A/N: Well, here's a fun little tale as to why I have written this. I was originally writing it for my other Mentalist story, 'Office Hours', but I decided that it was far too long for that and not as happy as the rest of the one shots in it are. Thus, this extra story was born!
Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist, sadly.
For the past week Lisbon had been noting things down in her head, committing certain things to memory that were of importance. Since the first day on Monday, Jane stepped into the elevator with her, and every day until Thursday he had done the same.
On the first day, she had noted that he faced her and smiled his familiar knowing smile at her, intent on already making her think into things more than she should. He asked her how her weekend alone with her ice cream had been, and she barked a negative answer at him before storming out of the elevator feeling flustered and slamming the door to her office. Then in the afternoon, they stepped into an unusually crowded elevator then rode down a floor where yet more people came in. Jane was standing behind Lisbon, and she had to step back to let others in. Feeling already a little claustrophobic in the cramped small space she was stood in, her alarm at how close she was stood to Jane was heightened considerably. When they stopped at on the bottom floor, they waited until everyone in front of them left until they could move freely. Lisbon had been trying very hard not to concentrate on feeling her consultant very close behind her that she jumped when she felt his hand at the small of her back, leading her out of the building.
Tuesday was ever so slightly different. He still faced her, still smiled at her, but didn't ask how she was, which wasn't enough for her to worry about him just yet. She just assumed this was another one of his tricks to make her think back to how close they were last night, to how much free space they had now. Her thoughts on why he did these mind tricks within such a personal space led her mind into overdrive. As she flaunted out of the elevator towards her office, she looked back at him for a second and barely caught sight of Jane gracing the situation with a wink and a rather flirtatious smirk. This gained three confused yet slightly amused expressions from the rest of her team, knowing the moment she closed the door to her office they'd be either taking bets on what was going on between them, or bombarding Jane with questions. Both outcomes would no doubt embarrass her more than it should. That afternoon in the elevator, which was by no means as crowded as it was yesterday much to her delight, she was still going over that wink in her head, replaying it like a video. It wasn't like he hadn't winked at her before, or done something that seemed remotely like flirting, but it still always caught her off guard. Today he stood at the other side of the elevator but stared pointedly at her across the three other people in there with them. She knew he was only doing this to make her feel uncomfortable, especially with the other three now assuming something was going on from the 100 watt smile lighting up his face.
On Wednesday was when she first started noticing something odd about him. He didn't face her, but stood parallel to her; she looked sideways and saw him looking down at his hands which were busy fiddling with his wedding ring. By the time it came to packing up for the day, Lisbon was expecting his sudden change in character slightly as he became more prone to annoying her when more people were about. This time, however, Lisbon prayed that he would stop being Jane for the ride since Minnelli was joining them for the ride with a couple of other Agents. Jane laughed to himself as Lisbon spurted out some compliments about him as Minnelli and one of the agents picked holes in his working habits to save his job. Lisbon barely heard him whisper his theory that they were just jealous that he worked so closely with her every day because he had just kissed the side of her head. Lisbon nudged him away slightly with a look of embarrassment, confusion and anger. She walked out knowing he only did it to annoy her and make her feel downgraded in front of her peers. Maybe.
Things had started to feel very different for Lisbon as Thursday's trip in the elevator came about. Once again, he stood parallel to her, smiled as they walked in but quickly fell into a deep set frown. Lisbon was about to ask what was wrong but saw him fiddling with his wedding ring again. This time, much to her surprise that she fought so hard to keep to herself, he went as far as pulling it all the way off, and then put it back on quickly. She looked away as Jane let out a heaving sigh, knowing he had never taken it off since the murder of his wife and child. He dared a glance at her to see if she had noticed but knowing that she probably had. He looked for a reaction in her face and saw nothing, which surprised him in more ways than he should probably think. He continued to fiddle with his ring until an urge grew inside him for something he wasn't sure of, so he quickly thrust he hands inside his pockets and found that doing that was the only reason he was still in control of himself right now. Several emotions were bubbling inside of him, begging to be let out. The most prominent one was his confusion as to how Lisbon was acting towards him, and how he was acting right back. He was completely aware that she was thinking the same thing despite her feelings for him which she tried to hide because she assumed regulations stood for consultants as well. Jane was glad he was finding solace in a woman that was so translucent with her 'secrets', but then immediately tried pushing that thought out of his mind to let even more confusion to take over in that it was her that was bringing this strange feeling of comfort. The worst thing was that he was sure his feelings hadn't gone unnoticed by Lisbon.
The ride down in the elevator that night was as uneventful as the ride up. Uneventful in that neither spoke to each other, both too busy battling inner emotions they weren't sure should be there.
On Friday morning it had gotten to the stage where she was visibly surprised that Jane wasn't waiting for her in the car park or near the entrance to the building. She rode the elevator alone that morning and felt incredibly lonely, refusing to let herself believe the reason why she felt empty. She walked out on her floor and glanced quickly around the bull pen. Rigsby, Van Pelt and Cho were all still at home probably, since the three of them didn't usually turn up an hour early. Her eyes lingered over the leather couch that Jane had unofficially claimed as his own and felt a lump in her throat when she realised he wasn't lying there like she expected. She sat down on it, relishing in how comfy it was. It was weird to her seeing this place how he must see it. She looked over to her office and jumped with fright as she saw the blinds in her office move slightly. Standing up, hands at her gun she walked steadfastly towards her office. She got to the door and pushed it open to find Jane sitting at her desk, head in his hands.
"Jesus, Jane, you almost gave me a heart attack! What are you doing in here?"
Jane looked up and slowly met her eyes. She was shocked to see evidence that he had had even less sleep than usual.
"I missed you this morning," He shrugged and looked away, "and I don't know why. So I came in here."
Lisbon was taken aback, not knowing what to say that could salvage the situation, she went with what first came to her head, "That's because you weren't in the elevator with me this morning, did you take the stairs?"
Jane shook his head no, "I've been here a while, I couldn't sleep at home, so I came here to think instead, I've been waiting for you for about an hour."
"What do you need me and my office for at this time, Jane?" Lisbon asked, perplexed, wondering if this were another one of his mind tricks.
She watched him as he slowly moved his arms from off the desk which had been blocking part of the view of it. Lisbon almost audibly gasped at what was revealed. Lying in front of him on her desk was his wedding ring. Neither of them moved for a few moments, Lisbon stared at the ring on her desk. Jane stared at her.
"I can't wear it anymore," he whispered to her, "instead of reminded me of my wife and daughter as they were alive, it just brought memories of how they died, why they died and who did it. Recently I've been questioning why I wear it, and I've decided I don't want this unnecessary connection with Red John anymore. It reminds of what he's done and that he could do it to me again."
Lisbon sat down across the desk from him and slid her hand towards his, a sentimental act for reasons she had fought to keep inside herself for too long.
"I can't let him take everything from me again Lisbon." He whispered, grabbing her hand, "I can't let him keep me from you."
Reviews certainly are a cool way to tell me what you think, since I don't possess any psychic abilities myself.