A/N: Thank you for all of your lovely responses to the second chapter. I hope you enjoy this one as well.

By the way, I'm sorry for the constant changes in what symbols I use for section breaks. I don't know very much about formatting my story so that FFN is able to display what I want it to, so I just have to try different things till I find one that works. (And what works on one day seems to not necessarily ever work again.) Any advice regarding how to format would be much appreciated.

The usual disclaimer applies.

Fourteen years later

Very little shocks Patrick now.

He has lost his family, the most important thing in his life, and everything else pales in comparison.

But when he learns that Teresa Lisbon works for the California Bureau of Investigation, he is absolutely amazed.

And so when he steps through the doors of the CBI, he is still battered and broken, but there is a small piece of hope beginning to form inside of him.

Teresa feels as though she has been hit by a bus when she hears that she is to meet with Patrick Jane.

Patrick Jane. Her thoughts whirl around in her head as she takes a sip of her coffee. It's okay, maybe there are two people in the world who have that name. She laughs quietly to herself. Doubtful.

She saw the news. Recognized him from the pictures. She knows it's him. And her heart breaks for the boy that she used to know, now a man with an inordinate amount of grief to bear.

She is very much aware that he may no longer be anything like the boy she knew. He has lived a lifetime after knowing her and they may now be so far apart from each other emotionally, spiritually, that any sort of rekindling of the brief friendship they shared is highly improbable.

But she wants so desperately to comfort him; to hold him and be held by him the way they did when he left.

She has spent time wondering why; wondering why it is that she is so fixated on a childhood crush; why she can't just move on. She knows that it is incredibly impractical. It seems so unlike her.

However, the determination that has led to her success as a detective has apparently latched onto one Patrick Jane, and has shown no signs of giving up. That's not to say she hasn't tried, though. She has dated on and off, several times throughout her life, and has occasionally felt that there is the potential for something more with some of the men.

But they have never been quite like Patrick.

So she decides that when she sees him she is going to run towards him and wrap her arms around him and smother him with kisses...

She jumps and looks around, as if she is afraid that her thoughts are written above her head and that anyone walking into her office could read them. She decides – really now – that if he doesn't say anything about their past, she won't either. He has so much pain to bear at the moment, anyway. She doesn't want to put anything more on his plate.

He doesn't say a word.

At first, Teresa is bitterly disappointed. But then she realises that he probably doesn't remember her. And really, what made her think that he would do so in the first place? It's been such a long time since they were together last.

So she sticks to her plan, and acts as though she has never seen him before, no matter how much it hurts.

After a couple of weeks of working with Teresa, Patrick has had enough of acting like they are strangers.

He remembers her. Of course he does. When she looked up at him he knew exactly whose green eyes he was gazing into, and it gave further life to the spark of hope in his heart.

But he's been afraid. Afraid of trying to be her friend again when he is so broken. He has nothing to offer her. He is no longer the person she knew before. He feels so absolutely unworthy of even being in her company, never mind being her friend, that he hasn't been able to tell her that he knows who she is.

He is also afraid that by reconnecting with Teresa, he will somehow be abandoning Angela and his vow of revenge. He tries to tell himself that he will never give up on his vow, not even if Teresa is in the picture. Most of the time he manages to convince himself that this is true.

But now it's hurting more than it is helping; this silence of his. He knows that she knows. He saw the flicker of recognition in her eyes. And he sees the pain that not being able to talk about it is causing her. The last thing he wants to do is be the reason for another person's pain.

So all that remains is for someone to make the proverbial first move. He'd be happy to be the one to do so, if only he weren't so afraid.

But then it happens.

He walks by Teresa's office one evening with a cup of tea in his hand and sees her bent over her desk, filling out forms and writing up reports; as usual.

And something inside of him snaps.

There's just something about the way that she is sitting there, being her dedicated and admirable self, being everything that he is not, that makes him realise all of a sudden that her friendship is worth the risk. Of course, he won't be reckless. Not when it comes to Teresa. Never when it comes to her. He will take every necessary precaution – and probably a few unnecessary ones – to protect her from Red John, and from himself and his apparent tendency to destroy the things he loves most. But he wants her friendship; he wants to start rebuilding what they had when they were younger. He doesn't care how long it takes to remove the threat of Red John; for Teresa, he will wait. But he wants to at least start.

Patrick shoots a quick glance around the bullpen and is relieved to find it empty. The team has gone home for the night, leaving him and Teresa to themselves. It is just as well. Right now, with thoughts and words weighing on his mind that she needs to hear, he has no desire for an audience.

He turns around and goes back to the break room to make her a cup of coffee. He isn't looking for an excuse to enter her office; he's Patrick Jane, he doesn't need excuses. But the fact that he will arrive bearing her favourite beverage will help to make her a bit more receptive to the fact that he has to talk to her right now.

And judging by the way his heart is fluttering around in his chest, he's going to need all the help he can get.