Hello there!

I actually didn't plan on writing a sequel to "For What Reason". But Ilovetea kinda made me...in a nice way ;)

That also gives me the chance to thank my guest reviewers (Guest and Ilovetea).

Hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Here you go!

Her disastrous date with Marcus had been a Tuesday. She was still wondering why he'd picked a weekday when he knew they'd have had to work the next morning. If she'd been to propose to someone, she would have picked Friday so she and her fiancé could spend the whole weekend in bed.

Maybe Marcus had thought that she could wear the ring the next day and show it off to all her colleagues.

Lisbon had not thought about Marcus much the last three days, but she had just been shutting down her computer and gathering her things when she had seen him walk into the bullpen.

Her eyes immediately flickered to the exit at the other end of the bullpen, her mind racing to make a flight plan, but then a warm hand landed on her shoulder.

"Don't be so tense," Jane whispered in her ear, but Lisbon could not help her instinct. She at once felt like a herded animal, crowded between Jane behind her and Marcus in front of her.

Marcus seemed not so happy about the situation himself. His eyes darkened momentarily when they fell on Jane, but then they resumed an expression of uncertainty and nervousness.

Lisbon gulped.

"Hey, Teresa," Marcus said, stopping a few feet away from her.

"Hi, Marcus," Lisbon replied, cursing her voice for pitching so high.

An awkward silence settled over them before she got all of her wits back together. "Um…can I help you with something?"

Marcus looked as if he had momentarily forgotten why he had come in the first place and just remembered it. "Oh, no, actually. I just…er…wanted to give you back this."

He held out his hand, holding a black bundle out to her. She recognized it as her jacket. The one she'd left at the restaurant.

"I just thought maybe you'd want it back after your…departure," he added.

Marcus didn't sound mad or angry, as she maybe had expected him to be. Just utterly deflated.

Lisbon hesitated for a few more seconds. Then she said, without looking at the man: "Jane, why don't you go ahead. I'll be there in a few moments."

Jane didn't say anything for a moment, then she saw him nod out of the corner of her eye. "Sure."

He briskly walked past Marcus and out of the bullpen, not taking the elevators but turning to the door that led to the staircase.

Lisbon turned her attention back to Marcus.

"Thank you," she said, then gave him a slightly tense smile and took her jacket out of his hands, hanging it over her arm.

He remained silent.

Sighing, Lisbon looked away, out through the glass walls of the bullpen and into the darkness of the night.

"I'm sorry for just…leaving you there," she said to the emptiness.

She hadn't felt all to sympathetic the day she'd fled the restaurant, still felt more relieved than guilty, but she thought he at least deserved to hear the words.

To her surprise, he chuckled a little. She turned her eyes back on him; saw the sad smile on his face.

"It certainly served to get me the attention of a good two thirds of the female occupants," he said.

Instead of letting the gravity of the situation get to her, she grinned at him. Still, it lingered in the background.

"I hope it wasn't too humiliating."

"They tended to me very well, don't worry. But I think it annoyed their male companions a little. It's a miracle none of them punched me."

Taking a deep breath, she shook her head. "I actually meant what I did."

She bit her lip. "You must be disappointed. I just…I felt cornered."

Rubbing his temple, Marcus sighed and looked at the ground. "Maybe I should have thought it through a little better. But then I think I shouldn't have been too hopeful about a positive answer."

Furrowing her brow, she asked: "Why? You couldn't know I would say –"

She had intended to say You couldn't know I would say no but then she reminded herself that she hadn't said anything at all before…leaving.

So she quickly corrected herself, hoping she didn't blush too furiously. "I mean, you couldn't know I would…run."

Smiling at her, he shook his head a little. "No, I couldn't possibly have foreseen that kind of a response. But I should have known we wouldn't work out."

Her confusion cleared a little. "So you knew I am in love with Jane."

"The guilt every time you talked about him was etched in your face, really. I could see how conflicted you felt for starting a relationship with me while he kept looking like a lost puppy mooning over his owner who's just abandoned by the side of the road."

What was it with all the dog metaphors? Jane, the kicked puppy, Jane, the lost puppy, Jane the abandoned puppy -

Lisbon shook that thought from her mind. "And yet you tried."

Ashamedly, Marcus glanced away again. "Yes. Maybe I thought I could make you forget him. Turns out I never stood a chance. I guess what you have is a bond never to be broken. If that's not true love, I don't know what is."

Biting her lip again, she looked Marcus up and down. "Still, I'm sorry. I should probably thank you, though. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be where I am now. With Jane."

Marcus shrugged. "You're welcome, I guess. You belong with him."

She suppressed her smile only with half success. "What are you going to do now?"

"I accepted the job offer at D.C. I'm already packing my things so I can move next week."

Lisbon grinned at him. "Congratulations, really."

She held out her hand. "It was an honor knowing you, Agent Pike."

He accepted her proffered hand and shook it firmly. "Same goes for you, Agent Lisbon."

They grinned at each other, then Marcus took a few steps backward. "Goodbye, Teresa."

"Bye, Marcus."

She watched him leave the bullpen. When he didn't take the elevators down, but instead went up, she waited until his figure was hidden behind the doors, then hurried towards the staircase and rushed down, striding through the entrance hall and the door to the parking lot. Jane was waiting for her leaning against her SUV.

"You took quite some time," he said, greeting her with a smile.

She responded in kind. "No need to be jealous. Marcus is moving to D.C., so he's not a threat anymore."

Jane gave her a mock frown. "Not anymore? Was he ever?"

Shaking her head, she laughed. "Maybe for a second, but never a serious one, no."

Suddenly turning serious, she looked at him. "He told me he knew we'd never work out because he also knew I am in love with you."

The radiant smile lighting Jane's face up when he pulled her in for a hug was probably the most beautiful she had ever seen on his face.

"Well," he whispered in her ear, "can't say he isn't perceptive, this Pike guy."