No longer getting called to go out of town for investigations on short notice, Lisbon had lost the habit of having a just-in-case bag packed. It did not take her long to grab a couple changes of clothes, and she quickly grabbed a little black dress on the off chance of dining somewhere particularly nicer than her usual cop dives. The memory of a jaunt out to Napa in a sweet sports car with Jane once upon a time spurred that choice. As for Jane, his years on the hunt had left its mark on his habits; he invariably had at least one change of clothing, plus various other supplies in his car. By the time they got on the road the sun was getting low in the sky. East was the easiest direction to drive. Once they got up into the mountains, the sun was not even glaring in the rearview mirror.

The night became dark enough to feel as though they were in a tunnel, traveling into the depths of what earth or through eons of what millennia neither could say. So seldom does the human animal experience windows of time completely dedicated to the presence of a single other human animal that expressions for it and frames for thinking of it do not exist.

The atmosphere in Jane's car pressed down on them as though gravity was working overtime. It made it impossible for them to make light conversation. Getting reacquainted would have been the rational thing to do, yet the years that had come between them seemed both too enormous and also too unimportant to voice. Talk would not have increased their intimacy. The time and distance that had separated them were not to be overcome by words. This was not the comfortable, companionable silence of two old friends; it was a state of being. As they settled into their journey, their essences bonded, blended together.

They leaned together, cuddled up on the sofa of their suite at a resort casino on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe. Drinking tea, watching the end of one movie, their minds refocussed on one another. Sitting so close, their bodies became wrapped up in each other. Once again talking was too much. Fingers explored hair. Noses drew in warmth and scent and peace. Mouths came together. Hands stroked skin and removed clothing. Legs parted. The flesh of one invaded the flesh of the other, sweet hot blending of soul and spirit promised in the past, hinted at on their journey, come to full fruit, ready to harvest now, sacramental wine pressed and passed from one to the other.

-Fin-