A/N: Thank you for the reviews and the well wishes on my bout of flu! I've been back at work for a good week; but, that whole residual no energy thing is still kicking my butt! Please forgive me for not answering that last round of reviews and well wishes individually as I prefer! There just isn't enough of me left over at the end of the day! I'll get back on track with this chapter, I promise. ~Calla

#

Dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, Lisbon put the last of the bed clothes away beneath the seat. She'd had a good night's sleep as she usually did at Jane's place. Now it was time to start her day all over again. The game plan was simple. She was having breakfast with her partner; then, she was swinging by her place to bathe and change. Since she'd been camping out in a sardine can for the better part of a week, it was past time she made sure her home was still in one piece. She also needed to refresh her go bag, check her mail, and get her ducks in a row for the rest of the week.

Leaning against the galley counter, Lisbon wondered briefly what was taking Jane so bloody long to get dressed before ruminating over the fact they'd finally made some headway on their serial killer case. If, and only if, you counted breaking the encryption on one of the flash drives as making headway. They'd broken it, not Grace, thanks to one of those mystical programs Jane had hidden on his computer. Yes, hidden, and hidden well. In all the years she'd known him, she'd never realized the man was as adept at computers as he was. With hindsight, she realized he was almost as good as Van Pelt. Maybe a little better when it came to the truly underhanded, quasi-legal, and clearly questionable side of things. What else was new?

He was forever revealing depths she didn't know he had.

Unfortunately, as pleased as she was they'd made headway, the drive they'd cracked wasn't the one suddenly answering all of their questions. In fact, it didn't answer anything beyond revealing the data on that particular flash drive. Data that might as well be alien communications from outer space as far as she was concerned; but, in reality, were seemingly random, highly complex scientific formulas signifying God only knew what. They wouldn't be finding that out any time soon unless they found someone highly secretive and unusually trustworthy within the scientific community to take a look at what they'd found. Jane wasn't quite ready to risk that as it would likely reveal to the FBI exactly what they'd been up to in private.

Saying Abbott wouldn't be pleased when that happened was an understatement.

Maybe one of the other drives would hold the secret key they needed. They wouldn't know until they decoded the hidden information on all those bits of brightly colored metal and plastic. Unfortunately, whoever had created those flash drives had been smart enough to use a different encryption on each one which was great for them. Not so much for her and Jane. It meant they had to go through the whole pokey process of running several more flash drives through those programs and hoping for the best. Sometimes life was a, well, a real you-know-what. Today was one of those times.

Lisbon shook her head deciding she might as well be grateful for small blessings instead of holding a pity party. It could be the same as with Bertram's disk. They could not have gotten anywhere. That wouldn't be all that surprising. Fortunately, it also wasn't the case. Oh, and while she was trying to look on the brighter side of things, she might as well be grateful Jane hadn't chosen to revisit that whole awkward conversation concerning them. He'd left well enough alone and life was moving right along with them conveniently ignoring the elephant in the room. Something they both excelled at doing. Ignoring "inconveniences" as though they didn't exist worked well for them. They'd been doing it for years.

Anyways, once she bathed, changed, and repacked her go bag at home, she was driving into work like nothing had changed. As far as she was concerned, it hadn't. She doubted her MO would be any different from what she'd done a thousand times over the years. Once she made it past Security, she'd fetch Jane from his office. They'd meet up with Cho in his office a few minutes later and start their day. If everything went as expected, Fischer would eventually appear to add her two cents worth as she usually did. Not that she minded Kim's presence.

All in all she got along well with the agent. Even if the other woman had yet to truly "get" Jane. Lisbon rolled her eyes at the thought the Feds were slower on the uptake than she expected. By this time in her journey with her Mentalist, she'd at least had an inkling her "Consultant" was bigger than she was and the direct approach wasn't the best for handling him. She couldn't say the same for her new employers. They weren't getting with the program as fast as she thought they should.

Fortunately, that wasn't her problem. She'd done her best to aid them along. So had Cho. It wasn't their fault the Feds listened about as well as they handled Jane.

Hearing a familiar, but unexpected, scratching at the door, Lisbon stepped away from the counter lost in thought. Everyone believed they were having a quiet day at the office. That they'd be studying murder boards and busily trying to figure out where their female serial killer might strike next. Good luck with that one. She suspected anything but a peaceful day and she'd infected Jane with her expectations.

He was now as tightly wound as she was eagerly anticipating what was to come. Maybe another grisly murder thanks to "Sadie" as they'd nicknamed their present quarry thanks to her sadistic kills. Or, maybe it would be something equally disturbing suddenly bursting from left field. That wouldn't be totally unexpected. Not with the way things were going. In spite of Jane's barely contained excitement, he was remaining on point in every way. Namely the ones concerned with her.

"Hey, Sleepyhead, you finally decided to wake up." Jane said as he stepped inside the trailer bag in hand. "You were drooling away when I left."

"I thought you were back there getting ready." Lisbon nodded in the direction of the back bedroom somewhat disappointed she'd made such a dangerous mistake. If she hadn't been so distracted by her thoughts, she'd have realized the place was much too quiet for Jane to be anywhere near. The man was surprisingly noisy at times. "My mistake. It looks like you went to Lucca's instead."

Leave it to Jane to pick an RV park with a nicely sized General Store complete with country restaurant.

"Yes, I did." Jane agreed. "Who wants to cook when you can get these?" He motioned to the bag he was still holding in his hands.

"What did you get this time?" Lisbon fixed him a look saying she knew without asking. "Greasy sausage gravy and biscuits, greasy sausage dogs, greasy breakfast burritos or a greasy combination of all of the above?"

"What do you think?" Jane asked as he sat the large white bag on the counter. "I think you already know."

"All of the above." Lisbon said as she watched Jane removing white containers from the bag. "You better have my favorite."

"What do you think?" Jane reached in the cabinet for a plate before opening a good sized styrofoam container. "One biscuits and gravy coming right up although I'd hardly call them greasy."

Lisbon shot him a look conveying they most certainly were decadently rich and greasy. But, they were also lip smacking delicious as well. Enough said. Turning back to the counter, she continued making her first cup of coffee with all the gusto of the severely caffeine deprived. Taking a calming sip, she watched Jane put the finishing touches on her breakfast as though he'd actually made it instead of dumped the contents from a container. Grabbing her plate, she didn't need to watch Jane plop a sausage dog on his plate to know he would be joining her soon. The package of breakfast burritos remaining in the bag would go into plastic wrap in the freezer before he left for the office to be devoured some other day. If she was lucky, she'd be here when that happened. Those burritos were nothing to sneeze at.

"I need to leave in about twenty minutes." Lisbon glanced at the digital clock on the microwave. "I'll be in the office by eight thirty. It'll take me about an hour and a half to get to my place, get ready, and drive in. Think you can stay out of trouble until I get there?"

"It shouldn't be too hard." Jane said around a hearty bite of sausage dog. "The place won't start hopping before nine. Oh, Lucca sent his regards."

"Lucca sent his regards?" Lisbon smirked around her coffee. "Lucca said tell that cute little brunette sniffing around your place, "Hi.". I know what Lucca said."

"Yes, well, he is a little rough around the edges." Jane agreed. "So, yeah, I guess it did go down more like you said."

"Tell Lucca I said right back at him next time you see him." Lisbon laughed out loud picturing the crusty ex-naval officer turned RV park store and restaurant owner. He was all of sixty five if he was a day and every bit as raw as Jane intimated; but, she liked him. He reminded her of any number of cops she'd worked with over the years. "He reminds me a little bit of Minelli."

"I'll tell him that." Jane wiped his hands on his napkin before taking another sip of tea. "I guess he does at that. Saltier, but similar."

"He does." Lisbon rose to her feet to quickly wash her dishes and eating utensils. "I need to get a move on or I'm going to be late. I'll see you at the office."

"I'll be there." Jane watched her slide into her leather jacket and grab her purse. "You need help with your Go Bag?"

"I have it." Lisbon walked out the door suitcase in hand. "Later."

"Later." Jane watched the door close as he carried his plate to the sink.

Turning the lock, he contemplated pulling his computer out. Maybe that wasn't a bad idea. If he hurried, he could put in an hour of work on that encrypted drive before he headed into the office. With a little luck he might actually get somewhere.

#

Glancing beneath his lashes, Jane studied Lisbon as she absently forked a bite of Moussaka to her lips. He was mildly surprised that she was so calmly devouring her sampler platter after the grisly day they'd had. He could say the same for himself. He supposed flying across several states and working a murder made one hungry. No, that wasn't right either. Not having eaten since breakfast while putting in a full day's work was probably the true reason they were both tucking into their meals like there was no tomorrow.

Famishment aside, they were both taken aback by this latest turn of events. While neither of them had expected The Blake Association to fade into the woodwork never to be heard from again, they'd not expected such an overt resurrection of their nemesis either. It was rather unsettling to suddenly learn there was a "Hit List" out there with them near the top. Yet, it was hard to draw any other conclusion with the encrypted files Grace found on Ardiles' phone. That was without considering Rigsby's gory contribution to the mix. From what Jane had seen Wayne was quite disturbed by happening upon his old acquaintance. Not that he blamed him. Ardiles' tormented body was a sight to behold.

Added to that, they were clearly of great interest to parties unknown and that was never a good thing.

While he couldn't prove anything at this point, Jane decided it was probably the very bastards whose identities remained safely hidden on Bertram's disk who were wreaking all the havoc. Unfortunately, they didn't know they were safe at the moment. Truthfully, that was probably the information they'd been trying to extract from Ardiles. Everything he knew about the illusive disc Jane doubted the poor man even knew existed. Sadly, by contacting Lisbon with his suspicions, he'd made it look otherwise to bad guys none of them knew were out there.

He'd also sealed his fate.

Seriously, for all Jane knew, the creeps had gone after the disc soon after Bertram's demise. Maybe even before. He'd probably made sure they knew he had protection in place in case anything happened to him and exactly what form that protection was taking. That was standard bad guy behavior especially when said bad guy didn't trust the rest of his cohorts as far as he could throw them. The big secret for everyone wasn't so much that he had insurance; but, where he was actually hiding the tell-all list.

However, it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to realize Bertram most likely hid his treasure somewhere at his place. Hiding it in strange lockers at train stations and gyms never really worked out well even on television shows. It was far better to keep his salvation close at hand. Jane knew darned well if he'd figured out how Bertram's mind worked, his fellow Association members had as well. They'd probably broken in a few months after his death once the heat died down only to find the disc already missing. It had probably taken a few more months of carefully nosing around to realize no one in law enforcement had it. So, apparently they'd decided to wait quietly in the shadows until the true culprit decided to show his hand.

Like it or not, that was exactly what he'd eventually done when he'd brought that list into play with Abbott.

Shaking his head, Jane acknowledged that while things hadn't ended well for him, Bertram had been one hell of a formidable player who hadn't left many stones unturned. Unfortunately, the one or two he had cost him his life. Or, perhaps, his overinflated opinion of himself and his abilities was his downfall. Jane wasn't sure. As for the lurkers in the shadows, they had to know by now that he was the one who'd stolen Bertram's "insurance policy" and precisely what that policy was. Or, better yet, that he'd traded the encrypted list to the FBI. Jane had no doubts any of his secrets were still secret. Abbott was probably unwittingly revealing his every move to the very people he should be shielding them from. Not that he had a whole lot of choice.

Jane would bet a number of names on that infamous disc were among his superiors if not all of them.

Closing his eyes, Jane silently gave Lisbon kudos for being right yet again. He didn't know how she did it. That super cop spidey sense he supposed. She'd been exactly right. Their day had gone in the crapper early starting with a nasty call from the SFPD. The one saying Osvaldo's consult with the Rigsby's hadn't gone well at all. It had been quite lethal in fact. Visibly shaken at the loss of yet another companion from the old days, they'd been on a plane bound for San Francisco before they'd known what hit them. A few hours later, they'd been looking at what was left of Osvaldo Ardiles' bloody form. Red John had nothing on whoever had taken him out. Ardiles had clearly suffered terribly before revealing what little he knew. All in all, they'd had a lousy day all the way around.

Glancing at his Spanakapita, Jane contemplated his next move. To one way of thinking, this latest move of The Blake Association necessitated moving up the timeline in his head. To another, it didn't change a thing. He wasn't sure which assessment was right.

Playing with his food, Jane decided he could continue eating without tasting a thing or he could just "do it" as the advertisement said. It might be easier on everyone, meaning him and Lisbon, if he got this over with. What was one more shock in a day like today? They'd roll with the punches like they always did.

Glancing at his watch, Jane decided they still had a little while before they had to join Cho and Fischer in the hotel bar to discuss Ardiles' murder. They'd gone their separate ways over dinner promising to meet up at nine. Although they'd extended a half-hearted invitation to the rest of the team, their cohorts had chosen to join Abbott in the hotel restaurant while they'd snuck away to a Taverna Van Pelt recommended. Personally, Jane thought there'd been entirely too much togetherness since they'd arrived at HQ first thing this morning. He and Lisbon needed a break to discuss case related matters the FBI knew nothing about as well as more personal matters. That wasn't happening unless they made a break for it which they'd done.

Steeling his nerves, Jane suddenly splatted his palm flat on the table. Looking deeply into Lisbon's eyes, he spoke the words she least expected to hear especially in light of the day they'd just spent.

"Lisbon, it's time." Jane wiggled his finger slightly. "I think I'm ready."

"Oh, Brother." Staring at the now wiggling finger, Lisbon rolled her eyes at him choosing not to play dumb even knowing that would be the easiest recourse for both of them. "Seriously, Jane? You want to start some kind of silly personal crap you don't really mean after the nasty day we've had?"

"I'm not starting anything." He said quietly. "I'm asking you to pull my ring off."

"You're asking me to pull your ring off?" Lisbon's look openly questioned his sanity as she parroted his words back at him. "You don't mean it."

"Yes, I do." Jane clarified. "I wouldn't have asked you to do it if I didn't."

"I'm not so sure." Lisbon's tone said she knew he'd lost his mind now. "I don't think you mean it." She said yet again. "I really don't. I just think you're overreacting to everything that happened today."

"Why would you think I don't mean it?" Jane asked. "This isn't the first time I've dealt with The Blake Association. I'm hardly going to overreact. We'll just beat them like we did the first time around."

"Because it's been thirteen years since you lost them." Lisbon gently reminded him ignoring the rest of Jane's comment. "And you've never even thought about taking that ring off."

"Of course I have." Jane said. "More than once. Lisbon, I wouldn't have asked you to do this if I didn't mean it."

"Well, I'm not doing it." Lisbon huffed at him. "I am so not doing that."

"Why not?" Jane asked. "I asked you to."

"Because it's crazy." Lisbon observed. "Really crazy. You're overreacting to everything that's happened today. To this sudden reappearance of The Blake Association. To the encrypted files Grace found on Osvaldo's phone. To his death. We both are. I don't care what you say about having done all of this before. We both know there's no guarantee we'll win this time around. There never is."

"It's not crazy." No crazier than him removing his ring on the island and putting it back on a few hours later. Fischer had made him think about matters he'd conveniently avoided for years and he'd responded to those thoughts with the best of intent. He'd just not been ready to stick to his guns. It hadn't taken that long to figure out. "And I'm not overreacting to anything as I've already said. It's time. Maybe today made me realize that. Besides, you wanted me to remove my wedding band and I think I'm ready. Let's give it a shot and see what happens."

"You're serious?" Lisbon shook her head in disbelief. "I don't believe it."

"You might as well." Jane said. "This isn't the first time I've removed my ring."

"It isn't?" Lisbon resisted the urge to ask when he'd done such a thing.

It was none of her business.

"No." Jane confirmed. "It is the first time I've meant to take it off and leave it."

Not knowing what to say to that bombshell, Lisbon allowed his last remark to pass without comment. Looking into Jane's guarded eyes Lisbon decided he'd officially lost his mind. Ardiles' murder had finished the job of whacking him crackers. But, it shouldn't have. It wasn't like the revenant of The Blake Association finally rearing its ugly head like a python hiding in the grass was all that unexpected. She'd been waiting for that phantasm to rise from the ashes since the fateful day Jane choked the life out of MacAllister a lifetime ago. It was too much to hope the nightmare would end with Red John's death and the demise of the CBI. If she'd known better, Jane had to as well. Their lives were never that simple. They wouldn't be theirs if they were.

Besides, an encrypted disc most likely bearing the names of the rich and powerful floating in the breeze made it painfully clear that fading away wasn't a probable ending as nothing else could.

"You're nuts, you know that?" Lisbon stated firmly as she absently chewed her bottom lip in that familiar, panicked way. "I never know what you're up to even after all these years."

"Neither do I." Jane agreed. "Just do as I ask and stop trying to understand what I don't fully understand myself." He wiggled his finger at her. "I assure you I'm far from nuts. I never have been. I doubt I ever will be. I'm ready to take this ring off and I want you to do it."

"If you say so." She clearly didn't believe him.

"I do and I'm not." Jane wiggled his finger yet again in silent invitation. "And that wasn't a very nice thing to say."

"I guess it wasn't; but, it's still true." Lisbon glared at the appendage wiggling in her direction. "You definitely have your nut job moments."

Briefly hesitating, she reached out to seize the gold band.

Gazing into his eyes, she slowly pulled the ring from Jane's finger without a downward glance. Seeing no real change in his expression, she dropped the metal circle in his open hand and watched his fingers automatically close in a protective fist before Jane broke their gaze to drop the ring in his pocket. No doubt he would return it to safekeeping in a more private moment. Some voyeuristic part of her wanted to be around when he did it. But, the more decent part of her knew that final goodbye was never meant to be shared.

Not with anyone, especially not her.

"This is ridiculous." Lisbon's sharp tone broke the heavy moment. "You're insane if you think we're jumping into anything because your ring finger's bare. It's not happening."

"I don't think any such thing." Jane agreed. "I wouldn't want that anyway."

"Right." Lisbon fixed him with a glare saying she knew better. "You're a man."

Which had no bearing on the situation at hand and she knew it. She'd wanted to jump him a few times over the years when they were both vulnerable. She'd wisely done nothing deciding loneliness was something she could handle. Losing Jane wasn't.

"I won't deny that; but, I'm not trying to get in your pants at the present although I make no promises for the not too distant future." Jane smirked slightly knowing Lisbon wanted to smack him for his irreverence. "Humor me, Teresa. All I'm asking is permission to spend time you. Maybe steal a kiss or two. See if it comes to anything more."

"We already spend time together." Lisbon reminded him. "Lots of time."

Probably too much time if they were honest.

"Yes, we do; but, that's not what I mean and you know it." It was Jane's turn to snort at her. "I'm asking permission to court you."

"Court me?" Lisbon smirked at the absurdity of his words. "Who courts anyone today?"

"Me." Jane said quietly knowing Lisbon's rudeness had more to do with shock than mocking his more antiquated ways. "It's a lot more genteel than your Mashburne encounter."

"We're not discussing that now or ever." Lisbon reminded him knowing some part of him was still smarting irrationally over how that all went down. Emotions aside, they had an unspoken rule between them. Two topics were off limits in their present world. Lorelei wasn't mentioned in a personal vein and neither was her pleasurable indiscretion with the charming billionaire. Things were just better that way. "Besides, it was a long time ago."

"Yes, it was." Jane agreed almost apologetically. "So, what do you say?"

"I don't know what to say." Lisbon said. "What if we don't work out? We'll still have to work together. That could get mighty awkward."

"Yes, we will; but, I don't think that'll be a problem." Jane reminded her. "When have we not worked out?"

"Plenty of times." Lisbon reminded him knowing she'd need more than the sum of her fingers and toes to count all the times she'd wished he'd fall off the face of the Earth. "Besides, how would we go about being an "us" anyway? Suddenly declare we're an item? I'm certainly not claiming you as my boyfriend."

As if she'd do anything so infantile. Did women her age even have boyfriends? She really didn't know. Everyone she knew had husbands or lovers. Or, even worse, Baby Daddy's. She so wasn't going there. Not that she'd ever call her…whatever…a lover in public. It was a little too in your face. On second thought, maybe "boyfriend" wasn't so bad after all.

No, Jane was more of a whatever. He really, really was. She was sure of it.

He'd been her whatever for years.

Besides, trying to apply normal, acceptable terminology to the man never boded well in the end. She'd seen people try to do that for years. They'd all failed abysmally. By his very nature, Patrick Jane was indefinable.

She'd learned that a long time ago.

"I don't think we have to declare anything since neither of us wants to broadcast our business to the world." Jane patted her hand. "We certainly don't have to declare anything to each other. At least nothing more than what we've already done. All you have to do is answer affirmatively and we'll be on our way. I seriously doubt much will change. We already spend every spare moment together either here or at your place anyway as you've already pointed out. As for the anything more, I've already kissed you and you've kissed back. I think that's a good place to start.

Maybe we'll progress to a little hand holding after a few dates once you decide skittish isn't the best way to be."

Jane looked at like her like his proposal was perfectly reasonable and he was just another man. She hated it when he did that. They both knew nothing could be farther from the truth. This was hardly a common situation and he was hardly just another man. Besides, she didn't do relationships. If anyone knew that, Jane did. She so didn't do relationships.

They never ended well.

"Hush." Lisbon groused perturbed she was giving serious thought to taking Jane for a romantic spin. The worse that would happen is she'd get her heart seriously broken for the first time in a whole lot of years. The best, they might actually make it. The upside, she wouldn't be alone anymore. The down, she wasn't sure if that was a blessing or a curse considering her significant other would be Patrick Jane. "If I'm skittish, it's with good reason. You're Jane."

"I suppose I deserve that." Jane agreed with her assessment. "It hasn't been the easiest past few years has it?"

"No, it hasn't." Lisbon agreed. "You haven't exactly given me a whole lot of reasons to trust you implicitly."

"No, I haven't." Jane agreed. "But, you do."

"Yeah, I do." Lisbon agreed. "I'm just not sure about the whole personal element thing. There's a big difference between trusting you on a case and trusting you with my heart."

"Yes, I guess there is." Jane said. "But, that's a two way street you know."

"I suppose it is." Lisbon said. "Fine, we'll give it a whirl; but, we're taking things slow. Just because that ring's in your pocket for now doesn't mean it's going to stay that way."

She knew him too well.

"I'll have to prove you wrong." Jane said quietly. "You know, you're at my place so much it's not likely I'll be sneaking it back on my finger anytime soon. You've made it perfectly clear the moment that happens, we're done."

"Yeah, I think we are." Lisbon agreed. "While I'd never ask you to give them up, I can't compete with your memories. I'm not willing to try."

"I'm not asking you to." Jane's tone was serious. "They're gone and you're here. It isn't the same thing. One chapter's closed and another is opening. Give me some credit for realizing that."

"I do." Lisbon was equally serious. "But that chapter isn't exactly closed either. They're still out there in case either of us have forgotten. They killed Osvaldo and they're probably after us. Not exactly what we need at the moment. It isn't like we don't already have a female whack job we need to be concentrating on."

"How could I forget any of that?" Jane asked. "However, I think we can handle everything that's going on as long as we work together."

"Yeah, I think so too." Lisbon agreed. "As long as you don't start going off doing crazy things like you did with Crystal. You can't cut me out of the loop and think things are going to run smoothly between us. I won't be in a relationship like that."

"I'll try to do better." Jane promised. "However, you need to remember work is work and personal is personal. The two don't always mix. There will be times I can't tell you what I'm up to beforehand. You know that."

"Yeah, well, try to keep those times to a minimum." Lisbon seriously informed him. "You know Fischer's going to notice that." She nodded in the direction of his nude ring finger. "You also know she's going to ask nosey questions."

"That doesn't mean you have to answer her." Jane reminded her. "Frankly, it's none of her business."

"I don't suppose I do." Lisbon agreed. "She already thinks there's something going on between us. She didn't fully accept my denial."

"Because you never fully denied it." Jane gently reminded her. "I don't suppose you could since it wasn't true. There's always been something between us even when there wasn't."

"You know that doesn't make any sense?" Lisbon said. "How can there be something between us when there wasn't?"

"The timing was off." Jane said. "We couldn't have acknowledged the truth if either of us had consciously known it was there. We didn't." Well, he did; but, he wasn't in any state to deal with it so he hadn't. "There was too much going on to see what was right in front of our faces."

"Whatever." Lisbon said. "I'm not going to try to figure that out now. It doesn't really matter anymore." Glancing at her watch, Lisbon motioned towards Jane's plate. "It's getting late. We need to finish here and hit the road. We have to meet Fisher and Cho in less than a half hour."

"I ordered your dessert to go." Jane quietly informed her as he raised his hand for their server to bring their bill and the necessary boxes. "We can get the rest of this packed to go as well. We have refrigerators and microwaves in the rooms so it won't be a problem."

"Sounds like a plan." Lisbon said. "I'll get the car while you settle up. If we leave in the next ten minutes, we should make it on time. I'll take the leftovers up to our rooms while you find the rest of the team. I'll meet up with all of you once I'm done."

"That works for me." Jane watched Lisbon shovel her leftovers into her To Go box while he did the same. Putting the boxes in the plastic bag, he handed it to Lisbon before reaching into his pocket for his wallet. Taking out his credit card and a few bills for the tip, Jane could almost see the sudden awkwardness between them. "It's going to be okay, Lisbon."

"I know." Lisbon agreed. "I'm going to get the car now."

"You do that." Jane said. "I'll meet you outside in a few minutes."

Watching her leave, he couldn't stop the smile on his face as he headed for the cashier. Lisbon really was a funny little thing. She always had been and she still was.

He didn't think that would ever change.

#

I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter; but, I'm glad it's written even if it is more filler than anything significant. Between losing momentum to the flu, the way they left the last new episode, and a couple of months of limbo with no show to feed me, I have very little to work with here! I guess it's time for the imagination to go into overdrive! It won't be the first time I've seriously deviated from the show and I guess it won't be the last! LOL. ~Calla