"You seem distracted."

Lisbon's eyes darted to Pike, as something in his tone dragged her out of her reverie.

"Huh?" she knew she should probably make an effort to sound more ladylike, to be charming, but he had caught her momentarily off guard.

"I said, you seem distracted. What's on your mind, Teresa?"

"Oh it's nothing. I'm sorry Marcus, I guess I'm just a little more tired than I realized."

Marcus Pike usually considered himself a straight-shooter, so instead of accepting Lisbon's polite excuse he ploughed ahead, "I'm sorry Teresa, but I'm not sure that's really it. I meant it when I said I want to get to know you better. Why don't you share what's bothering you? Unless, of course, it's me…" his mouth clamped shut. What she said next would count for a lot.

"No, no. It's just me. You've been great. And the pancakes sure as hell beat that greasy pizza. We're going to have to find a better place to order pizza if we're really bringing that tradition back."

Lisbon seemed sincere to Pike and he knew for a fact that she wasn't much of an actress. He was thinking of letting the subject go, when her brow furrowed and she began to speak a little too rapidly, "It's just that, I know this is going to sound so stupid. I mean, I know I'm not his mother or anything…did you notice Jane's face as we were leaving? Did he seem kind of upset to you?" as her words sputtered out, Lisbon's face became sheepish. Why was she bringing up Jane when she was out on a date, for Christ's sake!

"Uh. He seemed fine, I guess. I mean, I don't really know the guy…" Pike hesitated.

"It wouldn't make much difference," Lisbon didn't seem to notice Pike's hesitation, her thoughts clearly turned inward as she continued, "He's hard to read, even when you've known him as long as I have." Her face scrunched up with an emotion that Pike couldn't quite identify, although it made something inside of him scrunch up in sympathy. "You two are pretty close, aren't you?" he asked.

"That's an understatement," Lisbon paused, raising her eyes from her wineglass just in time to catch a fleeting, inscrutable expression flit across Pike's face. "I mean," she continued "We're just friends, of course. We've just been through a lot together, over the years. You know how it is, right?"

"Sure," Pike replied, "I'm surprised that he never showed any interest in you though. You're so smart and beautiful, it's kind of hard to believe, to be honest."

"Oh, Jane doesn't see me that way. I think in his mind I'm just the Watson to his Sherlock, the faithful companion who has his back when he gets into trouble, which he always does. I doubt he's ever thought of me as an actual woman. Besides, I'm not even his type!" Lisbon's eyes dropped back to her wineglass and she took a hurried gulp as the slightest hint of a blush started to creep up into her cheeks. Pike was shaking his head, "Smart and beautiful isn't his type? Seriously?"

Lisbon smiled "I seem to remember he prefers rich and blonde." Despite her smile, there was something that struck Pike as defeated about her tone.

"You love him, don't you?"

"What!" Lisbon's eyebrows sprang up in consternation, "How on earth do you figure that?"

"Well, I'm no Jane. But I don't need his people-reading skills to see that you're a gorgeous, totally attractive woman who for some reason happens to be single. You hesitated when I asked you out, even though I'm pretty sure you liked me the moment we met. You moved to a different state and started a whole new career just because Jane asked you to, even though he was single-handedly responsible for dismantling your previous career. Oh, and the way you flirted with me in front of him…don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, I just couldn't help but wonder if you wanted him to be jealous or something."

Lisbon's colour had been gradually rising as Pike spoke, so that by the time he finished her face was the same colour as her glass of Sangiovese. She sprang up from her chair like a cork being released.

"Did Jane put you up to this?" he eyes narrowed and Pike suddenly had a very clear sense of how it would feel to be interrogated by Agent Teresa Lisbon.

"What? No!" his hands shot up, palms out, a gesture of supplication, "Hey, I'm sorry if I overstepped. I just thought this is something I should figure out before we get too involved."

"Too involved? Fat chance, buddy. Hey, waiter," Teresa called out across the restaurant, "Could I please get the check over here?" She had known this was a bad idea. Of course, there was no way she could actually go out and enjoy something as simple as a date without Jane spoiling it in some way. He didn't even have to be in the building.

"Teresa, I've offended you," Pike was still trying to make amends, "I'm so, so sorry for that. I didn't mean to pry. Please sit back down and let me try and make it up to you."

The apology, and even more so the expression of pure contrition on Pike's face, made Lisbon hesitate.

"You promise that Jane has nothing to do with this?"

"Teresa, like I said, I hardly know the guy."

"Fine. But you're ordering another bottle of Sangiovese," Lisbon muttered, sitting back down.

"Absolutely."

As the second bottle of Napa Valley Sangiovese worked its magic, Lisbon felt the tension start to seep out of her shoulders. Gradually, almost as if by accident, the conversation found its way back to the topic of Patrick Jane.

"I'm sorry I almost lost it before." Lisbon's voice was still clear, but those who knew her well would have recognised the slight droop to her eyelids that signaled the wine had taken effect.

"If that's you almost losing it.." Pike retorted.

"Yeah, yeah. It's just a bit of a sore topic. I guess maybe there was a time, a while back, when I thought that something was going to happen between me and Jane. But then he ran off to South America for two years, and I got over it."

"That's good news for me," Pike smiled, and for the briefest of moments rested his hand on Lisbon's, "But to be honest, I'm don't think he'd be too happy to hear it."

"Oh please, I told you already, he doesn't see me that way."

"Maybe. But that doesn't mean the feelings aren't there."

"That doesn't make much sense."

"Think about it," Pike spoke slowly, deliberately, "He's known you for all this time. Maybe, isn't it at least possible, that he just doesn't realize how much you really mean to him?"

"So what am I supposed to do?" Lisbon was totally relaxed now. This date had been a disaster, so the least she could do was enjoy the wine and try and let her hair down for the evening. "Go up to him and say 'Hey, dummy, I think you might be in love with me!' Please, I would never hear the end of it. Besides, I don't even know if it's true. Sure, he cares about me. But he cares about Cho, and Wayne and Grace too."

"This is different," Pike ignored the fact that he didn't know who Wayne and Grace were.

"I thought you didn't know the guy?" Lisbon's eyes narrowed.

"No, I don't. But he seemed pretty happy to be playing house with you for this case. Notice, there was no question of me playing your boyfriend, or of Agent Fischer playing his girlfriend, even though we are both far more experienced FBI agents."

"Jane doesn't really care about things like FBI experience," Lisbon sounded certain, but there was a part of her that latched on to the thought and started to mull it over. Suddenly, she caught herself and realized, with a grimace, that this date was well and truly over. "So how did this go from being a date to you giving me romantic advice? I'm so sorry Marcus."

"Actually, it's fine," Marcus surprised both himself and Lisbon, not for the first time today. "I can't say I'm not a little disappointed. But the truth is, Teresa, that you are an amazing woman and if Jane is the guy you really want to make you happy, I don't want to get in the way of that. The only question now is, what are you going to do about it? Because if you sit back and do nothing, you're going to regret it someday. Believe me."

"It sounds like there's a bit of a story in that…"

"Maybe I'll tell you sometime."

Lisbon and Pike exchanged a smile.

"I'm going to kick myself in the morning, when I realize that I turned down a chance to be with a great guy like you, just so that I can wait around and see if Jane is ever going to notice what we could have."

"Teresa, maybe you don't have to just wait around."

"Oh, and what is your advice Agent Pike?"

"Well, it sounds to me like Jane could use a little nudge in the right direction."

"A little nudge, a massive kick up the backside, either way." Lisbon smirked, although her tone was serious.

"Alright, so what if we did something to give him that kick?"

Lisbon looked at Pike, trying to figure out if this guy could possibly be as nice as he seemed. He didn't flinch, and after a moment, her curiosity got the better of her. Before she could over-think it, she asked him the question that would end up changing everything. "What have you got in mind?"