Lisbon showed up to her morning briefing with an almost comically large cup of the strongest coffee she could find. Sleep had evaded her for hours the night before, leaving her mind foggy and her body exhausted. In a last-ditch effort to wake herself up, she had wandered into the kitchenette and brewed a new pot of coffee.

Lisbon had spent a fair amount of time yesterday making sure that all of the things she would need for the undercover mission were packed and ready to go, as she and Jane were leaving that morning after briefings. She was a light packer by nature, cramming only what was necessary into a duffel bag and a backpack. Even though she had finished packing by the evening, she was kept up by anxious thoughts of the days to come. Especially after that sad attempt at comedy that Jane had texted her last night.

"Good morning, Lisbon," Jane crowed cheerfully, plopping down in the seat next to her.

"Morning. We're planning on leaving right from work, you brought all your stuff, right?"

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it's business as usual with you," he commented. "All work, all the time. Not even the slightest mention of our planned romantic getaway."

"Jane," she warned. "Don't you even start. This is not a 'romantic getaway', this is work. It's a mission, for once in your life please take something seriously."

Before he had the chance to respond, the rest of the team filed into the room with their various caffeinated drinks. Jane decided that this was not the best time to pick a fight, especially since they would have to be in the car for an hour and a half.

"As you all know, today we are sending Agent Lisbon and Patrick Jane undercover to infiltrate the Oakland White Bulls. I hope everyone has read the files that were sent over, if we're going to get this right we have to be prepared for anything," Agent Walker explained to everyone.

"Will we be stationed here in Sacramento or in Oakland?" Rigsby asked.

It was a good question, Lisbon thought. She had been wondering the same thing.

"For the duration of the op, we'll be sending an agent down every two days to check in on Jane and Lisbon and update them on any security issues or intel that we might receive. Whoever goes won't stay long, maybe two hours maximum. The White Bulls might be keeping tabs on them once they're in, so too many cars coming and going will look suspicious. In the meantime, the CBI will provide our operatives with funds for anything they need to pull this mission off," Sanchez answered, gesturing at Jane and Lisbon.

"Does that include money for tea?" Jane had to know.

Lisbon glared at him and Van Pelt stifled a giggle. He was obsessed with tea, and if there wasn't any for him in the house, he would drive her crazy with his complaining about it. Lisbon supposed that since they were being provided with a card for grocery shopping, that could be used for buying his tea.

Agent Walker did not find this question as amusing as Jane did. He chose not to answer, instead fixing him with a firm stare that clearly meant that he thought Jane was unprofessional. Jane, knowing what was best for him, quickly shut up.

"Any days in which you aren't being visited in person by an agent you are free to carry on as you like," Walker told them. "You will have to make sure that you are making the right kinds of connections with the right people at the locations we give you, but you can go about doing it however you want. You are both allowed to bring your cell phones and laptops to talk to your team and work cases remotely if you wish."

"Are we going with cover identities?" Lisbon asked.

Minelli spoke up from the back of the room. "I don't think it's necessary. You can keep your IDs and wallets with you and use them when you go out, but you should keep your CBI badges in the house at all times. If anyone sees you with them, this whole operation is toast."

Lisbon nodded.

"And another thing," Minelli continued. "When you're not alone, you have to make sure that you refer to each other by first name. It sounds very odd in a social setting when two supposedly married people start calling each other by their last names."

This is exactly what Lisbon had been dreading. She and Jane were very close, but she didn't want to ruin the dynamic of their working relationship and friendship with the intimacy that would most certainly come from a first name basis. That being said, she never did mind when he called her Teresa, especially that heart-fluttering way that he pronounced the 's' in her name as a 'z', making it sound like something far more fun and exotic.

"Do we have any more questions?"

"What about cams? Is there a security system set up in the house?" Cho asked, ever the pragmatist.

"We've equipped the house with a state of the art security camera and alarm system for the safety of Lisbon and Jane. At night, you'll have to set the alarms so that they'll go off if a door or window is open. As for cameras, they are only on the outside of the house and are motion sensing. They don't pick up sound, but if so much as a squirrel runs through the grass, the camera will turn on and pick it up. We take the safety of our agents very seriously," Sanchez said, showing Cho the viewing angles from the cameras.

"Agent Van Pelt, have you finished wiretapping their phones and computers?" Minelli asked.

"Yes, sir. I went into your accounts and gave myself and the CBI database monitoring access to text conversations, email records, and any activity on the software. Don't worry," Van Pelt added, noting the anxious look on Lisbon's face. "No personal conversations or information can be seen. The only messages we'll be able to read are ones that go to Cho, Rigsby, or me. The email tap is just in case you need to contact anyone else. If anyone tries to work their way into the system, we'll know about it."

Lisbon couldn't help but feel a rush of pride at Grace's quick work and explanation. Although she was still a junior agent, there was a lot to be said about her experience in computers.

"Well, if there are no other questions, you're all welcome to go," Walker said, dismissing them. "Jane and Lisbon, good luck."


He caught up with her in her office as she crawled under her desk to pull the charger for her laptop out of its power strip. It had been a while since she had to take her work computer anywhere, and the cord seemed to be stuck in its socket.

"Hey, Lisbon, I'm ready to go when you…" Jane said, trailing off when he didn't see her. "Lisbon?"

She jumped. "Damn it!" she yelled as she hit her head on the underside of the desk. Lisbon emerged from under the table, power cord in hand, and rubbing the top of her head in pain.

"Lisbon, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. You just scared me and I hit my head, that's all."

"Want me to kiss it and make it better?"

"No!" she screeched. "Jane, if you don't knock it off with those comments, so help me I will-"

"Is everything okay in here?" Agent Walker asked from the doorway.

"Everything's fine," Lisbon replied casually, hiding her clenched teeth behind a smile. "We were just leaving."

"Great!" Walker said enthusiastically. "Let me know when you guys get to the house, I left the address with your field envelope at employee services. Feel free to take today to get all set up, really get the lay of the land before heading out, okay?"

"Sounds great," Jane said, trying desperately to calm Lisbon down. "We'll let you know when we get there, but we really must be going. Gotta beat the traffic," he continued, ushering Lisbon out the door of her office to the elevator.

By the time they had picked up their field package and were on their way, Lisbon's mood had improved significantly. For once in her life, she was glad to be spending extra time with Patrick Jane. If there was anything good to be said about his company, it was that he made an excellent driving buddy. He would try to hum or whistle along to anything that came on the radio, no matter how out of tune, much to Lisbon's amusement.

It only took them about an hour and a half before they arrived at what would be their house for however long this took. It seemed normal enough, a gray two-story on the outskirts of Oakland. Lisbon's first thought was that it was a lot bigger than her apartment, but then again, so were most houses. Lisbon sent a quick text to her team and Agent Walker, letting them know that they had found the house and were settling in okay. Jane had popped the trunk of her SUV, both of them unanimously agreed on taking the more inconspicuous of their vehicles.

"Home sweet home," Jane quipped as he handed her a duffel bag.

"No kidding. There's a lot we need to do, you know," she said as they unlocked the front door.

He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but it definitely wasn't opening up the front door to a fully furnished home. It looked like one of those model houses that real estate companies showed to potential buyers. The kitchen and living room were connected in the center of the house, and just off the entryway, there was a staircase leading to what he assumed was the bedroom and bathroom. It wasn't a large house by any extension of the word, but it was cozy and there was plenty of room for the two of them. Jane was happy to see a couch and a nice TV in the living room, for those nights when they weren't supposed to go out.

Lisbon threw her bags onto the kitchen table and pulled out their field package. Usually, these contained anything they might need to help keep their cover, but since Minelli had vetoed the idea of fake IDs, Jane couldn't possibly guess what was in there.

Lisbon poured the contents of the envelope out on the table and stifled a gasp.

"What's in there, Lisbon?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"Uh, we've got a card to get groceries, some false legal documents to make it look like we own the house, some fake mail to prove that we live here, and umm…" she trailed off.

Jane inspected the falsified house papers. "This looks pretty real. One might even believe that we're actually living together."

"Yeah, it all does look real," she responded, a bad attempt at subtlety.

"Lisbon?"

"What?"

"What else is in the envelope?" he prodded gently.

She turned to face him, concern showing in her green eyes. "Wedding rings."

"What? Why?"

"Because, Jane. We have to make this look real, if we say we're married and we don't have any rings, it's going to look suspicious."

His gaze dropped from her face to the ring sitting in its usual place on his left hand. "Teresa, I don't know."

"You know what, it's okay. Keep it on, I'm not going to make you take it off if you're not ready. I'll wear the one they gave me for the op, no one will be looking closely enough to tell that they don't match."

"Thanks."

But as soon as it had started, his moment of vulnerability was over. He assumed his usual joking manner and took Lisbon's ring from the bag.

Getting down on one knee, he said, "Teresa Lisbon, will you make me the happiest man alive and be my fake wife for the duration of this mission?"

"Jane!" she squeaked, face turning red.

"It's Patrick," he corrected.

"Fine. Patrick. Yes, I'll be your fake wife. But only because I have to!" she said, voice rising an octave.

He moved to slip the ring on her finger, but she quickly snatched the offending piece of jewelry away from him. "I don't think so, Patrick. I'm perfectly capable of putting on my own fake wedding ring, thank you very much."

"Suit yourself," he said with a shrug. "I'm going to look around."

"Sounds good. I think I'll go unpack, and then we can go get some groceries and dinner."

Lisbon made her way up the stairs to the bedroom with her bag in hand. Unsurprisingly, there was only one bed, which was fine by her. She was the utmost professional, and as long as he didn't try anything, she was perfectly okay with sharing a bed with him. Besides, the bed was huge so they likely wouldn't even end up touching each other accidentally.

She quickly claimed the left side of the bed, hoping that Jane would be okay with sleeping on the right side. Lisbon hung her shirts and jackets up on one side of the little closet and folded her pants and underwear in one of the dresser drawers. If Jane was annoyed with where she had chosen to leave her things, they could figure it out another time. She was not about to get all awkward about having to share a space with him.

When she returned to the kitchen, Jane was casually flipping through channels on the TV. With a pang, she realized how domestic this seemed.

"Ah, Lisbon, there you are!" he said, turning off the TV and regarding her with a gentle smile.

"I hope you don't mind, I put some of my things in the closet and the dresser. I figured there's enough room in there for all of our clothes," she said, sitting down at one of the barstools by the counter.

"Excellent. Are you ready to go?"

"Not exactly. We don't even know what all we need to get."

"Meh, we'll figure it out."

"I'd rather get it all written down now instead of having to go back to the store every couple of days because we forgot something," she pointed out.

"No need to write it down, you tell me what we need to get and I'll just memorize the list."

"Show-off," Lisbon muttered.

He grinned. "At your service. I assume I'm going to be doing the cooking?"

"And why do you think that?" she asked, her hands on her hips.

"Because every time I'm at your house, the only thing in your refrigerator is leftover takeout. And the lack of ingredients in any of your cupboards in addition to the empty boxes of protein bars that I saw in your recycling bin only lead me to believe that either you don't enjoy cooking, or you aren't good at it."

"You little snoop!" she accused jokingly. "When you hypnotized me that one time, did you really look through my entire apartment?"

"Not your entire apartment," he admitted. "Just downstairs."

He was right about the cooking though. Lisbon only wondered what else he could have discovered about her in the time he spent rifling through her things.

"Okay, Jane," she relented. "You got me. I really am terrible at cooking."

"So I guess that leaves it to me, then?"

"Can you cook?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," he said proudly. "So I can cook for us on the nights we aren't going out. Any idea of what you'd like?"

"I'm not sure," Lisbon admitted. She really was fairly easy-going when it came to food. "Surprise me?"

"Perfect." He was looking forward to cooking for her, even though he had told her once that he wouldn't seduce her over a meal. "What else do we need to get?"

"Anything we'll need for breakfast and lunch, coffee, tea, some dish soap, laundry detergent, and fabric softener," she rattled off. Her time had been spent practically by taking stock of what was missing from the house.

"Got it," Jane said, accentuating his point by tapping the side of his head playfully. "Ready to go?"

The store was close to their house, making the discussion they had earlier about whether or not to shop in bulk rather useless, but nonetheless, Lisbon was happy that she had gotten her way. Jane refused to tell her what he was going to make for dinners, instead choosing to grab ingredients seemingly at random and throwing them in the cart.

"Are you going to tell me what all this is for?" she had asked him after the first couple of spices and vegetables had made their way into the cart.

"I seem to recall you asking me to surprise you?" he said innocently. "So that means no."

Because he was going to cook dinners for them, Lisbon decided they would just go with miscellaneous other foodstuffs for lunch and breakfast. They ended up getting bagels, various sandwich and salad ingredients, cereal, and eggs, the last one upon Jane's request.

"No no no, Lisbon, what are those for?" He asked when he saw her throw a box of protein bars in the cart.

"They're protein bars."

"I can see that. What are they for?"

"Uh, to eat?"

He picked up the box and examined it closely. "Okay, you can get these, but if I see you skipping lunch and eating one of these instead, I will sit you down and force you to eat real food. See, it says right here on the box, 'not a meal substitute'."

"How did you know I usually skip lunch?"

"It doesn't take a mentalist to figure that out." She leveled him with a glare. "Fine," he relented. "You do realize your office has glass walls, right? As long as we're living together, I'm going to make sure you eat right."

A chill went down Lisbon's spine at the phrase 'living together'. It sounded so comfortably intimate that she didn't know what to think.

"Does eating right mean no ice cream?" she pleaded. Ice cream was her favorite after a long day.

He pretended to think about it. "I think ice cream is okay."

They made their way over to the frozen section where Jane quickly picked out his favorite flavor, vanilla. It took Lisbon a little longer to decide, but she eventually chose a carton of black raspberry with dark chocolate. Then, it was off to get her coffee and Jane's tea.

"Okay, why is this taking so long?" she asked after returning from getting the coffee to find Jane still choosing his tea.

"Patience, Lisbon. Choosing the right tea takes time," he said, examining another package.

"Jane, you've opened almost every box on this shelf. Can you please just pick one so we can go?"

"Choosing the right tea takes time," he repeated. "And if I get the wrong one, I'm going to have to drag you back out here to get the right one, and you don't want that, do you?"

"I guess not," she said, sighing.

After about five more minutes, Jane had added several boxes of tea to their cart, claiming that one of them was bound to be right. She used the expense card to pay for their groceries, and it was getting late by the time they got back to the house. After they put all of the food away and had a quick dinner, Lisbon was exhausted and ready to go to sleep.

"Hey, Jane?"

"Yes?"

"I think I'm going to head up and get ready for bed, okay? You can use the bathroom after me if you want," she said, referring to the master bathroom which they would have to share for the next couple of days.

"Sure. I think I'm going to stay down here and read for a while if you don't mind. I'll join you in a bit."

"Okay. Make sure to set the alarm system when you come up. Goodnight."

She had only gotten halfway up the stairs before he stopped her with a question.

"Which side of the bed is mine?"

Lisbon considered this. She had instinctively chosen the left side because it was the side she slept on at home, but maybe Jane wanted that side?

"You have the right side if that's okay," she told him.

"Perfect."

His smile was all the confirmation she needed. He wished her goodnight, and she left to put on pajamas, brush her teeth, and wash her face before wrapping herself tightly in the soft covers of the bed. She knew that she would have to share it with Jane, but it somehow made it easier knowing that they weren't going to bed at the same time.

There was something about the act of falling asleep next to someone, the unintentional intimacy of it all. You could go to bed one day as friends and wake up as lovers, brought together by late-night conversation and the shared comfort of a warm blanket. Maybe there was something about the way the emotion in the air felt so much more charged at night, something vulnerable and raw, making even the most emotionally guarded person suddenly bared to their companion.

Whatever it was, Lisbon was suddenly glad Jane hadn't joined her yet. She didn't think she was quite ready for that level of commitment.