Disclaimer - The Mentalist belongs to Bruno Heller and CBS. Not me. Obviously.

A/N- Hello, my faithful readers! Sorry for the slight delay in the posting of this chapter - not only have I been on holiday for the past week, but I'm also currently on the hunt for a job. Anyhoo, hope you enjoy this newest instalment! Let me know what you think!

~ Chapter Eight ~

Call For Help

"Patrick. Patrick, you okay…?"

Jane sat up with a start, his head pounding loudly to the rhythm of his heartbeat. His chest ached painfully in his chest and for some reason his left shoulder felt like it was on fire. He groaned slightly as he tried to pull himself up, but his head swam dangerously at the movement and he quickly stopped. Damn, he must've fallen asleep...

"Liam?" Jane croaked, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the lack of light. Still in the damn storage closet then, Jane realised bitterly.

"Are you okay?" came the worried reply of the little boy. Jane released a breath of relief at hearing the child beside him. At least nothing had happened to the kid whilst he'd been unconscious.

"Sure, I'm fine," Jane replied, lying through his teeth as he tried to supress a grimace of pain. "How about you?"

"You fell asleep," Liam told him, ignoring the question completely.

Damn, Jane cursed silently, he'd probably terrified the boy. Jane didn't even remember falling unconscious. In fact, the last thing he remembered was unveiling the phone he had managed to pick-pocket from the goon after starting a fight with him.

A fight. Oh.

Well, that explained the pain then. Jane shifted slightly as he tried to get more comfortable, but before he could even shuffle an inch, his shoulder screamed loudly in protest and his ribs stung in pain so sharp that it brought tears to his eyes.

Damn, damn, damn…

"Patrick?"

"I'm fine," Jane replied quickly, trying to give Liam a reassuring smile. The boy seemed to relax slightly at the notion, and Jane released a subtle sigh of relief.

"Are you going to call for help now?" Liam asked quietly, hope brimming in his eyes.

"Yep," Jane replied, closing his eyes as he tried to remember Lisbon's number. God, his brain was fuzzy.

The phone must have fallen from his hand when he'd lost consciousness because he found it not to far from his right leg. Fishing it from the floor, Jane turned it on, a relieved sigh leaving his lips when the screen flashed brightly. Thank god…

"Okay," Jane muttered to himself as he prepared to type in the numbers. He stopped though, as a thought hit him, his brain working much more slowing than usual. He turned to the boy. "Liam?"

The boy's face darted up, his attention pulled from the screen of the phone. Jane sucked in a deep breath and willed himself to hold back the pain long enough to do what he needed to do to keep the child safe.

"I need you to be brave again, Liam," Jane began gently, thankful that his voice was strong. "Can you do that?"

Liam frowned at the request, but nodded after only a moment. "Okay, Patrick. What do you want me to do?"

"I need you to keep watch, okay?" Jane replied, nodding towards the bolted door. "Stand over by the door and keep your ears open for any noise. If you hear someone coming, I want you to run over here as fast as you can and pretend to be asleep again. Okay, Liam?"

"But what if they hurt you again?"

Jane shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

"But…"

"It doesn't matter," Jane replied, his voice gentle but firm. "You'll be safe, and I'll be okay. I'm tougher than I look, I promise."

The boy didn't look particularly convinced by Jane's confidence but the moment of indecision was all Jane needed.

"Please, Liam?"

Liam sighed, but began to pull himself up regardless. "Okay, Patrick."

"Thank you kiddo."

Once the boy was over by the door, ready and willing to keep watch for any goons, Jane turned his attention back to the phone. Squinting in concentration, Jane began to type in the numbers he'd learned long ago by heart, hoping beyond all hope that his brain hadn't failed him this time.

With baited breath, he pulled the phone up to his ear.

"Please answer, Lisbon," Jane whispered, palms sweaty as he listened to the dialling tone. "Please…"

Lisbon ran a tired hand through her hair, sighing as she looked at the victim board in the empty bullpen. The rest of the team were still in the building of course, but Lisbon had sent them all to get food and some rest if they could find it. They'd refused to leave until Jane was safe, but they'd all been working for hours without a break, and Lisbon knew that if they kept going much longer without one, they wouldn't be much use to anyone, especially Jane.

Not that she felt that she was much use herself at the moment. Jane had been missing all day, a young boy too, and they were still no closer to finding out what the hell had happened to the two of them. Cho and Rigsby's interview with the boy's dad had turned up nothing of importance, and every other lead had hit a dead end.

Lisbon had hoped the parents of the boy could have shed some light on why he was taken with Jane, but the father had been in shock and even the step-mother had seemed too hysterical for words according to Cho. Maybe if they tried again tomorrow they'd have more luck with a list of possible suspects...

A ringing tone interrupted her thoughts. Her eyes still fixed on the picture of Jane tacked to the board, Lisbon pulled out her phone and pushed it to her ear.

"Yes?" she said sharply.

"Lisbon? Lisbon, are you there?"

For a moment, Lisbon thought she was imagining it. She stared at the picture of Jane, half-sure that her desperation to hear from him had made her hallucinate his voice.

"Lisbon?"

Oh, God. It had to be...

The voice coming from the phone was quiet and hoarse, but there was no doubt in her mind now who it was.

"Jane?" she asked, her heart clenching in equal parts hope and fear. She could hardly dare to believe it…

"Lisbon," Jane replied, his voice hoarse but his relief clear. "Thank God."

"Jane," Lisbon began, her brain desperately trying to catch up with what she was hearing. "You're okay!"

"I suppose that depends on your definition of okay, but yes, for the most part at least, we're okay."

"We?" she asked, still unable to believe that the man she had spent the entire day worrying about, was talking to her like nothing had happened. He was okay. And by the sounds of it, so was the boy.

"Yes, we," Jane replied hoarsely. "Liam's here, safe and sound. He's scared, but I don't entirely blame him for that. Our hosts' welcome has left a lot to be desired."

"But you're okay?"

"Bloody and bruised, perhaps, but yes, I'm sure nothing life threatening yet," she could almost hear the grin form on his face. "Why, do you miss me already?"

Lisbon didn't smile. Yes, she had missed him, though she would cut out her own tongue before she ever admitted that out loud to the man. He'd never let her live it down, and her errant consultant was annoying enough as it was.

"Where are you?" she asked instead. The fact that he was whispering told her that he was still in danger, and despite the joking words, she could hear the fear in his voice…

"No idea," Jane replied breezily, an affect ruined by his hoarse voice. "I was unfortunately rather unconscious when we first arrived."

"You haven't escaped yet then?" Lisbon couldn't help but ask.

"I'm working on it, woman," he retorted, and it raised a smile on Lisbon's face. "Easier said than done when you're locked in a glorified closet. Anyway, I managed to sneak this phone, didn't I?"

"Won't they notice?" Lisbon asked, worry filling her stomach.

"They haven't so far," Jane replied, and she could see him shrug in her mind's eye.

"Can you tell me anything?" she asked quickly. "Anything that will give us a clue where you are? Or who took you and why?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure we're still in America…"

"Jane," she warned.

"Okay, okay." She heard him shuffle in the background, and a muffled curse followed the movement. Dammit, the man had lied.

'Okay, my ass', she thought worriedly.

"Jane…"

He ignored her concern.

"Erm…Well, we're in some sort of office building, I think." Jane paused as if considering something. "Though it seems like we're the only ones here which seems a bit odd to me."

Considering the fact that it was Wednesday, Lisbon thought it seemed a bit odd to her as well.

"Okay," she began, "So, you're being held in an empty office, somewhere in America. That really narrows it down, Jane. Thanks…"

"No need to be snarky woman," Jane replied. "I've been a little preoccupied with staying alive."

Immediately guilt rose up in her. God, she was tired. "You're right, I'm sorry."

Jane didn't reply though, and for several seconds, Lisbon held her breath and prayed that he was okay. She strained her ears, but all she could hear was more shuffling on the other end and immediately, dread filled her stomach. If something happened to him...

"Jane?" she whispered, almost holding her breath as she waited for a reply.

Had someone...?

"Sorry," he muttered suddenly. "Thought I heard something."

She released the breath she had been holding, her heart beating ten times its normal rate. God, the man was going to give her a heart attack…

"Listen," he said quickly, "I don't think I have much time. Someone is bound to come soon."

Lisbon nodded although of course Jane wouldn't be able to see that. "I'm listening."

"Okay, so as I was saying, the office building we're in seems completely deserted but I have a hunch that it's only been recently closed. I suspect that it was shut down because of some sort of investigation into the boss' business dealings…"

Lisbon pinched the bridge of her nose as she willed away the impending headache. "Jane, what are you talking about?"

"Do you know about Liam?" he asked, and Lisbon wondered where he was going with this, especially since time was of the essence.

"Yes," she replied. "Although it took us longer than it should've to work it out…"

"Well," Jane continued, his voice tense. "It seems Liam's dad is a judge and it just so happens that he is currently presiding over a very important case at the moment, though what it is, I don't have the faintest idea. Anyway, there are some very scary people here who would be very happy if the verdict was suddenly returned not-guilty. I'd guess that the defendant in that case has some sort of link to the building we're in."

Realisation hit Lisbon. "So that was why the kid was taken. To threaten the judge. Get the verdict to go their way."

"Yep," Jane replied. "Well done, Lisbon."

She rolled her eyes. "You don't need to sound so surprised, Jane. I do investigate people for a living."

"Of course you do."

Her grip on the phone tightened. "Okay then, smartass. If that's why they took the kid, why did they take you?"

"Ah, well it seems one of the goons recognised me."

Her stomach clenched. "They know you're a cop?"

"Cop-adjacent," he corrected. "And thankfully, no. Actually, for some reason, they seem to think I'm famous. Obviously I haven't disabused then of that notion. In fact, I've managed to convince them that not only am I incredibly famous and loaded, but that I would gladly pay a wealthy sum for my safe return home."

"And they bought it?"

"So far," he replied tiredly. "Listen, there's not much more I can tell you. Me and Liam are fine for now, but that's not going to last long. Reach out to the dad, try to work out who the defendant is and who would gain from him being found innocent. These goons are working for him, I'm sure of it."

"And you?"

"I wouldn't mind some back-up. A rescue of some sort maybe."

"I'll see what I can do," Lisbon replied. "Although we'll need to find you first. I'll try and get a trace on the phone you're using, but that'll take time. How long can you keep it on without them knowing?"

She paused but Jane didn't reply, and Lisbon's heart seemed to stop as she waited, hoping and praying that everything was still okay...

"Damn," came his muffled curse. "Someone's coming."

"Jane?"

"Lisbon," he replied, sounding panicked. "I'll leave the phone on. Try and trace it. We might get lucky."

There was a rustling on the other end, followed by the bang of a door being slammed open. She strained her ears but she couldn't make much out.

"Jane?" she tried, her mouth suddenly dry.

No reply. He was gone, and all she could do now was listen as he tried to survive.

Well, listen and pray to God that he succeeded.

A/N - Hmm, I'm not sure about the ending to this, but seeing as it's 2 am here in England at the moment, I think I'll just leave it as it is for now. Hopefully it's okay though? Thanks for all the reviews that I've received so far. They are truly wonderful, and if you've got a minute, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter. More importantly though, thanks for reading!