Curiosity Killed the Cat

Summary:It hadn't been the lack of banter between the two, or something majorly different between the two of them but it was just enough to make him wonder—what exactly was the relationship between the two? J/L

Disclaimer: I obviously still don't own The Mentalist!

Spoilers: Set somewhere before 2x08.

Warnings: Language, OOC (in some parts) and unedited.

A/N:

First off, yes—the plot bunnies attacked me again. I dunno how I pass through school, complete ten page papers, try and comprehend statistics and still am able to read and write fanfiction. I'm considering this to be a talent for me. Second off, this is for the Jello-Forever March Challenge: Standing on the Outside and lastly, I dunno how long this will be so we'll just see where this takes us, shall we?

Enjoy!

It all started on a warm afternoon in the middle of March, when Agent Wayne Rigsby of the Serious Crimes Unit noticed an odd occurrence between his boss Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon and consultant Patrick Jane. It hadn't been the lack of banter between the two, or something majorly different between the two of them but it was just enough to make him wonder—what exactly was the relationship between the two? Of course, he wouldn't have even noticed something was off if it weren't for the fact that Jane had given the same exact excuse to leave the office for an hour that Lisbon had given five minutes prior to his statement, though Rigsby knew that Lisbon wouldn't enjoy him poking his neck in to whatever she and Jane had going on but as the expression often went; curiosity killed the cat but, satisfaction brought it back.

"Don't you think that was a bit strange?" He questioned which prompted Cho to turn around slightly in his chair to face him and Grace to stare up at him from her desk area—at which Rigsby noticed that no one else was in the space with them and that he could say what he needed to say without an audience. "Jane's excuse." Cho shrugged.

"So"

"Don't you think it's strange that he and the boss gave the same exact excuse?"

"No."

"They've been doing this for the past week." Grace spoke up from her desk, causing both Cho and Rigsby to stare at her in rapt attention. "Jane left Monday with some excuse about finishing his taxes first, and boss left promising that she'd be back within the hour…"

"I wonder what they've been doing; it couldn't be anything illegal…" Cho turned back to Rigsby to stare at him and Rigsby shrugged. "Could it?" Grace shook her head, and Rigsby dropped the subject.

* * * * * *

Jane's voice in the corridor caught his attention, and looking around—he was pretty sure that he wasn't the only one who was distracted by whatever Jane had to say to whomever he was speaking with.

"—Lisbon!" His voice echoed in the empty corridor. "You need to have more fun!"

"With you?" Lisbon questioned. "Ha, no thank you."

"I promise the next time we do it, it'll be easier..." Rigsby, who had just taken a swig from his coffee mug, spit the drink out all over Cho, who just scowled in response.

"I didn't need a shower." Cho responded, and Rigsby apologized silently with a wave of the hand as his mind rolled over the fact that Jane and Lisbon were in some type of relationship together.

"—yes Jane, just what I needed—more reasons to never sleep at night." From the sounds of it, Grace couldn't restrain herself from trying to cover her choke with a slight cough. Rigsby brought his eyes down to stare at the file in front of him, which luckily hadn't been coffee stained in the accident and soon, Lisbon's soft footsteps could be heard heading toward her office while Jane headed toward the couch to catch up on some sleep—however instead of concentrating on Jane or Lisbon for that matter, Rigsby jumped up from his desk with his coffee mug to head toward the kitchenette area not expecting that when he would turn around from his silent vigil by the sink that Grace would be behind him with a surprised look on her face.

"I told you something was going on." Rigsby muttered, and Grace shook her head while biting her lip.

"I don't believe that."

"You heard…" He lowered his voice in chance that Lisbon or Jane heard him.

"I know what I heard." Grace explained, her eyes shooting glances toward Jane. "I doubt boss or Jane would be in a…"

"I bet they are." Rigsby concluded. "Why disappear an hour every day, and Jane lied about his taxes…"

"You don't know that…"

"Oh yes I do, Jane told me last month when we had that case about the IR…" Grace stared at him. "I bet they are."

"Bet they are what?" Lisbon's voice cut into the conversation, as she stood in front of the kitchenette area and both stared at their boss.

"Milking a cow."

"Reading a magazine." Lisbon stared at the both of them, eyebrow slightly raised at the fact that both of them had answered at the same exact time with a different answer.

"What we meant to say…" Rigsby began.

"Was that he bet they were milking a cow while reading a magazine…" Grace saved him, and he felt relieved but he knew Lisbon didn't believe the both of them as she shook her head, and just walked off muttering something about insanity and retirement.

"Thanks."

"I still disagree with you."

"How about we make a bet?" Rigsby challenged and Grace shook her head.

"I'm not betting on my co-workers dating habits."

"Why? You know you're going to lose?"

"No, it's wrong!"

"No it's not, the guy at payroll has a running bet on how long it'll be before the two start dating or tie the knot." Rigsby pointed out. "The guy at payroll…"

"…has job security." Grace argued, and Rigsby chuckled.

"Oh come on, no one will know." Rigsby responded, and Grace bit her lip again before reluctantly nodding.

"Fine." Rigsby just grinned in response.