Abbott hit call and leaned against the marble pillar, easing his back subtly as he did so. The all-nighters were getting harder to deal with.
Click. "Cho."
Abbott shifted his weight to the other foot. "Cho, it's me. Checking in. I've got things square with the TSA here. Jane isn't going to be flying anywhere for a day or two, though."
A faint sound of amusement.
Abbott stretched again; his back cracked. "How's things there with the perps?"
Cho rustled vigorously. "In custody. County PD picked them up. Paperwork's looking good. We still going murder one?"
"Hell yeah."
"Fischer's taking point. DA seems to be on board."
"Good work. Forensics?"
"Crime scene's cleared. Is Lisbon there?"
Cho and Lisbon were close, Abbott reminded himself; it was no wonder he wanted to know, and he was growing used to his laconic agent's bluntness. "Yeah, she's still here."
"She and Jane work it out?"
Abbott smirked and glanced unconsciously back towards the TSA interview room. "Yeah, I'd say relations are now on a… notably friendly footing."
"Good."
Abbott couldn't stop the wide smile from spreading across his face. "Brother and sister, Cho, honestly? You really believed that?"
Silence is his only answer.
"Okay. Good work there. Call me when the DA's worked through things." He hits End.
A deep sense of self-satisfaction is stealing through him. He'd been right all along; so right. And now his prime asset is not just likely to be a lot happier, he gets to hang on to a top-notch agent in her own right.
Don is going to call him from DC and ask him how he did it. Don is going to be pissed.
He can't wait.
00000
That had been closer than he liked to think about. Altogether too close.
Cho, taking point, had radioed back his view of the scene, and Abbott had felt his heart sink into his toes: Cole Foster and an accomplice, both armed; Lisbon, unarmed with her hands up; Jane, right in the middle of trouble, two guns pointed at him, talking fast but too obviously with nothing to bluff with.
He'd signed off on the plan that had left a gas station clerk pointlessly dead. He'd signed off on the plan which had two of his team in the gun sights of a psychopath. He'd signed off on a Jane plan which had gone badly wrong, and Jane had gone off the rez – again – but at this precise moment, he couldn't quite wish himself sorry.
The subjects of these musings were standing very close together as they made initial statements and positively hummed with the desire to touch each other. It wasn't often you saw two grown adults be so transparent in their attempts to hide. And poor Lisbon still thought he didn't know about them. It was almost sweet.
He sidled over to his ever-reliable Cho, in need of some distraction from the darker trains of his thought. "Status update, please."
Some part of Cho still had to resist the urge to salute, he'd noticed some time ago, with fond amusement. "Suspects in transfer to our custody for interrogation. I'll take point. Houston PD are clearing the scene. Jane and Lisbon are making statements. All under control, sir."
"Thanks." He lingered a little. "Very dedicated to those statements, aren't they, your old colleagues?"
Cho glanced up briefly and back down to the clipboard in his hands.
Abbott stretched a little, leisurely. "The way they're standing, the way they keep looking at each other… the number of times Jane has reached out his hand in that direction… it's all very… sibling-like, isn't it?"
Cho's jawline might have tightened an almost imperceptible extent. Score.
Abbott allowed himself a lazy smile. "Yes, sir, we're lucky we have them in our midst to show us the ideal of a platonic working relationship, aren't we, Cho?"
Cho finished the last signature at the bottom of the clipboard, clipped the pen back into it, and presented it to Abbott, his face expressionless.
Abbott grinned, and swung back towards the SUV.
000000000
This had been a good day. A better day than he'd dared to dream of in some time. Lena confirmed, everything clear for his move to D.C. An old weight he'd hardly dared to dream of living without, gone.
He smiled down into Lena's face and held her a little tighter. Country wasn't exactly his music of choice, but hey, when in Texas. It would be good to be back on the coast; he'd done well out of the Lone Star state, all things considered, but it would never be his home, or Lena's. At least he knew now that everything he'd built here would be left in good hands.
Lena laughed a little as he tried to swing her inexpertly into a two-step. "Okay, honey, I think that'll do for now. You're standing on my toes. And I need a drink, remember?"
He pressed his lips to hers briefly. "You got it, honey. One white wine for the new Undersecretary of Commerce, and a whiskey for her devoted love slave. Coming up."
Lena slapped at his arm on her way back to the picnic benches.
Cho was standing just ahead of him in line for the bar, and Abbott reached adroitly past him with a folded note when Cho reached into his back pocket. "I got this tonight."
"Thanks."
Abbott let the moment sit as he passed his successor the beer, and took a sip of his own drink. It paid to give Cho the chance to speak in his own time. He turned out to look at the dancers again, ignoring Lena's pointed stare from the other side of the square.
"Wylie needs more field time," Cho announced eventually.
Abbott sipped again, and made a face. "The kid? Really?"
"He's got the instinct. He thinks outside the box." Cho continued to stare straight ahead. Abbott knew from his own experience of the man that he wouldn't say anything more. Cho didn't waste his time trying to convince people of things. He said his piece and acted in accordance.
Abbott forced himself to shrug aside his concerns. The team was Cho's baby now, and he'd find his own way to manage the politics. Or not. "It's your decision. I trust your judgment."
Cho shifted his weight from one foot to the other and didn't reply.
A little reckless glee boiled up. "Although," Abbott said casually, "I might be rethinking whether I can really leave the team in the hands of Texas's least observant detective." He jerked his head nonchalantly towards the couples dancing.
Cho angled his head back to look at his future ex-boss, his face expressionless.
Abbott smiled at the view in front of him; Wylie doing an awkward, laughing two-step with Vega, Jane and Lisbon forgetting they were supposed to be just partners and letting their hands wander just a bit too much, and his own wife, now tapping pointedly at her wrist with wide exaggerated eyes. "Ah, the enduring closeness of a brother and sister. I sometimes think we need to have a little talk about whether some important stuff was excluded from your personnel file. Agent Cho."
Cho snorted, and swallowed the rest of his beer in one long pull.
Lena's patience was clearly at its end; she was wending her way through the dancers with a determined expression. Abbott let his wrist be firmly grasped and tugged back into the melee.
"Keep those eyes open, Unit Chief Cho," he tossed over his shoulder.
Cho snorted again, and Abbott spotted the tiny curl at the lefthand corner of his mouth.
000000000
This was a nice spot, he had to admit. And the food (and the drink) had made it over from his place in good time. It seemed that his last significant act as head of Major Crimes would be to lay down a bunch of boards and hang lights from trees with most of the Austin FBI office to create an ersatz dance floor in the middle of nowhere. A well-used one too; his ears were ringing more than a little.
The newlyweds had disappeared into the darkness about twenty minutes previously, but no vehicles had left, so he was confident the night wasn't ending yet. Abbott couldn't help smiling to himself a little, remembering the day that he had walked into the CBI bullpen with a federal writ and a righteous head of steam. A surprising number of the people there that day were also there on this day; there was no question but that anyone who'd ever had anything to do with Jane and Lisbon had managed to show up to witness this, although opinions were sharply divided as to whether they'd finally gotten around to banging or had been banging the entire time. He'd never thought - never - that Patrick Jane would be anything but a thorn in his side, most of the way to a crook if not there entire, a con man and shyster with no business in law enforcement. He'd never been so glad to be humbled.
He spotted a few more of the people who had been there that fateful day, and meandered across the dancefloor to where Cho was taking pictures with the Rigsbys; one of the few regrets he'd leave in Austin was his inability to coax those two back on board.
"Rigsby," he said warmly. "Grace. It's good to see you again."
Rigsby toasted him with his beer, a little tipsily. "Likewise. Thanks for the food, man. It's awesome."
"We're so happy we were able to be here," Grace cut in smoothly, gently removing the drink from her husband's hand. "This day has been so long in coming, and… well, we wouldn't have missed it for the world."
Abbott felt his face crack irresistibly into a grin.
"It has been a long time coming, hasn't it?" he said, doing his best to wrestle his face straight again. "Hasn't it, Cho?"
"No," said Cho flatly.
Abbott leaned in towards Grace confidingly. "Of course, my man Cho here… he was sure there was nothing here to worry about. Right, Cho? Just two people who've known each other a long time, and feel totally platonic towards each other. Just two people who are like brother and sister."
Rigsby choked on the beer he'd reclaimed during Abbott's little speech; Grace let out a shriek of laughter that hurt even Abbott's dulled eardrums. "Oh my God, Cho, you really hung with us all those years and thought that? All the time they spent holed up in her office, the flirting, him sleeping on her couch?"
"It never went anywhere," Cho said defensively.
"Yeah, no shit it never went anywhere, he didn't want her to get murdered." Grace was covering her mouth, her eyes sparkling with mirth. "I can't believe you. Do you actually have a sister? Tell me you don't have a sister."
"He doesn't have a sister," Rigsby confirmed over Grace's shoulder, his expression alive with malignant glee.
Grace turned to Abbott. "He lost a hundred bucks to us when we found out this was happening," she informed him with doe-eyed solemnity. "Sometimes I'm not sure he should be allowed out alone."
"I do have grave concerns about his observation skills," Abbott allowed, furrowing his brow. "Still, it can't be helped now."
"I'm leaving," said Cho, striding past them towards the darkened edge of the trees. "Bye."
"Maybe you can find the newlyweds?" Abbott called after him hopefully. "I'm sure they're doing something very… platonic."
000000000
It was good to be back in Austin, even if the case was bad news from end to end. But Major Crimes was thriving, and a day when he had Cho's people at his back was a good day. Even if some of them would have to stay behind when the bust went down.
He and Cho had already run through the assignments and the details in Cho's office, so he headed back out to the bullpen to gather up the team for the briefing. Wylie was already behind the podium connecting up his laptop to the big screen, and vibrating with the honest intent of a collie. Abbott stopped to exchange some friendly words with him; he still wasn't sure the kid belonged out in the field, but he'd be happy to have five more who had both the technical capabilities and the ability to take initiative. He strolled over to Lisbon's desk, eager to exchange some words; they hadn't spoken in a while. Things had changed on her desk; most prominently, where a baseball and a distinguished service award had once rested were now a picture from her wedding day and a picture of Jane, dressed in hospital scrubs and slightly red around the eyes, holding a small swaddled bundle.
"Lisbon, it's good to… Oh, hey, please don't get up," he said, alarmed.
Lisbon scooted her chair further back and grabbed a firm hold on the edge of her desk. "Sir. It's the briefing now anyway, isn't it?"
"Yes, but I'm sure you can… Oh, hell." He gingerly offered both his hands to her, and braced himself as she hauled herself carefully to her feet.
"Thanks, Sir." Lisbon returned custody of his hands to him and ran her hand over the huge swell of her belly; he saw her wince as something shifted underneath.
"Please don't call me sir. So, uh, how are those little ones treating you?" he said, anxious to talk about something, anything else, at all. He was grateful all over again that Lena's thoughts had been more for her career than for reproduction.
Lisbon shifted her weight awkwardly. "As well as can be expected. It's hard work carrying two. But I'm feeling good." She winced again.
"That's… wonderful. Wonderful. Please sit down. And give my love to Jane and your daughter." He patted her arm awkwardly, and made a hasty escape to the podium, where Cho was now reviewing his notes.
"Scared?" Cho asked, without looking up.
"Frankly terrified. Should she be here? She looks like she'll pop any minute." He shivered.
"Two months to go," Cho replied, shuffling papers."Betting pool thinks she'll make it, too. Too stubborn not to."
Happily, Lisbon chose to demonstrate the truth of that maxim by lowering herself carefully into a chair in the front row, glaring an awkward Tork out of his half-proffered arm.
"Did he really have to knock her up twice in two years? That's got to be a loss to the bullpen." Abbott scanned the room for something to look at that didn't involve irritable very pregnant agents.
"Yeah, well, I heard it's what people do when they're not brother and sister," Cho said, hitting the button to light the screen. He raised his voice slightly. "Okay, people. Let's start."
Abbott leaned back against the wall a little and watched his protégé work. A warm hum of satisfaction perfused him; this team worked. They were sharp, they were adaptable, they were creative. The best risk he'd ever taken.
"McKenzie's list of associates is short; we've tracked down the three currently at large, but two have alibied out," Cho was saying. "He's been recently seen with this woman, Dayonara Estevez, we believe they're romantically involved - "
"Sure about that?" Abbott murmured, just loud enough for Cho to hear.
Cho continued, with only the slightest hesitation. " - but we haven't been able to verify that. Their connection - "
"Brother and siiiiiii-ster!" Abbott sing-songed quietly.
"Shut up - their connection puts the Las Alamedas Crew in the frame, which means - "
The team were looking at Cho now, mildly alarmed.
"Whatever. We need to get under his associates. Wylie, give out the assignments. Lisbon, you're primary on research. Tork, you're taking point on scene." Cho killed the screen decisively before turning around to look at Abbott as the team began to filter away.
"This is an FBI briefing," he said eventually.
Abbott smiled and spread his shoulderblades wider, settling them against the wall.
"I hate you," Cho added.
Abbott settled himself more comfortably. "Hate you too. Let's do this."