Disclaimer: The Mentalist, its characters and universe belong to Bruno Heller and CBS. I'm only a fan, writing this for love of this TV show and personal pleasure.

A.N.: This is for 2x07 "Red Bulls". Once more, I'm adding a scene after the screen fades to black at the end of the episode.

Loving Him was Red

Perspective

After Bosco had left her office, Lisbon had spent a couple of seconds looking after him as he went out to the bullpen, wondering about the tequila and the moment they'd just shared. But then she just shook her head to herself and sat down at her table. She still needed to tick a few boxes of the case report so that it would be finalized and submitted for Minelli's review.

"Hey." Jane stood at her door, a quiet smile on his lips.

"Hey." She looked up at him, also smiling slightly, then noticed the folder in his hands. "What do you got there?"

"Bosco's notes on Red John," he replied, same quiet smile yet there was a bounce in his step as he walked into her office, going towards her couch. "I already told him I'll need the full case file."

"Wow. How did that happen?" She dropped her pen and folded her hands on her desk, giving him a moment of her undivided attention.

"He said he wanted me to take a look and tell him what I think," he said casually as he laid down on her couch, propping his head up on the cushions on the far end and facing her. "Apparently he'd welcome my perspective on a few things."

"Congratulations," she told him sincerely, her smile glowing a little brighter then. "You finally got what you wanted."

"Well, I have you to thank," he said with a slight head tilt, the folder laying on his chest as he just kept looking at her for a moment. "You really do think I made you a better cop, don't you?" He said it with some wonder in his voice as he openly stared at her.

"Yeah, right." She twisted her lips in a sarcastic smile, as she also rolled her eyes for good measure, picking up her pen once more as she looked down at the papers in front of her. "I only said that to make a point."

"Ah I know when you're lying, Lisbon. And you weren't lying then," Jane said shrewdly, a tone of near laughter in his voice at her denial. "Let me just say, I'm really touched that you think that," he added in a softer tone, placing his right hand over his heart.

"You're delusional." She insisted in the same sarcastic tone without looking at him.

"I've never seen anything more clearly in my life," Jane replied in good humor as he opened the folder and started scanning through the pages. "Although in a way it was your fault that Bosco wouldn't share this with me in the first place."

"Come again?" She stopped writing and narrowed her eyes at him. "You're blaming me for getting us off the Red John case?"

"No, no, not that," he said dismissively with a waving hand gesture as he lowered the folder and looked back at her. "But it is your fault that Bosco didn't like me and wouldn't let me come near the case."

"Really? How do you figure that one?" She leaned back on her chair and raised an eyebrow at him. This ought to be good, she thought to herself.

"He was trying to protect you," he explained with a nod at her. "From me, apparently." He added, his eyebrows flickering up for a moment. "I keep telling you, that man would die and kill for you."

"You're being ridiculous." She shook her head, leaning forward once more and getting back to her report.

"He told me that by working with you I was hurting you." He told her as he once more opened the folder and flipped languidly through the pages.

"He's not wrong," she said airily, not bothering to look up as she kept writing. "You do make things difficult, sometimes."

"Ah yes, but I also made you a better cop." She lifted her eyes and glared slightly at him. "And I close cases." Her head then bobbed left and right as her eyebrows flickered up, feeling reluctant to acknowledge it but also needing to concede his point. "And we work well together, don't we?" Jane finished by grinning brightly at her.

Finally she stopped writing and gave him her full attention, pursing her lips for a moment, but unable to keep her own smile from emerging as well. "Yes, we do." Lisbon replied softly, her voice warm.

"There. So I can't really blame the man for being a little jealous and territorial. He thinks I've usurped his place in your life, with us working together and all," Jane openly pondered on the matter, and there was a wicked glint in his bluish green eyes before he continued. "There's also the fact that he's in love with you and sees me as a threat."

"Again, you are being ridiculous." At this, she leveled her eyes back to her report and continued speaking without looking at him. "A, he is not in love with me. And B, even if he was, there's nothing to be jealous about."

"Clearly you're in denial, Lisbon. How long will you continue to avoid what's obvious?" He posed his question conversationally.

Oh that was a double entendré she would most definitely sidestep at all costs. Lisbon studiously avoided his face, determined not to fall for his tricks. "I'm not in denial of anything," she countered quickly, a smile threatening to come to life at the corners of her lips as they went back and forth with the argument. "You're the one who doesn't want to admit the simple truth that Bosco doesn't like you because you're a jackass, most of the time."

"Ouch. Touched a nerve there, did I?" He lifted his eyebrows at her with a grin.

"Oh like you're one to talk." She rolled her eyes, still not looking at him.

"Alright. I'll let this go. For now." Jane lifted his hands in a peaceful gesture, picking up the folder once more before speaking again. "Time will prove to you that I'm right, you'll see."

She risked a glance over at him and he just gave her one of his annoyingly charming smiles. Lisbon shook her head slightly to herself and got back to the task at hand. The two of them fell into a companionable silence as they continued working into the night.