THE LAKESIDE KILLER
A/N: Okay... so as it turns out, I decided to post the conclusion in 4 parts. There's just too much to put all in one go. I hope everyone's okay with that. I will be posting the parts as they are ready... this way you don't have to wait too long. Here is part 1.
The conclusion Part 1
Lisbon's POV
The atmosphere was tense in the boathouse. Cho got the tracking device on Green's boat earlier today and now they were just waiting patiently for him to make his move. Abbott had approved a recovery team to fly in to check out the locations once they gave the go-ahead. They already identified one of the islands, but Jane was convinced there were other victims. They needed to be sure that there weren't other dump locations before they moved in.
Jane was laying on the couch, his eyes closed, but she knew he wasn't sleeping. They still hadn't talked about what happened in the morning… which seemed like days ago now. There was no reason for him to act like her boyfriend in the boathouse around Fischer and Cho, and she found that she missed his touch. He was distant and indifferent towards her which hurt tremendously. She wanted to shake him, see the love in his eyes again, but it was gone. It chilled her that he could flip it on and off so easily.
She eyed Fischer and Cho. Their capacity for staring at the screens with no action for hours was to be applauded. But she couldn't do it anymore. She walked up to Jane's couch and stood there until he noticed her. Finally, he cracked open his eyes and looked at her.
"What can I do for you, Lisbon?"
"I need some air, can you come with me, please?"
"I'm sure Kim or Cho would be happy to accompany you," he said closing his eyes.
"Jane," she said through clenched teeth. "We need to talk."
"What about?" he asked blandly.
"Jane… please," she whispered, clenching her fists.
He let out an exasperated breath and sat up. She watched as he pushed his frame from the couch, wishing he would just stop being mad at her and hold her in his arms. He stretched, taking his time.
"O-kay, lead the way," he said as though humoring a child.
"Kim, we're just getting some air," she said as she passed by.
"Oh – okay. Stick together," Kim replied.
When they got outside she realized they had nowhere to go that was private, besides the bunkhouse, but they needed to stick close in case Cho or Kim came looking for them. She walked over to the far side of the boathouse in the hopes that it was far enough that Kim and Cho wouldn't hear anything.
It was a hot and sticky night with no breeze. She turned to Jane and he was staring at her, hands in his pockets, waiting.
"We need to sort this out between us."
"Okay."
"That's all you have to say… okay?"
"Can you also make it fast, it's hot out here?"
She exhaled, reigning in her anger, digging for her patience.
"It's not fair the way you're treating me. You're freezing me out… I'm sorry I didn't tell you about D.C."
"Okay."
"Stop saying, okay."
He cleared his throat and eyed her suspiciously. "What do you want me to say?"
"I'm trying to apologize."
"I hear you, but I don't see how it changes anything," he said seriously.
"Why not?"
"I want to know why you didn't tell me."
"I don't know," she lied.
He gave her a pointed look that said 'seriously'.
"I didn't want to hurt you," she finally said.
"Liar."
She felt an angry blush warm her face. She squeezed her fist tightly in frustration. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Why does it matter the reason. I'm sorry."
"I forgive you, Lisbon. The irony hasn't escaped me that you've forgiven worst. But I still want to know why."
"If I tell you, can we be done with this?"
He pushed his hand through his hair. "Just tell me."
"I figured you knew, you always know what I'm thinking or doing and if you had anything to say about it, you would let me know."
"That's not the whole truth."
He was right of course. The truth was more complicated. She couldn't tell him the real reason was that she feared his indifference when she told him, that he truly would not care and the pain that this would have caused her.
"I'm sorry, okay. I don't even understand why you're so upset. You said that you knew… why didn't you say anything."
"Why didn't you?"
"Why does it matter? You knew, and it didn't seem to bother you that I was leaving! And now you want to make me feel bad about it. You knew, and you didn't care!"
"Of course, I cared! I just thought that if you were really going, you would tell me. I didn't think you would go!"
"Why wouldn't I go? Why would I stay when my boyfriend and my new job is in D.C. Why do you think I would stay? You gave me no reason to stay. You just kept saying how happy you were for me that I was dating Marcus."
Jane's POV
She was right. And at the time, he was trying to do the right thing. But they were arguing about water under the bridge. The real issue was whether she was staying in Austin or not now that they were lovers. He'd avoided this subject because he was afraid of the answer; that he wasn't worth staying for, that maybe she didn't love him enough. But it was best to just rip off the bandaid then to continue wondering.
"What about now? I love you. I want to be with you. Are you still moving to D.C?"
He couldn't breathe as he watched her eyes, cursing his ability to read her. He knew the answer before she uttered it.
"D.C. is not about you... it's about me and what is best for me. We get here and suddenly you tell me you love me and you just expect me to just switch gears, again. Sorry... I can't just keep reacting to your... your whims like I have all these years. You're mad because I'm not doing what you want when you want it and you're pulling away from me. That's not fair."
*Loud throat clearing*
"Teresa, your turn on the surveillance," Cho whispered from behind Lisbon.
He watched her whip around in surprise. They hadn't heard Cho coming. She nodded and headed back to the boathouse without another look in his direction.
"Screwed up again?" Cho said to him.
"Yep," he answered truthfully.
He was quite sure that he'd just set fire to his relationship with Teresa.
A/N: Part 2 - Things don't go as planned with the case. Lisbon is in danger, Jane is up to his old tricks... things get tense and dangerous. That's all I'll say for now. I'm going to try to finish it and get it up by tomorrow night.
As per usual... drop me a line in the reviews... it's always appreciated. I enjoy hearing from you and what you think.