A/N:- Finally, it's here! The final chapter! Again, I am so sorry for taking so long, but I'm glad that you've stuck with the story for so long. Thank you to everyone who has carried on reading and reviewing. Not only does it make my day when I see that I have more reviews in my in-box, but you also restore my own faith in my writing.

A/N 2:- Anyway, I hope it was worth the wait. I wouldn't know; I'm one of those people who finds it impossible to read something that they have written... it's not that I can't be bothered, but more like I physically can't do it.

Disclaimer:- The Mentalist is one of the many things that I don't own... yet!

Chapter Four – Happiness

Patrick Jane let out a low sigh as he stared at the ceiling of the bullpen. It seemed that sleep was going to avoid him again tonight. He didn't mind though; less sleep meant that he had more time to think. Usually his 'thinking time' was allocated to one thing: the whereabouts of Red John. Jane wondered that if he thought about it long enough, then maybe the answer would just appear in his head... that plan hadn't worked out, as of yet.

Instead of thinking of Red John, Jane's thoughts seemed to focus on one thing... well, it was actually more like his mind focused on one person.

Lisbon.

He didn't understand why she was always in the forefront of his mind... but neither did he complain. There was something about the woman that seemed to captivate him from the moment that he had met her. As soon as he saw her, he knew that working with Teresa Lisbon was going to be a lot harder than he had first thought. For one thing, he hadn't anticipated her being so headstrong... or sarcastic... or attractive. And not just in the physical sense, though that played a big part in his attraction to her.

He couldn't deny that he had felt a little jealous when he had first found out about her date. It had never occurred to him that Lisbon was like any other person on the planet; it hadn't occurred to him that she would date like anyone else. If he was perfectly honest, it hadn't occurred to him that Lisbon had a life outside of work. It was as he was driving her home that he realized just because he didn't have a life outside of work, didn't mean that no one else did.

Thinking about the drive back to Lisbon's house, he wondered what had come over him. It had been awkward, to say the least. It was strange because there had never been that level of awkwardness between the two of them; he couldn't think of a day when things had been awkward between them, they were so comfortable in each others company. There was certainly tension; there didn't seem to be a day that had gone by, without his annoying Lisbon to the brink of her wanting to stab him with one of the pens on her desk.

When he looked over at her when the engine had stopped, he knew that he was going to kiss her. It was the feeling that he always had around Lisbon, only magnified a thousand times over. The need that he had felt in that moment almost bowled him over... and had increased to the tipping point, when he had kissed her on the cheek. As soon as his lips had touched her skin, he had felt the familiar electric shock through his body... though he hadn't felt it in years. His body had begged him, pleaded him to continue, but the voice in his mind had told him to stop. And that was what he had done.

For the life of him, he didn't remember the reason why. Maybe it was because he didn't want their first time to be in the back of a car. He laughed out loud at that; he doubted very much that he and Lisbon would have a first anything.

He stopped himself when he heard the elevator door opening and someone walking towards the bullpen. Nobody was ever here this late; he didn't count himself because no one even knew that he slept here... except one person.

But why were they coming to work? It certainly wasn't to do with work; the team had had no cases for quite a while now. It certainly wasn't because of him... was it?

* * *

When she reached the CBI building, Lisbon wondered if she was doing the right thing. She kept replaying the scene in her mind; she found that every time she went through it, she always felt the same way; she always felt the same thing. She always felt the undeniable need that coursed through her veins whenever she was in close proximity to Patrick Jane. The need to know whether he felt the same way; whether he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

Looking up at the building, Lisbon decided then and there that it was now or never. Paying the driver, she stepped out of the car and into the building, deciding to take the elevator rather than the stairs. She was surprised that she had walked this far without falling over in the heels she was wearing. She didn't trust her luck in them when walking up the stairs.

Standing in the elevator brought her back to the changing room. The look of Jane's eyes, pupils so dilated that it was wonder the irises was still visible. The feeling of his gaze washing over her. Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, she tried to formulate a plan. Lisbon wasn't the type of person who just asked someone straight out whether they had feelings for her or not. Asking that straight out to someone like Jane, would either end in her feeling totally embarrassed or... well, that was probably the only way that she would feel, now that she thought about it.

She tried to figure out what she would say, but it was all in vain; before she knew it, the elevator was stopping, the door was opening, and she was walking out and over to the bullpen.

She saw him before he saw her, though he probably knew who it was without even looking over. She still had a couple of seconds to work out what she would say to him, a couple of seconds to work out the way that she would go about it. It was nowhere near enough time for her.

Jane was still laying down on his couch; half of him was hoping that the material beneath him would open up and swallow him, sending him into oblivion; while the other half of him wanted to grab Lisbon and kiss her into oblivion. He was leaning towards the latter; Lisbon's being here instead of at home, or on her date, was surely something that would work in his favour, right?

She must have thought that he was asleep. Like that's going to happen with her so close, he thought to himself. "You have the rest of the night free... and you come back to work?!" He decided to do what he normally did; tease her until she blushed. It was better than nothing.

Lisbon didn't ask him how he knew who it was. What would be the point? "You have a choice of hundreds of hotels in the area... yet you come back here and sleep on the couch. My couch, might I add." She found it strange how she was always so comfortable with Jane. The words seemed to flow from her mouth without any thought; her brain only registered what she said after she said it.

Jane turned around to face her. "If I remember correctly, it was your decision to move your couch out here for my... 'working habits', as you so delightfully put it."

"Well, that was what I told Minelli." It was out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Normally she was so careful with whatever she said around Jane; she didn't want him to know more about her than he already did. Maybe it was the four glasses of wine that she had consumed only twenty minutes ago, but she found that she didn't care what she said to, or around Jane. To hell with the consequences, she thought to herself, unaware that she was mirroring one of the thoughts that had gone through Jane's head, just before he had kissed her.

"Oh really?" He stood up, noting the change in Lisbon's behaviour. "And what was the real reason?" He started to walk towards her, feeling the air start to fill with the tension between them.

"The real reason was that I thought it would be better situated in the bullpen than in my office. At the time, I didn't want to arrive at work to find a sleeping consultant in my office. I recall thinking that it would be a bad start to the day."

"Well, you should have known better; I don't sleep. Why did you think that I was always bringing you coffee in the morning? I knew you had trouble sleeping too." Again, she didn't ask him how he knew that. A expression appeared on his face; a look of sudden realization. "At the time?" He was referring to her reason for moving the couch. "And what about now?" He had stopped walking, and was now just inches from her, his tell-tale grin appearing on his lips. He took the moment of silence to look her over.

He wasn't wrong when he had thought that she would look beautiful come tonight. The colour of the material matched her eyes perfectly; complimented her skin; made her look like a goddess in his eyes.

"Now I..." She took a breath before continuing, making sure that she met his eyes when she spoke, not missing that they were slightly darker, though it could have been the absence of light in the bullpen. "Now I think that it wouldn't bother me as much." She didn't miss the small change in the smile that he wore either; the smile that always seemed to light up his face.

He wanted to ask her the reason why it wouldn't bother her so much, but he had a feeling that she wouldn't tell him the truth... or the entire truth anyway. Instead, he went back to his original question. "You know, you never answered my question; on a night when you can do anything you want, why did you come back to work?" He tried to ignore the feelings that were beginning to stir deep inside of him, on seeing Lisbon is less than formal wear. He folded his arms across his chest, just so that he had something to do. That and so that he wasn't tempted to reach out to her.

Well, that was a question that she hadn't prepared herself for. Strange, seeing as how she should have known that he was going to ask it. "I... I uh... just wanted to... to see whether I had left any paperwork here..." She mentally berated herself; as far as excuses go, that had to be the worst one by miles.

"Now Lisbon, you should know better than to lie to me like that. Come on, what's the real reason?" He already knew the answer; he just wanted to see whether she knew it herself.

"I'm not lying to you Jane. I came here to pick up some paperwork that I forgot." She walked away and into her office, trying to do anything that would get her away from Jane. She shut the door after her, and began rummaging through the drawers trying to make herself look busy. Hearing the door open behind her, she didn't look up straight away. She closed the drawer that she had been looking through, and straightened up. "Jane, for the last time, I'm getting some paper..."

As she turned around, she was ready to give Jane a piece of her mind; that point never came though. She couldn't finish her sentence either. She had never really noticed how quiet that Jane could be. It was only a few seconds since the door had opened, and he was already behind her. And when I say 'behind her', I mean that he was so close, he was pushing her back against her desk.

Neither of them said anything. They couldn't have spoken if they wanted to. All that they could do was stand there, and breathe. Both of them could feel the heat emanating from the other; both of them knew that if they didn't stop, if they didn't move away from each other, they would be going somewhere that neither of them had been in a long time. Jane knew that he wouldn't regret what happened. Lisbon knew that too. It was just whether the other was ready.

Again, the little voice in Jane's head was telling him to go for it. And for once, he listened. Mirroring his actions in the car, Jane once again reached out to stroke Lisbon's cheek. Once again, she leaned into his touch, placing her hand over his own. He still had some self control though; he wouldn't lose the little bit he had... not yet anyway. "You never told me how your date went. Was it really that bad?"

She smiled at him. "To be honest, it was probably one of the worst dates that I've ever been on. The restaurant, his bad French, the food, the kiss..."

"He kissed you?" She smiled inwardly at his noticeable discomfort at that. She nodded. "Was it... how did it... how was it?"

Now was one of the only times that she had told Jane the complete truth the first time that he had asked her a question. "The kiss was fine. There was only one problem."

He looked at her, his hand continuing to stroke her cheek. "And what was that?" He almost didn't want to hear the answer, yet he knew that he wouldn't be able to leave without hearing it.

Again with the truth. "That wasn't the person I wanted to be kissing."

"And just who might 'that person' be?" She looked up at him, and he could see the want in her eyes. He could the desire that he knew matched his own.

"Let's just say that a quick brush of a man's lips on my cheek filled me with more longing than his lips on mine." That declaration was almost enough for him to lose the control he had on himself. Almost. Instead, he acted like it didn't even concern him; not an easy job.

"Oh, really? And what's this I hear about bad French?" She knew what he was doing; she played along.

"The guy couldn't put on a French accent, to save his life. It was phrasebook-French... and very bad phrasebook-French at that."

"I'll have you know that not all phrasebook-French is bad. All the French I know is from phrasebooks." He smiled, before leaning in so that his lips brushed against her ear as he spoke. "Tu as de si jolis yeux, for example." It surprised her to find that he had a good French accent; his words washed over her in a wonderful warmth that seemed to fill her whole body.

Lisbon didn't need a translator to figure out what he had just said. Only the words "Tu aussi." Then, she used the words that she had wanted to say to Jane, since she first realized that she harboured very strong feelings for him. "J'aimerais coucher avec toi."

Jane must have understood. She knew that he had, because of what he did next. He pulled away from her ear, and looked deep into her eyes, before leaning forwards and catching her lips in what could only be described as an indescribable kiss. (Sort of beats the object of being indescribable then, doesn't it?)

As soon as their lips met, Lisbon gasped at the sensations running throughout her body, giving Jane the chance to slip his tongue through the opening of her lips and taste both the inside and outside of her mouth. She moaned softly, when she felt his tongue meet hers. Automatically, Lisbon's arms wrapped around his neck, as Jane's moved behind her, one snaking around her waist while the other buried itself in her hair. She shuddered slightly as he gripped her hair in his hand, a wonderful contrast to the gentle movement of his lips on hers

At some point they separated, though neither of them wanted to. They didn't say anything, the only sound was of their laboured breathing, as they tried to get their heartbeats back to anywhere near the normal rate. As soon as she could, Lisbon spoke. "Take me home." It wasn't a question; it wasn't an order. It was a statement. She knew that Jane would do it without thinking about it.

Jane nodded in reply; he didn't trust his voice. Offering her his arm, which she took without hesitation, they walked out of the building and to Jane's car, both now very aware of what the other wanted.

As they stepped out into the car park, Lisbon tried, and failed, to suppress a shiver. Acting on instinct, Jane removed his jacket and placed it around her shoulders. Always the gentleman, Lisbon thought to herself, as she drew the jacket around herself, losing herself in the warmth of it, and the scent that was undeniably Jane.

* * *

For the first time, Jane wasn't wondering whether this was the right thing to do, as he followed Lisbon up to and through the front door. Normally, he would have taken time to have a look around, admire the place the Lisbon called 'home'. That could be saved for later though. Right now, he just wanted to admire Lisbon... which is exactly what he did, though it seemed more like he was just staring at her.

Lisbon could feel his eyes on her back; it was the changing room all over again... only this time, there wasn't anyone to interrupt them. After dropping his jacket on the arm of her couch, she turned around to face him, just as she had done then. "Patrick?" His name on her lips was all he needed to hear.

In a flash, Lisbon was once again in his arms, his lips once again on hers, their tongues once again entwined. Unlike their first kiss, this was more powerful, their actions less tentative, more sure of themselves. Lisbon surrendered herself to the kiss, her hands meeting at the back of Jane's neck, immersing them in his hair, revelling in the feeling of his soft curls between her fingers. Jane's hands moved from the sides of her face, down her shoulders and around to her back, where his fingers moved quickly to the zip. Then they stopped. As did his lips.

He slowly moved back from her, looking into her eyes and asking her a silent question. Are you sure? She nodded, both of them unable to find the words they wanted. Words weren't necessary to put their points across, though. He replaced his hands on her back, grasping the zip and pulling it down slowly. Halfway down, Lisbon reached back and stopped him with one of her hands. Removing the other from his hair, she grabbed him by the vest and began to walk backwards towards and up the stairs, never averting her gaze from his eyes. As they reached the top, Lisbon turned left and she walked through the first open door that Jane saw.

As soon as they were in, Lisbon let go of his vest and walked behind them. He heard the door close behind him, and turned around to find her leaning against the door. "I don't like open doors." She answered his questioning look, before pushing off of the door, and walking back towards him. When she was finally back to him, she dragged her hands slowly up his chest before pushing him back so that he was sitting at the foot of the bed.

While he sat there, he could only watch as she proceeded to remove the dress from her body in its entirety, along with her heels. Without thinking, Jane removed his shoes as well, looking down for a moment to move them under the bed. When he looked back up, it was to find Lisbon standing there in matching black lace (strapless) bra and panties. His mouth fell open; if he had thought that she looked like a goddess before, he was sure of it now. She smiled at him, obviously taking his lack of speech as a compliment. He couldn't leave it at that though. He smiled back. "Were you expecting something tonight, Teresa?"

Her smile grew bigger; she crossed her arms across her chest as she slowly walked towards him. She didn't seem to be embarrassed about standing their with almost nothing on, while Jane was still fully dressed. She shrugged. "Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't." He stood up.

"Well, it certainly seems as though you were." He wrapped his arms back around her body, pulling her close so that their bodies were now flush against each other. She looked up at him, and bit her lip before moving her hips against his in a less-than-professional manner, earning a low groan from Jane's lips.

Moving her arms back up his chest and wrapping themselves back around his neck, she pulled him down to whisper in his ear. "I could say the same for you." The feeling of her warm breath caressing his ear was like sweet torture to Jane. The feeling of her teeth wrapping around his lobe was the tipping point for him. Literally. Without warning, he leaned back, so that they both fell onto Lisbon's bed.

They landed on the bed with Lisbon straddling Jane's hips. Almost instantly, Jane sat back up, and captured Lisbon's lips, his hands on her waist. Lisbon's hands went to the buttons of his vest, making quick work of them. Repeating it with the buttons of his shirt, she pushed both off of his shoulders, which meant he had to lose contact with her waist. Her hands trailed down from his shoulders, noting and memorising every line, every muscle that he had to offer. Before too long, she had reached his trousers.

It was at that point that Jane realized that he would rather be on top. He rolled them over so that Lisbon was now beneath him, never breaking their kiss. He moved one of his hands to her breasts, cupping her through the lacy material, while the other snaked around to her back, and undid the clasp of her bra. He trailed his hands up her body, brushing his fingertips gently across her skin, which earned him a wonderful shiver. He made to work his hands down to her panties, but she stopped him. Instead, she moved his hands back up her body, before going back to work on his trousers.

When both the button and zip of his trousers was undone, she began to push them down trailing her fingers down his legs as she followed the path the material took, leaving them both only in their underwear. While she was doing that, Jane's lips had moved from hers, and begun their journey down her body. Starting at her neck, he kissed down to her throat, pausing only to suck softly on her pulse point; he kissed down to the valley between her breasts, before moving towards one and covering it with his mouth. His hand came up to give its twin the same attention, before switching. He kissed along the line of her stomach, taking him closer to the waistline of her panties.

Lisbon took hold of either side of his face before he moved any lower. Guiding him back up to her face, she sucked his bottom lip into her mouth, earning another low groan from him. His hands moved down from either side of her to her waistline again. Lisbon didn't stop him this time; instead she wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. Taking that as affirmation, he proceeded to drag them slowly down over her hips and halfway down her legs, letting Lisbon kick them the rest of the way down to meet the rest of their clothes.

As he traced his hands back up her legs, he could feel the heat she was emanating. Lifting himself up and out of her embrace, he couldn't resist looking at the ethereal beauty beneath him. Hair slightly mussed, lips slightly swollen, a slight blush adding colour to her otherwise pale skin. Is this really happening to me? He thought to himself, not realizing that he had voiced it out loud as well.

Lisbon bit her bottom lip again, as she moved her hands to the waistband of his boxers. "Take these off, and you might find out." Not waiting for an answer, she pushed her hands into and underneath the material, giving his ass a firm squeeze, before pushing them down. Jane helped her until they too met the rest of the clothes that were on the floor. Each took another moment to admire the body before them, neither of them embarrassed about what they were taking, and what they were giving back in return.

Neither of them know who instigated the next kiss; it was as if they moved as one, rather than two. Jane rubbed his tongue along her lips, and pushed his tongue into his mouth as he pushed himself into her. They both groaned at the sensation. Neither of them moved for several moments... at which point Lisbon became frustrated. She separated her lips from Jane's and moved her hips, trying to make him move. "Jane, I know it's been a long time for you, but you still remember what to do right? Or do I have to talk you through it?" She laughed softly at the expression that appeared on his face.

Jane leaned towards her ear, making sure not to move his hips any more than he needed to. "You asked for it." He moved his whole body back, and thrust back, pushing her hard into the mattress. She moaned loudly as he filled her. She wrapped her legs around his waist, effectively trapping him there. "Teresa?" She looked through her glazed eyes to his face, and tried to concentrate on what he was saying. "If you want that to happen again, you've got to let me move." She understood, and loosened her hold on him with her legs.

He gave her his trademark grin, and began to move slowly inside of her, increasing his speed when he felt her hands go around her neck. He brought her to the edge, but never let her fall over it; he wanted this to last as long as possible. He knew she was close though; her skin had taken on a deeper blush, her head thrashing from side to side. Before too long, she felt herself approaching the edge again; this time, Jane granted her the release she so desperately needed. The moan that fell from her lips was enough to push him over the edge. With one final thrust, he emptied himself inside of her, and uttered a low groan. He rolled over to the side of Lisbon, so that he wouldn't crush her with his weight.

As they both fought to get their breathing back to normal, Lisbon pulled the covers up so that they were covered by the cold sheet. She rested her head on his chest, and smiled as she heard the pounding of his heart. She looked up to gaze into his eyes; they were once again the wonderful that had first drawn her to him. He looked down at her, and saw the smile that she wore on her lips. He smiled back at her. "Are you expecting something, Lisbon?"

"Only one thing." She cuddled up closer to his warm body. "That you'll still be here when I wake up." He wrapped his arm around her now sleeping body, and for the first time in a long time, he actually slept.

And when Lisbon woke up the next morning, it was to find herself curled into the side of a certain consultant that she had had her eyes on for a long time, but never thought that she would actually get him.

Just what she had expected to find.

A/N:- French Translations:-

Tu as de si jolis yeux – You have such beautiful eyes

Tu aussi – You too.

J'aimerais coucher avec toi – I'd like to go to bed with you.

Translations were taken out of a French phrase book. 'Over 2000 essential phrases' Apparently, I'd like to go to bed with you is an essential phrase in French! Make your own mind up about that.

A/N 2:- So, that's the end, sadly. Once again, thank you to everyone who has reviewed, and stuck with the story to the end. Reviews are appreciated.