She sat at her desk, just staring down at her paper work. They had just closed the case of the poor Schumacher family, and all that remained were the FORM-41s. Lisbon pulled up her sweater sleeve, and glanced at her watch. 2:35 A.M. She sighed when she realized she had been at her desk for seven hours. Her eyelids had begun to feel heavy, and her neck ached. This case had taken a toll on her physically and emotionally. Lisbon rolled her neck around, took a swig of her lukewarm coffee, and went back to her case file. Gabe Schumacher, only nine years old, had been beaten to death by his drunken father. His sister, 16 year old Samantha, was bludgeoned into a coma by the baseball bat that had killed her brother. Their mother had been killed in a car accident only two years ago. Every time Lisbon read this information, an uncomfortable lump formed in her throat, and tears budded at the corners of her eyes. Earlier that day, or yesterday evening, when she had been interviewing Joseph Schumacher, the father, she couldn't help but see the shadowy reflection of her own father in his eyes. Fortunately, she had been able to keep herself together, finish the interview, and send him to booking. Lisbon gazed at her watch again. 2:38 A.M. 'Damn, time couldn't go any slower,' she thought to herself. But she realized she only had one more page of paperwork to go. She hastily scrawled the information in the appropriate boxes, added her signature at the bottom, and then stamped the CBI seal onto the upper right hand corner in blue ink.

Lisbon slumped back in her chair. She decided she may as well not even go home, remembering she had to be back to work at 5 A.M. anyway. She just put her head down on her hands, and closed her eyes. Lisbon snapped her head up when a loud snore startled her. Only then, she remembered Patrick Jane had fallen asleep on her couch five hours ago. She ran her hand through her hair, her heart still fluttering a little bit. There was no way she was going to get to sleep. She got up out of her chair, and stretched. Lisbon walked to the break room, and flipped on the lights. Good, the coffee pot is still on, with coffee still in it. She poured herself a mug and sat at a table facing away from her office. Her head went down into her arms, as she began to drift off to sleep. Lord knew she needed it. She sank deeper and deeper until she was dead to the world. When she opened her eyes she was in her childhood home. Same red leather couches, same yellowed lace curtains, same intoxicated father laying on the floor with bottles of Jack Daniels scattered about. She ran into the old bathroom, and looked in the mirror. Lisbon felt like her 39 year old self, but she saw her young 16 year old body looking back at her. The laugh lines around her eyes had filled back in, her curves had become straight up and down again, and she was about three inches shorter. She began to smile at this silliness, when a shriek pierced her ears. She ran back into the living room, and found her nine year old brother Tommy curled into a ball on the floor, and her father standing over him with a baseball bat. "Daddy, I'm sorry! I tried to be quiet coming in the house!" Tommy pleaded with his father. "You stupid little boy! Couldn't you see I was sleeping? Didn't anybody ever teach you how rude it is to wake your sleeping father? Well I'll teach you alright!" he slurred. He raised the bat over his head, and brought it down on his son's back, as young Teresa watched in horror. Tommy let out a cry of agony, as his father raised the bat again. This time, Teresa barreled toward her father and slammed into him. The force drove him to the ground. But young Teresa's petite teenager frame was no match for her father's brute strength. He threw her off of him, got to his feet, and stood over her. "Dammit Teresa, I've told you how many times to butt out when I'm punishing your brothers! Dumb ass girl!" He drove his foot into her stomach, forcing the air out of her. "Daddy, please don't hurt him. You can punish me daddy, but please don't hurt Tommy. Please." Teresa begged weakly. She turned her head slightly, just so she could see his face. A twinge of guilt flickered across his face and reached his eyes, and then the shades fell again. He brought the bat up, and then swung down, connecting with Teresa's skull. The room was spinning round, the colors blending together into one. She could hear Tommy's screams. "No daddy! No more! Please stop!" His screams became weaker and weaker, till she couldn't hear him anymore. She heard her father mutter, "So there, I taught you a lesson." He dropped the bat, sunk into an easy chair, and passed back out. All Teresa could see was darkness. She could feel warm blood trickling from her scalp. She heard a panicked knocking at the front door. "Lisbon! Lisbon, are you alright? Lisbon, can you hear me?" She felt herself slipping away into unconsciousness. She knew she had to make herself heard. "Help me." She squeaked. "Help me… Help me! HELP ME!" She yelled with as much strength as she could. The front door flew open. Mr. Jamison, a friendly neighbor knelt down next to her. He shook her shoulder. "Lisbon! Please talk to me! Wake up! Lisbon, wake up now!"

Lisbon's eyes flew open, and then squinted into the bright lights of the CBI break room. Her head was still spinning, and her heart was thumping away. Patrick Jane was kneeling next to her chair, his hand on her shoulder, and a concerned look on his face. "Lisbon. Are you ok?" She nodded, blinking tears away. "C'mon," he said, helping her out of the chair. Her legs were still asleep. Jane walked with Lisbon to her office, and sat her down on her couch. He brushed stray hairs away from her face. "Lisbon, what happened?" he asked softly. "Jane, I'm fine. It was just a nightmare." She tried to defend, but her voice cracked. "Lisbon. I could hear you screaming from your office. It was not just a nightmare. Please tell me," he placed his hand on her leg, just above her knee. His thumb traced soothing circles. She felt tears begin to flow freely this time. "I…um… it was like I went back in time. I was in my old house, and … it felt like I was experiencing this past case. My father went to beat my brother and I tried to stop him, so he turned to me. He beat me near total unconsciousness, and then he went to finish what he'd started with my brother. I could just hear him screaming and begging with my father, pleading him to stop, until I… I just couldn't hear him anymore." She wiped the tears from her face and sniffled. "There, I told you. Happy now?" Jane didn't say anything. Instead, he just put his arm around her slender shoulders, and pulled her into him. "Lisbon, you don't have to do that with me, you know that," he whispered. "Do what?" she asked, trying to sound happy. "The whole 'I can't cry in front of anybody 'cause I'm Teresa Lisbon' thing you like to do." Lisbon was about to come up with a snappy remark, but decided against it. She turned her face into his shoulder, and, to her surprise, began to cry.

He stroked her hair with one hand, and traced a soothing pattern up and down her back with the other. They sat intertwined like that, until Lisbon felt herself begin to calm down. She took a few deep breaths, and pulled out of his arms. She wiped the stray tears from her face, and sniffled. He smiled his notorious Patrick Jane smile. "See Lisbon, doesn't it feel much better to let your emotions out like that? Sooner or later, I thought you were going to explode with suppressed feelings." She felt herself smile. "Bite me," she snapped playfully, sniffling again. "Hmm, careful what you wish for there, Lisbon," Jane replied mischievously. She just rolled her eyes. She noticed light beginning to shine through the windows. "Well, I better change my clothes before the rest of the team gets here." She got up off the couch. "Ok, I'm gonna go make some tea." "Of course," she said, pulling spare clothes out of a drawer in her desk. "Jane?" she stopped him just before he walked out. "Yeah?" "Um… thanks for… you know… everything." Lisbon said, awkwardly. Jane rocked back and forth on his feet for a moment, and then closed the distance between them. He put his hands on her shoulders, leaned in, and planted a small kiss on her cheek. Then, he put his lips to her ear. "Anytime, Teresa." He felt her shudder, and he chuckled softly. Then, he turned and strolled out of her office, pulling the door shut behind him. Lisbon smiled to herself, not realizing a blush had crept into her cheeks. God, sometimes she really hated Patrick Jane;).