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Prompt #36: Talk - She knew he had plenty of it, but her chief concern was with what his mouth spewed out when in volatile situations.

Words: 707

There were times Lisbon wished that Jane came with a big, red SHUT UP button she could slap.

This was one of those times.

"What's Jane doing?" Bertram demanded as he stood beside Lisbon with a very displeased look on his face.

Too focused on Jane, Lisbon bit off, "His job. Like you told him."

Jane was alone in Interrogation, talking to the grieving widower of their victim without really paying attention to his words. Not that different from his usual tack, but Jane wasn't looking at the man. Which meant that he wasn't seeing the way his words were affecting the widower, and not in a positive way. Lisbon was almost sure that the man would explode and attack Jane in less than a minute.

"I told him to find motive, not browbeat a confession of the man!"

"He wouldn't infuriate him without a good reason." Lie, her conscience instantly said. He'd do it in a heartbeat on a hunch. "I'll go in there right now."

"You do that, Lisbon."

She walked into Interrogation just as the widower lunged over the table for Jane. Instinct made her yell "Some help in here!" as she grabbed the attacker's shoulders and tried to pull him off of Jane. Rigsby and Cho arrived in time to help remove the widower, freeing Lisbon to check on Jane.

The sight of blood on the mentalist's temple was enough to make her panic. His unresponsiveness and ashen face only ramped it up. "Jane? Jane, can you hear me?" she called out, gently slapping his cheek to bring him back to consciousness. Someone pushed the first-aid kid to her side, and she flipped open the lid to grab an butterfly bandage and gauze.

Those blue eyes fluttered open, clouded with pain and confusion. "Wha...wha' happ'ned?" he slurred.

"You shot your mouth off," Lisbon replied, her relief skewing her words to sound sharper than intended. She gently dabbed at the small wound at his hairline and placed the bandage over it. "And guess what? He didn't like what you were saying."

"Surprise," mumbled Jane, reaching up to gingerly touch the darkening bruise on his cheek. "Ow. Didn't expect him to be a leftie."

"Caught you by surprise, huh?"

"Just slightly."

"Maybe next time you'll pay attention when you start throwing out those words of yours," Lisbon said. "You'll avoid getting hurt."

His smile was playful, if pained, and warmed her insides. "But that, dear Lisbon, is why you're around, isn't it?"

"I'm not your bodyguard."

"No, but you're my human barometer." By now everyone else had vacated the room, leaving the CBI agent and consultant alone. Without an audience, Jane was able to be more than half honest with her. "Usually you're there to divert the conversation, drawing the attention away from me. I can't push too far in one go, because if I do there can be consequences. Sometimes I forget that." His smile widened slightly. "That adorable frown of yours is the perfect indication that I've gone too far."

Lisbon tutted at the state of his rapidly swelling cheek. "You'd think by now you'd learn where the line was drawn."

"Meh. Lines are for the people with no imagination to color outside them."

"As opposed to children like you who disregard every line in the coloring book."

Jane's eyebrows rose. "Ouch," he said in mock-surprise. "That was low."

"What? The child remark? Like you haven't heard worse." She chuckled as she helped Jane rise to his feet again. "You okay now? Steady on your feet?"

"I'm not seeing stars or little flapping birds anymore," he confirmed.

"Good." She wound up and slapped the back of his head, eliciting a gasp of pain from Jane. "Don't ever pull a stunt like that again, got it?"

"Got it." He rubbed his head and added, "Oh, and FYI, he did kill his wife."

"We don't know that yet," Lisbon said realistically. "But thanks to you, we can hold him on assault charges until we find solid evidence of murder."

"You're welcome."

"Shut up, Jane."

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