A/N: So our favourite duo are making progress. It wouldn't be The Mentalist if it wasn't a bit of a painful slow burn, so we have a while to go yet. But one thing that got to me in the show was how it was totally all about Jane. Everything that Lisbon went through wasn't considered, and they just jumped back to how things were like nothing happened. In the show, Lisbon stuck by Jane through everything, no matter how badly he treated her in his narrow-sighted pursuit of RJ. Now it's his turn to be there for her while she goes processes everything, they work through past issues and there's a bit more balance in their relationship.

This chapter we have a vague case which sees Jane up to his usual antics and pushing the boundaries with Lisbon once more

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The previous night had ended with an introduction to the corpse of Gunther Pierson, a budding artist and keen photographer. An unfortunate end to an oddly pleasant and cathartic evening with the blonde-haired consultant, one that he was all too eager to label 'a date'.

She would be lying if she said the tension from the Vermont rooftop and the shopping mall changerooms hadn't crossed her mind numerous times. Each time, so close, so careless. Saved by the graciousness of the universe. Although she wasn't sure if she wanted to be saved. Ugh, she hated it when that quiet voice inside piped up. She was normally so good at squashing it. For professionalism's sake, for self-preservation's sake, for her own sanity's sake. But it seemed to have grown louder and more stubborn in Jane's absence, and he had given it a megaphone with his antics since his return.

She knew crossing any kind of line with Jane was a dangerous game. But it was becoming more and more difficult for her to deny that there wasn't something there. Something that she hadn't really felt around anyone else. Something that scared and thrilled her at the same time. But she was still scarred. Still hurt. Still angry. Still untrusting. The last few years had certainly taken its toll more than she'd care to admit.

She wasn't entirely sure what to expect when Jane came back. They seemed to always have had an unspoken understanding of their working relationship. But even though he was the same old Jane, aggravating people and getting himself into trouble on cases, he seemed to be toeing with that line that once was drawn clearly in the sand. The disconcert of having him around was both a great annoyance and a great thrill, but at the same time comforting.

She had her federal-agent-mode engaged hard as she crossed the lush green lawns the expo had spilled out onto, as together with Jane they searched for the latest person of interest they were tasked with interviewing. Another day, another dead body, and this investigation had led them to a wedding fair, of all places. Not really her cup of tea, all the fancy motifs, the unnecessary use of anything luxe, the florals, the lace, the trimmings. It was all very ostentatious and excessively gauche.

"It's a lot of money and planning to waste on just one day," she said out loud.

"Ah, but it's supposed to be a very special day," Jane humoured.

"Yes, but essentially, it's just a big party. People burn thousands upon thousands on just one big party. I've never really understood it."

"It signifies the foundation of the rest of a couple's lives together," he reasoned, "of course people want to make it big and bashful."

"The bigger the wedding, the bigger the underlying problems," she replied cynically.

"Can't entirely argue with that logic either," he concurred.

He quietly thought back to his own wedding, which seemed more than a lifetime ago. A quiet affair, a couple of close friends, an ordained carney friend marrying them off at a quiet little rose garden in Angela's favourite park on the outskirts of Carson Springs. She surprised him with a larger-than-life wedding dress that was a little out of character, but something that she'd clearly been set on since she was a little girl. She remembered how angry she was that day, having to bail her brother Danny out of jail in her all whites, steam coming out of her ears as she dragged his sorry ass back to the wedding. If they hadn't needed him as a witness, she probably would have left him there to rot.

They were so young, so trouble-free, so full of hope. He remembered Danny's serious taunt, ordering him to take care of his sister. A task he failed at, and a task that still plagued his life with such significant guilt. Even after all these years. He rotated his wedding ring round with a flick of his thumb, as he snapped out of his thoughts and returned to Lisbon's matriarchal rants.

"And who is it really all for? It's like an ego contest, 'oh my wedding's fancier than yours'" she said in a voice. "People get so carried away just to save face."

"So I take it you didn't dream of a big white wedding as a little girl."

"No, I dreamed of being able to take down bad guys."

"So all your dreams have come true already then," he said with a tease, "good for you, Lisbon."

"Eh, maybe not all of them," she said with a cheeky suggestive grin, causing him to raise his eyebrows.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" he followed up.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she miffed back.

"Well, yes. That's why I asked. That's generally why people ask questions Lisbon, it's because they want to know something," he jeered back. "And you call yourself a detective, no wonder why they wanted me back."

"Oh hush," she said, hitting him on the shoulder, "and it's none of your business anyway," she replied in a strained voice.

After a few steps, he asked her cautiously, "See yourself getting married one day?"

They exchanged a coy, flirty glance. "Yeah. Maybe," she answered after a beat, "if I meet the right man," she hummed.

"Who says you haven't already?" he only half-joked, as he opened the door to the marquee hall and motioned for her to go through first, guiding her through with a hand on the small of her back.

"Hard to find a good man nowadays, especially one not already sporting a wedding ring," she clapped back, returning his lob.

Jane rolled his eyes. She'd won this round.

They stepped into the hall, there were aisles of stalls as far as the eye could see. Lisbon strode with purpose, working her way through the crowds, Jane nipping at her heels carefully observing their surroundings. They approached a particular section, and Lisbon double-checked the notes on her Blackberry.

"That stall, the company our Vic worked for," she said, nodding in its direction. "Take my lead, to start with at least, before you go working people up," she instructed.

Jane held his hands up innocently and shrugged, before approaching the targeted photography stand with Lisbon.

"Hi, I'm—" Lisbon started, as she reached for her badge.

"—Hi, my fiance and I," Jane quickly interrupted grabbing Lisbon's reaching arm before she could get her badge out, "we're wondering what kind of wedding packages you offer?" he asked whilst placing an arm around Lisbon's shoulder.

"Of course," the man smiled, "when's the big day?"

"We haven't quite set a date yet, but we're thinking a Spring wedding," Jane said bashfully, "Isn't that right, darling?" he asked Lisbon with a wink.

Lisbon stared back at him in disbelief, her gaze meeting that all-so-mischievous grin. Another bunch of blindsiding mayhem and unprofessionalism, but she couldn't hide a soft look and small smile from his enthusiasm. What other choice did she have but to go along with it and ream him later?

"Whatever you say," Lisbon said back to him. "What was your name, sorry?" Lisbon asked the man. If she had to play along with Jane's inane games, she could at least bring back some kind of intel.

"Lewis, Jeremy Lewis," the man introduced himself, "and you are?"

"Paddy and Pepper," Jane replied with a grin, which Lisbon couldn't help but match, albeit out of amusement of his name choices if anything. "Or that's what our friends call us anyway, so please"

"Paddy and Pepper, fantastic, please come around this way," Lewis replied.

Lewis led them to a smaller table set up with folders packed full of information and examples. Jane listened intently, asking pertinent questions, keeping Lewis engaged, all the while Lisbon looked at both of them with bewilderment, trying to figure out Jane's game, or a way she could ease their victim, Pierson, into the conversation. She was struggling to achieve either.

As Lewis attempted to flog them their most expensive package, Jane placed a hand on her knee and squeezed. She glared down at it. If her eyes were lasers, his hand would have sizzled and burned.

"What do you think, honey?" Jane asked so saccharinely, rubbing her knee gently.

She forced a placid smile, "I think it all looks great, but perhaps there are some other questions we need answers to? Perhaps something we should think about?" she said in an attempt to somehow steer this wayward freight train back on course.

"Of course," said Jane with a smile, before going on to ask more inane and irrelevant questions about what kind of cameras they used and the hardware and software used to edit their photos. Much to her frustration, nothing to do with their investigation, all the while his hand unrelented on her knee, as he occasionally squeezed and rubbed it as he continued his conversation with Lewis.

The tiny voice crept up from its little repressed place as she found herself momentarily hypnotized by the situation, drifting into the perilous land of hypotheticals. Jane was far from an unattractive man by any means, those locks, that smile, he oozed with charisma when he turned it on, like it was shining through right now. His hand so warmly on her knee, the way he'd keep glancing up at her with that swoon-worthy grin, discussing wedding particulars enthusiastically with a suit-laden stranger. You don't completely hate this, the little voice inside taunted, as her mind drifted to what a wedding might be like with Jane. Rustic. Simple. He'd be like her, not wanting anything too gauche. Just their nearest and dearest, a simple affair, close to nature. She found herself returning one of his debonair grins, nodding and agreeing with him as he rambled away. She quickly snapped out of it, frustrated with her own mind for drifting to such insanities, and promptly reminded herself that she was annoyed with the blabber-mouth charlatan that sat beside her.

The marquee at the stall across from them caught Jane's eye as he flittered around the portfolios Lewis was presenting. "Body, Mind and Soul" the title banner read, a bearded gentleman sitting underneath it, his thick black boots up on the table, having a concentrated phone conversation.

"Thank you," Jane said kindly to Lewis, taking a pamphlet and business card from the table, "it all looks lovely. I'm going to have to drag her away for a moment. That over there looks mighty interesting. We'll definitely give you a call when we lock in a date."

He offered Lisbon a guiding hand up, before directing her to the curious stall across the aisle.

"What the hell are we doing, Jane?" she muttered angrily at him.

"Work with me here, Lisbon," he murmured back reassuringly, "trust me."

Trust him. There it was again. Truly like the old days. Requests to blindly trust him. It never ended cleanly. He was being extra frustrating today.

"A Body Mind Soul tent at a wedding expo? How intriguing. Please do tell, what kind of services do you offer," Jane asked loudly, feigning the stall had caught their eye as they were walking past.

The man took his boots off the table and sized the pair up and down before smiling.

"A wedding is a big day, a big commitment. It's important to be committed in all three iotas of the human form. Body. Mind. And Soul," he explained vaguely. "We can help with that."

"And how does one do that?" Jane probed, "And how do you help with that."

"We help facilitate the process. Weddings can also be, let's say, very stressful," he said with a calm smile. "We have ways we can help ease that process, and help a couple connect on all three levels"

"Yes, yes, but how?" Jane prodded further. "What's the con, what's the scam? I'm curious"

"No scam," he chuckled, "It's important to be open to all possibilities, I'm not sure a couple in dressed in, uh, ahem, power suits would be the type of couple that would appreciate the services we offer."

"Oh you'd be surprised," Jane continued. "Maybe the power suits are all about engaging your inner power. I was a psychic in another life, I know the world isn't all that black and white."

"Thought there was no such thing as psychics," Lisbon couldn't help herself but supplement.

"So maybe I just didn't exist in a past life," Jane jived back without breaking eye contact with the man.

The man turned to Lisbon. "No offense dear, I'm not sure if you'd be able to open your mind enough to appreciate our unique services."

Whatever stupid ruse he was planning, she knew she was likely going to end up better off leaning into it with him. "You'd be surprised," she said as she tilted her head in response mimicking Jane's previous words. "You have no idea what I've had to go through with this one," she said, wrapping an arm around Jane's waist and squeezing it. "If that were the case, how I would end up engaged to someone like him?" she said feigning a cheeky, loving slap across the face.

"Ouch. Someone like me? Really, darling," he combatted.

"Well, you're a pretty face, but you're a bit crazy," she turned to him and reasoned with a smirk.

"I'll take the pretty face, yours isn't too bad yourself," he retorted, planting a fleeting kiss on her forehead causing Lisbon to use every iota of her being to keep playing a long and not beat him senseless. "It didn't take long for crazy to wear you down then, I thought my headstrong beauty was tougher than that?"

"Not as stoic as I once thought then, apparently"

"Stoic is overrated. Life's a lot more fun when you give in a little. Let your guards down"

"True, but fun and dangerous, you don't want to go destroying things that took years to build"

"Or you could build it into something better. Renovate. Decorate. Splash out a little and make it oh so luxurious"

"And maybe go broke in the process"

"Sometimes you just got to listen to that little voice inside. Don't be the voice of reason, be the voice of self-satisfaction"

"The seven deadly sins are deadly for a reason"

"And here we go, the Catholic school girl peeking through the blinds again"

They took a break from their subtextual-heavy, metaphoric hazing and Jane glanced back at the man.

The man's eyes narrowed at her, observing the fire behind her eyes, her contemptuous stance, then over to the larrikin winding them both up. He looked both somewhat confused and intrigued.

"She's always so uptight," Jane emphasized, sidestepping Lisbon and squeezing her on the shoulders from behind. "I love her dearly, I just wish she could learn to relax and let loose a little," he said as he began to dig and circle his thumbs into her shoulder blades.

She was indeed tense. His thumbs hit just the right spot and she couldn't help but relax into it a little. To her surprise, she felt his breath on the side of her neck, then suddenly his hot lips made contact behind her earlobe. Her skin pricked as his soft lips ran over her delicate skin, his wet tongue flicking out ever so subtly as he laid one perfectly placed, ever-so sensual, fleeting kiss on her neck. She raggedly inhaled, involuntarily letting out a small, stifled moan, as she rolled her eyes and closed them shut. She had rolled her eyes many a time at Jane in the past, but never, ever for this reason.

Jane looked up at the man, low-key impressed and pleased with the carnal response he was able to elicit so easily from his apparent blushing bride-to-be. "We'd be interested in learning more about your services," he murmured.

"I like you two," the man started with a sly half-grin, snapping Lisbon out of her momentary moment of weakness, making her bolt to attention, cheeks flushed a little from embarrassment, a little from other things. "Yeah, sure. I definitely think we'll be able to help make that special day extra special," he nodded thoughtfully.

Lisbon looked up at Jane with a half disdained/half curious look on her face to be met with his goofy grin of pride and cheek. She really had to work to keep her face in this god-forsaken charade he had thrust upon her unwillingly. And now the nagging desire to kick the crap out of him for the stunts he'd pulled between these two stalls was growing. Her anger fuelled by shades of embarrassment exacerbated by her undeniable primal attraction toward him. What was wrong with her? Why was it so quick and easy for him to get unnerve her like that?

"I tell you what," the man exhaled begrudgingly, "we're having a bit of demonstration tomorrow night over a little cocktail soiree. You should make a point of dropping in, see what it's all about. As long as you will try and keep an open mind."

Lisbon and Jane exchanged half glances, as Jane raised his eyebrows.

"Absolutely. If you can't keep an open mind, you might be depriving yourself of the most wonderful of experiences," he replied, without taking his eyes off of Lisbon.

"If you like what you see, what you experience, we'll set up a meeting afterward," he said as he wrote an address down on the back of a business card. "Just tell the men at the gates Julius sent you," he said handing them the card. "And what can I call you?"

"I'm Paddy," Jane introduced himself, "And this is my little firecracker, Pepper."

"It's been a pleasure meeting you, Pepper, Paddy. Hope to see you tomorrow night, you might learn something," he replied coolly.

"We'll be there!" Jane said, holding the card up with a fond grin, before linking arms with Lisbon and sauntering away.

"What the hell was that, Jane?" Lisbon said with a nudge that was more playful than aggressive, leaving her arm happily linked into Jane's.

"Uh, I thought that was pretty obvious. I just got us an excellent in to sniff out the killer."

"What in? You didn't even ask anything remotely useful."

"I got us invited to this party that sounds pretty rad, don't you think?"

"Rad?! Rad doesn't that help with the case."

"It will, I'm sure, still piecing things together. But that Julius character is involved somehow, this party will be a good way to figure out how"

"That's it? That's nothing. What evidence do you have that he was even linked to Pierson?"

"You cops and your evidence. Always harping on about the evidence"

"Because evidence is important. Its evidence! You're guessing"

"And this is new to you?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm not your boss anymore, you could at least explain why you think he's related. Or at least give me a damn heads up before you blindside me into an undercover role, after going against a direct request."

"But it worked, didn't it? We're in."

"In what exactly? In trouble? We didn't complete what we were ordered to do. You don't have a plan, and there's nothing indicating this party even has anything to do with the case"

"That guy seemed shady as hell, and he's across the aisle from where the Vic worked, of course he's involved. And I do have a plan, it's just forming as we go. It's all about gathering pieces of the puzzle."

"This is what I'm talking about Jane. It's the same old crap again. How am I supposed to trust you when I never know what to expect from you?"

"You know what to expect. I close cases. Sometimes my methods have to be creative, sometimes I make things up on the fly"

"Did you ever think about how I would feel? Maybe I don't want the unpredictability. Maybe I don't want to do things your way. But you don't leave me a choice!"

"Of course, I thought about how you would feel. We catch bad guys right? You've said before, most days, that's enough."

"Yeah, most days. And one day it isn't going to be one of those days," she grumbled.

"Crime fighting's hard, suck it up," he replied with sass and indignance.

"You're a jackass sometimes, you know that," she spat as Jane released his grip on her and whipped out his phone, pressing a few buttons before putting it to his ear and holding a finger up to silence his raging partner.

"Hey Cho," he said as Cho's voice emanated from the other side of the line, "I'm gonna need a favour."

All he heard in return, was a large sigh.

"Cho? You there?" he tried again.

"Yeah. What is it?"

"I'm going to need you and Vega to go question the co-workers"

"Isn't that what you and Lisbon have been doing?"

"Yeah, slight change of plans. We're going undercover"

"You are?"

"Yes, uh, bit of a party tomorrow night. I won't bore you with the details. You need to question Lewis, make sure he feels a bit warm from a bit of FBI heat. Maybe come by the expo and flash some badge and silver around, you know, get the juices flowing. Make sure all the stalls close by know you're poking and prodding around."

There was a pause of silence on the other side of the line. "Okay," Cho agreed bluntly before hanging up. He'd been asked for much worse by Jane in this past, this wasn't even a blip on the radar.

"See? How come Cho has more faith in me than you do? Aren't we supposed to be partners?"

"You haven't been part of my life for two-years Jane. I don't know what we are anymore"

Jane stared at her quizzically while she tried to avert his gaze.

"Did you ever know what we were in the first place?" he asked daringly.

She glared at him, her look softened. "Honestly, I have no idea."

"Hmmm," he said a little stand-offishly, "that is a problem," he continued with a bit of whimsy, avoiding the uncomfortably real direction the conversation seemed to be drifting.

"Well for now, you're Teresa, my loving and excitable fiancé, keen to explore some boundaries," he said grabbing her hand and planting a fleeting kiss on the back of it, causing it to roll her eyes. She felt not-so-secretly glad Jane diverted the conversation and was frustrated with herself for even allowing a glimpse of that portion of her brain to peek through.

"But really what's the point of going to this thing anyway? Surely you know more than you're letting on? Be straight with me."

"Just a vibe. Honestly. Pierson's definitely connected with this guy, being a photographer, I'm guessing maybe he stumbled onto something he shouldn't have. And he wreaked of guilt, not the good lemon tang, the bad ammonia stuff."

"Oh so you're literally sniffing out criminals now," she flummoxed, "It's a stupid plan, it's not even a plan."

"I gotta call it how I see it Lisbon. You of all people should know that. That's why they keep me around, it's not just for the pretty face," he said with a wink.

She snorted in derision. "And a kiss on the forehead? I could've whacked you right then and there. In fact, I still just might," she roared at him as they crossed the lawn towards the SUV.

"Wouldn't be the first time," he said dismissively.

"And I bet it won't be the last," she uttered saliently.

"Very intriguing you object to the forehead, but not so much the one on the neck? Interesting, very interesting," he commented with a supremely cocky look on his face.

She found herself flush and fill with anger at the same time, as she reached up and tapped him across the back of the head.

"OW!" he complained, before seeing the venomous look she was sporting.

"Oh come on. Cheer up," he offered.

"Why Jane? Why should I cheer up? Enlighten me," she said dryly.

"Because it's better to be happy than sad. Besides, we have a party to go to. Let's head to the strip mall, we have things to buy"

"Oh, so today you want to go shopping?" she huffed with a bemused expression.

"Well, we need to look the part, we have a party to go to, a cocktail soiree."

"I can just wear that dress you picked out the other day," she said with a hint of shyness.

"Yes, there's that. But you forget, we're also supposed to be engaged. You might need another accessory to play the part."

"That's hardly necessary, I didn't have one just then."

"Yes and we avoided that line of questioning, but better have one for the party."

"If I'm even going," she pointed out.

"Oh you're going," Jane insisted.

"We'll see."

"You'll see, more like it," he bantered back.

"And we don't need to go out and buy a fake engagement ring. I'm sure art crimes and thefts would have something we could use," her stomach freezing in fear as the words left her mouth. Jane didn't seem to notice, but didn't say anything if he did.

"That's no fun," he blocked, "besides, I do like to peruse a jewellery store. I won't charge anything to the bureau."

"Fine," she caved, "but only because I won't hear the end of it if we don't," and because she wanted to avoid art crimes at all costs, as well as Jane picking up on her current levels of discomfort. Another shopping expedition was the lesser of the evils.

"It's a victory I'll take nonetheless," he jived.

She scowled at nothing particular.

"What is it?" he probed.

"This is exactly how rumours start, you know"

"I daresay the rumours about us started a long, long time ago"

"Not in Austin they didn't"

"You'd be surprised," Jane murmured.

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They pulled into the same strip mall not too far from the office that Lisbon had gleefully dragged him to not too long ago. But this time, Jane was doing the gleeful dragging of the less than enthusiastic federal agent. He knew he was pushing the boundaries of her tolerance with his latest gambit, but it was almost like a challenge to him to see just how far he might be able to push such a tolerance. He was surprised she hadn't pushed for her own special conditions for their next shopping trip like he had. But then again, she was never big on games like he was.

He bounded across the floor, the agent flatlining behind him.

"We better make this quick Jane, we should be getting back to the office"

"Yes, yes, I can be a very efficient shopper"

"And this counts as our lunch break. I want to get something to eat before we leave"

"Mmhmm," Jane agreed dismissively, before hastily turning into a mid-range jeweller.

"Hi," he greeted the salesman, "I'm after a ring for my fiancé here," he swooned.

"Nope. Not a chance. You're not playing that game here," she quickly stated in return.

He looked at her with a surprised pout.

"We need an engagement ring as a prop, grab something cheap and convincing," she said succinctly to the salesperson, her arms firmly crossed.

Jane leaned against the jewellery cabinet and smiled at her. She was so cute when she was angry. Maybe if she wasn't, he'd stop riling her up so much. Maybe, but not likely.

"Oh come on Lisbon, is the thought of being engaged to me really that repulsing?" he said with his disarming grin, "speaking strictly undercover of course."

She tried to maintain her no-nonsense façade, but he caught hints of a smirk to go with the eyeroll. He chuckled in response.

She had become more of a difficult read for him since his return. It pained him to admit it, but the time apart had impacted their friendship. He once knew everything about her, everything about her life, or so he thought. They would spend long days together, days in, days out. He knew her moods. He knew details about each and every week. He knew the things that shaped her life and her memories, albeit she kept some personal things personal, he had enough to paint the pictures on the pages. But now he had 2-years worth of blanks, 2 years to catch up on. It was still his Lisbon, just a little different.

Lisbon pulled out her Blackberry, "Hey, we need to go back to the office now. Abbott wants us for a briefing. You finish up here, I'm going to buy us sandwiches."

He nodded and sighed as she left the store. He was disappointed that his little game was interrupted and didn't quite pan out the way he wanted it to. But such was the nature of the beast. He turned to the salesperson and examined the selections he was presented based on Lisbon's instruction, and browsed a few that tickled his own fancy on an inspired whim. It wasn't long until he met Lisbon out the front of the store, Lisbon bearing a bag with two sandwiches and two bottles of water, and Jane bearing a bag with two little boxes inside.

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"So, our intel reveals that our victim was in frequent contact with these two men," Abbott commanded the briefing corner of the bullpen and brought up two profiles on screen. "Julius and Robert Amaranthine, brothers, up and coming in the narcotics trade, well known for their flash and flair."

Lisbon immediately recognised Julius Amaranthine as the man they spoke with at the Body Mind and Soul stall at the expo. Of course, she thought to herself, it's Jane. How he knew these things still amazed her, but it really came at no real surprise.

"Scrubbing his laptop, we've found coded emails between them and the victim. We believe Pierson worked for them as somewhat a private investigator, willingly or unwillingly, it is unclear," Abbott continued, the photography link coming clear. "It seems Pierson was able to photograph sensitive information worth a lot of money to the right person."

"The brothers are hosting a party tomorrow evening in which we believe a trade will take place. Nailing the buyer will be just important as nailing the Amaranthine brothers, and will be enough to tie them to the Pierson murder for a warrant. We have been working on getting some agents in undercover, but they're keeping things quite tight to the chest, we haven't found an in yet. Nevertheless, we will have agents posted—"

"Oh Lisbon and I already have invites to that party," Jane interrupted, hopping up from his couch.

Abbott sighed, frustrated from being interrupted so rudely, but intrigued with what his asset was sprouting. "What did you say?" he asked Jane.

"Well it can't be that hard to get an in, surely. Lisbon and I have invites. From Julius Amaranthine himself. We're on the guest list."

"You have an invite?"

"Yes"

"To the Amaranthine party?"

"Yes"

"In Nuevo Dello tomorrow night"

"Yes, am I not speaking clearly, can everyone hear me when I talk?" he scanned the room for confirmation mockingly. "Yes, I have an invite, and so does Lisbon."

"You're joking," said Abbott in disbelief, shooting Lisbon a confused look, who nodded back at him.

"Why would I joke about something like this," Jane said, raising his palms for effect.

"How did you manage that when I was only just briefed on this intel?" Abbott dared ask.

"What? Like it's hard? Inspired hunch, I suppose.." Jane answered with a question, "It's what I do." He flopped back down onto his couch back first, crossing his feet as he lay down and closed his eyes.

Abbott looked directly at Jane, a smile growing on his face. "Ok then."

He turned and faced the briefing once more. "So we have Lisbon and Jane inside the party—"

"It's Paddy and Pepper," Jane interrupted once more, raising a hand from his lying down position. Abbott shot him another look, but found it difficult to express annoyance given that he had found a seemingly impossible way in. "They're our undercover names," Jane echoed. Lisbon rolled her eyes.

"Okay then," Abbott continued. "We will have two of our own within the party, and from there we will sort a tactical plan to make our bust. Please take the time to review the files I've given you tonight, and we will reconvene in the AM," Abbott concluded. As the people scattered, Abbott walked past Lisbon with a passing "Great initiative. Very nice work Lisbon, very nice work indeed."

She smiled and took the compliment with a nod. But really, what did she do? She had no idea the creepy Body Mind Soul guy was linked, she had been hoodwinked into another one of Jane's plans with no explanation, communication or notice, which turned out to be a really helpful thing for the case. She didn't do anything except show a little trust in the charlatan, which she supposed deserved the commendation in its own right.

"See," Jane said, from his couch, "the boss is happy with you."

"Yeah, for once I don't have to clean up your mess, but I'm waiting to see how this one will blow up in my face," she said flatly.

"Clean up? Come on, you just got an 'atta girl' from the boss for a 'stupid' plan you yelled at me for," Jane pointed out. "A little thank you might be nice."

She glared back at him. She knew he was right, but she wouldn't dare give him that satisfaction.

"Well you can't have everything you want," she answered.

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The next night fell upon them, the address in Nuevo Dello had led them to a sprawling mansion nestled in the hills in the upper suburbs of Dallas. Jane had a flittering nervous Lisbon perched upon his arm. Having made it past the gate easily enough after leaving their car with the valet, they found themselves walking toward a security scan that preceded the party grounds seemingly within the back garden of the compound. Undercover made Lisbon nervous enough, let alone not having her trusty firearm holstered to her side. She tapped her side nervously as they approached security, Jane squeezing her arm for reassurance. Their mission, a strictly intel-gathering one. The security and lack of compounding evidence meant a consequent lack of arms and back-up to make anything more daring tactically feasible.

Not surprisingly to Jane, Lisbon was quite the sight tonight. He marveled in his dress choice for her, and that she had opted for a rather tall white heel to pair it with. It surprised him that shoes like that would exist within her wardrobe. The dress and the shoes did wonders for her legs, her hair softly curled, hanging effortlessly around her dainty collar bones, he admired her from head to toe. Glimmers of crystals hanging from her ears matched the cheap stone she now bore on her left ringfinger. She bore a small gold floral broach upon her left chest The lift her shoes gave her brought her to a height Jane wasn't used to, but savoured. It made it a lot easier to look into her eyes. And as the old adage goes, the eyes are the gateway to the soul.

"You look lovely," Jane complimented, "Glad the dress has come in handy, we should've put it on the business credit card."

"Let's just get this over and done with," Lisbon replied, her nerves making her even more dismissive than usual.

They made it through security without a hitch. The backyard was filled with lively chatter between the well-clad crowd, drinks were flowing, illuminated by the flickers of firey lantern lights that littered the walkways. To one side, a stage set-up with turntables, a DJ blaring their selection of music to maintain a smooth party vibe.

"Haven't been to anything like this since high school," Lisbon leaned into Jane and said into his ear.

He smiled and nodded. "I never went to high school," he replied, grabbing two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter and handing one to Lisbon.

They crossed the garden, arms still linked. "Amaranthine, 9 o'clock" Jane said into Lisbon's ear. Lisbon turned to direct her brooch in his direction to give the surveillance van a better view. The suave gentleman leaned against a planter engaged in conversation with a young brunette and her partner, talking animatedly, a smile radiating from his face. Jane did his best to try and follow the conversation, intently watching his lips move without trying to seem so conspicuous. Nothing but small talk he concluded, as his observation was interrupted by another waiter, this one presenting them with a platter of pills.

"What are these," Lisbon asked with speculation and surprise.

"Something to take the edge off," the sultry waitress said with a glittery smile.

They both grabbed one each of the pills exchanging looks. Once the waitress had moved on, they both swiftly and discreetly stashed them in Jane's pocket. They'd make for an interesting analysis later.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Amaranthine start talking to two men. One with a striking resemblance to him, he recognised from the photos, his brother Robert. The other seeming to make them both nervous. They pushed to the corner of the party and continued their intent discussion.

"I don't think we're going to get much out here, let's explore," he said to Lisbon, grabbing her by the hand and leading her away before she could protest. Not that her shoes would allow her to deviate much from Jane's trajectory without making a fool of herself.

They followed the path to the house and around the corner. Here, it was quieter, the music didn't carry so far and it was free from the crowds. At the end of the path were double French doors leading into a lavish lounge room. Jane tried the door handle, and much to Lisbon's dismay, the door opened.

"Jane," Lisbon protested, "this isn't the plan. We're meant to be surveilling Amaranthine, not breaking and entering."

"Yes, but he's not doing anything out there, and whatever he's going to be dealing with is in here," he reasoned, "so let's go have a little poke around."

"And if we get caught?"

"We'll figure it out," he dismissed quickly, keen to keep going. "Look, I'm not forcing you to come. How about you stay here and follow orders, I'll just go have a little look around."

She knew exactly what that would result in. A nightmare. A mess. They were at a drug dealers' party and she wasn't even armed.

"Ugh," she grunted in exasperation and follow him in. "I need to make sure you don't yourself killed."

He smiled at her aggression. He knew she'd follow him. Torn between her duty to follow orders and the need to protect the reckless civilian. There's no way she'd leave him in a situation like this, nor allow them to become separated in such an assignment that had little pre-planning and little back-up or support.

He pottered around the hallways, Lisbon at his tail. His eyes darting around making quick observations. There was already a lot of money involved, pre-established before the drug trade, so likely money was not the motive. Pride, protecting reputation, more than likely. Blackmail, likely related to the trade going down tonight.

After poking through numerous sitting rooms and finding bedrooms, they finally found the room Jane had been seeking. At the end of the hall, preceded by a small foyer, a room with the appearance of a home office. If only they had gone left rather than right when they first entered, they would have found it in a heartbeat.

"What are we looking for?" Lisbon asked

"I'm not sure, but I'll know when I see it," Jane answered extremely unhelpfully.

They perused the filled bookshelves, the neatly arranged desk, until the echoing sound of footsteps distracted them from their search.

"Shoot, someone is coming," her head darted around and panic set into her face as there was nowhere logical for them to hide or escape. There was only one hallway to the area. They ducked out of the office and into the foyer as the footsteps grew louder. There was nowhere for them to hide, and whoever was attached to those footsteps were mere seconds away.

"Please don't hate me for this," Jane insisted quietly, "just roll with it," he implored, a hint of desperation in his voice making it clear to her she certainly was not going to like what came next.

He bent down and curled his hands around the back of her thighs, then hoisted her up onto the ledge behind them. She gasped in surprise, instinctively pulling her arms around his shoulders to maintain her balance. Her heart skipped a beat at their proximity as he wedged himself between her thighs, standing in front of her as she perched on the ledge. She was very self-consciously aware of how short and tight her skirt was, and if Jane were to move, she would be on show for the world to see. And at the same time, she was very self-conscious as to where Jane was positioned and how positively provocative it was.

Jane shifted his arms around her waist, pulling her body into his and buried his head into her neck, just as Amaranthine appeared at the end of the hallway. She placed a free hand on through Jane's hair and closed her eyes to complete the charade. A charade that made her skin stand. A charade that made her heart pound like a jackhammer. A charade a part of her ached wouldn't be just a charade, but the other part wanted to push him away and berate him. A charade that made her tingle and stiffen in places she wished she could deny. A charade that brought a shade of magic.

They'd been close in the past, they were never real sticklers for personal space. Both fiercely guarded and independent individuals with virtually non-existent love lives, the trust they had built over the years in the partnership meant that the flitter of platonic touches and the absence of personal space was one of their only substitutions for human connection. They'd been close, but never quite like this. Although just a charade, this seemed to breech the qualms of platonic personal space into something more fiery, more sensual, more rambunctious, even more so than they awkward almost-beens since his return. There was something far more carnal, far more primal in having the consultant pressed between her legs like that, his body firmly against hers, his hot breath on her neck, her fingers through his hair. He ran his hands up and down her back, and nuzzled his head into her neck, but pointedly avoiding contacting her with his own lips, almost if to preserve himself. Charade or not, she wished her heart would stop jackhammering, she wished her body would stop tingling as she fought to maintain any remnant of professionality the situation might have.

They heard Amaranthine's footsteps stop momentarily followed by a soft chuckle. 'I love my job,' Lisbon thought he heard him utter, as the footsteps started again straight into his office.

"What's happening?" Jane breathed into her neck, his lips gently razing her skin unavoidably making her inhale sharply involuntarily.

She opened her eyes. Through the stained glass of the divider, she could make out Amaranthine shuffling through the papers on his desk, before pouring himself a dark liquor out of a crystal bottle.

"Amaranthine. Not sure which one. He's at his desk," she muttered back, "poured himself a drink."

Jane pulled his head free from her neck and removed his hands from her back, placing them on the ledge on either side, but remained standing in place. She left her hands on his shoulders carefully, hoping Jane wouldn't recognise just how flushed her cheeks were, although there was no way could mask how she had felt from the expert in reading biometrics.

"He's got to be waiting for the buyer," Jane reasoned leaning in so they were cheek to cheek and able to whisper directly in her ear.

"How can you be sure?" she asked

"Since when am I ever sure about these things? Always works out right."

"How long before they turn up?"

"If they're not meeting Amaranthine here, then he's about to get whatever he needs from his office and meet them somewhere"

"So, we stay here necking until he leaves the office or the buyer shows up?"

"Uh, we haven't been necking Lisbon that would be very unprofessional, we're on the job. I mean, but we can if you really insist—"

"Oh hush, you know what I mean. Undercover fake necking"

"Yes, we will continue such undercover necking until either one of those scenarios plays out"

"But what if it takes too long? How long do people neck for?"

"That long out of the game, hey Lisbon?" he teased

"Can't say I've randomly started making out in such a debaucherous manner at a stranger's house, no. I have far more decorum and self-respect for that," she said pompously.

"Is that so?" he humoured back.

"So, what's the plan when they do appear? We won't be able to get back up in this far that quickly"

"If the buyer rocks up, we go in and arrest them—"

"How do you suggest I do that? I'm not even armed," she interrupted.

"Yes, I saw that might be an issue with your lewd choice of attire—"

"Lewd? You chose it!" she hissed, "and I wouldn't have got it past security anyway."

"Your point being…?" he taunted. "Anyway, if you could pay attention to what you're feeling against your left thigh… yes that's a holster. I'm armed. Cuffs too"

"Jane! That's illegal, you're not an agent. And how'd you get that past the security scan?"

"Eh security, that was child's play. Maybe I have a concealed carry permit?"

"Do you?"

"No, I don't... And it's your gun"

"Jane, what the hell I could get in a lot of trouble for that," she hissed.

"Shush shush my sweetheart, can't get too mad at me, we are hopelessly full of egregious lust and unabashedly all over each other remember? Don't break your cover."

"I hate you, Jane"

"You think you do, but you know I know better," he purred pulling away to give her a smile and wink.

She rolled her eyes and couldn't help but smile, even given her compromising position.

"Well lucky for you, it sounds like we don't have to wait much longer," he whispered as another set of footsteps echoed up the hall. They glared at each other challengingly, her eyes narrowing at him. He buried his face into her neck once more and retightened his grip around her waist. She couldn't help but gasp in surprise as she returned his grip, her hand returning to the lascivious threading through his curls to the back of his head.

But this time, he crossed a line. Almost like he couldn't help it. His soft, moist lips meeting the sensitised skin on her neck, osculating playfully, his hot tongue flickering. But she didn't revolt or cringe away. She tightened her hold on his hair and whimpered involuntarily as she exhaled, her head tilting to allow him clearer access. He caressed her neck with his mouth, exulting in her response as her breathing shallowed, her skin stood on end, her heels tightened around the backs of his legs, the grip on his hair almost painful.

He was sure she didn't notice, but the footsteps had passed them and joined Amaranthine in the office. He chuckled softly into her neck, the breeze from his warm breath against her wet skin providing another sensation, causing her shoulders to rise, but the laugh was enough to yank her from her salient stupor. She released her grip and pushed his shoulders away gently, her gaze darting around.

"Where did they go?" she whispered.

"They're in the office with Amaranthine," he whispered back. "Now are you ready to do some work or were you enjoying that too much?"

She gave him the biggest look of disgust she could muster before pushing him away and hopping off the ledge.

"We need to get a better look," she whispered, beckoning him to follow her.

They got closer to the stained glass window between the foyer and the office and observed the two men talking a silver briefcase on the table. Whilst they couldn't make out the exact words, the conversation was heated.

As they crouched, Lisbon beckoned with her hand. Jane pulled her glock from his holster and handed it to her.

"We should just leave, Jane. This is far too risky."

"No, this is it. Everything we need is in that room right now," he argued "We're going in".

She knew better than to talk him out of it. "Ok, we go in. We need a plan then" she explained, "I'll point my weapon, you cuff them."

"Wait, what, I'm not going in there like that. What if they have guns?"

"You expect me to go in there by myself?"

"Well, I kinda thought that's what you're trained to do."

"They're probably armed, Jane."

"Well yeah, I guess there's that possibility."

"Ugh," she said, unbuckling her heels to kick them off. If she was going to storm the room outnumbered and underarmed, she was going to do so without the added risk of falling flat on their face.

"You're right, you're right. This mess was my idea. How about I go in and talk to them first?"

"And say what?" she asked.

Without skipping a beat Jane pushed his way into the office. With a contrite "dammit Jane," a disdained Lisbon desperately trying to rid her foot of the second heel before scampering in after him.

"Evening gentlemen," Jane announced as the two men looked incredulously confused in his direction. One, Julius Amaranthine, the other a disgruntled Latino man with a bad crewcut. Divide and conquer, Jane thought to himself. A quick judge of both men told him that they didn't know each other very well, and CrewCut was very on edge about being there. It shouldn't be too hard to turn them against each other.

"Who's this?" the confused CrewCut asked, his question loaded with animosity.

"Jane, Patrick Jane," he replied, "kinda like Bond, just a little smarter and a little less macho."

"You're the couple from the fair," Amaranthine said as the realisation washed over him.

"Very astute," said Jane condescendingly, "anyway, I'm here for that briefcase. Robert sent me. He said you'd understand."

"Understand what?"

"What is he talking about?" CrewCut demanded

"Yeah, well if you're going to make me explain it, then sure. Robert said it's actually a really dumb idea to scam this guy, he's too well connected. He sent me to swap this case over for the real thing."

"Scam? What is the meaning of all this?" the CrewCut yelled.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Amaranthine yelled in frustration.

"And uh, yeah, the cops are on their way, sorry," Jane added.

"I've heard enough," CrewCut spat, pulling a gun out of his holster. Jane ducked behind the drinks cart for cover, Lisbon sheltering behind the doorframe, inconspicuously drawing her own weapon.

"I've met his man once, I honestly have no idea what he's doing here or what he's saying," Amaranthine stuttered.

"I knew dealing with your kind was a mistake from the beginning," CrewCut said, cocking his weapon.

Lisbon had seen enough. "FBI," she announced pointing her own gun at the buyer. "Drop the weapon," she commanded.

"A set-up," CrewCut scoffed, "You and your brother are dead," he sneered at Amaranthine.

"Drop the weapon, NOW," she commanded again.

"You have no idea what you've done," Amaranthine roared, raising his own palms slowly.

Jane cringed and sunk deeper into his hiding place. CrewCut's eyes darted between Lisbon and Amaranthine and to the place Jane was hiding, back to Lisbon. She had a split second to make the call. As he slowly changed his target from Amaranthine to her own direction, she discharged her weapon with an almighty BANG, hitting her target square in the chest below the collarbone. He dropped his weapon and fell to the floor.

Adrenalin surging through her veins she ran to disarm the aggressor, as she knew her shot wasn't fatal. Her shift in attention provided a distraction for Amaranthine to reach for his own gun attached to the underside of the table.

"Don't even think about it," Jane's voice surprising him as he jumped up from his hiding spot, his own gun pointed in his direction. Amaranthine made eye contact with him and gave a sinister grin, which Jane mirrored effortlessly. Amaranthine slowly lifted his hands to his head, admitting defeat.

"Jane, cuffs," Lisbon requested, a bleeding buyer now stomach down, arms behind their back. Without breaking eye contact with Amaranthine, Jane unhinged the cuffs from belt line and threw them in her direction, while she contacted back-up, providing their exact location within the house and situation.

With the first perp cuffed and down, she helped herself to the second pair of cuffs on Jane's belt.

"Where the hell'd you get that gun from, Jane?" she asked as she roughly grabbed Amaranthine's arms and pulled them behind his back.

"What, this old thing?" he asked, stalling until Amaranthine was safely cuffed. "It's completely plastic, kids' toy, just fires little pellets, see," he said squeezing the trigger. With a bang, a pellet flew from the gun hitting Amaranthine square in the cheek, leaving round red welt in its wake.

"OW, what the hell! He shot me, he shot me in the face! I'm not resisting," Amaranthine protested adamantly.

"Jane!" Lisbon yelled in frustration, "dammit Jane"

"Eh, sorry about that," Jane said dropping the gun to the floor in surprise, "guess it still packs a bit of a punch."

"Can you at least grab the other guy?" Lisbon asked exasperatedly.

"Ugh him," Jane said in disgust pointing to the floor, "You shot him for real, he's all bloody and stuff"

"Then take this one," she ordered with a frustrated squawk. Jane linked arms with Amaranthine obediently.

"FBI agent, right?" Jane said playfully to Amaranthine smiling as they watched Lisbon wrangle the injured arrestee in her tight cocktail dress. "Super hot, rawr," he finished with a growl.

"Remind me never to go undercover with you again," Lisbon mumbled in disdain.

The fallout from this one was precarious. Once again, Lisbon blasted him the whole way back to HQ while he quietly enjoyed her rain of anger upon him. But that storm was nothing compared to what Lisbon had to face. She had to go through the usual PSU motions for discharging her firearm into a suspect. The video feed from her broach prompted more questions than it answered, especially the part where Jane fired a bb gun at a cuffed assailant. The contents from the briefcase were ambiguous at best. But in the end, it was enough to get them a warrant, ballistics identifying Amaranthine's gun as the murder weapon.

It was far from clean cut as they would have liked, but for all intents and purposes, in Jane's book, it was solved. The rest was just details, way above his pay grade.

Lisbon crossed the bullpen after another closed door reprimand meeting and slumped into her desk chair with a huff.

"So how much trouble are we in?" he asked from his couch.

"You? Probably none as always. Me? I've seen worse," she answered dismissively.

"You know, you pretty good back there," he taunted. "We make a good couple."

"We make a good team sometimes," she said duplicitously, "but I was just playing a role, key to being a good undercover is committing to the role well."

"Oh yeah, me too," said Jane with a wink.

"Not saying I condone anything you pulled," she said warningly.

"But your pulse was off the charts last night," Jane taunted, "anything you'd care to admit?"

"Yes, I was scared of being caught out and the whole operation being blown. Who knows what could've happened to us! We stumbled into there like blithering idiots with no contingency plan, and nearly well got caught."

"I didn't think there was anything wrong with my contingency plan, you didn't seem to dislike it too much," he jeered. "Invisible in plain sight."

"It was completely unprofessional," she disputed as she turned bright red.

"Uh, it was completely professional. Your words, it was committing to the role, we would have been caught otherwise, and if you ask me, that would've been more unprofessional."

"We weren't even supposed to be undercover in the first place, you just pulled that crap and blindsided me when we're supposed to be interviewing them to begin with," she argued lightly.

"And it all turned out fine, right? Better than fine. If we weren't at that party, we wouldn't have been able to intercept the sale!"

She tried to give him a death glare, but her affectionate eyes betrayed her.

"You're just a little salty that you enjoyed my contingency measures a little more than you'd care to admit," Jane pointed out a little patronizingly.

She took a few steps towards him and whispered haughtily so only he could hear, "You didn't seem to dislike it all too much yourself," before walking off with her head held high.

"Well duh," Jane called out after her, admiring her not so subtly as she walked away before smiling, shaking his head and following after her.