Teresa only thought she had avoided an explosion [RP for bettercop]

[hadtobe_said]

Bad news flies faster then good.  It was something that his grandmother had often said and something the CBI had proved this morning.  Within fifteen minutes of Patrick Jane's running from the building (Jane never ran, so it was obvious something was up) everyone was talking about the phone call he'd received.  Teresa Lisbon's case had been blown

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[bettercop]

Oh, Christ.

Lisbon let loose a few obscenities in her head, when she saw the figure waiting for her in the parking lot. The look on his face was fierce, and she could already feel a headache coming on from the impending conversation.

She got out of the car, her head down a bit, avoiding direct eye contact. "Sam."

[hadtobe_said]

She was alive, and looking just as safe and healthy as she had this morning. For just a moment that was enough, but then the moment passed.

"Funny thing, Teresa. My phone seems to work fine when I make a call, but not when I should be receiving one." Three seconds. That's all that stood between the woman standing in front of him and death, and she hadn't thought it important enough to call him.

[bettercop]

Ouch. Low and tight. But then, she expected nothing else from Sam Bosco. Finally, her eyes drifted upwards to meet his.

"I needed to find the bomb. Jane knew where it was. I did what I had to do." And maybe it hard hurt him, and she didn't like the idea of that, but she wouldn't apologize for a decision she felt had been in her best interest. And the interest of the child. Besides, if she hadn't called Jane, she probably wouldn't be standing here at all; she would've been trying to get the girl out of the room, and the bomb would've just exploded before she'd even known where it was.

[hadtobe_said]

"Don't you think I know that?" It rankled, that Jane could help her in a situation that he couldn't, but he knew that he would have been no use to her, finding a bomb in a place he'd never been.

"But would it have killed you to spend thirty seconds on the phone, after?" Killed. It was a word so easily used; one could almost forget what it really meant. "Hey babe, thought I'd let you know that I'm not a charred pile of ash. See you in a couple of hours."

[bettercop]

"I'm running a damn case, Sam. Busy. Things to do."

And she'd been scared. Terrified, actually. But wound herself into a protective little ball, not betraying those true feelings. And if she didn't stop, if she didn't call him and acknowledge what had nearly happened, then it was okay.

[hadtobe_said]

Another car was pulling into the parking lot; as upset as her was Bosco was controlled enough to know that neither of them would be comfortable knowing other people were watching or listening to them. He took her arm, leading her around the side to the back of the CBI building, devoid of anything except a dumpster and a SUV waiting to be towed to the shop. He didn't release his hold on her arm.

"Thirty seconds, Teresa. It took me almost twenty minutes to find out for sure that the bomb hadn't gone off." the longest twenty minutes of his life.

[bettercop]

All right, so he had a point. She wasn't sorry she didn't call him when she'd needed to find the bomb. But he was upset that she hadn't called after. And...she supposed, rationally, she could understand why he felt that way, even if her pride meant she was going to be silent for a good five minutes while she contemplated what had happened.

"I'm sorry I didn't call, Sam," she finally murmured, quietly.

[hadtobe_said]

He was pacing again, from the wall of the building to the car and back again, not stopping to look at her.

"We both agreed that we wouldn't let this interfere with the job." By 'this' of course, be meant their relationship. "But Christ..."

[bettercop]

She didn't say anything, she simply folded her arms over her chest and watched him. He needed to work out his emotions, and this was typical for him. Besides, she didn't know what else to say at the moment. She'd apologized, she was here, alive, and she wasn't going to remark on the conflict that the job and their relationship presented.

Instead, finally, Lisbon just said his name, in that unique way of hers were just the utterance of his given name, with the right inflection, could make him stop and really look at her.

"Sam."

[hadtobe_said]

he looked at her, just looked for a long minute before something in him snapped. He pushed her against the wall and kissed her, hard. "If anything had happened to you..."

[bettercop]

She welcomed his need, and more than understood it. Her kiss in response was equally firm. "Nothing happened. It's fine."

[hadtobe_said]

"Three seconds. Christ, three seconds." She could probably feel the racing of his heart, as closely as their skin was touching. His head was bowed, lips brushing against her crown as he breathed in the scent of her hair.

"It wasn't nothing, Teresa. You must have the most overworked guardian angel looking out for you."

[bettercop]

She let him hold her, understanding that she needed it probably as much as he did.

"I'm not going anywhere anytime soon," she assured him, with a confidence she had no right to claim.

[hadtobe_said]

"You better not. I'll find your ass and drag you back, no matter what." he closed his eyes, and took in a few deep breaths. "you have to tell me next time, kid. I need you to promise me that you will."

[bettercop]

"I will," she answered firmly, hoping the way she said it would assuage his lingering fears and anger.

And then she held his face in her hands, her touch full of tenderness and love.

[hadtobe_said]

"You should probably... you have a case you should be working on. Your team will wonder where you are." But he didn't pull away from her touch. He never wanted to pull away.