

"Yes you can," she says, without thinking, noticing how much she has missed him, flaws and all, during the last few days.

He smiles widely as well, realizing she has given up pretending, and does not resist the impulse of taking her in his arms in an affectionate hug. He has missed her, only now does he know how much. She is his only friend, after all. Of course there is the team, but it has always been her. She is the only reason that makes him smile from the heart in his current existence.

"But why?" he asks, "Why all this?" He suddenly realizes he has never wanted an explanation for something this badly.

That is when Jane realizes that Lisbon has started sobbing into his shoulder. It is the first time she lets go of it all and lets herself really break down with all that she has been through. He tightens his grip around her and lets her cry as he runs his hand through her hair. Is this really happening? The real Lisbon is back after such long days doubting everything he knew?

When she seems to calm down a little bit, he pulls away only enough to see her face, and tilts her head up with a finger to her chin. She faces him without a trace of that hatred. Actually, he thinks there is apology in her eyes right now.

"You're hurt," he says, touching her cheek as he notices the cut on her lip and a slight swelling.

She tilts her head down quickly.

"It's nothing."

"Always tough," he comments, smiling and shaking his head. "Thank you," he says.

"What for?" she asks, confused, looking at him again.

"For being innocent. Because I have a plan. If you weren't… Well then I wouldn't have a plan. At all."

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, alerted and favorited so far, especially the ones I couldn't reply to individually. Also, a special thank you to Madam Spooky, as always!
I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter and will let me know what you think! :D