A/N: Another holiday fic, this one is relatively short so I thought I'd stick it in here. I'm also feeling rather under the weather now. Boo.

Thank you to: donnie234, TwilightLover-CarlisleandEsme, Aeidhryn, Agent ERA and anthropologist for reviewing Red Screen of Death.

x tromana

Title: Tomorrow
Rating: T
Characters: Jane, Cho
Notes: Written for ranger_girl0301 as a part of the holiday fics challenge.

Tomorrow

They are the last two left in the bar.

Lisbon drifted off home hours ago, with Van Pelt in tow. The younger of the pair may have settled down in her role, and have worked for the team for years, but she still has that innate instinct to try and please. It also helps that Lisbon lives in the same suburb as Van Pelt and was more than happy to share a cab home.

Rigsby, naturally, loitered for a while longer, but soon realized that without Van Pelt around, he had little he could be bothered to stay out for. Besides, they do have work in the morning. However much the man keeps telling himself that his flame for the redhead had long since been extinguished, it's a lie. It doesn't matter though; there's nothing wrong with hope. Who knows what the future may hold?

If you'd told Jane a year ago that, by now, Red John would be tried and convicted in a court of law, he'd have laughed in your face.

Red John has destroyed so many lives, leaving tatters in his wake. So many people have been left, trying to pick up the pieces, though not entirely knowing how or why.

Jane is one of the many among them.

Today is meant to be a victory for him. Right now, he cannot tell if it's a hollow one or not.

Time will tell. It always does.

At least he's not regretting handing Red John over to the team, or not yet, anyway. Somehow, he realized that if he'd taken matters into his own hands (again), then he'd cause irreparable damage between him and them. And that's a sacrifice too far to make. Or at least it is, now. Things haven't exactly changed since the Timothy Carter incident, but his thought processes have.

This is meant to be a celebration of their achievements and instead, his mind is all over the place. Jane knows that it'll settle down eventually. It'll just take time.

"I've been thinking about moving on."

It's the truth, brutal in its honesty. Jane had always been insistent that when the Red John case was closed, that his association with the CBI would be over. Jane isn't lying when he says he's thinking about it, it doesn't mean that he actually will. Instead, it more means that he doubts whether or not it's the right thing to do. Really, what he wants is confirmation that he's still wanted. He could go to Lisbon for that, but sometimes, she's as overprotective of herself as he is of himself. And truth be told, there's more than meets the eye in his relationship with her. Just because the Red John case is over, it doesn't mean he's ready to face that yet.

Instead, Cho's no-nonsense, and straight to the point. He won't beat around the bush or look for the hidden meanings. Cho looks marginally surprised at Jane's outburst. He places down the bottle of beer and there's a slight, noncommittal shrug of his shoulders.

"You have everything you need here," Cho says.

He's right. Like Rigsby's denial about his debilitating crush on Van Pelt, Jane's been in denial too. He's tried to push these people away, to act as if they don't mean a thing, when really they do. Lisbon described them as his family and in a way, she's right. Jane doesn't always like them, nor they, him, but they still stick beside him. Like a family does. Without them, he doesn't know what mess he'd be in.

Red John would probably have consumed him, or else, still be at large, at the very least.

Now that he's been sent to death row, things should theoretically start getting better. It just takes one day at a time.

Tomorrow's always another day. And if things keep improving, then who knows where he'll be in a year's time?

"Why bother?" Cho continues, almost as if he knows what Jane's trail of thought is.

Why bother, indeed.