Simple Diversions

A/N: Sorry for the late-ish update, but I really struggled with this chapter. Anyway, ENJOY! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist or any of the characters or ideas.

Chapter 18

That night as Jane and Mia lay in bed, Jane could tell that Mia was having an internal battle.

"I can hear you thinking my love," Jane said as he placed a kiss on Mia's head. "What is bothering you?"

"I think it's time," Mia replied softly.

"Time for what?" Jane asked with a little bit of concern and uncertainty.

"You wanted to know what happened in 2009, right?" Mia asked a she lifted herself on her elbow. "I think it's time for me to tell you."

"Are you sure?" Jane asked as he played with a piece of Mia's hair.

"Positive," Mia replied with a smile. "I can't hide it forever."

"Should I get popcorn?" Jane asked playfully as Mia lay back down again.

"No," Ma replied with a small chuckle. "It shouldn't take too long."

They lay in silence for a while as Mia tried to decide the best way to start her story.

"You ready?" Mia eventually asked.

"Yep," Jane replied as he ran his fingers along her slender back.

"Well," Mia began. "I started working for Sac PD in 2007, so by 2009 I had only been working there for two years, which made me somewhat of an amateur. A particularly tough case came along, a lot like the Bortaccelli case. The main difference was that I knew one of the people involved."

"How did you know them?" Jane asked.

"Jake and I had been friends when we were little kids and he had stayed at the same orphanage as me for a little while." Mia replied. "We kinda dated a little too, but nothing serious."

"What happened?" Jane asked.

"Well, we went with my idea of sending the two main suspects home and keeping them under surveillance." Mia said as she picked up the story once again. "I was sitting in the car with Daniel and we were watching Jake's house. While Daniel was on the phone, I thought I saw something in the window, so I snuck up to the house to take a look."

Mia's voice got a little bit quieter as she felt tears prickling at her eyes.

"Then what happened?" Jane asked quietly as he saw Mia trying not to cry.

"Um, I picked the lock and went inside." Mia carried on with a thick voice. "It was dark, so I didn't see Jake coming up behind me. He pulled a gun on me and when he realized it was me, he said that he was just protecting himself. But I could tell that he was lying and I knew that he was carrying the murder weapon. But I didn't question him, because… because I was in love with him at the time."

"Really?" Jane asked.

"Yeah," Mia replied as a few tears started leaking from her eyes. "Anyway, he lifted the gun and aimed it at my face and said that he was sorry. He said that he needed the money and that he didn't know of any other way to get it."

Jane kissed Mia on the head as he wiped some of her tears away with his calloused thumb.

"While he was pointing the gun at me, I saw a shadow moving in the background." Mia said as she tried wiping away some of her own tears. "I thought maybe it was Daniel coming to see what was going on, but as the light turned on I saw that it was the other suspect and they had a gun too."

Jane hugged Mia close as she let loose a few tears, obviously fast forwarding to the end of the tale in her mind.

"Then what?" Jane asked.

"Um, the other guy started yelling at Jake and telling him that he didn't like that Jake had killed his friend." Mia replied with a sniffle. "And before I could say anything to stop them from fighting… I heard…"

Mia suddenly burst into tears as she finished the sentence in her mind.

"Shh," Jane shushed. "You're not there… You're here with me."

"I… I o-opened my eyes and I saw Jake lying on the ground in a p-pool of blood," Mia sobbed. "And Daniel was towering o-over the other guy's body."

"I'm sorry, Mia," Jane said as he held Mia. "I'm sorry that you lost your friend… and your first love."

They lay in the dark as Mia's tears subsided and Jane hummed a sweet tune in her ear.

"Thank you for telling me," Jane said eventually. "I appreciate that you trust me enough to tell me."

"Well, you told me everything about yourself, so I felt that it was time I do the same thing." Mia replied with a small smile. "Maybe we should think about sleeping, I'm really tired."

"Of course gorgeous," Jane replied with a small chuckle. "Sweet dreams."

xxxxx

About three weeks after Mia had told Jane all about the incident in 2009, things were better for them. Their relationship was stronger than ever now that everything was out in the open.

It was early Thursday morning and Jane and Mia lay in bed as the sun started to stream through a gap in the curtain.

Mia lay on her stomach with her head on the pillow and her hair creating a halo around her head. Jane lay next to her and wiped at his eyes as he tried to wake himself from a good night's rest.

Jane rolled onto his side as he faced his sleeping beauty.

Jane reached over and cleared some hair away from Mia's neck so that he could plant a soft kiss there.

"Good morning beautiful," Jane said, his voice husky from sleep. "Wake up my love."

Mia groaned as she wiped at her eyes tiredly.

"Can't I just skip today," Mia complained. "I'm too tired."

Jane gave a chuckle as he rolled over and pulled Mia with him.

Mia groaned as if she were in great pain and Jane suddenly became very concerned.

"What's wrong?" Jane asked hurriedly. "What did I do?"

"No, it's nothing you did," Mia replied. "Every muscle in my body is aching. I feel like I got run over by a bus."

"Oh," Jane replied simply as he started to calm down a little bit. "Is there anything I can do?"

"No," Mia replied as her face suddenly turned pale. "But I think I'm gonna be sick…"

Mia suddenly launched out of the bed and ran as fast as she could towards the bathroom.

Jane followed behind Mia and entered the bathroom to find Mia kneeling in front of the toilet heaving the contents of her stomach.

"Go away," Mia said miserably as she lifted her head to see Jane entering the bathroom. "I don't want you to see me like this."

"Please, Mia," Jane replied with a chuckle as he went down in front of Mia. "I've seen you laugh, I've seen you cry, and I've made love to you. I think I can survive comforting you while you throw up."

Mia gave Jane a small smile as she said, "Well, if you're gonna stay here and help me make a fool of myself, could you please hold my hair for me?"

"Gladly, my love," Jane replied as he gathered Mia's hair in his right hand and rubbed her back soothingly with his left.

After Mia's stomach was emptied, she and Jane sat on the bathroom floor in silence. Jane sat with his back against the wall and Mia between his legs.

"When did you start feeling sick?" Jane asked as he held Mia's hands in his own.

"Well, I only started feeling nauseous yesterday," Mia replied tiredly. "But my back has been killing me all week."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jane asked with concern.

"I didn't think it was that serious." Mia replied simply.

"Silly woman," Jane replied with mock anger. "I'll make an appointment for the doctor."

As Jane started getting up off of the floor, Mia yelled protestantly.

"No! Please, I hate doctors."

"I know," Jane replied with a serious tone. "But we need to make sure that it isn't something serious."

"But what about work?" Mia asked, trying any excuse she could.

"We're already late, so I guess we can just take the day off." Jane replied as he reached out his hand to help Mia up.

"Fine," Mia replied with an over exagerated sigh. "I'll take a shower and you go and call the doctor."

"Right away," Jane said as he kissed Mia's hand and left the bathroom.

While Mia took a fairly quick shower, Jane went to make an appointment for the doctor and prepare some tea for him and Mia.

Mia walked into the kitchen as Jane was stirring the two steaming cups of tea.

"How are you feeling?" Jane asked as he carried the two mugs to the small table.

"The shower helped a little for my sore muscles, but not so much for my nausea." Mia replied with a sigh as she pulled her tea towards her.

As Jane took a sip of his tea, Mia brought her mug up to her lips and breathed in.

"What tea is this?" Mia asked with a look of disgust.

"It's Earl-Grey," Jane replied with confusion. "Why do you ask?"

"It just smells funny," Mia replied.

"Let me smell," Jane said as Mia handed him the mug. Jane took a sniff and a sip. "It smells and tastes fine to me."

"Maybe it's just me." Mia replied as she lay her head on her arms. "What time is the doctor's appointment?"

"In half an hour," Jane replied as he looked at the clock on the wall. "Let me hop in the shower."

Jane stood from the table and gave Mia a kiss on the top of her head as he walked past and made his way to the bathroom.

xxxxx

The waiting room at the doctor's office wasn't too full.

There was an elderly couple, a mother with her young son, and a middle-aged man with glasses.

"How much longer do we have to wait?" Mia whispered impatiently as she leaned her head on Jane's shoulder.

"Not too long my love," Jane replied as he put his arm around Mia and pulled her closer. "I think we're next."

Jane's phone buzzed in his pocket indicating that he had a text message.

Jan pulled his phone out and flipped it open to see that he had a message from Lisbon.

Jane read the text with a small chuckle and Mia looked at him with a curious expression.

"What's so funny?" Mia asked as she leaned over to get a look at Jane's phone.

The text message from Lisbon read:

Where the hell are you?

Taking another day off?

If so, please say so and don't assume that everybody is psychic -_-

"What are you gonna tell her?" Mia asked.

"I'll just tell her I'm taking the day off." Jane replied simply as he typed a quick reply and stuck his phone back in his pocket.

Just as Jane and Mia got comortable once again, a short nurse with blonde hair called out, "Mia Black?"

Jane and Mia both stood from their seats as Jane grabbed Mia's hand and took the lead.

"If you'll just have a seat," The nurse began as she opened the door to the doctor's office. "The doctor will be with you in a moment."

Jane and Mia sat in the chairs in front of the doctor's desk and Mia started nervously playing with Jane's ring on her finger.

"Everything will be fine." Jane said softly in an attempt to calm Mia down.

Just as Mia was about to reply to Jane, the doctor walked in with a file in his hand.

"Good morning," The doctor greeted as Jane and Mia stood to shake hands.

"Mia Black," The doctor said as he shook Mia's hand. "And you are?"

"I'm Patrick Jane," Jane replied as he shook the doctor's hand.

"He's my boyfriend." Mia added in with a small smile.

"Ah," The doctor replied. "Well, I am Doctor Maverick."

Jane and Mia sat in their seats again and the doctor sat on the edge of his desk.

"So, what can I help you with?" Dr. Maverick asked.

"Well, I woke up this morning and all of my muscles were aching," Mia replied. "Plus, I'm feeling a little nauseous."

"Hmm," The doctor hummed. "Could you just have a seat on the examination table please?"

"Sure," Mia replied a little nervously as she stood and walked over to the examination table.

"Alright," The doctor began as he grabbed his tools. "Say 'ah' please."

Mia did as the doctor asked and Jane gave her a look of encouragement.

After the doctor had finished his checkup, Mia sat in her seat and the doctor sat and read his files.

Mia gave Jane a look that clearly meant she was getting annoyed with the doctor's silence.

"It seems that you are perfectly healthy." Dr. Maverick said as he closed the file.

"What?" Mia asked incredulously. "Then why do I feel so sick?"

"To find that out I think we'll need to take some urine samples and blood tests." Dr. Maverick replied.

"How long do you think the tests will take?" Jane asked as he took Mia's hand in his.

"About an hour," Dr. Maverick replied. "Half an hour could be doable since we aren't too busy today."

"Alright," Jane replied. "I think we should do the tests."

"I'll get right on that." Dr. Maverick replied as he stood from his desk. "Let me just contact the lab."

After the doctor had left the room, Mia slouched in her chair and heaved a sigh.

"Don't worry," Jane said as he squeezed Mia's hand. "We'll get through this. We're in this together."

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