FIC: Little White Lies (1/1)
Title: Little White Lies
Author:tromana
Rating: T
Characters: Jane/Lisbon
Summary: …or five times Lisbon lied to her brothers.
Disclaimer: Not mine
Notes: Jello Forever May Challenge. Prompt: empty promises
Little White Lies
i
“Yes, I know I said I’d come over…”
Lisbon bit her lip, suddenly feeling guilty for wanting a bit of time on her own for the first time in what felt like years. It had been a miracle that she’d even been able to book Thanksgiving off at all. If the rest of the country had time off, it was usually followed by a spike of crime which, no doubt, Minelli would want covered. She’d told him that she intended to visit her family, which she had at the time, but as it got closer and closer, she found herself dreading it. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her brother - she did. But she did need to be in the right mood to be exposed to his happy little nuclear family.
“But we’ve had a couple of really big cases come up,” she muttered quickly, hoping that her brother would believe her blatant lie. “They’re calling in everyone they can…”
“It’s okay, I guess,” Paul Lisbon answered, sounding justifiably disappointed. “I know, work’s the priority. You can’t help it if people suddenly decide that holidays are a good reason to start killing each other.”
“I’ll come and see you soon, I promise,” she continued, rushing slightly. “It’s just… my hands are tied.”
“You always say that.”
“I mean it.”
“Alright, I get it. I’ll leave you to get on now. I’ll call again in a couple of weeks time, I guess.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose as her brother ended the call. Maybe her priorities were being skewed a little of late, but trying to control Jane constantly had meant she really needed some time to wind down alone. Having the CBI’s newest consultant on her team was a double edged sword - sure her team’s close rate had improved, but equally the number of complaints had skyrocketed. And besides, it had been such a long while since she had last treated herself to a movie marathon and frankly, as far as she was concerned, she deserved it. Even if it did mean telling her brother a couple of untruths.
ii
“Who told you?”
She stared bitterly at her foot, propped up on a cushion and dressed in a lurid yellow plaster cast as she spoke down her cell phone. It wasn’t her fault that she had tripped and broken her ankle, not really. Lisbon had been so busy trying to keep her eyes on a dangerous armed criminal, in a thriving public area, that she hadn’t noticed the pot hole right in front of her and Jane had yelled over at her... It was a rookie mistake and now she was paying the price. It could have been a lot worse though; if Cho hadn’t been with her at the time…
“Agent Cho did.”
Suddenly, she felt a lot less grateful for Cho’s interference. Lisbon understood why he had told her younger brother and she also understood his concerns, but it didn’t stop it from irritating her. Not only was she a grown woman, but she had also never really taken to the idea of them looking out for her as she had always been the one to take care of problems. Besides, she was more than capable of looking after herself, had years of training and really, Paul should have been worrying about his young family rather than her. To make matters worse, this was one of those silly accidents that could have happened to anybody and didn’t really need any special care or attention.
“You don’t go willfully running into dangerous situations, do you?”
“Paul, it’s a broken bone. I’m fine.”
“Promise me you won’t risk your life playing the hero,” he continued, using the same tone of voice he used on his toddler daughter whenever he caught her getting up to mischief. “Please?”
“I…” she started, closed her eyes and immediately conjured up the worried expression of the eldest of her siblings. “Fine. Yes.”
She was relieved when he accepted that as enough and he bid her farewell. As she flopped dejectedly back into her pillows, she told herself that she had only promised not to be reckless. There was nothing about not doing her job properly - and walking into whatever risky situations that entailed. It wasn’t exactly a lie, more bending the truth.
She recoiled in slight horror. That was exactly the kind of thought Jane would have - and it was his fault that she wouldn’t be discharged from hospital until morning.
iii
“Have you spoken to Tommy lately?”
It was Charlie. Charlie was almost always straight to the point, unless he wanted money. At least Paul generally had the decency to ask her how work was first before trying to wheedle something out of her. The moment she had answered the call, he hadn’t even bothered with saying ‘hello’, just went straight to asking about Tommy. Then again, she hadn’t exactly said it either, just growled her surname down the receiver. But, in her defense, she had been expecting an update from Rigsby on their current case so had been in work mode as she picked up the phone.
“Teresa?”
“I’m still here.”
She hadn’t even realized she had fallen silent, but the Tommy thing was difficult. When he was arrested, she had been deeply humiliated, somehow thinking that his wrong-doings reflected badly on herself. When Jane got them both into trouble, it was different and as far as she was concerned, Tommy should have known better - especially with having a law enforcement officer for a sister. Lisbon had never meant to effectively cut him out of her life, and normally, she would have been the first to forgive him, but dealing drugs had crossed that fine line between wrong and right. That simple fact had made everything between them ten times harder.
“I’ll speak to him. Soon.”
“No, you won’t.”
“I will,” she retorted.
“Whatever. What’s happening with that consultant of yours? Jane?” Charlie queried, quickly changing the subject. “Have you actually been on a date yet? I know you like him.”
“Oh hush.”
Charlie was far too immature and idealistic for his own good. Nothing was going to happen between herself and Jane and she sorely regretted telling him about him in the first place. Now, he was full of hopes for his sister to finally settle down and it just wasn’t going to happen. Least of all with Patrick Jane.
iv
“You will come over for Christmas, won’t you?” Paul questioned and Lisbon automatically sighed heavily in response. “Lucy can barely remember what her Auntie looks like.”
The eldest of the Lisbon men called her a lot more regularly than the other two did. They usually wanted something when they did, whereas this was one of those rare occasions when Paul actually did. He’d actually upped the frequency since the ankle debacle; apparently her accident had reminded him just how dangerous her job could be and never mind the fact that he was now a father too. She had a feeling that he still hadn’t quite forgiven him for avoiding him at Thanksgiving - and had even worked out the real reason why she hadn’t turned up. In a way, she hated letting him down, but she found him and his family so exhausting - in a similar way to Jane, but for vastly different reasons. And if she was lucky enough to not be on call Christmas Day, she wasn’t sure that she wanted the hysteria of a family celebration. Honestly, a bottle of wine and some progress reports sounded entirely more appealing.
“Please?” he continued, sounded terribly young and hopeful. “It’d be nice.”
“Oh… yes. If I can. If… you know…”
Paul sighed and quickly changed the subject. It was nice that she had actually agreed to come over, but her tone had immediately given her away. If nothing came up at work, she would probably find some other kind of excuse to stay away. It hurt him to know that his sister actively avoided him, but despite having quite a few siblings, relatively speaking, Teresa Lisbon was a lone wolf. But he didn’t have the heart or energy to argue with her at that very moment. It was better that he just accepted her worthless promise for now and move on.
Besides, shortly after Christmas, it would be her niece’s birthday and she never missed that, if she could help it.
v
“Yes, work’s fine,” she replied suspiciously. Charlie was clearly after something - probably money as he hadn’t asked outright just yet. “Why?”
“Can’t I take interest in my favorite sister’s life?” he asked and she snorted in response.
“I’m your only sister.”
“All the more reason for me to pay attention then,” he declared down the phone, much to her irritation. “Been on any dates lately? Romance would do you good.”
Lisbon jumped slightly as a pair of hands suddenly wrapped around her waist and an determined pair of lips pressed against her neck. She knew she should have expected him downstairs sooner or later. Jane was never particularly patient and regardless of how comfortable her bed was, he wasn’t going to stay there without her. Briefly, she pulled the phone away from her face, covered it with her hand and whispered a hushed ‘stop it’ in his direction. Naturally, he didn’t listen and she simply rolled her eyes in response.
“I don’t really have time for-”
“You deserve someone to love you.”
“I’m happy.”
“You could be happier.”
“Charlie…”
“Having a man in your life…”
“I don’t need a man to be happy.”
As she spoke, she pulled away from Jane yet again, trying to put as much distance between herself and the incorrigible man as possible. If she had a gag to hand, she would have used it immediately, but she didn’t. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed about her new relationship status, it just wasn’t something she wanted to tell Charlie over the phone. And especially not when Jane was determined to continually taunt her either. He was in a funny mood and that never helped.
“Promise you won’t give up on a love life?”
“I promise.”
“Good.”
It was hardly a lie, not considering exactly what was happening at that very moment, just not telling him the entire story. Eventually, he confirmed her suspicions and asked for a loan to pay for repairs on his car and left her to it. She looked at Jane who was smirking in response, partially because she was only wearing his shirt.
“So why not tell him about us?”
“Oh don’t you start.”
end
Author:tromana
Rating: T
Characters: Jane/Lisbon
Summary: …or five times Lisbon lied to her brothers.
Disclaimer: Not mine
Notes: Jello Forever May Challenge. Prompt: empty promises
Little White Lies
i
“Yes, I know I said I’d come over…”
Lisbon bit her lip, suddenly feeling guilty for wanting a bit of time on her own for the first time in what felt like years. It had been a miracle that she’d even been able to book Thanksgiving off at all. If the rest of the country had time off, it was usually followed by a spike of crime which, no doubt, Minelli would want covered. She’d told him that she intended to visit her family, which she had at the time, but as it got closer and closer, she found herself dreading it. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her brother - she did. But she did need to be in the right mood to be exposed to his happy little nuclear family.
“But we’ve had a couple of really big cases come up,” she muttered quickly, hoping that her brother would believe her blatant lie. “They’re calling in everyone they can…”
“It’s okay, I guess,” Paul Lisbon answered, sounding justifiably disappointed. “I know, work’s the priority. You can’t help it if people suddenly decide that holidays are a good reason to start killing each other.”
“I’ll come and see you soon, I promise,” she continued, rushing slightly. “It’s just… my hands are tied.”
“You always say that.”
“I mean it.”
“Alright, I get it. I’ll leave you to get on now. I’ll call again in a couple of weeks time, I guess.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose as her brother ended the call. Maybe her priorities were being skewed a little of late, but trying to control Jane constantly had meant she really needed some time to wind down alone. Having the CBI’s newest consultant on her team was a double edged sword - sure her team’s close rate had improved, but equally the number of complaints had skyrocketed. And besides, it had been such a long while since she had last treated herself to a movie marathon and frankly, as far as she was concerned, she deserved it. Even if it did mean telling her brother a couple of untruths.
ii
“Who told you?”
She stared bitterly at her foot, propped up on a cushion and dressed in a lurid yellow plaster cast as she spoke down her cell phone. It wasn’t her fault that she had tripped and broken her ankle, not really. Lisbon had been so busy trying to keep her eyes on a dangerous armed criminal, in a thriving public area, that she hadn’t noticed the pot hole right in front of her and Jane had yelled over at her... It was a rookie mistake and now she was paying the price. It could have been a lot worse though; if Cho hadn’t been with her at the time…
“Agent Cho did.”
Suddenly, she felt a lot less grateful for Cho’s interference. Lisbon understood why he had told her younger brother and she also understood his concerns, but it didn’t stop it from irritating her. Not only was she a grown woman, but she had also never really taken to the idea of them looking out for her as she had always been the one to take care of problems. Besides, she was more than capable of looking after herself, had years of training and really, Paul should have been worrying about his young family rather than her. To make matters worse, this was one of those silly accidents that could have happened to anybody and didn’t really need any special care or attention.
“You don’t go willfully running into dangerous situations, do you?”
“Paul, it’s a broken bone. I’m fine.”
“Promise me you won’t risk your life playing the hero,” he continued, using the same tone of voice he used on his toddler daughter whenever he caught her getting up to mischief. “Please?”
“I…” she started, closed her eyes and immediately conjured up the worried expression of the eldest of her siblings. “Fine. Yes.”
She was relieved when he accepted that as enough and he bid her farewell. As she flopped dejectedly back into her pillows, she told herself that she had only promised not to be reckless. There was nothing about not doing her job properly - and walking into whatever risky situations that entailed. It wasn’t exactly a lie, more bending the truth.
She recoiled in slight horror. That was exactly the kind of thought Jane would have - and it was his fault that she wouldn’t be discharged from hospital until morning.
iii
“Have you spoken to Tommy lately?”
It was Charlie. Charlie was almost always straight to the point, unless he wanted money. At least Paul generally had the decency to ask her how work was first before trying to wheedle something out of her. The moment she had answered the call, he hadn’t even bothered with saying ‘hello’, just went straight to asking about Tommy. Then again, she hadn’t exactly said it either, just growled her surname down the receiver. But, in her defense, she had been expecting an update from Rigsby on their current case so had been in work mode as she picked up the phone.
“Teresa?”
“I’m still here.”
She hadn’t even realized she had fallen silent, but the Tommy thing was difficult. When he was arrested, she had been deeply humiliated, somehow thinking that his wrong-doings reflected badly on herself. When Jane got them both into trouble, it was different and as far as she was concerned, Tommy should have known better - especially with having a law enforcement officer for a sister. Lisbon had never meant to effectively cut him out of her life, and normally, she would have been the first to forgive him, but dealing drugs had crossed that fine line between wrong and right. That simple fact had made everything between them ten times harder.
“I’ll speak to him. Soon.”
“No, you won’t.”
“I will,” she retorted.
“Whatever. What’s happening with that consultant of yours? Jane?” Charlie queried, quickly changing the subject. “Have you actually been on a date yet? I know you like him.”
“Oh hush.”
Charlie was far too immature and idealistic for his own good. Nothing was going to happen between herself and Jane and she sorely regretted telling him about him in the first place. Now, he was full of hopes for his sister to finally settle down and it just wasn’t going to happen. Least of all with Patrick Jane.
iv
“You will come over for Christmas, won’t you?” Paul questioned and Lisbon automatically sighed heavily in response. “Lucy can barely remember what her Auntie looks like.”
The eldest of the Lisbon men called her a lot more regularly than the other two did. They usually wanted something when they did, whereas this was one of those rare occasions when Paul actually did. He’d actually upped the frequency since the ankle debacle; apparently her accident had reminded him just how dangerous her job could be and never mind the fact that he was now a father too. She had a feeling that he still hadn’t quite forgiven him for avoiding him at Thanksgiving - and had even worked out the real reason why she hadn’t turned up. In a way, she hated letting him down, but she found him and his family so exhausting - in a similar way to Jane, but for vastly different reasons. And if she was lucky enough to not be on call Christmas Day, she wasn’t sure that she wanted the hysteria of a family celebration. Honestly, a bottle of wine and some progress reports sounded entirely more appealing.
“Please?” he continued, sounded terribly young and hopeful. “It’d be nice.”
“Oh… yes. If I can. If… you know…”
Paul sighed and quickly changed the subject. It was nice that she had actually agreed to come over, but her tone had immediately given her away. If nothing came up at work, she would probably find some other kind of excuse to stay away. It hurt him to know that his sister actively avoided him, but despite having quite a few siblings, relatively speaking, Teresa Lisbon was a lone wolf. But he didn’t have the heart or energy to argue with her at that very moment. It was better that he just accepted her worthless promise for now and move on.
Besides, shortly after Christmas, it would be her niece’s birthday and she never missed that, if she could help it.
v
“Yes, work’s fine,” she replied suspiciously. Charlie was clearly after something - probably money as he hadn’t asked outright just yet. “Why?”
“Can’t I take interest in my favorite sister’s life?” he asked and she snorted in response.
“I’m your only sister.”
“All the more reason for me to pay attention then,” he declared down the phone, much to her irritation. “Been on any dates lately? Romance would do you good.”
Lisbon jumped slightly as a pair of hands suddenly wrapped around her waist and an determined pair of lips pressed against her neck. She knew she should have expected him downstairs sooner or later. Jane was never particularly patient and regardless of how comfortable her bed was, he wasn’t going to stay there without her. Briefly, she pulled the phone away from her face, covered it with her hand and whispered a hushed ‘stop it’ in his direction. Naturally, he didn’t listen and she simply rolled her eyes in response.
“I don’t really have time for-”
“You deserve someone to love you.”
“I’m happy.”
“You could be happier.”
“Charlie…”
“Having a man in your life…”
“I don’t need a man to be happy.”
As she spoke, she pulled away from Jane yet again, trying to put as much distance between herself and the incorrigible man as possible. If she had a gag to hand, she would have used it immediately, but she didn’t. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed about her new relationship status, it just wasn’t something she wanted to tell Charlie over the phone. And especially not when Jane was determined to continually taunt her either. He was in a funny mood and that never helped.
“Promise you won’t give up on a love life?”
“I promise.”
“Good.”
It was hardly a lie, not considering exactly what was happening at that very moment, just not telling him the entire story. Eventually, he confirmed her suspicions and asked for a loan to pay for repairs on his car and left her to it. She looked at Jane who was smirking in response, partially because she was only wearing his shirt.
“So why not tell him about us?”
“Oh don’t you start.”
end