A/N: This is post Red John's Footsteps and my fic Life. Jisbon implied. Enjoy!

Spoiler: Watchez-vous le finale, 1x23 Red John's Footsteps

Disclaimer: Hello Mr. Heller and the creative minds behind the Mentalist. If any of you are reading this, I'm touched and I want to inform you that I am not making a profit from using what rightfully belongs to you. I'd just like to throw it out there if you want to offer me a job, that would be fantastic. The lyrics featured are from Lifehouse and the song is Everything.

Saving Me

Teresa Lisbon watched as Maya Plasket ran towards her awaiting family. Her mother, her father, her brother, they had their arms wide open, ready to welcome her home. A faint smile ghosted over Lisbon's lips. There was a bittersweet satisfaction in knowing they saved her life. They. She looked away from the happy reunion and over her shoulder at Jane. He had a look in his eyes that she immediately recognized. The look of longing, of envy, of pain. Why was Maya Plasket allowed to live when his wife and daughter were slaughtered? Why was the Plasket family granted a second chance on life when he was condemned to a life of misery? She wished she had answers to offer him, especially for the sacrifice he made for her just a few short hours ago. He had saved her life, costing him the only real lead to the monster that took everything from him. And when she was kneeling beside him with Hardy laughing in Jane's face, she felt guilty. Guilty for being the reason he might never get closure. Jane broke eye contact first and walked away from the car. It wasn't much, but at least she could give him some time alone.

Patrick Jane hated to be wrong. He was wrong about finding Maya Plasket dead. He was wrong about not letting anything or anyone stand in his way of avenging his family when he killed the only person that could have led him straight to Red John. The startling revelation though, was that if he had to, he would have done it all again in a single heartbeat. Something Lisbon said must have broken through to him. Had this situation happened a year ago, Jane wasn't so sure he would have saved Lisbon's life. And that chilling thought alone caused him to question the kind of man he had become after the brutal murder of his beloved wife and daughter. He became the kind of man that allowed grief and anger to consume him. Bit by bit he was chipped away by his own selfish vendetta. He thought he was beyond saving because nobody would have cared enough to save him. He was glad to be wrong about that. Before today, she had never vocalized her feelings. He knew they were there, just bubbling under her no-nonsense tough persona. He just tried to ignore them. He had suppressed those feelings deep within, so they would not impede on his quest for vengeance. Only it didn't make them go away. Just as Red John shattered Jane's world to pieces, Theresa Lisbon had been putting the pieces back together. She was the reason he was alive, not the other way around.

Find me here, speak to me
I want to feel you, I need to hear you…

She had given him a good half an hour before she went to look for him. When she found him, he was lying on his back in the middle of a grassy field, his hands folded beneath his golden blond curls. He looked peaceful, his eyes closed, his lips relaxed. Lisbon quietly lay down beside him, her own face just a few inches from his. She watched his chest evenly rise and fall for a few minutes, simply enjoying being close to him.

"Lisbon."

His eyes remained closed but his voice didn't startle her.

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

She had not been expecting to hear him say those words. But when the intensity of his blue gaze was focused solely on her, he conveyed everything he needed to through that one look. He reached out a hand from behind his head to caress her cheek and suddenly, the words didn't matter anymore to Lisbon, although, it was still nice to hear them spoken out loud.

"You saved my life."

You are the light, that's leading me
To the place where I find peace again...

Fin for now, Jello forever