Catch Me When I Fall
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"Well, of course I trust you, Lisbon."
He turns, tips back. No hesitation. Lisbon is strong for her size, her reactions whip-quick, but even she couldn't sustain the deadweight of a grown man. She ends up flat on her butt, with the breath knocked out of her, and Jane in her lap. That curly blond head tips back, his smile intriguingly inverted.
"See? I knew you'd catch me."
He's a little too assiduous in helping her to brush off her pants afterwards, and she hits him when he offers to rub it better.
She doesn't trust him. She doesn't trust him not to get himself killed. So she will always be there to catch him.
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He knows he should feel insulted to overhear himself described as 'Lisbon's maniac'. 'Maniac', he'll dispute, but 'Lisbon's'...he can live with that.
Since the first day they had worked together, he'd been aware of her. Difficult not to be, after she got up in his face and gave him hell. Not the first person to do so, but it hadn't been about ego for her. Physical attraction sparks between them. He's used to it, used to using it, another weapon in the arsenal. Never expected that he would be caught in his turn.
He teases her, torments her, tricks her. And trusts her.
Whenever he's in trouble, he calls for her. And she comes to save him.