Radioactive Roses

A/N: Thanks for the kind reviews. I really do appreciate it. I'm sorry about the delay, life has been hectic. Anyway, enjoy this next chapter.

Chapter four

Files hovered off of most of the desks in the area. Pens and staplers floated lazily around the room. The drawers on Jane's desk opened and closed every five seconds. Van Pelt's jacket, which she had casually tossed over the back of her chair, was rotating slowly above her chair. Lisbon looked further. The coffee machine was hovering six inches off of the counter in the break room. And then Lisbon looked at Jane. He was on his couch, which was floating about a foot off of the ground.

"Jane," she said, trying to ignore the pen floating past her face. "Please put everything down before you break something."

Jane opened his eyes and looked at her. Lisbon watched as the files and stationary all returned back to where they should be. The coffee machine landed on the counter with a thump, and Van Pelt's jacket returned to the back of her chair. The couch lowered gently to the floor, landing with a thud. Rigsby was speechless. Cho didn't look surprised, but Lisbon listened to his thoughts. His thoughts were calculating what had just happened, and trying to work out how it would affect them in the future. She turned to him. "I wouldn't let it worry you. That's not our concern. I just feel sorry for HR."

Cho looked at her. "I'm not sure I can get used to you doing that."

Lisbon shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Have you ordered the APB on Susan Shepherd's car yet?"

Cho nodded. "SacPD are out looking for it. Nothing yet."

Lisbon nodded and turned to Van Pelt. "Anything else from forensics?"
Van Pelt nodded. "The ME found a weird scratch on the victim's hand. Sent us a picture to see if we could make sense of it."

Van Pelt handed the picture to Lisbon, who took a closer look. It was a long red mark on the victim's left hand, running across the base of her palm. Lisbon handed the photo to Jane, who glanced casually at it. He figured that the scratch must have come from the struggle. He turned to Van Pelt. "Was our victim left handed or right handed?"

Van Pelt opened her file. "She was left handed."

Jane nodded, and sat back down on his couch. Lisbon listened as he began to calculate the evidence. 'The victim was left handed; therefore the scratch itself came from a fight. She isn't strong enough to crack the wall. So we're looking for a man, possibly the husband of the mistress.'

Lisbon nodded. She turned to Cho. "See if you can track down Susan's husband, Michael. He may be involved."

Cho nodded. "On it, Boss."

Jane frowned up at Lisbon. "That's not fair, Lisbon."

Lisbon shrugged. "I like being a step ahead of you for a change."

The rest of the team exchanged glances, but said nothing. Life was certainly interesting now.

XxxxxxxxxxxX

Two days had passed, and Susan Shepherd was still on the run. There had been no new developments in the case, and so Jane was up in the attic relaxing. A summer afternoon rainstorm had begun outside, and it was pelting with rain outside his window. Jane had been experimenting with his new abilities, discovering that one cannot make a cup of tea effectively with the mind. He was also testing how much weight he could lift at once. A car he could not manage, but he had lifted up a motorcycle in the parking lot outside.

Jane stood up off of his makeshift bed. He went to the window and stared out into the blurry afternoon. He opened the window and stepped onto the balcony outside. The rain immediately began to soak his hair and suit, darkening his navy suit to almost black. He shut his eyes, and thought hard. Suddenly, the rain stopped hitting him. He couldn't feel any more drops soaking his waterlogged hair.

He opened his eyes to find that the rain was running down an imaginary bubble he had created around himself. The dropped even left streaks in the air. Jane watched in fascination as the rain continued to hit his bubble. A movement inside distracted him, and his bubble vanished. The rain began to soak him again, and he looked like he had stepped into a shower fully clothed.

Lisbon was in the attic, watching him outside. "Having fun?"

Jane shrugged and stepped back inside. "I enjoy finding out exactly what it is I can do. So far, I can pick things up, move them about, and create a force field around myself that blocks physical objects."

Lisbon nodded. "That's great, but we have a homicide to solve."

Jane shrugged. "Meh. Susan isn't guilty. But her husband probably is."

Lisbon sat on the bed. "Why kill the wife though? Why not her husband?"

Jane ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it off of his face. He took off his suit jacket and tossed it casually next to Lisbon on the bed. "We will find that out as soon as we find him."

The colleagues left the attic together. Jane glanced at Lisbon. "You can't tell me you haven't been experimenting with your power, just a little."

Lisbon blushed. "I have, actually. The more familiar the internal voice, like one of the team, the further away I hear them. You, I hear anywhere. But it's not just voices. I see images too. Flashes of memory."

Jane nodded. Lisbon caught the flash of a smiley on a wall, and shuddered. Jane shut his eyes. "I wish you didn't have to see that."

Lisbon sighed. "No one should ever have to see that."

They walked into the bullpen together. Rigsby stood up. "Susan Shepherd was just apprehended at the Mexico border trying to sneak across. Get this; her husband was in the trunk of her car."
Lisbon nodded. "Get border police to bring them up to us for questioning."

Rigsby nodded and picked up his phone. A mix of thoughts caught Lisbon's attention, and she turned towards her office. Her new boss, Special Agent Henry Stevens, stood there with two official looking men. Lisbon went over to them. "Hey, Boss."

Stevens was a tall man – as tall as Rigsby – with dark hair and grey eyes. His angular face was hard, but Lisbon knew the young agent had a good heart. He glanced at the two men who stood on either side of him. "These men are from the FBI. They would like to have a word with you and Mr Jane in private."

Lisbon nodded and turned to Jane. He was just settling onto his couch. "Jane, these men want a word."

Jane nodded reluctantly, and stood up again. They all went into Lisbon's office. Stevens shut the door. "I've been receiving, reports, of some strange activity from your unit, Agent Lisbon. Care to explain?"

Lisbon nodded and sat down at her desk. "I don't know if you remember that incident a couple weeks ago, with the radioactive sludge."

Stevens nodded. "I remember. You and Jane were both exposed, and booked off for a week to make sure you were both okay."

Lisbon nodded. "The radiation seems to have affected both Jane and myself in curious ways."

One of the FBI agents frowned. "Do you care to elaborate, Agent?"

Lisbon nodded. "Think of any object in your house right now. Nothing obvious."

Stevens stood up from the chair in the corner. "Is this a joke, Agent Lisbon?"

Lisbon shook her head. "I wish it were."

The agent reluctantly shut his eyes and thought for a moment. Lisbon listened carefully. "An antique jewellery box that used to belong to your grandmother. You keep it for sentimental reasons, because your grandmother was a very close member of your family."

The agent turned pale. "How did you do that?"

Lisbon shut her eyes. "I can read the thoughts of every person I come across."

Stevens turned to Jane. "Can you read minds too?"

Jane shook his head. "I could do that already. Not in the way my colleague can, but I didn't develop that symptom."

Jane stared at Lisbon's desk lamp. It lifted off the surface of the desk and began to rotate. Both FBI agents forgot to blink. They were stunned into silence. Stevens broke the silence. "You're telekinetic. But much more powerful because of your increased mental abilities."

Jane nodded and lowered the lamp back to the table. "I can create force fields too."

The first FBI agent stood up. "Agent Lisbon, why shouldn't the FBI recruit you and Mr Jane into our ranks. We could definitely use an ability like yours in the field."

Lisbon shook her head. "Thanks for the offer, Special Agent McQuilliam." The agent blinked once, not recalling having shared his name with Lisbon. "But I and my colleague are happy here at the CBI. We are staying here."

Agent McQuilliam nodded. "The offer is still open, to both of you." He handed his card to Lisbon. "Should you change your mind, give me a call."

Lisbon took the card, and nodded to her boss. "We have two suspects arriving from the border for questioning."

Stevens stepped to the door. It opened by itself, and the three agents left, pausing only to glance at Jane.

Lisbon sat down at her desk. She dropped the cad into her desk drawer. Jane sat down opposite her. "Will you consider moving to the FBI?"

Lisbon shook her head. "Who would keep you in line if I did?"

Jane grinned, and Lisbon watched as her stapler began to hover above her desk again. Lisbon snatched it out of the air, and hid it in her drawer. "Hey," said Jane. "I was using that."

Lisbon shook her head. "I'm going to need to bolt everything down around here pretty soon."

Jane laughed, and the two colleagues headed back out together into the bullpen.

A/N2: Thanks for reading. Please leave a review for me. I would really appreciate it. Thanks.