Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist.
Hey guys, I'm so excited I finally got a Mentalist fan fiction started! Sure I should be studying for final exams, but what can I say, I procrastinate. Oh well. I hope you enjoy the first chapter and be sure to tell me what you think of it!
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The silent gasps of pain escaping from the consultant's mouth were the only thing to be heard above the soft swish of the ceiling fan. The room was dark, fuzzy like the static of an old frazzled television. Nevertheless, Patrick Jane did not need to see with his eyes to know what had happened. His lips twitched downward as the atmosphere in front of him began to change. Screaming. He could hear a high toned, panic injected voice. The words, repeated over and over again, began to rise in volume.
"You son of a bitch."
Louder.
"You SON of a bitch."
A crash. A laugh. A shout. A gunshot.
Before the world succumbed to blackness, only one consolation was to be had.
"He's dead, Agent Lisbon. Both of them are."
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On an otherwise pathetic evening, Patrick Jane found solace in the leathery cushions of his couch. Small raindrops began to collide with the window pane, each one sliding downward in a large tear shaped drop. The phones were silent, not uncommon for this time and hour, but the sharp tip tap of keyboard keys kept the tired consultant from slipping into the capable hands of Hypnos. The bull pen was completely empty, in fact the only light available was that of the glass walled office at the end of the hall. It currently was occupied by senior special agent Teresa Lisbon. Jane's lips pulled into a faint smile. Aside from himself, Lisbon always was the last one to leave.
The couch groaned slightly under his weight, immediately regressing back to its original shape when the consultant had removed himself from it. Jane made his way causally towards the faint light coming from Lisbon's office. He stopped at the door and pushed it aside slightly so he could stand in place giving her the option to turn him away. Lisbon was engulfed in her work and Jane knew that she had heard his approach. He gave her a moment to wrap up her thoughts before she addressed him. Just as expected Lisbon eyes met his own and she nodded allowing him to enter. He did just that.
"Are you done for the night?" Jane asked.
"I'd like to say no, but I think it's time I turned in." She sighed. "There's only so much I can do, the rest will have to be left up to the Judge. I haven't left the defense attorney much to work with, so I think this one will go down smoothly. All that's left now is paperwork. How about you, ready to head out?"
"I think I'm going to stay here."
Lisbon's lips turned down. She didn't like leaving Jane at CBI by himself and Jane knew it. She wasn't worried that he'd destroy they place, he once did almost burn it down, but instead she was worried for his well being. She'd never bring her thoughts to words, Jane knew this, but Lisbon was genuinely concerned for him. This being said, it was to his great surprise when Lisbon inquired about his evening plans.
"Nothing grand." Jane feigned indifference. "I'm just going to head upstairs."
Jane and Lisbon met eyes. By the look in hers Jane could tell she knew "heading upstairs" really meant "obsessing over that book". Jane knew he was obsessed. All he felt like doing was being alone so he could recount every man, woman, and child he had ever met for the sole purpose of writing their name down. Even if he was able to record every person he had ever met, then what? All he had were names.
Lisbon picked up her coat from the back of her chair and slung it onto her shoulders. Jane shifted positions so he could hold open the door for her. As she passed she muttered something Jane could not hear, a thank you of somesort. Jane followed her out of the bullpen to the room which contained the elevator and stairs. Lisbon pressed the down button while Jane put a hand to the railing.
"Goodnight Jane." Lisbon muttered.
Jane let a sad smile play on his lips.
"Night."
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The clock read four fifteen am, but Jane was too emerged in his work to pay attention to the passing time. A man with a firm handshake here, a woman hysterically sobbing there, Jane had met too many irrelevant people, it was nearly impossible to sort out those of importance. Going through faces might be therapeutic to some, but it reminded Jane of his successes and failures. Every once and a while a familiar face would pop in and out of his mind. Cho, Rigsby, and Vanpelt appeared at a common rate, which was to be expected; he had spent the last few years of his life with them after all. Other faces, such as those belonging to his wife and daughter appeared even more frequently, along with one other face. Teresa Lisbon played through his mind just as often, possibly more. Jane was fond of Lisbon, Red John may have taken away his family and his purpose, but when Lisbon was around he felt like he might have a chance. But at what? A chance to catch Red John? Maybe, but that wasn't it.
The soft lull of his phone brought Jane from his searching thoughts. Jane picked the phone from his bedside table and held it to his ear without first looking at the number. Jane already knew it was Teresa Lisbon; he didn't need his caller ID to tell him this.
"Patrick?" A voice on the other side whispered.
Jane froze. This was not the familiar voice of Teresa Lisbon. Neither was it a stranger's voice, Jane was acquainted with the female on the other side of the device.
"I'm here" He replied.
"It's Lorelei."
"I know."
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Lisbon was lying awake at home staring at her ceiling. Her part of the case was over and she knew that, but part of her wanted to be able to see it through to court. She wanted to make sure the man that killed Madison Gates was put away for a good long time, not just given a slap on the wrist. Cases with powerful people always got to her, when a bum gets put away there is little commotion, but when a highly ranked attorney goes crazy and kills a woman, that's a different story.
Lisbon decided that sleep would not be happening, so she got out of bed and headed to her kitchen. She wore nothing but a old ratty shirt that hung down over the short pants hidden beneath. Lisbon pulled on the fridge handle and took out a pitcher with a bag of milk inside. She drained what was left into a mug and put it into the microwave. Transfixed, she watched the green mug circle round and round on the glass plate until the microwave let out a high squeal. When the milk was warm Lisbon sunk cozily onto the couch and began drinking from her mug. Her eyelids fluttered slightly and she could feel herself drifting off.
Lisbon had barley fallen asleep when she heard it. A small tap tap coming from somewhere in the room. She opened her eyes and immediately remembered where she was. The taps were coming from the front door. The only reason she cloud even hear them was because she was in her living room, if she had fallen asleep where she was supposed to her slumber would have continued. Lisbon got up and headed to the door ready to yell at whoever had the nerve to wake her at such an hour. To her surprise she found Jane standing in the hall.
"Jane?" She croaked. "What are you doing here? It's not even sunrise. I'm not nocturnal you know."
"Lisbon." He said, ignoring her Joke. "I need to—"
"Whatever it was couldn't it wait for morning?"
"No Lisbon. Listen I got a call. A call from Lorelei."
Lisbon stood quiet for a moment and then moved aside to let Jane enter her apartment. She motioned towards the couch and the two of them sat in silence for a moment. It was her who broke the silence.
"What did she say?" Asked Lisbon.
"Not a lot." He answered. "But she said she found what she needed. She said she wants me to meet with her."
"Jane, that's really good news. If she wants to meet with us then she might be ready to talk. She can help us Jane. We're that much closer."
Jane shook his head.
"Not with us Lisbon." He paused. "With me. She wants to meet with me."
"Jane." Lisbon interrupted. "I can't let that happen. What if it's a trap or what if-"
"I know. I wouldn't have come to you if I wanted to go alone. I knew you would not have allowed it. I just needed to tell you."
"Have you heard of a phone?" she teased.
"Have you heard of picking one up?" He shot back.
Lisbon sunk back in her seat. Her phone currently sat on her bedside table on vibrate, there was no way she'd be able to hear it from where, minutes ago, she had been asleep.
"Sorry."
"It's okay. So why did you sleep down here?"
"I didn't" He shot her a disbelieving look and she caved. "How did you know?"
"The cushions, they're warm."
Lisbon blushed, but immediately tried to stop herself. The two of them were both sitting rather close on her couch, if anything he should be the one blushing. She tried to change the subject.
"So what's the plan?"
"Mmm?"
He looked bewildered for a moment and then remembered the reason he had come over.
"Oh right." He replied. "She told me she can't tell me where she is yet, but that I should expect a call over the next few days."
"That's good. If she doesn't give us a location then we can track the call and find out where she is. If Lorelei calls you, we can find her."
Both she and Jane were smiling. Sure Lorelei wasn't Lisbon's favorite person, quite the opposite actually, but she was indeed a pathway to Red John and Lisbon would take any route she could in order to catch the man who tortured Jane. She contemplated calling the rest of the team to deliver the news, but then decided it could wait until morning. Jane seemed to read her mind.
"I agree. It's best to tell them when they're not still completely groggy. It can wait until morning."
Lisbon nodded.
"There isn't much we can do anyway until she calls again." Lisbon said. "We can try to get a hit on the phone she called you with, but something tells me it won't be any use."
Jane stood up, leaving Lisbon alone on the couch. He, however, did not head for the door like she was expecting, but instead strode toward the kitchen.
"Jane? What are you doing?" She asked.
Jane did not stop walking.
"Making tea." He called over his shoulder. "Want any?"
Lisbon smirked. Leave it to Jane to offer her tea in her own house. She did not want him to rummage through her kitchen like he had done to numerous ones before, so she decided to take action. She sprung off the couch and headed over to join him for a cup.
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The news of Lorelei Martians reappearance did not shake the team in the way Jane expected it to. After Jane made the announced there was a brief moment of silence. This was followed by Rigsby and Cho looking over to Lisbon for assurance. She nodded once, and that was all they needed. Vanpelt was a different story; she gave him the reaction he was expecting. It flattered Jane that the redhead didn't need Lisbon to verify that what he said was true, she simply believed him.
"Well this is a good thing." Vanpelt contributed. "I mean, we have something at least."
Her optimistic voice could not conceal what was hidden beneath. Vanpelt, and the rest of the team, had a love hate relationship with the Red John case. The love came from wanting to get any information possible to catch Red John, and the hate branched off from fear of failure. Whenever Red John was involved, the team worked just that much harder and that much longer. This was not just for Jane's sake, but their own as well. Red John had become a part of them. The only difference between hi m and them was that the team did not let Red John define who they were. Red John had hurt them though, Vanpelt especially. Jane sometimes got too caught up in his own revenge to remember what the same man had done to her.
"Jane." Said Cho, "I can try to get a number and location from your phone, you mind handing it over?"
Jane shook his head and reached into his vest pocket. He expected his hands to come in contact with smooth plastic, but nothing was there.
"I uh—" Jane mumbled.
"Have it here." Lisbon finished. "You left it on the coffee table back at my apartment."
Lisbon walked over to join her team and handed Rigsby Jane's phone. As Lisbon and Jane headed over to run a scan, he saw Rigsby mouth something over to Cho. He couldn't be completely sure what he said but he had a pretty good idea.
"My apartment?"
Jane Smirked.
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That's all for now. I hoped you guys liked the first chapter!
Up Next: Two days pass and Jane quickly becomes frustrated when he does not receive a call from Lorelei. Lisbon begins to doubt if Jane can handle the stress. To make matters worse, Lisbon and the team get a brutal case.