I couldn't get the thought out of my head that if Lisa were older her and Bob would be a good match, so I wrote it. It a bit a AU in the sense that I have pretended that Bob didn't get married and have a kid. Yes the age gap is still there. If you find that odd then please don't read. In my head I compare these two to Clarice and Hannibal (Silence of the lambs) and Erik and Christine (Phantom of the Opera) where there are also big age gaps. No flames please.

Forging paths

"Miss Simpson," Lisa inclined her head to the man at her elbow and excused herself before turning fully to her host and smiling.

"Yes?"

"There is someone here who I would very much like to introduce you to." He responded to her smile with one of his own and began to escort her across the fancy room, talking all the while about the manifold genius of his other guest.

"He is a brilliant engineer and architect and he could probably do anything that he sets his mind to. His organisation skills are beyond extraordinary and he is the most divine singer you will ever hear."

Lisa didn't interrupt the excited babble of words. She had attempted to once before for some other guest of stature and it had not the slightest effect. He had merely paused, as though for breath, before continuing on again.

This was a party for the intellectually elite, and at nineteen Lisa was its youngest and newest member, having already finished her first degree and moving into her doctorate. She was therefore the almost sole attention of her host who powered her from person to person, introducing her to all the big names. Lisa couldn't mind too much at this monopoly. If she were allowed she would be in a giggling whirl of girlish excitement right now.

She smiled down at her beautiful blue dress and ran the material beneath her fingertips. She was dressed up pretty and meeting all her heroes and inspirations that she had grown up with. What could she have to feel annoyed at?

Her host left her for a moment with a "wait here" and Lisa stared off into space.

"Mr Gilbert, may I present to you, Miss Simpson."

Lisa brought her eyes and her brain back down to earth with a bump and turned to greet the stranger…and she froze.

The stranger's eyes gave a momentary flicker of surprise before settling back to calm.

As for Lisa, it took all her self control to break that childhood habit and not scream out "Sideshow Bob!"

"Very nice to meet you, Miss Simpson."

The suave, dulcet tones had not changed in the slightest, but the jolt in her stomach was entirely new. His hair was the same as ever, face slightly older, the smirk still the same. His eyes sparkled with that cunning she remembered so well.

"You too," she managed to force out thanks to habit. She wondered why she hadn't started screaming hysterically that there was a multiple times attempted murderer in the room, who had mostly been focused on eradicating her brother from the face of the earth. She guessed it was politeness…and common sense. Her word against his in a completely different country with no evidence and no idea how long he'd been established here. He had disappeared ten years ago after all.

The beaming host looked from one to the other.

"I will leave you to talk," he announced and disappeared, leaving Lisa with her brother's nemesis.

"You've changed a great deal since we last met," Bob remarked, skimming his eyes over her, "so grown-up."

Lisa immediately picked up the patronising nuance.

"Yes," she flared and stared at him defiantly. "I have a degree and am training for a doctorate."

Bob inclined his head. "Ah, you always were the smart one." A waiter presented them with a tray of drinks and Lisa took one, not taking her eyes off her companion. Bob on the other hand took a lengthy time in deliberating exactly which glass would he best before finally turning his attention to her.

"And how is your brother?"

Lisa choked on the wine and narrowed her eyes. Bob was giving her his best innocent expression but there was amusement in the twist of his smile.

"How's yours?" came her retort.

Bob chuckled and Lisa felt her stomach flip. It made her irritation grow.

"Touché. Alas, I do not stay in touch with my dearly troubled sibling. We do not get on."

"You don't say," she muttered sarcastically.

Bob lifted the wine glass to his lips but paused and observed her over the rim.

"Sarcasm does not become you," he stated. "That blue on the other hand…" Lisa's eyes widened and she felt colour flood her cheeks. His gaze turned intense. "Even I could not have predicted what a beauty you would become Miss Simpson."

It was like he was inside her head, orchestrating her response. He had probably had lots of practice the Simpson thought bitterly and drew herself together.

"So you are Robert Gilbert now?" she asked changing the subject. "That wouldn't be from Gilbert and Sullivan by any chance would it?"

Bob registered the obvious attempt to shift focus with a quirk of his eyebrows.

"But of course."

He let the prior subject drop but Lisa had the uncomfortable feeling that it wasn't the last she'd heard of it.

Robert was continuing, "I decided to forge a new life for myself. A new path required a new name and a new job." He waved a hand at the room. "As you can see it went according to plan."

Lisa adopted a ponderous expression.

"I wonder how many people you killed…" she uttered idly. Bob just shook his head seriously and looked at his swirled wine.

"A new path Lisa. You leave the baggage at the crossroads."

For a moment she wondered if that baggage included her and if the baggage growing legs and appearing on the path beside him required Bob to destroy it. Bob could see the thoughtful, bordering on concerned, look on her face.

"I don't try to kill anymore," he uttered soothingly, "that includes you."

Lisa gave her best ironic smile and tilted her head, "That's good to know."

Bob posed with his wine glass. "I dare do all that become a man," he recited.

Lisa felt her heart speed up a fraction. When had she failed to notice that this eloquent, intellectual, cultured man was exactly her type? Except for the homicidal mania…

The beaming host was back.

"Mr Gilbert if you would care to give us a rendition of your fine voice…"

Bob smiled and gave a small bow. "I would be delighted. " His eyes flashed to her and Lisa felt them burn as he took her hand and placed a kiss on it, his gaze never dropping from hers.

"Until next time, Miss Simpson."

Then he was gone, moving to the front of the hall, leaving her hand tingling. Absently she rubbed at it, mentally noting all the signs of attraction in herself and trying to crush them one by one with the force of logic.

The voice that poured forth from the front came crashing over the audience and swept Lisa's logic clean out of her head. Robert Twelliger stood reciting 'Ava Maria' in the voice of an angel, that bewitched and enchanted. Lisa felt weak at the knees and could not make herself move. Her mind flipped suddenly to the 'Phantom of the Opera', coming to the conclusion that this must have been what the Phantom sounded like. If so no wonder poor Christine hadn't stood a chance. The song came to an end and Bob bowed with a flourish. Lisa was out the room in the next instant, in case there was an encore.

She could feel his eyes following her as she vacated the room.