Here is the next chapter.
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Disclaimer: Only Kausner is mine
Sweet Fifteens -1
Three weeks earlier
"Aw, why won't you let me drive?" Jane asked for the hundredth time.
"You respect neither speed limit nor other drivers on the road" Lisbon replied dryly. "Why don't you help me instead of whining like a five year old?"
The blond muttered under his breath and pretended to check the houses' numbers in turn. Inwardly, the man already held the solution to the murder. O'Brian had been killed by his brother, who wanted to frame some other guy. It was obvious because of the man's nervousness. His fake breakdown couldn't even convince a child, and he knew Lisbon had doubts about his innocence as well but as always she needed proof before doing anything. Visiting that Mister Kausner, a science-fiction author and pseudo scientist a bit crazy on board, was just part of the job. And if he was honest with himself, Jane was curious about the character.
From what was told during interviews, the fellow was described as a cheerful guy but completely nuts and agitated, never going out of his attic where he performed weird experiments. A 'no-life freak', Katharine, O'Brian's wife, called him; but her husband's best friend. He had a deep admiration for the eccentric man that she couldn't understand. Curiosity had pushed her once to visit his house, but in front of the display of potions and useless inventions spread all over the place, she never set a foot in there again. A madman's house, she named it. And that was enough to catch Jane's interest.
"There it is" Lisbon eventually sighed, pulling over in front of a two levelled, greyish house surrounded by a garden full of weeds and savage flowers. If it wasn't for the opened curtains and the car parked in the courtyard, house number 28 would have looked abandoned. They both walked to the doorstep and knocked.
However, after several unsuccessful tries, the man didn't answer. Lisbon went to walk around his house, trying to catch any activity inside. Jane took a closer look to the lock, wondering how long it'd take to force it open. It appeared casual, but something felt off. He couldn't quite place the feeling, but frowned in wonder. He'd have to see for himself when he'll…
"Don't even think about it" Lisbon's voice startled him and he glanced at her long enough to recognize the annoyed glint in her narrowed eyes. To that, he smiled innocently, to which she glared again. She took her cell out of her pocket and dialled the headquarters to request a warrant.
"It would be so easier if…" Jane started, pointing the locker with his hand.
"As tempting as it is" she replied dryly, "it is completely unprofessional, and I swear I don't want Hightower on my back again because of another of y…"
A sudden scream put an end to the not-even-started conversation. Lisbon didn't have an extra second to hesitate: she took out her gun from the holster and gave a hard kick on the handle. The door didn't bulge and Jane decided to intervene before she broke the entrance for good.
"May I?" he asked, taking out a small iron string from his pocket. Lisbon rolled her eyes and allowed him with a nod. The man beamed, proud to show off again in front of his favourite agent, when something didn't happen like expected. As soon as the frail material entered the lock, a dark ink spitted in his eyes. Jane swore and rubbed his face, now covered with blue liquid. Somehow, the inventor had managed to set a very original thief trap Jane thought, cursing himself for ignoring his intuition.
Despite being in an emergency situation, Lisbon couldn't help but laugh heartedly before staring at the door. Not that he could blame her. It wasn't everyday he was getting payback from an inanimate object.
A second shout, shorter this time and Lisbon's smile disappeared. They had to go in now. He noticed her stare on the handle and knew she was going to lash it out and screw the consequences because someone needed their help. Her foot met the poor locker again; once, twice before it broke slightly. A third well-placed kick bust the handle –and the door opened in a loud 'BAM'. Jane whistled in amazement, impressed by her strength.
"What were you thinking of when you kicked the poor thing?" he asked. When Lisbon turned towards him with a small smirk, he cooled down immediately. He knew that look… and the answer.
"Your head."
A third terrified scream made up Lisbon's mind and she ran past the man into the house, gun at hand.
"Police, CBI!" she shouted, moving carefully throughout the empty entrance corridor. Jane followed her at safe distance, observing his surroundings at the same time. As he expected, the inside was commonly displayed, with a hanger close to the entrance, the kitchen door on the left, a shelf on which were displayed a bunch of various unfamiliar objects… There wasn't many decorations, apart from a few child drawings hanging in dusty frames on the wall, a few diplomas rewarding the man for his inventions… Nothing that proved he was the sentimental type, he seemed to be more like a solitary soul. Though the drawings informed Kausner was attached to his memories, or fond enough of his son or daughter to keep them even if he hadn't seen them in quite some time. Katharine said the man lived alone. Jane wondered if the man had gone through divorce, or if he lost his family. His final diagnosis would have to wait until he met the inventor himself.
"Anyone's here?" Lisbon shouted again when she encountered no-one in the deserted corridors.
"O… over here!" a panicked voice replied to her call this time.
Lisbon rushed to the corridor where the person had presumably spoken from. When she stood in the doorframe and peeked inside, she nearly dropped her gun in surprise. When Jane showed up behind her, he stilled a second then grinned widely at the show. They were in the most unused place of the house –hence the dust on the ground- the living room; and a singular scene was occurring before them. A man dressed in a white jacket, wearing the biggest glasses Jane had ever seen, was crouching on a table, eyeing warily a big rat eating the corner of his carpet. At their arrival, the man lifted his eyes and relief fell upon his features.
"Please" he begged with a small, trembling voice. "Please kill that filthy creature! I can't stand the sight of RATS! That vicious thing tried to bite me twice! Please save me!"
Lisbon just stared at the man in disbelief then turned towards the small intruder. Jane noticed her grimace when she reluctantly approached the animal, and made wide –and not very useful- gestures to try to chase him away.
"Shoo, shoo" she tentatively babbled, and Jane found cute the small fear in her gestures. He couldn't read her eyes from his current position, but he was certain that he would find that glint of anxiety and uneasiness. The rat didn't response at first. When she eventually caught its attention, it abandoned the carpet and…
"Eek it's coming over here!" Lisbon squeaked in discomfort, quickly stepping aside to put as much distance against the running creature and herself. Jane smirked and crouched over the rat. With a rapid gesture, he pinched it by its tail and lifted it at eye's level. Travelling with a circus carnival in his younger years also meant frequent encounters with rodents when they had to camp in the middle of nowhere. It has been a while since his fear of them passed out. Both Lisbon and the man left out an uneasy yelp.
"Put that away!" the agent ordered with an unusual authoritarian tone. "Out of the house. Far. Anywhere but here!"
"You're afraid of rats, Lisbon?" Jane asked teasingly, eyeing the little creature which was squeaking uncomfortably and approaching it to his face. "Hello you…"
"Talk to it as much as you want but just get it outside!" the woman went on, ready to shout.
"Such an impatient lady, don't you think?" he sighed while addressing to the rat. "C'mon little guy, you're soon going to join your friends out there…"
A few minutes later, he came back in the living room, where Lisbon and the man were glancing at each other nervously. Both, Jane noted immediately, were embarrassed by their lack of self-control. The man thought that… well he was a man, so shouldn't be scared in front of a tiny inoffensive creature while Lisbon… well Lisbon had her pride as a CBI agent, and fearing a rat just reminded her she was just a mere human and not an invincible superhero. The blond man smirked at the thought and recorded that information to the 'Lisbon' file in his head.
"I presume you are Mr Kausner?" he asked to put an end to the awkward atmosphere.
The man cleared his throat and smiled wildly.
"Michel Kausner, genius inventor and science-fiction author! Pleasure to meet you."
"Agent Lisbon, CBI" the petite woman introduced herself, back into professional mode and determined to forget about the incident. "And this is Patrick Jane, consultant."
The smile on his face dropped a little as he frowned at them, head moving slightly backwards. Jane supposed it was his way of showing puzzlement.
"A CBI agent? I thought you were the police?"
"Same thing" Jane replied, brushing the sentence away. "Is it common to find rats in your living room Mr Kausner?"
The man blinked in confusion at the sudden change of subject and opted for shrugging.
"I'm afraid I can't even answer that question. I spend most of my time in my lab… I can only guess it's rare to see them running around. A friend used to set rat-traps but he hasn't come to visit lately… I only go down to eat, write and occasionally sleep, so I don't pay attention to what's going on around" he suddenly frowned suspiciously, eyeing the remains of ink of Jane's face. "How did you get in by the way? Did you try to force the door open?"
Lisbon cleared her throat uneasily and muttered that due to his screams she had to demolish his door. At her explanation, he burst out of laughers.
"No problem agent Lisbon! You were just doing your job; that I understand! It's my fault for being so scared of those things, don't worry I won't press charges… So, what can I do for officers of the law?" he asked cheerfully. Before Lisbon could answer anything, he cut in: "Ah I'm sorry, I am such a poor host… my house is such a mess! Apart from the lab, my office and the kitchen…"
Jane ignored his rambling to check their surroundings. Though the living room seemed quite neglected, there were some places where activities seemed to take place. The nearest closet for example. He could easily track footsteps on the floor. Curiosity stirring up, he headed towards the furniture and opened slowly one of the glassed doors. He was rewarded by the sight of ranks of bottles and pots ranged in alphabetic order. Most of them were half-filled with odd-coloured liquids or simply empty. One singular flacon caught his attention, and he took it in his hand to observe it closer. A motion that didn't went unnoticed by the inventor who eyed his gestures warily.
"Whatever you are looking for Mr Jane, I advise you to be careful with those products. Most of them aren't dangerous so to say but I still need to experiment with some of them… especially the ones with the red stickers. I never tested their efficiency or if they'd have unpredictable effects."
"Oh, really? What's in this one?" Jane asked, showing off the one he was holding, containing a bright green liquid with a yellow sticker. Kausner's face lightened proudly:
"My most recent experimentation! A hair coloration that changes colour automatically every two months! And it lasts one year. No need to go to the hairdresser for…" he trailed off when he was greeted by the dubious scorn on Lisbon's face and cleared his throat: "Uh… never mind, it's not perfected yet, I only managed bright blue and pink so far… Anyway, what can I do for you agents? May I offer you a cup of tea?"
"No thank…" Lisbon started.
"Thank you very much Mr Kausner. I'd love to" Jane cut immediately, his mega-watt smile back in place. As usual, he earned a discreet glare from the petite agent and ignored it.
"Ah, finally a tea-lover! Thank God I am not alone in California" the inventor beamed cheerfully, and with a swift gesture, invited them to follow him. "We'll be better in the kitchen anyway… Like you can see I haven't cleaned my living room for… ages! Please follow me!"
He headed through the corridors whistling happily. The pair stepped behind but didn't hurry, Jane knowing Lisbon wanted to ask him his impressions. The thought had barely crossed his mind when she was turning towards him and glancing at him expectantly.
"What do you think?"
"What do you think?" he retorted. Lisbon shrugged and replied:
"He's kinda crazy, but I don't picture him for it."
"I agree" Jane whispered back. "Mr Kausner is just an unhappy fellow drowning his solitude in his inventions. Crazy inventions by the way, but totally inoffensive. I told you it was the brother."
They hushed when they reached the kitchen, where the man motioned them to sit down and went searching for something in the fridge. Contrary to the living room, the floor was clean and the room dustless. There were still a few unidentified objects against the wall, but none seemed dangerous anyway. Jane spent the preparation time trying to guess what use the box pierced by two bars and a sort of mechanic attached to the side had. According to the brushes underneath, he'd be tempted to say it was a modernized broom. A few minutes later, the tea was ready and Kausner came back, bringing proudly two slightly smoking cups and a yellow-glassed bottle.
"I didn't have the heart to leave you without something to drink" he told Lisbon with a small smile of apology. "It's lemonade. Home-made. I hope you'll like… oh dear I forgot a glass!"
Absolutely not the kind a guy that would commit a murder, Jane decided. And by the disbelieved look on his colleague's face, Lisbon thought the same. Staying here longer was perhaps a waste of time, but they still needed to interview him, in case he had real proof of anyone's culpability. When Kausner eventually came back, filled Lisbon's glass with what appeared to be and smelled like lemonade, and settled for good on his seat,. Then, he asked pleasantly:
"So, how can I help you, agents?"
"Do you know a man named Jonathan O'Brian?"
Kausner's smile diminished slightly.
"Oh my God, what happened to Jon? Is he in trouble? I swear he's the best man I know on earth! Kay I'm exaggerating, Jon has his flaws, but he's a good guy! He's the one who sets my rat-traps every Monday. Whatever he did must be serious but I swear his brother must have dragged him into some shady scheme or something…"
"Mr Kausner!" Lisbon interrupted loudly to catch his attention. "I'm sorry, but Mr O'Brian was found this morning in his living room…"
She didn't need to finish her sentence. The man's face paled immediately, understanding what happened.
"Oh my…" he muttered blankly. "Jon's gone? I… I… Oh my God…"
Under the shock, Kausner stood up and accidentally bumped into a leg of the table, hitting his knee hard. He winced and sat back down immediately. A few seconds passed before he spoke again:
"It's just that… I don't have many friends. Since my wife's death he was the only one who cared" he laughed bitterly at his words. "I… lost Madeline and my Marley three years ago you see? The sweetest masochist woman on earth, and the perfect little angel of my life. The one time I didn't accompany them to visit her folks; that damn train falls off rails and kills them both, along with twenty six people. And now Jon?"
"I'm sorry for your loss" she whispered. He didn't move for a second, scanning her. Jane frowned slightly, not liking the way he looked at her. The inventor nodded.
"You're a bit like Maddie" he blurted. "Despite seeing despair everywhere around you, you still manage to feel compassion for others. She was a cop too. Well, more of a forensic, but she always tagged with the team on the field."
Lisbon blinked at his words. The blond man noticed her slight discomfort, but Kausner was sincere, not hitting on her. Jane frowned at himself wondering where that thought came from. The agent distracted herself by picking up her glass and lifting it up to her lips. Kausner was still staring at her when his eyes widened in realisation and screamed, arms stretched towards the petite agent:
"W…WAIT! DONTDONTDONTDONTDONT!"
His sudden gesture startled her and she accidentally drank a gulp of the lemonade. With horror, Jane saw her throat swallow, her eyes widen in surprise before becoming glassy. As if in slow motion, he saw her lids close slowly and her body bend to fall off her chair. His first reflex was to catch her to avoid a harsh encounter with the ground.
"Lisbon!" he shouted, fear invading every part of his mind when her body went completely limb in his arms. He laid her on the floor carefully. "Lisbon!" he called again, shaking her shoulders. "Teresa!"
She didn't react to any of his shouting or physical contact.
"She won't wake up now" he heard Kausner say behind him. "Man, I didn't realize I still had some…"
But Jane wasn't listening. He turned towards the man and glared at him.
"What was in that glass? Why didn't you stop her?"
"I tried if you haven't noticed" the man replied dryly. "I'm sorry I'm inattentive… I haven't had guests for the longest time, mind you. I mistook lemonade with that product…"
His answer only made Jane angrier:
"I don't give a damn of your non-existent social life! What's happening to her?"
"Wow, wow cool down Mr Jane" Kausner added, raising his hands in attempt to calm him down. "Agent Lisbon's fine…"
"My ass she's fine" Jane swore, looking back at the immobile agent. "She's not moving!"
"She's going to wake up soon, I swear! It wasn't a dangerous potion and the result shouldn't be much problematic… not long-term anyway…"
"Explain" Jane barked, glaring at him. Kausner shrugged.
"Really, I swear, she will be fine… I mean, she isn't poisoned or anything… it just has spectacular secondary effects on living beings for a short time."
Seeing that the blond man wasn't satisfied with the answer, he added:
"I called that potion 'Backup Time', or BT for short. I tried it on my dog once, and it turned into a young pup for a few weeks."
Jane frowned. He didn't care of the effects on the dog, he wanted the effects on Lis… Wait a minute, did he said his dog turned into a pup? When the consultant didn't stop staring, Kausner clarified:
"Given the quantity I assume she drank, Agent Lisbon will wake up in… an hour or so… in her body and mind of her sweet fifteens."
The fun starts next chapter… with a moody fifteen years old Lisbon xD
Thank you for reading :D