Warning: Still some Jane angst...
Patrick was in his own world right now, a world of personal hurt and distress. The normally hyper-observant man hadn't noticed anything about the reactions of the other occupants in the office. He didn't see his grandmother crying silently or his grandfather sitting in his chair hiding his face in his hands, fighting down thoughts about killing his already dead firstborn. And neither did he hear his uncle muttering "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
What finally got to him were the gently hands casing his cheeks and the green eyes looking at him with deep love and compassion.
"Hi, Lisbon," he whispered.
"Hey, Jane," she answered softly.
"I screwed that up, huh?" he murmured barely audible.
"No, love. You didn't," she said warmly, caressing his cheeks with her thumbs. "I love you."
He looked at her in open amazement. "And that's a real miracle to me still, Teresa. And I will cherish it, I promise." His voice was raw with emotion. "Please never leave me. I don't want to be alone again. I don't think I can." He swallowed audibly to rein in the tears that threatened to fall. Now that he had recalled that there were other people in the room with them, he didn't want to give the Janes the satisfaction of seeing him crying.
His perception was still off though, because he hadn't realized that someone had approached them and that Lisbon was casting that someone her most potent death glare in warning. Matthew Jane stood behind Patrick and tried to convey to his nephew's girlfriend that he meant no harm. When she was satisfied he really was genuine in his intent, she nodded at him, released her lover and took a step back to give his uncle some space to get closer.
Patrick recoiled when he became aware of the other man. His arms came up in an automatic gesture of self-protection and he looked at Teresa for help with near-panic.
Matthew watched all of this with a deep sense of shame and sadness. He felt like the biggest idiot – no, the biggest asshole in the universe right now and wished he could turn back time. His nephew's words had been true – he had acted like a self-righteous bastard. Both his mother and father had tried to tell him repeatedly that their new-found relative was a deeply troubled man who'd been dealt a very tough hand by fate. They'd tried to convince him that the other man hadn't come barging in to steal or destroy his family. On the contrary, he'd made it more than clear that he didn't expect to be accepted into the fold because he didn't deem himself worthy. But Matthew had just assumed Patrick was playing his parents. That he was scheming.
That his nephew had been in the company of a high-ranking Officer of the Law at the time, who'd obviously vouched for him, he'd simply ignored. Or the fact that the other man truly hadn't even known of their existence until a day ago. Or that his only other source of information might be biased.
Old feelings had come up, memories of his brother. Things he'd repressed. The sense of constant fear and unease he'd had around his brother. And the knowledge that Alexander's behavior and his disappearance had caused his parents so much anguish. He'd just transferred all those negative emotions onto his innocent nephew. A man who'd most obviously been a much greater victim of his brother. Who'd grown up without love and family, and who'd lost the people he'd made his own family with to the same killer who'd now murdered Alexander. A lonely, wounded soul. That was apparent. Matthew had truly never felt so ashamed of himself in his whole life. He'd accused Patrick of being cruel, but what he had to admit to himself now was his own actions today had been more than dreadful. His nephew on the other hand hadn't done a single thing against him apart from telling the truth.
He was at a loss what to do and how to make this right again. As the Jane family had always been an affectionate bunch, his spur-of-the-moment action now was to engulf his unprepared nephew in a hug.
Patrick let out a rather unmanly squeal in reaction and tried to free himself frantically. "No, no, no. Please don't hurt me," he pleaded.
Jonathan was up on his feet and reached them even before Teresa, who'd also jumped into action. "Matt, release him. This is not the way to do this," the oldest Jane said strictly, and pried open his son's hold on Patrick, who hid behind Lisbon as soon as he was free. The picture would have been rather comical in any other situation, because his petit lover didn't exactly offer much in the way of a true hiding place. But it conveyed very clearly, that this was the only person in the room he trusted and knew would always protect him.
"Really Matt. Sometimes you are such an idiot. I've told you so many times, you have to think before you act," his father scolded him. "Did you think you could just go and hug someone you've repeatedly attacked both physically and verbally today and everything would be forgiven and forgotten afterwards? Honestly, son. How about a simple and real apology for a start?"
Elisa chimed in, "Why don't you come and sit with me on the couch, Matthew? I think your predominant physical presence isn't helping matters right now. Give Patrick some space, will you?"
Her shamefaced and thoroughly chastised son joined her silently.
"Maybe you should all leave for now," Lisbon suggested, taking in the situation and her consultant's obvious distress.
"No, no," Patrick protested. "I'll leave. I need some air." And with that he dashed from the room.
Teresa followed him immediately, calling for Cho. "Go with him. Give him some space but make sure he's alright, okay?"
Her second in command nodded, grabbed his jacket and followed the blond man without further questions. "And call me, if…" Lisbon shouted after him.
"I understand, boss" Cho called back, before she could even finish the sentence.
At least partly reassured that her lover was taken care of, Lisbon returned to her office. Sending Cho had been the only viable solution she could think of on such short notice. She would've loved to go herself, but she had realized his need for solitude, and she knew she wouldn't have been able to leave him alone right now, so strong was her need to comfort him. Patrick had made it clear several times that he needed alone-time to sort himself out. Just because he'd opened up to her on a few occasions didn't mean that he wasn't essentially someone who preferred to fight his demons on his own, or at least think things over alone first, before he shared the results with her – or not. She couldn't begrudge him this because she was quite similar herself. She could only hope that he had managed to read the situation correctly before he ran off and that he didn't still think his uncle intended to cause more harm to him or that he'd lost his newfound family.
With a deep sigh, she opened the door to her office, where three anxious faces met her. "Why don't you go and have lunch somewhere and we'll talk again later? There's a nice little French Bistro down the street. Patrick needs some time on his own right now. And I need to get back to work. We're still in the middle of investigating your son's and brother's murder," she said with a calm, she didn't really feel.
The three remaining Janes started to get up, disappointment visible on their faces.
"For what it's worth," Matthew started, approaching the Senior Agent, "I'm truly sorry for my atrocious behavior. I'd understand if you wanted to press charges, since I attacked both your colleague and your partner. I'm ready to face the consequences and I'll deserve whatever comes my way. I'll still try to make it up to him. Please know that I… we… he's family now and so are you. Well, if you still want to be. After my display today, you might want to reconsider your involvement with us." Patrick's uncle looked down in shame.
"I can't say I'm happy with you right now, Mr. Jane. Or that being related to you sounds like such a marvelous idea, but I truly like your parents and I'll accept whatever involvement Patrick wants to have with you. But I don't trust you with him and it will take a lot of effort from your side to gain my forgiveness for the hurt you have caused him today."
She paused and took in the other man. "Look at me, Mr. Jane," she ordered and the other man raised his eyes. "I love Patrick with all my heart. I'm aware of his flaws and his troubled past and you know what? I don't care! I still love him. He is strong and kind and a good man who's done some bad things. I don't deny the last part. But I won't allow anyone – least of all a self-righteous man like you – to judge him for it."
She cast him a reproachful look, before she continued. "If you knew him even the slightest bit, you'd realize that you'll probably never meet a more repentant person in your life. Someone who truly regrets his mistakes and tries to make things right. He doesn't always go about it in the smartest ways – I'll grant you this. But his heart is in the right place."
She paused once more to compose herself. Matthew Jane still looked at her intently, so she decided to add a few more words. "Due mostly to your brother's doing, Patrick readily believes he's guilty of just about anything going wrong here. I'm sure he'd even present you with a perfectly logical and convincing argument why it's entirely his fault that there's hunger and sickness in this world, if you'd let him."
To emphasize her next words she intruded on his personal space in an intimidating stance, which was – as contradictory as it seemed – enhanced in its effect by her small frame. "I'm certain that by the time he's thought the events of this morning through, he'll have himself convinced that he's the only one to blame for your vicious attack on him and that he deserved it. I want you to keep this in mind and maybe the next time you want to rush in and assault someone, you'll take a moment to reconsider."
Matthew felt browbeaten. There was no other word for it. That woman was a force to be reckoned with, no doubt. He congratulated his nephew on his choice of partner. "Wow, Agent Lisbon. Now I understand why Ardiles spoke of you with such respect. Though he warned me that your loyalty to your teammates has cost you quite a few promotions."
"Frankly, my respect for Oscar isn't as heart-felt. He's caused my team and me quite a bit of trouble over the years. Working with him hasn't exactly been smooth sailing and I admit that we have a part in that as well. But he knows how to hold a grudge, that's for sure."
She had to grin a bit at that, but turned serious again right away, now addressing the District Attorney in front of her. "I know it comes with the territory as a DA, but still. In my opinion, a lawyer is supposed to always be searching for the truth and not insist on being right, merely because his pride doesn't allow him to admit to making mistakes. And Ardiles tends to have this self-righteous streak. Patrick on the other hand has a real talent when it comes to pointing out others' flaws to them and unfortunately he's not very tactful about it."
She smiled fondly for a moment thinking of her absent lover, before she reapplied her previous expression. "And Patrick certainly didn't make a friend of Oscar when he managed to prove that a woman, whose verdict the jury was already deliberating on, didn't in fact commit the murder she was nearly sentenced to death for. She'd been framed and the DA's office had ignored the fact that exonerating leads hadn't been followed thoroughly enough during the investigation."
Matthew followed her words attentively, obviously intrigued. Lisbon raised her brows with clear challenge when she added the final blow. "I think it's not speaking for Ardiles' character that his pride seemed to be more important to him than the life of an innocent woman. And I must say, your way of investigating your nephew doesn't show you in the most favorable light either."
Patrick's uncle stared at her totally flabbergasted. Elisa giggled sprightly at the sight, Jonathan on the other hand outright laughed at that. With obvious mirth he said, "Teresa, you are a gem. I must say, my grandson has great taste in women. You've managed to render my mouthy lawyer-son speechless for once." He came over to her and patted her on the shoulder in a gesture of respect. "We'll leave you to your work now, Agent. Please, call us when you hear something from Patrick. I hope we can clear the air with him soon." Motioning for his son to help his mother to her feet, the three Janes finally left her office.
Lisbon released a sigh of relief. This whole day was turning progressively into more of a disaster. She still had a pile of paperwork to finish, her lover was off sulking and her second in command couldn't do his actual work because he was on babysitting duty. They had a suspect to interview, which she needed her consultant for, the preliminary report from forensics had come and needed her attention, and she was hungry and it was way past lunchtime and she was worried. What a mess. She decided she needed coffee, lots of coffee, so she got up again to go to the break room.
Halfway there, her cell phone rang. The display revealed the caller as her second in command. "Hi, Cho," she greeted him.
"Hey, boss. Just wanted to tell you, that Jane took his car. I'm dogging him. I think I know where he's headed to."
"Where?" she inquired impatiently.
"The cemetery," he answered.
"I see. Keep at it," she ordered. In a softer tone she added "And thanks, Cho."
"No problem, boss."
TBC
A/N: For all of you out there who celebrate it: Happy Easter!
People have been asking for our favorite couple to have some M rated action again. I promise, they'll have some fun before the day is over (unfortunately it's only lunch time at the moment...). No chance for anything before they're at home again though I'm afraid, because no PDAs at the office. Sorry that Lisbon is such a stickler for the rules ;-)
Nice Easter bunnies leave eggs, nice readers leave reviews... ;-)
