Unexpected Changes

Lisbon sat quietly in her office. Paperwork was piled all over the place, but she hardly noticed. She kept thinking back to eight weeks ago, when Patrick saved her life. When she heard that gunshot, Lisbon expected pain. Instead, she saw Jane with a rifle, and him throwing it down a few seconds later. (Which wasn't the smartest thing; it could have gone off again. Freshly fired guns are dangerous.)

Anyway, afterwards, they had tried to go back to a normal work relationship. But something had changed between them. Something was not the same. At least, Lisbon thought so. Jane didn't treat her any differently. Still, something had to be done.

Lisbon stepped out of her office, and looked into the bullpen. Jane was alone and asleep, and the rest of the team was off doing God-knows-what. Normally, she would have been dismayed; Jane is dangerous when idle. However, this time, she welcomed the solitude. She walked over to the old leather couch. "Jane?" No response. "Jane!" She still had no reaction. Lisbon sighed and contemplated his sleeping figure. Beautiful…

Wait, wait, wait… Focus! You are here to talk, not to swoon, she told herself. Jane still was not awake, but a knee to the ribs would fix that.

"Ohh! Woman, what is your problem?" Worked like a charm.

"I have to talk to you," she told him while mentally cursing herself for getting into this. This was going to be awkward.

"Then talk. Don't drive your knee into my ribs," he teased.

"All right." Lisbon took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "When you shot Hardy—two months ago, something changed."

"And that something is?"

"I don't know. But we've changed. It was a major turning point for us. And…"

"Are we in a relationship or something?" The glint is his eye told her that he was restraining laughter. Then he was instantly serious. "I know what you mean. I've noticed it too. You've finally realized that you care about me."

"What?"

"You care about me."

Lisbon had to fight a blush. "No, I don't."

"Well, then why would you do that?"

"Do what?" Then she heard Cho's voice.

"I'm with her, Jane. Do what?"

"I might be able to go with you guys during suspect apprehensions. No more waiting at the car!" Jane looked like a little kid.

Lisbon was faced with a decision. Tell the team, who was now standing in the doorway, the (awkward) truth, or give in to his demand. God, that man was cleverly infuriating. And arrogant to boot! Still, she loved to be around him…

"That's right. Even though he won't carry officially, we'll carry an extra gun in the cruiser, maybe." Note to self: Steal the office's supply of tea, and maybe the kettle, too.

Van Pelt looked surprised. "Oh, well… That's great!" Always courteous, that one. In a striking contrast to Jane, that little nit. However, Lisbon had to admit that he had his sweet moments. Who else would buy a pony for his boss? She looked down at him. He was asleep, no shocker there. Nonetheless, Jane had a content smile for once. Oh, well. He was good to have around…

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A/N—Well, there it is. It really has been eight weeks since the finale. *cries* Can't wait for the new season. (BTW: Check out the Wikipedia Article on The Mentalist. There is a character synopsis that should be news to some people… ;) )