Traitor (1/1)
Title: Traitor
Author: tromana
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Lisbon
Summary: This was her last-ditch effort in order to get back the one thing she had worked so hard for.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Notes: Written for ch19777 as part of the Holiday Fics challenge. Spoilers for Season Four.
Traitor
Her arm was throbbing. It rarely stopped hurting at the moment, so Lisbon disregarded it. She told herself that it was simply a part of the healing process, that given time, it would go away without medical assistance. She could cope with a little bit of pain; it wasn’t as if she hadn’t been through worse in the past. And it wasn’t as if it wouldn’t happen again at some point in the future, either.
Instead, she carried on walking. Lisbon kept her head down and ignored everyone else. She didn’t want to stop and chat. Besides, most of the other people in the building would have wondered why she was here, why she wasn’t at home, resting. What business she had here when she had been suspended? It was just up the stairs now, then a turn to the right. Carry on straight to his office.
She couldn’t back out. Not now she had made this decision.
It was for the greater good, wasn’t it? It was the right thing to do. It had to be.
But, but…
She was breaking Jane’s trust, his confidence in her and inexplicably so. This was something she had never done before, not really. In the past, she had pretty much stood beside him. Lisbon knew that even though she had doubted Jane time and time again, he had never questioned his faith in her. Then again, she had never given him cause nor reason to.
Not until now, anyway.
And even then, she had no intention of letting him know about this.
However, there had been so many things that she hadn’t wanted to let him know about. But this was Jane. That meant he would probably find out about it sooner rather than later. The next time he saw her, he would most likely just know what she had done.
Theoretically, she knew she could just turn on her heels and go home. Or to the mall, to get some new shoes, not that she particularly wanted (or needed) any. Or to James’ house and see her newborn nephew for the very first time. Nobody knew she was here yet, they wouldn’t know any different if she just slipped away to anywhere but here.
But then again, there was a reason she was here.
Her job was on the line. Lisbon knew that she needed to do something, anything to save it. This was her last-ditch effort in order to get back the one thing she had worked so hard for. There was no way that she could entrust something like her career in somebody else’s hands any longer, least of all Jane’s. If she did that, then he would more than likely proceed to make it all the worse. Unintentionally, of course, but that wasn’t the point.
Wasting Gale Bertram’s time by organizing meetings and then not keeping them would only have weakened her case. Have made the management all the more convinced that she was incompetent. They wouldn’t have even bothered waiting for the hearing to put the final nail in the proverbial coffin. She had a chance to do something, right here, right now, to give them half a chance to reconsider before firing her.
Not that she held out all that much hope for it anyway. But still, she had to try.
Apprehensively, she knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
Steeling herself, she entered Bertram’s office. That was the first step. To what, she wasn’t quite sure. It was also the one that secured her fate. No turning back now, not unless she wanted to make herself appear like a complete and utter fool. Well more so than Lisbon suspected he believed her to be already.
“Ah, Agent Lisbon,” he said, with a brief smile. “Take a seat.”
The use of her job title unnerved her; she wasn’t an agent, not now. Still, she shook her head. Lisbon didn’t want to stay for long. All night, she had been questioning herself about this decision, even more so than when she had made the initial call to Bertram. Was she selling Jane out to the devil for her own benefit? Was she really being that selfish? Or was she really doing it for the greater good?
Or was it simply a combination? Was it too complicated to put into a defined category?
After all, Jane had put her into a tricky predicament. He had had no need to tell her that Red John was still alive. Or at least, that he had suspected as such. That although Timothy Carter had been a monster, he hadn’t been the famed serial killer.
“Can I offer you a cup of tea? Coffee?”
Again, she shook her head. Part of her wished that she could accept the offer. Her mouth felt dry, but she knew that by accepting, she was prolonging the inevitable. She couldn’t just stand in Bertram’s office for hours on end, sipping at a cup of tea, just to stop herself from speaking.
Besides, it wasn’t like her to do that. If something needed doing, she was going to do it.
“I have reason to believe that Red John is still alive,” she eventually stated, when the silence had grown unbearable.
“Oh? But I believed the case was closed?” he said, indicating to a familiar file that was now resting on his desk. “You better not be wasting my time.”
“I’m not,” she said hurriedly and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her right ear nervously. “Or at least, I don’t think I am.”
“What is the reason for your belief?”
“Jane told me.”
Author: tromana
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Lisbon
Summary: This was her last-ditch effort in order to get back the one thing she had worked so hard for.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Notes: Written for ch19777 as part of the Holiday Fics challenge. Spoilers for Season Four.
Traitor
Her arm was throbbing. It rarely stopped hurting at the moment, so Lisbon disregarded it. She told herself that it was simply a part of the healing process, that given time, it would go away without medical assistance. She could cope with a little bit of pain; it wasn’t as if she hadn’t been through worse in the past. And it wasn’t as if it wouldn’t happen again at some point in the future, either.
Instead, she carried on walking. Lisbon kept her head down and ignored everyone else. She didn’t want to stop and chat. Besides, most of the other people in the building would have wondered why she was here, why she wasn’t at home, resting. What business she had here when she had been suspended? It was just up the stairs now, then a turn to the right. Carry on straight to his office.
She couldn’t back out. Not now she had made this decision.
It was for the greater good, wasn’t it? It was the right thing to do. It had to be.
But, but…
She was breaking Jane’s trust, his confidence in her and inexplicably so. This was something she had never done before, not really. In the past, she had pretty much stood beside him. Lisbon knew that even though she had doubted Jane time and time again, he had never questioned his faith in her. Then again, she had never given him cause nor reason to.
Not until now, anyway.
And even then, she had no intention of letting him know about this.
However, there had been so many things that she hadn’t wanted to let him know about. But this was Jane. That meant he would probably find out about it sooner rather than later. The next time he saw her, he would most likely just know what she had done.
Theoretically, she knew she could just turn on her heels and go home. Or to the mall, to get some new shoes, not that she particularly wanted (or needed) any. Or to James’ house and see her newborn nephew for the very first time. Nobody knew she was here yet, they wouldn’t know any different if she just slipped away to anywhere but here.
But then again, there was a reason she was here.
Her job was on the line. Lisbon knew that she needed to do something, anything to save it. This was her last-ditch effort in order to get back the one thing she had worked so hard for. There was no way that she could entrust something like her career in somebody else’s hands any longer, least of all Jane’s. If she did that, then he would more than likely proceed to make it all the worse. Unintentionally, of course, but that wasn’t the point.
Wasting Gale Bertram’s time by organizing meetings and then not keeping them would only have weakened her case. Have made the management all the more convinced that she was incompetent. They wouldn’t have even bothered waiting for the hearing to put the final nail in the proverbial coffin. She had a chance to do something, right here, right now, to give them half a chance to reconsider before firing her.
Not that she held out all that much hope for it anyway. But still, she had to try.
Apprehensively, she knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
Steeling herself, she entered Bertram’s office. That was the first step. To what, she wasn’t quite sure. It was also the one that secured her fate. No turning back now, not unless she wanted to make herself appear like a complete and utter fool. Well more so than Lisbon suspected he believed her to be already.
“Ah, Agent Lisbon,” he said, with a brief smile. “Take a seat.”
The use of her job title unnerved her; she wasn’t an agent, not now. Still, she shook her head. Lisbon didn’t want to stay for long. All night, she had been questioning herself about this decision, even more so than when she had made the initial call to Bertram. Was she selling Jane out to the devil for her own benefit? Was she really being that selfish? Or was she really doing it for the greater good?
Or was it simply a combination? Was it too complicated to put into a defined category?
After all, Jane had put her into a tricky predicament. He had had no need to tell her that Red John was still alive. Or at least, that he had suspected as such. That although Timothy Carter had been a monster, he hadn’t been the famed serial killer.
“Can I offer you a cup of tea? Coffee?”
Again, she shook her head. Part of her wished that she could accept the offer. Her mouth felt dry, but she knew that by accepting, she was prolonging the inevitable. She couldn’t just stand in Bertram’s office for hours on end, sipping at a cup of tea, just to stop herself from speaking.
Besides, it wasn’t like her to do that. If something needed doing, she was going to do it.
“I have reason to believe that Red John is still alive,” she eventually stated, when the silence had grown unbearable.
“Oh? But I believed the case was closed?” he said, indicating to a familiar file that was now resting on his desk. “You better not be wasting my time.”
“I’m not,” she said hurriedly and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her right ear nervously. “Or at least, I don’t think I am.”
“What is the reason for your belief?”
“Jane told me.”