A/N: The first part of this chapter is dedicated to the guest reviewer who wanted to see Lisbon and Jane being improper after school's out. I hope, you're satisfied with it, my dear… ;-)

And a big thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I haven't had the time to reply to each of your wonderful reviews and had to choose between doing that or writing the next chapter. I thought, you would prefer the latter… I appreciate your words of support very much and I'm glad, you didn't seem to think that the chapter was too nerdy. I had so much fun writing that and it's great that you did too. Unfortunately, people like Henderson do exist in this world – also in the academic one – and as one seldom has the chance to put them in their place like that in real life, it was especially satisfying to be able to do it at least in writing…

This Is Not A Drill – Twenty-Five

Having arrived at their house two hours before Jane for once, Lisbon was standing in the entrance hall with her arms akimbo when he finally made it home after his last course at the university that night. "I can't believe that you said that to the dean – that thing about me being improper," she scolded him instead of a greeting. "You love to embarrass me, don't you?"

Totally unfazed, he pecked her on her pouting lips. "Hello to you too." Then he started to remove his shoes. "And by the way, I'm just honoring your request to try and be honest," he added merrily.

"Yeah, right." She snorted. "And besides, I'm never improper, so claiming that I am, is actually a lie."

He leered. "Sorry, sweetheart, but there was absolutely nothing proper about that thing you did to me yesterday after we came back from the indoor pool."

A blush spread on her cheeks, but she kept a straight face. "Excuse me but no one has the right to look so darn sexy in a pair of ridiculous blue and white striped swimming trunks. No one. Not even you, Jane. If anything, what they do to your ass – that's what I'd call improper."

"You're one to talk, Miss Lisbon. Do you think, wearing a bikini in the exact color of your eyes and showing off those incredible two assets of yours," his appreciative gaze fell on her bosom, "Is proper?" He chuckled. "And yet – I wasn't the one who jumped you the moment we entered this house and had my wicked way with you in this very entrance hall. Not that I'm complaining or anything…" He bent over in order to set his shoes on the rack and waggled his backside in her direction.

She growled and the moment he stood straight again, she pounced. He was pushed against the wall behind him with an audible thud from the force of her assault. It squeezed the breath out of him for a moment and by the time he'd somewhat recovered, his vest was gone and Lisbon was making short work of his shirt, kissing and nipping hungrily at every spot she uncovered.

When he'd regained some more of his senses, he turned them around so that her back was to the wall. He had a hard time accomplishing that because Lisbon didn't seem willing to let go of him even for a second. She'd changed after coming home and was only wearing comfy jogging pants and a t-shirt, so if not for her reluctance to stop kissing, licking, and petting him all over, Jane would have had a relatively easy time to get her naked. With things being the way they were, he had to hold both of her arms in one of his hands to keep them still long enough so that he could push up her shirt.

She growled again, making him chuckle. "I love it when you manhandle me like that, my fierce cop," he announced. "But I want my two lisboobs naked anyway."

Lisbon looked up at him, brows furrowed, "Lisboobs?" she inquired, her expression incredulous. "Did you just call my breasts lisboobs, Jane?"

He nodded and feigned innocence. "Yes, I guess, I did. You got a problem with that?"

Another growl was his answer before she attacked his nipples. If it was meant as some kind of retribution for his insolence, it didn't work, because his breasts were a pretty sensitive spot for him. He moaned loudly and with some effort, he finally freed her of her t-shirt. It didn't give him the desired access to her chest, however, because she was too busy with him, and he knew not to get in her way if she was in a mood like this – not that he felt any need to do so anyway. He truly enjoyed it when she paid homage to his body like this and his arousal grew more and more.

When he was rock hard with need, he finally had enough. He pushed down her pants and panties in one go and opened the button and zipper on his own. He fumbled quite a bit – something he didn't normally do, his fingers as nimble as those of a magician, but she'd made him completely lose his focus. After he'd managed, he lowered his last remaining clothes and kicked and hobbled out of them.

Now out of control with need, he hoisted her up against the wall and without further ado, he pushed into her with a howl of triumph. Her legs came around his waist, her arms around his neck. She gave herself completely over to him, just enjoying the ride and the expression of pure lust and concentration on his face. He thrust into her hard and fast, his eyes taking in her breasts hungrily that were bouncing between their chests with every move he made. "You're so hot, so hot," he mumbled almost incoherently. "Love you, love your body."

She whimpered, getting closer and closer to the point of no return. "Let go, Lisbon," he urged her on, "'m so close, so close."

He changed the angle of his penetration that tiny bit that made her come with a scream. He pounded into her a few more times, even deeper and more forcefully than before. With his head tilted back – she took immediate advantage of his exposed throat and sucked on it – he released inside of her with a shout, pumping his semen into her in a series of erratic thrusts.

In a surprisingly athletic move he went down on his knees soon after, still firmly mated with her, so she came to sit on his lap. He pulled her close to his chest and she snuggled into him. "Good god! Sex against the wall two days in the row – you're gonna be the death of me," he stated still a bit breathlessly.

"Yep. Maybe when you're 95 or something and we're still doing this," she replied tenderly.

"Maybe we could resolve to do it on a bed when I'm 95. You know? So that I'll make it to a hundred," he retorted with a satisfied smile.

She looked up at him and grinned. "Deal. I'm willing to accommodate you, old man."

"Hey," he complained. "I think, I did pretty well for an old man just a few minutes ago."

Her hand came up to his face and caressed his cheek before she pulled him into a kiss. "You're amazingly flexible for an old man who lies on a couch most of the time," she told him afterwards.

"It's from all the rigorous training. That young thing I'm seeing won't give me a minute's rest these days. I mean, look at me – just came back from a hard day's work and wasn't even allowed to get into the house fully before being improperly jumped. BAM!" He played with her hair and grinned.

She snorted, then cast him a shit-eating grin. "I'd say, you were very properly jumped, Jane."

"Alright – you win, Lisbon. You're the epitome of properness. I'm going to tell Barnes how properly you did me first thing tomorrow morning." A smack could be heard. "Ow!" he complained, looking at his upper arm that now sported a slightly pink, hand-shaped mark with a pout.

"Wuss," she teased, then she kissed the spot better and pecked him on the nose. They kissed for a while, languidly, just enjoying each other.

"I think, we should change locations soon," Jane finally said. "Or my poor butt may not be as hot and round for much longer."

She nodded but didn't make any move to get off him, just snuggled into his chest. He caressed her back and kissed her shoulder. "Always knew that you'd be a fierce cuddle bear," he murmured.

"Am not," she mumbled against his throat.

He held her close and proved yet another time that he was anything but an old, rusty man by getting up with her in his arms. He carried her to the living room couch and lay down with her. "I love you," he stated with his voice full of emotion, then pressed his lips to her forehead. "So much."

"I love you too, Patrick," she replied and ran her hands through his hair. "And I missed you. Coming home without you sucks."

"Being welcomed home by you doesn't," he said.

They lay and cuddled for a while. Playing with his curls she told him, "The dean's truly impressed by you."

"He's a smart man," Jane retorted cheekily.

Unfazed she went on, "Henderson, however, isn't."

"Neither smart nor impressed. I agree." Jane nuzzled her hair with his nose with pleasure. She'd obviously taken a shower after getting home. He could smell the fresh fragrance of raspberry and vanilla from her current brand of shampoo. Unfortunately the delightful flavor tickling his senses reminded his stomach of the fact that he'd come home hungry and it growled loudly.

"Apparently you need to be fed, Jane," she stated with amusement. "I prepared some salad earlier and there are still a lot of left-overs from the pasta dish you made yesterday."

"Mhm," he muttered. "But it means that we have to get up."

"It's getting a bit chilly anyway," she said.

"I could warm you up," he enticed, but his stomach protested.

She snickered. "I think, your body has other urges at the moment."

"Meh. The stupid thing – what would it know?"

She pecked him on the tip of his nose again. "Well, considering all the nice things it did to us a while ago – it knows quite a bit. As long as it's properly fed."

"Alright." He released her with a sigh.

She got up and went to the entrance area to retrieve their clothes. She put on her panties but decided against the rest of her things and donned Jane's shirt instead. It smelled wonderfully of him, his aftershave and that special fragrance that was purely Patrick. With a little grin she realized that it was missing a button.

He came up behind her on his way to the stairs. "I knew, I wouldn't get to wear that again today," he remarked and pulled her back against his chest for a moment. "But it suits you so much better anyway," he whispered into her ear, making a delightful shiver running down her spine.

"Be careful or you won't make it past that wall for the third time in a row," she announced cheekily.

He nuzzled her neck and said, "Put on the kettle and start with the pasta, will you? I'll be down again in a few." Then he released her, turned her in the direction of their open downstairs living room and kitchen area and gave her a little smack on her butt. "Shoo."

Knowing her as well as he did, he was prepared this time and evaded her second tackling of the day easily. He chuckled and smirked down at her from halfway up the stairs. "That pout is so cute, Lisbon, and usually it would get you everywhere, but remember: I need to be fed," he wriggled his brows, "Properly."

"Don't expect any dessert," she retorted, trying to look grumpy, but she couldn't stop the smile from spreading on her face.

"I could wear my trunks," he offered with a wink.

"Then you won't make it to dessert in any case," she answered with a wink of her own and made her way towards the kitchen.

Chuckling he went up the rest of the stairs.

"How was your politics seminar?" Lisbon inquired while they were eating.

"It's great," he replied after swallowing. "Big difference to those introduction courses. We had a really deep discussion about those chapters I read in preparation. Though I was astonished to see that there were a few people in that course who had obviously not read the text. Well, I guess when you're young and have so much else on your mind, you don't know to appreciate the chance you're given. You take it for granted. It's understandable, I suppose." A bit wistfully he added, "There are a lot of things, I didn't know how to value either until they were gone."

Lisbon smiled warmly at him. Quietly she said, "I wished, you didn't have to learn it in such a brutal way."

He shrugged. With an intensive look directly into her eyes he stated, "At least, I did learn it. I will never ever take you for granted, Teresa. I love you so much and I'm the luckiest bastard to have found this again."

"I feel pretty lucky too," she replied tenderly and squeezed his hand on top of the table.

They shared a loving smile and continued to eat in silence for a while. He was the one to finally break it. "By the way: even though the course is a complete farce, thanks a lot for making sure that the second chancers can't be kicked out of the 'Introduction To Literature Studies', Teresa. I heard that you put your foot down quite vigorously with Henderson." He cast a grateful look at her.

She acknowledged his thanks with a warm glance of her own. "It was my pleasure, Patrick. And my job as well."

"Oh, and while we're at it: there'll be a few adjustments to my schedule," he continued. "Now that my wonderful time with Prof. Dumb has found such a delightful end, Prof. McCullen asked me to join his advanced course 'Storytellers of the 19th century' instead. It's late on Thursdays. And I've joined a study group for the political science course. We'll meet Tuesday evenings at six. I'll have to give a presentation together with two fellow students next month." She looked up and eyed him warily. "Yeah, I know, I know. I may not be there anymore at that point. But I want to do this anyway," he said, a stubborn glint in his eyes.

She nodded and sighed. "I understand, Patrick. I just… It's…" She sighed again. "I'm a tad worried," she admitted after a small break. "I… You're so enthusiastic about this and you're enjoying this so much and I'm worried that you'll be devastated when the mission ends."

"I just want to make the most of it as long as possible," he retorted. "I've known all along that it would only be for a little while. But I want to… I just want to experience as much as possible while I can." He looked a bit sad but still stubborn as well.

"I'm sorry, Jane. I wished, you could do this for real. You deserve that chance and I can see how much you're enjoying this. It pains me a little to… Well, to… To know that you won't be able to continue. You put so much thought into this program and I can see that you truly enjoy that environment and the challenges." She squeezed his hand again.

His smile was a bit forced but it was honest enough. "At least I get to see how it could've been, Lisbon. Never thought that to happen. And I'm not sure that I'd be happy there in the long run. You know how I am with rules and regulations, and ultimately, you do have to follow those in order to succeed in the sense of formalizing things. Maybe it's best that I'll have to stop before I get to that point."

"Yeah, maybe. Or maybe you're just putting lipstick on the pig," she said. "Let's face it: you simply love to learn new things and to pit your wits against others. And while you'd probably do it mostly to prove to everyone that you're the smartest person in the room," she cast him a teasing glance, "You'd have a lot of fun in the process and you'd see that you could've gone far in other settings than fraud or law enforcement, if you'd been given the chance."

He grinned. "And wouldn't it be fun to prove to those stuck-up academics just who the smartest person is?" More seriously he went on, "But, you know, apart from the fact that I don't like how our work puts you in the line of fire so often and that we're surrounded by death and deceit all day long, I wouldn't want to work without you, Teresa. We're a good team, aren't we?"

She nodded and smiled. "We are. But," she added gently, "I want for you to be happy, really happy. And to be able to use your magnificent brain for things outside of, well, of death and deceit. I get it that our line of work isn't your first choice like it is for me. I always wanted to become a cop. You didn't."

Jane shrugged. "It's the way it is and though it may not be my favorite occupation in itself, having you as my partner makes it so anyway. I am happy, Lisbon. I like our teammates, Abbott's a real teddy bear underneath that no-nonsense facade and, dare I say it, even a friend. Cho's our friend too, and Wylie – he's such a rough diamond. With a bit of encouragement and the right tutelage, he can go far. He's astonishingly perceptive and eager to learn. I'm… Well, I may not want to do this for the rest of my life, but… I… It's totally okay for the time being, really."

Lisbon caressed the back of his hand with her thumb. "I know, it probably doesn't mean that much to you, but you're really making a difference in law enforcement and I'm glad to have you as my partner. Because it means that I'm making a much bigger difference than I would without you."

"You, my dear, are making the biggest difference every single day with the way you brighten it for me and others, with you kindness and honest empathy, and with your love. I know that a lot of your motivation for being a cop derives from that whole making a difference thingy. But in reality, you've always made a difference in the lives of the people around you – a huge one," Jane said gently. "And you'll continue doing so, no matter what kind of job you have. But I respect your dedication."

She'd blushed, touched by his words. But she was never really comfortable with accepting compliments and felt the need to put everything into perspective. "Well, it's a different difference," she thus insisted.

He smiled warmly at her. "A different difference? Seriously, Lisbon?" he teased. "Now you're being downright arrogant. Now you don't only want to make a difference but even a different difference? Pretty pretentious, my dear."

"Oh, hush, you idiot. You know exactly, what I mean."

"Do I though? I mean, do you mean mean, or do you mean a different mean?" He grinned.

Lisbon shook her head in exasperation. "I have no idea why I'm still putting up with you."

"Now, that's a truly mean thing to say, at least if you mean the mean thing, I think you mean," he continued with a big smile that lit up all of his face.

She snorted. "I love you, you silly idiot."

"I love you too, Lisbon. Or maybe it's a different Lisbon, I love?" He held his head slightly to the side and studied her critically.

Lisbon lifted her hands in the air in a gesture of surrender. "Okay, I give up, Jane. Have mercy."

"Alright. Same difference to me," he replied with an air of magnanimity and a wave of his hand.

They both giggled and ended their meal in a very good mood.

The next evening while Jane was still busy with his new study group, Lisbon made her way from campus to the FBI Austin Field Office, determined to have a talk with her boss. She'd had a very interesting conversation with dean Barnes earlier that day and though she should've probably waited to share the results of it with her partner first, she felt like meddling a little.

Abbott had time to receive her right away and asked her to take a seat. "Agent Lisbon, what can I do for you? Anything new on our undercover case? And where have you left Jane?"

"Jane's meeting with two fellow students from his advanced course in political science. He's preparing a presentation next month," she informed the supervising agent.

Abbott raised his brows. He had of course been informed about the changes in Jane's schedule – also the one that had been caused by the situation with Prof. Henderson the day before, but study groups and presentations were news to him. "Very diligent, our Patrick," he remarked.

"That's kind of why I'm here, Sir," Lisbon started. "I… I want Jane to get the chance to continue at the university after the case is closed."

"Ah," the dark-skinned man acknowledged with a nod. "I've seen that one coming." He sighed. "You know, Teresa, I'm totally with you on that one, and I'd really want to make this happen for Jane, but you know how it is. In our line of work it's practically impossible to attend anything on a regular basis. It just doesn't seem feasible."

A huge smile spread on Lisbon's face. "But the thing is – it may be possible after all, sir. The dean's taken quite the shine to Jane and he is working on something. He can only offer Jane something at his own department, but he's willing to go to a great length to accommodate Jane's special circumstances. He said, he wants to offer Jane some kind of distance learning routine in psychology. Jane would have to attend some specific weekend workshops but the rest he could do without being physically present for the most part," Lisbon explained eagerly.

"All you have to do is agree that he'll get those weekends off," she continued. "It's not the same as being a regular student, but it would give Jane the chance to go on and he'd even be able to get a real degree, a master in behavioral psychology. I mean, Jane's pretty much a master in that already, but it would be official. And it would look good for the Bureau too, wouldn't it?"

Abbott chuckled. "You're preaching to the choir, Agent Lisbon. I'm all for it. And I'll see what I can do about those weekends and whatever else is needed. It sounds reasonable enough. Though I would expect that Jane could teach that subject, actually."

Lisbon grinned. "That's what dean Barnes said too. He thinks, that Jane could probably advance to doctoral candidate more or less right away. But he'd need to be accepted into the master program first and then prove to the board of examiners that he's qualified to be a postgraduate student. It's mostly a matter of formalities, according to the dean."

The supervising agent smiled a contented smile. "Patrick must be so pleased."

With a blush Lisbon admitted, "He, mhm, he kind of doesn't know yet. I wanted to clear the matter with you first. I sort of… I mean, I expected you to be amenable to this, but in case it didn't pan out, I… To be honest, I wouldn't have wanted him to go through the disappointment." She looked down, embarrassment clearly visible on her face. "I mean… You should see him, Sir. He's so… He's really happy. He's in a really good place right now and..." She sighed.

"I understand," Abbott chimed in. "I may have only talked with him on the phone during the last couple of days, but I can even hear it in his voice. This is a good thing for him." He cast Lisbon a serious look. "I know very little about his past – only what's in his file – but I know enough to see that he never got the chance to spread his wings the way his intellect deserves it. He managed to educate himself pretty well and it's impressive how well-rounded his knowledge is, all things considered."

"I'm no psychologist," he continued, "But I suppose, that a lot of his constant need to prove that he's the smartest person in the room is a result of his upbringing." With a chuckle he added, "Not to say that he isn't the smartest person. At least the smartest I know. And please, agent, don't tell him that I said that."

With pride shining from her eyes she replied, "That he is. And my lips are sealed. Wouldn't want that smug bastard to get even more insufferable, would we?"

They exchanged a look of understanding. "Alright. Was that all, Lisbon, or is there anything else I can help with?"

"No, that's it for now. The dean will contact me with the details including the exact schedule for those workshops and all, as soon as he's worked it all out with his colleagues. I'll send it to you ASAP. Oh, and Jane plans to confront Smith tomorrow." With a little wrinkle between her eyes that gave away her displeasure at that part of the plan she went on, "Ask her on a coffee date on Thursday or Friday. We hope to be able to implement the whole 'having her getting caught in the act of snooping around in Barnes's office'-plan some time next week."

Abbott nodded. "Very good. Everything seems to move along nicely. Good work, agent."

"It's mostly Jane's plans and scheming," she countered.

"Don't ever underestimate the part you play and how important you are for this and for him as a partner, Lisbon," her boss retorted insistently.

She looked very awkward and got up, suddenly eager to get out. "I…. ahem… I better leave you to your work, sir. Have a nice evening."

The supervising agent cast an indulgent glance in her direction and gave her permission to leave with a hand gesture. "Goodbye, Agent. And I mean it: the FBI is lucky to have you. You're a very valued member of my team," he added seriously, but he had to admit that a small, sadistic part of him quite enjoyed to see her squirming with embarrassment at the compliment.

She left his office with a blush and a proud, happy little smile.

As it turned out, Jane's plan to ask out Lydia Hathaway aka Jane Smith had a side effect he hadn't anticipated. To make sure that the spy they were trying to catch would get wind of this, Jane had opted to approach the hapless cop in as public a place as possible. His choice fell on the cafeteria that was frequented by the students and staff of the Faculty Of Liberal Arts because it was located on the ground floor of the building that housed most of the respective departments.

It was Wednesday, 1 pm, and the place was packed with the main lunch crowd. Also Lisbon was present, watching like a hawk though she had to try and be discreet. She was sharing the table with some people from the administrative staff – a very friendly bunch who'd come by her office to invite her to join them for lunch. They were chatting about the latest faculty gossip but were soon becoming distracted by the events in their immediate vicinity.

"Hi, Jane," Jane greeted Hathaway with his most charming, fake smile, feeling a deep sense of amusement at using his own name to address someone who used it as a cover to spy on him. He came to stand behind her in the line that had gathered in front of the cash desk with a cup of tea, an apple, and a sandwich on his tray.

The woman blushed a deep red. "Hi," she replied and looked everywhere but at him.

"Couldn't help but notice that you, ahem, you seem to keep looking at me. Well, not right now, obviously," he announced merrily, making sure to raise the attention of the people around them – some professors, other staff, and several of their fellow students. "I'm flattered," Jane continued, relishing the total discomfort and shock of the stupid woman in front of him. "And I thought, since we've hardly ever spoken, well, maybe you'd like to grab a coffee or something?"

Hathaway looked up at him in alarm, well, Jane identified it as such, but to most it looked like she was in complete disbelief that she'd been invited like that by a man like Jane. "How about on Friday? My last course ends at four. Yours too, if I'm not mistaken," he inquired cheerfully, enjoying not only the awkwardness and fear he caused Hathaway but also the incredulous looks his actions earned him from the people watching.

"O-okay," Hathaway stammered, casting eyes full of sheer panic at him.

"Splendid!" Jane retorted, completely unfazed by her terror. "It's a date."

Hathaway barely even managed to handle paying for her lunch after that. Jane watched her shaking hands with great satisfaction and with a huge grin on his face he settled his own bill and found a seat by the window, ready to enjoy his lunch. And that's when the complications started. He'd just taken the first sip from his tea when he saw a regular student, who he remembered from one of his courses, approach him.

"Hi," the blond, beautiful girl greeted him with a smile. "You're Daniel, right?"

Jane nodded. "Hi. Sorry, but I don't know your name."

"I'm Cameron, but my friends call me Cammy," the young woman replied, and the enchanting tone she gave her voice made it clear that she wanted Jane to consider himself amongst those elected few. "Mind if I join you?" she went on, fluttering her eyelashes.

Though Jane had a really bad feeling about this, he motioned to the empty seat at the other side of the table. "It's a free country and that chair's obviously vacant," he retorted as discouragingly as possible without sounding outright rude.

Her face fell a little but she sat down anyway, placing her chai latte in front of her. "So," she started, "I overheard you talking to Miss Grouchface. Seems like you're in desperate need of some female company."

"Excuse me?" Jane said, brows raised.

"Oh, come on. You must be pretty desperate to ask her out on a date. If you wanna get laid, you can do far better than that," she replied with a seductive smile and another flutter of her lashes.

Jane snorted and shook his head. "How old are you? 19? 20? I could be your father."

"So what?" she retorted. "I assure you, you're way hotter than daddy dearest. In fact, you're pretty damn hot. And I bet, you know how to please a woman too – far better than all those green boys around here. I'm not the only one thinking that." She smiled alluringly. "So? You wanna have some fun, cutie? I'll make it worth your while, I promise. We could even make it a threesome, if you're into that sort of thing."

Jane followed her gaze to a table behind his back that was currently occupied by at least five female students who were watching them in what they probably deemed a surreptitious way. But they gave up any pretense, giggling, and sniggering, and waving invitingly when they saw Jane looking over to them. He shook his head again. "You young people these days certainly don't beat about the bush, do you?"

The girl shrugged. "If you see something you want, go for it. That's my motto anyway. Never hurts to ask. So, what do you say?" She ogled him some more.

Jane was amused and that only increased when his gaze fell on Lisbon who sat close by and had obviously followed the exchange. She was fuming and trying her best to keep a neutral face, giving her the most endearing expression in Jane's eyes.

"A very tempting offer," Jane answered with a chuckle. "And very flattering, coming from such a handsome lady, but absolutely not my cup of tea. I'm not really that kind of lecherous old man."

"Oh, come on," Cameron purred and shot him a look from beneath lowered lashes. "You're not old. You're seasoned. Like a good wine. We could have so much fun together." In a bold move, she took hold of his hand on top of the table and petted it.

He removed it immediately and his expression changed from quizzical to hard, his eyes losing their mischievous glint and turning into steal. "That's enough, Missy. I said no. And I don't like to be touched without my permission."

"Okay, okay," the young woman said defensively and a tad shocked, lifting her hands in surrender. His upset reaction had obviously caught her by surprise. "No need to shit a brick. Your loss. But if you really prefer to fuck old Grouchface…" She shrugged, got up, and turned to leave the table with a pout. She'd already regained her poise by that time, and loud enough for more or less all the place to hear she added, "But in case you come to your senses and reconsider, let me know, cutie. You have a standing invitation. And by the way: you're even hotter when you're angry. Grrrr."

She sashayed over to her friends accompanied by the amused snickers of most of the crowd. Jane shook his head and couldn't repress an amused chuckle of his own at the audacity of the girl, though the death glare from his girlfriend turned it into an outright laugh. A Lisbon fighting to keep her composure and trying to reprimand him at the same time without anyone noticing was just too adorable.

Lisbon, however, wasn't that amused. Not only had that chit of a girl dared to make a move on her man, she had seen that Jane had attracted the attention of quite a few other women in the cafeteria as well, and the covered looks some of them cast in his direction seriously annoyed her. She knew, she was being ridiculous. There was absolutely no reason to be jealous. Jane was the most loyal man she knew and he loved her and only her, but the fact that she couldn't stake her claim openly because of their mission irritated her anyway. She really wanted them all to see that he, that handsome guy who obviously could have whoever he wanted, was hers and hers alone – despite it being childish and silly. Scolding herself, she realized that there was obviously quite a bit of cavewoman inside of her. 'Well, so be it,' she thought. And with a devious grin in his direction, which she made sure he would see and read correctly, she made it clear to him that he wouldn't make it past their entrance hall that evening either…

TBC

As always, reviews are very much appreciated.