Red Silences
Thank you to Jisbon4ever and Zombienath for the reviews, and as always—the readers, and the alerters of this story. I still claim to own nothing besides four characters.
Enjoy the fourth chapter ^_^
Chapter 4:
Hungry like the Wolf
Jane was a man of simple tastes, some days.
He wanted to get over his wife's death, and start dating again-which is why he had attempted an impromptu date with Kristina Fyre, but he realized as he stepped into the bullpen the day after his and Lisbon's impromptu Christmas in July celebration that he wasn't ready for any sort of a relationship.
He couldn't even tell the one woman, who had saved his life on so many different occasions that she meant more to him than anyone else living in that world; he hadn't been lying either when he had told her that he'd call her if he were dying, but then again-he hadn't needed to call her, because she already knew he was dying. Jane quietly chuckled to his self, which gathered strange looks from Van Pelt and Rigsby.
He longed to be touched and to be loved just like everyone else-but something held him back, and it was the idea that he still loved his wife dearly, the band still on his finger as he flexed his hand back and forth to allow the light to reflect off his golden wedding band; and he wondered, what would it be like if he kissed Lisbon? Jane wondered if she had soft lips, or if her breath smelled of coffee, and to think that almost two months ago, Jane blamed his self for the fate of any female who expressed interest in him. (Personally, he had hoped that Hightower would express some interest in him next; maybe Red John could take care of the boss for them.) Jane grinned, his thoughts bordering homicidal.
"You better not be thinking of ways to kill off Hightower again." Lisbon warned under her breath to him as she walked by, and he smiled brightly in response while she tried to hide her yawn behind her hand.
"Awe, Lisbon." Jane whined. "Since when have you been able to read my mind?" She spun around to face him, and crossed her arms against her chest when something caught Jane's attention.
Lisbon's cross was gone, and in place was the simple chain he had bought her.
His heart soared in his chest, and he did his best to look unaffected while waiting for her answer.
"…I don't know why you think you're hard to read." She muttered. "You're an open book." Jane's lips twitched.
"What kind of an open book?" Jane asked, humorously. "An adventure? A fairytale…"
"Tragedy?" Cho finished for him, and Jane tossed a grin in the man's direction.
"I was thinking more along the lines of a bedtime story." Lisbon replied with a straight face, and he only grinned back at her, which had her laughing.
"Lisbon, bedtime stories have happy endings and most of them deal with princesses who find their princes."
"It's so unrealistic to little girls," Van Pelt interrupted, as she avoided Rigsby's gaze. "Who wants to listen to countless after countless tales of princesses with their extravagant beauty, long hair and ruby slippers?"
"Disney, apparently." Cho answered, and Lisbon shrugged.
"So, Lisbon?" Jane questioned. "Does this mean that you're looking for a prince to complete your fairytale?" She shrugged.
"Nope."
"Why not?"
"Oh, I'd rather die alone." The bullpen grew silent, until Jane burst out laughing in response as Van Pelt stared at him.
"That was mean."
"She's kidding." Jane stated. "Lisbon wants a handsome prince to come sweep her off her feet." Jane glanced at the dark haired agent, who looked as if she were about to punch him. "I think though Lisbon, you're a fantasy-you're hard to put down, you're magical and also very mesmerizing." Van Pelt gasped in surprise, while Cho and Rigsby raised their eyebrows toward both Jane and Lisbon, while Lisbon tried to fight her cute blush from spreading across her cheeks.
"Stop that…" She squeaked, with her cheeks tinted red.
"Don't be so modest, Lisbon." Jane pressed. "Anyone with eyes can see that you're a fantasy-on-legs."
"I agree, boss." Rigsby added, which had Lisbon throw her narrowed eyes on Rigsby who gulped and tried to look innocent, which failed miserably. "I can't say it, but Jane can't?"
"It's because I'm the consultant, and she doesn't dream about me." Rigsby's blue eyes grew wide in shock and surprise as he glanced at the now furiously blushing Lisbon. "Or maybe, she does dream about me…?"
"I don't dream about any of you!" Jane knew Lisbon was lying; he had caught her with the Rigsby deal.
"You dreamt about me, boss?"
"No." Lisbon told him, Jane nodded behind her back. "Don't be ridiculous…" Jane laughed before he opened his mouth again.
"Of course she does," Jane stated. "She probably wishes you were her prince…" Lisbon stomped off in the direction of her office as Rigsby stared in shock, Van Pelt rolled her eyes and Cho had his eyebrow raised slightly in surprise.
He almost told them however, that they couldn't have her in any impromptu fantasies, sex related or not because she was his-but within the confines of his own heart, he realized just how wonderful that sounded.
Moreover, in the confines of his mind, he realized just how wrong that sounded.
OoO
She was a fantasy.
Did that mean he fantasized about her?
Oh dear god, she hoped not-it was bad enough she had dreams dealing with Rigsby (whom Lisbon was going to put on desk duty for about a month for his inappropriate comment) but it was also bad enough, that she had dreams about Jane.
It usually involved them, a twister game board of some sort and her always winning in her office-both of them fully clothed, of course; then she awoke in her large bed alone, somewhat disappointed that she hadn't gotten any further than pinning him down to the color dotted map-apparently dream fantasies weren't as much fun if they weren't reenacted in real life.
However, one thing was for sure.
Jane had noticed the lack of cross around her neck this morning; it was evident from the surprise written across his features before he tried to mask it behind indifference. She let a small smile grace her lips, even as her phone rang reminding her of the meeting she had with Hightower in an hour and a date later that night.
