So...hm, this is my first try in writing something with actual plot so...have patience please :) Just as always, I hope you will enjoy it.

„I am not wearing those mittens, Lisbon, not now, not in a million years. It´s not so cold in here anyway," Jane said while he walked happily around the black FBI Suv. The air was cold, a really big layer of snow covered everything around them. Steam rose from his mouth when he spoke. And

Lisbon huffed in despair. That man is impossible.

„Jaaaane, don´t be a baby! Just put them on for God´s sake."

Jane, who was making a snowball threw one at Lisbon. She averted it quickly and swore under her breath.

„How does wearing those mittens not make me a baby? They look like they were made for babies, Lisbon. And thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, you should know that," he said grinning.

Lisbon put her head into her hands, dressed in spoken mittens. She didn´t find any others for Jane.

„Fine Jane, get frostbites, I don´t care!"

Jane smiled and followed her really looking forward this whole trip.

Abbott sent them up to the hills, because some maniac has been murdering local men. There have been four murders so far, all of them in the same fashion. Said men were found stripped naked with a blunt force trauma to the head that caused the death. No forensics evidence to be found on any of those bodies. No suspects. Local police never dealt with anything so big and they requested a help. Luckily, Lisbon didn´t have a clue that Jane offered to go there, to help to solve the mystery.

On one condition.

Lisbon is going with him.

Abbott agreed.

And so they went.

Lisbon driving on an icy roads was a sight worth to remember. For a raised catholic she sure knew a lot of swear words. Jane even learned few new ones.

Now, when they finally got to the place, her frustration was through the roof. It didn´t help when the Sheriff frowned at her for being a woman and a FBI agent, too.

„Time sure has changed," he murmured so both of them could hear it.

While Jane grinned like a Cheshire cat through their conversation, Lisbon got the case files and a bunch of maps.

„The bodies are at morgue, our forensic technicians looked over them, but I guess you want to see them for yourself," Sheriff said with a hint of irritation. He wasn´t overhyped to have two FBI agents there, for sure.

„Thank you, we will," Lisbon said through her teeth gripping those files hard. Jane felt a pang of guilt for not helping her out, rather being a pain in the ass for through the whole day and chipped in.

„So, sheriff, where are we staying?"

Sheriff Brown looked at Jane as if he saw him just then. Jane mentally sighed. Not the sharpest knife in the drawer. That man was not capable of murder, or at least not that kind of murder without any evidence. He would probably sign a paper with his name and pin in onto the body. Good, one suspect less, other hundreds to go.

„There a small hotel here, we booked you two separate rooms. It´s on the map, you can find it easily just by following it."

„Thank you. So what can you tell us about those murders? Are victims connected in any way?"

It seemed that sheriff was more comfortable in talking with him than with Lisbon. Jane could see Lisbon rolling her eyes, but she stayed quiet and listened.

„Eh, not much to tell, you got it all in those files. We didn´t find any connection apart from all of them visited the local pub, but then again, everybody does."

„Really?" Lisbon asked sarcastically.

„Yeah. Really. It´s a small town." he replied with a hint of irritation.

„Well, thank you again. We will need to speak to some of your locals, though."

Sheriff Brown nodded. That I can arrange, for tomorrow.

„Tomorrow?" Lisbon asked already irritated, why not today?

„Tomorrow is fine, Sheriff," Jane jumped in while Lisbon gave him one of those beloved frowning looks.

„It´s getting dark, and there is a snow storm coming. If I were you I would go right to your hotel, dear."

Before the hell could be unleashed Jane took case files out of Lisbon´s shaking hands and said their goodbyes.

Once outside the sun has faded. The storm was on the way, Jane could tell. Not just the snow storm.

„Spit it out, Lisbon, it will help you." Jane said with a smirk.

Lisbon shot him an angry look and huffed. They walked silently to their car, Jane already with his nose in maps.

„I think I got it." He said once their were seated. He was quite sorry for two separate rooms, but only until he saw just how irritated Lisbon was. No fun today, apparently. „Shall I drive?" he asked.

„On these roads? Over my dead body." she snapped back at him. „Just navigate me."

„Very well, then."

„And stop enjoying this so much, will you?"

„Oh, but you make it so hard."

„Gosh..."

The hotel was better then expected. A nice lady showed them to their rooms, which were pretty big, with bathrooms included. Jane nearly jumped in joy when he saw the kettle and a variety of tea stored.

He was already making two cups when Lisbon entered his room.

„Hey, what brings you here?" he asked with a smirk. He knew what brought her here. He kept the case files.

„Case files," she said while sitting down on his bed. She gladly took the steaming cup out of his hands and sipped on it. It wasn´t as good as coffee though.

„Here they are," Jane said and he sat beside her. His cup was already empty. By the time they finished reading those files Jane finished Lisbon´s cup too. Files were spread all over his bed and Jane lied on his belly, reading and thinking. So far the only usable information he gathered was far more less then he thought. The killer chose four men over a month. Bodies were found on different locations by different locals. Two of those poor men had families, one lived alone and the last one still lived with his parents. Their age differed as did their looks. No similarities what´s so ever. The only similarity was the way the killer put them on display. Naked, almost frozen and with no forensics evidence. That would help. If this was a work of some amateur he would leave something behind. The man or a woman who did this knew exactly how to clean up afterwards. An based on this whole place, as Jane thought, there are not a lot of people with such a knowledge.

Lisbon thought the same.

„Whoever did this knew what he was doing," she stated and yawned.

„Exactly my thoughts, Lisbon."

„Is there anything else you picked of it?"

„Not much. Not much to tell right now. We need to talk to those locals, see the places and so on. Then, I will be able to tell you something more."

„Right. A lot of work to do for tomorrow." She placed a hand under her chin to steady herself.

„Correct. Maybe we should call it a night?." Jane said smiling. He himself felt quite fresh, but it wasn´t himself driving on the icy roads for almost half a day.

„I´m fine, just a bit..."

„Exhausted, Lisbon. The word you are looking for is exhausted. After all, you drove all day long, concentrating on not crushing us to into some tree."

„Don´t think I didn´t though about that, Jane."

He scoffed. „I was on my best behavior...mostly."

„Huh, funny, I didn´t notice. But you might be right," she said while standing up and stretching herself, „I´m off the bed and you should to the same. We are getting up early."

„I´ll wake you up."

„Haha. Night Jane."

„Nighty night Lisbon."

Just as he though sleep didn´t come easy. It didn´t came at all. He spent the night going through case files one more time before turning the TV on. Not much to watch these day. He settled for documentary about most deadly animals on the planet.

The show eventually ended so he lied down and waited for morning to come.

„Slept well?" Jane asked Lisbon as they were heading to the car. She looked at him with black circles under her eyes.

„Yeah, you?"

„Meh, sleep is overrated anyway."

„I though so."

„You didn´t sleep well, too. And there is no point in lying to me, Lisbon." he said with a grin.

She sighed and unlocked the car. It was already freezing outside and the car was cold. She started the engine and turned the heating on right away.

„Maybe you should let me drive for a change. I am capable of driving, you know."

„No means no Jane."

„Okay then, let´s roll."

Sheriff was already waiting for them in his office, looking even less pleased then the day before. But so did Lisbon. They left the office in hurry to seethe bodies. Sheriff told them a young forensics technician will be waiting for them in the morgue.

The roads were full of trucks and people rushing into work. Lisbon managed to get her temper under control though. They reached the destination in silence.

„Hello," a young woman said to them. „My name is Alexis Adler, nice to meet you two."

„Hi, I am Patrick Jane and this is my lovely colleague Teresa Lisbon."

They shook hands and Alexis led the way.

„So, you are both FBI agents? That´s quite exciting, I never worked with you guys before."

„Well, I am more of a consultant," Jane answered. „Agent Lisbon is the real thing."

„Oh, really? What does a consultant do?" the eager girl asked turning to them.

„He likes to be a pain in the ass, apart from other things."

„Does he? He kind of look like that type."

Jane smiled. He decided to like young Alexis.

„I am a man with plenty of talents."

„He sure is." Lisbon murmured under her breath and Alexis laughed.

„I didn´t know that you FBI guys are so funny. I guess I was wrong."

They entered a dim lit and mostly cold room.

„Jonathan Dent. Death was caused by a blunt force trauma to the head. I was unable to find anything in the wound but from the shape of it I would say it was some kind of a heavy object, like a statue. If you look closer you could see the pattern of the blow. The shape is irregular."

„Time of death?" Lisbon asked while Jane walked around the victim.

„Hard to tell. He was frozen when they brought him in. But in my humble opinion he was out there only for a night. Just like the others. They were put on a display on places regulars go daily."

„At night?" Jane asked with a small smile. „So you think it occurred during night?"

Alexis looked at him with a puzzled look. „Yes, most likely. It would be hard during a day. All four of them got work. They never missed a day."

„That is quite correct."

„Can you show us the others?" Lisbon asked as steam rose from her mouth.

„Oh, of course. It´s the same pattern."

They left the morgue with no new findings.

„She could do it." Lisbon said with a disbelief written all over her face.

„She didn´t though."

„Yeah, I know." She huffed in irritation.

„She is a good suspect. I know what you mean."

„Right? She knows how to hide evidence and she´s the one handling it." She said while they walked close to each other to the car. The temperature outside was making her tremble. Jane saw that. He used some of his biofeedback tricks to keep himself under control, but being on a tropical island the last half a year made him a little skittish about cold.

„That´s true, but, and it is a important but, what is her motive? She is not a killer of that I am sure."

„Maybe she´s crazy."

„C´mon Lisbon, you don´t believe it yourself."

„No I don´t."

„There´s that. You know what? Let´s see the victim families. I am sure we will figure something out."

Lisbon stopped and stared at Jane. It took him a few steps to realize what has happened.

„What?" he asked standing still.

„No jokes. No games. I am warning you Jane. This has to be a real investigation. You need to keep yourself...normal."

„Well..."

„Promise me."

The plead in her eye made him rethink his whole strategy. This was her first case in which Abbott trusted her. So far, she´s been doing paperwork mostly.

„Fine Lisbon. I promise I´ll behave."

„Good. Thank you."

As far as normal goes, Jane tried his best to be on good behavior through the whole day. It was not as easy as he thought. Locals didn´t like the idea of FBI agents investigating. They visited Jonathan´s family first and it was visible that he was not a good man. Jane was sure that he beat his wife. Lisbon thought the same. The wife didn´t confirm it, not that there was a need to do it. The remaining three remaining visits shown them that all of four victims have had anger management problems. Mostly the last victim.

„Mike was a good boy, but...he had his issues," an old woman said, while they sat in a small living rooms. Mike´s father was there too, but he kept quiet. Jane paid attention to every little detail in the room. From what he gathered he knew this family wasn´t functional. There were pictures of Mike with his mother and friends. None of them was with his father. And Mike was without a smile on each photo.

„Can you tell us what kind of issues exactly?" Lisbon said in her calm and soothing voice.

„Well...he..."

„He was alright! I don´t know why would anybody say otherwise!" the man, father, finally spoke in anger.

„Jeff...please."

„Go to hell, all of you," he said and stormed out of the kitchen as Jane watched him leave.

„Sorry about that, we are still in a shock..."

„I know m´dam."

„Uh, can you tell me where the restroom is?" Jane asked and Lisbon gave him a look. A look that spoke a thousand words. It could be easily translated into If you do something stupid, I going to strangle you. He shook his head slightly at her.

„Yes, it´s down the hall and then to your left."

„Thank you."

Jane found the old man sitting in kitchen with a beer in his hands. He looked up at him.

„What do you want?" he snapped.

„Catch your son´s murdered." Jane replied calmly.

The old man scoffed. „I see. You wont get him by asking stupid questions."

Jane sat down at the chair. „We need any information, everything is important now."

The man remained silent and Jane talked.

„I had a daughter. She was murdered. It was a long time ago and I spent every second after that to catch the man who did it."

Old man looked up from his beer right into Jane´s eyes.

„You catched him?"

„Yes, we did."

The man nodded. He stood up and took a bottle of beer out of the fridge. He gave it to Jane after opening it and he took it. No point in declining. Jane took a long sip from the bottle and waited.

„Is he in jail?" the man asked.

„No. I killed him."

The man looked at him in disbelief. „Why are you telling me all this?"

Jane put the bottle on the table. It was half empty.

„So you know that I understand what are you going through. And to let you know that I am fully capable of catching the bastard who did this to your son. Me, and agent Lisbon. To do so, we need information. Any kind. Will you help us? Help Mike?"

The old man looked undecided. His face changed when the cry from the other room startled both of them.

„She can´t stop crying. Fine. I´ll help you."

„Thank you, Jane said. What kind of problems your son had?"

„You shouldn´t leave Jane, I said no games! Next time just stay with me." Lisbon said as they walked back to the hotel. Since another snow storm was likely to go down, and the sun was fading they decided to check the locations where bodies were found the next day. If anything it made Lisbon more impatient.

„I was gathering information Lisbon. Valid information."

„What have you learned apart from what I did? His mother told me about his problems." she said angrily.

„Yes. I believe she did, from a mother´s point of view."

„What do you mean?"

„It´s simple," Jane said stopping at the entrance. „Mother´s love is unconditional, did you know that? A mother will love her child without any conditions. If for a example, her son killed somebody she will probably help him hide the body. Father´s love is different. It´s conditional. Mainly when a son is concerned."

„That sounds like a load of crap."

Jane smiled and shook his head. „It´s not."

„Fine," she murmured, „what did you learn?"

„I´ll tell you all about it in my room. Let´s change first and then we´ll discuss it."

Lisbon wanted to argue but before she had a chance Jane opened the door and went it. She rolled her eyes and followed him. While in the room Lisbon took a shot shower, changed her clothes and went right to Jane´s.

She opened his door and walked in without knocking. Jane was just in the middle of changing his own clothes. He was turned back to her only in his pants, while his upper part of body fully shown.

Lisbon felt her face turning red and she tried to walk out as silent as she could.

„Feel free to stay Lisbon, that´s what you get for not knocking," he said with a mocking voice.

„Uh, I thought you will be...decent already."

„I am now," he said with a smirk with shirt already on.

„So, um, what did you learn?" she asked trying to avoid the awkwardness she felt.

„You´re blushing."

„It´s the shower. I am red from the hot shower."

„Yeah, keep telling yourself that."

„Jane!"

„Oh, alright. The case. Do you want some tea?"

„Sure," she replied tiredly.

Once Jane had his cup in a hand he was finally able to talk about the case. Lisbon listened, seated on the bed with her own cup. He forced her to put a blanket on as he did the same.

„Did the mother told you about the accusations?"

Lisbon nodded. The boy was accused of being abusive towards his girlfriends.

„His father told me that too...and not just that. One of his girlfriends, the last one, tried to accuse him of rape. They paid her two thousand dollars for silence. Mike´s father was sure that he did it."

Jane made a pause for the information to sink in. Lisbon looked at him in disbelief.

„His mother sure didn´t mention that."

„I think she couldn´t believe that her son was capable of doing such a thing. His father believed he could. He seemed pretty sure to me."

„Did he tell you the name of the girl? Maybe she is still holding a grunge?"

„I thought about that too, but why kill the other three men?"

„True."

„And to answer your other question, yes. He did gave me her name, she lives in New York, with her husband."

„That´s too far away."

„Yeah."

„So...that´s all we got? Nothing more?" Lisbon asked with a sad face. She was gripping the cup tightly to keep herself warm. Walking in the cold through the whole day was getting on her nerves.

„We got plenty." Jane said as he slide closed to her. „We know that all four of said men had troubles with anger management. At least three of them were abusing women at some point of their lives. We can start working from here."

„Do you think it might be some kind of vigilante?"

„Maybe," Jane said, „we should visit the local pub tomorrow."

„Fine. You´re paying," Lisbon said with a smile. It was one of the first real smiles she gave him and it melted his heart.

„Wouldn´t have it the other way around, my dear Lisbon."

She blushed again. „You know, it´s getting late -"

„It´s not that late," he said „you can stay a little longer, and we can watch TV."

Lisbon wanted to make fun of him but the she saw his face. He meant it. Well, a bit of TV is not going to hurt anybody.

„Uh...couldn´t hurt. Anything good on?" she asked wrapping the blanket around her tighter, not really wanting to leave her warm cocoon.

„We´ll find something."

She fell asleep after about an hour during another documentary about the smartest animals. He couldn´t blame her, it wasn´t that good. His gaze fell from the TV to the sleeping woman beside him. He could let her sleep in his bed through the whole night and play an act in the morning. The act of his falling asleep too and being woken up just now.

Not with her.

No games and acts, only when they are necessary.

He picked her up gently surprised by how little she weighted. She stirred in his arms and mumbled something he couldn´t understand. He carried her to her room and placed her softly onto her bed. She was already wrapped like a blanket burrito but he made sure to tuck her in, snugging the blanket up to her chin.

„Night, Lisbon," he said and left for his own room.

Thanks for reading. And if there is someone wondering if I update my other story, I will, probably tomorrow :)