A/N: Admittedly, this one is a little different so I had to sit on it for a bit. I cannot believe the overwhelmingly positivity the last chapter received. For sure, I thought folks would be throwing tomatoes or something lol. I appreciate your support for this AU! Thanks for all of your reviews/comments!
xxxx Jane POV xxxx
It took one look into those emerald eyes to know that when Teresa said she resigned effective immediately, she meant it. It was surprising at the very least—and completely against her nature at worst. Deciding this was a conversation best had alone, they rode back to the pageant venue with Madeleine in silence, only holding hands in the backseat of Madeleine's car. Once they returned, he excused them away to his room.
"We're still on for 12:30. No later than 1. We need to get you ready." Teresa merely nodded at her consultant's words before the woman left them to their own devices.
Getting back to his room, he let them inside and immediately poured both of them a glass of scotch. He took Teresa her glass and sat next to her on the sofa. Once more, they sat in silence for a moment. More than anything, he just wanted to make sure she was actually doing ok. Finally, he broke the silence.
"You really resigned."
She nodded. "Yep."
"So what the hell did Minelli say to you?"
"The short version? Minelli doesn't trust my judgment enough to hear me out. You and I have an unhealthy codependency. What's funny is that if I had called and informed on Haffner, which I did ask him about, he would've told me to calm down and rationalized everything. He just believed everything Haffner said on its face because he's just more objective about this situation. I can't compete with that. I'll never be one of the boys in their club. Then, I asked for permission to stay with a small team or to stay alone. He said if I did, we were done. I just made it easy for him." She shrugged her shoulders.
He could sense her stress. "You didn't resign because he fired me, did you?"
She scoffed. "Please, I would've worked out a way to get you back on the team-or you would have worked it out. We would have figured it out one way or another."
"You didn't answer my question. I'm the reason he doesn't trust your judgment, right?"
She nodded her head. "Yes. He basically repeated what Haffner said about letting you lead me around. He said he's tired of cleaning up the messes." She laughed darkly. "I'd just told Grace this morning that they'd find a way to make this all your fault, and they did it at breakneck pace without hearing us out. I knew it would never matter what Haffner did or didn't do to me." She paused for a brief moment, putting her thoughts together before continuing. "They'd close rank. I mean did you see him? Acting calm and collected so I was the one acting overly emotional? At least I could help salvage the team's careers."
Ah yes. She was afraid for the team. What happened in that room hadn't exactly encouraged confidence that things wouldn't happen just like she feared.
He took both of their glasses and set them on the corner table to his side. He took both of her hands into his and turned her to face him. "Baby, look at me please. Is this what you want?"
"I've never been more sure about anything in my life. You remember what Kim said last night about being able to trust my handler? Well, I can't trust Haffner. If Minelli and the FBI place their trust in guys like Haffner, then I can't trust them either. It's simple really."
"Haffner hurt you."
She looked away from him. For some reason, he found the loss of her eyes jolting to his system. "Don't."
"I'm not, but we both know it's more complicated than that. You've always been in the boys' club, carving out your space and doing your own thing."
"No, it's not complicated. I don't have their respect, and they don't have my trust. I will find something else." He kept searching for her green eyes as she spoke, but he wasn't getting anything. She was trying to validate her own reasons. Perhaps it hadn't hit her yet that she was just bullied out of, and walked away from, a career she loved so much that it was part of inner being.
He nodded at her words. "But being an FBI Agent is a big part of who you are."
She scoffed. "What? Do you only want to date FBI Agents?"
"No, I want to date you." He took her hand and kissed it. "But I want you to be happy and healthy both physically and mentally. Don't let them push you around."
"It's not the first time I've thought of quitting,"
"I know."
"No, you don't."
"I do. It's usually around the time I craft a brilliant, well thought out plan that leads to us catching a terrorist."
She laughed. Good. Laughter was good. "Ok there are those times...but I've also thought of it more recently. After that whole thing about them not trusting my judgment, I felt like I couldn't breathe. Then, suddenly it was clear. I can't do this anymore. And why would I? There's no mutual respect or confidence there it turns out."
"Come here." Leaning his head to the side, he patted his lap with one hand as he pulled her along with the other. He wrapped her into his embrace, as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Look at me please. Your job is important to you. You are important to me. Therefore, your job is important to me."
Her eyes narrowed and she sighed. "It was important to me until he...they made me see that I really have no place there."
"Haffner made you quit."
Her face darkened at the mention of him. "I don't want to talk about him right now, or ever again really." She was on the brink of admitting a truth she hadn't quite recognized yet. They, specifically Haffner, pushed her to her breaking point. He created a situation so toxic that she broke. No shame in her feelings, but to see the woman who'd gladly bear the burden of the world on her shoulders so broken hurt like hell.
"That's fair. If you really mean to quit your job, I support you. We can be vagabonds living on the coast together. It doesn't matter as long as I'm with you." She seemed pleased with this statement, which is why it made it hard for him to continue. "But this is a trauma response, Teresa. That's ok. You need to work through this, but I think you should call Minelli. He will listen."
"Trauma response?"
"Yes, I have a pretty good understanding of what that looks like. I also know you're never going to actually tell me the extent of what got under your skin so bad that you walked away from your life's work. You don't have to say the words to me, but I know Minelli will definitely be willing to listen to you now."
"Like hell he will listen to me. He made that clear earlier."
"He may have been clear, but you surprised the hell out of him. He did not expect you to resign over what he said to you. He expected you to be upset and to act out. In fact, I think he definitely expected you to act out-you know, maybe disobey a minor order here or there-but he didn't think you'd up and resign. He was very confused by your resignation, and he's going to want to understand what's going on. Believe me, you will have his ear now."
She considered his words for a moment before scrunching her face and shaking her head. "I know you're trying to help, but I really don't want to talk about this anymore. It's done."
From her expression, he could tell that he had hit a sensitive spot. Best not to push her any further right now. She revered Minelli, but his refusal to hear her out had been the last straw. That was clear. "Ok. Then, we won't. What should we talk about?"
"My career prospects?"
"Meh. I know how to make a more than comfortable living in just a few hours a week. We're set for life!" He waggled his eyebrows, and she giggled.
"I promise. I'm ok, Patrick. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my chest. Truly. I'm tired of being calm all the time. It felt good to finally let the anger out."
Yet, he had the feeling that was just the tip of the iceberg. She only just realized that she could let that anger out; her anger wasn't even close to being out.
"Ok." He hated that her hair was up so that he couldn't run his hands through it. Before he could stop himself, the urge to take her hair down won. He unfastened the messy bun she wore on top of her head. Immediately, he started to stroke her dark brown hair. He could see her chest and cheeks turn pink at the action. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to mess your hair up, but it was hard for me to do this with it up like that."
"I see. Is that something you enjoy doing?"
"Yes." He kissed her. In hardly no time, she deepened their kiss. Once they broke apart, she leaned her forehead against his. He just held her in her arms for a little while. He turned her palm over. "You know, even if we don't need the listening device anymore, maybe you should wear your bracelet today. I'd like that."
"You'd like that?" He nodded as she took his right hand and looked at his knuckles. They were definitely getting sore. "You know, you should ice your knuckles."
"I've been in a scuffle a time or two. Maybe I will just walk around with bruised knuckles and the satisfaction that I punched Ray Haffner and didn't even get yelled at about it."
She chuckled. "Well, I definitely don't want you to get into the habit of punching people for me. It's bad form, and besides, I can do my own punching." She scrunched her face up, like she was thinking, before she continued. "Though, I've never known you to fight. You're usually running from them and leaving me to calm everyone down."
"Haha. You're a funny, funny woman. Now that you're not FBI anymore, I suppose I will have to fight more of my own fights."
She cradled his face in her hands as she stared directly into his eyes. "Seriously, it was a sweet gesture. Don't do it again."
"Only if I see Haffner's face again."
She slapped his arm and kissed him chastely before hopping up. "I should get going. I want to grab a quick shower before I go over to Madeleine's."
Standing up to walk her to the door, he smiled at her. "I'll meet you there in a little bit."
"In the shower?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Only if you want. I certainly wouldn't turn away your invite. Though, I was going to take care of something else first."
She nudged his arm. "Please stay out of trouble. Seriously. I can't talk you out of it anymore."
"Meh. I'm never in trouble. I've been told I'm practically an angel. Ah! We can be Saint Patrick and Saint Teresa. It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
This time, she playfully slapped his chest. "No one is calling you a saint. Ever."
"And if they knew what I know, they wouldn't call you one either." She gasped in faux outrage, as he smiled and kissed her goodbye.
Anyone looking at this from the outside would think she was fine, but to say he was worried was an understatement. Pulling out his phone, he knew what he had to do.
It rang twice before the line connected. "Virgil? It's Jane. Please don't hang up. Can you talk?"
"What do you want?" The older man on the other end of the line had little patience on a normal day, but after a fight with his surrogate daughter, his patience was worse.
"I need you to hear me out for just a minute." He waited for the line to disconnect. When it didn't, he continued. "I don't care that you don't want me around anymore. It's fine. I'll find something else to keep me busy once this is over, but please. Don't accept Lisbon's resignation."
He sighed. "What's going on with her? Hmm? This is completely unlike her, but it is every bit like you, to pull a stunt like this. Did you tell her to do this?" His concern for Lisbon, though misplaced, was as clear as day.
"The fact that you think I can tell Lisbon to do anything even remotely like this and she'd do it suggests that Ray Haffner has been in your ear, and you're buying whatever bullshit he's selling especially about her safety."
"Yes, he shared those concerns with me, but they go way back. He was concerned for her safety and how your involvement in cases makes them anything but safe. He's just looking out for her. It's the bad blood that you've created."
Jane scoffed. "The bad blood that I've created?" Haffner did nothing but sew toxicity, but it was clear he'd tapped Minelli's greatest fear: Lisbon would be the next FBI Agent to fall to Red John. "It's no secret that Lisbon is your favorite, and how could she not be? It's more like he's gaslighting and purposefully trying to drive a wedge between you."
"What do you mean by gaslighting and trying to drive a wedge?"
For a moment, he considered whether he should just tell him everything. The fact that the man was still on the line suggested he was absolutely right. Minelli adored Lisbon. Their fight had been much like the ones he'd have with Charlotte for not putting her toys away-or perhaps more like the ones he imagined they would have had in her teen years about keeping the wrong kind of friends or something. Minelli expected pushback, but he expected that all would be well once she cleared the initial hurdle of disappointment and minor rebellion. Her resignation had been a gut punch that he wanted to understand, and more likely than not, to fix.
"Virgil...when you're ready to hear it, and I mean actually hear it, talk to Lisbon. Listen to her. Just don't accept her resignation."
xxxx Cho POV xxxx
Today had to be the day from hell that kept on giving. Getting hauled in was bad enough, but Lisbon resigning was worse. They'd started at the FBI around the same time and had gone through training and being rookies together. He was honored that she'd thought of putting him on her team when she was promoted.
Now, she was gone. They were all reeling from her resignation. Even Haffner at least pretended to be shocked. He couldn't really tell if the man was shocked or hiding his glee really well. In any case, watching Jane deck him really good before Lisbon pulled him out of the room was fun.
He, Rigsby, and Van Pelt said nothing as Minelli continued dressing them down. "You will return to Sacramento immediately, or you will face dire consequences."
They'd nodded at his words. Whether they actually meant to go back remained unseen. Getting back to his and Rigsby's room was a relief because they could finally decompress and process what just happened.
"She didn't actually quit, right?" Van Pelt still hadn't regained her color after the shock of hearing Lisbon resign.
"It sounded like she did." Rigsby went over to embrace her. They were good for each other, even if it was sometimes awkward for him when the three of them were alone.
"She did. What do you guys want to do?"
Rigsby looked at him with slight surprise. "What do you mean?"
"Are we staying, or are we going back?"
Van Pelt answered immediately. "I think we should stay. Jane made a lot of sense earlier, and I don't think this is even close to over."
"I agree. If Grace stays, then I'm staying."
"We realize that if we stay that we are also done?" Both of them held rank inferior to his own, and they were expecting a baby. They needed to understand the risks.
Rigsby shrugged his shoulders. "So? If we're right and Red John is still out there, then we will have saved countless lives by capturing him."
"Besides, Lisbon can't go at this alone. She and Jane are one hell of a duo, but they're not a team."
He nodded at them. He was glad they were all of the same mind on this. There wasn't a chance he was leaving his friend here alone. From his life on the streets to the military, there was one lesson he'd never forget: leave no person behind. "Then, we should get back over there. Let's keep the same plans as before. Van Pelt, make contact with Jane and let him know we're staying."
As they were preparing to leave, there was a knock at the door. Once again, the three of them looked to each other with suspicion etched on their faces. No one was expecting company. When no one moved to answer it, there was another knock followed by a greeting. "Agents, I know you're in there. Please let me in."
Rigsby, the closest to the door, nodded at Cho before going to open the door. "Agent Minelli."
"Agents, I'm glad to see you're still here. Though, if I had to guess, you were all preparing to violate my direct order for you to return to Sacramento. In any case, I'm just glad I caught you while I could still find you on the radar."
Rigsby and Van Pelt looked like they'd just been caught with their hands in the cookie jar, but he couldn't care less if they looked guilty. It was the truth, and Minelli would've found out sooner or later. He folded his arms. "Absolutely, so what can we do for you? We have somewhere to be."
The older man sighed. He obviously knew it would never be this easy to get them to stand down. "I want to know what the hell is going on. I just got a call from Jane."
"He called you?" That bit was a little surprising.
"He asked me not to accept Lisbon's resignation. Said whatever it is I needed to talk to her but not to accept her resignation."
"So then, why are you here talking to us? Go talk to her."
"Agent Cho, I've always respected your direct nature. Truly. When I tell you I've had a day and am I tired of bullshit after one of my lead agents resigned on the spot, please believe I'm not in the mood for games. I am talking to the three of you for a reason. You're as thick as thieves. Tell me what's going on. And what's this bad blood with Haffner that all of you seem to have?"
The room fell completely silent for a moment before Rigsby spoke up. "Sir, Agent Cho is correct. It's best you hear it from Lisbon."
The older man scoffed as Van Pelt took a step toward him. "Sir, Agent Haffner has been acting incredibly inappropriate."
"Grace!" As Rigsby admonished his partner, even Cho had to glare at her. Was it really their place to say any of this?
"Don't. Just don't. I already wrote my report this morning, and I'm still planning to submit it when we return to Sacramento."
Minelli looked incredibly confused. "What do you mean Haffner has acted incredibly inappropriate?"
He met Van Pelt's eyes. While they definitely needed to air out what a scumbag Ray Haffner truly was, this seemed like a betrayal of their boss and friend. "Agent Haffner assaulted her."
He could tell that the older man's breath caught in his chest. He closed his eyes, breathed deeply, and licked his lips before continuing. "Agent Van Pelt, what do you mean Haffner assaulted Lisbon? What did he do to her? But before you answer me, I want to be very clear that I expect only the truth. If this is some plan that Jane has concocted to get his way on this case, or some way to get you two out of the predicament you're in, do not even go there. I am warning you."
Cho was offended by the insinuation. "You really think the three of us would lie about something so serious because Jane told us to?"
"He's a master manipulator." Sensing Rigsby and Van Pelt were still stuck on his previous comment, Minelli gestured at them. "And yes, I know about this little situation you two find yourselves in. Did you think you'd just hide Van Pelt for the better part of a year? That's something we will deal with when we get back to Sacramento. No doubt if Lisbon were here, she would find some way to tell me that she's responsible. Though, I doubt that's true."
"That may all be true, but Jane hasn't manipulated what we've seen with our own eyes. He called you because he cares about Lisbon and obviously didn't see this coming either." There he knew he was also walking a fine line of Lisbon's confidence. Whether or not she and Jane revealed their relationship to the FBI was their business.
"What is it that you've seen? Agent Van Pelt, you wrote a report?" The young woman nodded. "It's clear that you don't want to talk about this. You won't betray Lisbon. I respect it. I've always respected the loyalty your team has with each other."
At that, Rigsby intervened. "It's not just loyalty. Lisbon has always been a remarkable leader and she respects us. We just return that respect."
Minelli put his hand up as though to silence Rigsby. "I understand that. Lisbon has always done well in her role. I am not asking you to betray her. I just want to understand. Agent Van Pelt, you clearly have something you'd like to add here. Please continue."
She took a deep breath. "Haffner has a history of acting inappropriately with Lisbon."
"I am aware of the comments he makes sometimes. I've always told Lisbon she could speak to me if those comments bothered her. She's not said anything."
"Of course she didn't. Boss, she doesn't want a target on her back." In many ways, Cho understood Lisbon's reasoning. Generally, people became cops to do good in the world. There was just a certain kind of person, like Ray Haffner, that when given that kind of power, it fed their ego to an extent that it made them the biggest assholes known to man. While not everyone agreed with them or their actions, as soon as someone tried to make a change, everyone became an asshole.
Van Pelt continued. "He's also assaulted her at least twice that we know of, in front of witnesses."
"In front of witnesses?"
Van Pelt looked at him as though she was looking for permission before continuing. He really didn't want to betray Lisbon's trust. These were her stories to tell, but perhaps leaving these stories to her as her sole burden to carry is what made her feel so uncomfortable to speak in the first place. Instead of letting her continue the story alone, he thought he may as well speak to what he saw.
"He tried to force her into his car at the last Christmas party." He never meant to betray his friend's confidence, but he should've spoken out long ago. "Me and Jane came out to the parking lot and we heard her screaming. He was trying to force her into his car to take her home with him. She didn't want to go, and her screams indicated that and more."
Minelli's face had gone pale. "And you're sure it wasn't just a friend trying to help another friend home?"
Cho sighed before telling the next part. He wasn't sure what, if anything, Lisbon herself had remembered exactly. They never talked about it after the fact, and he didn't want to make a big deal out of it if she didn't. "It seems it started that way, but at some point, he'd tried to kiss her. It freaked her out, and she tried to leave but he wouldn't let her, which is why she started screaming. She was trying to get away. We got her into a cab and saw her home safely."
Van Pelt gasped as Minelli croaked out: "What else?"
Van Pelt continued like clockwork. "And last night, he assaulted her in front of witnesses, myself included. He came up to the bar we were at. She went to dance with him because she thought it was a check in, but he was holding her very tight, touching her, and making her very uncomfortable. She was trying to dodge him. It was so clear that our companions noticed it and were quite disturbed by it."
Minelli put his hands up. "And I don't assume it was part of their cover?"
"No, she was clearly in distress. Another agent diffused the situation, allowing her to get away. She was afraid to cause a scene and ruin our op, but it's also clear that she was afraid of...him and what he was capable of in that moment. I think you need to speak to her about all of this to really understand, but she had bruises on her arms this morning." Van Pelt pointed to her upper arms.
Rigsby spoke up. "She cried this morning after I mentioned Haffner being smart enough not to mention last night."
"She cried?"
They all nodded. "I spoke to her. She was in distress. It was a lot, especially once we figured out that Haffner has been tracking her movements on video. I know it seems like it should be a part of the op work, but given their history and how he just showed up like that last night, it's increasingly uncomfortable. It's why we tried to handle all of her security ourselves initially. Haffner's safety talk is also just weird. It seems like he's just trying to get her and Jane apart. Regardless, we told her we would all file reports, but she's afraid that would mean we'd all have targets on our backs."
After a moment of rather uncomfortable silence, Minelli spoke. "So I guess that's why Jane lined Haffner up a little bit ago?"
Cho answered. "If I had to guess, yes. Rigsby also hit him for the same reason. He came in hot to take over and did nothing but moan about how he knew what was best for Lisbon until he reached a breaking point."
Rigsby nodded in agreement. "It was too much, boss. She's our boss and our friend. She's a professional, and he was speaking of her as anything but-like she was a child who needed his specific guidance."
Their boss shook his head. "Do you really believe we've not caught Red John?"
Cho answered this time. "Jane doesn't think so. Neither do we. It doesn't smell right. Lisbon fearing for her safety from inside the op and having to dodge Haffner hasn't helped at all. It also hasn't helped our faith in the success of this op at large."
Minelli rubbed his guilt-ridden face. "Get down to that hotel and provide Agent Lisbon with protection."
"What about Jane?"
Minelli raised his hands. " Just protect them. They're still ours. I don't suppose I get her back without him as a package deal on this one."
"Van Pelt, call Jane and let him know we're coming." She nodded.
As she moved out to make her phone call, he met Minelli's eyes once more. "I will stay, too. I just can't believe that this has happened. I always thought she knew she could talk to me if she needed any help.
Cho sighed. "The day I met Lisbon we were doing tactical training at the Academy. She couldn't lift her pack, but she wouldn't ask for help with it. It didn't take a genius to figure out what exactly was taking her so long. A couple of the guys made jokes about the little lady who couldn't carry her weight, but I went over and asked if she needed help. She declined my help. I thought it might be something personal until I saw her dragging the thing out. She was figuring out how to do it herself. After training, our group got beers. We got to talking about home and missing the basketball season. The next time we had tactical training, I asked once again if she needed help with her pack. That time, she let me help her. Something I've learned about her over the years is that it's not that she's just too proud to ask for help. Sometimes, she is. But really, it's about the trust, knowing she has yours and that you have hers."
Minelli's face looked grim. "She has always had my trust."
"You might see it that way. As far as she knows, she'd be a pariah if she ever said anything. She's tried to shield us from everything, even though she knows we have her back. We had to lay it on the table that we are filing reports when we return no matter what. In my case, it's long past due. I tried to apologize. She wouldn't take it. She never wanted a fuss, and she wants to make sure we're acting professional always, but she deserves better."
"She does. I reckon by tomorrow, we will know whether you're right about Red John. I'm going to have a long talk with her. If that's what this resignation business is about, I'll handle it. In any case, once I officially receive any of your reports on this matter, I will be forced to turn it over to OPR. Haffner will not work for me any longer. That's for damn sure."
"I know that's your position. She's just more afraid for us and the way it looks than she is for herself. It's always been that way."
"That may be, Agent Cho. I will not tolerate this. Even if she means to actually resign, I won't have Haffner on my team. I thought there was just some teasing going on there. I never imagined one of my agents capable of anything like this."
Cho deadpanned. "I don't think she imagined that either."
A/N 2: I thought it would be nice to look at the conclusion of the last chapter through the eyes of others. I liked exploring Jane doing his thing. He would know exactly what's going on. It took me a bit to determine just how much he might mince his words with Lisbon here. Also, Cho! Not sure how I feel about this part of the chapter, but I just wanted to show the Cho-Lisbon (Chisbon) friendship some and how someone like Cho might be processing what's going on. Anyway, only two more chapters! For real!