Chapter 1

"Just let me go, Grace."

"No... If I let go, you'll die."

"And if you don't let go, we'll both die..."

Grace Van Pelt adjusted her grip on Patrick Jane's wrists, biting her lip as she struggled not to lose her hold on sweat damp skin.

She had been stretched out on her stomach on the loose forest floor for almost twenty minutes now, fifteen feet down a steep ravine that went another ten feet before becoming a cliff that fell at least forty feet, the currently fraying rope tied around her waist the only thing keeping her and the blond haired consultant from falling to what would most likely be their deaths.

Van Pelt had offered to be the one to go down due to her outdoors experience and the fact that she was the lightest person in the team, she was fairly sure if it had been Lisbon or Cho who had gone down, the rope would have snapped by now.

Above them, Teresa Lisbon and three forest rangers were on a mad search to find another rope to replace the current rope that was being held on to tightly by fellow CBI agents Kimball Cho and Wayne Rigsby, the old rope not having the strength to hold the combined weights of Van Pelt and Jane.

The others had tried to pull them up the hill, and had managed to get them about two feet before the rope had begun to fray making them all freeze.

"Hurry up guys, the rope is gonna snap!" Grace shouted, mentally cursing the fact that her hands were starting to sweat.

In front of her, Jane was laying in a similar position, hands clutching her wrists while his shoes make a feeble attempt to try and find purchase on the loose soil, his forehead now pressed to the dirt making it impossible for the red headed agent to see his face.

"It's gonna be okay Jane, we're gonna be okay. They're gonna find another rope and we'll be out of here, you'll see," Van Pelt did her best to keep her voice steady and reassuring, despite the fact that her arms and shoulders were beginning to ache, and that the ex-psychic was getting tired by the way he had basically stopped his attempts to push himself up the hill, his leg simply laying bent up against the leaf covered ground, "don't give up."

"My arms are tired, my legs are tired... My whole bodies tired," Jane lifted his head, bits of leaf clinging to his hair, his expression telling Grace just how close to letting go the man was, his hands doing their best to keep a tight grip on hers, "I've been holding on for almost an hour Grace. You need to let me go, they'll be able to pull you up no problem, but the both of us... it's just too much."

"First off all, stop complaining. Second of all, they're going to find another rope and we're both going to get pulled up, okay? So just suck it up." Grace's voice wasn't as steady as she'd hoped it would be.

Jane gave her a soft reassuring smile, though it didn't reach his eyes which held a barely hidden sadness, "it's alright Grace, I've made peace..."

"That's bullshit and you know it," Van Pelt cut the older man off, her tone sharp, "I'm not letting go, so you can just shut up."

The consultant said nothing, simply shifted his weight slightly causing the rope to groan. When his hands suddenly loosened, Grace's eyes widened as she tightened her grip, "no... Jane don't do this... They're gonna bring another rope anything, just please hang on."

"Jane, don't you dare let go of her you son of a bitch!" Rigsby's shout sounded from the top of the ravine, from where he currently sat on the ground with a white-knuckled grip on the rope, Cho seated behind him with his heels dug into the ground.

"Wayne, if they haven't found a rope by now... I highly doubt they're going too," the blondes grip was still mostly slack around the red headed agents wrists, "and I'm not going to have Grace die because of me, it's not an option."

"Just hold on..." Grace's voice had turned to a whisper and she felt tears pricking her eyes.

"I can't hold on anymore..."

Above them, just out of site Lisbon had become shouting at the rangers about a lack of ropes in trucks, and Jane smiled softly, eyes flickering to the top of the hill, then back to the agent in front of him, "tell Lisbon I wouldn't of traded anything we did together for, well anything... and make sure they all know that I cared for them all like they were my own family..."

Grace found herself laughing slightly, despite the fact that she felt tears run down her cheeks, "they already know that, I mean, we are a family Patrick... Besides, you can..."

"Just... do that one thing for me Grace, let them know, please," Jane fixed the young woman with an intense blue stare as he finally let go of the agents wrists.

"Goodbye Grace."

"No...No...Jane... Please..."

Van Pelt found herself sobbing, clinging desperately to Jane's jacket sleeves in an attempt to keep her grip, even though she could feel him slipping away.

Jane let out an instinctive shout when he finally slid right out of the jacket, the CBI team all shouting his name as the human survival instinct kicked in and he clawed at the loose soil before he vanished over the edge of the cliff, leaving Rigsby and Cho to haul up a sobbing Grace who still clutched the consultants jacket in her fists.

"It's okay Grace, I gotcha," Wayne pulled the young woman to his chest, tucking her head under his chin as he did his best to fight against his own tears, keeping the stunned, trembling agent close, watching as the rangers called in a search and rescue team to search the bottom of the cliff for Jane.

Cho had gone over to where Lisbon was kneeling in the dirt, tears streaking her face as she open and closed her mouth silently, staring at the edge of the ravine.

"He's gone..."

Lisbon's voice shook with shock, sadness and just a hint of anger as she turned her head to look at Cho with a stunned expression, the Asian agents own expression on the verge of turning from unreadable to upset, then she turned her face back to the ravine again, "Jane's gone... He's actually gone..."

Then her eyes squeezed shut, hand rising to cover her face as she finally broke down, shoulders shaking as she collapsed sideways into Cho who had obviously been expecting it as he caught her, carefully maneuvering himself into a seated position, arms wrapped tightly around their boss.

~Mentalist~~Mentalist~~Mentalist~~Mentalist~~Mentalist~~Mentalist~~Mentalist~

OMG! O.O I'm so obsessed with The Mentalist right now... So I wrote this xD total cliffy I know (:

Reviews are always loved! :D Next chap will be up... At some point in the future.

Enjoy!

I'm falling in the black,
Slipping through the cracks,
Falling to the depths, can I ever go back?
Dreaming of the way it used to be,
Can you hear me?
- Skillet