Author's Note: I have never written a Mentalist fic before, so I was pretty nervous about starting this one, we'll see how it goes. I love to hear your thoughts, so please give me some pointers, and tell me what you think. Thanks for taking the time to check this out.

This fic was inspired by the song "Just Give Me a Reason", sung by P!NK and Nate Ruess.

Disclaimer: If I helped create The Mentalist, I would be best friends with Simon Baker, Robin Tunney, Owain Yeoman, Amanda Righetti and Tim Kang. Last time I checked, they don't know I exist.

Just Give Me a Reason
Chapter One

She woke up with a shroud of fog covering her thoughts, but Teresa Lisbon had no idea where she was, or how she had gotten there. She tentatively opened her eyes, and was surprised to find herself in her SUV. She raised her hand to brush the hair from her face, and almost screamed in fear. On her wrist, etched into her skin, a bloody red smiling face leered back at her.

Patrick Jane was holed up in his attic for the evening, going over his usual night-time activities surrounding Red John. He'd come up here as soon as the case had finished, just like he did when any case closed, and it had become a sort of ritual. He considered going downstairs to check on Lisbon. Things were still awkward between them since he had returned from going rogue in Vegas over 6 months ago. Those burned bridges were ones he was desperate to fix, but had no idea how to. He had denied remembering telling her he loved her before shooting her for god's sake.

Sick of being a coward, he stood up and stretched, then proceeded downstairs to her office.

He didn't know whether to be worried or relieved when he noticed the bullpen was empty, along with Lisbon's office, and he didn't react instantly to the danger she could've been in by not being in the building. At that moment, his phone rung, and he was relieved to see Lisbon's face and number come up on the screen.

"Lisbon, where the hell are you?" he snapped.

"Jane, can you come and get me?" her voice wavered in what sounded like fear.

He instantly regretted speaking to her like that when he heard her voice. The only time he'd heard her anywhere near as scared as what she sounded was when she had a bomb strapped to her. If he had someone to pray to, he would pray like hell that she wasn't in a situation like that again.

"Where are you?" he asked again, softly this time.

She was quiet on the other end for quite a while. "I don't know, Jane," Lisbon finally replied.

"What's happened?" he tried asking her.

"I remember closing the case," she said slowly. "But nothing after that,"

They had closed the case over 5 hours ago; a little town in the middle of nowhere that had been plagued by a serial killer. Lisbon could've been anywhere. "Shit," he managed to say.

"I'm sorry Jane," she said instantly. "I've definitely ruined your plans for tonight."

He smirked. "Don't worry about it Lisbon. We just need to get you here safely."

"Has everyone else gone home?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied, looking at the empty bullpen.

She swore loudly. "If I talk you through it, can you trace my phone?"

"Of course," he replied, marvelling at her strength, and how the fear in her voice that was evident only minutes ago wasn't present anymore. He walked into her office, turned on the desk lamp and logged into her computer-using her login, not his, of course.

Several minutes later, Jane managed to trace the call, and felt slightly proud of it, despite the situation they were in. "That's odd," he said.

"What is?"

"You're in Malibu," he replied. "Near my old house."

"Jane," she said slowly. "I can find another way to get home; you don't need to come all the way out here to get me" she told him.

He shook his head. "No, no. That's not fair on you. Just don't go anywhere, Ok?"

"That's going to be slightly difficult, with the SUV not working. I think the battery's dead or something," she told him.

He chuckled. "I'll see you soon, Lisbon. Don't worry too much."

"I'm not worrying, Jane," she snapped.

It was a lie that he saw right through. She sounded terrified, and he wanted to know why.

It was an instinct, that she'd called Jane first. She trusted him most out of the team, and she knew that if Red John was involved, he would want to be the first to know. She just hoped it was the right decision.

Lisbon knew that it would take several hours for Jane to get to her, and the thing she feared for most was her sanity. She also knew it was smart not to tell him about Red John's 'message'over the phone; the one thing worse than Jane driving in that tiny tin car of his was Jane driving like a maniac in the tiny tin car. The first thing she had done when she woke up was check for her gun, and also found her penlight. The artificial light was a relief after looking at the ever nearing darkness outside.

The CBI agent tried starting her vehicle again, but it stalled, and she realised she must have made it worse in attempts to make it better. She slammed her hand on the steering wheel, and quickly tugged her sleeves down again, not wanting to see the face that had been carved into the skin of her left wrist. The pain was one of the first things she noticed after the initial shock of waking up having no recollection of where she was. Lisbon was thankful that she had her blazer; the long sleeves covering up the now permanent reminder of what she had risked to catch the serial killer.

She focussed her attention on the sinking sun, wishing circumstances were different so she would've been able to appreciate and marvel the beauty of the setting in front of her.

The sun had bathed her surroundings in a soft golden glow, and cast long shadows along the ground. The ocean was flat, glasslike, the last of the sun's rays reflecting off its surface. She took a moment to appreciate the tranquillity of her surroundings, but was brought back to the reality, and perhaps the danger, of the situation she was in with another wave of pain from her wrist. She flexed it, grimacing.

The usual calm and collected CBI agent Teresa Lisbon was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. The pain in her head caused her to believe that she had been drugged hours before, perhaps on the way back from closing the case. She just hoped this time she wouldn't be framed for a murder she didn't commit.

But perhaps asking Jane to hypnotise her again wouldn't be a bad idea.

Exhausted, she climbed into the back of the SUV, and pulled her knees up and rested her chin on them, looking out the side window into the darkness. She thanked God that she hadn't been harmed more, and she prayed that Jane would get to her soon. But then again, he had once told her that he would always try to save her, but after he abandoned her for six months, could she really trust him to do that? Grateful that she was tired, Lisbon let her eyelids droop, and within moments she fell into a fitful sleep.

Jane had left Sacramento just after 9:00 that evening, and with every passing minute, every mile passed, he got even more anxious. How the hell had she ended up on the outskirts of Malibu? Gritting his teeth, Jane put his foot on the accelerator, coaxing his beloved Citroën to go faster.

Again, he found himself wanting someone to pray to, someone that would assure him Lisbon was safe and unharmed. Teresa Lisbon had a very strong and seemingly impenetrable façade, and it had taken him almost a decade to work past it, and see the woman hiding behind it. It had taken a lot of his skill and patience, and on the other side he realised he may have done something that he didn't think was possible; he may have fallen in love with the woman in the process.

Jane flexed his hands restlessly on the steering wheel. His feelings for Lisbon were something he didn't admit to himself, let alone Lisbon, which was something he had managed to do in his latest ruse to catch Red John.

There were two things he was thankful for at that moment; his insomnia, allowing him to drive several hours in the middle of the night without getting two tired; and the fact that there wasn't too much traffic heading out of Sacramento at 11:00 at night. Hopefully he would be able to cut his travel time substantially. Perhaps even break some record no-one had ever heard of in the process. Despite himself, he chuckled slightly at the thought.

It was past 2:00 in the morning when Jane began to drive up the steep cliff road that basically no-one knew about; the exact coordinates of Lisbon's cell-phone apparently at the top. He hoped.

A few minutes later, Jane drove the Citroën up next to Lisbon's SUV.

"Lisbon!" he called, getting out of his car. The passengers door facing Jane opened, and he breathed a sigh of relief, seeing her basically unharmed. He pulled her into a hug, holding her close.

"I'm so glad you're ok," he whispered into her ear.

She struggled against him. "No, Jane, let go of me!" she pleaded.

"What's wrong Lisbon?" he asked, complying to her request. He bent his knees so he could see into her green eyes, which were still filled with fear.

Wordlessly, she lifted the left sleeve of her blazer up. "He's marked me, Jane!" she said anxiously.

There, on her wrist, the blood red mark of the man who had killed his family smiled mockingly up at him.

End of Chapter 1
A/N: Thanks so much for reading. Depending on how things go, next chapter should be up soon.