A/N: Hello all! I am horribly sorry for the long wait, and for such a shamefully short chapter. Alas, I do have an excuse. A dear friend of mine passed away, he was a heroine addict who'd just gotten out of rehab. Not kidding, and well, it was all too hard for him I suppose. :( Anyways, onto happier subjects... I promise I'll try to keep better on track with this story. It was just hard, and because of that I will admit that this chapter will probably seem flat compared to the others.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist of course, only the mistakes here in this rant.

Anywho...

As she turned away from Patrick Jane, a sense of guilt filled her gut. However, Teresa Lisbon had a mission and Walter Mashburn was a valued asset.

"Hi, Teresa! I'm glad to hear from you, I'm due to return home in a few days to a week, and I've been thinking of you quite a bit as of late."Walter rambled cheerily. She smirked, remembering how happy he always seemed to be. She quickly adjusted the grip on her cell while plucking up courage to do what she had to.

"Yeah, I-um, well I want to ask you something, Walter. A favor actually, a personal one." Teresa stumbled over her words slightly. "It's very serious and I really have no one else to turn to at the moment." Yes, she was laying the flattery on thick, but Mashburn was a multi-millionaire and stroking the man's ego was beneficial to her cause.

"What's the matter? Are you in trouble? I'll do whatever I can, which just happens to be a lot for the most part. Wow, that sounded snooty…you know what I mean though, right?" His statement made Teresa smile.

"Yeah, Walter I do. My favor is a big one though, I won't lie. I need you to help me make some…friends. I have a very special, very secret, very illegal, investigation going on and I have a feeling that when the results come out, I'm going to need a very cushiony bed of higher-ups in the world, to fall back on." She grimaced, "I hate to be so blunt and, well, demanding. However, I don't want to be misleading or sugar-coat anything." She waited with baited breath for the man to answer.

"That's not too demanding at all, Teresa! Why, it's not hard either, though I am severely curious now as to what you could possibly be investigating. I'll simply have to throw a special party when I get back home from Europe! I mean I was going to anyway to say hello, so this will be icing on the cake! And it means I'll get to see you!" Walter sounded almost relieved, which seemed highly amusing to Lisbon.

"Thank you so much, I—"

"But, don't think you can get away without payment now. You have to agree to go on a few dates with me, Teresa. Some real dates." Walter interrupted. Teresa gulped. Damn.

"Oh, yeah, of course. Okay, no problem." She replied nervously.

"Good. I'll give you a call when I'm back in town, but I got to go now, I have a dinner to attend. Good night, Teresa." Mashburn ended jovially.

Xxx

Agent Lisbon still had a mild case of shock as she strolled back into the dining area, and returned to Jane. As she sat back down to finish, she met Jane's eyes. There was barely concealed curiosity, disbelief and something else less identifiable in his expression. Teresa tried to not fall victim to his prying thoughts, but fidgeting fingers and lip-biting could only last so long. She sighed.

"Go ahead, Jane. Ask away. I know you will anyway."

"Well, how's Mashburn doing in Europe?" Jane asked, "You seemed awfully excited to hear from him…" He continued huskily. Lisbon still didn't know how she felt about having to date Walter as payment yet, and the last thing she wanted was for Jane to see her uncertainty about the millionaire. So dodging any eye contact, she began.

"Oh, he's okay. You know business as usual…"She paused, "He's coming back soon and wanted to just catch up." Teresa shrugged, stabbing an enchilada with more vigor than was purely necessary. Jane of course noticed.

"My dear, for one thing you contacted him before he contacted you, I believe. And if you aren't sure about seeing the man, don't. I mean just because you were friendly last time you saw each other, doesn't mean that you're obliged to see one another again." Jane commented gently. She dared to meet his eyes now, the look in his baby-blues striking her. She frowned.

"It's not that I don't want to see him, it's just that it's been a year, and I'm nervous. Besides, I am not sure if I want anything other than a platonic relationship with him, now." Teresa shook her head, "Can we please not talk about this, Jane? I'm getting a head ache. We were having such a nice night…" She drifted off. Jane smiled, a small smile that was perhaps a bit sad too.

"So, I was thinking that after dinner we could check out this new shop down at the…"

Xxx

Teresa Lisbon was exhausted. Jane had her running all over the place after dinner; tea, books, ice cream, etc. Now, she had finally gotten back home and had successfully shoed the man out the door after only 2 more tea's via her cupboards. The woman snuck a look over at her counter; Jane had been staring blatantly at the manila folder atop it. She was still surprised that he hadn't just opened it himself, but somehow he kept his nose out of it and was also tactful enough to not ask about it. Which reminded her; she should figure out what the damn thing had in it, and who it was from.

Slowly she opened the folder's lip, making sure to use all the precautionary techniques taught to her by law enforcement. In case of sabotage or whatnot, and as soon as she ruled it out to not be harmful, she spilled its contents on her kitchen table. The first image that was recognized in her mind was the letter on top, signed with a blood-red smiley. Red John for sure, she had no doubt. Hands shaking, she picked up the paper and read.

Dearest Teresa,

It seems that we are delightfully on the same team for once. I can't tell you how much that pleases me, truly. You see, I am also not very fond of our lady Darcy. Especially now that she is fooling with our boy Patrick, that just isn't acceptable. I know you agree and I know too, that you are having a problem nailing the bitch for something. So, I'll provide help. You see between you and I; I've been planting evidence on her since she got my case, she'll just never fit the role right. Not like you, dear. I was going to expose her as a "disciple" of myself, Red John, after I killed her. However, it seems much more fun for you to do it now, and then maybe I'll just kill her later. In case you chicken out, I'll say this: If you don't rid our man of this huntress, I will kill her, but that won't save our dear Patrick from being further investigated. Even I can't kill every Fed that gets the case, Teresa. Make your choice wisely. I've enclosed another fake letter from myself inside, to make your job easier. Simply give the police this envelope, sans this personal note to yourself, and we'll be set. Have sweet dreams, Agent.

Lisbon stood rooted to her spot. What should she do?

A/N: I know. Damn me, for my cliffie. Please, review, burn, encourage, whatever you'd like! :/