Hey, this is just a cute little one-shot I thought of when I was bored. I couldn't focus on my other stories so I took my mind off of them for a while and wrote this. Please R&R. All review are appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Mentalist. If I did I would make sure there were more hot guys than just Patrick Jane. Not that I'm complaining, Simon works just fine for me. I just wish there were more (like Chace Crawford).

Xxo0oxX

As the elevator door glided open, I looked suspiciously at my team gathered around our floors bulletin board, each one sharing a laugh about the new pictures that had been put up. I assumed they were the pictures that Minelli required us to bring in from our teenage years in honor of National "Say NO to Drugs" week. The narcotics team came up with the idea of making everyone on the floor turn in a picture to Minelli and then post them on the board rather than the usual accomplishments of the different teams that shared the floor.

I had been reluctant to bring in mine, but after I was sure that her entire team- including Jane- had brought one, I decided it was safe to shuffle through my old scrap book put together by my grandmother. Narcotics had now turned it into a game. They handed out sheets of paper that you were to fill out if you felt like it and if you had properly matched the picture to the name than you would win a prize. Of course, I hadn't taken the time to meet and talk to any of the other teams on the floor so playing would be a waste of my time- time that I needed to fill in reports.

"Having fun," I said as I approached Rigsby. I loved making someone twice my size cringe, especially when they hadn't noticed that I had even entered the building.

Rigsby, VanPelt, and Cho turned to look at me- I could almost see Rigsby's brain turn into over drive as he tried to think of an excuse. They knew that they were supposed to be finishing paperwork; there was no time for games. I wasn't seriously angry with them; I don't think I could ever seriously be upset with any of them. Well, except for Jane that is. He was different than the others.

"Boss," Cho started. I suppressed a smile. They're fear never failed to amuse me.

I stood in my usual stance of authority (feet firmly planted, arms crossed, legs apart, perfect posture with my head held high and back straight), "I don't want to hear it. None of you have time to be playing this game. I'm surprised that Minelli even agreed to allow Narcotics to have it."

"Sorry boss," VanPelt said.

As much as I loved to see people intimidated of me, I couldn't help but feel sorry for my team after reprimanding them. They always had such a crestfallen expression. I didn't want them to feel like they were being punished for this, they were only having fun after all.

I sighed, "That's ok. Just make sure that you have those papers filed by two o'clock. You can go ahead and play the game for a few more minutes, but not too long."

All three smiled, including Cho to my surprise. They had me curious as to what was so entertaining, "So what are you looking at anyway?"

I decided to let them explain the rules of the game, "Well we're not actually playing. We're just trying to find Jane," Rigsby said instead, "want to help?"

"Nah, I have a lot of stuff to do, but let me know when you find him." I said retreating to my office.

I heard them all let a sigh of relief fall from their lips, "That was close." I heard VanPelt whispered. They almost act like children at times, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I knew perfectly well that they were trying to find my picture. I spotted Jane pretending to be asleep on his couch.

"Good morning Jane," I said quietly enough to not wake him up if he really was sleeping, but I doubted it.

"Good morning Lisbon." He responded unmoving.

I smiled and took a sip of my coffee before closing the door to my office. I could almost have a countdown until Jane would burst into my office without knocking to talk to me. I'll just give him a few more minutes, and then he'll probably make fun of me about my picture or boast that he saw mine without looking for that long.

Sure enough, three minutes later in comes my consultant, "Guess what Lisbon!" he exclaimed.

"Jane! Don't you have any respect? You can't just come into people's rooms uninvited and without knocking," I was getting better at lying and that wasn't a good sign. I blame it on Patrick Jane.

He smiled, "You didn't answer me."

"Jane, I don't have time for this!" I tried to look mad, I'm sure it would have worked on Rigsby.

He simply smiled, "Fine, what Jane?" damn that smile.

"I won the game and got the prize before anyone even got into the office," he said clearly proud of himself.

I tried as hard as could to look unimpressed, "Really? That's nice Jane. Now get out!"

"Alright, alright- I just have one question before I leave."

"What?" I knew his question. I looked at the reports on my desk and put my hands in my lap.

He paused only for a moment, "Did it hurt?"

Crap. I knew he would guess as soon as he saw that God damn picture, "What?" I said playing dumb.

He walked forward and grabbed my left wrist. I looked up at him, scared that he would tell the team which picture was mine- afraid that he would tell them about... I tried to free my wrist, but was shocked at how strong he was. I knew he knew, so I tried not to look at his eyes. He rubbed his thumb against a scar that never faded against the inside of my arm, just below my hand.

"It left a scar," he said stating the obvious.

"I…I don't know what you're talking about," where were those improving lying abilities?

"It's not that bad you know, I'm sure no one would think any differently of you," he said calmly. I was confused on just how gentle his voice was. Ironic, just a few minutes ago I was the adult and he was the child. Things can change quickly.

"They would think I was a freak. They wouldn't treat me the same way. It would make me look weak," my voice begged him not to tell against my will. It betrayed me at the worst of times.

"You did this because of your father didn't you?" my eyes grew larger. He had taken this somewhere I didn't mean for it to go. He thought I did that to myself? Why would he think that?

"What? No…" I chuckled once or twice, I was sure that I had confused him, "My father did that because of me. Whenever I would do something bad, this was his form of punishment. And if the school noticed, he would just say that I did it to myself."

I looked up to him now, his eyes were apologetic, "I'm sorry. I thought…well a lot of teenagers resort to such things after…their…"

I wouldn't allow him to go any further, I wasn't going to cry in front of him, "It's ok." He didn't let go of my wrist, just brought it up to him lips and kissed my palm gently. I didn't know what to say, I forgot how to move.

He walked out of my office sullen, probably disappointed that his observation had been wrong. I prayed that he wouldn't tell the team. After waiting a few seconds I followed him out, watching him walk over to the bulletin board to accompany his coworkers when called over by Rigsby.

I saw him shake his head, telling them to keep looking. I knew that they would never find me. I walked towards them, to see if he was going to tell where I was. Once I got there, they all turned. The three agents laughed and ignored the frown that Jane wore.

"Lisbon…uh…" Jane mumbled. I felt an awkward silence coming between us and I hated those. I took one more step towards the board and found my picture at the very top. Shit, it was too high up. I tried to grab it anyway. I noticed the others had fallen silent.

I felt Jane behind me. His arm reached up to the picture and pulled it down for me, "Thanks," I gave him a half hearted smile. I handed the picture to VanPelt. Cho and Rigsby looked on either side of her at a frowning teenager that looked to be on the verge of tears as a taller boy to her right pulled her hair and another boy tried to stop him. Her hair was brown with dyed blonde highlights. She wore a black jacket and a school uniform. And there it was, the bright red line on her left wrist pointed towards the camera. I really should have found a picture of my mother and said it was me.

"I thought it was the funniest and no one would guess it was me," I explained. Again, it was a lie. I recalled the day that my father had his bon fire. The day he burned all the pictures of me and my brothers from years past. I was only 19 at the time. I found a scrapbook while sifting through my grandmothers things after her funeral and thought it best not to tell my father. I hid it from him until I moved from Napa. Yet I still hide it in the darkest corner of my closet in my apartment.

Cho nodded, "Yeah I would have never guessed that was you, Boss."

"Were you crying?" VanPelt asked.

I stiffened up, "No…I just…uh…I guess I really didn't want people to find my picture, but Minelli got upset when I didn't bring one in."

Rigsby laughed, "Hey Boss, who was pulling you're hair?"

I laughed too, "My younger brother, Matthew."

"He's younger than you?" Rigsby yelled, still laughing, "how old were you?"

I tried to look stern for when he looked up, "Fifteen."

"Geez Boss! You were really short," he said almost making fun of me. He looked up at me after he realized how bad that sounded. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights after seeing my blank expression- just like I like him.

"Sorry Boss."

"Back to work, all of you," I ordered. I love being in charge.

I walked to the break room, looking for my breakfast that I put there yesterday. I didn't see Jane follow me.

"Why did you do that?" he asked.

"Because I'm not afraid of my team- they can't scare me. Nothing they say will make me feel bad." I said stubbornly. I knew I was a control freak, but I didn't mean to be.

He took my hand and held it in his. I turned around and closed the door; I didn't care for food anymore. I lost my appetite, "You don't have to be so brave all the time." He whispered.

How could he think that? "Yes I do," I corrected him.

My back was against the fridge, not allowing me to escape from this encounter. He pressed his forehead to mine. I could tell he had to lean over to reach. Why did I have to be so damn short? He pressed a kiss into my cheek. I lost control, all thanks to Patrick Jane. And I didn't care; I didn't want control over this.

"Not always. I'm here," I knew he meant more than just situations like this. I knew I should really tell him to stop but my voice failed- unable to make any noise. I hate this, I hate how I'm falling in love with Patrick Jane.

Xxo0oxX

Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it :D Please review.