Fic: Picking Up The Pieces (Mentalist Big Bang 2011) 6/6
Written for the 
mentalist_bb.
( One)
( Two)
( Three)
( Four)
( Five)
Six
The bullpen buzzed with activity; Van Pelt was searching amorously for information on a suspect whilst Cho and Rigsby discussed the details of the crime. Jane, being Jane, lay on the couch with his eyes closed listening, thinking, waiting for whatever was going to happen next. Lisbon sat in her office and watched her team at work. They were a good team and she enjoyed working with them, individually and together, even Jane, when he wasn't wasting time.
There was peace in the chaos of a new case and Lisbon, though adamant to get involved in everything, was more than happy to sit back every once in a while and give her team the rope. Jane would be happy with freedom though the thought of loosening the leash completely on him, or telling him about his freedom, was infinitely more difficult. Instead she pretended she was working.
She glanced at her calendar as she did most days, except most days weren't circled in red marker pen to attract her attention. She reached out and picked up the small desk item and furrowed her brow in thought. It wouldn't be the first event she'd missed that year and it probably wouldn't be the last either.
'Boss?' Rigsby appeared at her door making her jump; she dropped the calendar and rested a hand over her heart.
'Don’t sneak up on me like that.'
'Sorry Boss, err, your brother is here.'
Her brother? She frowned and cleared her throat. 'Which one?'
'The one with the kid.'
'They all have a kid,' she said, though she doubted Rigsby would know that fact. 'Tommy?'
'Right. Tommy.'
'Is Annie with him?'
'Nope, by himself. I told him to wait in the kitchenette.'
'Thanks Rigs, I'll be right out.'
She saw his back first, the words Bail Enforcement printed across his jacket; the first sign that something wasn’t right. She rolled her eyes and regretted not calling him up after the last time he came to visit. Of course he wasn’t going to quit a job he enjoyed doing, no matter how dangerous it was. He turned around before she reached him, his eyes darting around the room never quite landing upon her.
‘What’s going on?’ she asked, her desire to know why he’d come more important than greeting him.
‘Skip the pleasantries and go straight to the important stuff, you were born to be a cop Reese,’ he smiled, though it was weak and he looked anything but happy; the second sign that something wasn’t right.
‘Why waste time? You haven’t changed your career.’
‘So?’
‘I thought we discussed this.’
‘We did, I changed my mind. My boss didn’t want me to leave and quite frankly, I enjoy doing it.’
‘Then why are you here?’
At first he looked a little hurt over the assumptions she made but eventually he looked at her in the exact same way she expected. He hesitated, never quite managing to start what he was about to say.
‘Come on Tommy, I haven’t got all day.’
‘I need your help.’
‘And have you nearly kill one of my agents again? Not gonna happen Tommy.’
‘Give a guy a break,’ he snapped, moving into her personal space and holding out his fingers. ‘I am this close to catching this skip but I need some backup.’
‘If it’s too dangerous, you get out and let the police handle it.’ She turned around and walked back towards her office.
Tommy followed, groaning with frustration. ‘Teresa, this is my job, you don’t have to like it but please, please just help me out here.’
‘I’ve given you my answer Tommy.’
‘Well I don’t accept it.’
‘To hell with what you accept. Go home, be with Annie and change your job before someone gets hurt.’
‘There we go again, Saint Teresa thinks she’s better thank everyone else. You know, I’ve been trying my dammed hardest to make this job work. I’ve been training and I know what I’m doing now. It’s not the same as last time.’
‘Yes, it is.’
‘You’re wrong.’
‘Am I?’ Lisbon turned around and stood up as tall as she could, staring into his eyes. ‘You’ve been pulling stunts your whole life, acting like you know better, like you can do it all yourself. This isn’t you Tommy; you’re the same little kid who got beaten up in seventh grade. You can pretend you’re one of the big boys waving a gun around and shouting your mouth off about your profession. I can’t stand by and watch this, so get the hell out of my office and go do something about it.’
‘Fuck you Reese, you’ve never been able to see what good I can do, I’m sick of you doubting me all of the God damn time. I’m gonna prove you wrong, just watch me.’
‘Whatever.’
xxx
The phone rang out from her office as she finished pouring milk into her cup of coffee. She glanced at Cho who slipped into the room to answer it. She didn’t like to miss calls, especially when she, in theory, could have answered it. She also didn’t like to take breaks. But Tommy’s visit had left her feeling less than okay. She worried about him, more than she probably should have done. It was her job to worry. She was the big sister, she was the cop, she was supposed to protect him as she’d done all of his life.
‘Boss?’ said Cho, walking up behind her with a sullen look on his face. He always looked less than happy but she’d come to learn the differences in his expressions.
‘What’s wrong?’ she asked, taking a sip of her drink.
‘You might want to sit down.’
‘I’m fine.’ Her stubbornness always served her whether she wanted it to or not. She wasn’t one for people dancing around the subject or treating her carefully. She just wanted to know. ‘What is it?’
‘It’s your brother.’
‘Tommy?’
xxx
She entered the house on shaky legs, her knees asking to give way at any given moment. She didn’t want to be there, she didn’t want this to be a reality. Whatever had happened, she wished that time could reverse and she could go back to earlier in the day when Tommy turned up at the office.
‘Agent Lisbon?’ asked an officer with a sympathetic smile, the smile she gave so many times to victims’ families. She hated how false it was.
She nodded.
‘He’s through here.’
Lisbon took tentative steps into the room and towards the sheet covered body. Blood had already begun to seep through the thin material. Her stomach churned and for the first time in her long career the thought of seeing the body made her want to vomit.
‘Are you sure?’ asked the office, she nodded and he pulled the sheet away from his face.
The colour in his skin had yet to shift. That was all she could remember as she fled from the room. Her legs moved quickly until she reached the exterior of the building. She couldn’t do it. She rested a hand over her racing heart, the same heart that stung with the loss she couldn’t bear to face. This wasn’t happening.
‘Lisbon.’
She turned around at the sound of Jane’s voice, a voice she needed to hear at that moment. He walked towards her and enveloped her into his arms. She fell against his body, clinging to the fabric of his suit. He hadn’t looked at her with sympathy; he’d looked at her with understanding, with worry and with hope. She didn’t cry but her body heaved with every breath.
xxx
Lisbon sat down at her desk. There was nothing she could do now. The body was being transported to the coroner’s office and forensics were trying to piece together what happened. Wainwright had already pulled her off the case. She sat back in her seat and stared out at her team working in the bullpen. Then her eyes landed on her calendar again. She reached out and read the date once more. Her hands shook and she dropped the calendar on the desk.
‘Boss,’ Cho said from the doorway.
She pushed the onset of tears away and glanced up at him. ‘Cho?’
‘We got a call from the coroner’s office; you can see your brother any time after five.’
Lisbon nodded and watched Cho wander back into the bullpen, he spoke to the rest of the team who all glanced at her office. She bowed her head and pretended to be working.
‘You’ve been pulling stunts your whole life.’
She didn’t want to remember the argument, she didn’t want to remember the last words she said to her brother or the fact that they were horrible. How could she have been so stupid as to let him go out there and get hurt?
By four thirty she marched out of the office with barely a word to the rest of the team, she could feel them watching her through the glass as she walked towards the elevator. She arrived at the coroner’s office early where she sat and waited in a small office. When they finally allowed her into the morgue she walked slowly, each step more fragile than the one before. When her mom died she was young and her father wouldn’t let her see the body, when he too died the social worker in charge of the family suggested it wasn’t a good idea. The number of bodies she’d seen since then was in its hundreds but nothing prepared her for that moment.
‘Oh Tommy,’ she gasped, covering her mouth to stop herself from being sick once again as she struggled to hold in her emotions.
She reached her other hand out to touch the curls of his hair, it was longer than the last time she saw him. She stroked his cheek and leant down to kiss his face. She’d spent her whole life trying to protect him and now, now she’d done worse than let him down, he’d asked for her help and she’d left him to die.
‘Happy Birthday Tommy,’ she said, dropping his hand and walking out of the morgue.
The End
mentalist_bb.
( One)
( Two)
( Three)
( Four)
( Five)
Six
The bullpen buzzed with activity; Van Pelt was searching amorously for information on a suspect whilst Cho and Rigsby discussed the details of the crime. Jane, being Jane, lay on the couch with his eyes closed listening, thinking, waiting for whatever was going to happen next. Lisbon sat in her office and watched her team at work. They were a good team and she enjoyed working with them, individually and together, even Jane, when he wasn't wasting time.
There was peace in the chaos of a new case and Lisbon, though adamant to get involved in everything, was more than happy to sit back every once in a while and give her team the rope. Jane would be happy with freedom though the thought of loosening the leash completely on him, or telling him about his freedom, was infinitely more difficult. Instead she pretended she was working.
She glanced at her calendar as she did most days, except most days weren't circled in red marker pen to attract her attention. She reached out and picked up the small desk item and furrowed her brow in thought. It wouldn't be the first event she'd missed that year and it probably wouldn't be the last either.
'Boss?' Rigsby appeared at her door making her jump; she dropped the calendar and rested a hand over her heart.
'Don’t sneak up on me like that.'
'Sorry Boss, err, your brother is here.'
Her brother? She frowned and cleared her throat. 'Which one?'
'The one with the kid.'
'They all have a kid,' she said, though she doubted Rigsby would know that fact. 'Tommy?'
'Right. Tommy.'
'Is Annie with him?'
'Nope, by himself. I told him to wait in the kitchenette.'
'Thanks Rigs, I'll be right out.'
She saw his back first, the words Bail Enforcement printed across his jacket; the first sign that something wasn’t right. She rolled her eyes and regretted not calling him up after the last time he came to visit. Of course he wasn’t going to quit a job he enjoyed doing, no matter how dangerous it was. He turned around before she reached him, his eyes darting around the room never quite landing upon her.
‘What’s going on?’ she asked, her desire to know why he’d come more important than greeting him.
‘Skip the pleasantries and go straight to the important stuff, you were born to be a cop Reese,’ he smiled, though it was weak and he looked anything but happy; the second sign that something wasn’t right.
‘Why waste time? You haven’t changed your career.’
‘So?’
‘I thought we discussed this.’
‘We did, I changed my mind. My boss didn’t want me to leave and quite frankly, I enjoy doing it.’
‘Then why are you here?’
At first he looked a little hurt over the assumptions she made but eventually he looked at her in the exact same way she expected. He hesitated, never quite managing to start what he was about to say.
‘Come on Tommy, I haven’t got all day.’
‘I need your help.’
‘And have you nearly kill one of my agents again? Not gonna happen Tommy.’
‘Give a guy a break,’ he snapped, moving into her personal space and holding out his fingers. ‘I am this close to catching this skip but I need some backup.’
‘If it’s too dangerous, you get out and let the police handle it.’ She turned around and walked back towards her office.
Tommy followed, groaning with frustration. ‘Teresa, this is my job, you don’t have to like it but please, please just help me out here.’
‘I’ve given you my answer Tommy.’
‘Well I don’t accept it.’
‘To hell with what you accept. Go home, be with Annie and change your job before someone gets hurt.’
‘There we go again, Saint Teresa thinks she’s better thank everyone else. You know, I’ve been trying my dammed hardest to make this job work. I’ve been training and I know what I’m doing now. It’s not the same as last time.’
‘Yes, it is.’
‘You’re wrong.’
‘Am I?’ Lisbon turned around and stood up as tall as she could, staring into his eyes. ‘You’ve been pulling stunts your whole life, acting like you know better, like you can do it all yourself. This isn’t you Tommy; you’re the same little kid who got beaten up in seventh grade. You can pretend you’re one of the big boys waving a gun around and shouting your mouth off about your profession. I can’t stand by and watch this, so get the hell out of my office and go do something about it.’
‘Fuck you Reese, you’ve never been able to see what good I can do, I’m sick of you doubting me all of the God damn time. I’m gonna prove you wrong, just watch me.’
‘Whatever.’
xxx
The phone rang out from her office as she finished pouring milk into her cup of coffee. She glanced at Cho who slipped into the room to answer it. She didn’t like to miss calls, especially when she, in theory, could have answered it. She also didn’t like to take breaks. But Tommy’s visit had left her feeling less than okay. She worried about him, more than she probably should have done. It was her job to worry. She was the big sister, she was the cop, she was supposed to protect him as she’d done all of his life.
‘Boss?’ said Cho, walking up behind her with a sullen look on his face. He always looked less than happy but she’d come to learn the differences in his expressions.
‘What’s wrong?’ she asked, taking a sip of her drink.
‘You might want to sit down.’
‘I’m fine.’ Her stubbornness always served her whether she wanted it to or not. She wasn’t one for people dancing around the subject or treating her carefully. She just wanted to know. ‘What is it?’
‘It’s your brother.’
‘Tommy?’
xxx
She entered the house on shaky legs, her knees asking to give way at any given moment. She didn’t want to be there, she didn’t want this to be a reality. Whatever had happened, she wished that time could reverse and she could go back to earlier in the day when Tommy turned up at the office.
‘Agent Lisbon?’ asked an officer with a sympathetic smile, the smile she gave so many times to victims’ families. She hated how false it was.
She nodded.
‘He’s through here.’
Lisbon took tentative steps into the room and towards the sheet covered body. Blood had already begun to seep through the thin material. Her stomach churned and for the first time in her long career the thought of seeing the body made her want to vomit.
‘Are you sure?’ asked the office, she nodded and he pulled the sheet away from his face.
The colour in his skin had yet to shift. That was all she could remember as she fled from the room. Her legs moved quickly until she reached the exterior of the building. She couldn’t do it. She rested a hand over her racing heart, the same heart that stung with the loss she couldn’t bear to face. This wasn’t happening.
‘Lisbon.’
She turned around at the sound of Jane’s voice, a voice she needed to hear at that moment. He walked towards her and enveloped her into his arms. She fell against his body, clinging to the fabric of his suit. He hadn’t looked at her with sympathy; he’d looked at her with understanding, with worry and with hope. She didn’t cry but her body heaved with every breath.
xxx
Lisbon sat down at her desk. There was nothing she could do now. The body was being transported to the coroner’s office and forensics were trying to piece together what happened. Wainwright had already pulled her off the case. She sat back in her seat and stared out at her team working in the bullpen. Then her eyes landed on her calendar again. She reached out and read the date once more. Her hands shook and she dropped the calendar on the desk.
‘Boss,’ Cho said from the doorway.
She pushed the onset of tears away and glanced up at him. ‘Cho?’
‘We got a call from the coroner’s office; you can see your brother any time after five.’
Lisbon nodded and watched Cho wander back into the bullpen, he spoke to the rest of the team who all glanced at her office. She bowed her head and pretended to be working.
‘You’ve been pulling stunts your whole life.’
She didn’t want to remember the argument, she didn’t want to remember the last words she said to her brother or the fact that they were horrible. How could she have been so stupid as to let him go out there and get hurt?
By four thirty she marched out of the office with barely a word to the rest of the team, she could feel them watching her through the glass as she walked towards the elevator. She arrived at the coroner’s office early where she sat and waited in a small office. When they finally allowed her into the morgue she walked slowly, each step more fragile than the one before. When her mom died she was young and her father wouldn’t let her see the body, when he too died the social worker in charge of the family suggested it wasn’t a good idea. The number of bodies she’d seen since then was in its hundreds but nothing prepared her for that moment.
‘Oh Tommy,’ she gasped, covering her mouth to stop herself from being sick once again as she struggled to hold in her emotions.
She reached her other hand out to touch the curls of his hair, it was longer than the last time she saw him. She stroked his cheek and leant down to kiss his face. She’d spent her whole life trying to protect him and now, now she’d done worse than let him down, he’d asked for her help and she’d left him to die.
‘Happy Birthday Tommy,’ she said, dropping his hand and walking out of the morgue.
The End