This is the first time I took part in the Mentalist Big Bang at Livejournal. Thanks for Autumn for her lovely art and Brit for being my beta.

I don't own anything. Sadly.

The sun was yelling at them. That's what Jane had said that his daughter used to say, on a day like today when it was hot and sunny and they would sweat just by walking in it. Today, they had driven in it, nearly a hundred miles with no air conditioner, as they chased the man Jane was sure was Red John through the desert into Nevada.

There had been two men, working together, one confirmed to be Red John – by Jane and Rosalind, the former based on what he said on the tape recorder, and Rosalind by the sound of his voice. The other, similar in looks, was clearly a decoy.

The problem was, they had no idea which Red John had fled into the desert, and which one had jumped on that train to San Francisco. The surveillance cameras were not helpful. Lisbon and Rigsby had believed that the real Red John was heading to the city, while Jane said no, he just wanted them to think that he was going to where he could easily flee the country. He himself would go to the desert, disappear into another part of America, and then, when the time was right, return to California to continue his torment of Patrick Jane.

"Lisbon? Hey."

Lisbon shifted her gaze from the ceiling, where it had been fixated for God knows how many hours, to the door. "Hey," she said, smiling. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, of course," Jane said, walking over to her bedside. "I actually have to meet someone downtown in a half an hour, but I thought I'd stop by and check on everybody, you know, just because I'm a nice guy like that. How are your hands?"

"They still hurt," Lisbon said. "But the doctors said that I'll have full use of them again soon. They just need some time to heal." She shifted her weight as best as she could. "Has anyone been released yet?"

"Cho will be ready to leave soon, they're giving him one more examination and he's free to go. Van Pelt's expected to leave by night time. Rigsby said he's only supposed to be here another twenty four hours or so. At least that's what he expects, anyway."

Lisbon nodded. "That's good." She tipped her head back again. "I just want to be back to work. It'll be good for us to be busy."

"Ah," Jane said, nodding. "Of course." He put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "Get well soon, all right? I need to get going."

"Okay," she said, watching him go. As much as she would be hurting right now without the medication, Jane was okay, and the other three had thankfully gone after who had turned out to be the decoy. She never would have been able to forgive herself if her mistake had cost them their lives.

"Lisbon, I swear to you, the guy we want is not on the train," he had told her. "He's gone into the desert, thinking we won't follow him. He'll want to stay close, not leave the country."

"Maybe that's what he wants you to think," Lisbon had suggested.

"No," Jane had said. "For once I've read him correctly. He's desperate, that's clear, but he wants us to think he's so desperate he wouldn't be able to plan something like this. He had expected we'd close in on him this time, and he's trying to make himself look more desperate than he actually is."

So she had agreed to accompany him in this God – awful car while the other three agents drove in air conditioning down to the city.

"I still say we're chasing the wrong guy," Lisbon said. "We're chasing a doppelganger through the desert in a two hundred degree car while the other three go after Red John in San Francisco."

"No," Jane said. "This is him. I'm sure of it." He looked over at her from the passenger seat, his eyes lit up in a way that she'd never seen them. "We're going to get him this time, Lisbon." He turned back to face the front. "I know it."

Sorry if some chapters are pretty short, I'm putting it up here exactly as it was up on Livejournal. :) And I appreciate reviews!