AN/: Another idea that popped out of a weird dream. I figured I could share it. Completely AU –and I swear I haven't watched an 'end-of-the-world' movie since a very, very long time (like around the Matrix mania)

Warning 1: you don't like AU and Mentalist together? well give it a try, you never know

Warning 2: my English grammar isn't the best. I voice it better than I write it. Hope you'll still enjoy (won't blame you if you don't lol)

Wanderer

-- July, 14th 20xx --

The lights were blinding in the room. Music and rhythm rocked the atmosphere and the melting of bodies on the floor didn't help the heat to diminish. The woman closed her eyes, trying to concentrate. She was here on the benefit of her brother Ray who wanted to go to a discotheque for his eighteenth birthday. He needed someone to drive him back home, so he asked her. Of course, she was free that evening and since she owed him a favor, she accepted. Now she was there, looking at a bunch of horny teenagers dancing under the lights. She couldn't even spot her brother in the mass of colors, bodies and faces.

Instead, she met his eyes.

A warm feeling invaded her body. The man was standing aside in a grey three-piece suit, watching her from afar. She felt incredible drawn to him; to the glint in his features. All thoughts of her brother forgotten, she left her seat and moved towards him. He hadn't broken eye contact with her either. Deep blue eyes.

"Hi" she said simply, her voice low but enough for him to hear.

"Hi" he replied on he same husky tone.

The connexion was there, they could both feel it. They had never met before, yet it was like they had known each others since the beginning. There was nothing awkward about the way she touched his cheek, how he slowly leant into her palm and caught a lock of her dark hair. Their face came closer and lips shared their first kiss. Their scent mixed as she pulled herself closer to him, pinning his body against the wall, trying to melt into him. He let his mouth travel along her jaw, her neck, collarbone, before looking in her eyes again. They had never met before, yet they knew each other.

Soul mates

The word echoed in their mind. They were meant to be together, and one look was enough to confirm it.

The rising tension didn't falter as she pulled him into the crowded dancefloor. To some exterior spectator, it could be awkward to see a man in a three piece suit dancing on some techno and dance. But it didn't matter to them. They moved to the music, bodies speaking for them, eye contact never broken. Hand brushes for testing waters, slight touches to arise the desire, hands on her hips, pulling closer and closer. A deep pool of blue eyes. She was drowning and didn't want to be saved.

The slow dance of seduction turned into something more when they walked away, out the nightclub to the next building –a hotel- climbed into the elevator in complete silence, opened the room number 304 and closed the door. Hands and heat, kisses and nipping, clothing thrown carelessly on the floor, falling on the mattress. They lay bare on the bed, one exploring the other. Moans and sighs, caresses and thrusts. Not a word was spoken as they understood each other without the need to talk.

One look in the eye was enough.

She closed her lids when she felt his arm slid around her waist and bring her closer to him.

"You're not staying" she whispered softly, as she felt his lips tasting the skin of her neck once again.

"I'll come back for you" he whispered back, and she took his hand in hers. "My beautiful soul"

She believed him.

-- October, 19th 20xx--

They talked about the event as the Dark Night. Sometime during the night of October 19th, the earth shook for twenty minutes, the wind blew harder and harder. Buildings, technology, every electronic knowledge was destroyed within that short amount of time. A lot of people died in the confusion, in the crumbling of their own houses, or waiting for help that never came.

It took time, but within a few years, villages were slowly reconstructed. People started to get organized and deal with their misfortune. Hobos and thieves blossomed everywhere; sorceresses, pseudo psychics and herbalists appeared, replacing the historically well-known druids, charlatan and wizards. The little technology left was sold out-of-price at the black market, and only incredibly rich people could afford former basic things like electricity. Humanity had jumped back in the Middle Ages atmosphere with the knowledge of the twentieth century population.

-- 5 years later --

"Father? It's time to wake up."

The blond man opened his eyes to the gentle voice. A red-haired head was leaning on top of him in the dark.

"I'm up Grace. Give me a second."

He stood upon the flat stone he was laying on; removing carefully the cover he shared with the dark-haired little boy, still sleeping. The teenage girl was holding a cup of hot tea he gratefully accepted.

"Thank you Grace. How'd it go?"

"I neither heard nor saw anyone" she faithfully reported.

"All right. Thank you."

The redhead nodded. The man stepped aside to leave his place on the flat stone. She got rid of her heavy brown coat and curled into the thick and solid blanket. The only thing that could be seen of the teen was her bonnet made of wool, barely pointing out of the cover. The man chuckled before looking for his own hat. It was carefully fold up on the top of an old worn travelling bag, next to his gloves and jacket. He dressed in silence, preparing himself to play the sentinel for the rest of the night.

The inside of the cave, despite being chilly, was rather warm compared to the outside. They had chosen this place because of the lack of passage, and it wasn't that far from the main road. Once he was done buttoning his coat, he turned back to the well covered teenager and patted her head gently.

"Good night Grace" he whispered.

"Goo'nigh' 'ather" she replied sleepily. A few seconds later, she was deeply sinking into unconsciousness.

The blond man pulled his hat down over his eyes and took another sip of tea before heading to the entrance of the cave. Outside, leftovers of burned wood were still warm from the flames that had temperate his tea. He smiled softly. Grace was such a nice and caring girl. He shouldn't have let her take the first tour, but he needed the sleep too. He would be no use to protect the children he was travelling with if he didn't take a few hours to rest.

He sighed and looked up at the sky. The darkness and cold triggered the sad memories he desperately tried to suppress.

The night he found his dead wife and child.

He closed his eyes and remembered. His crusade, his will to find the man responsible for their death, before the Dark Night. The troubles he had for using his skills to manipulate everyone useful. The combines, dirty tricks, deals, everything to attain his goal; the death of this filthy killer.

The night he found this small girl, all dirty and crying, attached to a tree. The very moment he took her with her, regardless of what people thought or wanted. He'd always remember the way she clung at him, weak yet strong grip on his suit pants as they walked away from what had been her home. He had saved her life that day. She saved him in return.

The night he found Red John and plunged his knife in his body. Cops were surrounding him, guns pointed at him, but he couldn't care less. He had had his revenge. His wife, his child, the other victims could finally rest in peace. Until he saw the little redhead running to him, despite the agents trying to stop her. She had thrown her arms around him, and he had realised how selfish he had been. If she hadn't acted like he'd saved her life, he would have been thrown in jail and die there during the Dark Night. The last thought brought him back to the terrible event.

The Dark Night. The terror, the cries, the incredible luck Grace and he had to shelter themselves under a bunch of fallen trees. That night, he found little Connor, almost buried under his house, a man shelling him with his body. Connor had forgotten his name, so chose this one instead.

He had tried to persuade them to leave him. Tried to tell Connor that a real family would be better for him, tell Grace she could find her place anywhere. He was a broken man who didn't want to be fixed. They stuck with him, claiming he was the only family they had. That they trusted him. He swore to never betray them. They hadn't stop travelling since then. They became hobos, because he wanted something, because of his selfishness. His eyes opened at the last memory his mind tortured him with.

That night; the reason why he was on the road and had wandered for five long years. The woman. Images of her beautiful body shattering under him, her eyes full of passion, answering to his with no restraint. He didn't even know her name. Didn't know if she even survived the Dark Night. All he could do was to explore this desolated world and seek out for her.

"Where are you…" he whispered, "My beautiful soul?"

My, my...what do you think? Worth a second chapter?