Letters in detention.

AN A lot of really good stories have been written using the fact that Lisbon kept Jane's letters from South America, in that special box and now they are a couple he finds this. I loved the re-boot, well until a certain "He who should not be named" put in an appearance but I wondered what happened to Lisbon's letters to Jane, the ones she wrote to him while he was in detention at the FBI. I believe these were returned unopened to her just before Fisher arrived in Cannon River. My apologies to other writers; if you have already addressed this, but the idea won't go away so hope you will enjoy reading this little fic of mine.

Disclaimer: Of course I do not own the Mentalist

Chapter 1

Her trip back to Washington had been equally as well organised by the FBI as had her unexpected and unwanted trip to Austin. Once Jane had been led to detention she was taken down to the entrance, thanked for her attendance, handed an envelope containing her air ticket and then shown by Cho to an official car waiting outside.

"Good to see you Cho, I'm glad you're well."

"Good to see you too, Boss."

She smiled at him,

"I'm not your boss any more, just Lisbon. Just Lisbon will do fine," she added with just a hint of sadness for times past. She detected a slight upward curve of Cho's lips and smiled again.

He opened the car door for her and shook her hand, "Keep safe, Chief Lisbon."

"You too, Cho." Then he was gone, back into the glass and steel … aquarium. That was what it looked like; a giant aquarium with hundreds of fish swimming around inside it.

It was dark and raining when she finally opened the door to her home. Well, that was not unusual; it rained a lot and she had begun to get used to it. Rain tended to dampen the enthusiasm of the petty criminals of Cannon River in Washington State. She just hoped that no one would drink too much then get into their pickup to drive home and misjudge the road.

Leaving her shoes in the porch and hanging her jacket on the pegs, she walked through the lounge, turned on the fire, found a bottle of red wine in the kitchen and with a generous glass full in her hand, sank into the cushions of her sofa with a heavy sigh.

He'd done it again! Fifteen months after she'd finally found somewhere to call home… and he'd turned her world upside down… again. Apparently he'd demanded her presence at the other end of the country … and she'd gone. Well to be honest the FBI didn't give her a choice, sending her a ticket for the next available flight to Austin and informing her a car would drive her from the airport to headquarters, without telling her why she was required to be there. She'd guessed it had something to do with Jane, but they knew as much as she did if not more.

She knew he was alive; he had written to her and had the letters delivered through Sam and Pete. She smiled as she remembered Danny turning up one day, dressed as a delivery man, complete with uniform and driving an official truck for the matching company. He had insisted to Henry that he had to hand the parcel in person to Chief Teresa Lisbon, demanding her signature before he would go. She didn't like to think how he came by the uniform and truck. Best not to know!

"Open it when you're on your own, Chief," he whispered to her, when he realised she had recognised him. Then winking at her, he disappeared.

"Just like Jane," she said to herself as she went into the office and closed the door. What she found in the parcel was the shell which she placed carefully on her desk.

Was it only two weeks ago that she had been visited by Supervisory Agent Dennis Abbott to question her about Jane yet again? She had been honest with him to a point;

"I don't know where he is."

She recalled Abbott picking up the shell from her desk and talking about the sound of the sea. She wanted to snatch it away from his grasp and hold it close. It was after all, the only object she had that Jane had touched and sent to her since he had run away, but instead she kept her arms folded tightly and a hopefully stony expression on her face. In that moment she knew that Abbott was on to him and also knew she should have taken the shell home but somehow it had comforted her to know that Jane thought to send it to her and she often glanced at it during the day and smiled to herself. She had even found herself listening to the sound of the sea, imagining Jane walking along a beach and finding the shell, packaging it up and sending it to her. Now she hugged herself and curled up on her sofa in an attempt to comfort herself.

Putting her empty glass down she glanced at her book shelf where the box of his letters sat; so personal yet giving nothing away; rather like their author, tantalisingly close but keeping his distance. As though pulled by an invisible force she found herself moving to the bookcase, stretching her hand out and carrying the box back with infinite care to the sofa. She lifted the lid and carefully ran her fingers across the edges of the papers. The first letter, the one she knew by heart seemed so fragile now, the edges worn where it had been folded and re-folded so many times.

"Dear Lisbon,…"

"I miss you…"

Abbott had traced him through the letters, and Jane must have known the risk. Why had he sent so many? Abbott had tracked him, hunted him, brought him back then sent for her and she had gone. Dammit; didn't he know they had all moved on; they had no choice. Wayne and Grace, Cho… of course. Abbott knew but Jane didn't, how could he in his self-imposed exile.

She had loved receiving those letters and reading about his new life, yet all the time, he probably had very llittle idea what had happened to her and the team. She frowned as she remembered those months after Red John was killed and she and the team bore the brunt of Abbott's investigations and accusations. She could tell Jane a thing or two about that; but not now. Teresa smiled to herself; she had missed him too, and although he was back and being offered a new life, doing what he did so well, she knew he was a creature of habit. That must be why he had told Abbott that he must give Teresa a job. Perhaps when he wrote the list of demands, he hadn't realised she had a job in LE already. That decided her; she would write to Jane in detention and tell him about her new life so that he could be reassured that she had a good job and had moved on. That way he could accept Abbott's offer and… five years wasn't really that long. Any communication would no doubt be screened so she would have to stay uncontroversial but she would write; starting tomorrow.

The next morning on her way to the office she stopped off at the general store and looked through the postcards of the town;

"Morning Milly. How are you today?"

"Fine Chief Lisbon and you?"

"I'm good thank you."

"How was your trip to Austin, Chief? Successful? You must be tired it's a fair distance from here."

Lisbon smiled to herself; everyone must know about her trip and the FBI showing an interest in Cannon River all of a sudden.

"Yeah, I met an old …. colleague… and … friend while I was there."

She had been led to a bland, windowless office with absolutely no character, when suddenly the door opened and the sun came into the room. A tanned Jane with his beautiful smile, his laughing eyes and his warm embrace, a beard of sorts, that awful shirt and his assurance that everything would be fine as though the last two years hadn't happened. A brief meeting with Abbott then, a few minutes later he was led away to the detention cells by a woman agent. He had called her Kim and she corrected him,

"Agent Fisher."

Lisbon saw Jane pause for a second. He actually seemed at a loss for words before repeating,

"Agent Fisher."

Lost in her own thoughts as she looked through the rack of postcards, Lisbon realised Milly was waiting for her to continue;

"Oh! We didn't really have much time to talk but … I thought I'd send him a picture of the town. He's just come back from … some exotic beach resort, somewhere and I doubt that he'll ever be able to get up here." She stopped herself, "Sorry, Milly, must get to the Office. This one will do fine."

It was a general scene of the main street with the mountains encircling the town. It must have been taken from Police Headquarters so that was appropriate. Paying quickly for the card, she hurried on into work, knowing that Milly would no doubt be spreading the information she'd just learned about their Police Chief's visit to the FBI. Thankfully it was a quiet day, and she was able to leave for home a few minutes early, having completed all her paperwork and tidied her desk…several times.

"I'm a bit tired after all that travelling," she told Henry, "I'll see you tomorrow,"

"Night, Chief."

Safely home, postcard, paper and pen ready, large mug of strong coffee steaming on the table, she started.

"Cannon River,

07/15/2013

Dear Jane,

We didn't really have time to talk yesterday so I thought I would send you a picture of my new home town. As you can see it is quite small; very small really, certainly compared to Sacramento but probably large compared to your home for the last two years.

The postcard picture was taken from outside the Police building. I moved here fifteen months ago now and have settled in well. I have a small house with a garden which I get to work in and relax in at weekends and summer evenings. No more late nights or even early mornings so far. I might even get a dog and start walking more; a dog would love walking in the mountains.

I've been in to the school to talk to classes about being an officer of the law, but I don't think many children think of that as a career round here. Most families are farmers with just a few professionals who work in the city during the week and return home for weekends. The crime rate is very low which the town is proud of and of course that makes my job easy.

You know now that Abbott read your letters so I can talk about them. They described your safe haven so clearly, there were times when I could imagine being there at the market and by the ocean and I feel I know the two ladies at the post office. The shell is beautiful and I keep it on my desk but Abbott knew you had sent it so I am sorry that your letters helped him find you. I don't know that I can describe my home here as well as you would but I will try next time I write."

She took a swig of her coffee and re read what she had written. There was nothing there that Abbott didn't already know, but it wasn't everything that she wanted to say…

"It was good to see you yesterday, it really was, but I don't know whether to be pleased or annoyed at your return and what on earth was that list on a napkin? Of course, I'm glad you're well because I have missed you…but I'm not sure if you're safe and I'm still puzzled by my having to come to Austin. I have a job already. Life is good here. Keep safe Jane, listen to what Abbott is saying and perhaps one day you'll be able to visit Cannon River. It is a beautiful place, and I think you'd appreciate the peace and quiet."

No harm in what she had written so how to end the letter…

"Lisbon." She concluded.

Wrapping the sheets of paper around the postcard, she slid them all into an envelope and thought for a moment before addressing it.

Mr Patrick Jane

FBI Field Office

Austin

TX.

She looked the zip code up on her computer and added it.

She smiled to herself as she decided she couldn't really put; "c/o Supervisory Agent D. Abbott" or "Detention Centre" on the envelope. It was tempting though and Jane might appreciate the irony.

"I hope you enjoy reading that Abbott."

Next morning the letter started its journey to Austin.