A/N: So, I mentioned to some people that this chapter would be going up by Friday. Clearly Tuesday counts as "by Friday." Ahem. (I needed a mental distraction, this was it.) Also, someone threatened to withhold my ice cream, which I thought was quite frankly, too far. I was all set to defy them. Then I finished the chapter instead. Not sure the next one will be so speedy, but ah well. This one's up.
Chapter 9
xxx
After her day of delivering letters to anyone she knew who might conceivably see Jane, Lisbon told herself that she'd done everything she could short of going and searching for her consultant herself (something she was fairly certain he wouldn't appreciate). She then told herself there was no reason to be nervous, particularly not right away. After all, the chances were absolutely miniscule that Jane dropped in on Hightower, for example, twenty-four hours after Lisbon had herself. Lastly, she told herself to relax.
Unsurprisingly, she was unable to take her own advice.
It was just that she didn't like limbo, didn't like inaction. She'd rather be doing something rather than just waiting around. It was part of the reason she at least wanted the option of answering Jane's letters. It would be something concrete that she could do. Although, she didn't want to just send letters out willy-nillly in the hopes that Jane decided to wander into a post office and ask if he had anything at general delivery. She did want there to be a small chance that he might actually get one, which was why she figured she'd better wait at least a week to start sending them out. There was a chance he'd have heard about her plan by then. (Again, a small chance, but still a chance.) Apart from giving Jane a week to possibly visit someone and get her message, Lisbon'd likely receive another letter from him in the intervening time, which would give her a more precise indication of his location.
Until then, she needed a distraction.
xxx
Lisbon's wished-for distraction came in the form of a new case. Not the re-opening of a cold case that Jane had hoped for, but a brand new double-homicide just outside of Malibu. Thanks to the location, the entire team couldn't help thinking of their missing consultant. Even if Jane's name was almost never mentioned aloud, his absence was felt, more so than in the team's earlier cases.
Maybe it was because the shock was starting to wear off.
Lisbon made sure to keep everyone busy, and did her best to keep up morale and maintain focus on their victims and not their geographic location. Not an easy task, given Van Pelt's propensity to gaze around wistfully every so often.
In the end, Lisbon's efforts paid off though, and after two days, Rigsby uncovered a key lead, indicating that both victims had known each other years earlier and upon crossing paths over a decade later, had started up an affair.
Lisbon figured the team's success was a good sign. Definitely a morale-booster, even if they did miss Jane.
Since she could see the case obviously winding down, and after sending Rigsby and Van Pelt to pick up one of the victim's husband, Lisbon allowed herself an extra-long lunch break to sneak over to Jane's old house. She was unsurprised to see it undisturbed (to be honest, she'd have been absolutely shocked if there'd been any signs that Jane had been there). She didn't waste any time poking around though; she simply slipped a final copy of her letter to Jane outlining her plan to send him letters via general delivery under the welcome mat. Leaving him a copy at the Malibu house had occurred to her the second she first opened the current case file and read where the crime scene had been located.
After all, even if Jane had yet to visit his old home, Lisbon had no doubt that he would eventually. Hopefully, when he did come he would find her letter, if he didn't already have a copy, of course.
Satisfied with the success of her little mission, Lisbon got back in her car and quietly drove away so as not to disturb the house further.
xxx
It was very late the following evening, that Lisbon was pulling into her own parking space at her condo, tired but satisfied with the trip. A guilty (along with bitter and betrayed) spouse was in custody, his confession on file. The team seemed to be adjusting a little more to working consultant-free with each passing case, and she'd be sleeping in her own bed that evening and not a lumpy motel mattress. All good things as far as Lisbon was concerned.
The letter she found in her mailbox was just the cherry on top.
x
Santa Rosa, California
Dear Lisbon,
It will come as no surprise to you to learn that I am still on the road.
I'm beginning to look forward to each new town (even if I have visited some before under other circumstances). It's interesting to see the differences in each little place, underneath the similarities that cities of a given size in a given geographical area tend to share. Some are friendlier, some are better laid out, some have really obvious and really specific landmarks.
This one has a museum dedicated to the guy who created "Peanuts". I've seen a lot of pictures of Snoopy today, let me tell you.
But for the most part, people are still people. Go into any small town diner on any given morning and you'll find the regulars, hunched over the tables sipping their coffee dealing with the waitress silently if she's not a morning person, or chatting with her if she's friendly. You'll see a harried mother or two, with a toddler determined to make as much noise as possible while simultaneously getting more food on their face and hands than in their mouth. You'll see a couple, snatching a few moments together before they have to head off to their respective workplaces in the morning. And you'll see the strangers, the out-of-towners, like yours truly, who this morning was trying to choke down particularly rubbery eggs. If you ever go to the Royal Diner downtown, I don't recommend getting your eggs scrambled. The fried looked like they were more reliable; unfortunately I didn't realize that until it was too late.
At least the tea was passable.
I think I'll try the restaurant on the other side of the street tomorrow. Or maybe I'll just grab a bagel at a coffee shop.
In spite of their eggs, I think I'll stick around this place another day. I feel like there's still more to see here.
I hope your week has been everything you hoped it would be, Teresa. Let's dream big here.
Or, at the very least, I hope your eggs were edible.
-Jane
x
Lisbon bit her lip.
She'd meant to wait a week to start sending out letters, but wouldn't it make more sense to send one now? After all, it would take a few days to get to its intended destination, and if she waited any longer, Jane would have probably moved on, and she'd just have to wait for his next letter.
Sure, he hadn't mentioned her letters in his, but he'd probably sent it on or around the day she'd dropped them off… No way he had one yet.
Besides, he wasn't all that far from Hightower. Sure, her office wasn't in the exact direction he seemed to be heading in, but…
But Jane had no real itinerary, so you never knew where he might end up.
And if the county fair schedule was anything to go by, it wasn't going to be too far out of Jane's way either, so if he was curious, or wanted to connect with old friends…
Lisbon sighed, she knew she was being ridiculously optimistic, but she didn't care.
Mind firmly made up, she walked over her coffee table and took out a sheet of notepaper from the top drawer. She was going to write him a letter.
If he didn't get it, he didn't get it. All she'd have wasted was a little of her own time and the cost of a stamp.
She figured she could live with that.
x
Dear Jane,
I'm trying this out, seeing how it goes. I know that the chances that you get this letter are slim, but I'm going to try anyway. Because I'm used to writing to you too. If you don't get this letter, you don't get it. I'm still determined to try.
I was away on a case this morning. I won't tell you the details, since I know you want to take a break from all of that. Quite frankly, I'm perfectly fine with declaring these letters a murder-free zone.
However, the fact that I was away on a case this morning means that I too had breakfast at a diner. I didn't order eggs though. I got the fruit salad and the yoghurt. I'm sure that's not a surprise to you. I'm not always a big eater in the mornings, and I don't like all the grease. Deal with it. Rigsby and Cho both got the scrambled eggs though. They seemed to enjoy them. Van Pelt got pancakes, in case you're interested.
I actually just got home about fifteen minutes ago. It's pretty late. Finding your letter was a nice surprise. I hope that you're doing alright. It sounds like you are. I'm glad. And I'm glad that you're still writing to me. I hope it's okay that I'm writing back (or at least trying to). If it's not, I don't have to. Or... well, you don't have to go pick the letters up. I may write them anyway. Like I said, I'm used to it.
Things are definitely quieter at work now that you're cruising around California. I guess that means we're both getting a little peace and quiet!
Seriously Jane, I hope you're doing as well as your letters imply. If you're not, you could tell me. You know I'm here.
Optimistically hoping you get this,
-Lisbon
x
Lisbon sealed her letter, and then tapped it on the table, wondering where to address it.
She grabbed her laptop and pulled up a map of California. Jane still seemed to be travelling north, albeit slightly more quickly than he had been. Assuming he continued moving in the same general direction, Windsor was probably the best bet for getting a letter to him. Although, knowing Jane he'd probably abruptly stop following his pattern, and veer off in some unexpected direction.
Still, it was the best she had to go on, so Lisbon figured may as well go with it. No point in turning back now. If Jane continued on as he was now, her best bet for catching him was probably either Healdsburg or Cloverdale. It might be better to address the letter to general delivery in Cloverdale. It was a bit farther along, and it might make more sense to choose the further town, just in case Jane drove farther than planned. If he didn't, he might pass through Cloverdale afterwards. It really all depended if he continued on with his apparent pattern of stopping at almost every city or town he passed.
Still, Cloverdale was her best guess. So that was what she settled on.
Mind made up, Lisbon addressed her letter and left it by the door to mail in the morning.
It wasn't a great plan, but it was better than nothing.
xxx
Lisbon continued to receive letters from Jane every two to three days. They were all relatively cheerful, much like his earlier ones. He certainly didn't appear to be in a big hurry to get anywhere fast. He'd hung around Santa Rosa for the better part of a week, in spite of its substandard scrambled eggs (although Jane was eventually able to confirm his theory that, not only were they much better fried at the first restaurant he'd been to, but the restaurant across the street was just better all around). Lisbon supposed his speed of travel made sense. If you weren't going anywhere in particularly, there was certainly no reason to rush.
Besides, the delays would help her keep track of his movements, and therefore correspond with him. If that ever became a possibility.
She tried not to be too impatient, but it was difficult.
Then, just over a week after she'd sent out her first letter, she got another reply from Jane in the mail.
x
Cloverdale, California,
Dear Teresa,
A funny thing happened to me today. I was driving along, and I happened to see signs for the county fair. Then I heard a little voice in my head telling me that it was important to connect with people, to maintain old friendships, and isolating yourself from absolutely everyone wasn't healthy (it shouldn't surprise you to learn that this voice sounded suspiciously like yours, Teresa). So I thought, what the heck? What's the harm? I'm passing through. I know people here. I should probably at least drop in and say hello. Worst case scenario, it results in a second slap to the face.
So, I pulled up to Pete and Sam's trailer, swaggered up to the door with a grin and knocked. Figured I'd give them a bit of a surprise, you see.
Sam opened the door and managed to look absolutely shocked to see me while simultaneously looking like it was exactly what she expected. I originally didn't read too much into it. That's just Sam, you see, Teresa. Then Pete walked over, and I was greeted with, "Huh. So you did show up."
Now that puzzled me a little, I'll admit. Particularly when Sam looked at him and said, "Don't it just beat all? Makes you wonder, don't it?"
"Mmhm." Pete replied, grinning at me superiorly.
That was when I started to get a little irritated. Usually I'm the one who likes to grin at people in a superior manner, as you well know. But I'm not wild about being on the receiving end of that kind of treatment. So I did what any sensible person would do in my situation. I demanded to know what the hell they were talking about.
Pete and Sam shared a look that could only be described as an amused smirk. They invited me in; then Sam wandered into the other room and fished something out from beside the refrigerator. "We have a message for you," she told me with false gravity, handing me an envelope.
Given the source of the letter, I was expecting news from Danny. Imagine my surprise when I saw whose handwriting was actually on the front of the envelope I held in my hand. Even Pete picked up on my surprise, to his overwhelming satisfaction. That made the whole situation still more irritating.
"Guess we gotta hand it to little Pepper," Pete said, still grinning foolishly. "She sure has your number, Patty."
Now, at this point I would like to interject Teresa, just what on earth did you do that you managed to win over poor Pete so completely? Poor helpless Pete. He never stood a chance against you, did he? You must tell me your secret. I'd have thought handcuffing to his own truck would be a permanent black mark on your name, but apparently not. You certainly charmed him. It later became obvious that even Sam was willing to tolerate you, at least as my friend, which is, quite frankly, nothing short of a miracle.
Sam agreed with Pete that you were something, only pausing to add some less than complimentary remarks about yours truly, particularly my level of intelligence. But that's nothing new. Then we all sat down to our visit. It wasn't long. I was really only dropping by, after all. And the three of us don't have all that much in common anymore. I drank a cup of tea, passed my regards on to Danny, and then I headed on my way. I planned to get to Cloverdale by the evening, find my usual motel. Course, I only got a few kilometres away from Pete and Sam's before curiosity got the better of me and I had to pull over on the side of the road.
After all, what on earth would be worth your driving all over the state just to tell yours truly?
Oh, Teresa…
I'm not going to lie to you, your suggestion wasn't at all what I was expecting your letter to say. Not in the slightest. But, you foolish woman. You foolish, foolish woman. Of course I'd like to receive your letters. Of course I'll check general delivery at any town I happen to pass through. It'll be a bit hit and miss of course, but I'm certainly willing to give it a shot, if you're willing to take the time to write letters you have no guarantee will ever get to me. I suppose, in hindsight, that this whole arrangement was a little selfish of me (not that that type of behaviour from me should surprise you). After all, I can write to you, but you couldn't respond. It's not particularly fair, is it?
I just couldn't think of a way around that. I need to be alone. And I need the freedom to come and go as I please. Not that you ever tried to stop me, but… I just, I'm not in place where I can arrange times to phone you, so that we can have awkward conversations where neither of us really know what to say, and we're both a bit sad, and you eventually ask questions I don't have the answers to. That doesn't mean I didn't want to hear from you though. I just… I couldn't see a solution. Luckily, you had your clever hat on.
Anyway, I resolved to write you a reply the second I got into Cloverdale, telling you to go ahead and send me letters via general delivery. I assumed you wouldn't have started sending out notes until you at least got confirmation that I was checking. That would be the sensible course of action after all.
And then I thought, what am I saying? You're Lisbon. In hindsight, I can't believe the notion that you might sit around doing nothing even crossed my mind. Whether you picked the right city struck me as being the more immediate problem. I barely spent a night in Healdsburg. But as you no doubt suspect, I had underestimated you. I found a letter waiting for me. It was maybe a week old, but it was still waiting.
I've never been more pleased by the tangible results of your stubbornness before, dear. I'm not in any kind of mindset to come to work day to day, but I have missed hearing from you. You've come up with an ingenious solution to the dilemma, so go ahead and look pleased with yourself. It's not as irritating when you do it as when Pete does.
I'm glad your cases are going well, even without me. (Although, almost three days to solve a measly little double homicide, Lisbon? You'd better pick up the pace!) I'm glad things are going smoothly in your life. I'm still managing to keep out of trouble, as well as sane, which I think we can both agree is a win.
Excited to try some new eggs tomorrow morning. I have a good feeling about Cloverdale now.
Your unworthy, yet faithful, correspondent,
-Jane
x
Lisbon was well aware that she was indeed grinning like a fool. She was sitting on her couch, in her living room, grinning like a fool. But she didn't care. One, there was no one around to see her. Two, she had her pen pal back. And three, Jane wasn't completely opposed to hearing from her on his road trip, which Lisbon took to mean that he wasn't mad at her, but more just confused and lost in general.
In her excitement, she grabbed her laptop to try and figure out where Jane might go next, and then grabbed another sheet of note paper.
x
Dear Jane,
I'm so glad that you got my letter. So glad. I was worried it might take weeks, or even months. I'm attributing it entirely to my voice in your head, just so you know. Absolutely taking full credit for this, right here.
It's nice that you dropped in on old friends too, even apart from the fact that it allows me to have some hope of my letters actually reaching you. If you keep it up, people might even stop accusing you of being antisocial! To answer your question, I didn't do anything to Pete! Of the two of us, you're the one who constantly manages to charm people into liking them for no good reason that I can see. (For your information, Annie thinks that it has something to do with your hair.) Although, I'm glad that he didn't hold a grudge, and that he and Sam did pass on my letter. I know we'll never be the best of friends. And that's fine. But I appreciate that they did me the favour.
I'm also glad that my letters aren't imposing on the solitude you need. I don't want to push. I just want to write back. You understand that though, I guess. Thanks. I really hope you sort some things out out. You certainly make driving through parts of California sound appealing. Particularly since I was in budget meetings for most of the day today. I started praying for an urgent case, no luck.
Oh well, the weekend's coming up, and Annie wants to come visit soon, to make up for her missed week in the summer. That should be fun. No date set for that yet, though. Oh well, we'll get it sorted eventually.
I hope you enjoyed your eggs. I had oatmeal this morning.
Good luck on you travels!
-Lisbon
x
Two sentences into her letter, Lisbon was tempted to tear up the note and start again. Then she changed her mind. Maybe it was a good thing that Jane knew she was happy (and a little excited) to be writing to him again. The tone of his last letter had obviously been pleased, not to mention it'd been a fair bit longer than usual.
She remembered a past conversation about how with a letter you could be very deliberate about what you sent, but it took more effort to change a message once it was written down.
Well, this was written down, and she wasn't going to change it. Not today at least.
Before she could change her mind, Lisbon tucked her note in an envelope. Addressing it, she made a mental note to go and buy more stamps the next day. She was now going through them much more quickly than she used to. She decided to find some with interesting pictures on the front. After all, they might give Jane a laugh.
That was really one of her main goals with her notes after all (the other was obviously to keep in touch with Jane). Peaceful as his endless road trip might be, Lisbon figured Jane had to get lonely from time to time. Hell, sometimes she got lonely, and she didn't spend large chunks of her days alone in a car. If nothing else, her letters would remind Jane that he at least had one friend. If he decided to make contact with a few others along the way, or even make some new ones, so much the better.
She knew that there hadn't been anything in her notes that was groundbreaking, but sometimes people just needed a little bit of a distraction. The letters could be that thing, for both of them. Jane was going through some pretty heavy stuff to put it mildly, and her job was tough, stressful. Everyone could use a healthy outlet like this. After all, what else were friends for?
Lisbon nodded to herself. It was an odd method of communication, to be sure. Jane's letters would come to her in a specific order while the ones he received from her would almost certainly not, and would definitely contain gaps. Lisbon figured she might be able to get pretty good at predicting where Jane was headed with time, but she was under no illusions that she'd ever be 100%.
Still, she found she kind of liked it as a system. It was a bit unorthodox, a bit whimsical, just like Jane himself. It didn't put too much pressure on either of them, and they both got the benefits of keeping in touch.
Besides, Lisbon laughed to herself. They were helping out the postal workers. Weren't they always complaining about how the volume of letter mail was constantly declining? She and Jane were just doing their part.
Lisbon folded up her letter to put it with the others. Then, she wandered into her kitchen, trying to decide whether or not she wanted to order Chinese or Thai for dinner.
Today had been a good day.
xxx
Having received a letter from Jane the evening before, Lisbon wasn't expecting to hear from him for a couple of days at minimum. So it was with some surprise that she found a postcard in her mailbox the next morning.
It had a photo of Novato, California on the front. On the back, all that Jane's message was short.
x
Dear Teresa,
Turns out this place has quite the used bookstore. On a whim I picked up a copy of Sherlock Holmes. Thought you'd like that.
-Jane
x
Lisbon grinned. Quickly she ripped a piece of paper off of a pad from her briefcase, taking a few seconds to scrawl down a reply.
X
Dear Jane,
Thrilled to hear about your chosen reading material!
For my next reading project, I'm thinking of starting either, "The Sheik's Prisoner" or "The Playboy Millionaire's Plaything." Not particularly inspiring titles, I know, but when you're reading Harlequins teh selection can be rather limited.
-Lisbon
P.S. I'm kidding of course. Actually, I'm reading a book on motivating your employees and building trust, but I thought you'd be less interested in that sort of thing.
x
Lisbon chuckled. She'd mail her note from work. If it went out in the mail today, he'd probably get both letters at the same. Or not get either of them, if he changed direction, but she was choosing to be optimistic this morning.
Why not?
The sun was shining. It really was a beautiful day.
xxx
TBC
Alright, so that's the end of the chapter. Here's the thing though, I'm writing this fic with Lisbon as my only narrator, which mostly I'm finding works really well. But I'm not used to writing from a limited point of view. I tend to mix Jane and Lisbon's POVs, particularly in multichapters. Not this time. As I said, not a problem, but...
There is one scene that I really wanted to write, but it could only ever be from Jane's point of view. And it's not something I think he'd ever tell her the details of. Nor would anyone else.
Thus, I bring you, my first ever, Deleted Scene (because ridiculously, apparently this fic has extras now). You don't have to read it; it won't affect the plot of the fic. I just think it's fun.
It's set right after Sam hands Jane Lisbon's letter.
xx
"I assume you know what that is," Sam said neutrally.
Jane blinked, staring at the letter in his hands. "I recognize the handwriting," he said, his voice low.
Sam was watching him closely. "Thought you might."
Something in her tone made Jane look up quickly, guiltily. "It's not what it looks like," he insisted.
"Mmhm," she said, eyebrow raised.
Jane decided to just ignore her. He'd learned long ago that arguing with Sam rarely ended well for him. Instead, he turned back to his letter. Something caught his eye. "The seal of this letter doesn't look like it was steamed open and re-glued," he observed, more than a little surprised by that fact.
"That's because it wasn't," Sam told him, managing to convey with her tone that she thought his observation a little idiotic.
Jane hastened to defend his position. "You had it in your possession for what I assume was a minimum of a week or two and you didn't steam it open?" He asked sceptically.
"Didn't need to, Patty," Pete informed him.
That confused Jane. "What?"
Sam grinned. "Your state trooper told us what was inside herself."
Jane scowled at her tone, "She's not my state trooper."
"Well, she's certainly not mine," Sam couldn't resist pointing out.
Jane considered that. "I guess not," he said eventually. Then he held up the letter. "So, you know what this says."
The woman across from him nodded, her tone superior. "Mmhm."
"Oh," he said inadequately. He really didn't know what to say to that.
"Why? Do you not want the letter?" she asked curiously.
Jane's grip tightened automatically (possessively) on the envelope in his hand. "Of course I want the letter! Why wouldn't I want…"
"That's what I thought," Sam said with a nod, interrupting Jane's babbling.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Jane demanded.
Sam met his eyes, and gave it to him straight. Just like she always had (unless she was trying to con him of course). "Just that you're a damn fool, Patrick Jane."
"Possibly," Jane agreed easily. "But I don't know what brought that observation on today..."
"Yeah, you do. After all, it's clear to anyone with eyes in their head..." Sam countered.
"Something you seem to have lost recently," Pete interjected cheerfully.
Sam continued, ignoring the interruption and picking up where she'd left off. "... that you want to read that letter in your hand more than you want to talk to the likes of us."
Suddenly Pete stood. Jane stood with him out of habit, and let himself be led to the door. "You keep in touch now, Patrick!" Pete said, clapping him on the arm.
"Yeah, thanks for this guys," he murmured awkwardly, unsure of what to say, of how to explain. There was no explaining really. They wouldn't understand. How could they? "And thanks for the tea."
"Drop by if your travels bring you our way again, you hear?" Sam ordered.
"I will," Jane promised them as he headed towards his faithful car, trying to sort out what on earth had just happened.
x
There you have it! Hope you enjoyed it. (And the rest of the chapter, obviously)
