A/N: We didn't see how Van Pelt and Rigsby ended up together at the start of the episode (2.08 His Red Right Hand). So I thought I might write how I thought it played out... Probably a bit OOC, but I had fun writing it anyways :)
Disclaimer: Bruno, I will give you... *checks pockets* $10, a bit of fluff and a button for The Mentalist? No? Well how about just Grace then? Still no? Okay then...
Rigsby enjoyed being with the team at dinners like this. The hustle and bustle of a restaurant was exactly what he needed after a hard day of boring paper and computer work in the CBI. The team had finally solved a case which had all of them, even Jane, stumped for weeks. And, to celebrate, the team had decided to go out to dinner, instead of their usual ordering of pizza. Rigsby didn't care. There was food, and that's all that mattered.
Cho sat to his right, Jane to his left, the girls across from them. Van Pelt sat directly opposite him, her face animated as she recounted an amusing story of her youth to the team. Rigsby longed to tell her how beautiful she looked, but he knew he couldn't. Not with the rest of the team here. Her eyes glittered as she laughed, the noise tinkling through his brain. Her long red hair spilled over her shoulders like the fairest waterfall, and he yearned to reach out and caress a strand. But he couldn't. Their food came, and he tucked in. Anything to get his mind off Van Pelt. He needed to focus, to remember they were in a work setting. It definitely didn't help that the dish he was eating was Spaghetti Bolognese, a dish Van Pelt had cooked for him just the other night. He'd forgotten, of course, when he'd ordered, but as he ate he couldn't help but remember how good hers was. Stop it! he chastised himself.
Some time later, everyone was finished and they had eaten dessert as well. Rigsby found he needed to go to the bathroom. He quietly excused himself and pushed his chair back. The restrooms were dirty and looked like they hadn't been cleaned for a while. Rigsby tried to ignore it and got out of there as quickly as possible. He returned to the table, only to find Van Pelt sitting there alone. He was sure there was a reason. He figured that Jane would've had some involvement, made up some reason to leave her alone, knowing full well that he would return and they would be alone. Jane was devious like that. Not that Rigsby was complaining. He slid himself into the chair opposite her.
"Now, why would a smart bunch of people leave a beautiful girl like you all alone?" he asked, smiling impishly. Van Pelt grinned back and kicked him softly under the table.
"Hey, we're still technically at work, remember?" she replied, a mock warning tone in her voice.
"Dinner was nice," he commented absentmindedly, after a bit of companionable silence.
"Yeah," Van Pelt replied. "But I'm looking forward to later on."
She moved her foot again under the table, and Rigsby thought she was going to kick him again. But she didn't. She ran her foot up his shin, sending tingles up his spine. She looked into his eyes so intensely, he thought he would melt. All of a sudden, Jane was at Rigsby's side.
"Hi, you two," Jane said, implying a lot more than he would let on.
Van Pelt dropped her foot, and the look quickly drained from her eyes. She hid it well.
"Pool?" Jane questioned Rigsby.
"Sure," he agreed.
As he walked away, he shot a quick glance at Van Pelt. She gave him a subtle wink. After the first game finished, Van Pelt stood up and walked over to the team.
"Can I play?" she asked.
The team nodded in agreement. Van Pelt picked up a cue and rubbed some chalk on the end. The team, in an unspoken conversation, all crowded together against the wall.
"She's not holding her pool cue right," Jane stated softly to Rigsby.
Rigsby looked closer, past her beauty to what she was actually doing. Jane was right. She was holding her cue incorrectly.
"Someone should help her fix it," Jane said in the same soft tone, simply and matter-of-factly.
Jane gave a quick and small nod to Rigsby. Jane was going to amuse the team so they wouldn't see Van Pelt and him? Strange, Rigsby thought to himself.
He took advantage of the situation and leaned his cue up against the wall. He walked over to where Van Pelt was still setting up her shot.
"Hey," he murmured as he wrapped his arms around her. "This is how you do it."
He adjusted her arms and hands to the correct positions. Van Pelt was stiff in his embrace.
"We can't," she whispered, a scared note creeping into her voice.
"The team's looking the other way," he reassured her, rubbing his hand over her upper arm.
Van Pelt quickly glanced at the team. Jane was keeping them busy, with what Rigsby was not sure. Probably a magic trick. He quickly kissed Van Pelt on the cheek and returned to the group. Van Pelt completed her shot, perfectly of course, and Cho moved to take his. After three games of being completely smashed by Jane, the team decided to call it quits.
Each of them began to walk to their respective cars. Rigsby happened to walk beside Jane on the way out.
"Have a good one," he said when they reached the spot where they parted ways. He winked knowingly at Rigsby and vanished, like a ghost, into the night.
Rigsby walked slowly to his car, waiting for Van Pelt to catch up with him as they had arranged. The rest of the team had already pulled their cars away from the kerb. Suddenly, he felt a warm hand grasp his and link fingers. He looked up to see Van Pelt walking beside him, looking even more beautiful under the soft glow of the moon. They reached his car and stopped. Rigsby reached out a hand and took a lock of her hair between his fingers, as he had wanted to do all night. Her eyes locked with his, and the air between them suddenly felt thick and unwanted. She took a step forward, only inches from him. Without breaking eye contact, Rigsby put his hands around her waist and drew her even closer, closing the gap between them. Van Pelt lifted her hands and laced them behind his neck. She pulled him down for a quick kiss, then stepped away, still holding his hand. Rigsby tilted his head slightly, confused as to why she had pulled away so quickly.
"Your place or mine?" she questioned playfully.
Without answering, Rigsby tugged her closer to him. He smiled down at her, and she raked her fingers through his hair.
"Yours," he whispered, with a quick kiss on her forehead. She stepped back slowly, and let go of his hand.
"See you there," she grinned with a wink.
Rigsby got into his car and drove off, trying hard not to speed. He got to her house, and discovered she was already there, lights visible from the drive told him so. He walked up to the front door, and lifted his hand to knock. He didn't need to however, as the door opened silently before his hand even touched the dark wood. Van Pelt smiled and slid a slender arm around his waist. Rigsby returned her smile and slid an arm around her shoulders as she led him inside.
Her house was small, but cosy. The front door led into a living room with a three-seater couch and a one-person cosy chair. A small coffee table sat in front of a medium-sized television. Her kitchen sat off to the left, and Rigsby spotted the small hallway on the right. He could see three doors leading off the hallway. One was a bedroom, another one a guest room and the third a laundry. There was a bathroom adjacent to the main bedroom.
Van Pelt looked up at him and smiled as they moved towards the couch. She sat down and turned the television on softly. After a while, but still smiling, she shifted closer to him, and kissed him softly. He kissed her back and could feel her shifting again. She was moving onto his lap. Living up to her name, she gracefully moved until she was sitting comfortably on his lap, straddling him, as close to him as possible. Her hands were in his hair, his in hers. The intensity of their embrace picked up quickly, and soon escalated to the point where Rigsby felt the need to pick up Van Pelt and carry her into her bedroom. Moving with ease down the hallway, Rigsby stopped when he came to the first door, forgetting which room to go into. Van Pelt leant back slightly, and smiled mischievously. "Last door on the right," she whispered, then returned her lips to his. He made it to the door, and gently removed his left hand from the small of her back, where it had been resting. He felt Van Pelt smile as he laid her gently on the bed.
He stirred when he heard the buzzing noise. It sounded like… Well, he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Suddenly his eyes snapped open. A phone on vibrate! That's what it sounded like! He shook himself awake and reached over Van Pelt to reach his phone on the nightstand. She'd already hit the lamp moments before, so he could see it clearly.
"That's mine," he murmured sleepily to Van Pelt. She shuffled around a bit and murmured softly. Clearly she wasn't liking being woken up at some ungodly hour of the morning. He yawned and answered the cell phone in his hand.
"Rigsby." It was Lisbon. "Oh hi," he answered, his brain still trying to catch up to his body. A very quick debriefing informed him of the newest case for the team. "No problem Boss," he told her, and hung up. He smiled gently at the redhead stirring to life in his arms. "We're up," he told her.
Van Pelt blinked her eyes as she struggled to reach consciousness. "Lisbon? No, no. She's gonna call here next. She'll know. Get out," she told him, still sleepy.
He smiled. She was so cute when she was tired.
"Grace," he said to calm her, using the name he only used when they were alone or he was feeling extreme emotion towards her, "wake up. How's Lisbon gonna know I'm with you?"
Van Pelt smiled, a tender smile that warmed him from the inside out. "Yeah," she murmured, and leant into him.
They kissed, but unfortunately not for long. Van Pelt's phone began to ring. She stretched over him to the nightstand on his side of the bed, pressing flush against him. He tried to control his heart rate as she lay back down.
"Get out," she told him in a tone of mock annoyance, pushing him softly out of bed.
Rigsby smiled deviously and slid out of bed, his feet hitting the floor with a dull thud. Smiling, he went to the bathroom and switched on the shower. He could hear Grace talking to Lisbon on the phone and began to wonder if Lisbon would notice. Surely she wouldn't. Grinning as the warm water hammered his head and shoulders, he could only think one thing.
How the hell did I get so lucky?
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