"Wow, that's really great! You can even see the fingers and toes."

"I know. Amazing isn't it?"

Michelle walked into the break room to see Wylie looking down at a piece of paper. Jane was standing beside him, a big grin on his face.

She wondered what in the world would make a man like Jane look so happy. He was a strange one and she couldn't quite make him out. She'd resisted looking at his file but was starting to think it might be a good idea because so far she hadn't been able to read him at all.

"Hey Agent Vega!" Wylie, the young computer geek lifted his head and smiled at her. He then held out the paper he was holding. "You have to see this. It's really amazing."

She wanted to groan but knew it was important to at least try and appear interested in her co-workers lives, even thought what she really wanted to do was get down to work and solve crimes. "What is it?" she asked as she walked forward, her hand held out to accept the paper.

She glanced down at it and frowned. It was clearly the picture of a fetus – an ultrasound she guessed, although she'd never actually seen one before. "Oh – uh – interesting", she said. "It's a baby."

"Wow, Abbott said you were bright Agent Vega. He knew what he was talking about, didn't he?' Patrick said.

She lifted her head and focused her eyes on the arrogant ass that was Patrick Jane. He was giving her a sweet smile, as if he hadn't just insulted her. She decided not to comment, instead she handed the paper pack to Wylie. Just before she did she noted the name in the corner of the paper: T. Lisbon.

Oh, so this was Lisbon's baby. That must be why Wylie was showing it around – although that seemed a rather strange thing for him to do.

"Thanks for showing me Mr. Jane", the young man said as he handed the paper to the consultant. "That's really fantastic."

"It is, isn't it", Jane grinned. He then tucked the paper into an inside pocket of his jacket, picked up his cup from the table and, with a small salute to Vega, headed back out into the bullpen.

Wylie smiled at her again, although he looked a bit uncomfortable. With a mumble of something he too headed out, leaving her alone in the break room.

As she grabbed a drink from the fridge she couldn't help but wonder why in the world Jane was showing around a picture of Teresa's ultrasound. He knew they had been partners for many years and she supposed they must be friends, but still, it seemed like a strange thing to do.

The next morning they were again called to a murder, this time on the campus of the University. A freshman student had been killed and the FBI was called in to investigate.

"Cho, take Jane and Agent Vega with you", Abbott told them. "The President and the head of campus security will meet you there. And Jane", he stopped and sighed. "Just – try and listen to Cho."

Jane grinned. "I always listen to him."

"Yeah, you listen and then ignore me", Cho told him. "Come on, I'll drive."

Jane was relegated to the back seat as Agent Vega immediately claimed the front passenger seat. It was obvious to him that she thought consultants rated pretty low on the 'who's important' scale.

Oh well, he was too happy today to let much bother him. And anyway, there were many ways he could deal with her. He'd have to wait and find one.

"So, you just graduated Agent Vega?" he asked from the back seat.

"Yes. I was top of my class."

"Of course you were", he answered with a smile. "You always made sure you were top of your class at everything, as that was a way to try and make your military father proud of you. Of course it really didn't work, as he wanted a son to follow in his footsteps, not a daughter."

"What?" she turned and glared at him. "You don't know anything about my family."

"Oh, your father wasn't military?"

"Uh – yes he was – is – but he is proud of me and you don't know anything about it."

"Okay. But it must be frustrating since you've done so much better at everything than your younger brother and he's the one your father always doted on."

"Jane!" Cho looked in the rearview mirror, giving Jane a clear warning. "So Michelle, where are you from originally."

"Why don't you ask Jane", she answered bitterly. "He seems to know everything."

"She was born in North Carolina but moved to Germany with her parents when she was a child – pre-school I guess. After that they lived in Pennsylvania but ended up in Kansas and then Colorado. She did her undergraduate degree in Chicago before going to Quantico to do her training for the FBI."

"So you looked up my records did you Mr. Jane", Michelle said. Somehow that angered her, although why she didn't know.

"No", he answered. After that he appeared to lose interest and for the remainder of the trip looked out of the window.

"And he lies on top of everything", she muttered.

"Lies?" Cho frowned and glanced at her.

"It's obvious he looked me up. I don't know why he doesn't admit it."

"I doubt he did", he told her. "He's very good at figuring stuff out about people."

She snorted. "Right! I'm sure he could tell I lived in Germany from the age of three to eight."

"Yes, he can."

Who the hell was this man! His co-workers must have been conned by him into believing all this crap about him. That was it! He was a conman who made people believe he was something of a mind-reader. Well, she was no gullible nelly! She would quickly show these people that he couldn't compete with a smart and highly trained agent.

They arrived at the University and were soon speaking with the head of security and the President of the college. They didn't find out much from either of them and soon moved to the murder scene.

To make the case even more complicated, the young woman who was killed was an international student from China. Her parents were extremely wealthy and had sent her to the US to improve her English. The police had already notified the Chinese consulate, which was trying to get in touch with her parents.

Her body had been found in her dorm room by another student. Marianne Plesko was her lab partner, and when Li Na hadn't shown up for the class in which they were to present their project, she'd run over to the dorm to find her.

When Agent Vega walked into the dorm room she'd immediately turned pale. There was blood everywhere. Li Na was still lying on the bed, her eyes open, staring at the ceiling.

She glanced at Cho, who looked his usual, unperturbed self. She guessed he'd seen enough of these kinds of scenes not to let it get to him. Michelle then looked at Jane, curious to see how he was reacting.

He looked the same as always, although it was Jane who approached the body. He bent over and looked at it carefully, fortunately without touching anything. His lips were pursed slightly, as if he was slightly puzzled about something. After a few seconds of examining the body he stood up and moved back.

"Looks like -" Cho said, looking at Jane and knowing his colleague would know what he meant..

"Yes, it does. That may only be coincidental though, or it could also be a message for us."

"Possibly. I hope not."

"Mmm", Jane answered, although it wasn't clear whether he was agreeing with Cho or not. "It's definitely a professional. There was no anger in this. It was done very methodically."

"Political?"

"Possibly", agreed Jane. "We need to get information on the girl's parents and then see if there has been anyone here recently from China. It's connected to her family."

As they waited to speak to some of Li Na's fellow students and dorm mates Jane wandered off. Cho didn't seem to mind so she didn't say anything. It appeared as if people pretty much let the consultant do what he wanted. If she were in charge, that would change pretty quickly.

"I saw Agent Lisbon's baby today or at least the ultrasound", she told her companion. She knew that Kimball was close to Lisbon and thought it might be a good idea to start appearing a bit friendlier.

"Mmm. Still looks like a blob to me."

She laughed. "Yeah, me too, although I guess if it's your blob it would be special."

"Mmm hmm." he nodded.

"You've known Teresa for a long time?"

"Yeah, over thirteen years."

"Wow. That's – amazing. I haven't met her partner yet." She wasn't sure if Teresa was married or single, straight or gay and didn't want to presume, so she felt it was safe to put it that way."

"I'm her partner, Jane is her partner", he told her. At the silence that followed he frowned. "Oh, you mean partner?"

"Yes", she frowned. "I assumed she had one, although I guess now days that's not always the case. No one said anything about a father so -"

"How did you see the picture", Cho suddenly seemed very interested.

"Uh – Jane was showing it to Wylie when I walked into the break room. I thought it was a bit strange that it was he who was showing it around, but I guess he and Teresa have been partners for a long time and are probably good friends.

Cho actually laughed – and she was sure it was the first time she'd heard him do so. "Jane and Teresa are partners", he told her.

"Yes, I know – you just said that and I knew it before." When Cho lifted an eyebrow at her she frowned. "What?"

"They're partners! They're together." When Michelle continued to look confused he shook his head. "Jane is the baby's father."

She was stunned. She stared at Cho for way too long, not even blinking. "They're – they're together?"

"Yes, I thought you knew", he said calmly. "Everyone at work knows – has known for a while now."

"How – how long?"

"Have they been together? Mmm, not long. About six months I guess."

"I had no idea. But – it's not allowed is it?"

"Well, since he's a consultant and not a regular employee I guess the rules are different. And anyway, it's Jane."

"What does that mean?"

"He doesn't follow the rules he doesn't like so -", he shrugged.

"Why do people let him get away with that?"

"Why? Because he's Jane. He's unorthodox, sure, but he's also brilliant and can solve more cases in a day than the rest of us could in a month. He's a little hard to get used to, but he's actually a really decent guy."

"But – him and Lisbon? I just – wow. I can't believe I didn't catch that one. How do they manage to work together without killing one another?"

He grinned at that. "I don't know. Over the years there were many times I thought Teresa was going to kill him. There were times I wanted to as well."

"And Jane?"

"Oh, Jane's pretty even tempered. He won't get mad at you, but he will get back at you if you do something that – irritates him."

"Like how?"

Cho just grinned. "In very inventive ways. So I'd watch out if I were you. Don't get on his bad side."

Michelle was pretty sure she already had. She sighed and wished she could start things over again with Patrick Jane. She still didn't like him, but was finding more and more that he was liked by her colleagues – and she was pretty sure they were also very protective of him.

She found that strange, because he didn't really seem like the kind of person who needed someone to look after him. He was a thoroughly confident – she would say arrogant – man. He also appeared to be someone who wasn't particularly emotional and didn't let things bother him. In fact, he seemed pretty cold if his demeanor at the murder scene had been anything to go by.

He's probably the kind of guy who's gone through life with everything handed to him on a silver platter, she thought. It was obvious, from the way he spoke and his manner that he'd been born into wealth and power. No having to scramble for day-to-day existence. She really wondered what Lisbon saw in him.

She shook her head. It didn't really matter though. She was going to have to work with him and get along with him. She'd better start trying to be a bit nicer. It was going to be tough because if there was anything she detested, it was spoiled rich arrogant men.

The next few days she tried hard to be nice to Jane. The only response she got was the occasional knowing look from the man. He treated her politely, but she always got the impression he was laughing at her inside. It enraged her.

Michelle Vega was a woman who needed to have others take her seriously. She craved the respect of the people she worked for and with. She needed people to know she was smart and competent and that she was equal to any man.

Jane had, inadvertently she was sure, hit the nail on the head about her father. A tough military man, he'd had little time for the daughter his wife had born him. When Michelle had been followed, two years later, by a brother, her father had turned his attention solely on his son.

The fact that that son had turned into much of nothing didn't seem to matter to her father. He still treated her as if she was a child while he constantly praised her younger brother. Although she'd never admit it to a soul, her quest for perfection, her love of order and of doing things the right way, were all a search for acceptance and praise. Jane had discovered that about her, and for that she detested him.

They'd wrapped up the case with the young Chinese woman, Li Na. It turned out that a rival businessman of her father's had arranged the hit when he'd lost millions on a deal that had been sabotaged by Li Na's father. He'd arranged a hit man – and had wanted to send an especially gruesome message by arranging a bloody murder, in the style of a famous American serial killer. Jane had figured it out and had led them to the killer.

The businessman hadn't survived long after his arrest in China. The car that was taking him to jail had been hijacked and he'd been taken. They found his body a few days later. It was clear he had been slowly tortured to death. Li Na had been avenged.

Since the murder had been solved, and no other major crime had, as yet, come to their attention, there were a few days when things were slower. They looked through cold cases and finished paper work that had been left hanging. Michelle spent quite a few hours with Lisbon, and was impressed at the knowledge and skills of the other woman. She still couldn't figure out what someone like Teresa was doing with such an arrogant, lazy and spoiled man. She did have to admit he seemed to be able to solve crimes, but he never appeared very interested and she suspected he wouldn't ever be able to stick at anything for any length of time.

Still, she was getting to like both Lisbon and Cho and knew that if she was going to fit in she'd have to at least learn to tolerate Jane. She'd also have to do a better job at pretending to – if not like him – than at least respect him.

She looked up again and snuck a look at the couch where he resided. She was pretty sure she'd never actually seen him sit at a desk and wondered if he did any real work at all. She would sometimes catch him reading case files, so she guessed that counted. But mostly he seemed to doze.

She had caught him pulling out the ultrasound picture quite a few times and gazing at it. She could never quite tell what his expression meant. She didn't know if he was happy or not when he looked at the image. A few times she'd thought she'd caught a look of fear, but she'd scoffed at herself. Patrick Jane was a man who had never known real fear, of that she was sure. She really didn't think any of his emotions ran very deep.

She looked down and sighed. She had to stop thinking so negatively of him or she'd never be able to work with him. And she also knew that if things were to change she would have to be the one to take the first step. She didn't think he cared less about her or what she thought of him.

So, what to do? She could try and talk with him when they all went out on a team night, although she really didn't know what to say to him. She had grown up travelling all over the country with a father in the military. She hadn't had a settled life and it certainly hadn't been one of luxury. It would have been completely different than Jane's.

They also operated totally differently when it came to work. She figured he did the consulting work because he was bored, not because he needed the work. She was also sure he didn't care that much about bringing people to justice. On the other hand she was obsessed with justice and certainly needed to make a living. So work was out as a topic of conversation.

The only thing she could possibly think of was the baby. He seemed to be happy about it so maybe she could do something there. It was mid-afternoon when she made up her mind.

The next morning Teresa, Cho and Jane were called in to Abbott's office to discuss a case that had happened before her time. She chatted for a while with Wylie, but when he went to grab a coffee she sat down at her desk and pulled out the card.

It was a 'Congratulations Daddy' card – for the upcoming birth of a child. She'd give it to Jane and let him know she was happy for him. She pondered what to put and finally decided to keep it simple. Grabbing a colored pen she began to write.

Dear Patrick, Congratulations to you and Teresa on the upcoming birth of your child. A child is a wonderful thing and I know you'll love it and look after it well. You'll be a great father.

She debated how to sign it. Michelle was too familiar, and Vega sounded too cold. In the end she decided not to use her name at all. Instead she smiled and drew a little picture. "There, that should do." Glancing around to make sure no one was around, she placed the envelope on Jane's couch. He couldn't help but find it.

She went back to work and soon Wylie returned. A few minutes later Jane came out of the office and headed towards his couch. Teresa and Cho remained in Abbott's office, discussing some final points.

Jane saw the envelope and he stopped and regarded it for a moment. With a shrug he picked it up. He looked at everyone on the floor but since no one was looking at him he shrugged again and opened the envelope.

Michelle watched as he read the card. Suddenly, without warning, she could see Jane's face blanch, and the card fell out of his hand to the floor. "What?" she muttered.

The next thing she knew she heard Teresa call out and run towards him. What the heck was going on?

"Jane – Patrick, what's wrong?" Teresa was looking at Jane with real fear in her eyes.

Teresa had seen Jane go pure white, a look of utter terror on his face. She had rarely seen him look so frightened. Without further thought she ran to him, worried that he was going to fall over. What had happened?"

"Patrick", she repeated, putting her arms around him. "What is it?"

By this time everyone in the office knew something was wrong. Abbott had stepped out of his office and was looking on in concern. Cho had also hurried up to Jane, looking carefully around to see if there was any threat he hadn't noticed.

"What happened?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know. He's not saying anything."

It was then that Cho noticed something on the floor. He bent over and picked it up. It was a congratulations card and had a baby on the front. Frowning, he opened it and immediately saw what it was.

"Teresa", he said quietly, passing her the card. She took it from him with a puzzled look.

"What?"

"Open it."

She opened the card and immediately saw the same thing. "Oh my God! Where did this come from?"

Michelle had been watching the whole thing play out, feeling a sense of dread. She knew something had happened, that she had done something but she couldn't figure out what it was. She knew she had to step forward however.

"What is it?" she asked. "What's wrong with the card?"

Cho turned to her and showed her. When she looked at him confused, he gave her a strange look. "Red John", he said softly.

Red John? It took her a moment to remember the name. He'd been a notorious serial killer who had been caught a few years previously. She'd been in the midst of final exams when it had happened so she hadn't paid that much attention to it. But she couldn't understand what that had to do with anything.

She looked at the card again. She'd written a nice note and had drawn a little smiley face on it in red. She couldn't figure out what was wrong.

"I – I don't understand", she said to Cho. "I gave him that card. I wanted to congratulate him on the baby, that was all. What did I do wrong?"

Teresa looked up at that, a stunned expression on her face. "What did you do wrong? My God – don't you know?"

"Know? Know what?" she was almost in tears. "What's wrong with sending a card. I felt bad because I thought that Jane and I got off to a bad start and I wanted to do something to – to set things on a better track, that was all."

"And the – smiley face?" Cho said softly.

"What about it? I didn't know how to sign my name so I put that. People use it all the time."

"Jane – it's okay", Teresa said softly. "It was just a mistake. Michelle didn't know. She didn't mean anything by it. It's not what you think."

Jane took a deep breath, feeling like he was coming out of a trance. The terror that had hit when he'd seen that – that abomination – had been like nothing he'd ever experienced. He'd literally frozen in fear. Even now he felt like things were off kilter and suddenly he knew he had to sit down – either that or vomit. "Teresa", he croaked. He didn't know where to sit.

"Here, come on." She led him to the couch. "Can someone get him some water."

Michelle stood watching, still not understanding what was going on. She received some strange looks from people – and a couple people actually looked disgusted at her. She knew she had committed some terrible faux pas, she just wished she knew what it was.

Cho took her arm gently. "You still didn't look up Jane's record, did you?"

She shook her head. Damn it – why hadn't she? For once she'd tried to be nice and it had backfired in a big way because she hadn't done her homework. Maybe her father was right and she was useless.

"Come on, let's go get a coffee and I'll tell you about him."

She nodded and stood there silently, waiting while he went to talk to Teresa. She wished there was a hole she could crawl into.

"I'm going take Vega down and get her some coffee. She had no idea – still doesn't. I'm going to go explain it to her."

Teresa nodded, although she was still so angry she couldn't look at the other woman. Since the day she'd walked in Michelle Vega had been determined to dislike Jane, without even knowing anything about him. She didn't know if she could ever forgive her for what she had – unknowingly it was true – done.

Cho escorted her down to the cafeteria, away from all the accusing eyes. At least she thought they were accusing. She sat down while her companion went and got her a coffee.

"I didn't mean to hurt him", she said quietly when the agent came back. She smiled bitterly. "For once I was trying to do something nice."

"I know. It was just a mistake – unfortunately a bad one" he told her, pulling no punches.

"But I still don't understand what I did."

Kimball took a deep breath. "Let me tell you about Jane." He stopped for a moment to try and figure out where to start. "Jane grew up on the carny circuit. From a young age he showed himself to have an incredible ability to remember things and also to discern things about people. His father decided to exploit that and turned him into the Boy Wonder. He told people that Patrick was psychic – and so his career began."

"He – he claims to be psychic? I've never heard him say that."

"Oh no – not now. In fact he's the first to tell you there are no things as psychics. He's also really open about the fact that he used to be a con man. He's neither anymore."

Her whole perception of Jane had just been shot out the window and she was trying to grapple with a whole new picture. "So, I'm assuming that the fact that he's no longer psychic is in some way related to today?"

"Sort of." Cho sighed. "Have you heard of Red John?"

Cho had mentioned him earlier so she nodded. "I know he was a serial killer, but that's all. Why? Did Jane catch him?"

"Oh yeah. But it took him ten years."

"Ten years. Why did he stick with it that long?"

"Because Red John murdered Jane's wife and five year old daughter."

She didn't know what to do or say. She felt like her stomach dropped into her shoes, but other than that felt totally numb. God had she misjudged him. She closed her eyes, feeling somehow that by not seeing anyone she too could become invisible, so that no one would look at her in the way she knew she deserved.

"Why?"

Cho went on to explain what Patrick had said on TV. "He got home that night and there was a note on his bedroom door from Red John. When he opened the door he found the bodies of his wife and daughter. They'd been horribly cut and mutilated."

"Oh God", she put her hand over her mouth, afraid she was going to be sick.

"But that wasn't all", Cho said gently. "Red John always painted a sign on the wall over his victims, in their blood."

She knew what was coming and wanted to get up and run away. Instead she opened her eyes and looked at the man across from her. "What was it?"

"A smiley face."

"Oh God – no", she whispered. Why hadn't she looked at his record? Why had she judged him without finding out about him? Wasn't that what she'd always hated about her father, about all those who decided who she was, without really knowing her?

"He hunted Red John for ten years and finally killed him. He had to flee the country and lived abroad for two years. The FBI offered him a deal. If he worked for them, he could come back and not be charged for the murder. He agreed to do it as long as they hired Teresa."

"They loved each other."

"Well yes, but neither of them knew it – not then at least. It was a few months before Jane figured it out. She almost married someone else but Jane told her in time. We were all happy for them. They both deserve some happiness – especially Jane."

"And the baby?"

"Well" Cho grimaced. "That's why Jane reacted the way he did. He was terrified about having a baby after what happened to his daughter. It's only been in the last few days that he's started to deal with it and I think find some joy in the idea. He's still scared though that something will happen to his child. When he saw the card …"

She shook her head, again feeling like she wanted to be sick. "What should I do? I really had no idea at all. I really didn't want to hurt him. What should I do?"

"Talk to him. Tell him that it was an innocent mistake. He may believe you but he may also be very wary of you. Red John had lots of followers and although we hope we got them all, there's always the possibility that there are a few left. He may suspect you of being a follower."

"But I'm not. I just didn't know about Jane or Red John. And I certainly didn't know about the smiley face."

"Just tell him the truth. He's pretty good at telling if a person is lying." Cho finished his coffee. "Are you done? If so, let's go upstairs. You may be able to talk to him now."

Michelle nodded and stood up slowly. This had to be one of the hardest things she'd ever done. But she knew, inside, that she deserved for it to be hard. She'd judged a man harshly – and wrongly – without giving him a chance. She deserved to feel some pain and just hoped that he could forgive her one day.

"He's a good man you know", Agent Cho told her as they headed upstairs. "He takes a little getting used to, but he's a loyal friend."

"He seems so – uninvolved", she said, "like he doesn't care."

"That's Jane's way of hiding the fact that he cares too much. Don't be fooled by his careless manner. He is a man of very deep feelings but he only rarely, and only to close friends, let's that show."

She nodded. Starting to day she was resolved to get to know the real Patrick Jane. Any man who had gone through what he had, and who had come out still willing to love and to live was someone she wanted to know.