Disclaimer: I do not own Mentalist, or any of the characters.

"I really need to talk to you, Lisbon."

This is the fourteenth time he has said that in so many minutes- not that she's counting- and she's still walking ahead of him, talking on the phone with Cho, completely ignoring him. She woke up this morning with a text from him that said exactly the same thing, but before she had to ask him how the hell he managed to screw up this time and how she was expected to fix it, she was saved by the buzz of another text, indicating their need to investigate a new crime. And here they are.

"Well, tell Van Pelt to keep running the background checks, somebody must have someth-"

…..

….

"-Boss? ….Lisbon?..."

It happens too fast, right in front of his eyes. A speeding car comes out of nowhere and passes them by, almost knocking Lisbon off her feet before she can catch her balance. Her heart jumps in her chest, and she takes a moment to just breathe, to process the fact that she just almost had a tiny brush with death because of some reckless driver.

Being a homicide detective, she recovers quickly, and picks up her phone. "I'm okay, I'll call you back later, Cho." She picks herself off the ground, and turning to Jane for the first time this morning, she stops mid-way of her "what is wrong with you? Can't you even give me a hand?" admonishment, and withdraws the glare she was about to give him. He looks genuinely worried about her, shocked, and scared, and she feels a tinge of guilt for being so mad at him. "I'm okay," she repeats, looking around at the staring strangers and shooing them away with "I'm okay"s too. "Did you get the number on the license plate, Jane?"

His eyes remain dark and hazy for a few more moments, like he is in deep contemplation, like he's having a… vision of some kind, before he recovers and plasters the usual charming grin on his lips, and simply shrugs.

She shakes her head- that way too smart for anybody's good guy has a memory palace but of course he doesn't use it when he needed to- and dials Cho's number again. "Ok, so where are we on the background checks? …Oh, it was nothing. Did you get the….."

Seven weeks later

"I can't believe Jane got this rich." Rigsby whispers to Cho, as they wait outside the porch of Jane's newest plush home. He touches the wall, reveling in its velvety feel. "Do you think Van Pelt would like this color?"

A servant answers the door and ushers them in, telling them Jane would be there with them in a minute, offering them drinks- which Cho refuses before Rigsby can ask for starters as well- and asking them to make themselves comfortable in the well-furnished drawing room.

And Rigsby does. He plops his feet up on the couch, rests his head on the fluffy cushions, picks up a statuette from the table, and starts playing with it.

"We're on duty." Cho reprimands him.

But he ignores Cho and continues with his childish inquisitiveness. "How much do you think this cost?"

"Around six hundred dollars, I think." Jane answers, coming down the spiral stairs on the other side of the room.

Rigsby sits up, placing the statuette back on the table, and grins nervously, like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Nice house."

"Thank you", Jane smiles happily, sitting down on the recliner, "Better than my Malibu mansion, don't you think?"

"You went to Jane's Malibu mansion?" Cho asks, surprised to know Rigsby didn't tell him.

"Oh, just this one time", Rigsby shrugs. "I was on that YY case, needed a place to crash. I forgot to tell you because you were away for so long."

"Oh, right, Cho, how did that assignment go?" Jane asks curiously.

Cho doesn't answer him. Instead, he cuts straight to the chase. "We need your help on a case."

"I quit. Seven weeks ago." Jane reminds him.

Rigsby sighs. He still doesn't get why Jane quit so suddenly, in the middle of a case- which is still unsolved, just for the record. They were so close to nailing Red John, they had narrowed down the suspects, and then Jane said he was "so done with Red John", and that he wanted to "live his life now", and just like that, he quit.

"We know, but boss thinks-"

"-Where is Lisbon, by the way?", Jane cuts him off mid-sentence, and then adds, after a moment of indecision, and much more quietly. "Is she still mad at me?"

Rigsby hesitates. It's Bertram who sent them to Jane, ignoring Lisbon's protests. Truth be told, Jane quitting was a huge blow to her. Everybody told her that someday this was going to happen, but deep down in her heart, she had hoped they were wrong. She didn't get why he quit either. Even though there never really was any reasoning with Jane, she tried talking to him so many times to change his mind.

And then she just gave up and never looked back. He called sometimes, she never answered. She watched his life in TV and newspapers, how he claimed that he had rejected his psychic side due to the shock of losing his family, but now he was ready to "embrace his true self and serve the world with his gift." In other words, Jane was back to scamming people.

She waited to see if he would come back, she was sure he would. He never did.

Cho breaks the silence. "No."

Jane thinks for a moment, and then he is hopping up the stairs, shooting a challenge their way. "Well, always good to see you, boys, why don't you tell Lisbon to swing by my house, and maybe I'll think about it?"

It takes Bertram threatening Lisbon with indefinite suspension to finally force her to meet Jane. She shows up at his office, checks in with the receptionist, flashing her shiny CBI badge while wincing at the décor of the place, and waits, all the while telling herself to take a deep breathe, be professional, be calm, and that it would be done before she knows it.

"Hey, Lisbon", Jane enters the room, looking like he was actually surprised that she came, like he was actually unsure whether his trick would work for once. He stares at her for a few seconds, taking in her dress, her body language, her expressions- everything is still the same, yet everything seems so far away. It's been too long. His face lights up with a genuine smile. "Good to see you."

All the anger that she had been holding in for so long vanishes the moment she turns around and meets his gaze.

And that only makes her angrier. She thinks of an insult quickly. "What the hell are you wearing? Is that an emerald on your tie? Really, Jane?"

"Well, I'm about to give a presentation….", he glances at the clock, and suddenly, it's like something in him visibly shifts, and his eyes twinkle with mischief. Oh no, oh God no.

"If you were going to meet me at my office, you should have called and made an appointment. You know what? Isles, come here," he motions for the receptionist to come over to them, "I'm sure she can find a time this week, right?"

She stares at him incredulously. She visits him, after so long, swallowing her pride, on his insistence, and this is how he treats her? With whatever stupid mind game he's thinking about pulling on her?

"You're a jerk" is all she says before she leaves, slamming the door behind her.

And despite everything, she still finds herself at his house the next day. He might be a con man, but a part of her refuses to believe that she's so stupid, so blind that Jane could con her- he isn't that good.

Something must have happened to make Jane change his mind about working with the CBI, she just couldn't figure out the real reason.

Lost in thoughts, she fails to notice Jane entering the room. When she finally sees him, she sits up straight. "Your couch is fluffier than my bed." She snarls.

He grins, sitting down on the leader chair across from her. "I always knew I had better taste."

She scoffs. It's kind of awkward, and yet, this- this bantering, it's natural. "Yeah, I bet. I picked the job of a silly little CBI agent while you're a con artist playing a psychic."

"I am psychic, Lisbon. And you know that."

"No, you're not." She glares at him, "And you know that."

"What I don't know is why you're here." He changes the topic before it turns into a fight. He doesn't want to fight with her- he just wants everything to be okay between them now.

"Well, apparently you said you'd consult on the case if I asked you to."

He shakes his head. "I said I'll think about it." He grins.

"Still a jerk." She mumbles loudly, more to herself than to him, and shakes her head. "I'll see you at 9 tomorrow at my office."

"No can do." He mimics her, shaking his head again. "I've got a TV interview tomorrow morning."

She stares at him incredulously. It's like she's being stood up on dates, the way he's turning her down for help for the second time now.

Suddenly, the playfulness of everything fades, and she's serious. The "Jane, we need your help" chokes on her lips when she gets flashbacks of everything that has happened, and before she can catch herself, the anger in her swells. "Fine, so be it then."

She keeps staring at the clock. Eight fifty-five, eight fifty-six, eight-fifty- seven…

"He's not coming", Cho says it the way it is.

Van Pelt refuses to give up though. "Well, it's Jane. Maybe he's just playing with us. Maybe he will be here at nine. She did say nine."

The clock hits nine, and Rigsby turns on the TV. "Looks like he is doing the interview."

Curiosity gets the better of Lisbon, and she finds herself joining him in front of the TV.

It begins with Jane performing some tricks, and moves on to the interviewer asking Jane about his life, his powers, his work with the CBI for ten long years, his friends, his new mansions, and finally, "What about Red John?"

Jane's eye-brows furrow for a few seconds, long enough for Lisbon to notice. And then he just grins. Doesn't say a thing, just grins at the interviewer.

She waits expectantly for a few moments, before she realizes that he's not going to answer.

And then it suddenly hits Lisbon. The real reason.

Jane walks into his drawing room, to see Lisbon already there, looking outside a window, lost in thoughts. Something about her makes him feel ill at ease, he could always tell when something was wrong. But he tries to act natural. "You're back? Wow, you must really want my help with this case."

"Cut the crap, Jane", she gives him the deadliest glare she can manage at the moment, what with her feeling like everything is falling into place while she is falling apart. "I know why you quit CBI."

"Yes, I told you."

"No, the real reason." She takes a step closer to him, staring at him almost threateningly. Her eyes are hazy, like she's looking for answers in his. "It was Red John, wasn't it?"

He tries to protest. "Lisbon, what are you-"

"Don't lie to me!" she yells. For the first time in seven weeks, she's losing it. All those times when she thought she would turn around and he would be there, and he wasn't there. All those nights when she had to find the strength to not answer his calls. "It was Red John's doing, the car that hit me that day, and you knew it! It was a warning to back off, wasn't it?"

He doesn't say a thing, just takes a seat on the couch.

"Answer me!" she demands.

He sighs. "Lisbon-"

"Shut up!" she yells again.

And he does.

She picks up the thing closest to her hand- every single thing about his new life annoys her, so she might as well start with it. She throws it at the floor with all her strength and breaks it into pieces, and then stomps on them, smashing them further. "I am your friend. Why couldn't you tell me what was really going on? Say something!"

He shields himself with a pillow. "Okay, but that vase cost me five hundred dollars. You can pay me back when you get your salary."

"JANE!"

"You know what you would have said!" he finally breaks. He throws the pillow to some corner of the room, and walks right up to her, looking her straight in the eyes. She takes a step back involuntarily. Jane is breaking. "Red John killed my wife, my daughter. No matter what I do, I won't get them back. I won't get any peace, I won't get any redemption. But you? I'm not going to lose you because of my….", it takes a lot of strength to get the word out, "obsession."

It takes her a little by surprise. She always knew she meant something to him, she just never realized it was enough for him to give up the one thing he had dedicated his life to.

"Jane", she sighs, touching his arm lightly to calm him down. She takes a deep breath to calm herself down as well. "I'm a homicide detective, and Red John is a serial killer. This is just professional hazard."

"No, it isn't", he protests, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath. "It's personal."

She doesn't know what to say to that. So she just hugs him.

A/N: Hope you liked it! It's a one-shot for now, but I can add one more chapter if you guys want. Please leave a review and let me know :)