"Suffering is the Best Punishment" - Chapter 11
Title: Suffering is the Best Punishment
Author: Shannon - shannyfish
Disclaimer: I do not own “The Mentalist” or its characters, CBS does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Takes Place during Season Two. Red John attacks Jane using his own twisted type of psychological warfare.
Warning: Severe spoilers for season one.
Chapter 11 - “A Warning?”
Author’s Note: Comic Con was great! I’m in Wyoming and missing watching The Mentalist...it does help with the writing when I get to watch the show.
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“If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to serve as a horrible warning.”
- Catherine Aird
CBI Headquarters
“This is really good,” Rigsby said as he continued to eat the Chinese food directly from its box.
“Didn’t I tell you it would be?” Van Pelt asked and shook her head.
Rigsby just continued to eat.
Cho was silent as he ate.
Jane looked over to Lisbon. She seemed happy. He was happy for it. It had been a few days since they’d had their odd day. Lisbon still didn’t quite remember him, but he was okay with that. Things seemed to be oddly falling back into place.
“We’ve got a case,” Lisbon announced. “Minnelli said that he has to make a call down to the local police office and then we’ll leave.”
“A case?” Van Pelt asked.
“What kind?” Rigsby and Cho asked in unison quickly.
He wasn’t sure about this. Jane didn’t feel like they were that ready. After all, Lisbon wasn’t quite Lisbon yet. Sure, she remembered the important police stuff like procedure and how to shoot a gun, but there was still something off and he worried about her going into the field too soon.
“Something tastes different about this,” Van Pelt said.
“I was just going to say that,” Lisbon agreed.
Jane just ate his own. Van Pelt and Lisbon had ordered the same item, but Jane kept an eye on them...there was something about the occasional face Lisbon kept making that made him worry. He quickly noticed that Van Pelt was making the same one. “Is it bad? Like food poisoning bad?”
“It’s just...like they added an extra ingredient or something,” Lisbon said. “It’s probably something you have to get used to eating.”
“Like cabbage,” Rigsby spoke up.
“Right,” Jane said. He repeated, but did so reluctantly and quietly. “Like cabbage.”
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Hospital
“It has to be a coincidence,” Rigsby insisted.
“No such thing,” Jane told him.
“I know, but this time...this time, it’s a coincidence...” Rigsby told him.
“It does prove that the blindness wasn’t from Lisbon’s injury,” Cho spoke up.
“Red John,” Jane said and then was quickly quiet when he saw a doctor approaching. His stomach twisted. They’d only said they couldn’t see, there was no reason to think there was something more serious, but Jane couldn’t help but let his mind wander to that dark corner.
“Jane, not everything ends up leading us back to Red John.”
“This time it does,” Jane said and then got to his feet when the doctor got closer. “How are they?” he asked as calmly as he could manage.
“They’re going to be okay, right?” Rigsby asked, his tone conveying his worry as he got to his feet quickly alongside Jane.
“So far,” the doctor started. “We don’t see what’s causing the blindness. It’s similar to when Agent Lisbon was originally brought in.” He paused for a moment. “You said they were eating before this happened...what did they have?”
“We all had Chinese,” Rigsby said.
“They both had the same thing though,” Cho pointed out.
“That’s true,” Jane said. “They also said it tasted a bit different.”
“But we always get food from there,” Rigsby defended.
“I’m still going to do a full blood workup on both of them to look for toxins just in case,” the doctor informed them. “You’ll be able to see them in a few minutes. I’ll have a nurse come out and take you to them once they’re settled in rooms.”
“We can’t take them home?” Rigsby asked.
Jane could hear his concern. He was concerned as well. After all, they’d found Lisbon blind, but now it had happened right in front of their eyes and it hadn’t just been Lisbon either. This time Van Pelt had been affected as well. Everything was so confusing.
He knew it was Red John.
It had to be Red John, but why would he target Van Pelt and Lisbon? He’d thought that he was only after Lisbon. Sure, he liked Van Pelt and would try to protect her if he could, but it wasn’t the same as he felt for Lisbon. He loved Teresa Lisbon, romantically.
“Not just yet, I want to keep an eye on them both for an hour or so before releasing them,” the doctor announced.
“But you think it’s temporary like before, right?” Jane asked after a few moments.
“I believe so, yes.”
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En Route to CBI Headquarters
“I don’t know why you’re so quiet,” Rigsby said. “They’re being taken to CBI, we’re not going to lose track of them.”
“Rigsby,” Jane spoke up. “Where are they?”
“With Cho.”
“Where’s Cho?”
“In the other vehicle.”
“Understand?” Jane asked.
“Oh.”
“Obviously you do now,” Jane said. “Look, I’m all for protecting Lisbon and Van Pelt, but we can’t do that if we’re separated.”
“You’re right,” Rigsby said.
And he knew he was. Jane stared out the passenger window with a deep frown locked in place. He hadn’t even been given time to talk to Lisbon. Everyone had been huddled in the double occupancy room that she and Van Pelt shared. He felt like he needed to warn her.
He’d warned her before.
It hadn’t gotten him anywhere.
Jane didn’t care, though. He wouldn’t allow for Red John to hurt her. At least at the moment she was okay, just temporarily blinded...again. What could he do? How could he make it better? Jane couldn’t think of a productive way in which to tackle the Red John problem.
“How do we protect them from Red John if he can get to them in CBI?” Rigsby asked, breaking the silence.
“I don’t know... I don’t know...”
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CBI Headquarters
“How could this have happened?!” Minnelli went on.
Jane had tried to ignore him, but the fact that he was loud was starting to get hard to ignore. Jane wasn’t sure if he was pissed off by the fact that Lisbon and Van Pelt were now temporarily blind, the fact that it happened there, or the fact that it still seemed purposely done. Jane had thought that he’d been vocal enough already on the fact that Red John wasn’t going to just stop.
“I think a better question is why we’re surprised,” Jane spoke up.
“Excuse me?”
“I’m serious,” Jane told them. Everyone was staring at him now. He didn’t care. “How long until Red John comes after Cho or Rigsby? He’s doing this on purpose. He’s doing this to come after me.” Jane got up, sick of the stupidity of the whole situation. This wasn’t going to help anything. Talking wasn’t going to help Lisbon and Van Pelt. Talking wasn’t going to stop Red John. They were being idle. Idle.
Jane headed out of CBI and towards his car. He wasn’t sure where he was going, but he knew he was going to go somewhere. Jane felt a hundred thoughts going through his head a minute and he was trying to figure out which thought to follow with.
What was most important now?
That seemed to be the most important question.
Jane didn’t think that anyone else cared or even was considering the question except him.
Rigsby was most likely just wanting to kill Red John, not thinking about important questions like he was. Rigsby was just angry because Van Pelt had been targeted and rightly so. Jane didn’t find anything that Rigsby felt at the moment wrong in any way. He thought that it was all completely justified.
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Hospital
“I don’t know what to do,” Van Pelt said honestly.
“The doctors suggested to do what you normally do,” Jane told her. He had sat in the parking lot for a while before Rigsby came out. They’d driven to the hospital together to check in on Lisbon and Van Pelt.
“I don’t know how to do that without being able to see.”
“Just think of it like working in the dark,” Lisbon suggested.
“I turn on lights at home,” Van Pelt told her.
“You never just walk around your house in the dark?” Rigsby questioned.
“No.”
“Well, then it’s going to be a bit harder for you,” Jane told her. He patted Rigsby on the shoulder. “But then that’s why Rigsby here is going to be a perfect gentleman and escort you home and stay with you.”
“I don’t need a babysitter,” Van Pelt argued.
“Oh no, not a babysitter,” Jane corrected. “Rigsby will do whatever you wanted. More like a slave than a babysitter.”
“Thanks,” Rigsby said.
Jane just smiled and then held out his hand for Lisbon and let it fall to her arm. “I was hoping you’d let me escort you home,” Jane offered. Of course, he had wanted to do the same as Rigsby. Stay with Lisbon. Show her that he was trustworthy. Hope that she remembered. Wait for whatever was impeding her vision to wear off. He far preferred having Lisbon where she could see, it made him feel a bit more confidant that she would return to his normal Lisbon soon enough.
“Slave or babysitter?” Lisbon questioned with a smile.
“I was hoping to go with company rather than those options.”
“I suppose that could work.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” Jane said and moved his hand slowly down her arm to her hand and laced his fingers through hers. He stood nearby to make sure she got down from the hospital bed she was sitting on fine. She did. He still felt the need to play guide.
“Why didn’t I get those options?” Rigsby asked.
“It’s better this way,” Jane told him. “Trust me.” He smirked and then led Lisbon out of the room. He took the opportunity to move his hand from hers and move it to her back, in more of the guide position.
“Why do I think that you’re just trying to set them up?” Lisbon asked.
“Probably because I am.”
“Why not just let it play out?”
“Really?” Jane asked. He smiled at her and pulled her a bit closer as they made their way out of the hospital. “They’ve been like this for months... Everyone knows it. They even know it. They’re just afraid.”
“Regulations-”
“The regulations are part of it,” Jane admitted. “It’s stupid. Regulations shouldn’t matter when two people love each other.”
“They’re there for a reason,” Lisbon argued.
Jane stopped and turned to her, and in turn turned her towards him. “You don’t think that two people who are in a romantic relationship can work together and not let it interfere with their job?”
“No.”
“How is that different from two people who aren’t in a relationship, but still love each other? Rigsby would give his life for Grace either way. He’d go to hell and back for her whether she admits to him that she loves him and says to hell with CBI. Either way, he loves her and would do anything,” Jane said. “I don’t see why regulations should get in the way.”
“Maybe they’re just a special case.”
“I think you’re just being difficult.” They started to walk again, Jane leading her. Outside, he didn’t want her to accidently walk in front of a moving vehicle or anything. “I think that you don’t want to admit that maybe I’m right.”
“Maybe I don’t. So what.”
“So, maybe you should at least consider it.”
“Why?”
“Because it would make me happy.”
“And you think that’s what I live for?” Lisbon said sarcastically. “Making Patrick Jane happy?”
He smiled. “I think so.”
“Great.” Lisbon motioned randomly with her arms. “Add that to my title.”
“It’s too long,” he teased.
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CBI Headquarters
“I don’t understand why you wanted to come back so badly tonight,” Jane complained as he and Lisbon made their way towards her office. “Whatever it is, it’ll be there in the morning.” Lisbon’s vision had returned on the drive to her house, but before they could arrive at their destination, she’d asked to return to CBI. Jane had tried to ask her what she needed so badly, but she just had said it was important and that she needed it.
Since it didn’t seem like they were going to hang around, he’d agreed to it. It frankly scared the hell out of him that Red John could get to Lisbon inside of CBI. How he’d done so was cleaver, but it still had him worried. If Red John could get Lisbon there, then it would stand to reason that he could get to them anywhere.
Lisbon shook her head and reached behind her to the doorknob on the door as she stared at him. “I don’t know why you have to be so nosey all the time. I said I needed something. Either figure it out with your psychic senses or just wait and find out.”
Her words weren’t harsh, but not kind either. She was exhausted. He didn’t blame her for being blunt more than anything else. Lisbon had been through a lot and he could wait a few seconds until she got whatever she needed. “I can do that,” Jane told her with a smile. He waited as she pushed in her office door while she continued to stare at him. He took a step in when she did, but stopped when he saw her face.
Lisbon had stopped when she’d seen the side of the room in which her desk sat. He turned his head and stopped too. On the wall, above where the desk and chair were. Red John’s calling sign. It was unmistakable. In fresh blood was painted his signature smiley face. He was saying that he could get her anywhere and that he could get inside of CBI to do so.
Jane wanted to scream.
Jane wanted to take her and run.
Jane wanted to know what to do.
Jane wanted to know how to stop him.
He tried to stop for a moment and think. The smiley face staring him in the face was making it difficult, but he did try. Jane put his arm around her and pulled her closer. Even though they were in CBI and it should be safe, Jane felt like Red John could jump out at them anytime.
Keep Lisbon safe.
It was something that seemed like a simple task. To keep the woman he loved safe, but it seemed far more difficult than it was shaping up to be. He loved Teresa Lisbon and even if he hadn’t told her it in plain English, he was still determined to keep her safe, even if he had to give his life for hers.
Keep Lisbon safe.
“I need to show you something,” Jane said.
“What?”
“Just please trust me.”
“Okay,” Lisbon responded back quietly.
Trust.
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TBC...