Author's Notes: Okay, so I have been off the radar for quite some time. I got writer's block and then life got in the way, but I'm back :) For those of you who read Amalgamation, I haven't forgotten about it. I'm still working on it and will hopefully update it soon. I hope you enjoy this one.

M-Rating for future chapters. This will be 10 chapters long.

~o~

For Chizuru Chibi. Happy VERY belated birthday. Hope you enjoy it.

Thanks to Lily for editing and Tracie, Yana and Grace for being awesome cheerleaders.

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Chapter One

Patrick Jane hesitated before opening the door, thinking over his strategy. He had heard that it was going to be a woman. That made it infinitely easier for him. He could easily charm her. So before getting into the room, Jane straightened up, opened the door and stepped in, smile on his face, ready for the show.

His smile faltered as soon as he saw who was sitting at the desk.

He chuckled to hide his embarrassment and surprise. He was definitely going to have to rethink his strategy. "Sophie. Um, Dr. Miller," he greeted the woman. "I didn't expect to see you."

Sophie got up from her chair and smiled warmly at him. "It's really good to see you, Patrick."

"It's good to see you too," he answered, unsure if it were true or not. He knew he wouldn't be able to charm his way out of this mandatory therapy with Sophie like he would have done with anyone else. He sat down in one of the two armchairs in a corner of the office. "I think it's pretty useless to do polite chit-chat on the coincidence that you are my therapist."

Sophie nodded as she sat in the other chair. "Yes, it would be useless. Agent Hightower called me for a favor, which I was more than happy to give."

"Hightower, huh?" Jane asked skeptically, not so easily fooled. He knew who was behind this and why. "Please, this has Lisbon written all over it. She knew that you would be the only person who would get me to talk. Clever one, isn't she?"

"I think she cares a great deal about you."

Jane laughed, irritated by Sophie wasting both of their times by stating the obvious. He definitely wasn't happy with this turn of events. He liked her; he really did, but her presence meant that this ordeal would be more of a hassle than he had previously believed. "That's hardly a revelation," he told her. "Any other wonderful insights, Dr. Miller?"

Sophie narrowed her eyes. "Patrick, these sessions are mandatory and despite my…" she paused, thinking of the appropriate word, "fondness for you, I will sign you off only when I feel that it is appropriate for me to do so."

Jane relaxed a bit into his chair and sighed, smiling at Sophie apologetically. Sophie had always looked out for him. Why would it be any different now? "I'm sorry. I feel I've been a bit shanghaied here. It seems Lisbon is getting better and better at pulling one on me."

"I'm sure Agent Lisbon never meant for you to feel cornered."

Jane chuckled again. Clearly, she hadn't assessed Lisbon's character yet. "Oh, she did. Believe me, she did."

Sophie eyed him carefully, gauging his reaction as she asked her next question: "Does it bother you?"

He wasn't too sure what bothered him more: Lisbon shanghaiing him or Sophie asking him if it bothered him. "We're already starting with the shrink stuff, huh?"

Sophie shrugged nonchalantly. "That's why we're here," she answered non-apologetically. "You haven't answered my question." Jane grinned at her. He had always liked this about Sophie Miller: she wasn't a bullshitter. He knew she would get him to talk so he might as well talk. If he gave the illusion of cooperating, she would probably sign him off sooner rather than later.

"On the surface, yes," he answered her. "It's irritating when someone gets the better of you. But in reality, I quite like it. She gives as good as she gets," he said with a smile, thinking about his spunky Lisbon fooling him.

"Was she like that when you met her?" The question startled him, although it shouldn't have. It was a simple question, but he wasn't duped. He knew the meaning behind the question. Did he, Patrick Jane, influence Teresa Lisbon to change a fairly big part of her personality? The answer was unfortunately yes. He had made Lisbon a little more cunning and conniving than she naturally was. He looked at Sophie straight in the eyes, and from the expression on her face, it didn't look like he needed to answer her question.

"Do you like to see yourself in Lisbon then?" she asked, not waiting for an answer she already knew.

Jane did not like this question. These were the dangerous territories he was very keen on avoiding. "Isn't this little therapy session supposed to be about what happened with Red John?"

Sophie raised an eyebrow and looked at him, silently, for a good minute, clearly working something out in her head. Finally, she nodded, and said, "Fine. We can talk about Red John, if you prefer. How do you feel about his death?"

"Relieved." He paused. "Irritated."

"Why the irritation?"

"I didn't get to slit his throat."

"But you did kill him. It was what you wanted. You got your revenge." Apparently, Sophie was inclined for a 'state the obvious' therapy session.

"I was quite partial to the throat-cutting scenario," Jane insisted.

"Why didn't you slit his throat then?"

"Because –" Jane stopped himself and laughed. He almost fell for it. "Very clever, Dr. Miller," he congratulated her.

"What?" she asked innocently, but Jane wasn't fooled.

"Why do you want me to talk about Agent Lisbon so much?"

"She was the only other person present at the scene beside yourself and Red John," Sophie explained simply, which Jane, once again, wasn't buying. He had a feeling he was going to need to take back his earlier statement about Sophie not being a bullshitter.

"What's the real reason?" Jane persisted.

"When I met you, and discharged you, Patrick, you had no one in your life. You were alone. Today, it's quite the opposite. You have people in your life you care about and one of them prevented you from doing the one thing you desired the most, the one thing you were living for."

"What's your point?" Jane said irritably. He really didn't like where this conversation was going. Maybe he should just quit the CBI. This mandatory therapy was definitely much harder work than he had anticipated.

"Why do you want to remain close to the one person who didn't make your goal a reality?"

"Because I've got nothing else to do." He gave her his automatic answer, the one that seemed to satisfy everyone's curiosity.

"That might be good enough for Hightower and Lisbon, but I'm not buying it."

"I'm not sure what you want me to say." He was not ready to go there. He didn't want to talk about his relationship with Lisbon. It was too complex.

"I wonder, Patrick, if your decision to remain with the CBI isn't solely dependent on not knowing what else to do. The CBI is the easy way out."

"I don't find these mandatory therapy sessions an easy way out," Jane pointed out.

Sophie chuckled. "True, but they're only a temporary inconvenience." She checked her watch. "Our time's almost up. Do me a favor, please. This week just think about what you would do if you couldn't stay with the CBI or join any other law enforcement agency. What would you do?"

"I've always been keen on becoming a clown."

Sophie smiled, clearly amused, but sent him a warning glare. "I'm serious."

"So am I."

"See you next week, Patrick," she dismissed him.

~o~

To Be Continued…