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It finally happens, the team gets to go to the beach. Unfortunately, it's because someone was murdered on the pier. The duo is meant to be interviewing witnesses of the murder, but somehow, like always, they find themselves taking their time. Well, if she's honest, she knows exactly how it happens. Jane loves the beach. He seems to come alive, and like a little hermit crab, he seems to stretch out of his shell in the warm salt air. Unfortunately, it's the middle of January, and the air is only salty. But that doesn't dampen his mood any.
"Why so glum Lisbon? We're at the beach?"
"Yes…in January, Jane. It's cold."
"Oh, come on. I thought a Chicago girl like you would know better than to call this cold." She gives him a sharp eye roll and rubs her arms for warmth. "Besides, the beach is the most beautiful in the winter time and-" he emphasizes, "there are hardly any tourists."
"Okay, Jane, whatever."
He chuckles happily beside her as they start their way up the pier. It's nice to see him smiling, she thinks. After their last match with Red John and finding him taped to that chair, she can't help but admit that she's been worried about him. Afraid he'd let that deep drowning melancholy seep in from the corners of his life and overtake him again. Jane interrupts her thinking by changing course and heading to the railing. He wordlessly leans against the rail and looks out at the stormy ocean and the ships passing by. As she joins him, she becomes so enthralled watching the waves; the weight of his suit jacket on her shoulders surprises her.
"Jane-" the reluctant detective starts to protest when a shrill cry breaks through her rebuttal.
The pair quickly turn to follow the sound, hearing another cry for help. Much to her surprise, Jane is the first to step into action. He almost always follows her lead, but when she hears, "Help, he's drowning!" She immediately understands why he was so quick to leap into action.
Lisbon tries to keep up with Jane as he tears down the pier stairs and across the sand towards the frantic mother, her pleas for help with her son continuing as Jane arrives.
He doesn't even bother to stop and speak to the woman; he just kicks off his shoes and runs into the ocean, swimming straight for the struggling boy as he's pulled farther back into the strong rip current.
Breathlessly, Lisbon works to calm the mother, "Ma'am. Ma'am. My name is Teresa Lisbon. I'm a police officer. We're gonna help you, okay. What's your name?"
"Uh… it's uh Rita."
"Alright, Rita, you're doing great. How old is your son?" Lisbon pulls out her phone and quickly calls for an ambulance; she doesn't know how this will go. Thankfully, there's almost always one near the pier.
"Sean… he's uh… he's seven."
"Okay, great." Lisbon looks anxiously to the water, where she sees Jane's blonde hair dipping in and out of the water. The waves are rough today; she tries to calm herself that Jane has told her he's a strong swimmer and used to swim every morning in the ocean, but she can't help but worry over how long it's been since he's last done that.
It feels like hours till she sees Jane surface over the crest of a wave with a young brown-haired boy and floats him on his chest. The only thing able to pull their stares away from Jane swimming towards them is the arrival of the first responders coming onto the cold, windy shore.
"Oh, thank god," the mother all but cries. "He just wanted to put his feet in. I never thought that he would get pulled out."
"It's okay, ma'am." The paramedic reassures Lisbon and gives Lisbon a questioning look. "Agent Lisbon?"
"Yes, that's Rita," she informs them and points to the water, "the boy is Sean, and my consultant, Patrick Jane."
"Impressive swimmer, I know a lot of lifeguards who couldn't pull that off."
Lisbon can't help but feel pride at that statement, at Jane's courage, but it can't replace the deep worry. Her worry for the boy and her fear for Jane. Not just because of the dangerous waters but also if the boy doesn't make it. Kids are…well, understandably, a trigger for him. Lisbon finds herself twirling her cross pendant in her hand and quickly offers up a prayer for both the boy and Jane.
Just as she finishes, she sees Jane working to stand in the shallow frigid water. He keeps getting hit by relentless waves, but he never lessens his grip on Sean and always protects him from the rush of water. After a huge wake from a wave, a calm overcomes the sea, and Jane quickly stands, holding Sean tightly to his chest. Seeing him near the shore, the paramedics surge into action, meeting them at the tip of the waves, quickly taking the boy and placing him on a backboard, beginning CPR. Lisbon quickly follows, but as much as she's concerned for the boy, she's more concerned for Jane, who immediately sinks to the ground, trying to get a deep breath into his lungs.
Lisbon quickly bends down, placing her hand on Jane's back, trying to help in any way to coax a breath into his lungs.
"I'm okay, Lis-" he begins coughing violently, hacking up water that had made its way into his lungs.
"Jane?" Lisbon asks worriedly.
Finally, pulling a strong breath into his chest, Jane looks up at Lisbon, "I'm okay, just some water in the lungs." He works to stand but quickly begins to sway; if Lisbon had not moved quickly to catch him under the arms, he would've fallen.
"Jane. Are you okay?" Lisbon pleads worriedly, still holding the drenched man by his waist.
"I'm f-fine. Ho- How's th-the boy?" Jane chatters out.
A paramedic comes over, "We need to get everyone to our medical center."
"I'm f-fine." Jane unconvincingly chokes out.
"Well, it's protocol whether you're "fine" or not," the paramedic drapes a blanket over Jane and begins to usher him to his vehicle.
Lisbon can't think of a single time Jane has ever let the paramedics boss him around like that. It only increases her anxiety. They hop in the truck along with Rita and sit beside the stretcher that holds little Sean. Though the drive is short, it feels forever long watching the paramedics work on the young boy. Lisbon can see that Jane has closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall working on bringing his breathing back to normal, more to the point he's not looking at the small boy on the stretcher or his crying mother next to him.
Their entrance to the medical center is not as dramatic as Sean's, but it feels just as rushed. "Will he be okay?" Jane asks as he drips puddles and sand all over the lobby.
"We don't know yet." The busy paramedic responds as his radio crackles to life with another emergency. "I should be able to get more information soon. Why don't you both take a seat in Exam Room 2." He takes Jane's wet blanket. "There will be more blankets in the room. Use as many as you need. I'll be right back."
They obediently go to their assigned room. As Lisbon turns around from examining the room to examine how Jane she hears a sharp chattering noise.
"Oh my god, Jane, you're still shivering." Lisbon quickly processes how cold it is and how cold the Pacific is.
"N-no, I'm n-not." Jane tries to lie, but his body gives him away as his whole chest violently shakes.
Without even asking, Lisbon begins to undo Jane's vest. As she reaches his shirt buttons underneath, Jane reaches up with a shaking hand, stopping her, "Lis-Lisbon, what are y-you doing?" Her usually all-knowing consultant asks, dumbfounded.
"Jane, you're hypothermic. We need to warm you up."
His slow blink of confusion and purple lips scare Lisbon into action even faster. He's unable to hold his grip on her hand in his current state. As she works quickly unbuttoning his soaking shirt, she continues to explain, "We have to get as much of these wet clothes off of you as possible if we're gonna warm you up."
Jane protests as Lisbon pushes his shirt and vest off his shoulders, "I could've don-done that."
She quickly throws the dry jacket he had placed on her shoulders onto his and then reaches for his belt. With the shivering, all he can let out is a squeak of protest as she pulls his pants down.
"Ser-seriously," he starts to whine about his pants, when Lisbon suddenly sheds the sweater she's wearing and stands before him in a tiny camisole. Before he can even ask, she throws a blanket left out in the room over his shoulders and hugs him tightly around his waist.
"Um, Lisbon. Wh-what are y-you doing?" He manages to finally ask, his arms still frozen at his sides.
"I'm using my body heat to warm you," she says so matter of factly like it should've been evident to him.
"Y-yes, but w-why?" Jane doesn't fully understand.
"If we let the blood from your arms and legs rush back to your heart too quickly," Lisbon shifts against his chest before quietly finishing, "your heart could fail."
"Oh." He finally relaxes into the hug, wrapping his arms around the warm Teresa Lisbon. "Where did you learn that?"
"Some of us went to high school." She tries to tease him.
When his only response is a chuckle and tucking his head into her neck, she starts to worry.
"I'm okay, Lisbon." He tries to comfort her, sensing her fear. "You know, you wouldn't take my hug a few weeks ago, and now you spring this on me. It takes a minute to adjust."
She smiles into his chest, "Yeah, well, you didn't mean it."
"Do-doesn't mean it couldn't have helped." He answers into her hair.
His response puzzles her until she feels him take a deep breath and pull her closer to him, nestling further into her neck. She realizes this is not just a moment to share body heat to save his heart but a hug that he really needs. He's mostly stopped shivering, but she won't point that out. She gently strokes his back until whenever he feels ready to let go. After being held hostage by Red John, he's been extra jumpy. She woke him up by touching his arm, and he nearly leapt off his couch. So she closes her eyes and continues to rest her head against his chest, listening to the soothing bump-bump of his heart beating underneath.
"So the kid's gonna be okay. They said you're an insane swim-" Cho stops dead in his sentence as he sees Lisbon and Jane in a scantily clad embrace. "I'll come back later."
The unfazed agent starts to exit as Jane interrupts, the duo reluctantly separating, "It's fine, Cho. Lisbon here was just making sure I don't die since apparently this place only has 3 paramedics."
"Wasn't gonna ask." Cho furthers. "I'm assuming you both are gonna need a change of clothes?"
"Yeah." "Yep." Cho nods and quickly exits as if he hadn't just seen his boss and coworker half-nakedly hugging.
Jane and Lisbon stand awkwardly in front of each other. Spotting her wet camisole, Jane hands her his jacket, which she gratefully accepts this time. "So you texted Cho?" Jane asks as he adjusts his blanket around his shoulders.
"Yeah, on the ride over."
Before Jane can respond, an eager Rigsby surprises them as he peaks his head in, "They said you swam into a rip current to save the kid?"
"Uh, yeah, I have experience with rip currents. They're terrifying, but if you know how to get out of them, then it takes a lot less energy." Jane answers
"Nice!"
Pulling the blanket tighter around himself, Lisbon can sense that Jane is uncomfortable. "Rigsby, why don't you go help Cho."
"Oh, yeah, sure."
Jane chuckles morosely at the floor as he tries to joke, "Anyone else out there that wants to barge in and see me in my underwear?"
Lisbon smiles at Jane, "Why don't you sit? I'm sure you're exhausted."
As if checking in with his body for the first time, he answers with a bone-tired, "Yeah."
"That was a really brave thing you did." Lisbon sits beside him, too close for what coworkers should be, but he is probably still cold.
"Thanks." Lisbon watches as his stare drifts off into nothing.
"What is it?" She asks worriedly.
"Hmm? Oh, just, uh, thinking about Charlotte." He answers truthfully as he sighs and leans his head back.
It hits Lisbon again, her initial worry now that Jane is safe. How would saving or losing a kid affect him?
She doesn't know what to do or say, it's so rare for him to mention his loved ones and rarely by name. So, instead, she wraps his hand in hers, giving it a comforting squeeze.
"She uh…" He works to clear the tightness that's crept into his throat. "She loved the beach. Would swim for hours and hours. When she was little, Angela and I would swing her into the waves." He lets his thumb rub aimlessly over Lisbon's hand; it seems to ground him.
"She got caught in a riptide once. It was so frightening. I had to swim out and get her and help her out of it, and though she was a good swimmer, she was so exhausted, and the idea…" he works to clear his throat again. "The idea of losing her. It uh- well, Angela and I fought about whether she should go in the ocean for weeks. We were supposed to go to the beach the day after, the day after…" He pauses, a single tear falling from his eye, which he swipes at quickly. "Anyway, I'm glad he's okay."
"Me too. It was a good thing we were at the beach today." Lisbon squeezes his hand again, trying desperately to comfort him. To convey how good he is and how important he is.
"And it's good that you were a teacher's pet in high school." Jane teases.
"Hey!" Lisbon gives Jane's arm a light smack, "that is a rude assumption. I'll have you know I did quite well getting up to trouble in high school."
"Saint Teresa has a secret past. Well, this I have to know." Lisbon can see the melancholy start to lift.
"Yes, wouldn't you like to know?" Lisbon teases him further.
"Oh, come on, you can't bait me like that and leave me hanging." He looks at her with pleading eyes. And the brat knows that he can always get what he wants.
"Fine," she gives in, trying to hide that she would always give in. He shared something deeply personal with her; she also wants to make him feel better. And there's nothing Jane loves more than learning about her past.
Jane immediately perks up, pleased with himself.
"One! Only one story." She quickly clarifies.
"Well, I shall enjoy that one story immensely." He beams at her. "Please tell me it involves scamming a nun?"
"Jane-" Lisbon whines, already regretting her decision.
"A priest!? Oh, that is rebellious."
"Are you gonna let me tell my story, or have you already mind-read it."
"I'm sorry, go ahead."
"Thank you. Okay, so it was junior year..."