"Where do you suppose it's at?" Lisbon asked Jane as they both stepped outside, Jane put his finger to his lips and shushed her. That was twice he had shushed her, and Lisbon wasn't so sure she liked it. "Don't shush me, it was a valid question Jane."
Jane rolled his eyes and smiled, "I'm trying to pinpoint his location, so would you please stop talking a moment?" He could see Lisbon felt contrite as she quieted down, they both started following the cries from the kitten. Lisbon then found the poor orange tabby kitten stuck inside a drainage pipe, she tried to reach in and pull the kitten out but she was too short. Turning to Jane she implored him, "Help him Jane, please?"
He nodded and moved for her to step aside, peering up into the pipe he could see the Kitten had clearly fallen in and couldn't climb back out from the angle of the pipe. "It's okay little guy, we'll get you out." Trying to reach him and pull him out Jane saw that it was of no use, he wasn't much taller than Lisbon. Turning to her he sighed and then looked around, trying to think of what to do. Then an idea came to him, "Lisbon, let me lift you and hold you up as you grab him." She looked a bit put out by the idea, though he knew she secretly didn't mind if he touched her or not.
Without further words between them, they worked together, Jane grabbing her by the waist lifted her as she reached in and pulled the scared kitten out. Before she could entertain a thought about how much she enjoyed Janes hands around her waist and how much she shouldn't be having those thoughts, the feral cat bit her on the hand. "OW!" She exclaimed, but kept a tight hand on the little tiger. "You son of'a…" Jane set Lisbon down and took off his jacket faster than she had ever seen him move, scooping the kitten up in it he then grabbed her hand looking at it. "Lisbon! Are you alright? Let me see." She would of blushed if not for her sore hand, Jane usually kept careful to not physically touch anyone. But it seemed to her he didn't mind so much.
Taking her hand back she straightened her back and for posterity's sake she stated "I'm fine Jane." Quickly distracting him she nodded towards the wadded up jacket as she sucked on the skin between her thumb and pointer finger where the cat had bitten her. "Are you gonna let him free or what?"
Jane smiled and grabbed her other hand leading her back inside, walking over to the bed he sat down and nodded towards the door. "Close the door Lisbon, let's see who we are dealing with." He joked as he sat the jacket on his lap, the kitten was moving around violently trying to break free.
Lisbon couldn't help but smile, thinking to herself secretly how they both reminded her of each other. Two feisty feral kittens, both too cute for words, but both could cause her harm. She still sucked on her hand and watched as Jane released the orange tabby, it bounded off his lap in an instant and went to hide under the desk. Yet again reminding her of Jane and how he liked to hide away from everyone.
"Jane, we need to get him out of here. If anyone finds out we let a cat inside the building, we'll never live down the jokes and I am sure Hightower wouldn't be so pleased." She looked around for a box to put the kitten in so that they could transport him out. "I think there is a decent animal shelter down the street from here, it's across from the park…Jane?" Noting his silence she turned to look at where he was sitting.
Jane folded his arms and shook his head "No, I want to keep him Lisbon. Little CBI needs to stay here, he already has a home that he's found. Why send him somewhere else?"
Lisbon sighed and couldn't help but shake her head, thinking how Jane seemed like a petulant child at times. Before she could say anything however Jane forged ahead, "Besides, he might not find a home and then they would put him down. All because you had us give him up."
"I can't believe you're playing the abandonment card Jane." She said sulking slightly, and instantly Jane knew he had won the dispute. He felt slightly bad about playing her sympathies and attachment issues like this, but for some reason he just didn't want to let this kitten go. Maybe it was all the stress over the recent loss to Red John, and maybe just maybe subconsciously he thought if he had a reason for Lisbon to come up here more often he wouldn't feel as lonesome as he did right now.
"Wait, CBI? Jane, don't tell me you already named him?" Lisbon asked, trying to sound exasperated but instead it was clear she found it slightly amusing how attached Jane was to the frightened little kitten. Seeing Jane smile she just shook her head, "Why may I ask, did you name him C.B.I.? To me he looks more like a Tigger."
Jane chuckled and crouched down to peer under the desk, "Because, he's our little mascot. Little C.B.I. cherry-picked his home and so he's earned the name. Now all we have to do is catch him and tame that tiger." He then got on all fours, watching as the kitten backed itself into a corner and took a swipe at Janes hand. Laughing as he shook his head and started making little soft clicking noises with his tongue.
"Jane, what on earth are you doing now? What we need to do is get him out of here. If Hightower finds out about this, she'll have my ass in the fryer faster than you can open a can of tuna!" She found herself for some reason drawn to Janes proximity and crouched down next to him on the dusty attic floor. "Jane…." She tried to get his attention but he was still so absorbed in the cat, to the point that she thought maybe he hadn't heard her at all. However, he was her Mentalist so of course he heard her words, and so much more.
"Lisbon I'm trying to get him to trust me and come out of there, once he trusts us he will stay put. Hightower won't find out, I promise. But Tuna is a good idea, maybe you can go get some so we can lure him out. I'd go with you to get it but I don't want to leave him unguarded while he's still so scared." He looked into her eyes and then realized how close they were to each other, his eyes drawn to her lips for a moment. Shaking the thought off from his mind before she could figure out what he was thinking, Jane pulled out a twenty and handed it to her. "Here, we'll probably need a litter box too if you don't mind?"
Lisbon's brow furrowed for a moment as she considered the situation, bizarrely she had a weird inkling that she was getting some kind of glimpse into what kind of father Patrick Jane had once been. Perfectly devoted and definitely very protective, if not a bit fixated over the needs and desires of his daughter. Which is probably why she found herself taking the twenty from him and standing up to do as he asked.
"Fine. But this is temporary Jane. And while I am gone please look over the case files and see if you can figure anything out, Hightower will be expecting an update pronto." She headed towards her office to retrieve her phone and keys, "I'll be back in a half hour." She promised as she headed out the door, quickly closing it so the kitten couldn't escape out into the hallway.
Jane smiled and tried once more to get the kitten out, finally after a few more moments he quit. "Fine, I'll let you come to me, little c.b. ." Sitting down with a tired sigh he picked up a case file and opened it to the first page. Grace had done her job, now it was time for him to do his homework. Slowly he started feeling his once forgotten headache starting to return, there was something about this case that Jane really didn't like. He just wasn't sure yet what it was, but he vowed to do his best to find out before Lisbon returned.