A/N: Wow - chapter 50 and over 150 000 words! I never ever expected for this fic to reach such proportions when I started my story arc and I'm still going strong and having lots of fun with it... and it's definitely a good time to thank my beta 'firstdown' again for her excellent work and all the time and effort she's already put and is still putting into my work, so thank you very much! You've been a great help and I like to think that you've made me improve as a writer with all your thoughtful comments and encouragement.
Warning: Still rather angsty, which is to be expected considering the circumstances...
Meanwhile Van Pelt tried to comfort the consultant. She sat on the floor beside him and cast him worried glances. He'd recovered some of his poise but his overactive brain didn't give him much of a break. He came up with one scenario after the other in which he caused the death of his loved ones. As he didn't share his thoughts, Grace had no idea what was going on in his mind and only saw his far away look. Finally she addressed him. "How are you doing, Jane?"
He flinched a bit because he'd been too absorbed by his contemplation to take much notice of anything else. "Oh, hi Grace. I'm fine," he answered automatically, not convincing her in the least.
"Fine?" she inquired with raised brows. "I very much doubt that. You're scheming, aren't you? You had that certain look…"
He shook his head and turned sad eyes on her. "You give me too much credit, I'm afraid. I wish I had even the slightest inkling of a plan. I'm just imagining worst-case-scenarios," he admitted in a rare moment of open honesty.
"Well, don't," the young woman scolded him. "We'll get him this time, Jane. He's desperate, don't you see that? This-," she indicated the living room, "-is a sign of desperation. He's pushing all your buttons because he knows he's lost," she said with determination.
Patrick cast her a very small smile. "I'm glad you're still so optimistic, Grace. I seem to have lost my positive outlook. I only see moles and conspiracies and my own deficiencies." His voice sounded lifeless and hollow.
"I can't believe you're giving up now, Jane. We've never been so close." She looked really angry. "What's happened with you? You let that bastard manipulate you like this? That's not the Patrick Jane I know and love. What the hell do you think you're doing? Letting him win now that he's about to lose? Shame on you, Jane. Shame on you!"
She got to her feet and moved away from him. "If you're gonna wallow in self-pity, I sure as hell won't sit next to you," she spat at him. "We will get him, Jane, and he'll pay for what he's done to you and many other people as well. You can either sit around like a coward or you can use your resources to help us. Your choice. I'll wait outside."
She turned to leave. "Wait!" he cried in agitation and jumped to his feet. "Please wait, Grace."
The redhead stopped in her tracks and wheeled around to face him again. "You've got something useful to say, Jane?" she asked rather coldly.
He lowered his head and stared at the floor. "I'm sorry, Grace. You're right – on all accounts. I'm behaving like an idiot, I know. It's just… I think this is the first time I'm actually acknowledging this situation. Before it's always been just big talk. Like I'll slice him open, make him suffer, blablabla. But now… now it's suddenly so real. And before I never had anything to lose, not really. My only purpose was to kill him or die trying. Now… well, it's different now."
His face came up and he locked eyes with her. "It's very hard to cope with hope, Grace. I feel weak and vulnerable. For years I've been trying to stay as unattached as possible. To avoid this." He sighed deeply. "Everything's changed now, and I… seems like I haven't quite managed to catch up with it all. And now I don't have the time to do it and it's overwhelming. I'm sorry."
With two steps the young woman closed the gap between them and pulled the distraught man into a hug. "I understand," she whispered in his ear. "I'm afraid, too. But we're stronger than him, and you, Patrick, you are smarter than him. We need you."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Grasshopper. I appreciate it. Though I'm not entirely sure you're right," he replied, pulling her closer for a moment before releasing her.
"Well you are. Smarter than him, I mean. I'm glad you're on our side because if YOU were a criminal mastermind, we'd never catch you," she teased him.
He grinned deviously but turned serious again immediately. "Thank you, Grace. Really, I mean it. Thanks for putting me straight. I'm a mess right now and I guess I needed that kick in the butt."
"Someone had to do it and as the boss is busy right now…" She cast him a devious grin of her own. "What can I say? Kicking it is obviously the only thing I'll ever be allowed to do with your delectable behind, so I had to take advantage of the situation."
Jane appreciated her attempt to lighten the mood. He bent forward with a small smile and said quietly into her ear, "Delectable, huh? Don't let Lisbon hear that. She's a bit possessive. And between the two of us: she might be on the smallish side, but she's scarier than she looks."
"Indeed I am," came Teresa's voice from right behind him. "What do the two of you have to whisper about?" She cast her female teammate a thankful look, relieved that her lover didn't seem to be all withdrawn and desperate anymore.
Said lover turned around the second he'd heard her and pulled her into a strong embrace. "Grace was just complimenting my finer assets, love. After thoroughly kicking them, I might add. Nothing to worry about," he murmured, before his lips found hers.
After a short but deep kiss Lisbon said, "Well, as long as she knows, who they belong to…" Addressing the other woman she added possessively, "I'll let you get away with kicking his ass this once, Van Pelt. But for future reference: it's my prerogative to do so, understood?"
Grace's lips crept up and her mouth turned into a bright smile. "You're so cute together."
"I think, you're losing your touch, love. She's not scared of you anymore. Can you imagine? She just called her boss cute," Patrick teased his girlfriend.
"And who's fault is that?" Lisbon slapped his arm. "But just you wait – she'll quiver in her boots again, when I assign her night patrol duty for a year."
The redhead blanched a bit. "You wouldn't, would you?" she inquired a bit uncertainly.
"Well, don't tempt me," the senior agent replied with a small smile. Then she grabbed Patrick's hand and directed him towards the door. "Let's get out of here. Though he obviously only went into the living room, I have no intention to spend any more time here right now. And we still need to talk to LaRoche."
About half an hour later Jane and Lisbon knocked on the office door of the head of the Professional Standards Unit. "Agent Lisbon, Mr. Jane. What a surprise. I never expected you to enter my office voluntarily," the overweight agent greeted them with a guarded smile.
"Well, you know that we're full of surprises, J. J.," Patrick couldn't help but tease him.
Lisbon smacked his arm. "Jane, behave yourself. Just leave it be for once," she scolded him.
Her lover cast her an apologetic look. "Sorry. I guess it's some kind of reflex," he murmured. Then he addressed LaRoche. "Am I right to assume that you check your office for bugging on a regular basis, sir?"
"Not that it is any of your business, Jane, but yes, I do," was the unperturbed answer of the other agent.
"Good," the consultant replied and closed the office door firmly behind him. Without waiting for an invitation he sat down in one of the visitor chairs in front of LaRoche's desk. "We need to talk. And for the sake of the whole of the CBI and the lives of many people in this state, I ask you to let bygones be bygones for the time being." He cast his counterpart a serious and honest look. "I know I've been a thorn in your side, J. J., but I mean it. Can we work together for once instead of against each other?"
The other man examined Jane intently. He seemed pleased with what he saw and finally nodded. "Yes, Mr. Jane. I can work with you. This is about Red John, isn't it? It's the only possible situation in which I can imagine you would make such a request. And Agent Lisbon? Why don't you take a seat as well?"
Teresa followed his invitation and sat down beside her teammate. But she let Jane continue with the talking. In this instance she presumed it to be the better option. Those two had to work it out between themselves. "Yes. This is about Red John. I'm not totally but sufficiently convinced that you're not in league with the bastard. And we need your support."
LaRoche looked at the blond man stoically. "I'm sure your seeming paranoia is well deserved. It won't make much of a difference, but you have my word that I'm not connected to any serial killer. And I'm willing to assist in any way I can. What exactly do you want from me?" He scrutinized both of his visitors.
Jane searched the other man's face. "We know who Red John is. And due to the identity of the bastard, we have to assume that quite a few members of both the CBI, and other law enforcement bodies are connected to him, J. J." His expression turned even more serious if possible. "This opens a can of worms, as you can imagine. It's safe to assume that Red John's about to plan some major showdown. But as the matter stands, we don't even know what SWAT-team to trust."
Though to the uninformed viewer LaRoche didn't so much as blink, Patrick could see that he was intrigued and a bit unsettled as well. "It might be prudent to come out with the name now, Mr. Jane. Unless I have all the information I'm neither willing nor able to help you," the overweight agent said in his irritatingly neutral voice.
For once Jane didn't rise to the bait. "The name might not surprise you as much as most," he told him. "He was on your shortlist for the Johnson-murder. As it turns out – probably well deserved."
"I see. Considering the rest of what you've said so far – am I right to assume that we're talking about the ex-director?"
Patrick only nodded in affirmation. At this point Lisbon decided to chime in. "Yes. And we have evidence that supports this, sir."
"I didn't doubt it, Agent Lisbon. You wouldn't be here with him-," he nodded in Jane's direction, "-if all you had were untenable accusations. Are you willing to share the facts with me?"
Jane and Lisbon exchanged a wordless discussion with their eyes. In the end they seemed to agree on a course of action and the senior agent began the explanation. When she was finished, LaRoche's expression showed more worry than either of his visitors had ever seen before. "You're in serious danger, Agent Lisbon," he said. "It's a wise decision to spend the night together with your team and Madeleine Hightower. You should have some additional security stationed outside her house. I understand your doubts, but I'm rather sure, I can assemble a team of trustworthy agents. That's what you've come here for, isn't it?"
It was Jane who answered. "Yes. You know more about the employees than anyone else. And you're sharp. You seemed like the only logical choice. You like Lisbon, don't you? Please, sir. Make sure she's safe."
The consultant's voice was imploring and caused the other man to raise his brows a tiny little bit in honest astonishment. He'd never expected Patrick Jane to ever beg him for anything. This was the clincher that confirmed his suspicion. "You love her," he stated. "And Red John knows."
"Yes," the blond man whispered.
J. J. LaRoche wasn't a vindictive man and under his prickly exterior he was softhearted and in all honesty a sucker for romance. Jane represented a lot of the things he despised. The man didn't respect rules and order. He used his incredible mind to seek personal vengeance and seemed to think he could take the law into his own hands.
That the consultant was a force to be reckoned with was something LaRoche had long since admitted. He was smarter than most and when he used his resources to close cases that was well enough. Some small allowances could be made. But Jane had crossed the lines a few too many times in J. J.'s opinion. Still, he'd always had one redeeming quality in his eyes: as selfish and obsessive as he was, in his own way he was loyal to both Lisbon and her team.
And now he had witnessed something else. Faced with the threat against someone he truly loved, the seemingly proud and arrogant man was ready to beg for his help. And for some reason LaRoche didn't feel the slightest inclination to humiliate him for it. On the contrary: for the first time since he'd met Patrick Jane he felt something like personal respect for his former opponent.
"I'll do whatever I can to keep her safe, Patrick," the head of Professional Standards said with determination. "I'll actually take personal part in the security detail, if necessary."
"Thank you," Jane replied with genuine gratitude. Then he fished something out of his jacket pocket. "Here's a clean phone for you. We all have one. Our numbers are already in the address book. As you've been closely connected to the case, it's likely that your phone's bugged. Better use this one when talking to us." He handed it over to LaRoche. "I'm glad, we're on the same side, sir. I really appreciate it that you don't let old grievances stand in the way. For what it's worth: I apologize for my obnoxious behavior."
The overweight man gave him a once over again. "No need to make half-assed apologies, Mr. Jane. In reality we've always been on the same side. You might not always have wanted to be, but it's the truth. And I'm sure that we both hold some grudging respect for each other. Wouldn't you agree? So let's look forward and concentrate on the matter at hand."
They shook hands on it and the former supervising agent suggested they should get to Hightower's house at once, while he would arrange the security detail. It was already past five and a lot of the employees had left, so Lisbon's presence as the acting supervisor wasn't needed anymore. In lieu thereof they agreed with LaRoche and after collecting all the necessary case files and their colleagues, they left HQ when a call to Rigsby had confirmed that the rest of their slumber party was on the way to the Hightower residence as well.
TBC
Another ally secured - go Team Jisbon!
Thanks to all my reviewers. You're all so incredibly kind and encouraging and I really appreciate your support! Same applies to my loyal readers - I'm glad you've followed me all the way to chapter 50!
