Author's Note: Hey ya'll! I know, I've been gone a while... but I just HAD to participate in Jello Forever's secret Santa program. Hopefully all these little stories will bring me out of this slump. Anywho, Merry Christmas Eve to those who celebrate it! I hope EVERYONE has a wonderful holiday. Stay safe and have fun!
And one more quick thing. I want to give a big shout-out to those who have been reviewing my really old stories. You guys are amazing. I've recieved some of the SWEETEST reviews in just the past few months that I have ever gotten, so thank you.
Secret Santa Gift For - Heather! Merry Christmas!
Paring: Jello/Jisbon/JanexLisbon
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: NOT MINE
Prompt: "Secret Santa"
Summary: It's Christmas at the CBI and everyone is participating in the building's Secret Santa program. After gifts are delivered, Lisbon finds that hers never came. In a fit of anger, she goes off to get it herself.
A Secret Surprise
December the twenty third, two days before Christmas, Lisbon strode in to the main room of the CBI that was tastefully decorated for the holiday season.
"Good morning Taylor," The senior agent chirped to the woman behind the tinsel draped front desk. "and Merry Christmas." Lisbon quickly scribbled her name onto a lined sheet of paper.
"Same to you Agent Lisbon." The blonde replied. She looked rather festive with a sparkled Santa hat topping her head. "Do you have anything to be distributed for this year's Secret Santa?"
Lisbon pursed her lips and began rummaging through her bag. "Actually, yes, I do." Finally her arms emerged with one neatly wrapped package. "Here we are." After setting it gingerly on the desk, she fluffed the bow with a flourish.
"Beautiful." The secretary giggled. "Is the recipient clearly marked?"
Lisbon nodded and absentmindedly ran her fingers over the name tag as if to make sure it was still there. Giving it a quick pat, she handed the box over. "Hope she likes it."
Reading over the cursive writing, Taylor smiled to herself. "Van Pelt the newbie, huh? She's such a nice person."
"Yes, she is. She's a great agent too and I'm proud to have her on my team." Pausing, Lisbon chewed on her lip. "Anyway, I better get to work. Have a happy holiday Taylor."
"Just don't work too hard Teresa." She called after her with a wave. "It's Christmas!"
"Too bad crime doesn't stop, even for a holy day." She shouted back over her shoulder.
Despite the harsh truth of that last statement, Lisbon couldn't hold back her cheesy, holiday induced grin as she stepped on to the elevator that was currently playing Christmas themed elevator music. The holiday cheer was inescapable, even for those who worked in law enforcement and dealt with crime and death every day. Maybe it was the music, the sweet sent of pine, or the sense of family and friendship that made her so merry. Maybe it was that white chocolate raspberry coffee creamer she had poured into her mug earlier that morning. It could even possibly be just the wonderful feeling of giving to someone whom she cared about in the secret Santa gift exchange.
This year's Secret Santa was different than most; they had decided collectively to change things up a bit. This Christmas the front desk was running a gift delivery system for any and all gifts. This way presents could truly be submitted anonymously. It was up to the individual teams to arrange a name drawing. Also anyone could send a package anonymously to anyone else that worked in the building if the giver so wished. The gifts were to be delivered sometime around lunch before many of the employees left work early.
Lisbon and her team had decided to draw names among the five of them. She had pulled Van Pelt's name luckily. Another woman was easy to buy for, especially one who was complaining about her lack of Christmas decorations since she had left home. Lisbon had specially picked out an elegant looking snow globe with the nativity scene nestled in a falling cascade of fake snow. It was quite adorable and Lisbon hoped that Van Pelt would love her gift.
The elevator doors separated with a squeak and Lisbon stepped out into the bullpen. After greeting everyone with a perky, "Merry Christmas," she stepped into her office and began to work.
Around lunchtime she emerged and went to the catered buffet in the lobby for all of the agents. Jane and Cho stayed behind despite the prodding of their coworkers.
While everyone else was eating, a man in a fat suit dressed in red wandered around the halls of the CBI handing out presents along the way. When the agents returned, they were greeted with colorfully wrapped boxes and gift baskets on their prospective desks.
When Van Pelt, Rigsby, and Lisbon reentered the bullpen, Cho looked up from his Rubix Cube with a smile. "Santa came." He voiced while gesturing to the gifts adorning each individual's desk.
Looking up with a gasp, Van Pelt smiled at the gifts being passed around.
The agents collected their presents off of their desks and then returned to gather into a circle to open them. Lisbon, on the other hand, emerged from her office with no gift and a scowl marring her features.
Rigsby looked at her empty hands curiously. "Where's your gift?" He asked nervously, glancing around the room.
"I'm not sure." Lisbon replied with a shrug as her gift deprived hands fidgeted in the pockets of her jacket. "Who got me anyway?"
All three agents snapped their heads up to look at Lisbon. "Jane." They all stated without hesitation.
Ignoring the fact that they all seemed to know who had received whom, Lisbon's eyebrows lowered. "Jane." She uttered. "Either I'm on Santa's naughty list, or Jane forgot my gift. Where the hell is he anyway?"
Rigsby and Van Pelt scanned the room for the missing gift forgetter.
Cho's gaze on the other hand never left Lisbon. "He high tailed it as soon as he saw the Secret Santa come in. Said he went out for lunch or something. Anyway, he told me that we should just go ahead without him if he should be late." In a flash he averted his eyes and continued to pick at a corner of wrapping paper on his present.
Lisbon rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Well how the hell can we 'go on without him' if I have no gift? He left because he didn't want me to kill him, I'm sure."
"I doubt it." Cho reported stoically, still idly scratching at a piece of torn paper. "I would check with the Secret Santa. He was completely disorganized and I wouldn't be surprised if he accidently overlooked your gift."
"Alright fine," Lisbon exhaled slowly, "I'll go check with the damn Secret Santa. Honestly, Jane probably forgot." Lisbon turned on her heel with a huff and exited the bullpen.
In a few minutes she had spotted the man in red who was currently on the next floor up finishing off his route. "Hey Chris Cringle!" Lisbon called impatiently at the man who was leaned over a bulky sack made out of a fuzzy fabric.
"What." The man spat, turning severely to face her. As soon as he caught sight of the woman standing in front of him, his expression softened and he let out a sigh. "I'm sorry miss, stressful day."
"That's understandable." Lisbon replied gently, feeling sorry for him. He had bags under his eyes, showing both lack of sleep and anxiety. Sweat dripped down his cheeks from the layers of fake silver hair and fuzz he was forced to wear.
"I'm sorry, but I think you must have overlooked my gift." She gave the man a sheepish smile.
"Well that's certainly possible." The Santa heaved the bag over his shoulder and let it drop in front of Lisbon. "This is what our superiors gave me to tote the gifts around in. They wanted it to be as 'Santa-like' as possible."
"If you ask me it just looks like a pain in the ass." Lisbon offered as she peered into the bag in front of her.
"Exactly. Anyway, let's see if we can find your gift. Name?"
"Agent Lisbon, Teresa Lisbon." Lisbon's hand approached the bag cautiously as she attempted to look for her gift.
"Oh!" The Santa exclaimed with a laugh. "So that was your gift. I'm surprised I forgot it!"
"Oh God." Lisbon murmured as she buried her face in her hand. "What did that man get me?"
The man in a Santa suit grinned knowingly before sticking his hand into the sack and rummaging around a bit. Finally his hand emerged balled up in a fist. "Here," He said, holding his hand out to Lisbon. "This is your gift.
"What is it?" Lisbon questioned tentatively. "It's not a bug, is it?"
"No, silly," the man promptly opened his fist to reveal a twig of some sort. His eyes sparkled, full of expectation. "This is your gift."
Eyebrows narrowing, Lisbon reached for the sprig and carefully raised it with the tips of her fingers into view. "Well what the hell is it?"
"Mistletoe!" The man bellowed elatedly. He furtively eyed the position in which Lisbon was holding her gift. She had raised it just above her head. "Well, don't mind if I do." He chuckled. Before Lisbon could even take a breath, the Secret Santa's lips connected sweetly with hers.
"Pig!" She uttered against his mouth while giving him a sudden shove forward.
The Secret Santa stumbled backwards and raised his hands in the air defensively. "I'm sorry ma'am, it's tradition. I meant no harm."
"Who the hell are you?" Lisbon shouted furiously while at the same time trying to speak under her breath. In an instant she had tugged his beard down. "That was completely inappropriate!"
The Santa slapped her hand away and pulled his beard back up. "Listen, I apologized alright? I've got to deliver the rest of these gifts." And in a flash, he was striding off down the corridor leaving Lisbon to fume alone.
It wasn't so much the surprise kiss that angered her; rather it was the fact that Jane had caused it. Was that his idea of a present, a sweaty man with a fake beard attempting to share a Christmas kiss with her? Lisbon wiped a hand over her lips. She could still feel the scratch of his imitation beard brushing against her chin and nose. Oh well, the Santa man could be dealt with later. For now, she had a bone to pick with Jane.
After fifteen minutes of sitting alone in her office grumbling the entire time, Lisbon finally heard Jane's voice filter through the door of her office. He was laughing along with the others and asking them if they had liked their presents. Then she heard Cho try to say under his breath, "You're in trouble."
Oh yeah, Jane was in big trouble. Lisbon stood swiftly and took a deep breath. She emerged out of her office and stomped into view. As soon as she caught sight of Jane standing with her other agents, she halted to a stop and her jaw dropped. There were the two subjects of all of her anger, the Secret Santa and Jane, but they were the same person.
Standing in the bullpen was Jane with a Santa suit draped over his right arm.
He hadn't noticed Lisbon's arrival yet and continued to laugh with Rigsby and Van Pelt.
Cho noticed Lisbon standing out of the corner of his eye. He looked to Jane and gestured to their boss.
After a quick glance over his shoulder, Jane turned to face Lisbon. A smirk played on his features. "Hello Lisbon." He called to her from across the room.
"It was you?" Lisbon growled cutting him off. She was livid with anger.
Jane cracked an even larger smile.
"In my office, now!" she rumbled, leaning menacingly towards him. She held open the door to her office and pointed inside insistently.
Jane sent a fleeting look to his colleagues before making his way into Lisbon's office.
Coughing back a laugh, Cho covered his mouth and looked away. Van Pelt and Rigsby both shot Cho looks. He obviously knew something that they didn't know.
Jane sheepishly entered his boss's office, and Lisbon closed the door behind them. Jane shuffled over to her couch and turned to face her.
Clasping her hands together, Lisbon gave Jane a disbelieving look. "What was that?"
"You're Christmas present." He replied simply.
"That was my Christmas present, a man whom I didn't know disguised as Santa giving me a kiss under the mistletoe? Then later I find out it was my insufferable colleague?"
Hands in his pockets, Jane leaned back on his heels. "Well I thought it was a brilliant gift. You just have to think about it really. The present was supposed to be given secretly, so that's what I did. You were supposed to receive the gift from the secret Santa."
"Cute." Lisbon sighed as she shook some strands of hair out of her eyes. "Still, it was inappropriate and embarrassing." She turned her back on him.
"Well I'm sorry about that." Jane cooed taking a step towards her. "I think I have something that could make it up to you."
In a moment, a rectangular wrapped box fell in front of Lisbon's nose. She caught it and eyed it for a second. A smile spread over her features.
"Merry Christmas." Jane voiced from behind her.
She twisted around to look at him. After giving him a shy smile, she daintily tore open the box. The jewelry box under the wrapping paper was opened to reveal a gold bracelet encrusted with rubies. Lisbon gasped softly at the beauty. "Oh Jane," The heat of her anger subsided and warm feeling spread across Lisbon's body. "It's gorgeous."
"I'm glad you like it." With a steady hand, Jane removed the bracelet from the box and trailed it to Lisbon's wrist. "Let me help you put it on."
After a few gentle touches, the bracelet was resting on Lisbon's wrist as she admired it closely.
"Still mad?" Jane questioned while watching Lisbon intently as she caressed the gold.
Lisbon stilled and sighed. After a few seconds she looked up at him with a playful smile. "You know, this bracelet almost makes up for everything."
"Almost?" Jane squeaked, looking disappointed. "You don't like either of my presents. You even dropped the mistletoe." His hand disappeared into his coat pocket and returned with the sprig in his fingers. He set it on her desk nearby.
"No, I didn't say that! I love the bracelet, but the other present was just…" She paused a moment. "Inappropriate."
"But did you like the first present?" He absentmindedly fiddled with a loose string on his jacket.
Lisbon swallowed. In a flash she moved away from Jane and towards the mistletoe resting on her desk. Gingerly picking it up, she stuttered, "I-it's wonderful. I mean, who doesn't need a little mistletoe to gussy up an office?"
"That's not what I was talking about."
Lisbon was quiet for a moment, hesitating. "I know."
Jane nodded his head solemnly and moved towards the door.
Trying to think quickly, Lisbon snatched up the mistletoe and searched frantically around the room. Noticing the pull chain on her ceiling fan, she stood carefully on her tiptoes and attached the mistletoe to the chain that was dangling just above her. "Jane." She called before he turned the doorknob to leave. "See, the mistletoe really does make an excellent office decoration, doesn't it?" Her pulse quickened as she swallowed nervously.
Jane spun around and studied the sprig swinging lightly to and fro just above Lisbon's head. A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips. Taking a step forward, he glided casually to her side.
Hands brushing, the pair's bodies were almost touching. He gazed questioningly down into her eyes.
Lisbon stared back, eyes expressionless.
They stood like that for a few seconds until Jane saw Lisbon's eyes sparkle slightly. His eyes drifted to her lips that were twitching as she tried to hold back a smile. He was doing exactly what she wanted, and he knew it.
In an instant, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. As their mouths connected, Jane's hand that had had been brushing lightly against Lisbon's swept under her arm to pull her close. Soon Lisbon's arms were thrown around Jane's neck. His hand crept up her back to rub circles on it.
Finally the two reluctantly pulled apart. Lisbon's face was flushed and Jane's eyes were twinkling more than they had in a long time.
"Merry Christmas." Jane breathed against the Lisbon's cheek and she giggled in return.
"Come on," She whispered as she pulled him towards the door. "We should go see if the others have opened their gifts."
They emerged into the brightness of the open bullpen to find that the three agents had all opened their gifts. Rigsby had three bows attached to his face; one on the top of his head, another on his nose, and the last on his ear. Cho was looking quite hilarious with a baseball cap that had a twig of mistletoe jetting out from the front.
Lisbon laughed at the sight.
Cho noticed the chortling and tilted his head upwards so he could see under the mistletoe. "Rigsby told me I needed this."
Jane scoffed and gave Rigsby a look. "I think you need that more than Cho, Rigs."
Rigsby grunted.
"Sorry man, you walked into that one when you bought him that gift." Jane laughed along with Lisbon and Cho. "Though Cho does look quite adorkable with that hat, you have to admit."
"So did you like your gift, Lisbon?" Cho asked ignoring Jane's question. He looked at Lisbon with a twinkle in his eye.
"Yes, I did."
"Oh really, which one?"
Lisbon, unbeknownst to the others, jabbed Jane with her elbow. "The bracelet, of course." She walked over to Rigsby and Van Pelt to let them see. Van Pelt ogled over the piece of jewelry.
"What about the… other gift?" Cho prodded with a smirk.
"Shut up mistletoe boy." Lisbon growled under her breath as she put her hands on her hips.
Cho raised an eyebrow at her. "You're calling me that?"