AN: Only a couple more chapters to go! Warning: we're entering cliffhanger territory...
After the show, they head to Rockefeller Center and catch one of the last elevators to the rooftop. Jane nudges Lisbon with his elbow as the doors open up, gesturing with his head to a nearby couple.
"What?" asks Lisbon. They move across the roof, toward the railings at the edge of the building, and Jane inserts a quarter into one of the coin operated binoculars.
"Don't look now," says Jane, glancing through the eyepiece. "But that strapping young man is about to gather up the courage to propose to his long time girlfriend."
Out of the corner of his eye, he watches as Lisbon tries not to look. She ends up glancing over at the couple anyway. "He keeps tapping his jacket pocket." She reaches over to grab Jane's forearm.
"You want to look?" asks Jane, gesturing to the binoculars with a grin, knowing she'll refuse.
Sure enough, her attention is still on the young couple.
"He's taking something out of his pocket!" whispers Lisbon excitedly, her fingers tightening on his arm.
Jane can't help but look as well. He smiles when he sees the young man drop down on one knee.
"Hardly original," says Jane lightly, "but still exceedingly romantic. I'd bet he's been saving for years between the ring and the cost of the trip."
He looks over at Lisbon, and she looks at him.
By now, most of the other tourists on the rooftop have noticed what's going on and have gathered around the couple. But Jane and Lisbon hang back.
"I hope they make it," says Lisbon. "It's just—the way he's looking at her, the way she looks at him...I just hope they last."
"They will," says Jane.
Lisbon tilts her head to the side, curious. "How do you know?"
"Will you ever stop asking me that question?" he says with feigned exasperation.
The young woman begins to nod vigorously, and the crowd cheers. Lisbon's expression becomes thoughtful. "And what about us?" she says. "Will we make it?"
Jane doesn't hesitate. "Yes," he says.
Lisbon gives him a wry smile. "How do you know?" she asks again.
This time he humors her. "Because it's you and me."
"What do you mean?"
Jane glances at the newly-engaged couple, who are now in the midst of a rather intense makeout session, before holding Lisbon's gaze.
"Because I will fight for you with every breath, with every heartbeat I have left. And because I know you will do the same for me."
She nods quickly, turning away from him to look over the city, but he catches her hand shoot up to wipe a corner of her eye. Jane leans in to kiss her temple, then he wraps his arms around her, and her back comes to rest against his chest.
Like the sparkling city before them, Jane comes alive.
They catch an early flight back to Sacramento on Monday morning. After sleeping very little the previous two nights, Lisbon immediately starts to nod off, and Jane watches, amused, as her head falls toward him before she jerks herself awake again. This happens twice more before Jane lifts the armrest between them and shifts toward her slightly, offering her his shoulder.
Lisbon doesn't pull back this time.
Jane blinks once, or so it seems, before he feels the plane descend. He blinks again, trying to dispel the bleariness in his vision. Then he smiles.
He'd fallen asleep against Lisbon, his temple resting on hers.
He kisses the side of her head before settling against her once more for the last few minutes of the flight.
They drag themselves into work immediately upon landing. Though Jane is ridiculously jetlagged, he's also riding a ridiculous high from the weekend, and he throws himself into the case the team had caught over the weekend.
With his and Lisbon's help, they get a confession by nightfall.
By unspoken agreement, they've decided to spend the night apart. They step into the elevator to make their way to the parking lot, and as the doors close, Jane reaches for Lisbon.
They part, breaths and pulses erratic, a few seconds later. "Goodnight, Lisbon," Jane whispers, stepping an appropriate distance away.
Lisbon smiles. "Thank you," she says. "This weekend…it was everything."
Jane risks giving her another peck on the lips just before the doors open.
"I love you," he says. The elevator dings.
Lisbon squeezes his hand before dropping it. Her grin is radiant. The doors open.
"See you tomorrow, Jane."
Jane paces around the apartment as the clock nears midnight, hardly daring to believe that the events of the previous weekend had actually taken place.
They'd made love.
Several times.
And they'd talked about a future—a future with children, to be more specific. He's elated, and the feeling is so foreign to him that he feels simultaneously shaken and terrified at the same time.
A thought occurs to him, and he immediately freezes.
He looks up, glancing at his reflection in the ceiling-high windows overlooking the city.
The protection that Red John is offering for Lisbon, for her family, and for her team…would that protection automatically be extended to future members of her family? Of their family?
Jane isn't so sure.
It would certainly be like Red John to expect some kind of payment—some kind of sacrifice—from Jane since he would technically be altering the terms of their agreement.
Jane feels sick.
Just forty-eight hours prior, he'd promised Lisbon a future—and a family. It hadn't occurred to him that he might need to ask Red John's permission to start that family. But now that the thought has entered his head, he can't get it out.
What if Carter wants something in return for ensuring the safety of Lisbon's unborn child? What if that something is something Jane can't give?
He makes eye contact with his reflection again and notices that his skin is now several shades paler. Then, as if in a trance, he watches as the man in the window reaches into his suit pocket, removes a cell phone, and flips it open.
It's Erica's voice who answers him.
"Patrick," she says. "Is everything alright?"
Jane steadies himself. "Can I speak with him?"
Erica doesn't answer right away. When she does, she sounds unsure. "I'm sorry," she says. "He cannot come to the phone right now. Is everything alright?" she asks again.
Jane has to look away from the windows. "It's not an emergency," he admits shakily.
Erica sounds legitimately concerned when she answers. "Patrick?"
"I have a question for him," says Jane. Erica remains quiet, clearly waiting for him to continue. He does, blurting out his question because he can't think of the right way to phrase it. "If I were to have a child with Lisbon, would he or she be protected by my agreement with Carter?"
Erica doesn't answer right away, and Jane immediately knows this is a bad sign. He clenches his jaw, willing the moisture that's suddenly appeared in his eyes to dissipate.
"I'm sorry, Patrick," whispers Erica finally, and she does sound genuinely apologetic. "But your negotiations included no mention of a child. If you were to have such a child, further negotiations with Red John would be required to ensure their safety."
Jane feels his fingers cramp, and he realizes that he's been clenching his hand in a fist. He makes an effort to relax.
"What would he want?"
"I'm not sure," Erica admits. "I will inquire and get back to you."
Jane nods, trying to figure out what to say. He moves to end the call.
"Wait, Patrick—"
Erica's tone is charged, an intense contrast to her solemn tone before. Jane's spine straightens in response.
"What?" he asks. He can't breathe.
"He's just returned home. Something's wrong. Hold on."
The muffled sounds of a rough male voice that Jane immediately recognizes as Carter's comes through the phone. Then there's rustling, and suddenly, Carter's voice is clear.
"Patrick?" comes the voice.
"Carter," responds Jane.
"The CBI knows you've tampered with evidence."
Jane takes several deep breaths before he regains the composure to respond. "What?"
"Your rookie—Agent Barnett—is more meticulous than I had anticipated. She took notes while examining the evidence, and she realized that the planner was missing. And the last person to be seen with the planner was—"
"Me," finishes Jane. "So they're going to arrest me?"
"You're guilty of obstruction of justice," Carter reminds him.
Jane has to sit down.
"Get me out of here," he says immediately. "I can't make Lisbon arrest me. I can't make her go through that." Neither of us would survive it.
"I already have someone on their way," says Carter. "You held up your end of the deal. I'll hold up mine. The car will take you to my home. You have five minutes."
Jane ends the call and drops the phone into his pocket. He rushes into his bedroom, grabs his overnight bag, and then dashes to the hallway. He freezes there, looking at the picture frames which he hung there last week. He swallows and then blinks several times.
He reaches for the picture frames and stashes them in his bag. He turns to the door, opening it roughly. Then he drops the bag in surprise.
Lisbon is on the other side of the door, glaring at him over the barrel of her gun.