As the rumbling of his car died down, Patrick Jane sat back in his seat to finish the last of his to-go lo mein. The noodles had started to go cold, and the lettuce-y vegetables were covered in greasy sauce, but Jane didn't mind. He just wanted to postpone the entering of his house. Why didn't he sleep at headquarters? Oh, right. Because Lisbon felt the need to work late and kicked him out of her office. Jane put on his best imitation of Lisbon, complete with body language;

"It makes me feel bad that you're trying to sleep while I'm working in the room..."

Jane scooped another bunch of noodles into his mouth, masticating quietly as he looked out the window and talked to the little teddy bear that Lisbon had given him as a joke on his last birthday.

"I really don't know why she couldn't have worked in the other room. Do you?"

The bear didn't respond. Of course it wouldn't, it was a toy. Jane shook his head and shoved his chopsticks inside the white box of lo mein. He took a deep swig from his water bottle and returned it to its cup holder before turning to get out of the car. As he turned, he saw a RED smiley face drawn on the bear out of his peripheral vision. He broke into a cold sweat and jerked around quickly, inspecting the supposedly innocent teddy bear that most definitely DID NOT have a red smiley face. Jane took a moment to calm down, rubbing his temples with his right hand (as the left still held the leftover Chinese container). He stepped out of the car, started shutting the door, then at the last moment pulled the door open again, looking at the bear. The bear just stared. Jane squinted suspiciously at the little furry thing then shut the door completely. He tossed the leftovers in the garbage can in his garage and locked the car. As he walked around the front of his house towards his front door, his phone vibrated. He pulled out the device and looked at the message from Lisbon.

"I'm sorry. See you tomorrow? :)" Jane frowned. Another smiley face. Something was not right. Unable to shake a strange feeling, Jane responded;

"It's fine. Most likely."

He continued up the stairs towards the front door. It was a nice night out. Cool and comfortable, with clear skies. It was dark though, as it was the night of the new moon. Perfect. His hand was shaking ever so slightly as he pulled out his key to unlock the door. Then he felt it... the front porch creaked silently, but the vibration reached his foot. Jane turned around quickly, but never saw who it was who was there. All he saw was a metal blur and then sparks. He was unconscious before he knew what had hit him.

In the bushes his phone vibrated.

"Most likely?"