(A/N): Thank you all so much for the reviews, follows, and favourites! You guys really make me happy! Okay, so, the responses to the reviews!
Lili87: I'm glad you like it! It means so much to me that you want to read more of it! Thank you!
Bruna Fights Back: Yay! Thank you! And I'll do my best!
Jane-i-need-you: Thank you!
MissDonnie: So do I! At least then we wouldn't have to worry about getting Jisbon! We'd already have it! Thanks for reviewing!
HeavenJu: Yay! I'm so happy you like it! And yep, I updated, or there wouldn't be another chapter hehe!
LouiseKurylo: Thank you. Most of it is taken from the episodes themselves, and I just add bits on and edit bits to fit with them being married too. Honestly, I think they'd probably act like this forever, even if they did eventually get married in the show. Still, thank you for reviewing :)
Okay, so, I have a question. Should I do every episode, or just key ones like the Red John ones? Only, originally, I was leaning towards every episode, but I'm not sure. Please let me know. Also, mild warnings about language and stuff, but really, still well below the boundary of a T rating.
Disclaimer: Do I have to write this? It makes me sad. I do? Aww. Fine. I do not own the mentalist. See? You made me cry now.
See you guys soon (hopefully),
HeavenSkye x
Through Thick and Thin.
Chapter 2.
Red Hair and Silver Tape. (1x02).
It was funny, Jane mused, the amount of times he always ended up walking behind his wife. They were in Northern Napa County, walking along a dusty road, Lisbon and Cho walking beside each other, with Jane trailing along behind them, though his eyes flicked between his surroundings and Lisbon. It had been just over a week since the imitation Red John case, and he hadn't said a word about their supposed vacation since the night they'd come home. True to his word, he'd made Lisbon pancakes that first morning, and bought her the coffee and bear claw she'd wanted, but he'd stayed stubbornly silent on the topic of the vacation.
Lisbon walked up to the sheriff, Sheriff McAllister if she'd heard him correctly on the phone. He looked to be a little older than Jane, with a grey moustache and a piercing expression. He seemed a little too relaxed though, considering where they were. He led them over to a trench by the side of the road, showing them a bound young woman with red hair. If it wasn't for the fact she was dead, she'd most likely be described as beautiful. Unfortunately, there was nothing beautiful about death. It was usually brutal, and most likely gruesome as well.
Lisbon climbed into the trench, Cho close on her heels as they deduced that the cause of death must be suffocation. Lisbon could feel Jane's eyes on her back, and maybe even a little lower, but she ignored it. To everyone else, he probably looked like he was focused on the dead girl anyway.
Jane stood at the top of the trench, keeping one ear open to the sheriff's commentary, and his eyes focused on the inside of the trench. Around thirty per cent of his attention went to the poor dead girl, and the other seventy stayed on Lisbon. He knew she could tell that he was watching her, but he had gotten his position just right so that no-one but his wife would know who he was really watching.
He almost rolled his eyes when the sheriff mentioned meth addicts killing the victim, and knew he had to pipe up. "No. It was a local." He told them all, before glancing at the body again. "And it was an accident. Her killer didn't intend her to die this way." He added after a moment.
Lisbon then looked up from where she hovered over the body, squinting a little in the sunlight. Jane wished he'd remembered the sunglasses, so she didn't have to hurt her eyes like that. "How so?" She asked, though it was more for others benefit than herself. She'd already gotten that far in her own internal assessment.
"She still has her clothes on. Her abductor was taking her to a location that was quiet and private so he could undress her for a sexual assault. She made too much noise at the wrong moment, he tried to keep her quiet and smothered her by mistake." Jane told them all in a low, serious voice. He spotted the hint of a smile in the corner of Lisbon's mouth. He knew she found his observations a little amusing, especially when the sheriff looked as unreceptive to it as this one did. Jane carried on his observations, knowing they'd get out of that dusty place soon. As soon as he was finished, Lisbon stood up, thanking the coroner for waiting, before climbing out of the trench, Cho behind her once more.
…
Lisbon and Cho watched in amusement as Jane and Sheriff McAllister played rock-paper-scissors time after time, Jane winning each round. The Sheriff looked increasingly agitated with each lost round. Cho turned to her quietly.
"It's always fun when it isn't one of us." He muttered under his breath. Lisbon bit her lip to keep from laughing.
"That it is."
…
Lisbon found Jane sat with the owners of the Shand Creek Winery and Restaurant, eating something. She rolled her eyes. Jane was always eating. She'd lost count of the amount of times she'd caught her husband eating in the kitchens of victims or suspects. However, he was a brilliant cook when at home. She didn't put weight on very easily with the amount of exercise she did and her metabolism, but Jane seemed determined to change that.
She sat down beside him and pulled out her notebook, ignoring the slight noises Jane made in appreciation of his meal as she focused on the two owners, jotting down anything that might seem even the slightest bit relevant. She nearly slapped Jane when his only comment was on the amount of butter put into the meal. He didn't stop eating even then though. Lisbon wondered if anything would put him off his food before inwardly grinning. The answer was that there most likely wasn't anything that would.
…
"Nice. You caused a man to faint." Lisbon bit out sarcastically as she pulled Jane outside the restaurant. Cho was inside helping the man regain consciousness before putting him in handcuffs.
"Meh, it's not like he killed Melanie." Jane waved it off as they rounded the side of the restaurant until they were completely secluded from anyone else.
"Oh, he didn't?" Lisbon asked, only for Jane to envelope her in a hug. She hugged him back, a little confused. "Uh, Jane?"
"Patrick." Jane corrected her, nuzzling her hair. Lisbon took a deep breath, trying to focus. Which was difficult, considering her husband seemed to be determined to distract her.
"We're at work, Patrick Jane. We can't do this here." She managed with a great amount of strength, considering Jane's lips were now on the pulse point in her neck. He pulled back with a groan.
"You are way too stubborn sometimes, Teresa Jane." He murmured into her ear before pulling back and sorting her hair out so it looked exactly as it did before. He'd mussed it a little when he was nuzzling it.
"You love it really." She couldn't help but tease him. He grinned as they rounded the corner back towards the car.
"Of course, my dear, of course."
…
"Randall tried to kiss Melanie because he thought it was on his account that she didn't leave." Lisbon stated as she wrote Randall's name on the timeline for Melanie's murder. Jane stood beside the chalkboard, a paper cup of tea in his hand. It wasn't up to his usual standards, but that was to be expected in a police station. Police were far too fond of their coffee, including Lisbon. He'd never take her coffee away from her though, especially not in the morning.
He had actually tried it once, a couple of months after they were married. He threw out all the coffee in the house and stocked up on several varieties of tea in order to try and reduce her caffeine consumption. There was only one thing he hadn't taken into account.
Morning Lisbon.
When she'd stumbled blearily into the kitchen and couldn't find her morning coffee to wake her up, she'd been in such a bad mood for the rest of the day that Jane ended up genuinely fearing for his life. He bought a lot of coffee on his way back home that night to restock the kitchen with. Needless to say, he never tried it again.
"When in fact, she didn't leave because of Randall-" Jane contributed, only for Lisbon to interrupt with a smile.
"She was meeting somebody else." Lisbon finished as she completed her notes on the chalkboard and set the chalk down in the tray along the bottom. The musty old thing reminded her far too much of high school, and that wasn't something she liked to remember. She'd hated high school so much.
"Are we gonna see Raquel again?" Jane's question broke into her thoughts. Belatedly, she wondered why he was curious about something as mundane as a follow up interview, but didn't ask about it.
"She's on her way in now." She informed him, before wiping her chalky hands on her slacks. Jane rolled his eyes. Lisbon hated it when he got mud on his pants or shirt, yet she was quite willing to get chalk on hers and not even blink. He produced his handkerchief from his pocket, handing it to his wife.
"Wipe your hands on it." He told her in a low voice. Lisbon glared halfheartedly at him, but did as he asked.
She handed it back to him, pouting. "You only made me do that because it's your week to do the washing." She told him, watching as his eyes flickered towards her mouth and his pupils dilated.
"Woman, do not pout at me like that." He warned her, his voice deep and husky. Lisbon opened her mouth to respond, only for her phone to go off. Van Pelt. She didn't know if she wanted to shoot or hug the young rookie. She'd settle for just listening to what the redheaded agent had to say instead. She almost groaned as Jane immediately moved closer to her. Why did he have to do this now?
…
After the interview with Raquel Garcia, Lisbon was fuming. Raquel had given up Hector far too easily. It stank of Jane's manipulation. Walking out of the room, followed by Cho and Jane, she turned to face them, a look of mock confusion on her face. Seeing the look of pretend innocence on her husband's face just confirmed that he had had something to do with it. And she was fairly certain what he'd done too.
"That was funny. The way she gave him up so easily like that?" Lisbon said lightly, but staring intently at Jane as she did.
"Yeah it was." Jane agreed, causing her stare to instantly transform into a glare. "But you were right, huh? Secret lover. Guess I was wrong about the whole red-hair-and-duct-tape thing."
That sealed it in Lisbon's mind. Jane never ever admitted that he was wrong, and also never admitted that anyone else was right unless he had to. Jane began to walk off as quickly as he could, only to be stopped by Lisbon's exasperated voice.
"You hypnotised her, didn't you?"
He span back round to face her. "I certainly did not." He denied, but knew from one look into Lisbon's disbelieving face that he was screwed. "Okay, no. Yes, I did hypnotise her, but-" He attempted to minimise it, but Lisbon interrupted, her glare directly pointed at him.
"But nothing. It's unprofessional and it's illegal. It's totally out of bounds." Lisbon told him. She'd told him far too many times about hypnotism, and he'd never listened. Okay, so usually there wasn't a whole lot he'd hypnotise out of people, but it was all inadmissible in court, and Lisbon hated to see guilty people set free due to a technicality like that.
"That's what I told him." Cho said from his place a step behind Lisbon. Jane turned an accusing finger onto Cho. The man had ratted him out to his wife! That was so unfair! Still, two could play at that game.
"I was gonna say you had nothing to do with it, but hey." He said, watching as Cho's face tightened ever so slightly, and Lisbon looked more pissed than before.
Jane walked away just as Lisbon's arm shot out, grabbing the front of Cho's suit and pulling him round to face her. Cho almost smiled. For such a tiny woman, she was extremely strong.
"You allow him to pull that stuff again and you'll be showing visitors around the statehouse in a stupid hat." Lisbon told him, annoyed. Cho nodded. It was more than fair. If it was any other team leader, his ass would be in a car on the way back to Sacramento, and he'd be on desk duty for the next two weeks. All in all, what she'd threatened him with was a whole lot better.
"Yes, ma'am. Understood." Cho told her before walking off. Lisbon sighed as she pulled out her phone. Sometimes she felt more of an exhausted mother than a CBI senior agent.
…
"Oprah and Dr Phil here." Hector said with a smirk. Jane grinned in response, though Lisbon's facial expression didn't change. "I told her this is how it was going to end. Only it was going to be me that died and her sitting here with dumb cops asking dumb questions. 'Why was a respectable girl like you with a thug like Hector Romerez?'"
"Why was she?" Lisbon asked carefully. He shoulder and thigh still hurt from where she'd slammed into him and hit the road. She really didn't want to have to fight anyone for a good couple of hours at least.
Hector stared at her for a moment before shaking his head. "You wouldn't understand."
"Sure she would." Jane butted in, still leant casually on the Xerox machine. "All women understand the charm of a violent man." Lisbon turned her head slightly to look at him in confusion. What was he doing? She'd never understood the charm of a violent man in her life! After her dad, if any man was violent towards her, she left them in no uncertain terms that she wouldn't tolerate that kind of crap from them.
"What we had was special." Hector informed Jane quietly.
"You made her feel like a captured princess instead of a small-town choir nerd. And she made you feel like a dashing pirate instead of what you are. A sort of a bad-tempered pharmacist." Jane responded, not being able to help the last sentence spilling from his lips.
"Funny man." Hector returned almost instantly, before continuing in his opinion of Melanie.
…
"A captured princess? Really?" Lisbon asked as soon as they had finished the interview and were walking back to their temporary office. Jane grinned.
"Fitting, don't you think?"
"Not really. And what was all that crap about me understanding the charm of a violent man?" Lisbon queried. The smile fell from Jane's face as he quickly glanced round before pulling her with him into a supply closet. "Jane?" Lisbon asked. "What are you doing?"
Jane stroked her cheek gently. "A better man."
"What?" Lisbon asked, utterly confused. Jane sighed, placing his forehead against Lisbon's and dragging the chain out from under her shirt.
"Teresa, you made me a better man from the moment you said 'I do' and I put this ring on your finger. You make me feel like a better man, and in turn, I still don't have a clue what I make you feel like."
"A princess." Lisbon whispered, leaning up to press a quick kiss to his lips. "Not a captured one by any means, but a princess none the less." She moved away, sliding the chain with the rings on back down her shirt so it was hidden once more. "However, you breathe a word of what I've just said to anyone, and I will kill you and make it look completely accidental."
"Got it." Jane murmured in response, before sticking his head out of the door to make sure it was clear, before allowing Lisbon to lead the way back to the temporary office, bickering about whether or not Hector was guilty.
Lisbon perched on the end of the desk, with Jane stood beside her as she looked up to continue the argument. "If it wasn't him, then who was it?" She asked. "And if you say 'a man who likes red hair and silver duct tape', I'll scream."
"I don't want you to scream." Jane told her, before moving in a little closer. "Not yet, anyway."
Lisbon shivered, but carried on the conversation as best she could. Sometimes, she really wanted to kill her husband for doing things like that at work.
…
"Hi. I made a booking for two for this afternoon." Jane said into the phone, whilst never taking his eyes from his wife's. "Could you put us on the terrace? It's more romantic. Yeah, Patrick. Lovely. See you then." He flipped his phone shut, putting it back into his suit pocket before facing Lisbon again. She was watching him, eyes wide and dark, mouth open. Seriously, how could any man resist that?
"Don't fret." He told her, teasingly. "I wouldn't seduce you over a meal. That would be very sophomoric"
"I didn't think you were trying to seduce me." Lisbon said, attempting to sound like the strong senior agent she was, and failing miserably. Jane's grin widened.
"Come on. How could that thought not have entered your head?"
Lisbon remained silent, but she was biting her lip.
"Your denial that it did intrigues me." Jane stated as he walked past. Suddenly, he heard Lisbon respond.
"Bite me."
He waited until she'd caught up with him before speaking. "Where?"
"Where what?" Lisbon asked.
"Where would you like me to bite you?" Jane asked with a devilish grin. Lisbon bit her lip again. How could any woman resist Patrick Jane when he looked like that? And yet, he'd chosen her. Even after over a year of marriage, that part still baffled her. He could have his pick of any straight woman in the world, and even a few gay ones, and he picked her. Suddenly, she started laughing. Jane turned to look at her, frowning a little.
"Lisbon?" He asked.
"You're sophomoric." Lisbon choked out as a fresh bout of giggles overtook her.
"What?" He asked, her giggles making him amused as well.
"Our first date. You did seduce me over a meal. We went to that fancy restaurant, remember?" Lisbon managed to say as the giggles subsided. "You, Patrick Jane, are extremely sophomoric." She told him as she walked up to the car.
"Bite me." Jane called out in retaliation, lacking a proper argument as he slid into the passenger seat.
…
Jane opened the room to the motel room, allowing Lisbon in first. She gave him a suspicious look, but walked in all the same. After some explaining on his side, he sat down, patting the seat beside him. Lisbon rolled her eyes, but moved to sit down beside him. What she didn't expect was for Jane to pinch her ass playfully as she did. She whacked him in the arm and glared at him, though there was no real heat behind it.
"What is it with you always pinching my ass, Jane?"
"Wouldn't you like to know."
"Well, yes I would, otherwise I wouldn't be asking."
"Nope, not telling." Jane laughed at Lisbon's put out expression. "Come here." He said, opening his arms in invitation, but Lisbon shook her head stubbornly.
"Nope."
"It's just a hug, Teresa, jeez." Jane tried to justify it, his arms still open.
"When you say that, it's never 'just a hug' Patrick. Now then, can we please concentrate on, oh I don't know, doing our jobs?"
"Fine woman, but I'll get my hug later."
…
Lisbon stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. How dare he do that?! Now she had to go and try to save her team from getting into too much trouble with the sheriff, and it was all Patrick Jane's fault. God, he was just so infuriating sometimes!
She jumped into the SUV, pulling the door shut harshly as her cellphone rang. As she talked into the device, she saw the Shand Creek Winery van pull up three spaces down in the parking lot. Why was the van here now, at this place? She slumped down in her seat as she spotted Malcolm, the chef, climb out of the van, along with his wife. Together, they pulled out a bound redheaded girl from the back and carried her towards the motel room Lisbon herself had just left.
Crap. Jane was still in there. Swiftly, she put her phone away and produced her gun, only emerging from her vehicle once she saw the motel room door close. She ran down to the door as quietly as possible, braced herself, and kicked it open with a bang.
"Police!" She yelled, only for Malcolm to turn around, knife raised. She had no choice. She shot him in the chest, only to turn around and face his wife. She tried to reason with the other woman, but had no choice other than to shoot her too.
Moving around the two dead bodies, she untied the kidnapped woman, gently soothing her at the same time. However, her eyes never left Jane's green ones.
…
That night, Lisbon stumbled blearily into her motel room and kicked off her shoes. It had been a long day, and all she wanted was some sleep. She fell on her bed, fully clothed, gun still attached to her hip, badge still attached to her belt. She just couldn't find the energy to take them off. She drifted off to sleep almost immediately.
…
Jane snuck into her room an hour or so later, smiling sadly as he saw the state she was in, spread out on top of the duvet. Gently, he removed her badge from her belt, placing it on the nightstand, before unholstering her gun and placing it in her usual spot beneath her pillow and then taking the holster off and placing it beside her badge. The he carefully removed her socks, belt and pants, folding them up into a neat pile on the chair in the corner of her room. He did the same with his own clothes before slipping into bed beside her and pulling the duvet over them both.
Usually, they wouldn't share a room on out of town cases, part of their carefully constructed plan to keep it all a secret, but he'd almost lost her today, and the thought of not seeing her until morning was just something he couldn't accept. He snuggled into her, wrapping his arms around her slim waist before drifting off to sleep as well.
…
The next day was Melanie's funeral, and the family had invited the team to go, expressing their thanks at finding their little girl's killers. There were lots of pink flowers and beautiful arrangements, but the sombre mood made the beauty insignificant.
"I don't get it." Van Pelt said softly. "She actually enjoyed helping him kill. One crazy evil person I understand, but two? Husband and wife?" She didn't see Lisbon glance away from them all, looking worried. "Marriage is supposed to be a sacred, loving thing."
Jane glanced towards the young redhead from his place at Lisbon's side. "Eh, they were soul mates in their own strange way." He commented, as his eyes returned to the back of Lisbon's head
"Let's go." Cho mouthed to Rigsby and Van Pelt. The three agents turned and moved away from the burial site, back towards where they'd left the cars.
Lisbon watched as the family turned towards her and Jane. The mother gave a small nod to Lisbon, and she nodded back. That was as much thanks as she needed, really. She could feel her eyes welling with tears as she turned away and started on the path away from the coffin. A hand came to rest on her shoulder. Jane's. She leant into it, grateful for the comfort he gave her.
"I won't help you kill him, Patrick." She suddenly whispered. The hand tightened a little on her shoulder, before Jane leaned forward to whisper in her ear.
"I would never expect you to, Teresa."
TBC...
