Title: The Great Escape
Author: Lizzybeth
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: It's not mine.
Prompt: Vacation/Road Trip
A/N: Okay so it's not strictly based on your prompt but in a round about way it is. It just came about when the idea popped into my head, I hope you like it!
It was one of the hottest days the Californian summer and the CBI Serious Crimes team were cooped up in the office doing paperwork, the air conditioning in the bullpen had broken so the only comfort from the stifling heat came from small fans dotted around the room which weren't really very effective. Jane lay on his couch dosing in the heat, he had removed his jacket and vest and even rolled up his sleeves and undone a few buttons of his shirt. Cho was working very hard on completing his paperwork but the sun beaming through the windows was making it a thankless task. Van Pelt and Rigsby kept stealing glances at each other, both of them wishing that they were laid on a beach somewhere, preferably with each other. Lisbon contrary to everyone else was slaving away in her office preparing for a meeting with Hightower and some other Senior Agents.
She sighed aloud as she put down her pen for the umpteenth time that day. The heat in her office was stifling, even with her window flung wide open and the fan on her desk providing her with a cool breeze, she was boiling. And this meeting, how on earth did Hightower expect her to prepare so much paperwork on a day like this? Lisbon didn't enjoy meetings on any day; she found them boring and useless. What did she care if some other unit wanted more funding? But she found that on one of the most beautiful days of the summer, the prospect of sitting around discussing budgets and close-rates was even less inviting.
She pulled her hair back into a ponytail to try and cool down and concentrate. Unfortunately, it didn't work and within minutes she had slammed her pen on her desk once more and sank her head into her hands. She really wasn't looking forward to this meeting.
She sat up and took the opportunity to observe her team in the bullpen. No-one appeared to be doing much work they all just seemed to be daydreaming. Even Cho had decided that he was never going to finish his paperwork today and was sat talking to Rigsby both of them with a soda in their hands. Van Pelt had moved away from her desk and was stood staring out of the window.
Lisbon then turned to observe the man laid on the brown leather couch. He seemed the picture of serenity laid there dreaming. The fan at the end of his couch ruffling his golden curls and the way he had his shirt unbuttoned slightly made him look rather handsome.
This thought infuriated her. How could he be so handsome and relaxed in this kind of heat? She was sure she looked terrible all sticky and sweaty but he looked as good as ever, if not better. She grabbed her pen and started writing putting more pressure on it than was really necessary.
'Hey,' said a familiar voice.
She looked up to see Jane casually leant against the doorframe of her office, looking as fetching as ever.
'What do you want Jane? I've got a meeting to prepare for.' She snapped.
'Oh, so that's why you were sat staring into space.' He answered sarcastically, striding into her office and perching himself on her desk.
'Jane move you're in the way.' Lisbon retorted, giving him a shove.
'Come on you weren't even doing anything.' He grumbled sitting in the chair opposite her.
'Yes I was Jane. I've got a meeting in 10 minutes.'
'Meh, you don't really want to go to that meeting.' He said matter-of-factly.
'No you're right I don't want to go. I have to.' She replied annoyed at his attempts to distract her.
He smiled at her which did nothing to lessen her annoyance. But Jane liked to see her annoyed, she looked cute and the fact that the heat made her glow meant she looked even more beautiful.
'You don't have to. Take the afternoon off, we could go to the beach.' He said trying to tempt her.
'I can't just take the afternoon off. This is an important meeting, Hightower would kill me.' She reasoned, pretending not to be the least bit temped by his offer even if it did sound like a great idea.
'She'd get over it.' He replied nonchalantly.
Lisbon let out a sigh of exasperation. 'I'm going to my meeting. See you when I get back.' She gathered her things together and strode out of the office.
Jane smiled to himself as he stood up and walked into the bullpen, about to put his plan to remove Lisbon from that meeting into action.
'Hey guys!' he called to the team, gesturing them to come and sit around him.
'What do you want Jane?' Rigsby asked looking completely disinterested.
'This better not be one of your pranks, because I'm really not in the mood.' Cho told him seriously.
'No,' Jane exclaimed sounding shocked 'I'm planning a surprise for Lisbon.' He declared with a grin.
'I'm not getting involved.' Van Pelt answered almost immediately.
'Yeah I like my job thanks.' Cho seconded.
'Oh, don't be like that, she's going to love it.' He implored.
'You said that last time you did this to her and if I recall she got real mad and threw a stapler at you.' Rigsby countered.
'It was a hole-punch actually, and that's beside the point.' Jane said. 'This time she really is going to love it. I promise.' He saw that they still didn't look convinced so he added 'If she gets mad, which she won't, I'll take all the blame.'
'Fine,' Van Pelt conceded knowing that Jane wouldn't give up until he got what he wanted. The other two nodded their heads in agreement.
'Great!' Jane exclaimed, a grin spreading across his face. 'We're going for a picnic!'
The others looked at him slightly confused.
'Van Pelt, I need you to go to the store and get some food and a blanket. Make sure you get strawberries. Cho, Rigsby get some water balloons and water guns. Meet me at the park. Now, I've got to get Lisbon out of that meeting.'
'How are you going to do that?' Van Pelt asked, intrigued.
'Don't worry I have a plan.' He answered grinning even more.
She shook her head at him, before grabbing her purse and following the guys to the elevator.
Jane smiled as he headed towards the meeting room; this was going to be fun.
Lisbon sat in the meeting, staring into space. She doodled distractedly on the piece of paper in front of her. She had stopped listening to what was going on about 10 minutes ago, after some guy from narcotics started giving a speech about his team's close rate. She felt a tightening sensation in her forehead. Great, she though, just what I need, a migraine. At least the air conditioning in this room worked, giving her some respite from the smothering heat of the bullpen but that was about the only good thing this meeting had to offer.
Suddenly, a knock at the door interrupted them and she turned around to see none other than Patrick Jane stood in the doorway. He flashed her a smile before turning to Hightower.
'I need Agent Lisbon.' He said still smiling.
'Can't you see she's in the middle of a meeting?' Hightower asked sounding a little annoyed.
'Well yes but this is important.' He answered.
'So is this meeting.' Hightower retorted, her annoyance becoming more pronounced.
'I'm sure you can spare her. It's just a new case has come in.' He explained.
'Fine. Agent Lisbon you're excused.' She said, clearly not in the mood to argue with Jane.
Lisbon needed no encouragement and immediately gathered her things and followed Jane outside.
'So what's this new case?' she asked him.
'Well…' he said.
'There is no new case is there?' she interrupted.
'No.' he replied, glad that they'd got there so fast.
'Jane!'
'What? You didn't want to be in that meeting. I could see the relief on your face when I said there was a new case.' He reasoned.
'That's not the point Hightower is going to go mad.' She snapped sounding mad herself.
'I'll tell her it was all my idea.'
'You'd better.' She grumbled.
He shone one of his biggest grins at her for reassurance.
'Where are we going?' she asked. She had been so caught up in arguing with Jane that she hadn't noticed that they were heading into the foyer of the CBI building.
'It's a surprise.' He told her, still grinning like a Cheshire cat. 'Give me your keys.'
'No.' she replied automatically.
'It's either that or we go in my car.' He explained.
'Why can't I drive?' she asked.
'Because you don't know where we're going.' He stated.
'You can give me directions.' She tried to reason.
'That defeats the object of this being a surprise.' He said with a cheeky smile.
Lisbon sighed in defeat and tossed her keys to him.
Even though she was trying to act annoyed she couldn't help but smile back. Jane thought she looked incredibly beautiful when she was happy and vowed to make sure that he made her happy more often. Not that she didn't look cute when she was angry, because she did, but Lisbon probably preferred being happy to being annoyed.
'What?' she asked, interrupting his thoughts. It took him a few seconds to realise that he must have been staring at her while he was making his vow.
'Nothing.' He replied with a sly grin. She shook her head in exasperation as she climbed into the car.
Now it was his turn to ask 'What?' as they pulled out of the CBI parking lot.
'I hate surprises. Why can't you just tell me where we're going?' she answered.
'That's ridiculous,' he replied 'everyone likes surprises even if they claim not to.'
'Really?' she questioned, quirking her eyebrow sceptically at him.
'Yes really.' He said matter-of-factly.
Lisbon leant across and turned the radio on. 'I love this song!' she exclaimed turning it up.
'Hey soul sister, ain't that Mr Mister on the radio,
stereo, the way you move ain't fair, you know!
Hey soul sister, I don't want to miss a single thing you
do…tonight.
Hey, hey, hey'
Lisbon smiled, whilst humming along with the melody. Jane positively beamed at how contented she looked, his plan was working.
The journey passed in no time at all and before long they were arriving at their destination.
'The park!' Lisbon exclaimed 'I love it here!'
'I know,' said Jane 'C'mon.' he grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the car. When they had walked a little way Jane went up behind her and placed his hands gently over her eyes.
'Jane, what the hell are doing?' she vociferated.
'I want this to be a proper surprise. No peeking!' he said as she tried to prise his fingers away from her eyes.
Slowly, he lead her towards a tree in the middle of the grass, under which Rigsby, Cho and Van Pelt were all sat around a red tartan picnic blanket that was scattered with a vast array of food.
'Okay are you ready?' Jane asked Lisbon
'Yes Jane, I was ready 10 minutes ago.' She answered impatiently.
'Okay then.' Jane said pulling his hands away from her eyes. She gasped as she saw what was in front of her before a smile spread across her face.
'Oh, I can't believe that you guys did all this to get me out of a meeting.' She said clapping her hands together.
'Well, it was Jane's idea really,' Van Pelt explained 'we just sort of helped.'
'Can we eat now? I'm starving.' Rigsby asked moving his hand towards a large tray of doughnuts. Van Pelt slapped his hand away giving him a reproachful look, causing Cho, Jane and Lisbon to laugh.
'Not quite yet,' Jane answered 'first we have to build up an appetite.' He gestured towards the buckets of water balloons Rigsby and Cho had provided.
'Bring it on.' Said Lisbon, grinning and removing her jacket.
'Oh, so you think you can beat me?' Jane asked teasingly.
'Dude, this bread stick could beat you.' Cho put in.
But, before Jane could think up a witty retort that would have Cho reeling, a water balloon hit him square on the shoulder, creating a huge wet patch on his blue shirt. He whipped around to see Lisbon stood by the bucket laughing at him.
'Oh it's on.' Jane scoffed looking a little peeved that Lisbon had managed to get him.
He ran towards the bucket and Lisbon grabbed a couple of balloons and sprinted away from him. Jane grabbed a balloon from the bucket and threw it at her hitting her on the back of the head. She pulled the bobble from her hair and allowed it to drop down her back. She turned around looking perturbed and threw a water balloon back at him. Her green eyes seemed to dance with a look of mischief that had Jane entranced. That look, combined with the way her drenched raven hair was sticking to her face and her wet shirt was clinging recklessly to her body, served to make her look truly beautiful. And he couldn't help but stare at her.
He pulled his eyes away from her just in time to duck away from the water balloon that zipped past his ear. Instead of hitting its intended target it hit Rigsby, who had been watching Jane and Lisbon with amusement.
'Hey!' he called angrily, pulling a water gun from somewhere and squirting Jane in the face with it. Jane reacted quickly grabbing Grace and using her as a human shield. She squealed like a little girl and tried to wriggle free. When Rigsby realised he was wetting his girlfriend rather that the consultant he looked horrified. He was right to look scared because as soon as Jane released Grace she grabbed a balloon strode confidently over to Rigsby and smashed it over his head. Cho seemed to find the perturbed look on Rigsby's face particularly amusing he even laughed a little.
Jane, who was too busy laughing at Rigsby's misfortune, didn't notice Lisbon sneaking up behind him until it was too late. She launched a water balloon from very close range and it hit him on the head, saturating his golden curls. He continued to laugh and his eyes shone as he turned and headed towards Lisbon. She tried to run away from him but he was too quick for her. He grabbed her waist and pulled her to him. As he did so he lost his footing and tumbled down on top of her, trapping her body against the soft green grass.
She giggled very uncharacteristically and was about to berate him for lying on her, when their eyes locked. They laid there gazing deeply into each others eyes, both breathing a little heavily (whether because of their exertions or the intensity of the moment neither knew.) They weren't even aware of the commotion occurring behind them, where Van Pelt and Cho had successfully managed to pin down Rigsby and were pelting him with water balloons, much to his displeasure. No Jane and Lisbon were lost in each others eyes, enveloped in their own little world, where nothing mattered and everything beyond each other paled into insignificance.
After what seemed like a lifetime Jane spoke, 'You know, I don't think having a water fight in a white shirt was one of your best ideas Lisbon.'
She looked down sharply to see that her shirt had turned translucent and her bra was slightly visible through it.
'You shouldn't be looking.' She snapped, shoving him off her so that she could stand up. Jane was a little shocked at her composure he had been expecting her to blush. Maybe she was becoming immune to his charms.
'I couldn't help it, you're just so beautiful.' This had the desired effect and she blushed furiously. Nope, she defiantly wasn't immune to his charms yet.
'I think we should go save Rigsby.' Jane suggested. Lisbon agreed and he took her hand, knotting his fingers through hers, as they sprinted to Rigsby's aid. As they engaged in more liberal exchanges of water, Lisbon wondered what people passing by must have thought of them. She supposed they must look a sight; all of them were still wearing their work clothes and badges but were playing like children. So much for the responsibility of the law enforcement. In fact quite a crowd had gathered to watch the group of CBI agents pelt each other with water. But Lisbon didn't feel self conscious, she didn't care what people thought of her because for the first time in a while she was letting her hair down and having fun.
They had to abandon the water fight when they ran out of water-based weapons to attack each other with. Then they all sat around and ate the large supply of food Van Pelt had provided. Jane had given Lisbon his vest to save her blushes and cover up her see through shirt.
'You really did do a great job with all this Grace.' Jane congratulated.
'Mmph.' Rigsby voiced his agreement through a mouthful of cold chicken.
'Oh I almost forgot!' Grace exclaimed delving into and producing a small box of red berries which she passed to Jane.
'These are for you.' He said handing them to Lisbon.
'Strawberries!' she exclaimed 'I love them!'
'Yes I know,' Jane answered 'I know you better than you give me credit for Lisbon my dear.'
Then Lisbon did something none of them expected, not even Jane, who claimed to able to read her like a book. She lent over and kissed him on the cheek. Nothing big, just a gentle peck, it only lasted a few seconds but to Jane it meant the world. He raised his hand to touch the place where Lisbon's lips had been just moments earlier, looking a little dumbfounded. Slowly but surely, one of his signature grins spread across his face only this one was bigger than more genuine than any smile they had seen him use before.
Lisbon returned his smile albeit a little shyly, she felt rather embarrassed about what she had just done. Especially as she had done it in front of the whole team. She didn't know what had come over her, gratitude and fondness for the blond consultant had just seemed to sweep over her like a wave crashing against the shore.
'Will you two stop it with the eye sex? It's making me uncomfortable.' Cho interrupted in his usual unaffected manner. Rigsby and Van Pelt couldn't help but burst out laughing and they were soon joined by Jane and Lisbon.
The team stayed at the park all afternoon laughing, swapping anecdotes and talking about all sorts of things. Though they never discussed things that were too personal, after all they were all colleagues and they knew each others boundaries.
Van Pelt, Cho and Rigsby all left together, as they had come in the same car, leaving Jane and Lisbon alone together as the sun went down, making the sky turn into a mixture of orange and red, like autumn leaves.
'I can see why you like it so much here Lisbon.' Jane remarked 'It's beautiful.'
'Yes it is.' she sighed giving and involuntary shiver.
'Are you cold?' he asked with concern.
'A little.' She replied.
In response he shuffled closer to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling into a warm, comforting embrace. He half expected her to jump away and chastise him, but she didn't. Instead she laid her head on his shoulder and let out a contented sigh.
'So, was this better than going to a meeting?' he asked jokingly.
'So much better.' She answered.
She raised her head to meet his eyes 'Thank you Patrick.' She said sincerely.
'You're welcome Teresa; I'm glad that I could make you happy.' He responded.
'We should do this more often.' She suggested settling her head back into his shoulder.
'Yes but maybe without the team.' He agreed.
'What like a date?' she asked gently.
'Yeah, I'd like that.' He affirmed.
'Me too.' She sighed as Jane pulled her a little closer.
And there they sat wrapped in each others arms for hours until the red sky had disappeared and been replace by a dark blue blanket covered with stars. They stayed in each others embrace like two lovers wrapped in the starlit blanket.