BRUISES

Hello! This story takes place in season 4, not too long after the 'War of the Roses' episode. It's rated M because the F-word is used two or three times. I don't own this show, of course. And my only promise for this fic is that there will be Jisbon. ;)

Summary: Lisbon gets fed up with Jane. Events follow.

The summary is crap, I know.. but I don't want to give too much away. I hope you give this fic a try anyways.

Alright I'll shut up now.. on to the story!

Teresa Lisbon was well known throughout the CBI for her unique demeanor. Cool and calm, people around her labeled it. St. Teresa, the cool and calm martyr of Serious Crimes. Nothing could push the woman off the edge. She was capable of getting annoyed, and irritated, and angry, but she always kept her cool when it happened. This made her a good agent.

It also made her a worthy adversary for the (also famous) consultant, Patrick Jane, who was quite a handful. Jane sometimes made it seem like it was his purpose to attract as many lawsuits and angry politicians as possible. He closed cases, but at a high price - although not high in terms of money. It was a wonder how Lisbon could put up with his stubbornness, his antics, and his constant demand for tea and blueberry muffins. She kept him in line with an iron fist. On her watch, the CBI stayed afloat amid his risky, unorthodox methods.

However, the fist eventually began to rust. Teresa found herself being more and more lenient with the consultant, one month after the next. It started after the whole Timothy Carter fiasco. Perhaps getting shot had softened her up. Perhaps she felt sympathetic towards Jane. After all, he had shot the wrong man. Timothy Carter had been a twisted, evil person, but he had not been the one Jane had been hunting for.

Slowly, cautiously, Jane begun to confide in her more, trusting her with all the details he gathered about Red John. He did make some bad choices along the way, and she scolded him for doing so, but did little else to reprimand him. Lisbon's grip on the man, her ability to keep him in line, deteriorated over time, until she no longer felt like she was in charge of him. She couldn't make him follow the rules. She couldn't stop him from doing dangerous things. She couldn't get him to respect her authority. This was incredibly troubling.

In a typical Lisbon fashion, however, she kept cool and calm. She dealt with it. She got over his stupid stunts. She ignored his ego. She pushed his stinging words into the back of her mind, forgetting about them and moving on to other things. Jane closed cases. That was all she needed.

At least, that's what she told herself. It wasn't long before she realized how wrong she really was.

Jane stood, speechless, his mouth agape as he witnessed the woman transform into a person he had never seen before. She was furious, clawing at him madly and shouting so loudly that he thought her little lungs would burst. Her usually pale skin had reddened to a shade of strawberry, and her big green eyes, once gentle and friendly, were glowing with anger. Her whole office shook with her rage.

He had no idea what he had done wrong. Well, yes, he had let a criminal free - Erica - but he had done much more severe things than that. And Erica wasn't even dangerous. She was probably thousands of miles away by now, in some Caribbean paradise. It was highly unlikely that she would return and go on a killing spree. Erica wasn't the reason why Lisbon was so mad, was she? What had really pushed Lisbon off the edge?

Jane could no longer hear what she was roaring at him - she probably couldn't hear herself either. Her words came out like an explosion. They were jumbled and scrambled, making absolutely no sense. But the woman continued on with her tirade, marching around her office and gesticulating wildly, trying to make points that were unintelligible to the consultant. For such a small person, she had a very big voice. If he listened hard enough, Jane could make out a few of her words. He picked up mostly name-calling, insults, and multiple profanities. They were all aimed at him. The woman was definitely not St. Teresa at the moment.

Lisbon hadn't laid her hands on him yet - she was attacking him verbally, but not physically. She wouldn't hurt him, would she? Jane's eyes darted down to her waist, and he let out a small sigh of relief when he saw that her gun was not there. It wasn't like he was expecting her to shoot him or anything, but in the state she was currently in, nothing could be ruled out. Because this wasn't his Lisbon. This was a Lisbon he had never seen before, and she looked extremely dangerous.

She was slamming her fists down on the desk now, sending various pencils and paperclips rolling away onto the floor. Jane stared at them as they fell, his feet glued to the ground below him and his hands shoved deep into his pockets. It was a first. He was the one who didn't know what to say.

He was glad, though, that it was late. The entire building was empty except for the two of them. Nobody else was there to witness Lisbon lose herself. She had a reputation for her control and self-discipline. People respected her for it. He didn't want anybody to see her break down.

Lisbon was still shouting, though her voice was starting to get hoarse. She had stopped pounding and was now waving her hands desperately in the air, her knuckles red from striking the desk.

Jane knew he had to do something. He couldn't just stand there and let the woman rant on until she fainted of exhaustion, or went totally insane. He had to calm her down. After that, they could talk it out. Surely it was an issue that could be easily solved with some work.

He unglued himself from his spot next to the couch, and walked with heavy feet into the danger zone, towards the still raging woman. He caught her arms in midair.

"Lisbon," he said.

She froze, silent. Her eyes bore into his as he tightened his grip on her arms, afraid she would escape. She made no attempt to.

Unsure of what to do or say next, Jane acted on instinct and wrapped his arms around her, pulling the woman into a warm hug.

Unfortunately, he forgot to recall that she was not a hugger.

She whipped out of his grasp immediately, even more furious than before, if that was even possible. Two small hands landed on his chest and shoved him backwards. Another stream of profanity rushed out of her mouth. The consultant fell backwards onto the floor with a thud.

Now, Jane was starting to get angry too. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked, rising from the floor. "What do you want?"

Lisbon let out a mocking laugh. "Ha, you're asking me?" She pointed a thumb towards herself. "It's funny, Jane, because for the past few months I have been asking myself the same question about you." Her thumb curled back into her fist, and she jabbed an accusing index finger at him. "What is wrong with you? What do you want?"

Jane backed up a step. "I want to know why you're so angry."

"I am angry because of you." She retreated her finger, and crossed her arms over her chest. Her voice was getting softer now, returning to the way it usually was. It seemed like she was calming down.

Jane nodded. "Well, yes, I figured that part out while you were busy calling me a jackass. What have I done to make you so angry?"

"Everything," she hissed.

"You're not helping," he said.

"You're an asshole," she replied.

"You've already called me that at least seventy times today. Really Lisbon, what's the matter?"

"That's one of the reasons why I'm angry. Because you're an asshole."

"Oh."

"You're also selfish."

"Okay."

"And disrespectful."

"Okay."

"Stubborn."

Jane nodded but still couldn't understand her rage. They had known each other for years. He couldn't help being stubborn, or selfish, or disrespectful. Or an asshole. It was just the way he was. Did she want him to suddenly become somebody he was not?

"Lisbon, I've always been like that."

She nodded. "I know. But not to such a high degree. It's gone way too far, Jane."

"You could have just spoken to me about this, instead of going all monster-Lisbon on me."

"I did. Well, I tried. You never listened."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

However, Jane was not convinced.

"Are you sure that's all?"

"Uh, yeah, I think."

"You're not angry about Erica?"

Her expression hardened again at the mention of the woman's name. "Of course I'm angry about Erica."

"You didn't say so."

"Dammit Jane. Just shut up."

"Look Lisbon, I understand." he took a step closer to her. "But you don't have to worry. I won't go running off with her. Really. And we'll catch her eventually. She's good at hiding, but she can't do it forever. You don't have to be jealous."

Lisbon frowned. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about Erica. I know you're jealous of her. It's perfectly understandable. You're a woman, after all."

For a fraction of a second, Jane saw the look on her face change back to one of anger, and disgust. Then Lisbon raised her right hand, and promptly slapped him - hard - across the face. She didn't say anything, which was actually more frightening than when she was shouting at him.

Jane's head reeled back, spinning. The flesh on his face stung, burned, felt as if it was about to just wriggle off.

He let out a cry. "Agh.."

Lisbon stood silent, but still angry. Her eyes glowed once again, and her hair disheveled. Her hands were balled up into tight fists at her sides. She was seething.

Jane was angry again, too. "What was that for?" he said, rubbing his cheek, which was starting to turn very red. "I was just telling the truth!"

"You were being an ass!" Lisbon exclaimed. "That's all you've been, lately! An ass!" She threw her hands up in frustration. "You're lucky all I did was slap you."

"Am I not allowed to give my own opinions? I thought that you were jealous. It seemed like you were. Sorry I was wrong, but it's not like you are always right! Seriously, Lisbon, you-"

"Shut the fuck up!"

Jane froze in surprise. It wasn't just her use of the F-word (a word that Teresa Lisbon never used) that caused him to do so. It was the look in her eyes. Lisbon looked like she was about to do something much worse than slapping him. He fell silent immediately.

She glared at him, turning red once again. "If you ever listened to me, we wouldn't be here right now. So I'm asking you to shut the fuck up for once, and listen, alright? Jane, you have been behaving like an arrogant, stuck-up bastard for the past couple of months. You don't give a damn about anybody but yourself. You are selfish, you're disrespectful, you're stubborn. It's hard for us to do our jobs with you like this. I'm the one in charge. Not you. If you screw up, then it's me who has to fix the mess. I can't follow you around all day, making sure you don't do anything stupid. Even if I did, you'd manage to do stupid things anyway. You know what the rules are. I want you to respect them."

Lisbon let out a breath, feeling a bit better now that she had released the thoughts she had kept bottled up for so long. Her eyes fixed steadily on Jane, waiting for his response.

He was exasperated. "For God's sakes, Lisbon! I've always been like this! Are you asking me to be somebody I'm not?"

Lisbon sighed, disappointed. He didn't understand her point at all. "I'm asking you to think of people other than yourself."

"I do!"

"Well it sure doesn't seem like it!"

"What do you expect me to do? Be just like you?" The man attempted to mimic her voice. "Yes sir. Thank you, sir. Right away, sir. Of course I followed protocol, sir. Case closed, sir. Everything is taken care of, sir. If everyone was like you, we would get nothing done!"

As the words left his lips, he realized that it was not the right thing to say. Before Jane got a chance to take it back, the woman swung at him, landing a punch square in the face.

She striked him with such force that he lost his balance, staggering a few steps back before his legs gave way under him. He crumpled to the ground once again. Only this time, he didn't get up.

The consultant lost consciousness as his head hit the cold floor. The last thing Jane saw was his boss' face, hand over her mouth, alarmed.

Well, that's all for now - thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews would be super lovely. Chapter 2 is coming up soon. :)