Disclaimer: I still don't own The mentalist, and I still don't know who Red John is :P
The day is dull. The team carries on their investigation on their own, Jane carries on sleeping in the couch, and Lisbon carries on giving orders to her team while trying not to think about Jisbon.
It's only when evening arrives that they notice Jane is missing. He went out, without telling anyone, and no one knows when or where. Which isn't rare or unusual, but it's always a cause of worry, because it always means trouble.
"Jane, where are you?" She roars at his voicemail, even more angry to see that he didn't answer her call, and, if she's being honest, a little anxious as well. "Call me when you get this", she mumbles, and lets out a sigh as she hangs up, letting him know just how tired she is of his reckless attitude.
It's quiet after that. Van Pelt keeps showing her some phone records, and she pretends to be concentrating on it. Her phone is in her hand, her thumb lightly brushing over the screen as she scrapes her lower lip between her teeth, and even though it's not ringing, she keeps glancing at it every other minute.
Two hours pass like this, with no word from Jane. She's in her Office now, getting visibly restless now, her eyes always darting left and right as if in search of him, and her tone bordering on irritated.
Hightower is the first one who notices, or maybe she's the first one who speaks about it. "Relax; I'm sure Jane is fine."
Lisbon stops in her tracks, realizing for the first time that she has been pacing all the while, and let's out a nervous laugh. "What? No. I'm not worried about Jane." Her lips purse into a thin line as she says this, her bottom lip almost jutting out into a pout. She crosses her arms in front of her and frowns. "If he's in trouble, then he deserves it. I'm not going to bail him out. He needs to learn this lesson the hard way, because clearly, the easy way is not working." She says firmly, maintaining eye contact with her boss to let her know that she means it.
Hightower shrugs. "All right then. If you want to live in denial."
Lisbon is a bit taken aback as she hears this. Her hand comes down a lot to lock at her other wrist. "Excuse me, ma'am?"
Hightower lets a small smile spread across her lips. "We all know what's going on between you and Jane."
Her mouth falls open slightly, at the sudden event of her uptight boss talking to her about her personal life. "How did we get here again?" she asks when she finally closes her mouth, and allows herself the grin of amusement that she's been fighting back. And then her mouth falls open again when she realizes something. "Wait, you won't mind if there's something between me and Jane? I thought you were really serious about following the rules."
Hightower's phone rings, and before she leaves, she grins at Lisbon. "Jane isn't CBI."
Lisbon turns around and stands still in her office, half-leaning against her desk. She cannot believe that she is thinking about the possibilities and pros and cons of her and Jane, but she is. So her job is not on the line. That only leaves Red John between them. Red John needs to be captured and Jane needs to move on from his past. And then there's the main thing- she and Jane will have to start liking each other enough to start dating, which is surely impossible, because right now, she knows that she will never, ever, ever, ever, ever-
"Lisbon."
Suddenly shaken out of her thoughts, she jumps up from her place at the sound of voice behind her, her hands coming up over her chest. Her heart pounds uncontrollably in alarm, as her eyes quickly snap to the intruder's face. "Jane!"
He only grins, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, Lisbon, honest."
She drops her hands to her sides, then crosses then in front of her in a defensive way. "I wasn't scared! And where were you so long? Why didn't you return my call?" she's almost yelling at him, but that's okay. She has every right to be angry. He's got her…. thinking. Andthat's not okay.
"My battery went dead", he explains, taking out his cell phone from his pocket as evidence. "I wonder if Rigsby has a charger." And then he's walking out of her office without answering her other question.
She groans in frustration- why is he always like this? - mumbling a weak "I hate him" under her breath, and follows him. "Jane, you can't charge your phone in the Office." She orders, then frowns and looks down at her watch. It's already time for them to go home. She can see Rigsby already ready to leave, Van Pelt squirming in her seat and Cho arranging his files. She sighs. "Maybe you can charge it in his car then." she mumbles, walking back to her Office to get her stuff.
Jane pauses for a moment. A CBI agent was killed yesterday, and she's investigating the case. He knows it was a personal grudge, he has his hunches, but still, something keeps nagging him that she may not be safe. He quickly makes up his mind.
"Actually, I like your car's charger better." He announces, taking a peek inside her Office.
She huffs playfully. "You'd have to pay for it then."
He knows that she probably isn't serious, that she knows he will never pay, but he plays along. "Fine. I'll pay for dinner. Take out?"
She raises an eyebrow at him.
"Your dinner." He corrects quickly, flashing a grin.
She rolls her eyes, turns to her back while she loads her guns inside her jacket pockets- she is not going to let him see where she keeps them, period- and shrugs. "You can come along. I don't have much to do today."
He mentally heaves a sigh of relief. Now he wouldn't have to worry about getting inside her house, now he'd just have to figure out a way to stay with her. Funny how she is the armed CBI agent, and he's the unarmed mentalist, and yet, he is trying to protect her. Funny how he knows she's safe and is still afraid….
"As long as you don't cause any trouble. My neighbors aren't too pleasant." She adds a warning as she leaves for Hightower's Office, to let her know she's leaving.
He only grins. He shouldn't make any promises that he can't keep, right?
A/N: thank you guys once again for all the reviews and hits :) I hope you liked this chapter. PLEASE review. Thank you :)