A/N: Yay, more Unbound. I'm really enjoying this fic, minor issues of writer's block aside. I'm getting back on a roll with it now, so it's all good. I'm finding it rather sweet the number of you trying to coerce me into not killing off Lisbon. For the record, I don't like the idea too, but the plot bunny keeps reminding me that that's the whole point of the fic. And plot bunnies have sharp teeth and claws. But it's not going to happen for a fair while still... so yay, I think.
Oh -- and despite this being an AU, I have somehow managed to include very, very minor spoilers for 2x03 - Red Badge.
Thanks go to: lalez, Cordelia, Divinia Serit, Penelope Louise, Wisher93, mwalter1, dizzy - in - the - izzy, NellietheItalian, CaterinaCarmela, Madaboutthementalist, and HOUSEMDFanForever.
This chapter is for my marvellous beta, lil smiles, who does a fantastic job regardless of what she thinks and is a brilliant friend (and admin) to boot.
x tromana
Part Eight - Stop Shutting Me Out
"Mmm, hello Teresa."
Quickly snaking one of his arms around her waist, Jane pulled Lisbon in closer making sure, however, that her office door was firmly shut before he enveloped her in the tight embrace. He buried his head in the crook of her neck, enjoying the sweet scent of citrus shampoo, before she pushed him off, thoroughly disgruntled. Attempting to ignore him as he approached her yet again, she gathered up the files that she wanted to take home. However, it was hard to ignore him as he ran his hands gently up her sides and his lips pressed relentlessly on her neck. She bit her lip in attempt to stop the smile from breaking out across her face; she was trying to be mad at him after all. For the past month and a half, he had dragged her away from work in just this way every day, not that she was complaining. She was beginning to accept that attempting to stop him was a lost cause anyway.
"Jane, not here," she murmured lamely, knowing full well her tone wouldn't convince anyone.
"Why not?"
"Because we're at work."
"Technically, work finished five minutes ago."
"And technically, we're still on CBI premises."
"No need to be pedantic."
"You're one to talk," she replied with a raised eyebrow.
"It's not as if you're attempting to stop me."
"I would if the others were still here."
Lisbon's cell phone started buzzing incessantly at she quickly held up a hand indicating that Jane should stop with his ministrations immediately. He pouted and flopped casually down onto the couch in her office. It wasn't quite as comfortable as the one he had out in the bullpen, he found, but it would be fine while he observed her taking this call. Quickly, he began to make plans to swap them over, especially since he liked the idea of spending a lot more time in her office rather than out with the others. The 'month's trial' had long expired, something they were both more than aware of and because Lisbon hadn't brought the subject up, Jane had no intention of doing so either. All that remained was persuading her that actually informing the rest of the team would improve the office dynamics as secrecy never went down well. The dopey grin he was developing soon fell into a frown as Lisbon's telephone call quickly entered the realms of fierce argument.
Eventually and looking very withdrawn, she ended the call. Scrambling to his feet quickly, he placed gentle hands on her shoulders, in attempt to massage out the tension that hadn't been there ten minutes ago. Glaring, she threw him off and stormed out of the room without another word. Jane frowned. Obviously Lisbon didn't want to discuss the call, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. Knowing full well that he was following, she quickly glanced over her shoulder with narrowed eyes, feeling guilty that she was taking her foul mood out on him. Eventually, she stopped and turned around to face him.
"Minelli hasn't left yet, has he?" she questioned softly.
"No," he replied, frowning.
"Good, I need time off."
Ignoring Jane's protestations and requests for more information, she turned on her heel and stalked towards Minelli's office. Unfazed, he continued to chase her down and frowned when he reached Minelli's door, finding it locked. Obviously, as soon as she had entered, Lisbon had locked it behind her. It took him a couple of minutes to pick it and once the door had swung open, both agents glared at him. Lisbon quickly turned her attention back to Minelli, thanking him for his time before swiftly leaving. Jane too turned to leave, but the older man stopped him.
"You need to let her cool down," he informed him wisely. "You know what her temper is like."
"But…"
"Jane, you just barged into my office without invitation and she's still running away from you, doesn't that say something?"
Jane nodded dumbly as Minelli scrutinized him. He had been aware of the consultant's fondness for his feisty senior agent from the day that Jane had joined the CBI.
"Patrick, I know you two are dating," he continued softly, only pausing to suck in a deep breath. "I have no qualms with that. She's my best agent, look after her."
"She's not just your 'best agent' to you, is she?"
"No, she's not."
Minelli lifted his head slightly and Jane took the opportunity to leave. He glanced at his watch. Jane knew that she wouldn't bother to eat, not in the state she was in so immediately made plans for peace-offerings. Minelli was right. Lisbon wouldn't be in any state to talk, however much Jane wanted to. Jane was only mildly surprised at the older man's observations; he had assumed that nobody at the CBI knew about his and Lisbon's relationship, mainly at her request. He was the kind of person who would have loved to have shouted it from the rooftops. It took him an hour or so to get together everything he wanted before driving over to Lisbon's apartment. Shivering slightly, he knocked on her apartment door with a bag of hot food gripped firmly in his left hand.
"I brought Thai."
Lisbon, dressed in just her oversized football jersey, nodded warily before opening the door wider to let him in. As she turned her back to him and walked towards the kitchen, he allowed his eyes to wander over her figure before guiltily tearing them away from her. She shot him an inquisitive look over her shoulder and he quickly realized that he should be following her in. Jane remained silent as she pulled out a couple of plates and some cutlery from the cupboards. When they both sat down at the dining table, she let the slightest trace of a smile flicker as he pulled out the cartons of food.
"Coconut rice?" she asked.
"Of course."
"Good."
They ate in silence and Jane watched carefully as she cleared away the dirty crockery. Automatically, she switched on the kettle and made them each a cup of tea. They wordlessly wandered through to the lounge and once seated, Jane caught hold of one of Lisbon's hands, which she pulled back grudgingly. He hated it when she was in such a stubborn mood, it always meant that she was building her barriers against him yet again.
"What's wrong Teresa?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing as in something happened and you don't want to tell me or nothing as in nothing?"
"I'm fine, Patrick."
"Sure, that's why you practically ambushed Minelli after work and then ran away from me."
"Patrick…" she replied warningly.
"No, no, don't do this. Whatever the problem is you know you can tell me," he interrupted and grabbed a hold of her wrist again. "Stop shutting me out, there's no need."
"I think you should leave," she said frostily. "I need to be alone tonight."
"Teresa…"
"Go, now." She walked him to her door and forcibly pushed him out. "I'm not going to be at work tomorrow. You can tell the others."
The next morning, Lisbon dressed swiftly into the smartest of her black suits. It was one of those days that she hated with a vengeance as there were far too many bad memories associated with it. She didn't understand her brothers' obsession with living in the past and she was fairly certain that their parents wouldn't have wanted that. A sharp knock on the door indicated that her younger siblings had arrived and with a deep breath, she answered it.
"You want to drive, Tessa?"
"Don't call me Tessa," Lisbon growled and snatched the keys out of Edward's hand. "You know I don't like it."
Edward Lisbon grinned and straightened his tie. He loved it when he got the chance to see his sister and the opportunity to spend time with all of his siblings. Family meant a lot to him, especially since the arrival of his daughter. They certainly didn't spend enough time together and as they got older, they all seemed to drift further and further apart. It was a shame, but with two law enforcement professionals and the other two starting families, it always seemed to be an inevitability. They seemed to have an unspoken agreement that they met up three times a year, Christmas and the anniversaries of the deaths of their parents. It was easier that way.
"It's good to be together again," Edward eventually vocalized. "We haven't been together since the anniversary of Dad's…"
"No, not Dad's," Jacob, the youngest, snarled. "Teresa forgot, remember? She claimed she was 'too busy' afterwards."
"Jay…"
"I still don't understand how you got into the CBI in the first place."
"Jealousy isn't an attractive trait, Jacob."
"Don't even think about starting…"
"Let's just get this over with, shall we?" Lisbon sighed as she started the engine.
"Oh yeah, so you can hurry off back to work?" Jacob sighed. "When are you going to get yourself a husband, Teresa? It's not healthy for a woman to be married to her job. When was the last time you went on a date anyway?"
"It's none of your business," she growled.
There was no need to tell them about Jane yet. They'd only get overexcited about it and practically be marrying her off to the man anyway. Though she hadn't told Jane about it, she still wasn't entirely comfortable with their relationship anyway.
Meanwhile, Jane had situated himself on his couch in the bullpen. Almost as soon as he had informed the others that Lisbon had taken a day's leave, they had had to disappear to Minelli's office for some reason or another. He didn't particularly care what for as he was too busy trying to work out exactly what was troubling Lisbon. She had been fine minutes before that damn telephone call, so he was fairly certain that it wasn't his fault. It possibly had something to do with her family and he shuddered at the thought that he hadn't really asked about them before. He was beginning to find it disconcerting how little he knew about her past. She wouldn't even explain a scar on her back, simply claiming that she had a dangerous career and that a few injuries were an inevitability. She'd been lying to him then, but he hadn't chased it up, something he was beginning to regret. As he heard footsteps approaching him, he opened an eye and smiled briefly as three familiar voices came into earshot.
"Oh come on, they're definitely dating," Cho retorted. "And about time too. They've probably just had some kind of lover's tiff."
"No way, man, it's definitely because of that stupid trick he pulled on the suspect yesterday. The only reason she's not here is because she's clearing up after his sorry ass," Rigsby announced confidently.
"I don't think we should be talking about this," Van Pelt murmured as they eventually reached the bullpen. "She's our boss and he's Jane. It's inappropriate."
Ah. Office gossip. He should have expected that. Jane shifted his weight slightly and decided immediately that he wasn't going to set them straight any time soon. If he did, Lisbon might just kill him anyway.
TBC...
