Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist
Season 1: of tests and boundaries (early S1)
Jane padded slowly towards his battered couch, a cup of fresh tea in hand. The normally busy CBI bullpen was quiet this late at night and he always enjoyed the peace of it. Earlier this evening it was boiling with activity, phone calls and pics of their last case. It had not ended too well though. Jane sighed as he dropped onto the coach, careful not to spill his drink. He wasn't being fair, the case had been a success: the guilty wife had been sent to prison after murdering her rich husband. She had not thought she was gonna get caught, so consequently she had not considered her 5 years old child who was now without any of their parents.
Jane rose his blue cup to his lips and grimaced, placing it again on the little plate. Luckily Van Pelt had found very fast some relatives and the child wouldn't spend a single night out of somewhere she could call home. Really days like this were tough…
Crossing his legs he tried to relax with his cup of tea, caressing the leather of the coach absently with one hand. Being always right sometimes was a pain. He had guessed it was the wife almost since the beginning but had been wishing that maybe, maybe he could be wrong and for the expression on Lisbon's face she surely was expecting the same. Neither of them had commented it aloud, but just one shared look and they had understood they were on the same page. It was not a surprise for him to find out that, when he had explained his stunt and the possible outcomes, she had quietly asked Van Pelt to look for relatives of the little girl. Sometimes it was as if she could read his mind. He didn't like it at all but had to reckon it was useful, especially when a stunt of his got out of control, which surprisingly for him, happened very often. After these 5 years, he and Lisbon worked surprisingly well together.
He raised the cup to his lips again but just stared at the empty space in front of him. Days like this were horrible…
"Not your flavor?"
He blinked, startled. Lisbon was standing beside him, her coat already on, a big bag hanging over her shoulder, clearly she was leaving.
"Meh. Too hot" He shook his head slightly, the dim light reflected on his curls "I thought everybody was at home already?"
He tried not making eye contact with her, that case had hit close home. All cases involving children did.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Lisbon tilting her head to one side, pondering something. Probably she was wondering if he was all right. He suppressed a little smile at the thought and tried to hide it rising his cup once again. He was mildly amused to be under Teresa Lisbon's wing, the whole team was, although he never gave it too much thought. That was how she was. She had this urge to protect. Not that he needed it, but if it didn't interfere with his goal and made her feel better…
At last Lisbon seemed to reach to a conclusion and rested a hip against the nearest table without approaching.
"Cases with kids are always hard" She said slowly
Jane made a non-committal sound, trying to look nonchalant. He was never comfortable when anyone got too close to his thoughts and Lisbon, without noticing, had the ability to do it every now and then. Their relationship was, as it was, convenient, he didn't need anything else. He closed cases and she granted him access to the Red John files. He suppressed a shiver at the name and Lisbon pressed on.
"Luckily she has relatives willing to keep her" Lisbon was groping in the dark. It was impossible to read Jane if he didn't want to be read, which was 99% of the time.
Jane shrugged feigning indifference while she watched closely, accommodating better the strap of her bag over her shoulder.
"Van Pelt found them. What an asset to your team, isn't it?" Jane deflected, now looking her in the eyes "A little naïve if you ask me, but she knows her way with computers. And she can efficiently distract Rigsby from cleaning our fridge every time he feels like it"
Lisbon smirked but composed her face quickly "Our team" She remarked "And as you know this kind of relationship would be against CBI regulations"
"What kind of relationship?" Jane asked innocently, flashing her his trademark grin
"Love relationships"
"Are you suggesting Van Pelt and Rigsby have and affair?" He mocked in feign horror
Lisbon stomped the floor with one foot impatiently "No, YOU are suggesting that"
"Me? I don't remember doing that. Let me think…" Jane touched his chin with the tea cup breaking eye contact for a second, before holding Lisbon's gaze again "Nope. I'm pretty sure it was you who suggested it"
"Jane…" a warning in her voice
"Lisbon…" He mimicked
Lisbon inhaled deeply and, Jane was sure of it, counted to five holding her breath. He could see the internal debate within her, to carry on a fruitless argument she was not going to win or to let it go maintaining her authority intact. He smirked internally counting 1, 2, 3…
"Never mind"
At last her common sense won and they fell silently again, being the ticking of an old clock on a wall the only sound in the room. He sipped his tea grinning.
Lisbon was a good cop and a better human being, although a little tight, and in these 5 years together he had learned to respect her but also he was willing to try how far he could go, how far she would let him before snapping at him. It was fun to watch honestly, the only distracting thing in his otherwise dull existence. He had seen more than once a spark of amusement in her eyes when one stupid plan of his had succeeded, only to be replaced by a stern talk about protocols and inappropriate behavior. Although that spark intrigued him, he was far more interested wondering how far he could stretch her book of rules…
This was the kind of relationship he and Lisbon had. He, prodding and testing her boundaries, trying to figure out which buttons to push to make her jump. She, keeping him at arms length talking about professionalism and rules but at the same time trying to make him feel part of something. Not that he needed it. He just needed to finish off the bastard who killed his family, after … he was not sure if there would be an after.
"Is there something you want? It's late and I'm sure you have a home to go" He snapped, trying to regain his composure.
Lisbon blinked, uncomfortably, and took this as her queue to leave "Yes, I've just come to say goodnight" she straightened herself and Jane pretended not to see the hurt in her eyes, looking through the window and sipping his tea. He really didn't want this.
He waved a hand at her dismissively "Good night Lisbon"
"Night Jane"
Lisbon turned on her heels and went to the elevator, not sparing a glance at him. She had been watching him in this case and had been aware how restless he was at the end. She had figured out it was because a child was involved, he always seemed to react particularly strong when there was a child in the mix. But maybe she had guessed wrong. She was never sure what he was thinking.
She pressed the button waiting for the elevator.
This was the thing about Jane, she thought biting her lower lip, he was so secretive and isolate that she couldn't help trying to make him feel part of the team, even though knowing the possibilities of succeed were scarce. Deep down Lisbon knew he didn't want to, but she was stubborn and knew that he needed it, the team, the job. He needed to have solid ground under his feet.
Being perfectly aware who Jane was, she knew the only thing he had was his revenge, the rest of it, the rest of them, were just a convenience to his goal, a way to pass time. But the CBI was all he had and she was willing to forget some of his tricks and eccentricities to give him somewhere to belong, and maybe with time…
She shook her head and entered in the elevator, pushing a short strand of hair behind her ear. This man was infuriating half of the time, and the other half a pain in the ass but he closed cases and that was what really mattered at the end. To bring justice to families and victims. If only it were easier to make him follow the rules... she felt half of the time he was testing her. Like a guinea pig, she felt…observed. As if he was trying to rile her up to see how she would react, prodding. Pushing him was her way to mantain the status quo but at the same time she tried to pull him towards the team.
She groaned inwardly, feeling the beginning of a headache. After 5 years she knew too well the Jane-headaches as she called them. Her consultant liked to play a lot, too much to be honest, especially with people and most of the time she felt being part of his playground. But she was not having any of this, so she snapped at him for his antics, feeling threatened in a way and, always tensed, unable to relax around him. She chuckled without humor, the rest of the team was even more un-relaxed, if this was even a word. She could swear she'd seen Rigsby flinching when Jane, with a mischievous glint in his blue eyes, had explained a con that involved him somehow.
Sometimes she felt unsure when he joked with her, not knowing whether to play along, to stay silent or to cut him off. Normally it was the latter, but more and more recently she had found herself retaliating, which had led to a surprised look on Jane's face and a brief bantering. Not professional, but she had to reckon seeing the fake psychic at loss for a moment trying to win the upper hand instead of just having it felt empowering and good.
She fumbled with her big bag trying to found the keys of her car. Why on earth did she have such big bags? It's not like she carried lots of things around…
At last she opened the door of her car and jumped behind the steering wheel. She was giving too much thought to this, but she couldn't help worrying about Jane and the team, dreading that one day closing cases wouldn't be enough and she would be fired.
She started the engine and sighed. At least with Jane around she was never bored.