Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, you really inspired me to write this chapter and update as soon as I could. I really like this chapter, but I would love to hear your thoughts. So enjoy! :D

Scarlet Fever

"He wants the killer to believe that it is a regular occurrence when we kiss." Jane said tentatively. Lisbon seemed to fully understand when Jane said this. Her eyes widened slightly in understanding as well as surprise.

"Among other things" Reed said. This caused both Jane and Lisbon's head to whip around, their faces frozen in shock.

"What?" Lisbon asked, trying to understand what he meant, because there was no way he could mean what she thought he meant could he?

"Since it is a honeymoon, and I've already stated that it needs to at least look genuine, you and Mr Jane will have to make it an authentic honeymoon," Reed said.

"You want us to sleep together?" Jane said, quickly regaining his composure.

"Yes, for this operation, it is crucial that you guys sleep together. Newlyweds tend to engage in sexual activities every night, therefore you will too." Reed stated bluntly.

"No. I… NO. That is not happening. I'm not going to have sex with Jane to sell a cover story! Isn't there a rule about that?" Lisbon ranted. She was not going to have sex with Patrick Jane because of a mission. Was that to say that she wouldn't under different circumstances? Well… Wait. She didn't want to sleep with Jane, ever. So she kept telling herself at least.

"The rule is about relationships with other agents, Agent Lisbon. And seeing as Jane is not an agent…." Reed said.

"Is there a problem here?" Agent Gray asked.

"I can't sleep with Jane for this operation." Lisbon said.

"You can, and you will Agent Lisbon. I am your superior in this matter and you will take this as an order." Gray said firmly. "Surely you are able to follow orders?" Gray knew that by questioning the Agent's competency, she was resolving the issue.

"Would sleeping with me really be so bad?" Jane whispered in Lisbon's ear. This caused a shiver to course down her spine, and since Jane was standing right behind her at this point, he didn't miss it. How many times had he dreamed, fantasized of making love to Teresa Lisbon? Too many times to count. But they had both wanted to for the sole purpose of establishing their love for each other, in his dreams. Now, they were being forced into this, they would sleep together for the job and so when they did, it would not be real, it would not count.

xxxx

After Lisbon and Jane had been given all their necessary papers and identification for their mission, they were ushered to the office of Agent Murray. Turns out, Murray and Banks were the ones in charge of their behaviour as newlyweds. It was their job to make sure that Jane and Lisbon were comfortable with being romantic with each other and making it believable.

"I see that you've been informed of some of the more…personal details of the requirements of this operation." Murray stated, grabbing a notebook in order to take some notes. He wanted to make sure to cover everything with these two and make note of their progress, a checklist of sorts.

"You mean the fact that we have to sleep together? Yeah, we've been informed." Lisbon said; she was not happy with this. This was going to be more awkward than a fish out of water.

"Your discomfort is duly noted, my dear Lisbon. Although, it does intrigue me that this bothers you so much." Jane said.

"Well I don't see why you would be so uncomfortable with this," Banks said.

"What?" Lisbon asked. She was a little offended that he would think that she'd have no problem sleeping with Jane for the job.

"Well, aren't you two dating?" Banks asked.

"What? No, why would you think that?" Lisbon said, taken aback.

At this, Banks handed over twenty dollars to Murray, who smiled triumphantly. Murray wrote something down in his notebook reminding him to let everyone else who was betting on Jane and Lisbon's relationship know this new piece of information.

"Now, since you two are not involved in a romantic relationship, this will undoubtedly be a little awkward so we're going to leave for a few minutes, get a cup of coffee, while you two get more… acquainted with each other." Murray said. With that, the two men left the office, leaving Jane and Lisbon in an uncomfortable silence.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Lisbon asked. She hoped that this week would go by fast, but she could tell already that it would be one of the longest weeks since she joined the CBI.

"I think they meant to give us privacy for our 'first kiss', so to speak," Jane responded, shifting his weight from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable. It wasn't that he didn't want to kiss Lisbon, he did very much, but there was no way Lisbon would believe that he meant it. And considering the circumstances, there was no reason to.

"Uh, well then. I guess we should get to it." Lisbon said awkwardly. She had often had fantasies of kissing Jane, but they had never, EVER, included being forced to by her own job. In her fantasies everything was mutual and had gone smoothly, as fantasies usually do. But this would be their first kiss and it was awkward as hell.

Jane could see that Lisbon wasn't going to make the first move and he decided that they couldn't just stare at each other for the entire time that Murray and Banks were gone. He took a few cautious steps until there was barely an arms length between them. He noticed that Lisbon's breathing had quickened and he could practically hear her heart pounding in her chest. He was nervous as well, a million thought running through his head at the speed of light. He was finally going to know what it felt like to kiss Teresa Lisbon. What if she didn't like it? Worse, what if she did? What would they do once this was over? How would they go back to normal after a taste of what could be? How was he going to keep his feelings in check throughout this operation? It had been a long time since either of them had had this form of human contact, what if they had lost their touch? He knew that last one was a little out there but it was the thinking that it had been a long time that had him worried.

He gently raised one of his hands, tucked some of those gorgeous ebony locks behind her ear and rested his hand on her cheek. He stroked her cheekbone with his thumb, trying to sooth her. He very slowly leaned towards her, stretching out the moment for as long as possible. He leaned his forehead against hers, their noses touching but not their lips. Their shallow breaths mixed together, a result of anticipation and years of unresolved sexual tension. Jane looked into her eyes, stalling, and what he found there gave him the courage to seal to gap in between them.

xxxx

Meanwhile, Banks, Murray and Gray were in Hightower's office. Hightower wanted to be filled in on the details of the operation. Gray had given her the case information beforehand but at the time, the operation hadn't been fully put together.

"So Agent Lisbon and Mr Jane will be posing as newlyweds in the hotel and we will have people in various positions keeping them safe. We have someone posing as a waiter in order to keep an eye on them during meal times; someone will be on the activities council to make sure that they are out of harms way during various activities organized by the hotel and someone with room service. Our base will be at one of the hotels that the killer has already hit and that's where we will be monitoring our surveillance." Gray explained.

"Have Agent Lisbon and Mr Jane been told exactly how to manoeuvre themselves in order for it to appear as if they are engaging in sexual intercourse?" Hightower asked. This mission was very important and everything had to go smoothly.

"Er…Well…We only have limited time to put everything in place. There simply is not enough time to train them in that aspect so they are going to actually do it." Agent Gray said awkwardly.

"I somehow doubt that Agent Lisbon would have agreed to that had she known that there was another option," Hightower stated.

"Well, you see, she doesn't know that there is another option. She put up enough fuss as it was and we didn't have the means available to teach them, as everyone was otherwise engaged." Gray said.

"Well then, this should be interesting," Hightower said. "You three may return to your preparations."

When the three agents left, Hightower was deep in thought. She was losing funding everyday; this mission would prove that the Undercover Operations Unit needed said funding, if it was successful at least. She trusted Agent Gray to do her job, and Hightower knew that she would not be disappointed. Agent Gray was very a hard worker and, as this was a male-dominated field, she had worked twice as hard to get where she was. This was something that Agent Gray had in common with Agent Lisbon.

This thought reminded here of the… predicament she had inadvertently put Lisbon in. How could she force Van Pelt and Rigsby to break up or work on different teams when she practically forced Lisbon and Jane into a relationship? The rules were clear; two agents were not allowed to have a romantic relationship if they were on the same team. She then got out her rulebook, to read the exact wording of the rule and as she expected, it did indeed say agents. So, it wasn't technically against the rules…

Oohoohoo! How's that for a bit of suspense. heehee. Let me know your thoughts and PLEASE, if you see mistakes, let me know! :D I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!