Disclaimer: I do not own The Mentalist.
It's one of those many things that he has ended up subconsciously studying. It goes somewhat like this:
"Hi Lisbon".
She blinks in surprise when she hears his voice, almost tripping on her own feet and stumbling down. He is lying on the sofa with his eyes closed when she is walking past him, yet, he knows it's her. She wonders if he cheated and squinted his eyes open at some point. It isn't like she was staring at him that she'll know! She quickly brushes those thoughts aside and focuses on the subject at hand."I'll bite. How do you do that?" she asks curiously.
His shoulders lift up in a casual shrug as he sits up on the couch, his eyes open now and a smug grin on his lips. "Foot-steps, Lisbon. It's actually really easy to tell. Cho's foot-steps are very professional, restrained, Rigsby's are clumsy. Van Pelt's is stylish, seductive, with clicking of heels. But yours…. Yours is fast but steady, heavy when you are anxious because you press your foot on the floor with pressure to release some of your tension, but otherwise calm."
She shakes her head as he finishes explaining, grinning back at him playfully. "Fascinating. So you are lying here studying our footsteps instead of trying to help us find the killer?"
"Nah, the case is solved", he says in a bored tone, plopping back down on the couch. "Just wait and watch, you'll catch your killer."
She places her hands on her hips, staring at him incredulously. "So you're playing one of your mind games again and you're not telling me?"
"Deniability" he reminds her, smiling. It's strange how he is always trying to protect her. He doesn't understand himself sometimes, especially when it comes to Lisbon, he doesn't understand why he is trying to shield her from every harm. Perhaps he needs to study himself a little more, otherwise, the answer to this would be the obvious 'he is falling for her', which he doesn't want to think of right now.
She crosses her arms over her chest. It's her job on the line, but she'll do the job perfectly any way. "I'll bite."
It's this fearless, dedicated Lisbon that draws him in, more so because he can see the soft heart inside, healing from the bruises of a hard child-hood, a kind of hidden pain resonating from her every time she lets her guard down.
So maybe this is where they connect. Maybe this is how he's been slowly falling for her...
After another night full of nightmares of Red John and his daughter and that wretched face of blood on the wall, he wakes up to his phone ringing loudly at an early hour in the morning. He vaguely glances at the number for two seconds before answering, already knowing who it is.
"There's a homicide in XYZ. Jane, get here quickly", Lisbon's voice rings in his ears, commanding, authoritative, but his trained ears manage to pick up the tone of frustration. By now, he knows she's grumpy in the mornings, even though she'll never admit it.
He answers with a yawn and a mumbled "I'll be right there", gets up, gets ready, and is there at the crime scene quickly.
"The man's a local plumber", Lisbon explains to her team as they head to the scene together, everyone paying attention. Well, everyone except Jane, who is busy taking in the bright hue of the paintings in the walls. "His body was found by security this morning, said he's been working all night. So we're putting time of death between midnight and early morning. We haven't heard from the house-keeper yet, she's visiting her friend right now, we should- Jane, don't touch that!" Her tone changes to a commanding hiss as Jane drops to the floor to inspect the murder weapon, a long nail in this case. "Jane!" she repeats firmly. He rolls his eyes, ignoring her as usual. Sometimes he feels like she's a baby-sitter, and he's the mischievous little child that she's scolding. He takes a sniff of the weapon, before Lisbon is behind him with her arms crossed over her chest and her lower lip jutted out in a pout.
When he gets up, it isn't his fault that he's a little distracted by how adorable she looks when she's mad, one of the many reasons that he likes to get her mad. But the smile tugging at his lips fades as soon as he sees the second nail lying in a far away corner of the room, strategically hidden from view.
And then he's rushing out of the crime scene, Lisbon yelling a "Jane!" at him and ordering Rigsby and Van Pelt to take it from there as she and Cho run behind Jane. "Jane and his whims", he knows that's what she's thinking in her mind.
He's rushing to the friend's house, managing to find the place by some uncanny mental game that she doesn't feel the need to ask him about- why torture her brain early in the morning? He opens the door, which is weirdly unlocked, rushes in, and throws open the doors of the rooms one by one.
"Jane, what is going on?" she demands, in vain, since he doesn't feel the need to answer. He is lost in his work, in his thoughts, in his fears by then.
One door swings open to reveal that wretched face of blood on the wall. His heart pounds and the familiar dread in him begins to crawl in as his eyes lower to the two blood-drenched bodies lying on the floor.
Lisbon and Cho join him, panting from all this running. "Red John", Lisbon whispers, taking in this new crime-scene.
He hears Lisbon giving orders to Cho and making calls in the background, as his mind replays the images of Red John and his innocent little daughter and the face on the wall. His eyelids flutter shut as he takes in a deep breath.
This is how it goes. Every time he gets close to Lisbon, every time he thinks he may be able to move on from the past and look at the future for once, Red John kills someone and reminds him of every single thing he has lost, and every single thing he may lose. Every time he gets close to Lisbon, Red John reminds him that it can be her body on the floor next time, with that wretched face of blood on the wall.
So he can't, he can't get close to her. Until he finally manages to kill Red John. Till then, it's one of those many things that he has ended up subconsciously studying. It goes somewhat like this…..
A/N: This was my very first try at The mentalist/Jisbon. Thank you so much for reading! PLEASE review! All comments and criticism are welcome, I'm here to learn. Thank you :)