She is so exhausted that sleep consumes her as soon as she drops into her bed. And then she dreams, about her childhood, her old friends, CBI, chasing criminals, Jane- everything all jumbled up randomly. When she wakes up, she's almost grateful. She is so tired, she knows she'll probably be grumpy all day. Well, that actually depends on Jane, on how annoying he will decide to be and how much trouble he will create for her.
His night is restless, spent staring at the creepy smiley-faced old blood stain on his wall, trying to ignore this new thing in his heart that he has been feeling for quite a while now, and worrying about Lisbon- even though he has already figured out the motive of the killer and knows that she is safe. He wakes up early that morning, in need of a good shower.
They both reach the office at the same time, and take the elevator together. He greets her with a good morning, she acknowledges with a nod and a stifled yawn. He knows she's grumpy. He shuts up.
She talks to Hightower, lets her know that Jane has a lead that they want to follow, that she wants to go on a field trip. Hightower reminds her that she will be suspended if Jane screws up.
And so Lisbon gives Jane such a glare when she asks him to follow her into the car that he decides it's better if he doesn't ask to drive just this once.
And honestly, it's not just the lack of sleep and the crazy dreams and her job being constantly on the line for him that's annoying her. It's also how she has been feeling lately, especially when Jane is around her. Denial is taking the form of anger in her case. She almost slams the door when she gets in.
He makes an "eek" sound, receives an instant glare, and is quiet since, riding shot-gun, like an obedient little child who stares out of the window curiously.
She hates the silence. It's making her think. She wishes he will say something, besides giving her directions. She begins the conversation. "You should have been driving today, you know the place."
He stares at her like he thinks she's talking (and driving!) in her sleep. Did she voluntarily just say that she would have given him the keys?
And then she adds snarkily. "You're getting me fired today, anyway. Might as well get a fender-bender."
He grimaces. "Yeah, about that, I kind of forgot to mention that this client may have a grudge on me, now that he knows I'm a fraud."
She rolls her eyes. "I figured that much. But what's the difference? You alienate people you meet for the first time by the time you leave anyway."
"True", he nods, grinning, trying to ease the little bit of tension he's starting to feel at the back of his mind.
She can't help but grin back. His grin always wins her over, there's something so charming about it, she hates it.
The mansion is bigger than she imagined, this guy must be really rich, this thinks, no wonder he buys such a fancy cologne. She wouldn't know if someone ever replaced her perfume, wouldn't really see the difference.
The security guard stumbles at the flashing of batch, Jane points out that he smokes weed and completely angers him, Lisbon steps in and assures that she's not here to make arrests today, just some enquiry. After a while, they're sitting in the living room, Lisbon refusing to look at Jane to let him know that she's furious.
That fails to scare him though, he goes on fiddling with expensive things that he doesn't have money to buy if he breaks. She knows he's doing it on purpose, to make her snap, to make her talk to him, so she's pursing her lips and forcing herself to hold it back. It's torture either way anyway.
She's about to lose it when the middle aged owner of the mansion enters the room, dressed in an expensive suit- and wearing that same fancy cologne, she recognizes the scent from the crime scene, how did she not see it as evidence before?
They both stand up.
"I'm sorry to keep you waiting Officer, I was-" the owner pauses midway when he notices Jane, and Lisbon stiffens. Here it comes.
But instead of the tensing of jaws and string of accusations that she is expecting, his eyes soften around the corners instead. "Wow, Jane... it's been so long."
Jane nods uneasily. "Matt."
Lisbon wonders for a moment how close they were to be on first name basis. And she gets her answer soon.
"We used to talk every week. And now you haven't visited since…" Matt trails off.
It's quiet, it's tense, the clock ticks on in anticipation. Jane sighs. "You trusted me. I took advantage of your trust. I faked it all. I cheated you. What face would I have shown you when I got caught?" he checks his anger at himself, and takes in a deep breath. "I'm sorry, for everything." He says sincerely, looking Matt in the eyes.
Matt just dismisses it with a wave of his hand, and sits down on the sofa, motioning for them to join. "You gave me hope, it kept me going, it got me where I am today, it's fine, forget about it. Tell me, how can I help you?"
Jane blinks, taken aback. This isn't the reaction he was expecting- isn't the reaction he gets from his former clients. Sometimes even he fails to predict human nature. But he's glad, he's always relieved, a tiny part of his guilt is now lifted.
This is when Lisbon cuts in, knowing very well how Jane must be feeling. "We were wondering if we could get the name and contact information of the manufacturer of your cologne. It's related to one of our ongoing investigations."
Matt looks surprised. "Just this much? You could have just asked on the phone. But I'm glad you came in person, glad I got to see you, Jane. Have some coffee."
Lisbon wants to say no, they're on the job, they should leave, but this is kind of a reunion for Jane. Maybe he can finally get back an old friend?
She decides to stay. The guys small-talk, catch up on each others' lives, Lisbon wonders at how much she doesn't know about the old Jane, how much he has changed. Well, he was good to begin with, he was a good person at heart- his father made him take advantage of people, circumstances turned him to who he used to be. But that wasn't real him- this is real him. She knows the real him. And she decides she doesn't care how he was before they met, she doesn't want to know.
Half an hour later, they exit, with the name and address scribbled on a piece of paper. She thanks Matt, Matt tells Jane to keep in touch, Jane smartly avoids making any promises.
Lisbon calls up Van Pelt to give her the information and have her meet the guy. And this time, she lets Jane drive.
He was overwhelmed for so long, with too many emotions and memories that he was pretending not to care about, but now he's ready to get back to being himself. "Why are you letting me drive? Don't tell me the security guard passed you some weed!"
Her eyebrows furrow into a thin line on being reminded of how Jane was sabotaging everything in the beginning. She crosses her arms over her chest. "I'm thinking of taking a vacation just to get away from you."
He chuckles. "Aren't you afraid that I'll screw up everything while you're away?"
She thinks for a minute, imagines Jane being rude to every witness and every suspect and everyone in the Office, and sitting on her desk with his feet propped up on her table, shoes and all, and her eyes widen like saucers in terror. "How about you take a vacation then?"
He suddenly turns serious again. "I will, once we catch Red John."
She likes how he uses "we" instead of "I", like he used to before. She's glad to know that he knows he's not alone anymore. "A month in the Caribbean?"
"How about a month in Jersey?" he teases, reminding her of the tv show he caught her watching. And then he's quiet again. "I don't think the CBI will need me once they have Red John."
Lisbon looks out of the window. She has always speculated that he will quit once that chapter is over, but she always thought he will change his mind. She's still going to hope. "And what job will you take?"
He shrugs. "I can always entertain the crowds in parties."
She scoffs. "You should join the circus then. You'll be a good clown."
And so they, once again, get back to their usual meaningless bickering.
A/N: hope you liked this chapter, it was more serious than before, but now it'll be back to fluff again! Please review! :)