This is a one-shot about what could happen in the next episode of Mentalist...Lisbon does not know what happened with Jane and all this leads to some confessions towards herself and her feelings for a particular consultant...In the beginning it is dramatic, but there is a happy ending...I hope you like my little story...

I don't own The Mentalist or any of the characters...only my own mistake...

Enjoy reading and I would really appreciate to get some reviews...

Red Love

The burning house is right in front of her, but she cannot believe what she is seeing. Where is Jane? Was he in there? Is he in danger? Is he… dead?, the thought alone makes her want to cry, but she has to be strong now. She is an CBI Agent and she needs her training now more than ever in her career. She cannot allow herself to drown in her emotions because she knows that it would not end positive for her. She needs to act professional right now. The fire-fighters will be here soon and with them the police. As soon as they find out that it is Jane's house, the CBI would join the party and a lot of agents will be here. She cannot let her colleagues see her like a crying picture of misery, so she refuse to cave into her emotions right now. She would break when she is at home alone and she would wish that somebody is there to comfort her, but that's the usual procedure.

She moves slightly in the mud, but is immediately forced to stop because of the arch in her head. She was tossed backwards by the blast and for a few seconds even unconscious. It wasn't the first time she survived an explosion, so she eventually manages to stand up. The pain is getting even worse, but that does not matter at the moment. What does is that she is standing in front of Jane's old house and was just tossed back by an enormous explosion. The image in front of her still seems to be surreal, but she forces herself to think straight. She needs her brain to work properly now, otherwise she can't help Jane. If there is the slightest possibility that he is still alive – and there simply has to be this chance – she cannot give up now. He could be in pain and also in danger if this explosion is Red John's work. But who else knew that there would be someone in the house tonight? Jane would have never told anyone and neither did she.

Her emotions keep changing between extremely angry and eating her heart out. She isn't sure what she would do if he would stand in front of her right now. All this would not have happened if he would not have left her behind., if he would not have been so stubborn and if he would not have blocked her out. When he thanked her as they watched the sunset, she knows that he truly meant it. There was something in his eyes that made her believe him beyond doubt, but this whole Red John thing is not over yet. It is her investigation and it should be her to arrest or kill the bastard, but she also understands Jane's need for revenge. Red John took away the only thing he ever loved and he would never get it back. She believes that this is also the reason why he tried to keep her out of the Red John thing. There was something in the way of his behaviour this evening what makes her believe that. He was very different and actually she should have known that he planned something.

Although she understand his reason, does not mean that she approves. He only wants to protect her – especially from Red John – but she can take care of herself. She always could, why should it change now? Red John is dangerous, but crazy criminals are part of her job. It is her job to catch them and bring them into prison, so they will never be able to hurt other innocent people. Red John is a serial killer and does not deserve to have a fair. He does not deserve to live. In this point she agrees with Jane and she also understands that he needs to kill him, but they could have done it together. She wants to see him dead as much as Jane wants this. She sees how it destroys him day by day and the worst thing is that she can not do anything about it. They are partners and they are supposed to have each other's back, but that's impossible if he just disappears. He should have known that he would never put her in danger as they agreed to do it together, as partners.

He had a plan, he always has. Maybe this whole situation now belongs to his plan, but she is not sure. Why should he blow up his own house? , she thinks to herself, but then again she never really understood Jane's motives. She never hoped that much for Jane to have a plan like right now, but that's the only option that he is alive.

Still feeling like in trance, she searchers for the phone she "borrowed" from the man and dials "911". She reports the explosion and as soon as she hung up, she dials Jane's number. Of course nobody picks up. She has not expected him to do so, it is just a habit of her. Even if he would be alive, he would definitely not start to answer her phone calls now. It has been so often that she called him, knowing he would not pick up, that it is a surprise if he does. Keeping her distance from the house, she walks around it, hoping she would find him. Alive. But he is not there. After the third round, she stands still, not knowing what to do now. Her hopes slowly fade away and the probability that Jane is or was in there becomes more likely. She keeps standing there until the first fire engine arrives, watching the flames dance in the night.

She can't think straight anymore. She tries, but fails. She remembers all their fights, their laughs, their good and their bad times. Suddenly she also remembers the words he said to her before he shot her for the cover-up. She asked him about it, but he pretended to remember nothing of what he said. She didn't buy it. There was no way that he did not know what he said and somehow she knew that he meant it. It was something in his eyes as he said those three words that made her feel worthy, loved and less tense. It felt right, but she denied these feelings the whole time. It was inappropriate and it made her feel vulnerable somehow. She could not admit that she is in love with an annoying, impolite consultant who drives her insane every day, she just could not. It wasn't supposed to be that way, but when does something happen exactly as it is supposed to be? Never, and now she cannot deny her feelings anymore. As she watches the fire slowly destroying the house, it is like it is also destroying her built – up walls. They are slowly tumbling down and it is like you flipped a switch. The need to know what happened to Jane and the refusal to think that he is dead gets through and suddenly she is "normal" again.

All that happens just as the fire-fighters arrive and before she knows what is happening, she is pulled backwards by a pair of strong arms. One of the men grabbed her, expecting to deal with a shocked witness, but that is not Theresa Lisbon. The man starts to patters his usually line, like "Everything is going to be fine" or "Somebody will be there for you" and so on, but is soon interrupted by Lisbon's voice. "Okay, okay…stop! My name is Theresa Lisbon and I'm from the California Bureau of Investigation. It is possible that one or more persons are still in the house, including and consultant named Patrick Jane. He works for the CBI and the last contact was five hours ago and he was here…", she explains and takes a deep breath before she adds: "You have to find him…I'm not sure if he is in there but it is possible…" Obviously shocked to see this kind of reaction, the man starts to stammer and before he can form a meaningful sentence, Lisbon has already started to talk again: "I was just about to enter the house as the explosion went off and I was tossed backwards from the blast. As I was able to stand again I called the police and reported everything…"

Apparently the man found his voice again, because now he is all professional with her: "That is really good information. My men will blow out the fire and as soon as possible we will start to search for your man…The police will arrive soon and you have to make a statement, but I bet you know that already…" Lisbon nods and looks back and forth between the burning house and the man's face. He can see the worry on her face and knows that she would not be helpful here, so he says: "I appreciate your help, but you have to leave the property now, so that we can do our best.." At first Lisbon wants to object, but then she remembers how annoying it is at a crime scene when the witnesses don't want to leave, so she decides against it. She nods once again and then walks into the same direction as she came from twenty minutes ago.

After that everything happens in slow-motion and it feels like she is in a bubble. She acts normal, but actually she does not really understand what is said to her. She makes the statement and fills out the report, but it all does not seem to be real. A doctor looks at her injures, but she soon ends the procedure with a short "I'm fine". For a very long time she watches the fire-fighters blow the fire and after what feels like million hours they finally enter the house. Three bodies are reported and Lisbon suspects the worst. The scenario of Jane dying in the flames keeps replaying in her head, but thankfully her fear is destroyed by the words of one of the man.

They could identify all three bodies, but none of them is Jane. That means that he is still alive!, she thinks to herself and for a moment she really is relived. But that means, that he is still out there…in danger and maybe hurt…, she engrosses the previous thoughts and the anxiousness comes back again. Where is he? This question is keeping her busy through the whole day. She helps the police interview any witnesses and then she inspects the crime scene and the house. All this last until the afternoon and after she is done, there is nothing she could do, so she drives home. Normally she would sit in her office, accompanied by Jane laying on her couch and she would do some paperwork, but not today. She has no strength to deal with the looks of her co-workers and the questions. She needs to be alone right now and think about what happened.

She drives home and makes herself comfortable on her couch. After a while she feels really alone…actually that is exactly what she wanted, but right now she feels a bit too alone. What she would do to have Jane's company right now…there is almost nothing she would not…He might be annoying and always causes trouble, but she got quite attached to him …Their "relationship" has slowly changed within the years and with that her feelings. At first they were strangers, than friends, partners and now best friends or even more. Lisbon does not know when, but eventually during this process she started to fall in love with him. She realized that as she watched the flames in the night…actually she knew for a very long time, but now she came to the point where she simply cannot deny the feelings for Jane anymore. They are too strong and the power to hide them slowly fades away. All she wants right now, is Jane…nothing less, nothing more….She wants to yell at him, be angry with him and make him feel bad for taking such a decision, but she also wants to tell him that she cares and that she loves him…

She would search for him the whole night, if she would knew where to start. Jane is unpredictable and there is not a chance that you would know the places where he could be. Normally she would look for him, but he would definitely not be there. She feels so helpless right now and she can't do anything to change that. After a while Lisbon decides that she has to get out of there now, so she grabs her car keys and leaves her apartment. It does not matter where she goes, only that she does not stay here. She needs to do something otherwise she will go insane. After the door is locked she walks to her car and opens the door. The door shuts again as she is seated behind the wheel and for a moment she just sits there. Nothing is on her mind and nothing in her heart. It seems like every emotion was frozen and can only melt again when she finds Jane. Eventually she turns on the motor and with no real destination she starts to drive.

Before she even knows where she headed, she realizes the familiar place on the coast where she saw Jane the last time. She parks the car at the same spot and slowly gets out. She walks the few meters to where she stand with Jane and where she has a better few of the sunset. Now she cannot stop her tears anymore. The memory of the previous evening come back and every last of her walls has finally tumbled down. There is the worry about where he is, the anger because he did everything alone and just the need to be near him right now. It exactly passed one full day since she saw Jane, but it feels like an eternity. She watches the sunset again. The only difference is that she is alone now.

Suddenly she feels a hand on her right shoulder and her Cop-sense steps in. She quickly turns around, ready to defend herself. She does not know who she expected to stand there, but definitely not him. The person she was worried about the last 24 hours, since he left her here in the middle of nowhere, is standing right in front of her. He just looks at her and for a very short moment Lisbon considers yelling at him and accusing him of being and selfish asshole, but the relive to see him in one piece is stronger. Out of reflex she wraps her arms around his body, wanting to be as close as possible. She half expected Jane to do nothing, but after a short moment, he pulls her even closer to his body and holds her tight.

The time passes and none of them knows how long they already stand there. As the sun has almost completely disappeared, they eventually break apart and face each other again. At first nobody dares to speak and they try to figure out what the other one is thinking. As always Lisbon is not very successful at hiding her feelings and Jane sees the love for him written all over her face. He can't find the words that could express his feelings for her and how much he cares for her, how much she means to him, so he does the next best thing that enters his mind. He slowly leans in , giving her the chance to back off, but she does not. Instead she also leans in, so that their lips finally touch. It feels like firework explode and Lisbon has the feeling that everything around her disappears. She does not know where she is or what happened, she just know that kissing Jane feels incredible good. The tension of the last few years is released at once and they put every emotion in that kiss. This is everything she wanted to do since last night, when she finally admitted to herself that she is in love with Patrick Jane. At first the kiss is lovely and cautious, both unsure what to do, but it soon gets passionate and their tongues duel for dominance.

As the need for air becomes to strong, they eventually break apart and look at each other, a bit shocked about what happened. They have to progress what they just did and they need to really understand the situation. They just kissed and it definitely wasn't just a peek on the lips. It was a real hot kiss and it felt damn good. After they have recollected themselves, Jane is the first one to break the silence and he says everything Lisbon ever wanted to hear. Since he isn't a man to beat about the bush, Jane comes straight to the point: "I love you Theresa…with all my heart…I never thought it would be possible again, but I realized that it is…Actually I realized a long time ago, but I kept my feelings inside…I didn't want Red John to use you as a method to weaken me…but after the last few days I simply can't do this anymore…I love you so much…" As Lisbon hears what he is saying, she cannot help but start to cry again, but this time out of happiness. She could never tell if he felt the same way about them, but apparently he did. She pulls him into another hug and whispers in his ear: "I love you too Patrick…I have loved you for a very long time and now I can finally say it to you…" No more words need to be spoken, because the silence does. They are glad to finally have each other and that they don't need to be alone anymore.

After endless minutes or even hours of simply enjoying each other's warmth, they get into the car and drive back home. This time together.

The End

That's it...I hope you liked it and please review...I would like to know what I can improve...