author's note: the first fanfic I ever wrote. three years later, I feel I have improved, so I've rewritten. Thank you for the follows, faves, and reviews I've gotten over those three years; and now, I'm going to genuinely finish it. I'd suggest a re-read, both to refresh you on the plot, and to (hopefully) discover the improvements I've made.

Lisbon sat up slowly to smack off her alarm clock, groaning inwardly. They had to go back to work, since it was Monday, although she was torn about that. She didn't want to leave the perfect bubble she and Jane had shared over the weekend, but what Jane always said was right- "cop" was pretty much her whole identity.

She turned to Jane, unsurprised to find him staring at her with slightly unfocused eyes. She grinned. "Morning, lazybones. Who's cooking breakfast?"

Jane propped himself on one elbow. "Teresa, that just isn't fair," he chided her. "You just woke up. I've been lying awake for fifteen minutes. I'm hardly the lazy one."

Lisbon rolled out of bed quickly, and said smugly, "But I'm the first one out of bed."

He raised his eyebrows. "Touche,"

She picked up her pillow and threw it at him. "Now, out of bed and to the kitchen."

His voice was muffled by the pillow on his face. "You're very demanding."

She moved to throw another pillow, but he sat up, sliding out of bed. "I'm going, I'm going. No need to turn to violence. What do you want to eat?"

Lisbon paused on her way to the shower. "Hmm..." she looked thoughtful for a moment. "Eggs." she finally decided. "Now I'm going to take a shower, and after we eat you can take one while I drink my coffee."

"You're also very controlling," he called to her, on the way to the kitchen.

She chuckled from the bathroom door. "Bite me."

It had been six weeks since Jane had jumped a fence and chased down a plane to stop her from going to DC, and Lisbon had come back to Austin with him, to his Airstream. He'd helped her find a new apartment and unpack the stuff she'd had Marcus send her from DC.

Living in the same house with Jane was surprising to her- she hadn't expected it to be easy. She'd expected him to snoop through her stuff and move things around, just to laugh when she couldn't find it.

Instead, she had found him to be a very conscientious roommate. Their preferences for housework naturally split- she hated vacuuming, but he didn't mind. He disliked dusting, which she enjoyed.

She realized that she knew him better than anyone else did, and she was...flattered. Flattered that he had chosen her to be with, to give himself to, to risk being hurt with.

Of course, she was never going to do that if she could help it, so there was nothing he could worry about there.

She hoped he knew that.

She bet she was the only one who knew he preferred to sleep on his right side as opposed to his left. She was the only one who knew that he bought eggs in two-dozen packages. She was the only one who knew he sometimes only removed his suit jacket and shoes before declaring himself ready for bed if he'd had a long day. She was the only one who knew what brand of soap he preferred (the scent was sandalwood- she was pretty sure that was his kind of cologne too).

She was the only one who knew Patrick Jane. That was a flattering statement.

By the time she got out of the shower, Jane was putting a plate in the sink, and a covered plate sat on the kitchen table.

"You go ahead and fill that hollow leg of yours, I'll shower," he told her, brushing past her much closer than was necessary to go up the stairs.

She didn't mind.

They rode into work together- since Jane had made the announcement on a plane, well, it seemed pointless to try to keep it a secret. They stopped on the way for Lisbon to get a latte and Jane a cup of tea and arrived at FBI headquarters right on time. Lisbon found one of the advantages of Jane wanting to ride to work with her was the fact that he could never be late if she wasn't late. And since she was never late, she never had to worry about it. She enjoyed the power of knowing that, perhaps a bit more than she should have, but she didn't care. Jane was so hard to control, that any semblance of controlling him was a thrilling thought indeed.

The moment Jane and Lisbon came into the building, they were cornered by Abbott. "Agent Lisbon, Jane, my office. Now." he turned on his heel and started off, expecting them to follow. After trading glances, they did.

"Okay, Jane, what did you do?" Lisbon demanded, as they walked after their boss.

Jane held his hands up in defense, grinning despite himself. "Lisbon, please, I'm wounded!" He placed a hand over his heart in comical drama. "Of course I didn't do anything!"
"You keep that up and you will be wounded," Lisbon grumbled.

Jane chuckled. "I am serious though, Lisbon. I didn't do anything this time."

"Sure?" she asked, still skeptical.

"Cross my heart," Jane promised.

"And that means so much, coming from you," Lisbon muttered.

This time he might have looked genuinely hurt. Lisbon still wasn't quite sure of how to tell when he was acting and when he wasn't. "Lisbon," was all he said, but she could hear the hurt in his tone, and the implication. 'how could you say that?'

"I'm sorry Jane, but you still have some trust to earn." She told him, staying firm even though she wanted to melt and apologize for doubting him, which was hard to resist when he looked at her like that.

"Yes Agent," he mocked lightly, as they brushed into their bosses' office.

Cho, Fisher, and Wiley were already present, standing on one side of the room. Jane and Lisbon made their way to the other members of their team, and waited for the purpose of the meeting to happen.

Lisbon's eyes landed on a woman seated in a chair that was pushed against one wall opposite the rest of the team. She was wearing a very unbusinesslike, though modest, bell-sleeved dress with a high neck, and looked rather plain, with dark eyes and hair. Lisbon sized her up, guessing she was maybe an inch or two taller than herself, if that. She caught herself in the middle of the size up and wondered why she was doing it- it wasn't as if this woman was a suspect. Cop instincts, she thought finally.

"Don't worry, Agent Lisbon," the strange woman grinned at Lisbon, "This little gathering isn't about anything Patrick did. I'm afraid I'm mostly the cause."

The agents traded slightly bewildered glances. Lisbon's eyes narrowed as she stared back at the woman, whose grin grew wider under the scrutiny. She gave Lisbon a nod that bordered on disrespectful, but somehow walked a line closer to polite, and Lisbon resisted the urge to huff in annoyance. Luckily, Abbott started the meeting and ended the encounter for the time being.

"Agents," Abbott began, from his seat behind his desk, "as you may know, the crime rate the FBI has to deal with is pretty high. Even at the rate Jane closes the cases, we can't keep up with a number of things happening. That's why we're adding another team to your division."

"You mean- we have to split the work on our cases?" Fisher asked, looking mildly horrified at the concept of teamwork.

Abbott smirked. "If you see fit to do so, you may, but I was thinking more along the lines of splitting the caseload."

Fisher nodded. "Right, sir."

"You two teams can decide among yourselves who takes what case, depending on your expertise or, whatever you want to use to decide, but try to be fair. We don't want any one team trying to get out of more cases than the other. This is not a competition or an invitation to try and best each other, this is a serious attempt to solve more cases. That means working together. The point is we save more lives and put away more bad guys. Understood?"

Everyone in the room nodded, except for the woman on the other side of the room, who merely watched the proceedings with an unreadable expression on her face. Lisbon thought she might have looked vaguely amused, but she wasn't sure.

"Now then," Abbott began, smiling a little as he handed each of the agents a folder, "These are the files on the agents who'll make up the new team. Feel free to read them- the agents should be here shortly. And this," Abbott gestured to the woman on the other side of the room, "is the case consultant for the new team, Mira Colburn."

She smiled at the other agents and nodded to them. "The pleasure is mine," she said amiably.

Lisbon thought there was something oddly familiar about that smile. It was like the one Jane used when he met the families of the victims- charming, but friendly, and meant to pull you into his trust.

She cast a sidelong glance at Jane. trying to see what he thought, but of course, he didn't have a readable expression on his face.

"Mira here has a law enforcement background. She used to be a professional mentalist, and we thought having two Janes around would make things go faster," Abbott said. "She consulted for the ATF in the past; she's currently here on leave from-"

"Oh, please, Dennis, no one cares where I come from. All the needless literature about myself is in those files over there, and as far as I'm concerned, there it can remain. Don't you agree?" she turned her smile on to Lisbon, Jane, and the rest of the team.

Jane chuckled. "If I thought you needed the help, I'd be cheering you on."

"Hello, Patrick. Long time no see, as they say," Mira said brightly.

"Mira," Jane acknowledged her with a smile. "When was the last time- 1996, if my memory serves me correctly."

"It does," Mira answered. "It was right here in Texas, too. Amarillo, I do believe." Mira had a vaguely southern accent- Lisbon thought she'd heard it before but she couldn't quite place the geographical location it came from.

"You two know each other?" Lisbon asked, hoping she didn't look as surprised as she felt.

Mira nodded, turning her attention on Lisbon. "Oh, of course, Agent Lisbon. We used to work crowds together sometimes when he was a con man."

"You were a mentalist," Lisbon stated, trying to make sense of what she was hearing.

"As some would say, I suppose. Really I'm just observant." Mira chuckled. "So, I guess now it's us against the FBI, hmm, Patrick?"

Jane nodded, still smiling. "Yes, I suppose it is. Nice to have someone on my side."

Before Mira could respond, two agents walked into the office, one somewhat uncertainly, the other with a little too much bravado.

"Ah, Agents Conlon and Meller. Good to have you. I'd like to introduce you to Agents Lisbon, Cho, and Fisher, and our tech, Wiley. This their consultant, Patrick Jane." Jane nodded and smiled to the two newcomers. "And this is your new consultant, Mira Colburn." Mira greeted them in much the same way as Jane.

Abbott turned to his Agents. "This is Special Agent Amy Meller and Agent Rudy Conlon. They'll be making up the team that Colburn will be consulting for."

"Team? More like a Dynamic Duo," Jane put in.

"The more difficult cases are going to be yours," Meller said. "We'll be taking care of the smaller ones."

"I thought we were going to decide how to split the cases 'fairly among ourselves', not by difficulty without consulting us first," Lisbon said, already ruffled by the take charge attitude of Amy Meller.

"We decided to make the decision for you." she smiled a professional sort of smile. "Saves time."

"Well, Amy, Agent Lisbon here is quite in the right you know," Mira said smoothly, flashing one of the most charming smiles Lisbon had seen outside of Jane. "Your personal problems must be most frustrating, and I'm certain you and your mother will reach a treaty in the near future, but you needn't take your frustrations out on a power trip. After all, you are their guest, not the other way around."

Lisbon resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The last thing she wanted was another Jane walking around reading people and causing trouble.

Meller's eyes cut to Mira. "I am Agent Meller to you, Colburn." she said coldly. "I'm also your handler, so be very careful where you step."

Mira raised her hands in placating gesture. "Your wish is my command, darling. I'm sorry I interfered," she backpedaled. "And- was that a threat?" she looked from Meller to Jane, and back to Meller, artfully ignoring the dark look that the pet name earned her.

"It did sound like one," Jane said, helpfully.

Lisbon elbowed him in the ribs.

"Best to watch your step, Ms. Meller," Mira said, purposefully refusing to say "Agent". "Supposed I called the CTC on you."

"CTC?" repeated Fischer. She didn't want to get into the fight, but she'd never heard of that acronym before.

"Cruelty to Consultants." Mira chuckled.

Fisher grinned in spite of herself. Jane chuckled, and this time Lisbon didn't stop her impulsive eye roll.

Anyone else would have melted under the death glare Agent Meller was sending Mira's way, but she simply sat there, smiling, and looking perfectly calm and cheerful… and mischievous.

"Yes, well…" Abbott cleared his throat and recaptured the attention of those present in the room. "Meller and her team will be residing in the bullpen on the other side of the break room, which you'll be sharing. When a case comes in, you'll have to decide who takes it, if neither of you currently have one. Is everyone clear?"

They all nodded, some more reluctantly than others.

"Good," Abbott smiled. "You're all dismissed. Lisbon, Cho, Fisher, Wiley, and Jane- go on to whatever it is you're doing this morning. Meller, Conlon, Colburn- come with me, I'll help you set up." He led the two Agents and the consultant from the room. Mira paused in front of Jane. "Patrick, we may have to stop and catch up sometime, but now is not it. I suppose we'll have to reschedule… stay in trouble," she added, before disappearing around the corner.

She poked her head back in a second later to say, "I do believe we can obtain a certain amount of unfettered amusement from our new friend Amy. What do you say?"

Jane grinned back at her. "Oh, well, we'll have to see where it goes," he said vaguely. Mira seemed to recognize that as some kind of code, rather than the innocent seeming statement it was and nodded with a polite, but leading smile.

Uh oh. Lisbon had seen that sparkle in his eyes before. She had a feeling she should be very worried.

"Miss Colburn! If you're through socializing, some of us actually have to work for a living." the annoyed voice of Agent Meller came from the other bullpen.

Mira's grin got impossibly wider. "By all means," she drawled, with what might have been a charming accent if she wasn't plotting against an FBI agent. "See you in the breakroom, Patrick. Maybe I'll even put the kettle on for you."

And with that, she disappeared around the corner again.

Cho was the first to speak. "Great. There's two of them."

Fischer grinned. "She's kind of...cute."

Wiley nodded. "Um, yeah, cute. Actually, maybe, pretty would be more like it."

"Pretty annoying, you mean." Lisbon huffed. "The world isn't ready for another Jane."

"She's not another me," Jane laughed. "Trust me, she's quite different, once you get to know her."

"That's the thing that scares me," retorted Lisbon. "That thing she was doing, I've seen you get punched in the nose for doing that a million times. I don't need two consultants to run after with ice packs." She could just imagine the horrors that might occur if the both of them ever worked together.

Jane turned to leave. "Well, she's not actually your consultant, she's Meller's. You have nothing to be concerned about."

"What thing?" Wiley asked.

Lisbon followed Jane out of Abbott's office and into the bullpen. "She cold read Agent Meller and then riled her up with what she found out to see what kind of reaction she'd get."

"Why, Lisbon, I'm impressed," Jane said. "I didn't know you kept up with the terminology of my profession. A gold star for you."

"Shut up, Jane," she retorted, but she was smiling.

"So… what's that?" Wiley wanted to know.

"What's what?" said Fischer, as she sat down behind her desk.

"What's cold reading?"

"It's a technique used by mentalists and fake psychics. Without prior knowledge of the person being read, a practiced cold reader can quickly obtain a lot of information about the person from their body language, age, clothing or fashion, hairstyle, gender, sexual orientation, religion, race or ethnicity, level of education, manner of speech… you know, simple things that you're not supposed to know unless they've told you." Jane laid down on his couch while he spoke, finishing with his eyes closed and his hands clasped across his chest, raising one in a dismissive wave as though what he'd just described was uninteresting and normal.

"Wow," Wiley said, sitting down slowly in his chair, looking awestruck. "That's so cool!"

Jane opened one eye to study him. "Meh, it's not too hard. Just takes practice."

"Can you teach me?"

Jane shook his head. "No...no, you don't have the mental stamina," Jane said, trying to seem thoughtful, even though he'd probably already analyzed everything he could about Wylie.

"Hmm. Oh well," Wylie said, sounding unconcerned and already moving on to the next thing, which was apparently booting up his computer.

Fischer sat down and began reading the Agents' files.

"Agent Conlon is a rookie," she remarked, without looking up. "This is his first job with the FBI."

"I knew that," Jane said.

"He didn't seem nervous," Lisbon said, thinking over her brief encounter with the agent. She would have had to admit, however, that she hadn't paid much attention to him. She'd been too caught up in the novelty that was Mira Colburn, and the annoying take charge attitude of Special Agent Meller.

"He was pretty nervous," Cho said, in his usual monotone.

"You wouldn't have noticed," Jane said to Lisbon. "You were too caught up in being mad at Meller."

Lisbon scowled at him. "Wouldn't you?"

"She doesn't bother me. It won't take much to make her see things our way."

"Jane," Lisbon warned. "Leave her alone."

"Of course," he agreed, much too quickly.

"I mean it Jane," said Lisbon. "I don't care if she irks you or not. She's off limits. She has way more seniority than either of us and she's a top agent with the FBI. The last thing I need is you playing mind games with her."

"Why? It would be Abbott's problem anyway, not yours. And besides, who said I'd be the one playing mind games with her?"

The full realization of the situation came to Lisbon at that moment. "Oh, God. Where did any of this come from anyway? I mean, I know there's been a lot of cases lately, but are we really far enough behind that it warrants another team?"

Jane shrugged. "I figured as much. There was no way we could keep up the pace we've been going at effectively. And when I heard Mira was in the building a few days ago, well, that pretty much confirmed my suspicions."

"And you didn't bring it up?" Fischer grumbled.

"No," Jane said, much too brightly for Lisbon's tastes. "You would have been worrying about it all the time if I had, and then we'd never have solved the case."

"When did you hear about Mira?" Lisbon demanded. "This was all news to me."

Jane shrugged, saying, "Abbott really should close the office door before making secret phone calls. Much too easy to stand in the hallway and pretend to make small talk with people while listening in."

"So now you spy on our boss," Lisbon said dryly. "I'm sure that would go over well."

"Maybe, but he'll never know."

Lisbon shook her head in resignation. He was right about that- Abbott couldn't read Jane and she certainly wasn't going to say anything.

"Well," Lisbon sighed, "it's not like we have a case right now anyway. I guess I'll read about this mysterious Mira. I'm actually just in shock. I was under the impression that you were one of a kind," she said, directing the last bit to Jane.
"No, no, mentalism is a skill. A complicated and rare skill, but a skill just the same," he answered.

There was silence for a moment, filled only by the rustle of papers and click of keyboards, before Lisbon found a folder with "Mira Colburn, Consultant" printed on it. She picked it up, thumbed it open and frowned. "Jane, it's empty," she said in apparent wonderment.

"I doubt that," Jane said carelessly.

"It has her picture, her name and date of birth, and her specialty but….. that's really about it," Lisbon admitted, turning the single sheet of paper over in her hands.

Jane glanced in her direction. "She's a very private person," he said pointedly.

Lisbon nodded. "I can see that," she said. She picked up a different file. "Okay, then here's Agent Meller," she said, flipping it open to find a normal file, and beginning to read.

Jane sat up on his couch. "Anyone want to bet on how long it'll take for us to get a case we can fight over?"

Lisbon and Cho groaned when Wiley took the bet for five bucks, but otherwise, he was left unchallenged.

"Hmm. Good luck to you, Wiley," he said, clapping the younger man a little too hard on the shoulder, "and now I think I'll get some tea."