Author's note: Written for the Paint It Red April 2013 Monthly Challenge - prompt: "Save Me" by Bo Bruce. Also for the Valentine's Day Friendship Fest on LJ - prompt: "trust".

Another Time, Another Place

The first time they're forced to share a room comes shortly after the CBI officially hires him.

They're stranded at a shabby motel where only two rooms are still available, and it's clear that neither Cho nor Rigsby are willing to have him. Lisbon shrugs and leads the way upstairs, determined to keep her eyes wide open when it comes to Patrick Jane.

She doesn't trust him yet, and for a reason. Grieving relatives shouldn't be allowed to investigate on their families' murder, no matter what Minelli might think about it.

He tosses and turns the whole night, keeping her awake until dawn. That's when exhaustion finally takes over, and she falls into a dreamless slumber before a knock comes at the door.

xxx

After a terrible day on a crime scene she finds herself staring at a double bed. While she trusts Jane enough to sleep in the same motel room now, she isn't anywhere near ready to share a bed with him as well.

Lisbon tosses the pillow to the floor and grabs a spare blanket. He protests he's the one suffering from insomnia, and she should take the bed instead.

In spite of the fact that he's talking sense for once, she doesn't even heed his advice – though it sounds more as a pleading, really.

When the first morning light comes in through the blinds she's safely tucked in bed, and the room is conspicuously empty. She wearily rubs her eyes, then sighs softly as she gets up.

xxx

Van Pelt is having a bout of stomach flu, and she all but flees from the room they're sharing. It takes only one knock at his door for Jane to show up and let her in.

Lisbon is pretty sure what they have now can be described as friendship, and doesn't even blink as he lies down beside her on the bed.

It doesn't take her long to fall asleep, only to be woken in the dead of the night when he starts thrashing. She knows he's having a nightmare, and shakes him until he opens his eyes at last.

He's not completely awake though, for he snuggles up to her and whispers a dead woman's name. It's only when his breath grows steady that she dares to disentangle herself from his embrace.

xxx

A week after Jane is released from prison they're called out of town for a particularly gruesome case. She just can't be alone that night, and practically begs him to take the bed next to her own.

Crowds of bad memories visit her in her sleep, she dreams of her mother's pale lips as she was lying in the coffin, her little brothers crying and her father throwing empty beer bottles against the wall.

"Lisbon," he says softly in her ear, and she's finally awake.

Blinking back the tears that are blurring her sight she gives him a thankful nod and buries her head back into the pillow. He can understand what she's been through, and that's a comforting thought.

It has to be enough.

xxx

When Jane is back from Vegas she's more than happy to share a room with him, actually spends the better part of the night watching the way his chest rises and falls as he breathes.

The events of the last six months are eventually taking their toll on him, and he's genuinely sleeping for once. The morning is only a couple of hours away when he begins whimpering, she doesn't think twice before waking him up.

"Bad dream?" she asks sympathetically.

He nods, looking her straight in the eyes. "My nightmares are always about losing you."

For the briefest of moments she's taken aback. There are so many things they don't talk about these days, and she's touched that he trusts her enough to even mention this.

"Go back to sleep, Jane."

And he does.