Disclaimer: I do not own The Mentalist. Although it would be mega way cool awesome if I did. I'd be like...wealthy.

Word Count: 2143

Author's Note: Something thats been bouncing around in my head for a while, and after Aingavite Baa, I finally had a way to work it in! I hope you enjoy!

Summary: Set directly after Aingavite Baa. Lisbon helps vanPelt cope. But will Lisbon be able to cope herself, when all is said and done?

I silently cursed Jane as he walked out of the elevator. He knew how much I hated crying women. But I turned to her, because I knew I had to. Knew I wouldn't be able to resist the pull of being the one to comfort her.

I had a pretty good idea of why she was crying. This was why I hadn't made them choose. Because one of them (Rigsby) would realize that they loved the other more than the job, and the other (vanPelt) would realize that they loved the other too much to let them give up the job. Two of California's finest were better together and breaking rules then separate and having to endure crying spells.

But I knew she wasn't going to come out and tell me that she had broken up with Rigsby. I was going to have to take her someplace that didn't hold any memories and get her to talk about it. Ideally anyway. In reality, I would probably take her back to my place, open a bottle or three of Tequila, hand her a shot glass, and we'd both get smashed. Eventually she would bare her soul to me, and my heart would wrench because it was he that made her so unfathomably happy. But I would be there for her, in the only capacity I could.

As we exited the elevator, and she turned in the direction of her car, I caught her arm.

"No. You're coming with me. You're not driving in the condition you're in now. And you won't be driving in the condition you're going to be in later." My tone left her no room for argument, although I could see the confusion on her face. Probably had something to do with the fact that I was her boss. Oh well. Hightower could kick my ass about it later. I didn't care. Right now, she needed something, and I was perfectly happy with deluding myself to the point I believed that something was me.

Her tears subsided as we drove towards my apartment, and my throat began to go dry as I realized that I was going to be alone with Grace vanPelt. In my house. All night. I parked, and stepped from the car, groaning inwardly as I caught myself watching the sway of her hips as she walked slightly ahead of me. Between my feelings for her, and her feelings for Rigsby, I was beginning to think I'd be the one crying at the end of tonight.

* * *

Twenty minutes later found us seated on my couch, shoes kicked off at the door, each with a slice of pineapple pizza (ordered ahead in the car, go me) and a glass of some off brand soda. We hadn't said much, but the small talk we'd been participating in had slowly turned to mentions of Highwater. So I cut to the chase.

"You told Rigsby you were picking the job over him, didn't you." I said. A statement, not a question, and she knew it, but she responded with a nod anyway. I hated the way her eyes teared up automatically at the sound of his name.

"Would you take it back, if you could?" I asked, not sure why I was subjecting myself to this torture. Of course she would take it back. Hearing her say it was going to mess me up for days.

"No." came the whispered reply.

Well, that was unexpected.

"I wouldn't take it back." She repeated, her voice stronger. "I love him. So much more than I love this job. But he loves the job. And I can't let him leave it for me. He'll hate me for it one day. And I couldn't bear that pain."

She was crying again, and if she didn't stop talking, I was going to be crying soon too. I was so sick of never getting the girl. Hearing her say she would have taken it back would have hurt, but this hurt so much worse. I knew they were in love, but hearing the words riding on the gentle tremors of her sweet voice made it all that much harder to accept.

Her sweet voice...I wonder if her mouth is just as sweet...Her skin, so soft under my hands...What I would give for just one night, just one, to show her what she means to me...

I stood, shaking, and headed for my kitchen. It seems I was the one who was warranting the alcohol tonight. I pulled out the bottle, and two shot glasses, trying to stop my thoughts from racing off with images of vanPelt pinned beneath me.

Settling back in beside her, I couldn't help but notice as she moved slightly closer to me. I hadn't even gotten the bottle open when I felt her hand on my chin, turning my face towards her. She looked into my eyes, and I knew she would be my undoing.

Leaning tentatively forward, Grace vanPelt pressed her lips against mine, tangling her fingers into my hair.

I was stunned. Completely unable to comprehend what was happening, let alone respond to it.

"Please." She whispered, against my lips, and I knew that anything this woman asked of me, she would receive.

"I need," she continued, "to feel. To feel and know that this isn't the end of the world. I need something that is totally mine and unrelated to him. Something that I know you can give me."

"How do you know that? How do you know I'd even be interested?" I asked, lilting my voice, wondering why in the hell I was flirting with her.

"Because you haven't fucked Jane yet." She replied, the vulgarity of her answer stunning me, and turning me on (further) at the same time.

Knowing that this would be a one night stand I would never regret nor forget, I pulled her to me and pressed my lips against hers once again. She responded immediately, throwing one leg over me, straddling me on my own couch. My hands slipped under her shirt and landed on her hips, pulling her closer to me, and as her lips parted over mine I moaned into her mouth.

Goddammit Teresa what in the hell has gotten into you? I cursed myself. I wasn't usually like this. Maybe it was that I'd wanted this for so long. Maybe it was the way vanPelt was moving over me, sliding her hips against mine, in rhythm with her tongue. But as she wound her fingers in my hair and pulled my head back, pulling her teeth over my bottom lip, she had me at her mercy again. I would do anything, as long as she didn't stop touching me. If she wanted me to be submissive, I could manage that. But I would rock her world before this night was through.

Suddenly deciding that maybe I wasn't so keen on this submissive idea, I stood, easily lifting the red haired beauty without even breaking our kiss. Her legs wrapped around me, and my hands gripped her ass, pulling her closer to me as I made for the bedroom. Pinning her against the door, I let her legs down, kissing her gently before backing up slightly, enough to pull her shirt over her head and gaze appreciatively at the sight afforded me.

"Dammit woman. You will be the death of me." I murmured as my eyes moved from the graceful line of her neck down her considerable cleavage, held snugly by a dark green bra, and further down the curve of her waist, the slope of her hips. I wanted her. God I wanted her more than I ever imagined I would. I still couldn't believe this was happening.

"Teresa. Please."

Maybe it was her voice that brought me out of my spell. More probably, it was my name sliding off her tongue that caught my attention. Had me wetter than I would have liked to admit. Had me pushing her down on my bed, one hand bracing myself above her, the other working to undo her pants, my knee pushing between her legs as she arched her back, grinding against me. God she was lovely.

I trailed wet kisses down her neck and chest, biting the top of her bra before bringing my mouth down, hot and wet, over the satin that covered her already hardening nipple. I brought up the hand that had gotten her pants undone and was teasing along the curves of her thighs, slid it behind her back and had her bra off in a matter of seconds. I tossed it to the side, brought my hand once more to her back, drawing my nails down it harshly, marking her, if only temporarily. A surprised yelp left her mouth, soon followed by a moan as she arched back into my awaiting mouth. I trailed sloppy kisses across her chest to her left breast, laving the same attention on it, wanting anything other than to stop.

I walked my fingers down her taut stomach pushing on her pants when I got to them, and she took the hint and shoved them off, her panties with them. Dark green that matched her bra, I managed to notice, though. I slid down her body, her gorgeously wonderful body, placing slow, hot kisses on her thighs. Pushing her legs further apart, I slid my fingers into the essence that was her, and drew a sharp breath.

Leaning close to her ear, I spoke gently, earning a shiver. "Incredibly wet. Totally sexy." I smirked and kissed her as I pushed further into her with one finger and she lifted her hips to meet my hand. She kissed me harder, and I could tell what she wanted. But first...

I pulled out of her, and as she opened her sex hazed eyes, watching me uncertainly, I slid my finger into my mouth, moaning at the taste of her. She tasted divine. I busied my hands with her breasts, and as her head leaned back into the pillows that I sincerely hoped would smell of her for days to come, I placed my mouth over her sex, and my tongue delved into the depths of her. She wove her fingers into my hair, pulling, hard, and moaning my name as her hips thrashed.

Placing a heavy arm over her hips to calm them, I slid my tongue against her clit as I pushed two fingers deep into her. She gasped, and her hips bucked, and she said my name in this breathy voice that brought me so close to coming, myself. She didn't have to ask me not to stop, not that she could have if she tried. Her back arched as I watched, and she let out a series of spine tingling moans as her walls clenched around my fingers and with one final slip of my tongue against her clit she came. Grace vanPelt, came in my bed, on my terms, for me.

She rode out her orgasm, and with her vice grip on my hair, pulled me back up to her. She kissed me tenderly, moaning into my mouth as she pushed me onto my back, sliding her hands under my shirt. I started to remove her hands, I didn't need her to prove anything to me. I had given her what she wanted, that was enough for me.

"Quit pushing. Let me..." She trailed off, pulling my shirt over my head, and making quick work of my bra as well. I thought I would explode as I felt her mouth on my neck, my chest, my stomach. Before I knew it my pants were off, hitting the floor at the same time her fingers slipped against my clit. Some noise, something between a moan and a yelp, escaped my throat, and her name soon followed. She kept her mouth close to but never on mine as she worked her fingers inside me. She bit down on my lower lip as she curled those fingers inside me, and I came, hard and fast, her name a mantra on my lips.

She kissed me slowly, before jumping off the bed to grab her panties and her shirt, slipping into them before slipping back into bed beside me. I grabbed my pj's off the chair beside the bed and slipped them on, turning to find her watching me.

"Thank you." She said, barely a whisper.

And I knew, that even though she was spending the night, and it had been a wondrous night, I knew that tomorrow, it would be the same old same old. I'd be "Boss". And she would be his vanPelt. His, even if he couldn't claim her.

A/N: So you should definitly review and let me know whatcha thinkkk.