Author: Miss Peg/RedFi
Title: Cross
Summary: Jane is distracted by Christmas when the team are called out to a murder, Lisbon is anything but impressed by his behaviour…until a surprise makes her smile. A bit of Christmas fluff.
Characters/Pairings: Jane and Lisbon
Warnings: (please mention if your fic contains spoilers) None.
Notes: Posted on Paint It Red for the PIRvent calendar and as a Christmas gift for Holly, Merry Christmas everyone! My biggest wish this year was to get my ability to write back, so far so good. :) I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas/Tuesday, enjoy yourselves, cherish the moments you spend with family and make the most of every moment.

'Thread the needle through the material until you have a little hole to stuff it and voila, a robin!'

Van Pelt raised an eyebrow as Jane pulled the needle through the coloured fabric. He pushed a small amount of stuffing inside and finished off sewing the material closed. The small robin sitting on his hand brought a smile to her face.

'That's amazing. How did you learn to make that?'

'Angela,' he said, a hint of sadness in his voice mixed with a sense of nostalgia he didn't usually possess. 'She used to make them for Charlotte at Christmas. She'd be making them herself now...'

Jane's voice trailed off and Van Pelt filled the silence as best as she could.

'Tell me again how to make the face.'

A door closed and Lisbon walked into the bullpen, a look of concern etched across her features. She stopped beside Van Pelt and Jane.

'What are you doing?'

'Jane's teaching me how to make my own Christmas decorations,' said Van Pelt.

'It's November.'

'December 1st,' said Jane.

'Whatever,' Lisbon said, before continuing. 'We have a case.'

'Now?'

'Yes, Jane. Now. I'll see you in the parking lot in five.'

Jane gave Van Pelt a glance as Lisbon walked away, a sly smile that she couldn't help but smile in return to.

'Best listen to the boss,' said Jane, standing up and placing the completed robin on the desk in front of them. 'We'll continue this later.'

'Do you know how to make anything else?'

'Sure, snowmen, reindeer, it's all the same really.'

As he perched on the edge of the desk to explain the multitude of activities he'd taken part in with his family, a loud voice travelled through the bullpen.

'Jane!'

'Best go,' he uttered before rushing off after Lisbon.

The drive across the state to a small town East of Sacramento was the least and most favourite part of Jane's job. He enjoyed watching the scenery as they passed and if Lisbon was in a good mood, the pleasant conversation they shared. It was the days when she didn't want to listen to his incessant one sided conversation that bothered him. Of course, it wouldn't be so one sided if only she joined in.

'Twenty five days 'til Christmas,' he mused, to which Lisbon gave a small snort. 'What?'

'Nothing.'

'A snort of derision is not 'nothing'.'

'Just because it's December doesn't mean we're all cracking open the eggnog and cheesy movies.'

Jane stared at her as she paid attention to the road in front, when she glanced at him he frowned.

'Don't tell me there's not even a little bit of you excited that it's December,' he said.

'Why would I be?'

Jane pondered her question for a moment, his eyes never leaving hers, no matter how sad they became.

'You haven't celebrated Christmas since your father died and even then, in the years after your mom died it wasn't the same.'

Lisbon's jaw clenched as her teeth pressed tighter together, Jane continued, knowing he'd hit the right spot.

'There's a part of you which is so desperate to celebrate each year but the other part is stronger. You'd rather not celebrate any holiday or birthday, but Christmas is the one you won't let go of.'

She didn't reply and Jane didn't much care to rock the boat. He'd already treaded on her toes, if he didn't step carefully, he'd undo all of the hard work he'd put into their friendship.

They pulled up at a church with police tape covering the doors. Jane followed Lisbon into the entrance of the building.

'Agent Lisbon, I'm with the CBI. This is Mr Jane. Were you the first on the scene?'

The young police officer standing by the door nodded, he looked spooked, which only sought to intrigue Jane further.

'You've seen a few bodies in your career,' said Jane, to which the man glared at him and looked out into the street. 'What is it about this one that haunts you so much?'

'I,' he said, scratching the back of his neck and staring at his feet.

'Did you kill her?' said Jane.

'No,' the officer replied, his voice loud and defensive.'

'Didn't think so,' said Jane. 'But you're not happy, talk to me. Off the record.'

Lisbon rolled her eyes as Jane leant closer to the young man.

'A nun, being killed in a church right before Christmas. It's like a punishment from the Lord.'

The man's eyes moved around the room, from the cross, to the pulpit, to the aisle.

'Don't worry,' said Jane, patting his shoulder. 'The big guy's too busy welcoming that poor soul into heaven to worry about your affair.'

'But...'

Jane pointed to the man, addressing Lisbon as he walked further into the church.

'Your witness.'

'Sorry about him, what time did you get the call?'

Lisbon's voice drifted off as Jane walked down the aisle. The church wasn't too ostentatious, if he hadn't seen the sign on the way in he'd have guessed it wasn't Catholic. The body, however, was laid out in a cross; arms out at her sides, her legs together. Such arrangement and precision was usually at the hands of a serial killer.

'What do you think?' said Lisbon, sidling up beside him.

'I think we should get a tree for the bullpen.'

'About the murder,' said Lisbon.

'Oh. She was murdered by a serial killer, or someone is yet to become one. Either that or someone has some creepy rituals. This wasn't a covered up accident; this woman was chosen, probably followed and then suffocated.'

'Bare hands or something else?' asked Lisbon.

'There's bruising around the neck. Definitely too small to be hands, probably a rope or piece of cloth.'

'I've got everything I need.' Lisbon turned and walked back towards the street, Jane following close behind.

'Let me guess,' he said.

'Don't you always?'

'Wow, someone's in a mood today.'

'Just guess, Jane,' said Lisbon.

'The young woman hasn't been a nun for very long, a few weeks at most. She's always been religious, comes from a family who are all strong believers.'

'Ah!' said Lisbon, the first hint of a smile reaching her face.

'Let me finish,' said Jane, climbing into the SUV. 'Except for an older brother. He's in some trouble, a gang maybe, no, drugs. He's caught up in a drug turf war and the poor girl got caught in the crossfire.'

Lisbon shook her head.

'Which part did I get wrong?'

'None. I don't know how you do it.'

'Yes you do, Lisbon. You've worked with me long enough.'

'I know you read people, but...'

'Oh look, Rigsby and Cho,' said Jane, glancing back at Lisbon as he walked away from her. She rolled her eyes and followed him back onto the sidewalk towards her subordinates.

'What have we got, Boss?' asked Rigsby.

'A young nun was found at eleven sixteen this morning, potential serial killer or a drug turf war. Cho, check with Gangs, find out if the victim's brother was involved in anything. Rigsby, I need you to stay behind and talk to anyone who comes in or tries to leave the church. Someone must know something.'

'Yes, Boss,' they replied in unison.

'Jane, we're going to go talk to the family.'

Lisbon poured herself a glass of wine and perched on the sofa in front of a movie. Occasionally she enjoyed watching a crime movie, just to laugh at the inaccuracies and see how quickly she could solve the crimes presented to her. Halfway through she got bored, the case was predictable and she only continued watching to see if she was right. Thankfully, a gentle knock on the door pulled her away from the mundane second half.

'Merry Christmas,' said Jane as soon as she'd opened the door. Lisbon held her breath, tempted to close the door in his face, until the smile on his face left her feeling a little guilty.

'I'm busy and you're encroaching on my personal time,' said Lisbon, to which Jane scoffed. She wasn't sure if he was being serious or merely joking around with her, so she stood silently.

'You're no fun,' he said stepping to one side. 'Ta-da.'

Lisbon raised an eyebrow and glanced behind him towards a utility vehicle. The truck appeared to be filled with Christmas trees.

'No,' she said sternly, her eyes bearing holes upon Jane.

'No what?'

'No, it's barely December.'

'Come on Lisbon, don't ruin the festivities.'

'I'm not; it's against the rules, we can't have a tree that big in the bullpen. Even if it wasn't, it would still be a no.'

Jane's smile grew causing Lisbon to feel all the more uncomfortable. Whatever he had planned she didn't like it, why on Earth he thought it okay to commandeer the holiday and plan their workplace decorations was beyond her.

'That's not for the bullpen,' he informed her, but his response did little to settle her woes.

'I live in a one bedroom apartment,' she reminded him. 'You can't possibly think a tree that big would fit in my home.'

Jane laughed from the pit of his stomach, a bellow that could almost be mistaken for Santa Claus.

'Don't be stupid Lisbon, why would I get you a tree bigger than your apartment? It's for the children's hospital.'

The charitable gift that Jane was sharing almost made Lisbon cry, until he produced a small tree almost a third of the size of the one in the truck from beside him. Lisbon frowned, he wouldn't, would he?

'This one's for your apartment,' he grinned, holding it up for her to get a better look. Lisbon groaned as he pushed his way into the apartment.

'How many times, it's not even Christmas yet. Thanksgiving was less than a week ago.'

'Come on Lisbon,' he said as he moved the tree around the apartment searching for the perfect spot.

'I don't even have any decorations,' she uttered, feeling her will dissipate. Their current case was moving along too slowly and the strain of the impending holiday season was giving her a migraine. She simply couldn't find the energy to argue with him.

'Don't worry,' said Jane, dropping the tree onto the floor and a small box down beside it. 'I figured you didn't have anything.'

Begrudgingly, Lisbon made tea whilst Jane decorated the tree. If he was going to force the tradition upon her, he could at least do all of the work. On some level his efforts were appreciated, not that she ever wanted to admit it. He'd chosen a real tree as well, the same kind her father used to being home for her and her family to decorate. The last time she'd had a Christmas tree in her home was the year her mother died, it stayed empty long after Christmas and well into the New Year.

'Time to go,' Jane announced as soon as the tree had been covered in decorations.

'Time to go where?' she asked, but he'd already left the apartment and climbed in the truck. Lisbon paused by the doorway, before she reached for her jacket and followed him out into the winter's night.

A short and answerless drive brought them to the children's hospital that Lisbon imagined would be the receiver of Jane's tree. Every year, whenever she received anything for Christmas she opted to donate it to a worthy cause. Sometimes she even bought presents for her niece and nephews, only to donate them to the hospital and send a card filled with money instead.

Despite regularly donating to such a worthy cause, Lisbon has been yet to set foot on hospital property.

'Don't look so worried,' said Jane as he waved the assistance of two medical students who willing took Jane's Christmas tip. 'They're only children.'

That made the entire situation worse, not that Jane knew that. Her mother had spent her last Christmas in the morgue; Lisbon spent the same holiday in the children's ward with a badly broken tibia. Besides work related visits, Lisbon tended to ignore hospitals at all costs. Her hesitation didn't escape Jane's notice.

'You can't live your life in the past.'

'I,' she began but her voice broke away into nothing. She took a deep breath and pushed the lump in her throat away. Thankfully, Jane pulled the truck into a parking space and shut off the engine.

'Here,' said Jane, handing her a black bag as they walked towards the entrance. Lisbon furrowed her brow and looked inside. If Jane was trying to take her mind off her Christmas troubles, it was well and truly working.

'NO!' she shouted, shaking her head as Jane grinned at her. He said nothing, only stared in that way a small child might stare at someone awaiting an answer.

'It's for the children, Teresa,' he reminded her, before pulling an item out of a second bag. 'Unless you'd rather be Santa Claus, but I don't think you could pull off the masculinity.'

Lisbon cursed quietly and whacked him across the arm.

'I was wrong, take your pick!'

'I said, no.'

'Come on Lisbon, you don't want to be known as Scrooge from now on, do you?'

Lisbon cursed again, carrying the green and red elf costume through the double doors and into the nearest bathroom. She could hear Jane's excited glee which only made her want to thump him harder, except that it was December and she was about to fight back against the most difficult memories of her childhood.

An hour and a half later, Lisbon followed Jane back to the truck. She listened as he repeated some of the things the children said to him and relayed some of her own experiences. They'd handed out presents provided for by a local non-profit, naturally the children loved Jane and Lisbon's face ached from the amount of smiling she'd done.

'It's getting late,' she said as they pulled up outside her apartment.

'Promise me something, Teresa,' said Jane. She smiled and nodded. 'Don't take down the tree.'

'I won't,' she whispered before closing the truck door, wishing there wasn't an impending feeling of dread settling in her stomach.

She watched him drive away from the doorway to her apartment, then made herself a mug of cocoa and analysed Jane's attempts at decorating her tree. A few adjustments here and there made her happier, topped off with the addition of a handful of decorations she'd kept from childhood. Tears stung her eyes as she hung a small stocking her mother knitted when she was a baby, a small T embroidered into the yarn, followed by a star they topped the tree with every year for as long as she could remember. Until…the final decoration she placed on the tree was a small Christmassy picture frame her niece had made as a Kindergartener which contained a photograph of her and her dad. Lisbon stood back and admired her handy work, it wasn't the same, it would never be the same, but maybe that was okay.

The next morning Lisbon arrived at work late, as much as she'd attempted to stem the flow of tears the night before, it had been near enough impossible. It felt strangely therapeutic though, which made the act of tree decorating more important. A weight that had rested heavily on her heart at this time of year had lessened, it was still there, but it felt a little easier to manage.

'Where are we at?' she asked as they team sat down to discuss the case.

Cho flicked through his notepad. 'Turns out the young woman had a boyfriend before she joined the nunnery, he wasn't too happy about her decision. A member of the congregation saw them arguing approximately twelve hours before the murder took place.'

'Have you contacted the boyfriend?' said Lisbon.

'Not yet.'

'That's your first job, Rigsby, Van Pelt, anything else?'

'I called around the family's home but nobody was home, apparently the mother has gone to stay with her sister near Lake Tahoe,' said Van Pelt. 'I spoke to a neighbour though; he seems to think the girl was forced to become a nun after she got pregnant.'

'You and Rigsby go to the sister's house, speak to the mother and find out as much as you can about the supposed pregnancy.'

'Yes Boss,' said Van Pelt, standing up.

'Wait a minute,' said Lisbon, pulling a box out from under her desk. 'Jane bought a tree for the bullpen; I want you to spend no more than an hour decorating it.'

'But Boss,' said Rigsby, who glanced at a smiling Jane.

'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth,' she said, closing her file and standing up. 'One hour and then I want you back on the case, we'll be working late tonight, so make the most of it.'

Lisbon opened the box and pulled out a couple of packets of decorations and a box of chocolates for the tree. 'Don't eat them all at once.'

Van Pelt excitedly reached for the decorations whilst Jane took a couple of handmade robins from his couch. Lisbon watched them organise the items and found her lips curling at the edges.

'Make sure you save me one,' she said before returning to her office and getting back to work on paperwork.