Author's note: Written for the Paint It Red August 2012 Monthly Challenge. Prompt: "Sine qua non."
Bonds
He never needed anyone in his entire life. Never tried to win other people's approval.
He's an artist. He takes pleasure in his own craftsmanship.
Yet there is something else he craves nowadays. Something he can't do without.
Namely a worthy opponent.
He enjoys himself so much. The thrill of his little cat-and-mouse game. The pleasure of always staying a jump ahead of his enemy.
That's why he offered him his friendship. He'd really like someone like him among his disciples.
A pity that his longtime foe had to turn him down.
Perhaps he'd asked too much. The beautiful raven-haired agent has steadily become the sine qua non of Patrick Jane's sanity.
He can respect that.
After all, he needs him to stay sane. And he secretly savors the pleasure of more creative ways to torment him – now that at long last he has someone else to lose.
(Besides, he suspects that Patrick is not the only one to have a soft spot for the petite brunette. There are nights when he dreams of her alabaster skin, and the way it must feel under his touch.)
Seems that Teresa Lisbon is absolutely indispensable to them both.
That sounds very interesting.