A/N: Okay so the inital set up of my favourite couple may shock a few of you. You will probably want to stop reading this fic in fact! But I hope you give it a chance, I have a plan...

Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist. The wonderful Bruno Heller does.

Crossroads

Chapter 1 - Choices

It had been three years, eight months and seventeen days since she had left Austin for a new life in D.C.

Three years two months and seven days since she married Marcus Pike.

Two years, four months and six days since she had bore Pike a daughter.

Two years, four months and three days since he had last seen her.

Jane clenched the steering wheel of his Prius and glanced at the sleeping form in the passenger seat beside him. His shiny wedding band glistened in the moonlight as he drove through the night.

His mind went back to that night in the Blue Bird Lodge all those years ago. If you're really sorry then you'll leave me alone.

He smiled despite the desperation and overwhelming sadness he had felt then. He had done as she asked. For once in his life had made the unselfish choice and allowed her the chance to make a fresh start without him to screw it up. But Lisbon was Lisbon and her anger towards him that night had softened within days. He was her weakness and he knew it. She had apologised for the unkind words she had uttered to him though they both knew what she had said was the truth. He almost caved and wanted to ask her to reconsider her options, to finally tell her what had been in his heart for longer than he had even acknowledged to himself.

But he didn't. Pike could make her happy, he had seen the sparkle in her eyes when he looked at her, he was her safe choice, a man worthy of her, an honest and good man, a better man than himself. So he had accepted the apology and made one of his own for misleading her but had told her that she had made the best decision in the end. That he thought D.C. would be a great opportunity for her, a fresh start with a man capable of giving her the love she deserved. He knew she had read between the lines. That this was his way of telling her to let go of him. Let go of whatever fantasies she had imagined the two of them may fulfil after Red John was out of the picture.

But she didn't let go so easily. She had called him twice a week in the beginning, telling him about her new job and the neighbourhood they were thinking of moving to. She didn't mention Pike much and neither did he. He waited for her calls but never called her first, storing up stories for when she would contact him so he could hear her laugh. After a month the calls came once a week, after three months every two weeks. She called to ask his opinion on cases she was handling and he focused all his attention on them, still wanting to impress her with his mind after all these years. He wondered if she really needed his help. Sometimes the cases seemed almost mundane, that she could undoubtedly figure out the assailant herself but he never mentioned this, afraid his teasing on the matter would make her drop contact altogether. He wasn't ready for that. He recalled a conversation three years and four months ago. A conversation that would change their status irrevocably.

Hey, Jane, how are you?

Oh you know Lisbon. Same as ever. Overworked and underpaid.

Did I hear you let a bunch of exotic birds loose the other day?

They had to roam free Lisbon. It was my duty to give them their independence. I should have been given a medal for heroism, not a week without pay. I fear Cho is an even worse tyrant than you when you tried to be my boss.

Oh, so nothing to do with the fact that the owner of the wildlife park irked you, huh?

Perish the thought. You think I'd be that petty?

Can I take the fifth on that? But you're right, it certainly was trying to be your boss.

He remembered the pause and the seriousness in her tone like it was yesterday.

Jane, I need to tell you something.

Apart from the fact that Cho has always wanted to be a dictator? If so, you're too late-

Marcus and I have set a date.

After a brief moment to take in her words he had wished her congratulations and had picked up a slight tone of disappointment when he had done so. She covered it up with a nervous laugh, commenting on how she was bound to look like a meringue on her wedding day. He told her she would undoubtedly be beautiful and he had meant it. She'd asked him to promise he would come to the wedding and he had agreed immediately despite the tightening in his chest at the thought of seeing her marry another man. He truly was a masochist.

The invitation came a short while later. It was simple and striking and he knew she had picked them out. He remembered moving his fingers over the gold italic writing bearing her name. The ceremony was to be held in Chicago at the Church she grew up attending. Although Pike was divorced he had not been married in a Catholic Church so his previous marriage was not valid according to the Catholic faith. Jane was glad of that, a ceremony in another Church or setting would not have been what she wanted.

He arrived the night before the ceremony and settled into his hotel room. The Rigsbys, Cho and his girlfriend Jenna and Minelli and his wife May were all staying in the same hotel and they met up for dinner. He could sense the others pity for him however he tried to keep conversation light, making sure to embarrass each of his current and ex co workers in turn so he didn't focus on it. He went to the bar after dinner and ordered a scotch. Minelli sat beside him and ordered a soda water.

So, you ready to walk her down the aisle, Virgil?

It's an honour, Patrick. She told me it was you who suggested she ask me.

You were more of a father to her than her own, seemed like the obvious choice.

And how are you doing with all this?

Couldn't be happier for her. He's a good man.

Mmm. Think I've heard you say that about four times this evening. It's a nice speech, well rehearsed. I'm not buying it.

Leave it Virgil.

Just tell me. Do I have something to worry about tomorrow? Is the ceremony in danger of being interrupted?

You have nothing to worry about, I assure you.

Then I have only one question, Patrick. Why the hell not?

The next morning she called him early. She was panicking and he helped her take deep breaths over the phone to calm her down, telling her it was perfectly normal to have some pre wedding jitters. She asked for him to come see her before the ceremony. She had arrived in the same hotel to get ready. He stuttered and told her that it wasn't a good idea. When she asked him why it wasn't he tried to make some joke about a superstition he had heard that it was bad luck to see a woman he had known for over a decade before her wedding. She said 'Please, Jane, it's important to me' and he acquiesced.

Her niece Annie opened the door to her room, evidently expecting him. She was dressed in a robe and motioned for him to come inside. She excused herself, giving him a peck on the cheek and motioned to the bathroom.

'You decent?' He called out.

'Yeah, come on in Jane.'

'Shame' he said, opening the door with a smile.

The smile fell from his face when he saw the white gown. It was simple but not plain, showed off her curves but was still somehow demure. She was a vision and he couldn't speak or react for a moment.

'Close the door' she whispered and he finally nodded and did as she asked, his eyes still fixated on her.

'Well, I was going to ask if I looked okay but I guess I do' she smiled.

He smiled back and nodded. 'I told you that you'd be beautiful, Teresa. But I got it wrong. You're stunning.'

He grinned at the blush in her cheeks before he noticed how nervous she was, her hands continually smoothing out the fabric on the front of her dress. 'Why am I here?' he asked hoarsely.

She walked up to him and said nothing for a moment. Their eyes met and his breathing hitched. He noticed the pulse point in her neck jumping erratically.

Then she whispered, 'Do you think I should get married today?'

He blinked quickly. 'Do you?'

She let out an exasperated sigh and turned away from him, shaking her head. 'He loves me.'

Jane nodded. 'Yes he does. He's a good man.' He couldn't seem to stop saying that.

She turned to face him again. 'Do you love me, Jane?'

He was stunned for a second. She was giving him a chance, a last chance to stop her from going down this path. They were at a crossroads in both of their lives and knew it. Instead of taking her in his arms and kissing the life out of her he just stood there and replied, 'Um...'

She nodded, embarrassed at putting her emotions on the line. She looked down. 'That's okay. I just...I just needed to know for sure before I do this.'

'Teresa-'

'It's okay, Jane, honestly.' She pushed him towards the door. 'I still have my hair and make up to get done.' She closed the door behind him and he found himself staring at it. 'Lisbon, Teresa, please, let me explain-'

'You don't need to, it's fine, okay. Annie! Can you give me a hand in here?'

In a second Annie was at the door, giving him a withering look. 'You should go. We have a wedding to get ready for.'

He blinked his eyes at the memory, his loud sigh exacting a murmur from the woman at his side.

Her shoulder length blond hair fell against her face in loose strands. She was beautiful and as a couple they extracted envious looks from both sexes. She was his partner now at the FBI. He had resisted having one at all after Lisbon left and had burned each one Abbott had tried to inflict on him for months. But Melanie Carson was not so easily swayed, even after he had abandoned her in the middle of a cornfield, a hundred miles from civilisation and no cell phone to call back up. She had further impressed him when she wouldn't tell him how she had got herself out of that predicament.

He knew she found him attractive instantly, despite reading his file and knowing his history on paper. She had asked him to dinner on a number of occasions, an openness in her that he found refreshing if a little alarming. After Lisbon's wedding he had driven back to Austin and to her apartment and hadn't left the entire weekend, bringing more than a decade (Lorelei Martins being the exception) of abstinence from sex to an end. He looked at the matching wedding band on her left hand. They had been married for just over a year.

He looked at his watch. Less than five hours until he saw her again.