Authors Note: This chapter fueled by chocolate and caramel. They should give the person who originally put those two together the Nobel peace prize, because I know that it could end wars. Thanks for all the reviews and to Ebony10 for the beta.

Disclaimer: Yea, Right.

Chapter 2: The Truth

"What the hell are you doing here, Jane?"

Jane jumped slightly, but recovered quickly. "I could ask you the same question, Agent Lisbon. I thought you went home hours ago."

"It's almost midnight, Jane." She said, coming closer and leaning on the edge of his rarely used desk. "I know you left before I did. Why are you back here?"

"I forgot my favorite pen." He said quickly reaching around her on the desk and pulling a pen from the pencil cup behind her. His hand brushed against her hip on the way back around her and he ignored the way that even the slightest touch caused a feeling to stir in him that he hadn't felt in way too long.

She snorted, not believing his story. "If you forgot your favorite pen, then I'm here because I was worried about the team review tomorrow."

It was Jane's turn to snort and, for the first time that night, he took a real good look at her. She was wearing a delightfully tight pair of dark blue jeans that hugged her every curve and a deep blue top that was both chaste and revealing at the same time. Her eyes were tinted in smoky colors and her hair was slightly curled and pulled back from her face. She had been on a date.

"Whatever man turned down your advance tonight, my dear, was an idiot. You look absolutely stunning. In fact, if I wasn't married, I might just ask you out myself." He grinned at her, a feature that seemed almost foreign to his lips lately. He had been spending so much time arguing that he was surprised that he even remembered how to smile.

"Thanks, Jane. But I wasn't turned down, not outright anyway. We're taking it slow." She was clearly not happy about that. A woman doesn't dress like that for a date just to receive a chaste kiss on the check. She had obviously been expecting something more from him.

"Wait. Is this the same guy you've been dating for the past six months? He still hasn't wanted to have sex with you? Are you sure he's male? Because the way you're dressed tonight…let's just say, it's a good thing I'm a faithful man."

Lisbon struggled to keep the blush from rising in her checks. From the first day he had arrived on her team she had been attracted to him. He was just plain sexy and he knew it. He wasn't overtly confidant in the fact, but the way he held himself was obvious. He was attractive and he knew it. "I told you, we're taking it slow. Of course, much slower and I may just have to take matters into my own hands."

The both laughed at that. Jane was confident that if she wanted something she would be able to get it. "So, you know why I'm here. Why are you here, Jane? You never did say."

"Yes, I did." He said, waving his pen at her. "I forgot my pen."

"I don't buy that for a minute. Why don't you try telling me the truth? I am a friend, after all."

"The truth? Darth Vader, Luke's father." He gave her an innocent look. She just rolled her eyes and pushed herself away from the desk, ready to head to her office. "Ok, ok, come on and sit down." He said, patting the seat beside him on the sofa. Reluctantly, she sat next to him. She disliked being so close to him. It made her want to do things—like touch him—that would be inappropriate if he wasn't married and even worse since he was.

"I had another fight with Sarah." He said quietly. He had told Lisbon before about how Sarah disliked him being in law enforcement, how she thought it was beneath him. It wasn't like him to share such personal information with a coworker and it wasn't like her to listen and care, but there was just something different about their relationship. It was more friendship than boss and subordinate or even merely coworkers.

"About Abby again?" She asked sympathetically. He had told her before how his wife didn't really seem to care about their child. Lisbon couldn't understand that. She was a beautiful child and really very sweet. Not everyone was that lucky. Jane had brought her into the office before and she had always been able to charm people as well as her father.

"She let her go to a sleepover." Jane said, thinking for the first time how silly the excuse for their most recent fight had been.

"It's a Wednesday. She has school in the morning and it's the last month of school—the most important time. And doesn't she have dance practice tomorrow after school? I bet she didn't bring her dance bag with her to her friend's house." Lisbon clearly understood why a sleepover on a school night was a bad idea.

"I know, right. Sarah just didn't want Abby interfering with the precious party she was throwing. I didn't even know she was throwing a party tonight. I come home after a full day of work to a house full of people—only half of which I know—and find out that my daughter's not home. She didn't even call me to tell me that she was letting Abby go to her friend's or that she was having people over." He was getting worked up again. Obviously, talking about it was not working. Lisbon sensed that he was getting more upset thinking about it. She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes.

"Calm down, Jane. Getting angry will not solve any problem. You love your wife and your daughter. There are some things worth fighting over. This is not one of them. You will make it though this. It's just an argument. Every couple argues." She didn't add that fighting every day and only sleeping at home when your child was there was not normal, but who was she to say anything? She wasn't married. She couldn't even get her boyfriend to have sex with her.

Jane looked at her. She had moved closer during their brief exchange and they were now almost touching noses. He reached up a hand and brushed it across her face. She really was so beautiful and she seemed to understand him and his daughter. He moved his head in towards her. If he didn't know better, he would think that he was going to kiss her.

At that moment a shrill ring made the two of them jump apart, embarrassed about what they had been about to do. Lisbon jumped off the couch and resumed her place on the edge of the desk as Jane answered the phone.

"Hey, sweetie, what are you doing up so late? Yeah, I just realized that you probably didn't bring it with you. Did you do your homework? I don't want you falling behind this late in the game. Ok, I'll stop now. I love you. Good night." He sighed as he ended the call and slipped his phone into his pocket. "She forgot her dance stuff. I'll have to bring it to the school tomorrow."

Lisbon just nodded in an 'I told you so' manner. She knew that Abby would forget her dance bag. She could count on one hand the number of times Jane hadn't had to bring her dance stuff to school because she had forgotten it, it always made him late for work.

"I'm going to do some paperwork for a few minutes, Jane. Try to get some sleep. You're worth more to us awake than sleeping, especially tomorrow." With a sad sort of smile, she walked towards her office, leaving him to think about what had happened between them. Had he really almost kissed another woman? Not just any woman, but Lisbon? This was not a good thing.