Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2018-09-06 03:19 pm
rionaleonhart) wrote2018-09-06 03:19 pm
Fanfiction: Point Six (The Mentalist, Jane/everyone)
'I really need to write a Hightower instalment for my Jane/everyone fic,' I said in my entry two hours ago. I didn't write this entire thing in two hours, but apparently I gave myself the kick I needed to finish it!
Previous Compass Points instalments: Point Five (Van Pelt), Point Two (Lisbon), Point Four (Rigsby), Point Three (Cho).
'Riona,' you say, frowning, 'what's the sixth compass point? Point One is the centre. There's North, South, East and West; that's four more. What's Point Six supposed to be?'
That's an extremely good point and I'm going to need you to shut up.
Title: Point Six
Fandom: The Mentalist
Rating: PG
Pairing: Jane/the entire team, but mainly Jane/Hightower in this instalment
Wordcount: 1,800
Summary: Hightower knew she was letting herself in for trouble when she took on this assignment.
Hightower knows what she’s up against when she takes on the Serious Crimes unit, of course. She’s carefully read through the files of everyone involved; she’s read Jane’s file several times, just to make sure she didn’t imagine half of its contents. But she’s still a little taken aback when she looks through the unit’s finances and sees that it has its own lawsuit budget, higher than the amount set aside for all the other divisions put together. And that it still wasn’t enough to cover last year’s legal expenses.
Still, she likes a challenge. She’d never have applied for this position if she didn’t. People she’s never spoken to before come up to her in the corridors and apologise to her: actual honest-to-God “I heard you have to deal with Jane now; I’m so sorry” apologies. A couple of people have asked whether there’s anything they can do to help. She just flashes a smile and says, “I think I can handle him, thanks.”
It’s an interesting start. Jane doesn’t like her; for someone so skilled in reading the subtleties of someone’s feelings, he’s surprisingly unsubtle himself. He doesn’t have to like her. That’s not a problem. He just needs to stay in line, and she knows – from hearsay, from observation, from studying the outcomes of previous cases – she knows that Lisbon is the key. Putting Jane’s job on the line would be an empty threat, and he knows it. She wouldn’t want to lose Lisbon – Lisbon’s a good agent – but Lisbon isn’t essential. And she’s pretty sure it’s a safe gamble, anyway, because Jane wants to lose Lisbon much, much less than she does.
In fact, he might be a little too invested in Lisbon’s career.
-
“I called you here to discuss the nature of your relationship with Agent Lisbon,” Hightower says. She keeps her hands on the desk in front of her, fingers laced together.
“Ah,” Jane says. “And what exactly is the nature of my relationship with Agent Lisbon?”
“You’re in love with her.”
“You’re mistaken.”
“Nothing wrong with that. But I thought I’d remind you of CBI regulations concerning sexual relationships in the workplace, just in case things go any further.”
“That’s really not necessary.”
“Obviously we can’t lose you,” Hightower says, sitting back in her chair and regarding him shrewdly, “so Lisbon would need to be transferred. I’ve heard stories about what happens when people try to split you two up. I’m just saying that it would make things a whole lot easier on everyone concerned if we didn’t get to that stage.”
“I can assure you there’s no risk whatsoever of that,” Jane says, “but thanks for your concern. Nice chat.”
-
She’s on their side, of course, as far as she can be. They’re her team, they’re her people. But she’s careful in showing her hand, she’s gradual. Best to come out with the hardass first, then let them realise she’s not their enemy. If she tries to be everyone’s friend from the start, they’ll end up feeling like she’s broken their trust when the gloves come off. The hardass is there, and it’s going to have to come out sometime.
You only get one chance to make a first impression. If you don’t get them to respect you then, you’re not getting it later. She’s hoping she’s got the balance right.
Even if she’s not sure Jane respects anyone but Red John.
In any case, the air in the office feels warmer before long, and she’s glad of it. They know she’s serious, but they’re not so on edge around her.
Of course, there’s a distinction between ‘not being on edge around your superior’ and ‘kissing your superior on the cheek’. Maybe she hasn’t drawn her lines clearly enough.
She dwells on it for a while, after Jane kisses her. She knows she shouldn’t; she swore to herself that she wasn’t going to let him get to her. But it’s hard not to wonder what he’s thinking.
He knows she’s married; he knows her marriage has been a struggle of late. He knows she’s the boss, obviously. It’s not an outright romantic gesture, but it’s clearly not appropriate. Maybe that’s why he chose it: pushing the boundaries, going far enough to be uncomfortable without tipping over the edge into anything she can actually discipline him for.
In the end, she calls Lisbon into her office.
-
“You wanted to see me?” Lisbon asks.
“Close the door, please, Agent Lisbon.”
Lisbon does. Remains standing. She still seems a little uneasy in Hightower’s presence.
“Jane kissed me,” Hightower says. “On the cheek.”
The look Lisbon gives her is wary, surprised. But less surprised than Hightower might have expected. “Jane, ma’am?”
“Unless we work with someone else who’s blond and difficult.” She steers away from the word infuriating at the last second; it’s not a good one to use when describing colleagues.
“With respect, ma’am, why are you telling me this?”
It’s a fair question. Lisbon doesn’t need to be involved in this. The most professional route would probably be to address this with Jane directly, in private.
(The phrase address this with Jane in private has taken on strange shadows in Hightower’s mind.)
But Lisbon knows Jane better than anyone else in this bureau. Possibly better than anyone else, period. If anyone can offer some insight into what that man’s thinking...
“I know he’s trying to manipulate me somehow,” Hightower says. “I wanted to know if you had any thoughts on his goal.”
“You know,” Lisbon says, after a moment, “I think he might just be welcoming you to the team.”
“I’ve been here a while, Agent Lisbon.”
Lisbon’s clearly trying to suppress a smile. “And now Jane’s decided you’re part of the team.”
“I’m honoured,” Hightower says, dryly. “I hadn’t realised we let our consultants make the personnel decisions.”
-
Hightower’s not sure, for a while, whether raising it with Lisbon was the right thing to do. But Lisbon seems more at ease around her afterwards, she notices. As if Hightower can really be considered one of them, now that Jane has ‘welcomed her to the team’, whatever that means.
It’s good to have a warm relationship with her people, but she still has to be clear that there are boundaries. At one point she passes Agents Rigsby and Cho and catches a snippet of conversation that concerns her.
“...five people?” Rigsby is asking. “Is that possible? There’s got to be a limit, right?”
“Makes sense,” Cho says. “I mean, she’s better-looking than Minelli.”
Hightower pauses in her step. Minelli: the man she replaced. “I very much hope you aren’t discussing your superiors’ physical appearance, agents.”
Cho turns. “No, ma’am.”
“Good,” Hightower says, after a moment. “I know we’re all professionals here.”
“Yikes,” she hears Rigsby say quietly, as she walks away, and then, “Wait, do you think he... with Minelli...?”
She’s too far away to hear Cho’s answer. Not that she understands the question.
-
Hightower ends up working with Jane on the case out in gold country, while Agent Lisbon is injured. Jane is, predictably, impossible. It’s almost enough to make Hightower feel bad for threatening Lisbon’s career if she didn’t manage to keep Jane under control; Lisbon must have walked into her office and heard that she was going to lose her job if she didn’t find a way to make fire burn cold.
Still, first impressions are crucial. At least Lisbon and her team know that they’re expected to aim for the stars, reachable or not.
Hightower finds herself mentally filing Jane’s difficult behaviour into two categories. The first is reasonably straightforward: general disrespect. Riling up the people they interview. Failing to be where he says he will. Driving off and leaving her behind. She’ll give him a talking-to when they’re back at the station. Not that he’ll listen – he seems to have concluded that the threat of letting Lisbon go is an empty one, and he might be right; Hightower’s not sure anyone else would be better than Lisbon at keeping him on the leash – but at least she has a clear course of action.
(Is he being especially hard to work with to protect Lisbon’s post? Is it a way of saying ‘hey, if you can’t keep me under control you can’t punish Lisbon for my actions’?)
The second category is a little murkier. He hugs her to hide from a suspect, then just leaves his arm around her shoulder for a while. He skims his fingers along her wrist, guides her with a hand on her back or her arm. He’s... overfamiliar. It bothers her, and it starts to bother her more when he makes it clear he’s known about the divorce all along.
What is his goal, here? Is he trying to do something to her head? Is he trying to seduce her? Testing the infidelity rumours? What?
-
Hightower pulls open the driver’s door of the car, then catches the way Jane’s looking at her. “What?”
“You’re driving?” Jane asks.
“You want to drive?”
“The sun will be on the passenger side all the way back to the station,” Jane says. “You’ll look beautiful with it behind you. Very striking.”
Hightower looks at him for a moment, then slams the door. Jane flinches like it’s a gunshot.
“I’m in the process of a divorce,” Hightower says. “I’m your superior. Do you really think flirting is appropriate?”
“Who’s flirting? I thought we were just solving a case together.”
Hightower levels a stare at him. There’s no possible way he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
“You know, the English language is a magical beast,” Jane says. “There are so many different ways to express the same sentiment. Do you ever wonder why you might choose one over another?”
“Do you ever wonder why you’re apparently incapable of giving a straight answer to a question?”
“Let’s take what you just said as an example,” Jane says. “Do you really think flirting is appropriate? You could have said flirting isn’t appropriate, or I don’t think flirting is appropriate. But you made it a question. You put the decision in my hands. Perhaps there a reason you’re not just asking me to stop.”
“Are you saying you’re not going to stop?”
“Do you want me to stop?”
“I want you to stop talking,” Hightower says, folding her arms. “Which will presumably make it harder to flirt. A tragic loss, but I’ll manage.”
“What makes you so sure I’m flirting, anyway? What happened to your conviction that I was in love with Lisbon?”
“I don’t know, Mr Jane,” Hightower says, razor-edging every word. “Perhaps you’re a dog.”
Jane starts to laugh. “I just wanted to drive.”
-
She kisses Jane on the cheek before she goes on the run. A thank-you. Maybe a kind of revenge, too. Let him be the one to wonder what it means, for once.
Previous Compass Points instalments: Point Five (Van Pelt), Point Two (Lisbon), Point Four (Rigsby), Point Three (Cho).
'Riona,' you say, frowning, 'what's the sixth compass point? Point One is the centre. There's North, South, East and West; that's four more. What's Point Six supposed to be?'
That's an extremely good point and I'm going to need you to shut up.
Title: Point Six
Fandom: The Mentalist
Rating: PG
Pairing: Jane/the entire team, but mainly Jane/Hightower in this instalment
Wordcount: 1,800
Summary: Hightower knew she was letting herself in for trouble when she took on this assignment.
Hightower knows what she’s up against when she takes on the Serious Crimes unit, of course. She’s carefully read through the files of everyone involved; she’s read Jane’s file several times, just to make sure she didn’t imagine half of its contents. But she’s still a little taken aback when she looks through the unit’s finances and sees that it has its own lawsuit budget, higher than the amount set aside for all the other divisions put together. And that it still wasn’t enough to cover last year’s legal expenses.
Still, she likes a challenge. She’d never have applied for this position if she didn’t. People she’s never spoken to before come up to her in the corridors and apologise to her: actual honest-to-God “I heard you have to deal with Jane now; I’m so sorry” apologies. A couple of people have asked whether there’s anything they can do to help. She just flashes a smile and says, “I think I can handle him, thanks.”
It’s an interesting start. Jane doesn’t like her; for someone so skilled in reading the subtleties of someone’s feelings, he’s surprisingly unsubtle himself. He doesn’t have to like her. That’s not a problem. He just needs to stay in line, and she knows – from hearsay, from observation, from studying the outcomes of previous cases – she knows that Lisbon is the key. Putting Jane’s job on the line would be an empty threat, and he knows it. She wouldn’t want to lose Lisbon – Lisbon’s a good agent – but Lisbon isn’t essential. And she’s pretty sure it’s a safe gamble, anyway, because Jane wants to lose Lisbon much, much less than she does.
In fact, he might be a little too invested in Lisbon’s career.
“I called you here to discuss the nature of your relationship with Agent Lisbon,” Hightower says. She keeps her hands on the desk in front of her, fingers laced together.
“Ah,” Jane says. “And what exactly is the nature of my relationship with Agent Lisbon?”
“You’re in love with her.”
“You’re mistaken.”
“Nothing wrong with that. But I thought I’d remind you of CBI regulations concerning sexual relationships in the workplace, just in case things go any further.”
“That’s really not necessary.”
“Obviously we can’t lose you,” Hightower says, sitting back in her chair and regarding him shrewdly, “so Lisbon would need to be transferred. I’ve heard stories about what happens when people try to split you two up. I’m just saying that it would make things a whole lot easier on everyone concerned if we didn’t get to that stage.”
“I can assure you there’s no risk whatsoever of that,” Jane says, “but thanks for your concern. Nice chat.”
She’s on their side, of course, as far as she can be. They’re her team, they’re her people. But she’s careful in showing her hand, she’s gradual. Best to come out with the hardass first, then let them realise she’s not their enemy. If she tries to be everyone’s friend from the start, they’ll end up feeling like she’s broken their trust when the gloves come off. The hardass is there, and it’s going to have to come out sometime.
You only get one chance to make a first impression. If you don’t get them to respect you then, you’re not getting it later. She’s hoping she’s got the balance right.
Even if she’s not sure Jane respects anyone but Red John.
In any case, the air in the office feels warmer before long, and she’s glad of it. They know she’s serious, but they’re not so on edge around her.
Of course, there’s a distinction between ‘not being on edge around your superior’ and ‘kissing your superior on the cheek’. Maybe she hasn’t drawn her lines clearly enough.
She dwells on it for a while, after Jane kisses her. She knows she shouldn’t; she swore to herself that she wasn’t going to let him get to her. But it’s hard not to wonder what he’s thinking.
He knows she’s married; he knows her marriage has been a struggle of late. He knows she’s the boss, obviously. It’s not an outright romantic gesture, but it’s clearly not appropriate. Maybe that’s why he chose it: pushing the boundaries, going far enough to be uncomfortable without tipping over the edge into anything she can actually discipline him for.
In the end, she calls Lisbon into her office.
“You wanted to see me?” Lisbon asks.
“Close the door, please, Agent Lisbon.”
Lisbon does. Remains standing. She still seems a little uneasy in Hightower’s presence.
“Jane kissed me,” Hightower says. “On the cheek.”
The look Lisbon gives her is wary, surprised. But less surprised than Hightower might have expected. “Jane, ma’am?”
“Unless we work with someone else who’s blond and difficult.” She steers away from the word infuriating at the last second; it’s not a good one to use when describing colleagues.
“With respect, ma’am, why are you telling me this?”
It’s a fair question. Lisbon doesn’t need to be involved in this. The most professional route would probably be to address this with Jane directly, in private.
(The phrase address this with Jane in private has taken on strange shadows in Hightower’s mind.)
But Lisbon knows Jane better than anyone else in this bureau. Possibly better than anyone else, period. If anyone can offer some insight into what that man’s thinking...
“I know he’s trying to manipulate me somehow,” Hightower says. “I wanted to know if you had any thoughts on his goal.”
“You know,” Lisbon says, after a moment, “I think he might just be welcoming you to the team.”
“I’ve been here a while, Agent Lisbon.”
Lisbon’s clearly trying to suppress a smile. “And now Jane’s decided you’re part of the team.”
“I’m honoured,” Hightower says, dryly. “I hadn’t realised we let our consultants make the personnel decisions.”
Hightower’s not sure, for a while, whether raising it with Lisbon was the right thing to do. But Lisbon seems more at ease around her afterwards, she notices. As if Hightower can really be considered one of them, now that Jane has ‘welcomed her to the team’, whatever that means.
It’s good to have a warm relationship with her people, but she still has to be clear that there are boundaries. At one point she passes Agents Rigsby and Cho and catches a snippet of conversation that concerns her.
“...five people?” Rigsby is asking. “Is that possible? There’s got to be a limit, right?”
“Makes sense,” Cho says. “I mean, she’s better-looking than Minelli.”
Hightower pauses in her step. Minelli: the man she replaced. “I very much hope you aren’t discussing your superiors’ physical appearance, agents.”
Cho turns. “No, ma’am.”
“Good,” Hightower says, after a moment. “I know we’re all professionals here.”
“Yikes,” she hears Rigsby say quietly, as she walks away, and then, “Wait, do you think he... with Minelli...?”
She’s too far away to hear Cho’s answer. Not that she understands the question.
Hightower ends up working with Jane on the case out in gold country, while Agent Lisbon is injured. Jane is, predictably, impossible. It’s almost enough to make Hightower feel bad for threatening Lisbon’s career if she didn’t manage to keep Jane under control; Lisbon must have walked into her office and heard that she was going to lose her job if she didn’t find a way to make fire burn cold.
Still, first impressions are crucial. At least Lisbon and her team know that they’re expected to aim for the stars, reachable or not.
Hightower finds herself mentally filing Jane’s difficult behaviour into two categories. The first is reasonably straightforward: general disrespect. Riling up the people they interview. Failing to be where he says he will. Driving off and leaving her behind. She’ll give him a talking-to when they’re back at the station. Not that he’ll listen – he seems to have concluded that the threat of letting Lisbon go is an empty one, and he might be right; Hightower’s not sure anyone else would be better than Lisbon at keeping him on the leash – but at least she has a clear course of action.
(Is he being especially hard to work with to protect Lisbon’s post? Is it a way of saying ‘hey, if you can’t keep me under control you can’t punish Lisbon for my actions’?)
The second category is a little murkier. He hugs her to hide from a suspect, then just leaves his arm around her shoulder for a while. He skims his fingers along her wrist, guides her with a hand on her back or her arm. He’s... overfamiliar. It bothers her, and it starts to bother her more when he makes it clear he’s known about the divorce all along.
What is his goal, here? Is he trying to do something to her head? Is he trying to seduce her? Testing the infidelity rumours? What?
Hightower pulls open the driver’s door of the car, then catches the way Jane’s looking at her. “What?”
“You’re driving?” Jane asks.
“You want to drive?”
“The sun will be on the passenger side all the way back to the station,” Jane says. “You’ll look beautiful with it behind you. Very striking.”
Hightower looks at him for a moment, then slams the door. Jane flinches like it’s a gunshot.
“I’m in the process of a divorce,” Hightower says. “I’m your superior. Do you really think flirting is appropriate?”
“Who’s flirting? I thought we were just solving a case together.”
Hightower levels a stare at him. There’s no possible way he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
“You know, the English language is a magical beast,” Jane says. “There are so many different ways to express the same sentiment. Do you ever wonder why you might choose one over another?”
“Do you ever wonder why you’re apparently incapable of giving a straight answer to a question?”
“Let’s take what you just said as an example,” Jane says. “Do you really think flirting is appropriate? You could have said flirting isn’t appropriate, or I don’t think flirting is appropriate. But you made it a question. You put the decision in my hands. Perhaps there a reason you’re not just asking me to stop.”
“Are you saying you’re not going to stop?”
“Do you want me to stop?”
“I want you to stop talking,” Hightower says, folding her arms. “Which will presumably make it harder to flirt. A tragic loss, but I’ll manage.”
“What makes you so sure I’m flirting, anyway? What happened to your conviction that I was in love with Lisbon?”
“I don’t know, Mr Jane,” Hightower says, razor-edging every word. “Perhaps you’re a dog.”
Jane starts to laugh. “I just wanted to drive.”
She kisses Jane on the cheek before she goes on the run. A thank-you. Maybe a kind of revenge, too. Let him be the one to wonder what it means, for once.