A/N: Another big thank you to all those that reviewed the last chapter, it means a lot!

Hope you like this one…

CHAPTER 4

Jane walked into the bullpen glad to finally be back. Once he'd reached the hospital, he'd pulled himself together enough to annoy practically everyone there into doing what they had to do to get rid of him quickly. His arm was now stitched up and sported a bandage that had to remain on for the next week. The cut on his neck had been cleaned but left uncovered in order for it to heal quicker.

Van Pelt had called for another agent to pick them up and take them back to the office but she'd insisted on making a stop at his motel in order for him to change into fresh clothes. He'd balked at wasting the time but Van Pelt had ignored his protestations and told him to simply hurry up.

The female agent sat down at her desk while Jane headed over to Cho but stopped midway across the floor when he realised that the man wasn't there. He looked around quickly and noticed the agent was in Lisbon's office. He walked over then came to a halt in the doorway. He hadn't been in there since Lisbon had gone missing, it'd felt like some kind of violation. Seeing Cho sitting in her chair seemed so wrong. Yes, he'd taken over Lisbon's role before, but Jane had always known where she was, knew it was only temporary. Now, it just made the outcome seem so…final.

Cho looked up from the report he was writing and gestured for him to enter. Jane did so, slowly, then sat down in the chair opposite the agent. "Anything?" he asked quietly, dreading the answer but having to know it all the same.

"Nothing," Cho replied, looking a little frustrated. "Either their patients don't match Lisbon's description or they haven't had an admittance in the last twenty-four hours."

"We'll have to widen the search then," the consultant decided.

"Rigsby's already on it. We also have to look at other possible scenario's. Red John may have hidden her somewhere."

"No," Jane replied immediately, shaking his head. "That would be too easy. He wanted to drag me down to where he thought I'd been when he sent Lorelei. That's what this was all about. It was his way of getting me to actually break for real." He paused and rubbed a weary hand across his brow before looking down and adding almost to himself, "He knew taking her from me would be the only thing that could."

An uncomfortable air settled between the two men at Jane's confession but the consultant was too tired and too damned scared to care. He'd never been more frightened for anyone else in his life before than he was now for Lisbon. So what if he briefly allowed some of his feelings to show? He was human after all. Just a man, not infallible. And he was a man that was hurting, badly, however much he tried to hide it inside.

Cho shifted awkwardly in his seat a moment. He could understand what Jane must be going through. He was worried sick too, but he didn't have the added complexity of actually being in love with his boss. The thought that Lisbon was dead, then alive but possibly just a shell of the woman she once was…it bothered him a lot, God knew just how much it was eating Jane alive but if they were going to find Lisbon, he really needed the consultant to be back on his game. It wasn't going to be pretty, but he knew a way to do it.

"We still have to cover all our bases," he finally said, bringing their conversation back round to safer ground. "Plus, I've spoken to Missing Persons and they're going to allow us an extra forty eight hours goodwill period before they officially take the over the case."

Cho felt surge of satisfaction when Jane's head jerked up, anger alight in his eyes. "Missing Persons?" he repeated incredulously. "What has any of this got to do with them?"

"Lisbon's missing."

"No, she's been abducted," Jane contradicted, drawing the words out slowly as if he were talking to a child. "Which is a serious crime and should stay in our jurisdiction."

"Officially, it's out of my hands."

"So, what? You'll just simply hand the 'case' over and forget about her? Is that what you're telling me?" Jane demanded, his ire rising along with his voice. He suddenly stood up and leaned forward across the desk, getting right into the other man's personal space. "Because let me tell you something, Agent Cho, I will never give up until I find her, do you understand? It's my fault that bastard targeted her and when I find her, no matter how far gone she is, or how hopeless it seems, I will visit her every single damn day for as long as it takes until I get her back…and I will get her back, I promise you that!"

Cho stared back at him for a moment, completely unfazed by his outburst. "Good," he agreed affably before looking back down and continuing his report.

Effectively dismissed, Jane pulled back and stood staring down at the Asian man's bent head, hands clenched at his side as he silently fumed. He turned and strode to the door debating whether to slam it shut behind him for good measure when it hit him what Cho had done.

For the first time since Lisbon had gone missing, he was finally focussed. His normally tightly held emotions had been wavering all over the place while he'd desperately tried to chase after them and gather them back in. Now, his head was clear. He knew what he had to do. Felt the purpose thrumming through his system as surely as his blood flowed. He had a new goal and it was one he would follow as tenaciously as he had Red John for all those years.

He halted with his hand on the doorknob and turned his head back towards the room slightly, his anger at the other man melting away as gratitude took its place. "Who drove my car back?" he asked lightly.

"I did. It was horrible."

Jane nodded and smiled. "Good."

He left the office, shutting the door quietly behind him, and headed for the break room. He needed a cup of tea. He frowned slightly as he remembered that he'd broken his saucer but brewed himself a hot drink anyway. Taking just the cup back to the bullpen, he sat down on his couch and sipped his tea.

Rigsby let out a long sigh and ran a weary hand over his face before leaning back and stretching. It was approaching midnight and he was exhausted. He'd widened the search from the immediate vicinity and was also including any of the smaller institutions. The list was long and he hadn't even got halfway through yet.

"Why don't you go home and get some rest?" Jane suggested from his spot on the couch. "I doubt you'll get much response from anyone at this time of night anyway."

It was the truth but Rigsby shook his head. "I'm fine. I want to keep checking. At least I can email the one's that aren't answering and get replies in the morning. I don't want to waste any more time."

Jane nodded and looked over to where Van Pelt was yawning. "How about you, Grace? Go and get some sleep, you look exhausted."

"I'm OK, I just need a coffee," she refuted with a small smile.

He watched the redhead go to the break room and come back a few minutes later. In quiet contemplation, he observed the agents resume their tasks and felt a flash of gratitude at the loyalty and caring the team displayed for Lisbon. He knew it would be trite to say anything aloud but mentally he thanked them.

Finishing his tea, he got up and placed it on his unused desk then went over to Rigsby. "How far are you widening the search to?"

"Anything within a one to two hour time radius. I'm including all medical centres, just in case. I'm estimating that would have given Red John enough time to grab the boss, do…whatever he did and take her somewhere but still have enough time to take the Jane Doe too and get back here."

"He may have had her already," the consultant pointed out. "He must have been planning this for a long while."

"But, there's no fingerprint match on our system so she's not flagged as a Missing Person which means she couldn't have been missing that long," Van Pelt interjected.

"That's true," Jane allowed as he placed his forefinger to his mouth and tapped it gently, deep in thought. "But I'd bet he was already watching her. How long before we get an I.D.?"

"The M.E. and forensics are dealing with it now. High priority. It'll probably be a few more hours before we get a name."

They seemed to have covered everything that they could for now so Jane turned back to Rigsby and held out his hand. "Give me the list. I'll call, you email."

xTheMentalistx

Sarah awoke with a gasp and sat up straight in bed, breathing heavily. There was a slight sheen of sweat to her brow as she frantically looked around her motel room, feeling a sense of panic rising within her. Seeing where she was, she closed her eyes and attempted to slow down her breathing.

It was just a dream.

A bad dream. The usual, 'just keeping ahead of your pursuer' type of nightmare that always gave her a scare.

She hadn't seen his face, just heard his urgent calls for her to stop. But she hadn't and it didn't matter because he wasn't even calling her name, he was calling for someone else…

She frowned slightly as she tried to remember whom but instantly then felt the beginnings of a headache coming on. She groaned then flopped back on the bed and pulled her covers over her head. With a small sigh, she let her dream go and settled down to sleep.

xTheMentalistx

The team worked through the night, taking turns to catch the odd nap on Lisbon's couch and by the early hours of the morning, all the hospitals within the radius had been contacted. Now it became a waiting game, something that Jane had never been very good at.

At the insistence of Van Pelt he finally took a turn at having a nap. He eventually fell asleep and was, what seemed like mere minutes later, awoken by a firm shake to his arm.

"We've got a hit," said Cho, looking down at him grimly. "Woman matching Lisbon's description admitted to Sac County early this morning after being found wandering the streets. They're doing a psych evaluation on her now. Let's go."

Jane immediately got up, blinking rapidly to remove the last vestiges of sleep and followed the agent out. He'd been dreading this moment and now, here it was…he just hoped he didn't fall apart.

xTheMentalistx

Sarah hurriedly finished her breakfast and headed out of the motel. She was having an induction for her new telemarketing job that morning and then she planned to spend the afternoon looking for an apartment.

It was a beautiful day and she wound down the windows of her car as soon as she got in. Feeling nervous at what lay in store, she checked the directions in her welcome letter and left the parking lot, driving towards the other side of town. Turning on her radio, she flicked through a few channels until the smooth strains of a soothing jazz number filled the air. For some reason she felt compelled to listen and soon all her trepidation just seemed to melt away.

Fifteen minutes later, she pulled into the office parking lot and got out. Looking up at the multi-storied building, she smiled.

"Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life," she murmured to herself, and with a little burst of anticipation she entered the building.

xTheMentalistx

"It wasn't her," Cho informed Rigsby over the phone as he and Jane got back in the SUV. "Yeah, I know," he replied to whatever his colleague had said. More silence then, "OK, we'll be back soon. Let me know if you get any other leads." He shut his cell with a snap and turned to look at the man sitting quietly next to him. "You, OK?"

Jane gave a little start as though he'd forgotten Cho was there. "Yes…yes, I'm fine. That was just…"

"Yeah." A moment later Cho started the car and headed back to the CBI. "Rigsby said they had an I.D. for the Jane Doe. Her name was Laura Taylor. Lived in Danville. The local police are informing her family."

Jane nodded absently as he stared out the passenger window and Cho decided to put the radio on to fill the quiet. The news that Red John had been caught and killed was rife on all wavelengths but when they mentioned Lisbon's name, Cho quickly turned it off again. He didn't want to hear it so he was pretty sure that Jane didn't either.

They rode the rest of the way in silence, Jane deep in thought. There had to be something he was missing. 'She's gone', the killer had said. He'd have staked his life on being right about her turning up catatonic but that wasn't proving the case. He should have found her by now if that's what Red John had done to her…so he must have done something else instead. But what? 'She's gone.' Not dead, but gone.

Gone.

They reached the office and Jane spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon lying on his couch, puzzling over the conundrum. The rest of the team chased up the hospitals that hadn't replied until there were none. As the consultant had begun to suspect, not one of them had admitted Lisbon.

He ignored all the speculation from the rest of the team about how their boss was being held against her will as he was certain as ever that that wasn't the case. His non-committal, "Meh," at their suppositions earned him a couple of glares but he remained unmoved. He had his suspicions of 'what' really had happened to her but not the 'why' and until he understood that, he was going to keep his thoughts to himself.

As it happened the consultant didn't have to wait long. A call came in late that afternoon. As soon as he heard the details, all the pieces of the puzzle suddenly fell into place and filled him with a sense of dread.

A girl had been brutally murdered using a knife and a familiar cutting pattern.

And on the wall above her bed was a large, red smiley face, drawn in the victim's own blood.

Jane knew Red John had to have had something else planned. He always had a Plan B. And this one appeared to be reaching from beyond the grave but Jane knew better. With a sudden internal calm, he mentally accepted the challenge.

A new game had begun.

END CHAPTER 4