Bloodless Bonds Chapter Five
Title:Bloodless Bonds Chapter Five
Words: Total fic, about 10,000
Spoilers: All four seasons.
Summary: After Red John is killed, Lisbon must convince Jane that quitting the CBI is not what he should do next. Includes flashbacks to the final confrontation with Red John.
“So you were more afraid of what Jane would do than for your own life?"
Lisbon, after a moment of silence, realized that Joan had spoken. “What? Oh,” she said after the question had been repeated. “I guess maybe a little bit. I was afraid for myself, of course, but I always knew that there was a really good chance that I could die at the hands of Red John. It never really scared me, because it was never, oh, what’s the word…imminent. But it was always in the back of my mind, I’d get fired because of Jane, or I’d be killed by Red John. And it was better me than one of the other agents.” She wondered momentarily why she was being so open and decided it was because of Van Pelt’s instability after O’Laughlin’s death. Seeing how not talking about it could unravel really made Lisbon want to. She’d shown enough weaknesses these past few days.
“Why do you say that?” Joan asked.
“Why does it matter?” Lisbon asked.
Joan cocked her head. “May I move to another question and ask why this one has bothered you more than the others?”
“I just don’t like therapists,” Lisbon said. “No offense. One of my previous ones tried to frame me for murder.”
“I understand,” Joan said, nodding slowly, “but if you want to get out of here, you need to talk to me. Agent Kormiloff’s orders.
Lisbon sighed. “Why was it better it happen to me than one of them?” she shrugged. “I was the one who signed on with Jane. Van Pelt wasn’t even around yet; she showed up around the same time, and Cho and Rigsby didn’t have any say in the matter. And with Jane came the need to hunt Red John. It was the tradeoff.”
“You know,” Joan said, “any team member could have requested a transfer at any time. They always stayed under your supervision; clearly they were prepared to die, too.”
“They weren’t even there,” Lisbon said. “I had just gotten a call from Cho, I didn’t know if they were okay or hurt or even one of them killed. So yes, I was scared, but it wasn’t all fear for myself.”
“Lisbon?”
Lisbon tensed when she heard his voice echoing. He was close, maybe twenty feet away, and in a matter of seconds he’d appear in the doorway to see her tied, held at knifepoint, the murderer of his wife and child holding her life in his hands.
“Call out to him,” Red John instructed her.
Lisbon shook her head. “No.”
Instantly the knife was back against her throat. “Call out to him!”
“I won’t let him see me die,” Lisbon said.
“How do you know that that’s what I want?” Red John said.
“Because you’d have killed me already.”
“If you don’t call out to him,” Red John said, “I will harm you in a way that will leave you dying. It will be unstoppable, but it will take several minutes. I’ll make sure Jane is here when you draw your last breath.”
Lisbon saw he was serious, and she swallowed hard. “Jane!” she shouted, trying to put as much fear as possible into her voice. He’d understand her tone. He’d be prepared when he entered the room.
“Lisbon?” His head appeared slowly in the doorway. She could see by the subtle change in his eyes his horror, and momentarily congratulated herself for making such a small observation. His eyes moved from her to the man holding her captive, and then back to Lisbon. “Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head, aware how wild - eyed she must look. “No,” she said, terrified of her own voice.
“What is the matter with you?” Jane said. “You’ve got a perfectly good woman terrorized. She has nothing to do with our little situation.”
“Patrick Jane.” Her captor spoke.
“Roy Taliaferro.”
“Nice to finally make your acquaintance.”
“I wish I could say likewise, you sick bastard.”
“I’m a man of very few words,” Red John said. “So I’m going to ignore that comment and just get right to it.”
“No,” Jane said. “You’re not going to get right to anything. We have backup.”
“No you don’t,” Red John said. “They’re chasing after poor Shawn Lincoln in San Francisco. I knew you two would come here. It’s exactly what I wanted.”
“Why?” Jane asked, and Lisbon felt her fear heighten as she saw Jane falter slightly. “Why, why, why would you want just us? You took out all of Agent Bosco’s team. Why just us?”
“Because this isn’t the end,” Red John said. “You’re not going to die here today.”
“As relieved as I am,” Jane said, gesturing to the woman on the ground, “I have to ask. What about Lisbon?”
“Oh,” Red John said, twirling the knife just inches from Lisbon’s throat.
“You let her go,” Jane said. “Let her go and you can kill me.”
“I’m not a fool,” said Red John. “She’d be waiting to kill me when I went for you. You should not underestimate my intelligence. Not now.”
“Then what do you want?” Jane asked. “Is she going to die?”
“Well,” Red John said, repositioning the knife again. “that, my lovely friend, is entirely up to you.”
“I suppose that’s when he made the deal,” Joan prompted gently.
“Yes,” Lisbon said. “He had taken my gun and put it on the floor by the threshold of the door. Jane didn’t notice it upon coming in. Red John said that Jane could take the gun and shoot him, but his last motion would be to cut my throat. Or, Jane could slide the gun to where he could reach it, and Red John would leave, and leave me with Jane.”
“How did Jane know he wasn’t going to take the gun and shoot you both?”
“Because Red John loved toying with Jane. If he killed Jane, his toy would be gone - very much like a game of cat and mouse. If he killed me or the rest of my team, he wouldn’t have any leverage against Jane. Nothing would stop Jane from killing him if he was ever in the position again, because without us, he was just himself. And Red John’s accomplices were all dead or in maximum security facilities. He needed time to regroup, and this was his way of doing so. One day, of course, he’d be ready to end the game and would kill us. But Jane had a feeling that he wasn’t there yet, and Jane is usually right.”
“I imagine that you were terrified at that deal.”
Lisbon looked at her hands. “It doesn’t matter. It’s okay now.” Joan raised an eyebrow. “I was confused, to be honest. He had a chance to kill me and get away, and he had to have known that there was a chance that Jane and I could overpower him. I guess he was just that confidant that he could get away. I’d always told Jane that one day, either he or Red John would get overconfident and that would be their downfall. Jane had me to keep him in perspective. I guess Red John finally overestimated himself. And we got him.”
Joan looked at her for a long moment, and then nodded. “Okay. I’m satisfied.”
Lisbon looked up. “Really?”
“Yes,” Joan said. “You can go.”
Lisbon cocked her head. Working with Jane so long had made her suspicious that the therapist was ending the session so abruptly. “Really?”
“Or you could stay.”
“No!” Lisbon jumped up, wincing from her injuries. “No, thank you, ma’am.”
Chapter Six
Words: Total fic, about 10,000
Spoilers: All four seasons.
Summary: After Red John is killed, Lisbon must convince Jane that quitting the CBI is not what he should do next. Includes flashbacks to the final confrontation with Red John.
“So you were more afraid of what Jane would do than for your own life?"
Lisbon, after a moment of silence, realized that Joan had spoken. “What? Oh,” she said after the question had been repeated. “I guess maybe a little bit. I was afraid for myself, of course, but I always knew that there was a really good chance that I could die at the hands of Red John. It never really scared me, because it was never, oh, what’s the word…imminent. But it was always in the back of my mind, I’d get fired because of Jane, or I’d be killed by Red John. And it was better me than one of the other agents.” She wondered momentarily why she was being so open and decided it was because of Van Pelt’s instability after O’Laughlin’s death. Seeing how not talking about it could unravel really made Lisbon want to. She’d shown enough weaknesses these past few days.
“Why do you say that?” Joan asked.
“Why does it matter?” Lisbon asked.
Joan cocked her head. “May I move to another question and ask why this one has bothered you more than the others?”
“I just don’t like therapists,” Lisbon said. “No offense. One of my previous ones tried to frame me for murder.”
“I understand,” Joan said, nodding slowly, “but if you want to get out of here, you need to talk to me. Agent Kormiloff’s orders.
Lisbon sighed. “Why was it better it happen to me than one of them?” she shrugged. “I was the one who signed on with Jane. Van Pelt wasn’t even around yet; she showed up around the same time, and Cho and Rigsby didn’t have any say in the matter. And with Jane came the need to hunt Red John. It was the tradeoff.”
“You know,” Joan said, “any team member could have requested a transfer at any time. They always stayed under your supervision; clearly they were prepared to die, too.”
“They weren’t even there,” Lisbon said. “I had just gotten a call from Cho, I didn’t know if they were okay or hurt or even one of them killed. So yes, I was scared, but it wasn’t all fear for myself.”
“Lisbon?”
Lisbon tensed when she heard his voice echoing. He was close, maybe twenty feet away, and in a matter of seconds he’d appear in the doorway to see her tied, held at knifepoint, the murderer of his wife and child holding her life in his hands.
“Call out to him,” Red John instructed her.
Lisbon shook her head. “No.”
Instantly the knife was back against her throat. “Call out to him!”
“I won’t let him see me die,” Lisbon said.
“How do you know that that’s what I want?” Red John said.
“Because you’d have killed me already.”
“If you don’t call out to him,” Red John said, “I will harm you in a way that will leave you dying. It will be unstoppable, but it will take several minutes. I’ll make sure Jane is here when you draw your last breath.”
Lisbon saw he was serious, and she swallowed hard. “Jane!” she shouted, trying to put as much fear as possible into her voice. He’d understand her tone. He’d be prepared when he entered the room.
“Lisbon?” His head appeared slowly in the doorway. She could see by the subtle change in his eyes his horror, and momentarily congratulated herself for making such a small observation. His eyes moved from her to the man holding her captive, and then back to Lisbon. “Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head, aware how wild - eyed she must look. “No,” she said, terrified of her own voice.
“What is the matter with you?” Jane said. “You’ve got a perfectly good woman terrorized. She has nothing to do with our little situation.”
“Patrick Jane.” Her captor spoke.
“Roy Taliaferro.”
“Nice to finally make your acquaintance.”
“I wish I could say likewise, you sick bastard.”
“I’m a man of very few words,” Red John said. “So I’m going to ignore that comment and just get right to it.”
“No,” Jane said. “You’re not going to get right to anything. We have backup.”
“No you don’t,” Red John said. “They’re chasing after poor Shawn Lincoln in San Francisco. I knew you two would come here. It’s exactly what I wanted.”
“Why?” Jane asked, and Lisbon felt her fear heighten as she saw Jane falter slightly. “Why, why, why would you want just us? You took out all of Agent Bosco’s team. Why just us?”
“Because this isn’t the end,” Red John said. “You’re not going to die here today.”
“As relieved as I am,” Jane said, gesturing to the woman on the ground, “I have to ask. What about Lisbon?”
“Oh,” Red John said, twirling the knife just inches from Lisbon’s throat.
“You let her go,” Jane said. “Let her go and you can kill me.”
“I’m not a fool,” said Red John. “She’d be waiting to kill me when I went for you. You should not underestimate my intelligence. Not now.”
“Then what do you want?” Jane asked. “Is she going to die?”
“Well,” Red John said, repositioning the knife again. “that, my lovely friend, is entirely up to you.”
“I suppose that’s when he made the deal,” Joan prompted gently.
“Yes,” Lisbon said. “He had taken my gun and put it on the floor by the threshold of the door. Jane didn’t notice it upon coming in. Red John said that Jane could take the gun and shoot him, but his last motion would be to cut my throat. Or, Jane could slide the gun to where he could reach it, and Red John would leave, and leave me with Jane.”
“How did Jane know he wasn’t going to take the gun and shoot you both?”
“Because Red John loved toying with Jane. If he killed Jane, his toy would be gone - very much like a game of cat and mouse. If he killed me or the rest of my team, he wouldn’t have any leverage against Jane. Nothing would stop Jane from killing him if he was ever in the position again, because without us, he was just himself. And Red John’s accomplices were all dead or in maximum security facilities. He needed time to regroup, and this was his way of doing so. One day, of course, he’d be ready to end the game and would kill us. But Jane had a feeling that he wasn’t there yet, and Jane is usually right.”
“I imagine that you were terrified at that deal.”
Lisbon looked at her hands. “It doesn’t matter. It’s okay now.” Joan raised an eyebrow. “I was confused, to be honest. He had a chance to kill me and get away, and he had to have known that there was a chance that Jane and I could overpower him. I guess he was just that confidant that he could get away. I’d always told Jane that one day, either he or Red John would get overconfident and that would be their downfall. Jane had me to keep him in perspective. I guess Red John finally overestimated himself. And we got him.”
Joan looked at her for a long moment, and then nodded. “Okay. I’m satisfied.”
Lisbon looked up. “Really?”
“Yes,” Joan said. “You can go.”
Lisbon cocked her head. Working with Jane so long had made her suspicious that the therapist was ending the session so abruptly. “Really?”
“Or you could stay.”
“No!” Lisbon jumped up, wincing from her injuries. “No, thank you, ma’am.”
Chapter Six