Billy Don's Ford

FANDOM: The Mentalist

PAIRING: Patrick Jane & Teresa Lisbon

Based On: That Song in my Head by Julianne Hough

SUMMARY: A case takes the team back to Lisbon's hometown.

"Morning." Teresa Lisbon greeted the bullpen with a smile as she put 4 coffees on the table, a glance at Jane's couch told her, as she suspected, that he was already in the kitchen making his tea.

Three Agents smiled (well two smiled) and greeted her in return, thanking her for the coffees.

"Good morning my lovely Lisbon." A cheery voice said, causing Lisbon to roll her eyes, "Well Jane aren't we in a charming mood this morning." She teased.

Jane grinned at her and assumed his usual perch on his couch. Lisbon looked away, smiling slightly, "Do we have a case yet Van Pelt?"

Van Pelt nodded, sipping her coffee, "We do, it's in Fort Jones."

Rigsby and Cho reacted to this news as they would to any other case, but Jane and Lisbon's eyes widened at the news, "Fort Jones?" They both asked, Jane looking excited and Lisbon surprised.

Frowning slightly Van Pelt nodded, "Yeah Boss, you know it?"

Lisbon smiled, "Yeah, it's my hometown." She said, before turning to Jane, "How do you know Fort Jones?"

Jane grinned, "I stayed there a few times when the carnival pitched nearby, I used to go along for barn parties and stuff, it was a really nice quant country town, I loved it."

Lisbon looked at him in disbelief, "I don't ever remember you…it's a really small town."

Jane shrugged, "I'm discreet." He teased as he jumped up from the couch, Lisbon scoffed, "Of course you are." She said as she made her way out of the bullpen, "Let's get started on this case then." She informed the others.

"Why is it that whenever we have a journey longer than half an hour I'm stuck with you?" Lisbon moaned as Jane continued to sing his new song, 'the wheels on the SUV' and Lisbon continued to glare at him.

"The term 'stuck' is so harsh Lisbon." He remarked, "It almost sounds as if you don't enjoy our little car rides."

Lisbon sent him a glare that could have made Adolf Hitler run for the hills, "That's because I don't enjoy them." She retorted, but Jane didn't seem at all phased by her remark.

"I'm looking forward to this case." He said, smiling broadly, "I miss Fort Jones, it was always such a nice place."

Letting herself get caught up in memories for a while Lisbon agreed, "Yeah, it was."

They were silent for a moment and then Jane tried to pry deeper into her past, "How long did you live there for?"

Lisbon made sure she kept her eyes on the road so that Jane wouldn't see the regret, worry and fear swimming in her eyes, going back to Fort Jones after so long scared her, "20 years." She admitted.

"When was the last time you went back?" Jane asked, watching Lisbon curiously.

Lisbon shrugged, "I was 20 years old when I left and I haven't been back since." Jane quickly did the math, Lisbon was 36 now so she hadn't gone back to her hometown in 16 years, surely there was a reason why she didn't go back…

"Why?" He asked gently, but it seemed he had finally struck a nerve, "It's none of your business." She said with a sigh as she accelerated on their long stretch of country road, "We're almost there."

Jane knew he wouldn't get anywhere further so he kept his mouth shut on the subject, "Isn't it sort of unlikely for murders to happen in small towns?" Lisbon asked, a little curiosity in her voice.

Jane shrugged, "It's worse than living in a big city really." He paused, as if thinking, "Everyone knows everyone which means a big secret can easily get around the whole town. If someone cheated on a partner and it got out of control like that a person could lose it." He seemed to be deep in thought, "I wonder if Billy Don is still alive." He mused.

Lisbon's head snapped up at this, "You know Billy Don?" She asked in astonishment, Jane nodded, "He used to have some great parties up at his barn." He said with a smile.

Lisbon smiled too despite herself, "I remember those parties." She admitted, "Billy was such a fun guy, everyone loved him."

"How many people live in Fort Jones?" Jane asked out of curiosity.

Lisbon shrugged, "Not many, around 600 I think, why do you ask?" She looked over at him curiously, but he only smiled, "I just wondered, do you think everyone will remember you?"

"That's kind of what I'm worried about." Lisbon replied as they drove past a sign saying, "Welcome to Fort Jones."

They drove into town and parked the SUV next to the one that Cho had taken with Van Pelt and Rigsby. Jane glanced over at Lisbon before they left the car, she looked more anxious than he had ever seen her, "What's wrong?"

Lisbon just looked at him with a sad sort of expression and shrugged, "I'm not the girl that left this town 16 years ago anymore." She said simply before getting out of the car to greet her team-mates.

"Hey Boss." Van Pelt said with a smile, Lisbon looked a little annoyed, but that was expected considering she had just spent 2 hours in a car with Jane.

"Hey Van Pelt." Lisbon greeted the younger Agent, "So what do we have?"

Van Pelt gestured at the house in front of them, "The body's in there, the victim is 15 year old, Georgia Anderson, she was stabbed repeatedly and bled to death last night, her brother found her body early this morning."

Lisbon's eyes darkened a little, but only Jane noticed, he brushed it off and watched her closely as they walked through the front door and into the living room. It was only when they were at the crime scene that Jane took his eyes away from Lisbon to inspect the body, she had long red hair and blue eyes, there was a look of shock on her face, but her clothes weren't ripped so it hadn't been sexual assault.

"A jealous friend maybe." Jane said thoughtfully as he glanced up at Lisbon, she frowned, "How did you get that from looking at her?"

Jane shrugged, as though it were obvious, "She's very pretty, she looks surprised so the person who killed her must have been someone she knew or there would just be fear on her face, she was holding a photo" he gestured at the floor where a smashed photo frame lay, "of her and another girl, probably her best friend when she was attacked."

Lisbon nodded, used to his skills now, "Alright, we'll question her after we've spoken to the brother, the local police have him at the station." She gestured at the others and they all made their way back to the separate cars.

As they got into the car Janes eyes fell on Lisbon again, she wasn't looking forward to going to the police station or being back in this town at all really and he was going to find out why.

To be Continued

A/N - A relatively short first chapter to get you all guessing, why do you think she's so scared to be back in her hometown? Oh and if anyone actually lives in Fort Jones it would be great if you could tell me a little about the town because I've never been there, I just heard that its meant to be a tiny little country town which was what I wanted so I used it as the setting, so any information about the town isn't necessarily accurate.

Thanks for Reading & I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! :D xxx