Chapter 1
"You're not coming," Lisbon told Jane when they realized that Lorelei was going after another member of the shelter.
"Yes, I am." He answered looking upset.
"Jane, listen. I know you want to be a part of this, but I need you to stay here."
"There's no reason for me to stay here," Jane exclaimed getting more annoyed.
"Yes, there is a reason. If things go wrong you need to be far away. You're in too deep. Jane, I'm asking you. Please, stay here." Lisbon begged softly looking at his eyes. This was important to her.
Please, Jane.
He saw something on her face because he stepped back.
During the ride to Lennon's house, the brunette thought about Jane's expression and Lisbon felt guilty. Maybe she had been too harsh with him, but then when she arrived at Lennon's house, she found Jane trying to keep Lennon alive with his hands over the man's chest fighting to keep the blood from coming out. He left Lorelei escape again and that Red John's mistress hasn't been helpful based on his desperation to keep Lennon alive.
As it wasn't enough Kirkland and Homeland Security took over the case without a real reason.
The first week after Lennon's case, it was easy to avoid Jane. Mostly because he was hiding in the attic but she didn't go to check on him, so she counted it as progress.
During the second week, Lisbon received a phone call from Homeland. Kirkland informed her that Lorelei's body was found on an old deposit. Red John killed her.
Oh, God.
She went to the attic and took a deep breath before knocking on the door. Jane opened the door and the first thing that he did was questioned her about Lennon's case but the blond stopped when he saw her face, he knew that she had bad news.
During the drive to the deposit, Jane was silent and the agent felt a pang on her stomach because he looked so full of remorse and he was probably blaming himself.
"I'm sorry, Jane," Lisbon whispered unable to refused him some comfort.
He looked at her with sad eyes and a broken smile. "Thank you, Lisbon." The consultant answered softly. He touched her right hand for a moment before he let it go.
It was the first time since Jane came back from Las Vegas that showed her some vulnerability. She felt a knot in her throat. Lisbon was conflicted because she knew that Jane needed a friend. He needed someone who could get him out of his head but the senior agent also knew that he won't stop until Red John's death and then what happened to her?.
She parked the car and let him go alone to checked Lorelei's body. He needed to do that by himself. She distracted herself questioning one of the Homeland Security Agents about the details of the scene but to her surprise, Jane didn't even take 5 minutes in the crime scene.
"She had it coming." He told her with a resigned coldness as he walked away to the car.
Lisbon didn't disagree with him but she didn't wish that ending to anyone, and she wasn't the one that had a relationship with Lorelei.
How Jane could react in such a dispassionate way? Especially after just admitting he had feelings for her two weeks ago.
They got a new case. The murder of a theater actress the night before the opening of the show. Media was going to be all over the place, she hated these kinds of cases.
She arrived at the hotel, Jane wasn't there and she had a pretty good idea of where he was.
She dialed Jane's number. "Hey, Lisbon." He answered.
"Where the hell are you? Don't tell me you're at the hospital."
"I'm not at the hospital." He replied and she could hear the lie through the phone.
"We caught a case. You're needed at the crime scene." She told him. "You're at the hospital, aren't you?" It was really difficult to actually distance herself from Jane when she was responsible for his behavior.
"You told me to tell you that I'm not at the hospital. What do you want? Make up your mind." He told her trying to be playful.
"Get out of there. If Jason Lennon wakes up, and if he talks, and if he knows Red John's identity, Agent Kirkland and Homeland Security are perfectly capable of handling it." She told him flatly. There had to be a better way of approaching this case. Lisbon learned her lesson with Mancini and the FBI.
"I disagree." Of course, he would disagree with everything that implied an actual collaboration.
"You're playing with fire."
"There are worse things to play with. Oh, got to go." He told her before cutting the call.
She couldn't help to remember a similar conversation that happened years ago.
"Well, you think wrong," Jane said coldly without looking at her. Lisbon felt how the panic began to take control over her mind.
"No. No, you think wrong. Can't you see there are people who care about you, who need you? You're being selfish and childish and I want you to stop it." She replied upset. How could he be so careless about his own life?
"I wish that I could, but you know some things you just can't fix. Needn't be angry, it's just the way of the world." He had mocked her.
His eyes were so lost.
Jane arrived at the hotel room and he started showing off, as usual, then he let her alone with the witnesses to clean up his mess.
After that, Lisbon approached him on the balcony. He looked at her trying to get a good reading on her but she avoided his face and focused on the view in front of them.
"Why are you so glum?" He asked her.
She sighed frustrated. "I call you up, and you're creeping around Lennon, getting into Kirkland's business. Of course, I'm glum." She exclaimed letting some of her frustration out.
"Oh, that." He said looking back at the buildings. "Lennon is a direct link to Red John. I need to talk to him."
Lisbon knew that it was an important lead. The first one since Lorelei told him that he had shaken hands with Red John but he was getting out of control.
"Like Lorelei was, right?" The words came out of her mouth before her brain processed them but she forced herself not to regret it. This was the closest that she had come to say I told you so. It was petty of her but couldn't help herself. He told him that Lorelei was playing with him and Jane chose to ignore her.
Jane didn't answer, he looked at her searching for something on her face by inch until finally decided to focus on her eyes. He took a step closer and her breath got stuck in her throat when she looked at his green eyes. Her heart started to pound so hard.
After a moment, Lisbon gave out and broke eye contact first taking a step back. "You need to try and start following the rules for a while. And if you must break the rules, break them on your own time." She was proud that her voice wasn't shaking.
"When am I not in my own time?" Jane replied coldly before leaving her alone. He was reminding her that Red John was his priority and that the CBI came second. She closed her eyes and let the breeze calmed her down.
After the last exchange of words between them. Lisbon decided that she had enough of Jane during this case so she avoided him as much as it was possible. Finally, they got a new lead that put the star of the show as their prime suspect. Apparently, the director wanted to replace Deandra: the start of the show with Sharon, the victim. She went to the theater alone to interrogated Deandra Sunderland.
Lisbon found her rehearsing and allowed herself a few seconds to appreciate the soft melody coming from the women.
There's no love song finer... But how strange the change from major to minor...
"Miss Sunderland. My apologies for interrupting. We need to talk."
"I'm rehearsing here. I asked not to be disturbed." The actress explained annoyed.
The senior agent explained their new lead to the actress trying to provoke her but Sunderland's face expressed confusion, not guilt. "You don't understand."
Lisbon opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by a voice coming from behind her. "She would if you told her the truth. You sing beautifully."
Lisbon sighed. "How long have you been out there?" She asked turning around to see Jane sitting in the dark of the theater.
"Long enough." He replied looking at her in a way that she couldn't figure out before shifting his focus to Deandra starting his usual monologue.
"You know, I kept wondering what brought Sharon Warwick back to Sacramento. She left Sacramento because she wanted something, and now she's back. It's obviously connected to "Torch," but it couldn't be acclaim she was looking for, because she got that in New York City. And then I heard you sing, and it came to me. What is it that every foster child is looking for?" He made a dramatic pause and then dropped the bomb.
"Lisbon, I'd like you to meet Sharon Warwick's mother."
They had left Sunderland behind after Jane announced that he had a plan to catch the killer.
Poor woman. Deandra gave her daughter away years ago and when finally got together and started to had a daughter and mother relationship, Sharon was killed.
"Sad case, isn't it?" Jane said echoing her thoughts. His question sounded innocent enough but there was something in his voice that made her believe that she was walking into a trap.
She stopped her steps and he followed her lead. "Yeah... it is. What are you doing here?"
Jane hid his hands in his jacket pockets and looked around before his eyes shot back to hers. His green eyes were definitely looking for a tell, it reminded her of all those times where he discovered the murder and basically gave them the rope to hang themselves, metaphorical speaking of course.
"Rigsby told me about the lead and I figured out that you would be here so I took a cab. It's kind of obvious, isn't it?" He told her with his usual condescending tone.
Lisbon rolled her eyes but didn't relax.
"Why you didn't ask me to come with you? It'd saved me 15 bucks." He was testing her but she didn't know the reason. It wasn't the first time that she went to interview a suspect alone or that she left the CBI without telling him where she was going.
"I thought that you were busy, that's all" She answered nonchalantly and started to walk again to the lobby exit without waiting for him.
"Well, I wasn't, my dear." He told her once he caught up with her. Lisbon's heart melted a little bit when she heard the endearment term. It's been a while since the last time that she heard Jane call her like that.
She looked at him and found him giving her that look again, the one that she couldn't figure out back in the theater. His eyes were looking soft and shiny. She cleared her throat and avoided his eyes.
"In any case, I will need La Roche's help to close this one." He exclaimed while opening the exit door and gestured her to pass first as usual.
"La Roche?" Lisbon questioned him at the same time that she reached the SUV's keys in her pocket.
She unlocked the car and opened the door. "Neither Cho nor Rigby would fit for the role this time." He said with a smile putting on the seat belt.
"What is your plan, Jane?" She asked sounding close to whining.
Teresa what the hell are you doing? You're supposed to keep a distance. She thought as soon as she realized that she was falling in the same patterns that should be avoiding. Jane narrowed his eyes and tilted his head without breaking his stare. He definitely knew that something happened she started the car just to avoid his face.
Lisbon could felt his eyes on her while she drove away from the parking lot.
"Soon you shall know, Lisbon," She was surprised that he didn't call her out and looked at him curiously when the car stopped at the red light but the blond didn't look back at her. He was tapping his lips with his index finger looking lost in his thoughts.
It was obvious that he knew that something went through her mind and probably guessed that it was related to him but he was giving her a free pass. Something that wasn't common or a good sign. Usually, when Jane did that, it meant that he was planning something bigger and the consultant didn't want to alert anyone involved until it was too late.
When the brunette started to think about all the possibilities, her mouth went dry and she started to get a headache.
Lisbon leaned against her desk; her mind was wandering about the last case. She was so glad that it was all over. They arrested Douglas, the show producer that disguised himself as the sponsor who killed Sharon when she found out the truth.
Jane opened her office door and stepped into the room. "Lennon is dead," Jane said, his eyes trained on her from across the room.
She blinked, startled by his appearance. "What?" Lisbon said surprised.
"Yes. I just came back from the hospital and guess who was with Lennon just before he died?" He asked her without really expecting an answer leaning against the corner of her desk.
"Kirkland" She guessed putting her hands on her forehead. "Jane, Lennon was in a coma."
"Lisbon his signals were stable, they brought him out of the coma. Kirkland told me that his heart gave out but the nurse that was taking care of him said that the way he died was very uncommon. Kirkland is hiding something and it's related to Red John."