A/N: I'm blaming boutondor for this. I know she's thrilled with that so... dammit. Stop feeding the plot bunnies at night!
Anyway, this is possibly for the Jello Forever May Challenge. Only possibly because it depends on if I can get it finished in time or not, what with the SSS, Army and Unbound all vying for my attention. Fingers crossed I will, I guess.
x tromana
Title: Dissolution
Author: tromana
Rating: T
Characters: Jane/Lisbon, Team
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: It, they, were history, over and done with. Something she certainly didn't intend to revisit. AU
Spoilers: General S2, possibly
Notes: AU, very AU. And possibly for the Jello Forever May Challenge. Prompt: Empty Promises
Dissolution
Part One
"No."
"Lisbon…"
"You can't do this to me," she whispered, her voice cracking ever so slightly. "You know our history."
"Yes and that's why I'm assigning him to you."
"Why?" she questioned, spitting the word out with disgust. "To rub salt in the wound? To constantly remind us of what we had? To cause far too many petty arguments than I care to imagine?"
"Because of all the senior agents I have, you are the only one with half a chance of getting him to listen to you."
Lisbon snorted in response. Minelli was either indulging in way too much wishful thinking or had gone completely insane. The very idea that Patrick Jane would willingly listen to her was absurd. He hadn't done so two years ago, when she'd been practically on her knees begging him to see sense, so why would he now? Last time, she'd just had to leave, not being able to stand him and his cloth ears any longer. It didn't matter how she felt about him.
How she still felt about him.
"But-"
"He'll be here next Tuesday at eight a.m.," he interrupted, making it obvious that her last minute plea had done nothing to change his resolve.
She stormed out of the office, slamming the door shut.
That could have gone a lot better.
000
He smiled at her.
Didn't even say hello, just smiled.
Lisbon closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then wordlessly indicated that he should follow.
He hadn't changed. Patrick Jane still wore the same suits, the same aftershave, the same damn smile that had always made her go weak at the knees. Still, she didn't have a choice about the matter. Minelli was insistent that he was her consultant and nobody else's. Maybe he was secretly hoping that they would resolve their differences, or more likely, that she would keep a closer eye on him than anybody else would because of their history and her obvious affections for him.
She sat down and glared at him. He didn't even have the common courtesy to even flinch as anybody else would have done.
"So," he started, still beaming at her. "How are you, Teresa?"
"Don't you even dare 'Teresa' me," she growled.
"It's your name."
"And?"
He furrowed his brow and she pinched her nose.
"Well what should I call you then?"
"Lisbon."
"Fine. How are you, Lisbon?"
He stressed her surname, making his distaste at being forced to use it obvious. Lisbon folded her arms and leaned back in her chair, looking him up and down. Jane was still smiling at her and more than anything, she wanted to wipe the grin off of his face. Just for once, just to prove a point. And to make it obvious that he didn't have any control whatsoever over her life anymore.
"Fine," she answered in clipped tones. "I know why you're here."
"Oh?"
"Red John."
He raised an eyebrow and she couldn't fight the temptation to roll her eyes.
"You think that by working with me, you'll have more of a chance of finding Red John than you would have done on your own."
"Is that really the case?"
"Stop playing games with me, Patrick Jane," she snapped and he was rather taken aback, if only for a second. "There's no point in lying to me. We both know that's the case."
"Yes, fine, you're right. I want Red John. Just like I wanted him five years ago. Just like I wanted him two years ago. Happy now?"
"Not really, no," she replied with a scowl. "But I obviously have no say in the matter."
"What makes you think that?"
"Plenty of things," she replied dourly. "Now, these are the ground rules. I don't expect you'll follow them, but I can only try."
000
It wasn't the fraternization rules that bothered her, she decided as she pulled up in front of her home.
Why should they? She'd divorced the man well over a year ago. Broken those vows they'd made to one another, promising each other's love forever. It, they, were history, over and done with. Something she certainly didn't intend to revisit. So, by working with Jane, she wasn't breaking any rules. And besides, it had been Minelli's decision to place him under her supervision. If Lisbon had anything to do with it, Jane would not have been employed by the CBI in the first place.
It was ridiculous.
But Patrick Jane was a dangerous man.
Not in the same way as the people she lived to catch. The ones who murdered their wives for cheating, their co-workers for getting a better job than they had, the serial killers who preyed on innocent women, seemingly for fun.
Jane was dangerous because he was inclined to trick people into giving them what he wanted. Gave people a piece of rope to hang themselves with, with little more than a few words prompting them. He had no understanding of the words 'rules' or 'boundaries' and little desire to learn about them either. She knew him more than well enough to know that.
And he still wanted to kill.
For that typical motive.
Revenge.
Red John had killed his first wife. Lisbon had known that since the moment she met him.
And then it struck her.
Minelli didn't particularly want them to fall head over heels in love again. Nor did he care whether or not she kept a closer eye on him than Jameson or Alessi or any of the other senior agents would have done.
He just wanted to make sure that she stopped him from killing a man.
Apparently, because of their sordid history, she was the only one who understood Patrick Jane's thirst for blood.
And not only that, but she had managed to woo him once since the demise of his first wife. Maybe Minelli was hoping that she would be able to charm him again, to help him, not so much see sense, but at least to remember there were other things to live for. That reminding him of a love once lost, that hope still existed in the world, would make him realize just how foolish his quest to kill Red John was.
She shuddered. That was a lot of responsibility for one woman.
Besides, if she was foolish enough to fall for him again, she needed to remember that he'd broken her heart once.
He was more than likely to do it again.
TBC…