(A/N): I got this idea from a wonderful fic of boutondor's, called Amalgamation, which was basically the same plot line as this fic. What if Jane and Lisbon were married before the show started? Of course, mine is different to the other fic, but I just loved the idea of the two always being married, and no-one but them know about it. Still, let me know what you think, and I will try to have the next one up as soon as I have the time. Sometime next week is most likely. This is the pilot episode (obviously), and much of the dialogue and such have been borrowed from that. Just so you know

Disclaimer: I do not own the mentalist, no matter how much I wish I did. I have just borrowed some of it for my own amusement.

See you all soon (hopefully),

HeavenSkye x

Through Thick and Thin.

Chapter 1.

Pilot. (1x01).

Patrick Jane walked up to the Tolliver house behind Teresa Lisbon, watching everything around him. However, his eyes would occasionally flicker towards the petite woman in front of him. He almost smiled. Almost. Just watching her perfected walk that was designed to make her look heavier than the 120 pounds he knew she actually weighed made him want to smile. He knew he couldn't though. Not just yet anyway. Lisbon would consider killing him if he did. And there was no way he was going to get on the bad side of his wife.

Yeah, his wife. He'd joined the CBI a little less than a year after the deaths of his first wife, Angela, and their daughter, Charlotte. Then he'd been placed under Agent Lisbon's watchful eye. Somewhere along the way he'd tricked her into dating him, and they'd fallen in love. It might sound romantic to some, but both Jane and Lisbon knew there was nothing romantic about them, not really anyway. They'd gotten married around three years after he started working with her, but agreed to keep it a secret, for fear of Red John finding out, and for the judgement they knew they would receive from everyone else.

He followed Lisbon up the driveway, ignoring the reporters, or as he called them, vultures, subconsciously playing with his wedding band. It wasn't the one Angela had given him. That ring was on a long chain around Lisbon's neck along with her wedding band, one that hung far lower than her cross did, so unless someone deliberately looked down her top, it would remain hidden from the world.

He stopped by a police captain, just as Lisbon shot him a discreet glance before resuming her professional stance.

"Captain." She greeted, causing the captain to turn round.

"Agent Lisbon." He returned. Clearly he didn't want her presence, but respected her too much to tell her that he wanted her gone. Jane rolled his eyes, tuning out the conversation as he saw a teenage boy being bundled into the back of a police cruiser. The local police obviously like him for the murder of Mercy Tolliver, but Jane knew it wasn't him. The poor kid looked like he was about to wet himself. There was no way he'd have the nerve to even talk to Mercy, let alone get close enough to kill her, and especially not in the gruesome way that had been described to them over the phone.

He turned his attention to a raised platform erected on the front lawn as a man announced, "Mercy's father would like to give a brief statement."

Mercy's father was a tall, well-built, dark haired man in his early forties. By all appearances, a good man. However, Jane could see a little facial tick that betrayed deep anger, and a violent streak. The man kept hold of his wife hand throughout his statement, even when she tried to move away. Jane frowned almost imperceptibly. He would never treat his wife like that. If Lisbon didn't want him near her, he knew better than to go after her. It would most likely end in him getting hurt and Lisbon angrier than before. He glanced at Mercy's mother's face before it dawned on him. Of course, that was what had happened.

He turned away and walked into the house. He'd seen enough out there.

…

Jane looked up as Mercy's mother, Juniper Tolliver, walked into the room, nervously twisting a handkerchief in her hands. She stopped short as soon as she saw him. He settled for a soothing tone, trying not to frighten her any more than she was already.

"Hello, Mrs Tolliver."

"Who are you?"

"My name's Patrick Jane. I'm here to help you. Would you like a cup of tea?"

…

Lisbon's head shot towards the house as gunshots went off. Her eyes widened in panic. Jane was in there. She rushed in through the back door of the Tolliver home, gun drawn and raised, only to find Jane and Mrs Tolliver stood up, their backs to her. Mr Tolliver was dead on the floor, the smoking gun in Mrs Tolliver's shaking hand. As officers swarmed the house, Jane's hand rose instinctively, whilst Mrs Tolliver continued to stare at the body of her husband. Jane turned his head to stare at his wife.

"Honestly, it's not as bad as it looks." He reassured her. Lisbon dropped her weapon back down to her side, irritation clearly shown on her face as she holstered her gun. Shooting Jane a look that clearly stated that he would pay for this later, she followed Mrs Tolliver outside, calling after her as she did.

Jane's eyes followed her out as she did.

…

Jane got in later than Lisbon that night, after being chewed out by Minelli for a good two hours on why what he did was wrong, and being told he was on suspension for two weeks. He wasn't really surprised that Lisbon hadn't waited for him, if he was being honest with himself. His wife hated the thought of death, even if the person was truly heinous. It was the one point they'd ever really disagreed on, and they never liked dwelling on it too much.

He slowly undressed, before lowering himself carefully into the bed beside his wife. Lisbon turned, curling into his side as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head gently.

"I'm still mad at you." She told him sleepily. Jane smiled into her hair. He hadn't expected anything else.

"But I'm glad you're alive," She added on after a moment, before snuggling into his shoulder and drifting back off to sleep.

…

A week later had Lisbon and her team, minus Jane, were walking through Palm Springs International Airport. She hated out of town cases, mainly due to the lack of a certain pain-in-the-ass consultant, not that she'd ever tell him that. She loved him, as much as it hurt sometimes, and she missed him when he wasn't around. But, she was also frequently annoyed by him, and really wanted him to realise just how much it irritated her. Still, she'd had an enjoyable early morning wake up, which now only fuelled her bad mood even more. She didn't want to be there, and the consultant that would probably have the case wrapped up within the day was on suspension, plus the newbie of the team, Grace Van Pelt, had only just started, and was still learning the ropes. All in all, not a good day.

"Sorry."

Lisbon turned to see Van Pelt looking extremely apologetic. She found the urge to scream. Was the universe against her today? Instead, she focused on the conversation.

"You checked luggage?" Lisbon checked, sighing a little when Van Pelt's cheeks darkened a little in embarrassment. "What are you, on vacation?" She asked sarcastically, her irritation getting the better of her.

"No ma'am. I won't do it again." Van Pelt looked scared, and Lisbon knew that if Jane was there, he'd be snickering into his hand at them.

"When your trousseau arrives, pick up the second rental and go to the sheriff's department. Hustle us up a couple of rooms, furniture and phone lines." Lisbon ordered. She felt a little bad at what she'd assigned Van Pelt to do, but it was the rookie's work anyway. She'd put Rigsby through it before Van Pelt. She knew that the other two agents were exchanging glances behind her, probably wondering why she was being a little shorter than usual, but also being smart enough not to say anything about it.

"Yes ma'am." Van Pelt replied instantly, eager to get back into her boss' good books. Lisbon turned round, glancing at Agents Cho and Rigsby.

"Come on." She told the other two, marching in between them as they instinctively moved out of her way. Today was going to be long day, she could feel it.

…

"Which one of you jackasses told him? It was you, wasn't it, Cho?" Lisbon bit out harshly, trying to ignore Jane's presence as much as possible as she berated her second-in-command.

"Yes it was." Cho replied, deadpan as always. Sometimes, Lisbon honestly wondered why she yelled at Cho. It never made a difference.

"Of course he called me. It's Red John. Can't keep me out of this. Why would you want to?" Jane asked, sounding hurt. Lisbon just rolled her eyes as she kept walking. One day, she'd end up killing her husband in his sleep. She didn't think anyone would blame her for it either.

…

"Red John's mine." Jane told her, eyes dark and tone level. Lisbon fought the urge to shiver, instead focusing on the anger she felt at that statement. Most men would state that about their wives, but no, she ended up with the one man that would choose a serial killer over her.

"Red John doesn't belong to anyone." She retorted, trying to make him see reason. Jane glanced at Cho and Rigsby, who immediately caught the message and walked into the building to get away from what they considered 'mommy and daddy fighting time'.

"He belongs to me." Jane stated again, his eyes almost pleading with her. Lisbon sighed. She hated when he did that, mainly because it made it all the harder not to let him in, to say yes.

"It's not my call. Rules are rules. Come back next week." She told him, moving for the door. After quickly checking for Rigsby and Cho, he grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the door, moving to the side where they couldn't be seen. He grabbed her waist and pulled her towards him, pushing his lips against her. Moaning, she kissed him back, her warm, wet tongue sneaking into his mouth.

After a few moments, he pulled back, panting a little. The things that little minx could do to his normally iron clad self control was almost unbelievable.

"Are you sure?" He whispered huskily into her ear. Lisbon shivered, but extricated herself from her husband's hold.

"I'm sure."

…

Later that day, as they both left Dr Wagner's office, Lisbon felt drained, tired of it all. Jane had fought his way onto the case, only to declare that it wasn't Red John. So he'd left, and then randomly come back, for reasons she still wasn't sure of. Now he was trying to get sleeping pills from the doctor without a consultation. She rolled her eyes. She'd bet anything that he'd left the sleeping pills on the bedside cabinet yet again. He'd do it on around 90 per cent of the out of town cases they worked, and then Lisbon herself was usually the one to stay up with him, which resulted in not enough sleep for either of them, and a grumpy mood for her the following day.

She waited for him to catch her up after the doctor refused to prescribe him anything without a consultation. He caught the end of the little grin she had on her face and met it with one of his own.

"Yes, I left mine at home again." He told her. Her small grin morphed into a slightly larger smile.

"I knew it." She told him. "That's one cup of coffee and two bear claws you owe me now."

"One coffee, one bear claw, and pancakes the first morning we're back home." He bargained. Lisbon pretended to think about it, but he knew she'd accept. She loved the pancakes he made.

"Fine." Lisbon agreed, mock sighing as she did. "I suppose I can agree with that."

Jane pinched her waist, not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough to make her jump and turn to glare at him. He grinned before grabbing her hand and pulling her to the car with him. Their marriage might be different to other peoples, but he loved her, and she loved him, and that was all that mattered.

…

"That was mean, you know."

Jane grinned as he saw Lisbon lay on his bed in her work clothes, flicking through the tv channels. He toed off his shoes before jumped next to her, and pulled her into his side as she settled on a movie.

"What was, my dear?"

"Goading Van Pelt at dinner. It was mean. The poor girl is entitled to her opinions."

"Not when they're wrong, Teresa." He stated matter-of-factly. He then reached down her shirt, ignoring when she tried to bat his hand away, and pulled out the long chain with the rings on. "Put it on." He told her. Lisbon rolled her eyes but pulled the chain over her head before unclasping it and removing her wedding band. She put the simple gold ring on her ring finger before re-clasping the chain with his old wedding ring still on it, and placing it back round her neck. Jane then kissed her left hand before rolling so she was lay under him.

"Patrick." She warned him. "You know I can't leave too late. The team'll get suspicious. Oh, and speaking of team, Van Pelt has her opinions, and you were being mean to her."

Jane leant down to kiss her neck. "Mmm. Teresa, I'll lay off the new girl okay? Just stop talking."

…

Much later, after Lisbon had gone back to her room, trying to straighten her clothes as she did, Jane lay on the bed, watching nature programs. He watched them whenever he couldn't sleep and wanted his wife to get some rest. It sucked, being an insomniac.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of paper being pushed beneath the door. It wouldn't be a note from Lisbon, because if he had the time right, she'd most likely be asleep, probably still fully dressed too.

Sighing, he got up, leaving the tv remote on the bed as he moved to the door and picked up the note, unfolding it and reading it, mainly out of curiosity.

As soon as he saw the red smiley face leering back at him, he dropped the note and wrenched the door open. Spotting a hooded figure running for the emergency stairs, he raced after him, down several flights of stairs, not even stopping when he slipped on some of them and fell into the wall. He had to catch whoever had left the note for him.

He burst out of the emergency exit into the cool night, but there was no-one to be seen. Damn it, he'd gotten away.

…

The team congregated in Jane's room. If the situation wasn't so serious, Jane thought he might laugh. Cho was wearing baby blue pyjamas, whilst Rigsby and Van Pelt wore jogging bottoms and t-shirts. Van Pelt had a jacket over the top of her shirt. Lisbon was still in her work clothes, so he'd been right; she had fallen asleep in them. If he looked carefully enough, he could still see the creases in her slacks from where they'd been crumpled on the floor a few hours earlier. Luckily for their secret however, she'd put her wedding ring back on the chain, and the chain was tucked under her clothing once more.

Jane waited carefully until everyone other than Lisbon had left the room. Lisbon paused before him, her face worried. "You okay?"

"Absolutely." He attempted to reassure her, but she didn't look convinced. "It wasn't Red John." He told her again.

She nodded. "I know. I believe you." She moved a little closer where she wouldn't be seen from the door before leaning down and giving him a peck on the lips.

"Get some sleep." She told him, moving back. He nodded slightly, before she moved away, out of his hotel room. Jane waited barely a minute before buttoning up his vest and going on a hunt for his jacket. He had a case to solve, after all.

…

Lisbon walked into the office the next morning only to sigh in irritation as she saw her husband hunched over the desk, drinking a highly caffeinated sugary drink. He'd obviously been there a while, as was evident when he shot up with a "Good morning." even though he looked like hell.

"You didn't sleep, did you?" She asked, annoyed. His only response was to slurp his drink. Evidently, he knew he couldn't get away with lying to her this time. She rounded the desk to bring herself closer to him, yanking her phone out of her pocket as she did. Gritting her teeth, she made the call to Dr Wagner's office. If he was too much of a baby to do it himself, she'd do it for him. He needed sleep.

…

At the end of the case, he bought some closed case doughnuts. He figured it couldn't hurt. However, he couldn't keep his eyes from Lisbon, even though she glared at him from where she sat, filling out paperwork. He knew he had to make it up to her.

Cho threw a paper frog that Jane had made sometime early that morning at him, though Jane caught it easily. He glanced down at the paper frog, then back up at Lisbon. He fiddled with the origami animal as he approached her, much as one would do with an angry bear.

"Don't even start, I'm still angry." She warned him, though he could see more than a little hurt mixed in there too.

"I'm sorry." He tried. He didn't really mean it, but hey, if it made her feel better…

"No, you're not." Lisbon responded softly, trying not to gain any more attention by yelling at him.

Figuring more talk would be useless, Jane placed the frog down at the front of her desk, facing her. He gave it about five seconds after he began to walk away.

Lisbon stared down at the little paper frog in disbelief. "A frog? Well, this makes everything better, doesn't it?"

Suddenly, the frog leapt up, eliciting a surprised gasp from her. Almost involuntarily, she smiled, causing Jane to smile from behind her. Her husband might be irritating and annoying, but he could also be sweet. When she was sure he was gone, she pocketed the frog. He didn't have to know that she was going to keep it, after all.

…

Later that evening, Lisbon came home only to find Jane stood in the kitchen, a frilly pink spotted apron she'd bought him for a laugh tied round his waist. He greeted her with a soft smile before pouring the sauce he had been stirring over two plates of pasta. He put the two bowls down on the kitchen table before pulling her in for a kiss.

"I am sorry, Teresa." He murmured against her lips.

"I know Patrick, but I worry. You know that."

"I know. So do I." He moved away slightly before propelling her into a seat, taking her jacket from her, but allowing her to take her gun holster off herself. He couldn't stand guns and she knew it. Putting the gun far away from the table, they both sat back down opposite each other and began eating.

Jane suddenly looked up, taking note of Lisbon's tired expression and slumped shoulders, the dark rings under her eyes a mixture of sleep loss and stress.

"We should have a vacation." He announced softly. Lisbon looked up, startled.

"Why?"

"Why not?" Jane countered easily. "Am I not allowed to want to spend time with my beautiful wife?"

"Patrick…"

Jane got up, moving round the table to where Lisbon sat. He stroked her cheek before pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. "Not now, sweetheart. Soon though, I promise."

TBC…