"JANE!" The entire bull pen became deathly silent, all three pairs of eyes zeroing in on the offending consultant.
The man seemed unperturbed, however, as he calmly made his way over to the door where Lisbon was waiting.
"Could you move any slower, Jane?" the brunette asked in exasperation.
"Well, now that you mention it…" The signature smile appeared on his face as he dramatically slowed his motions.
Clearly, this latest antic had shattered the little patience Lisbon had. "Jane! Get over here right now, or I swear to God I will kill you in the slowest, most painful way possible." Jane, apparently encouraged by the threat, sped up until he reached the door.
Once there, he bowed mockingly. "After you, madam." Lisbon shot him a glare, then huffed her way through into the office. Jane turned around one last time to grin at the rest of the team, before a shrill voice ordered him to shut the door.
"Well," Van Pelt began after a moment, "he really did it this time."
"I'll say." Rigsby seconded. "I haven't seen the boss that angry since he asked her if she had any 'steamy' plans for the weekend when the review board was here."
"Ten bucks says Lisbon physically harms Jane within the next—" Cho broke off to glance at his watch— "ten minutes. She's always crankiest around five, when the caffeine starts to wear off," Cho reasoned.
"No way, man. Jane'll charm his way out of this one, just you watch. I'm in." The two agents shook hands, and Van Pelt rolled her eyes.
"That was a stupid bet, Cho. The boss isn't going to hurt him when he already nearly died today! She cares for him—really, she does!" The redhead defended in response to the disbelieving looks she received. She continued, "She just…isn't good with her feelings. And, if you ask me, one of these days—"
Suddenly, a loud bang coming from behind the closed door of the office interrupted her.
"Oh yeah. Sounds like she can't even contain how much she cares for him, doesn't it?" Cho's sarcastic comment caused Van Pelt to huff and turn back to her work.
"Just you wait. You'll see I'm right, one of these days."
Rigsby nervously eyed the door. "Umm, guys? Should we go make sure he's alright? That sounded pretty bad.
More muffled noises straggled out of the office, followed by a distinct "Oof," which was met by another crash.
"Nah. We'll give them some time. Besides, Jane hasn't cried out in pain just yet, so she's probably only thrown something at him. If we go in now, Lisbon might be prevented from hurting him, which would ruin our bet." Cho returned his attention to his book, eyes quickly latching onto where he had left off.
Still a little unsure, Rigsby turned to Van Pelt, who shrugged and went back to work. He was about to do the same when his stomach reminded him that he had eaten more than two hours ago, and only a small amount then. (Well, his lunch, half of Van Pelt's, and then five dollars worth of snacks from the vending machine, but still.) He got up and walked into the kitchen, wondering whether or not he would win the bet. Sure, Lisbon had amazing self-control, but Jane was really pushing her limit with this stunt.
***************
After he closed the door, Jane turned around to see that Lisbon was already seated at her desk. "You screeched?"
"Jane, please, be serious for a minute. You acted completely out of line today." Lisbon stood up, even though she had only just sat down. She moved to sit on the corner of the desk, crossing her arms.
"I know, I know," Jane shook his head ruefully. "I almost lost you a witness, blew your undercover operation, and managed to get shot at, all in ten minutes. A new record, right?" He looked up to meet Lisbon's eyes, hoping to lessen the tension a bit. She was not amused, however, so he hung his head and continued, "I messed up. I'm sorry the suspect got away."
"You think that's what this is about?!"
"Umm…yes? Unless that's not the right answer…" Jane didn't know what to say, an unusual occurrence for him.
"You almost died today, Jane!" She banged her desk to emphasize her point. "If Rigsby hadn't gotten there in time and barreled into the guy—"
"Kent."
"What?" Lisbon was startled out of her would-be rant.
"Well you called him 'the guy.' The suspect's name is Lucifer Kent. I think you should use his name when you speak of him, because there are quite a few 'guys' around here. You know, just to be specific." Lisbon stared at him, disbelieving. "Actually, that probably explains why he's so angry," he added contemplatively. "A name like 'Lucifer' can't be much fun to grow up with."
"Jane, are you seriously going on about a name? I don't care what his name is, he almost killed you!" She felt her eyes water, which only made her angrier. She would not cry.
Jane, finally understanding what this was about, rushed to wrap his arms around her thin frame. She leaned into him, resting her cheek on his shoulder as she looked up at him. "It's alright. I'm okay! See? All here for you to yell at," his words were soft and soothing. He hated to see her upset. Especially when he was the cause. Riled up was fine. Riled up he could deal with. (In fact, he found an annoyed Lisbon rather hot.) But upset? He couldn't stand it.
That Jane was so accepting made her eyes water even more, and when she felt his hand begin rubbing her back, she felt a single tear trickle its way down her cheek. Damn.
Oh hell, he'd seen her in worse states of disarray; this wouldn't make any difference. "I know you're here. I just…I keep thinking about what could have happened. And it scares the hell out of me. I don't think I could deal with not having you anymore." She gave a watery half-smile, "Especially after I made you wait so long." She straightened in his arms, wrapping her own around his neck and wanting nothing more than to be as close as possible to him.
"And that wait practically killed me. We all know how impatient I am. In fact, right now, I'm getting a little tired of waiting for you to kiss me." And with that, he backed them up until she hit the wall with a clatter and pressed his lips to hers.
"You know what? I was thinking the same thing," she whispered against his lips, then deepened the kiss.
In what seemed like no time at all, Jane's one hand was tangled in her hair while the other had snaked its way up the back of her shirt to rub the skin there. Her head was tilted upward to allow him better access to her neck, which he attacked with his lips.
Lisbon was completely trapped between Jane and the wall, but she didn't mind at all. The closeness of his proximity only assured her all the more that he was really there, really alive. She couldn't think, and she didn't want to. She ran her hand through his curls and pressed herself as far into him as she could.
As things continued to heat up, Jane realized where it was heading and knew that—no matter how much he wanted to—he could not have sex with Lisbon in her office. "Teresa," his husky voice whispered, after resurfacing.
"What, Patrick?" she moaned, mourning the loss of his lips on her neck.
"I do believe we should move this meeting to a more suitable place. Like, possibly, our bed." He slowly began to untangle them, straightened out her hair with his fingers, and repositioned her shirt. She blinked a few times, her puffy red eyes clouded with lust.
Suddenly, she smirked a bit. "Our bed? Does this mean what I think it does?"
" I've already sold my house, and all my boxes have been moved into your apartment. I figure I spend most of my time there already, might as well make it official." He grinned in response to her smiling eyes. "It was going to be a surprise, but I suppose this is as good a way to tell you as any other."
"You're really moving in, Patrick? This isn't just some sick joke?" As with most situations Lisbon labeled as 'too good to be true,' she was having trouble believing it.
"Well…" he trailed off playfully, as though he had been caught in the middle of a prank, and Lisbon hit him on the arm.
"Not funny, Jane! Are you seriously moving in?"
"Yes." The simple affirmation sent shivers of pleasure pulsing throughout her whole body.
She leaned into his warm embrace once more, before pulling away and hurrying to her desk to collect her things. When she had everything, she turned back around to face Jane. "Let's go."
As she walked to the door, Jane was left dumbfounded in her wake. "Really? You're going to allow us to leave work early? When there's an open case?"
She paused and turned, with her hand still on the doorknob and an almost seductive smile on her lips. "I'm sorry, but wasn't it your suggestion in the first place?"
"Well, yes, but…I didn't think you would actually comply," he admitted.
"I guess I'm not as predictable as you thought. Now, are you coming or will I be going home by myself?"
That was all the encouragement Jane needed, so he followed her out the office door.
**************
The office door opened, startling Rigsby and Cho—who had been once again debating whether or not to interrupt their boss's meeting with their consultant—into silence. Out came Lisbon, closely followed by a stunned-looking Jane.
No one said a word as the pair silently made their way to the elevator.
Rigsby and Cho stared at each other, with Van Pelt's gaze jumping between the two. "So…" she said, attempting to break the awkward tension.
"Were you able to get a clear look at Jane?" Cho asked.
"Nope. But if he was hurt he would've been limping or something. Since he wasn't, I'd say I won the bet. Pay up."
"I don't think so. Why would they have left so suddenly if they didn't need to seek medical attention for Jane, or to hide the fact that she had hurt him? It doesn't make any sense."
"You've got it wrong. He was fine!"
"He must have been hurt."
"You just don't want to admit that I won!"
"No, I—"
"Oh would you two just give it up already? Call it a draw. No one wins, okay?" Van Pelt declared. Both men went to argue, but the rookie's stern gaze convinced them that it might be better to simply keep silent. After a few seconds with no response, she nodded her head. "Good. Now, let's get back to work. Rigsby, did you find anything on the suspect's ex?"
The big man turned back to his computer and began reading a profile of the woman in question. Van Pelt shook her head surreptitiously; when would her two oblivious colleagues pick up on what was really happening between Jane and Lisbon?
A/N: And that' it: the beginning of my first published fanfic. I've got quite a bit more in store for this one, but regular updates aren't likely. If you see any grammatical mistakes or something that I could improve, please leave a review or private message me, and I'll do my best to fix it. I haven't read this over, because if I do I'm all too likely to delete it and start from scratch…again. And I really, really don't want to do that.