"Agent Lisbon, I'd like to introduce you to a new member of your team. This is Agent Michelle Vega and she'll be working with you and Agent Cho." Abbott had escorted the newest FBI agent in order to introduce her around the office.
Lisbon stood up and smiled at the young agent. "Welcome. It's nice to have you on board."
"Thank you", Vega said, sounding rather formal.
Teresa noted that, although Vega was both young and attractive, she didn't seem very warm or friendly. She wondered how she'd fit into their team and was regretting that Kim had decided to leave.
"If there's anything I can help you with, just let me know", Teresa told her. "I know it's always tough starting a new job."
"I'm sure I'll be fine."
"Uh – okay then", Lisbon smiled, unsure what more to say. She looked at Abbott feeling a bit uncomfortable.
"Thank you Teresa. Where's Jane?" He looked over towards the couch, but their consultant was missing.
"He's just gone to make himself a cup of tea", she explained. Abbott nodded and ushered Vega over to meet some of the other agents. After the two of them were gone she glanced over at Cho.
"She's young."
"Yes. And attractive."
"You think so?"
"Of course", he nodded. "But young."
Lisbon sighed and rubbed her ever-growing belly. For some reason seeing Agent Vega depressed her and made her feel old. She tried to remember back to when she had been as young and idealistic. She shook her head. She'd been so determined, so sure of what was right and wrong in those days. And then she'd met Jane.
Speaking of the devil – "Hey", she smiled at him.
"Hi yourself. Who was that with Abbott?"
"New agent", Cho told him, without looking up. "She's taking Kim's place."
"Oh", he frowned briefly and then shrugged. He'd gotten to rather like Kim, although he'd never quite forgiven her for the trick she'd played on him. He knew that was rather hypocritical, as he'd done his fair of tricks on all his teammates – but he had let down his guard with her and had been hurt.
Still, he'd gotten used to her and didn't particularly look forward to someone new. He was a man of habit and order and hated when things disturbed that. He glanced over at Teresa then, and smiled. He wasn't going to let it worry him though. He had much better things to think about.
After finishing his tea he lay back down on his couch and closed his eyes. He was trying not to think about tomorrow and the ultrasound so instead put his mind to their latest case.
A local banker, by the name of Ralph Martins had been found dead in his car in the parking lot behind his branch office. He'd been shot in the chest and had only been discovered when his wife called and reported that he hadn't come home from work. There were no witnesses and seemingly no motive.
Jane had looked at the file but had, as yet, to talk to any of the man's co-workers or his wife. He was planning to head out after lunch with Cho, but for now concentrated on the facts that they knew so far.
"Your desk is right here Agent Vega." Abbott had returned with the young woman after taking her on a tour of the building. "If you have any questions Agent Cho or Lisbon can help you. Welcome to the FBI."
"Thank you", she said, her expression unchanging. She sat down at the desk and put her purse in her drawer. She then took the box that had been left there and began to unpack it.
Teresa got the distinct impression the woman didn't want to be disturbed so left her to her unpacking. She really hoped Vega would loosen up or working with her wasn't going to be fun.
After she was finished putting away her few items, Michelle looked up. It was only then that she noticed the man asleep on the couch. She frowned, wondering why they would let a civilian inside the FBI to sleep. She walked up to Lisbon's desk.
"Uh – Agent Lisbon?"
"Please, call me Teresa", she smiled. "What can I do for you Agent?"
"I'm just wondering", she asked softly. "Why is that man sleeping over there?"
"That – oh, you mean Jane?"
"Jane? That's a funny name for a man."
Teresa laughed "That's his last name. His first name is Patrick and he's our consultant. Didn't Abbott mention him?"
"Yes, I guess so. I just – don't understand why he's allowed to sleep on the job." She sounded both surprised and disgusted.
Teresa's eyebrows went up. Well this was going to be fun. "Uh, that's how he works", she explained. "He may look like he's sleeping, but he actually does some of his best work like that."
One of Vega's eyebrows went up and she looked incredulously at the man on the couch. "Really? Well, I have to say I'm surprised that it's allowed. It's not very – professional, is it?"
"No", Lisbon cocked her head slightly, finding the woman in front of her to be both arrogant and stuck-up. "I guess different people have different ideas of what's professional. Jane solves more cases than anyone here so I guess that gives him a bit of leeway."
"Really? He solves them by sleeping?"
"Sometimes", Teresa chuckled. "Didn't you get files on everyone before you started?"
"Yes, but I didn't read them. I didn't want to be influenced by what's in a paper file. I'm more interested in seeing how people work and in their results."
"Yes, well Jane gets results."
Vega nodded, still looking like she'd swallowed a bunch of lemons.
Teresa sighed. "Would you like to meet him?"
"Who – Jane?"
"That is who we're talking about."
"I guess so", Vega nodded. She waited for Lisbon to stand up and then glanced in surprise at her stomach. "You're pregnant?"
"Really" Lisbon said, sounding surprised? At the other woman's uncomfortable look she relented. "Yes I am."
"Is this your first?"
"Yup. Come on, let me introduce you to Jane." She walked over and gently kicked the side of the couch.
Jane's eyes opened slowly, to see the woman he loved standing over him. He started to smile when he noticed she was wearing her 'it's business look'. Normally he wouldn't care, but this time he decided to be good so instead sat up. It was then he noticed the very attractive woman beside her. "Who's this?" he smiled.
"This is Agent Michelle Vega. She's the newest member of our team", Teresa told him.
Jane instantly stood up. Continuing to smile he held out his hand. "Welcome Michelle. It's nice to meet you."
She gave him a nod and took his hand. "Mr. Jane."
"Oh, you can just call me Jane – or Patrick, whichever you prefer."
"I prefer Mr. Jane", she answered. "I understand you're a consultant with the FBI?"
"Yes", he nodded.
"I see. And what do you consult about?"
Jane thought a moment. "Oh, just about anything. Isn't that right Lisbon?"
"Yes", she nodded and then turned to Vega. "He helps with all of our cases in a variety of ways."
"I see. Where did you get your training?"
"Training?" Patrick asked with a quick glance at Teresa. "Uh – no training." He grinned. "I'm just a natural."
"A natural what?" Vega said, her eyebrows pushed up as high as they could go.
"Crime solver", he answered, although he'd wanted to say something completely ridiculous
"I see. Well, it's nice to meet you. I've never met anyone who – slept – as they worked."
"Oh, the team works me pretty hard", he confessed. "Lisbon here especially, so I need to rest."
Agent Vega pursed her lips but nodded again. "I'm sure you do." With that she gave a small smile and headed back to her desk. Lisbon gave him a look which clearly said 'oh boy, this is going to be fun'. Jane just grinned and took his seat back on the couch.
Quite a few times over the next couple of hours the newest agent glanced up and watched the man on the couch. She was shocked and horrified that the FBI would allow someone like that to work for them. She hoped he wasn't around all the time.
Just before they were to leave to interview Ralph Martin's wife, Cho was called into an interrogation of a witness on a case he was working. Jane was going to go on his own when Abbott came out of his office. "Jane, take Agent Vega with you. She might as well get going immediately."
Patrick nodded and then turned to look at Michelle Vega. "Come on then, let's go see Martins wife."
Vega grabbed her purse and followed Jane out of the office. She was irritated, unsure how to handle the situation. She was the agent, and he was the consultant, but she was brand new. She thought maybe she should take charge and begin as she felt they should continue.
"So, I'll take the lead on this one. I read over the case file carefully and it doesn't look like the wife is a suspect but she may know more than she realizes"
Jane glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "You'll take lead?" he asked nicely.
"Yes. I understand that you consult so if I feel I need you to do something I'll ask, okay?"
"Okay", he smiled. He immediately got in the passenger side of the car, assuming – correctly – that she'd want to take control and drive.
They got to the victim's home and knocked on the front door. After a slight pause they could hear a lock turning and the door was opened by a woman in her early 40's. The woman's eyes were red and her face puffy, obviously from crying. "Yes? Can I help you?"
Michelle took a step closer to the door. "I'm Agent Vega and this is Patrick Jane. We're with the FBI and we'd like to ask you some questions about your husband's murder."
"Oh – okay", the woman opened the door wider and let the agents in. "I'm sorry", she indicated the room. "I haven't – I couldn't – it's messy. Please sit down. Can I offer you anything?"
"No/Some Tea would be nice", both Vega and Jane spoke at the same moment. The agent glared at Jane, who wasn't looking at her but was smiling at Mrs. Martins.
"Oh – yes, of course. Just a minute and I'll get it for you."
"Don't bother", Jane told her kindly. "Just point me to your kitchen and I'll get it while Agent Vega asks you those questions. Would you like some tea Mrs. Martins."
"Thank you – I guess – yes, that would be nice."
Jane nodded and smiled again. He then headed towards the kitchen.
Vega followed him with her eyes, shocked at his presumption and wondering again how they let anyone so unprofessional and untrained work for the FBI. "I'm sorry for your loss Mrs. Martins", she told the other woman perfunctorily. "Now, can you tell me if your husband had any enemies, anyone who would want to kill him?"
Jane returned a few minutes later, two cups of tea in his hand. "There you go", he put a cup down in front of the grieving widow. "I added a little milk and sugar, just the way you like it."
"Thank you", Emily Martins gave a shaky smile at the rather strange FBI agent. She took a sip of tea and looked at him in surprise. "It is just the way I like it."
Jane nodded, giving her his sweetest smile. He then sat down and proceeded to drink his tea, all the while watching as Agent Vega continued with the interview.
"Jane, do you have any questions for Mrs. Martins?" It was very obvious, from her tone of voice, that Vega was asking only out of courtesy and that she assumed that he would have nothing more to say.
"Yes", he answered. "Mrs. Martins, when did your husband tell you he was leaving you?"
"What?" Emily looked at him in shock, almost dropping her teacup. "He wasn't leaving me. Why would you say that?"
"Jane!" Vega glared at him. "There is no evidence to suggest that Mr. Martins was leaving. "I'm sorry Mrs. Martins -"
"He was moving out, wasn't he?" Jane interrupted. "His things are gone or packed up and there are no pictures of the two of you anywhere. I assume you took them down after he told you he was leaving you."
"No!" she said, putting the cup down before she dropped it. "Why do you keep saying that? Ralph wasn't leaving me."
"He was having an affair, wasn't he, and told you he was leaving because he was in love."
"No! That's not true. I didn't know he was having an affair – I mean, I didn't know because he wasn't having an affair. He loved me."
"Jane, stop this", Michelle hissed at him. She stood up. "I'm sorry Mrs. Martins. As soon as we have more information we'll let you know. Come on Jane, we're going."
Jane ignored her. "There wasn't another woman was there?" he asked softly. "You could have lived with it if he'd had an affair with another woman."
"No", Emily cried. "I couldn't – wouldn't. He wasn't having an affair with another woman. Please stop."
"Jane!"
"He was having an affair with a man, wasn't he?" Jane have her a gentle and sympathetic smile. "And you couldn't live with that. It was bad enough that he was leaving, but to leave with a man – you saw that as shaming who you were. That's why you killed him, wasn't it? So no one would find out and they'd view you as the tragic widow."
She stood up quickly, glaring at him. "Why are you doing this? Why are you saying these things?"
"Because they're true", he answered gently. "He was having an affair with Brent Jacobsen, his assistant branch manager. He was planning to leave you for Brent and instead you killed him."
"No", Emily bowed her head in her hands and began to cry. "I loved him. I gave him the best years of my life and he was going to give that up for some perverted relationship. I couldn't let that happen. He forced me to it. It was his fault."
"You shot him?" Jane asked, still pushing her. He didn't once look over at Vega.
"Yes, yes I shot him", Emily admitted. "He deserved it and this way I'll inherit everything."
Jane stood up at that, placing his cup on the coffee table. "Since you're the lead on this case Agent Vega, I'll leave it to you", Jane said as he walked towards the door. "Good luck with everything Mrs. Martins."
"How did he know", the not-so-grieving widow asked after he was gone. "How did he know my husband was having an affair with another man?"
"Uh – he's just really smart", Michelle choked out. In fact she had no idea how Jane had done it, but she planned to talk to him and find out.
She called for back-up and soon Emily Vega was heading to jail, charged in the shooting death of her husband. When Michelle got back to the car it was to find Jane snoozing in the passenger seat.
"How did you do that?" she asked bluntly after getting in the car.
"Hmm?" he asked drowsily.
"How did you do that? How did you know it was her?"
He sighed and sat up. "According to the file, Brent Jacobsen was way more upset over Martins' death than a simple co-worker should be. In fact, the officer who filled out the report said that Jacobsen was totally devastated. Then there was the fact that he and Martins went away on a lot of business trips together. Finally, it was clear that Martins was moving out. There were none of his things in either the bedroom or the bathroom."
"You looked?"
"Yes."
"But we didn't have a search warrant. You can't go wandering around people's houses."
He looked at her with an innocent expression. "Yes I can. I simply had to use the bathroom. And her bedroom door was open."
Vega clenched her teeth and didn't say anything for quite a few minutes. She finally spoke. "I don't know how you really do what you do, but next time I expect you to follow the rules. They're there for a purpose and you can't just do anything you like. You've obviously been given too much free reign here."
Patrick smiled and closed his eyes. He was asleep by the time they got back to the FBI.
Agent Vega knocked on Abbott's door. "Can I speak with you a moment Sir?"
Abbott looked up, little expression on his face, although those that knew him well recognized the gleam of humor in his eyes. "Certainly Agent Vega, come in."
He waited until she was seated and then leaned forward, his hands clasped. "So – I assume this is about Jane?"
"How – how did you know?"
He smiled. "Oh, he usually has quite an effect on people the first time they work with him. Did he solve the case yet?"
"Uh – yes, he did. But Sir – it was totally unprofessional. He snooped around the woman's house without permission."
"Oh, permission is something that Jane rarely, if ever asks for."
Michelle frowned. "But – why do you keep him on? I assume he creates a lot of problems for the FBI."
"He does", Abbott agreed, "but he also solves cases – faster than anyone I've ever seen. The man may be irritating and you're right, he certainly isn't professional, but he's brilliant. You'll get used to him after a while. Just don't let him trick you and try not to let him get on your nerves. You'll be okay, I promise."
"But, how do the others handle him?"
"The others? Well, Cho and Lisbon have worked with him for years. They know him. Teresa, of course, can usually keep him from getting into too much trouble, although she'll be on restricted duty for a while which is unfortunate. Cho is pretty good at controlling him too – so you shouldn't have too much trouble."
"I'm sorry Sir, I still don't understand. I don't even know what he does other than sleep on the couch and insult people."
"Yeah, that's pretty much it", Abbott chuckled. He then stood up slowly. "I know it's a lot to take in Agent Vega. But the fact is, Jane isn't going anywhere. He's one of the best assets we have, so, you're going to have to deal with it – with him. If you have any real problems, talk to Teresa. She's dealt with much worse from him."
"Thank you Sir", she said as she stood up. "I'll – try." She turned around and walked to the door. "I'm kind of surprised he hadn't gotten himself into real trouble yet."
Abbott laughed. "Oh, you have no idea. He has, which is why he's working for us. You should read his file Agent. It's very informative."
She nodded and thanked him again. Maybe she would read his file, although she didn't really want to spend that much time even thinking about him. For some reason Patrick Jane really irritated her. She was a believer in rules and regulations, proper procedure and processes. She was positive that Jane didn't know about any of the above. She sighed and sat down in her chair. She wondered how difficult it would be to get rid of him?
"I don't think your new agent likes me", Patrick told her on the way home that evening.
"Who? Agent Vega?" Teresa glanced at him.
"Uh huh. She made it pretty clear. She didn't like the fact that I went to the bathroom."
"What?" Teresa frowned, confused. "She didn't like that you went to the bathroom?"
"Well, she thought I was snooping through Mrs. Martins' house."
"And were you?"
He smiled.
"Jane", she sighed. "It was her first day. Couldn't you have backed off a bit?"
"Well, I planned to, but she was pretty obnoxious – no look", he suddenly protested. "She was rude and arrogant before I had a chance to so much as open my mouth."
"Yeah", Lisbon sighed. "I kind of agree with you. I don't think I'm looking forward to working with her."
"Oh she'll be okay in a few weeks, I promise."
"How do you know that?"
He just smiled again. "I'll convince her."
Teresa shook her head and chuckled. Leave it to Jane.
He went to bed that night thinking about Michelle Vega. He hoped the woman would loosen up because if she didn't it wasn't going to be that pleasant to work with her. Oh well, he had other more important things to think about. Tomorrow morning was the ultrasound and he was terrified.
"Teresa?" he whispered, hoping she was still awake.
"Mmm hmm", she murmured.
"I love you."
"Luv – ya – too", she said, practically asleep.
"Teresa?"
"Mmm?"
"Can you – hold me?"
That woke her up and she stared into his face. "Are you okay?" She knew that tomorrow loomed in front of him and he was terrified of the ultrasound. He wiggled over and put his arms around her. "You don't have to go if you don't want to."
"I want to", he said softly. "I just need you to hold me."
"Of course." She pulled him tighter to her and then began to stroke his head. "Relax and go to sleep."
"Mmm hmm." Within moments he was sound asleep. Tomorrow was going to be a difficult day.