"She's not here, man."

Call it a sixth sense, but Cho didn't even need to look up from his desk to know that Marcus Pike was lurking in front of him.

"Do you know where she is?" Pike asked.

"Lunch."

"Do you know when she'll be back?"

Cho looked up at the latest question. "How long's a piece of string?"

Pike looked at a loose end for a moment before he glanced towards the couch.

"Jane?"

"Lunch."

Cho knew that Pike was putting two and two together and coming up with five, but he couldn't bring himself to care enough to correct his assumption that Lisbon and Jane were together.

Some people had work to do - though obviously Pike wasn't one of them.

Neither was Jane, come to think of it, but when was he ever?

He had plenty of work to do, though, and the last thing he needed was to get lost in the Bermuda triangle that was Pike, Lisbon and Jane.

Cho looked up again.

Pike hadn't made a move. He looked to be weighing over the possibilities in his mind.

"I'm going to head out for coffee," he said eventually.

"Tell Teresa.. actually don't… I'll call her later."

Cho shook his head as he watched Pike walk away.

Yep. The man definitely had too much time on his hands.

"Hey, what's happening?"

Cho sighed. "Work. You know, that thing most of us do at least between 9 and 5."

Jane grinned. "Someone's crankier than usual today."

Cho turned to watch his blond friend slump into the couch by the window.

"Not really," he replied. "I will be if I keep having to run interference for you though."

Jane raised an eyebrow, "Do tell…"

"Pike."

Jane made a sound somewhere between a grunt and a snort.

"And there's the reaction I was expecting," Cho mumbled.

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning you don't like him."

Jane rolled his eyes, "I hardly know him."

"Since when has that stopped you?" Cho asked. "Bottom line Pike likes Lisbon, ergo Jane hates Pike."

"Come now, Cho. Hate's a strong word. Let's settle for 'dislikes intensely'."

"You say potato…" Cho muttered under his breath.

"There's something not right with a man who's so confident," Jane continued.

"Unless that man's you?"

Cho didn't expect an answer and didn't receive one.

"In case you see him later, he thinks you were out to lunch with Lisbon."

Jane rubbed his hands together. "Excellent. Nice work, Cho."

"No work. He assumed. I'm not getting involved in this soap opera so I didn't correct him."

Jane relaxed into his couch. "This isn't serious, you know."

"If you say so," Cho responded.

"She's not the type to be taken in by someone so blatant in his motives."

"You mean, someone who actually pays her a compliment every now and then? Gee, she must hate that," Cho deadpanned.

"She'll be back to beer and pizza with us in no time, you'll see," Jane sounded as though he was trying to convince himself.

"Not unless she's given a reason to."

"What does that mean?" Jane snapped.

"I think you know what it means," Cho said with a sigh. "If you can't figure it out, talk to Rigsby. I'm pretty sure he has the lay of the land."

"If you're talking about what I think you're talking about, you were pretty adamant you thought I had a snowball's chance in hell."

"I'm discreet," Cho told him. "That doesn't mean I'm blind. Sort it out. And sort it out without messing with Pike, because that'll just piss her off. And make everyone else hate you."

Jane stared at his friend. For the first time in a long time, he realise that Cho really would hurt him if he messed with Lisbon.

He always did like their boss the best out of everyone in the team.

"You about finished, Mr Talkative?"

"Pretty much," Cho responded.

"Right, I need tea," Jane stood from his couch and moved in the direction of the kitchen.

"Yeah, thanks, a coffee would be great, thanks for offering," Cho called out sarcastically.

Jane rolled his eyes. Not even halfway through the day and he'd been turned down by Lisbon and lectured by Cho.

He really needed a nap.