3 Month Leave | the MENTALIST

MONTH 2 : pt I

"How did you do it?"

Waking up with Cho's hands clutching her arms was beginning to become normal. He'd caught her early that time, before any damage could be done. It had been a few nights since she'd managed to hurt herself.

"Do what?"

The dreams of late weren't really dreams so much as they were overwhelming feelings that Arlov was in the room with her. The lucidity had gotten worse since she'd started counseling. It was like the verbal analysis of events had just refreshed her memory of them.

"How did you get through it?"

The question came out of the dark, from Cho's side of the bed.

"What else would I have done?" Ronnie watched the cartoons flash across the screen to keep herself from somersaulting right back into her own abduction.

"I mean mentally." Cho amended quietly. "After everything he did to you...When we got you back you were like your same old self."

She allowed a little scoff. "You mean, aside from the fact that we have to sleep in the same bed to keep me from mutilating myself?

"You know what I mean."

She really didn't want to answer that question. She knew what he meant. She'd gotten through it because she'd escaped from her physical self as much as humanly possible, and it had led her down a very weird road. "It's dumb."

"It can't be dumb if it saved your psyche." The matter of fact tone in his voice had a calming effect.

She wondered if he knew that—that his flat, analytical demeanor comforted her.

Ronnie didn't know how to answer him without giving away information that she couldn't bear to give him. She didn't know if they would come out unscathed if she told him that his was the face she saw when she remembered the assault.

She also didn't know what he would think about their fictional kiss.

Best not to tell.

"I made up a case." She said simply. "I zoned everything out and pretended the team was solving a murder case."

A few seconds of silence passed.

"You disassociated."

"Yeah, kinda."

"Smart." The bed moved as he rolled onto his other side. "That was a smart thing, Ronnie."

the MENTALIST

"Are you sure you're up for this? We can come back later." Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner stepped into Cho's living room with a concerned frown. He took the door from Ronnie's trembling grasp and closed it behind himself and Agent Morgan.

"No, I'd much rather get cracking on this." Ronnie gestured for them to make themselves comfortable on the couch. "I'm anxious to put everything regarding my mother behind me."

"We can understand that," Agent Morgan said kindly, taking a seat.

"I made coffee. Can I get you guys a cup?"

They both accepted the offer, so Ronnie busied herself with hosting. It settled her nerves a little. After so many years, she still got a rock in the pit of her stomach when she considered her culpability in her mother's work.

The two rather imposing FBI agents in her living room weren't helping matters.

"You live here with your partner?" Agent Morgan asked conversationally as she brought two mugs over. He accepted one with a smile.