Chapter Thirty-Six: Team Lisbon
The morning arrived on tiptoe. It poked its head out shyly, first the color of a newborn bean sprout, then the grey of an angry ocean, then finally the faint pink of a healthy cheek on a frosty winter morning.
But California didn't have seasons…The ocean could never be mad, and the sky was neither sick, nor healthy. Jane, however, was very slightly delirious. His hand and his hip beat like hot kettle drums, in perfect sync with one another. He kept shifting, trying to quiet them. There didn't seem to be a comfortable position.
Mist started to roll in, washing clean and fresh against his sweaty skin, and a growing chorus of birdsong filled the air, serenading the coming sun. Chirping, warbling, whistling, cooing…Nature always had the best music. It wasn't long before Jane heard a new instrument join the harmony – the distant murmur of human voices.
He felt Penny stiffen, and knew she heard them, too.
Jane listened harder, realizing that he could hear with both ears again. The voices were low, muddy, indistinct. Gradually, they crystallized, coming into focus like the two silhouettes Jane could now see approaching through the fog. One outline, in particular, made Jane's kettle drums beat faster. One voice, in particular, made a whole symphony burst to life inside his chest:
"Jane? Jane!"
A slow smile spread across his face. He sat forward and opened his mouth to call back, but his tongue was tarred to the roof of his mouth. Lisbon must've spotted him anyway, because she started running.
"Jane!"
He waved at her, grinning absurdly.
Lisbon dropped to her knees right beside him, searching with her eyes. Jane could see the shadow of Bosco in them, the ghost of that too-recent trauma, as she took in the sight of the blood.
"Are you all right?" she asked urgently, her hands brushing skin torn by glass and lead. "Jane? Talk to me…"
He wanted to tell her he was fine, but his voice was like dry leaves. No sound would come out. Jane tried to keep smiling reassuringly, but something was starting to feel off. They were found, they were safe at last, and yet…there was a strange note of discord, jarring the triumphant melody. Like two adjacent piano keys, held down at the same time. Jane couldn't quite place the feeling, but it made his smile falter.
Penny was sitting up now, eyeing the newcomers warily. She blinked at Lisbon for a moment, then glanced at the male police officer, who hung back from the scene like a shadow.
Jane looked at him, too – this officer, dressed in deepest blue, who for some reason had his gun out…
Jane's smile slipped further.
This officer, dressed in deepest blue, with an ill-fitting wedding ring, and a salt-and-pepper mustache, who for some reason had his gun RAISED.
"Lisbon," Jane tried to whisper.
No sound came out. He licked his lips, but there was no spit – none. The kettle drums were slamming. Jane caught Lisbon's eyes and held them hostage. Electric sparks lit the air as he stared into her, unblinking.
Lisbon started to look afraid. "What? Jane, what?"
He folded his cut, aching hand into the shape of a gun and mouthed the words:
Behind. You.
Her eyes flew wide. Lisbon spun and drew at the same time. There was a mighty crack that made Jane flinch and silenced all the birds, and then a soft thump as Mustache Man's still-twitching body hit the desert sand.
Penny had buried herself in Jane's chest, cringing and shaking all over, still trying to cover her ears even though the loud part was over. He rubbed slow, soothing circles into her back, whispering with his fingers that she was safe.
Lisbon was frozen in a half-crouch, her weapon still raised, staring at the man she'd just shot. She slowly climbed to her feet. Never once lowering her gun, every movement screaming caution, Lisbon approached the body. She kicked Mustache Man's gun out of reach and checked him for a pulse. Then, finally, she turned back to Jane.
Lisbon's green eyes were huge and dazed. Dark hair puffed off her face with every hard, fast breath.
Jane smiled faintly at her.
"Go team," he rasped.