Hey guys! I promised an update between Christmas and New Year's Eve and I wanted to keep that promise so even though tomorrow is New Year's Eve it's practically still between the two days… so… I hope you will forgive me for the late update. I'm just so freakin' behind with this story and I didn't want to upload until I have at least the next chapter ready, and it's almost ready so I decided I would update. Okay, enough of the stupid rambling, I'm sorry! :)
Anyway, thank you guys for the feedback on last chapter! I'm always thrilled to hear your thoughts, just so you know your reviews are like oxygen for my writing! Love you all! :)
This chapter is a bit longer than usual (Yay for me! :) ) and I really really hope you will like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own The mentalist…

Chapter 7

Lisbon woke to the amazing smell of bacon. She lifted her head to look around in Derek's bedroom, but he was nowhere to be seen. She smiled softly and pulled the dark blue covers around herself as she sat up.

His side of the bed was cold and she was sure she heard low humming coming from the kitchen.

After checking her phone she got out of the bed and on her way to the bathroom she picked her underwear and shirt off the floor.

She quickly brushed her teeth then wandered back into the bedroom only in her shirt and panties. Just as she sat back on the bed Derek appeared in the door with a tray in his hand.

"Good morning!" he said with a bright smile as he approached.

"Morning!" she murmured and caught sight of two steaming mugs of coffee and some delicious looking eggs. She made space for him and Derek sat beside her, kissing her good morning as he put the tray in her lap.

The whole scenario brought a memory to Lisbon's mind. A memory more painful than she had expected it to be.

She woke to an empty bed and her head was dizzy. She reached out for Jane, but he wasn't there and as she peeked out from under her eyelids she saw that the shutters had been closed on the window of her bedroom. She was still so exhausted she couldn't keep her eyes open.
Last night they got home after a case that took all their time for the past week and she barely had time to sleep. She had no clue how she even got home because when they finally closed the case she was walking around the bullpen like a zombie. Jane probably took her home somehow. She didn't want to think about the fact that he might have had to carry her in his arms. Although, it was warming her heart to know that he would do such thing…

She sat up in her bed and rubbed her face with her hands. She felt like she had been awakened from a week long sleep, not knowing what day and what time it was. She silently chuckled to herself as she thought that princesses in fairytales did probably feel like this after waking up from a curse.

She searched for her phone on the nightstand and thanked God when she saw that they didn't have a new case.

Really slowly she got out of bed, but after the warmness of the covers her room felt freezing. She shivered and decided to take the blanket with herself. Wrapping it around her shoulders she stumbled towards the door and a smile escaped her when she got to the kitchen and saw Jane there. He heard her approach and turned to her with a dazzling smile.

Lisbon shuffled to one of the chairs and collapsed on it with a sigh. Jane was immediately at her side with a cup of fresh coffee in his hand. As he set it in front of her he leaned down and pressed his lips to her temple sweetly.

"Good morning beautiful!" he murmured affecionately.

She took a sip of the coffee, the warm liquid caressing her throat, making a comfortable tingle run through her. She leaned into Jane who stood next to her and let her head rest on his stomach.

"Mhhh... I love you so much!" she murmured silently into his shirt without even realising what she had said.

After a second though, it occured to her and her half closed eyes opened in shock. She had never admitted this to him before and judging from the way his stroking hand stopped its motion on her hair, he knew it too.

She carefully pulled away from him and blinked up at his face shyly. She was afraid what he would do next, since neither of them declared their love for each other out loud until then. She feared that she would scare him away, she feared that he woud shut her out.

She didn't regret saying the words, no matter how unexpected they were. They were true and came from her heart.

His face became serious and his blue eyes found hers. For a moment they stared into each other's eyes then without warning Jane leaned down and kissed her. His lips were timid at first but when she slid her fingers into his curls and kissed him back with full force he got gentle and desperate at the same time. His tongue invaded her mouth and tortured her deliciously. A moan escaped her and she felt her heart race.

When Jane finally pulled back he pressed his forehead against hers and breathed a few more light, lingering kisses on her lips.

"I love you too, my dear!" he whispered and Lisbon felt something wet on her cheek. As she opened her eyes she saw a couple of teardrops on his beautiful face but before she could start worrying she saw that he was smiling. His crystal blue eyes were sparkling at her and he cradled her face into his palms tenderly.

"I love you" he repeated and kissed her again.

I love you...

I love you.

I love you.

Those three words were still echoing in her head when she felt Derek's hand on her arm.

"Hey, you all right?" he asked with a concerned face.

"Yeah, sure!" she forced out a smile and reached for one of the mugs. The coffee tasted somewhat bitter and she put it back on the tray.

Thinking about Jane wasn't going to help her. She needed to get over him, and with him always on her mind it wouldn't work.

Lisbon looked at Derek who still had that cute little wrinkle under his eye caused by confusion and she pushed the tray off her lap then turned to him. She circled his neck with her arms and brought him in for a heated kiss that made them both breathless.

"Oh, wow! If this is the price I will make you breakfast every day!" he laughed after she finally pulled away.
Lisbon grinned at him while she run her fingers through his hair and reached for the plate.

"Let's see the breakfast first!" she winked and started eating.

VanPelt stepped out of the building to the little café that was on the roof of the CBI. She looked around and saw her boss at a table, absorbed in the view. The wind played with her brown hair and she sipped a cup of coffee with a peaceful smile.

Grace approached her after buying herself a soda and sat down into the chair across Lisbon.

"Hey Boss, what's up?" she asked and Lisbon turned her eyes to her.

"Just enjoying the panorama..." she shurgged.

"Is everything all right? You know, with you and Jane. And now with Detective Morrison..." VanPelt asked sheepishly, remembering the conversation with the boys the other day.

"Yeah, it's just... He's Jane." Lisbon rolled her eyes and took another sip of her drink.

"I think he's only trying to take care of you!" Grace attempted to protect the consultant. After all she knew how much Jane loved Lisbon. Even if they weren't together anymore.

"Well, I can take care of myself and he should mind his own business." Lisbon said stubbornly and VanPelt smirked when she heard it. It was like a mantra, like a motto for Lisbon, she always said that. But Grace also knew how great it was to have someone look after you.

"And what about Morrison?" she asked, unable to repress her curiosity.

"He's really nice." Lisbon let a small smile spread on her face then noticed her agent's expectant look and sighed. "He's a total gentleman and he's absolutely smart and funny. If only Jane didn't act like a stupid five-year-old I would be so glad, I swear he sometimes drives me crazy with his jealousy. I mean, he thinks I'm his favourite toy or what..." she added, getting a little annoyed at the end.

"Maybe he's still..." Grace started but the ringing of Lisbon's phone interrupted her sentence.

"I'm sorry." Lisbon smiled at her apologetically before answering. "Lisbon!"

She listened for a minute and nodded a few times then muttered a 'thanks Cho' and hung up. "We have to go, they found something!" she told Grace who simply grabbed her mug and followed her back to the bullpen.

"What do we have?" Lisbon asked the small group that gathered in the room when she stormed in.

"We put an APB on the van that left the scene and we got a hit ten minutes ago. Also, Rigsby checked her bank accounts and saw that she was getting weekly money usually from different people.

"I'm telling you she was a prostitute!" Jane called from his seat on VanPelt's desk.

"Great, care to also tell me who killed her?" Lisbon asked sarcastically, still eyeing the murder board with the pictures from the crime scene.

"That, I don't know yet. But are you up for a little vice work, my dear?" Jane questioned and he strolled next to her.

"What? Why would I do that?" she scowled at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"To solve the case of course!" he shrugged with a smirk.

"Jane, we don't know if she was a call girl." she stated causing him to roll his eyes.

"I know you don't believe me, that is what we will try to prove on the streets. That she was..."

"You said call girl, don't they work in some sort of system? They have those agencies, I don't think you will find anyone that knew her on a corner..." Rigsby chimed in.

"Oh believe me Rigsby, they will know about her! She wasn't always a call girl, I suspect she started on the streets as well!" Jane explained as if he was an expert on the subject.

"And why do I need to play a hooker for this?" Lisbon asked raising an eyebrow.

"I don't think they would talk to a cop so easily, not after the girl was killed." he pointed out. "So, now would anybody be so nice and run down to Vice to borrow a dress for Agent Lisbon?" he looked around and a young officer signaled that she will go and get an outfit. "Terrific! Thank you!" he exclaimed then turned on his heels and started towards the kitchen.

Lisbon glanced around and saw everybody staring at her.

"Go back to work!" she said and with a deep sigh she hurried after Jane.

She caught up with him in the kitchen as he was opening cabinets, searching keenly for something.

"Don't think you can get off the hook so easily!" she snapped at him huffily. He turned to her with a bright grin, holding a pack of green tea in his hand. "Wipe that smile off your face! Why do I have to do this stuff? Why can't someone else do it?" she demanded with her hands on her hips.

"Who else? Cho? Rigsby? Me?" he joked but her icy glare made him take a step back. "Okay, you have to do it because I have other plans for VanPelt." He said and walked towards her. "Besides…" he reached her and lowered his head to murmur in her ear. "..I want to see you in a dress!"

Then without any further words he left her standing alone, completely shocked in the doorway.

Lisbon gaped at the empty room, rooted to the spot, still fuming over the fact that she had to play a prostitute just because Jane made some story up. She was about to go after him and tell him that there is no way she would stand out on s street to prove his idiot theory when the officer from earlier stepped into the kitchen and with a polite smile handed her a folded black dress.

Lisbon unfolded it and when she saw the length and the style of the dress she forgot her anger about Jane's plan for a moment and her heart stopped in horror.

"JANE!"

"Come on Lisbon! I bet it's not that bad, just let me in…" Jane tried to reason with her from the other side of her office door. Somehow he managed to convince her not to kill him right away when she saw the dress, and even got her to try it on. But now as Lisbon was standing in front of the small mirror they got her from the ladies' room she just wanted to disappear.

"No, Jane! I'm not wearing this thing!" she shook her head, and moved to take it off. Jane could say what he wanted but she wasn't going to stand on the street in this gear.

"At least let me see it!" he pleaded with her and panic rose in her. No, he couldn't come in because if he did he would try to convince her that it wasn't so bad. And Lisbon knew that Jane would find a way to convince her.

"No!" she protested, but it was too late. He had already opened the door and slipped inside so that nobody else could get a glimpse at her. "Jane, I told you to stay outside!" she growled at him angrily, spinning on her heel to face him.

"Wow, you would make a pretty attractive hooker, my dear!" he observed her and Lisbon did everything she could not to flush under his intense gaze.

"Jane! That's not helping at all!" she pursed her lips in a pout and crossed her arms protectively over her chest.

"Look, you have to have an outfit like this if you want to fit into the group!" he said with a shrug and she chuckled.

"Jane, I don't want to fit into the group… it was your stupid idea in the first place!" she stated.

"Please Lisbon! Just trust me with this! You need proof and you are going to get it! And I have a guess this little trip will be helpful in more ways…" Jane said sincerely, searching her eyes. Lisbon made the mistake of looking into his blue orbs and she was lost.
His eyes always did it. They made her lose all her resistance.

"Fine." she rolled her eyes.

That evening Lisbon sat in next to Jane in his Citroën, her stomach twisting and turning, the tissue in her jacket pocket ruined because of her nervous fidgeting. Jane stopped the car a few corners from their destination and she had to walk from there. He wished her good luck with a cheeky grin and she wanted to slap him.

Lisbon got out of the car and almost lost her balance in the stilettos she was wearing. She tried to tug the edge of her dress down as she threw her jacket back on the seat. Then shutting the car door she took a huge calming breath and turned towards the street that led her to Sacramento's most depraved quarter. The red light streets. The illegal bars with poker games and women of all kinds. Vicious dealers and band violence everywhere.

Not an unknown part of the city for cops. Still Lisbon would have liked to skip a visit dressed as a prostitute. Although, she had a gun and Jane promised her he would be at her side in a minute if there was any complication she didn't feel comfortable walking on the street at this time of night, at this part of the city.

Jane insisted that she couldn't have any back up because that would be suspicious which made Cho quite unnerved but Lisbon didn't really mind that the guys weren't there to see her like that.

Strangers stared at her, women with pitying expressions and men with unhidden interest and lust on their faces as she passed by. She held her head high and ignored all the looks, trying to act like a real hooker.

"Hey darling!" a man yelled after her from the door of a club but she didn't stop. She had her eyes on the part of the street a few blocks away where a couple of women were already parading in shiny, tiny, skinny skirts and dresses like the pavement was a catwalk.

Lisbon regarded them, watched how they swayed their hips and threw their hair everywhere. How they flirted with every man who walked by, touching and kissing and giggling. Suddenly she felt like throwing up, she couldn't do this! She wasn't a prostitute. How will she be able to let any man touch her like that without punching them in the face. Or kicking in the groin.

Her eyes found a young, blond girl who was caressing a man's shoulder with her index finger while his hand was under her skirt... Oh, God she definitely won't let anyone here touch her like that!

She slowed down in her tracks when one of the women on the other side of the street noticed her. Their eyes met and Lisbon noticed the hostile look the woman gave her.

She kept on walking confidently, feeling other eyes on herself as well. She was new here and they all knew it. She had to make them believe her unless she wouldn't get anything out of them.

She clutched her purse in her hand and crossed the street with the most high-minded face she could muster up. She strolled along the street, watching every one of the women there from the corner of her eye, making sure that they saw her sizing them up. Then she stopped at the curb and flicked a strand of hair behind her shoulder, mimicking their earlier movements.

A car flew by, honking loudly and she had to stop herself from jumping. She turned her back on the prostitutes and scanned the street.

A minute later she felt the eyes of a brunette on herself. She decided it was time to make the first step so she looked at her and let a tiny smile escape her lips. It wasn't so hard since the brunette seemed quite nice. The woman stepped next to Lisbon and regarded the bars on the other side of the street.

"You're new here..." her silent murmur sounded.

"Yeah, usually I work in clubs." she shrugged and spotted Jane's car parked a couple of blocks down the road. "I'm Cassandra!" she said instantly, turning away from the street.

"I'm Vicky!" the brunette smiled and when a car passed them she posed invitingly. Lisbon tried to do it after her and she put her hands on her hips.

"And why aren't you with the others?" Lisbon asked, nodding towards the women.

"I can't stand Betty!" Vicky shook her head, gazing at the young blonde that Lisbon noticed before. They were all over each other now. "Especially now since Ruby died..." Vicky muttered under her breath but Lisbon heard it.

"Who's Ruby?" She tried to hide her excitement, but her voice hitched as she asked.

"Oh you haven't heard? She was one of us, found yesterday on the riverside..." Vicky said and Lisbon felt her blood race. Jane was right, the victim was a prostitute.

"And why did..." she started her question but the noise coming from the entrance of a club nearby cut her off. They both looked there and saw a bunch of drunk men exit the place, yelling and singing and laughing loudly.

They saw the women and started towards them with amused shouts.

"Look guys, god gave us another little surprise!" one of them exclaimed then all of them broke into laughter.

"Hmm hey honey!" the leading man reached one of the hookers and hugged her by the waist. The woman leaned into him easily, opening her mouth, waiting for his kiss.

Lisbon shuddered in disgust and didn't even notice the man approaching her until he had his hand on her hip. Or more correctly on her ass.

"Hello there!" the man murmured into her face, his breath smelling like alcohol.

"Hi" she forced out through gritted teeth. She tried to lean as far away from him as possible but he pulled her back with a hand on her back.

"Where are you going sweetheart? I think we should play a little..." he laughed and Lisbon held her breath so that she didn't have to smell the alcohol.

"Let me go..." she growled, so quietly that only he could hear it.

"Why would I? I want you, and I'll have you, you freakin' bitch!" he told her and fear tightened Lisbon's chest.

"Take your hand off of me!" she ordered with as much confidence as she could.

His hand pressed at her back and suddenly she was even closer to him than before. She used her hands to push him away but he was stronger than she imagined. Much stronger than her.

"You don't want me? What kind of a stupid hooker are you?" he asked her angrily and he bowed his head to hers. "Well you will let me have you anyway..." he murmured lustfully and his eyes traveled to her mouth. He licked his lips and as he moved towards her she closed her eyes and prepared for the worse.

His lips attacked hers violently. It was almost painful and Lisbon fought with him but he had a firm grip on her. She had no choice. Her head was dizzy and she was sure she would either throw up any minute or faint. Maybe both...

His aggressive tongue invaded her mouth and his hands started towards the edge of her short dress when she heard a distant yelling through the horrible haze in her mind.

"Hey!"

And this was it! What do you think? I hope you liked it and I'd absolutely love to hear what you think about it, so please please write me a few words! Your reviews make my days brighter! :)
Thank you for reading and reviewing!
I'd like to wish everyone a Happy and Fortunate New Year and I hope all your wishes will come true! :)
I can't really promise anything about next chapter, only that I will try to update soon! :)
Until then, xxx