A/N: Hello guys! Here I am with a new one-shot when I have an update pending for my ongoing story 'Settling in, together'. I promise you all I'll update it as soon as possible. For those of you who are new to my stories, welcome! :)
This is a little 'In between the scenes' tag for 7x04-Black Market where a sick Jane teaches Lisbon to act like a psychic. I hope you enjoy this one :D
Lisbon made her way to the airstream with some Tylenol along with tomato and bean soup. Jane would choose among them or they could even share. She was still a bit worried about the plan he was talking about. Oh she pretty much had the idea of what he was going to ask from her. Yet she wasn't sure if she could pull that off for not.
She knocked on his airstream door and he checked from the side window even if he knew it was her. She rolled her eyes and lifted her hands to show him the soup cans she had brought for both of them. He looked worse than she had seen him earlier in the day but smiled at her anyway. He opened the door with a thin blanket above his three piece outfit. Boy he must be really cold. She entered in the airstream and touched his forehead. Yep, he was warm but not overly so.
"Hi." He managed with a slight scratchy voice.
"Hey you." She shook her head and pushed him gently back on the bed. She took out her jacket and went to the small table and opened up both the soup cans and brought it to him. He picked up the bean one.
"You look paler." She said with the same expression she had earlier in the day.
"Thank you." He replied the same way.
"You really need to see a doctor Jane." She tried to convince him again.
"I told you. They're frauds in white coats." He grunted but it didn't have much effect because of his sore throat. "Besides, what would the doctor say? Have some rest, don't eat anything cold. No ice cream. I think I'm wise enough for that."
Lisbon rolled her eyes. He was too stubborn. Hopefully she won't need to force Tylenol in his throat. But she would do so without hesitation if that's what made him feel better.
After taking a sip of the hot soup he sighed in happiness. "This is good." He took one more sip and added, "Maybe if I kept drinking this for the whole day I would be better in no time."
She looked at him as if he was going crazy. She asked him, "You're sure you just have a cold?" to which he just chuckled.
"I guess. Anyway, what do we have so far on the case? I'm not hundred percent efficient today." He cleared his throat for the effect.
Lisbon smirked. "No kidding." She spent the next few minutes telling him about every lead they had so far. She repeated Pond's interrogation and also told about Vega's minor injury.
"I'm glad it wasn't you with Cho. I love your hands too much; along with every other part of you." He took her hands in his and gently kissed her knuckles.
She rolled her eyes but didn't pull back. "It's part of the job Jane. I'm sure you remember I have had worse injuries than Vega in all these years."
"Doesn't mean you should have them now too."
She shook her head but didn't argue further. Lately Jane had started to be overprotective about her. He always was, but she could tell he was getting less interested about the job and was trying to find ways to spend more time with her outside work. They had been going out for little road trips, hotel-stays and even frequent picnics. Which was totally fine, but it seemed like Jane enjoyed those more than working in the FBI.
She threw their empty cans in the bin and went at his little sink and got some water. She came back to him with Tylenol and water and he took it without complaint. Good, she thought.
"So what is it that you were gonna tell me?"
He looked at her thoughtfully. "My plan of course. You have seen me working on heaps of plans all these years. You can work on one now."
"What is it you've planned?" She asked with a hint of wariness.
"Oh ye of little faith Lisbon." He tried to ease her worry. It would have worked with his usual charming voice. But it must have sounded something else when he saw her eyes widen.
"You were planning on doing a psychic reading."
"Now Lisbon, there's no such thing as psychics." He cleared his throat again.
"You know what I mean!"
He raised his hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright! Yes I was planning exactly that. But now I can't because of this stupid cold." He wrapped the blanket more closely around him. Lisbon didn't notice it before, but it was her blanket. She had brought it once when she had spent the night here and never took it back. A slow smile formed on her lips.
"And the blanket is making you feel better? You need to sleep Jane." she tried to glare but failed to do so.
"I'll sleep tonight after we close the case."
"A little ahead of ourselves, aren't we?" she chuckled.
He grinned in response. "Besides, this makes me feel like you're holding me. So yeah I'm already starting to feel better." He wrapped the blanket more tightly and she just rolled her eyes.
After a moment it dawned on her. "You already know the killer don't you?"
Jane shrugged. "About sixty two point five percent, if my guess is clear." He got another eye-roll for that. He ignored it. "And I want you, my dear, to expose the killer for me by being my psychic."
She shook her head. "Jane I can't do this. I'm not a performer like you."
He urged her. "Come on Lisbon. It's one of my dreams to see you perform something. Now I'm a little sick for any enthusiastic performance but I would very much like it if you did this for me."
She swatted him lightly on his blanket covered arm. "Are you sure you're sick? Because your brain seems to work on its full capacity."
He grinned while rubbing the area she just hit. "My brain is always in full capacity Lisbon."
"Uh-huh."
"Yeah, except maybe when it comes to opening up."
Lisbon's expressions softened. "You have been doing that more and more lately. Actually, we have been doing that." With a smile, she added. "It feels good doesn't it?"
He smiled back. "Yes it feels incredible." His voice sounded more scratchy and husky when he whispered. It was an unfair combination. "It's a lot less hard than it used to be."
"Really?" She didn't try to hide the delight in her voice.
"Yeah. You make everything easier." He pulled her and planted a soft kiss on her lips. When their lips parted, he could clearly see her cheeks matching her red shirt.
"Now, let's move shall we?" He asked her a few moments later with enthusiasm. But it got covered by his harsh voice.
"I'm not sure I can do this Jane. I really haven't been much of a performer… ever." She admitted honestly again.
"Come on dear it's not that difficult. Anyone can do it."
Lisbon retorted. "If that's the case then why don't you ask Cho to do it? Or how about Vega? Or even Abbott?"
Jane laughed at the thought of Cho doing a fake psychic reading. Sure he had surprised them once with his dialogue skills but this was a whole different story.
"What is it?" Lisbon was almost annoyed.
"I'm trying to understand why and how you think Cho will give a psychic reading with his usual monotone." He laughed again but coughed a second later. Lisbon laughed at the image but quickly rubbed her hand on Jane's back to try and calm him.
He cleared his throat again and continued. "Vega already doubts my methods. Besides, she has been with Cho to the exhibition. Abbott is too hyped up about Lena's confirmation. That leaves you."
Lisbon opened her mouth to ask about Wylie but Jane held his hand, mentalist that he was. "I need Wylie to help me with the live feed when you are 'communing with Upton's spirit'." He used air quotes for the effect.
Seeing that there was no way out of this, she finally relented. Sighing, "All right. But I still have my doubts."
Jane grinned. "I don't. This will definitely give us a confession I promise. Just trust me."
She scoffed. "I promise and trust me in one sentence? Now I know something's definitely up with you."
He put a hand on his blanket clad heart. "You wound me." A sneeze completed his gesture which got him an eye-roll in return. A moment later he added, "Besides you don't have to do anything else than hook the audience. If you're believable enough we're there. To make you believable enough I'll tell you some hand gestures which you'll have to do exactly as I say."
Lisbon huffed. "Fine." She muttered.
"Believe my dear. Just believe. Now, you remember the times back in the CBI when you got a headache by a lot of paperwork?" He asked her.
She raised an eyebrow and replied. "Oh you mean the paperwork which you caused because of your schemes in order to catch the killer without letting me know? Sure! I've had a lot of that. Paperwork and headache."
He was suddenly reminded of all the things he had done which hurt her- intentionally and unintentionally. She always had his back no matter what. He was grateful to her for a lot of reasons, this being the second most important one. The first was being with him. Lisbon noticed his expression become serious and put her hand on his. "Hey I meant it as a joke even if sometimes it was the truth. You've changed I can see that."
Jane squeezed her hand with his other one. "I know. Still I'm sorry for all those times I caused you pain."
She shook her head. "It's okay. It certainly kept my life interesting sans the paperwork and headache."
"That it did." He whispered with a small smile. He cleared his throat and continued, "Anyway, what I was trying to say that you always put two fingers on your forehead whenever you had a headache forming that time."
Lisbon nodded. "I still do that."
Jane smiled. "Well… now you'll just put those two fingers on the side of your forehead, as if you're actually communicating with the afterlife."
She shrugged. "I could do that. But I think there's more to it."
He nodded. "Yeah. Try closing your eyes while doing so."
She got up and stood on a chair opposite him and he motioned for her to try it. She looked too relaxed to be able to communicate with a spirit. He rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. "Lisbon, remember the headache. Act as if you're feeling that." With a chuckle he added, "None of the spirits are that easy going when it comes to contacting us."
She gave an unladylike snort and creased her brows and tried again. Jane nodded approvingly but realized quickly that she couldn't see that. "Now, take a deep breath in. This will be your signal that the 'spirit' has arrived and is among us."
Lisbon did just that and then opened her eyes. "Well?"
"You're almost there. Let's try it without a crease in the eyebrows. You shouldn't look like you're in pain. And release the breath with a heartfelt 'Yes!' Then remove those fingers from your forehead and just wave the hand in the air." Jane suggested her.
She chuckled. "Never thought I'll be taking acting lessons from you."
He just grinned. She tried it again and he was actually impressed. "Are you sure you never performed anything?"
She shook her head. "Apart from clarinet, nothing." After a moment she asked, "For all this to work, we must know the killer right? This is all moot without knowing we'll get the confession."
"I already told you I have an idea who it is. I just need to check something, just make sure if my hunch is correct." He searched for his cell and dialed Wylie. "Wylie, do you have the footage from this morning when we checked?"
"What?" Lisbon and Wylie over the phone said at the same time. Jane chuckled and repeated, "The security footage. The one we checked this morning. Do you still have it?"
"Uh… yeah, just a second." Jane could hear the soft taps on Wylie's keyboard before he replied, "Got it! What are we looking for?"
"Check on the footage where Vega was talking to the appraiser… Greta something." Jane tells him.
"Greta Fortensky? Okay. What about it?"
Jane asks him, "Can you zoom in and tell me what she is wearing?"
Lisbon looks at him with a puzzled expression but knows better than to ask him. Wylie answers from the other side, "She's wearing a fashionable blazer as far as I can tell. Why?"
He shrugs. "Just a hunch. Tell me about her daughter."
After a few seconds Wylie replies, "She is wearing a sweater I guess. And… oh! She's chewing gum!"
"How can you be sure she's chewing gum?"
Wylie replied questioningly, "Who chews a bite for more than a minute?"
Jane looked away thoughtfully. "Interesting. Thanks Wylie you've been really helpful."
"Okay!" Wylie hung up. He was always excited whenever he got a lead.
"So?" Lisbon asked him from the opposite chair. "What do you have in mind?"
Her question reminded him of all those years when she asked him the same thing and he never answered her. Instead, he always said 'I'll tell you when I know it' with a twinkle in his eyes and went for his plans. But now here they were. He had to share his hunch and his plan to her, not that he wanted otherwise.
He cleared his throat and began, "Tell me. What is the possibility of the stolen gems to be unnoticed from the appraiser? According to her statement she always checks every gem before approving it for the exhibition. Only an incredibly smart person would try and jeopardize his place in the exhibition by bringing in the stolen gems unless-"
"Unless she does it on her own." Lisbon finished it for him.
"Exactly!" Jane pointed a finger.
"But she doesn't seem the type to go after stolen gems. She has everything already." Lisbon suggested.
"Correct again." Jane nodded. "But on the other hand, her daughter- Bibby was it?"
"Yeah Bibby Fortensky. She is in her mid-twenties."
"From what I saw in the footage- I admit I wasn't at my full capacity- Greta is the dominating type. She already declared to Cho and Vega that her daughter will continue this business. But what if Bibby doesn't want to? What if she wants her own life? She has to look for ways to get the money."
Lisbon nodded. "Selling gems is a great way for that. She even had access to all the gems because of her mother. She could even replace them after they're appraised and no one would know. But where does Kirk Upton get into this?"
Jane brought his index finger to his lips, his trademark sign of thinking. "You told me Pond mentioned about Upton's smoking. And Greta isn't the kind of mother who would buy or let her daughter buy any cheap stuff. The chewing gum has to be a nicotine gum. No mother would like her child being a smoker after all."
"Maybe they smoked together. They got to talking one day and eventually decided about all this."
Still in the same position, Jane replied. "Close enough but no. They must have met before than that, maybe months before the exhibition. There's a lot of risk to do something like this in a short time." After a moment, "What about the security guards?"
"Beaten to death. But Upton doesn't look good for that. Nor does Bibby. It's possible that she killed Upton but none of them could have killed muscle guys like them."
"I agree." He again thought for a moment and then dialed Wylie again. "Wylie, check for any connection between Upton and the security head. If there's nothing, check it with Bibby."
"Sure." Wylie hung up again. Jane turned to Lisbon, "It has to be the security head Bell. He can easily kill two men, judging by his appearance and he can be their inside man whenever needed."
"Makes sense. So, how do we plan on getting a confession?"
Jane grinned, "That's where you come in my dear. You'll stand in front of everyone and claim that you work as a consultant, basically the way I always said during CBI. I'll ask Wylie for showing me the live feed so I can talk you through if something gets wrong. You'll do just as we practiced."
Lisbon was still skeptical about all this. "What if someone tries to disagree? I can't answer any random question Jane."
He waved a hand. "Just tell them we can't have any negative energy."
"What if it doesn't work? What if somehow the people don't believe me?"
Jane grinned again. "Ah that's where the guilty ticket comes in hand. When you show that Upton's spirit has appeared, say that he wants to talk to the killer. Throw in some phrases like 'I trusted you', 'Shame on you' or even 'I hate you for what you did to me. I thought we were more than this.' Works like a charm."
"But how do I get them hooked?"
"Don't worry, I'll have Wylie check someone out for you to 'read'." He used air quotes for emphasis. He could see she was still not so sure about all this so he suggested, "How about I cook you a delicious dinner once I get better? How does a chocolate cake sound?"
"With that home-made frosting?" Lisbon suggested back and then bit her lip. Damn him, he always knows how to convince her.
Jane grinned. Chocolate, alcohol and him were her true weaknesses, not necessarily in that order. "Sure!"
"You know this is blackmail right?"
He cleared his throat again before answering, "Meh. Blackmail is a strong word. I'm merely offering you my services as a chef after all this is done."
"Assuming it will work out." Lisbon retorted.
Exasperated, Jane asked. "How long it's going to be till you actually believe my plan? Besides, everyone would be there with you. I'd be on the line the whole time. So relax woman!"
She rolled her eyes but couldn't stop the frightened look on her face. "Should we try this one more time?"
He shrugged. "Can't be a waste."
They practiced together for twenty minutes. Jane told her some of his keywords where she would say something specific and Lisbon worked on her expressions and gestures. Finally they both got up to head back to the FBI headquarters. Jane felt dizzy while getting up but recovered quickly. He carried a bigger and thicker blanket, complaining about the cooling system in the building.
After getting settled in the SUV, Jane turned to her. "This was fun."
She rolled her eyes and started the car. "Anything can be fun for you Jane."
He wrapped the blanket closer. "I never thought I'd say this, but this has been fun. Being and teaching someone to be a psychic, especially you. I never thought I'd see this day."
Lisbon knew anything related to his previous life must have been painful for him all these years, even when he acted. But she had to admit he was right. They truly had fun. She was the primary part in his plan today. She felt equal parts excitement and nausea. "I had fun too. Let's see how this works out." Just then Jane's cell rang.
"Wylie. What? That's amazing. Yeah we're headed back to HQ. Yes Wylie we. Alright see you." Turning to Lisbon, "He found the connection. Upton and Bell knew each other in college. Literature club."
"Literature?" She was surprised about Bell being a reader.
"You never know Lisbon, you never know." He held her right hand and gently kissed her knuckles. "Ready to be my psychic?"
Her nervous nod just made him chuckle and they made back to HQ in ten minutes.
Thank you so much for reading. Please let me know how it was. My twitter handle is jacketandboots if anyone wants to follow me. :)