Simple Diversions

A/N: Thank you to all of my wonderful readers and reviewers who are still enjoying Jane and Mia's journey along with me. Your continued support truly means the world to me.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist or any of the characters or ideas. I only own Mia Black. She IS mine ;)

Chapter 21

When Daniel and his team got back to CBI, they shared what they had found out about the brother.

"Jackson Solinski is a very uncaring man." Daniel said as everyone gathered around in the bullpen.

"What makes you say that?" Rigsby asked as he leaned against his desk.

"Well, when we asked about his brother, Michael, he showed a great amount of disinterest and not much compassion." Alistair replied.

"Maybe he killed his brother," Van Pelt suggested. "That would explain why he doesn't feel sorry for him."

"True," David Flood replied. "But Jackson doesn't seem like the killing type. He's too… stupid."

There came a giggle from where Jane and Mia sat on the brown leather couch.

"Care to share?" Lisbon asked.

"Ah, no," Jane replied. "Carry on."

"Anyway, we didn't see anything that points to the brother directly." Lisa said. "But I agree with David, that guy couldn't even sell toothpaste to a toothbrush."
Another giggle.

"Do you guys know something that we don't?" Daniel asked as he turned to the two consultants.

"Nope," Mia replied. "Just an inside joke."
"Basically we have no leads." Lisbon said dejectedly. "Maybe we're asking the wrong questions."

"Or the wrong people." Jane whispered to Mia.

"That's it," Lisbon said. "Spit it out."

"Fine," Mia replied. "We think that maybe Sarah was cheating on Michael with Jackson. When Michael found out, he decided to confront his brother, but the conversation went mucky."

"That's why the cause of death was blunt force trauma." Jane added. "Jackson got angry and hit Michael with a nearby branch."

"But if Jackson did kill his brother, surely he would've left the country by now." Van Pelt said.

"But then he would leave a heart-broken Sarah and she would immediately suspect him." Mia replied. "The only reason Jackson is still here is because Sarah is pregnant."

"How do you know she's pregnant?" Daniel asked suspiciously.

"Well, she was a faint green color when we went to see her, plus she switched from happy to teary way too quickly." Mia said.

"Huh," Jane replied. "Good observation. I couldn't tell she was pregnant."

"Hmm," Mia replied. "I would've thought you would've noticed right away." Mia replied knowingly.

The other occupants in the room shared looks of confusion at Mia's comment.

"Either way, I think Pat… I mean Jane and I should check the brother out again." Mia said, trying to cover her brief slip of the tongue.

"Um, sure," Daniel replied. "Maybe you two can read something different."

"Alright, let's go talk to Jackson." Mia said hastily as she stood from her seat and started walking towards the elevator.

xxxxx

Jane pulled his little Citroen up in front of the convenience store owned by Jackson Solinski.

Jane turned the key in the ignition, shutting off the engine of the car.

"So, how do you wanna do this?" Jane asked Mia as they watched the people walking in and out of the little convenience store.

"Maybe we should just be direct." Mia replied.

"Hmm," Jane hummed as he thought. "Why don't we play the guilt card?"

"Nah, that could take too long." Mia replied. "I think we should just ask him what he knows and see if his story matches up with Daniel's version."

"Alright," Jane replied. "Lead the way my love."

The bell jingled on top of the door as Jane and Mia walked into the little store.

The two consultants walked over to the front desk and looked around as in confusion as they saw no one in the store.

"Maybe he's on a lunch break." Jane said simply as he looked over the edge of the counter.

"Or he's in there." Mia replied as she pointed to a little store room at the back of the little shop. "Someone's having a very heavy argument in there."

Jane and Mia quietly walked to the little door that stood open just a fraction of a hair.

"How could you do something like that?" They heard a woman, probably Sarah, say inside. "He's your brother."

"Was my brother." Jackson said angrily. "He wanted to take you away from me."

"With good reason," Sarah replied. "I understand why Michael wanted us to leave. He wanted to give me a better life."

"And take my child away from me." Jackson yelled. "That baby is mine, isn't it?"

"Yes, that baby is yours." Sarah replied.

Jane and Mia just shared a glance as Mia's observations about Sarah proved to be true.

"You were right about Sarah being pregnant." Jane whispered to Mia. "Good job."

Mia gave a smile as they heard silence coming from the little room they were crouched next to.

Mia craned her neck to try and hear better when the door suddenly swung open to reveal and angry Jackson wielding a knife.

Jane and Mia shot to their feet as Jackson swung the blade in their direction.

Mia cried in pain as she clutched at her right arm that now had a huge gash along it.

Jackson started running as fast as he could towards the door.

"Mia, are you OK?" Jane asked with concern.

"I'm fine, just go after him." Mia said with a grunt of pain. "I'll call Daniel."

"Can't I just wait 'til Daniel gets here?" Jane asked with a bit of a whining tone.

"No, just go after him." Mia replied with some anger.

"OK, OK," Jane replied as he started walking towards the door. "I'll catch him."

Jane chased after Jackson, telling himself that he was running for Mia's sake, because Patrick Jane didn't usually run after criminals.

Just as Jackson was about to run across the street, a black SUV raced towards him and slammed him against its hood.

Inside the car was none other than Detective Daniel Reese.

"It's about time you showed up." Jane said breathlessly as he rested his hands on his knees. "I think we must have run a couple of miles."

"More like a couple of blocks." Daniel replied as he cuffed Jackson. "Where's Mia?"

"She's back at the convenience store," Jane replied. "But she's hurt."

"Let's go." Daniel said quickly as he threw Jackson in the back of his car and he and Jane climbed into the car.

Daniel pulled his car into one of the parking spaces and Jane ran into the convenience store.

"Mia?" Jane called as he burst through the doors.

"I'm back here with Sarah." Mia yelled from the little store room.

Jane ran to the little store room with Daniel in tow.

As soon as Jane saw Mia, he hugged her close and looked her over to make sure her bleeding arm was the only injury she had.

Daniel in the meantime had grabbed his handcuffs and cuffed Sarah's hand.

"Mia, are you OK?" Daniel asked as he started steering Sarah towards the door.

"I'm fine; I just need a bandage or two." Mia replied as Jane took her arm and looked at the nasty cut down the inside of her forearm.

"You might need more than a bandage." Jane said as he looked into Mia's eyes.

"I'm fine Patrick," Mia tried to persuade Jane. "I just need to sit down."

"OK," Jane said as he sat next to Mia and tried to stop the blood.

"I'll call the paramedics." Daniel said as he pushed Sarah through the door.

"How far did you have to run?" Mia asked Jane as she leaned her head against Jane's shoulder.

"Daniel thinks I ran a couple of blocks, but it felt a hell of a lot like a mile." Jane replied with some seriousness.

Mia just chuckled at Jane's theory of how far he had to run to catch Jackson.

Eventually the paramedics got to the convenience store and tended to Mia and Jackson's wounds.

It seems that if you run with a blade and get hit by a car, it can hurt quite a bit.

Jane walked over to Mia who was being tended to by a young, handsome paramedic.

This didn't amuse Jane, what did was the fact that the paramedic was clearly trying to flirt with Mia, but she was ignoring all of his flirty comments and advances.

"How are you feeling?" Jane asked as he approached Mia.

"Why do people keep asking me that?" Mai asked as she thanked the paramedic and stood from her seat in the back of the ambulance.

"Maybe because you've got a huge gash in your arm," Jane replied as he helped Mia step out of the ambulance. "Or maybe it's the fact that you don't have just yourself to worry about anymore."

"Shh," Mia said as she looked around to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation. "Not so loud."

"OK," Jane said as he moved a stray hair out of Mia's eyes. "You are OK though, right? Both of you?"

"Yes," Mia replied with a smile as she rested her hand on her stomach that still seemed relatively flat. "We are both fine."

"Good," Jane said with a broad grin as he kissed Mia on the cheek. "After Jackson had met the hood of Daniel's car, he decided to sing like a bird."

"That's good." Mia said as she and Jane started walking towards all of the other agents.

"It seems your theory was correct." Daniel said as Jane and Mia joined the group. "Well done again you two."

"Thank you Daniel." Mia replied with a smile as she fiddled with the bandage that covered her new stitches on her arm.

"Well, I guess our work here is done." Jane said as he clapped his hands together.

"For now," Lisbon replied with a small smile. "We were all heading to the local bar if you two want to join us."

Jane and Mia shared a glance as they had a silent conversation.

"Um, sure," Mia replied. "I just won't drink anything, because the paramedic gave me some pain killers and I don't think alcohol would agree with them."

Jane and Mia both knew that that wasn't the entire truth, but they were glad when the rest of the agents seemed to buy their lie.

"Alright, water it is then." Daniel said as he led the way.

"It's a good thing they bought that." Jane whispered to Mia.

"Yeah, but what's Daniel gonna think when I ask for vacation time that is as long as standard maternity leave." Mia replied as she took Jane's hand in hers.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it my love." Jane said. "First, lets' just focus on keeping me sober enough to not have a hangover when we go to have the ultrasound tomorrow."

"Yeah," Mia replied with a smile. "That's probably a good idea."

xxxxx

Jane and Mia were standing in front of the doors for Dr. St Claire, who was going to do the ultrasound for them.

"I'm a little scared," Mia admitted as she fiddled with Jane's ring on her finger.

"Don't worry," Jane said as he stilled her hands. "We are going to see our beautiful baby. Although it won't be that big, we'll still be able to see it and find out how far along you are."

"I know, but I'm still scared." Mia replied. "I mean, I've never had an ultrasound for anything before."

"I'm right here," Jane reassured. "I'll be here every step of the way."

"OK," Mia replied with renewed confidence. "Lets' do this."

Jane and Mia walked into the little waiting room just outside of Dr. St. Claire's office and took a seat while they waited for their names to be called. Jane put his hand on Mia's knee to calm her a little as he knew they both a lot of things running through their heads.

Eventually the receptionist behind the front desk called out Jane and Mia's names and said that Dr. St. Claire was ready to see them.

So, with shaking hands Mia led the way with Jane in tow as they went to go and see their beautiful baby.

OK... #1 This chapter is sorta short... #2 I only realized yesterday that I named the Solinsky brothers Michael and Jackson... so... Anyway, please review and let me know what you think!