"See you later, Miss Lisbon," Jane joked as they made their way out.
"Bye Daddy" she teased back and Jane almost slipped on the ice. He quickly turned to look at her and she had an evil glint in her eyes before she turned around and went to talk to other parents. Jane turned back around and shaked his head with a chuckle before finally leaving the stadium.
"Hey Grace, what do you know about Lisbon?" Jane asked the next morning as Grace dropped off some reports.
"Uh about Charlotte's coach?" She was confused at first and then realized that her boss in fact meant her and not the city.
"...uh quite a bit, I have a friend at the FBI and I had her checked out as you asked."
It may sound strange and a little weird but he wasn't crazy really, he was just a cop that arrested many people and had many enemies. He never knew when a relative or a close friend of someone he arrested decided to take revenge on him or his daughter, so he needed to have as much information as possible about everyone who spent much time with his girl.
"Hmmm" was all he said, still looking at his computer.
"Why? Did something happen? Did you find something? Because the guy at the FBI is really good at his job and he really didn't find anything and I had lunch with her a few times and she seemed normal I swear-"
"Woah, hey! Grace calm down, nothing happened don't worry," Jane stopped her mid sentence and chuckled at her panicking but it also made him happy to see that his colleague cared about his daughter so much.
"...I just wanted to know more about her and her career but there's nothing on the internet about her past, just that she was the best young female hockey player but then she suddenly left the team and hasn't played ever since but no one knows what happened. She also told me that she prefers when people call her by her last name, so I was wondering if you know something about that?"
"Umm, well, I actually know some things from her past and all that. But it's not my place to tell you those stuff, she doesn't want to talk about her childhood because it's a little traumatic-"
"Hah, isn't all of ours?"
"-and she told me that stuff because she trusts me that I won't tell it to anybody. I mean if you really need to know everything, I uh...I could tell you but I mean I-"
"No, no, don't worry Grace. I know you're a loyal person and you wouldn't tell a soul so I won't push you for information. Besides, she told you because she feels comfortable around you and I won't destroy your friendship because of my curiosity. Maybe if we get to know each other more, she'll tell me herself."
"Speaking of getting to know each other, how was it yesterday? What made you go on your own? What did you think of her?"
"Well-" he started and thought about their first meeting. "-at first I thought she was a little...unkind...but then I saw how she was with the kids and we talked a little and I realized that she's really kind" and has the most beautiful green eyes.
"Yeah she can be really...mean when someone is being rude to her or to someone around her. We had dinner a few days ago and this idiot tried to flirt with her and wouldn't take no for an answer so she got angry and the poor guy left the table almost in tears, it was really funny actually."
Jane had to smile at that, he could imagine little spitfire Lisbon throwing her death glare at some poor guy when he thinks he will get in her pants.
He came back to really when Grace continued. "-but she's really sweet with the kids! I went to pick up Charlotte last week and we had to wait 20 minutes longer because one student was late to practice because of traffic so she waited for her because she didn't want her to be left behind so the class was a little longer."
Wow. Jane was actually surprised, he knew that she was kind to the kids, after all, he saw the way Charlotte hugged her yesterday and she came up a few times yesterday when he was talking to his daughter. But he didn't think that she would do something like that. He felt funny and warm inside suddenly and he didn't know what to do about it. Can't do much really.
He went to pick up Charlotte from practice again next week. He wanted to be with her more from now one. Or that's what he told himself anyway.
He didn't get lost this time and came straight to the branches where he saw the students and parents. He didn't see Charlotte but before he could start to panic, he saw Lisbon coming towards him, she didn't look like she lost a kid so he calmed down.
"Hi Jane!"
"Hey" he had to smile at her appearance. The first time he saw her she was already showered and changed, but today she was wearing an oversized hockey jersey with the name of her old team written at the front and he noticed that she had 'LISBON 22' on the back when she turned for a second. She also had black leggings and skates on her feet. She looked beautiful. Woah Jane, stop.
"Charlotte is still changing, she stayed behind a little because she was helping me put away some stuff."
That's my girl. He thought to himself and smiled a little. Lisbon noticed too and also smiled. "Yeah, she's always asking me if I need help with something, she's a great kid."
"Yeah she is," Jane smiled again, he was proud of his little angel.
"Oh! I almost forgot, there's a match this Saturday, nothing big just this little competition thingy, the girls are playing and I don't know if you have work this weekend or something but if you're intereste-"
"I'll be here," he didn't even let her finish the sentence, he wanted to see his daughter play and he's gonna do everything so that he could be there on Saturday.
"Oh that's great! Um, I don't know about others but could you also tell them about it? I mean I would text them myself but I don't know if they have to work if you're coming so I don't want to rub it in when they have to work and…"
He looked at her in confusion for a few seconds before he realized that she was talking about his colleagues. It made him happy that she was so close to his friends and that she wanted them to come too and that she asked him first because she didn't want them to feel bad. God she's amazing.
He realized that she was looking at him and probably waiting for an answer. "Oh yeah, don't worry about it! I'm going to tell them. We don't usually work on weekends unless we get a case but if we get a case and I'll manage to come myself, I don't think they would mind."
"Oh, well okay then," they heard her name being called and she turned back to him. "Uh, I'm sorry but I have to go now but I'll see you on Saturday? It starts at 6pm."
"See you there, coach."
She chuckled at that. "Okay, see you!" She turned around and he watched fascinated as she skated away, she looked more like a ballerina than a hockey player/coach. He really had to stop thinking about her like that.
He saw Charlotte emerging from the lockers room already changed and he waved at her, she weaved back before going to the ice to say goodbye to the others and share the usual hug with Lisbon. He chuckled a little as he saw her little feet move as slowly as possible on the ice so she didn't slip, Lisbon saw it too and they looked at each other and shared a laugh. He waved at her and she waved back and they shared another smile before Charlotte finally stepped from the ice and gave him a kiss on his cheek. He took her hand and they left the stadium together.
