Minelli shook his head, sinking back into his office chair. Any moment now, Patrick Jane would be coming through the door. It was the first time he had heard from him in maybe, four years? Then, out of the blue, he gets a phone call from Jane telling him that he would like to come back and work for the CBI for the first time since the murders of his wife and child. Yet, only on one condition: He was to be put back on the Red John case and he wanted to work with the team who currently had it. That would be Lisbon.
Minelli hadn't discussed this with her, and he was sure that she wouldn't be too pleased if he assigned her a 'consultant'. After all, she was an ambitious woman, who would probably take that as an insult to her work. What was he to do? He told Jane to just come in, and they could talk about it face-to-face. The truth was, Minelli wanted the time to think it over. It was tempting- Jane had closed so many cases at the CBI in the past that he could have taken over for the entire building. In the last month, they had been having a rather pitiful number of closed cases, and the new ones were now in a large pile on his desk, yet to be sorted through. Knowing Patrick Jane, he wouldn't take no for an answer even if his life depended on it. He was sure to depart from the CBI building and never return if Minelli turned him down. So what was there to do but to assign him to the Red John case? It had been four years after all, since his tragedy, and he seemed stable enough when he had talked to him on the phone. Was it really worth losing him by turning him down on the case? If there was one person who would be capable of finding Red John, it would be Jane.
The silver car pulled into the parking lot of the CBI. It was an old model, very unique, and much like it's owner in many regards- it was showy, charming and intriguing, and yet at the same time, unreliable and prone to breaking down frequently-- which could potentially cause many accidents-- very much like it's driver, indeed.
The engine died loudly as the keys were removed and a pair of brown shoes stepped out and began to walk toward the red brick building. He came through the door, and went upstairs to the office he knew resided on the far end of the hall. A multitude of busy agents were tapping away at their computers or answering phone calls and paid him little mind as he passed through to his destination: opening the door that said "Minelli".
"Patrick Jane!" A large smile replaced the previous look of preoccupation on Minelli's face. As he leapt from the chair moving toward the handsome blond man who had just entered the office.
"Hello, Minelli." Jane smiled back politely with his set of white teeth, reaching out his hand to shake the grabby one in front of him.
"It's nice to see you again!" Minelli continued as he wrung Patrick's hand, releasing it and returning to his desk chair, rubbing one of his baggy eyes as he settled himself.
"Mm, Thank you, It's nice to be back." Jane replied calmly, nodding at him. He was getting the warm welcome he had anticipated, and this pleased him. It was certain to Jane, that he would be getting what he wanted dearly, which was to work on the Red John case.
Patrick took the opposing seat, after taking a quick scan over the familiar office; not much had changed in his four year absence-- though it looked like the pictures had been swapped on his desk and there were quite a bit of folders towering up.
"You look very much the same, Jane. I can't believe it's been so long since we've seen each other! It seems like it was only yesterday, when--" The small talk lasted for a good ten minutes, and Jane could tell that Minelli was stalling for time before the conversation would be turning serious. It was clear that he was reluctant to put Jane back on the Red John case- especially for what had already happened.
Perhaps his hesitation was well based, granted on the reasons Patrick Jane had for working on the case. He was on a mission- which was to seek revenge on Red John. He wanted to see this man suffer for what he had done. Jane wanted to watch this man die slowly- he wanted to kill this man, just as he felt he was killed himself on the day his family was murdered. Jane felt like he had become an empty shell, encompassing a troubled and fragile soul within. The mask of serenity and arrogance was gone in the late hours of the night as he lay awake in his bedroom, all alone with only his thoughts as they manically swam around in his head like a group of starving piranhas.
Jane knew Minelli though, he wouldn't be satisfied with that type of talk or behavior in his office, and if Jane wanted to be put back on the case, he knew he would have to play it calm and cool and not alarm Minelli into thinking he was unstable. The office grew silent after a few more minutes of their idle chatter, their conversation coming to a stale-mate after they had discussed everything from the weather to the lazy office workers.
Minelli broke down having no other alternative than to get down to business, He began by heaving a reluctant exhale. "So we were going to discuss the Red John case."
"Yes." Patrick Jane sat up more attentively, as if he was waiting for the verdict from Minelli. It was as important as life-or-death that he worked on the case- without it, Jane was as good as nothing. What other reason and goal would he have to live if he couldn't at least get some sort of satisfactory closure for some of the evil he had caused?
"Here's the thing Jane," Minelli paused, leaning forward onto the table in front of him, resting his clasped hands on the desktop. "I don't know if I can trust you on this case." Jane blinked, taking a deep breath, but before he spoke, Minelli raised a hand and continued. "I don't want any trouble from you on this, and I don't want to deal with the consequences of Lisbon and her thoughts of being assigned a consultant-"
"You don't have to." Patrick said firmly. "You won't even have to talk to her, you can just leave it to me and I'll explain the situation-" Minelli held up his hand to silence him. "What I'm trying to say Jane, is that the CBI can really use you right now, and I can't turn you down." Jane grinned and started to rise, again, Minelli's hand went up. "But Jane, Jane! If you turn crazy on this, you're off the case quicker than you can say 'murder', you got me?" Jane nodded, "Clear as day. Thank you." Jane stood up fully, shaking Minelli's hand with a large grin, and looking him in the eyes.
Minelli pulled open a drawer and retrieved some paper work that he had signed earlier to have him back on as a consultant. "Go give this to the people down at the front desk, and go get a new card made for yourself. Welcome back to the CBI, Jane."
"Thanks Minelli." With that, Patrick spun on his heel making his way for the door. Minelli called out to him, "Wait, Don't you want me to call Lisbon and introduce you both?"
Jane waved him off, "No need! I'd rather go meet her myself if you don't mind- talk to you later."
As Jane left, Minelli settled back into his seat hoping he hadn't just made a mistake. He couldn't ponder it for long however, because the phone rang and it was back to business- as usual.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review if you like it so far! Coming up: Lisbon's reaction to getting assigned a consultant and Jane meets the team.