A/N: I am sincerely amazed at the humble reception I received for the last chapter- I thought it would be a little too angsty for a story like this, but apparently you guys had other ideas! :D Love you all!

Disclaimer: If I owned it, you would know. Trust me.

K is for karma.

"Karma's a bitch." Rigsby griped under his breath. Cho cracked the tiniest of smiles and Van Pelt looked at him in puzzlement.

"What's up?" she asked. He huffed for the umpteenth time and irately slumped into his chair. With a dissatisfied sigh, he looked at her.

"I can't find my candy bar. I left it in my bag for later, but it's not there now."

She stared at him incredulously. Just then, Lisbon approached them and he forced his sullen frown into an unconvincing look of enthusiasm.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked. He merely grumbled an incoherent reply and turned away. She looked at his back with a dejected expression and turned to Van Pelt for an explanation.

"He can't find his candy bar." She scoffed.

"How is that Karma?" piped up Cho. Rigsby turned to him.

"I sat on Jane's couch earlier. I didn't realise he was so damn protective of that thing." He gesticulated in the direction of the sofa and grunted.

"How do you know Jane did it?" deadpanned Cho.

"Oh, come on! You know him as well as I do. He obviously took my candy bar as payback." Cho just turned back to his novel, disinclined to let the conversation go on any more than it had.

Lisbon decided not to question the matter any further with a roll of her eyes and then turned to the whole team and spoke.

"You guys can all go home, if you want. It's getting late and we have no case. Have a good evening." They all regarded her with a nod and simultaneously began packing their things up. One by one, they passed her and said goodbye.

As soon as the last agent had left, she turned around and made her way into the kitchen. Mechanically, she started to make her traditional cup of coffee. Half way through the process however, she ascertained that someone had put her favourite kind on the highest shelf in the top cupboard.

"Typical." She glowered to herself. She launched herself up onto the counter and turned onto her knees. She hunted through the collection of beverages until she found the correct one- right at the back. She strained to reach it and let out a breath when her fingertips grazed the side of the pack. She stretched as far as she could, bracing her legs so as not to fall off. Almost there…Almost…There…

Smash!

She gasped and snapped her hand back so she could peer down at the floor. A familiar egg-shell coloured mug lay in shards beneath her. A wave of horror crashed over her as the realisation hit full-force.

"Crap, crap, crap!" she cursed. She clambered down, ignoring the click of the machine behind her, and knelt beside the remnants of one of her consultant's most prized possessions. She bit her lip in anguish and balled her hands into fists at the prospect of Jane's wrath.

He had condemned Rigsby to his own personal idea of hell for merely sitting on the brown couch. To what lengths would he go to make her pay for this? In the eyes of someone unfamiliar with life in the CBI, this incident would be dismissed with a wave of a hand and the use of a dustpan and brush. But she knew better than to pass it off as an 'accident'. She was doomed.

When Jane found out about this, he would—

"Hey, Lisbon. What's— Are you OK?" He entered the room casually and then froze at the sight of his Boss kneeling on the floor.

She shot up, turned to face him and paled. Time to face the music, she thought glumly. Her feet shuffled to the side, as though she was hiding something. His eyes peered around her ankles and came to rest on patch of scattered blue shards. His face mirrored hers and his eyes darkened.

"Jane, I'm sorry. It—It was an accident. I—"

"An accident? I should hope so, Lisbon." Really, he wasn't that angry. But her face right now was priceless; her eyes sparkled with wetness and she looked so adorably guilty that his heart practically melted into a puddle. So he decided to play it up a little. "You smash my favourite mug, and all you say is 'sorry'?"

She looked at the floor, believing his show of anger was genuine and feeling like the complete and utter criminal in the situation. "I honestly didn't mean to, Jane I— someone put the coffee up in the top cupboard and I climbed onto the counter to reach it. I knocked it off the side. I—"

"So, not only do you break it, but then you blame it all on someone else?" He began to skulk towards her.

"No!" she reciprocated, eyes widening. "No, I didn't say that!"

"You're only digging yourself a deeper and deeper hole, my dear." She quivered involuntarily at his term of endearment. "I think it's time for my payback, don't you?" He came closer and closer, never breaking eye contact. In response, she awkwardly backed away.

"What are you going to do? You stole Rigsby's candy bar because he sat on your couch. What'll it be this time?"

He chuckled lightly. "So you knew it was me?"

"Rigsby suspected it was, seeing as you're such a stickler for payback." She was flat up against the refrigerator now, feeling the coldness seep through her thin jacket. She shivered again, feeling the chill of both the cool metal at her back and his icy glare.

He shrugged and stood a few inches in front of her. "You know me too well, Teresa." He watched with satisfaction as she squirmed uncomfortably and breathed in, trying to shy impossibly further from his looming body.

"Jane, I'm sorry, OK? I didn't mean to break the mug! Just stop it!"

"Meh, I wish I could, Lisbon. But you've been a bad girl, and I intend for you to pay." He subsequently rested a hand on the refrigerator either side of her shoulders, effectively blocking her escape route. She whimpered and looked down.

"Rigsby was right. Karma's a bitch." She whispered lightly, shuddering once more. He nuzzled her cheek and smiled as he felt her body go lax before him.

"Yes it is, Lisbon." He planted a ghost of a kiss on her neck and shivered when he heard her sigh. "Yes it is."

A/N: Ta da! I'm on a roll, so there may be more to come today! :D That little blue button doesn't bite. Honest it doesn't! ;D