A/N: I'm back. With a shorter wait than usual (though a terribly long one nonetheless). My apologies. Anyway, enjoy. This was difficult to write; I lost inspiration halfway through.
The world slowly crept into focus, the white fuzz gradually being replaced with dingy concrete walls and a mould-covered ceiling. Annie blinked once, then when the fog didn't clear, she blinked again. Once she could see clearly, her eyes swept the room. Red John was no longer inside, and she vaguely registered that the pain she'd been in before was no longer apparent with nearly as much force.
Testing her limbs warily, she discovered they were unrestrained, though they felt laden down with concrete. She groaned softly, reaching up to touch her head, which was throbbing. The slashes on her body were aching and, as she dragged her tired eyes over her body, she could see they hadn't been treated with the proper care. God, it hurt. She rolled over, somehow ending up in a tangle of pained limbs on the floor. The shock of the concrete floor vibrated up through her tailbone, sending a wave of pain up her spine and smacking into the base of her skull. She needed to get out of here. That much she was certain of. She needed to get to her aunt. To a hospital. But why was she even in here?
"Hello Annie," a rough, low voice reverberated around the room, seemingly coming from nowhere. "How are you feeling?"
"You bastard!" Annie shouted, though the effort made the pressure in her head swell. "Why am I even in here?"
"Oh, Annie," Red John's voice was oddly chilling, seeming to skulk around her in a wisp, seeping into her body and causing goosebumps to break out along her arms. "It's nothing you've done. Well, except maybe have the will to stay alive."
"What?" Annie furrowed her brow, which caused another blossom of pain to grow behind her eyes.
"You're just a pawn, my dear. So yes, I am dreadfully sorry. But you don't have to worry about that. In fact, in a little while, you won't have to worry about anything at all."
The double meaning of his words caused a shiver of fear to climb up Annie's spine. It lodged itself beside the pain there, the two melting into one. "Oh," she said, so softly it may have just been an exhale.
"And I couldn't very well leave you there, in that horrid hospital. I mean, you could tell them about me. And that's our little secret. Anyways," Red John's voice was deceptively light by now. "I'll be sure to say hello to your dearest Aunt Reese and Patrick for you, when they come."
"Leave them alone!" Annie shouted, her bravado returning with the mention of her aunt and friend.
There was silence for a moment, and Annie could practically imagine Red John shrugging.
"I hope you said a nice goodbye."
X
"Dammit," Lisbon spun in a circle, smacking her hand hard against the wall. She'd insisted the team go home, get some sleep. It wasn't healthy for all of them to be running themselves down like this. But god knows she wouldn't be able to even close her eyes. Not with Annie missing. Not with her beautiful, cheerful, bubbly niece gone. Stolen. And in pain.
Her one job the entire time she was growing up was to look after her brothers. Hell, she still considered that her job. Her instincts were tuned to the three of them, putting their needs before hers. And then Tommy had Annie. Well, technically not Tommy, but Annie fell under Tommy's care, and therefore fell under Lisbon's care as well. So she'd happily extended her protective bubble, to include little Annabeth Lisbon. And now she'd let Red John break her bubble. He'd broken it, because she'd been careless. And he'd done it to hurt her. Or Jane. Either way, Annie was gone. And the chances of finding her alive were getting slimmer with each passing hour. Lisbon peeled her tired body from where it rested against the wall and poured herself a cup of coffee. If she wasn't going to get any sleep, she may as well do something productive.
She'd been propped against the kitchen counter for approximately five minutes, slowly sipping her bland coffee and lost in thought, before there was a knock at her door. Lisbon made her way over to the door, checking the peephole briefly before opening it. It didn't exactly surprise her when she was greeted with a head of blonde curls and a childish grin.
"What are you doing here, Jane?"
The consultant shrugged. "Dunno."
"Jane," Lisbon said warningly, leaning against the doorframe.
Jane's blue gaze dropped to the ground, suddenly uncharacteristically shy.
Lisbon knew why he was here. Two reasons, in fact. The first was that he didn't want her to be alone. He knew the pain of losing a child, and he didn't want her to feel it by herself. Though Annie's situation was rapidly becoming worse, Lisbon still had hope. And Jane wanted to fuel that. The second reason was that he didn't want to be alone. He'd already lost one child, and had to deal with everything by himself. He needed someone to lean on. He needed support, and Lisbon knew she could do that.
"Come in," she told him, stepping back into the room. She didn't know whether she was doing it more for her comfort, or his.
"Wanna watch a movie?" Jane said, making himself at home on her couch.
"I don't really want to do anything, Jane," Lisbon said, flopping down onto the material beside him.
"Well, we're going to watch a movie," the consultant began to flick through the channels, finally stopping on one playing a semi-cheesy romance movie. "And you are going to get your mind off of Annie and Red John and everything else. At least for a night."
"And you?" Lisbon turned to face him.
He shrugged again. "Here for company."
"Are you going to get your mind off all that stuff too?"
Jane hesitated for a moment, before giving her a small smile. "I'll try."
Near the end of the movie, Lisbon fell asleep, her eyelids heavy with the worries over the case and, more importantly, her niece. Her green eyes were hidden by tired lids now, and her body was leaning slightly towards Jane. Every second, their bodies were getting closer, Lisbon's exhausted body slumping over as she breathed deeply. Jane lifted his arm, resting it along the back of the couch in anticipation of Lisbon's final movement into his side. A few moments later, that's exactly what happened. Jane was torn for a moment. Was this what he was supposed to be doing? What Lisbon would want him doing? He pushed the doubts to the back of his mind, pleased that even though he couldn't find solace in the dark arms of sleep, at least his petite boss could.
His phone, switched to vibrate and in his jacket pocket, began to ring silently. Jane cursed whomever it was that was calling. And himself, for putting his phone in that particular pocket. It was the inside jacket pocket, situated on the side that Lisbon was currently lying against. He glanced at her face, praying that she was deep enough in sleep's clutches that the motion of a phone against her back didn't pull her out. Thankfully, he realized as he studied her still-relaxed expression, she was a heavy sleeper. Jane closed his eyes and waited for it to go to voicemail, which it did.
About half an hour later, a little way into some crime show Jane really couldn't care less about, Lisbon awoke. Slowly, she straightened, rubbing at her eyes unconsciously with a small pale hand. Jane fought the urge to hold her.
"How long was I out?" Lisbon either didn't notice their position or chose not to comment, either of which Jane was grateful for.
"A while," Jane said noncommittally. Suddenly he remembered the call he'd received while Lisbon was asleep.
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled the phone from its depths. He brought up his voicemail and raised the phone to his ear.
"Hello Patrick," an eerily familiar voice whispered to him. His face dropped, eyes widening, and Lisbon perked up instantly. She noticed the change in his demeanor, her eyes clearing within a fraction of a second, and leant forward unconsciously. Jane noticed there was that small line between her brows that appeared only when she was worried or stressed. Before he realized it, the voice was speaking to him again.
"It's me. Annabeth says hello."
A/N: I know I could've made Lisbon awake when Jane got the call, but I couldn't resist adding in a touch of Jisbon.
As usual, let me know what you thought!
