The Scenic Route (3/7)
Previous Parts: Part One, Part Two
Part Three
17th October 2012
"Where have you been?" Lisbon asked as Jane sauntered back into her office in the early evening.
"I've been working, honest," he immediately defended himself, his voice laced with mock-hurt.
Lisbon smirked. She knew where he'd been really. After all, she had been in receipt of a telephone call from a much harried Wayne Rigsby merely a short while earlier. She already knew about the ruckus he'd caused at the bar where Zachary De Souza had enjoyed his last drink a couple of hours before his death. She'd already smoothed down the ruffled feathers of the bar owner and vowed that Patrick Jane wouldn't be allowed anywhere near the vicinity of his business again, provided of course, that the man and his employees weren't responsible for De Souza's death.
That was an easy decision for her to make. Just because she had been left alone in her office since her lunch with Jane, it didn't mean she had been sitting idle, either. She had been chasing up De Souza's links through work and leisure, working out his daily routine and the like from the information fed at her from her team. In the time they had spent out doing fieldwork, she had also come across some fairly useful discoveries herself. Unfortunately, time was pressing on and she knew that chasing them up would have to be left until morning.
Jane, however, took the seat opposite her. She immediately decided that the moment he was done talking to her, that she would go home. If nothing else, she deserved a relatively early night, especially after a day like today. Seeing Zachary, dead, was slowly but surely beginning to make her face some memories which she really didn't want to face. Lisbon pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to fend off the impending headache. She couldn't think of her mother's death, not while at work. Most of the time, she was able to convince herself that it was all in the past, that it was ancient history. However, a few select moments always chose to remind her that no child can ever really recover from losing their parents so young.
"So…" she started.
"You want to know if I found out anything interesting?" he enquired.
"Well, of course," she muttered irritably. "I do have a home to get to, you know."
"What and a can of tinned soup?"
She scowled in response. What did it matter if she only had soup planned for her dinner tonight? Some days, she just didn't feel like cooking. It wasn't as if she relied upon the easy options every single time.
"That's beside the point, Jane," she answered back through gritted teeth. "Well?"
"It was a dead end," he admitted and her smile broadened. "Except..."
"Except?" Lisbon echoed.
"He met up with his fitness instructor, Mary Whittaker, there last night."
"Who also happened to be his first girlfriend," Lisbon supplied, almost proudly.
"Ye- wait, what?"
She could barely contain her delight at the fact that she had taken Jane off guard. Those moments were always few and far between, so Lisbon treasured each and every one of them. In a way, she hoped that they provided him with the necessary reminder that she was good at his job and his assistance was merely beneficial to the unit, not essential. He pouted, somehow looking incredibly cute and reminding her of a teenager at the same time. Lisbon sighed; she really shouldn't be thinking of Patrick Jane like that. It was inappropriate, for a start. Not to mention...
"How do you know that?" he asked, interrupting her chain of thought.
"Oh please, she went to high school with my brother and the vic. Of course I knew her."
"Isn't it funny how you all moved out here?" Jane stated noncommittally.
"Mm," Lisbon answered incoherently, taking a sip of her bottled water.
"Care to elaborate?"
"Not particularly," she answered back stiffly.
Of course, Lisbon knew exactly why she had moved to California. She'd desperately needed to escape all the bitter memories that Chicago had provided her with day in, day out for far too many years. That and she needed to finally step out on her own, live her own life instead of having her brothers clinging hold of her for dear life. Tommy, however, being the youngest had promptly followed her, much to Lisbon's irritation. But still, it had more or less worked.
Except for days like today, naturally. Those were the ones that always came around to bite her on the ass. She glared at Jane and that twinkle in his eye suddenly seemed all too familiar.
"At least the weather's nicer. Though I always did like Chicago in the summer," Jane stated lightly.
Lisbon's frown deepened. She wasn't quite sure, but she had a feeling he was skirting around the exact same issue that she had been trying to avoid too. Why the hell had she decided to tell Jane that the last time she'd seen Zachary De Souza alive had been at the carnival? Especially so, given the fact she knew Jane's background better than she ever cared to admit. Not only that, but it had been an exaggeration. She had seen Zachary after that visit; it was just the last time she had spent an extended period of time with her. That was irrelevant to her problem with Jane, however. Now, she was beginning to wonder if it was for the best that she just opened up about it all. Ripped it off like a band-aid and got through the pain quicker.
The only problem was, she wasn't sure if she had the confidence for that.
"Mhm," she mumbled, vaguely agreeing. "I always enjoyed the yearly carnival, until…"
"Until?" Jane queried, though they both knew he knew the answer.
"Until the day my mom died," she answered with a sigh.
Then, she promptly stood, grabbed her bag, jacket and one of the files off of her desk. Suddenly, she wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to run for the hills or have the ground swallow her whole. Realistically, either was an ideal solution, though running was probably easier. Lisbon cursed at herself; she knew that she seemed frazzled in front of Jane, and she always hated that, especially considering she'd literally just scored a (minor) win from him and was undoing all of her good work. Still, all she needed to do was get somewhere and think before this situation all got horribly out of hand.
"I've gotta go," she said quickly, not even bothering to make up an excuse. "We'll question Whittaker tomorrow morning. I'll meet you here at seven-thirty."
xxx
15th July 1986
Angela hadn't been particularly impressed by Patrick's plan to allow Teresa to get closer to the animals, but he didn't care. It meant that he got to spend more time with her than usual and that was the main thing as far as he was concerned. When he'd suggested it, she had practically jumped at the chance, her green eyes sparkling with sheer delight. Of course, he knew she was going to have to sneak out at the crack of dawn and that it was going to take some effort for her to get there, but she had believed it was worth it. And that alone had made his spirit lift.
When he saw her pedaling away, with a look of intense concentration on her features, Patrick couldn't help but crack a grin. As soon as she caught sight of him, she reciprocated the smile and dumped her bicycle down to run the rest of the distance. Patrick grunted slightly as she practically threw herself at him, but still managed to pick her up and spin her around. After he stopped moving, he placed a chaste kiss on her lips before interlocking his fingers with hers.
"Do you want to see the elephants first?" he asked and she nodded enthusiastically. "C'mon, they're this way."
Pete was with the elephants, but the moment he saw Patrick approach with Teresa, he frowned before masking it with a warm smile. Teresa was apprehensive at first, but it wasn't long until she was happily passing fruit over to the gentle giants. Patrick wasn't entirely happy with the look of condemnation on Pete's face, but he knew exactly why the old man felt that way. It was because he had invited one of the general public - a mark - behind closed doors. They weren't meant to see things like this. However, the look of joy on Teresa's face as Nellie curled up her trunk and popped the fruits and greens into her mouth made it worth it as far as he was concerned.
That was, until, the rumbling of a car engine broke into his reverie. Patrick turned around to see a mass of angry carnie folk shouting at the intruder. The intruder looked all too familiar, much to his horror. Teresa's father stormed out of the car, brushing off Angela and Patrick's own father as he strode towards his daughter. Teresa, naturally, was the last to realize, having been so engrossed in the animals before her. When she turned around, her face immediately dropped and she literally shrank back in fear. Patrick suspected that she had never seen her father so angry and that was worrying even for him. Boldly, he stepped in between the two of them. There was something about the look in the man's eyes that gave him the incorrigible urge to protect her.
"Get out of the way, boy," the man snarled, flecks of spittle landing in Patrick's face.
"No."
"Daniel," Teresa whispered before growing louder. "Daniel, it's okay. I can handle it."
Patrick turned to face her and stared deeply into her eyes. A fierce confidence shined out of them and that relieved him somewhat.
"You sure?" he asked, though he knew the answer already.
She nodded defiantly, clearly determined not to show weakness in front of her father or Patrick. Nervously, he stepped aside and that was when the worst happened.
As soon as he'd moved away, Teresa's father had closed the gap between them. It only served to highlight the sheer difference in height and bodyweight between the two; the girl had clearly taken after her mother in both of those aspects. However, she stood her ground and simply waited for her father's next move. Patrick watched every action carefully. As the man raised his hand, it was almost as if everything had slowed down. Patrick could witness with perfect clarity the exact moment that his hand made contact with his daughter's face. Even her recoil appeared to occur in slow motion, along with the look of hurt and fear suddenly blossoming in her eyes. She turned to face her father with a bitter glare, holding her right hand against her sore, reddened cheek.
"That's what you get for - what? Running away to join the circus? With him?" Mr. Lisbon threw Jane a dirty look.
"She wasn't-"
"I-"
"I don't want to hear it!" he thundered, cutting them both off. "It doesn't matter."
Then, he grabbed her roughly by the upper arm and started dragging her away from the elephant enclosure and back towards his car. If he noticed the dirty looks and muttered phrases of disgust from the crowd of carnival folk, he didn't show it. Patrick automatically followed and his heart broke when he saw the stricken look she threw straight back at him. When the girl's father practically pinned her against the car, holding on tightly to her shoulders, he rushed to try and throw him off, somehow. However, for some reason he paused at the very last second. There had to be some explanation for why the man was flying off the handle in the way he was.
"Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?" he growled.
"Dad, I'm-"
"It's too late. We need to get to the hospital."
"Hospital?" she questioned, sounding as bemused as Patrick felt.
"It's your mother. She was," the man's voice cracked as the stress of the morning got to him. "She was involved in a car crash. It was while she was looking for you."
As horrible as the moment when he'd watched the father dish out a dose of corporal punishment, this was a thousand times worse. He could have sworn that he literally saw the moment when Teresa's heart broke and he rushed up to try and comfort her. Angrily, she pushed him aside and fled to the passenger side of the vehicle. Patrick backed away slowly, his eyes never leaving her. Quietly, she mouthed 'I'm sorry' before closing her eyes and beginning to pray. He watched, rapt, as her hand closed around the cross pendant dangling around her necklace. She'd told him, yesterday, that it had been a gift from her mother for her fourteenth birthday, which had just gone by.
Now, it seemed to hold so much more significance.
His eyes remained fixed on the car as she was whisked away to what he could only hope was good news. Patrick didn't even notice Angela touch him gently, offering the wordless support he'd come to expect of her. All he could think about how it was partially his fault that the Lisbon family - and Teresa in particular - was going through this heartache.
After all, her father had essentially blamed her for her mother's accident. Words like that never left a person. Patrick knew that better than most.
TBC…
To Part Four
Part Three
17th October 2012
"Where have you been?" Lisbon asked as Jane sauntered back into her office in the early evening.
"I've been working, honest," he immediately defended himself, his voice laced with mock-hurt.
Lisbon smirked. She knew where he'd been really. After all, she had been in receipt of a telephone call from a much harried Wayne Rigsby merely a short while earlier. She already knew about the ruckus he'd caused at the bar where Zachary De Souza had enjoyed his last drink a couple of hours before his death. She'd already smoothed down the ruffled feathers of the bar owner and vowed that Patrick Jane wouldn't be allowed anywhere near the vicinity of his business again, provided of course, that the man and his employees weren't responsible for De Souza's death.
That was an easy decision for her to make. Just because she had been left alone in her office since her lunch with Jane, it didn't mean she had been sitting idle, either. She had been chasing up De Souza's links through work and leisure, working out his daily routine and the like from the information fed at her from her team. In the time they had spent out doing fieldwork, she had also come across some fairly useful discoveries herself. Unfortunately, time was pressing on and she knew that chasing them up would have to be left until morning.
Jane, however, took the seat opposite her. She immediately decided that the moment he was done talking to her, that she would go home. If nothing else, she deserved a relatively early night, especially after a day like today. Seeing Zachary, dead, was slowly but surely beginning to make her face some memories which she really didn't want to face. Lisbon pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to fend off the impending headache. She couldn't think of her mother's death, not while at work. Most of the time, she was able to convince herself that it was all in the past, that it was ancient history. However, a few select moments always chose to remind her that no child can ever really recover from losing their parents so young.
"So…" she started.
"You want to know if I found out anything interesting?" he enquired.
"Well, of course," she muttered irritably. "I do have a home to get to, you know."
"What and a can of tinned soup?"
She scowled in response. What did it matter if she only had soup planned for her dinner tonight? Some days, she just didn't feel like cooking. It wasn't as if she relied upon the easy options every single time.
"That's beside the point, Jane," she answered back through gritted teeth. "Well?"
"It was a dead end," he admitted and her smile broadened. "Except..."
"Except?" Lisbon echoed.
"He met up with his fitness instructor, Mary Whittaker, there last night."
"Who also happened to be his first girlfriend," Lisbon supplied, almost proudly.
"Ye- wait, what?"
She could barely contain her delight at the fact that she had taken Jane off guard. Those moments were always few and far between, so Lisbon treasured each and every one of them. In a way, she hoped that they provided him with the necessary reminder that she was good at his job and his assistance was merely beneficial to the unit, not essential. He pouted, somehow looking incredibly cute and reminding her of a teenager at the same time. Lisbon sighed; she really shouldn't be thinking of Patrick Jane like that. It was inappropriate, for a start. Not to mention...
"How do you know that?" he asked, interrupting her chain of thought.
"Oh please, she went to high school with my brother and the vic. Of course I knew her."
"Isn't it funny how you all moved out here?" Jane stated noncommittally.
"Mm," Lisbon answered incoherently, taking a sip of her bottled water.
"Care to elaborate?"
"Not particularly," she answered back stiffly.
Of course, Lisbon knew exactly why she had moved to California. She'd desperately needed to escape all the bitter memories that Chicago had provided her with day in, day out for far too many years. That and she needed to finally step out on her own, live her own life instead of having her brothers clinging hold of her for dear life. Tommy, however, being the youngest had promptly followed her, much to Lisbon's irritation. But still, it had more or less worked.
Except for days like today, naturally. Those were the ones that always came around to bite her on the ass. She glared at Jane and that twinkle in his eye suddenly seemed all too familiar.
"At least the weather's nicer. Though I always did like Chicago in the summer," Jane stated lightly.
Lisbon's frown deepened. She wasn't quite sure, but she had a feeling he was skirting around the exact same issue that she had been trying to avoid too. Why the hell had she decided to tell Jane that the last time she'd seen Zachary De Souza alive had been at the carnival? Especially so, given the fact she knew Jane's background better than she ever cared to admit. Not only that, but it had been an exaggeration. She had seen Zachary after that visit; it was just the last time she had spent an extended period of time with her. That was irrelevant to her problem with Jane, however. Now, she was beginning to wonder if it was for the best that she just opened up about it all. Ripped it off like a band-aid and got through the pain quicker.
The only problem was, she wasn't sure if she had the confidence for that.
"Mhm," she mumbled, vaguely agreeing. "I always enjoyed the yearly carnival, until…"
"Until?" Jane queried, though they both knew he knew the answer.
"Until the day my mom died," she answered with a sigh.
Then, she promptly stood, grabbed her bag, jacket and one of the files off of her desk. Suddenly, she wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to run for the hills or have the ground swallow her whole. Realistically, either was an ideal solution, though running was probably easier. Lisbon cursed at herself; she knew that she seemed frazzled in front of Jane, and she always hated that, especially considering she'd literally just scored a (minor) win from him and was undoing all of her good work. Still, all she needed to do was get somewhere and think before this situation all got horribly out of hand.
"I've gotta go," she said quickly, not even bothering to make up an excuse. "We'll question Whittaker tomorrow morning. I'll meet you here at seven-thirty."
xxx
15th July 1986
Angela hadn't been particularly impressed by Patrick's plan to allow Teresa to get closer to the animals, but he didn't care. It meant that he got to spend more time with her than usual and that was the main thing as far as he was concerned. When he'd suggested it, she had practically jumped at the chance, her green eyes sparkling with sheer delight. Of course, he knew she was going to have to sneak out at the crack of dawn and that it was going to take some effort for her to get there, but she had believed it was worth it. And that alone had made his spirit lift.
When he saw her pedaling away, with a look of intense concentration on her features, Patrick couldn't help but crack a grin. As soon as she caught sight of him, she reciprocated the smile and dumped her bicycle down to run the rest of the distance. Patrick grunted slightly as she practically threw herself at him, but still managed to pick her up and spin her around. After he stopped moving, he placed a chaste kiss on her lips before interlocking his fingers with hers.
"Do you want to see the elephants first?" he asked and she nodded enthusiastically. "C'mon, they're this way."
Pete was with the elephants, but the moment he saw Patrick approach with Teresa, he frowned before masking it with a warm smile. Teresa was apprehensive at first, but it wasn't long until she was happily passing fruit over to the gentle giants. Patrick wasn't entirely happy with the look of condemnation on Pete's face, but he knew exactly why the old man felt that way. It was because he had invited one of the general public - a mark - behind closed doors. They weren't meant to see things like this. However, the look of joy on Teresa's face as Nellie curled up her trunk and popped the fruits and greens into her mouth made it worth it as far as he was concerned.
That was, until, the rumbling of a car engine broke into his reverie. Patrick turned around to see a mass of angry carnie folk shouting at the intruder. The intruder looked all too familiar, much to his horror. Teresa's father stormed out of the car, brushing off Angela and Patrick's own father as he strode towards his daughter. Teresa, naturally, was the last to realize, having been so engrossed in the animals before her. When she turned around, her face immediately dropped and she literally shrank back in fear. Patrick suspected that she had never seen her father so angry and that was worrying even for him. Boldly, he stepped in between the two of them. There was something about the look in the man's eyes that gave him the incorrigible urge to protect her.
"Get out of the way, boy," the man snarled, flecks of spittle landing in Patrick's face.
"No."
"Daniel," Teresa whispered before growing louder. "Daniel, it's okay. I can handle it."
Patrick turned to face her and stared deeply into her eyes. A fierce confidence shined out of them and that relieved him somewhat.
"You sure?" he asked, though he knew the answer already.
She nodded defiantly, clearly determined not to show weakness in front of her father or Patrick. Nervously, he stepped aside and that was when the worst happened.
As soon as he'd moved away, Teresa's father had closed the gap between them. It only served to highlight the sheer difference in height and bodyweight between the two; the girl had clearly taken after her mother in both of those aspects. However, she stood her ground and simply waited for her father's next move. Patrick watched every action carefully. As the man raised his hand, it was almost as if everything had slowed down. Patrick could witness with perfect clarity the exact moment that his hand made contact with his daughter's face. Even her recoil appeared to occur in slow motion, along with the look of hurt and fear suddenly blossoming in her eyes. She turned to face her father with a bitter glare, holding her right hand against her sore, reddened cheek.
"That's what you get for - what? Running away to join the circus? With him?" Mr. Lisbon threw Jane a dirty look.
"She wasn't-"
"I-"
"I don't want to hear it!" he thundered, cutting them both off. "It doesn't matter."
Then, he grabbed her roughly by the upper arm and started dragging her away from the elephant enclosure and back towards his car. If he noticed the dirty looks and muttered phrases of disgust from the crowd of carnival folk, he didn't show it. Patrick automatically followed and his heart broke when he saw the stricken look she threw straight back at him. When the girl's father practically pinned her against the car, holding on tightly to her shoulders, he rushed to try and throw him off, somehow. However, for some reason he paused at the very last second. There had to be some explanation for why the man was flying off the handle in the way he was.
"Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?" he growled.
"Dad, I'm-"
"It's too late. We need to get to the hospital."
"Hospital?" she questioned, sounding as bemused as Patrick felt.
"It's your mother. She was," the man's voice cracked as the stress of the morning got to him. "She was involved in a car crash. It was while she was looking for you."
As horrible as the moment when he'd watched the father dish out a dose of corporal punishment, this was a thousand times worse. He could have sworn that he literally saw the moment when Teresa's heart broke and he rushed up to try and comfort her. Angrily, she pushed him aside and fled to the passenger side of the vehicle. Patrick backed away slowly, his eyes never leaving her. Quietly, she mouthed 'I'm sorry' before closing her eyes and beginning to pray. He watched, rapt, as her hand closed around the cross pendant dangling around her necklace. She'd told him, yesterday, that it had been a gift from her mother for her fourteenth birthday, which had just gone by.
Now, it seemed to hold so much more significance.
His eyes remained fixed on the car as she was whisked away to what he could only hope was good news. Patrick didn't even notice Angela touch him gently, offering the wordless support he'd come to expect of her. All he could think about how it was partially his fault that the Lisbon family - and Teresa in particular - was going through this heartache.
After all, her father had essentially blamed her for her mother's accident. Words like that never left a person. Patrick knew that better than most.
TBC…
To Part Four