Sanguine Slumber

Chapter 1: Crimson

A faint buzzing roused Jane from his dozing. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he reached towards the nightstand, fingers fumbling for the source. Finally grasping his cellphone, he opened it and brought it to his ear.

"Hello." He mumbled.

"Jane, where are you?" The voice he gradually recognized as Cho's asked brusquely.

"The hotel. We've got a case?" He replied, sitting up and swinging his legs over. He checked the clock by his bed. It wasn't even midnight.

"You could say that." Something in the usually calm and controlled agent's tone jolted Jane into awareness.

"What is it, what's wrong?" He inquired swiftly. Cho gave an involuntary sigh, merely a wisp of breath, but it sent Jane's heartbeat into overdrive. He felt perspiration break out on his forehead and in his palms. If he believed in the paranormal he would say that he already knew what his colleague was about to tell him.

"It's Lisbon." He closed his eyes, foresight not lessening the blow. "She's been attacked, in her home." Patrick drew a shaking breath. "Get here as soon as you can." Cho said, a rare note of sympathy audible in his voice. He disconnected the call, leaving Jane listening to the dial tone for several long seconds, paralyzed in shock and dismay.

When he arrived on the scene ten minutes later, remarkable given that it was all the way across town, it was to see Lisbon's street lined with police cruisers, their flashing lights bathing her house in red and blue. He ducked under the police tape on automatic, his feet carrying him of their own volition towards the open door, the center of the action. His gaze swept around, taking in everything. Uniformed cops were scattered everywhere, gossiping in little tight circles and throwing him looks as he passed. A lone paramedic stood by the open rear doors of an ambulance, checking his watch impatiently. Rigsby held a distraught Grace in his arms, removed from the others in a small pocket of grief. Jane swallowed. A surprisingly harried looking Cho emerged from her home, catching sight of him and striding hurriedly towards him.

"Is she okay?" Jane asked before he could speak.

"She's alive." Came Cho's succinct answer. His stomach turned at the significant sidestep. "She's been refusing to go to a hospital."

"What happened?" He demanded. There was that almost inaudible sigh again.

"We're not sure, she hasn't been answering any questions. We think it happened as soon as she got home, so between 9 and 10 pm. Maybe she surprised him, or the other way around, it's not clear yet. There's signs of a struggle, and there's blood on the corner of her coffee table. Hers." Jane pictured the scene, the table around which he and Lisbon had shared several intimate moments. Always a tad awkward but never truly uncomfortable. Then he imagined her head being slammed into it's edge and felt a wave of nausea. He realized abruptly that Cho was still talking. "You can come in, maybe you can talk some sense into her." Jane nodded and the two strode purposefully to the door.

Once he crossed the threshold he had to stop and survey the damage. CSU techs swarmed the living room, the flash of a camera going off every few seconds. One of the pictures on her wall lay broken on the floor. A lamp flickered dimly on its side. The table captured his attention. The edge was brown with congealed blood, strands of long dark hair stuck in the mess. He looked up at a familiar voice.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm fine." He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Lisbon sounded crisp and alert, her usual forceful personality shining through. "No I'm not in shock, I just don't like people I don't know poking and prodding me!" Jane approached, hardly noticing that Cho hung back to talk to one of the forensic gremlins. She came into view, and he drank her in like a long lost photograph. She sat on the stairs, surrounded by a team of uniformed medical personnel. She held a fist over her heart, her posture hunched and defensive. Her hair was matted with blood. Bruises peeked out from her disheveled v-neck top. Someone had grabbed her by the neck. They'd probably shoved her head down onto the table themselves.

Lisbon glanced up, eyes round as she saw him. "Jane…" She whispered, almost as if in a daze. Seeming to snap out of it as he neared, she returned her ire to the persistent paramedics. "Hey, back off! I can take care of myself." Jane drew the attention of the frustrated medics.

"Give us a minute." Looking relieved, they moved away. Lisbon watched him like a hawk as he lowered himself onto the step beside her. "Hey." He said nonchalantly.

"Hey." She echoed.

"How are you doing?" She groaned lightly.

"Not you too. I'm fine. Seriously." He nodded.

"I believe you." She appeared comforted by this reassurance. They sat in silence for a moment. "But you know," Jane began bravely, "It would make a lot of people here feel better if you got yourself checked out."

"I don't need to and I don't want to." She replied, waving her hand adamantly.

"Of course." He agreed, then paused as he considered his next ploy. "You know, Grace isn't handling this very well." Her eyes softened and he knew he'd chosen correctly. "I passed her on my way in. Rigsby's taking care of her, you know how they are." She smiled faintly. He stared directly into her eyes as he pressed on, "I'm sure a clean bill of health would go a long way in easing her mind." He glanced away as he shrugged. "Mine too." From the corner of his eye he could make out the sinking of her shoulders in defeat.

"Alright," She muttered, "I'll go to the ER but that's it. No admittance, no tests."

"What if they find something?"

"They won't." Jane sighed.

"I guess that's the best we're going to get." He stood, holding out his hand to help her do the same. She accepted but wobbled on the way up. He extended a steadying arm around her waist. She blinked rapidly, clearly woozy. "Can I get some medics over here." He called to the cluster of EMTs. They hurried over and guided the pair to the gurney.

"Come on," Lisbon protested, "I can walk, I don't need a stretcher."

"It's procedure, Ma'am." One of them said.

"Bear with them," Jane murmured, "They're just mindless drones trying to punch out on time." That earned him a unladylike snort and an affronted scoff. He disentangled himself from Lisbon's hold as she hopped up on the gurney and allowed herself to be wheeled towards the door.

"Do you want Jane to ride with you?" He spun in surprise. He'd forgotten Cho was there.

"No, you guys should all get some sleep." Lisbon told them, using her easily identifiable 'boss voice'.

"You know we're not gonna do that." Cho replied, honest as always.

"Well you ought to!" She called as she was led further and further away. "You can start investigating in the morning, there's no need to obsess!" Conveniently for her, she was quickly pushed through and out onto the sidewalk, giving her the last word. Cho turned to Jane.

"She really has no idea, huh?" He asked.

"Absolutely none." Jane agreed.

Welcome one and all to my latest multichapter! It's the longest I've ever done, with an action packed plot that took me over a month to construct.

I wish you were allowed more than two categories, because this story is more like Gen/Romance/Hurt+Comfort/Crime/Drama/Suspense. There is violence, but nothing more explicit than on the show. It's written from Jane's point of view and tries to emulate the style of an episode, though there is considerably more Jane/Lisbon romance than the producers would allow.

This story is already complete so there is no fear of an infinite WIP. There are 12 chapters, all named after a shade of red. Most chapters will be about twice the size of this one. Consider this the cold open. I'll be posting around midday, three times a week, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Though I'm sure some of you would prefer to read it all now, I like to draw it out :)

I don't have a Beta Reader, so please point out any mistakes. And definitely give me feedback as to whether I've stayed in character. Although I should warn you, Lisbon may seem to be increasingly irrational...

Enjoy my fellow Mentalist fanatics!

Laury the Latrator.