A/N: So, I haven't completed disappeared off the planet. I have a lot to start posting within the next month or so, which'll be exciting for me. This first piece was written for the lovely Frogster as part of the Paint It Red Gift Exchange. I hope you all enjoy it, it was fun to write despite being somewhat out of my comfort zone.

x tromana

Title: Mistletoe and Red Wine
Author: tromana
Rating: T
Characters: Jane/Lisbon, team
Summary: One of Santa's elves has been killed - and Jane and Lisbon are trying to teach each other the spirit of Christmas.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Spoilers: Up to 4x06 Where In The World Is Carmine O'Brien
Notes: Written for Frogster in the Paint It Red Gift Exchange 2011 and Table I for mentalistprompt.

Mistletoe and Red Wine

Part One

"Ugh."

It wasn't a particularly dignified noise, nor did Teresa Lisbon care. As far as she was concerned this was ridiculous. Thanksgiving had literally only just passed and yet, the supposed Christmas spirit was already being rammed down their throats. Sometimes, it felt like there was barely time to breathe between one crazy season and the next. It was all an excuse for the shops to force people to spend, spend, spend money they didn't actually have on things they didn't actually need. Christmas, like most of the commonly celebrated and especially, the commercial holidays, was but one day a year. There was no need for it to last for two months.

Sometimes, she believed it was a shame that other people didn't share that principle.

"What? Don't you like the holidays, Lisbon?"

"Shut up, Jane."

"Someone's feeling touchy today," he replied, sniffing slightly.

"You know I don't mind Christmas it's just," she trailed off slightly as she gathered her thoughts. "Now? It's all too early."

"And here I was, thinking that you were turning into the Grinch."

"Yeah, right."

"It would be a shame," he admitted, smirking as he did, "that one so young had already lost her Christmas spirit, before the season had even truly begun."

She punched him lightly in the arm and smiled when he winced in response. Really, Lisbon knew she shouldn't have done it, least of all in a public area, but she didn't care. Jane was right; she was in a foul mood. She hadn't slept well the night before; it hadn't helped that Tommy had called her at some unholy hour, begging that she took care of Annabeth this weekend. And of course, Tommy had had to mention the dreaded phrase 'Christmas shopping', hadn't he?

"That's battery!"

"I'd like to see you make it stand up in court," she answered back quickly. "After all you've put me through…"

"What? Like what?"

Instead of answering, she just shook her head. They were nearly at their destination; the Santa's grotto. Naturally, she wouldn't normally head anywhere near the place. Her nieces and one nephew had all grown too old to believe in Old Saint Nick, so the place held little appeal. Except on this occasion, of course, this refuge of childhood innocence had been desecrated with murder. Somehow, the thought made her feel uncomfortable, and that was without having even seen the body yet. It was a shame whenever children were exposed to such cruelty in the world. Nobody young deserved to have their innocence stripped away from them and that was a feeling she understood all too well.

The mall's representative looked particularly stressed when he approached her. That was hardly surprising; this was a PR disaster. If the murder had happened during the early hours of the morning, before it had opened, then it would have been better. Not ideal, as death never was, but better. Instead, the victim had apparently dropped down dead in front of several traumatized children and a gaggle of shocked - and irate - parents.

"Thank you for coming so quickly," he said, with rushed undertones as he shook Lisbon and Jane's hands firmly. "Arden O'Hanlon, I'm the general manager. It's this way."

Jane shrugged at Lisbon as they fell into step behind O'Hanlon. With a scowl, Lisbon pushed aside the blue plastic, meant to denote a snowy and icy scene, in order to access the inner sanctum of Santa's grotto. The place was deserted now, aside from the body of the deceased. Lisbon knew that Cho and Rigsby were en-route, as was the coroner. As far as she knew, all three would be present within ten minutes. Genuinely, she hoped so. The sooner the girl could be removed to a morgue, the better. Not just for the sake of those running the mall, but out of respect for the victim herself as well.

"This is a disaster, a disaster, I tell you," he said, shaking his head as he looked at the body. "The amount of money we're going to have to offer as compensation…"

"Is that all that's important to you?" Jane snapped angrily. "Money? A girl has died here. Children outside are sobbing because they saw one of Santa's elves collapse and all you're concerned about is revenue?"

"Excuse me?"

"Don't you think there are more important things to be worried about?"

"Jane…" Lisbon said warningly.

"This isn't just any old girl either, this is one of your employees. Have a little decency!"

"Jane!"

"How dare you?" the man growled angrily. "You're meant to be a state agent; if you don't desist, I'll report you to your supervising agent."

"That would be me," Lisbon answered sharply, holding up one finger to remind the pair she was still present. "And he is not an agent, just a consultant. The CBI cannot be held responsible for Mr. Jane's outbursts and I can only apologize…"

"Jane? As in Patrick Jane? The one who killed Red John?"

"That's me."

"And he's working for the government, in a crime investigation agency?" O'Hanlon spluttered, gob-smacked at this latest development. "What kind of lunacy is this?"

"He's one of the best tools we've got. Now if you don't mind…"

"Actually, I do mind."

Jane opened his mouth to speak, but Lisbon gave him a warning glare. It was obvious that their first point of contact was already angry enough, without Jane continuing to wind him up any further. She was relieved when he actually got the message and clamped his mouth tightly shut. If Jane wasn't careful, this was a lawsuit waiting to happen. No, scratch that, she could already see herself being reprimanded by their young boss, who really didn't understand what he'd let himself in for. Just one day, she would have liked to have had a chance to actually get along with her superiors, instead of having Jane screwing it up for her before she even had a chance to try.

Not that working with Jane didn't have its benefits. If it didn't, she would have long since gotten out of the situation. She wouldn't have willingly walked back to him time and time again, either. Sometimes, Lisbon had to question her own sanity. She knew full well that Patrick Jane wasn't the most stable of individuals and she was more than aware of just how many negative repercussions he had had on her career. The amount of times he had nearly cost her her job already meant that there had to be more of a reason for her to continue putting up with him than just the simple fact he closed cases.

Deep down, she knew there was. And it wasn't just his charming, charismatic personality either.

But that was besides the point. Right now, she had a case to solve and more immediately, an argument to mediate.

"Jane has been cleared of all charges; he has no criminal convictions and therefore, is more than capable of working for the CBI."

"Thank you, Lisbon."

"Whatever."

"If I were on the jury, I'd have made sure you burned in hell," O'Hanlon stated angrily and Lisbon cringed. That was not the point she had been attempting to make. "But I assume I have little choice in the matter."

"I assure you, Mr. Jane will be on his best behavior, won't you Jane?"

Naturally, he didn't answer. He was already crouching over the dead body, clearly disinterested in the conversation. Just so long as he didn't actually touch her, Lisbon didn't mind. The coroner still hadn't arrived and she didn't want to be making excuses to yet another person on Jane's behalf. She swore that the day she heard him apologize to a member of the public - and mean it - that she would faint in shock. After all, it seemed like Jane believed her job was solely to pick up the pieces after he left. And because she was so good at it, that was why he had been desperate to ensure she kept her position within the CBI.

"Jane!"

"Huh? Oh yes, whatever she said."

She narrowed her eyes slightly as Jane stood up. With a somewhat devilish smile, he turned to face O'Hanlon again and Lisbon could just tell he was up to mischief. There was a certain look in his eyes, a spark which just screamed 'trouble'. The sooner that Rigsby, Cho and the coroner arrived, the better. Then, she could pull him out of this farce before he caused even more spectacular damage. Nervously, she watched as Jane pointed his index finger at O'Hanlon, not in a threatening gesture, just one of slow, dawning realization.

"You."

"Excuse me?"

"The costumes, they were your idea, yes?"

"Well, yes, but what are Santa's elves without elf costumes?"

"Do they really need to be so risqué?" Jane asked, keeping his tone light.

"They attract a wider audience!"

"Yes, I'm sure pre-teens really appreciate seeing that much leg on display."

"I meant the fathers of said pre-teens."

"Oh yes, the fathers, of course."

Lisbon coughed, not because she needed to clear her throat but to remind the men that she was indeed still trapped in this rather cramped grotto with them. The battle of wills was growing a little thin already, especially as O'Hanlon had taken an immediate dislike to Jane. She didn't entirely blame the man; if anything had happened to one of her subordinates and she found an almost-criminal working the case, then she would have been horrified. Except, she knew and understood Jane and therefore, it was much less of an issue to her. But if she hadn't known him…

"Can we stick to the useful facts, please? Like our vic's name, age, date of birth?"

"Boss?"

"Hey, Rigs," she said, turning to face him, Cho and the coroner, Pat. "Glad you could finally make it. Well?"

O'Hanlon paled slightly when Lisbon faced him once more. "Her name's Amie Stevens. Nineteen. Still lives with her mom and dad."

"Address?"

"I'll go get it for you."

"I'd like a list of all of your employees who have access to the grotto, too," she added after he took two steps away from her. "Starting with those who are working today."

"Ma'am."

With O'Hanlon temporarily off the scene, she pulled Jane aside while Pat got on with her work. The sooner they could get the body away, the sooner O'Hanlon would calm down. Then, he would be able to get Santa back in his place and therefore, get back to business. The man obviously didn't care that it was a crime scene. He was just worried that each minute they took to do their job cost him money, especially given the fact he still had a long queue of angry parents to placate over the death.

"What's your problem?" she asked and Jane shrugged. "No, don't tell me. He irks you."

"Yes. Something about his eyes. They're too wide-set."

"Next you'll be telling me he should be our number one suspect."

"Why not? They say there's no such thing as bad publicity."

"Yes, because parents would really take their kids to a Santa's grotto where one of the elves has been…"

"Poisoned," Cho supplied, joining them outside.

"That what Pat said?"

"Yes."

Lisbon sighed. Going by the brief description of the crime they had received before she had even arrived, it was what she suspected. Jane had been encouraging her to follow her hunches of late and therefore, she hadn't completely disregarded it. Besides, there weren't many other things that could cause a young girl to drop down dead without a violent weapon involved. Still, until she had received confirmation that Amie had been poisoned, she couldn't have entirely written off underlying health problems or the like. It wouldn't have been the first time that somebody had suspected a murder, when really, it was just an innocent and tragic turn of events. In a way, it saddened her that it was poison. It meant that she now had to go and tell some distraught parents that the CBI was now on the lookout for their daughter's killer.

"Guess we need to find the source then."

"I'd start with her lunchbox," Jane offered quickly, "unless this is the kind of place where people steal each other's food…"

"No, really?" Lisbon answered back, quick as a shot. "Thank you Jane, for your concise and well-thought out insight. We'd never have considered that without you."

"Yes, I was right. You're definitely feeling touchy today," Jane said with a grin. "Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?"

TBC…