Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did, I do not own The Mentalist, it and all related characters are (C) Bruno Heller and co.
A/N: So I was inspired by the final scene of Red Herring a while back, but this only came to me the other night. A very short oneshot based around Lisbon's implied alcoholism. Reviews and crits are always welcomed.
She stares at the deep red liquid in her wineglass and thinks, not for the first time, that there must be an alcoholic gene. She has definitely exceeded the guideline daily, if not weekly, amount of units – the empty bottle on the table tells her that, not to mention how blurry everything is becoming. Yes, there must definitely be an alcoholic gene. She doesn't see why else she would turn to alcohol to drown her sorrows when she if fully aware of the terrible things it can do to a person. Her father being a prime example. He beat up his kids so badly that he nearly killed them, and then he woke up apologising profusely and begging them to forgive him. It petrifies her that she could end up the same way. She turns to alcohol to answer all her problems. It's wrong, and she knows it's wrong, yet she does it time and again. It's a dangerous path she's treading, and she's treading it alone. She shouldn't have to go it alone, but, being the independent individual she is, she refuses to share the burden with anyone. This is her cross to carry and she will carry it until it breaks her.