A/N: Okay, rattling through this. That's probably a good thing, what with the deadline and all that. *yawns* I'm sleepy and I didn't beat Cat getting home. :-(

Thank you to: Divinia Serit, lisbon69, The Mentalist Rules, raquelvalente91, boutondor, yaba, Helvetica Bold, Chiisana Minako, Frogster, anthropologist, April, forthecoast and Koezh for reviewing part two. Especially so to April who reviewed anonymously - I'm glad you're finding it interesting.

x tromana

Part Three

She didn't tell him, but the fact he wanted to kill Red John wasn't the only reason she left him.

Of course he drove her insane, especially considering what her career was, but her love for him was just about enough to prevent her from walking out.

Wrapped tightly in a fluffy, pale yellow dressing gown, she wandered downstairs and directly to her filing cabinet. It took her a few minutes to locate exactly what it was she wanted, but eventually, she triumphantly pulled out a few documents.

They weren't the master copies. Those were slipped into the files at CBI headquarters, though only herself and Minelli were truly aware of them.

She didn't know why she wanted to keep photocopies of death threats though. It wasn't exactly the most normal thing in the world. But then again, Teresa Lisbon was hardly a normal person.

She sat cross-legged on the floor and allowed her fingers to run across the black smiley, knowing full well that the original was red. Tears stung in the corner of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She couldn't.

He'd won more than enough already.

Red John had created this barrier between herself and Jane and even if she wanted to reconcile with him…

Well. The most recent letter said it all.

If you so much as kiss Patrick Jane again, you will be my next victim.

It was a lot more blunt than Red John's usual style, but then again, apart from being Jane's (now ex) wife, he held nothing against her. Well, she was the lead agent in charge of his case, of course, but that didn't seem to matter to the serial killer so much.

Not as much as keeping Jane in a perpetual state of unhappiness anyway.

Or maybe, he simply preferred to be more to the point with potential victims? That was certainly more harrowing than having to extract the meaning from the words written down. She didn't have anything to compare it to though; Red John hadn't sent words of warning to anybody else he'd killed before they died.

Roughly, she shoved the documents back into the filing cabinet. Now was not the time to be thinking about people wanting to kill her. She had a new rookie starting within the week. Instead of focusing on her ex and serial killers, it would be far more productive to prepare for receiving young Grace Van Pelt.

She couldn't look unprofessional in front of the young woman. That just wouldn't do.

000

Never mind making herself look incompetent due to out of date paperwork, Lisbon was growing concerned that Jane would a good enough job of that without any input of her own.

She was currently fretting over just how to explain to Van Pelt how her dear ex-husband was so out of control that he'd managed to get a man shot. Not that Lisbon had any intention of telling the young woman that he was her ex, mind. It was unnecessary information and besides, it implied that she would be willing to allow the newest recruit into her personal life rather than keeping things strictly professional.

And if there was one thing Lisbon craved for at work, it was professionalism.

A three week suspension shouldn't have been necessary for Jane, considering what had happened. An appointment with Dr. Gavin and a week off to recover from the 'stress' of the situation should have been enough. However, as she had predicted, Jane and the psychiatrist no longer had a suitable working relationship and a shrink was sourced from outside.

That was why he had been forced to take so much leave.

Lisbon jumped at the sound of a nervous tap on her door.

Van Pelt looked terrified, but she smiled and beckoned her in. She recognized that look all too well, but the girl would be fine. Lisbon pushed all thoughts of Jane to one side as Van Pelt sat down. There was a time and a place to be thinking of him. Quickly, she ran through everything she needed to with Van Pelt and the new rookie was suitably enthusiastic and seemed to absorb everything she was told.

"Uh, Agent Lisbon?" Van Pelt asked nervously when the conversation was coming to a close.

"Lisbon is fine, Van Pelt."

"I was talking to… Cho? He said there's a consultant, Patrick Jane? When will I meet him?"

"He's just taking some leave for now," Lisbon answered smoothly, hoping desperately she wouldn't pry.

"Oh okay…"

Both glanced up when Cho knocked sharply on the glass, seemingly coming to his boss' rescue. He took two steps in and Lisbon watched him carefully, waiting patiently for whatever he had to tell her.

"Case. In Malibu. It looks like a Red John. Should I…"

"No," she answered sharply, not even letting him finish his sentence. "Well, Van Pelt. Your first case and it looks like a major one."

000

Jane slammed a file on Lisbon's desk and he looked furious.

She flinched at the sound of papers slapping against the work surface but Lisbon didn't need to take a second glance to know just what it was.

They'd barely been back from Malibu for five minutes and already, he was taking her on about that. Obviously the copy-cat had reignited his already voracious desire to find the serial killer. With a sigh, she watched as he paced her room, waiting for one of them to break and start speaking first.

Lisbon knew that she should have expected this.

The files were available for anybody on the team to look at, including Jane, but she had hoped it would take him longer to come across the letters. Or, that somehow, he just wouldn't see them at all.

"Is this the real reason you left?" he eventually snarled.

She scoffed in response and pushed them aside, but naturally couldn't focus on his gaze.

"Teresa?"

"Yes?"

"Tell me."

"What? You cannot fathom that somebody might actually fall out of love with you?" she queried, finally gathering the courage to look him in the eye. "That there has to be another reason for my leaving?"

"I'd say death threats are a pretty good reason for you to leave."

"So would I under normal circumstances, but is your opinion of me so low that you think I'd let a serial killer beat me? Beat us? Really?" she snapped, a flash anger present in her eyes. "Now by all means go and dissect those letters word by word, but let me get on with something constructive."

"Teresa…"

"I said go."

Her shoulders sagged as he stalked out of the room. It was obvious he didn't believe her for one second.

And she knew exactly why.

Because she had been lying through her teeth.

TBC…