"Closed-case pizza's here!"
Lisbon looked over to see Wayne Rigsby carrying two boxes of pizza with a child-like excitement. Van Pelt cheered after him and Jane shot up from his half-asleep state on the couch. Rolling her eyes, she decided all of them were children at heart and approached the table where they usually celebrated.
"I'm really starting to love this new tradition." Rigsby grinned at Jane before taking a bite of his slice, moaning in approval at the taste. "It gives me something to look forward to, y'know?"
"You said it, brother." The blond shook his head with amusement, having his mouth full.
The superior agent took her seat, less enthusiastic about the food than the rest of her colleagues. "Where did you come up with this anyway? No offense." She asked dryly, slightly curious.
"None taken." Jane flashed her a quick smile. "Cause we were literally drunk when we were talking about it." That caught Lisbon's interest and she unconsciously leaned closer.
"We?"
"Oh, that boys' night out I told you about a few weeks ago." Rigsby puffed out his chest. "We asked Jane to come, and he didn't disappoint."
"Yeah that was fun, wasn't it, Cho?" Jane playfully punched the Asian man in the shoulder. "We should do it again sometime." He didn't react further than an amused hum. Jane then turned his smile on her. A gesture that generally didn't end well for her.
"I know you encouraged them to do that for me. So thanks, Lisbon! I didn't know you cared!" He pretended to be touched.
Lisbon was a quick learner. And she'd learned that her flustered state was what gave Jane the satisfaction. "No problem." So that was her only blank response.
He shook his head slowly with a knowing smile that made her want to strangle him. "And thanks for the tea as well. It's been helpful."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that." She was, and inwardly she smiled, but didn't trust herself to show anything in front if her consultant, so only a shrug was expressed. "So you've been getting sleep?" She chew on a bite of the pizza.
"Eh. It's better than nothing." He waved it off. "I'm still looking for the best spot for a nap around here."
"Good luck finding it, I guess." She decided not to question it. The group sat there eating in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the moment.
From the corner of her eyes, Lisbon watched Patrick Jane gaze at her. As discreet as he was trying to be, his longing linger of eyes was hard to conceal and ignore. She tried to brush it off the first few times, but as the staring continued she started becoming uncomfortable.
It wasn't a predatory look or anything. In fact, he looked like he barely paid attention to her at all, his unfocused eyes settling somewhere around her face, never her face, and never her body. That was the reason she took it in stride. And his expression softened marginally as he did it. Not to mention she'd caught him giving Grace Van Pelt the same look.
She suppressed an urge to swallow, bringing another slice to her mouth. Jane had an almost supernatural ability to read people by their body language. Hence her slight nervousness about her nonverbal responses around the man.
"I already noticed, Lisbon. Relax." Came Jane's inevitable wit. It caught everyone interest as the silence was broken with the remark. "I know that you know. You're really easy to read, you know." He beamed a disarming smile.
"Gee, thanks." She couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"That's a good thing." He was quick to reassure. "Good honest people are like open books. It's a nice change to actually meet one of those people."
"Gee, thanks." She said more sincerely this time. Then averted her eyes when the eye contact dragged on, silently back to the celebratory food. She heard him chuckle and join the silence.
He spoke again, not so much later. "You've been keeping your hair long."
Everyone stopped in their tracks and Lisbon raised her head again to look at him, quizzical. He was staring again, more obviously and with a weak smile.
He'd been staring at their hairs all along. There was an underlying sadness in his eyes that she didn't want to figure out. "Uh, thanks?" Suddenly she felt self-conscious at the dark locks that reached above her waist.
He nodded and stood up. "Anyway, I think I'll go sleep on random couches for now. Experiments." Before leaving, he paused in his tracks one last time. "Oh- and stop pitying me so much. It's radiant obvious and it irks me." Lisbon watched him leave, subconsciously playing with her hair.
"He was crying when I dropped him off at his motel room." Cho stated in a monotone.
"What?!" Van Pelt voiced Lisbon's shock.
"He was drunk." He elaborated. "Drunks are emotional." A shrug. "If he doesn't want anyone's pity, he shouldn't be so pitiful."
"That's a bit too harsh, don't you think?" Rigsby disapproved of the comment. "Go easy on the guy. He doesn't know what to do with himself."
"He's not a lost case." Lisbon sounded unsure, even to her own ears.
"I don't have anything against him." Cho looked directly at her as he said that. "But he refuses to let anyone help. If he wants it, he knows we'll give it to him. Until then, he won't have any progress until he makes peace with himself. I'm not going to spoil him like that. I care enough about his mental health to stay away."
The agents fell quiet, taking in the sentiment. Rigsby was the one who spoke first. "Damn. Well, can't argue with that logic. Ignoring Jane it is."
"It doesn't have to be like that." The redhead sounded distressed, but tired to argue further. "I just want to help."
"I know." Lisbon tried to sound comforting, but she had enough of Jane's peculiar ways herself. "I know you do."
Sensing the glum aura, Rigsby tried his best to turn it around, and by the time they moved to start working, they all felt lighter.
Lisbon put a hand on the door handle to her office and turned it. Stepping inside, the sight of Patrick Jane on her couch was not one she wanted to deal with. "You've got to be kidding me." She growled.
Receiving no answer, she approached him in long fierce steps. "Jane, I don't have time for this. Get up." She demanded, but he didn't stir. "Are you even listening to me?!" She raised her voice, expecting a flinch or another reaction, but he was still.
Her frustration slowly melted as Jane's chest rose and fell at a steady pace, a soft snore escaping his nose. "You're… asleep?" She asked with surprise, shocked when he continued to snore.
An incredulous chuckle came out of her throat. Without thinking, she reached for the blanket she kept under her desk and draped it over him, the harshness in the gesture going unnoticed. Letting her curious gaze linger on his sleeping- actually sleeping form for a few moments long, she went to her desk.
Mindless paperwork. That was one of Lisbon's favorite parts of the job.
Of course, helping people and bringing criminals to justice was why she signed up for it. But moments such as these, she felt like she had one hundred percent control over the situation, whatever it was. That wasn't the case when she skimmed over prime suspects, unable to determine with complete certainty whether they were guilty or not. The possibility that she'd sent many innocent people to court and watched them get charged with murder or other crimes was not zero. And that haunted her.
Sitting down behind her wooden desk and letting her hand scribble messily without giving it no thought or strategy, she felt calm. Because it was black and white. She didn't have to act the judge and work with that small nag in the back of her head that told her she was making a mistake. She just had to write down was she was told and organize files and papers.
Simple as that.
"Lisbon?"
She came back to the present with a start. "Hey. You're awake." She pleasantly noted. Jane hadn't moved around significantly during the last hour, staring at the ceiling of her office.
"Did you really love my daughter?"
Her smile wavered and she analyzed his person. He was unreadable, his even voice not giving anything away. "That's really random." She couldn't help but point out.
He pursed his lips. "No, it's not. You mentioned it that day. It's hard to believe you don't despise everything that's linked to my name."
"You're exaggerating." She said in a matter of fact. "And yes, I loved Charlotte. I loved her very much. She was a lovely kid. Possibly one of the best things that came out of you, to be honest."
"Thanks." Jane muttered distractedly instead of a witty comment.
She fidgeted on her chair. It was almost the end of work hours. She could see her colleagues finishing up through the curtains. "So how did you sleep? I hope my couch isn't the sweet spot you're looking for."
"As a matter of fact, it is!" She groaned out loud, making him laugh. "The mix of chamomile tea and this couch is the perfect cure for insomnia. I slept like a baby." He let out a content sigh. It almost made her agree to him staying there. Almost.
"Glad to be of service." The corner of her mouth quirked upwards as she leaned back, eyeing the man with amusement.
"Speaking of service-" He sat up in one swift motion, facing her with a sleepy lopsided smile, his hair wilder than usual from tosses and turns. "-I don't remember bringing a blanket with me." He held up the material, making her face palm internally.
"Just take it." She narrowed her eyes as warning. "Take it silently like a decent human being."
"That's the problem, my dear." He said smoothly. "Do I look like a decent human being to you?"
A knock on the door caught their attention, which Lisbon was grateful for. "Yes?"
Van Pelt entered, her excited expression turning confused as she spotted a clearly just woken up Jane along with her boss. She was wearing a beautiful red dress, matching high heels and soft makeup.
"Going on a date tonight?" Lisbon smiled encouragingly at her. "You look nice."
The tall woman's excitement returned. "Thanks, boss! Just wanted to let you know I'm taking a few vacation days. It's my cousin's wedding. He lives in New York." After a moment of thought, she added. "And yeah. I have a date. I feel like there's something missing though." She fiddled with a thin lock of her hair, probably not realizing it.
But the senior agent saw Jane giving Van Pelt that sad longing look again. Something clicked in her mind, almost making her gasp. "I know what it is." She exclaimed, perhaps with more emotion than she usually did. The other two stared at her with curiosity. "It's your hair."
"Something with my hair?" Grace frowned, not following her train of thought.
"Yeah. I'm no expert at this fashion crap, but I think a braid would sit nice with that look right now." She mused.
The redhead brightened with that. "You know how to braid hair?"
Lisbon fought hard to keep her innocent smile from turning into a full-on devilish smirk. "No. But he does." She smoothly pointed at the ill-kempt consultant, who instantly sobered at the attention.
"Whoa, hold on now." He shook his head in confusion. "Where the hell are you getting that from exactly, Lisbon?"
"Can you or can you not braid hair?" She glared at him. Angela had never been any good at that sort of thing. And their daughter came to the office with a neat and pretty braid once in a while. She didn't have to be a mentalist to figure that one out.
He furrowed his brows, uncomfortably averting his eyes in what one would call a somehow adorable manner. "Uh, I guess."
A radiant grin split on Van Pelt's features as she approached him. "Really? Can you do mine?"
Jane leaned back, suddenly having his personal space violated. He looked distraught and twitchy. "Uh, I dunno, Grace. It's been a long time and I-I'm kind of, out of practice…" In a moment where Lisbon caught his eyes, she saw vulnerability in them. And fear.
"Jane." She tried to sound calm and understanding. "It's okay."
They froze like that for a minute before he gulped and the look was gone. Not the smallest signs of discomfort in his face. Sometimes she underestimated his acting skills.
Instead Jane gave the woman in front of him a welcoming smile, patting the space on the couch beside him. "Sit next to me."
Van Pelt lightly giggled and complied, turning the back of her head toward the consultant and sitting straight. The anticipation that danced in her eyes almost made Lisbon laugh at the girlish behavior.
She tried to roll her eyes and be annoyed, but the beautiful thing in front of her was too rare to look away from. Jane started to weave through the long red hair with skilled movements, a deep look of concentration in his expression. Grace Van Pelt had her eyes delightfully closed, biting the inside of her cheeks, no doubt to hold a smile.
She wanted to capture that scene and put it on her desk so she could look at it every day. It was heartwarming. In the act, Jane looked like a decent loving father. And Van Pelt was the girl who didn't get spoiled enough by her own father. They provided each other comfort.
"Do you have one of those elastic hair bands, Grace?" Jane murmured distractedly, checking his work by leaning back.
She hummed and handed him a deep red one, still with her eyes closed. He tied the end of the braid and stepped away. Appraising it one last time, his face brightened. "Viola! Guess I haven't lost my edge after all."
Grace's eyes opened quickly and she tried to feel the pattern delicately with her palm. "I'm going to find a mirror." She said with joy before making her way out of the office, not before stopping and giving the blond a wide grateful smile. "Thanks, Jane!"
"Anytime." He beamed at her in return. "You look lovely, by the way. Break a leg!" He shouted the last part as the girl hurried away.
"Father instincts." Lisbon snorted quietly to herself. Jane's eyes snapped to her.
"Oh, hush. I don't even know what to say to you." He chuckled, stepping closer to her desk.
"Oh, really?" Her eyebrows went high in disbelief. "I have a hard time believing that, Mr. Jane. Did I do that good?" She planted her hands on top of the wooden surface, leaning closer unconsciously.
"Too good." He stressed, copying her posture. "How did you know?"
"Eh. Angela didn't know how to do your daughter's hair." She shrugged nonchalantly. Jane saw right through that.
"False modesty doesn't suit you, my dear." He taunted with a teasing smirk.
She suppressed her own. "Okay, admit it. You're impressed with me right now." She challenged.
"It matters to you that I am, hmm?"
Lisbon's smile slipped as she noticed how close their faces had gotten. She could see the individual tips of his golden eyelashes as they fluttered with each blink. The twinkling mischief that swam in those green eyes, screaming trouble. Every line on his skin that portrayed his signature smirk, was now visible to her eyes. There was a light stubble on cheeks and chin that travelled down his neck. He looked somehow… attractive.
Something squirmed in the bottom of her stomach as the look appeared on his face again. His eyes followed her hair from the top of her head to their tips in the front. "Can I do yours?" He blurted softly, waiting for her answer.
It surprised her how much she wanted to say yes. So much that struck her as abnormal and she stumbled back. "Uh, maybe another time." She smiled politely, hoping it wouldn't be as shaky as it felt to her.
"Your loss." He shrugged and stepped back as well. If he sensed anything unusual about her behavior, he didn't let it show.
"I'll just hope you're not trying to sleep with Van Pelt anymore." She tried to taunt and change the subject, collecting her phone.
He fell for it, snickering. "God, no. That was never my plan anyway, but it seemed to annoy the hell out of you."
And now I know why.
"Rigsby has a thing for her." She mused, walking out of office and waiting for him to follow.
"If you noticed, then it must be transparent as ice." The consultant's eyes slightly widened as his boss locked the office. "And yeah, I'm trying to help him out with that."
"If I noticed?" She glared at him, offended. "I just got your ass handed to you with the braid thing! How dare you?"
He held his hands up in mock surrender. "Of course. How did I forget? I have my ass right here in my hand where you gave it to me. My apologies, ma'am."
The snort Lisbon gave would be considered un-lady like by many standards. "You're an idiot."
"Is that the regular idiot or the affectionate term?" He hummed thoughtfully and She punched him.
"Whichever helps you sleep at night." She shook her head, pausing her steps when Jane didn't follow him into the elevator. She shot him an expectant look. "Well? You coming?"
He flashed her a careful smile. "Actually, I… kind of sleep here now. Speaking of which, can I borrow the key to your office?"
When was she going to stop being surprised?
