Fic: New Beginnings and Old Endings, Chapter 3 (Evan Lorne / Patrick Jane, SGA / The Mentalist)
Title: New Beginnings and Old Endings, Chapter 3
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis / The Mentalist (Crossover)
Pair: Evan Lorne / Patrick Jane
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Summary: Lorne is trying to settle into his new life, but it`s really not much calmer than his old one. Wrong place and wrong timing lead to a chance encounter in the middle of a crime scene.
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Chapter 1 Chapter 2
“No, stronger jaw line.” Lorne looked over the sketch artist’s shoulder at her work in progress. “And you could do some more shading under the cheekbone.” He stopped pointing at the sketch and fought back a blush. “Sorry, I haven’t had time for sketching in a while. I used to be pretty good.”
“I don’t mind.” The artist laughed. “It’s nice to work with people, who know how this thing goes. What about the tattoo?”
“I didn’t get a good look at it. It was pretty small, in his neck under the left ear.”
“Okay…” She added few lines on the sketch to mark the tattoo. “Like that?”
“Yeah, it was something round. Like a darker circle and smaller figures inside it.”
One of the officers approached them and Lorne took a quick glance down to her belt to check her badge. She gave him a brief handshake and introduced herself.
“Detective Lisbon, CBI.”
“California…” Lorne scratched his head, but couldn’t remember the rest.
“Bureau of Investigation. You’re not the first one who doesn’t know that.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve been anywhere in California.”
“And you haven’t had to deal with our law enforcement.” Detective’s sentence ended as a statement, but sounded more like a question.
“Not really.” Lorne gave her the same calm expression he had first mastered in basic training. The one that could be interpreted as giving polite attention to the opponent, but could also hide that he didn’t really want to talk about the topic. “I just flew back here today.”
A man separated himself from a group of people and came across the room. He had obviously heard Lorne’s comment.
“Yes, I was going to ask about that. From Colorado?” His head was tilted to the side and he resembled a nutty professor researching a new specie of bugs.
“Yes, from Colorado.” Lorne confirmed. The man’s relentless gaze was making him uncomfortable. “But that has nothing to do with what happened here.”
“Well, everything’s connected to everything, isn’t it?” The man swiped a few errand curls off his forehead and stuck out his hand. “Patrick Jane, I’m a consultant for the CBI.”
“What kind of consultant?” Lorne shook his hand. “Civilian consultant?”
“You’ve dealt with them before?”
“Occasionally.”
“In Colorado?”
“Yes.”
“When you were working for the Air Force?”
“Yes.”
“As a major?”
“Yes.”
“Would you like me to ask something you can answer with a no?”
“Excuse me?”
“Sorry, people just like to get some variety in these situations, keeps them sharper.”
“I’m sharp enough. I’ve already told everything I can remember-”
“Yes, but it’s not the same when you read it from a report.”
“I guess not.” Lorne bit down the urge to grab the man into a head lock. He never thought he would miss McKay ranting and raving, but at that minute he was looking back at their own civilian co-worker with more fondness then he would have imagined. “I came in, I was talking to the waitress when we heard a crash-”
“The door or the floor?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did you hear them crashing through the door, or did you hear them crashing on the floor?”
“I don’t know.” Lorne was getting confused with the question. “If the door was open so they could fall in, how much noise could that make?”
“Good question. Then what?”
“We came here, the deceased was laying on the floor and the other man crouching next to him. The man looked up, saw us and run away-”
“And you followed him?”
“Yes.”
“To the alley?”
“Yes.” Lorne sighed. He felt like a headache was looming in the back of his head, brought along be a single person.
“And you lost him in the crowd.”
“Once again: Yes.”
“Then you came back here.”
“Yes.”
“How often does that happen?”
“What are you talking about?”
“How often do you happen to run into dead guys?”
“This is the first one after I left the Air Force.”
“Why did you leave?” Jane made his question sound light, but he was leaning a bit closer like a foxhound waiting for the pray to show up.
Lorne shrugged, but it didn’t quite cover his annoyance. “It was the right time to leave.”
“For you or for them?”
“I think that’s enough.” Detective Lisbon interrupted. “If you check the sketch with our artist and make sure she got everything right, you should be free to leave soon.” She grabbed Jane by the arm and dragged him away.
“So…” The sketch artist cleared her throat. She placed her sketching pad in his hand. “Is this the man you saw?”
“Yeah, the hairline should be a bit higher, but that’s him.” Lorne sat down, trying to focus, but his eyes kept wandering back to the two persons speaking quietly on the other side of the room.
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“What the hell was that?” Lisbon demanded. “Did they slip something in your tea or did you just go nuts?”
“He’s lying.”
“About what?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Then how do you even know he’s lying?”
“I can see it. I was just getting to it when you dragged me away.”
“I dragged you away, because you acted like some demented Gestapo interrogator.”
“I just asked him some questions.”
“Well, don’t ask any more questions. It doesn’t look like he had anything to do with what happened, so we have no reason to keep him here.”
“The man left a bunch of dead people in his wake, left the Air Force and now he’s here, stumbling into a dead man. I could see he was hiding something, especially when I asked why he left the Air Force. Give me ten minutes with him and I’ll be able to put my finger on it.”
“You’re not putting your fingers on anything. Be as weird as you want on your own time, but when you’re at a crime scene you have to act professionally.” She spotted Lorne walking closer and plastered a polite expression on her face. “Is the sketch ready?”
“Yeah, your artist said she’ll make some more fine-tuning. Do you still need me for something, or can I go?”
“You can go, we’ll contact you if we need you to ID the guy. Did you give our people your current address and phone number?”
“Actually, I don’t have a phone yet.” Lorne explained, avoiding the openly curious looks he was getting from Jane. “Like I said, I just got here today. I was going to check into a motel and then get my affairs in order. Phone and an apartment and all that.”
“Motel?” Jane grinned widely. “Great, I’ll give you a ride. There’s one just couple blocks from our headquarters.”
“They closed down after vice busted that prostitution ring.” Lisbon reminded with a warning tone.
“Then that other one.” The pleased grin didn’t slip off Jane’s face even for a second. “And we can’t let our witness wander around the town and get lost, can we?”
“There’s really no need to-” Lorne tried to find a polite way to refuse, but Jane didn’t seem to hear any of it.
“Don’t worry, it’s no trouble at all.” Jane picked up one of Lorne’s bags and slung it on his shoulder. “I promise, we’ll stash you somewhere we can find you. Let’s go.”
Detective Lisbon seemed to as surprised as Lorne was, and she couldn’t figure out more things to object. Jane was already halfway out the door, when Lorne decided to give up and just go with it. He gave Lisbon a little shrug, grabbed the last of his luggage and followed the man out of the café.
Chapter 4