Follow The Yellow Brick Road (11/11)

Mar 12, 2012 15:44

Previous Parts:  Part OnePart TwoPart ThreePart FourPart FivePart SixPart SevenPart EightPart Nine, Part Ten




“What are you doing here?” she moaned. “It’s late and I’m tired.”

Just when she had been considering heading to bed, Lisbon had heard a knock at the door. Opening it, she had been confused to see Jane standing there. She hadn’t moved since he had been here last, but he had never made social calls in the past. And besides, with his current state of aloofness, she sincerely doubted that he had just dropped round for a cup of tea and a plate of cookies. She eyed him suspiciously and he offered her an altogether too bright smile, which made her feel even more uncomfortable. Something was going on, something which he clearly wasn’t going to talk to her about. Instead, he was just going to hope that she would blindly follow as she had done so many times in the past.

“Been a break in the case, come on.”

“But we cut our losses for the night and decided we’d start early-”

“Van Pelt stayed on and found something.”

“I saw her leave.”

“Teresa…”

The use of her forename took her off guard. He very rarely called her anything except Lisbon, so it always triggered her alarm bells whenever he changed the status quo. Besides, she knew he was lying. She had waved Van Pelt off in the parking lot that evening, saw her drive off home, so Jane’s story simply didn’t check out. And that could only reaffirmed her previous suspicions: that he wanted something and he wasn’t ready to tell her what yet.

“You’re lying to me,” she said, sounding more confident than she actually felt.

“Oh, who’s a clever one?” he answered sarcastically.

She took a couple of steps backwards. For some reason, she didn’t feel safe in Jane’s presence; a feeling she had never really had before. It was something about the look in his eyes, the fact he was lying and expecting her to pick up on it that worried her. All she wanted to do was put some distance between herself and him, just to give her more time should he react unexpectedly. Then again, the whole situation was completely and utterly absurd. The sooner things started making sense, the better. Lisbon had always hated the fact that Jane kept her in the dark during cases, claiming that she required her deniability. Now, she just wanted to know what the hell was going through his mind so she could try to help him.

“Jane? What’s going on?” she asked.

He didn’t answer her and instead, he moved his hand in his pocket. It was then that Lisbon saw the glint of the barrel of a gun. Immediately, she froze. How the hell had he managed to get hold of a weapon? Both his mental state and his criminal status meant it was illegal for him to be handling one. Obviously, he didn’t care. Then again, what did he have to care about anymore? Lisbon quickly took this as a sign that Jane had finally lost it. Slowly, she tried to reach for the table, for her cell phone but Jane grabbed hold of her left arm roughly, preventing her from doing so.

“I really suggest you do as I say, Teresa,” he said lightly, with a small smile. “You know I won’t hesitate to use this again.”

xxx

“So, which case have we supposedly had a break on?” she asked, after they had been traveling for five minutes or so.

“Red John,” he replied simply.

“Oh of course. The Red John case we’ve just closed, I assume?”

“Oh I knew that wasn’t Red John. It was just one of his associates,” Jane said lightly, “brainwashed and hypnotized, of course. But I guess you knew that already.”

Lisbon remained still and silent. She knew what was happening, however much she didn’t want it to. In all honesty, this was something she had expected for years, to a certain extent. Jane saw things that others didn’t and it had always surprised her that he had never called her up on it, until now. Somewhere along the line, she had grown complacent and somehow convinced herself that he wouldn’t figure it out at all.

“Luckily for me, the man he sent was guilty of murder. Several, in fact. The security guard who poisoned Rebecca, Bosco’s secretary? That was him. I recognized him immediately.”

“Good for you,” she answered sourly.

Jane had never told her that he had had his charges dropped, or at least reduced thanks to his services to the state of California and she assumed that this was confirmation of that. Nor had she appreciated the reminder of Bosco. He had sacrificed so much for her and she never had a chance to really show her gratitude. Instead, she had moved away from him, distanced herself because she had grown cold feet. Perhaps, if she had actually had the guts to stay around him, he would still have been alive and continued to protect her. Then again, he may well have also changed his mind and thrown her to the wolves. After all, Jane was appearing to do just that right at that very moment.

“Are you going to get to your point, or just keep waffling on?” she eventually added, realizing that he was staying surprisingly quiet.

“All in good time, Teresa. As impatient as ever, I see.”

“Whatever.”

He turned left. She still had no idea where Jane was taking her. Although he appeared calm and collected, Lisbon suspected that it was merely a mask. What she did know was that Jane was a killer now. Men who had done that - especially those who did not regret it for even half a second - tended to have a certain look in their eyes, She squirmed slightly. Lisbon knew that he was armed; it was how he had coerced her into his beloved Citroen, when she had been initially reluctant to oblige him. He had also made absolutely certain that she didn’t have her gun with her too. Naturally, that made her feel uncomfortable, vulnerable in a way. Was he leading her to a secluded spot, taking her to her death? Right now, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking and that was disconcerting her. She had thought, had assumed that she was fairly good at reading him now. They had worked together for long enough for her to manage to pick up a trick or two.

They fell into a stony silence once more. From the moment she had seen the gun in his hand, Lisbon had realized what was going on. That Jane had worked out that she had a connection with Red John. Now, he had probably discovered that he had killed the wrong man and was hoping to use her to lure him out. She just hoped that John would resist the temptation to reveal himself and that somehow, she would get out of this unscathed as well.

“After all this time, you still think it was Red John I was after when I joined the CBI again, don’t you?”

“Of course I did - everyone did. Why else-”

“It was you,” he said, cutting her off.

“Me?”

“Yes, you,” he replied with a roll of the eyes. “I knew you had a connection with him. You made it easy for me.”

“You bast-”

“Ah, ah, none of that language. You brought it all on yourself.”

“I had no choice!” she shouted back, angrily.

“You could have - should have - reported his first murder! The fact that he killed so many other innocent people after his first victim, including my wife and child, that is your fault.”

“I…”

The words died on her lips. Lisbon knew that it was impossible for him to understand her perspective, quite simply because his experiences with Red John were very different to her own. She felt sorry for him and everything he’d been through, genuinely she did, but Jane just couldn’t - or didn’t want to - see the other side to the story. The one where John was the complicated human being that he was, rather than just some demon from a fairytale.

She couldn’t help it. At first, it was just a prickling at the corner of her eyes and then, almost unexpectedly, a tear rolled down her cheek and splashed onto her hand. Lisbon looked down at it, almost shocked. Once upon a time, she had promised herself that she would never let another man drive her to tears. Clearly, she wasn’t keeping that unwritten vow any longer. Besides, she didn’t have the energy to fight against it anymore. What was the point?

“Mother Teresa, always thinks she can change people, whether it be her wayward brothers, broken team or serial killers,” he snapped angrily and she flinched. “Well you thought wrong. Oh don’t start crying, they’re just crocodile tears.”

“How can you be so cruel? After all we’ve done together-”

“Don’t you get it? All these years, I was using your connection with Red John to make sure you both get what you deserve.”

“You have no-”

“Evidence? Really? I have plenty.”

“Like what?”

“You’ll just have to wait to find out.”

“These are just groundless accusations, Jane.”

“Oh make up your mind what argument you’re going with, will you?”

“I have nothing to say to you until you stop clutching at straws and start talking sense.”

xxx

She knew she had somehow managed to fall asleep during the drive. Mostly, because they were now in San Francisco and she couldn’t remember half of the journey. Then again, Lisbon hadn’t lied to Jane when she’d told him she was tired. With a sigh, she stepped out of his Citroen and reluctantly followed him to the house. Not only did she not trust the slightly unhinged look in his eye, but she didn’t like the sense of role reversal. Whenever they had previously entered a seemingly abandoned building together, she had been the one who was armed, not him.

Roughly, Jane nudged her in the small of her back and Lisbon glared at him. There was absolutely no need for him to treat her like this. Not yet, anyway. He hadn’t explicitly proven to her that he knew what she’d done for all these years. Until then, she wished he had the common courtesy to treat her with respect. Then again, she already knew that he had none for her and really, for Jane, he was going easy on her.

“I’m going, I’m going.”

Wordlessly, he coerced her towards the master bedroom. It was then that she realized exactly where she was. In all the time since she had last been there, the décor hadn’t changed, nothing had. It was like it had been trapped in a time warp, waiting precisely for this moment to arrive. Lisbon glanced nervously at Jane and he remained entirely impassive. Tentatively, she took a step closer to the door and opened it. Once more, Jane nudged her and reluctantly, she entered the room. She didn’t want to be here; there were too many memories that she had long since locked away and resolutely did not want to revisit.

This was where John had killed his first victim. This was where she had painted the first, now iconic, Red John smiley face on the wall. It hadn’t been painted over; the blood had decayed over time, but it was still there.

“Why have you brought me here?” she growled at him.

Instead of answering, Jane smiled that annoying, smug smile that she had once loved as much as she hated. Now, she merely wanted to smack it off his face. Lisbon understood exactly what he was doing; she had witnessed him doing it to too many criminals for her not to. Unfortunately, she felt as though she had no choice but to play along. If she tried to run, well, he was armed and dangerous, quite literally. And she didn’t doubt the concept that the rest of the team were probably not all that far behind.

With a nod, Jane indicated to the wardrobe. Lisbon jerked her head slightly and forced herself to move closer to it. Jane remained as calm as he had been ever since they had arrived in San Francisco and that made her feel uncomfortable. She knew him, knew that his mind was probably whirring away as she played her part in his plan. So much for John’s great sacrifice for her. Jane was happily taking them both down, just as he had apparently always intended.

When she opened the wardrobe door, she yelped slightly as a corpse rolled out. Quickly, she scanned over the man’s features and it didn’t take her long to recognize him.

“John!” she yelled and knelt down beside him.

She pressed her fingers against his neck, trying desperately to feel for a pulse, although she knew that it was pointless. Three shots at point range to the heart meant that he never had a chance in hell of surviving. But still, Lisbon had to be absolutely certain of what she was seeing and the only way she could be was by touch. This was why he hadn’t been answering her calls; though he hadn’t died in the mall, Jane had somehow still managed to track him down. Lisbon stifled another sob, refusing to break down in front of Jane. How could he not see he was becoming what he had hunted?

When she stood up, with tears glistening in her eyes, she realized that the rest of the Serious Crimes Unit had joined them in the room, just as she had expected. Roughly, Cho grabbed her by the shoulder and pinned her against a wall. Her gaze remained fixated on John’s body. He wasn’t cruel, he wasn’t wicked, he hadn’t deserved this and neither did she. They had just taken two very different paths which had ended up with them both sacrificing themselves due to poor decisions. As Cho read her the Miranda rights, words she had said herself time and time again, her heart pounded and she barely heard them at all. It shouldn’t have come to this, she thought, yet again. That was one of the last things John had said to her and he was right.

Without a word, Jane handed over her badge to Van Pelt and with it, part of her identity. He then turned to face Teresa, with a look of pity in his eyes. It was all too familiar; it was the same look she had offered him time and time again. Though his look wasn’t sorrow for what had happened to her, but pity for what she had done to herself. Teresa found that she couldn’t look him in the eyes; she couldn’t hold her gaze with any of them. It must have been such a shock for all of them, when Jane had told them the truth. And now, she couldn’t bear to face their disappointment in her, even if it was for a decision she had made long before she had known any of them.

“I’ve heard of crooked cops, but you? You’re the most crooked of the lot.”

The cool metal encircled her wrist and Teresa winced as Cho tightened the handcuffs. He didn’t show her any care and consideration, simply treated her as he would any other criminal. None of the team showed her even so much as a shred of sympathy, nor did she expect them to. She didn’t deserve it and she was fully aware of that. Everyone made stupid mistakes during their life, it was just a simple fact that hers was more catastrophic than most. Still, she now had to pay her dues, it was expected of her - and really, it was about time.

That didn’t make it any easier.

end

character: teresa lisbon, character: wayne rigsby, fandom: the mentalist, project: angst big bang, story: follow the yellow brick road, pairing: lisbon/red john, fic: multiparter, character: grace van pelt, pairing: jane/lisbon, character: red john, character: kimball cho, character: patrick jane

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