Thanks to: Tromana, Aurora Stormwind, Jisbon4ever, 24mentalistlover, klcarr892, The Agent of Chaos, Kuhlama and country2776 for the reviews.
Well here's chapter 2, enjoy!
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Lisbon rolled over and slammed her hand down on her alarm clock. She was already awake and didn't need reminding that life was quickly passing by. Now she had to get up and go to work as normal.
Normal.
Life would never be normal again. She scoffed at herself for thinking getting to work on time as usual was the important thing in her life now. Her life was no longer in her own hands. And, as far as she could see, it looked like there was no way out, no avoiding her murder in week's time. Lisbon had cheated death before but another escape didn't seem all that lucky. Not with Red John involved. She consoled herself with the thought that since she knew she was dying at least she could do things, say things to people. She had time to put her affairs in order, to say goodbye. It was similar to the position Jane had put her in a year ago when he tricked her into thinking that she'd been infected with a killer virus. Only, this time it wasn't a hoax.
Lisbon crawled out of bed and began searching through her wardrobe. Before long she'd found her usual pair of black pants and chose a green shirt to go with them. She smiled a little remembering the last time she wore that shirt, Jane said that it complimented her eyes.
Small things like that were what she was going to miss most. She was going to miss the way Cho smiled when he thought no one was looking, the way Rigsby was like a human vacuum always eating and the way Van Pelt was always trying to impress the rest of the team (though she did that a long time ago).
But most of all she was going to miss Patrick Jane.
Deftly Lisbon swept her hair back and secured it in a bun at the back of her head, as she looked in the mirror she saw the dark circles that had formed underneath her eyes. Quickly she reached for her cover-up and began applying it. It wouldn't do to look exhausted. Jane would be sure to notice, and she didn't need him asking questions today.
When she'd completed her make-up and brushed her teeth she headed downstairs. As soon as she reached the bottom of her stairs, the letter caught her eye. It was still sitting on the coffee table where she'd left it, taunting her. Skipping breakfast she grabbed her keys, gun, badge and blazer and headed out for work. Still trying to pretend that everything was exactly as it should be.
It helped that when she arrived at CBI HQ everything was perfectly normal. She knew that no one knew about the letter she had received so she didn't have to deal with people panicking or worrying, but she felt incredibly lonely knowing that everyone else in the building was having a perfectly normal day. Still, to keep up the charade, Lisbon plastered on a fake smile and said a cheery 'Good morning!' to the security guard as he checked her in.
When she got to the bullpen she saw that the team didn't have a new case waiting. When she asked Cho he told her that as far as he knew the team hadn't received any phone calls all morning. Lisbon, unusually, was a little relieved by the prospect of a light day. Normally, she'd be pissed that they didn't have a case as it would mean a day doing paperwork alone in her office, but today the prospect of being alone and unobserved seemed positively blissful. Sure, she wouldn't have the distraction working a case would provide, but at least she wouldn't have to tirelessly keep up a façade and act like nothing was wrong.
She might actually be able to get through the day this way.
Then she remembered Patrick Jane. He was, of course, going to poke his handsome blond head around her office door at regular intervals to annoy her, make her laugh and generally distract her. She was pretty sure that none of his usual crap would have the desired effect today thanks to the letter sitting in her apartment. That would just mean that he might try harder. He might take up residence on her couch; if he did he'd be bound to discover that something was wrong.
Which meant that today was going to be tough after all.
Lisbon headed straight for the kitchen to get a coffee.
"Morning boss." Van Pelt greeted with a smile as she passed Lisbon, her arms laden with paperwork.
"Morning Van Pelt." She replied with the happiest smile she could muster.
But apparently her attempt wasn't good enough "Are you ok boss?" the younger Agent asked.
'I'm fine.' Lisbon replied and without further ado she carried on towards the kitchen.
Grabbing her usual cup of coffee she headed back into her office forced herself to start one of the piles of paperwork on her desk. Lisbon had planned on going straight to Hightower's office first thing and telling her about the letter but as skimmed her paperwork while drinking that first cup of coffee she realised what would happen if she did that. Telling Hightower had seemed like a good idea when she was still in shock and trying to come to terms with what was happening, but now that she'd recovered and was thinking rationally it didn't seem so good.
Hightower would very probably force her to take special protection and go straight into a safe house. Which means Jane would notice something was going on. If Hightower didn't just call him into her office immediately and tell him right then and there. After all, he was her golden boy. And the Red John case was his
Lisbon sank her head into her hands, sighing loudly. Maybe she should just keep the letter to herself, maybe it was for the best… What did it matter what she did. She was probably going to die anyway.
But since she'd gotten over her original panic she'd realized something else as well. She didn't want to die. Not telling Hightower was one thing, but if she didn't tell anyone at all then she'd just be making herself more vulnerable.
She drained the last of her coffee and made a start on the paperwork. Well, she tried to make a start, but after two minutes she found herself distracted by the goings on in the bullpen. Nothing out of the ordinary was happening but she found herself distracted by it anyway. Often on 'paperwork' days she liked to observe the interactions of her team and anyone else in the bullpen.
She smiled as she watched Van Pelt tapping away on her keyboard, ever the hard worker. She turned her attention to Rigsby and Cho at their desks; clearly they were having a debate about something because Rigsby was gesturing rather wildly (and entertainingly). With something that crazy-looking to distract her it should have been strange that the man Lisbon found her eyes drawn to the most wasn't doing anything particularly interesting at all. He was simply lying on a brown leather couch, apparently sleeping. Of course she knew he wasn't really sleeping; he was thinking, no doubt coming up with a new method of annoying her.
Then Lisbon noticed Cho approaching her door, breaking her reverie. He knocked once before entering as she called him in.
"The paperwork from the Dalton case." he said placing it on her desk.
"Thanks." She replied softly, before once again getting lost in her thoughts.
Cho was a little surprised by her obvious distraction. "Am I up in court for this case?" he asked.
"Huh?" Lisbon asked blankly. She hadn't realised that Cho was still in the room. She shook herself and gave him her full attention.
"I said am I up in court for this case?" he repeated.
'Oh yeah,' she said a bit distantly 'The assistant DA wants you and Rigsby to testify.' She dropped her head back to the paperwork on her desk.
After, a few seconds she realised Cho wasn't leaving. Clearly, he'd sensed that something was wrong. Maybe…
'Cho can you close the door and sit down for a moment?' she asked.
Lisbon didn't know why she hadn't considered this option before. She'd know Cho for 6 years and in that time they'd developed a good relationship. She trusted him more than anyone else she knew, and telling him felt like the right thing to do. After all Cho was a great agent in his own right. Lisbon knew he'd been approached several times to lead his own unit, but had turned them down because he wanted to stay with her team. Yes, Cho was most defiantly the right person to confide in. He might even be able to suggest something to help with the situation.
"Boss, is there something wrong?" he asked, with evident concern.
"Yes." She admitted. "Cho, I trust you, which is why I'm telling you this. You're the first person I've told. " She took a deep breath to steady herself. "Last night, I got a letter…from Red John."
"Boss, I…" he interrupted, but she continued.
"In it he asserts that in seven days time he's going to murder me." A look of shock appeared fleetingly on Cho's face, but it disappeared in a moment. Lisbon knew, in his own way, he was trying to comfort her. "I…I don't know what to do Cho and I need your help."
Tears almost overcame her but she managed to keep it together. Telling someone made it seem more real somehow. Like now she could no longer try and deny that this was happening.
"Boss, let me tell the rest of the team, we need to sort out some protection for you," Cho insisted.
"You can tell Van Pelt and Rigsby, but no one else. Especially not Jane. The only protection I want is from my team," Lisbon replied putting on a brave face.
"But Lisbon, don't you think Jane would want to know? He really cares about you." Cho's reminded her, sounding uncertain.
"No." Lisbon said hotly before sighing and sinking into her chair "I'm asking you as a friend Cho, please." She hated the pleading note in her voice. "Besides, you usually have no problem not following proper protocol."
"Fine, I won't tell him. The rest of the team and I will escort you to and from work, and we'll take it in turns to watch your house through the night." He promised, sounding businesslike again.
"Thank you." She said managing a small smile.
Cho immediately left her office to tell Van Pelt and Rigsby.
5 minutes later Van Pelt burst into her office looking upset, Rigsby wasn't far behind although he hesitated a little before stepping over the threshold and letting the door shut behind him. Lisbon knew what was coming.
"Boss, how can you not want to tell Hightower? I mean, surely you need the best protection you can get. This is Red John we're talking about!" Van Pelt asked, indignantly.
"Grace," Lisbon said calmly, "You are all the protection I need and want. If you can't stop Red John, then I'm sure no-one else can."
"But…" Van Pelt began, but Lisbon cut her off.
"And I don't want Jane to find out and I trust you guys more than Hightower not to tell him."
"Why don't you want him to know? I'm sure he'd be distraught if anything happened to you." Van Pelt shot back.
"Exactly, I don't want to go upsetting him, you know what he's like with Red John. I'm trusting you Grace, as a friend. Please don't say anything to anyone. If you don't want to be part of my protection then fine you don't have to but you can't tell Jane. That goes for you too Rigsby." She explained calmly, addressing Rigsby for the first time since he had entered her office.
"Boss, if this is what you want then I'll do it, no questions asked." Rigsby replied.
"Thank you." Lisbon said with a small smile as he returned to the bullpen. She then turned her attention to Van Pelt.
"Of course I'm going to protect you. I just wanted to make sure you were sure about all of this," Van Pelt answered quickly.
"Thank you for your concern Van Pelt, but I am most defiantly sure about what I'm doing," Lisbon responded.
Van Pelt nodded her head slightly and followed Rigsby out into the bullpen
That night Rigsby escorted her home and stayed on the sofa in her apartment, he then escorted her into work the next day.
Jane didn't notice a thing. Well, if he did he didn't show it. Besides, there was nothing for him to notice, only Lisbon and Rigsby leaving at the same time which wasn't unheard of. The team had already agreed that they would take it in turns escorting their boss home. That way it wouldn't look too suspicious. And maybe team had acted slightly protective of her all day, but once she'd given them a whispered telling off they returned almost to normal. Well, close enough. Lisbon still caught them glancing worriedly at her office from time to time.