Storm Warning (1/1)
Title: Storm Warning
Author: tromana
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Cho, Jane/Lisbon
Summary: With Lisbon out of action, somebody has to give Jane a kick up the ass.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Notes: Written for diviniaserit as part of the Holiday Fics challenge. Spoilers for Season Four.
Storm Warning
It had been a stressful day.
It always was, whenever one of them was involved in an accident of one form or another. And when it was Lisbon especially, it was more draining than most. After all, she was meant to be their fearless leader. She just didn’t get hurt, she always got out unscathed.
And if she didn’t, well, she always had to make it pretty spectacular.
Cho had just left the hospital. He wasn’t sure what had made him decide to head straight back to the CBI headquarters. Theoretically, he knew that he could have chosen to go home, to the loving arms of Elise. Instead, he was at work. It was possibly because he couldn’t get the image of Lisbon looking so small, so vulnerable in hospital. Hooked up to machinery, only breathing because a ventilator was doing it for her.
He shuddered. This was worse than when she had been shot by O’Laughlin. Far, far worse. They all knew it, only none of them wanted to admit it.
But she would get back on her feet again, she had to. Cho had faith in her, because that was the only thing he was certain of. Lisbon was made of stronger stuff than this; it would take more than this to take her down for good.
For some reason, he had expected the bullpen to be empty. Though, when he saw Jane, slouched on his couch, with a bottle of something in his hands, he wasn’t entirely surprised. Sometimes, it seemed like Jane had nowhere else to go, so simply chose to remain in the headquarters regardless of whether or not he should actually be there. He had other places he could stay, he simply opted not to go there. Cho briefly surmised that Jane was searching for them same thing that he was by being in this building: a place of solitude.
The CBI headquarters was almost always quiet in the still of the night. Usually, it was just the security personnel who were on and maybe, a team or two if they were in the middle of making a bust. Thankfully, for both Cho and Jane, that wasn’t the case. However, Cho suspected that Jane had wished that he had never turned up at all. Then, it would have been possible for him to wallow in his self-pity, alone, without having to consider what somebody else thought.
Even Jane worried about what others thought of him, on occasion. Or more specifically, he was concerned about what Lisbon thought of him.
And he was blaming himself. That much was obvious.
Cho sat beside him on the couch and was surprised when Jane didn’t argue. Normally, nobody else was allowed to share the piece of furniture without expressed permission. On one occasion, Cho had caught Rigsby reclining on it and the man had sprung away from the couch, like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Immediately, Cho knew that things were bad. Jane was rarely like this, excepting when Red John had killed again.
Or, if he had had a brutal reminder of his family. Everybody had their demons, but Jane’s were more obvious than most. The ghosts of his wife and daughter were never too far from Jane’s mind. They haunted him, every step of the way and it was obvious to pretty much everyone who had a chance to meet him.
Jane never seemed to get that maintaining his perpetual state of anger and grief wasn’t helping anybody. He needed to move on for his own sake, as much as anybody else’s. Cho did feel sorry for him, terribly so. Losing his family so horrifically was always going to have such a massive effect on him. Nobody could expect any differently.
Except, they could expect that somebody like Jane especially should be able to realize that you cannot change the past. The only thing you have an effect on is your own future.
And if he wasn’t careful, he going to land up killing himself, one way or another.
Cho knew that Jane was blaming himself for Lisbon’s current predicament. It may have been an accident, it may have been unpreventable, but as far as Jane was concerned, it was his fault. He should have intercepted, stopped her from putting herself in the situation in the first place. Convinced her that it was a risk too far, instead of standing on the sidelines, expecting her to come out of it unscathed.
But, if that were the case, then theoretically, they were all to blame, one way or another. If Van Pelt had researched the area a little more thoroughly, if Rigsby had been quicker to draw his gun, if Cho himself had been ever so slightly faster on his feet…
However, there was no point in thinking like that. If he did, then Cho knew that he would be in the same position as Jane. With a constant chip on his shoulder and fighting demons that he had no hope in hell of beating. What was the point? It was just a waste of a life to live like that.
“Jane.”
No answer.
“Jane.”
Still, he remained silent, staring out into space with a vacant expression.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
Jane put the bottle to his lips, uncaring. He had still barely acknowledged that Cho was present at all. It was irritating him. Cho was rarely the one to try and break Jane out of his reverie and he briefly wondered how others - Lisbon - did it. If there was some kind of magic charm that could make him see sense.
“It’s not worth it, man.”
He prized the bottle of whiskey carefully from Jane’s hand and placed it out of reach. Jane pouted but didn’t make any effort to try and reclaim it. Cho suspected that he knew that he was too far gone to put up any real fight. Besides, what with Cho’s training, even if Jane was completely in control of his mind and body, when it came to physicality, he was always going to come off worse.
“Go see her,” Cho stated, staring determinedly at Jane. “Tomorrow.”
“She won’t hear a thing; she won’t notice that I’m there. She won’t…”
“Go.”
“Why?”
“You never know.”
Author: tromana
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Cho, Jane/Lisbon
Summary: With Lisbon out of action, somebody has to give Jane a kick up the ass.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Notes: Written for diviniaserit as part of the Holiday Fics challenge. Spoilers for Season Four.
Storm Warning
It had been a stressful day.
It always was, whenever one of them was involved in an accident of one form or another. And when it was Lisbon especially, it was more draining than most. After all, she was meant to be their fearless leader. She just didn’t get hurt, she always got out unscathed.
And if she didn’t, well, she always had to make it pretty spectacular.
Cho had just left the hospital. He wasn’t sure what had made him decide to head straight back to the CBI headquarters. Theoretically, he knew that he could have chosen to go home, to the loving arms of Elise. Instead, he was at work. It was possibly because he couldn’t get the image of Lisbon looking so small, so vulnerable in hospital. Hooked up to machinery, only breathing because a ventilator was doing it for her.
He shuddered. This was worse than when she had been shot by O’Laughlin. Far, far worse. They all knew it, only none of them wanted to admit it.
But she would get back on her feet again, she had to. Cho had faith in her, because that was the only thing he was certain of. Lisbon was made of stronger stuff than this; it would take more than this to take her down for good.
For some reason, he had expected the bullpen to be empty. Though, when he saw Jane, slouched on his couch, with a bottle of something in his hands, he wasn’t entirely surprised. Sometimes, it seemed like Jane had nowhere else to go, so simply chose to remain in the headquarters regardless of whether or not he should actually be there. He had other places he could stay, he simply opted not to go there. Cho briefly surmised that Jane was searching for them same thing that he was by being in this building: a place of solitude.
The CBI headquarters was almost always quiet in the still of the night. Usually, it was just the security personnel who were on and maybe, a team or two if they were in the middle of making a bust. Thankfully, for both Cho and Jane, that wasn’t the case. However, Cho suspected that Jane had wished that he had never turned up at all. Then, it would have been possible for him to wallow in his self-pity, alone, without having to consider what somebody else thought.
Even Jane worried about what others thought of him, on occasion. Or more specifically, he was concerned about what Lisbon thought of him.
And he was blaming himself. That much was obvious.
Cho sat beside him on the couch and was surprised when Jane didn’t argue. Normally, nobody else was allowed to share the piece of furniture without expressed permission. On one occasion, Cho had caught Rigsby reclining on it and the man had sprung away from the couch, like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Immediately, Cho knew that things were bad. Jane was rarely like this, excepting when Red John had killed again.
Or, if he had had a brutal reminder of his family. Everybody had their demons, but Jane’s were more obvious than most. The ghosts of his wife and daughter were never too far from Jane’s mind. They haunted him, every step of the way and it was obvious to pretty much everyone who had a chance to meet him.
Jane never seemed to get that maintaining his perpetual state of anger and grief wasn’t helping anybody. He needed to move on for his own sake, as much as anybody else’s. Cho did feel sorry for him, terribly so. Losing his family so horrifically was always going to have such a massive effect on him. Nobody could expect any differently.
Except, they could expect that somebody like Jane especially should be able to realize that you cannot change the past. The only thing you have an effect on is your own future.
And if he wasn’t careful, he going to land up killing himself, one way or another.
Cho knew that Jane was blaming himself for Lisbon’s current predicament. It may have been an accident, it may have been unpreventable, but as far as Jane was concerned, it was his fault. He should have intercepted, stopped her from putting herself in the situation in the first place. Convinced her that it was a risk too far, instead of standing on the sidelines, expecting her to come out of it unscathed.
But, if that were the case, then theoretically, they were all to blame, one way or another. If Van Pelt had researched the area a little more thoroughly, if Rigsby had been quicker to draw his gun, if Cho himself had been ever so slightly faster on his feet…
However, there was no point in thinking like that. If he did, then Cho knew that he would be in the same position as Jane. With a constant chip on his shoulder and fighting demons that he had no hope in hell of beating. What was the point? It was just a waste of a life to live like that.
“Jane.”
No answer.
“Jane.”
Still, he remained silent, staring out into space with a vacant expression.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
Jane put the bottle to his lips, uncaring. He had still barely acknowledged that Cho was present at all. It was irritating him. Cho was rarely the one to try and break Jane out of his reverie and he briefly wondered how others - Lisbon - did it. If there was some kind of magic charm that could make him see sense.
“It’s not worth it, man.”
He prized the bottle of whiskey carefully from Jane’s hand and placed it out of reach. Jane pouted but didn’t make any effort to try and reclaim it. Cho suspected that he knew that he was too far gone to put up any real fight. Besides, what with Cho’s training, even if Jane was completely in control of his mind and body, when it came to physicality, he was always going to come off worse.
“Go see her,” Cho stated, staring determinedly at Jane. “Tomorrow.”
“She won’t hear a thing; she won’t notice that I’m there. She won’t…”
“Go.”
“Why?”
“You never know.”