This was my first one-shot, it was originally to be part of a series of short fanfictions entitled 'What if...?' but the later fictions didn't quite live up to this one which, admittedly, isn't that brilliant either. Anyway enjoy reading it. Reviews and Crits are welcomed and encouraged. I do not own The Mentalist, yadda yadda yadda blah blah blah.
Lisbon was terrified. For the first time since her drunken father she was frozen in fear. She stood in the doorframe of Van Pelt's apartment looking in on the bloody scene which lay before her. Van Pelt's naked body lay cold and motionless on the floor, her glassy eyes staring sightlessly at Lisbon. Grace's toenails and fingernails were painted in her own blood, her body was riddled with deep cuts. Standing next to Van Pelt was a male figure painting the signature smile on the wall in the red head's blood. She couldn't see the figure's face, hair or clothes but the smile on the wall was all Lisbon needed,
"Stop right there Red John!" she shouted on the brink of tears and shaking. The man finished painting the face and turned round pulling off the gloves and throwing them to the floor,
"Lisbon," the CBI officer froze, that voice. It couldn't be, no, no, no, "good to see you." the man walked out into the light a twisted smile playing about his face. She didn't want to believe it and yet here he was, standing in front of her so plainly. That man, the one who wanted Red John dead, the one she had feelings for and yet never admitted it, the one she trusted with her life,
"J-jane…" she stuttered, her tongue tripping over the name as though it didn't want to be saying it, "tell me this is some sick joke Jane… please…" Lisbon felt the tears beginning to roll down her face. Another familiar voice caught her attention,
"Boss, what's going on? Why did you call us here?" Wayne Rigsby. This was going to tear him apart. Cho saw Lisbon shaking and went to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. His eyes registered the scene in front of him,
"Oh God." he felt sick. Rigsby pushed through into the apartment. The sight that met his eyes tore his heart in two,
"Grace!" he ran towards the woman's body and broke down next to her. Cho had never seen Rigsby so torn and broken, "I swear I will tear apart the bastard who did this!" he shouted tears streaming down his face. Cho noticed someone he hadn't seen there before,
"Jane?" the consultant began laughing, "What the hell are you laughing for Jane!? Van Pelt has just been murdered by Red John!" Cho looked to Lisbon as if to get her to back up what he was saying,
"Cho…" she said shaking, "He is Red John." Cho's eyes widened and he looked to Jane,
"You're…? No, this is some kind of sick joke. Lisbon tell me this is you and Jane having some sick joke." Lisbon shook her head slowly and began to cry more, the salty tears stinging her eyes,
"I-I trusted you Jane…" she told him, her voice wavering, "I c-cared for you, so much more than you'll ever know… and now…"
"I betrayed you?" Jane asked still smiling, "No Lisbon, I was already a double-crossing, backstabbing psychopath when you first met me. You just didn't know it then." the CBI officer shook her head,
"No, I refuse to believe it." she said firmly. Jane merely laughed and looked back over to his masterpiece,
"Why ever not Lisbon?" he smirked, "Because I put on such a good act of wanting to kill Red John? Because you never noticed how ridiculous some of my schemes were and how I didn't care if any suspects died as we tried to catch others?" Lisbon nearly broke down,
"How could you do this to us!?" she shouted, she couldn't hold her tears back anymore. She remembered clearly the day when she had warned Jane about chasing Red John, Can't you see there's people who care about you, who need you? Her own words echoed round her head, couldn't Jane see what she was trying to say when she had told him that? She finally allowed her tears to flow freely, Cho didn't know what to do, she seemed inconsolable.
Rigsby rose slowly from next to Van Pelt's body,
"You did this?" he snapped glaring at Jane with red rimmed eyes,
"Rigsby." Cho warned stepping forwards. Rigsby looked to Cho his eyes red from crying and his cheeks wet with tears,
"I don't care anymore Cho," Rigsby replied tears still rolling down his face, "he murdered Grace."
"Don't do this Rigsby." he warned again, but Rigsby wasn't listening. The CBI officer was already making a bee-line towards Jane,
"Stop all of you!" Lisbon shouted, her face, much like Rigsby's was wet with tears and her eyes were red from crying, "Patrick Jane. You're under arrest for countless murders and most recently the murder of CBI officer Grace Van Pelt." she told him as she grabbed his arms and slapped on a pair of handcuffs. Rigsby broke down into tears again, he had never felt so much pain at the same time, so much sadness and anger,
"I'll look after him." Cho offered as Lisbon began to make her was out of the building pushing Jane in front of her,
"No Cho." Lisbon said, "He needs time alone and you need to help me with Jane." Cho nodded reluctantly leaving Rigsby mourning Van Pelt's sudden passing.
A few months later…
Lisbon sat in her office ignoring the e-mails and letters of praise she was receiving for catching Red John and trying to ignore the giant photo of Jane plastered across the front page of a month old newspaper with the title : 'Mysterious Serial Killer Caught' above it. Cho knocked on the door making her jump,
"I brought your coffee boss." he said walking in, Lisbon nodded in gratitude,
"Thank you Cho…" her voice was flat. Cho looked at his boss with concern,
"It's bothering you still isn't it?" Lisbon sighed, there was no point hiding it,
"Yes Cho, it is still bothering me…" Cho smiled sadly,
"If it makes you feel any better it's still bothering me too." Lisbon acknowledged Cho's sentence with a slight movement of her head. Her mind was elsewhere. She shouldn't have left Rigsby on his own that day. Guilt weighed her down, if she had allowed Cho to stay with him maybe, just maybe he would still be alive. Rigsby's suicide had been another huge blow to an already shattered unit. Lisbon felt tears begin to roll down her face once again, Cho knew immediately what was wrong,
"Boss, you can't keep blaming yourself for what happened to Rigsby…" he told her, a concerned tone in his voice,
"I know…" she replied quietly. She wiped the tears from her eyes just as Minnelli came in,
"You have a new case Lisbon." he said handing her a case file and leaving the room. Lisbon nodded to Cho a determined look on her face. Upon opening the case file she almost smiled, Red Jane had escaped.