NOMINATIONS: Best Inner Conflict Moment

[admin]

The Tug at Your Heartstrings Lemon Jellie

This award goes to the Mentalist fic with the best inner conflict moment, where a character battles with their feelings for another or fights with their conscience.

Each person can nominate up to two fics for this category. Please remember to include the title, author, rating and a link to the story. Also include a brief description of the moment in your nomination.

[lilsmiles]

Nominee: Ruby Slippers

Author: Cathartes

Rating: T

Story: LINK HERE

Moment:

Lisbon was no dummy. She knew there were days when you couldn’t win. As she poured herself three fingers of scotch and sat in her own dark office, she was pretty sure this was one of those days.

At least they caught the guy: It didn’t matter what he had done to his brother-in-law and his wife, at least they got him in the end. Lisbon was aware that there were cases – not in her squad, obviously, but in other places – that were never solved at all. Departments ran out of time or manpower or leads to follow, and cases languished and died.

The scotch burned a little going down, but Lisbon didn’t have any problem with that. Most of the time she talked herself through the letdown after a case, coaching herself to do better next time, to shake it off, to take it on the chin. But every once in a while it was healthy to have a little breakdown. Right?

[tromana]

Title: Chasing Pavements
Author: CoffeeQueen
Rating: T
Link: Here

Moment:

On the way to the dumpster - Jane with the tree hoisted in his arms and Lisbon following closely with a bag of trash, pine needles, and empty bottles - she found her self wondering about the mysterious Patrick Jane. His face was ruddy from walking down flights of stairs with tree in tow, his muscles strained against his disheveled sleeves, his usual vest was casually unbuttoned. He always appeared so put together, his mask on tight. But here, under the yellow light of the street lamp, he seemed real to her, tangible, attainable. Like she could help him battle his demons and make the ghosts go away for good. Start a new life. Everything that she never knew she wanted flashed before her eyes. And maybe one day, she thought, maybe she wouldn't have to endure her brothers' nagging. Maybe she could finally say, "Here he is."

[cureless]

Nominee: The Land of Oz

Author: Eve215

Rating: T

Story: LINK HERE

Moment:

Without thinking, he grabbed her hand, causing a shocked look to appear briefly on her face. "Lisbon," he said, rubbing his fingers lightly over hers. He needed to touch her. To feel her, warm and soft, and... real. "I know this is difficult. I'm sorry that I can't open up to you. Just know that I'm handling this the best way I know how." Looking into her eyes, he found himself wanting to tell her everything. Tell her about Sophie and the institution he kept going back to. He wanted to tell her that he was fearful about it all. That it was freaking him out inside, but he was trying to keep it together outside. He longed to tell her about the conversation he'd had with Sophie about there not being a Red John, and about what he'd done to his family...... No, he took that back. No one needed to ever know about that. It was to painful. To unnerving, and to sick to even think about.

Instead of telling her everything he was feeling, both good and frightening, he simply smiled brightly and said, "In forty-eight hours, I'll be good as gold. Back to the old Jane and all of my charms you all love so much will be fully functional."

She smiled back at him, but it didn't reach her eyes. He pondered if that meant that she didn't think he'd get better, or that she didn't like the old Jane as much as he thought. She took her hand from his and patted it gently. "Get some rest, huh?"

[PhoenixWytch]

Nominee: Homework

Author: kathiann

Rating: K

Story: LINK HERE

Moment:

Jane just smiled. I wonder who would have sent her flowers. Maybe it’s the guy here she likes? Wait, it’s not the guy from last night, was it? No, he wouldn’t know where to send them, would he? Maybe that’s why she’s in a bad mood. Or it could be because she fell asleep with me watching her last night or the fact that I left without saying anything to her. Man, I think I screwed up.

He knocked on her office door and went in before she could say anything. He quickly shut the door so that if she decided to yell at him, they had some privacy. The first thing he noticed was the large vase of roses on Lisbon’s desk. They were very impressive and had obviously cost a lot of money. I bet it is that guy from last night—very presumptuous of him to send her flowers; they didn’t even go out on a date. I think I might be jealous, but why would I be jealous? Wasn’t that the whole point of making her go out last night—getting her to be more comfortable, to find love?

[diviniaserit]

Nominee: A Metaphorical Step Forward

Author: ImOrca

Rating: T

Link: LINK HERE

Moment:

"Jane, we close cases because of you, and I don’t pretend it’s otherwise.” She sighed and looked away. “Sometimes I worry about my job because…well, because… I worry… that it’s all I am. Those are bad days. And…I worry that if you weren’t with us… that I wouldn’t even be able to claim that.” She was speaking very quietly. But she was speaking. She could not bear to reveal her eyes. She wasn’t quite ready for that yet. She was relieved to see the taxi pulling up. She quickly reached for the door and slipped in.

[Taffy Mae]

Nominee: Scarlett Jane

Author: Jolie Freedman

Rating: M

Link: LINK HERE

Moment:

The day had come. It was finally here. And he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t kill Red John.

Red John, the man named Liam Jones, was tied to a chair in front of him bloody and beaten by his hand. His anger and grief had lent him uncharacteristic anger and strength. But as he stood with him in his grasp, knife in hand, he had frozen. He couldn’t move. He had waited so long and now he was letting his opportunity slip out of her fingers as every second ticked by.

Red John began to laugh slowly and languidly “You’re just like her. All mouth and no trousers. She didn’t fight me either” he told him and Patrick felt red hot anger over take him as he slammed his fist into the mouth of the man whom had destroyed his world. How dare he even talk about her, how dare he even mention her!

“Shut the f*** up!” he demanded and all it did was make Red John laugh more as blood dripped from the sides of his mouth and down his chin.

“You should have seen her beautiful but weak and useless” Red John continued to mock and Patrick slammed his fist straight back into his face and his heard his nose shatter underneath the force of the blow with a satisfying crack. More blood poured down his face and into his open, laughing mouth.

“I thought I told you to shut the f*** up!” Patrick screamed at him smashing him across the mouth once more.

“Oh how she screamed for you, oh how she screamed. How she bled, it was delicious” Red John told him a satisfied smile on his face through the blood pouring from his nose. Patrick saw red and every single thought of avenging his family, every single trace of anger that he had every felt came pouring out as he slammed fist after fist into the man who’d taken his world. Into his face, arms, chest until his knuckles began to bleed and his own arms screamed in pain. Then he used his feet slamming them into his legs and his chest.

When he finally ran out of energy and stopped kicking the crap out of him he stumbled backwards and fell to the floor, tears falling thickly onto his face. Red John was left a blood mess but still he laughed despite the obvious pain he was in. In it was an inhuman sound. Patrick had only one question left that he had to ask him.

“Why?” he asked him softly and he could see the bloodied man regard him through the blood smeared across his face head tilted to one side.

It was an innocent gesture, one that his daughter had done all the time but now it sickened him. It had become nothing but violent on the face of this monster.

“It was simple. I had a family once, people that I loved. That b**** she took them, killed them, my children and did anyone do anything about it? No, accident they said. Shame, they told me but I knew it that stupid b**** that took them and killed them. So I kill her, over and over again”

“The women that you kill….” Patrick added and Red John began to laugh hysterically his eyes rolling manically in their sockets.

“Are her, every single one of them. She was supposed to be my wife but did that stop her f***ing around? No, the she took my kids, the four people I loved most and she killed them. Butchered them with a knife and then turned the gas on and set the house on fire. I know what she did to them no matter what they said to me! She killed them and so I found her and gutted her, cutting her like she cut them but there was no justice there so I will kill her until I get my justice!”

It was then that Patrick Jane came to the most startling realisation of all. He was looking at himself, the thing that he could become of he went down this road. This man was avenging the murder of the people he had loved and in the process of trying to avenge his children he had lost his soul and become nothing more than the thing that he had been trying to destroy. He had become a murderer.

And that would be what happened to him if he killed him now Patrick realised. It wouldn’t bring his family back, it couldn’t bring his family back nothing could but would they want him to become like this man, this animal before him? No of course they wouldn’t, it would have been the last thing that they wanted. He wouldn’t be magically healed after killing this man, no he’d want more, more blood of those who were ever involved with him. He’d want them all to pay and none of it would turn back the clock and bring Scarlett and Kas back to him. Nothing ever could, that life was lost and could never be regained but that didn’t mean he couldn’t live.

So the last thing he could do was kill them now. And perhaps this is what everyone had been trying to get him to see all along.

“You know they called for me as she killed them. She told me just like your wife called for you” Patrick couldn’t bring himself to stand and hurt him any more. He was done, he had failed to have his revenge but perhaps just perhaps he had saved his humanity “You want to know something funny? Even as I killed her your wife didn’t blame you. Wanna know what the last thing she said was? That she loved you isn’t that funny? Once more he began to laugh hysterically highly amused at the story he had just told.

Patrick felt more tears fall down his face at Red John’s words. Even if death Scarlett hadn’t blamed him in fact she had loved him right up to the end. The accusations that he saw in her eyes, they were all him. All of them were made and invented by him. Red John thought he was hurting him but right then he did something much more than that, he had set some long since dead part of him free.

[admin]

Nominee: A Shred of Solace

Author: lil smiles

Rating: T

Story: LINK HERE

Moment:

Lisbon searched his eyes, trying to find something that would betray his words. She should have known better. She should have known that sharing her bed with Patrick Jane would end in heartbreak, her heartbreak. But she couldn’t stop herself.

“I should go,” he said suddenly.

He wasn’t allowed a chance to leave as Lisbon grabbed a hold of him by the elbow. Their eyes met once more. Another moment of weakness. There had been too many already, too many to count. Out of all the things she couldn’t be in control of, this had to be one of them. It wasn’t fair.

“Patrick...”

Forgoing her rationality, she pulled him towards her, crushing her mouth roughly against his. Her lids slipped shut while his fingers threaded through her hair. Damn the consequences. She wasn’t going to let him go. One day she would have to, that day would inevitably come too soon. But for now, she was willing to play the broken woman, finding solace in the arms of a broken man, trying desperately to fix him. Something that she knew deep in her heart, she could never accomplish. Nothing else mattered though. Not even the simple fact he had accidentally made her fall hopelessly in love with him.