Too late for goodbyes: Chapter 1

By Alasse Fefalas

The room was small and dark. There were five lights in the ceiling, but only one was lit. The grey walls reminded her of a prison cell - which was the effect they had always gone for. The FBI agents had escorted Lisbon and her team from the CBI building and into the FBI office in Sacramento. There, she was separated from the rest and made to wait in the interrogation room - like a criminal she's not.

Lisbon forced herself not to fidget in her chair. In all her career, she had never imagined herself sitting on the other side of the interrogation table. Her hands were clasped together, unable to do much by the metal bounds on her wrist. Lisbon stared angrily at the double mirror. She knew they were watching her - she could feel their eyes boring into her, wondering what she knew. Truthfully, she knew nothing; although that wasn't what the FBI thought, apparently.

Lisbon tilted her head slightly to face the door when she heard a metallic click. Agent Abbot walked in carrying a manila folder stamped with the FBI logo across the front. Looking at her, he took the seat directly in front of Lisbon.

"I would call you Agent Lisbon, but CBI is now defunct and you're out of a job," Abbot said politely as he placed the manila folder on the table. "So, Lisbon. Let me ask you again: where is Patrick Jane?"

"I don't know," Lisbon said, shaking her head. "You can ask me as many times as you want, Agent Abbot, but the answer will be the same. I really don't know where he is."

Agent Abbot stared at Lisbon, who defiantly challenged him back with a stare of her own. "You should have just let us have him, Lisbon. We wouldn't be in this situation now."

"When you disbanded the CBI, I was investigating a group of corrupt government law enforcersm I had every right to suspect that you were one of them."

"Even if I wasn't from this state?"

"We don't know how far the reach of the Blake Association is," Lisbon retorted, her hands clasping each other tighter. "You kinda pulled the plug on the investigation while we were halfway through it."

Agent Abbot leaned back and folded his arms, studying Lisbon who simply sat there, staring at him. They stayed that way for a while. One observing, judging amd deliberating. The other, fuming.

Lisbon broke the silence first. "Listen. I want to find Jane as much as you do. Me sitting here wouldn't do anything much to solve the problem. Let me help you."

Agent Abbot raised an eyebrow. Slowly, he leaned forwards and placed his hand on the folder on the desk. "You are aware that we have your phone, yes?"

"You took it from me when you arrested me."

"Yes, that we did. A few hours ago, you received a missed call... and a voice message from Patrick Jane."

Lisbon wasn't surprised that it was Jane who had called her. When she saw her phone ringing, she had guessed it was him. She could only wonder what he had said in his message.

"Would you like to listen to it?"

Lisbon nodded without hesitation. Agent Abbot leaned back in his chair and knocked twice against the glass. Crossing his arms, they waited. Moments later, an agent came in with a voice recorder in hand. He placed it on the table and promptly walked out, closing the door behind him.

"After you, Lisbon," Agent Abbot gestured.

Lisbin unclasped her hands and grabbed the recorder with both hands. Her thumb hovered over the play button, hesitating. Did she really want to hear what Jane left for her? What had he done? Was Red John dead? Or was it a message Red John had forced Jane to leave?

"What's wrong, Lisbon? Don't you want to hear what your boyfriend said?"

Lisbon looked at Agent Abbot sharply. "Nothing's wrong. And again, Agent Abbot, he's not my boyfriend." Resolutely, she pressed the play button.

"Lisbon. It's over. It's done. Just wanted you to know I'm okay. I'm gonna miss you," Jane's voice said.

Lisbon could hear the mix of emotion in Jane's voice - relief and sadness, both struggling to dominate each other.

"Jane..." Lisbon whispered. She knew what he meant. After all these years, Patrick Jane had finally gotten revenge against the man who killed his wife and child - and Lisbon wasn't there to stop him.

"We traced the call to an open park. Would you like to know what we found there?"

Lisbon took a deep breath. She was still shaken by the fact that Jane would still carry out his revenge. She knew he would have, but she had vowed to herself to be there when he did, to try and stop him. Just that one single thing, and she couldn't do it. "Bertram. You found Bertram."

"Funny you should say that. When I went to chapel at Alexandria Cemetery, I found Detective Cordero and Gale Bertram dead on the floor, shot to death."

"What?" Lisbon was stunned. Bertram wasn't found in the park? He wasn't Red John?

"We also found your service weapon on Detective Cordero," Agent Abbot said, leaning forwards. "Would you like to explain that?"

"I gave my gun to Jane... for his protection. Cordero must have been part of The Blake Association... searched Jane or something," Lisbon said. "I don't know."

"Are you part of this so called Blake Association, Lisbon?"

Lisbon was taken aback. That wasn't a question she was expecting. "What?! No!" Lisbon replied angrily.

"Then how would you explain this?" Abbot asked as he opened the folder. Inside was a picture of Sheriff McAllister, on the floor of a park.

Lisbon grabbed the folder off the table and looked at the picture. "He was supposed to be dead. The lab reports said that he died in the bomb blast in Jane's house... how is he still alive?"

"He's dead," Abbot corrected her. "Strangled to death, according to my M.E. He had a gunshot wound in his stomach, which is a match to the gun that we found in his hand. Now tell me, Lisbon, if you aren't a part of the Blake Association, how was a supposedly dead man found strangled to death on a park floor?"

Slowly, Lisbon put the folder on the table. "Jane called from the park you found McAllister?"

"Yes."

Lisbon shook her head. It was suddenly so clear to her."Agent Abbot, I'm not part of the Blake Association. I never was, and I never will be. This man you found in the park? Sheriff Thomas McAllister? He's Red John."

"How would you know that?"

"Jane compiled a list of seven suspects, of which McAllister was in." Lisbon held up seven fingers and put them down one by one as she explained. "Brett Partridge was killed by Red John, Bob Kirkland killed by the Blake Association. Ray Haffner and Brett Stiles were killed in the bomb blast that we thought killed McAllister too. Reede Smith was almost killed by the Blake Association and told us about them. Only Gale Bertram was left. That was how we thought Bertram was Red John, hence the last press review CBI ever had."

"How did Jane get this list of suspects?"

L"Somewhere from his mind, I don't know," Lisbon shrugged. "All I know was that these men were suspected of being a violent mass murderer and we tracked them down. I catch killers, Agent Abbot. That's what cops do."

"And you trusted this list?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I trust Jane."

Abbot sighed and shook his head. "Jane strangled McAllister."

"Red John was a violent mass murderer. He killed Jane's wife and child."

"And so what? Revenge justifies murder?"

"No, it doesn't," Lisbon replied sharply, glaring at Abbot. "If you hadn't arrested me, I could have been there. I could have tried to stop him."

"Would you?"

Lisbon hesitated for a moment before answering. A few days before, she had told him that Red John didn't deserve a trial, but she only said it for him to agree to bring her along. However, she was starting to believe it herself. She could have tried to stop Jane from killing him, but would have have actually done it? She didn't know. "Yes," Lisbon lied.

Agent Abbot stared at her. Lisbon could see on his face that he didn't believe her entirely. Slowly, he nodded. "Okay... Okay." Leaning back, he knocked three times against the mirror.

Agent Mullins came in moments later, carrying an evidence bag with Lisbon's personal items. Placing on the table, he held out a key and gestured to her to being her wrists up. Lisbon obliged and he released her from the metal handcuffs.

"Thank you," Lisbon said, rubbing her wrists from the slight chafing of the cuffs. "So I can finally go now?"

"Yes," Abbot said, standing up. "Just don't leave town."

"Hey, what about the rest of my team?"

"They'll be released in due time."

"Thank you," Lisbon said politely.

Nodding at her, Agent Abbot walked out of the room. Lisbon took the bag and spilled the contents onto the table. Grabbing her wallet and phone, she immediately pocketed them. Picking up her CBI ID card, she stared at it for a moment before she stuffed it into her back pocket with a sigh. She took her CBI badge and hooked it onto her jeans before sighing again and made it join her phone in her pocket. She stared at her own cuffs on the table before deciding to keep it. If she was lucky, she might still be able to use it next time.

"Ready?" Agent Mullins asked.

Lisbon looked at the young Agent and nodded. She couldn't wait to get out of there.

A/N: Oh look! It's not a one-shot! I don't know if Heller's gonna tell us what happened during the two-year time jump, so this is how I'm envisioning Lisbon left Sacramento to... wherever that she went to. Gonna be some one sided Jisbon moments with Lisbon... somewhere down the fic. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will follow me! Thanks for reading! Reviews are much appreciated!