Jane had been growing more and more nervous as the date of the trial drew closer; he'd always thought he wouldn't care whether he ended up spending the rest of his life in jail or even worse, but now he had a very important reason for wanting to walk out of the court as a free man.
His daughter needed him, no matter how hard he tried to deny it; he was actually grateful to Lisbon for taking matters into her own hands so that such a tricky decision didn't have to fall on his own shoulders. He wondered what Red John would think of it, but then the madman was dead and they didn't need to care about him anymore.
Admitted the jury found him not guilty, that was.
When he finally stood up inside that courtroom he did his best to look outwardly calm and yet, he could barely work his way out of the turmoil of his own feelings. He still did his best to charm the jury, told them exactly how he felt as he pulled the trigger; the only thing he faked was the fear of death that supposedly took hold of him as Carter wielded his gun at him.
Physical courage had never been his strong suit, but at that moment in time the only thing he'd cared about was his personal revenge; however, he couldn't share the detail with the jury, for they surely wouldn't approve of his reasons.
It was a small relief to see the familiar faces of his friends gathered at the other end of the room. Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt were smiling at him, and he even spotted Madeleine Hightower in a corner. There was also Gale Bertram, of course, and while Jane had never counted him as a friend he still didn't mind another familiar face in the crowd.
He counted each of his heartbeats as he watched the jury enter back the room, his mind focused entirely on his daughter that was waiting for him outside with Lisbon; they'd both agreed that a courtroom wasn't a good place for a teenager, especially when there was her father's fate at stake.
When the president of the jury opened her mouth to speak, the only words that truly reached his dazed brain were 'not guilty on all counts'. He let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, and a tear of relief sprang from the corner of his eye.
xxx
The CBI director was the first to step out of the court; he was truly pleased with how everything had wrapped up, now that this sorry mess was firmly behind their back the public opinion could finally forget about it.
"Good job, Lisbon," he threw at the senior agent as he walked past her. Now things could get back to how they'd always been, Jane would still help them close cases while his direct superior would do her best to rein him in.
And they'd also managed to bring down California's deadliest serial killer; it didn't matter that Jane had done it in an utterly unorthodox way, all that mattered was that he was a member of his bureau so that people would perceive it as one of their victories.
For the first time in years he gazed up to the sky, then began to whistle as he strolled away.
xxx
The fact that Bertram had congratulated her could only mean that the jury had gone for the not guilty verdict, and Lisbon finally allowed relief to wash over her. Then the rest of her team joined her, along with Hightower who had now been cleared and would soon resume her previous position at the CBI.
Something definitely close to a smile was tugging at Cho's lips, and that spoke volumes about how her team members cared about each other. It didn't matter how many stunts Jane had played on them in the past, they still considered him as family and nothing could ever change that.
They were really an odd kind of family, but it worked somehow; even Rigsby and Van Pelt seemed to have settled into some sort of friendship of late, and that was probably what the younger agent needed at this moment in time.
All of them congratulated Charlotte, they'd already grown fond of her and they probably expected to be a part of her life even now that everything was over. Lisbon had no idea whether Jane would choose to stay at the CBI or not, but their bond of friendship would always remain regardless of the fact they kept working together or not.
The crowd had already dissipated when Jane finally appeared. He looked exactly the same as always, and that was perhaps the most surprising thing of all; he'd been chasing a monster for so long, she still marveled that it hadn't changed him in some ways.
Charlotte immediately ran towards him and into his arms; the burden of her past hadn't magically disappeared and yet, everything was going to be alright now that she was reunited with her father at last. It took Jane a few moments to disentangle himself from her embrace, so that he could thank the friends that had always stuck to him and had managed to set him free in the end.
He embraced Van Pelt first, then patted Rigsby on the back; Cho gave him a handshake that was more eloquent than any words, while Hightower decided to go for a quick peck on his cheek.
In the end he was finally standing in front of her, and Lisbon stared him in the eyes for a silent moment. Their friendship was utterly precious to her, and she knew the same applied to Jane as well; sometimes words were just unnecessary, so she simply smiled at him and was rewarded with one of his dazzling grins.
"Thank you," he said at last, and leaned forward to place a friendly kiss on her cheek.
Lisbon let out a soft sigh as she watched him walk away arm in arm with his daughter, ready to start a new life together. The good didn't always win, but the times it did were those that really mattered to her; if she could do as much as make the difference, that was precisely what made her job worth it.
Even more so when it came to a friend, and a member of her team.