Title:Another world
Author:Little_firestar84
Rating: T (to be on the safe side)
Characters: Patrick Jane, Teresa Lisbon
Summary: They call it the butterfly effect. Just one small, random adjustment, and all changes. And here there is, another world. A world where his daughter has never been, his late wife is an ex and he is still a psych. And yet, few things just can't change. Some things are written in the stars, just like love at first sight.
Disclaimer: Uhm. well, my father is called Bruno, but since it's Negro and not Heller, I'd say tha t I don't own the rights to the Mentalist.
Notes: Extented version of "In this life", published around mid-September.

AND: either you give me as many reviews as with last chapter (at least) or I'll be a very bad girl and I'll not update... and you want to know how it will end, right?

2/8

He just couldn't stop thinking about her.

He didn't know what it was, that woman had definitely not been the first one he had seen, nor the first one who had rejected him. Yet, he couldn't get her out his head like he was some teenager with a crush for his teacher. Maybe it was because he had never refused a good challenge, or maybe...

Well, there was a reason, a thought knocking to the back of his mind with insistence. But he didn't feel like letting it in. He just couldn't acknowledge such a thing. It was, maybe not too much, but it just wasn't whom he had been raised to be. Patrick Jane was a pratical man, and with that, he ment he was a master liar and manipulator. From a tender age, he had always taken, and he didn't feel like changing any time soon. Angela, his first wife, had tried to talk him out of that life, but she had soon given up: she had soon gotten bored of arguing with him, and it hadn't taken him that long to explain her how different their lives could be, hadn't he been a "psych".

(Besides, after a taste of real life shortly after they escaped, she had soon realized that she prefered glamour and money to good faith and truth)

Still, he needed to see her again. He needed to have her, no matter what, one way or another. Because... Because... Because...

She was different. He could already see that she was the kind of person who didn't take any crap from people (men) like him. She wanted the real deal, and he knew she was one of the few that could handle a man like him. She hadn't fallen for him, wasn't head over heels in love with him - she had just been there because the redhead had tricked her into accepting, after all - and that was why he knew she was what (and who) he needed the most. She was real, wasn't after his name, his fame or his money.

But that fire in her eyes... that was what he was really after. Even from afar, he had seen it, had seen what a warrior she was. She was... majestic, inside out. He had even wondered if he couldn't ask her to join him on the stage for a cold-reading (not that he was going to admit that it was just that, and not a conversation with some late, long lost ancestor of hers), but had decided against it. He could see that she would have killed him with her tongue, showed the world who Patrick Jane truly was. She had challanged his authority, his persona, everything he... well, maybe not what he stood for, but at least, what he pretended to be, to stand for.

She wasn't even his type, both mentally and physically. He was used to go after bimbos, fake blondes with fake breasts, retarded (as in silly gooses) in the best case, dumb idiots in the other. And they were good for him. They could be good, until a certain point. Past their usual one night stand, there wasn't so much more they could do for him.

And, God (or whatever. He wasn't exactly religious) he wanted more, despite a failed marriage, despite the terrible (just a couple, short-lived) relationships he had been into after that messy divorce of his, he wanted - and needed - more.

And she was the chosen one.

Just his luck his soon to be second wife was as sexy as hell too. A natural hotness, increased by that fire he kept seeing in her eyes, such a passion... it was like with flames. You know you aren't supposed to try to touch them, and yet you try anyway. It was the same with her. He wanted for that fire to burn him down, engulf him completely until nothing was left of his old him, and he was reborn anew like a phoenix from its ashes. That woman, whoever she was, could be his damnation or a fresh start. He needed to find her, at any cost.

"Listen, Lars, my man, say..." he walked (strolled) towards his agent, busy checking schedules and private sessions for the next few days. Lars was probably one of the best things that had happened to Jane in his life, and he would have made a perfect wife, had he been a woman. He was... well, he was exactly like his mistery woman (only, he was man). Bad-ass, straight as a nail, fueled. And realistic: Jane knew he tended to be a bit over the top at times, he forgot how a person was supposed to live in the world, and Lars was exctly what he needed when he needed a dose of reality.

(Just like when he tended to forget that just because he had a Ferrari, he didn't have to drive it maximum speed on every single road of California).

Mercifully, he was also immune to his charm, unlike other etherosexual males out there, so he knew when to say no and how to say it (often, he didn't even had to, all they needed was a look, that was how good they knew each other).

"Whatever it is, forget it, Rick." he smiled, almost chuckling. Straight as an arrow Lars always knew when Patrick Jane was walking through a dangerous territory. "I stopped getting into troubles because of you when I was 13. So, Thanks but no thanks."

"Lars, Lars, Lars, you don't even know what I was going to ask you..."

"Rick, Rick, Rick, I saw that look, I heard that tone, and I already knew you were up to something. Sorry pal, been there, done that, got too many t-shirts. And I'm done getting them because of you."

"I just need to know who was sitting at 4C yesterday evening, that's all. It's no big deal, really."

"Are you planning a con? Because if yu are planning a con I don't want to know anything, ok? Deniability, we talked about it, the less I know, the better it is. Repeat after me: I shall grant Lars deniability. Let's pretend this is your mantra."

"No, no, it's not about the money. Nope, there was this woman last night. I tried to talk her into having dinner with me, but she just went away, and I didn't even asked for her name." He prefered to avoid telling him that she had actually refused the invitation, calling him a pretender, a liar, a criminal and a con-artist.

"If you think I'm going to save your ass from the next poor husband whose wife cheated on him with you, you are delusional, ok? I still have the scars from the last time!"

"First, no ring, I checked. Second, if there is something you know I believe in, it's the sanctity of marriage. I've never slept with a woman I knew being married, I don't break apart families. Third, it's not about just sex. She... intrigues me."

He smirked. Yes, Lars wasn't susceptible to his charm, but when driven to exasperation... and he knew when Patrick Jane was about to drive him into exasperation.

"Ok, ok, let me see. I think I memorized the map somewhere on my Blackberry, since you hate tecnology. If she pre-ordered the ticket we should know who she is... uhm... nope, no name. It hadn't been reserved. Sorry man, your quest for rightful love seems to be already over!" Lars turned off the mobile and put it back into his pocket, smirking a bit too satisfied. Jane could understand it, really, after all, they had passed too many troubles because of Jane himself, but it didn't mean that his agent had to be happy because his long time best friend couldn't find true love.

"Ok, then try 4C, the sit next to hers. There was a redhead, they were together or they knew each other, and from her eagerness to see me, I think she is the kind of girl that makes reservations six months prior when she knows that she is going to see a certain show." This time, he was the one smirking satisfied. Vanity wasn't a good thing (and the brunette probably hated him for that reason too), but it wasnt like he didn't have any reason to be actually full of himself. He was good at what he did, always had been, he had the look and the charm, and people loved him for that.

"4C, OK... yep, there is a name and even after all those years I still hate when you are right. Name's Grace Van Pelt. She bought two tickets as we opened sellings, and left two names. Hers, and Wayne Rigsby." He grinned again, but this time evilly, and kind of malicious.

"No" Jane simply replied, extremely annoyed. He almost (but just almost) crossed his arms.

"What?" He could see that Lars was playing the innnocent, the "I don't know what you are talking about" card, but he could see his friend was lying from miles. After all, they knew each other better than they knew themselves. And then, Jane was still the Mighty Jane, after all.

"You were going to ask me if I thought she was a drag queen, a transgender or what else, but trust me, she isn't. No, I think Grace dear broke up with Wayne, maybe even because of the brunette. She had always been a bit unsure of this relationship, this is why she didn't take a ticket on his name only. She knew that he would have felt compelled to go anyway, but things would have been awkward, would they have called things off, like it happened. " he paused, reflecting. "I think that they may be working together."

"Grace and Wayne?" another stern look from Jane made Lars shiver, and he got that it was no time to kid. "I hate it when you go all Sherlock Holmes on me."

"Yes, I know, now, would you like to search her name in the internet for me? Maybe there's a picture of her friend too. I'd do it mysef, but I should read internet for dummies first, and it's not my thing. We both know that I have an image to protect, right?"

"I so feel like a slave you know? And I don't even do everything you ask me to do!"

"Yes, yes, very interesting, and I'm so sorry, but would you like to drop it and search for this Van Pelt Girl? Thanks. And don't bother telling me that one of these days you'll call our partnership off, because we both know that there is a reason we've been friends for the last 30 years."

"First, I'll say it again, I hate you. Second, don't give me any of your "we complete eact other crap", third, there is actually a Grace Van Pelt living in Sacramento, with red hair. And... she is a cop. There are so many articles about her in the last few weeks alone! Apparently, she was part of the unit that closed some big case... let me see this link... wow. She apprended one of Red John's minions, her ex, and her boss almost lost her life to stop the serial killler himself."

"Red John? Didn't we offer my help to catch him few years ago? I think I may have told you what you were supposed to say to the CBI director to get me on the investigation. Which, in case you had forgotten, it didn't happen."

"Yes, I know, it was after the divorce, when you were in dire need of good pubblicity because Angela told everyone you were sleeping around and had broken her poor little heart, and yes, you told me the exact words I was supposed to say on your behalf. Now that I think about it, there was that woman, a brunette, she told me something about not wanting a fake pysch and a con artist messing with her investigation..."

"Feisty brunette with huge green eyes like emeralds? Legs to die for?"

"I don't know. To be honest, I was too occupied with wetting my pants to see her eyes or her legs. She was kind of scary."

"Scary and passionate, yes, that's her, my girl." He grinned, satisfied, like a kid on Christmas morning. "What's her name? Where can I find her? Quick! C'mon, It's about the rest of my life we are talking about here! She may be my soul-mate, my second wife, the mother of my children!"

Drama queen Lars thought lifting his eyebrows, but he knew better than saying it at loud. When Rick was in drama mode, it was better to keep it quiet, if you didn't want for things to get worse. The man could get really, really annoying when he wanted. And besides, there was an old saying that Jane was a master at putting in pratice: ten words could destroy a person.

"Name's Teresa Lisbon, senior agent in charge at the SCU of the CBI, 31 years old. Youngest agent to have that position. She is kind of a superstar, a kid prodigy, or whatever they call kids like her."

"I knew it! Our children will be beautiful and super genius! Ah! And you mock me because of Holmes!

Lars lifted yet again an eyebrow. He really felt like mocking Rick once again, but this time because he was running a little too fast for comfort. He just knew her name, she had turned him down, and he was already picturing them in a nursery?

Either he had it bad, or he had gotten crazy.

"You know what? Call all my clients, and tell them I'll not be available for few days. I think I'm going to meet my soon to be wife and woo her untill she'll not declare everlasting love to me!"

Without saying another word, nor saying goodbye to his friend, he strolled away, a bit like Chaplin in some old mute, black and white movie.

He definitely was crazy, if he prefered a woman who didn't want to have anything to have with him, over a lot of money. Definitely crazy. Crazily, stupidly, in love. And... well, crazy Rick wasn't good for the business. Not at all.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, why don't you think it over, Rick?" Jane stopped dead, and, slightly amused by the note of rising panic and sheer fear in his old friend's voice- if there was someone who loved his money it was dear old Lars, maybe even more than the fake psych himself, even if Lars was more about putting aside and invest instead of buying.

Jane waited for Lars to catch up with him, doing what he was best at, pretending to be all innocent and oblivious to his own shemes. But making fun of his friend was just, well, too funny, so he smiled of that cat got the canary look, and he knew his friend knew he was well aware of what he was doing. And maybe, just maybe, of the damn consequences too.

His grin also suggested he just didn't give a damn about them too.

"Rick, please, you just can't stop living your life - and do as your clients pay you for doing- because you've suddenly decided you just need to have that shiny new toy you've been told you'll never, ever have!"

"Really Lars, I'm wounded that you are making this all about me and my broken pride" he paused, faking and failing at pretending to be all innocent, as Lars' look suggested all too well. "Ok, it's true, it's a tiny bit about my broken pride. BUT it's mostly about her. That woman, Teresa, she is something. I think she could be the one to force me to change. I mean, I ended up doing for a living the very thing I swore I would have never done. And why? Because I needed to support a needy family. But I know that... God Lars, she is so fiery and feisty, I think I could get lost in those green eyes of hers. I think I could try to be a better man for a woman like her."

Lars grunted, not sure if he was supposed to be disgusted or scared or just plain surprised. That wasn't how Rick usually behaved. Rick could be a charming prince or a perverted pig when it was about women, but never a dreamy teeanger at his first love.

And besides, Rick had never believed in love at first sight. He always had to think things through. There was just no bloody way he had fallen in love with that lady cop in few minutes' times. Nope, not at all. It didn't matter that in that picture at an event she was just the most charming, tempting, captivating, hot creature he had ever seen wearing a little black dress.

"You weren't joking. You really want me to postpone your appointments." Yes, that was scary. Because as much as Rick hated his job, well, he loved the money more. Even if the agent supposed it was more about hating the lack of it ( a sad memory from their shared childhood), than having trains and trains of dollars everywhere in the world.

Jane just noddd, and with a satisfied grin, he left the building, directed to his blue robin eggshell car, a vintage Citroen DS, one of the few things Angela left him after the divorce.

He just hoped that, wherever it was, the CBI building was well indicated, because he really didn't have any idea about how to make a navi system work, and he really needed to get there. As fast as possible.

His future was waiting for him.