Heeeey everyone! So here is the meeting team/teen Lisbon! Nothing much to say, so I'll let you read :D

FFnet must be against me tonight. it's the 10th time I tried to edit that document CORRECTLY and the title keeps going at the BOTTOM or the SIDE of the page, the BOLD letters turn normal and the text is bold...*sighs* you better like this because as much as I like this chapter, it was a pain to publish :P

Thanks to P. Schoeller ; Jisbon4ever ; 24Mentalistlover ; Mental-Fan ; PriscilaOrglene ; xanderseye ; chocolatefan ; Lauri-mentalist ; The HongKonger ; leelou09 ; Dubbers ; Anna for their reviews! Thanks for the alerts and favourite too! xD

And thanks to my half-beta for checking this one :D

Diclaimer: only Kausner is mine

Sweet Fifteens

3

When he signed with the CBI, Patrick Jane never thought he would end up in the teen section of a shopping centre, following his rejuvenated boss in the search of comfortable clothes to wear. Thankfully, she was not the kind to spend hours and hours in the middle of shelves and –more important- to his great relief, they left the shopping centre with fewer items than he thought. His wallet was certainly grateful for it, since the young lady had very expensive tastes. Maybe he should convert himself into creating his own brand. He wondered how much a sewer won over a tight plain pair of jeans sold for 120USD. Granted he was still well-off, but please, 120 bucks for a pair of jeans? He was sure he could buy the same in the cheap shop at the corner of the street.

But when he saw her, parading proudly with her brand new sweater and black pants, he knew it had been worth it. It was clearly written on her face that she hadn't gotten fashionable garments in years. Expensive garments, he added to himself. He just hoped, for the sake of his bank account, that Lisbon's state would not last…

One thing he could not deny was that she looked nice; perhaps a bit too nice. Teenage boys and young adults on the street turned their heads her way and he didn't know if he liked it. Sure, the one who didn't notice he was heading straight into a lamppost was funny –especially the 'BAM' that followed- but the guy wearing that red cap and eyeing her with lust? Not so much. When they arrived to his car, he was extremely relieved she hadn't been accosted by a guy already. That would certainly be his main subject of worry for the following days.

"Thank you Jane" she said, smiling at him sincerely once she had closed the door. The man smiled back at her enthusiasm and decided that if simple things could make her happy, he was not going to deny her that right. Plus, she seemed to enjoy the attention she got on their way.

His next source of nervousness arrived when they entered the bullpen. Since he was a well-known member of the building he had no problem entering; but Lisbon was another matter. While she was still technically an officer of the law and had her own badge to prove it, she was not in the same physical and mental state anymore. Thankfully, the entrance guard didn't pay too much attention to teenage Lisbon when they arrived; gave her a visitor badge without looking twice and wished them a good afternoon. Despite the relief, the blond man was somehow bothered by how easy it had been to bring her in. He would need a word with Hightower about that.

Jane led his guest through the corridors, earning curious glances from few agents on the way. It was well-known the consultant rarely brought someone to the office; and he knew they would be even more intrigued by the fact the teenager looked a lot like his boss. He also noticed from the corner of the eye that Lisbon was not at ease with the attention she got –due to her experience, he bet sadly. In those years, she couldn't allow cops to find out about their father's… treatment, unless she wanted to find herself in the system and separated from her brothers.

"Jane?" Cho's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Where have you been? And where is Lisbon?"

The blond man cleared his throat. Now the tricky part was coming.

"Meh, I told you we were at the shopping centre. Lisbon needed new clothes."

"Couldn't you have just driven her back home to change? Her apartment is closer than…"

"Uh excuse me but… Jane, who are those people?"

At that moment, Jane regretted so much not having a camera at hand. Cho's expression when he caught sight of young Lisbon was priceless. His eyes widened like saucers and his jaw almost fell on the floor. Behind the blond man, Teresa was fidgeting the cross around her neck nervously.

"Man, you must be kidding me" he muttered, staring at her intensely.

"No, I am not" Jane replied lightly, grinning in amusement at the Asian man's reaction. The teenager bit her lower lip uncomfortably and looked away, scanning the room to avoid his incredulous gaze. "Teresa, come here will you?"

The teen reluctantly obeyed and stepped closer, her arms now crossed in defensive position. She returned the pointed stare to Cho, feeling more at ease with Jane by her side.

"This is Kimball Cho" he introduced the Asian man, who still wasn't quite able to speak; then pointed behind the glass panel where the two others were still discussing over a file. "Over there are Wayne Rigsby and Grace Van Pelt. They are all your co-workers and subordinates."

Lisbon bit her lower lip and eyed Cho top to bottom shyly. Before she could say anything though, Rigsby's voice interrupted her:

"Jane? What have you been doing? Cho, did you tell him that Harrison is nowhere to be found? And where's Lis…" he paused when realized they weren't alone. "Oh, hi."

An awkward silence started, during which Jane wondered how he was going to announce to the tall agent his boss was standing right in front of him. Once again, he was relieved from that duty as Lisbon beat him to it:

"Are you Wayne?" she asked, ogling him not-so-discreetly. Jane and Cho's jaws fell at the shy yet appreciative intonation. The tall man stared at her, a little bit off guard and nodded.

"Yeah. Are you Lisbon's niece or something?"

"Well… I actually am Teresa Lisbon; your boss, I think." Her cheeks turned slightly pinkish as she toyed with her cross again.

The taller man's eyes widen in surprise and once again, Jane had to bit back a laugh again. Rigsby turned to Cho, a disbelieved smile on his face.

"This is a joke right?"

"I'm afraid not." Rigsby's smile faltered and he eyed the teenager warily. Jane added more seriously: "Long story, but that's what happens when cops and weird inventors like Kausner meet."

Another dead silence followed as the three men exchanged glances back and forth, glimpsing at the teen from time to time. When the two co-workers seemed to accept the fact reluctantly, the tall man eventually broke the silence:

"Well uh… it's unexpected. How… how long is she going to…"

"Supposedly three weeks" Jane replied. "I might take a few days off to stay with her during that time."

"You have to tell Hightower" Cho added, deadpan but actually worried. Jane brushed his sentence away.

"I'm sure she'll be relieved if I leave for some time. And Lisbon has plenty of days off she never used. The service will be delighted to see she decided to act like a human being and take vacations."

The two others agreed. The blond man asked:

"Where is our super-boss by the way?"

"On a meeting. She should be back around five thirty."

A quick glance at his watch was enough to confirm his thought; they had a little less than an hour to kill and build up a reasonable explanation. Good thing Kausner was supposed to arrive earlier, he had the feeling he would need the inventor's help to convince the black woman of what happened. The team was one thing, but Hightower was slightly more sceptical. An impatient sigh from Lisbon informed him she was starting to get bored.

"Why don't you take a magazine from the waiting room and sit on the couch over there?" he offered, knowing she would grab any occasion to escape the awkward atmosphere. As he expected, the teen nodded eagerly and ran to the safety of his beloved couch. At this point, it was the redhead's turn to show up and glance at the newcomer.

"What are you talking about that takes you so long? And who is she?"

"Lisbon" the three men replied in unison.

"Yeah, sure" she brushed them away before handing them a file filled with freshly printed papers. "While you were chatting, I tried to locate O'Brian's brother from his credit card, but he last used it to buy flowers in the borders of San Francisco two days ago. I'll try to dig further but…"

"Go ahead" Cho cut. "Rigsby and I will check the brother's background and we'll go for a few interviews later."

As the Asian man took the lead and gave orders, all agents went back to their desk. While Van Pelt and Rigsby worked on Harrison O'Brian's background, Jane shared his few hypotheses on where the man could have disappeared and how he could have killed his brother. A few sided glances were thrown at the teenager sitting on Jane's couch from time to time. Lisbon seemed to have made herself busy all right, picking up a new magazine once done with the previous one. It surprised him genuinely to see her so calm, when in adulthood she couldn't stay in place –except for paperwork. Then, the blond man noticed a swift movement of her head towards them, just half a second, before turning back her attention to her magazine. It didn't take long for him to realise what she was doing.

"Lisbon is eyeing you Rigsby" Jane whispered with a grin.

Cho and Rigsby glanced at Lisbon in unison. Her eyes immediately came back on the gutter paper she was holding; but it was obvious her gaze was lingering on the taller man. He cleared his throat, visibly a bit embarrassed.

"It's weird. I mean, the boss's situation and… does she have the hots for me or what?"

"Whoever she is, she's fifteen" Van Pelt cut annoyingly, throwing a glare at the girl from the corner of the eye. "And manipulative."

Jane followed her gaze and saw the teen turning a page of a magazine, a small smirk on her lips. Either she was laughing at an article or she had heard them and was amused by their comments. Deciding he had kept company long enough to his colleagues, the blond man headed towards his couch and sat next to her. Quickly glancing over her shoulder, he noticed the "is he your type" test and restrained a smirk. So Lisbon was still a sucker for those stupid questionnaires?

"So, what are your conclusions? Happy with your future colleagues?" She nodded at his question, not taking her eyes off her magazine:

"Cho is the reliable kind and scary in his own way. He must be fine to work with as an investigator… and Van Pelt's okay I guess. But my favourite is Rigsby."

"Oh really?" Jane said teasingly.

"No wonder why I chose him" Lisbon added with amusement. "He's tall, hot and easily manipulated."

Past the 'hot' comment, he was shocked to hear the last qualification. Easily manipulated? he thought alarmingly. The flushed face, the nervousness, the sided glances… all that was just a show? And only Van Pelt saw through it? Perhaps he needed to sharpen his instincts on teenagers…

"Something wrong Jane?" she asked, batting her eyelids with big innocent eyes. The blond man swallowed discreetly and asked in disbelief:

"Why do you want to manipulate him?"

"Dunno" she replied shrugging. "But I've learnt that people are much more cooperative when they are embarrassed. You included" she added with a smirk.

How could she fool him and yet be so cute? Only his daughter managed to wrap him around her little finger with those looks. Forget the sharpening instincts. What he needed was Van Pelt as a decoder, period.

-SF-

"Where is Agent Lisbon?" a pissed-off black woman growled, irrupting in the bullpen.

Everyone lifted their head at Hightower's arrival and three pairs of eyes went quickly in Jane's couch direction. The blond man had started diverting the teenage with magic tricks when she showed obvious signs of boredom. At first, he was tempted to ask his colleagues if she could use a computer, but at Van Pelt's warning glare (technology was not quite the same twenty years prior and under no condition she would give out her precious PC), decided to return to basic divertissement. Thankfully, he had kept her busy for twenty minutes… until Hightower came along. When no-one replied her request, she turned towards the consultant.

"Patrick, I need Lisbon. The last case is missing a report and I need it ASAP on my desk. You know where she is?"

Teenage Lisbon gawked at the newcomer while Jane stood up. Of course, Kausner had not arrived and here he was, alone to face Hightower. As they started walking towards her office, he could feel the encouraging glances of his colleagues. Or rather, Cho and Rigsby's encouraging glance. Van Pelt was still sceptical about the whole thing.

"Madeline, before you get angrier, can we go in your office for a few minutes? No, I did not do anything wrong and I will deny every responsibility in this."

"I'm so sorry it was my fault!"

The new voice was a real relief for the consultant. But as he turned towards the newcomer to introduce him, he froze in his movement and blinked twice.

If he hadn't called out from the corridor, Jane would have never recognized him. The man had abandoned his oversized white blouse and old plain T-shirts for a dark blue shirt and black jacket. He had put a tight jeans and brown boots and had his hair done, holding somehow by some gel. And given the way he was blinking repetitively, the blond man suspected he had traded his ugly glasses for lentils. Dressed like that, Michel Kausner looked like he had just stepped out of a fashion magazine. Even Lisbon was eyeing him appreciatively… and that was annoying.

"Show off" Jane snorted, narrowing his eyes at him. He couldn't help the tone. He didn't like when people attracted Lisbon, teenager or not.

The inventor grinned.

"Didn't have anything else in the closet."

"Shall we go in?" Hightower sighed impatiently. The three obeyed without protesting any further. Jane nodded to Lisbon to take the couch while he and Kausner headed towards the chairs. The teenager glared at him, clearing wanting to prove she was able to handle this. At the narrowing of his eyes though, she rolled hers and let herself fall on the sofa, pouting and arms crossed. Jane turned back his attention to Kausner.

"You brought your potion with you to make a demo?"

The inventor shook his head.

"No, I destroyed it. Better keep it out of hands. Still got the basic formula on paper though."

"That's wise" Jane retorted sarcastically.

"What are you both talking about Mr Jane, and where is Agent Lisbon?"

The inventor turned his head towards the consultant.

"You haven't told her yet?"

"I haven't had the time yet!" the blond man whined. "Someone keeps interrupting me each time I open my mouth!"

"Tell me what?" Hightower was getting beyond impatient.

"Jeez! that I am fucking Agent Lisbon!" the teenage blurted loudly, very annoyed by the lack of movement from both parts. A short silence fell in the office and Lisbon still didn't have the decency to blush at her swearing.

"Oh really?" the black woman snorted in disbelief. "You have nothing better to explain Lisbon's sudden disappearance?"

Jane threw a pointed look at Kausner to plead for help; he was the inventor of the damn potion after all! But the man was staring at Hightower with fascination. Almost like… he was about to drool?

"You are one of the most attractive women I have ever met" he suddenly grinned. "Can I invite you out for a coffee one day?"

The black woman's jaw hung low in disbelief. Jane had to look away to conceal the amused grin spreading over his lips.

"Are you serious?" she still managed to utter.

"I never speak without thinking twice" he replied with a serious glance. "So, can I?"

Hightower narrowed her eyes in a very blasé and wary way.

"No thank you" she replied dryly. "I am already married."

His face dropped immediately

"Well, I tried" he muttered, before adding cheerfully: "But if you ever divorce, call me!"

It didn't take long before they found themselves at the door. After Kausner's comment, Hightower agreed to everything to get rid of them sooner. She didn't fight with the argument of Lisbon taking her days off to compensate her absence; neither did she refuse Jane's alternative explanation nor thought about rejecting the idea of him working part-time the following days. As sceptical as she was on her top agent's current state, she was absolutely not thrilled by Michael Kausner's attempts of hitting on her; the inventor did not stop smiling flirtatiously at the black woman or even tried to hide his obvious interest. To make sure they did not turn back, Hightower even accompanied them to the door.

"Are you sure about refusing this cof-" Kausner tried again.

"Have a nice evening" she replied dryly, slamming the door behind them.

Michel sighed, disappointed. Jane patted his shoulder with sympathy.

"You really need to improve your seduction techniques. In the meantime… Cho leads the team" Jane added when the three others came for an update. "And I'm part-time for the next three weeks. Just call me if you're at a dead-end."

"We asked for a few days off" Rigsby added immediately. "So you will still be able to work full days."

"We'll arrange it with Hightower" Cho went on before the blond man could comment. "I bet she was pretty pissed you were said flat you weren't working."

Jane nodded with a grin. Hightower had been annoyed, but the dreamy gaze of Kausner had prevented her from expressing her whole frustration. Now he knew how to piss off the black lady, he should invite the man at the office for a cup of tea from time to time.

"Hey guys I'm still here" Lisbon cut in with an annoyed tone, waving her hand. "May I have my word in this mess?"

Jane turned towards her and frowned:

"We are planning your next two weeks. The least you can do is let us talk about your future."

"I thought I was the only one deciding on my future" she replied with a taunting smirk, daring him to reply. "I'm young and full of promises after all."

"It won't last dear."

"My point" she replied, narrowing her eyes. "Why can't you just give me a cell phone and leave me in town?"

"Had you been older, why not. But unfortunately I know how fifteen-years-old minds work and I'd rather keep an eye on you."

"Hey, fifteen doesn't mean I need a baby-sitter!"

"Fifteen means you are underage and not to be left unguarded."

"I'm not a baby for God's sake!"

While they were lost in their banter, Cho couldn't help but mutter amusingly:

"Guess some things never change."

Kausner frowned and turned towards the rest of the team:

"Are they always like that?"

The three agents glanced at each other before nodding in unison.

-SF-

It was a strange sight to observe a teenage Lisbon in her own environment, yet not recognizing it. He took advantage of her momentary lack of attention to sniff around and re-examine the place. The undone boxes were still in the background, the books and shelves a bit messy, a few clothes –dirty clothes, he bet- were thrown around carelessly. He leant closer to her CD shelf and checked again for the Spice Girls album he had spotted the previous time, wondering if she had hid it in between.

"This is my place, right?" Lisbon suddenly asked, tearing him from his thoughts. She was holding a framed picture of her brothers' altogether and staring at them with a mixture of relief and sadness.

"You like it?"

Lisbon bit her lower lip and looked around again.

"I don't remember living here" she simply answered. "It's kinda creepy."

Jane smiled softly and was about to add something when the door rang. He headed towards it, wondering who the visitor could be. Through the bull eye, he recognized Kausner… and winced. He had completely forgotten to tell Lisbon he had allowed the man to stay…

Half-heartedly, he opened the door and let the man enter with a big bag, certainly full of clothes and instrument for experiments. The poor guy hadn't made three steps when…

"Hey Jane, who was… What's this creep doing in my house!" she asked, glaring at him. The blond man shot him a glance clearly saying 'you're on your own pal'. If Lisbon's frustration was to explode, he did not want to become the punching ball.

"I'm the one who created the BT so I know more or less the effects so I should be the one following you" Kausner said seriously. "I mean, I have a degree to be doctor and practiced it a bit in the past. So if you ever have a problem…"

"You think I'm going to let you put your paws on me? No way!" she replied dryly, crossing her arms in defensive position. "I mean… Jane, you're really going to let him settle here?"

Now that was exactly what he wanted to avoid. Taking parts in the matter. Has Lisbon been normal, he would have teased her merciless about her reluctance and invasion of privacy. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he was silent too long. The teenager grew impatient when he didn't reply immediately and eventually turned her back to them.

"If he stays, I don't want to see him, got it!"

The inventor winced at her words and muttered as she stormed off.

"Jeez, she's a moody one."

"Nope" Jane replied, amused somehow. "Just normal."

So, liked it?

Next chapter, first week of cooperation.

Thanks for reading so far!