Title: The Art of Seduction
Author: tromana
Rating: T
Characters: Jane/Lisbon, Team
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: Lisbon was so used to focusing one hundred percent on the job that she just wasn't used to flirtation or the mere concept of being seduced. Jane/Lisbon
Notes: Jello-Forever Secret Santa Gift for the super lovely Ebony10, who asked for "Jane is ready for a relationship with Lisbon, but she keeps missing the hints."

Part One - Softly Does It

Sometimes, it's the strangest of things that give you a kick up the backside.

For Jane, it was overhearing Cho's sardonic comment to Rigsby: "You're gonna die alone."

A year ago, six months even, that wouldn't have bothered him so much. In fact, as long as he took down Red John with him, the sooner he died, the better. That would mean he would no longer be suffering in this half-life, trapped in a horrific kind of limbo between the living and the dead. Theoretically alive, his brain still active and heart still beating, but frozen. Not wanting to live, not feeling any emotions other than guilt, anger and rage. Not wanting to feel any emotions other than guilt, anger and rage.

He hadn't counted on a little, dark haired senior agent, however. And she'd managed to worm her way into his affections without either of them quite realizing it. Not only that, but he found himself liking their flirtatious banter and slowly, but surely, discovering that he had the desire to actually act upon it, too. Of course, Cho had helped too, but Jane was not about to give him any credit for it. He doesn't want to feed his ego; Jane knows how dangerous that can be all too well.

Still, this was going to take a lot of consideration, of course. Teresa Lisbon wasn't just any woman. She was, well, she was Lisbon.

But then again, if Rigsby, of all people, could finally get his girl, then there was absolutely no reason why he couldn't too. That's not to say that Rigsby was completely useless when it came to women, just a little clumsy with his emotions, so to speak.

Jane smiled brightly as she stomped out of her office and into the bullpen, a manila folder emblazoned with the CBI logo in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other. When he managed to catch her gaze, Lisbon simply frowned in response and wordlessly beckoned her team around her. Usually, he'd just prop himself up on his couch, only listening to every third word or so - knowing that that is usually enough for him to get the gist of whatever the new case is about. She didn't say anything about it when he approached her along with the others and perched himself on the corner of Rigsby's desk, but she didn't need to. The crease between her eyebrows deepened a little in her confusion as she outlined the details she had just received.

"Family reunions," Rigsby suddenly spluttered and Lisbon gazed at him quizzically. "I hate family reunions."

Jane had to hide his smirk as the rest of the team portrayed a variety of emotions in response to Rigsby's sudden outburst. Van Pelt couldn't look more aghast even if she tried and even Cho was doing a very good impression of looking distinctly unimpressed. Lisbon couldn't help but think he had a point though. After all, they were usually more chaotic than relaxing, falsified and forced than honest, and the majority of people generally had things to do and better places to be. Or, that was her experience of them at the very least. Maybe Cho and Van Pelt, who she knew were both very close to their families, had had a far better experience of them than she did. But then again, at times, she did still wish she had her parents to go home to during holidays and brothers who actually cared enough about what she was doing to invite her home every so often. Instead, she was alone, which was alright most of the time. But still, there were times…

"Anyway," she continued, trying to quickly regain some control of the situation. "Regardless of Rigsby's opinion of family reunions, it appears that we're gate crashing one."

Five minutes later, Jane was safely buckled inside the van with Lisbon in the driver's seat. Due to his complete abhorrence of family gatherings, Rigsby had opted to stay behind, allowing Van Pelt and Cho to travel in the other car. Lisbon sighed; this was going to be a long day and it didn't help that Jane was grinning goofily at her. As she drove, surprisingly in silence for a change, she decided that if she wasn't already perpetually suspicious of Jane, this would have been one of those situations that would have made her decide at least to be somewhat concerned. There was no reason for him to be acting so out of character and Lisbon was at least ninety five percent certain that she couldn't blame 'something in the air'. And that was even though she was already fairly sure that something was going on between Rigsby and Van Pelt. She'd already decided that she was going to play the deniability card with that one for as long as feasibly possible.

That still didn't explain Jane's personality transplant though.

The local PD had done a marvelous job at actually managing to keep the family together and that was in spite of the fact that the fuming mother of the deceased having suddenly decided to make an appearance. Lisbon sighed; it was a small town and news traveled fast. As the four of them walked into the hall the gossiping and whispers about whether or not it was suicide or murder and if it was murder, who had killed the boy, slowly ebbed away. It was as if the family could tell that the 'big guys' had just descended on the scene and that now it was time to behave. Lisbon glanced to her right; Jane was wringing his hands together in an expectant fashion. Eventually, she beckoned a hapless-looking local officer towards her and nervously, he approached.

"You are?"

"Pieterson, ma'am," he spluttered. "Joseph Pieterson. You're Agent Lisbon, aren't you?"

Lisbon raised an eyebrow as the young lad, barely out of his teens, pointed at each of the other three in turn and named them too. Eventually, after Pieterson has calmed down somewhat, she instructed Van Pelt and Cho to start gathering information from those in attendance, while she and Jane went to see the body. As the words toppled out of her mouth, two women, one a red head, the other a brunette, both with equally fierce looks in their eyes approached her and both obviously fuming.

"He is not just a body," one hissed.

"He's my son."

"He's mine," the brunette interrupted indignantly, her dark curls bouncing as she did. "I brought him up when you ran off with your millionaire boyfriend."

"I…"

Cho, having spotted the incident from across the room, swiftly intervened, allowing them to finally be free to actually assess what they were dealing with. As they disappeared into the bathroom, they were soon greeted with a pallid corpse. Luke Sayers appeared to have fallen out of his wheelchair as he had slipped into a hypoglycemic coma. Though he had seen the body before, being the first officer on the scene, Pieterson didn't seem to get particularly close to the body. Jane and Lisbon, however, unperturbed by the scene, both approached the dead teen, crouching beside him as if he were nothing more than a wooden log that had just been dropped in the men's bathroom for some unfathomable reason.

"He's overdosed with insulin," Pieterson muttered from the doorframe.

"Quick death then," Lisbon mused out loud. "How likely is it that it was a suicide?"

"Not possible," Jane stated. "How'd he get his needle all the way over onto the sink basin before he collapsed?"

"Good point."

"Lisbon?"

"What?"

"There's a tissue… I doubt it's his."

"Pick it…" Lisbon stopped, realizing that Jane, yet again hadn't bothered with latex gloves. "Oh for heaven's sake."

Elbowing him out of the way, she picked up the piece of tissue and placed it in an evidence bag. The blond, however, immediately knew that he hadn't ever been quite so pleased before in his life to receive an elbow in the kidneys and only took a couple of steps to get out of her way. Jane split his concentration between watching Lisbon with interest and taking another quick glance at the dead body. After all, if he didn't at least try and do his job properly, then she wouldn't be best pleased. And that would make things all the more difficult for him. He stepped out of her way two seconds too slow as she went to pick up the needle as well.

"Whoever did this to him knew what they were doing," Jane added.

"How so?" she asked, somewhat distractedly.

"They could find the vein with ease; they didn't mess up the injection."

"So medical staff, then?"

"Or family who have been trained to do so in case of emergency."

"Lisbon?"

"What now Jane?" she sighed; the man was being particularly insufferable.

"Doing anything interesting tomorrow?"

"Yup."

"Okay," he replied, pausing until curiosity got the better of him. "What?"

"The case, Jane. The case. It's what I do, isn't it?"

Jane could only gape in response as the petite brunette stalked off, Pieterson chasing after her like some kind of groupie.

Well, that went well.

He was Patrick Jane, expert of examination and master of manipulation. Yet, he couldn't do something as simple as ask a woman on a date. This was beyond a joke. His skills were either becoming a little rusty, something which he highly doubted or, Lisbon was just plain ignorant to his efforts. Yes, that had to be it. She was so used to focusing one hundred percent on the job that she just wasn't used to flirtation or the mere concept of being seduced. She'd just completely forgotten the whole notion of it.

And he had to change that or his name wasn't Patrick Jane.

TBC...