Disclaimer: I do not own the Mentalist or any of its characters. The only thing I do own is my birthday list that is full of Mentalist stuff!

A/N: With my birthday quickly approaching, I decided to finally publish this birthday fic. It's Lisbon's birthday and she is suspicious as to what kind of shenanigans that Jane is going to pull this year. This story takes place in three parts, so I will have the next chapter up in the middle of next week and then the final chapter on my birthday. Until then, enjoy the chapter!

Surprise Party

Okay, here goes nothing, Teresa Lisbon thought as she cautiously opened the door to her office. She gave a sigh of relief upon seeing her office in the same state as she had left it the night before. She smiled and entered, closing the door behind her. Surveying her office again, she frowned. Jane hasn't done anything to my office, Lisbon thought as she considered what the untouched office could mean. No pony, no origami, nothing! This could mean Jane has something else up his sleeve and that could be dangerous.

Since today was her birthday, Lisbon was extra suspicious. Jane had a knack of being overly dramatic with his birthday gifts and these birthday gifts usually found their way into her office. It was always something bright, loud or over the top, but a heart-felt gift from her blond consultant nonetheless. The gift possibilities were endless with Jane, which was a little frightening.

There was no case today, so Lisbon and the team had time to finish up some of the left over paperwork from their last case. Van Pelt had been typing on her computer, Rigsby alternated between eating and completing reports, and Cho finished his reports early, so he spent the remainder of the day devouring his latest novel.

Jane had been uncharacteristically quiet the majority of the day. He mostly slept on his couch, only getting up to make himself some tea. He brought her a cup of coffee and wished her a good morning when she arrived and then he retreated to his couch as she headed toward her office. Maybe he forgot about today. But then again, it was Jane. He knows everything about everyone.

Now thinking about it, Jane, nor any member of the team for that matter, had mentioned anything regarding her birthday being today. Last year, they had a huge celebration in the office. Rigsby and Cho had ordered pizza and a birthday case, Van Pelt brought in everyone's gifts that she had wrapped in festive wrapping paper (with ribbons and to-from name tags) and Jane placed 'Happy Birthday' wrapping paper on nearly everything in her office. They all liked to go a bit overboard when celebrating a team member's birthday. Because of this, Lisbon knows that they definitely all know each other's birth dates. Something was definitely up.

* * *

Later in the day, Lisbon decided that that was enough paperwork for now and to send her diligent little workers home for the evening. She headed out into the bullpen. Rigsby was eating, Cho was reading, Van Pelt was on her computer and Jane was sitting on his couch completing a Soduku puzzle.

"Alright everyone, I think that's enough paperwork for today. You guys can head home." Lisbon announced.

Everyone nodded and began to clear their desks, preparing to leave.

"So, Lisbon, what are your plans for this evening?" Jane asked, without removing his eyes from his puzzle.

Lisbon walked over and leaned against Jane's unused desk.

"Well, I have to file away those reports I finished before I leave. After that, I don't know. I might just head over to my brother's house and visit my niece and nephews. They invited me out to dinner this weekend to celebrate my birthday."

Jane nodded.

"Sounds like fun. Anybody else doing anything exciting tonight?"

Van Pelt, Cho, and Rigsby all glanced at each other and then to Jane.

"Not really. Probably just going to head home. Maybe watch a movie." Van Pelt suggested.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Rigsby agreed.

"I'll probably go pick up Elise and we'll go out to dinner." stated Cho, referring to his girlfriend.

Lisbon wasn't buying it; it all seemed a bit too rehearsed. Jane may be a decent liar, but the rest of the team surely were not. She was thankful that they were on the side of justice instead of being criminals because they would fail horrendously at it. Those thoughts aside, Lisbon decided to return to her office and monitor them from a safe distance (even though Jane would probably know what she was doing).

"Okay, well have fun everyone. I'm going to go file those reports now." she said as she left the bullpen.

* * *

As soon as Lisbon returned to her office, Van Pelt let out a deep breath.

"Oh my gosh, I thought she was going to see right through us for a minute there."

Jane put down his Soduku book and walked over to the rest of the team.

"Yes. Lisbon is very suspicious, so we're not off of the hook just yet."

He glanced over at Lisbon's office and saw that she still had the door shut.

"In order to make this work, we are going to have to work quickly." he whispered. "First, we have to convince Lisbon that we are all actually leaving for the night. I'll instruct everyone from there."

The three agents continued to pack their belongings and prepare to leave. As she packed her laptop away in its carrying case, Van Pelt said:

"As much as I love your idea to celebrate Lisbon's birthday Jane, I still feel pretty bad about not being able to wish her a 'happy birthday' yet. I hope she doesn't feel like we don't care about her."

"Nah. Mother Teresa knows that her children care about her." Jane said with a smile.

The three returned the smile (Cho too!). When it looked as though everyone was ready, Jane clapped his hands together and said:

"Alright, you guys head down to the parking lot and meet me by my car. I made sure to park it out the line of sight of Lisbon's office window, just in case she wanted to spy on us. I'll be with you in about ten minutes."

The team did as Jane instructed and headed to the parking lot to his car. Jane, meanwhile, made his way toward Lisbon's office.

When Jane walked into her office, Lisbon was sitting at her desk organizing the reports she completed.

"Hi Lisbon." he said as he sat down on the couch in Lisbon's office.

"Hi Jane." she replied, without taking her eyes off of her work.

"How much more do you have to do?"

"I just need to file these and then drop this case report off to my boss's inbox."

"How long will that take?"

Lisbon shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe an hour or so? There was a lot of paperwork to do."

"When you're done, were you planning on heading straight to your brother's house or were you going to head home first?"

Lisbon looked up at Jane curiously.

"What's with the twenty questions all of the sudden?" she paused, a slight smile crossed her lips. "What are you up to?"

Jane shrugged his shoulders and tried to give her his best 'I'm innocent I swear' look.

"Me? I'm just nosy."

Lisbon just smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Well, if you must know, I was going to head home first. I wanted to change from my work clothes before I head over there."

Jane nodded in response. He then stood up and said:

"Well, have fun Lisbon. I'll see you tomorrow."

Lisbon watched Jane as he left her office. She was feeling even more suspicious than she was earlier. That was strange behavior, even for Jane, she thought. He must be up to something. But what?

* * *

Jane immediately headed down to his car in the parking lot where Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt were waiting for him.

"So what did the Boss say?" Rigsby asked.

"Lisbon said that she plans on heading home first after she finishes with all of the reports and some other nonsense. So, that leaves us about…" Jane checked the time on his cell phone. "an hour and fifteen minutes to prepare."

Jane turned his attention toward Rigsby.

"Did you call?"

"Yep. I called while you were talking on the Boss. It'll be ready in about fifteen more minutes. I'll go pick it up and then join you guys to help set up." Rigsby replied.

Jane then looked at Cho.

"Cho?"

"Elise placed the order yesterday. I'm going to pick her up and then we're going to head to the shop to pick it up. We'll meet you over there afterward."

"And Van Pelt?"

"I have everything all ready in the trunk of my car."

"Perfect. Let's you and me had over there now and get started." Jane suggested to Van Pelt.

Van Pelt nodded and started off toward her own vehicle. Jane returned his attention once more to Cho and Rigsby. With a bright smile, he said:

"Alright guys, let's put this plan into action!"
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Reviews make great birthday presents! Wishing me a happy birthday is good also :)