Title: Red Window

Author: Shannon – shannyfish

Disclaimer: I do not own "The Mentalist" or its characters, Warner Brothers and Bruno Heller do. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.

Rating: R (to be safe)

Summary: Sequel to "Suffering is the Best Punishment". With Lisbon gone, Jane leaves CBI to set out to find her and to kill Red John. He won't let Red John kill his family again.

Warning: adult themes

Chapter 4 – "This isn't Normal"

Author's Note: Trailer for "Suffering is the Best Punishment"…not sure how I'd make one for this one, but I shall think on it!

http: / www. mega video. com/ ?v = Q581AW2H

(take out the spaces for )

...

"Normal is not something to aspire to, it's something to get away from." – Jodie Foster

California/Nevada Border

When the sign 'Welcome to Nevada' came into view, Lisbon sat straight up in her seat. She'd been slouching and trying to be as comfortable as possible on their long drive. "Where-where are we going?" she asked suddenly worrying. She hadn't expected to leave California. The CBI would be looking for her in California, Lisbon wasn't sure if her picture has been distributed to neighboring states at the very least or not. But then she didn't know their final destination.

"We're going home," Simon responded evenly as he continued to watch the road.

"Where is home?" Lisbon asked.

"The house with the red windows," he told her.

Lisbon frowned. That really wasn't helpful, but she wasn't going to argue. She thought that maybe if she got Simon alone, he may tell her where they were going…at least the state, but she doubted that Ed or Carl would allow that.

"We're going to want to stop soon," Carl spoke up.

Lisbon wasn't sure if this meant that their trip was going to take several days or if they'd be there the next day. Though, she didn't like the idea of being so far away from the people who were looking for her. She was sure that Red John didn't mind though. They would find her, though, she'd just have to leave some more clues to help them…and hope that Carl and Ed would just leave so she could make a break for it.

…

Ketchum, Idaho

The house with the red windows was located off of State Highway 75 with a road and a bridge that led into the 3.4 acres lot to the house. It was built like a log cabin with a green metal roof. Beside the house was a two car garage and there were pine trees that shot up in a few places around the house. Simon had told her that there was a barn also on the premises, but Lisbon hadn't been about to see it yet.

They'd been there for nearly a week and Lisbon had mainly stayed in her room except when it came to meals. Simon had told her that he valued her coping with the new 'situation,' but insisted that she eat with everyone else. The closet in her room was filled with an array of shoe wear at the bottom ranging from flip flops to snow boots, khaki pants, a variety of button up blouses, different color v-neck sweaters, a few hooded sweatshirts, a peacoat, and a snow jacket. The dresser contained essential undergarments, socks of all kinds, some t-shirts, and jeans.

Lisbon had to admit that having someone go out and buy her a wardrobe was really odd. Maybe it was because everything fit. It was a prison without looking like one. None of the windows opened, Lisbon supposed that it must not get too hot there during summer, either that or people just liked to suffer. She wanted to leave so badly, but there was no way for her to leave with Ed and Carl still there.

A knock came at the door. Lisbon turned her head towards it; she was dressed in jeans and a green t-shirt. She'd refused to wear anything in the closet. She just wanted to leave. She just wanted Ed and Carl to leave. That was all. "Come in," she said as she stared out her bedroom window. She was sitting on the edge of the bed with her back to the door. She really didn't care who it was. It wasn't time for dinner yet, so Lisbon could only assume that Simon had come to coax her out of the bedroom. She heard the door open and then close and she just sat there.

"Teresa…don't you think you've been in here in isolation for long enough?" Simon asked.

"Ed and Carl don't like me," she said quietly. "They make me uncomfortable…" She didn't look at him and instead stared out the window. She had to admit that it was sort of nice there…with the pine trees. There was a kind of solitude there.

Simon sat down next to her. "They're leaving tomorrow," Simon said quietly. "Come out…just sit and watch TV… Or..help me plan Thanksgiving dinner. You can tell me what you like to have… I want to make sure that you enjoy it too."

Lisbon had forgotten that Thanksgiving was coming up. She tried to think hard to figure out the current date. Thanksgiving had to be coming up pretty soon then. "I normally spend Thanksgiving alone…"

Simon took her hand and patted it. "Teresa, I know that this is a hard transition for you, but it just takes some time." He placed a thin square box in her hand. "This is for you."

"What?" she said in confusion as she moved her gaze from the window to the box in her hand. It was a red box with a white ribbon around it that was tied into a bow. "What is it?"

"It's a present for you…from Red John."

"I don't want it," she said and handed it back to Simon. She didn't want anything from Red John.

"Please," Simon insisted, pushing it back into her hand.

She sighed and pulled the ribbon to release the bow and let the ribbon fall. She removed the top of the box and stared down at the gift inside. It was a silver bangle that was elegantly engraved. "It's…nice…"

"It'll mean a lot if you wear it… It'll ease Ed and Carl… They'll feel much better about leaving tomorrow," he said.

"Fine," she said and picked it up to decide of how to put it on. She tried to slip it onto her wrist, but Simon took it from her. He pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked the circlet. He moved from the bed and then crouched down in front of her.

"It's an anklet," Simon explained as he placed it around her ankle.

"And it has a key?" she asked.

Simon shrugged. "I thought it was a thoughtful gift."

Lisbon shook her ankle a bit and stared down at it. "It's just…not my style."

Simon stared at her for a moment. "Come out and help me figure out Thanksgiving dinner?"

She didn't want to. She wanted to remain locked away in her room until her team found her. She'd sent out another postcard…in Reno, but she hadn't been able to mail anything from Idaho. She doubted that the team would find her there without clues. Lisbon just nodded and then got to her feet. She was barefoot and figured that not putting on shoes would show off her new gift.

"Is it just going to be us for Thanksgiving?" she asked quietly as she followed him towards her door.

He nodded. "As far as I know, but you never know… Red John could stop by."

Lisbon paused for a moment, but then quickly continued on. To have Thanksgiving with Red John… The only thing that she'd be thankful for in that instance is if she either got to kill the bastard herself or if that's when the cavalry decided to arrive. She was pretty sure that if either of those things happened then she'd be pretty well set for the rest of the year.

"Look who's decided to emerge from her cave," Carl commented.

She just ignored him and followed Simon towards the kitchen. The house wasn't huge, but it was a good size. It had three bedrooms and one bathroom. Currently she was occupying one, Simon was occupying a second, and Ed and Carl shared the third. Simon told her that he wanted to turn it into a library after they left. The kitchen wasn't updated, but it wasn't shabby. There was a breakfast bar area, which is where she and Simon sat as he pulled out a notepad and a pen.

"I don't even know if you like to cook," Simon said quietly.

"I can boil water," Lisbon told him.

He smiled at her. "Well, then it's good that I know how to cook. So…if you were having Thanksgiving, what would you want?"

"Normally people have turkey-"

"I want to know what you want, Teresa… It's going to be our first holiday together," he said softly and reached out and touched her hand.

She resisted the urge to pull away and instead forced a smile forward. She glanced down at the wooden bar her hand was resting on for a moment before looking up at Simon. "Really… I'm not picky. I'll be happy with anything."

"No food allergies?"

She shook her head in response.

"Okay," Simon said and started to list out some items. "What about dessert? I was thinking a pumpkin cheesecake…"

"Sounds good," she said with a nod.

He smiled at her. "How would you like to go shopping with me tomorrow? We'll go into town and do the Thanksgiving shopping… That way you can pick up any shampoo or anything that you'd rather have than what's in the bathroom."

"That would be really nice actually," she said. Lisbon knew that this might be her only opportunity to get another postcard out…or anything out about her location. It was also somewhere in which she could get easily lost and escape if possible. She just hoped that Carl and Ed left first thing in the morning. She really didn't want to have to deal with them watching her every move. Plus, with their watchful eyes, she'd never be able to get word out in any form. She'd be lucky if they allowed her to talk in public.

The only hitch in her plan was that she didn't know her exact location. She knew what highway the house was off of, but the house didn't have numbers on it and she'd noticed that the mailbox at the gate where the entrance was had no numbers on it either. She also only knew that the last city sign she'd seen was for Ketchum. So, she could be in Ketchum or she could be in a surrounding area. For all she knew, the area that the house was located in was unincorporated.

…

The shopping trip had gone exceptionally well. Ed and Carl had left early in the morning, before she'd even gotten up. This had left her in a very good mood and to show Simon that she could be trusted and that maybe she was normalizing to the situation, which she wasn't, she put on the clothes in the closet. She'd dressed in a blouse that was light blue and had pulled on a navy blue sweater with it and had on a pair of khaki pants. It was getting colder, so she grabbed a coat just in case. She didn't know what weather to expect there, just from the looks of what was in her closet that eventually it was cold enough for snow.

At the store, Simon had allowed her to leave his side. He'd actually encouraged her to go off and get anything that she needed. So, she'd found a postcard rack and pulled one off and then had filled out the information on it while walking aisles. She's addressed it as she had before. This time she put 'the house with the red window' as the message. Lisbon hadn't even had the time to sign it. Simon had found her and she'd tucked it in her back pocket before he could see. In that moment, she'd made her excuse to use the restroom. She'd hidden it in the ladies bathroom. Inside of the door was a plastic slot in which they kept detailed records of who cleaned the bathroom and when. It would be changed any day now, so she slid it behind the current paper after writing on the back of the current sheet that she was a CBI agent in need of help and that they needed to mail the postcard as soon as possible. She'd thought about leaving a phone number…but for some reason it seemed like it wouldn't be as reliable. Of course, the phone would have been faster.

During their outing, she'd realized something. The days had gone by faster than she'd realized. There were only two days until Thanksgiving. All hope of her being out of that hellhole before then were crushed when she'd seen the date on the newspaper in the store. She'd thought about running, but she really hadn't decided if Ed and Carl were one hundred percent gone yet. So, she figured that she'd wait a couple of days and see how things went.

…

It was Thanksgiving Day and even though she'd been up for a couple of hours, she'd lie in bed and just stared out her window. It was an odd window; the square and 't' that made up the wooden parts of the window were all a crimson red. It was a bit creepy actually, but she supposed that it gave it character. The house was filling up with holiday smells and it was comforting in its own way.

Lisbon got up and put on one of the outfits from the closet to try to appease Simon. He hadn't seemed mean; he actually seemed oddly kind and gentle hearted. She wasn't sure how he fit into the whole Red John story, but she was careful about when she mentioned Red John. She didn't want him locking her down. He'd already told her that she had full freedom of the grounds and though he wouldn't let her drive, she'd be allowed to go with him.

The day had gone smoothly enough. Dinner had been excellent and Simon had been quite pleased that she'd enjoyed it. He'd cooked a full feast of turkey, stuffing, yams, mashed potatoes, green salad, green beans, cranberry sauce, and of course the pumpkin cheesecake. He'd even brought out a cranberry wine, which he'd insisted that she drink even though she'd told herself she wouldn't. It was much too delicious for a wine, more like cranberry cocktail with a hint of alcohol.

She'd retired to her room around midnight after thanking Simon for the beautiful dinner. Lisbon shut her door and started to change. Normally, she would change into pajamas, but she'd decided that it was time to get out. She wasn't sure how far she'd get. The highway area towards the town was flat and a good distance. So, instead she'd changed into a pair of jeans and long sleeve t-shirt. She'd put a pair of hiking boots under her bed and had left the hoody and peacoat out so that she could get to them easily. She wished that she had more things that she could take. Lisbon had wanted to take a flashlight at the very least. She'd thought about getting a bag, she'd seen a messenger bag in the hallway closet but hadn't risked getting it. She would take food, extra clothes, water, and a flashlight at the very least if she could.

Lisbon lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling for hours. It was three in the morning before she finally started to move. She pulled on the hoody and zipped it up before pulling on the peacoat as well and buttoning it. She was glad that the peacoat was black, it was going to help her blend into the darkness better and that's what she really needed. Picking up the boots, she decided to put them on outside, that way there would be less creaking. Opening her door slowly, she peeked out. Simon wasn't in sight. She closed the door just as carefully and made her way for the front door. It was easy enough to get out; she just unlocked everything and opened the door quietly as well. She closed it the same and then quickly pulled on the boots and tied them tightly.

She knew the way to the highway and she started off towards it in a run. She knew that at that time that Simon should be asleep, but she still worried about him discovering that she'd escaped far too soon. It took her several minutes, but finally the main entrance came into sight. It was a ways off but she could see it and that was what was important.

With the gate only about a minute's walk from her position, Lisbon smiled brightly. Freedom was in sight. Soon enough she'd be somewhere where she could safely make a call to the CBI and her team would be there. She'd see Jane again. Sadness suddenly flooded her as she thought about him; all she wanted at that moment was for him to hold her. It was silly, but she really felt the need for that comforting contact.

Moving forward, she suddenly felt a shock start from one of her ankles and jolt upward. It brought her to her knees and her mind was so confused. Before she could move on her own accord, she was yanked backward. She fell back on her back and the face of an upset Simon came into her view. She was busted.

"What were you thinking?" he screamed at her.

"What the hell just happened?" she screamed back at him.

He turned and walked in a small circle for a moment before turning back. "I told them. I told them all that you wouldn't be any problems and look…you try to leave! Why would you do that?"

"What? Are you kidding?" she asked as she got to her feet.

"Red John…that anklet that he sent. It has a tracking chip and its also wired into a remote and the underground fence around the whole property. It'll shock you if try to leave without me being with you," Simon explained. "I never thought that it would have to be used."

"You do realize that I'm a CBI agent… I don't belong here," she argued with him. How could he honestly expect her to just forget about her life? To live this fairy tale country life that he'd made up for them? What was next? Did he expect her to thank Red John for everything he did? She'd rather die first.

She watched Simon; she was trying to figure out how she could get around this situation. He obviously had something that deactivated the anklet of doom. He held up the remote and pressed the button, she almost immediately felt the pain return. She fell to her knees again; trying to push past the pain but found herself being poked by a needle before she realized what was going on.

Lisbon honestly didn't know how much time had passed by the time she woke up. She was lying on her stomach and the first thing she noticed was that she wasn't in her own room. She was in Simon's room. He had sheets with leaves on them, hers were a pale green. The next thing that she was realized was that she'd been stripped down and was under the covers in Simon's bed in only a bra and panties. It was definitely not a position she had wanted to be in. She started to move to the side in order to roll over and get out of the bed when she felt a hand firmly on her back. A second later she was being poked by a needle again.

"Simon-"

"I didn't want to have to do this, Teresa… I didn't want to use the drugs or to do anything against your will, but you're not giving me a choice. All I wanted was for us to be normal and happy here…"

She felt him put weight on the bed and though she wanted to move, her body felt much too heavy to move. She blinked and tried to keep the tears that threatened to fall back. "Simon, please…" she pleaded. She wouldn't be able to fight him in this state. It didn't matter about the anklet at the moment.

"I'm not a bad person, Teresa… I'm sure that's what you think… That because I know Red John then I must be a bad person…" Simon went on. "Red John and my father were good friends. I was married once…she was killed…it was brutal and the only person who was willing to bring her killer to justice was Red John. I've lived in this place for five years…alone. He wanted to give me back my life…he gave me you and I wanted you to have time to accept this and to eventually want to come to my bed without me dragging you in here, but if you're going to be so stubborn then I'll do things another way."

"Please," she whispered again, this time the tears fell. She felt him wrap her arms around her from behind and the weight of his body against hers. She hadn't expected for Simon to snap like this, but then she had also not expected to get caught…or at least hoped not to. "This isn't normal, Simon," she whispered.

He was silent and unmoving and that scared her. Lisbon felt like screaming, but she knew that that was utterly useless. There was no one around to hear her or to come to her cries. She was on her own and she needed to try to make the best out of the situation for now. "Please," she whispered again. "I promise that I won't try to run away again," she promised.

…

TBC…