Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my own creations.

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'Now clear your mind. Listen only to the sound of my voice,' said Patrick Jane in a measured tone as he concentrated intensely on Grace van Pelt, hands raised in the air between them. 'Shut your eyes and open your mind to me.'

It was at this moment that Wayne Rigsby walked into the bullpen and looked slightly concerned at the scene before him. 'What's going on?' he whispered loudly to Kimball Cho.

'Jane reckons that he can find out what van Pelt was doing last night by reading her mind,' responded Cho from where he stood.

'Oh cool,' said Rigsby as he crossed his arms and stood next to Cho, looking at the duo intently.

'I'm getting it now,' continued Jane softly. 'You were out last night. With a group of people. Ten – no thirteen – people. You weren't expecting to have a good night, but you were surprised by the quality.'

Cho and Rigsby exchanged a look as Teresa Lisbon snorted softly from her seat on the edge of a desk nearby.

'It was a pleasant evening, and you think you'll find yourself returning to experience its pleasures once again on several occasions.' Rigsby choked as Cho taunted Jane. 'Get to the point man. Where was she?'

Jane stepped back with a flourish as van Pelt opened her eyes. 'Yoga.'

A look to van Pelt confirmed Jane's declaration. 'How did you know that?' she asked incredulously.

Jane raised his hands in a mysterious manner. 'A man never reveals his sources.'

'He saw your yoga kit last night,' said Lisbon, effectively popping Jane's bubble as the ex-psychic then turned to her. 'I beg to differ. It's all about mental calibration.'

Lisbon snorted as she slid off the desk. 'Call it what you like, you can't read minds.'

'Not true,' said Jane with a cheeky look on his face. 'I can read clearly what you did last night. If I'm not wrong, you had a good time. A very good time.'

Lisbon flushed as the team around her laughed and Virgil Minelli stepped into the room. 'Does any work actually get done here?' he barked as Lisbon almost snapped to attention. 'Sir!'

'A word Agent Lisbon,' said Minelli as the team scrambled to their respective desks, Jane happy to remain standing where he is, no doubt revelling in the fear with which the chief's arrival has instilled in the team. 'If you're not too busy that is.'

'Not at all sir.'

As Minelli leads the way to his office, Jane is close behind Lisbon. Seeing her boss's back turned from them, the now blush-free agent hit Jane's arm as she admonished him. 'Why did you do that?'

'Hey, I know for a fact that you had a good night last night,' said Jane conspiratorially as he rubbed his arm. 'No mind reading needed there.'

'It wasn't like that,' she whispered. 'Don't make it sound like that.'

His only response was a wide grin.

'If the class is ready, we shall begin,' said Minelli drily from his doorway as Lisbon realised that they had reached the office. 'Sorry chief.'

'Don't be sorry, just do a good job on this case,' sighed Minelli as he took his seat. 'It's a personal request from the Attorney General himself.'

'What now?' snorted Jane. 'Did one of his investments fall through or a good mate of his get caught for tax fraud or ... ?'

'His nephew was abducted and is now in a coma,' interrupted Minelli as Jane looked momentarily chagrined and Lisbon took over. 'Do you want us to find out who abducted the boy?'

Minelli looked at Jane and Lisbon a moment before he opened the file before him. 'Fifteen year old Christopher Mainstone-English was found by security in a shopping mall carpark in the early hours of this morning. He was conscious and talking...'

'Was he able to identify his abductor?' probed Lisbon.

'In a way,' said Minelli slowly as Lisbon looked confused. 'Sir?'

'He was claiming he was abducted by aliens.'

'Right,' said Lisbon as Jane rubbed his hands together gleefully. 'Oh goody. Aliens.'

'By the time the ambulance arrived, the boy had fallen unconscious and he has yet to wake up,' concluded Minelli as he closed the file. 'The family is waiting to speak with you.'

Handing the file over to Lisbon, he held it a moment longer as she grasped it. 'Now, I've assured the Attorney-General that I am putting my best team on the case. May I hope that this is still the case?'

'Absolutely sir,' promised Lisbon as she stood up and Minelli finally consented to let the file go. 'And Lisbon?'

'Sir?' said Lisbon pausing in the centre of the room.

'I don't need to remind you that a speedy resolution and your utmost discretion is absolutely vital do I?'

'But of course.'

'Be gone,' dismissed the chief as he turned back to the paperwork on his desk.

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Pulling on his jacket, Rigsby rounded the car to where Cho stood. 'Hey Cho, the mothership is calling for you,' he joked as Cho shut the car door.

'After you,' shot back Cho without missing a beat as they began their walk up the driveway to the sizable Mainstone-English mansion.

'Focus people,' called van Pelt as she came between them. 'And besides, there's no such thing as aliens.'

Meanwhile, Jane and Lisbon had almost reached the house. If you didn't know that a crime had been committed, you wouldn't know. There was no police presence or otherwise - the street looked exactly like how it normally would. Reaching the bottom of the steps leading up to the entrance, Lisbon turned to Jane with a semi-warning look on her face. 'Behave.'

Jane raised his hands in mock surrender. 'But of course. When haven't I?'

Lisbon raised her eyebrow in response as they shared a glance a second longer than considered socially acceptable before they walked up the steps in synchronisation. There was no need to knock as the door was opened before them when they reached the top and a well dressed man stepped out of the house.

'Agent Lisbon?' he queried with his hand outstretched toward Jane.

'Not me. Her,' clarified Jane with exaggerated hand movements as the man then turned to Lisbon. 'Sorry, Agent Lisbon. I'm Walter Seacrest.'

She nodded her head grimly as she shook his hand firmly. 'Lawyer?'

'No, more the all-round, go-to guy,' laughed the Walter, still maintaining his confident pose. Lisbon didn't join in the laughter. 'May we come in?'

'Please do.'

Asking Hugo and Allegra Mainstone-English about their son's life was proving a hopeless exercise as they could offer very little insight into Christopher's friends, school life and really, anything. Clearly bored with the way the conversation was going, Jane interrupted Lisbon's usual line of questioning. 'Your son was found ranting about alien abduction. What do you have to say about that?'

'Aliens?' said Allegra in a derisive tone, whilst still maintaining her perfect facade, as she exchanged a look with her husband. 'There's no such thing as aliens,' added Hugo with a trace of scorn.

'Not true,' said Jane raising his fingers. 'Who are we to decide that there aren't little green skinned men – or grey skinned or any coloured skin men for that matter – running all over the universe? After all, we could even technically be called aliens.'

'Is this how your agents investigate cases?' asked Allegra is an accusatory tone, the mask still in place, as she turned to Lisbon.

'Consultant,' said Lisbon as a means of explanation, raising her shoulders to show her apparent lack of control over the situation.

'How is all this alien talk going to help find our son?' pressed Hugo as Jane turned on them once again. 'Ah ha. It might help, might not, but it's probably the best lead we've got at the moment because you two are such unloving and business-minded people that we're not going to get much help from you. You couldn't even tell us what Christopher was doing yesterday. And you have another son, but I don't see him anywhere, so... '

'Excuse me!' said Hugo in objection as he stood from the couch, outrage apparent on his face.

'Hit a nerve did I?' asked Jane in a cheery mood, Hugo's wrath not bothering him one iota.

'Don't you know who I am?' threatened Hugo in a tone that was a perfect balance between arrogance, confidence and all round smarminess.

'A pompous ass?' suggested Jane merrily as Lisbon turned in her seat. 'Jane...' she warned as he raised his hands and backed out the door.

'Don't worry, I'm done here,' he calls on his way down the hall. 'I'll off to the nosy neighbours' place.'

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Next Chapter: Jane meets a girl who gives him a run for his money.