Confessions of a Red Martyr

Summary: Lisbon's heart pounded in her chest, did she…did she just admit to a room full of people, two cameras, a talk show host and Jane himself that she…loved him?

Disclaimer: Nope, not mine.

Warnings: OOC-ness, and Unedited.

A/N:

Awww, this story is over. It was such a fun piece to write, and of course—who doesn't love Jane/Lisbon humor? I'm also quite proud of myself that I managed to update faster. :) ah, success!

Anyway, a huge shout-out/thanks to MissNitaGirl, Frogster, Ebony10, BFangz, xxxBekaForEvaxxx, lisbon69, jl, Koezh, Sarcasm-the Lowest Form of Wit, raquelvalente91, TeresaAmaliaJane, Krolinette, Katya, phoenixmagic1, shepweir always, martini crazy, Simonisthecuttestmentalist, oldmoviewatcher for all the wonderful reviews, and of course all the readers and alerters for this story. :hugs!:

Enjoy!

Chapter Three--

The Truth

Her hands trembled, as she fumbled to pull the top off the water bottle which had been given to her by one of the many crew members who lingered backstage and who had also watched her make a shattering confession on live television; out of everything that she could have said, she could have told him that she'd miss him, but no she just happened to admit that she loved him; and that wasn't the truth.

She wasn't in love with him, and she couldn't take her words back.

* * *

Patrick Jane was a man of many words, he prided himself on that; if it was needed, he would voice the truth, and even if it wasn't needed he voiced it anyway. However, on that stage in front of the audience, two cameras and a talk show host he found himself completely speechless.

"Well…" Michelle started, as she trained her eyes on him. "She just admitted she loved you." Jane nodded. "You called after her, but you're still here?" Jane nodded again, his mouth still slightly open. "Do you want to run after her?" He hesitated; did he really want to chase after the woman who had given him so much when he felt he didn't deserve it? No, he didn't want to chase after her—if he ran after her, she'd run further away which left him only one choice to voice exactly how he felt. He turned to Michelle slowly, and with the brightest grin on his face he asked if he could say something else.

Michelle nodded, and Jane stood from his chair and kept his eyes directly on the camera as he began to speak.

"Lisbon…"

* * *

"Lisbon…" Lisbon turned hastily toward the TV monitor, her hands still clutching the closed water bottle—Jane stood in front of the camera with one of the most ridiculous grins on his face. She groaned, only Jane would manage to try and make her look like more of a fool on camera that she already had been; after this event she was swearing off all cameras. "I would chase after you, but you're the one with the many weapons and all I've got is my voice and my charming personality." The audience laughed in response to his remark, and Lisbon rolled her eyes; once again…only Jane. "I know you're probably backstage, trying to find a safe place to hide from your admission but Lisbon, why are you trying to hide from it?" His grin grew again. "Though, the next time you want to make an admission on TV—tell me first, so I can make one also." He softly laughed. "But I'll make a list of admissions right now," the camera zoomed in on his upper body, face and hands as he began to lift his fingers in response to his list. "One, I was the one who sent those thirty pizzas."

"Obviously." She muttered as it wasn't exactly hard to figure out that Jane sent them; everyone in the whole building knew it but Mitchell was probably going to dock his paycheck for how much the pizzas were.

"Two, I've also read your emails in the past twenty days—which really weren't anything interesting." Lisbon glared at the monitor, Jane was already digging himself a hole by admitting that. "And third, I don't know how or when or even why it happened, but I am in love with you." Jane chuckled softly, and he stepped over to Michelle to shake her hand before slinking off stage. Lisbon stared at the screen in amazement, if someone had told her two weeks ago that both she and Jane would be on a talk show, answer some personal questions and then end up confessing to each other how they felt (well, in Jane's case anyway) she would have probably laughed in the persons face before turning away, but today proved that anything could happen. "Lisbon!" Lisbon tensed, and turned her green eyes to meet Jane who was strolling near her. "How was that for an interview?" Instead of hugging him or even saying something in return to his confession; she hit him on the arm. "I admit that I love you, and all you can think about is the email thing?"

"You read my email." Lisbon told him, as Jane grinned.

"If it helps Lisbon, nothing was interesting and I wasn't actually looking for anything to do with it." He told her. "Although, if you get any emails from the…." Lisbon glared at him, as she crossed her arms against her chest in anger. Unfortunately (or fortunately in Lisbon's case) Mitchell decided to make his appearance to scowl at the both of them. "Did you enjoy how we put the CBI in such a positive light?" Mitchell glared at him.

"Positive light does not mean you declaring me as an ass." Mitchell explained, before turning to Lisbon. "I thought I said…"

"You did, but Jane has a few problems in listening to directions."

"A few?" Mitchell questioned. "The man failed the department's yearly check-up in following directions."

"I passed, so ha." Jane interceded, smugly.

"With a 70." Mitchell responded back. "The last time I checked, the passing score was a 70."

"Meh, it's only a number." Jane tossed it off. "As I recall I passed the observational skills…"

"You passed it because you intimidated the test-giver by telling him who he was…."

"You say it like that's a bad thing." Jane commented, Mitchell stared at him and chose to ignore his answer in order to continue speaking to Lisbon.

"Over-all the interview was well done, though I can't I say I approve of the confessions at the end—but every interview needs some sort of a love story." Mitchell responded, and he turned to walk away. "I know they were pretend and…"

"Pretend?" Jane asked. "I don't do pretend." Mitchell turned back to stare at Jane in surprise.

"Wait, this wasn't some stunt that Jane pulled you into Agent Lisbon?" Mitchell questioned, and Lisbon shook her head no.

"Sadly, it's not." Lisbon responded. "I take full responsibility for both confessions…" Jane chuckled again, and the both of them stared at him.

"You can't take responsibility for my confession," He told her. "I can't even take responsibility for my confession."

"Well, someone needs to take responsibility." Mitchell told the both of them, and Jane, with a slight smile pointed out onto the general direction of the stage.

"Michelle." Mitchell raised his eyebrow in response.

"You're blaming…"

"She asked us all those relationship questions…" Lisbon didn't even try to add that the only reason all those questions had been asked was because Jane had decided it would be funny to try and add unusual questions to the interview via prompter. Mitchell seemed to accept Jane answer, and he hurried off (probably to go find someone to yell at) which left both Jane and Lisbon alone. "I won."

"You won by blaming someone who had nothing to do with this." Lisbon replied, and he shrugged.

"Aaron won't yell at her." Jane explained. "He just wanted to find someone to thank for the wonderful PR stunt."

"How is us admitting our feelings on national TV a…." Lisbon was confused, rules kept anyone in the unit from participating in a relationship.

"Oh, like Aaron said—it's a love story." Jane snickered. "And everyone wants a love story."

"I don't." Lisbon replied, and Jane grinned in her general direction.

"Oh yes you do." He responded. "I'm going to bet that as a child, you always loved to hear fairy tales."

"Nope."

"Liar." He told her. "As a little girl, you enjoyed the stories where princes swept princess off from their horrible lives."

"Nope." She repeated. "You're wrong."

"Really?" He asked. "You're going to keep lying to me? That's just insulting." Lisbon gave a smirk.

"No lies here." She replied.

"Okay then, if there are 'no lies here.'" He repeated her statement, as she stared at him. "Tell me—did you just blurt the "I love you" to get me to shut up, or did you say it because you meant it?" Lisbon hesitated; she could tell him that she just said it because she wanted him to shut up but… something inside of her told her that while Jane would laugh off both confessions, and they would continue their consultant/boss relationship without any more acknowledgement of the confession both had just played.

Did she really want to play the "it never happened" card again? She shook her head, and watched Jane's face fall and he offered her a small smile before he turned around to walk away. Here was her chance, she could let him go and pretend that the shake of her head had been her denial or…she took a deep breath.

"Wait…where are you going?" She asked him, Jane turned to her with a smile.

"Back to work," He responded, and she shook her head to tell him that he wasn't going back to work—work could wait until they had this whole thing settled out. "Or, I guess I could always go find some trouble to get involved with."

"Why?" Lisbon asked.

"Because it's expected of me…"

"No, why are you in love with me?" Jane tilted his head to the side, mulling over the answer.

"Well, you won't hesitate to kick my ass when I do something stupid." Jane told her, laughing softly. "And, I'd be a fool not to be." Lisbon's heart swelled in her chest, and she realized that her heart pounding in her chest earlier hadn't been from the confession to everyone but rather from the vocalized admission to herself that she actually had feelings for him beyond their work and friend relationship. "Well, I better…"

"Jane, you're impossible." She stated, interrupting him. "You tell me you love me, and then you decide to walk away?"

"You…"

"I never said anything Jane." She told him. "I shook my head because I'm an idiot." He raised his eyebrow.

"I wouldn't be so hard on you…" She held her hand up to stop him from continuing.

"I'm an idiot because just twenty minutes ago, I admitted I loved you." She stated. "Just five minutes ago, I told myself that I didn't love you and I was lying, and just a minute ago—I realized that I did love you." She fiddled with her water bottle, before meeting his stare. "And I'd be a fool not to…"