Red Silence

Thanks to Frogster, lucy, Frozen Bacon and Jisbon4ever for the reviews!

I foresee only three more chapters after this one, and these last four are loosely considered as the epilogues to each character (or groups of character). Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Five

Speed of Sound

Cho sighed, as he finished his last form for the day and possibly his last form within the CBI, if Agent Hightower had her way. Van Pelt glanced at her own last sheet of paperwork as her hand glided along, a pen in hand to provide a documented account of the events that had occurred nearly a fortnight ago and Rigsby just stared down at his already empty desk with his arms crossed against his chest.
None of them blamed the bureau for the investigation pending on their whole unit, considering that Rigsby had withheld information from Hightower, and the three of them had opened fired without probable cause. The investigation on the ex-senior agent and consultant, however ran deeper than anyone would care to think about due to the unaccountable actions of Lisbon, who had not only lied to her supervisor but had also possibly aided Jane in the killing of the three females. Jane was also pending a mental evaluation to see if he were sane enough to stand trial for the three murders, as well as the extensive medical treatment for the countless welts, bruises and burns plastered across his body.

At the end of the day however, Hightower could ultimately decide the fate of himself and Van Pelt due to the shots that they had fired off were in defense of Lisbon and themselves. Rigsby unfortunately was under the most scrutiny from the state of California due to his shooting Lisbon, and causing their suspect to try to take his own and Lisbon's life with poison—he was on suspension without pay for at least three months, pending the hearing in a week or so, which would decide his ultimate fate.
Hightower had told the three of them that if it were up to her alone, she would not take them back due to their continuous vagrant disobeying and mockery of the justice system. Cho had wanted to ask her, as she chewed the three out, if the justice system ignored the countless amounts of good deeds and the blatant loyalty toward doing what was right instead of what was easy, then why were they even protecting others?

Sure, they could have easily decided to throw both Jane and Lisbon to the sharks, but to them, it was more than the price of what loyalty could bring them. This unit, for some, was the closest thing to family that they would probably ever know, and family was supposed to protect their own; if anything, he did not regret his decision to rush in, and he definitely did not regret losing his job, if he did that was.

"Look at it this way," Rigsby had joked about his suspension. "We can finally date." Van Pelt had rolled her eyes and muttered something about his blatant optimism but still, she was smiling which was more than any of them had done lately. He knew, though Rigsby had never said anything about it that the man was slowly drowning in a sea of guilt and nightmares due to him shooting Lisbon. Luckily, for them, Rigsby had not turned to drinking his problems away. Van Pelt had also taken to spending most of her time around the man, which had left herself and Rigsby somewhat less sexually frustrated and much happier, even if they were exhausted at work the next morning.
Footsteps echoed throughout the nearly empty bullpen, and Cho glanced up to find Hightower, her arms crossed against her chest, as her eyes pierced each of them with a calculating and cool stare.

"You all were my best team," Hightower remarked, coolly. "No matter how unconventional your methods may have been, they closed cases and at the end of the day—that was good enough for me." She paused for a few moments. "However, I cannot ignore nor allow what happened just two weeks ago." The three remained quiet. "If I ignore it, it may happen again and next time….someone may end up dead."

"Agen…" Rigsby interrupted, and she turned on him.

"Rigsby, allow me to finish." Hightower interrupted, and he lapsed back into silence. "I said this once after I had realized what had happened, if it were completely up to me I'd fire you all from the CBI…but…loyalty is one of those core assets we yearn for here." Cho, Van Pelt and Rigsby glanced up at her in mute surprise. "Cho, Van Pelt—off the record, I admire your loyalty to both Jane and Lisbon but on the record, I want to know how you both could be so reckless." Van Pelt glanced at her own desk, light pink tinting her cheeks. "Rigsby, you know how I feel about what you did." Rigsby nodded. "I need your badge, and gun." Rigsby slid the top drawer of his now about to be empty desk to hand the woman his badge, and his gun. "Thank you." Rigsby stood to leave from his desk when Hightower's voice interrupted him. "I didn't say you could leave." He slid back into the seat to stare at her. "In lieu of the events, I put the both of you on probation," she glanced at Van Pelt and Cho. "For six months in which time, you both will be reevaluated to be reinstated as off probation."

It was better than either of them could expect, and yet Cho did not think it was fair that Rigsby had received what he had, when he had only been protecting Lisbon.