A/N: Second installment, another moment in the office of Lisbon! This time it's Cho's point of view. :) Hope you enjoy! Oh, also, I don't own The Mentalist...Yes, I know you're shocked.
"You got your hands over your ears,
you got your mouth running on."
"She's not here."
From his position in the doorway, Cho surveyed the scene before him: papers and case files strewn over almost every available surface, take out coffee cups overflowing from the trash bin, and Jane, perched in the corner of the couch, balancing teacup and saucer on his knee.
"Where is she?" Cho stepped inside and let the door swing shut behind him.
"Oh, you know, off searching for the guilty and doling out justice." A careless flip of the hand and a trademark grin accompanied the words.
"She went to talk to Fitz, didn't she?"
"Mmhmm." He internally rolled his eyes; Jane could have just said that in the first place. Nothing was ever simple with this man.
"I thought you were going with her for that."
"Meh, nothing to see there, he's not guilty—she didn't need me, and besides I'm much more productive here."
"Yeah, you're really making some great headway with depleting the tea stash."
"Ahh yes. Well, this is a new blend. Your friend Summer recommended it to me last time she came in, ginger and orange, it's really very good."
Mention of Summer caught his attention, just as Jane had intended. Well, he wouldn't give the consultant the satisfaction of showing interest.
"That's nice." Simple, monotone, no expression…yeah, he could play this game. He watched as Jane took a slow sip from the mug, closing his eyes in apparent appreciation.
"Did you know that she is quite the tea connoisseur? Makes something of a habit of finding good flavors. She has good taste—favors the classic flavors mixed with a little bit of exotic spice." He hadn't known Summer and Jane had been talking when she'd been coming in to the station, but apparently they had, quite a bit. He really should watch out for that. Summer was feisty enough, god forbid Jane put any more ideas into her head. "She really is an interesting woman, don't you think, Cho? It's no small wonder that she's captured the attention of every male agent she's encountered here…and some of the female ones as well." The consultant gave a roguish wink, which Cho ignored, he was struggling with his indifferent façade…he would not let Jane break him. He would not. "Although, that same enigmatic quality is what makes her so good at her job."
"She's not hooking anymore, Jane." The terse words slipped out without thought, arms crossing in defense…then he noticed the glint in Jane's eyes. Oops.
"Yes, I know. I was, of course, speaking about her job as an informant; she is quite invaluable. Thought it's interesting how defensive you are about her employment situation."
"No. It's really not." Cho took an instinctive step away from the look Jane was giving him. He'd seen what happened to people on the receiving end of that look. He watched warily as Jane set his mug and saucer on the coffee table then folded his hands in his lap.
"You know, Cho, if you need—"
"No, Jane. I don't need anything. I don't need to talk, and I don't need you to do anything. In fact, the last thing I need is for you to meddle in my relationship with Summer."
Jane's smile was all teeth, like a predator.
"I was going to ask whether you needed me to give Lisbon a message for you when she got back, but it seems your mind is on other things, so…"
He had known he shouldn't engage with Jane, he always managed to get something out of you, and it was always the very last thing you wanted to deal with. He knew he'd already walked into the trap too far to extricate himself, and any more movement was going to further ensnare him. He really should walk away now…but sometimes Jane could break even him, Kimball Cho, the stoic, strong, master interrogator.
"No, Jane, no message, you know she hates to get case-related information secondhand. Besides, you should be off gathering your own information instead of hiding out in the boss' office. Speaking of which, why are you in here anyways?"
"Well, who else's office can I "hide out in"—as you put it? Wainright has a great couch, but he would never be open to my continuous presence and onslaught of brilliant ideas."
It wasn't very often that Cho felt he had an advantage over Jane; this was just too good an opportunity to pass up. Jane wanted to talk about women? Wanted to tease him about relationships? Well, fine. Game on.
"Yeah, that's true. Wainright would never want you lounging around in his office. It's funny, you know, at one time I would have said the same thing about Lisbon. I wonder why she lets you lay around in here all the time, subjecting herself to—what did you call it? Your "continuous presence" right?" Victory was so sweet; he could see the humor leeching out of Jane's eyes and the defensiveness creeping in. Just a few more well constructed comments… "She must really like you to put up with the way you invade her space all the time…it could even be speculated that you like spending time with her."
There was nothing Jane feared more then becoming attached to people again. He liked to play at the idea that he was a lone wolf, that he needed no one, that anyone who got close to him got hurt. Maybe it was wrong of him to poke at the consultant's weak spots, but it was so rare they were ever exposed, and Jane always did it to everybody else. But Jane wouldn't break under Cho's hastily constructed attack. He did what Cho had neglected to do. He walked away.
"I'm feeling the sudden urge to make a fresh pot of tea, how about you? I think I'll just go and freshen this up." The consultant stood swiftly, grabbing his teacup from the table. "Good talk, Cho." Jane breezed past him and out the door, sunny smile still firmly in place.
Cho felt a distinct sense of foreboding, teasing Jane usually came back to bite a person in the ass, and he'd done more than tease, he'd poked at the one thing in the world Jane had a weak spot for…Lisbon. Oh well, it had been worth it; he'd gotten Jane to drop the Summer topic, hadn't he? Victory. Sure, his win may come at the cost of some unimaginable Jane revenge scheme that would befall him when he least expected it, but he'd beaten Jane for this brief moment and he was going to relish it.
The clatter of blinds and the snick of the door opening brought him out of his reveling. Lisbon was back and headed for her desk looking slightly harried, he wondered if maybe she'd encountered Jane in the hallway.
"Hey, boss." Lisbon jumped and spun towards where he stood by the couch.
"Cho! Geez, are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
"Sorry, boss."
"What are you doing in my office? You know I hate it when people sit in here while I'm gone."
"Jane was just in here."
"Yeah, so?"
"So, you just said you hated it when people—"
"I know what I said, Cho."
"But it's okay for Jane to—"
"Cho, did you need something? Because I need you and Rigsby to go and pick up Helen Carter; Jane says we need to take a closer look at her alibi."
"Right. On it, boss."
"Great. And send Jane back in here on your way out."
"Sure." He left the office, once again mentally rolling his eyes. He found it kind of amusing that both Jane and Lisbon confronted the mention of any type of relationship between the two of them in the exact same way: by dismissing it completely. He ignored the little voice in the back of his head that was pointing out the similarity to the way he treated any mention of his relationship with Summer. The little voice sounded suspiciously like Jane.
