Disclaimer: I do not own any part of The Mentalist.

~*~

S01E01: Pilot

It started after Mr Tolliver got shot. On that day, she got a paper crane on her desk and she knew it was from Patrick Jane who was lying on what he deemed as his couch. Who else had the time to fold origami? Frowning, she picked up the paper bird and walked towards the lazing blonde consultant. She dropped the crane into his curly hair and stomped back into her office. Patrick Jane would not be able to placate her with a paper crane. She was above that.

On her desk stood the paper crane from the day before, and next to it was an origami butterfly. She glanced out to the bullpen, no sight of the annoying blonde. Stepping out of her office, she asked Cho where Jane was. Only to get the reply "He's suspended for a month. Mandatory leave." She had forgotten that the consultant had been out on suspension by Minelli. She figured that the origami animals had to stay in her office then. At least until Jane came back. Then she'll throw them at him.

Three days into his suspension, Jane had somehow managed to slip into the CBI headquarters and into her office. It was obvious; the bright orange paper tiger was leaning on her case files. Resisting the temptation to pull her hair in frustration, she shut the door behind her and stared at the tiger. Jane had even taken time to draw the stripes and features on the paper. Personally, she liked the tiger on her wooden table. It looked so real, as real as paper tigers could seem. He must have put in a lot of effort. She paused for a second, halfway to her table. Those case files were supposed to be in her file cabinet, hiding her stash of chocolate bars. She pulled the drawer of the said file cabinet open the moment it was in her reach. Cursing, she shut it again. Jane had taken all her chocolate. Dammit.

More and more origami appeared on her table on a regular basis. And the drawer where she kept them all started to look like a zoo. Not a good thing for her, the fact that she was keeping them instead of crushing them all. She found out how the animals arrived in her office. Sometimes, he got Cho or Rigsby to put them on her desk. She knew, because she saw Rigsby sneaking into her office when she was getting coffee from the break room. Cho was blunt; he came in and passed the origami to her before walking out again. But most of the time, Jane was able to sweet talk himself into the building. So much for good security.

One more week, and her animal drawer would be emptied, preferably on an irritating blonde moron. Her hopes were dashed when she caught news that Red John had struck again, so much for having one more week of peace. Cho had called in Jane, who had went over her head and got Minelli to cancel his last week of suspension. He broke his promise of being silent and 'just watching and learning'. He managed to tick off both the rookie Agent Van Pelt and Rigby by stating that Rigby wanted to sleep with her. Jane sure knew what buttons to push to irritate someone. It must be a talent of his. Not only that, it turned out that he had already knew who was behind the killings, he knew who the copycat was but he allowed them to tear apart a family. She wondered if deep down, he did it on purpose. He carried out his plan without consulting her. He was a consultant, for God's sake. He was supposed to consult them!

So when he came up to her when everyone else was packing up, she let him know that she was still angry. Guilt was present on his face as he apologized, but she doubted it was genuine. He had a talent in lying to all of them. He placed a paper frog in front of her.

"A frog? This makes everything better, doesn't it?"

That was all she could say. Sarcasm was a talent of hers. As he walked away, the paper frog jumped up at her. He was smiling. She knew it. No way was she giving the origami back to him.

The team had taken the first flight back to Sacramento, eager to go back to headquarters and clear any outstanding work of sort. Lisbon locked herself in her office, trying to get rid of all the undone paper work sitting on her desk. Glancing up, she found the paper frog staring up at her with its drawn-on eyes. It was tempting to just reach out and crush the damn thing, she really wanted to. But her 'zoo' was lacking an amphibian exhibit, so the frog got to stay. She glanced out of her window, the sun was setting. It was end of shift. Taking her coat, she switched off her office lights and walked out to the bullpen. Cho and Rigsby were already walking to the elevator; Van Pelt had left slightly before them because her father had come down to Sacramento to visit. There he was, lying on the couch with his vest unbuttoned. He wouldn't want to go home today after the case. He would rather stay in the office than return home where his wife and daughter were murdered. This case brought back haunting memories.

She walked towards him. He was awake, and she knew. Who would suddenly smile if they were really asleep? He was such a bad actor. Stopping in front of him, she tapped his shoulder. His smile grew bigger, but his eyes remained shut.

"Get up, Jane. I know you're awake, smiling gave you away."

He opened his bright blue eyes and stretched. "Ah, Lisbon. You woke me up," Watching her roll her eyes, she sat up. "To what do I owe my undivided attention? I didn't get put on suspension again, did I?"

"I wished you were, Jane. Too bad for me, Minelli actually thinks you're useful, so he keeps you around," She looked at him. Dark rings were visible around his eyes, when was the last time he slept? She knew he had trouble sleeping, but it was hardly ever this serious. It must be the case. "It's the end of shift. Go home, Jane."

He froze while doing up his vest. Just slightly, she wouldn't have noticed if she wasn't paying such close attention to him. Home was never a good place for him, which was why he spent most of his time in the office, lazing all over his couch. She would have offered him to come over, if he wasn't Patrick Jane, that is.

"I think the security guards are tired of watching you walk around the office, your face really irritates them. You're distracting them from doing really 'security guard' work. Go home, get a shower, and try to get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow," She walked towards the elevator, turning around only once to glance at the consultant who waved at her before putting on his jacket.

As she drove home along the dark streets of Sacramento, she thought back to the paperwork waiting to be done. Those could wait. All she wanted to do now was to head home and relax. Everything else could wait till tomorrow.

Patrick Jane sat smiling on his couch that next day, watching his boss' reaction when she saw the new origami he had placed on her desk. Her eyes widened and she looked shocked in general. What was on her desk was a miniature version of Noah's ark. Animals were both on and off the big 'wooden' boat. This was what he had been planning all along. If anything could get her forgiveness, it was effort.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's notes:

This is my second fanfic! :D I'll be writing an oneshot for each episode. They would revolve around things that may have happened after each episode. xD I hope you enjoy this chapter! Do leave a review! Thank you!

Preview for chapter two:

S01E02: Red Hair and Silver Tape

If there was one thing that everyone in the Serious Crime Unit were in awe about Teresa Lisbon, it was that she was able to take down men triple her size.