Alright, here's the next chapter. Thanks for all the lovely reviews. I'm so glad people are liking this. There will probably be about 2-3 more chapters to go. It's going to be a bit slower going though. I have the ending written, but I'm not sure exactly how some parts of the middle are going to go. This was originally going to be longer, but I decided to post it as is because I probably won't be able to post anything else for the next three to four days. So, I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 4

The next morning Lisbon was the first to get into the office. She liked the quiet mornings before everyone else was there. It gave her some time to think and to get stuff done in peace. She sat down at her desk, booted up her computer and got to work. Slowly her team trickled in, all of them greeting her briefly when they passed her office. Jane was the last to arrive. Like the others he stopped by her office to say hello. Unlike the others the conversation extended beyond a quick greeting.

"Morning Lisbon."

"Morning Jane," she said distractedly without looking up as she scanned the file in her hands.

Well this was no fun. She wasn't even looking at him. He takes her to the best chocolate store in the state and then doesn't even warrant a glance the next morning? Okay, so she didn't know he'd done it deliberately, that was beside the point! He wasn't asking for extensive banter (although he certainly wouldn't mind it if she was in the mood), but she could at least acknowledge his presence. He doubted that whatever was in that file was so thrilling that she couldn't put it down.

"So," he began, but she cut him off.

"Just give me a sec." So he waited in her office doorway and tried not to fidget.

Lisbon almost grinned. Jane looked like he was ready to jump out of his skin. There was nothing he hated more than being ignored. Of course, he also had about as much patience as a five-year-old in a furniture store. She figured she had about another 30 seconds. She waited another 15 before looking up and giving him a smile. "Sorry about that. Departmental memo. They're so gripping that I pretty much have to give them all my attention or I completely forget their contents. Good morning Jane. What can I do for you?"

Well it was about time. Any longer and he would have grown a beard. "Can't I just stop by and see how our beloved leader is today? Do I always need a reason to be here?"

"You don't, but you usually have one anyways, even if it's only to annoy me."

He grinned, "No such luck this morning, although if you wanted me to annoy you I'm sure I could think of something, even at is short notice. As it is, I just wanted to see how you were."

She smiled. Yeah, you wanted to see how I was. You also probably wanted to see how I'd act after yesterday. Whether you know it or not Patrick Jane, my lack of any special reaction is irritating to you. "I'm fine. Thanks for asking. You?"

"Oh I'm well," he paused. "Well, if that's all, then I guess I'll be going. I'm sure I'll be talking to you later."

"More than likely." She agreed. She went back to her memo and waited until he was almost out the door before asking, "It was Cho wasn't it?"

He turned back confused, "What was Cho?"

She looked at him again, and said very deliberately, "It was Cho who told you I loved dark chocolate, wasn't it?" She grinned at the surprised look on his face.

He recovered quickly, shooting her a grin as he walked into her office and sat down on the other side of her desk. "You love dark chocolate? Really? I'm not sure I… Oh, that's right. I remember you saying something to that effect yesterday to the sales woman…"

"Cut the crap Jane."

"… right before you started scooping up chocolates like a woman who'd found an oasis after two months in the desert."

She decided to ignore that, "So was it Cho?"

"Might have been."

"I figured as much."

"When'd you figure it out?" he asked, curious. He wasn't particularly surprised that she'd made the connection; she was a rising star in the CBI for a reason after all.

"Right after I got home and remembered that you don't actually like chocolate all that much. How'd you find the store?"

"I told you, I go walking in that area of town every so often. Besides, my wife used to love the stuff. My daughter too." He froze, surprised that had slipped out. Lisbon was just so damn easy to talk to sometimes.

"Right. You said that last night. That you went walking there I mean." Well this was awkward. She could count on one hand the number of times Jane had mentioned his wife and child to her, and they didn't tend to be associated with happy memories. He looked uncomfortable, she needed to keep talking like this wasn't a big deal before he got completely spooked. "Well, their stuff is great. I had a couple more last night. All of them were really good." So the number she'd eaten was more like five, how would he ever know?

"A couple?" Yes keep talking Lisbon, keep the conversation moving.

"Shut up Jane."

"Hey, I saw the way you were looking at your treasures last night. I'm surprised you even offered me one. Remind me never to get between you and your truffles."

"Actually, you could have had more if you wanted. I was anticipating you eating at least three."

He'd been right. She had compensated for his tendency to invade her space. He liked that, that she adjusted her life slightly for him, especially the times when she didn't make it seem like a chore. Although she really only did that when she had to adjust her life more significantly, for example to stop him from getting himself killed. He had to admit, she was probably the only thing standing between him and an early grave sometimes. "Such scheming woman."

"I'm sorry, you're accusing me of being the one who was scheming? If you'll recall, you set the whole thing up and pretended it was all a coincidence."

"I had the best of intentions."

"So did I."

"And so did Cho I'm sure."

"Is that your way of asking me not to exact punishment?" Not that she'd had any intention of doing that anyways of course.

"Not really. If you didn't smack him down before for calling me in when I was suspended you're certainly not going to do it now for telling me that you like chocolates."

"Sometimes I wonder if I have any control left at all."

He laughed as he stood, "You have no idea. Well, I should let you get back to work."

"Okay," she agreed cheerfully.

He got up to leave, surprised when she called him back a third time, this time much more quietly.

"Jane?"

He turned back.

Lisbon fiddled with her pen. "I just…" she trailed off, trying to tell him with her eyes what she couldn't seem to say for some reason. "I mean…" Where was wrong with her brain? Why couldn't she just spit it out? Thank you Jane for thinking of doing that, for planning an outing to make me smile and tricking me into it so that I allowed myself to enjoy it., for making sure that I didn't have to spend another evening alone trying not to obsess over a crappy case. She could practically feel the blush rising on her cheeks.

Jane smiled softly. She needn't have worried about finding the words, the message was written across her face. "Anytime Theresa."

She nodded, relieved. She should have known he'd understand.

As he wandered back over to his couch he decided maybe he could forgive her for ignoring him briefly in favour of her departmental memo. Wait a minute, departmental memos were usually sent out at the beginning of the month. It was the 26th. He'd bet money there'd been little more in that memo than a shopping list. Sneaky Lisbon, getting her revenge. It seemed she enjoyed messing with him almost as much as he enjoyed messing with her.

-----

The next day a case involving a potential serial killer had landed in their laps. The next couple of weeks had flown by in a blur of road trips, strange hotels, endless hours of research and several late-night brainstorming sessions. Sure there were moments of levity (mainly surrounding Jane's machinations) and the odd hour of relative calm, but they were often eclipsed by the endless rounds of questioning and interrogation, of driving all over the state, of trying not to let Jane get killed. After Jane confronted their prime suspect and very nearly became his fourth victim Lisbon had wanted to literally tie him to a chair and scream at him until she was hoarse. She settled for two minutes of yelling, by the end of which he had the good sense to look suitable chastened, and then storming out of the room, slamming the door.

Over the next couple of days she'd calmed down bit by bit while the team was preparing all their evidence to hand over to the district attorney. She was fairly pleased with the results. They had a solid case. The DA was optimistic about a conviction on all counts. Plus, Minelli had promised the entire team a full three days off starting Friday.

On Friday Lisbon had crashed. On Saturday she dealt with all of her neglected housework, the laundry, the vacuuming, buying groceries. Then in the evening she collapsed and watched mindless television before going to bed early. On Sunday she woke up feeling refreshed. She planned to go hiking in the morning, and maybe watching a movie in the afternoon.

While she was changing after her hike she realized that she hadn't spoken to Jane much over the last few days. It was odd. They'd fallen into a bit of a routine lately. He usually stopped by her office when he got in to check in and they'd chat for a few minutes. A couple of times when the rest of the team had gone out for lunch he'd stayed in and eaten with her in her office while they discussed the case. She'd gotten in the habit of checking up on him once or twice in the afternoon to make sure he wasn't doing anything too outlandish. She realized that she'd gotten used to talking to him. And as nice as having a bit of time to decompress and catch up on her sleep was, three days alone in her apartment had been lonely.

She could call him she supposed, although he might think that was strange since she didn't think she'd ever done it before when they didn't have a case. On the other hand, they had gotten closer, which was only natural given how long they'd been working together. Plus there was a first time for everything. Besides, she should probably check up on him, see how he was doing. Serial killer cases couldn't be easy for him. He'd seemed to be doing fine, but you never knew.

Deciding to give him a call just to check in, Lisbon grabbed her phone before she could change her mind.

Jane was sitting on his front porch when his cell phone rang. He didn't feel like being inside at the moment. He'd had enough of serial killers over the past two weeks. Lisbon wasn't pleased with him after their last case so he'd been laying low. Besides he didn't think she'd appreciate it if he interrupted her much needed weekend off. He grinned when he saw the caller ID. It didn't look like he had been the one to interrupt her weekend.

"So much for a full three days off. Where's the case?" he asked, getting right to the point.

Lisbon paused, "There's no case. I made Minelli promise not to call us in unless the governor himself was murdered. I was just calling to see how you were."

Well this was unexpected, but not unwelcome. Lisbon was calling him to talk? She wasn't mad at him? Excellent. "Aw… Were you worried about me Agent Lisbon?"

"Yes."

Well, the woman certainly didn't beat around the bush. "I'm fine, I promise." And he was, or as fine as he could be.

"Well, good." She paused, "Have you been enjoying your three days off?"

Enjoying? Not really. Not enough distraction on days off. Although he'd been so tired he'd actually managed to sleep for over 8 hours the first night, which was always cause for joy. And it wasn't like he wasn't enjoying his time off, it certainly wasn't terrible. "Sure. Your overprotective side will be pleased to know I actually got caught up on some sleep on Friday. I've just been kicking around ever since. Nothing special. You?"

She grinned, he could hear it over the phone. "Pretty much the same actually. I crashed on Friday, caught up on housework Saturday. This morning I went for a hike, and I was just planning on watching a movie this afternoon."

"What movie?"

"The Philadelphia Story. It's one of my favourites."

He was grinning now as well. Curled up on the couch with a classic movie, he should have known. "Yeah? I've never scene it but I've heard that one's good."

"Oh it is. Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn and Jimmy Stuart star. I think you'd like it actually. The plot is dependent on one of the main characters manipulating pretty much everyone around him to great success." She'd never really scene the connection before, but now that she had it was pretty funny.

"I'll have to watch it sometime."

"Well, you could come over and watch it with me if you wanted." Wait what? Had she just invited Jane to come watch a movie in her apartment? Was she crazy? Or was this what you wanted the whole time, a little voice inside her asked. Admit it, you were lonely, and worried about him, and you want to make sure he's okay. You want to do something for him like he did for you the day he took you to that chocolate haven. She realized Jane hadn't said anything. "I mean, only if you're not doing anything of course. And it was just an idea, you don't have to feel obliged to come or anything. I was just thinking since you hadn't seen the movie and I'm just about to start it…"

Jane had been stunned into silence when he heard her offer. He certainly hadn't been expecting that. Operation Lisbon was progressing in leaps and bounds if she felt comfortable enough to have him in her apartment. When she started rambling, one of her nervous habits, he realized that he needed to say something.

"I'm not doing anything. I'd love to come. Do you want me to come right now? It'll take me about fifteen minutes to get there. Do you need me to bring anything? Snacks? Drinks?"

She paused, relieved that he'd cut her off. "No, don't worry about bringing anything. I've got everything we'll need. I'll see you in 15 minutes.

"Alright, bye Lisbon."

"Good-bye Jane." What had she just gotten herself into?

-----

Lisbon was panicking. No, not so much panicking, she told herself, as concerned. And there was nothing wrong with being a little, worried here. After all, there were a number of things to consider. First of all, Jane was coming to her home. She had willingly invited him there. She had opened that door now. This set a precedent. She'd never really invited members of her team to her apartment before. Sure, they'd been there a couple of times to drop something off or pick her up, but none of them had ever really stayed. She was pretty sure actually that Cho hadn't actually made it through the front door the first few years that they'd worked together. What would this do to her position on not discussing personal lives in the office? She'd basically just invited the office into her personal life. Well, not so much the office maybe, as Jane, but the only way to keep them separate was if they established some ground rules. Namely that he couldn't mention he happened to discover here about her at work. And like he would ever agree to that. Jane loved teasing her at work. She'd basically just given him a whole heck of a lot more ammo. Anything he happened to discover could be used against her, and, well that brought her up to the second problem. Jane was coming to her home. He was going to analyze her apartment. Just like he did when they were at a suspect's house. She wondered if he'd wander around the edges of her living room, glancing at pictures, noting anything that was slightly out of place, or slightly too neat, considering the placement of all the objects. She wasn't sure she was ready for that. And lastly, Jane. Was. Coming. To. Her. Home. She'd just up and invited him on the spur of the moment. Since when did she do things on the spur of the moment with Jane? She'd asked him to a movie, like it was no big deal. And now he was coming to her home. Maybe she should just call him back and tell him her apartment was on fire so unfortunately the movie was off.

It was at about this point in her mental panic, no not panic, process, that Lisbon's calmer self managed to regain control. She was not calling Jane. That would be ridiculous, and besides if she did she'd only feel stupider than she did now. This was fine. Things had been, different with Jane lately anyways. They were spending a bit more time together, only natural as they got to know each other. They were eating ice cream together now. He'd taken her for a walk on one of his favourite streets, one her rational self managed to point out, that he'd used to walk along with his wife. They seemed to talk to each other more somehow. By any standard they were getting closer. And as to not discussing her personal life with her team, well, the whole team had been slowly getting closer since Jane had started working with them, especially since Van Pelt had arrived. They were gelling together a bit more. It was only natural that they get closer, it didn't mean they were going to start sharing their deepest, darkest secrets every day. Besides, watching the movie might be fun.

Before she could talk herself back into a panic Lisbon decided she needed to find something to do. Her apartment was already clean thanks to her housecleaning frenzy the day before, but what about snacks. She could put some chips in a bowl or something, but that wouldn't take long enough. She needed a distraction. Popcorn. Popcorn was good. She should make popcorn. Lots of popcorn. If she made too much for one person than Jane would just have to come over to help her eat it before it went bad. Thoroughly satisfied with this plan, she went into the kitchen to make the popcorn before she could start obsessing again over the fact that Patrick Jane was coming to her home, and she'd invited him there.

-----

TBC