A/N: Just a little warning here, some sexual content towards the end. Next chapter will focus back on the case again.

Chapter 15 – The Dinner

They arrived back at Lisbon's place laden down with bags. Lisbon had stayed in the car while Jane shopped and it looked like he had bought the store.

'I thought you were making me dinner, not a banquet' she teased, placing some bags on the counter.

'Well, you have practically nothing in your cupboards so I thought I'd fill them up for you whilst I was at it' he replied, taking groceries out of bags.

'So, what do you need me to do, I could be your sous chef if you want?'

He held her around her waist and saw the tiredness in her eyes. 'I'll take care of it, why don't you go run a bath for yourself, dinner will be ready in about an hour.'

Lisbon didn't need to be told twice. 'Well, alright then, if you're sure' she replied, kissing him on the lips gently and heading into the bathroom.

Jane got to work on dinner. He found the preparation a good distraction for him than dwelling on the case. He didn't know if Lisbon was right and he was over-reacting but he would make sure he would never be far from her side until this case was solved, no matter what she said.

He was beginning to cook some fish in a pan when Lisbon came back in, looking more refreshed and dressed in a football shirt and white shorts, her hair up in a ponytail and wearing no makeup. He looked around and inaudibly caught his breath, believing he had never seen her look so beautiful, before going back to his fish. She wondered if Patrick Jane was actually tongue tied for a second at the sight of her dressed like this, smiled at the prospect and came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He continued to move the fish with a knife in one hand whilst the other took one of her hands and brought it to his lips.

'Something smells good', she said cheerfully.

'I would say so' he replied, unable to resist her scent any longer. He quickly moved the fish off the heat and swung towards her, enveloping her in an embrace, kissing her passionately and breathing in the smell of eucalyptus and spearmint bubble bath.

She reciprocated, pulling him towards her, their tongues exploring, hungry for each other.

Jane pulled away finally, grinning at her. 'First we eat.'.

Lisbon shrugged and muttered 'Your loss' before sitting down at the table.

Jane dished up and they ate silently for a few moments before Lisbon spoke. 'So do you want to talk some more about the case or leave it until tomorrow?'

'Tomorrow, let's just have a nice night, okay?'

Lisbon nodded, more than satisfied with this after everything that had transpired earlier and continued eating.

'So, I thought you told me once that you would never try to seduce me over a meal?'

Impressed by her memory, Jane replied, 'Is that what I said? Well, who says I am?'

She raised her eyebrows. 'You're not? What a shame.'

'Well, I didn't say that you couldn't seduce me, of course.'

'Oh, I see. Well, I suppose I do have to thank you for that pen later', licking sauce from her lips. Jane grinned in response.

Between mouthfuls she asked, 'This is so good, how did you get to be such a great cook? I can't imagine the Carnie circuit having first class chefs to teach you!'

As he continued eating he replied, 'Glad you approve, you know how it is, you pick things up over time.'

'Not really', she laughed. 'I practically raised my brothers and I still burn toast sometimes.'

He nodded, continuing to eat.

'I'm serious Patrick, where did you learn? I'm curious.'

He looked up at the use of his first name. Second time in two days, she was making progress.

He thought for a second, then replied, 'Angela taught me', continuing to eat.

The mention of her name surprised Lisbon for a second. 'Oh, right. Well she did a fine job.' She put her head down and continued eating.

Jane raised his head and looked at her. 'Do you mind me mentioning her to you?'

Lisbon looked back at him. 'No, of course not, I was just taken aback for a second as you mention her so rarely.'

'Well I made a promise I was going to try to be truthful with you from now on so I'm trying to honour that. Plus, you asked me a direct question.'

She nodded. 'So, how did she learn, after all she was from the Carnie circuit too?'

Jane put down his knife and fork and looked at her. 'Are you sure you want to hear about this?'

Lisbon thought for a second then nodded. 'Yes, I do, if you want to tell me.'

Jane thought for a moment then began.

'Well, as you said she was in the Carnie circuit too so she didn't learn there. After we left and were doing pretty well financially she took some classes and enjoyed them so much she became pretty good.' Lisbon noticed Jane's eyes misting over slightly at the memory and wondered if this was the right conversation to draw him into after all.

He moved in his seat and continued, 'I was out conning some poor suckers a lot of the time back then so I suppose it gave her something to do when I was out of town or away for the evening, before Charlotte came along.' He paused again mentioning his daughter's name then picked himself up and said breezily, 'So that's it really, no big mystery. You know me, I have to know everything so once she perfected a recipe I made her show me how to do it too.'

Lisbon nodded, biting her lip. 'Thanks for telling me.'

Jane looked at her quizzically. 'What is it? Something else on your mind?'

She shook her head and began eating again.

'Teresa, you can ask me anything. If you want me to be honest with you then you at least owe me the same in return.'

She looked up at him. 'It doesn't matter, really, it's not important now anyway.'

He studied her face for what it could be before speaking again. 'You're wondering how I could have fallen in love with her and now fallen in love with you as the two of you seem so different, is that it?'

She nodded.

He smiled again. 'I guess I see why you would think that. One woman was a stay at home mom and the other is a kickass crimefighter.'

Lisbon smiled at his description of her.

He thought for a moment and then tried to explain. 'Teresa, when Angela and I met we were just kids, it was first love for both of us and I guess our shared desire to leave the Carnie life helped that flourish.' He pointed to Lisbon and then himself and added, 'Some would say our shared desire to catch Red John helped our relationship flourish too, just without the sex of course...unfortunately.'

After a moment he continued, 'Anyway, Angela had been the same as me, brought up to work and grift from a young age so when we finally escaped that life we both wanted as normal a one as we could imagine, one with kids and a big house like a lot of people do, I guess. We had travelled all other the country and all we wanted was somewhere we could stop and feel safe.' Jane's eyes grew darker as he spoke the last word and cleared a lump in his throat. He began again, 'You have to remember, Teresa, I was a different person back then, superficial in so many ways and an ego even bigger than the one I have now, if you can believe that.'

'That's hard to believe' she replied, eyebrows raised.

He continued on. 'When I met you I was different naturally, I wasn't attracted to materialistic trappings any longer and obviously I had a guilt and darkness inside of me that wasn't there when Angela was alive. I'm not saying she never saw a bad side to me, after all she knew what I did for a living, but she certainly never saw anything close to how destructive or hurtful I could be that you were witness to many times over the years we've known each other. In fact, even if I had a session with a client back then where I might have felt a twinge of guilt for ripping them off, I normally tried to cover it up in front of her. She saw through it some of the time, of course, and would call me out on it, but not always.'

Jane paused for a second noticing Lisbon's reaction. 'Why are you surprised at that?'

Lisbon replied, 'I don't know, Jane, I always thought that she knew you inside out, I guess, that you were as much an open book to her as I am to you.'

'Does it help knowing that I've always had trouble telling the truth to the people closest to me?'

Lisbon thought for a second then nodded. 'It does, actually.'

'Good. Anyway when I met you the first thing I noticed and liked about you was your compassion. It reminded me of Angela, she had the same trait. I don't know how many days I would come home to find some type of injured animal she had found to care for. But anyway, back to you, sure you tried to hide it behind a grumpy and bossy exterior but I knew it was there in you too, you never would have agreed to work with me in the first place otherwise.'

Lisbon interjected. 'That wasn't my decision, it was Minelli's.'

'You know very well that if you had objected strongly enough he would have backed down and retracted his job offer. I think you knew even then the trouble I would cause you but you still took me on.'

Lisbon thought for a moment, shrugged and nodded.

'As I got to know you better I realised, amongst other qualities, how strong you were, how passionate and how funny you were, especially when you were trying to tell me off. The best times I had at the CBI were the times you were trying to be angry with me' he chuckled.

'I'm glad I gave you so much amusement, you gave me an ulcer.'

Jane grinned and continued. 'Anyway I guess over time you made me want to be a better person, or at least some of the time I wanted to be better, to try and live up to some of your values. You made me re-evaluate some choices I had made, made me focus on cases to give me a purpose beyond the vengeance I needed, trusted my instincts even if you disagreed with them, fixed my mistakes and covered for me on numerous occasions. How could I not fall in love with you after all that?' He stopped and added, 'of course, you're also incredibly beautiful, which doesn't hurt either.'

Lisbon smiled widely now and got up from the table. She had never heard him speak so honestly and openly without some coaxing. She came towards him and took his hand. 'Think it's finally time to thank you for that gift now', pulling him towards the bedroom.

By the time they reached the door, Lisbon had removed Jane's shirt and he her top. They fell onto the bed, laughing as they knocked into the chest of drawers on their way.

'Ouch' groaned Jane.

'Your side again?' Lisbon grinned.

'No, my thigh this time' he moaned.

'Let me help with that' she said, pushing him flat on his back on the bed. She removed his trousers and boxers and began to rub his thigh, moving upwards until she heard him moan gently before her mouth took over, working quickly and proficiently as Jane dug his hands into the bed covers. He was breathing erratically now and reached for her to come up towards him but instead she pushed him back and continued.

'Teresa, please, I can't wait much longer' he pleaded after a short while and she finally stopped, discarding the remainder of her clothes. He pulled her onto him swiftly and flipped her over on the bed, his lips on hers, their tongues probing and before long he let out a satisfied groan. He lay there for a while, breathless, as she watched him, smiling contentedly. He finally spoke. 'If that's what happens when I buy you a pen, I'm glad I didn't buy you something more extravagant, you may have ended up killing me', he said, grinning.