Fic: Long Lost (Long Last) - Chapter 11
A/N: I know, this update was slow, but I had a busy week, and then the long weekend didn’t help. Also, I had issues getting this chapter right, but I think I liked how it turned out, so that’s good.
Title: Long lost (Long last)
Rating: K+
Pairing/Genre: Jane/Lisbon, friendship/romance
Summary: After a case involving obscure hobbies, Jane decides to bring back the long lost art of letter-writing. In spite of his best efforts, he only manages to secure a single correspondant
Chapter 11
xxx
Fortuna, California
Dear Teresa,
Two letters waiting for me in Fortuna? I feel privileged, dear.
I have several things to say to you all at once as a result.
1) You sound absolutely exhausted. You need to take better care of yourself. Go to sleep at a reasonable hour. Relax. Stop work from time to time. Read your book. I’m not so unrealistic as to think you’ll take all of my suggestions, but even one of the above would probably help.
2) Which brings me to, I’m so glad you picked up the Dorothy Sayers. Enjoy your reread, Teresa. You deserve it.
3) I’m sure you and Annie will come up with many, many things to occupy yourselves with over your weekend. If I know you at all, you’ve already started planning it all out. Tell me truthfully, you have a list, don’t you?
4) You are not Boring Aunt Teresa, and I’m certain Annie would back me up on this. You’re definitely cool Aunt Teresa, who’s sometimes a bit fond of the rules.
5) The Redwoods did help for a while. Then they just make you feel insignificant. They’ve been on the planet so much longer than any one person. Maybe I will try a meadow next time, and see how that goes. It’s not a bad suggestion, Teresa. Now do me a favour, and stop worrying so much. You’ve known for some time that my mental state isn’t always ideal. I can at least assure that I don’t think it’s gotten any worse.
I’m done with my list for the time being I think. Although, you are sure that you’re getting enough sleep? I don’t need to send you some sort of sleep schedule to prevent you from running yourself ragged? You’ll make yourself ill, and then you won’t enjoy your visit with Annie. Think of how disappointing that will be.
Speaking of which, tell me about this visit with your niece. What are your plans? I’d like to hear them (particularly that list of yours). Your letters are particularly endearing when you’re happy.
-Jane
P.S. I may stay in Fortuna a week or so, just to take a break from all of the driving. So it’s probably best to send your next reply here.
x
Lisbon bit her lip.
Oh, Jane was staying in Fortuna was he? And she should feel free to send her next letter to him there? Jane must want to hear about her visit with Annie, if he was specifically passing along his location like that. Well, it made sense; the man had always been fond of her niece. They were like two peas in a pod, in a way.
Lisbon could certainly deal with a break from staring at her map trying to figure out where he’d be in a few days. Although, she’d kind of assumed he would continue north until he got into Oregon before looping back down into California on 5. Of course, it depended how set he was on staying in California (yet another question she didn’t actually know the answer to). If Jane was determined to stay in California, he might cut across the top of the state. If he wasn’t, he might just keep driving north.
You never knew with Jane.
At least she had a little longer before she had to figure that out. He wasn’t at the state border yet.
In the meantime, probably best to just answer his letter.
x
Dear Jane,
It’s absolutely ridiculous of you to tell me not to worry about your personal habits, and then talk about sending me a sleep schedule. When was the last time you got a full night’s sleep? By that I mean more than four hours. I had a stressful day at work. It happens. It involved a headache that Tylenol didn’t quite get rid of. And I’ll have you know that I went straight to bed after I finished your letter. I woke up feeling right as rain the next morning, so you can take your sleep schedule and stuff it. Or better yet, keep it handy for your own use.
I should mail you a relaxation tape. The sound of the seashore or something. That’d teach you, you big know-it-all. Lord Peter Wimsey can be a bit of a know-it-all too. He’s not as bad as you are when it comes to know-it-all-ness though; it’s a refreshing change. Or maybe he’s just more charming about it. Of course, he’s also fictional...
I may have started a list of things to do with Annie when she comes. Less than a week now. It’s not an extensive list. Shopping, maybe a movie, the Mexican restaurant not far from my place, the one with the really good guacamole. I figured, she’s already done most of the touristy things in the area, so we don’t need to do those again, unless she wants to. I’m still considering the spa. Did she say whether she liked the one you sent her on last time? Anyway, she’s only coming for three days. And she might want some time alone; she is fifteen. I don’t want her to feel like I’m smothering her. I’m going to give her options. It’s not like I’ve come up with some kind of schedule that must be followed at all costs. I’m not that much of a micromanager.
I am going to buy cupcakes though. The good ones, with the awesome chocolate icing.
Seriously Jane, I know you tell me not to worry, but you will tell me if there’s something I can do, right? I
hope staying put for a week helps a little. Maybe you just need to stop travelling for a couple of days. You have been reasonably settled for the last decade or so. Give yourself some time to adjust to the change (I know that’s what you’re trying to do and there are a lot of changes, I just... I don’t have any better advice).
Until next time,
Lisbon
P.S. Do you really think I’m the cool aunt?
x
The rest of the week went by relatively quickly. Lisbon didn’t hear from Jane again, well, except for another post card. He sent her a postcard of Fortuna with a brass band on the front. Apparently he’d been to an outdoor concert that day and wanted to share. She chuckled and decided to wait for his next letter before replying. There hadn’t been enough time for her letter to get to him and for him to write back anyway.
In the meantime, she should probably clean her apartment. Annie was due to arrive the next day.
xxx
Lisbon met Annie at the train station, grinning broadly. “How was the trip?” she asked, grabbing one of her niece’s bags after giving her a hug.
Annie shrugged. “It was okay. I had my iPod and magazines and stuff, so...”
“Right,” Lisbon nodded as she started leading the way to the parking lot. “Seeing as it’s late, and I know you had school all day...”
“Thrilling as it was,” Annie muttered.
Lisbon smirked. “I’m sure it was fine. Anyway, I figured you’d be tired. So I thought tonight we could maybe just order Chinese food and watch movies at my place, then we can figure out what we want to do tomorrow.”
“Sounds good,” Annie agreed.
“You in the mood for romance, comedy or action?” Lisbon asked, even if she was fairly certain she knew what the answer would be.
“Action, all the way,” Annie said immediately.
“I thought you’d say that,” Lisbon laughed. “I just bought the Bourne Trilogy if you’re interested.”
Annie shrugged, “Sure, I haven’t seen those in a while.”
“And you’re okay with Chinese food?” Lisbon double-checked.
“Yeah.”
“If you’re not okay with something, you can tell me,” Lisbon felt compelled to point out.
Annie rolled her eyes. “It’s cool, Aunt Reese. Relax. Sounds good so far.”
Lisbon ignored the order to calm herself and unlocked the doors of her SUV. “And maybe shopping tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Annie said with a grin as she got into the passenger seat.
Lisbon smiled back before changing the subject, “So how’s your Dad doing?”
Annie leaned back in her seat and filled her aunt in on all of the latest news while Lisbon steered them towards her condo.
xxx
About an hour later the two women were perched on the couch, cartons of Chinese food in front of them, half-watching a movie they’d both seen a half a dozen times.
Lisbon wasn’t completely engrossed in the movie, but she was always happy to watch it again. Apparently Annie wasn’t particularly invested either, striking up a conversation as she picked at what was left of the chicken fried rice.
.
“So you’re really not going to ask me what I want to talk to you about, are you?” the teenager wondered.
“Nope,” Lisbon replied easily, deliberately keeping her focus on the screen. She’d learned long ago that it was no use trying to force teenagers to tell you things. Better to let them bring it up on their own time.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Annie pause. “Really?” the girl asked, sounding genuinely surprised.
“Nope,” Lisbon repeated.
Annie leaned back against the cushions. “I thought you’d be asking all sorts of questions the second I walked off the train.”
Lisbon shook her head. She’d had a fair bit of experience dealing with teenagers over the years, and although she was curious about what Annie wanted to talk to her about, she really was trying to be better at giving people space. She didn’t always succeed, but she figured whatever Annie wanted to discuss, it wasn’t a genuine crisis of any kind. Lisbon figured she could give it at least another twenty-four hours before she got worried. “This isn’t an interrogation, Annie. You can tell me when you’re ready. If you want to do that over Chinese food and movies, that’s your decision. Or you can tell me later.”
“Oh.”
“I assume it’s nothing dangerous, or anything,” Lisbon double-checked.
Annie shook her head immediately. “No, no...”
“Because if it was, then I might have to start interrogating you,” Lisbon joked.
“Right.”
“Okay,” Lisbon nodded, temporarily closing the subject. “Do you want a cupcake?”
“You made cupcakes?” Annie asked in surprise.
Her aunt laughed. “No. I bought them, but they’re really good. I got chocolate ones.”
Annie smirked, “Okay, yeah.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” Lisbon continued as she stood to grab the deserts. “I am curious about your mystery topic, but we’ve got a few days, whenever you’re up for it. I’m not going to force you to tell me.”
“No, you’re just going to buy me chocolate, and sit there waiting,” Annie said dryly.
“Yup.”
Annie sighed and took a cupcake, removed the wrapper and started to eat it.
Lisbon settled back onto the couch herself. She figured she’d laid the groundwork for communication pretty well for later in the weekend, so she was a bit surprised when Annie spoke. “Do you think Dad would let me date a boy? Or do you think he’d totally freak out.”
Lisbon glanced over, biting the inside of her lip to stop from laughing. It wasn’t what she’d been expecting, but she really should have known. “I don’t see why not,” she said softly. “Provided you followed curfew and stuff.”
“Yeah,” Annie muttered. “That’s what I thought. I mean, I go to parties and dances and whatever sometimes. I go out with my friends, but I’ve never really gone out with just one guy, on our own, like a real date.”
“Is there someone who’s asked you on a date, Annie?” Lisbon asked, eyes twinkling.
“No,” Annie muttered darkly.
Lisbon frowned. “What?”
Annie shook her head quickly. “I don’t even know why I asked. It’s totally not even an issue right now.” She stood up quickly.
“Sit.” Lisbon ordered gently. “And tell me what’s going on.”
Annie glared at her, but did sit back down. “Thought you said this wasn’t an interrogation?”
“It isn’t,” Lisbon countered. “You started this, and now I think you should explain what you mean. What’s more, I think you want to. Is there someone you’d like to ask you on a date?”
Annie sighed. “Maybe.”
Lisbon knew that meant “yes.” Things were starting to fall into place a little. “I see,” she said neutrally.
Annie sighed again, louder this time. “Fine, there’s this boy...”
Lisbon was glad years and years of actual interrogations had given her a pretty good poker face, otherwise she’d be grinning right now, “Yes?”
“He’s in my science class,” Annie continued.
“Uh huh.”
“He’s super nice, and really cute,” she blurted out.
Lisbon did grin then. “Sounds good so far.”
“I like him,” her niece muttered, blushing furiously and staring at her plate.
Lisbon let herself smile wider, confident it wouldn’t be noticed. “I figured. Does he like you?”
Annie shook her head slowly, still staring at her knees, “I don’t think so. Not like that, anyway.”
Lisbon winced in sympathy. An unrequited crush was never a pleasant feeling, no matter what your age was, “What makes you say that?”
“All he ever talks to me about is science experiments,” Annie muttered.
Under the circumstances, Lisbon didn’t think that was a huge problem. “You are in science class.”
“Yeah, but still, he could talk to me about other things sometimes,” Annie griped. “He seriously always talks to me about science. Every single day.”
Lisbon considered her options, wondering how best to go about this. She’d never really had much practice talking to teenage girls, what with three brothers. And relationships certainly weren’t her strong suit, either in high school or now. “Maybe it’s just easier to talk to you about science,” she suggested. “Maybe he’s just using science an excuse to talk to you.”
Annie looked up hopefully. “You think?”
Lisbon smiled encouragingly. “I think it’s a definite possibility. Especially if he talks to you every day.”
Annie bit her lip. “Well, most days. But it’s pretty friendly talk.”
“Does he talk to all the girls in the class like he talks to you?” Lisbon asked.
Annie shook her head. “Mostly just me. He talks to the other girls sometimes, but his desk is closest to mine, and I’m pretty good at science. So it makes sense that he’d talk to me.”
“Does he talk to you the most in general?” Lisbon asked.
Annie considered that. “Yeah.”
Lisbon nodded. “Well, if a guy treats you differently, it usually means something,” she pointed out.
“But he still might just want to be friends,” Annie muttered.
“He might,” Lisbon agreed. “I don’t know for sure, but it sounds like he’s trying to get to know you. Maybe he’s just working up the courage to do something about it.”
“Maybe,” Annie said, biting her lip.
“You’re not making me feel like I’m much of a help,” Lisbon said.
Annie blushed. “I just... I don’t know how you’re supposed to know if a guy really likes you.”
Lisbon laughed before she could help herself, “Oh, sweetie, no one really knows that.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that,” her niece groaned, dropping back into the couch cushions.
“Yeah,” Lisbon agreed, mirroring her position on the other end of the couch.
“I mean,” Annie continued. “The guy who has a crush on Veronica’s always telling her how pretty she looks, like, all the time. It’s annoying actually, especially since she likes a totally different guy. And Suzie’s boyfriend’s always writing her these private little notes, and leaving them in her locker. Plus he’s always offering to carry her books and giving her little gifts, like chocolate bars and stuff. There was a guy who liked Diane, and he talked to her about parties, and movies they could go to, and hanging around her at lunch. But they always seem to just know when a guy likes them. I don’t know how. Or at least, they mostly know. Not always. But I can’t ask them. I just... it’s so awkward. And anyway, Dylan, that’s the guy’s name by the way, doesn’t do any of the usual kind of stuff. He told me he liked my haircut once, but it looked really different, so I don’t think that counts.”
“Well, maybe he’s just a bit shy,” Lisbon suggested. “Have you tried talking to him about other things, things other than science, I mean?”
“Like what?” Annie asked.
“Like if there’s a movie that you want to see, maybe something sci-fi so it’s easier to casually work it into the conversation. See if he takes the hint,” Lisbon suggested, quite pleased with her sudden inspiration.
Annie paused. “That’s actually a good idea,” she said suddenly sitting up and sounding pleased.
“Thanks,” Lisbon said dryly.
“And you don’t think Dad would freak out if Dylan did ask me to a movie or something?” Annie double-checked hopefully.
“Oh, he’d definitely freak out,” Lisbon told her honestly.
The teenager gave another huge sigh and collapsed back against the couch cushions. “Great.”
“He’s your father, Annie,” Lisbon said softly. “That’s his job. But I think he’d let you go, especially if you promised to be back by a certain time and call if anything happened. If it’s an issue, tell him to call me, and I’ll see if there isn’t some way we can work it out. But if this guy’s as nice as you say, I don’t think your Dad’d have any problems. You’re getting older. He wants you to do all the normal teenage things, and you’re pretty responsible.”
“Yeah, well, like I said, Dylan probably doesn’t even like me that way anyway,” Annie said glumly.
Lisbon sighed, remembering how absolutely exhausting teenage relationship dramas could be. And this one wasn’t even that bad. She was glad she didn’t have to deal with this sort of thing every weekend. “You don’t know that,” she said, trying to be as supportive as possible.
“Why are boys so stupid?” Annie demanded suddenly in irritation.
“Wish I could tell you,” Lisbon said honestly.
“I wish I knew a way to make him like me,” Annie continued, obviously having moved from depressed to aggravated. “What do guys like?”
“Guys?” Lisbon asked. “I hate to tell you sweetie, but this is hardly my area of expertise. You sure you don’t want me to show you how to tackle someone twice your size to the ground?”
Annie’s eyes suddenly lit up. “You’d really show me how to take someone down?”
Lisbon froze, realizing her error. “That’s not what I meant,” she said back-tracking. Then she paused to consider it. “But actually, well, uh, yeah, I guess. I could do that. If you want, maybe we can go to the gym tomorrow instead of shopping. It’d be a useful skill for you to have probably anyway, a little self-defence, that kind of thing.”
Annie’s eyes were fixed on her now, boy-troubles temporarily forgotten. “You’re serious.”
“Sure,” Lisbon shrugged awkwardly.
Annie grinned. “That is so awesome.”
“Um, okay...”
“Can we go to the shooting range too?” Annie asked, excited.
“What?” Lisbon asked, shocked.
“Uncle James once told me you were the best shot in the family,” Annie said slowly.
“Well,” Lisbon muttered. “That’s true, but...”
“But?” Annie asked. Then sending her aunt a winning smile, she continued in a wheedling tone. “I’m around guns more now, with Dad’s new job. And like I told you, I want to be a cop. Isn’t it better that I get lessons from someone who really knows what they’re doing? Learn from the best and all that?”
Lisbon smiled in spite of herself. “Flattery will get you nowhere, kid.”
“Come on, Aunt Reese, please?” the teenager pleaded.
“We’ll see, Annie, okay? Guns aren’t toys.” Annie opened her mouth to interrupt, but Lisbon cut her off. “And I know you say that you know that, but I’ve seen up close and personal what guns can do. I’ve fired one, at people, more times than I like to think about, okay? If we go to the shooting range, we need to talk about that part of it first.”
“Okay,” Annie said turning serious.
“Okay,” Lisbon agreed. “I’ll take you to the gym tomorrow morning for a lesson on take-downs and then we’ll see how we feel about the shooting range afterwards.”
“You are so the coolest aunt, ever,” Annie replied.
“Thanks,” Lisbon said dryly. She might not be great on the boy stuff, but she could do weapons and tackling. If that made her cool, so be it. Then she smirked, remembered Jane’s opinion on the subject. Which reminded her, she’d forgotten to check the mail when she got home, what with Annie’s arrival. She was probably due for a letter. She’d check it when she took out the garbage from the take-out.
Standing, she started collecting the empty cartons, instructing Annie to stick the ones with leftovers in the fridge. Then she grabbed the rest, tossed them in a bag and casually told her niece she was just going to toss them outside straight away before they started to smell adding that Annie should feel free to make herself at home. Then, after hearing her niece’s quick, “Okay,” Lisbon slipped out of the condo.
Happily, there was a letter in her mailbox. Lisbon was willing to admit (at least to herself) that she’d have been quite disappointed if there hadn’t been. After all, it had been longer than usual between notes...
Grinning to herself, she walked back into her apartment, and began searching for her niece. Noticing that Annie’s suitcase was no longer sitting by the couch, Lisbon figured Annie was unpacking in the spare room. Figuring she’d give her niece a few minutes of privacy, Lisbon dropped back onto the couch to read her latest letter.
x
Fortuna, California
Dear Teresa,
Can we agree that both of us have the right to worry about the other? I think that’s probably the best thing at this point. I’m certainly not about to stop being concerned when you write to me sounding exhausted, and you couldn’t stop worrying if you had a gun to your head (yes, I realize there’s something inherently wrong with that metaphor). Also, you’ll forgive me if I don’t stick to a sleep schedule. I’m also not going to start keeping a dream diary or come up with my own little happy place before bed. But, I will have you know that I slept six hours last night. It was a good night.
Have you developed a fictional crush, Teresa? Need I remind you that your Lord Peter is already spoken for, at least eventually? I just wouldn’t want you to end up fictionally heartbroken, or feeling betrayed. I feel as your literary confidante, that it is my duty to look out for you in the world of fiction.
Your list of things to do with Annie sounds lovely, Teresa. I’m sure you girls will take Sacramento by storm. Because yes, you absolutely are the cool aunt. Keep me posted on any important developments there. My week hasn’t been particularly exciting. Not a lot new to report since my last letter, so I could use a good story or two.
Staying put for a while has been nice though. I met a guy who was looking for a fill in act at his club for a week. It’s part of the reason I stuck around. I kept busy with that, telling people all of their secrets. No pretending to be a psychic, just proving how easy it was to pretend to read people’s minds and fool them, if you’re paying attention. Seemed to go over well, and it gave me something to do. But the regular act’s back now, so I guess I’ll continue my trek northward (still too lazy to switch highways).
I hope you girls enjoy your cupcakes,
-Jane
x
Lisbon grinned as she finished her letter. It was nice to hear Jane sounding so positive. He definitely sounded better than last week. That was nice. She wondered what his impromptu act had been like, especially if he hadn’t claimed to be a psychic. He’d have had to adjust. Although, knowing Jane, that would have been no problem. Lisbon was so engrossed her in thoughts that she didn’t hear Annie walk back into the room.
“What’s that?” her niece asked curiously.
Lisbon started, guiltily. “Uh...”
Annie glanced down briefly. “Never mind, sorry. It’s none of my business.”
Lisbon shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I just didn’t hear you come in. It’s a letter from Jane.”
“Jane?” Annie repeated, obviously surprised.
“Yeah,” Lisbon said, determined to be calm, and trying hard not to feel like she’d been caught at something she shouldn’t have been doing. It was perfectly normal to keep in touch with a friend who’d left town. Sure, in this day and age most people didn’t use letters to do it. But most people weren’t trying to keep in touch with Patrick Jane.
Annie curled back up on her end of the couch. “He writes you letters?” she double-checked.
“Uh huh,” Lisbon agreed.
“That’s so sweet,” Annie replied.
Lisbon looked over sharply, eyes narrowed.
Annie’s expression turned suddenly mischievous. “Actually, it’s kinda romantic.”
Lisbon glared at her, willing herself not to blush, or really react in any way.
Annie giggled, obviously enjoying herself. “Aunt Reese, is there something you want to talk about? Boy troubles...”
But Lisbon cut her before she could finish, “It’s not like that Annabeth.”
For once the teenager didn’t *object to the use of her first name. “Okay...”
“Jane and I are friends,” Lisbon explained, really hoping that would be the end of it. She did not want to have to start in on the oddity of her relationship with the man. It was difficult to understand at the best of times. With Jane halfway across the state... Besides, Lisbon wasn’t always sure she understood it herself.
“Sure,” Annie replied easily. “And even though he left the CBI a while ago, he still writes to you, regularly, I’m guessing.”
“We keep in touch,” Lisbon admitted.
“So?” Annie asked, smiling again.
“Oh, cut it out,” Lisbon laughed. “It’s Jane. He was my consultant. There’s history, friendship. And he’s got stuff of his own. It’s complicated,” Lisbon explained.
Annie just shrugged. “Is life always?”
Lisbon chuckled softly to herself. “Well, yeah, but you’re fifteen. Shouldn’t you be a little less, I don’t know, cynical?”
“I like a boy who barely even knows I exist beyond some kind of asexual science buddy,” Annie reminded her.
“I think you’re wrong there,” Lisbon replied.
Annie bit her lip. “He asks about you a lot, you know.”
“The boy you like?” Lisbon asked with a grin. “Because if he knows I exist, then he definitely knows you do.”
Annie smiled. “I wish. No, I meant Jane. He, uh, he texts me sometimes,” she added when she saw the shocked expression on her aunt’s face. “Not a lot, but sometimes.”
“Oh,” Lisbon replied, not sure how she felt about that. Then she shook her head. Why should she feel anything about it? It was a bit odd it hadn’t come up before in letters from Jane or her conversations with Annie, but there was nothing wrong with it. It somehow made an odd sort of sense, well, Jane-sense anyway. Writing letters to her, texting her niece. She doubted Annie, like most of her generation, was much into letter-writing, in spite of Jane’s desire to bring back the lost art.
Besides, she knew Jane only had one regular pen pal.
“It’s nice that you’ve kept in touch with Jane,” Lisbon added after a second. “You should feel privileged, or maybe cursed.”
Annie grinned quickly, before biting her lip.
“What is it?” Lisbon asked.
“I think he misses you,” the teenager blurted out.
Lisbon really didn’t know what to say about that. It wasn’t surprising information, in a way. And of course she missed Jane too, but... but... And Annie thought her own problems were complicated. “Oh.”
“Do you miss him?” her niece asked tentatively.
“Of course I do,” Lisbon said quietly. “But like I said, he’s got about a million things to sort out in his brain right now. He needs the time. He needs to figure out what he wants from life. I hope he does. Like I said, he’s my friend.”
In answer to that, Annie just leaned her head against the back of the couch. “Boys suck.”
Lisbon smirked again, settling back beside her. “Yeah, sometimes.”
“At least after tomorrow I’ll know how to take ‘em down,” Annie muttered.
Lisbon laughed.
xxx
Lisbon decided to wait until Annie’d gone to bed to answer her letter. She didn’t mind her niece knowing about the correspondence, but she was still going to write her letters in private. It would be way too strange to write them in front of someone.
Besides, it sounded like Annie’d already come to some pretty crazy conclusions about what was going on between Lisbon and her former consultant.
Not that Lisbon had felt like explaining the nature of her friendship with Jane to a teenager. Best to just keep things simple.
Like writing letters.
x
Dear Jane,
Did I suggest that you keep a dream diary? Did I? I did not. I am not so foolish. I have also not suggested finding a happy place, or seeing a doctor. I am well aware that to suggest such things to you would be wasting my breath (or I suppose, in this case, wasting the ink in my pen). I merely pointed out that those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, and in this particular situation, you are in one heck of a glass house.
Nothing wrong with a little fictional crush. Sometimes that’s half the fun of a book. I’m sure you’ve had your fair share, so hush. I’m allowed.
Speaking of crushes, I had to give advice on boys today. I haven’t given anyone advice on boys in years. The closest I’ve come was after Van Pelt and Rigsby ended things and you ABANDONNED me, leaving me alone with her in the elevator. Crying. Thank heavens it was only three floors. God that was awkward. I did my best, both with her and today. I hope my advice works out. Unfortunately, I’m afraid I can’t tell you the details. Unofficial girl talk rules and all that.
I can however, tell you that I have somehow let myself be talked into showing my niece how to take down a suspect. Also, we might go to the shooting range afterwards. Part of me isn’t thrilled with it at all, but then the rest of me wants to make sure she learns it right, y’know? Besides, it might be kinda fun. I haven’t taught a class in takedown procedure in a while. It’ll stop me from getting rusty.
All of this means, as I’m sure you’ve gathered, that Annie has arrived. She just got here today. So far everything’s been going pretty well. I think it’ll be a good weekend. The weather’s supposed to be nice at least.
Oh, which reminds me, you didn’t tell me you were still texting Annie sometimes. That’s nice. It’s nice to know that in an emergency, you do have a phone. Don’t worry; I’m not going to hunt you down. But I suspect you know that already, or you wouldn’t have done it. Still, texting, Patrick? What happened to reviving the long lost art of letter writing?
Besides, I like our letters.
Anyway, I should go to bed. I’ve got a busy weekend ahead of me from the sounds of it, starting with tackling lessons. I hope that your temporary job went well. I’m sure it did. It must have been nice having something to do for a few days. Hope resuming your travels works out too.
-L
x
Both Lisbons were up early the next morning, ready to start the day (although technically for the elder Lisbon, it was a late morning. But that had more to do with the fact that she tended to show up at the office pretty damn early).
Annie was up, clearly excited about her tackling lesson.
In all honestly, Lisbon was as well.
After a tiring, but instructive morning (Lisbon wasn’t surprised to learn that Annie was a quick study when she wanted to be), a long lunch at the Mexican restaurant Lisbon (and now Annie) loved, and part of an afternoon at the shooting range (after a serious discussion about responsible gun use, which, to her credit, Annie seemed to pay attention to), Lisbon figured figured they were due for a break.
Also known as frozen yoghurt in the park.
Lisbon knew the quiet wouldn’t last. Annie’d been glancing at her ever few minutes in exactly the same way she had the night before, right before bringing up her boy troubles. Lisbon mentally prepared herself for another serious discussion. At least she could be pretty sure this one wouldn’t have anything to do with romance, thank heavens.
“Aunt Reese?” Annie asked after a few minutes.
“Yeah?”
Her niece looked nervous. “I...”
Lisbon closed her eyes briefly, suddenly knowing exactly what was coming. “Just ask me Annabeth.”
“What’s it like to shoot someone?” Annie asked in a whoosh of air.
Lisbon turned off to the side, considering her answer. “It’s a lot of things,” she said eventually. “I’m not gonna lie to you. It does make you feel powerful at first, at least for a few seconds. Then you kind of feel numb, at least I did. And it can sometimes make you feel sick to your stomach. It definitely makes me feel sad, really sad. And I’m not the only one who felt this way, I can tell you that for sure. First time I fired my weapon as a rookie, I cried for an hour later. Couldn’t help it. Even though it was a justified shooting. Even though I was protecting an innocent woman. Shooting someone changes you. It should change you. It has to. And if this is the career you’re picking. You need to be prepared for that.”
Annie swallowed. “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“That why you didn’t like Dad’s job, isn’t it?” Annie asked.
Lisbon smiled in spite of herself. Irritatingly perceptive kid. “One of the reasons,” she admitted. “Even if, far as I know, your Dad hasn’t shot someone. Not yet at least. And oh god, don’t correct me if you know different.”
“He hasn’t,” Annie confirmed.
“Okay.”
“And that’s why you spent like an hour giving me a lecture on everything there is to know about guns today,” Annie added.
Lisbon turned towards her, deliberately meeting her niece’s eyes. “If you’re gonna do this, be a cop, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure you do it right. And if I ever find out you’re not, I will hunt you down and make today’s so-called lecture feel like breezy conversation in comparison, you understand?”
Annie nodded. “I understand.”
“Good. You have any other questions?” Lisbon murmured.
Annie shook her head. “Not right now.”
“Okay, well if you think of any...”
“Yeah.”
Lisbon nodded awkwardly.
“Thanks,” Annie said after a second.
Lisbon glanced over. “For what?”
Annie shrugged. “I dunno. Talking to me like I’m an adult, I guess.”
Lisbon bit her lip. “I guess I’d rather you talk to me than someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing.”
“I will. I promise,” Annie assured her.
“Then I guess the shooting range was a good idea,” Lisbon conceded in relief. “Although, you’re already a pretty good shot.”
“Yeah?” Annie asked, obviously pleased by the compliment. “Thanks.” Then she grinned. “You’re not bad either.”
“What happened to the best shot in the family?” Lisbon asked dryly.
“You said flattery would get me nowhere,” Annie reminded her innocently.
Lisbon chuckled. “So, you ready to head back to my place? Your Dad reminded me when he called this morning that you have homework.”
Annie grumbled. “It’s just stupid math problems. All the other teachers were nice and didn’t assign anything over the long weekend.”
“Still,” Lisbon said. “Probably best to get it done now so it’s out of the way.”
“Fine,” Annie agreed. “And then we can figure out what we’ll do tomorrow.”
“I have a list,” Lisbon told her.
Annie rolled her eyes. “Of course you do.”
“Oh shush.”
xxx
Lisbon checked her mail out of habit when she got home; she ignored Annie’s smirk.
To her surprise, there was another envelope from Jane.
“He writes to you every day?” Annie asked incredulously when she saw it.
Lisbon shook her head. “No,” she said. “I definitely wasn’t expecting anything.
“Do you want me to leave you alone while you read it?” Annie asked. “Because I can.”
Lisbon shook her head again as she opened it. “It’s fine. You should do your math homework though.”
“Yes Aunt Reese,” Annie mocked, as she turned to get it.
Lisbon ignored her tone, too curious about the unexpected letter.
The note that she pulled out certainly wasn’t long.
x
Dear Lisbon,
I hope this gets to you in time. In answer to your earlier question, yes, Annie did enjoy the spa last time. I’m sure she’ll enjoy it again. You should try to too.
Love Jane
x
Along with the brief message, Jane had included a voucher for a spa trip for two.
Lisbon bit her lip to contain her smile.
She wandered over to her spare room and knocked on the door.
“Come on in,” Annie called from inside.
Lisbon poked her head in, smiling when she saw the girl on the bed, binder perched on her knees, textbook beside her. “You could have do that at the kitchen table,” she said dryly.
Annie shook her head. “This is fine. I always do my math homework on my bed.”
“Okay,” Lisbon agreed. “About tomorrow, how do you feel about going to the spa?”
Annie looked up. “Really?”
Lisbon nodded. Then she held up the voucher. “Jane’s treat.”
Annie blinked. “Jane sent us spa passes?”
“Yup.”
“Awesome,” Annie said with a grin.
Lisbon laughed. “Okay, the spa it is. Then maybe afterwards we can go shopping, like you wanted.”
“Sure!” Annie said enthusiastically.
“If you finish your homework,” Lisbon reminded her.
Annie rolled her eyes. “I’m gonna finish this tonight. It’s not that much. Just some math problems.”
“Good,” Lisbon agreed. “Although, maybe we shoulda spread this out better. We did the gym and the shooting range today and then the spa and shopping tomorrow. We should have mixed up the type of activities...”
Annie shrugged. “Whatever. It works.”
Lisbon had to agree. “Besides, Jane just sent the spa passes today.”
“Exactly.”
“I’ll let you get back to your homework,” Lisbon said, shutting the door again, and ignoring the look on her niece’s face.
Teenagers.
They always thought they knew everything.
xxx
TBC
Title: Long lost (Long last)
Rating: K+
Pairing/Genre: Jane/Lisbon, friendship/romance
Summary: After a case involving obscure hobbies, Jane decides to bring back the long lost art of letter-writing. In spite of his best efforts, he only manages to secure a single correspondant
Chapter 11
xxx
Fortuna, California
Dear Teresa,
Two letters waiting for me in Fortuna? I feel privileged, dear.
I have several things to say to you all at once as a result.
1) You sound absolutely exhausted. You need to take better care of yourself. Go to sleep at a reasonable hour. Relax. Stop work from time to time. Read your book. I’m not so unrealistic as to think you’ll take all of my suggestions, but even one of the above would probably help.
2) Which brings me to, I’m so glad you picked up the Dorothy Sayers. Enjoy your reread, Teresa. You deserve it.
3) I’m sure you and Annie will come up with many, many things to occupy yourselves with over your weekend. If I know you at all, you’ve already started planning it all out. Tell me truthfully, you have a list, don’t you?
4) You are not Boring Aunt Teresa, and I’m certain Annie would back me up on this. You’re definitely cool Aunt Teresa, who’s sometimes a bit fond of the rules.
5) The Redwoods did help for a while. Then they just make you feel insignificant. They’ve been on the planet so much longer than any one person. Maybe I will try a meadow next time, and see how that goes. It’s not a bad suggestion, Teresa. Now do me a favour, and stop worrying so much. You’ve known for some time that my mental state isn’t always ideal. I can at least assure that I don’t think it’s gotten any worse.
I’m done with my list for the time being I think. Although, you are sure that you’re getting enough sleep? I don’t need to send you some sort of sleep schedule to prevent you from running yourself ragged? You’ll make yourself ill, and then you won’t enjoy your visit with Annie. Think of how disappointing that will be.
Speaking of which, tell me about this visit with your niece. What are your plans? I’d like to hear them (particularly that list of yours). Your letters are particularly endearing when you’re happy.
-Jane
P.S. I may stay in Fortuna a week or so, just to take a break from all of the driving. So it’s probably best to send your next reply here.
x
Lisbon bit her lip.
Oh, Jane was staying in Fortuna was he? And she should feel free to send her next letter to him there? Jane must want to hear about her visit with Annie, if he was specifically passing along his location like that. Well, it made sense; the man had always been fond of her niece. They were like two peas in a pod, in a way.
Lisbon could certainly deal with a break from staring at her map trying to figure out where he’d be in a few days. Although, she’d kind of assumed he would continue north until he got into Oregon before looping back down into California on 5. Of course, it depended how set he was on staying in California (yet another question she didn’t actually know the answer to). If Jane was determined to stay in California, he might cut across the top of the state. If he wasn’t, he might just keep driving north.
You never knew with Jane.
At least she had a little longer before she had to figure that out. He wasn’t at the state border yet.
In the meantime, probably best to just answer his letter.
x
Dear Jane,
It’s absolutely ridiculous of you to tell me not to worry about your personal habits, and then talk about sending me a sleep schedule. When was the last time you got a full night’s sleep? By that I mean more than four hours. I had a stressful day at work. It happens. It involved a headache that Tylenol didn’t quite get rid of. And I’ll have you know that I went straight to bed after I finished your letter. I woke up feeling right as rain the next morning, so you can take your sleep schedule and stuff it. Or better yet, keep it handy for your own use.
I should mail you a relaxation tape. The sound of the seashore or something. That’d teach you, you big know-it-all. Lord Peter Wimsey can be a bit of a know-it-all too. He’s not as bad as you are when it comes to know-it-all-ness though; it’s a refreshing change. Or maybe he’s just more charming about it. Of course, he’s also fictional...
I may have started a list of things to do with Annie when she comes. Less than a week now. It’s not an extensive list. Shopping, maybe a movie, the Mexican restaurant not far from my place, the one with the really good guacamole. I figured, she’s already done most of the touristy things in the area, so we don’t need to do those again, unless she wants to. I’m still considering the spa. Did she say whether she liked the one you sent her on last time? Anyway, she’s only coming for three days. And she might want some time alone; she is fifteen. I don’t want her to feel like I’m smothering her. I’m going to give her options. It’s not like I’ve come up with some kind of schedule that must be followed at all costs. I’m not that much of a micromanager.
I am going to buy cupcakes though. The good ones, with the awesome chocolate icing.
Seriously Jane, I know you tell me not to worry, but you will tell me if there’s something I can do, right? I
hope staying put for a week helps a little. Maybe you just need to stop travelling for a couple of days. You have been reasonably settled for the last decade or so. Give yourself some time to adjust to the change (I know that’s what you’re trying to do and there are a lot of changes, I just... I don’t have any better advice).
Until next time,
Lisbon
P.S. Do you really think I’m the cool aunt?
x
The rest of the week went by relatively quickly. Lisbon didn’t hear from Jane again, well, except for another post card. He sent her a postcard of Fortuna with a brass band on the front. Apparently he’d been to an outdoor concert that day and wanted to share. She chuckled and decided to wait for his next letter before replying. There hadn’t been enough time for her letter to get to him and for him to write back anyway.
In the meantime, she should probably clean her apartment. Annie was due to arrive the next day.
xxx
Lisbon met Annie at the train station, grinning broadly. “How was the trip?” she asked, grabbing one of her niece’s bags after giving her a hug.
Annie shrugged. “It was okay. I had my iPod and magazines and stuff, so...”
“Right,” Lisbon nodded as she started leading the way to the parking lot. “Seeing as it’s late, and I know you had school all day...”
“Thrilling as it was,” Annie muttered.
Lisbon smirked. “I’m sure it was fine. Anyway, I figured you’d be tired. So I thought tonight we could maybe just order Chinese food and watch movies at my place, then we can figure out what we want to do tomorrow.”
“Sounds good,” Annie agreed.
“You in the mood for romance, comedy or action?” Lisbon asked, even if she was fairly certain she knew what the answer would be.
“Action, all the way,” Annie said immediately.
“I thought you’d say that,” Lisbon laughed. “I just bought the Bourne Trilogy if you’re interested.”
Annie shrugged, “Sure, I haven’t seen those in a while.”
“And you’re okay with Chinese food?” Lisbon double-checked.
“Yeah.”
“If you’re not okay with something, you can tell me,” Lisbon felt compelled to point out.
Annie rolled her eyes. “It’s cool, Aunt Reese. Relax. Sounds good so far.”
Lisbon ignored the order to calm herself and unlocked the doors of her SUV. “And maybe shopping tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Annie said with a grin as she got into the passenger seat.
Lisbon smiled back before changing the subject, “So how’s your Dad doing?”
Annie leaned back in her seat and filled her aunt in on all of the latest news while Lisbon steered them towards her condo.
xxx
About an hour later the two women were perched on the couch, cartons of Chinese food in front of them, half-watching a movie they’d both seen a half a dozen times.
Lisbon wasn’t completely engrossed in the movie, but she was always happy to watch it again. Apparently Annie wasn’t particularly invested either, striking up a conversation as she picked at what was left of the chicken fried rice.
.
“So you’re really not going to ask me what I want to talk to you about, are you?” the teenager wondered.
“Nope,” Lisbon replied easily, deliberately keeping her focus on the screen. She’d learned long ago that it was no use trying to force teenagers to tell you things. Better to let them bring it up on their own time.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Annie pause. “Really?” the girl asked, sounding genuinely surprised.
“Nope,” Lisbon repeated.
Annie leaned back against the cushions. “I thought you’d be asking all sorts of questions the second I walked off the train.”
Lisbon shook her head. She’d had a fair bit of experience dealing with teenagers over the years, and although she was curious about what Annie wanted to talk to her about, she really was trying to be better at giving people space. She didn’t always succeed, but she figured whatever Annie wanted to discuss, it wasn’t a genuine crisis of any kind. Lisbon figured she could give it at least another twenty-four hours before she got worried. “This isn’t an interrogation, Annie. You can tell me when you’re ready. If you want to do that over Chinese food and movies, that’s your decision. Or you can tell me later.”
“Oh.”
“I assume it’s nothing dangerous, or anything,” Lisbon double-checked.
Annie shook her head immediately. “No, no...”
“Because if it was, then I might have to start interrogating you,” Lisbon joked.
“Right.”
“Okay,” Lisbon nodded, temporarily closing the subject. “Do you want a cupcake?”
“You made cupcakes?” Annie asked in surprise.
Her aunt laughed. “No. I bought them, but they’re really good. I got chocolate ones.”
Annie smirked, “Okay, yeah.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” Lisbon continued as she stood to grab the deserts. “I am curious about your mystery topic, but we’ve got a few days, whenever you’re up for it. I’m not going to force you to tell me.”
“No, you’re just going to buy me chocolate, and sit there waiting,” Annie said dryly.
“Yup.”
Annie sighed and took a cupcake, removed the wrapper and started to eat it.
Lisbon settled back onto the couch herself. She figured she’d laid the groundwork for communication pretty well for later in the weekend, so she was a bit surprised when Annie spoke. “Do you think Dad would let me date a boy? Or do you think he’d totally freak out.”
Lisbon glanced over, biting the inside of her lip to stop from laughing. It wasn’t what she’d been expecting, but she really should have known. “I don’t see why not,” she said softly. “Provided you followed curfew and stuff.”
“Yeah,” Annie muttered. “That’s what I thought. I mean, I go to parties and dances and whatever sometimes. I go out with my friends, but I’ve never really gone out with just one guy, on our own, like a real date.”
“Is there someone who’s asked you on a date, Annie?” Lisbon asked, eyes twinkling.
“No,” Annie muttered darkly.
Lisbon frowned. “What?”
Annie shook her head quickly. “I don’t even know why I asked. It’s totally not even an issue right now.” She stood up quickly.
“Sit.” Lisbon ordered gently. “And tell me what’s going on.”
Annie glared at her, but did sit back down. “Thought you said this wasn’t an interrogation?”
“It isn’t,” Lisbon countered. “You started this, and now I think you should explain what you mean. What’s more, I think you want to. Is there someone you’d like to ask you on a date?”
Annie sighed. “Maybe.”
Lisbon knew that meant “yes.” Things were starting to fall into place a little. “I see,” she said neutrally.
Annie sighed again, louder this time. “Fine, there’s this boy...”
Lisbon was glad years and years of actual interrogations had given her a pretty good poker face, otherwise she’d be grinning right now, “Yes?”
“He’s in my science class,” Annie continued.
“Uh huh.”
“He’s super nice, and really cute,” she blurted out.
Lisbon did grin then. “Sounds good so far.”
“I like him,” her niece muttered, blushing furiously and staring at her plate.
Lisbon let herself smile wider, confident it wouldn’t be noticed. “I figured. Does he like you?”
Annie shook her head slowly, still staring at her knees, “I don’t think so. Not like that, anyway.”
Lisbon winced in sympathy. An unrequited crush was never a pleasant feeling, no matter what your age was, “What makes you say that?”
“All he ever talks to me about is science experiments,” Annie muttered.
Under the circumstances, Lisbon didn’t think that was a huge problem. “You are in science class.”
“Yeah, but still, he could talk to me about other things sometimes,” Annie griped. “He seriously always talks to me about science. Every single day.”
Lisbon considered her options, wondering how best to go about this. She’d never really had much practice talking to teenage girls, what with three brothers. And relationships certainly weren’t her strong suit, either in high school or now. “Maybe it’s just easier to talk to you about science,” she suggested. “Maybe he’s just using science an excuse to talk to you.”
Annie looked up hopefully. “You think?”
Lisbon smiled encouragingly. “I think it’s a definite possibility. Especially if he talks to you every day.”
Annie bit her lip. “Well, most days. But it’s pretty friendly talk.”
“Does he talk to all the girls in the class like he talks to you?” Lisbon asked.
Annie shook her head. “Mostly just me. He talks to the other girls sometimes, but his desk is closest to mine, and I’m pretty good at science. So it makes sense that he’d talk to me.”
“Does he talk to you the most in general?” Lisbon asked.
Annie considered that. “Yeah.”
Lisbon nodded. “Well, if a guy treats you differently, it usually means something,” she pointed out.
“But he still might just want to be friends,” Annie muttered.
“He might,” Lisbon agreed. “I don’t know for sure, but it sounds like he’s trying to get to know you. Maybe he’s just working up the courage to do something about it.”
“Maybe,” Annie said, biting her lip.
“You’re not making me feel like I’m much of a help,” Lisbon said.
Annie blushed. “I just... I don’t know how you’re supposed to know if a guy really likes you.”
Lisbon laughed before she could help herself, “Oh, sweetie, no one really knows that.”
“I was afraid you were going to say that,” her niece groaned, dropping back into the couch cushions.
“Yeah,” Lisbon agreed, mirroring her position on the other end of the couch.
“I mean,” Annie continued. “The guy who has a crush on Veronica’s always telling her how pretty she looks, like, all the time. It’s annoying actually, especially since she likes a totally different guy. And Suzie’s boyfriend’s always writing her these private little notes, and leaving them in her locker. Plus he’s always offering to carry her books and giving her little gifts, like chocolate bars and stuff. There was a guy who liked Diane, and he talked to her about parties, and movies they could go to, and hanging around her at lunch. But they always seem to just know when a guy likes them. I don’t know how. Or at least, they mostly know. Not always. But I can’t ask them. I just... it’s so awkward. And anyway, Dylan, that’s the guy’s name by the way, doesn’t do any of the usual kind of stuff. He told me he liked my haircut once, but it looked really different, so I don’t think that counts.”
“Well, maybe he’s just a bit shy,” Lisbon suggested. “Have you tried talking to him about other things, things other than science, I mean?”
“Like what?” Annie asked.
“Like if there’s a movie that you want to see, maybe something sci-fi so it’s easier to casually work it into the conversation. See if he takes the hint,” Lisbon suggested, quite pleased with her sudden inspiration.
Annie paused. “That’s actually a good idea,” she said suddenly sitting up and sounding pleased.
“Thanks,” Lisbon said dryly.
“And you don’t think Dad would freak out if Dylan did ask me to a movie or something?” Annie double-checked hopefully.
“Oh, he’d definitely freak out,” Lisbon told her honestly.
The teenager gave another huge sigh and collapsed back against the couch cushions. “Great.”
“He’s your father, Annie,” Lisbon said softly. “That’s his job. But I think he’d let you go, especially if you promised to be back by a certain time and call if anything happened. If it’s an issue, tell him to call me, and I’ll see if there isn’t some way we can work it out. But if this guy’s as nice as you say, I don’t think your Dad’d have any problems. You’re getting older. He wants you to do all the normal teenage things, and you’re pretty responsible.”
“Yeah, well, like I said, Dylan probably doesn’t even like me that way anyway,” Annie said glumly.
Lisbon sighed, remembering how absolutely exhausting teenage relationship dramas could be. And this one wasn’t even that bad. She was glad she didn’t have to deal with this sort of thing every weekend. “You don’t know that,” she said, trying to be as supportive as possible.
“Why are boys so stupid?” Annie demanded suddenly in irritation.
“Wish I could tell you,” Lisbon said honestly.
“I wish I knew a way to make him like me,” Annie continued, obviously having moved from depressed to aggravated. “What do guys like?”
“Guys?” Lisbon asked. “I hate to tell you sweetie, but this is hardly my area of expertise. You sure you don’t want me to show you how to tackle someone twice your size to the ground?”
Annie’s eyes suddenly lit up. “You’d really show me how to take someone down?”
Lisbon froze, realizing her error. “That’s not what I meant,” she said back-tracking. Then she paused to consider it. “But actually, well, uh, yeah, I guess. I could do that. If you want, maybe we can go to the gym tomorrow instead of shopping. It’d be a useful skill for you to have probably anyway, a little self-defence, that kind of thing.”
Annie’s eyes were fixed on her now, boy-troubles temporarily forgotten. “You’re serious.”
“Sure,” Lisbon shrugged awkwardly.
Annie grinned. “That is so awesome.”
“Um, okay...”
“Can we go to the shooting range too?” Annie asked, excited.
“What?” Lisbon asked, shocked.
“Uncle James once told me you were the best shot in the family,” Annie said slowly.
“Well,” Lisbon muttered. “That’s true, but...”
“But?” Annie asked. Then sending her aunt a winning smile, she continued in a wheedling tone. “I’m around guns more now, with Dad’s new job. And like I told you, I want to be a cop. Isn’t it better that I get lessons from someone who really knows what they’re doing? Learn from the best and all that?”
Lisbon smiled in spite of herself. “Flattery will get you nowhere, kid.”
“Come on, Aunt Reese, please?” the teenager pleaded.
“We’ll see, Annie, okay? Guns aren’t toys.” Annie opened her mouth to interrupt, but Lisbon cut her off. “And I know you say that you know that, but I’ve seen up close and personal what guns can do. I’ve fired one, at people, more times than I like to think about, okay? If we go to the shooting range, we need to talk about that part of it first.”
“Okay,” Annie said turning serious.
“Okay,” Lisbon agreed. “I’ll take you to the gym tomorrow morning for a lesson on take-downs and then we’ll see how we feel about the shooting range afterwards.”
“You are so the coolest aunt, ever,” Annie replied.
“Thanks,” Lisbon said dryly. She might not be great on the boy stuff, but she could do weapons and tackling. If that made her cool, so be it. Then she smirked, remembered Jane’s opinion on the subject. Which reminded her, she’d forgotten to check the mail when she got home, what with Annie’s arrival. She was probably due for a letter. She’d check it when she took out the garbage from the take-out.
Standing, she started collecting the empty cartons, instructing Annie to stick the ones with leftovers in the fridge. Then she grabbed the rest, tossed them in a bag and casually told her niece she was just going to toss them outside straight away before they started to smell adding that Annie should feel free to make herself at home. Then, after hearing her niece’s quick, “Okay,” Lisbon slipped out of the condo.
Happily, there was a letter in her mailbox. Lisbon was willing to admit (at least to herself) that she’d have been quite disappointed if there hadn’t been. After all, it had been longer than usual between notes...
Grinning to herself, she walked back into her apartment, and began searching for her niece. Noticing that Annie’s suitcase was no longer sitting by the couch, Lisbon figured Annie was unpacking in the spare room. Figuring she’d give her niece a few minutes of privacy, Lisbon dropped back onto the couch to read her latest letter.
x
Fortuna, California
Dear Teresa,
Can we agree that both of us have the right to worry about the other? I think that’s probably the best thing at this point. I’m certainly not about to stop being concerned when you write to me sounding exhausted, and you couldn’t stop worrying if you had a gun to your head (yes, I realize there’s something inherently wrong with that metaphor). Also, you’ll forgive me if I don’t stick to a sleep schedule. I’m also not going to start keeping a dream diary or come up with my own little happy place before bed. But, I will have you know that I slept six hours last night. It was a good night.
Have you developed a fictional crush, Teresa? Need I remind you that your Lord Peter is already spoken for, at least eventually? I just wouldn’t want you to end up fictionally heartbroken, or feeling betrayed. I feel as your literary confidante, that it is my duty to look out for you in the world of fiction.
Your list of things to do with Annie sounds lovely, Teresa. I’m sure you girls will take Sacramento by storm. Because yes, you absolutely are the cool aunt. Keep me posted on any important developments there. My week hasn’t been particularly exciting. Not a lot new to report since my last letter, so I could use a good story or two.
Staying put for a while has been nice though. I met a guy who was looking for a fill in act at his club for a week. It’s part of the reason I stuck around. I kept busy with that, telling people all of their secrets. No pretending to be a psychic, just proving how easy it was to pretend to read people’s minds and fool them, if you’re paying attention. Seemed to go over well, and it gave me something to do. But the regular act’s back now, so I guess I’ll continue my trek northward (still too lazy to switch highways).
I hope you girls enjoy your cupcakes,
-Jane
x
Lisbon grinned as she finished her letter. It was nice to hear Jane sounding so positive. He definitely sounded better than last week. That was nice. She wondered what his impromptu act had been like, especially if he hadn’t claimed to be a psychic. He’d have had to adjust. Although, knowing Jane, that would have been no problem. Lisbon was so engrossed her in thoughts that she didn’t hear Annie walk back into the room.
“What’s that?” her niece asked curiously.
Lisbon started, guiltily. “Uh...”
Annie glanced down briefly. “Never mind, sorry. It’s none of my business.”
Lisbon shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I just didn’t hear you come in. It’s a letter from Jane.”
“Jane?” Annie repeated, obviously surprised.
“Yeah,” Lisbon said, determined to be calm, and trying hard not to feel like she’d been caught at something she shouldn’t have been doing. It was perfectly normal to keep in touch with a friend who’d left town. Sure, in this day and age most people didn’t use letters to do it. But most people weren’t trying to keep in touch with Patrick Jane.
Annie curled back up on her end of the couch. “He writes you letters?” she double-checked.
“Uh huh,” Lisbon agreed.
“That’s so sweet,” Annie replied.
Lisbon looked over sharply, eyes narrowed.
Annie’s expression turned suddenly mischievous. “Actually, it’s kinda romantic.”
Lisbon glared at her, willing herself not to blush, or really react in any way.
Annie giggled, obviously enjoying herself. “Aunt Reese, is there something you want to talk about? Boy troubles...”
But Lisbon cut her before she could finish, “It’s not like that Annabeth.”
For once the teenager didn’t *object to the use of her first name. “Okay...”
“Jane and I are friends,” Lisbon explained, really hoping that would be the end of it. She did not want to have to start in on the oddity of her relationship with the man. It was difficult to understand at the best of times. With Jane halfway across the state... Besides, Lisbon wasn’t always sure she understood it herself.
“Sure,” Annie replied easily. “And even though he left the CBI a while ago, he still writes to you, regularly, I’m guessing.”
“We keep in touch,” Lisbon admitted.
“So?” Annie asked, smiling again.
“Oh, cut it out,” Lisbon laughed. “It’s Jane. He was my consultant. There’s history, friendship. And he’s got stuff of his own. It’s complicated,” Lisbon explained.
Annie just shrugged. “Is life always?”
Lisbon chuckled softly to herself. “Well, yeah, but you’re fifteen. Shouldn’t you be a little less, I don’t know, cynical?”
“I like a boy who barely even knows I exist beyond some kind of asexual science buddy,” Annie reminded her.
“I think you’re wrong there,” Lisbon replied.
Annie bit her lip. “He asks about you a lot, you know.”
“The boy you like?” Lisbon asked with a grin. “Because if he knows I exist, then he definitely knows you do.”
Annie smiled. “I wish. No, I meant Jane. He, uh, he texts me sometimes,” she added when she saw the shocked expression on her aunt’s face. “Not a lot, but sometimes.”
“Oh,” Lisbon replied, not sure how she felt about that. Then she shook her head. Why should she feel anything about it? It was a bit odd it hadn’t come up before in letters from Jane or her conversations with Annie, but there was nothing wrong with it. It somehow made an odd sort of sense, well, Jane-sense anyway. Writing letters to her, texting her niece. She doubted Annie, like most of her generation, was much into letter-writing, in spite of Jane’s desire to bring back the lost art.
Besides, she knew Jane only had one regular pen pal.
“It’s nice that you’ve kept in touch with Jane,” Lisbon added after a second. “You should feel privileged, or maybe cursed.”
Annie grinned quickly, before biting her lip.
“What is it?” Lisbon asked.
“I think he misses you,” the teenager blurted out.
Lisbon really didn’t know what to say about that. It wasn’t surprising information, in a way. And of course she missed Jane too, but... but... And Annie thought her own problems were complicated. “Oh.”
“Do you miss him?” her niece asked tentatively.
“Of course I do,” Lisbon said quietly. “But like I said, he’s got about a million things to sort out in his brain right now. He needs the time. He needs to figure out what he wants from life. I hope he does. Like I said, he’s my friend.”
In answer to that, Annie just leaned her head against the back of the couch. “Boys suck.”
Lisbon smirked again, settling back beside her. “Yeah, sometimes.”
“At least after tomorrow I’ll know how to take ‘em down,” Annie muttered.
Lisbon laughed.
xxx
Lisbon decided to wait until Annie’d gone to bed to answer her letter. She didn’t mind her niece knowing about the correspondence, but she was still going to write her letters in private. It would be way too strange to write them in front of someone.
Besides, it sounded like Annie’d already come to some pretty crazy conclusions about what was going on between Lisbon and her former consultant.
Not that Lisbon had felt like explaining the nature of her friendship with Jane to a teenager. Best to just keep things simple.
Like writing letters.
x
Dear Jane,
Did I suggest that you keep a dream diary? Did I? I did not. I am not so foolish. I have also not suggested finding a happy place, or seeing a doctor. I am well aware that to suggest such things to you would be wasting my breath (or I suppose, in this case, wasting the ink in my pen). I merely pointed out that those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, and in this particular situation, you are in one heck of a glass house.
Nothing wrong with a little fictional crush. Sometimes that’s half the fun of a book. I’m sure you’ve had your fair share, so hush. I’m allowed.
Speaking of crushes, I had to give advice on boys today. I haven’t given anyone advice on boys in years. The closest I’ve come was after Van Pelt and Rigsby ended things and you ABANDONNED me, leaving me alone with her in the elevator. Crying. Thank heavens it was only three floors. God that was awkward. I did my best, both with her and today. I hope my advice works out. Unfortunately, I’m afraid I can’t tell you the details. Unofficial girl talk rules and all that.
I can however, tell you that I have somehow let myself be talked into showing my niece how to take down a suspect. Also, we might go to the shooting range afterwards. Part of me isn’t thrilled with it at all, but then the rest of me wants to make sure she learns it right, y’know? Besides, it might be kinda fun. I haven’t taught a class in takedown procedure in a while. It’ll stop me from getting rusty.
All of this means, as I’m sure you’ve gathered, that Annie has arrived. She just got here today. So far everything’s been going pretty well. I think it’ll be a good weekend. The weather’s supposed to be nice at least.
Oh, which reminds me, you didn’t tell me you were still texting Annie sometimes. That’s nice. It’s nice to know that in an emergency, you do have a phone. Don’t worry; I’m not going to hunt you down. But I suspect you know that already, or you wouldn’t have done it. Still, texting, Patrick? What happened to reviving the long lost art of letter writing?
Besides, I like our letters.
Anyway, I should go to bed. I’ve got a busy weekend ahead of me from the sounds of it, starting with tackling lessons. I hope that your temporary job went well. I’m sure it did. It must have been nice having something to do for a few days. Hope resuming your travels works out too.
-L
x
Both Lisbons were up early the next morning, ready to start the day (although technically for the elder Lisbon, it was a late morning. But that had more to do with the fact that she tended to show up at the office pretty damn early).
Annie was up, clearly excited about her tackling lesson.
In all honestly, Lisbon was as well.
After a tiring, but instructive morning (Lisbon wasn’t surprised to learn that Annie was a quick study when she wanted to be), a long lunch at the Mexican restaurant Lisbon (and now Annie) loved, and part of an afternoon at the shooting range (after a serious discussion about responsible gun use, which, to her credit, Annie seemed to pay attention to), Lisbon figured figured they were due for a break.
Also known as frozen yoghurt in the park.
Lisbon knew the quiet wouldn’t last. Annie’d been glancing at her ever few minutes in exactly the same way she had the night before, right before bringing up her boy troubles. Lisbon mentally prepared herself for another serious discussion. At least she could be pretty sure this one wouldn’t have anything to do with romance, thank heavens.
“Aunt Reese?” Annie asked after a few minutes.
“Yeah?”
Her niece looked nervous. “I...”
Lisbon closed her eyes briefly, suddenly knowing exactly what was coming. “Just ask me Annabeth.”
“What’s it like to shoot someone?” Annie asked in a whoosh of air.
Lisbon turned off to the side, considering her answer. “It’s a lot of things,” she said eventually. “I’m not gonna lie to you. It does make you feel powerful at first, at least for a few seconds. Then you kind of feel numb, at least I did. And it can sometimes make you feel sick to your stomach. It definitely makes me feel sad, really sad. And I’m not the only one who felt this way, I can tell you that for sure. First time I fired my weapon as a rookie, I cried for an hour later. Couldn’t help it. Even though it was a justified shooting. Even though I was protecting an innocent woman. Shooting someone changes you. It should change you. It has to. And if this is the career you’re picking. You need to be prepared for that.”
Annie swallowed. “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“That why you didn’t like Dad’s job, isn’t it?” Annie asked.
Lisbon smiled in spite of herself. Irritatingly perceptive kid. “One of the reasons,” she admitted. “Even if, far as I know, your Dad hasn’t shot someone. Not yet at least. And oh god, don’t correct me if you know different.”
“He hasn’t,” Annie confirmed.
“Okay.”
“And that’s why you spent like an hour giving me a lecture on everything there is to know about guns today,” Annie added.
Lisbon turned towards her, deliberately meeting her niece’s eyes. “If you’re gonna do this, be a cop, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure you do it right. And if I ever find out you’re not, I will hunt you down and make today’s so-called lecture feel like breezy conversation in comparison, you understand?”
Annie nodded. “I understand.”
“Good. You have any other questions?” Lisbon murmured.
Annie shook her head. “Not right now.”
“Okay, well if you think of any...”
“Yeah.”
Lisbon nodded awkwardly.
“Thanks,” Annie said after a second.
Lisbon glanced over. “For what?”
Annie shrugged. “I dunno. Talking to me like I’m an adult, I guess.”
Lisbon bit her lip. “I guess I’d rather you talk to me than someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing.”
“I will. I promise,” Annie assured her.
“Then I guess the shooting range was a good idea,” Lisbon conceded in relief. “Although, you’re already a pretty good shot.”
“Yeah?” Annie asked, obviously pleased by the compliment. “Thanks.” Then she grinned. “You’re not bad either.”
“What happened to the best shot in the family?” Lisbon asked dryly.
“You said flattery would get me nowhere,” Annie reminded her innocently.
Lisbon chuckled. “So, you ready to head back to my place? Your Dad reminded me when he called this morning that you have homework.”
Annie grumbled. “It’s just stupid math problems. All the other teachers were nice and didn’t assign anything over the long weekend.”
“Still,” Lisbon said. “Probably best to get it done now so it’s out of the way.”
“Fine,” Annie agreed. “And then we can figure out what we’ll do tomorrow.”
“I have a list,” Lisbon told her.
Annie rolled her eyes. “Of course you do.”
“Oh shush.”
xxx
Lisbon checked her mail out of habit when she got home; she ignored Annie’s smirk.
To her surprise, there was another envelope from Jane.
“He writes to you every day?” Annie asked incredulously when she saw it.
Lisbon shook her head. “No,” she said. “I definitely wasn’t expecting anything.
“Do you want me to leave you alone while you read it?” Annie asked. “Because I can.”
Lisbon shook her head again as she opened it. “It’s fine. You should do your math homework though.”
“Yes Aunt Reese,” Annie mocked, as she turned to get it.
Lisbon ignored her tone, too curious about the unexpected letter.
The note that she pulled out certainly wasn’t long.
x
Dear Lisbon,
I hope this gets to you in time. In answer to your earlier question, yes, Annie did enjoy the spa last time. I’m sure she’ll enjoy it again. You should try to too.
Love Jane
x
Along with the brief message, Jane had included a voucher for a spa trip for two.
Lisbon bit her lip to contain her smile.
She wandered over to her spare room and knocked on the door.
“Come on in,” Annie called from inside.
Lisbon poked her head in, smiling when she saw the girl on the bed, binder perched on her knees, textbook beside her. “You could have do that at the kitchen table,” she said dryly.
Annie shook her head. “This is fine. I always do my math homework on my bed.”
“Okay,” Lisbon agreed. “About tomorrow, how do you feel about going to the spa?”
Annie looked up. “Really?”
Lisbon nodded. Then she held up the voucher. “Jane’s treat.”
Annie blinked. “Jane sent us spa passes?”
“Yup.”
“Awesome,” Annie said with a grin.
Lisbon laughed. “Okay, the spa it is. Then maybe afterwards we can go shopping, like you wanted.”
“Sure!” Annie said enthusiastically.
“If you finish your homework,” Lisbon reminded her.
Annie rolled her eyes. “I’m gonna finish this tonight. It’s not that much. Just some math problems.”
“Good,” Lisbon agreed. “Although, maybe we shoulda spread this out better. We did the gym and the shooting range today and then the spa and shopping tomorrow. We should have mixed up the type of activities...”
Annie shrugged. “Whatever. It works.”
Lisbon had to agree. “Besides, Jane just sent the spa passes today.”
“Exactly.”
“I’ll let you get back to your homework,” Lisbon said, shutting the door again, and ignoring the look on her niece’s face.
Teenagers.
They always thought they knew everything.
xxx
TBC