Time Waits For No One

Chapter Nine: Interim

Chapter Nine: Interim

Coffee. She needs coffee like a fish needs water.

One of the few drawbacks that Lisbon can easily indentify about being pregnant is the inability to consume caffeine. She would drink decaf, but really, who drinks that crap? Drinking decaf coffee is pointless when what you are craving is indeed the caffeine. The second drawback has to be the fact that she can hardly ever sleep a good solid eight hours without getting up during the wee hours of the morning to relieve herself or to change her sleeping position to accommodate the baby more comfortably. She guesses that this is normal when one is eight months pregnant…especially with Patrick Jane's baby.

Resting her fingertips against her forehead and lightly massaging, Lisbon sighs and slips her eyes shut. Over the past four days she and the team have been pouring over every slight detail about Jane's trial and if they can even possibly get him out of prison. Preferably before the baby is born. She has a good feeling about this, but she also knows that this reopening will be an emotional rollercoaster and extreme stress. The latter is unwelcomed and deeply annoys her doctor. Lisbon personally thinks the notion of her son not having his father present is far more important at the moment. Whenever she gets home, she is sure to drink that pomegranate juice, her latest craving, to calm her nerves and move into her bathroom to take a long bath. It lowers her blood pressure and takes out a large portion of stress from the equation.

"Boss," at the sound of the young rookie agent's voice, Lisbon removes her fingers from her forehead and continues to rest her elbow on the table. She looks over at her door frame as Grace moves into her office with a tan folder in her hands, "I think we may be almost done gathering the evidence."

Lisbon feels for Grace, Cho, Rigsby, and Stark. The four of them have all been working rigourously at trying to get Jane from jail before she is to give birth. In just a few days, they have made a couple of all-nighters and have pretty much lived at the CBI. Whenever she offers to stay along with them, they always decline and send her home immediately. She is greatful to have them, and she does not know what her life would be like without her team.

She smiles at the redhead, "Thank you, Grace," and takes the file from the rookie with an extended hand.

As the young agent turned to head back out the door, Lisbon spoke up. She knows that Grace – and everyone else – deserve this more than anything right now. "Grace…I think you should go home. The guys and Stark too."

Grace turns around and places her hand on the door frame, "Uh, boss, you don't have to-."

Lisbon shakes her head, "This isn't a suggestion, Van Pelt, it's an order. You all have been working so hard lately and I really appreciate it," her voice chokes up in her throat as an overflow of gratitude and the feeling to cry washes over her. Damn these pregnancy hormones.

"Boss…"

Grace takes a couple of steps towards Lisbon, but the dark haired woman holds up her hand, "Go home. Now," she forces a smile in hopes of staunching the tears from flowing freely down her cheeks. Lisbon could feel them on the edges of her eyelids.

The rookie nods, "Yes boss," bowing slightly, she turns back towards the bullpen to hopefully tell everyone out there to stop whatever they were doing and for them to return to their homes and cozy beds.

Tomorrow she would go talk to Jane and review what they had been working on. Hopefully Jane will be out of prison within the next couple of weeks.

Sighing to herself, she sets the folder down on her desk and opens it up. She picks up the first sheet and turns it over – it really is of little importance. The folder itself is very fat, and that is because it gives a very detailed report on Jane's background and his relationship with Red John. It also contains a large number of high-resolution photos on glossy printer paper with crime scene photos of his family's murder and where they found Red John. Also, there is a single shot of the blood on Jane's hand and another of the blood she had on her shirt and neck.