A/N: Finally, last chapter! Sorry this has taken so long. I've had to deal with a lot this week! Thanks to everyone who came along for the ride. This is the longest story I've ever written for FanFic! I hope you enjoyed it. There'll be a oneshot up eventually to make up for me taking so long on this. It's the longest chapter yet, so hopefully it'll make up for the wait. Thanks to kathiann for telling me that I should actually write about this idea. =)
Disclaimer: I'm just borrowing them. I'll try to make sure they don't get lost or broken.
Jane, showing the first sign of a sense of self preservation Lisbon had seen since she'd met him, was out of the room when she woke up. Damn him. What time was it? She grabbed the stick that Jane had so considerately propped against the couch and made her way slowly out of the office into the bull pen. It was strangely quiet. If Jane had let her sleep and gone home for the night without her, she was ready to kill him in a heartbeat.
She went outside and heard Van Pelt talking to a man. It wasn't Jane's overly confident voice. Plus, Van Pelt wasn't flustered enough for it to be him. That also meant that it couldn't be Rigsby in the kitchen-the voice wasn't deep or enthusiastic enough, but it also wasn't Cho's deadpan. She followed the sound into the kitchen using the stick this time, wary of whatever crap Jane might pull next. Her slightly overactive imagination was conjuring images of tricky mentalists hiding in the shadows around every corner. She shook her head, imagining the hell that would come with more than one Jane in the CBI. She laughed, and then shuddered.
"Hey boss," Van Pelt greeted Lisbon, obviously excited about whatever was going on. "This is my friend, Dan," she said, a little embarrassed. Lisbon could nearly hear the blood rushing to the junior agent's cheeks. "Dan, this is my boss, Agent Lisbon." They both muttered the obligatory pleasure-to-meet-yous and Dan's rough hand found hers and shook it firmly. "Dan's a lawyer," Van Pelt said, babbling a little in an attempt to alleviate the awkward silence that had descended on the group. Lisbon thought it was odd that a man with a very non-physical job had such calloused hands. She pushed that information to the back of her mind, ignoring it for the moment, but still keeping it filed away. She almost shivered at the experience-she was slowly turning into Jane.
"That's nice," Lisbon said absently, obviously lost in her thoughts. "Are you two going to take off now?" she asked. Van Pelt answered in the affirmative and asked if there was anything they could do before they left. Lisbon shook her head. "I'm going to grab a bite to eat and then call it a night, I think. Where's Cho? I was going to ask him for a ride to my apartment."
"Gone to interview a suspect."
"Rigsby?"
"Off getting a pizza, if I know Rigsby."
"Oh, God, please don't tell me I'll have to ride home with Jane. I've had all the danger and excitement and near-death experiences I can handle for the entire next year.
"I haven't even seen him," Van Pelt said, realizing for the first time how strange that was. "He disappeared before you woke up, left a couple of hours ago, I think. Didn't say why."
"Smart man." All three chuckled.
"We could drop you off before we go get dinner," Dan offered kindly. "It really wouldn't be a problem." Lisbon took a moment to deliberate. She really wanted to avoid a car ride with Jane. She wasn't even sure he'd come within a five mile radius of her without a signed document stating that no physical harm would come to him. That was a promise that she wasn't sure she could make or keep at the moment. On the other hand, she didn't know Dan. She wasn't entirely certain if she was okay with the idea of a stranger knowing her address.
She was saved from having to give Dan her answer by her phone going off. "Lisbon," she answered curtly.
"Hey boss." It was Cho. "We found the husband. Remember they had a son? He lives in the area, goes by the name Dan Hollebeck. There's no way the husband did it. He's a total wreck-lost everything after the divorce. The son, though, he's angry. Be careful."
Lisbon's face paled, but she tried to sound nonchalant. "Yeah, thanks, Cho. Hey-Agent Teresa needs your help at Jane's place. Meet her there. Talk to you later." She snapped the phone shut as she reached for her gun.
"Don't even think about it," the lawyer's voice came from behind her, shaking a little bit from nerves. "Take out your gun and your cuffs and lay them down on the ground." When Lisbon hesitated, trying to buy some time, he became more agitated. "Do it! Do it right now, or I swear I'll put a bullet right through Grace's pretty little head." She put both items on the floor in front of her, letting him feel like he was in control of the situation. "Kick them away," he said curtly. Lisbon followed his instructions, kicking them to the side so that she couldn't reach them but Dan couldn't, either. "Cuff your hands behind your back," he said, presumably to Van Pelt. Lisbon heard the cold, metallic click of the junior agent doing as she was told. "Good. Lisbon, drop your stick." A protest formed itself unbidden on her lips, but she banished it, lowering the requested piece to the floor with a soft clatter. "Hold on to Grace's shoulder. We'll leave in her car."
They were heading toward the elevator when Lisbon heard the soft, welcome ding of the metal elevator doors reaching their floor and creaking slowly open. Lisbon thought she heard Van Pelt mutter "Oh, thank God," under her breath. She couldn't be sure, as her own pulse was roaring in her ears. "Drop your weapon," a stern male voice said from the direction of the doors. Lisbon's knees nearly buckled under her with relief. It was Cho.
"No way, man," Dan said, voice changing pitch frantically. "I'm in this way too deep to let anything go now." Anywhere else, those words would have sounded over-dramatic and soap-opera-like. Here, they just caused Lisbon to start praying and wishing silently to every god, saint, and spirit she had ever heard of that they would make it out of this alive. The man was desperate; he would do anything. An idea seemed to strike him. "You have to let me go. I have two hostages."
"And I have a gun to your head," was the cold reply. If her knees had buckled before, now Lisbon nearly fell to the ground and wept. Patrick Jane was a pain in the ass, but she had never been more thankful to hear his voice. "Drop the weapon," he said, and his voice had a scary hollow undertone to it that Lisbon had only heard once before, when he was telling her of his plans for Red John. Someone was threatening his team. He didn't know when he had started thinking of himself as one of them, but he was ready to kill for them if he needed to.
The gun clattered to the floor as Cho began reciting his rights.
Lisbon was sitting on Jane's couch. She had forced him to move it back out of her office, insisting that her eyes would be better soon anyway. Jane hadn't really had a say, as he was off somewhere at the time, and Rigsby and Cho put the furniture back as it had been before. Still, she had had to admit that it was much more comfortable than her desk chair. She removed the sunglasses slowly, carefully peeling the gauze pads and tape away from her eyes. She started, blinking quickly to clear her vision. Patrick Jane was crouched right in front of her, staring straight into her eyes. The depth of his gaze made her blush, and he grinned widely. Lisbon couldn't help but smile as well, elated just to see that infamous smirk again.
"Let's play a game," he said. It was so random, just from out of the blue. No "How are you?" No "Glad to see your eyes are better." Just "Let's play a game!" That was Jane, though. Lisbon shot him an incredulous look. It was a bit odd, even for Jane. "Seriously, I want to see what you learned while you were blind. Please?" he wheedled, "I'll be your best friend!"
"That's the scariest idea I've heard in my entire life."
"I'm offended! I saved your life, remember."
"Fair enough."
"Wonderful! Close your eyes."
Knitting her eyebrows together confusedly, Lisbon did so, awaiting further instructions. Instead, she just felt a slight pressure against her lips. By the time she had registered that Patrick Jane had just kissed her, he was out the door and gone.
Lisbon decided that it was time for her to go as well. On the way out, she knocked into a janitor. She smiled brightly at him. 'It's too late to be cleaning bathrooms," she said kindly. "Go home." The man agreed, and they both went happily back to their homes.
