Oh wow, this is intense as any fic I've read here, and some damn fine writing you're done.

This was really good! Very nicely written and I hope to read more from you soon!

Wow! That was intense heartwrenching and perfectly

written. Thanks for sharing!

Oh my.

I seem to be a bit lost for words, I'm having trouble organising my thoughts in a semi-coherent fashion. This story was recommended to me by someone else, which is why I've only now read it, months after you wrote it. But wow, this is truly a great piece of writing. How you managed to capture the very essence of Jane and Lisbon...is uncanny. I love that you were brave enough to touch on this subject, to even dare to include what Bosco said to Jane, to give us everything the writers didn't.

Their fight, the corresponding emotions, it was all so spot on, it left me reeling. We can't help but wonder to what degree Lisbon did blame Jane for it, if she did at all. I like how you handled that particular aspect here, her venomous words show that, at least to a certain degree, she does blame Jane for the fact RJ is so obsessed with him he killed 4 agents just to get him back on the case. On the other hand she quickly backtracked later and told him it's not his fault, which is most definitely something I see Lisbon doing.

Thank you for this, very well done!

- Cathy

How did I miss this one?

Whoa. That was awesome. And well-deserving of a Jellie nominee. Really good way to deal with it. I wish they had done this in the show.

I just loved this story. It was tense. I think you grasped the Jane - Lisbon relationship really well.

In character and very very believable. Really impressive!

I have read this story more times than I can count and it is one of my favorite Mentalist fics ever, so I would be completely remiss if I did not leave you a review, even if it comes months after I read this for the first time.

Incredibly well done and VERY in character. Makes me yearn for the follow up on Bosco that we never really got, although I see this playing out so perfectly in my head that it's almost like it DID happen in my world. You have a real gift for these characters, which very few seem to have. I adore this all the more with each re-read.

PS: Love your A/N reference to Toby and Sam. Always the Batman and Robin of Speechwriting ;)

You are an fantastic writer. Where are my tissues?

Oh, dear heavens this is good! I liked the way you took them to a very terrible place in a believable way, confronting the stuff between them that they don't talk about usually.

It makes me regret so much the, imo, sporadic handling we've had of the fallout from the deaths of Bosco team.

That was intense...

I can't find words right now, but I love how this goes, from the bar to the fight to the hug. They do need some kind of catharsis to let go of all the tension.

Great work!

Well, I came to this one a bit late I'm afraid, but very good indeed. Believable, certainly quite true to the characters, esp. Lisbon. I like it. A lot.

I really admire your writing style and the way you phrase your lines - it comes off as delicately beautiful and you have a perfect grasp on the characters. It can be challenging to put Jane and Lisbon in such a vulnerable situation together, but your characterizations never waver and it's very commendable.

Very nice! I have to admire how Jane handled that - and eventually Lisbon too. Thank you very much!

Okay, this, this is fabulous. Love the comparison at the start between Bosco and Red John, love the argument at the end that's wiped away. Love the whole thing.

This,

Go home, Jane, or back to your files. You got what you wanted after all.” She threw the words over her shoulder as she nearly ran down the sidewalk. She needed to hail a cab, but didn’t want to stop long enough for Jane to catch up.

Her words, eerily similar to what Rebecca had said to him in interrogation, hit him like a punch to the gut, sending another wave of nausea bubbling up and cresting in the back of this throat.

was particularly good.

Okay. I just twirled in my office chair like a school-girl. Because you hit on the VERY thing that has had me a little upset with the lack of blow-back from HRRH: the fact that even in its smallest degree, Lisbon HAS to blame Jane a little for Bosco's death. Because RJ did it for him. To get Jane back.

And oh, but you captured that scenario with a beauty I couldn't even imagine when trying to get my muse to play with the possibilities! Really. I love this. All of it.

Jane watching over her, as promised, only to duck in in true Jane fashion when she doesn't want him, to play White Knight. And then the alcohol and the heartache make her say the very things that have to be eating at him (things we'll probably never get to see on the show) and you painted a dark, and beautiful picture of the tow of them in a tug-o-war for each others friendship.

Honestly, I love it when I read another author mining the same territory I've been thinking about, and they do it so abso-friggin-lutely better than I EVER could! HEE! So, THANK YOU THANK YOU for touching on this subject and getting the "baggage" dealt with. Because you know there's baggage they're not dealing with in the show. Responsibility for RJ's actions are the things Lisbon and Jane have to be thinking about, realistically, and yet, all is supiciously well in Mentalist-land.

Fic is great about letting us play with the loose strings the writers leave hanging, isn't it? Adding you to my author alert, because I am seriously reading anything else you do for this fandom. Wow. Just... wow!