A/N: Hello, here is a new story. I have many ideas for this so if you review I will update. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own The Mentalist or its characters. I only own Ailae.
"You don't own me!" the young teenager yelled at her mother through the vast tears streaming down her face.
"And why would you think that? I may not own you with money but I do by the simple fact you are my daughter!" the enraged woman screamed, louder and with more confidence than her daughter.
"You don't even care for me, and I know you never planned on having a child before I came along. In fact, I know you would have kicked me out of home by now if it weren't for the fact that I make you money!" she screamed back, traces of hurt in her voice, her long chestnut curls bouncing with the effort and force of the yell. She breathed deeply, hoping that the argument would soon be over and she could go back to her bed in the caravan. But her mother was not done yet, and Ailae knew there was far worse coming.
"You ungrateful brat! I help you. I have appreciated your weird personality and made something good out of it. You belong at the circus! Your freaky insights and weird ability to understand body language has a place here! It wouldn't anywhere else! Just... Get out of my sight until your next show in three hours. And make sure all your pathetic tear marks are gone."
Ailae almost smiled at these commands. Three hours, she had three hours. Three hours to escape. With that thought, she quickly nodded to her mother and darted inside the caravan.
Their caravan was small and not ideal to be living in, but it moved around with the circus so it had to be mobile. She walked over to the small cupboard beside her bed and took out all her casual clothes, stuffing them into a garbage bag. Ailae glanced at her performance clothes before shutting the drawer, not at all sad to never wear them again. They made her feel like an exhibition, something to stare at. Fake, unhuman.
Realising that she would need to pack things to survive with, she also took her pillow and a blanket, making sure to leave the thin one for her mother. She also took all the cash in her mother's purse, replacing it with monopoly money, purely to insult her intelligence.
After packing a bottle of water and dry biscuits, Ailae took one final look at her only home and stepped out onto the dry ground, garbage bag swung over her shoulder. She walked away from her mother, her job and her friends. She walked away from her old life, ready to start a new one.
Five hours later, Ailae was still walking but had lost track of where she was. Nothing seemed at all familiar to her, and she was positive this wasn't the way they had driven in two weeks ago. But she figured it didn't matter, anywhere was better than the circus. Except… she had lived her whole life at the circus, so she didn't know how to live on the streets. They had never been sightseeing so she didn't know how to interact with people. This fact scared her like no other, so she kept her head down and avoided eye contact.
She walked up to a supermarket, deciding to buy some food for her dinner. Most things were too expensive to be reasonable, so she picked up some half-price bread rolls and some more dry biscuits. After paying for her goods, she left the supermarket and started searching for a reasonable place to stay for the night. She steered away from dark alleys and dead ends, instead searching for somewhere well-lit and near houses. After nearly an hour of searching, Ailae finally found a small park surrounded by houses with street lights. Before settling down for the night, Ailae hesitantly sat on the slide and ate a bread roll and some biscuits. Her stomach rumbled for more, but she knew from movies that she had to ration her food, so she regretfully packed it away.
After deciding that the area was safe enough for one night, she took out her pillow and blanket, and lay down on the children's slide. She tried to fall asleep, but the events of the day were swirling around her head. She was scared about what would happen next, nervous about interacting with other people, and angry at her ex-mother, but she was not regretful. And Ailae knew she would never regret this day, because running from her mother was the smartest decision she had ever made.
Ailae woke to shouting, and confused, she sat up, burying her hands deep within the warmth of the blanket. Her eyes were blurry and at first she thought she was dreaming, but no.
There really were four FBI agents shouting at her and pointing their gun.
"Get your hands out! Put them where I can see them, or I'll shoot!" A big, muscular man shouted with no trace of bluffing. But Ailae saw the quick tightening of his lips, the disbelief. She knew he was surprised at her age, after all she was barely 15. As far as she knew, that was quite young to be living on the streets. But she decided to take advantage of his disbelief, and play the youth card. Conjuring up the most frightened look she could manage (with tears and all) she looked up through her long lashes.
"Why are you pointing a gun at me, scary man? I promise I did cross the road at the lights. Please, can you leave me alone?" Ailae finished whispering, silent tears streaming down her face. She could tell by the loosened grip on all their guns that they had bought the act. She felt her lips twitch, but hid it so well that the cops wouldn't be able to see it.
"We won't shoot you, I promise. Can you please just take your hands out from under the blanket and answer a few questions for me?" The burly man replied, a small, genuine smile on his face.
"Yes, sir" Ailae said, obeying his command. But as the man moved forward to sit beside her she saw what he had been covering before. And she screamed.
"Hey, hey! Calm down I won't hurt you." He cautioned, but Ailae didn't care. She was gasping hysterically, real tears flowing freely now. She was no longer acting the scared little girl, no. She was the scared little girl. Ailae barely even registered another FBI agent standing in front of the body, blocking it from her view. She didn't notice the agents trying to calm her down, nor did she notice one of them call an ambulance.
But she did notice when a man with curly hair that she seemed to recognise placed his hand on her shoulder and started chanting soothing words to her. She noticed because she began to feel calm, against all reason. She noticed because this was her skill, and there was no way anyone was going to use it against her. She noticed because she knew who he was.
"Don't you dare!" She snarled at him, and she registered the brief flash of shock go over his face. She figured he was used to hypnotising weak people, but she was far from weak.
"If you even go one more step into hypnotising me, I swear I will do the same to you. And then I will make you reveal all your secrets, in front of all these people."
His eyes widened fractionally, giving her the knowledge she needed; he did have secrets.
"Well, I certainly wouldn't want anyone to know I prefer my tea with warmed milk, now would I?"
"Jane" a lady with dark hair warned. "Don't tease a suspect. And sweetie, what's your name?"
Ailae studied the woman for a moment, deciding what the smartest move would be. Giving away your identity could be dangerous, but at the same time, these were Federal agents. After just a moment, she decided to tell the truth.
"Ailae. And before you ask, no, you may not create a nickname for me, and yes it's my real name, sort of. My mother didn't think I needed a name; Girl Wonder was enough for her. So I named myself and I am pleased with what I chose. Now let's get back to the matter at hand here. Why on earth is there a man lying over there surrounded by blood and why did you wake me...with guns? And why is he here?" She finished, pointing at Jane. The Boy Wonder. He glanced at her curiously, and she knew he was trying to remember if they had met before.
The lady that spoke before was the first to answer.
"My name is Lisbon, and we are investigating a murder, after which the body was dumped here. We found you sleeping here this morning and noticed your garbage bag looked suspicious. You must understand that at the moment, you are a suspect in our investigation."
Ailae almost laughed.
"You may search my bag if you wish. In fact I highly encourage you to. Who knows what I may be hiding? Maybe a sledgehammer? Go ahead. I'll just stand over here."
And so she did. She walked over to the edge of the park, all the while directing her gaze away from the body. She sat down on the bark and looked on, not even acknowledging his presence when Jane sat down beside her.
"Hi, I'm Jane." He introduced needlessly. Ailae glanced at him.
"I know." Was all she said.
"Oh, alright then. So….. want to see a cool trick?" Jane asked, clearing trying to get her to open up. Break the ice, make an impression.
"Ok." She smiled, interested to see what he could do, if the stories she had been told were accurate.
"Alright. Here is a new tissue, don't worry, I haven't used it. Go and hide it somewhere in the park, while I close my eyes. Then I'll find it."
Ailae did as he said and silently made her way over to a park bench, wedging it in between the timber. She checked to make sure he wasn't looking, and then walked around to create more tracks that didn't lead to where she had hidden it. She returned to where Jane was sitting and told him he could open his eyes. He did, and then took her hands in his.
"Don't be alarmed, I am just delving into your mind to find where the tissue is hidden. I need you to clearly think where it is as I move you around. Is that ok?"
Ailae smiled at his cautious explaining, and agreed instantly. She knew what he was going to do, but two could play at that game. She made sure to control her features and create 'micro expressions' of fear when he began steering her to a particular bush, and not when he steered her towards the bench. This way, he would interpret her expression incorrectly. She wished she had a camera to capture his face when he finally would realise he was wrong.
They were really close to the bush now and Ailae started fidgeting her hands. Jane smiled then swooped onto the bush.
"I have found it! Hang on…. What?" He looked at her with a very confused expression when there was nothing there. She laughed openly, guessing that he was not used to being wrong. She knew she wasn't. Walking over to the opposite side of the park, she grabbed the tissue from the bench and made her way back over, still laughing.
"Who are you?"
Please review, it won't take long.