Disclaimer: The characters arent mine, but I am playing with them, you know, the usual disclaimer stuff ;)
Blasted, Damnable, Infuriating man!
Teresa seethes in her office, fingers clenching on the edges of her desk. A vain attempt to keep herself seated against the crackling sparks of emotions that threatened to ignite her.
Another case, Another moment where his defiant know it all attitude damn near cost her everything. Damn him for throwing himself headlong into the most dangerous situations without a care to how he'd survive them! was he that desperate to die?
He's outside her office, chatting and laughing with the other members of her team. As if nothing strange had happened today. As if he hadn't been held at knife point by the murderous duo they'd been trying to catch.
She tries to reason with herself, to calm the fear and rage that swirl inside her mind. It's his right after all, to act however he likes now that the situation is over. it was his life in danger. But no matter how much she forms the words in her mind she cannot erase the haunting image he'd made. His life in danger, the mottled silver pressed perilously close to his artery. The edge sharp enough that if the man decided to act, Jane would bleed out long before the ambulance could arrive.
She'd never be able to forget it, the bitter cloying taste of fear that had damn near choked her when they burst into the apartment. The way it tasted like ashes in her mouth, or the way heavy weights dropped into her stomach at the sight of him so close to being lost. It was only through years of training that her gun didn't waver. That the shots she took to save his life didn't go wide.
And when it was over? when she was sure that he was alive and not for that to change in the immediate future? When he turned to her with those beautiful charming eyes that fooled almost everyone else and told her that he'd had a plan? She'd nearly decked him.
She couldn't trust herself to speak to him on the ride back. In fact she'd barely spoken since they'd gotten to the office. Just left them behind to do their jobs with a few soft instructions that they really didn't need. She'd walked into that small little office of hers, closed the doors carefully and with that same deliberation drawn the blinds. Though she's seated her body hasn't stopped trembling, fear and adrenaline mixing with supreme irritation still bouncing around her cells like an overactive puppy. She should have been doing paperwork. But she can't even unclench her hands enough to pick up the pen. What if next time he isnt so lucky? what if next time he runs off scattering breadcrumbs to the wind she isnt fast enough to solve them and he really does die?
Anger and despair chase themselves around her skull, fearful thoughts mixed with vehement curses. She would find no peace here, not now, probably not today at all. But as she rises and pulls her jacket on she realises she still needs the reports from her team. She really shouldn't leave them another day.
Double damn.
Exiting her office was easy, pulling the door open without slamming it was a little harder. Shaking away any hints of anger was slightly more difficult. Especially when she saw they were chatting with him, all laughter and smiles and exhilaration for the thrice be damned conman, apparently ignorant of how close he came to dying that day.
"Rigsby, Van Pelt, Cho"
Her voice is snappier than she meant it to be. But she cannot apologise for it now, if she tried she'd lose momentum. And momentum was the only thing stopping her from falling apart.
"Where are your reports? I asked for them an hour ago."
Cho's smile fades and he returns to his desk, Rigsby and Van pelt both turn an flushed red and stutter out, "yes ma'am, sorry ma'am."
At least they had enough sense not to make an issue of her tone. Jane however did not seem to have such sense, "Don't mind them Lisbon, they were just congratulating me."
Her fists clenched at her sides, nails biting into her palms with a sudden savageness. Like a child at a candy store his eyes brightened , "speaking of, usually you have a lecture for me after these things. I quite like them. but you've been unusually quiet."
She doesn't know how to take his 'I like them' statement. So she ignores it for now. and she doesn't dare respond to the challenge in his tone. Instead she snaps, "Have the reports on my desk tomorrow morning, clear?"
"Yes Ma'am" is chorused back at her, obediently. Without so much as a single glance at jane she turns on her heel and walks back to her office. Each step feels tight, her entire body is thrumming with barely leashed anger.
"Teresa? Aren't you going to take this opportunity to tell me what an idiot I am? you usually do."
Cant he just leave her alone? he's followed her into that corridor to her office. Logically she knows he's doing what he always does, pushing her buttons. But she can't do it today. She hisses, "Go away Jane."
"Ooh. That sounded nasty. What's bothering you?"
Punching Jane is Bad. Punching Jane is BAD!
Her fingers instead close around the handle to her office, taking comfort in the solidity of the smooth polished steel. For a second it grounds her, reminds her exactly where she is and why it is imperative that she doesn't explode.
"Lisbon!" his hand touches her arm and that moment of control is lost, "Fuck off jane!"
She didn't mean to say it, and she can tell it has startled him. he jerks backwards, eyes wide with shock, "What?"
Looking at him now she could feel her heart constrict. He was terribly handsome. Impish and delightful, true expression on his usually perfect mask. But still anger grips her, and makes her almost spit out, "Leave me be! You've had your fun for the day. Let me try and clean up the mess you made."
His eyes narrow suddenly, the pupils constricting to dark slits, anger on his face, mingled with confusion and shock. He growls, "You're being unfair."
Of all the accusations to hurl at her, that was the most absurd. And unfortunately it was what broke her last remnants of control.
"Unfair?"
Her voice is quiet. not the good quiet used in mischievous games. But the kind of quiet that just signals an oncoming storm.
She repeats, "Unfair?!"
Her tone is sharp enough that she is almost able to pluck the words from the air and wield them as a blade. Teresa turns to face him, no longer tight with tension but instead primed for a fight. her feet have planted themselves a shoulders width apart, her entire body is primed for that one push that would make it glorious knockdown powerhouse struggle.
"I'm being unfair? I'm not the one who ignored orders. Who keeps ignoring orders. Who neglects to tell this team anything after we stick our necks out for you day after fucking day. and I'm not the one who nearly died today at the hands of two psychopaths because I couldn't be a team player for once!"
She steps closer to him, her mouth has thrown her off a cliff and for better or worse she is doomed to follow this to the end.
"You put my team at risk. You put yourself at risk. We had it under control and then you threw all of that out of the window when you ignored us. You spout this crap about trusting us. But you don't do you Jane? no. you just pick at us for your own amusement. Like puppets on a string. Well this puppet is done dancing."
She has to walk away. on one hand she's so damn happy he's alive , so much so that she wants nothing more than to break all her rules and kiss him till she wipes that image from her mind. On the other she is so damn angry that he wont just listen to her for five seconds that her fingers are itching to land a punch.
Neither of which are appropriate for a workplace. So she pushes past him, not running away from this fight, her pride would not let her concede anything to him at this point. but rather a tactical retreat.
She's almost to the elevator before he recovers. Before she hears him let out the shocked breath he'd been holding. She stands inside the elevator, waiting for the doors to close. and then she sees him start to move, racing towards the elevator. With a cold stare she presses the close door button, hoping vainly that the doors will close in time to stop him following her here. but whatever providence had watched over her earlier in saving his life has left her to her fate now as he in a surprising burst of speed manages to dart between the closing doors.
She doesn't fear him. more she fears what she will say. The secrets she's kept wound around her heart, protected by a tower of iron and a fully loaded 9 mm pistol.
Authors Note: HI GUYS!
I am so very sorry about how long it's been since i've written something new!
I have a pretty good excuse though, i'm in my last year of Psychology and have spent basically all my free time working on my Thesis. but now that its done, I'm BACK!
So this is the first Chapter of a new story i'm working on. I hope you enjoy it ;)
As always reviews are always welcome ;)
Ta Ta For now
~ MadamRed