A/N: SPOILERS FOR 2x03 RED BADGE
Eh, yeah, not quite sure why I'm doing this to myself but hey. I don't have any fixed plans for this but I have a fair few ideas of what ways I want to take this. I'll have to write down something more definite soon, just so I know where I am with this, Unbound and er, some other things I have up my sleeve, no thanks to twin.
Oh - and go join Jello Forever and join in the Secret Santa! Sign ups have already opened because we're super organised like that.
This part is for Frogster, who said I should write something based on 2x03. It's also a little brief, but future chapters will probably be longer.
x tromana
Title: Better
Author: tromana
Rating: T
Characters: Jane/Lisbon, Team, Minelli
Disclaimer: Not mine
Summary: How do you go about winning a trust that has been shattered? Can you win it back at all? Jane/Lisbon post 2x03
Spoilers: 2x03 Red Badge
Better
Part One
"I don't want your stupid, damn coffee Jane," Lisbon snapped.
"But…"
"Just, just go and do something useful for a change."
Jane stood, still holding the polystyrene cup of steaming hot coffee and simply stared at Lisbon, refusing to move. Never before the whole McTeer debacle had she refused a cup of coffee from him. Eventually, he sat opposite her instead, staring directly into those haunted green-grey eyes of hers and trying desperately to work out what was going on in her head. It was only natural that that case was going to get to her. Despite all of Minelli's hard work, her reputation had still taken a bit of a battering and it was obvious that people were still looking at her thinking that she could quite easily turn. That little Teresa Lisbon was a prime candidate for becoming a murderer. Even members of her own team were slightly more suspicious than before, though they wouldn't dream of admitting such a thing. And it was all because somebody simply wanted to blemish her testimony rather than admit to the crimes he'd committed.
"You accepted that doughnut from Marie's without question."
"Why would anyone at Marie's want to drug me?"
"Why would I want to drug you?"
"You tell me."
Yes, he pushed the boundaries a little and yes, he had always been aware of their minor trust issues, but he had sincerely believed that they had been working through them. It was like they had gone two steps forward and seventeen steps back. Silently, he cursed the wedge that had come between them. It was like he could hear the fractures in their already fragile friendship cracking as they became wider and wider, threatening to shatter beyond repair. Jane hadn't realised just how much he relied on Lisbon before she had almost been whisked away through no fault of their own. He didn't want to lose her, he couldn't. It was a big thing for him to admit, but she grounded him somewhat and far more than he had ever realised before.
"When I had to fake concern to get Minelli to send Carmen over, I wasn't pretending."
"Is that meant to make me feel any better?" she snorted. "Go away, Jane."
He refused and she scowled at him, quickly attempting to distract herself with the paperwork lying in front of her. Her eyes narrowed when she picked up a seemingly harmless memo from Minelli. There was no way she was going to agree to that, not since one psychiatrist that her boss had trusted had already abused her trust. She stood and Jane smiled gently at her.
"He wants you to see another shrink, doesn't he?" he whispered.
"It's none of your business Jane," she seethed as she rose from her seat. "Haven't you heard of curiosity and the cat?"
"Yeah."
"Well, maybe you should take heed then."
"I would, but I'm not a cat."
"I expect you out of here by the time I get back."
Without a second look back, she stormed out of her office and past a rather bemused looking Grace Van Pelt. She stormed into Minelli's office without knocking and he looked up at her genially, with a rather expectant look on his face. Normally, he would be annoyed with anyone who just walked into his office uninvited but Lisbon was a special case and to be entirely fair, he had been waiting for her to do so all morning. Irritably, Lisbon slammed the memo down in front of him and folded her arms across her chest, simply waiting for an explanation. When he didn't answer, she sighed heavily and flopped in the chair opposite him.
"Why?"
"I believe it'll do you good, Lisbon."
"And what if I refuse?"
"Then I'll have to restrict your work in the field," Minelli replied. "I can't risk having you out there otherwise."
"You wouldn't do that," she muttered. "You know my team need me."
Minelli narrowed his eyes slightly and Lisbon's shoulders sagged in defeat.
"Fine," she sighed. "But I'm not happy about this."
"I know, Teresa."
She nodded slightly and went to leave, feeling bitter. That hadn't gone quite the way she had hoped it would.
TBC…