FIC: Pretty Lies (2/14)
Title: Pretty Lies
Author: tromana
Rating: T
Characters: Jane/Lisbon, Team
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: Falling alone is scary. Dragging someone down with you, even moreso.
Spoilers: Up to 2x08 His Red Right Hand
Notes: written for lil smiles in a LiveJournal prompt meme. Prompt: “I’m not worth saving.”
Previous Parts: Part One
Part Two - Lonely
I’m the loneliest girl in the world
One Week Earlier
“How did you do that?”
Lisbon stared at Jane with demanding eyes as he held up his hands in a non-threatening gesture. It was rare that she ever let him show her magic tricks so he was making the most of the moment and enjoying himself thoroughly. With a sly grin, he raised his eyebrows cheekily at her and her frown deepened in response as she tried desperately to work out how he had managed to move the screwed up piece of paper from one mug to the other without appearing to touch it. There had to be some kind of wire or another piece of paper or something involved and naturally, Jane wasn’t telling. Sometimes, she really hated his sleight of hand and was fairly certain that was one of the things involved with this piece of trickery.
“I would tell you, but…”
“There’s no such thing as magical assassins, Jane,” she interrupted, folding her arms across her chest and leaning back in her chair.
“How do you know that?”
“Because the mere idea of them is ridiculous.”
“Just because they sound ridiculous, doesn’t mean it’s not true. A giraffe would seem absurd to people who had never seen or heard of one before but…”
Jane trailed off as he realized that he had lost her attention by the time he got to the word ‘giraffe’. Instead, she was staring at Van Pelt, who looked unsure as to whether or not she should enter Lisbon’s office at all. As the consultant trailed off, the red head approached, holding a manila file that had obviously just been given to her by the interim boss. Wordlessly, she handed it over to Lisbon, who immediately starting flicking through the paper with interest.
“It’s a Red John?”
“Yes.”
“I thought we weren’t getting Red John back?” Lisbon mused, “I thought Grainger was getting him...”
“So did I. Rigsby is getting out the rest of the files,” she paused, slightly nervous about the rest of her query. “Can I come…”
Lisbon knew where Van Pelt was going with her question and after a little thought, nodded in response. The rookie had been working very hard of late and deserved the break. Going to a Red John crime scene was never going to do her any harm, she had been to a couple before and if anything, a relatively fresh set of eyes could theoretically help, not that Lisbon really believed that she would have anything new to add. Sending Van Pelt out of her office and asking her to shut the door behind her, she looked at Jane who had fallen unsurprisingly silent. Sometimes, she just wished she could understand what was going on behind the mask, especially whenever Red John was around. As always, Jane was frustratingly withdrawn and she just wished that she could make him understand that she was there for him, regardless of whether he wanted her to be or not.
“So, Red John.”
“It’s what I wanted,” he replied, sounding hollow.
“No more agents in the line of fire.”
“Except you.”
“And the team.”
“Yeah.”
“C’mon, we have a crime scene to look at,” Lisbon sighed and Jane stood up. “You never know, we might get lucky this time around.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?”
“I have to.”
Jane shrugged and walked through the door that Lisbon was holding open for him. Once Lisbon informed the inhabitants of the bullpen, Rigsby was fuming at the idea of being left behind again as Cho put away a puzzle book and picked up his car keys, ready to go to whatever destination he was told to. Considering the situation they found themselves in, Van Pelt was overly exuberant, but she often was whenever given the opportunity to work in the field rather than man the phones. After she had finished dishing out her instructions, Cho disappeared down to the parking lot almost immediately while the rest of them gathered together a few more bits and pieces that would be required. Once Jane and Van Pelt were seated in the van, Lisbon started the ignition quietly. She was worried about Jane. Well, she almost always was worried about him one way or another, but now she was particularly concerned.
As Lisbon drove in a tense silence, Van Pelt stared out of the window. She appeared to be day-dreaming while watching as scenery passed by, but in reality, she was deep in thought. She hated the sorry scenario she had found herself caught in but couldn’t blame anyone for it. Well anyone except from him, but that was the exception. She glanced at her cell phone and the message she had received shortly before handing the file over to Lisbon. ‘Check the scene is clean for me’ was all it had said and she had known immediately what it had meant. The red head was simply relieved that Lisbon had agreed to let her come at all. Last time, when she hadn’t managed to get down there before the rest of the team, she had been reminded about who she owed her life to. If her Dad hadn’t stood up to him she wouldn’t be here and neither would her mother. It seemed that even serial killers could have a heart, when he allowed her Mom to live simply because she was pregnant.
Only problem was, her entire life has been dictated by the serial killer.
Even now, while fighting against crime and injustices, she was under his thumb.
And if she even dared breathe a word to Lisbon, she’d be dead. As would her Mom, Dad, brother and probably the entirety of the SCU, knowing what this beast of a man was like. It didn’t help that he had an obsession with Patrick Jane, either. Nor that the bastard was trying to eradicate as many links to his identity as physically possible.
Van Pelt hated being a pawn in Red John’s games, but as far as she was concerned, there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
She just had to suffer through it, alone; she couldn’t risk the lives of those she had grown to care about so much.
As they pulled up at a rather shabby apartment complex, Van Pelt jolted out of her reverie. The journey had been strangely silent and still, as they all piled out of the vehicle and met up with Cho, who had arrived five minutes earlier. While the others were busy with the coroner, Van Pelt slipped through the door and into the crime scene. Her expert eyes slid across the view, settling for a split second on the smiley face daubed on the wall. Quickly, she replied to the message, confirming that everything was fine and when Lisbon slipped in behind her, she slipped her cell phone back into her pocket.
“Not pretty, is it?”
“No, Boss.”
Lisbon nodded as she brushed past Van Pelt and the younger woman couldn’t help but wonder at the irony of calling the brunette her boss. While most of the time she respected Lisbon’s authority, on cases involving Red John, she had to answer to somebody else instead.
“Go look around the house. See what you can find.”
“What, like cell phone, laptop, that kind of thing?”
“Yes, Van Pelt,” Lisbon replied wearily, obviously not in the mood for being messed around.
As Van Pelt left, with Cho close behind, automatically knowing to keep an eye on her. Once she had finished inspecting the body, she glanced up at Jane who was looking down at the deceased woman, with a harrowed look on his features. Normally, he could look at the crime scenes objectively, but there was something different about the way he was looking at this one.
“You know her.”
“I think I know her.”
“From?”
“Before my… before.”
“Ah,” Lisbon replied, processing the information. “A client?”
“Yes.”
“Does this client have a name?”
“Hope Lovett.”
“And how certain are you…”
“Ninety-five…”
“Mom!”
A petite woman, with her dark hair partially obscuring her face, roughly elbowed Jane out of the way with a sharp glare and came to a halt beside Lisbon. Folding her arms and glaring, she stared at both Jane and Lisbon as if they was responsible for her mother’s death and waited impatiently for someone to start speaking to her. Jane hummed slightly, rocking back on his heels as he recognized the young woman before him. Admittedly, the last time he had seen her, she had been surly, sniping and had scowled as her mother gave him that final check for a hefty fee.
“Make that one hundred percent certain now.”
“This is a crime scene,” Lisbon stated snappishly, “please could you leave the room?”
“But that’s my Mom.”
“Yeah, I got that. And you are?”
“Rachel. Rachel Lovett.”
“I’m sorry for your loss, Rachel,” Lisbon responded, sounding more irritated than sincere. “Would you be willing to come down to CBI headquarters to discuss your mother’s death?”
“I’m not under arrest, am I?”
“You’re not.”
“Okay then.”
After asking Rachel to return to CBI headquarters with Cho and Van Pelt, Lisbon finished off dealing with everything necessary at the scene. Jane remained stock still, staring at the smiley, entirely lost in thought. When he felt a small hand on his shoulder, he jumped slightly and turned to face a particularly concerned looking Lisbon.
“Before you ask, I have absolutely no idea why Red John would prey on my ex-clients or what the link is between him and Hope Lovett,” he said, rather snappishly and Lisbon looked quite taken aback at his abrupt manner. “I’ve been trying to work it out.”
“I was actually going to ask if you were okay.”
“Oh.”
“Come on, let’s get back,” she continued, nudging him gently with her shoulder. “Rachel may know something useful.”
TBC…
Author: tromana
Rating: T
Characters: Jane/Lisbon, Team
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: Falling alone is scary. Dragging someone down with you, even moreso.
Spoilers: Up to 2x08 His Red Right Hand
Notes: written for lil smiles in a LiveJournal prompt meme. Prompt: “I’m not worth saving.”
Previous Parts: Part One
Part Two - Lonely
I’m the loneliest girl in the world
One Week Earlier
“How did you do that?”
Lisbon stared at Jane with demanding eyes as he held up his hands in a non-threatening gesture. It was rare that she ever let him show her magic tricks so he was making the most of the moment and enjoying himself thoroughly. With a sly grin, he raised his eyebrows cheekily at her and her frown deepened in response as she tried desperately to work out how he had managed to move the screwed up piece of paper from one mug to the other without appearing to touch it. There had to be some kind of wire or another piece of paper or something involved and naturally, Jane wasn’t telling. Sometimes, she really hated his sleight of hand and was fairly certain that was one of the things involved with this piece of trickery.
“I would tell you, but…”
“There’s no such thing as magical assassins, Jane,” she interrupted, folding her arms across her chest and leaning back in her chair.
“How do you know that?”
“Because the mere idea of them is ridiculous.”
“Just because they sound ridiculous, doesn’t mean it’s not true. A giraffe would seem absurd to people who had never seen or heard of one before but…”
Jane trailed off as he realized that he had lost her attention by the time he got to the word ‘giraffe’. Instead, she was staring at Van Pelt, who looked unsure as to whether or not she should enter Lisbon’s office at all. As the consultant trailed off, the red head approached, holding a manila file that had obviously just been given to her by the interim boss. Wordlessly, she handed it over to Lisbon, who immediately starting flicking through the paper with interest.
“It’s a Red John?”
“Yes.”
“I thought we weren’t getting Red John back?” Lisbon mused, “I thought Grainger was getting him...”
“So did I. Rigsby is getting out the rest of the files,” she paused, slightly nervous about the rest of her query. “Can I come…”
Lisbon knew where Van Pelt was going with her question and after a little thought, nodded in response. The rookie had been working very hard of late and deserved the break. Going to a Red John crime scene was never going to do her any harm, she had been to a couple before and if anything, a relatively fresh set of eyes could theoretically help, not that Lisbon really believed that she would have anything new to add. Sending Van Pelt out of her office and asking her to shut the door behind her, she looked at Jane who had fallen unsurprisingly silent. Sometimes, she just wished she could understand what was going on behind the mask, especially whenever Red John was around. As always, Jane was frustratingly withdrawn and she just wished that she could make him understand that she was there for him, regardless of whether he wanted her to be or not.
“So, Red John.”
“It’s what I wanted,” he replied, sounding hollow.
“No more agents in the line of fire.”
“Except you.”
“And the team.”
“Yeah.”
“C’mon, we have a crime scene to look at,” Lisbon sighed and Jane stood up. “You never know, we might get lucky this time around.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?”
“I have to.”
Jane shrugged and walked through the door that Lisbon was holding open for him. Once Lisbon informed the inhabitants of the bullpen, Rigsby was fuming at the idea of being left behind again as Cho put away a puzzle book and picked up his car keys, ready to go to whatever destination he was told to. Considering the situation they found themselves in, Van Pelt was overly exuberant, but she often was whenever given the opportunity to work in the field rather than man the phones. After she had finished dishing out her instructions, Cho disappeared down to the parking lot almost immediately while the rest of them gathered together a few more bits and pieces that would be required. Once Jane and Van Pelt were seated in the van, Lisbon started the ignition quietly. She was worried about Jane. Well, she almost always was worried about him one way or another, but now she was particularly concerned.
As Lisbon drove in a tense silence, Van Pelt stared out of the window. She appeared to be day-dreaming while watching as scenery passed by, but in reality, she was deep in thought. She hated the sorry scenario she had found herself caught in but couldn’t blame anyone for it. Well anyone except from him, but that was the exception. She glanced at her cell phone and the message she had received shortly before handing the file over to Lisbon. ‘Check the scene is clean for me’ was all it had said and she had known immediately what it had meant. The red head was simply relieved that Lisbon had agreed to let her come at all. Last time, when she hadn’t managed to get down there before the rest of the team, she had been reminded about who she owed her life to. If her Dad hadn’t stood up to him she wouldn’t be here and neither would her mother. It seemed that even serial killers could have a heart, when he allowed her Mom to live simply because she was pregnant.
Only problem was, her entire life has been dictated by the serial killer.
Even now, while fighting against crime and injustices, she was under his thumb.
And if she even dared breathe a word to Lisbon, she’d be dead. As would her Mom, Dad, brother and probably the entirety of the SCU, knowing what this beast of a man was like. It didn’t help that he had an obsession with Patrick Jane, either. Nor that the bastard was trying to eradicate as many links to his identity as physically possible.
Van Pelt hated being a pawn in Red John’s games, but as far as she was concerned, there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
She just had to suffer through it, alone; she couldn’t risk the lives of those she had grown to care about so much.
As they pulled up at a rather shabby apartment complex, Van Pelt jolted out of her reverie. The journey had been strangely silent and still, as they all piled out of the vehicle and met up with Cho, who had arrived five minutes earlier. While the others were busy with the coroner, Van Pelt slipped through the door and into the crime scene. Her expert eyes slid across the view, settling for a split second on the smiley face daubed on the wall. Quickly, she replied to the message, confirming that everything was fine and when Lisbon slipped in behind her, she slipped her cell phone back into her pocket.
“Not pretty, is it?”
“No, Boss.”
Lisbon nodded as she brushed past Van Pelt and the younger woman couldn’t help but wonder at the irony of calling the brunette her boss. While most of the time she respected Lisbon’s authority, on cases involving Red John, she had to answer to somebody else instead.
“Go look around the house. See what you can find.”
“What, like cell phone, laptop, that kind of thing?”
“Yes, Van Pelt,” Lisbon replied wearily, obviously not in the mood for being messed around.
As Van Pelt left, with Cho close behind, automatically knowing to keep an eye on her. Once she had finished inspecting the body, she glanced up at Jane who was looking down at the deceased woman, with a harrowed look on his features. Normally, he could look at the crime scenes objectively, but there was something different about the way he was looking at this one.
“You know her.”
“I think I know her.”
“From?”
“Before my… before.”
“Ah,” Lisbon replied, processing the information. “A client?”
“Yes.”
“Does this client have a name?”
“Hope Lovett.”
“And how certain are you…”
“Ninety-five…”
“Mom!”
A petite woman, with her dark hair partially obscuring her face, roughly elbowed Jane out of the way with a sharp glare and came to a halt beside Lisbon. Folding her arms and glaring, she stared at both Jane and Lisbon as if they was responsible for her mother’s death and waited impatiently for someone to start speaking to her. Jane hummed slightly, rocking back on his heels as he recognized the young woman before him. Admittedly, the last time he had seen her, she had been surly, sniping and had scowled as her mother gave him that final check for a hefty fee.
“Make that one hundred percent certain now.”
“This is a crime scene,” Lisbon stated snappishly, “please could you leave the room?”
“But that’s my Mom.”
“Yeah, I got that. And you are?”
“Rachel. Rachel Lovett.”
“I’m sorry for your loss, Rachel,” Lisbon responded, sounding more irritated than sincere. “Would you be willing to come down to CBI headquarters to discuss your mother’s death?”
“I’m not under arrest, am I?”
“You’re not.”
“Okay then.”
After asking Rachel to return to CBI headquarters with Cho and Van Pelt, Lisbon finished off dealing with everything necessary at the scene. Jane remained stock still, staring at the smiley, entirely lost in thought. When he felt a small hand on his shoulder, he jumped slightly and turned to face a particularly concerned looking Lisbon.
“Before you ask, I have absolutely no idea why Red John would prey on my ex-clients or what the link is between him and Hope Lovett,” he said, rather snappishly and Lisbon looked quite taken aback at his abrupt manner. “I’ve been trying to work it out.”
“I was actually going to ask if you were okay.”
“Oh.”
“Come on, let’s get back,” she continued, nudging him gently with her shoulder. “Rachel may know something useful.”
TBC…