A/n This is something a bit different. Prior to RJ's demise Jane and Lisbon had a moment of passion, purely as stress release but she got pregnant in the process. He comes home to a son and maybe a relationship in the future...

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Blue Eyes Like The Sea

It has been two years. Two years since Patrick Jane slayed notorious serial killer Red John and during those years the FBI have spent a lot of time, resources, and money on trying to source him. They have found him. Perhaps fortunately for him, Agent Kimball Cho who now works for the federal bureau has managed to persuade them that the mentalist would be a useful asset and asked to be the one to try and get him back into the US.

The unit joked that he just wanted a holiday, time on the beach and a cocktail in his hand but he is actually thinking for someone else, his old boss and one of his closest friends Teresa Lisbon who needs her consultant back. She may have not formally told anyone, but he has worked out that her fifteen-month-old son is most likely Jane's. The bright blue eyes and now growing curls are a bit of a giveaway but she has kept that knowledge to herself, and no-one has pressed for the information. If she wanted to tell them then she would, all he and Rigsby and Van Pelt could do is be there for her when she needs it.

Cho suspects that his newest superior, Abbott, believes that the child is Jane's which is why his proposed deal looks to be a very good one. The ex-CBI agent has read the contract through over and over, on the plane, on the bus from the airport and in his hotel room. He hopes that his old friend will take the deal without him bringing up the potential son, because that isn't a conversation that he willingly wants to have. It is not his place to be the one to bear the news.

He thought it would take him days to find him, but it is only day two when he stumbles upon a beach-side bar and is met with the familiar sight of the consultant who ran rings around him for many years. He finds himself smiling briefly before he composes himself, with the contract in hand. "Jane."

The curly-haired man almost chokes on his tea when he hears the recognisable sound of his ex-colleague's voice. He cannot mask the surprise on his face when Kimball Cho pulls out the chair next to him and takes a seat in such a casual manner. How did he find him? "Cho… how are you?"

"I'm fine. The FBI sent me." Quickly things are very clear, this is not a social call, somehow the federal bureau have found him after two years of hiding and although the extradition agreements are on his side, it is still bad news that he has been located. "You picked a nice place to settle."

"Hm." He watches his friend's dark eyes scan their surroundings with amusement. "So, what's the deal Cho? Why are you here?"

"I am so glad you asked." He then tosses the deal down on the table between them. "I managed to persuade the bureau that you could be a useful asset so they have drawn up a very good deal, but you may be able to negotiate further."

"I'm done with that life."

Jane doesn't even glance at it but instead leans back in his chair and crosses his arms stubbornly, the action makes the agent sigh. "Jane, you have to come home, Lisbon needs you."

"Is she alright?" He is quick to ask, his brow furrowing in concern.

"Yeah, she's fine, it's just-" Cho forces himself to stop, not wanting to be the one to give the game away. "I wouldn't have offered to come out here on behalf of the FBI if I didn't think it was the best thing for you. Take the deal."

"Is Lisbon in the FBI too?"

"No, she's a police chief in Washington." A police chief? Washington? Oh she will be hating that, he thinks. "Someone had to take the flack for what went down in Sacramento."

"I don't know if I can work without her."

"You're going to have to."

xxx

It takes two days but eventually he agrees to return to the US and is quickly flown to Austin for orientation before he officially starts his new job. He does negotiate further, taking parole off the table to give him the freedom he so desires but one of the first things he requests is a trip to Washington so he can reunite with Lisbon who is none the wiser about him being back in the country. Perhaps someone should have warned her.

Abbott reluctantly agrees but requests that he is chaperoned by Cho who begrudgingly tags along. Since joining the FBI, he has taken following orders very seriously because he knows the ramifications of not doing so. Things in Sacramento got messy, really messy, and although he looks forward to working with the consultant once more, he is also aware that this will complicate things. He doesn't mind though because if he is right and if Lisbon's baby has Patrick Jane as a father, then he is glad to be able to give them chance to be a family. "When was the last time you saw her?" The curly-haired man asks his friend, as he navigates the hired car through the quaint neighbourhood.

"About a year ago. Grace and Rigsby see her more than me." This doesn't surprise the mentalist, but he is relieved that she has had some contact with the team after everything that happened.

He is excited and nervous to see her again because he doesn't know how she is going to react. Him being back with no warning, he didn't even have time to put the information in a letter, but if he had then it still wouldn't have arrived in time.

Things were complicated before he left. His behaviour was frenetic as he got closer and closer to catching Red John and the entire team sacrificed everything in the end to get it. The weeks leading up to it were gruelling, people died, and the game felt impossible to play but they kept pushing themselves, so hard.

One night though, something snapped. He and Lisbon had this new kind of need, they required stress relief and by the end of a day when she went to check up on him in his attic space back at CBI, they hurriedly fucked on his mattress both relishing being alive. It was like that privilege could have been taken away from them at any given moment and they needed something to hold onto, which in this case was each other.

They didn't speak about it afterwards, she didn't even stick around, they shared one last hungry kiss before she left and the next day all focus was on Red John once more. It is almost like it never happened but when her period was late a week after he had run away, it felt like her whole world had stopped. Her job had gone, all the wonderful people in her unit sacked, and her best friend was who knows where. The man who had impregnated her gone and now she was going to have a baby, alone and she was terrified.

Things are okay now though; she has a job, and her son is perfect. The letters from his father come every couple of months and always improve her mood. It is just good to know that he is alive because for a short time she didn't even have that knowledge.

Lisbon hears the car pull up outside her house but doesn't think anything of it. Mainly because she is focussed on eating her dinner – a bowl of tomato pasta – after a long day of policing and putting her son to bed, but then there is a knock on her door. Her first response is to grimace, hoping that the noise did not wake her child but when no cries come, she starts to wonder who would be visiting her. She never gets visitors.

Occasionally, Grace and Wayne come to visit, but since they welcomed their own child, those visits are now rare. She understands though, she knows the challenges of having a new-born brings.

Jane stands on the doorstep somewhat patiently, his hands clasped together pondering how he will be greeted. Most days he spent on the island he spent thinking about her. They say that you really miss what you have once it is gone, and he got used to that sad reality. Now, he feels like he has been given a second chance.

When the front door is pulled open, he is grinning, and she feels like her heart is going to leap out of her chest. He is here, he is back and for a fleeting moment she forgets about the snoozing boy upstairs and is simply happy. "Hey." He greets, still smiling whilst registering the clear look of shock on her face.

"H-hello."

"I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." She looks as incredible as the day he left, and all those days and all those nights that he spent daydreaming thinking of her, nothing is better than the real thing. On occasion he would resign himself to the thought that he would unlikely meet her again, which was so tough to deal with, but he is glad he was wrong.

Teresa cannot help but note how good he looks. His sun kissed skin, the signs of a beard lining his jaw and the healthy aura about him is very sexy. Not only did the time away obviously do him good but he definitely seems at peace from the demons that haunted him prior to Red John's demise. "Can I come in?"

"Yes, of course." Her cheeks redden as she becomes flustered, mainly out of embarrassment for not being a good host but she is still overcome with astonishment about his sudden arrival. Do the FBI know he is here? Is she going to have to hide a fugitive? Because deciding to do that would be tricky. A part of her feels like she would do anything for Jane, but she can't leave her son without a parent. If she aids her old consultant in breaking the law, then she could face time inside herself.

He can sense her mind working quickly as she steps aside to let him in and he understands that she is going to have some, well lots of questions. There is time for that though he decides and as soon as she closes the door, he is engulfing her in a big hug. Holding her tight, never wanting to let go and if the snaking of her own arms around his waist is anything to go by then she feels the same.

This isn't a dream; he is really here.

Eventually they part and he is quickly clarifying one of the many questions floating around her head. "The FBI found me." She nods, a bewildered expression resting on her features. If they found him then how is he here and not in jail? "They made a deal."

She indicates for him to follow her into the living room but once they reach there, neither one of them sit down but instead hang in the doorway, perhaps an indication at how neither of them are feeling fully comfortable with the situation. It is going to take them time to acclimatise being back together again. "What kind of deal?"

"No criminal charges, I am a free man, but I have to work for the Austin office for at least five years." He doesn't seem overly thrilled at the prospect and this just confuses her further.

"If you didn't like the deal then why did you return? I assume wherever you were had no extradition agreements."

Jane pauses, wondering what to say to this because he knows that she won't be pleased that she was used as the reason, so instead he settles with, "Cho was very persuasive." She frowns at this with a cock of her head. "You didn't know that he was working for the FBI?"

"No… we haven't spoken in a while."

"Hm." This perplexes him because why would the agent say that Lisbon needs him if he himself hasn't been in contact with her? It doesn't make sense. "Five months he has been there I think."

"So will you be working together again or…?" There is definitely a sign of envy there because she would be lying if she said that she doesn't miss their work at CBI. The crime rate in the little area of Washington she has found herself in is low which of course is a good thing when it comes to raising her child here, but her work life is dull. The main highlight of her week was giving a talk at the local school and even that was tedious.

"Looks like it." She hums at this, her disappointment making him frown. She sacrificed so much for him and being here has just further confirmed those suspicions, and she deserves more than that, so much more. "I meant what I said. I did really miss you, Teresa."

Lisbon gazes at him with her stunning green eyes and it makes his stomach perform somersaults. He spent a lot of his time on the island, contemplating various scenarios of what could happen if he returned to the US and they all included her because she became such a fundamental part of his life, and he didn't truly appreciate that until it was too late. Or so he thought.

Their reunion is interrupted by the most unlikely of sounds… a baby crying from upstairs. They both glance in the direction of where the noise is coming from, him with an expression of surprise whilst she is internally bracing herself for what is going to happen next. "Y-you have a kid?" He questions, obvious disbelief in his tone.

If he wasn't so focussed on her and seeing her beautiful face again after two years away, then he would have noticed the signs in her home. Like the toy chest in the corner and the framed photographs on the wall. "Yeah… a son."

"Wow, congratulations." He seems genuinely happy for her, but it doesn't cross his mind that the child could be his. Sometimes he wonders if their moment of passion actually ever happened because the memories are fuzzy most likely because of the sheer stress he was experiencing at the time.

"Jane-"

"Is his father here?"

"Yes." The wailing from the infant gets louder, obviously frustrated that his mother hasn't made a quick appearance and it makes her tiredly sigh. "Do you want to come and meet him?"

"Of course." He beams as he follows her in the direction of the staircase at the back of the house.

Each step they take, and another question pops up in his mind about this alien situation he wasn't expecting, whilst she becomes more and more tense as they reach the top. How is she going to tell him?

The mewling boy hushes when he hears the footsteps entering his nursery, he always seems to calm as soon as she appears and perhaps, she should feel blessed that her child isn't that much of a pain in the ass. He is a good kid, with dark hair that is beginning to curl at the ends showing its length and blue eyes like the sea that surrounded the island Jane recently escaped from. As babies go, he is pretty cute. "May I?" He indicates that he wants to pick up the boy and Lisbon simply nods, worried that her voice may give away the fundamental secret she is harbouring.

In one smooth move he scoops up the boy into his arms and settles him on his hip. He is looking over at his mum with wide eyes but remains calm, seeming to sink into his father's side. It is like he knows. "What's his name?" The mentalist asks and for a brief moment she is lost for words because of the sight of him bouncing their son in his arms. She thought that she would never get to see them together.

"William."

"Good choice." He smiles at her, oh how she has missed that smile. "He looks like a William." If he weren't so captivated by the young child, then he would probably notice her nervousness, but he loves children, they tend to instantly bewitch him with their cuteness. "So, where is his father?" She is surprised that he hasn't worked it out at this point because she knows that he is a bright, perceptive man and he must remember what they did just over two years ago.

Her mouth goes dry as she tries her best to get it out there, reveal the truth, whilst two pairs of blue eyes – almost identical in shades – just stare back at her. "Jane he's…" When she trails off, he finally detects her apprehension, and it makes him wrinkle his brow. Not knowing how he is going to react, that is the scary thing, but she can't exactly lie. After a sharp intake of breath, Lisbon finds the power from within and utters, "He's yours." And the relief to finally have that off her chest is immeasurable.

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A/n This chapter was a bit clumsy, but I wanted to set up the main premise without taking ages. Thank you for reading.