Disclaimer: No, I don't own The Mentalist, so nice of you for asking!
MK-Thank you for reading and reviewing! We don't find out why Mira lied in this one, but there is some light humour in here ;)
Leighanna-We'll find out what Mira lied about later, thank you for reviewing!
Five-Not Ridiculous
His eyes almost fluttered closed as the steady hum of the vehicle gently began to lull him to sleep. If it weren't for that petite, feminine body pressing into his side, leaning against him with her head resting on his shoulder, he might have just fallen asleep, face against the cold window. But he had no regrets though, sitting upright on the leather seats, one arm wrapped around her waist, marveling in the sensation of her breathing, feeling her chest move, her breath dance into his skin through the papery hospital gown.
She shifted against him, throwing her arm over his lap as she nuzzled further into him. He stiffened, wrapping his arm tighter around her waist, trying to keep her still. He glanced down at her sleeping figure, the way the hair currently obscuring her face moved away every split second as she breathed. Smiling to himself, he reached down and brushed it from her face, eyes looking down at her.
He heard a soft sigh. It sounded plaintive, sorrowful.
His eyes snapped upwards, seeing Mira's hands flex on the steering wheel, her blue eyes reflecting against the rearview mirror for a quick moment. Her head turned to the side, almost trying to hide her face from him. He felt slightly hurt, but he knew why. She craved love-not the kind of 'love' they shared if one would even call it that. He loved her like a younger sister-a very annoying little sister at that. He wasn't too sure she shared her viewpoints with him on that subject. He doubted she did, she still did however; love her brother with all her heart.
"We are almost home," her voice was soft, almost hesitant, "Only one more block left."
He nodded in a quick confirmation, eyes glancing back down towards Lisbon. A smile graced across his features once more, he cupped her chin softly, thumb grazing the delicate apple of her cheek. It mesmerized him, women could get their skin so silky soft to the touch. It would make happiness fill him instantly whenever he would be able to caress it…to taste it.
But that would be extremely inappropriate.
He almost blushed at the train of thoughts his body was automatically giving him. He wanted to ban them forever-after all, he still viewed himself as married to Claire. He had given her everything he ever could; he would remain to do so, even after death. Sadly, he would not be joining her anytime soon unless Red John was dead…well not soon by the standards of your average mortal, but to his…forty years was more like four.
The car soon began to slow, coming up to the large house they had quite secretly called home for the past few years. He still had the house in Malibu, only occasionally spending nights in there. Usually he either slept in the office or here. He sometimes preferred the office, liking the peace he felt there without anyone around.
His body jerked to the side as the car pulled in the driveway, pulling up all the way before stopping entirely. Mira pulled the keys out of the ignition and undid her seatbelt. She turned in her seat, staring at the both of them, "Carry her inside, then change your clothes," quickly turning around, she pushed the door open and slammed it closed. He watched her dark silhouette as she walked towards the white French doors, fumbling with the other set of keys she had kept in her pants pocket.
Change his clothes?
He looked down, feeling slightly offended when she told him to change his clothes. Sure, the hospital gown was uncomfortable, but he found it a little-offensive that the Halfling had 'ordered' him to do so. Shaking his head, he was sure to safely wrap his arms around Lisbon, gently cradling her in one arm so he could reach over and push open the door. He hooked his arms once more around her, lifting her to his chest as he climbed out the door, nearly finding out the hard way about the distance from the ground. His eyes had opened wide, feet searching for the ground.
He did not want Lisbon to wake up either here outside or covered in fresh cuts and bruises.
Jane felt proud of himself, without hurting neither one of them, he had successfully made it out of the SUV. Smiling brightly at himself, he moved around, slamming his body weight against the door slightly to shut it. Then a cold, chilling sensation built up from his bottom, moving down his thighs and then upwards towards his spine.
He froze.
Oh good Lord.
No wonder Mira told him to change.
He felt the blush develop on the back of his neck, gradually growing as his face flushed bright red. His eyes opened wide, he stared at nothing in particular as he had realized he had been walking around like that until they had found Lisbon's government issued vehicle of choice.
Without missing another beat, he tightened his grip on Lisbon and set himself towards the still-open French doors, bare feet slapping against the cement driveway. He kept his head down, not exactly looking at Lisbon, but more so the ground, so he would not have to hear Mira's patronizing. Automatically, he lifted his feet in time so he would not trip as he slid into the door, not shutting it behind himself. He knew very well that the little Halfling would just shut it herself.
He then lifted his head up high, heading into the direction of the staircase. His eyes were attempting to adjust quickly to the lack of lighting in the room, luckily the moonlight shined within the room. Regardless, he still found himself stubbing his toe on an end table, the pain immediately shooting up his foot. He squeezed his eyes shut, gritting his teeth tightly. Accidentally, he squeezed Lisbon tighter than he had originally wanted to. He felt her flex inside his arm, wiggling at an attempt to gain more comfort. Jane knew he had to do one thing now-besides change his clothes-get Lisbon on a safe, flat, and comfortable surface.
Hesitantly, he lifted his injured foot and placed it on the cushiony fabric of the first step. Gritting his teeth once more, he shifted his weight and began to ascend up the stairs. With every step he took, the more pain he felt radiating from his toe. Truly he would not be surprised if it were broken, he barely contained the yelp threatening to escape from his lips.
Jane breathed out a sigh of relief once he reached the top stepped, feeling happier at the thought of no more stairs. With a small smile appearing on his face, he moved limped 'steadily' over towards his bedroom, pushing the half-open door farther apart to allow himself entrance. He stopped the large, king-sized plush bed in the center of the room. He made his way towards it, gradually loosening his grip on the petite state agent.
Carefully, he lay her down against the velvet duvet. Her body immediately sinking into the mattress. He leaned down, brushing the bangs from her face as he smiled softly at her. He turned, moving closer towards his dresser for at least a pair of undergarments. Suddenly he looked over his shoulder at the sound of Lisbon moving. A shocked expression replaced his happy smile, eyes dancing around the room as Lisbon slowly stirred awake. Breathing out, he turned quickly and pulled open one of the drawers, rifling through it in search of his undergarments.
He couldn't find them.
Rolling his eyes, he shut the drawer, hands dancing around the antique wood. Eyebrow twitching, he gripped onto the knobs and thrust it open, hands immediately delving into its depths. Smiling to himself, he wrapped his fingers around the flannel pants he had kept in the back of his highest drawer. He quickly pulled them out, not even bothering to look at them before slipping them over his body.
"Jane?"
His pants had just reached his hips, securely covering his intimate body parts when he heard her speak up from the bed, "Jane what are you doing?" her voice sounded slightly sleepy, quite slow.
"Putting on pants, my dear Lisbon," slowly he turned to her, almost studying her, soon he decided to become more 'serious', "Lisbon, do you remember what I told you earlier?" she blinked, he could see it even in the darkness. She chewed on her lip, rolling the plump flesh between her teeth, "Do you remember?"
"No, that was all a dream," she wanted to protest; she didn't want to believe him.
He slowly moved towards her, keeping a straight face as he approached her. He sat down on the bed, feeling her move backwards in attempt to move away from him, "No, this is really happening," he watched her eyes remain on his. It was her head that moved to the side, mouth moving but refraining from speech, "You healed me," he reached up, pulling down the scratchy feeling of the gown, revealing his wound-free chest, "You knocked out an entire power grid," he watched her shake her head once more, hair gently slapping against her face.
"This isn't real," she shook her head, hair dancing around her scalp, "There is no way in hell that this all exists," she placed a hand up, splaying out her fingers in attempt to make him stop talking about this whole matter, "There is no such thing as magic, Jane, I thought you of all people would know that."
"No, this is different, this is not like a magic show!" he protested against her, moving closer to her, "This is real! I wouldn't lie to you! You know that!" she continued to shake her head before him, slipping one leg off the bed, promptly followed by the other, "Lisbon!"
He watched as she began to turn and leave the room, her hands reaching out before her to paw the air, making sure she would not slam her body into an unseen object, "Stop this," he couldn't keep the slightly irked tone from his voice, "This is all getting a tad bit too ridiculous…"
"Ridiculous? You're telling me that I'm all-powerful! Now that is ridiculous" she scoffed at him, slightly tossing her head back.
He didn't miss a beat, "No, it's not," she turned to him in the darkness, barely able to make out his form scrambling off the bed, "It is you whom does not know what they are doing. I of course, know what I am doing."
"Right," there was a definite hint of uncertainty in her voice, "Now tell me, how do you know all of this?"
"I have been alive for a long time."
She stayed still for a few seconds. His heart began to thud against his chest, rapidly feeling the slight unease fill inside his body. He watched her eyes squeeze to a close, the corners of her mouth upturning as she once more tossed her head backwards, laughing loudly. She clutched onto her stomach, feeling the muscles contract underneath her palm as she let herself laugh out the 'ridiculousness' of this entire moment. He continued to watch her, cocking his head to the side to observe her reaction.
"That's a good one, Jane," she paused, wiping a newly formed tear from her eye, "You don't even look a day over forty," she smiled once more, shaking her head.
"Actually, I am over four hundred years over forty," she blinked at him, crossing her ankles and standing up straight, "I think it is safe to say I've been around for a long time."
Her head moved to the side, her lips parted as a small smile appeared on her face, "You're joking…" but he wasn't smiling. His face stayed neutral-and a little hurt by her not acknowledging that what he was telling her was the absolute truth. Slowly her facial expression began to change. Her eyes soon became larger, her smile disappearing into a more shocked expression. Her wide eyes blinked, her mouth twitched as it drew in a more straight line.
"Teresa…" he began softly, reaching out to her. He watched her body turn, hastily ready to move through now moonlit door. Her head turned back to him, eyes rapidly flashing with his.
She was about to run.
Lisbon moved to look in front of herself once more, moving one leg in front of her. She shifted her weight, ready to leave the room as fast as she could…or if her life depended on it. Her hands moved into fists, she ran, starting off slowly. The cross necklace bounced on her chest, her hair pushing itself back behind her shoulders.
Then something unexpected happened.
A wispy figure moved through the wall, gradually moving into the room. Its face began to take the shape of a man's. An angelic, beautiful man's face. He moved in front of her, body becoming the correct, full shape. On instinct, to avoid running into him, she began to stop. Her foot tangled in the antique Oriental rug lying across the wooden floor, making her trip. She outstretched her hands, barely falling through the man. She yelped, quickly slapping her palms against the floor and pushing herself backwards, landing straight on her bottom and using her feet to push her away.
She gazed up; the man was wearing clothing that appeared to be straight out of one of those Jerry Bruckheimer movies. A white shirt worn loosely on his body, dark breeches being tucked away into a pair of worn boots and held up by a piece of cloth wrapped around his waist. His blond curls appearing sun-kissed, his face almost crafted by perfect hands…
Oh God…she had gone through him.
Her heart fluttered as her gaze turned back over to Jane's. He was moving towards her, pulling himself down to place his hand on her small shoulder. Automatically she jumped at the feeling of his palm connecting with her shoulder blade. Her eyes gazed into him, her breathing turning heavy.
"Well hello," her eyes flashed back up to the now talking ghost figure, "You must be the Teresa Lisbon," she stared after him for a few moments, her head nodding softly up and down, "Pleasure, William Jane, I would shake your hand but…" her gaze shifted back towards Jane's, her eyebrow moving upwards, her mouth twitching, unable to form words.
"You can call him Will," Jane spoke softly, "He's my son."
Small sounds left her mouth, her eyes flickering between the two men. Yes, they were similar in appearance…but how? Her eyes blinked heavily, her fingers curling into the floor, her short nails scraping against the fine wood. She squeezed her eyes shut and began to count to ten.
"Patrick? What's going on?" her eyes opened, keeping fixated on the floor before her. Her eyes searched through the floor, moving across it in search of the voice's owner. Finally her eyes settled on a pair of bare feet slowly moving into the room. She followed them up their sweat pant-clad legs and found their owner immediately.
Mira.
"Nothing, Mira, please leave," she watched the woman look down, watching the two inhabitants on the floor before drawing their lips into a thin line. She gently bowed, bending her knees slightly, "Please take Will with you," her eyes shifted to the man, who smiled at her and waved.
"Nice to meet you, Teresa," he said happily as he turned and began to walk towards the door. He breezed passed Mira, not noticing the Halfling adoringly shift her eyes in his direction as he moved through the frames. She followed him, only once flickering her eyes back towards them.
Lisbon had stayed like that. Her hands moving into her lap, keeping her back straight. She refused to breath, wanting desperately to 'wake up'. Jane's grip on her shoulder slowly moved down to her hands, taking one in and holding on firmly.
"Penny for your thoughts?" he smiled at her.
Slowly she began to turn in his direction, "I would need a lot of pennies," she breathed finally, taking her hand out of his grip and holding onto her forehead, rubbing at her temples with her thumb and fingers.
"Do you think this is still ridiculous?"
She looked over at him, wordlessly dropping her hand from her face, "Yes, but more possible."
A little preview for Chapter Six:
"They rounded the corner, Lisbon's body slightly pausing at their entrance. He looked over at her, watching her eyes scan and analyze every little detail about the room. This was probably because she wanted to keep her mind away from the fact that Will was his son, dressed like he was from the late seventeenth century, and currently not touchable. "
Please review and tell me what you think(: