Chapter eleven: It's not easy being green (Jane's pov)
A/N: So we are just over half way through. There will ultimately be twenty chapters. Just a reminder that next chapter I am raising the rating. T is probably as high as it will get, but I might have to raise it again later, For now enjoy and let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: No they are still not mine, I just wish they were.
Carlson didn't seem surprised to see me barging into her office.
The woman unnerved me almost as much as Teresa but for a very different reason. Where Lisbon's eyes were soft even behind her shield, Carlson's were a constant shimmer of emptiness. I've wondered if perhaps that is what people saw when they stared back at me.
Without so much as a shift in her position, Carlson smiled up at me. It was the smile of a professional show-woman and we both knew it.
"Can I help you Mr. Jane?" She asked quietly.
"Crystal won't survive the night with CPS. Red John will not let her live if she has outlived her usefulness to him."
"I agree," Was all she responded with.
Trying to keep my face as calm as my normal façade, I continued, "There is a very disagreeable man that is trying to take her in the bullpen right now."
"Ah yes Mr. Mikes. He is from CPS and has a group home ready for her."
I waited silently for her to continue. Instead her eyes pierced at me, as if she was searching for something in my face.
"Red John is a danger not only to the public but also to Agent Lisbon and her team in particular." Carlson began slowly.
Every word was weighted and neither of us wasted a thought on the chill in her tone.
"Minnelli warned me that you and this team were to close to the Red John case Mr. Jane, and I happen to agree. All of you are not only to close to this, but also it seems that Red John is to close to you. This isn't about keeping the public and my agents safe anymore, it somehow has become about just ending it, and I don't like that Mr. Jane. I don't like it at all."
I stayed quiet during her short mantra. I had known Minnelli would never leave that out of his warning to his successor. He was right, in more ways than one, but it didn't matter anymore. It was about ending it now for them, just as it had always been for me.
"Minnelli also told me that even though you all should be removed, it's not possible. At first I didn't agree, but now I realize he is right. It has gone too far Mr. Jane."
I nodded slowly but she continued on ignoring me.
"However what bothers me the most is the tension between everyone on the team. Tension can get people killed Mr. Jane, do you understand?"
For several seconds, I simply stared back at her. It was rare for me to be unsure of what I heard but this was definitely one of those occasions.
"What are you saying, Carlson?" I asked, shooing her one of my most charming smiles.
The woman didn't even bat an eyelash.
"I am here temporarily to fix the mess that this agency has been left in, starting with Lisbon and her team. I will do what ever I have to, to protect this agency Mr. Jane; I hope you can say the same."
I gave her a single sharp nod. I would have to deal with the repercussions of what she meant later, but for now my mind was back on Crystal and Lisbon.
"Good," Carlson said simply as she stood and headed out of her office toward the bullpen.
I follow closely at her heel's, trying to stave off the surprised look from my face.
"I apologize, Mr. Mikes," Carlson said the moment we were in the bullpen. "There seems to have been some miscommunication. This child is under our protection, she will not be accompanying you."
"This child needs to be placed in a home until we can find her family."
"Her family is deceased." Carlson's voice sounded suddenly colder, but I saw through the cloud of pretentious anger, that it was a show and nothing more.
"Then she needs to be placed somewhere safe. She needs…"
"She will be safe under Agent Lisbon's protection…"
Mikes opened and closed his mouth several times, like a fish gaping to breathe when it's lifted from the water. After several seconds, he finally surrendered and nodded begrudgingly.
No one spoke as Mikes disappeared off toward the elevators.
"You have a few days. CPS has enough work they aren't going to miss her, but at some point someone will." Carlson warned steadily, interrupting my musings.
Her eyes fell first on Teresa and the team before finally resting on me.
"I fully expect you to help Agent Lisbon. I meant what I said Patrick, remember that."
I kept my surprise and flash of fear well hidden even as Lisbon watched me suspiciously. I knew what Carlson meant, and I would remember, but Lisbon was better off not knowing.
Shrugging it off as nothing, I moved to my couch, I forced my breathing to remain steady and willed my heart to slow down.
Crystal climbed into my lap a few moments later, and I could feel Teresa's eyes on us. Once settled in my lap Crystal snuggled up to stare at the ceiling with me.
I watched as the shields came crashing down over Lisbon's eyes before she took off to her office. I knew she was hiding, and if she were being honest she knew it too.
Even as she snapped the door closed we both knew that once I would have called her out, once I would have appeared in the door way seconds after the snap just to taunt her, but that was too long ago. So I forced my attention to the child in my arms and in that moment I pretended it was a dream and not a nightmare that I'd found myself in.
All kids have endless lists of questions, but for Crystal they were more than shallow curiosity.
"He is going kill me, isn't he?" she whispered softly.
I froze beside her not knowing what to say, I opened my mouth to tell her one of my charming stories but her flashing eyes stop me.
Instead I told her just as softly, "we will protect you."
Her glittering eyes watched me silently for several seconds. Despite her eyes being blue they reminded me distinctly of Teresa's.
"Why does he hurt people? Why won't he leave us alone?"
The tears that had started to slip down her cheeks ripped at my heart.
"I don't know." I admitted sadly.
Crystal brushed her tears away with a small grimace. I tried not to smile as I wondered if she had stolen the look on her face from Lisbon, but her next question chased away all thoughts but the girl before me.
"I'm scared. Mommy is gone and I'm all alone, what am I going to do?"
Crystal let me wrap my arms around her small frame tightly as I told her, "you're going to be strong, and we are going to look after you."
"Promise?"
"I promise," and I meant it. I would do everything in my power to protect all of them.
Several hours later, I found myself talked into taking the team out to dinner, by a sweet blond hair blue eyed angel.
I didn't bother knocking as I slipped in the door to Teresa's office.
When she glanced up at me, she didn't seem surprised.
After several seconds of silence I finally spoke, "Crystal asked me to take her to get something to eat."
The surprise appeared and disappeared in a matter of seconds before she replied simply with, "Alright, try to stay out of trouble."
I grinned down at her and added, "The team is coming."
"Okay…"
I bit off the laugh and settled for an amused tone, "Teresa."
It took her several seconds to realize what she was hearing, and I saw the moment she realized what I meant.
"Oh, give me just a second, alright?" Teresa said in a rush starting to stack the countless files on her desk together.
I nod at her, wanting to keep the mask of playful teasing painted on her face.
It's only a moment that my smile returned but it was enough to make it worth it, at least until her soft smile was replaced with grieving eyes. I had no idea what was wrong, but I let her keep her secrets, so without another word I turned around and walked back to the bullpen, the feel of her eyes on me all the way.
The silence that fell between Lisbon and me through dinner was deafening. The team ignored it as they always had, and Crystal seemed un aware of it.
It wasn't until we were leaving the restaurant that Crystal spoke out.
"Can we go home?" Crystal's soft voice asked.
Lisbon suddenly had a frozen mask of shock and fear flashing across her face. She glanced up at me, and a light flush painted her cheeks. I had to fight not to smile as I watched her drop her eyes quickly to the child between us.
There was never really any question, even as Teresa looked up at me with careful eyes. When Crystal's small hand slid into Teresa's and her other slipped into mine, it was already decided.
"Night Patrick, night Tessa," Crystal whispered as she curled up into the blankets on Teresa's bed.
"When did she start calling you Tessa?"
"I don't know," Teresa admitted as she looked up at me. There was a faint pink blush on her face.
When she turned and hurried back down stairs I almost considered not following, but I knew I would, and so did she.
She moved to sit on her couch and I followed her.
For several seconds we sat in awkward silence before Teresa broke it in a soft voice.
"I guess we should talk about all of this."
I met her eyes and for just a second I thought I saw the shields slip away, but then Teresa never lets her shields down, at least not anymore.
