A/N: Last week chapters 23 and 24 were posted within minutes of each other.
Please be sure to read chapter 23 as subsequent chapters will make more sense.
Sorry about the confusion.
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Chapter 25: Same Old, Same Old
Jane and Lisbon
It was almost nine p.m. when Lisbon got in.
Sprawled on the couch and surrounded by files, Jane looked up from the one he was studying. "Finally!" He got up. She put down her briefcase and keys and deposited her holstered gun in the safe by the door. She turned just as he walked up and eagerly joined in a hug and welcoming kiss.
"'Finally,' yourself. Thought the drive back from San Diego would take longer." She pulled back a little to look into his face.
He showered her with several playful smooches before answering. "We wrapped it up a little after noon."
"And I bet you still were speeding."
"I take the fifth. Besides, speed limits are only suggestions."
She snorted rudely, "See how well that goes over with a cop."
He tipped his head sideways. "What kept you out late?" He trailed her as she moved to their bedroom to change out of work clothes. She stopped in the bathroom and washed the makeup off her face.
"Ally and I were celebrating the embryo transfer."
"Ah, that was today. Forgot. –How did it go?"
Jane returned to the living room, cleared the files from the couch and sat down. Lisbon got a soda and joined him. She frowned. "What's all this? Blake files when you just got back?"
"Just checking something out. –Uh, embryo transfer. How'd it go?"
"Quick. Two embryos were transferred to Ally. She said it was no big deal as ob-gyn stuff goes. . . . In two weeks we'll find out if we're gonna be parents."
"No wonder you weren't drinking."
Her forehead wrinkled a bit in discomfort at being read. As usual. Wryly, "It seemed inconsiderate to drink when we're the reason Al can't drink."
He studied her. "What aren't you telling me?"
Lisbon shrugged. "Eh. Long day, The embryo transfer was a little weird and emotional." She reached for her Coke and looked him over while she sipped. "Jane, how did you cut your neck? And–" catching sight of the bandage on his hand, "what happened to your hand?"
There was something more going on about the clinic appointment. He let it slide as he turned to defending his actions after the latest attack. "Uh, cut my neck on some wire - really, just a scratch. Hand, too. Cho's new agent Crenshaw patched me up. Convenient to have a nurse on the team."
Lisbon drank more of her Coke, drawing out the pause. "I had lunch with Grace today. Want to try again?"
Jane huffed. "Busted," he muttered. He sipped his tea before continuing. "A Blake member attacked me in the observation room yesterday. Cho took him down. No big deal."
"Dammit, Jane. What part of being careful and telling me isn't clear? Someone trying to kill you is always a big deal."
"Lisbon – Teresa, I didn't do anything. I was observing an interview. And I did call. First you were in a meeting and then it was too late after dinner. I tried calling on the drive back but it went to voice mail."
Lisbon turned his face sideways with her fingers, the better to check out the cut, which was healing well despite the bright red. Her tone softened and she sighed. "I couldn't take calls while I met with the AG. And I switched my cell to voice mail while Al and I were at the clinic this afternoon. Why wasn't an agent with you all the time? And what kept you so late you couldn't call?"
"Mancini's man was with me but got sick. –I think Cho and Mancini went at it afterward. I tried to smooth things over with the Feebes. Dinner, drinks and pool. That's why the evening ran late."
She nestled alongside and idly played with his hair. Worried, "Patrick, that's five attempts in the last several months. This isn't working. We have to come up with something better."
He gestured at the stacks of files. "I'm working on it, Teresa." He sighed. "I know there's a connection, a way to ID the people calling the shots in Blake. Once we go on the offensive, the upper echelon of Blake will run or look for cover rather than attack."
"How can you be sure Blake operates that way? You could be searching for something that doesn't exist.
"It's logical a communication method exists for the upper Blake members. Therefore, I'm confident it does exist. –That's the way I'd do it."
Softly. "Hope so. Let's table this till Monday." After a moment, "You've eaten?"
"Mmm-hmm." She turned to face him, one leg bent, on the couch next to his. It wasn't that late. Her attention and hands turned to a warmer welcome home. Kisses heated and deepened, friendly hugs and stroking became fondling, clothes became an impediment and then vanished altogether. The bedroom beckoned. End of the two week drought in intimacy. Finally.
The rest of the weekend was the usual mix of professional and personal. The Rigsby's hosted a July 4th barbeque, taking advantage of the grilling facilities and pool at their apartment complex. In addition to Ben and Maddie and Ben's mother Sarah, Cho, Jane, Lisbon and Crenshaw joined them. Though they were welcome to, neither Cho nor Crenshaw brought a date. Later, Ben's exuberant joy at the fireworks was infectious, reminding everyone to enjoy the simple, innocent pleasure.
Jane worked on the files looking for Blake's means of communication. He and Van Pelt had been pursuing this tack for two weeks with little to show. Jane relieved the frustration with chores and cooking and simply sharing time with Lisbon. After a decade of hunting Red John, he was overjoyed to be living with the woman he loved in their home. He was overjoyed to even have a home after the self-punishment of the motel room and attic.
Lisbon tackled the endless CBI paperwork, although much of it was actually done on computer. She spent her time negotiating with sister agencies and the AG's office, reviewing policy papers, approving (or, occasionally, disapproving) promotions, making plans for better recruiting and training new agents and team leaders, setting goals and measuring the performance of the CBI overall and the CBI branches and individual units. Such were the boring but indispensable underpinnings of a bureaucracy. She would have been more frustrated if she didn't appreciate the work as necessary. Thus, the work provided satisfaction but rarely pleasure. Finishing a policy paper was a far cry from the emotional high of taking down a perp. She still missed closely working with her former team and, even more, Jane. Having him in her personal life was a salve, but she missed solving cases with her extraordinary consultant.
Jane looked forward to the several days they would spend at the CBI next week. Three parties had expressed serious interest in buying his Malibu house - two couples and a single businessman. In turn, he was enjoying the give and take of negotiating in earnest with Mrs. Lundberg over the purchase of the 20 acre parcel in Sacramento. And he learned his former general contractor was interested in building their new house.
Rigsby, Van Pelt, Rigsby and Rigsby
"Ben, eat your lunch and – Watch out, buddy!" Wayne Rigsby snatched the glass of milk up before Ben's arm could spill it. Just the pepper shaker tipped over.
"Sorry, Babe. I should have moved those files before lunch," Grace Van Pelt commented as she fed Maddie another spoon of baby food. It was Saturday and the family was headed for the kiddie amusement park after lunch. Wayne got weekends with Ben. Since Van Pelt was consigned to desk duty because of her advancing pregnancy, they didn't have to scramble for 24/7 baby‑sitting as they did when both were out of town hunting Blake members. But it was a pleasure having the whole family together while Wayne was home for the July 4th weekend and into next week.
"No harm done." Wayne picked up the open file and shook off the flakes of pepper." He frowned a bit, laid the papers down and absently brushed them with his hand. "That's funny. Some pepper seems to have stuck."
Van Pelt got up and removed most of the files to a counter. At Wayne's comment she looked closely at the page in question. It was the second page of an e-mail printout from Gale Bertram's file. The page was blank except for several dots near the left-hand side. "Huh. That's not pepper. They're periods. Odd."
"Yeah, whatever. So long as we didn't mess them up."
Van Pelt left that file open as she put it with the rest and resumed feeding Maddie. She'd take another look when they got back and the kids were sleeping.
Lisbon, Hightower and Cho
Lisbon laid out the problem. "Mancini called and is reconsidering working with the CBI on Blake."
"Mancini knew the agent he assigned to shadow Jane was sick. Jane was attacked. How was calling Mancini on his mistake wrong?" responded Cho.
Hightower interjected, "Not wrong, Cho. Just unwise. Like it or not, we need Mancini's manpower for this project."
Lisbon said with a grimace, "I'll talk to Mancini. Get him to continue."
Hightower shook her head. "Won't fly. Mancini knows you and Jane have a relationship. He'll see an apology as insincere."
Cho huffed at "apology" but remained quiet.
"Got a better idea, Madeline?"
She smiled. "Let me talk to Mancini. I'll get him back on board."
Lisbon sighed. "Take a crack at it. –Cho, what area do you take on next?"
"San Jose."
Lisbon looked at Hightower. "Let me know if Mancini relents."
"Of course."
Hightower and Cho rode back to the CBI building together. Cho drove.
"Cho, you made a mistake."
"Mancini made a mistake."
"Mancini's simply a factor you have to deal with to get the job done." Cho remained silent. "Cho." He glanced over. "You are one-hundred percent right that Mancini screwed up. You need to set that aside to get the job done. Next time, keep the bigger picture in mind."
Impassive as always, "How would you have handled it?"
"I would have brought it to his attention. But I wouldn't trust him again after having nearly gotten Jane killed. I'd pair a CBI agent with Jane and get Mancini to assign his agent to fill in. Correcting Mancini is neither your job nor a luxury you can afford."
Cho remained silent.
After a moment, "You respect Lisbon, right?"
"Yes."
"How often did Lisbon swallow her pride, set aside her irritation with superiors or others to get the job done?"
Cho tilted his head. It would be insignificant from anyone else. From Cho, it shouted his discomfort. "Often," he finally answered.
"Yes, she did. In fact, her unit - now your unit - has a stellar record in part because she put up with Jane and cajoled the powers that be to overlook a lot."
They pulled into a parking space at the CBI lot.
Hightower put one slender hand on Cho's shoulder, shocking him into complete attention. "I'm going to go placate Mancini to get the job done. I hope we don't need to repeat this chat."
He swallowed. "No, ma'am." She smiled brilliantly and walked away.
A few hours later Mancini's secretary called Cho to set up the planning meeting for their next Blake operation.
Van Pelt and Crenshaw
Van Pelt picked at her food, waiting for the real reason to surface why Crenshaw invited her to lunch. The new agent reminded her of a younger, rawer Lisbon. Interestingly, being the senior in this case completely changed the dynamic. Instead of learning from and emulating Lisbon, Van Pelt implicitly felt a responsibility for guiding and tempering the rookie. Different. Heady. Somehow uncomfortable as well.
"Thanks for having lunch with me, Grace."
"So how's your first couple of weeks with the CBI?"
"I'm amazed to be helping mop up Blake. I'm learning a lot."
Van Pelt agreed dryly, remembering her first year, "Yeah. Great opportunity."
Crenshaw sipped her soda and rearranged her fries as she tried to figure out how to broach her questions.
"Mykaela, I won't bite. And I'll honor your confidence. Now, what's up?"
Gratefully. "I'm confused about Jane. Uh, how he fits in and his background."
Van Pelt's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "You know how and why Jane came to the CBI, right?"
Quickly. "Sure. I looked up as much info as I could on the web before I interviewed here. But there isn't much before he became a celebrity psychic. I don't get him."
That elicited a wide smile. "Jane's unique all right. I've been working with him ten years and I don't always ... 'get' him." She paused for another bite. "Tell me your first impressions. I'll fill in some blanks so long as it's not private.
Crenshaw took a deep breath, let it out. "Jane's really smart. He looks like he comes from upper crust old money. I mean, the suits and tea and manners and vocabulary. He's gotta be well educated. Prep school, ivy league college – or maybe Berkley? A couple of graduate degrees at least. But I don't 'get' how that is consistent with being a TV psychic." She paused. When Van Pelt let the silence hang, Crenshaw continued. "How does that fit with, uh, con man or – or crooked?"
Van Pelt looked up sharply. "Who told you that?"
Crenshaw flushed, crimson tinting rich chocolate. Quietly. "I overheard Agent Cho talking with Director Mancini."
Automatically. "It's 'Cho." How did you overhear?"
"I was cleaning up after the Blake attack on Jane in the observation room. Cho and Mancini started talking in interrogation and I overheard. I didn't mean to eavesdrop."
"Okay. So?"
"Mancini said something about Jane being a crooked con man. Cho defended him but didn't deny the con man part. I'm confused."
"Jane grew up on a carnival circuit. That's the source of the con man stuff. He does not have a lot of formal education – it's all self-taught." She flashed a quick smile at Crenshaw's surprise. "Yeah, amazing. He is very, very smart. And equally devious and manipulative. Because of his background he 'reads' people incredibly well." She paused to chew. "Almost like a walking lie detector. He doesn't care if he p.o.'s people. In fact, he publicly tricked and humiliated Mancini which made it personal. It's a point of pride with Jane not to follow the rules. We're lucky he likes puzzles and mysteries because it makes him the best investigator in the state. Beyond that, you'll have to watch and draw your own conclusions."
"He and Director Lisbon are together, right? At your barbeque-"
"Mmm-hmm. They don't put it on a billboard, but it's no secret. Didn't happen – couldn't happen till after we got Red John."
"Jane's not an agent. Does he have a law enforcement background or training? I mean before the CBI?"
"Nope. He's a consultant. He observes and thinks. No martial arts or weapons at all."
"Isn't that a problem? –I've gathered there have been threats on his life."
"It can be a problem. Jane's a lot more ... settled than he was before Red John was eliminated. And before he and Lisbon got together. Much better, now."
Their conversation drifted to Rigsby and Cho and then touched on Mancini. They hurried back in time for Cho's afternoon meeting.
Cho's Team
Cho finished the briefing. "... read the San Jose files before we leave on Wednesday. After last week's attack, one of us will shadow Jane at all times. Mancini agreed to lend us an agent to fill in and partner with. Questions?"
Crenshaw waited till she was alone with Cho. "Cho, may I speak with you?"
"Sure."
"Privately?"
Cho got up and led the way to Lisbon's old office, closing the door behind them. They seated themselves at the small table. "Shoot."
"The attack on Jane bothers me. He would have been strangled if he hadn't gotten his hand up under the wire."
"Yes."
Resolute but looking a little desperate, she plowed on. "I gather Jane isn't good with weapons or self-defense. Isn't it, well, irresponsible to keep putting him in danger like this?"
Cho leaned back. "Jane's key to finding the rest of Blake in California. He's a target no matter where he is."
"Isn't he more of a target working on this? All the interviews, out in the field?"
"No. He's better off among a dozen agents than he would be alone."
She swallowed. "If he worked in the office wouldn't he be safer?"
Patiently. "He's needed in the field. He's not safer here. He almost got poisoned in the break room by Blake a few weeks ago."
Faintly. "I didn't know that. Uh, thank you, sir." She rose to leave.
"Sit down, Crenshaw. This operation was his idea because of the attempts on his life. The team will do everything possible to keep him safe. No guarantees, but it's the best anyone can do. Clear?"
Relieved. "Yes, sir."
"Drop the 'sir.'" He paused. "How are you doing?"
"Fine. I like the work. I want the corruption cleaned up. Uh, I apologize for questioning your operation."
"No. Questions are welcome. And I appreciate your concerns for team safety. But once I've made the decision, I expect you to follow orders."
"Yes, s– Cho."
"Anything more?"
"No." She gave him a small smile as they walked back to the bullpen. Nothing more was settled than it had been before they talked. Nonetheless, she was relieved to have been heard. She was relieved that her concerns had been considered.