A/N: Yeah, finally started making my cross-over for The Mentalist and Bones! Ever since I started watching all the episodes of Bones (and I think that that was somewhere at the beginning of this year... So a LONG time now) I wanted to do a cross-over between these epic shows because I just love them so much! And it's also so great to see that it is possible to have canon ships in a show and not to completely fail as writer – I mean, Bruno, take a lesson out of this: Bones has Angela/Hodgins, Brennan/Booth and (but not anymore, but I can't believe they actually broke up) Sweets/Daisy, so it IS possible. Now bring back Rigspelt and Chummer and make Jisbon canon at last!

Anyways, to make things a bit clearer: this story takes place after episode 5x06 'Cherry Picked' for The Mentalist (but it could very well be after the Season 4 Finale for the progress we've build up until 5x04 is completely lost, after Sunday's episode) and 8x05 'The Method to the Madness' for Bones.

Oh, and I have to tell you that this is the very first time that I'm writing fan fiction for Bones – so do forgive me if the characters of Bones are rather OOC, but I'm still giving it a shot. The TM characters are way different than the Bones characters – and I'm not saying it's a bad thing. But I'm kinda used to writing Jane, Lisbon, Rigsby, Van Pelt (not Cho, I still suck at writing Cho), but the Bones characters...? I mean, Angela, Hodgins, Sweets, Booth, Fisher... They're just so... different. But I believe this is a good challenge, and I'm gonna enjoy it to the fullest! I hope you can too! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist, nor do I own Bones. I wouldn't be able to come up with such crazy good shows, so...

'The Red in the Roadside'

{ Prequel }

Grace van Pelt sighed, and looked over at Teresa Lisbon's office. She let out another sigh, and she already heard Patrick Jane tutting from his brown leather couch.

"What's the sighing for, Grace dear?" Jane asked, and Van Pelt turned towards him. She pointed at Lisbon.

"Just take a look at her. It's still your fault."

"What's my fault-"
"That! She's sad, upset, disappointed, heart-broken, and it's your fault. You act as if nothing has happened while everything has happened. You might as well have just made a start at moving over your family and it's not with Lisbon. Can you understand that that's cruel to her?"

Jane wanted to sigh, but he knew Van Pelt was right. He shook his head, and laid back down on his couch.

"I'm sure I have no clue what you're talking about," he said, and that was obviously the end of the discussion. Van Pelt exchanged some looks with Kimball Cho and Wayne Rigsby, who were wisely staying out of the conversation. When Jane avoided such conversations, it meant there was a storm coming – and they hadn't witnessed one yet but they knew that he could be angry. He was sure as hell capable of killing somebody – which made everybody even more aware of what they said to him.

"Why is... Agent Lisbon's office door... locked?" Supervising Agent LaRoche asked, in his characteristic calm voice that sent shivers down everybody's spine – even Cho's.

"She... is doing paperwork," Van Pelt explained. LaRoche looked Van Pelt over, and then slowly went to stand in the middle of the bullpen.

"She doesn't need... privacy, when she's filling in mere records, Agent Van Pelt," LaRoche said, then, quicker than LaRoche would ever walk, walked over to Lisbon's office and knocked on her door.

Lisbon looked up, ready to burn Jane for even trying to enter her office, and then saw her boss looking at her out of these hollow eyes, and rushed to open the door.

"Hello Sir," Lisbon said, awkwardly, and LaRoche smiled a faint smile – was he taking pleasure out of her discomfort? The bastard.

"Agent Lisbon, I take it you... haven't had much cases, these days."

"That's right, Sir. After we finished the kidnap case a few days ago, it's been pretty quiet around here."

"Good, good. Means the killers are taking a break, I presume. I have a new case for you and your team, Agent Lisbon. Jane is going to... like this certain case. Or not."

Lisbon frowned, and looked in mischief at the file LaRoche was holding. Then, her eyes widened.

"Red John?"

LaRoche nodded, then placed the file on Lisbon's desk.

"It's not sure yet. Someone called in that there were remains outside Sacramento – and Director Bertram told me to continue working cases with extreme prejudice. Every case could be Red John related now that Lorelei... escaped, our custody. Our best pathologists have worked on identifying the victim..."

"... but without luck? Have you tried calling a forensic anthropologist? It's their job to ID victims, right?"

LaRoche nodded, and then handed Lisbon another file – where did he get these? "Dr. Temperance Brennan. She works at the Jeffersonian in Washington DC. The remains are on their way to her lab – you and Jane will be as well as of this night."

Were Lisbon drinking her black coffee, she would have spit everything out and into LaRoche's face – ruining his cheap suit that he had obviously bought with the little amount of money he earned while working at Internal Affairs, before he started pestering the SCU. "Come again?"

"You heard. Now, if there are no further questions, it shouldn't be a problem. Everything is booked for you – plane tickets, accommodation, a car. CBI pays for everything-"

"Wait, one room?"

"You will have computers in the Jeffersonian Institute, so you can contact your people back in Sacramento. Good luck, Agent Lisbon," LaRoche said, and without giving Lisbon a chance to interrupt and tell him to alter plans and send somebody else, he was gone. Lisbon let out a frustrated sigh.

This was not going to be okay. She couldn't be alone with Jane – not after all that happened between them. God knows she tried to resolve their issues, but the man was stubborn and obsessed with Lorelei – it was impossible to talk some sense into him.
"You okay, Boss?" Van Pelt asked, and Lisbon startled. How long had she been standing there?
Lisbon nodded. "LaRoche gave us a new case, which might have a connection to Red John. I don't know why he thinks that, but we can't undermine his powers, I guess," Lisbon muttered, and Van Pelt smiled, before stepping aside as Lisbon grabbed the files and walked over to the bullpen.

"Listen up," Lisbon ordered, and two heads shot her way – but not Jane's, of course. "Jane, you too."

Jane sat up, without saying anything, and faced her. He nodded.

"Remains are found just outside Sacramento, and LaRoche thinks there might be a connection with Red John." That caught Jane's attention. "The remains were badly damaged and it's impossible for our coroners to ID the victim. That's why LaRoche asked for help from a forensic anthropologist." Lisbon opened the doctor's file, and started to read some things. "According to her file, Dr. Temperance Brennan is the best forensic anthropologist in the country. She should be able to identify who this is – and maybe even find out what the link with Red John is."

The team took in the information, and Lisbon saw from the corner of her eyes that Jane had put his index finger on his lips, his way of making clear he was thinking some things over.

"You have a theory already, Jane?" Lisbon asked. You never knew with this man.

Jane shook his head. "Dr. Brennan... I think I've heard that name before."

"Well, if she's really the best forensic anthropologist in the country, that's not shocking."

Jane shook his head. "No, it's not that... I'm not interested in knowing all these things..."

Jane's mind was far away, Lisbon knew that alright, but she had once again no idea how to get where he was. Jane got up, and walked over to his unused desk. As Lisbon walked around the desk as well, Jane opened a drawer and then smiled.

"I knew it," Jane muttered, and then got out what seemed like a book. He flashed it at Lisbon, his 1000-watt smile on, which unnerved Lisbon immensely.

"A book?"

"Ah, not just a book, Lisbon. 'Bone of Contention'. I knew I'd heard Dr. Brennan's name before. She wrote this book," Jane explained, and Lisbon frowned.

"She's a writer?"

"And a very good one. I must say I really enjoyed reading it – though the way she describes examining the bones is very... off-putting. I'm not made for bones," Jane said, and now, it was Lisbon's chance to smile. When Jane frowned at her sudden chance of moods, Lisbon's smile grew the last inches to mimic Jane's characteristic smile. She turned around on her heels, putting on happy-walk #002 and almost skipping to her office, but not before exclaiming, over her shoulder;

"Well, you're out of luck then, because you're coming with me to visit Dr. Brennan's lab."

Jane's face was a picture, and Lisbon contently closed her office door behind her. It felt great to have the upper hand on Jane from time to time.

A/N: And, how did you like it? I'm gonna write the Bones' characters in the next chapter, I promise. But I'm still a Jisbon shipper so I'm gonna enjoy writing Jane and Lisbon in a plane with all the build-up tension between them after Lorelei's escape first. (I'm pretty nervous about writing Brennan, though...)

Anyways, let me know what you think in a REVIEW! I want to know if you want this continued or not! :)