A/N: Hooray! Another quick update and this one is a long one for me.
Just so people know: the Jello Forever Secret Santa has just had the assignments sent out so this may slow down my updating of this, Unbound and 50 Things for a while. But around Christmas, I'll suddenly be able to put up quite a bit, so it's all swings and roundabouts, really. And on the plus side (for me), I only have a couple or so chapters left of this. Can't believe I've nearly finished already. Heh.
Thank you to: anabella, Fallen Angels of Love, Viktorija, macisgate, Penelope Louise, imagine, yaba, Jadestar1981, Divinia Serit, dogeatdog, Chiisana Minako and MrPatrickLee for reviewing. Especially so, what with the weekend's problems on here and making the effort to come back and let me know what you thought. That means an outrageous amount to me, so thank you!
This is for dogeatdog and anabella - I can't tell you by review reply just how grateful I am for your reviews, so here it is!
x tromana
Part Seven
"Are you going to talk to me?"
Lisbon remained in her steely silence, keeping her eyes on the road. Jane had been talking at her for a good fifteen minutes or so and she was still doing a very good job at ignoring him. It was easier than snapping at him for a second time, if only to keep her stress levels down. Still, he was growing irritating again and she would rather have some peace and quiet, but knew that would only happen if she argued with him for a second time. Lisbon thought that he would have at least acknowledged she had acquiesced to his request and they were heading to the home of Bethany Harrison for another questioning by behaving. It wasn't as if either of them thought that the young Mom was guilty either. She cursed herself for being so hopeful that he would.
"You know, it's very rude to ignore somebody for this long."
"I really don't care, Jane," she sighed.
"Ha, so she speaks."
"Congratulations, would you like a gold star?" she answered sardonically.
"Well, now that you mention it…"
She growled in frustration and they both fell into an uneasy silence. It was a blessed relief for both of them once they pulled up outside the apartment complex. The area wasn't particularly pleasant and like the previous times any of the SCU had been there, Lisbon's badge drew some unwelcoming glares from the inhabitants. By reflex, her fingers darted to her right hip, checking to see that her firearm was still safely attached. Jane, acting surprisingly carefree, led her towards Bethany Harrison's apartment and after several frantic knockings, the girl eventually answered.
"Again? But I thought I answered your questions the last two times."
"I know," Jane replied soothingly, gently gripping onto her left shoulder with his right hand. "But my scary boss lady wants a word. I'm sure you don't really mind, do you?"
"Okay," she replied and eyed Lisbon dubiously. She hadn't seen a woman with the CBI before and there was something that she found intimidating about the brunette agent. "But please, be quiet. Lewis is taking his afternoon nap."
"Now, just relax and remember to tell us everything you know, there's no rush. We've got all afternoon."
As they sat, Jane had taken up the young woman's hand and started stroking the back of her hand soothingly and continued speaking. Her eyelids fluttered open and closed, Lisbon staring at her at all times, curiously. The man was hypnotizing her again and all she wanted to do was run and hide. This was what he had done to her, without her realizing, even though she had asked him to do so. His soulful voice was probably reverberating around her mind, becoming the only thing she could latch onto - the only thing she wanted to latch onto. And he could, apparently, access all her innermost thoughts. Lisbon shook her head and blinked several times. She should stop him. She should stop him right now and tell him just how inappropriate it was. But he'd told her before that it was dangerous to try and break someone out of a trance, to just stop him mid-flow. So instead, she sat, fidgeting and growing increasingly uncomfortable. Just what had Jane asked her other than about that horrible night, which she still couldn't remember, when he had hypnotized her?
Eventually, in a quiet voice, Jane turned to Lisbon, a somber expression written across his features.
"What do you want to know?"
"Um…" It took her a while to refocus. "Did she see anyone the night of the murder?"
Jane gently nudged Beth with his knee. She remained in a trance state, looking far more peaceful than the jumpy, nervous soul who answered the door.
"We're all friends here," Jane vocalized. "You can answer Lisbon. She won't bite. Hard."
Lisbon rolled her eyes in response and let out the breath she had been holding. This was useless. There was no way the girl was going to remember anything; she still hadn't said a word.
"Two people," Beth replied, her voice soft and breathy. "Two men. I didn't know one of them. He gave me money. Told me to spend it on Lewis. Told me not to tell you. Second one did too, knew his voice. But his face… his face was covered."
"Who did you think it was, Beth?"
"I-"
Lisbon's cell phone decided to ring at the most inopportune moment. She lifted a single finger to indicate one minute, rushed outside and answered the call. Part of her was glad for the excuse to escape, even if things were beginning to get intruiging. She still couldn't believe that she had felt fragile enough to not only let Jane into her apartment, her own safe haven and personal escape, but to let him induce such a vulnerable state within her. Shaking her head and dispelling the thought, she pressed the phone to her ear, hoping that Van Pelt had some good news for her.
"Boss?" Van Pelt's voice, sounding uncharacteristically nervous, rang through the line. "Jackson Kennedy's come into the office. He wants to speak to you and you only."
"Why?" Lisbon replied with a sigh. "What's wrong with the rest of you?"
"He said it's because you're the lead agent."
"Oh. Okay." They came up against this kind of problem surprisingly often. It didn't help that family members often thought they'd be able to sway her more easily just because she was a woman. "Just keep him busy. We can be there in half an hour, forty five minutes at most."
After she slipped back into the apartment, Lisbon watched Jane warily as he brought the young woman back to consciousness. She seemed a little disorientated at first, but soon focused when she heard her little boy cry out for some attention. Apologetically, she ushered the pair of them out, stating emphatically how sorry she was that she couldn't be of much use. When the door closed, Lisbon practically backed Jane up against it, eyes ablaze with fury and poking him in the chest several times. He gaped slightly; he'd seen Lisbon angry before, heck he'd seen her furious and often due to his own doing. But usually, she was more forgiving than this. And it was getting to the stage where he didn't know quite what to do to fix it. It wasn't the kind of problem you could stick a proverbial sticking plaster over, after all. He hadn't realized just how serious the damage done had been and it wasn't entirely his fault; if it hadn't been for Carmen, Lisbon wouldn't be looking wildly for someone to trust and finding absolutely nobody she deemed as 'good' enough.
"You're not to hypnotize someone again, Jane."
"Oh come on, she told us something useful."
"I don't care. How many times do I have to tell you-"
"It's illegal, unethical, I know, I know. Why'd you let me hypnotize you then?"
"You were my last hope."
"I'm touched."
"Don't be."
"You need to calm down, Lisbon. Not everyone is out to get you."
She took the car keys from her pocket and stormed back to the SUV, Jane chasing behind her. He just had to keep pushing, pushing, pushing, didn't he? He was Mr. Observant after all, he should have been able to notice just how uncomfortable she had been when he had hypnotized the young woman before her very eyes. Jane slipped in the seat beside her and watched interestedly as she used some breathing technique she must have learned from the yoga classes she had taken up with Grace to calm herself down. After five minutes, she placed the keys in the ignition and started the drive back to CBI headquarters.
"Lisbon?"
"What is it, Jane?"
"Talk to me."
"Why?"
"It'll do you good."
"Now you're sounding like a shrink."
"Good point," he conceded. "Maybe it'd be a good career move?"
"You'd make a terrible shrink."
"You wound me."
"You were right," she replied lightly, after a short period of silence. "I was telling the truth. To Carmen, I mean."
"Thank you."
"I'm not telling you because I want you to know," she replied, stiffening slightly behind the wheel. "I'm telling you because you already do. And that scares me."
"I would never use it against you."
"How do I know that? You manipulate people for a living, Jane. How can I know you won't do the same to me?"
They fell back into that same uneasy silence that had enveloped them on the journey out. Lisbon let out a sigh of relief as they pulled into the CBI parking lot, pleased to finally have other people to distract Jane's attention, though she had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn't help all that much. For some reason or another, he seemed rather focused on her, almost to the extent that he just couldn't be bothered with the case. Maybe it was one of those where the solution was just too simple for him, so he was happy just to poke them in the right direction while they went about things the legal, honest way?
"Good news, Boss," Rigsby announced brightly as she exited the elevator on the third floor.
"What is it, Rigsby?"
"The ex-wife?" he stated. "Her 'boyfriend' is Jackson Kennedy. She got twitchy when she found out he was in the building."
"Interesting."
"And not only that, she admitted to waiting at his home, alone, when the murder took place."
"Keep her in, she may still know more," Lisbon stated, pleased that her hunch had been proven correct. "Where's Mr. Kennedy?"
The man approached with Van Pelt, tugging nervously at the base of the sweater he had slipped on. Jane smirked; the man was obviously very nervous in a federal building and he couldn't even maintain eye contact with Lisbon when she shook his hand firmly. Most specifically, his gaze kept dropping down to her hip, to where her gun was still safely attached in its holster. For a University lecturer, he seemed to have been stripped of all his confidence while in their presence. Jane found it particularly amusing as it had been Jackson Kennedy himself who had requested an audience with Lisbon.
"Agent Lisbon…"
"Yes?"
"I was wondering? Have you got any closer to catching my brother's killer?"
"We're still chasing down a few leads," Lisbon replied honestly.
"Do you own a firearm, Mr. Kennedy?" Jane asked brightly.
"N-no," he stuttered and Jane placed a hand on his shoulder, grinning.
"Good man. Dangerous things. I wouldn't be seen dead with one."
Lisbon rolled her eyes but the grieving brother, still glancing wildly, shook Jane's grip off. Quickly, he made his apologies and left the premises. Cho approached as the man left, looking rather determined.
"We've had a tip off, from Beth Harrison."
"Oh? Her again?"
Cho nodded. "Said that the thief is back in the area. Searching through dumpsters and the like. She's scared that he's going to break in."
She glanced at her watch and cursed slightly When had it gotten so late? Still, she told Cho to organize back up and that they had to get out there as soon as possible. She didn't want to miss this tip off - especially as this fabled thief seemed to be at the crux of the matter.
"I'll meet you at the van," she concluded. "Just give me five minutes."
"We could go without you, Boss?"
"No, don't. It'll be fine."
She rushed to Employee Support Services faster than she had ever done so before and not because she was eager to see Alysia and get their session underway. The psychiatrist beamed brightly when Lisbon walked through the door, on time for the first time and offered her a seat, which she naturally declined. Instead, Lisbon wrung her hands around one another and stared pointedly at the blonde before speaking.
"I need to postpone this session," Lisbon replied bluntly. "We're at a crucial point in the case and I need to be there."
"That's okay, Teresa," Alysia replied soothingly and glanced down at her personal planner. "Would you be able to see me in two days' time instead? I'm fully booked tomorrow."
"Yes, sure, that'll be fine."
Before Alysia even had a chance to tell her what time the new appointment was, Lisbon had whisked out of the door. She sighed. There had been a change in Lisbon's demeanor at least. She seemed a little less tentative and like she would possibly be more willing to speak now. Alysia could only hope the next session would go as well as she anticipated, after all the brunette agent deserved a little closure what with all she had been through.
It felt like no time at all until they were back at the apartment complex; Lisbon was beginning to think that they should never have left it in the first place. But then again, they had no idea that as soon as they had got back to CBI that the thief would come prowling again. It was times like this when she wished that precognitive abilities did actually exist - it would make her job a hell of a lot easier if she could be in crime scenes before the criminals got there themselves. Thankfully, according to the local PD, their perp was still in the area and apparently he still hadn't found whatever he was looking for. He was, however, armed and therefore Lisbon felt like the situation had become ten times more dangerous. As she slipped on the Kevlar vest that Van Pelt handed her, she shivered slightly, feeling as if somebody had walked over her grave.
"Jane, stay here," she demanded as she pulled out her gun. "I don't want you getting mixed up in this."
She didn't wait for Jane to agree to her statement when she turned away and walked in the direction of Devlin Kennedy's apartment. Jane, not willing to take instructions, followed on behind. When they reached the apartment, they appeared to find nothing and were about to leave when, suddenly, Lisbon found herself cornered by Jane, of all people. With a hiss of frustration, she lowered her gun slightly and glared at the consultant, just wishing that for once in his life, he could tell when enough was enough and simply listen to instructions.
"What the hell, Jane?" she raged as she caught sight of their target behind him.
Panicking at the sudden police presence, the perp let off a shot, not watching to see where it went, only vaguely realizing that he had caught at least one of them and that the other was attending to their wounds. Rushing blindly out of the room, he didn't notice Cho who came barreling into him and soon and him in handcuffs, despite the fact he was flailing wildly in attempt to get free. The Asian agent, furious and still not sure if Lisbon and Jane were okay, pulled the man off the floor and pressed him against the wall. He yanked the hood off the perp's head and his eyes widened slightly in shock.
"You."
TBC...
