112 Days of Jisbon

Pairing(s): Jisbon

A/N: Tiny little bit of credit goes to Ellipsis9 for her holiday fic. That's where I got the idea. Also, this one will be a bit longer than the others.

Disclaimer: The Mentalist and all related characters belong to CBS.

Chapter 1: Hatred

Agent Teresa Lisbon felt stupid. Really. After all, of all the people on her team she could have ended up with, the name she happened to draw was that of CBI consultant Patrick Jane. Really. Jane? Of all people?

And that brought her to her second problem. What the hell do you buy for Patrick Jane for Christmas? Knowing him, he probably already knew what she had gotten him.

Oh, and let's not forget her third problem. Jane's car had broken down earlier that day. Being the only one with free time before the party, Lisbon got stuck taking him to the Christmas party. They hadn't even drawn straws, really!

So, gritting her teeth, she pulled into Jane's driveway.

He hated Christmas.

It had nothing to do how he couldn't decorate, because if he did, it would bring back too many painful memories. No, of course not. Nothing at all.

Okay, maybe that was a lie.

But it sure as hell had nothing to do with the fact that he could barely bring up enough courage to go out and get his stupid Secret Santa gift (really, who came up with this stuff anyway?).

All right, so maybe that was a lie, too. There was only one word for what he was. A coward. He might talk tough and say he was going to kill Red John, but he didn't even have enough courage to go out and by a Christmas gift.

But still, it had nothing to do with how he couldn't go out and buy a Christmas tree, because if he did he would have to put it in that spot, and then he would have to put decorations on it, and...

All right, another lie.

But it had absolutely nothing to do with how when he woke up, it wasn't because a five-year-old was jumping up and down on the bed yelling for him to "come see what Santa brought me!"

Absolutely nothing.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by a pound on the door. "Jane!"

Lisbon.

"If you're not out here in five minutes I'm not waiting!"

Jane smiled a little.

But only a little.

When the door finally opened, Lisbon was about to leave.

"About time," she muttered. She turned and headed toward the car, yelling over her shoulder, "And no creepy psychic stuff in my car!"

Jane caught up to her in an instant, smiling. "Got it."

She rolled her eyes and climbed into her car.

It was too quiet.

And he hated it. The silence allowed for too many memories to come rushing back. He set his jaw, and tried to start up a conversation a couple of times, but there was nothing to talk about. He tried staring out the window, but that didn't work either. There were too many Christmas lights.

So he turned, and, on an impulse, he turned on the music.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Lisbon roll her eyes, but he paid it no attention. He quickly got to a station he recognized and sat back, waiting for the advertisements to end and the music to come back on.

And when it did, he gritted his teeth.

Christmas music. Really. Was Red John hiding somewhere in the studio, just to mock him?

He changed the station, only to find the same result every single time. Finally, he got tired of it, and jabbed the button to turn it off. Maybe a little too hard, because Lisbon glanced over at him.

"What've you got against Christmas music?" she asked.

"Everything," he grunted. Oh crap, had he really just said that? How stupid was he?

Lisbon glanced over at him again. "Should I ask?"

"Ask what?"

A third glance. (Why the hell was he counting how many times she looked at him?) "What've you got against Christmas?"

He stiffened and turned to look out the window again, this time playing around with the button that put the window up and down.

"I don't particularly have anything against Christmas..." he said. 'Yeah,' he thought. 'Nothing against Christmas. Just against how everyone else can-,' He broke off that thought.

"Yeah you do." Lisbon's voice was almost laughing.

He ignored her and said, "When you were a kid, what was your favorite part about Christmas?"

"Presents." There was no doubt in Lisbon's voice.

He didn't smile. "Non-materialistic."

She seemed to think for a minute. "I guess... seeing my family."

He nodded. He should've known. "And what about now?"

"My dad comes to see me," she said carefully. Her words were chosen carefully, clearly wondering where he was going with this.

"And he's coming to see you this year as well," he guessed.

"Yeah," Lisbon said, glancing over at him for the fourth time that night (Dammit he had to stop counting!).

Jane gritted his teeth. "That's my point," he muttered. Oh, God, if she heard that...

He stared out at the stupid, obnoxious Christmas lights. The red and green bulbs that hung from almost every surface of the houses they passed had to be mocking him. It was worse than the radio, honestly!

"Jane!"

He froze, turning to look at her.

"You're breaking my window!" Lisbon snapped.

Jane glanced over at the window. Oh. She was right. His hand pressed down so hard on the button that his knuckles were white.

He looked away. "Sorry."

She sighed, and he glanced up at the road. "We're here," she announced.

Jane climbed out of the car and headed toward the front doors of the building.

Two words stopped him.

"Oh, Jane..."

Lisbon felt really, really, stupid. How could she not have noticed it before? He'd been dropping subtle hints all night, and she hadn't noticed it at all. And then she'd had to drag him to this stupid Christmas party. How stupid was she?

It suddenly made sense. All of it.

Once upon a time, Patrick Jane hadn't been such a pain in the ass. Once upon a time, Patrick Jane had had a family. And then, in one sweep, Red John had taken it from him.

Along with any joy he might have gotten out of the holiday season.

"I..." she choked out, and it certainly sounded like she was choking.

"I'm so... I feel like..." She closed her eyes, and then opened them again. "Jane... God, I'm an idiot."

Jane turned away, ignoring her. She ran after him, and he stopped, just inside the building.

"Jane..." She grabbed his arm, tugging him around. "Jane, I-."

But he cut her off. Not by speaking, not by signaling for silence.

There was something against her lips.

It took her a moment to figure out that it was his lips.

And then she had her arms around him, and he was pulling her closer...

Voices, floating down the hall, ahead of their owners. She knew those voices. Rigsby, Cho, Van Pelt. Something inside her whispered that she should be stopping this now, but she ignored it, and knotted her fingers in his hair.

And then, the voices stopped.

And then, there was a low whistle.

Dammit, she was going to kill Rigsby.

She pulled away, glaring at the other agents. "Go," she snapped. "And you breathe a word of this to anyone, and I will kill you, I swear."

Cho and Rigsby turned and hurried away. Van Pelt hesitated and opened her mouth to say something, but at the last minute she seemed to think better of it and scurried away after the other two.

Slightly out of breath, she looked up at Jane. "What the hell was that?" she demanded.

Jane's eyes flicked up to the ceiling, and then back down to her. She followed his gaze.

"Oh crap," she whimpered. Really. Whoever's big idea it was to put that damn thing of mistletoe right there, she was going to kill them.

But then Jane pulled her closer and whispered, "Merry Christmas, Agent Lisbon."

A/N: So? How was it? A little long, I know, but the next couple will be much shorter. Up next, it's Secret Santa time! Review!

Off to take over the world,

Crazy Girl