So this is like a collection of song fics that Jane wants Lisbon to listen to, just stick with me here, kay? :P… I hope you enjoy this story and maybe find a band you had never heard of but love, because if you gain nothing else from this story, please just listen to the songs.

Blanket disclaimer for everything in this story because I rarely remember to do these every chapter, I may occasionally come out with a witty little one liner but: I don't own the mentalist… sigh…

Also a massive THANKYOU to taiwanfreak4ever who read this for me and indulged my madness, I would never have uploaded this without your encouragement, much love 3

So on with the story :)

Cool, hard metal pressed into Lisbon's palm as she peeked around her corner to see Red John point his scalpel at Jane menacingly with one hand while the other kept him static with the much more imminent threat of a deadly gun. Even though Lisbon was safe in the knowledge that her and the team were covering every inch of Jane and Red John had no idea this was a trap she still felt fear blossom in her stomach as the famed psychopath drew closer to Jane; flippantly waving about the gun everyone knew he had no plans of using. If he was going to kill Jane he was going to do it as slowly and painfully as humanly possible, not with a well aimed and merciful bullet.

"So, Patrick, this is how it's all going to end, I do wish dear Teresa was here to watch me kill you…" he taunted and watched in delight as, for a single millisecond, undiluted horror and fear marred Jane's normally composed visage.

"Well, I think you should be more organised Jonnie boy" Jane mocked back "A little tip, don't shake my hand when you're carrying a gun, my fingers are like little magnets, they just attract bullets" He stated while reaching into his pocket and pulling out one of the six bullets he had there to roll around in his fingers.

With a disbelieving glare, Red John spun out the revolvers chamber and let out an enraged snarl when he did, indeed, discover it to be empty of ammunition. He violently tossed it to one side and advanced rapidly towards Jane wielding the sharpened medical instrument. Jane reached out to his wrist quickly to hold him back; the second Jane's palm made contact with his wrist, Red John's hand spasmed, his fingers jerked open unwillingly and the scalpel plummeted downwards, hitting the ground with a sharp tinkle. Within seconds the entire team stormed in, Grace cuffing him aggressively and holding him there so everyone could get a good look at the face that had ruled over them for so long. Jane raised his hand in a quick wave to show everyone the prankster shock button strapped onto his left hand and smirked in his nemeses direction.

"I was not beaten by Patrick Jane and a child's toy!" he screeched but his tantrum was cut short by Lisbon pointing her gun straight at his face, her countenance set hard and unforgiving. The entire team were close to Jane but they all respected the fact that Lisbon was his. She was his best friend so she always knew more about the situation then they did, if she made a seemingly strange decision regarding Jane and Red John it was because she was more informed than they were. She had seen him suffer every day because of the pathetic excuse for a man standing in front of her and she couldn't let this go. Anger clouded her mind and her vision and her hands shook as she fidgeted the gun in her hands.

"Carful Lisbon, your Jane is showing" red john sing songed and her temper flared once more "You hurt them and you hurt him so you need to rot in hell where you can't hurt anyone anymore" she spat, a single angry tear threading its way down her reddened cheek. Curling her finger around the trigger she steeled herself for the shot, she would do it, she would kill the man that had destroyed her best friend, he would suffer; but there was suddenly a calming hand on her shoulder and a soothing voice that told her he wasn't worth it and they could sort this out, together.

Lisbon pulled herself away from the disturbing image forcefully, placing her head in her hands over the last piece of paperwork to do with Red John. After she signed this piece of paper and sent it to admin he would just be another convicted serial killer, filed away in a neat little box and in her mind that didn't compute, how could someone who had ruined so many lives be forgotten like that. One day someone would stumble across that box and read over the case file thinking 'what an awful man, how can I have never heard of him?' but that was her job, she made it so people in the future had never heard of evil men like Red John, she kept people safe from psychopathic mad men, even if it threw her head long into an existential crisis.

Jane waltzed into her office without knocking, as usual, and saw her in this compromising state. "Hey" he prompted softly, to pull her out of her thoughts. He knew she wouldn't want to talk about it. Red John's conviction and subsequent death hadn't brought his family back and hadn't really helped him find closure straight away but he was slowly coming to terms with the situation and he knew Lisbon was currently going through something similar.

"So, have you decided?" she probed, eager to distract herself

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna stick around" he replied slowly, thinking about his words; Lisbon would have been lying if she said her heart hadn't fluttered a little at the thought of him staying for the foreseeable future

"Good, none of the others have the balls to endanger my job on a daily basis" she teased, not wanting him to know how happy she was even though she knew he did

"Hey! I only endangered it once!" he protested, ignoring Lisbon's scoff and disbelieving look "They only would have fired you when you and Rigsby faked your own deaths!"

Lisbon was silent for a long time, going over that night in her head, when he'd 'shot' her in her office. The night he'd told her he loved her.

"Wow. I was beginning to think you'd never call me out on what I said" he said and with horror Lisbon realised she had spoken aloud but decided to pursue it; Red John was dead and they had spent enough time dancing. She was fed up and just wanted to know one way or another now.

"You said you loved me" she stated again, prompting him to confirm or deny the statement

"Yes." He replied enigmatically

"Well?" she questioned, now thoroughly tired of waiting

"Well what?" he question her back infuriatingly, if she wanted to know she was going to have to ask properly, if she didn't already know the answer.

"Do you?... love me?" she asked, completely straight forward, finally realising this was what was required.

"Oh, Lisbon" he replied and with a pensive look left without another word. Lisbon sighed in frustration and signed the damn piece of paper, shoving it in her out tray aggressively. Red John may be gone but that man is just as infuriating she thought as she left the building to go home.

Meanwhile Jane sat in his attic with his birthday present for her, he was going to give it to her blank but this seemed a much better way to answer her question than with a normal yes or no.

Lisbon strode into her office the next morning, suddenly at a loss of what to do, they had no case and no paper work and all of Red John's disciples who hadn't been captured had committed suicide. It was like after her high school finals, after all this work she had no idea what to do with her life. As she sat heavily in her chair she noticed a silver box on her desk, secured with a red ribbon and a tag dangling from it enticingly

Happy early birthday, I thought this was better than just a yes or no

Patrick xx

With curiosity Lisbon pulled at the ribbon and shimmied the lid from the box seeing and IPod touch laying in a bed of tissue, she smiled when she thought of the consideration that had gone into it, she had been complaining a few weeks ago to Van Pelt that her IPod had finally bitten the dust and she didn't have enough money to buy a new one. She didn't even think he'd been listening.

She pulled it from its resting place, wondering how it was answering her question from last night as she applied pressure to the centre button and the screen came to life. It flashed a photo of headphones with a cross through them at her and she was confused for a second. This is going to be a typical Jane stunt she thought, rooting around for head phones to plug into the machine why did he have to hack into an IPod to give me an answer? What's wrong with yes or no? She pondered as she placed the headphone into her ear and a video of Jane popped up

"We both know I don't like to be mainstream so I've decided before you can get your answer you have to listen to this playlist, your very clever Teresa and I'm sure you'll figure this out so be patient, I hope to enjoy listening as much as I did" with a smile he faded away and the soft intro to a familiar song filled her ears and understanding filled her mind. She was going to enjoy this, she defiantly was, it was a good thing she had a free day

So I hoped you enjoyed the first chapter, and don't forget to leave a review, there will be music next chapter, I promise :)

My name on Tumblr is also MeganElixabethh if you want to follow me but don't feel like you have to, I follow back :) (just realised that made me sound like a stalker but I don't even care)

MeganElixabethh xx