A/N: This is a short, fluffy Jisbon fic that came to mind while listening to Kellie Pickler's "100 Proof." It was also partially inspired by calladragon's dress-less Lisbon in her current fic that I have been following. This is my first fiction where I am writing Jane and Lisbon as a romantic couple. I usually do friendship pieces, but I'm crossing that line. I do not own this song, nor do I own anything related to the Mentalist.

Lisbon still couldn't believe that she had actually agreed to this. It was such a stupid idea; a disaster waiting to happen in her opinion. It was yet another part of her job that she could simply do without. LaRoche was temporarily in charge of their unit since Wainwright's untimely demise at the hands of Red John. There was a ball being held in Sacramento for some of the high ranking law enforcement officials of California. It was one of those things that took place annually, but it moved from city to city. This year, it happened to be held in Sacramento. LaRoche thought it would be a splendid idea if Lisbon and her team attended the ball. Truth be told, he was always fond of Lisbon and her team, even if they think he was a serial killer. He would take any opportunity he could to show them off. Of course, Bertram was in total agreement because he loved any press he could get. So, here they were.

Early that afternoon, when Lisbon was desperately wishing there was a way out of attending this mandatory event, Jane had popped into her office. Of course, he wasn't required to attend. Actually, Bertram would be happy if Jane stayed far, far away from the event. While press was good, Jane tended to embarrass him at times by speaking out of turn—not really the best way to impress. Not only did Jane have every intention of attending the ball, he dropped in to see how Lisbon was doing because she was quite clearly distressed over attending this ball.

"My fair, Lisbon," said Jane.

"Yes, Jane," she responded without even looking up from the pile of paperwork she had been working on. Jane looked at her for a moment, and then decided to just plop down the white gift box he had holding on top of her desk. "What's this?"

"Open it," he said. Lisbon really wasn't in the mood for games. To be honest, she just wasn't up for any of Patrick Jane's shenanigans today. When Lisbon opened the package, her eyes widened in shock. It was an emerald ball gown that she had been eyeing several weeks ago, but how could he know. Jane could see the questions brewing. "I saw you looking at that dress a few weeks ago. I could tell that you were enamored with it. However, I knew you would never come to terms with paying that kind of price for something to wear once to a CBI event. I thought you would look great in it, and plus, it would really bring out those green eyes…"

"Jane…" she interrupted in a warning tone.

"But anyway, I thought my date should have the dress that she really wanted for this ball instead of digging one out of the back of her closet that she hasn't worn since prom."

"Your date?" she asked. "You assume that we are going to this ball together?"

"Yes, well, I thought that I could be your escort," he replied while she chuckled a bit.

"Seriously? I can't even believe you want to go!" she exclaimed.

"Well, you know I wouldn't miss a chance to rub elbows with a bunch of big wigs for the world! And, I wouldn't miss a chance to take you somewhere nice either." He was grinning ear to ear, yet she could still hear the sincerity in that last comment. She couldn't lie to herself. They had grown so much closer. Closer than she ever thought would be possible. She knew she could never replace his family. She didn't dream of it. She enjoyed the time they spent together. They had begun going on informal dates several months back. It was never anything fancy. Sometimes, there was a movie night here or there or a late night dinner. It had surpassed the types of outings that friends or colleagues would take. She had fallen hard for him, but she could read him like a book even if he liked to think otherwise. She could tell he had fallen just as hard for her.

"Well, okay," she said with a wide smile on her face. "Thank you. I would love for you to escort me to the ball this evening. Do you think you will be able to behave yourself?"

"Meh," he said as he left her office. "Probably not, but hey, you may want to go home and get ready soon. I'll be over at your place to get you around 6." Lisbon continued working on her paperwork. Truth be told, she was a little jittery the rest of the afternoon. This was their first formal outing.

Here they were now at the ball. She was nervous about being here with Jane, mostly because she had no idea how he would act. Hopefully, he minded his manners this evening. She didn't know how much she could explain away this evening. She felt completely comfortable being his date, but she was not sure how their superiors or the team would react if they knew things between the two of them were changing. She'd hoped that this could remain their little secret for now.

Jane was across the room at the bar, but he couldn't keep his eyes off of Lisbon. She was not just beautiful; she was stunning. The strapless emerald ball gown with the sweetheart neckline was completely slim until it flared out at her hips. It not only accentuated all of her curves, but complimented her eyes like he knew it would. Her hair was pulled back into loose curls, and the silver, four—no five—inch heels that she donned made her stride across the floor breathlessly. She certainly took his breath away. He tried playing it cool, but he couldn't fool himself. Lisbon was beautiful. He had formed a deep, powerful attraction to her. It was probably no good for either of them, but he couldn't help his feelings. He took her glass of champagne over to her, while nursing his own gin and tonic.

"You look nice, Lisbon," he said. She giggled.

"Wow, I never thought that I would see the day that Patrick Jane was reduced to a school boy!"

"What?" he asked.

"You've already complimented me three times since you've picked me up," she blushed slightly as she continued. "If I didn't know any better, I would say that you are a little smitten."

"A little smitten?" he replied. "I think we both know I'm more than a little smitten with you." That made her choke on the bit of champagne that she had just sipped from her glass. Jane had gotten the exact response that he desired. He had made her blush. This evening was destined for greatness. "Would you like to dance?"

Lisbon regained her composure and said, "Sure, but you know the drill." She had a slight, soft smile on her face.

"Yea, no necking in front of the important people. I get it." As much as she wanted to punch him in the arm for the last comment, she refrained. While she was no mentalist, Lisbon was no idiot. She knew that Jane liked to play with his food. He was looking to get her riled. To be honest, he was doing a pretty damn good job at it.

Some slow song was playing that Lisbon had heard a thousand times before. She had attempted to jog her memory to figure out the song's title, but Jane had taken her hand and led her to the dance floor. Once he had wrapped her in his embrace and they started to sway, she lost her train of thought. All she could think about was his closeness. Of course, they had danced together before, but this time was much different. The way he held her was so tender, yet so intimate. For a brief moment, she closed her eyes. She wanted so badly to let her head rest on his chest. Jane realized this, so he tightened his grip on her, which made her gaze into his blue eyes. Their eyes locked. As far as either of them was concerned, they were the only ones in the room right now. However, what they missed was the fact that the team was watching, and they were very perceptive. They could see what was happening here.

Van Pelt was near the bar being chatted up by a middle aged guy with an ill-built body in an overpriced suit and shoes. Not only did he describe all of the successes of his early life and career with her, he also described his three homes, yacht, and six cars to her. Obviously, it was an attempt to score points with her. Although she stood there and made polite conversation with this guy, she had little interest in the dating scene these days. Granted, she was still young and beautiful, she wasn't ready to open herself up to trust anyone again. She first saw Jane on the dance floor. She wasn't sure who he was dancing with. Whoever she was, she was well dressed and he seemed to be completely intrigued with her. It didn't hit her that he was dancing with Lisbon until he spun her around. While her first instinct was to let her jaw hit the ground, she couldn't help but smile just a bit. She could always see the way that Jane looked at Lisbon and the way that she looked at him. No woman would continuously forgive a man who obviously would never change his ways for any reason other than love.

Cho was sitting quietly at a table bidding his time. He knew that it would be most appropriate for him to stay for at least two hours. Then, he could go home, change, and catch what was left of the game. He had no real interest in this event—or anything like it for that matter. He had been sipping ginger ale and sitting in awkward silence with Rigsby and Sarah most of the evening. Those two were on the outs about something, but it wasn't totally clear. He wouldn't bother to ask Rigsby, but he knew his friend would tell him all about it on Monday. Occasionally, he caught a shy glance from a few women who he had noted were also without dates this evening. He could go and make conversation with these women, but it was just as easy not to do that. He was dealing with his own demons right now. There was no need to complicate things any more than necessary. As Cho got up to put on his coat and head towards the exit, Lisbon caught his eye on the dance floor. As long as he had been with Lisbon, he had never seen her look this way (like a bombshell) or look at anyone the way she was looking at Jane right now. Cho didn't say anything to Rigsby and Sarah, who had rejoined him after getting up to speak with one of Sarah's old classmates. He simply nodded his head, and he sat back down. Although he wasn't usually one for the sappy crap or one for getting involved in the personal lives of his co-workers, even he had a soft spot and couldn't help but watch them on the dance floor.
Rigsby and Sarah had fought before coming out to the event. Actually, they had been fighting a lot recently. Rigbsy was a good dad, and he loved Benjamin very much, but he had mixed feelings about his relationship with Sarah. Truthfully, he was on the verge of breaking things off with her when she announced that she was pregnant. Rigsby would always put his son first, so he tried to make things work with her. His heart was somewhere else, and he knew it was wrong. However, when it came to that "somewhere else," he had never been able to help himself. In fact, he noticed that somewhere else looked extremely alluring this evening with her loose red curls dangling from her shoulders softly brushing the black gown that she had chosen to wear with her white pearls. He tried to take his mind off of her by reminding himself that not only was he with Sarah and that she was actually here with him, but that she had no interest in a relationship of any kind right now, let alone one that could change the track of both of their careers. It was when he had finally diverted his eyes from her and the middle aged, cradle snatching jerk that was trying to entertain her that he first saw it. The way they moved around that dance floor and their closeness…he just didn't know what to make of it, so he sat there and joined Cho in staring at the couple.

The song that they began dancing to had ended long ago. They just never ended their embrace. Another song came on and another song. They stayed out on the dance floor, oblivious to the number of amorous stares that they had garnered not only from the team, but from other people at the ball. They were truly in their own little world. It was a world with no pain, no anguish—but a world of love, lust, and the unknown.

Rigsby had gone to get drinks for Sarah and him. They had hardly spoken at all this evening. He knew why he was receiving the cold shoulder from her, but what could he do? He was at the bar about to order their drinks when he noticed that Van Pelt's eager suitor, who had a few too many drinks in him by this point, held Van Pelt's arm in a tight grip. She looked uncomfortable, so he decided that perhaps it would be best if he went over to talk to her.

"Hey Grace," he said as he walked up to her. Her beauty was not at all lost on him.

She looked at him and thanked him with her eyes. She did not need this guy trying to touch her. She could handle herself, but she thought it wise not to create a scene inside the ballroom that could have serious repercussions for her and/or the team. "Hey Wayne! Gerry, this is…"

"Her boyfriend. I am her boyfriend," interjected Rigsby impulsively. Grace looked at him with shock in her eyes, but she was wise enough to play along.

"Oh…oh! I'm so sorry," he said as eyed Rigsby up and down for a moment, knowing that this time, no matter how much money he had, the competition would beat him every time. "It was nice chatting with you, Grace." He left the two of them at the bar.

With a smile on her face, Grace looked at Rigsby. "Thank you very, very much. He was becoming more of annoyance than I would like." She took another swig of the scotch that she had switched to about thirty minutes ago. Rigsby chuckled. Then, they began making small talk.

Sarah noticed that Rigsby had been gone for quite some time. He'd been gone for at least half an hour. Did he get lost? Cho had left, so she was there at the table all alone. Then, she saw it. He was over at the bar with Grace. She silently shut her eyes. She was an idiot. She had noticed that he had been peering her way all evening. The man was practically salivating over her. While Sarah had never been one to make a scene in public, she was on her feet and her way over to the bar in seconds. She knew what she had to do, and she had to do it now. When she got closer she heard Grace laughing, which felt like an incredible kick in the stomach, so she picked up a glass off the table. Before she knew what had happened, she threw its contents at Rigsby. Grace let out a slight shriek.

"Sarah?" said an exasperated Rigsby. Van Pelt still had a look of shock on her face. Most of the people left in the ball room, which there weren't many as the place had begun to clear out, were now looking at the three of them.

"Oh… do not "Sarah" me!" She was fuming. "You invite me to come with you this evening, and then, you abandon me at our table—like usual—to come talk to Grace. You haven't stopped staring at her all night!"

"Sarah," started Van Pelt, "he was just helping me deal with…"

"Save it, Grace!" spat back Sarah. "He's always busy "helping" you! Do you know he was so busy helping you that I couldn't even tell him about our son for days after I found out? He never has the time for me. I should've known how dangerous it is to love someone who loves someone else." She was making an incredible scene at this point as most people, including Jane and Lisbon, were gawking because she had raised her voice to a level that they didn't know was possible for her.

"I'm…" began Grace as she started to speak. "I don't know what to say, but there's nothing between us if that's what you're thinking."

"Well, then, perhaps you should get your vision checked. Wayne, I want your things out of my place by Monday. I'm just going to take a taxi home." Sarah turned to leave, and no one stopped her. She was pissed. To be more exact, she felt scorned, and as the old saying goes, there's nothing worse than a woman scorned.

"What the hell just happened?" asked Lisbon as she moved what was left of her team to the hall way. Both Rigsby and Van Pelt remained silent. "Are you two back together? Please don't tell me you're back together…"

After a moment of short silence, Rigsby spoke. "We are not together, but I think Sarah is responding to fears that we are together." He was so soft spoken. He looked like a kid who put his hand into the cookie jar and got caught. Jane pitied the poor guy. He knew that he was caught between a rock and a hard place because he could sense Rigsby's feelings for Van Pelt. Although Van Pelt was in a stage right now where she was ready to swear off love forever, he knew all too well first hand that the feeling would subside. She would be ready to love again. When that time came, she would run to Rigsby. They were meant for each other. However, Jane knew that this one of those times where it would be best to stay quiet, even though there were quite a few quips that he could make about this situation.

"Okay, I think we should all head home. Never a better time for us to get the hell out of here. I'm sure Bertram will hear about what happened here. Although I take you two for your word, be ready to make sure that you can make Bertram believe your story if it comes to it. Rigsby, call Cho. See if you can sleep it off there tonight. Try talking to Sarah tomorrow once cooler heads prevail." She looked at Jane, who was still eerily quiet. Normally, she would've said something to him about it, but she knew why he was quiet. She was okay with that. The four of them left. Van Pelt agreed to drop Rigsby at Cho's place, which Lisbon prayed is where he ended up tonight because she didn't need to deal with heaping pile of crap. Jane and Lisbon left in his Citreon with their hands intertwined all the way to Lisbon's door step.

"I can't believe what happened back there," said Lisbon as she crinkled her face as she sat in Jane's passenger seat. "What a mess!"

"You're referring to the situation with Rigsby and Sarah?" responded Jane knowing exactly what she meant.

"Uh yeah…I mean normally, that's something I would just look on in amusement at and shake my head about, but she flat out accused him of being in relationship with Grace in front of room full of important people. I'll have to be sure to 'look into it' to ensure that they are maintaining the appropriate level of professionalism. Otherwise, it will be my ass on the line." Jane clasped her hand inside of his.

"You have nothing to worry about," he said. "There's nothing going on between them…right now."

"Right now?" she asked quizzically.

"Well, it's clear that they both still have very deep romantic feelings for each other. The situation with O'Laughlin has hurt Grace very much. She's not ready for anything more than friendship right now. While Rigsby is head over heels for her, she isn't ready for that yet. She doesn't know whom she can trust. When she's ready, I wouldn't be surprised to find them secretly married with two kids that they hide in Indiana or some other mundane place. The point is: they're not together now. There's no need to worry."

"What's it like?" she asked as she turned her head to face him. She wanted to observe his facial features. "Not being able to trust anyone. What's that like?"

Jane remained silent for a few moments. Then, he started, "it's lonely. When I lost Angela and Charlotte, I didn't think I would be able to trust or love again. I was destined—or doomed—to spend the rest of my life alone with my penance."

"And does that feeling last forever?" she asked. To her, this was the moment of truth. Could Jane ever be ready to love again? Could he love her? If he couldn't answer this question now, he would never be ready to answer it.

"No," he responded. "With the right support, the right people, it gets easier. The pain never disappears, but it becomes easier to move on." Lisbon squeezed his hand softly. She could read through his bullshit about 98% of the time; she knew he was on the level about this.

"Are you ready to move on?"

Jane averted his eyes from the road momentarily to meet Lisbon's eyes as he whispered, "Yes." The rest of the ride home was in silence; however, her hand remained clasped inside of his the entire time. When they arrived at her house, Jane had his own question for Lisbon, "Do you think you could ever love me?"

Admittedly, this question shocked Lisbon. She wasn't used to Jane being so direct. She didn't know exactly how to respond to his query, which is why her short, but complex answer surprised her. "I already do."

That made Jane blush slightly while smiling that devilish, infamous smile of his. "I know," he started. "I just had to ask you. You know? Since this is apparently the evening for clarifying all previously unasked questions."

"Of course you knew. Patrick Jane knows all." She was laughing a little. "Would you like to come in for tea?"

"Tea? No. To finish our dance? Of course."

A/N: So feel free to let me know what you think! I think this was the best way to end this fic. Hopefully, it is implied in the ending that this is extreme Jisbon. Anyone interested in knowing what happened to Rigsby and Van Pelt after they left the ball? Me, too :p Don't forget to review!