AN: This story was written as a gift to nitro9 as part of Jane's Gift Exchange 2020 on ao3! If you haven't read her stories, you should definitely go check them out, they're wonderful! :)
"Jane, how are you already here?" Lisbon asked grumpily.
"Well, you know what they say, rise and grind!" he answered much too cheerfully. "Besides, your apartment is further away from here than the office, so of course I got here first."
"Of course," she echoed, rolling her eyes.
Just then, Rigsby walked up to the pair. He looked extremely well-rested, quite the opposite of Jane and Lisbon. Jane never really slept much anyway, and Lisbon would be more awake if she had had time to grab a cup of coffee before leaving the house. But duty calls, so the team found themselves standing in a back alley in Oakland at five in the morning.
"Morning, boss," Rigsby said carefully. He knew it was much too early for Lisbon to be at her best and brightest, so he did the best he could to not incur her wrath.
"Hey, Rigsby. What've we got?"
"John and Jane Doe, shot three times each in the chest and dumped here. Fingerprints have been removed as well as anything we could use to identify them, so I guess we have to wait for dental records," Rigsby said.
Jane moved closer for inspection.
"They're married," he said.
Rigsby scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, we saw the rings but we didn't know if they were married to each other."
"They are," Jane said confidently. "The inscriptions on the outside of the bands match."
Lisbon snapped on a pair of gloves and removed the rings from both victims.
"Jane's right," she said. "The inscriptions are the same. It reads: to my soulmate."
Rigsby shrugged as Lisbon put the rings into evidence bags. "There's not much else to go off of here, boss. Do you think it was a gang hit?"
"Not likely," said a voice from behind Lisbon. "If you don't mind, we're going to take over this scene from here."
Lisbon whipped around so fast Jane thought she must have whiplash. Rigsby sighed. If this kept up, it was going to be a very long day.
"Who the hell are you?" She asked indignantly. "And what the hell are you doing here?"
"I'm Agent John Walker and this here's Agent Brian Sanchez."
Agent Walker was a tall, muscular man who looked to be in his mid-forties. He wore a gray suit jacket and carried himself with the air of a man who was used to getting his way. In comparison, Agent Sanchez looked like a twig. He was a gangly young man with dark hair and couldn't have been any older than thirty-five.
"Agents," Lisbon said, shaking their hands in turn. "What brings you here?"
"We're here to take over your case," Walker stated simply.
It was then that Lisbon noticed Van Pelt standing further back than the two men, holding her laptop and wearing an apologetic look on her face. They must have pushed past both her and the crime scene tape to get here, Lisbon thought.
"Why? Minelli gave his express permission for us to handle this case," Rigsby said.
"And who are you?" the young man asked, sneering at Rigsby.
"Agent Wayne Rigsby of the Serious Crimes Unit," he said, crossing his arms.
The older man stepped up. "Agent Rigsby, I'm going to have to ask you to remove your team from the premises. This is our case, and we'll be handling the scene."
Lisbon flushed a deep red and Jane inhaled nervously. A pissed off Lisbon was no laughing matter.
"Actually, this is my team. I'm Teresa Lisbon, senior agent," she started, her cheeks still scarlet.
Walker laughed. "Suit yourself, Agent Lisbon. You still need to leave."
"With all due respect, you have no right to tell us where to go and when," Lisbon said with clenched teeth. "I lead the serious crimes unit, and as of half an hour ago this officially became our crime scene. You have no jurisdiction here."
"I think you'll find that we are competent individuals, Agent Lisbon. Now, about your team? Why are you still here?" Sanchez demanded.
"Now, now everyone. I'm sure we can solve this problem without coming to blows," Jane said, stepping between Lisbon and Walker. "Just put your guns and fists away, and we can talk this out like men."
"Yes. Like men," Walker said, emphasizing the last word with a nod in Lisbon's direction.
She bared her teeth and scowled at him. There was no worse start to a day than someone questioning her authority. It was one of Lisbon's biggest pet peeves, many people didn't take her seriously in the field because she was a woman. Lisbon enjoyed nothing more than doing her job and showing up to anyone who got in her way, but if her gut was telling her anything, it was that these men weren't going to go away easily.
"Now, Agent Walker, that's not a good example. Let's clear the scene and go back to headquarters, maybe we need to talk to Minelli," Jane suggested.
"Great idea," Lisbon mumbled as they walked away. "Minelli has a lot of explaining to do."
The ride back to Sacramento from Oakland was a dismal affair, Lisbon choosing to steep in her anger in silence. Jane sat in the passenger seat of her SUV, for once not wanting to say or do anything that could provoke her. He knew what she was like when she was mad, and he knew for a fact that riling up a pocket rocket, gun-toting, sharpshooting CBI agent would be a huge mistake.
Instead, he offered to talk to her.
"Those guys were really something, huh?" he hedged carefully.
"Were they ever," she grumbled.
"Lisbon, it's okay to be angry. In fact, it's perfectly normal to be mad when someone insults your position or status."
"Thanks for the psychology lesson, Professor Jane," Lisbon said sarcastically.
"I'm serious. If you're angry, it's better to let it out than let it eat you up from the inside out."
"I fully intend on letting it all out. Later. At the handgun range."
"Lisbon."
"What do you want me to say? That I'm mad? You know perfectly well that I'm mad."
"No. I'd rather you get it out now before the meeting with Minelli. You know full well that it probably won't go in your favor," Jane said thoughtfully.
"Fine. Who the hell do those guys think they are? Showing up at what's clearly our scene and demanding control of it?" she asked, increasing her volume with each question. "I don't understand why every time we end up with a jurisdictional disagreement, no one wants to take it up with me! It's not like I drove an hour and a half at crazy hours in the morning to get here or anything!"
"That's more like my Lisbon," Jane said quietly.
"And another thing. Do people really think women are that incompetent as to insult my position? For god's sake, do I not seem like I'm in control?" she seethed.
Jane waited until she had calmed down to speak. It always ended up better for him when he let her get it all out. "Feeling better?"
"A bit, yeah. You were right."
"I'll never get tired of hearing you say that," he said, earning him a trademark Lisbon eye roll. "It's better to get it out of your system. Now come on, we've got a case to save."
"Is there a problem?" Virgil Minelli asked.
"Sir, if I may-" Walker began but was cut off by Minelli clearing his throat.
"If it's alright with you, I'd like to hear Lisbon's side of the story."
"This morning, my team was called out early to investigate the site of a shooting. Oakland PD called in for state backup, it fell under serious crimes. That makes it our case doesn't it?" Lisbon asked, arms crossed.
"Technically, yes. Agents Walker and Sanchez, why did you show up at the crime scene?"
"Sir, we believe that the victims of Agent Lisbon's case are connected to a gambling ring we've been keeping tabs on," Sanchez explained.
Minelli raised an eyebrow. "How do you figure that?"
"These people are barbarians. They hire ultimate fighters and pit them against each other. The spectators gamble on the fights. Our team's been keeping an eye on it, and everyone who gets into gambling on the fights ends up dead when they try to get out. The execution method is universal, three shots to the chest and fingerprints either sanded or burned off," Walker said.
"I've read your reports. Thorough, but no conclusive results yet," Minelli said, nodding.
"Uh, correct," Sanchez agreed.
"Sir, they have nothing to back up their theory," Lisbon argued. "It's speculation!"
"It's a connection," Minelli said, gently correcting her.
"So what? Suppose we go along with this investigation. How exactly do you plan on busting this ring if you haven't ever come close to it before?" Lisbon asked, raising her voice.
"This time will be different."
Lisbon snorted. "I wouldn't be so sure."
"Agents," Minelli warned.
"Sorry, sir," Walker and Sanchez chorused.
"I don't mean to be pessimistic, but if you've never come close to catching these guys in action before, how do you figure you're going to get them this time around? What tactics have you used?" asked Lisbon.
Sanchez tapped his chin thoughtfully before answering. "We set up a rapid response team, they'd go in to raid the buildings said to have any sort of connection with the guys we're looking for."
Minelli looked interested. "Did anything turn up?"
"Unfortunately, no," Walker said, taking over. "Every time we were called in, the buildings were clear and betting receipts burned. These guys are good at what they do."
"Who's the ringleader?"
"It's in the report," Sanchez said. "We've caught wind of a guy named James Garrett, we don't know if that's his real name, but he seems to be the head honcho of the whole operation."
"Is he the one who tells people where to be and when?" asked Minelli.
"Yes. It's a lot of men and women looking for a thrill and a place to score. That's what I assume happened to our John and Jane Doe from this morning," Walker explained.
"That's pure conjecture!" Lisbon argued.
"It's a start," Minelli said, attempting to calm her. "Which is all we have for right now. I've made a decision. Lisbon, you'll work in coordination with Agent Walker's team. Explore the connection between our John and Jane Doe and this gambling ring."
Lisbon hung her head in defeat. "Yes, sir."
Jane stood up from his couch as soon as he saw Lisbon leaving Minelli's office. She was scowling and her arms were crossed over her chest tightly, a sure sign that the meeting hadn't gone in her favor.
"Hey, Jane?" Van Pelt stopped him. "Not sure you want to go in there. Look."
Jane peeked through the blinds separating her office from the bullpen.
"It must be bad," Grace continued. "She's tidying up her desk."
"I'm going to talk to her," Jane said decisively.
"Suit yourself," Rigsby said, passing by. "But you might want to grab a bulletproof vest before you do. You know, just in case."
"Meh. She wouldn't shoot me in her office, it's far too public. It's a risk I'm willing to take," Jane said.
He opened the door right as Lisbon flopped down in her chair.
"Hello, Lisbon."
"What do you want, Jane? Has the team gotten the identities of our victims yet?"
"Van Pelt's working on it. How did the meeting with Minelli go?" he asked, deftly changing the subject.
"Just great," she replied sarcastically. "We've been put on coordination with the Organized Crime unit because Minelli thinks our victims have something to do with a fighting and gambling ring, but I'm not so sure."
"So you mean we're stuck with those two clowns for the duration of this investigation?"
"Yep."
He rubbed his hands together gleefully. "This is gonna be fun."
"Don't you dare try anything," she said, fixing him with one of her trademark I'll-kill-you-and-get-away-with-it glares.
"I'm just saying, maybe they'll give up the case if someone were to annoy them enough."
"Or they would report you to Minelli."
"Meh."
"Jane, we have to at least hear them out. Walker said his team has been formulating a plan to infiltrate the group for a couple of months now, and they just got the go-ahead from Minelli today," she explained.
"We don't have to be a part of this scheme, do we?"
"Maybe. It depends on whether or not our victims are confirmed to be a part of this gambling ring."
Just then, Van Pelt dropped a file on Lisbon's desk. "The victims are Tanner and Christie Shade. Organized crime just confirmed that they were in with the Oakland White Bulls, supposedly gambling on fights."
Lisbon bit back a groan. Of course they were. "So were these people donors? A rich couple looking for a thrill?"
"Not that I can see. They seemed to be fairly normal, husband has a couple of hits for DUI's and disorderly conduct, but other than that nothing. Middle class. It just seems like they got in with the wrong crowd," Grace theorized.
"Wrong crowd is right," Jane piped up from the couch. "Lisbon, it seems that we have no other choice but to go along with Walker's plan."
"What do you mean, Walker's plan?" Van Pelt asked, shooting a warning glance at Jane.
"Lisbon was just telling me that Walker's team has come up with an idea of how to catch these 'White Bulls'."
Sanchez chose that moment to peek into Lisbon's office. "I just got confirmation on our victims. Your team needs to meet with ours for a briefing."
"A briefing on what? My team knows everything that we need to," Lisbon said, not moving.
"A briefing on the plan. Our team has been waiting months for the right confirmation to move forward with our proposed operation, and now we have it. We need to get started as soon as possible to prevent more people from getting killed, and we'll need your full cooperation."
Lisbon knew when to admit defeat, and now was not the time to try and fight back against this man.
"Fine. We'll meet you there in ten minutes," she relented.
Sanchez looked satisfied and dramatically closed the door.
"What's that all about?" Van Pelt asked her, genuine curiosity playing across her face.
"I have no idea. I guess we'll find out."
Ten minutes later, Lisbon's team found themselves assembled in a conference room with Walker's team. He stood at the front of the room with their track board of all of the victims so far. Just at a glance, Lisbon could tell that this was much more serious than she had anticipated. There were probably ten or more pictures of different people who fell victim to this gambling ring, and who paid the price with their lives.
Walker shuffled up to the front of the room and cleared his throat. "Agents, as you know we found two victims of a shooting this morning in Oakland with ties to the White Bulls. This is the confirmation we needed to get permission to carry out our proposed sting operation. We will be sending two agents undercover as potential interests in the ring so that they can get inside and deal us the information we need to bust these guys once and for all."
"Who do you propose to send?" Rigsby asked, raising his hand.
"We'll have a male and a female, they'll be posing as a married couple," Sanchez answered unceremoniously. "We want to make sure we fit the pattern of the last victims as much as possible."
"Which agents are you sending?" Lisbon asked suspiciously.
"Um, our female agent, Willow Smith, is out on maternity leave at the moment," Walker hedged. "I was going to ask if you would do it, Agent Lisbon."
"Me? You want me to work your case?"
"As of this morning, it's officially our case. You will continue to work the case remotely from where you are stationed in addition to infiltrating our gang. Agent Sanchez here will be your male counterpart. We'll need your terms of revision or acceptance by the end of the day, any problems or questions you may have will be taken up with Minelli and me. As for everyone else, we'll discuss surveillance and extraneous covers tomorrow. I'm sending the case files over to you to study up on, we need as much insider knowledge as possible."
On the way back to the bullpen, Jane cornered Lisbon.
"You can't seriously be thinking about doing this, can you?" he hissed.
"What do you mean? It's my job!"
"You hardly know that guy! How are you going to keep your cover of being fake married if you've only met him today?"
Lisbon's eyes went wide. "Are you jealous?"
"No!" he protested.
"You sure?"
"Yes! I'm just thinking that they'll see right through you and you'll get caught, that's all. I don't want you to end up like those victims in the alleyway this morning," Jane explained calmly.
He always claimed he was the mentalist, but at this moment she could see right through him. He was jealous, no matter how much he tried to deny it. Patrick Jane was jealous that she would be fake married to someone else, which was odd because as far as she knew, he wasn't romantically interested in her at all. If she didn't know better, she thought he might volunteer to go, but as Agent Walker had said, they were planning on sending in two agents, which Jane was most certainly not.
"Jane, relax. I have until this afternoon to offer my terms of revision, I fully intend on asking for someone else to be my partner for this. Someone from the team, who I actually have known for more than a few hours," she said with a grin.
"That's, uh, that's a good idea," he said, looking visibly relieved.
"I'll catch you in a second, okay, Jane? I'm going to talk to Minelli about my terms, be back in a little bit."
He turned to her to respond, but she was already gone.
"Lisbon? Here already to give me your terms, I expect," Minelli commented good-naturedly as she settled herself in the chair across from his desk.
"Yes, sir. I intend to accept the job."
"Good. You'll do it well."
"Uh, thanks, sir. My only term is that I work with someone I know better than Agent Sanchez. No offense to him, but Jane was just pointing out to me that it could blow our cover if we slip up, and I'm less likely to make a mess of it if someone I know is undercover with me."
"Interesting. Of course, Teresa, anything here you request will be taken seriously. I understand that you're a hard worker and wouldn't try to change the plan just to lighten your own workload. Who do you propose to take with you?"
She leaned back in her seat. "I'm not sure. Maybe Rigsby, he has experience with undercover work."
Minelli smiled. "As good an idea as that is, I'm sure Agent Rigsby's talents will be better put to use here." His eyes lit up as if a thought had just occurred to him. "I have an idea. You'll take Jane. The two of you have been working together for years, you fit together like clockwork. He has the ability to think well on his feet, and you can keep him in check."
Lisbon turned pink and could only nod. "Sir, Jane's not an agent."
"For this, I'll let it slide. I think this is the best way for the cover not to be blown, don't you?"
The heat on Lisbon's face flared as she realized what this would entail. She would be sharing a house with Patrick Jane for as long as the investigation took. It wasn't that she minded sharing her living space with someone else, quite the opposite in fact. Lisbon enjoyed having other people around, as long as they let her have personal time when she needed it. What bothered her about this situation was that it was Jane.
Of course, Jane and Lisbon were friends, they had been for a long time, but she didn't like the idea of getting so close and personal to someone who wouldn't let her into his life. Granted, she was also a very private person, but she knew that for this operation to work, they would have to be completely honest with each other about everything. Lisbon didn't know if Jane would be willing to do that.
But instead of voicing her concerns, she told Minelli that his idea was a good one and that she would go with it.
The man smiled and turned back to his paperwork. "Good. I'm going to give you the rest of the day off today to get your things in order and let Jane know. Tomorrow we have case briefings, but we need to get started with this as soon as we can. You'll be headed out to the house tomorrow afternoon."
That was soon, Lisbon thought. Not much time to prepare.
"Thanks, boss," she called to Minelli.
Lisbon found Jane sitting on his couch in the bullpen nursing a cup of tea. Van Pelt was sitting on Rigsby's desk, looking at her expectantly. Jane must have told them, Lisbon thought. News sure travels fast around here.
"Who's going with you?" Van Pelt blurted at the same time Jane asked, "When are you leaving?"
She grinned and perched on the arm of Jane's couch. "We're leaving tomorrow, after all the case briefings."
"Who's 'we'?" Grace pressed.
Lisbon's face turned beet red. "Jane and I. Minelli's assigned us as the two to go undercover."
"Interesting," Jane murmured. "This is going to be fun."
"Yeah, fun," she replied sarcastically. "I've got to share a house with the biggest pain in the ass I know."
Van Pelt giggled, and Lisbon fixed her with a stare.
"Anyways," Lisbon continued, "We have the rest of the day off to get our things in order and prepare to leave tomorrow. Pack for a week, we can do laundry while we're there."
"Yes, ma'am," Jane said with a mock salute, earning him a slap on the shoulder.
"As for the rest of you," Lisbon said, turning her attention to Van Pelt, Rigsby, and Cho. "Read up on those case files. If nothing new comes in, you can leave at four. Call me if you need anything."
As Lisbon grabbed her bags and left the office, Jane had to silently chuckle to himself. This was going to be fun. He could never resist an opportunity to tease Lisbon or play a joke on her, and having to share a house? It was all too easy.
Later that night, Lisbon puttered around her apartment getting things ready to go. It shocked her to no end that Minelli would even consider letting her bring Jane, but she had to admit it put her mind slightly at ease. At least she knew someone would have her back. Suddenly, her phone buzzed. It was a text from Jane.
"See you tomorrow, honey," it read, with a winking face at the end.
"You're insufferable," she replied quickly, before turning the phone off.
After she turned off all the lights in her bedroom and locked up for the night, she couldn't help but lay awake and think of what the next couple of days might entail. Was it wrong to be excited? Jane seemed fairly exuberant about the whole thing.
"This might not be so bad after all," she thought to herself.
