Disclaimer:I own nothing. The show and the characters belong to Bruno Heller & his team.
Thanks to CKLizzy for beta-ing!!!!
-------------------------------
Strawberry red
"Teresa."
"Sam."
Teresa Lisbon nodded towards Sam Bosco when she met him in the foyer of the CBI building in front of the elevator, but kept herself from being too friendly. She didn't want to talk to him now - not after just having taken over a new case that seemed to be quite tricky. There were other things to do than having a small-talk with Sam.
He was kind of a difficult person to talk to, anyway. Outwards he came across as the typical experienced agent who couldn't be shocked by anything. The sort of agent who has – after 25 years of service – seen everything and would be an enrichment for every team. But Teresa knew that Sam had other sides, too. He could really make his point – in every respect. He had contacts – up to the most influential circles. And he had a good feel for prestigious cases. Which was once more proved to be true when he got the Red John-case from Minelli overnight. It wasn't that she mistrusted him. She once had trusted him unconditionally. But that had been a long time ago and she wasn't sure anymore if this hadn't been the biggest mistake in her life.
When the doors of the elevator opened, she stepped in with her mind lost in thoughts about the new case. She didn't notice how his eyes searched for hers as if he wanted to read something in them that she would never tell him voluntarily. She also didn't notice his gaze, wandering slowly over her body, down to her petite hips as if he recalled a pleasure in the far past.
Teresa pushed the button for the 3rd floor and thought about her next steps in the new case. Very often it wasn't as it seemed at first. With her thoughts she was already in the office, went through all the small things again that had caught her eye in the apartment of the dead woman. When she heard Sam say something, she didn't notice at first that he was talking to her.
"Hello?" Sam asked when he didn't get an answer from her.
It was only then that Teresa realized he was trying to get her attention. But Sam took this as something very different…
"Okay. Other question," he said when he was sure she was finally listening to him.
Instead of an answer she lifted her eyebrow.
"What's that thing between you and Jane?"
Teresa's mouth fell slightly open and her face displayed disbelieving amazement. "Nothing. Why are you asking me this?"
Sam didn't answer her question, but only pointed at her face.
"You've got some piece of strawberry there," he said in a tone that didn't tell whether it was just a declaration or the beginning of an interrogation when his finger pointed at the corner of her mouth.
For a second Teresa's eyes showed an appalled expression when she hastily wiped over her face with the backside of her hand.
"May I take this as a confession?" he reasoned.
Teresa quickly shook her head. "Sam – what's this about?" she asked him. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Sure enough you do," Sam replied smugly. "And I'm sure that is also the reason why I was called and asked to take over Red John. You've learned nothing, Teresa. Nothing. I thought you were cleverer…"
Teresa wished she could escape the narrowness of the elevator and just go. It was hard enough to see Sam more often now. It was hard enough to see how he took over her most important case. But the hardest thing to see was that nothing had changed. He still was the smug agent with loads of experience and in his presence she still felt like the naïve, inexperienced newbie.
And that he now obviously was assuming she was having an affair with Patrick Jane – and there was nothing else to infer from his questions – put her over the edge.
"Sam – once and for all: There is absolutely nothing between me and Jane. He's my consultant, that's all. And I didn't even want him at first. He's a member of the unit and meanwhile I appreciate his remarkable skills in observation and analyzing. He's managed solving cases only by touching the hands of witnesses. This is quite fascinating."
"So fascinating that it requires testing in a self-experiment?" Contemptuously Sam looked at the corner of Teresa's mouth, where a small strawberry red spot still revealed that she recently tasted the sweet fruits. "I saw you yesterday. Minelli told me to follow you; in the van was still a box of evidences I had to check for the Red John case. Tell me - since when is it common to get hugged by the consultant or to be fed with strawberries by him? Are these new tactics to solve homicide cases? If so, I'd really like to learn it, too." There was an obvious, sharp sarcasm in Sam's voice.
Finally the elevator doors opened and Teresa almost fled from the cabin. She was awfully embarrassed about Sam seeing how Jane had hugged her. Even though he had drawn completely wrong conclusions, as he obviously had missed what the conversation right before that hug had been about.
Of course Sam was up to think she was having private contacts to Jane. Apparently he had already assumed that her relationship with Jane was far more than one between colleagues when he had taken over the Red John case. She had sensed that clearly in the short conversation in Minelli's office.
But there was nothing she could blame herself for. Except, maybe, this deep gratefulness to Jane for saving her life a few months ago without thinking twice. It had taken her a few days until she had fully understood the momentousness of his act. And when that comprehension finally flooded her mind, she gave him even more credit for doing it, because in that second he had ranked her life before his thirst for vengeance. She knew that his life was only a long row of days waiting for the moment when he would finally catch Red John. And give him what he deserved. But he had missed this chance. Knowingly. Deliberately. Because of her.
She still had to swallow hard and hold back her tears when she thought about this. She knew she was deeply indebted to him – deeper than she would ever be able to repay for.
When she turned around to Sam once again, her look was severe. "There is nothing I have to blame myself for." she said coolly and headed for her office.
********
When arriving there, she closed her eyes and leaned against the door as soon as it was closed behind her. It hadn't been a lucky coincidence that Sam had noticed the hug from Jane. She knew Sam. She knew what he was thinking about her. She was aware of the fact that Sam from now on would watch even more closely how she acted around Jane.
He hadn't bought it when she assured him that there were no contacts between her and Jane outside the office Although it was the truth. Well - almost, that is.
There really were no contacts other than regarding things in the office – apart from these thoughts that recently crept into Teresa's head every now and then. Thoughts that crawled into her mind though she tried hard to push these short reflections aside. In the last weeks she noticed more and more often that her mind became independent and projected certain pictures into her head. Pictures of Jane. Snapshots of his hands running gently over her face. Playful little things he had said to her in this typical teasing voice which were echoing in her head. His eyes in these rare moments when he was totally honest with her – and which made her heart cramp because she could do absolutely nothing for him.
Maybe she was really too close to the Red John case. Maybe she was too compassionate; maybe she understood Jane's ambitions too well by now. Maybe she was only chasing Red John to give Jane the chance for revenge so that he would finally come to terms with himself. Maybe her subconscious mind had changed allegiance. This should have felt wrong, but oddly enough it didn't. It felt right. As right as few things in her life ever had. And that was what worried her.
Slowly Teresa opened her eyes to chase away her melancholic, profound thoughts. When she walked through the room and towards her chair, she noticed the small plastic box that was placed in the middle of her desk. It was full of strawberries.
Her mouth automatically showed a smile. When she grasped one of the mellow, juicy berries, put it into her mouth and felt that incredible taste on her tongue, the thought if a kiss from Jane would taste as sweet as this flashed her mind. Without Teresa's notice the fruit juice left a small spot in the corner of her mouth. Strawberry red.