It is done. After over a decade of gruelling investigations, Thomas McAllister's body was found not far from Alexandria Cemetery. That's it. Red John is dead. The FBI have been scouring the surrounding area for Patrick Jane since, but, to her knowledge, he is yet to be found.
Their phones were taken from them and all other communicative devices, Lisbon's, and the rest of the unit's, and they've been instructed to keep apart. Even Rigsby and Van Pelt with the male agent having been checked into a motel for the foreseeable future whilst the investigation into them is ongoing. Lisbon knows that she is being watched, the black van with tinted windows outside her home is a big giveaway and she cannot help but feel numb.
This time last week she was looking up potential holidays to schedule once Red John was caught, but now she hasn't got a job, the Blake Association scuppering her future and what's even worse is that the closest person in her life has gone and who knows where. Obviously, she hopes that he continues to elude law enforcement and that he is free, both physically but now also mentally, however she wished that she knew if he was okay.
Lisbon wonders how it went down in end, and if the moment he took the life of the notorious serial killer was as rewarding as he built up in his mind. She should probably feel some kind of disgust that her consultant... ex-consultant took away a life but in the grand scheme of things she believes that this isn't so bad. Thomas McAllister was a sick and twisted man; he didn't deserve a fair trial or thousands of dollars of public money spent on him. Even the grottiest of cells would have been too good for him. Plus, there was always a risk that one of his disciples would somehow free him. No, this is for the best.
If she wasn't completely isolated then she would ring someone, anyone, just to hear another person's voice. If she was to ring anyone it would be Stan, and that tells her just how desperate she is that she's willing to show weakness to her brother when usually she acts so strong. Currently she is trapped with her thoughts and with every passing minute it is like she is edging closer to insanity.
The mutterings she heard in her final minutes at the CBI headquarters told her that Jane strangled Red John, choked the life out of him. The image brings a sickness to her stomach. It is one thing shooting someone but to actually physically feel the life drain out of them must be...overwhelming. She cannot comprehend what that would be like. She doesn't want to.
It is nearing ten o'clock now and she has yet to have eaten but there is no sign of her appetite. She tried watching the television, but the news is clouded with reports about today's events and after channel hopping past a quiz panel show, some reality thing, and a cookery competition she decides to switch it off. She cannot focus on anything and in fact, she found that any sudden noises just made her jump. Lisbon hates being vulnerable but right now that is exactly what she is.
A shower seems like the perfect idea. She was tempted to run herself a bath but sitting there consumed by worries and negative thoughts would be too difficult, a shower is less daunting. The water runs down her form, soaking through her dark hair and rushing across her skin. When she turns up the thermostat, she notices her hand is shaking and she cusses under her breath as she clenches her fist in attempt to stop it.
For brief moment she feels alive and no longer numb as the now scorching water pummels her soft skin. She has turned the temperature up as hot as her body can withstand without causing herself harm because she needs to feel something and the reminder that life doesn't end here is also necessary. Things will be okay. The FBI will discover that her unit are not part of the Blake Association and they can move on with their lives. The CBI may be no more but that doesn't mean they, she, doesn't have a future. Right now though, her future without Patrick Jane seems bleak but even though she feels lost, she hopes that he is at peace now.
Lisbon doesn't remember going to bed but when she is woken by someone hammering on her front door, her heart pounds. Fleetingly, she rationalises that it could be him, it could be Jane, but she knows - deep down - that she's unlikely to see him again, unless he is stood in court before a jury.
She had no idea she slept in, a sign of her emotional exhaustion, until an angry looking FBI agent is telling her that she is late for her next interview. After throwing on a mismatch of clothes she was being taken to an FBI office near San Francisco where she is briefly reunited with her friends and old colleagues. They look how she feels, completely put out and unsure, she even registered a brief expression of unease from the usually plain faced Cho. Catching Red John, concluding that investigation hasn't had the expected joy they were waiting for. They thought that they would be celebrated but instead every step they have ever taken is being scrutinised whilst the man at the helm is in the wind.
Time loses meaning, the countless interviews and sleepless nights roll into one and maybe she should feel relieved when she is told that it is all over and that she should move on with her life. Considering the lines her team crossed, perhaps she is fortunate to have not been punished for being an accessory to Jane's crimes.
Minelli contacts her, firstly to ask after her wellbeing because he takes the role of being her surrogate father very seriously, but also to tell her about a Police Chief role becoming available in Cannon River, Washington because his friend is retiring. She tells herself that a fresh start will do her good but that doesn't make it any easier. The job itself is facile compared to running the serious crimes unit at the Californian Bureau, almost mind numbingly dull but she promised herself and her brothers that she would make a real go at it.
A pick-me-up was necessary as Lisbon reached the one-month mark at her new job, and it came in the form of a letter with her name on it but definitely not her address which instead is a PO box in California. How did it get here? She wondered but that wonder was quickly replaced by delight when she opens it revealing the handwriting of Patrick Jane. He is okay and more importantly he's alive. Not only that, but he is also thinking about her and for now, even though his absence is painful, that's enough.