It was 3'o clock in the afternoon. Lisbon had completed all the paperwork. She worked almost in frenzy and finally led out a breath of satisfaction. She leaned back in her chair. Her head felt tensed and heavy, not from the work but something that was going on in her mind from the morning. She held out her hand to open her desk drawer. An old bottle of tequila was kept inside. She took the bottle and poured it into the glass filling it to almost half. She took the glass bringing it closer to her mouth but just as she was about to drink, the card on the table caught her eyes. She had agreed to go to the party and she could not go to a kid's party looking like a drunken aunt. And also it was the middle of the day and she had to be in her senses. She took the glass and threw the tequila into the dustbin. She kept the bottle and glass inside the drawer and headed out to the bullpen.

Meanwhile in the bullpen the other team members were sitting. Jane relaxed on the couch looking at the ceiling which had prints that looked like Elvis and Cho, van pelt and Rigsby raced with each other to see who will complete the paperwork first. Rigsby and van pelt hurried to complete the work while Cho worked in his normal pace. He thought it was just childish to compete. For god sake, they were not in third grade.

"I'm done. I won, I won!" Rigsby said loudly and just when all the people started to stare at him he realized how childish he sounded.

"Well! You did Wayne. But not by much. I'm done too." Grace replied.

"Cho you're last" Rigsby said feeling happy as he beat him.

"I already completed it 10 minutes ago. Don't really care." Cho said looking at Rigsby. His face looked as if he was about to eat him.

Lisbon entered the scene.

"Hey guys"

"Hey boss" grace replied as Cho and Rigsby nodded.

Lisbon headed towards the couch where Jane was resting. Feeling her coming towards him he got up from his resting posture and made space for Lisbon to sit. For a moment there they all were sitting in complete silence. No one did any work but the silence almost felt awkward. Lisbon realized she hadn't been with her team like this in a very long time. "Was I really that busy?" Lisbon thought in her mind feeling a tinge of guilt. Rigsby tried to break the silence.

"Has anybody got any idea about what I should give Ben?"

Everyone thought for a while and finally grace said.

"Well I got a football from my father for my first birthday. He really loved to play with football and so did I. maybe you should give him something you really like."

"Food. But you cannot give food as a present?" Cho intruded.

Everyone smiled as he said those words. It was the second time he had embarrassed him since morning.

"Boss. What did you get on your first birthday?" grace asked.

Lisbon didn't really want to tell as she thought they wouldn't believe her, but she finally took the risk and told her.

"My mother gave me a set of Barbie dolls for my first birthday." Lisbon said with a blush.

"Really Lisbon? I didn't know you played with dolls" Jane replied almost surprised.

"Well you can't know everything Jane"

Everyone looked at Cho. It was his turn now. He looked up and said

"What?" he really didn't want to answer. But as everyone was sharing he finally gave in.

"Well I got a fairytale picture book. Ok."

Everyone thought it was really apt for his personality as he was always reading books during stake outs.

"But still. These were all we got from our parents. As a father what should I give him?" Rigsby looked at Jane who was sitting in his couch.

"Jane. What did you gave your daughter on her first birthday?" Rigsby said already feeling regretful. He didn't want to hurt him. Everyone felt awkward as he said those words. No one could look up at Jane to see his expressions. Rigsby said instantly.

"I'm sorry Jane. I didn't mean to…"

"It's ok, Rigsby. I gave charlotte a Casio on her first birthday. She always fiddled with Angela's piano. So I thought…"

He could not speak more. It was the first time that he spoke of Angela to his team. Lisbon looked at him. She wanted to comfort him. She knew what it felt like to lose someone. Doesn't matter how hard you try to forget them you just can't.

"Thank you Jane. Now I know what I should give Ben."

Lisbon got up. Everyone looked at her. They wished she'd give them the day off as nothing was going on and they had already completed all the paperwork. Lisbon looked at them and understood what they wanted.

"Fine! You all can go home but tomorrow I want everybody on the office one hour early. Am I clear?"

"Yes boss" everyone said together.

With this Lisbon directed her steps towards the cabin while Jane went up his attic. Rigsby got out as fast as he could. He had a lot of preparations to do. Cho and grace were only left at the bullpen.

"So Cho have you thought what are you going to give Ben?"

"What's there to think? He's just one. He doesn't care what I give. He probably doesn't even know it's his birthday"

Cho headed to the elevator as grace thought why she even bothered to ask him.

In the office Lisbon took her keys and hurried off. She had someplace important to go. But she took the time out to see Jane and went up his attic.

She knocked on the door but it was already opened so she just walked in. Jane was working with his list of suspects.

"Hey Jane. You're not going out?"

"Yeah. I was just about to..."

She looked at him. He was fiddling with his diary. Jane led out a sigh and said

"Lisbon I've got something important to tell you". He signaled with his fingers asking Lisbon to come closer.

"I've narrowed down 10 top suspects in my list. I'm going to meet them one by one. Lorelei had said that I'm just like Red John. Now I want to talk to each of them and decide for myself."

"Jane after all these years of knowing you one thing I know is that you are nothing like him"

Jane felt satisfied thinking that there's still one person in this world who still knows the real him.

"Thanks Teresa. Although one has agreed to meet me"

"Well who?"

"Ardiles "

"Ardiles?"

"Yep! Now don't ask why coz it's just a hunch."

Lisbon got up and finally asked" but you are coming to the party right?"

"Oh yeah! Don't you think I got scared by the thought of casual wears" Jane replied although he was terrified by the thought of it.

Lisbon smiled and finally went out.

Later that day Lisbon drove out 10 miles from the CBI. She stopped at a flower shop and took a bunch of fresh flowers with her and continued her journey. She drove for about half an hour and finally reached her destination. It was and abandoned are with no trace of humans. She got out of the car and reached a gate which read –'FRANKINSON GRAVEYARD'. She opened the gate. She had to push it hard. It had been jammed due to low maintenance and increased rust on the surface. She went straight ahead and stood in front of the tombstone that read-'KATHERINE LISBON 1942-1986'. It was her mother. She sat beside it almost lost in the memories of her mother. She touched the tombstone that was covered with moss and the carvings on it had started to disappear.

"Hey mom! How are you?" Lisbon said as she scratched the moss out. The strong wind blew away her hairs. She didn't care to brush them away.

"I am sorry mom. I know I haven't been the best of daughter; I haven't been a good sister. I've failed to keep our family together. Thomas and James are always fighting and dad … I've watched him slowly kill himself everyday"

Tears fell from her eyes as she said those words. She thought of all those horrible days that she had spent tackling her drunken father. Although it made her more strong and independent but those memories brought out nothing but pain.

Meanwhile Jane went out of the CBI still worrying about what he would wear today. He pulled over in front of the 'Levi Strauss' store and went inside. He felt really tensed. He didn't know anything about the latest fashion and he feared that he would make a complete fool out of himself at the party. He strolled around the jeans section but all looked just the same to him. He couldn't even decide which t-shirt will suit him the best the round neck, the one with a collar or the checked one. He was in utter dilemma. He would have called Rigsby in such a situation but he was probably busy with the preparations. And Cho , well Cho wasn't the best option when it came to fashion. He wanted to call van pelt but he wasn't quite comfortable with her. So he decided to call Lisbon.

*Ring. Ring.*

Lisbon's thoughts were disrupted as the cell rang. She looked at it. It was Jane. She didn't want to take the call but thought it must be something important so she pressed the green button instead of red.

"Hey Lisbon "

"Hi Jane" she said wiping her tears.

"You free right now?"

"Why what have you done now?" Lisbon said getting surprised. She thought he must have created some ruckus which she'd have to clean.

Jane sensed weariness in her voice but continued.

"No it's not like that. Actually, I was having trouble picking out a dress for the party. So I was wondering maybe you could help me select one."

Lisbon didn't want to say yes but after what all he had done for her during the Volker's case she felt like she owed him.

"Ok Jane! Where are you now?"

Jane told her the exact location of the showroom. She got up as she put the flowers on the tombstone and headed off to her car.

She reached there in about 20 minutes. She saw Jane rambling by the T-shirt section. He almost looked like a lost puppy. She directed her steps towards Jane.

"Hey Jane!"

"Hey Lisbon. There you are. Thank you so much for coming on such a short notice."

"Wow! And I thought you could never need my help."

Jane wondered why she would say that as he noticed the redness in her eyes. He knew she had been crying but he didn't want to ask why. Deep down he knew she wouldn't share it with him but he couldn't mind because he did the same to her every day. He found it amusing that even after over eight years of knowing each other they couldn't share their pain . It's like a wall they had built inside to protect themselves, not from each other but from their own . Lisbon interrupted his flow of thoughts.

"So Jane. What do you wanna wear?"

"If I'd know that why would I call you?"

"Ok "

She took him by the hand and moved to the jeans section and Jane followed her bluntly. She took out a pair of denim jeans from the shelf thinking it would look good on him.

"What do you think about this?" Lisbon asked.

"Well it's nice. I like it!"

"Good."

She unfolded the jeans and placed it on his waist. She pressed it hard and Jane's legs trembled as he felt her hand near his waist. He couldn't stop staring at her.

"Well. I think it'll fit you perfectly"

They both moved to the T- shirt corner. She picked out a plain white T-shirt with a round neck to go with the jeans.

So there it was- A standard evergreen combination of blue jeans and white t-shirt.

Jane felt there was still something missing. So he gave a suggestion to Lisbon.

"Shouldn't I take a black coat to go with it, Lisbon?"

"No Jane. No coats. Now don't try to make it formal" Lisbon said in an authoritarian voice and Jane could not dare to argue with her.

"Now go to the changing room, Jane. See if it fits you or not."

Jane hesitated. He didn't want to change. At least not when Lisbon was the only one around to see how he looked.

"Lisbon, why don't I change afterwards and if it will not fit I will come here and take a different size?" Jane said.

"Why are you so shy to wear casuals Jane? Have you never worn them in your life?" Lisbon asked getting slightly irritated.

"Well not since Angela. But…" he stopped as he said those words.

Lisbon felt guilty for trying to push him so hard for this. But she was really excited to see him in casuals. But she finally said

"Fine! You change afterwards."

"Thanks Lisbon."

Jane paid the $98.5 bill. They both moved out the showroom. Lisbon moved to her car which was parked just behind Jane's 1971 Citroën DSpecial.

"See you at the party Jane?"

"See you at the party." Jane nodded.