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It was early in the afternoon one day in September, and Lisbon found herself sitting alone in her office, working on forms. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, especially with a certain Patrick Jane working on her team, and he usually caused her to do more paperwork than he helped with. All part of the job, she reminded herself as she filled out yet another complaint report.
They had just closed a case that they had been working on for over a week, a particularly tricky double homicide where the victims were found in a room with all the doors locked from the inside. Jane had done his usual tricks, and ended up with a whole log of complaints against him, so as usual, she found herself cleaning up his mess.
It was a gorgeous autumn afternoon in Sacramento, though, and Lisbon was irked by the fact that she was stuck inside doing paperwork instead of out enjoying the sunshine. She resolved that she would maybe go for a walk when she went home, maybe eat outside in a park. The thought of feeling the sun and a cool breeze on her skin got her through the day.
A knock sounded on the door of her office, and speak of the devil, Patrick Jane let himself in, flopping down on her couch.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Paperwork.”
“I can see that,” Jane said in annoyance. “What specifically?”
Lisbon rolled her eyes. “I’m filling out your complaint forms.”
“Oh, those? You know the old bag didn’t mean anything by them, Lisbon,” Jane protested.
She had to admit that he was probably right. No matter how many of these complaints Jane had lodged against him, Bertram never took action. Jane was the CBI’s golden boy, after all, and there was nothing anyone could say or do that would provoke anyone to fire him. He was too important and he closed too many cases.
“Yeah, well, even so, it’s my job to send them off to Bertram,” Lisbon said with an air of finality.
He laid back down on the sofa and closed his eyes, prepared to take a nap. Lisbon finished her case report and sent it off to her supervisor, grabbed her jacket and laptop, and woke Jane up.
The rest of the team had left an hour ago. Lisbon sent them home early as a reward for a job well done, and she knew that they greatly appreciated it. It had been a while since they had last had a break, the influx of cases every day taking a toll on the amount of time they had in their personal lives. Lisbon noticed that Rigsby and Van Pelt had been in an especially big hurry to get out the door that day, and she mutely wondered if something was going on between them.
It had been a week since the fundraising event that changed Lisbon and Jane’s dynamic. They weren’t exactly dating per se, but very aware of the feelings and intentions toward each other. Lisbon almost wished that Jane would just hurry up and make it official so that she didn’t have to feel like she was walking on eggshells around him all the time.
At the party, he had told her he loved her and kissed her several times. Nothing went any further than that, as neither of them felt entirely comfortable discussing their future. However, Jane had spent much of his time finding excuses to be around her, and it wasn’t as if her romantic feelings toward him had diminished at all. She resolved that if he didn’t make a move by the end of the week, she would take matters into her own hands.
Jane followed Lisbon like a lost puppy to the end of the hallway, where he watched her get into the elevator, but before the doors could close, he stuck a hand in to stop them.
“Ah, Lisbon, I had a question for you,” he said. “Do you have any plans for tonight?”
Momentarily, she was taken aback but quickly regained her cool.
“Nothing really. I was going to go for a walk, you’re welcome to join me.”
“I’d love to,” Jane said, surprised. “I was also going to mention that we’re supposed to meet the rest of the team at the West Wind theater tonight.”
“A drive-in?” Lisbon asked suspiciously.
“Yes. It was my idea. September’s the perfect time to go, the weather’s great and the company’s better,” Jane joked.
Lisbon elbowed him in the gut.
“The company’s better when she’s not doing you bodily harm,” Jane amended.
“And everyone agreed to this?” Lisbon wondered dubiously.
“Yep. Everyone’s pretty excited, even Cho. He’d never admit it, but he loves a good movie.”
“Huh.”
For once in her life, Lisbon had to agree. Jane was right, it was the perfect night for something like this. Besides, usually, she wasn’t even out of the office at that time, so why not enjoy herself? Lisbon tried to convince herself that she was only going for fun, and not because she would be in such close proximity to Jane.
He walked with her out to the parking lot.
“So, will you come with us?” Jane asked hopefully.
“Sure,” Lisbon agreed, her voice rising a bit. “I still want to get some exercise first though, do you want to go for a walk?”
Jane accompanied her to a park near her apartment, and they set out to walk the paths. Lisbon enjoyed being outside of her own volition much more than she enjoyed having to be outside at a crime scene. She inhaled deeply, breathing in the early autumn chill.
She was slightly surprised at how jovial Jane was. Lisbon had thought it would be awkward for the whole walk, but instead, he regaled her with carnie stories. It shouldn’t have surprised her, but he used to get into a lot of trouble. Not legal trouble, but more of the practical joke type.
“But it wasn’t my fault, Lisbon, really,” he protested as he started a story involving a popcorn booth and some very poorly placed flash paper.
“Well, what did you think was going to happen?” Lisbon asked, trying very hard not to laugh.
“Flash paper doesn’t usually burn that way,” he explained seriously. “It’s the oldest trick in the book. The paper is thin and covered in an accelerant, so you light it up and it’s gone in a flash, hence the name. But this specific piece had gotten a little bit wet, and I was amusing some of the customers while we were waiting for another batch of popcorn, and when I dropped the paper, it was supposed to have burnt up, but instead, it just fell into one of the open tubs of kernels. Needless to say, the popcorn popped a lot faster after that.”
Lisbon laughed. He loved hearing her laugh, it was so rare that whenever it did happen, he took a minute to file the sound away in the ‘Teresa Lisbon’ section of his memory palace. She was so beautiful when she let her guard down, and Jane intended to make the most of every second of it.
“I thought you were a professional at tricks like that!”
“Even the best have to learn at some point,” he said wisely.
They had walked the perimeter of the park twice, and when they came back to the entrance Lisbon noticed the time. An hour had flown by without either of them noticing, and they had one hour until they were supposed to meet the team. Jane had left his car in the CBI lot, having opted instead to ride in Lisbon’s car.
They ended up walking back to her apartment, and she let herself in, sidestepping the box of recycling that she had meant to take out that morning. Jane immediately went to her little kitchen and got out all of the things he needed to make tea.
“I’m going to run up and change real quick, okay?”
“Sure,” Jane replied casually, heating up a pot of water.
After she had gone, he sat down at her table and allowed himself to sort out his thoughts. He was in love with Lisbon, he had made that clear enough when he kissed her at the dance a week ago.
She had never said it back, but Jane didn’t expect her to. Lisbon had too many carefully built walls for them to just come tumbling down with three words. To Jane, Lisbon was and always would be a bit of a mystery. His gift in reading people came in handy for the superficial things, but every time he tried to get a good read on her emotions, he came up empty-handed.
As the kettle whistled, Jane stood up and poured two cups of tea.
It had taken him a long time to move on from his past, a sort of an odd redemption. They would always be a part of him, of his story, but he knew that it was okay for him to experience emotions for someone else. That it was okay to fall in love again.
He wanted to do the right thing, make everything between them official, but he was scared. Patrick Jane would never admit it to the world, but he was afraid that Lisbon would change her mind or reject him. His love for her ran so deep, shouldn’t that be enough?
He was drawn out of his thoughts by Lisbon appearing next to him in the kitchen. She had changed into a pair of jeans and one of her typical solid-colored shirts, this one in green. Jane handed her one of the cups of tea and she took it gratefully.
“What movie are they playing tonight?” Lisbon asked, taking a sip of the warm drink. He had made it just the way she liked it.
Jane hummed. “It’s a double feature. First movie is Ghostbusters, the second one is The Conjuring.”
“Why would they show a horror movie when there could be kids?”
“Ah Lisbon, everyone knows the kids don’t stay awake long enough for both. Even if it wasn’t nearly Halloween, the first movie is usually a family one and the second is for a more mature crowd,” Jane explained.
“I’ve never been to a drive-in theater,” Lisbon admitted.
“It’s the principle of the thing. You have to cater to both families and adults. You’ve never been?”
Lisbon shook her head. “Never had enough time. We didn’t go when I was a kid, and I guess I assumed these kinds of things weren’t around anymore.”
“Never assume that something as entertaining as this could be obsolete,” Jane chided.
“Point taken.”
Jane took her empty mug from her and washed it out, leaving it upside down on the rack to dry. Lisbon grabbed her coat, and they left, locking the door behind them.
_
Cho ended up at the theater around the same time that Rigsby and Van Pelt did. Upon seeing them together, he shook his head. In his opinion, movies were a thing to be enjoyed, not something to use as an excuse to cuddle up with a boyfriend or girlfriend.
Nevertheless, he was happy that Rigsby had finally made a move. It was partly because now he wouldn’t have to put up with the ever-present pining, and partly because he thought they made a genuinely good couple. No one knew it, but he was a bit of a romantic at heart.
Now if only Jane and Lisbon would finally get their act together.
“Hey, Cho,” Rigsby greeted, one arm slung around Van Pelt’s waist.
“Hey. Jane and the boss here yet?”
“Nope,” Grace replied. “I’m not entirely sure Jane even asked Lisbon about this when he asked up, I’m pretty sure he’s just going to drag her here against her will.”
Cho almost smiled. It was just too easy. “Are you guys gonna stay for both movies?” he asked.
“Probably,” Rigsby said, at the same time Grace said, “I hope not.”
They exchanged a look. Cho assumed that they hadn’t discussed it at all beforehand, and neither wanted to let the other down by asking to stay or asking to leave.
“You like horror movies?” Cho asked Van Pelt.
“Not especially. Blood and guts in movies don’t really bother me, but monsters and haunted things...ugh. Just gives me the creeps,” she answered.
“You believe in ghosts, don’t you?” Cho asked, at which Rigsby looked amused.
“Like I said, I believe the spirit transcends death. Whether or not you want to call that a ghost is up to you,” she said in annoyance. “And if I recall correctly, aren’t you the one who believes in witchcraft, Cho?”
“Regardless of whether or not I believe in it, it’s better to just not get involved,” Cho said in a clipped tone.
“I’m sure Tamsin Dove used her witchy powers to sense your fear,” Rigsby teased.
“Not funny.”
“That means he believes in it!” Rigsby crowed.
“Come on, Wayne, leave him alone. You’re scared of things too,” Grace said.
“No, I’m not!”
“Sure you are. C’mon, I dare you to tell me one thing you’re afraid of,” she said playfully.
“Fine.”
Cho sat forward. This might at least give him enough ammunition to get back at Rigsby for the witchcraft comment.
“I’m afraid of bats,” Rigsby relented. “Maybe fear isn’t the right word, but they’re just really ominous.”
Van Pelt giggled.
“Who wouldn’t be afraid of what’s basically a flying rat?” he asked, desperate to redeem himself.
“I hate rats,” Grace agreed. “But bats are fine as long as they keep their distance.”
“What’s so bad about rats? They’re annoying, but that’s why pest control exists,” Cho argued.
“They hide out in dark places and infest your house. Also, they’re super ugly looking and they’ve got little beady eyes, and they carry all sorts of diseases!” Grace cried.
“So now you can imagine why I don’t like bats. It’s all that nastiness rolled into a package deal with a pair of wings,” Rigsby continued.
Cho sat back, a slight smile on his face. He was sure to use Rigsby’s bat phobia against him at some point.
Rigsby and Van Pelt made their way over to the concession stand, no doubt in search of something for Rigsby to munch on. Not long after, Lisbon’s SUV pulled into the space next to Cho’s car.
“Hey, Cho,” Lisbon said happily as she got out of the car.
“My man, Cho,” Jane said by way of greeting, hopping out of the passenger’s seat.
“So you convinced her to go?” Cho asked.
“Yup,” Jane replied, popping the ‘p’ at the end of the word. “We decided to take one car. It’s cheaper that way.”
Cho indicated the building at the top of the hill. “Rigsby and Van Pelt are in search of snacks.”
“No kidding,” Lisbon muttered.
“So, are you planning on staying the whole time?” Jane asked casually.
“For sure.”
Jane shot Lisbon a look, one that clearly read, ‘I told you so”.
“Lisbon’s never been to a drive-in,” Jane said, trying to engage Cho in conversation. “She’s definitely going to stay for both.”
“I never said that!” Lisbon protested.
“Meh. I convinced you to go somewhere other than your apartment or the office, so you might as well make the most of it,” Jane teased.
“I go places!”
“No, you don’t. I hardly see you go anywhere other than work and home.”
“Well, maybe I just don’t go places with you.”
“Then who do you go places with?”
“Oh hush,” she said, smacking him on the arm.
Just like at the office, Cho thought. It was never any different with these two. Idly he wondered when they’d get their act together and go out already. The tension was always palpable whenever they were in the room.
“You’re staying,” Jane said with finality. “I want to see how you react to a horror movie.”
“We see gore every day at work. How is this any different?”
“You’ve never watched a horror movie?” Cho asked.
“I don’t exactly have an abundance of time,” Lisbon said slowly.
“They’re good,” Cho said simply.
“Aha! I had you pegged for a movie buff, didn’t I, Lisbon?” Jane said.
“Ignore him,” she apologized. “Yeah, I’ve seen your typical ‘teen witches’ type movies from when I was younger, but I’ve never actually seen a real horror movie.”
“Of course you liked those kinds of movies. They’re kind of stereotypical, don’t you think? A group of teen girls conduct rituals together and cast spells on their classmates, but they get a little too power-hungry and things go wrong. Predictable,” Jane declared.
“It was a good movie!”
“Meh.”
“It was!” she protested.
“It’s different because there’s more to it than blood,” Cho said in response to her earlier question. “They use the beginning of the movie to build up, and the rest to just scare you.”
“Hey, Lisbon!” Van Pelt called from further up the hill. “So you managed to drag our fearless boss out here to watch a horror movie, Jane?”
“Better watch out or the ghosts are gonna get you,” Rigsby advised, earning a slap to the arm from Grace.
“I thought it would be a nice break from work,” Lisbon said lamely. She couldn’t exactly tell them that she only agreed to go as an excuse to be around Jane outside of the office.
“I see you’ve already found the popcorn. Lisbon, what do you say we go get some?” Jane said, pulling her away from the group.
Cho turned to Rigsby. “Ten bucks says they’ll be cuddled up with each other before the end of the movie.”
“Lisbon and Jane?” Rigsby asked incredulously. “You think they’re, uh, you know...”
“Come on Wayne, haven’t you noticed?” Grace asked.
“Noticed what?” He was genuinely confused.
Grace rolled her eyes. “Seriously?”
“Ever since that fundraiser last week, the two of them have been hanging around each other like monkeys,” Cho explained.
“It was happening before that, too,” Grace chimed in.
Rigsby’s face reddened considerably. “No, I uh, didn’t notice. But now that you point it out, I’ll take the bet.”
“You’re on.”
Jane and Lisbon had gone up to the concession stand in search of popcorn and movie candy. He stood close enough behind her that she could feel his breath on her neck. She shivered involuntarily, mentally cursing herself for doing so. Lisbon was almost certain Jane had noticed because he stepped closer and threw an arm over her shoulder.
“What’ll it be, Lisbon?” he asked loudly, gesturing towards the concessions.
“Popcorn for sure. And Junior Mints,” she added as an afterthought.
Jane purchased both items and handed them to her. “No movie is complete without Junior Mints,” he agreed.
The trailers had started by the time they made it back to the group. Rigsby was sitting on a picnic blanket, propped up against the side of the car with Grace leaning against him. Cho sat in the open trunk of his car, trying very hard not to stare at Rigsby. He knew that his relationship with Grace wasn’t allowed, and he was sitting like that with his boss around? Bold.
Cho seemed very interested in his soda, hardly looking up as Jane popped the trunk of Lisbon’s SUV and climbed in. She had backed in so that the trunk was facing the screen, and they settled in to watch the movie.
Jane’s arm was entirely too close, Lisbon decided. About half an hour through the first movie, she nudged him.
“What?” he whispered.
“Move your arm.”
“Well excuse me, Lisbon, the trunk of this car isn’t that big.”
“Surely there’s somewhere else you can put your arm!” Lisbon hissed.
The next thing she knew, Jane’s arm was around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. She squeaked a little, causing Jane to shake with laughter.
“Is that better, my dear?” he asked sarcastically.
“No!” Lisbon squirmed out of his grasp. “If you don’t quit it, I’m going to go sit with Cho.”
“Quit what? You asked me to move my arm, so I did. Now don’t complain.”
Lisbon scooted to the other side of the car, as far away from Jane as she could get. The movie was entertaining, now if she could just get Jane to not embarrass her for the rest of the night. She blushed, positive that Jane noticed in the low light.
For the rest of the first movie, he was on his best behavior. He stayed further away from her and didn’t provide the usual distracting commentary on the movie. Jane was one of those people who would talk their way through a movie because the plot wasn’t engaging enough, and Lisbon found it frustrating to no end. But this time, he didn’t say a word, only looked over to watch the way her eyes shone in the light.
Inevitably, the first movie ended and Lisbon began to mentally prepare herself for the worst. She knew that if she showed any sign of getting scared, Jane would tease her about it for weeks. She got enough grief from him as it was, and didn’t want to give him any more ammunition.
He poked her in the side. “You ready for the main event?”
“Bring it on,” she said with more confidence than she felt.
Jane would never let on that he didn’t enjoy horror movies much either, but that didn’t stop the rush of giddy excitement at the prospect of seeing Lisbon’s reaction to the movie. It was more about her than anything, and he was even more interested in the way her eyes followed the picture than the movie itself.
Before it started, Lisbon got up to grab a couple of water bottles from the concession stand. Faint snippets of Rigsby and Van Pelt’s conversation drifted to where Jane sat.
“...she’s going to be scared and not tell anyone…”
“I bet she secretly hates these movies…”
He grinned as he realized they were talking about Lisbon. Grace was probably right, she would be scared and just not let on that she was. Ah, well. If she didn’t jump at least a little bit, Jane vowed to lunge over at her, just to see her reaction.
Back in time, Lisbon silently handed him a bottle of water and resigned herself to her fate. Being scared for fun wasn’t her thing, but it was better to play the part of the unfazed boss than the chicken who would rather go home. Jane’s intense mood wasn’t helping any, he kept looking over at her as if to catch even the slightest glimpse of fear on her face.
The movie began, Lisbon sitting tensely up against the side console in the car. She considered moving closer to him for comfort but decided to sacrifice her sanity for her dignity.
Jane looked mildly uncomfortable too, the jump scares getting to him most of the time. After Lisbon passed through one of the scariest scenes with almost no visible reaction, he decided to put his play in motion.
He quickly leaned over to where she was sitting, placing a hand to each of her sides.
“Boo!” he whispered in her ear.
Lisbon jumped sky high, all the tension that had built up throughout the movie exploding at once. Before she could rationalize what she was doing, her fist came up almost of its own volition. There was an audible “crack” as it made contact with what she could only figure was Jane’s face.
“Ow!” Jane whisper-yelled. “Assault!”
Her eyes went wide. “Oh my god, Jane. You can’t do that to someone!”
He had both hands over his nose. “It was just a joke, Lisbon. No need to get violent.”
At this point, Rigsby had stood up to see what was the matter with Jane. His hands were on his face, obstructing most of it from view. Lisbon was sitting opposite him with a shocked expression on her face.
“Uh, Jane? You okay?” Rigsby asked.
“I’m fine,” he said. “Lisbon here has better reflexes than we give her credit for. I scared her, and she punched me in the nose.”
“Turnabout is fair play, Jane,” Lisbon argued.
Rigsby just stifled a laugh and went back to his seat.
Lisbon moved over closer to Jane and he pulled her to him. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for hitting you. I really didn’t mean to do that.”
“It’s fine. I shouldn’t have scared you.”
She sighed, keeping a wary eye on the screen. “I hope you learned something from this.”
“I learned to never purposefully scare you again, or else I might end up with a broken nose.”
“Right.”
“But I also learned that you look hilarious when you’re scared of something.”
She smacked him.
“Woman, will you stop hitting me?” Jane pleaded.
“Only if you don’t ever make me watch a horror movie again. Deal?”
“Deal.”
Lisbon reclined against Jane, her head resting on his chest. They finished out the rest of the movie like that, a solid but not unpredictable ending. Jane and Lisbon were getting up to leave, but not before Cho caught a glimpse of them sitting close together in the car.
He let a tiny smile creep over his face.
“Rigsby?”
“Yeah?”
“You owe me ten dollars.”