Chapter ten: Purple hearts and orange tears (Lisbon's pov)

A/N: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. A special thank you to my amazing beta Yanna…Thank you for putting up with me, and for all your help.

Disclaimer: I realize it may come as a surprise to you but I do not own the Mentalist or any of its characters. I know shocking right…LOL…but seriously I own nothing but this story line. I'm borrowing the characters and will return them when I'm done playing with them.

CPS is required to do what is in the best interest of the child; the cop in me knew it was true. I knew she couldn't stay here with us, but at the same time an old familiar tug at my heart kept me from letting him take her.

I was distantly reminded of a time long ago where I had protected my young brothers. Why did this little girl have to bring back memories that I had kept so well until now?

"Please don't make me go Tessa, please, please." Crystal begged from her place at my side.

The painful tug at my heart intensified until I could hardly breathe, so I laid a hand lightly on Crystal's head and returned my focus to Mikes.

The Special Agent in me knew she had to go, but I had no idea where that side of me went. With Crystal sobbing at my side the cop was no where to be found, so I did the only thing I could, I stalled just like Jane had told me to do.

"I'm sorry Mr. Mikes but I can't just let you take her. This is the middle of a murder investigation we…"

"She is a minor Miss Lisbon, and CPS is responsible for her."

"That's Agent Lisbon," I growled softly.

Crystal had finally fallen silent but she still clung desperately to me.

The little girl's eyes flashed dangerously and for a moment I was reminded of Jane, before she buried her face into my stomach once more.

"Try and understand my position Mr. Mikes. Crystal is a material witness in a high profile case. There is no way I can let you to take her."

The man in front of me grimaced. It wasn't hard to figure out that he was starting to lose his patience. Where the hell was Jane?

As if on cue, Jane appeared in the hall with Carlson at his side.

"I apologize Mr. Mikes," Carlson said almost instantly. "There seems to have been some miscommunication. This child is under our protection, she will not be accompanying you."

"This child needs to be placed in a home until we can find her family."

"Her family is deceased." Carlson's voice sounded suddenly colder.

"Then she needs to be placed somewhere safe. She needs…"

"She will be safe under Agent Lisbon's protection." Carlson snapped. "She will be constantly accompanied by a member of my team, and your boss has already signed off on it."

Mikes opened and closed his mouth several times, but I felt myself relax. At my side, Crystal seemed to understand that she was going to stay, because she raised her head slightly.

Finally after several moments passed, Mikes finally nodded and turned to leave.

The tension that had been almost palable a moment before was gone.

Carlson didn't move until Mikes had disappeared down the hall. Turning to Jane, she smiled sweetly and I felt myself tense up again. There was something about this woman that was unsettling. Perhaps it was because she seemed immune to Jane's charms.

"You have a few days. CPS has enough work they aren't going to miss her, but at some point someone will."

Carlson's eyes fell on me and my team for a moment before she looked back at Jane.

"I fully expect you to help Agent Lisbon. I meant what I said Patrick, remember that."

Without looking back, she turned on her heels and left us to stare after her.

What the hell had she meant?

Jane avoided my eyes as he moved back into the bullpen to reclaim his place on the couch.

Now certain that Mikes wouldn't be taking her, Crystal relaxed her grip on my leg, and after a moment she moved to join Jane on the couch.

My team remained silent, none of them meeting each other's eyes or mine. I tried to ignore the small smiles they were trying to hide. I watched as Crystal climbed into Jane's lap, to join him in staring up at the ceiling.

I felt his eyes follow me as I turned on my heel and headed to my office. The door snapped shut, the sound echoing louder than I really wanted.

I couldn't get the image of the two of them curled up on the couch or the sudden wave of emotion that had come from seeing them there out of my head.

In an attempt to escape my own imagination, I buried myself in the mounds of paper work that never really seemed to get any smaller.

Several hours later, Jane appeared in my door way with a careful smile.

"Crystal asked me to take her to get something to eat." He said, watching me with flashing blue eyes.

I'm surprised that he bothered to tell me, but I'm thankful that he is at least smart enough to not just leave with her.

"Alright, try to stay out of trouble." I warned with a somewhat forced a smile.

His careful grin faltered a little. "The team is coming."

"Okay…"

"Teresa," he said, sounding amused.

It took me a moment longer than it should have but I finally realized what he meant. "Oh, give me just a second alright?"

He nodded and just for a moment I saw the old Jane; the annoying, teasing, prankster that died with Bosco's team. In the time it takes a heart to beat, the teasing smile disappeared and was replaced with the careful one that had been haunting me for months.

I tried not to show the grief of seeing it disappear once again, but judging by the strange look Jane gave me, I don't think I succeeded. Thankfully he didn't say anything simply turned and left my office without another word.

If I was being honest, I knew how we got to where we were, but that was a problem in itself that I didn't want to deal with.

Dinner passed quickly. With Crystal's careful acceptance of the rest of the team both Jane and I were allowed to fall back into our well practiced silence.

It wasn't until we were leaving the restaurant that Crystal broke our self imposed silence.

"Can we go home?" She asked softly.

I wasn't the only one who froze at Crystal's soft question. Jane and I shared a momentarily surprised glance before we looked away from eachother. The rest of the team stared down at the pavement trying furiously to keep from smiling.

"Mrs. Carlson said I was going to stay with you," Crystal pressed.

"You are sweet heart," I said softly. "We can go now if you want."

Her small hand slid into mine and into Jane's.

"Goodnight," she said smiling at Cho, Rigsby, and Grace before beginning to lead Jane and me towards my car.

"Goodnight," three amused voices echoed back.

With a hopeless sigh, I climbed into the driver's seat and started the car.

Crystal was already asleep when we reached my apartment twenty minuets later. Wordlessly Jane picked her up and followed me inside.

Neither of us wasted our breaths trying to cover the awkward silence that was quickly settling between us.

Jane tucked her into my bed as I watched on silently.

"Night Patrick, night Tessa," said a tiny sleepy voice.

"When did she start calling you Tessa?" Jane asked in a whisper coming to my side all the while trying not to smile

"I don't know," I admitted avoiding looking at him.

I was torn. I hated that she was getting attached to me, but at the same time there was an undeniable pleasure knowing that she felt safe with me.

We both fell silent as we watched the sleeping child curled up in my bed. How had this happened? Of all the situations to end up in, how did I end up playing mother to Crystal while Jane was forced to play dad?

Red John's words echoed in my head as I slowly turned away and left the room. Maybe there was some truth in what he said after all. I hesitated at the stairs part of me hoping Jane wouldn't follow, but when he appeared at the top I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. There was no way around it, I was screwed.