Mentalist Just a dance

_I know, it's like ten months after the episode actually aired, and I just pulished a 706 story.. What can I say, I've always been a messy person in my personal life ^^ _

_But, really, I had forgotten I'd written this and I didn't know about fanfiction back then, so, here it is.  
_

_In case you forgot: Violets was the episode where Jane and Lisbon pretended to be a couple of art thieves, and, to our great frustration, where Libson went on her first date with Pike - which I kind of fixed in here :D  
This takes place during the fake party they threw to meet with the actual thief._

_Enjoy!_

**Just a dance**

Damn Jane. Damn him and his stupid con ideas. Damn this stupid dress that made her feel almost as uncomfortable as if she'd been naked. Which was probably the aim of it, right? Jane had just _had_ to find a way to embarrass her in front of the unit that was just getting used to her presence – and vice versa.

Ok no, that wasn't fair. She liked to think she knew the bastard pretty well, and he would never do that to her, not after their talk about him controlling and ruining her life.

She sighed. Because, still, this was showing a _lot_ of skin, and that jackass hadn't even had the decency to show up in person to tell her about it! He'd sent the cute, innocent Wylie instead. Who'd been so excited by the whole thing, she hadn't been able to yell at him. Not that it would've helped, anyway. This was that damn fake psychic's plan after all.

Lisbon tried to stop herself from cursing too much, knowing it would eventually show on her face if she managed to make herself angry enough, and she didn't want anyone, especially Jane, to see her like that. Over the years, she'd learnt that whatever the problem was, anger was no solution at all. It only made him _laugh._ But at the exact moment she formed that thought and was finally able to focus on one of the guest's conversation, she caught Jane's discreet wink in her direction in between all the people in the house.

She gritted her teeth and hid it by smiling to the woman she was talking to, turning a little so she wasn't facing him directly anymore. Of course, the asshole had known exactly what she'd been thinking. As always. She ignored the arrogant smile he threw her when he went upstairs right after the other female agent in their team to keep their, no _his_, plan moving.

000

A few minutes later, Lisbon was at the bar, trying not to look too much like a cop but still worried about what was going on upstairs, when she noticed Kim walking down. She nodded in her direction, conveying everything was going well, and Teresa smiled lightly. She braced herself to react immediately in case she'd hear anything weird but soon saw Jane and Polaski coming back from the bedroom.

The blond man gazed all around the room and when his glance landed on her, she saw something on him, on his face and in his whole body language, that almost made her frown. The smile that curled his lips instantly as he recognized her was sweet, as it always seemed to be lately when it was directed to her, and his eyes were filled with... Relief? That made no sense, he had known she would be here waiting for them to "rope the mark", and she hadn't been the one alone in a dark room with a criminal a few seconds before. Admiration? Well, that dress was definitely suiting, even if it was highly inappropriate. But even though there was no doubt she looked great, it had to be more than that.

She couldn't figure it out, but for some reason that she chose to not investigate, the intensity in his eyes immediately made her heart beat faster. A lot faster. And when he kept holding her gaze, after a few seconds, she felt an odd yet familiar sensation of longing and lust running through her body. Suddenly, all of the sounds around her, the music and the unceasing talking, were reduced to a light humming. His blue eyes were all she could clearly see in this sea of unknown faces. She felt her lips parting and curling a bit at the same time, expressing both her pleasure and surprise at the way he didn't flinch after an abnormally long amount of time, even for the two of them, and the emotion in his glance just got stronger and stronger. And she was too far away to see it clearly, but.. weren't his pupils a little bigger than usual?

That's when Abbott, a few feet away on Lisbon's right, drew Jane's attention away from her by wordlessly asking him if everything had worked out in the last few minutes, and their moment was gone. She shook her head, feeling a little dizzy, and turned back to pick her drink while Jane nodded to his boss. Then while she couldn't see him, he nonchalantly walked over to her, smiling and laughing hypocritically at some people on his way, playing his part as well as ever.

Lisbon couldn't suppress her shudder as he softly put his hand on her back, just above the hip, and had to prevent her eyelids from shutting when she felt his stubble on the skin of her ear, much closer than he should ever have been. She didn't know if she'd be able to take more of that new, charming and well, arousing behavior without reacting to it the way her body was telling her to – by taking him upstairs for a few hours, for example, to get rid of that ridiculous scarf so she could access the buttons of shirt and undo them one by...  
_For Pete's sake, girl, stop dreaming! You're supposed to be a couple, of _course _he's being flirty! It's just a con. Just play it cool and hold on, this torture will be over soon anyway._

"Everything went well up there, Teresa" he whispered, and she had to bit her lips to prevent a moan from escaping at the sensuality of his voice when he said her first name. He felt it, of course, and chuckled. "It's all good, so you can just.. have a glass of Champagne. Relax."

And once more, he had read her like an open book. Which was no surprise: Lisbon had always had issues with hiding her feelings, and she probably looked way more tense than Teresa the art-thief's girlfriend should.  
But, really, _relax_? When she was supposed to play Patrick Jane's fiancée, in front of her coworkers, a known criminal, and a lot of random witnesses? And also, trying not enjoy herself too obviously, or people – including a certain someone right behind her – would definitely notice that she wasn't just faking the feelings she showed for him? Yeah, that would be easy.

She sighed and let her hand run through her hair, on the right side of her head because his face was on the other one.  
"I can't, Jane!" she whispered back, turning to confront his eyes. "We're..."  
She swallowed and couldn't add whatever it was she had planned to about not drinking on duty, when she realized he was still looking at her in that... new, funny way of his that made her knees a little weak.

"_Patrick_", he corrected her with a slightly hoarse voice, and he used her confusion to put a drink in her hand. "I mean, I'm pretty sure we're supposed to know each other on first name basis for this to work..."  
The teasing in his tone was mixed with a much more agressive kind of seduction than their usual banter, and she really didn't know what to think of that hint of nervousness she'd definitely heard. She tried to pretend everything was normal anyway.

"Fine, _Patrick._ I won't drink while on duty, we have to stay alert. And I know you're going to say something about the important part of it all happening tomorrow, not tonight, I still would rather stay sober with... a criminal in the room"_ with you staring at me like I'm your dinner_, was the ending she'd stopped from escaping her lips. She rolled her eyes at him with a lot less heart than she habitually put in the gesture, and he smiled more as he saw it.

She moved to stand at his side to tear herself away from the fire in his eyes and pretended to watch the people enjoying the fake party in their fake house. She did her best not to look his way, and subconsciously obeyed his former order doing so and drinking her full flute of Champagne without noticing it. She was no expert, but it was the best she had ever had.  
Jane pretended to listen to the music too, and smiled to a young woman from afar, but really he kept shoting glances at his partner. She had grown very able to read him as the years had went by, and even though it felt nice to have that feeling that someone, somewhere, really knew who you are, he was relieved. Relieved that she had turned away from him fast enough to miss the opportunity to see how her saying his first name had shaken him to his core.

He forced his grin as one of the few FBI Agents scattered among the civil guests asked Lisbon for a dance, definitely not worried about being on duty if his wavering was anything to go by. She sighed and accepted, probably because she wanted to get away from Jane for a moment, and let him almost push her to the dancefloor. She was playing her consultant's girlfriend,she told herself, so, this dance couldn't lead to anything.  
Well, it looked like Marcus Pike wasn't the only one to have noticed his partner, and the rest of the building had likely not tried anything yet because of Jane. He shouldn't like this idea, but he reallly did. He'd heard the rumors, of course, of him and Teresa being in a relationship, and although he could have made them stop easily, in the last weeks he'd realized.. He'd rather not. Not that he liked people walking around, elaborating hypothesis about his love life. But he had finally had time to analyze his feelings, and he now knew he wanted the rumors to be _true_.  
He shook his head, trying not to glare in the drunk but undeniably handsome man's dancing with his partner's direction, and let a non-FBI guest invite him for a dance as well.

Moments after, as Teresa finally pushed the annoying, inebriated man away from her, the music changed and a slow started, creating a wave of men and women running away from the embarrassment of having no one to dance romantically with. Lisbon, filled with the absurd sensation of living a total cliché, turned around cautiously. And, sure enough, her eyes landed on Jane, standing in the middle of the crowd, ignoring a blonde woman who'd been following him around all night – when he hadn't been near Teresa pretending to be in a relationship with her – and who was now trying to get this dance.

He looked only at Lisbon, taking in the fearful glance she had shot in his direction. He titled his head, not realy sure himself about what he was going to do, but gathered his courage and took a step towards her. She didn't move, and he was thinking about an entertaining way to walk out of the dancefloor without showing his wounded pride, when suddenly, her deer-caught-in-the-headlights look still firmly on her face, she mimicked him. She did more than that, actually, she took the two last steps to close the distance between them and stood right in front of him, their heights difference still noticeable even with the high heels she wore for the night.

Their faces were only a few inches away and the arrogant, charming Patrick Jane felt like he was drowning in the deep greenness of Teresa's irises. He actually stopped breathing there for a moment, before he felt her tiny left hand brushing his shoulder timidly. He took a deep inspiration and put his right hand lightly on her waist, barely touching the soft fabric of her dress, and took her other hand in his left one, again as slightly as he could so he wouldn't frighten her. He smiled a little, overwhelmed by her closeness and the sent of her skin and hair, and when she smiled back they started swaying lazily amidst other couples.

Immediately, she shyly brought her face in the crook of his neck, near her left hand that she moved on his back, unable to bear the remaining distance. She looked at her feet and bit her lip, afraid of his reaction, but then she saw his gaze landing on her mouth and his eyes grew dark as the smile left his face. He imperceptively nodded to let her know he was more than ok with what she was doing, and she felt her heart starting beating again, way too fast. She smiled to herself, proud of her boldness, as she tried to focus on breathing instead of how her temple was leveled with his stubbled cheek, touching it _accidentally_ as they danced – or so she told herself.

But Patrick soon felt his lower abdomen reacting to her body and he almost jerked away, their swaying causing just a little too much friction. This would not make her feel safe, and even though he felt no shame that he wanted her in that sense, he didn't know if she was in the same place. He backed away a little, bringing their joined hands higher involuntarily, only to feel his fears melt away as he found her eyes again. She looked afraid, yes, but also happy, about to cry with emotion, aroused, and like she thought she would wake up from this at any moment all at the same time. He stopped himself from laughing – talk about a moodkiller – at the thought that this was probably exactly what she could see on his features right now, too.  
They kept dancing, letting a little space between their bodies, still incapable of _not_ devouring each other's stare. Patrick smiled at her because he knew she had guessed why he'd needed to be a little less close to her, and her eyes brightened in understanding and shared lust. She chuckled softly.

That sound undid him. How could anyone seriously hope to resist _that_ much sensuality and cuteness all in the same woman? Any judge would declare him innocent, he was sure, as his confidence rebuilt and the hand at her waist moved all the way to the small of her back. She shivered a little as she felt it, then a lot more when he applied pressure up her spine with one of his fingers.

Her cheeks, already pink, got even darker as his lips parted. She looked at them, then back in his sea-colored eyes, putting all of the affection, the desire, and the love she felt for him in hers. She responded to his touch too, by caressing his shoulder through his clothes, to let him know she didn't want him to stop.  
Jane swallowed, a little bemused by how vulnerable she willingly was in that instant, by the silent declaration her beautiful gaze was holding. He turned her hand in his, bringing it closer to his chest and, after clamping it in his much larger palm, he put it just where his heart lay, leaving his on top when he felt her almost recoil in surprise at the gesture. Then she understood: letting her feel the strength and the speed of the beating organ beneath her fingers was his way of telling her, _"__me too_".

Teresa stop breathing as she realized it, and when he saw the turmoil of her emotions, he didn't care about anything else anymore. He firmly pushed with his hand on her back and she almost bumped into him, then groins now touching.  
At that contact, she also let her feelings lead her actions. She closed her eyes, moved her left hand from his back up to his neck and brushed her face against his to finally rest it on his shoulder. His eyebrows rose to his hairline in surprise that she would let go that easily, but he was in no way displeased. They both took a deep, full of the other's fragrance breath in, and Lisbon used one of her knees to part his legs, tangling their limbs together. They couldn't really move anymore in that position, but that didn't occur or matter to either of them.  
Teresa gripped his jacket when she felt his pulse beating harder near her face, not caring that she could rip the fabric, to convey how good she felt in his arms, and he did the same on the back of her dress. They were as close as possible in a public environement and with clothes on, but that didn't stop them from trying to melt against each other anyway.

Lost in the moment, they almost failed to notice when the song ended. The sudden movements around them broke the spell.  
They slowly let go of each other's clothing, and Teresa could not resist brushing her lips against his jaw as she drew her head back from its new favourite place near Patrick's ear. He hummed a little as she did so, the sound so low and so erotic that her heart skipped a beat.

She started walking away reluctantly, backwards, leaving her hand in his until she was really too far to stay with him, and she saw in his now glistening eyes that the loss of her touch was as painful to him as the loss of his was to her.

She finally turned and almost ran to the bar to get as much water as they could supply, while Jane gestured for the DJ to stop the music after that one. The party was over, they had a criminal to catch in the morning.

000

Back at the FBI, agents Pike and Cho were still monitoring the scene in the villa, Wylie asleep with his head on his desk for an hour now, and the cameras had showed them pretty much every possible angle of Jane and Lisbon's dance.

"So. They're not a couple, huh?" Pike said with laughter in his voice.  
Cho didn't need to ask who he was talking about, and his face stayed as emotion-free as usual when he answered "I never said that".  
"True, _you_ didn't" Pike agreed. Then he smiled sadly "I guess some fights are just not worth fighting, especially when you already know the outcome. See you tomorrow, Agent Cho."  
He looked at Wylie and shook his head in a patronizing, but nice manner, and left.

Cho glanced back at the cameras, showing a red-cheeked Lisbon trying to avoid an uncharacteristically gesticulant Jane's gaze – who seemed as much in shock as she did. He let a rare grin take over his face, and woke Wylie up to let him now they were done for the night.

A few minutes later as he reached his car, he texted Rigsby.

"Looks like I'll soon owe you those 100 bucks." He'd never been that happy to lose a bet.

THE END

_Sorry for any mistake._

_Also, that dancing scene was inspired by a famous movie - so if you recognized something, no, you're not crazy._


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