Oh, yes, the damn disclaimer: seriosuly, do we really have to do it? Because, Jeez, if I'd own them, I'd not be here writing it, I'd be the writeer of a TV Shows and, well, we'd have the LIsbon romance for real...meanwhile, I just "write, draw, create, dream, hope and believe in Bruno, waiting for him to be blessed bu the light of reason..." (No, this discalimer isn't mine, it belongs to one fo the girls who wite Mentalist fiction on the italian site efpfiction, but don't tell me many of you don't share this vision...).

Based on a prompt on Jelloforever...

She remembers when he told her she'd be the one he'd call, wash e dying. She remembers that day and the exact words he used clearly, even if, when it comes to Jane, there's that much she doesn't remember about him (both for future reference or for that hideous tee crush come when she isn't a teen any longer).

But it is different when she thinks about those words, because, as soon as he said that, she thought it was the same for her: not her brothers, her family, Minelli or Cho or Sam. No, the only name she can thinks about in those kind of situations is Patrick Jane, the same Jane who is now occupying her thoughts, while she cries all her tears- his voice, low and sensual, his eyes, blue and sparkly, his ruffled curly blonde hair, his smile, contagious and always a bit flirty, and even his 3 pieces suites.

She is seriously considering calling him, since it's kind of what they promised that day to each other, but, as she hears the front door opening, she realizes she will not need to: typical Jane, she thinks, a small smile crossing her features, because, even if the man likes to think of himself of a free spirit, he is predictable, especially to her. God, there are times she even already knows what he'll say before he could actually open his mouth.

So, yes, she isn't surprised, she was, actually, expecting him, because she knows he is a good man who cares deeply about her (at which level, she isn't sure yet), and, with Jane being Jane, between her check-up (which he was aware of), her not showing up at work after her appointment and not answering her phone, since they weren't having any problems concerning the job, he simply knew she was at home- and he never had problems picking her lock up, and this time, it hasn't been any different. She knows, she knew, and, frankly, she doesn't care any longer, she no longer has the strength to fight him, this, to keep up the appearances, the façade, she is sick and tired, she can't take it any longer, and so, 25 years of regrets and tension and roads not taken make her walls collapse, all of this and one person alone, one man, Jane.

Jane, who finds her, sitting in the dark, on the floor of her bedroom, curled up, crying. Jane, who takes her in his arms without saying a word, just allowing Lisbon to cry in his shirt, Jane, who is kissing and caressing her hair while she holds onto him like for dear life. Jane, who had promised to save her, but can't do it now, not with this… because his magic is false, and even his mentalist abilities can't heal her dying body.

"What's wrong, Teresa, talk to me, please…" it's been two hours since he has come in, and she is still in silence, hugged to him, and while her desperate cries and sobs are gone, hot tears are still running wild on her delicate features.

It has taken him two hours to decide that he HAS to make the first move; he knows she wants to talk, but he feels she can't find the strength to, so, even if he isn't going to push the issues, he'll try to meet her halfway.

She doesn't know if the uses, so rare on his lips, of her given name, his tone, his words, his mere presence, the way he is cuddling her in his lap, but she just collapses in tears again, burying her face in the crock of his neck, her fists stroking the fabric of his shirt, she just knows that, minutes later, when she stops to cry, it's not because he is caressing her back and pushing her closer and closer to him, it's because she hears him sobs, and because she feels his hot and salty tears mixed with her owns.

He understood she thinks, and her assumption is proven right when he stops to cry just to ask her a question, not the first one a normal person would ask, but the first one that Jane would ask to anyone, her included.

"How long?" He simply asks, not going any further, unable to look into her marvelous green eyes.

"6 months, given or taken, doc said that if I start chemo right now I could gain a couple more of months, but he is pretty sure it will be pointless, because at that point I'll be more dead than alive, it would mean just torture me further, making the agony last longer" she pauses, and finally meets his gaze, a nervous laugh escaping her lips "I'm dying of a brain tumor, and the only reason I found out was because I couldn't get rid of the headache since last time I caught a flu…"

"Teresa, may I ask you what are you going to do now?"

"You just asked, you moron" she laughs again nervously, thinking about the fact that Jane probably did it on purpose, hoping that she could smile a little. "Well, to answer your question… I know it's selfish, but I lived my whole life with regrets, and I don't want to. If I died today, I would. The fact is, I always told myself "later" or "next time", and there are so many opportunities I missed, things that I didn't do… but my later is already here, and id don't want to die being just Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon, from now on, every day is a precious gift I want to enjoy, living my life to the full."

"You'd prefer avoiding telling Hightower this, you are considering the idea of taking few days, with excuse that one of your brothers has been in an incident, and it's in the hospital, and things aren't as good as the doctors first thought. That will buy you time, so that you could decided what to say. Of course, you'd prefer not saying anything at all, because you hate pity and compassion, and you knew that the team will ask to be at your side till the end, and you don't want them to see and remember you weak and fragile, you want them to remember you as the fearless and strong leader…"

"You know me so well" she whispers in his chest with a broken smile. She can feel something is up with Jane, that he is suffering, and she knows of the responsibility now he carries, because she is asking him to keep it secret, to witness her end. She doesn't need to use words to ask him to stay at her side, though, because he is Jane, and no matter what, he'll stay at her side.

"I… Teresa, I have to go, there are things… that I'm supposed to care of…" she gently removes the tears from his face with both hands, smiling at him, a true smile.

"It's ok, Jane, I understand, you don't have to stay"

"No, I, I would stay, but I really have to go… but, but I'll be back as soon as possible…."

"Then, I'll be here, Patrick, waiting for you."