Title: Good Night's Sleep

Author: AnitaB

Author's Notes: Set some time in the future, Jane finally gets a good night's sleep. And maybe something more along the way. It's currently hurt/comfort, but I'll get to Jane/Lisbon shippy if I have to beat in both their skulls with a crowbar.

Good Night's Sleep

By AnitaB

Chapter one: The day after the end.

He had slept. He had gotten a good night's sleep. That was surprising enough. But when he thought about all the circumstances surrounding last night… just how well he's slept was nearly miraculous.

First, he wasn't on his leather couch in the CBI offices. That was the only place he normally got any sleep at all. Second, he wasn't alone. No one had slept near him in since Red John took his wife and child. And now, someone had a death grip around his waist. He could feel a face tucked close against his shoulder and knees curled into the back of his. Small hands were spread wide against the buttons at the front of his shirt.

//Teresa Lisbon…\\ She was here, in his house… for him. Jane remembered the look of horror on her face at the sight of the mattress under the still present smiley face on the wall. He'd seen in her eyes the knowledge that he still lived here in more than the physical sense, trapped in the loss and the need for vengeance. And she wouldn't leave. A few feet from the edge of the mattress she was now sharing with him, Lisbon had stripped off her shoes and suit jacket, making him do the same. In moments she had dragged fresh sheets and a big, fluffy blanket out of the closet and made up the bed. Lisbon had actually tucked the blanket up around their chins before kissing him on the forehead and pulling him in close against the sound of her heartbeat through her shoulder. Small fingers had stroked through his hair and shattered the cold numbness he'd been feeling. He had cried himself to sleep in her arms.

But he had slept better than he had in years and woken up with a sense of peace. Some part of him still couldn't believe it.

Her body shifted against his back, her hands tightening against his ribs as her chin dug into his shoulder a little. "Jane?"

Her arms loosened and her body language said she wanted to see his face. Jane turned onto his back but kept her hand against his ribs with one of his own. "Lisbon."

Her eyes searched his, her fingers slowly sliding back and forth against the beat of his heart. "How do you feel?"

"It wasn't a dream, was it? It really happened?" On its own, his arm slid over her shoulders to pull her closer. Jane liked how she felt against his side.

"It happened, Jane. We caught Red John. He's behind bars and the State of California is going to sentence him to death. He will spent the rest of his days on death row until we watch his ass get strapped to a gurney and enough poison is injected to paralyze him while he suffocates. If we're lucky, it'll be slow and painful." The smile on her face was a little dark before she shifted to press a kiss to his forehead. "It's over, Jane. It's finally over." Jane wrapped both arms tight around her waist, crushing her against his chest and burying his face in her hair. Some part of him had never really believed that this day would come. Her arms held him tight, her fingers fisting in the back of his shirt.

The closer she got the less his chest hurt. The tighter her arms were around him, the better he could breathe. But he absolutely needed to see her eyes. Jane pulled back enough to run his fingers through her hair and give her a soft smile. "I wish you could have met them. They would have loved you."

He'd never seen her fight back tears with a smile on her face before. "Me, too. Tell me about them."

For the first time in longer than he could remember, Jane thought about his wife and his daughter without first seeing the crime scene tape and the blood. He saw his daughter at the kitchen table with a box of crayons. He saw his wife at the bathroom door watching him shave in the morning, pressing a tiny little kiss to the spot where he nicked his jaw.

"My little girl loved to draw. She always gave me carrot orange hair and made me smile from ear to ear. My wife always knew what to do or say to make anyone feel better." Once the flood-gate had been opened, Jane couldn't seem to get it closed again. He spent the next hour with his head on her shoulder sharing every happy memory he could think of. Lisbon just listened with her arms around him, her fingers running through his hair.

It was beautiful.

000

It was almost like she'd never really known him at all. Lisbon had worked day in and out with this man for years, but she'd never seen him like this. All his manipulations, his jokes and games -- All his shields -- were gone. When the handcuffs clicked around Red John's wrists, something inside Jane just… collapsed. It was like the vengeance quest he'd been on for so many years was the only thing holding him upright. There was no way on earth that she was leaving him alone right now. By the time she'd walked into his bedroom to see a mattress on the floor under the smiley painted in his family's blood… it almost made sense. Creepy as hell, but it fit somehow.

But Damnit, it was time for Jane to open the hell up and let someone help him with this. Lisbon would crack his skull with a crowbar if that's what it took. Making him let her hold him was just the first step. The first wet spots of his tears on her shirt broke her heart. She didn't think he noticed her tears falling into his hair as she cuddled him closer. Eventually the shaking muscles all over his body relaxed and Lisbon found herself something between a teddy-bear and a night watchman.

It was as much for herself as for him that she stayed wrapped around him all night. Holding Patrick Jane tight against her body was somehow very calming and soothing. He was here, he was safe. And most importantly he hadn't made her shoot or arrest him trying to kill Red John.

The next step was getting him to talk. She had listened for years as he wouldn't shut up about Red John, but she'd never gotten even the slightest details about his family before the tragedy. Lisbon wanted those happy memories as much as she needed Jane to get back in touch with them. Red John had stolen too much from him to take all those past times too.

When the words trailed off bit by bit, Lisbon started planning. Jane would not spend one more night in this house. And she had the will power and if necessary, the gun, to make sure he didn't. But that did mean she had to let him out of her arms and off the bed. It was like a band-aid. If you rip it off quick it was better than the slow inching pull. "Get up, Jane. We're getting out of here." Patting him on the back, Lisbon began the process of sitting them both up on the edge of the mattress. "You're not staying in this house any longer."

"Lisbon…" He gave her a slightly panicked look. Apparently he was still a little unsteady. //Good, all the better to move this along.\\

"No, Jane," She spread one hand against his chest and gestured at the room with the other. "This isn't healthy." Resting all ten fingers over his heart Lisbon told him the plan and the consequences for any disobedience. "We are getting the hell out of this house and taking everything and everyone we care about with us. You're packing your things and taking your wife and daughter with you. I'm helping you pack and taking you with me. Red John stays behind. You can crash at my place or we'll set you up in a hotel. But know this… if you set one foot back in this house without me, I will burn this building to the ground. We are leaving."

Jane went completely still for a moment. She didn't even think he was breathing. Lisbon though for a split second that she'd pushed him too far too fast. Then it was her breathing that stopped. Jane caught her face in his hands and planted a hard but simple kiss right on her lips. His shirt bunched between her fingers as she fought to control every muscle in a body suddenly trembling apart at the seams. Patrick Jane was kissing her. And this wasn't some friendly peck on the cheek or a familial kiss on the forehead. This was … something else entirely.

Before she'd done more than breathe in a sharp gasp, those lips pulled back. Jane pulled her tight against his chest and buried his face in the side of her neck. "Thank you, Teresa." Her arms found their way to his shoulders, more for balance than any actual thought or plan.

It was a few moment before Lisbon knew she could manage to talk without the trembling of her nerves showing in her voice. "Come on, Jane, let's go."

000