Disclaimer: I do not own The Mentalist or any of its characters. I only own my love for Jisbon...
A/N: Ever wonder how our favorite couple came to be? Me too! It was hard to imagine a time without Jane...but this fanfiction was fun to write regardless :) This is certainly one of my favorite fics so far and I hope everyone enjoys it!
And So it Begins…
Finished! Teresa Lisbon smiled to herself. It wasn't very often that she managed to finish all of her work and be able to leave at a reasonable hour (before midnight). All she had to do was tidy up her office and then she could head out for the evening.
She placed the papers in their appropriate folders and then headed over to her filing cabinet to put them away. After doing so, Lisbon closed her filing cabinet. Before returning to her desk, she peeked out her office window into the bullpen. It was mostly empty, except for Jane, who was sleeping peacefully on his couch. She smiled and shook her head. Patrick Jane. He certainly was his own kind of special.
Upon thinking of Jane, Lisbon suddenly remembered his morning antics. Jane had found a new toy and he had been playing with it-playing meaning annoying her to no end-all morning. Before she decided to strangle him (again), Lisbon snatched his toy while he was in the kitchen making tea. Of course, he found out and then whined to her about it. She just threw it in her desk drawer and told him that he wouldn't get it back until he matured.
Since there was no chance of that happening, Lisbon decided that he'd been on his best behavior the remainder of the day, so he deserved his toy back. Lisbon walked over to her desk and opened the drawer where she kept all of Jane's toys that she confiscated (she sometimes felt like a mother having to constantly take away her misbehaving child's toys). Lisbon reached into the drawer to pull out his toy, but instead she pulled out…an origami frog.
Lisbon couldn't help but smile and give a slight laugh at seeing the frog. Jane had given that to her as his version of a peace offering because he had pissed her off (yet again) during a case.
"A frog? This makes everything better, doesn't it?" She had asked sarcastically as Jane placed the frog on her desk.
As Jane walked away, the frog jumped toward her and surprised her. She smiled, he smiled and both knew that all was forgiven. No matter what kind of shenanigans he pulled, she always found it in her heart to forgive him.
They certainly had an unusual relationship, a special one though. She knew her life had changed forever on the fateful day when she met the blond-haired, blue-eyed whirlwind called Patrick Jane…
Years earlier…to a day before Jane was part of the team…
Lisbon had arrived at Minelli's office door and knocked. From the inside, Minelli beckoned her to enter.
"You wanted to see me, Sir?" she asked.
"Yes." Minelli confirmed. "Please have a seat."
Lisbon sat down in one of the chairs while Minelli took a seat at his desk. She looked at him expectantly.
"I've checked through your case histories recently," Minelli began. "And I have to say that I'm quite impressed. You have been the head of your team for only a short while, and yet you and your team already have one of the highest solve rates in the Bureau. I'd like to commend the three of you for your excellent work, Agent Lisbon, and I want you and your team to head the Red John investigation."
Lisbon nodded and said:
"Of course, Sir. Thank-you."
"That being said," he continued. "There is a consultant that comes with the Red John investigation. He is very good at what he does, even if his methods are somewhat…unusual."
"Is this the consultant that the agents I passed on my way here were telling me NOT to have join my team?" Lisbon asked.
Minelli rolled his eyes, causing Lisbon to look down to hide her smile.
"Remind me to have a little chat with those agents when we're finished." He mumbled.
"Yes Sir." Lisbon laughed lightly.
"Back to what I was saying," Minelli said, returning his attention toward Lisbon. "I think that with the skill and camaraderie that you and your team have, that you would be the best team for him to work with and to catch the bastard."
"I appreciate all you said, Sir." Lisbon replied. "We'll try not to disappoint you."
After her meeting with Minelli, Lisbon headed back out into the bullpen to inform Cho and Rigsby of their new team member.
"What did Minelli have to say?" Cho asked, without taking his eyes off of his book.
Lisbon came over to her desk and leaned against it. Rigsby turned around to face her, curious about her answer as well.
"Nothing bad, so don't worry." Lisbon said to calm any worries that the two had. "Actually, he told me that we have one of the highest solve rates in the Bureau, which Minelli said he was pretty impressed with."
Cho and Rigsby high-fived each other before looking back at Lisbon.
"Because of that, Minelli wants us to take over the Red John investigation. And, we're getting a consultant."
"Wait, if we have such a high solve rate, then why do we need a consultant?" Rigsby asked.
"Well, Minelli said that this consultant comes with the Red John investigation. He thinks that with our track record and our strong teamwork that we would be a good fit for him and his…unusual methods of crime solving."
"You agreed to take on THAT consultant?" Cho asked.
Lisbon looked at him.
"I take it you've heard about him?"
Cho put his bookmark in his book and then placed it on his desk.
"Mezric and Delgata just had him on their team. Let me just say, it wasn't good."
"Yeah, I've heard some things about him too. I was being warned about him on my way to Minelli's office."
"And yet you agreed to have him on our team?" Cho asked, trying to make sure that he heard her correctly.
Lisbon nodded.
"Minelli has confidence in us. If he thinks we can handle working with him on the Red John case, then I have no intention of letting him down."
Lisbon was his best friend, so Cho trusted her decisions. He looked at Rigsby and nodded. Rigsby nodded back. Cho then turned to Lisbon and said:
"Alright, if you say so."
The next day…
Lisbon had arrived on the SCU floor to find the bullpen bustling with its usual activity. However, despite this normality, there was something unusual that immediately captured Lisbon's attention.
"Who the hell is that on the couch?" Lisbon asked, sounding slightly irritated, when Cho and Rigsby came to meet her in the doorway.
"That's Patrick Jane, our new consultant." Rigsby informed her.
Lisbon rolled her eyes.
"Great." she mumbled.
She then walked over to the sleeping figure, Cho and Rigsby behind her, and looked down at him. She cleared her throat in order to get his attention. Jane stretched and then opened his eyes to look at the figures looming above him.
"Hi. You must be Agent Lisbon." he said happily. "Not what I pictured, though."
Lisbon stared at him.
"What? What do you mean not what you pictured?"
"Well," Jane began as he sat up. "I heard that Agent Lisbon was a tough, no-nonsense cop, so I imagined someone completely different than the lovely lady standing in front of me."
Lisbon could feel the heat rising in her cheeks, causing her to blush, so she quickly changed the subject.
"So you're Patrick Jane?"
"That's me!"
She looked up at the ceiling.
"Oh God." she then let out a sigh. "Minelli said you have unusual crime solving methods. Would you care to enlighten me as to what these are?"
Jane shrugged.
"I don't know if I have any set crime-solving methods, per se."
"Then what do you do?" Rigsby asked as he opened a bag of chips he had retrieved from the kitchen.
"I'm a mentalist." Jane explained.
"So you're observant." Cho stated.
"Basically."
"So how do you solve crimes then?" Rigsby questioned.
"It depends on the case, really."
"In other words, you just wing it." Lisbon stated.
Jane smiled at her.
"I don't know if that's how I'd put it." he said.
He looked at Lisbon for a moment before saying:
"I can see you're unimpressed, Lisbon. How about a demonstration of my skills?"
She shrugged.
"Sure, knock yourself out."
Jane glanced between the three agents before settling his gaze on Lisbon.
"Teresa Lisbon." Jane began. "You have become the head of a team just recently, which is impressive because of the diligent work and dedication you have for this job and because of your young age."
Lisbon folded her arms across her chest.
"You could find that same information in my personnel file." she told him.
"True, but I'm not finished." Jane said. "Rigsby. Lisbon, you selected Rigsby for your team because of his qualifications. You knew his experience as an arson investigator would be very beneficial to your investigations. Rigsby is somewhat intimidated by you, but he trusts your leadership and is dedicated to this job because of his strong desire for justice."
Everyone looked at Rigsby and Rigsby looked down at his nearly empty chip bag. Jane hit the nail on the head with that one. Jane then continued:
"Cho, here, was your first pick for your team. You two started around the same time and immediately became best friends. Like Rigsby, he has complete trust in your leadership. Cho is more on the quiet side, but he's actually quite observant himself."
No emotion from Cho (go figure) but they knew Jane was correct.
"And you, Teresa Lisbon, you also have a very strong sense of justice and an innate sense to protect and care for others. You want criminals to be punished for their crimes. You entered this field also so you could help protect the innocent from suffering because of your past. No matter what happened to you in your past, you never felt sorry for yourself. You kept pushing. This has enabled you to become a strong, successful, determined and beautiful woman. And," Jane smiled. "you think I'm arrogant and annoying…and yet you're attracted to me. You think I'm hot!"
If it was possible for Lisbon to blush any more, she did.
"Okay, now I know you're lying. Either that or you're crazy." she said.
"Who knows? I'm right though. That's three for three." he replied.
Lisbon just rolled her eyes and shook her head before walking away.
"Wait for me Lisbon!" Jane called before rushing after her.
Cho and Rigsby just watched silently as Lisbon walked down the hallway, followed by her new blond shadow…
And so it begins…
A/N 2: Just to clarify some comments that I have recieved about Jane's observations (such as them being overly simple and obvious) they are not the main focus of the story. As I wrote in the summary, the story is about how Jane and Lisbon met, not Jane's observational skills. He was just analyzing the team (very minimally) minutes after just meeting the three of them. Hope that cleared some things up and now they won't seem so childish. Let me know what you think.
Review to show your love for Jisbon!