Authors Note: So I really shouldn't be posting this right now, especially as I don't have the next part written, but what can I say, I had a crappy day at work, so to cheer myself up, I'm posting this and am going to spend all night making apple butter, blackberry jam and burp rags. Thanks to Ebony10 for betaing for me, and to every one who read and responded :)
Disclaimer: If they were mine, I wouldn't have to have the job I do, and I wouldn't have to worry about the economy and the fact that no one is buying anything anymore.
Jane sat on his couch. He had left Lisbon's office soon after she had called saying she was coming back, not wanting her to know that he had been in there. His eyes were closed, but he wasn't sleeping. She had sounded spooked on the phone, not that she would have admitted it to him if he had asked. He didn't know what would have gotten her upset enough to come back to work tonight. It must have been pretty important if she couldn't even wait until morning.
He heard the elevator ding down the hall and her footsteps coming towards him. "My office, Jane." She called into the bullpen before going into her office. He waited a few minutes before following her. He didn't say anything when he got in. He just stood there, knowing she would speak when she was ready.
"A package was delivered to my house today, postmarked Sacramento. Same zip code as mine." She paused here, unsure how to continue. She pulled the large envelope out of her bag and laid it on the desk in front of her. Jane looked at it as if he could tell what was in it just by staring at it.
"Are you going to tell me what's in it or are you just going to sit there?" Asked Jane after a few minutes.
Lisbon opened the envelope and emptied it on the desk in front of her. It only took a second for him to realize what he was looking at and he sat down heavily in the chair across from her. "Are these all…"
"There pictures of me mostly," She said, cutting him off. "Some of you, a few of us. And to say that the picture he left at the last crime scene could have been worse is an understatement." She rifled through the pictures on her desk and pulled one out. "This is the only one that's signed."
She handed him the picture. He had to try very hard to control his emotions and keep the anger and fear off his face when he looked at it. It was a picture similar to the one that had been left for them at the last crime scene, but in this one you could tell who the man and woman were and they were in a much more comprising position. There was no denying what was going on in this picture. It was also one of the largest pictures and down in the bottom corner was a red smiley face.
Jane stared at it for a few minutes before laying it on the desk and picking up the rest of the pictures to go though them. They were all different sizes and finishes, like Red John hadn't been sure what he was going to be doing with them when he developed them. A picture of him and Lisbon together made him stop. He knew when that picture had been taken. They were walking into the CBI building together the morning that they got the Red John case. They were both smiling and he was holding the door for her. He had seen the man taking the picture and he hadn't thought anything of it.
"I saw him." He said quietly. "I saw him!" The second time was more forceful and angry and he banged his fist on the desk in front of him. "He was standing right outside, taking pictures and I didn't think anything of it. I saw him and I didn't even think!" He didn't bother trying to hide his anger now. Red John was playing him for the fool, again.
"Hey, calm down. Breaking my desk isn't going to solve anything. Obviously Red John still thinks you've forgotten your 'lesson' so we just need to work harder to convince him."
Jane shook his head. This was Red John. He was toying with him. It was not going to work. "I'm sick of trying to please a serial killer. I've let him rule my life for almost six years now. I'm done."
"Maybe you are, but I'm still petrified of him." She started going through the pictures on the desk, pulling out the ones that might be an embarrassment if seen by the rest of the team. "I'll leave these here. We can deal with them in the morning. Why don't you at least attempt to go home this time? You can't get much sleep on that couch." She put the pictures she had pulled out in her bag and walked towards her door for the second time that night.
"I won't get any sleep when I know the woman I care about is out there alone, without protection. Let me come with you." He moved to stop her from leaving, but the look in her eyes stopped him in his tracks.
"I'm the one with the gun, remember? I will be fine. Personally, I don't want to piss him off any more than he appears to be by taunting him and ignoring his warnings. Do not follow me home, Jane. If you do, Red john will be the least of your problems."
He just stared at her as she left. Why did she insist on being so difficult? Couldn't she see that he really just wanted to protect her? Didn't she know that he loved her?