There be dragons ...

Tag for 2.19 Blood money - I loved this episode and could only imagine how they took out their frustrations at the firing range.

A/N As an avid reader of Mentalist fan fiction I thought I ought to dip my toe in the water at least once, sorry if it is a bit stilted I am more used to technical writing - I don't think I've done any creative writing since junior school. If you do read this be kind - especially if I have messed the formatting up.

Apologies to all at the Mentalist - it's yours I have just borrowed it.

Later at the shooting range Lisbon was finally starting to work off her frustrations, she knew Hightower was playing her off against Jane and he had royally overstepped the mark this time leaving her exposed to Hightower's wrath but at the end of the day it appeared they had both got away with it albeit Jane would be out of pocket. Lisbon suspected there was a twinkle in Hightower's eye but she was still not sure enough of her new boss to be certain.

Jane was a damn fool railing against any form of authority for the hell of it – he deserved that fine but she knew a couple of hours in Reno would pay that off and whilst his pride might be dented she doubted any long term lesson would be learnt from it.

She acknowledged Hightower had found a chink in Jane's arrogant armour and that by using Lisbon as the whipping girl she may superficially at any rate get Jane to tone things down a bit. It was harsh for her but she had a sneaking regard for Hightower's attempt to control Jane - Lisbon knew she let him get away with too much but hell they nailed more than their fair share of bad guys, so she turned a blind eye to things unless it impinged on the rest of the team.

In his own misguided way Jane had tried to protect her – OK that entailed getting them captured by a criminal gang, being trapped in a shipping container in the middle of nowheresville and culminated in Jane getting held in contempt of court by Judge Dredd - of course she outwardly railed against his vow to save her, despite being secretly pleased.

Jane was ruefully thinking about the $16k fine from Judge Hildred – in truth it was a pittance to him but it still rankled - hell they had caught the killer and nailed a criminal gang to boot, yet somehow he was the one being punished.

He watched Lisbon slowly winding down, he was relieved she had not had the opportunity to delve further after rumbling that he had tried to save her. Jane could not deny his feelings towards Lisbon were more than sibling affection but he was not ready for any relationship and had no intention of exploring that and thankfully though he guessed Lisbon reciprocated she was in the same state of denial.

Jane's profound guilt for what had happened to Angela and Charlotte sometimes sugar coated the reality of his marriage. Although he would never acknowledge it to anyone else his marriage had not been the bed of roses everyone supposed, Angela disapproved of his more outrageous antics and Jane was spending more and more time on the celebrity circuit relishing the attention and money that came with it.

Jane was always a one woman man, so straying was never a problem but Angela became more estranged over time cocooning herself in the role of raising Charlotte in the manner she wished she had been raised. Despite their love for each other they were inexorably on divergent paths and who knows how things would have proceeded had Red John not intervened. Still Jane knew he had provoked Red John and felt as guilty as if he had wielded the knife himself and he had no right to pursue interests elsewhere until they were avenged - still companionship did not go amiss.

All the same there was no need to deny himself a bit of fun with their harmless flirtation - the pleasure of watching Lisbon squirm was worth pushing the boundaries a bit, though he kept warning himself as the ancient maps said hic sunt dracones, 'here are dragons', in other words Paddy my boy steer clear.

He smiled again watching Lisbon's concentration, she did a little shimmy of her shoulders and rotated her neck to relieve her tense posture before shooting and that little furrow between her eyes deepened as she set her sights on the target - not surprisingly she hit her target full on. She really was the poster girl for the NRA.

Despite his affectation of horror of guns Jane was actually a good shot – carney teenagers spent an inordinate amount of time showboating on the shooting stall as a way of charming the visiting girls and as ever when Jane set his mind to something he did it well.

Once he had let Lisbon persuade him to have a go at the shooting range enjoying her proximity as she instructed him on his posture and hold. He theatrically recoiled at each shot prompting hoots of derision from Lisbon.

"Come on Boy Wonder – finally I've found something I ace you at. You more at home on your white horse slaying dragons?" she taunted.

"Dragons come in all guises" he quipped acerbically looking her straight in the eye adding "although I always find it wise to speak politely to an enraged dragon"

She shrugged her shoulders good humouredly enjoying their sparring out of the office.

Jane shot wide initially to prompt further close tuition as she adjusted his position before allowing himself one final shot right between the eyes of the target just to prove to himself he had not lost his touch. When Lisbon raised her eyebrows quizzically he insisted he had had been aiming at the chest but smirked as he turned away - no need to give that particular secret away, besides he was not averse to further tuition.

Beneath her tomboy exterior there was a distinctly sexy vibe to the indomitable Agent Lisbon – as any of her lucky dates on her occasional "stress relief" forays would attest. Despite Jane's amusement at this he was always vaguely disquieted if anyone got past the three date threshold.

"Come on Lisbon surely you have slain enough dragons tonight - O'Malleys?" Jane tentatively suggested.

Cradling her beer Lisbon asked "When are going to learn not to bait the establishment – I warned you about Judge Dredd you are just going to having to suck it up and pay that fine"

He contemplated a tirade about the pettifoggery of the judicial system before thinking better of antagonising Lisbon further so he just shrugged his shoulders philosophically replying "Meh, we caught the bad guy - sometimes that's enough" He shifted uncomfortably recalling that conversation in the container had been heading into uncharted territory aware that there may be dragons down that path.

Stop it Paddy - you have things to do, nothing and no-one can get in your way...however beguiling.

A/N Thanks to the guest reviewer for pointing out my mistake on the fine.