AN: Thank you so much for all of the support I've been getting on this story! And thanks especially to guest reviewers, who I can't reply to personally. I appreciate you all! :)
Surprisingly enough, Lisbon slept the whole night through without waking up once. It was slightly reassuring to know that she wouldn't be called out in the middle of the night or at ungodly hours of the morning because they had a case, so she took advantage of her time to sleep in. When she did wake, though, she rolled over to look at the clock and noticed that Jane wasn't there. What was even odder was the fact that the sheets were still pulled up on his side and tucked under the pillow, and it didn't look as if anyone had slept in it at all. Shrugging it off, she got up to take a shower, the strong scent of a promising cup of coffee wafting up from the kitchen.
When Lisbon joined Jane in the kitchen, her hair still in wet curls from her shower, she noticed that he was wearing the same suit he had been wearing the day before. Not that she couldn't have made a mistake, of course, most of his suits looked pretty similar anyway, but Lisbon knew for a fact that he only owned one with white pinstripes.
"Good morning, Teresa," he said, handing her a cup of coffee.
"Morning." She inhaled deeply as if absorbing the caffeine through the air instead of drinking it. "Thanks, this is really good."
"My pleasure. How did you sleep?"
She pulled out one of the bar stools and sat down, coffee in hand. "Pretty good, actually. It's nice to know that I don't have to get up as early as I usually do. By the way, I noticed that your side of the bed was already made. Did you sleep at all?"
"No, I was up most of the night. You know me, Lisbon, I'm practically nocturnal."
"Jane."
"What? This is a normal thing for me," he protested.
"You need to take better care of yourself," she admonished. "I swear, it's like you couldn't care less about your wellbeing."
"Pot, meet kettle. You're the one who's the routine meal skipper."
"Don't make this about me. You need to get more sleep."
He chuckled. "And I will. Tonight, I promise. After we get back from Albertsons."
"That's tonight?"
She had forgotten all about it. Agent Sanchez had sent them a schedule of the days that some of the White Bulls would be hanging around some of the local bars. The idea was to just be around when they were, flash some money around if necessary, and look as if they belonged to the high-class crowd. The best way to get on the inside was to get known, and the only way to do that was by purposefully going where the Bulls were sure to be.
Albertsons was a high-end club towards inner-city Oakland, one that the Bulls had practically taken over as their own. According to intel, most of the gambling income made its way through there at one point or another, and it was the best place for leaders such as James Garrett to pick out new attendees. People who looked like they had money and influence had the best chance of getting in.
"Yes, that's tonight," Jane said condescendingly.
"Don't patronize me!"
"I'm not patronizing you, I'm just reminding you," he said gently. "And speaking of reminders, I made breakfast."
He got up and served her a plate of scrambled eggs, and spread cream cheese on a bagel for each of them. Lisbon wasn't usually a breakfast person, instead choosing to pick up a muffin of some sort mid-morning, but Jane had been so considerate, making her coffee and breakfast that she gave in. Her instincts were right, too, it was delicious.
After they had eaten and cleaned up the kitchen, Jane had gone to take a shower and get ready while Lisbon stayed downstairs rereading the White Bulls file. Technically, the only part that was her case was the double homicide, but she wanted to know everything she could about these guys before they went on the inside.
Suddenly, her phone buzzed.
It was a text from Van Pelt that read, "Hey, boss, I just pulled up. For cover's sake, meet me out at the car and act like I'm your sister. No one's watching the house that we know of, but it's best to put on a front for the neighbors."
Lisbon shot back a response before getting up and heading out to meet Grace.
"Teresa!" Grace cried, the name feeling unfamiliar on her lips.
"Hey, Grace," Lisbon replied, walking over and hugging the redhead. "How are you guys managing without us?"
"Oh, we're fine," Van Pelt said. "It's only been a day. And besides, no new cases have come in so you haven't missed much."
"That's good. I know you can't stay long, but let's go inside, I'm sure Jane will want to say hi."
Lisbon led Van Pelt in the house and showed her around the downstairs. Grace thought it was particularly funny that they had gone out grocery shopping already, and laughed even harder when Lisbon explained that it was mostly because Jane wanted to stock the house with tea.
"It's a really cute house, boss," she said after they finished the tour.
"Yeah. I actually kind of like it here. You know, aside from the whole being-fake-married-to-Jane thing," Lisbon admitted.
It was then that Grace noticed the gold band glinting off of Lisbon's left hand. "Wow, they even made you do the wedding ring gambit? That's intense."
Lisbon thought back to when she first told Jane that they had to wear wedding rings. "Yeah, it was intense, especially for Jane."
"Is he okay?" Grace asked sympathetically. "You know, with the whole ring situation?"
"He didn't take his off. We figured no one's going to be looking close enough anyway, and besides, they look pretty similar. I didn't want to force him to take it off if he's not ready."
She smiled. Of course Lisbon would be considerate enough to think of that.
"And tonight we have to go to Albertsons and look as if we belong there. As a married couple, no less," Lisbon finished.
"Boss, it'll be fine. You have to stop thinking of it as work and just have fun. Stay alert, but enjoy yourself. If you look comfortable, you won't stand out as much."
"Enjoy myself?" she repeated incredulously.
"Yeah, think of it like...a date. Imagine like you're going on a date with him. Have some fun, flirt with Jane, do what you need to do to get noticed by James Garrett. As soon as you get an invitation to a fight, your job for the day is over. You don't have to be Agent Lisbon right now, you just get to be Teresa. I mean it, you need to let yourself go sometimes."
A blush crept over Lisbon's face. "Grace, I don't know the first thing about flirting with guys."
"I'm sure you'll figure something out."
They were interrupted by footsteps on the stairs. Jane, looking clean and put together, headed down the steps towards them, finishing the last button on his vest. He looked at the two of them with a warm expression and a twinkle in his eye, and Lisbon couldn't stop herself from noticing the still slightly damp curls framing his face. As much as she would deny gazing at Patrick Jane, she was a woman after all. Sometimes she couldn't help it.
"Grace! Lovely to see you, I didn't know you were stopping by today," Jane said, going straight to the kitchen.
"You would if you looked at the damn schedule," Lisbon muttered. "They've got this whole operation planned out to the letter."
"Excellent, I love a good plan," Jane said, ignoring the snarky comment.
"I can't stay long, but I dropped by to update you on the mission tonight and check up on the security cameras," Van Pelt explained.
"That's nice, but don't you want a cup of tea first? We have plenty," he said.
"Sure."
He ended up making a cup of tea for each of them, ensuring that Lisbon got the fruity kind she liked so much. Jane was never much one for herbal tea, claiming that it tasted too flowery and sweet, but he knew Lisbon enjoyed it so he picked up a box when they were at the store. Grace opted for black tea, so Jane made two cups of that.
"So tell me Grace, how is the team managing without us?" he asked, once they had sat down on the couch.
Van Pelt smirked. It was almost the exact thing Lisbon had asked her earlier. "We're doing fine, missing you both though. It feels weird to not hear Lisbon yelling at you."
"I'm still doing the yelling, you're just too far away to hear it," Lisbon joked.
"Trust me, she wouldn't give up an excuse to yell at me. I thought things were about to go down in the grocery store last night when she was trying to rush me through picking out tea."
"Oh, hush. I was tired and you insisted on spending fifteen freaking minutes staring at boxes of tea."
"It was not fifteen minutes," he protested. "Maybe ten, but that's generous."
"Same difference."
"No, it's not!"
Grace shook her head. Regardless of where they were located, they were still the same Jane and Lisbon. It seemed to her that adding in the fact that they were supposed to be pretending to be married only heightened the banter already present in their working relationship.
"You can't rush tea," Grace said, intervening as the argument started to get out of hand.
Lisbon stared at her and mouthed 'traitor'.
Jane cleaned out their now empty teacups as Lisbon and Van Pelt went to go check on all of the security cameras. She had to make sure that there weren't any blind spots on the outside of the house and didn't exactly trust the job that the security company had done. After all, no kind of security compares to law enforcement security.
After checking the cameras, Grace showed Lisbon how to set up the system so that the view from any of the cameras could be seen from her laptop. Van Pelt had them synced to her phone and her work computer, just so she could keep an eye on the house at all times. It made sense that they were keeping such close watch over the house, but to Lisbon's knowledge, none of the victims were killed at home. But, she supposed, it couldn't hurt to have an extra pair of eyes and ears on the place.
Before long, Grace said her goodbyes, hugging both Jane and Lisbon and heading back to her car for the drive back to Sacramento. After she left, Lisbon became fully aware of the fact that she was going to be stuck with Jane for the rest of that day and the next, because the next team member on the rotation wouldn't be visiting for two days.
Without something to do, Jane was bored out of his mind. Lisbon had been working on miscellaneous tasks from old cases, mostly paperwork and responding to emails, and hadn't been paying much attention to him. After about three hours of her working and ignoring him, he decided enough was enough.
"Lisbon?"
"What do you want, Jane?" she called from her work station at the kitchen table.
"Are you done working yet?"
"Not exactly. This is supposed to be my time to catch up on work."
"Do you want to watch a movie with me?"
"A movie?" she asked skeptically.
"Yeah, you know, moving pictures."
"I know what movies are, Jane," she said, exasperated. She considered taking a break, at the rate she was going, she would be done by the end of the day. Might as well take a break now and just finish it tomorrow. "Sure, I'll watch a movie with you. What were you thinking?"
He scooted over so she had enough room to sit on the couch with him. "I like movies with a plot. Action is fine, as long as it has a story and isn't just a shootout for two hours."
"Okay, that sounds good. What movies get the Jane seal of approval?" she asked.
"Oh, I don't know. What kinds of movies do you like?"
"It has to have action. You don't want me falling asleep, do you?"
He shook his head.
"Okay, so action of some sort," Lisbon continued. "Spy movies are great, I like ones with a bit of suspense."
"Like James Bond spy movies or like Ocean's Eleven spy movies?"
"Either is good, I guess."
"Lisbon, have you ever seen North by Northwest?" he asked.
She considered that for a moment. "No, I don't think so."
"Oh, Lisbon," Jane said, disappointed. "I can't believe that. We have to rectify this immediately, it's a classic."
They had about three hours to kill before they had to leave for Albertsons, so Jane cued up the movie right away. He was right, Lisbon loved it. She was almost biting her nails at the Mount Rushmore scene, to no one's surprise. Lisbon was one of those people who got thoroughly invested in a movie right up until the end.
Jane had seen it a thousand times already, to the point where he almost had the damn thing memorized, so he ended up watching Lisbon more than the movie itself. She had curled up against the side of the couch, legs brought up to her chest. He studied the way her eyelashes fluttered and her eyes widened at a suspenseful part and the way that she watched with an interested gleam in her eye. It seemed she wasn't joking about liking spy movies, because if her reactions were anything to go on, she took in every detail.
After the movie was over, he turned off the TV and Lisbon stretched out lazily on the couch, tugging her shirt down when it rode up.
"As much as I want to stay here all day, we should probably get ready to go," Lisbon said apologetically.
"You're right."
"You okay? You seem a bit distant."
"I'm fine. Listen, I've been thinking," he hesitated. "We're going to have to go out tonight and put on a convincing performance, but you and I have never actually been together. I think the first time you and I kiss should not be in front of an audience, just in case."
"Okay, so we have to be physically affectionate as part of our cover. I don't see what the big deal is, it's not like we haven't kissed other people before."
"But we've never kissed each other."
"So what are you suggesting?" Lisbon asked.
"I'm suggesting that we practice before we go. This has to be right."
Lisbon realized with a pang that Jane probably hadn't kissed anyone since, well, since Angela. They were both adults with different romantic histories, and in the grand scheme of things it probably wasn't that big of a deal, but at that moment she would do anything she could to help alleviate his fears. If that was a practice kiss, then so be it.
"Okay," she agreed. "Let's practice."
Much to her surprise, he pulled her towards him for a hug first, his hands splayed out across her lower back and forcing her body against his in a crushing embrace. Jane let out the breath he had been holding as her heart began to beat twice as fast.
"Whatever happens this week, I don't want to lose you," he whispered in her ear. "Your friendship means too much to me, I don't want it to fall apart over some stupid undercover mission."
"Nothing's going to change," she said, and as soon as the words passed her lips she knew it was a lie. As much as she tried, Lisbon couldn't deny the feelings she had for Jane, and she could only hope that he felt the same way.
"Can I kiss you?"
Lisbon stifled a giggle, feeling for a moment like she was back in high school. "Yes."
He took a deep breath in a last-ditch attempt to calm his shaking hands as he cupped her chin, tilting her face towards him. Lisbon closed the distance between them, sealing her lips to his. For a moment, Jane was so shocked at being this affectionate with Lisbon that he forgot to reciprocate her kiss.
Before long, she pulled away, blushing furiously.
"I'm sorry, I didn't-" she stammered. "I'm just going to go get ready, okay?"
"Lisbon, wait." He caught her by the wrist as she stood up to leave, spinning her to face him. "You didn't do anything wrong. You just surprised me, that's all. It's been a while since I've been kissed, and I'm sorry if it wasn't good for you. Can I try again?"
She nodded mutely, and he touched his lips to hers gently, breaking away to make sure that she really was okay with it. When he saw the look in her eyes, he ducked back down to kiss her again, this time remembering to match her every move.
When she dropped her hands from their defensive stance at her sides, he took the opportunity to gently hold her waist. When he wrapped his arms around her, she twined her arms around his neck, holding him closer.
Breathlessly, he stepped back to admire her. The way her pulse quickened when his lips met hers. Dark locks spilled over her shoulders. Expressive, beautiful green eyes, and a light blush that crept up her neck and settled on her face.
"Okay," she whispered, never breaking eye contact with him. "I think we've got the whole kissing thing down."
"Perfect. Now let's go get ready, with any luck this will be an interesting evening."
"If you do anything, I swear-"
"Relax, Lisbon," he said. "I'm not going to do anything bad. But you know what?"
"What?" she asked skeptically.
"We're going to go and have a good time. For a while, we can forget about the mission as long as we look like we belong. So go put on that dress I know you've been dying to wear, and let's go have some fun, shall we?"
Lisbon turned beet red. "I have not been dying to wear that dress."
"Liar."
"Fine. I got the dress a couple of months ago, just haven't had an excuse to wear it. That doesn't mean I've been dying to wear it," she said.
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks," Jane quipped. "Even the tough, badass Agent Lisbon has a more feminine side."
"Shut up!" she exclaimed, punching him in the shoulder.
Jane was already prepared to leave, the three-piece suit he insisted on wearing daily served nicely as clothes to wear out. Lisbon, on the other hand, had been told that she needed to play it up a little bit and had been instructed to dress up for going out. They wanted to copy the last victims as much as possible, and if that meant forcing Lisbon to wear dresses, well, then that was what it would take.
An hour later they were at Albertsons, pulling up in the parking lot.
"You ready?" he asked.
Lisbon nodded, self-consciously tugging her dress down to cover more of her legs. "Let's do this."
He offered her his arm and kissed her lightly on the forehead, opening the door for the two of them.
When Lisbon had been told that they were going to be infiltrating a gang, she did not expect this. She had been thinking much more along the lines of the rough-and-tumble bikers that they frequently encountered in their cases. But she had been dead wrong.
The building was huge, the main floor serving as a cardroom with a main bar in the back. It was one of those places that technically shouldn't be legal in the state of California but legally wasn't a casino.
Besides, half of these men probably have the money to sue the CBI for everything it owns, she thought to herself as she surveyed the room.
Suddenly, Jane leaned in close and whispered to her, "Calm down. You look too much like a cop."
"I am a cop," she hissed.
"No need to advertise it. Just relax, smile a bit. You look lovely in that dress."
Lisbon had to force a smile as Jane lead her to the bar and ordered their drinks. "Loosen up, be playful. Try to match my energy, okay?"
She frowned. "I don't need your acting tips, Jane."
"Patrick. Here, it's Patrick."
He handed her a glass of scotch. Lisbon decided to listen to his acting tips and she playfully smacked his shoulder and laughed.
"How do you know what I drink?"
"I'm observant. That bottle you think you're hiding in your desk drawer gave it away."
A frown spread across her features. "How did you find it?"
"Really, Teresa? You think I'd be fooled by a couple of files thrown over the top of it?"
"No, I just assumed that as soon as you saw work you'd leave it alone," she said, eyes sparkling dangerously.
"Cute," Jane grumbled, leaning in and kissing her. "Once you're done, it's time to head over to the tables."
She finished her drink and Jane lead her with one hand on her lower back over to one of the poker tables.
"I'm Patrick, and this is my wife, Teresa," he said to the dealer. "We'd like to play if you don't mind."
"I'm sorry sir, the buy-in for this table is one thousand. But you can try one of the tables down there," the man said, pointing to another group by the exit.
Lisbon smiled flirtily. "I think we can swing it, don't you, honey?"
"Teresa, we-"
She tugged on his arm. "Please, love?"
His eyes widened at her insistence and he pulled a wad of cash out of his jacket pocket. "Here you go, sweetheart. Knock 'em dead."
Jane took the opportunity to look around the room for people he recognized from his files. A man at one of the more expensive tables had a similar scar on his forehead to James Garrett, the man who gave out the invites to White Bulls fights. In fact, lots of the men who sat at the heads of the tables looked familiar, and he suspected they were all armed and dangerous.
To Jane's amusement, Lisbon won the hand. She was a much better player than she let on, employing the fake tell to her benefit. They decided to use the winnings to buy in at a more expensive table, and he led her over to James Garrett.
"Hello there," Jane said, shaking the man's hand. "I'm Patrick, and this is Teresa."
"James Garrett," he said, taking a drag off his cigar. "You looking to play?"
Lisbon giggled and clung to Jane's arm. "Looking to win."
"Bold words, little lady."
Jane saw a flash of anger run across her face, quickly concealed by her cover persona.
"My wife here loves the games," Jane explained. "Can't get enough of 'em."
The game started and Lisbon became solely focused on working with the cards in her hand. Garrett was playing as well, but he took the time to effectively study Jane up and down. Jane got the feeling that Garrett was sizing him up.
Lisbon won the hand again, and Garrett fixed her with a gaze of admiration. "Well played, young lady. I'm impressed."
Lisbon grinned and kissed Jane on the cheek. "We won again, love! I want to celebrate! Please, won't you join us for a drink?" she asked, beckoning to Garrett.
"Why not?" the man said, stubbing out his cigar.
They made their way over to the bar again, Jane with his arm slung around Lisbon's waist. Jane realized that now was the time to make a move if he was going to at all tonight. He figured that they were close enough to Garrett at this point to bring something up about gambling. The original plan didn't include them coming back to Albertson's the next night, so it was now or never.
"Deep pockets you got there, son," Garrett said of Jane once they had ordered their drinks. He had gotten a glass of the best whiskey they had.
"Yes, well, my wife's quite the thrill-seeker, aren't you Teresa?" Jane said, pulling her in for a kiss. "This is one of the places where you can have the most fun around here."
"What do you do for a living, Mr. Garrett?" Lisbon asked.
"I'm a communications liaison for a couple of local businesses. I oversee the corporations and stock exchanges. And you?"
"Oh, I'm an administrative assistant and my husband is a psychologist," Lisbon said. They had talked about this beforehand and decided on cover jobs in case anyone asked. At first, Jane had complained about being a fake psychologist, but it was easier to explain that than to have to explain why he could read people so well.
"A psychologist, eh Patrick?" Garrett asked, clapping Jane on the shoulder. "What do you know about me?"
Lisbon noticed the mischievous glint in Jane's eye.
"Well," he began. "I know you're more powerful than you're letting on. It wouldn't surprise me if this cardroom was one of the businesses you work for. In your career, you call all the shots, and no one dares to oppose you. You act more commanding than you actually are, and people fear you because of the influence you have. On a more personal level, I would say you suffer from delusions of grandeur, maybe stemming from some sort of trauma as a child. Perhaps you lost a parent? No, not lost. A parent left you. Am I close?"
The man chuckled. "Unbelievably close."
Lisbon let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. Thankfully Jane had been able to restrain himself and not offend anyone.
"Ah. You're a very private person, Mr. Garrett, I'll give you that. But I'll leave you with one thing. When you were playing poker earlier, I noticed your tell. Before a bluff, your breathing hitches up and you move faster than you do when playing a normal hand. It'll be much more convincing if you employ a fake tell, such as a touch to one earlobe. If the other players are distracted by your fake tell, they won't notice the breathing."
"Patrick, I don't know how you do it. It's been wonderful to meet you," Garrett said, standing up. He moved to kiss Lisbon's hand. "And you too, Teresa. Will I see you around here again?"
"You might," Jane hedged. "Wherever the fun goes, we'll follow. You don't happen to know any other cardrooms around here, do you?"
Garrett looked Jane up and down, his gaze finally settling on his face. "Tell you what, if it's thrills you're looking for, Teresa, I might be able to help you. There's nothing more exciting than gambling on a fight, am I correct?"
"A fight?" she asked, hating how her voice sounded. "How barbaric."
"Oh, it is," Garrett assured her. "And just the place to win big, if you know what I mean. Place your money right and you can go home a winner too."
"Doesn't it sound exciting, Patrick? Can we go?"
"Of course, my love. Where can we find these fights? I assume it's kept on the down-low," Jane said.
He handed Jane a business card. "Call this number, tell them James Garrett sent you. They'll provide you with the date and location of the next fight."
"Excellent." Jane shook his hand. "Mr. Garrett, it's been a pleasure. Good luck in your next poker game."
When they got back to the house, Lisbon was slightly buzzed and giddy with excitement.
"Patrick, that was incredible!" Lisbon exclaimed, perching on one of the kitchen counters.
"My dear, you were incredible. As soon as you loosened up it was like you were a different person."
"Is it bad that I felt like a different person?" she asked. "Not like Lisbon, but getting into the character of Teresa? It's stupid because I am Teresa, but you know what I mean. Oh god, I'm babbling."
He handed her a glass of water. "Drink this. And no, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing. It's good that you're comfortable with the role you have to play. By the way, I didn't make you uncomfortable by touching you so much, did I?"
"Not at all," she said. At first, it had been odd how much he was touching her, but it felt good. If she couldn't have him any other way, at least she could have this.
"It's getting late," he said, looking at his watch. "You should probably get some sleep."
"Aren't you going to sleep too?"
"In a little bit," he reassured her. "I'll come up later, don't worry about me."
If she was being honest, she was really too tired to give any more thought to that promise. Instead, she wished him goodnight and headed upstairs. After washing her face and brushing her teeth and hair, she grabbed her pajamas and slid under the covers, not wanting to wait up for Jane.
