Here's a long chapter for your enjoyment! This was a lot of fun to write.

Chapter 2: Road Trips

The first thing she noticed was the stirring scent of his cologne wafting into her dreams. Then there was his voice, which had the tenacity to call her name.

His voice made her smile.

"Lisbon."

Lisbon felt him shift beside her and place his hand on her shoulder. That's when it occurred to her that this wasn't a dream. She suddenly opened her eyes to find Jane staring at her with a smile in his beautiful blue eyes.

He observed her dazed expression as he held her in an upright position while people in the cabin began to gather their bags and exit the plane. Cho was standing in the isle looking down on her. Jane grinned and tilted his head. "The plane landed." He informed her. She just stared back at him wide-eyed, before glancing up at Cho and then over at Rigsby.

"Good morning," Cho remarked. Lisbon's eyebrows creased into a frown when she noticed how close she was to Jane. She quickly pushed away his hand and shifted in her seat so she was farther away from him. Jane smiled at her, not at all hurt by her embarrassed reaction. Though she tried to hide it, her cheeks blushed a faint pink as she self-consciously fixed her hair.

She tried to hide how mortified she was that her whole team had seen her sleeping on Jane's shoulder, but failed miserably. Jane laughed slightly before grabbing his bag and getting to his feet. She decided her best course of action was to pretend that it never happened. After all, it wasn't that strange for a tired woman to fall asleep on her best friend's shoulder. Well, for most women… and only when the friend in question is not Patrick Jane.

An hour later at a car rental dealership…

Jane and Van Pelt stood in the middle of the parking lot. Jane shuffled a deck of cards in his hands while Lisbon and Rigsby argued with the rental car salesmen over the red SUV the CBI had reserved. It had mysteriously disappeared and had been replaced by a small black BMW, so Lisbon, who dreaded a long drive in cramped quarters, was furious.

Meanwhile, Cho and Van Pelt watched Jane as he pulled a simple card trick.

"Is this your card?" Jane asked confidently, holding up the queen of hearts. Van Pelt's eyes widened with shock.

"How'd you do that?" She replied emphatically, completely bemused by Jane's methods. Jane simply smiled at her with an amused grin. "Oh come on! You have to tell." She persisted.

"Google it." Cho suggested, hiding his admiration for Jane's abilities under a veil of disinterest. "Obviously, Jane did." He quipped, just as Lisbon withdrew from her battle with the salesmen and returned with a set of keys jingling in her hand. Her frustrated expression, however, indicated that they were in for a long, uncomfortable journey.

"You rely too much on technology to solve your problems." Jane responded to Cho's comment, before resuming his habitual shuffling of the cards. "You lose the magic." He added as he followed Lisbon to the rental car.

"You don't believe in magic," Rigsby pointed out. Jane simply grinned and took his place in the passenger's seat.

"I called shotgun!" Rigsby whined, standing outside the car with his hands resting on the doorframe. Jane was a little surprised by his desire to sit up front, but had no intention of surrendering the spot.

"How old are you? Ten?" He remarked curiously, ignoring Rigsby's request.

"You always call it!" Rigsby explained, not wanting to squeeze into the backseats.

"Not today. Today I got here first." Jane countered with a clever smile.

"I'm not going to deal with this," Lisbon muttered, visibly irritated. "You two can switch half-way, okay?" She ordered. Jane simply smiled and Rigsby sighed and moved to the backseat.

"So we're driving into the middle of nowhere." Cho affirmed, pulling out his book for the long drive.

"I think it could be fun," Van Pelt remarked, taking an I-pod out of her bag.

"Road trip!" Jane exclaimed emphatically with a cunning smile. Lisbon glared at him. "Come on, someone had to say it," Jane defended. Lisbon rolled her eyes, before turning her attention to the road.

Two and a half hours later…

"Go fish," Jane replied. "Got any 3's?" He asked, turning to Rigsby. His eyes scanned over his cards with a clever smile on his lips.

"Dammit," Rigsby cursed, violently tossing Jane the three matching cards before throwing down his hand. Jane's smile widened. Cho remained enthralled in his book while Van Pelt played along with their game of go fish.

At their first stop, Rigsby and Jane had changed seats under Lisbon's orders and then once they stopped at a gas station, Cho was promoted to the front seat, while the other three continued their game of cards in the back.

"So I get how you can win at poker, black jack, etc., but how can you win at go fish?" Van Pelt questioned, also surrendering her hand. Jane had won every game since they had left the parking lot, which had been at least two hours ago. Actually, they should have reached their destination already.

"A magician never reveals his secrets," Jane responded, stacking up the stray cards.

"I had an uncle who was a magician," Rigsby announced randomly, then receiving curious glances from his colleagues. Conversation shifted to the front seats.

"We've passed that house," Cho stated as he glanced up from his book and observed their surroundings. Lisbon frowned.

"Cho, I would've noticed if we were driving in circles." Lisbon countered pointedly.

"Actually, Cho's right. We passed that house about three times now." Jane explained matter-of-factly. Lisbon's frown deepened and she glanced into the rearview mirror so she could see the consultant.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She argued, hostility and frustration evident in her features.

"Because I knew you wouldn't believe me." Jane shrugged, glancing up at the mirror so he could see her eyes. "I can drive if you want." He added.

"No." Lisbon answered without hesitation. "We're not lost," she affirmed forcefully. Jane shrugged, knowing that this was a lie. He was willing to wait.

"I never said we were." Jane replied. "Just that we're going around in circles." He admitted with a smile. In turn, he received another glare from the driver's seat.

One hour later…

Another hour had passed before Rigsby and Jane finally convinced Lisbon that they should stop for lunch… and for directions.

Now Jane, Van Pelt, and Rigsby were sitting at a corner table in a small, roadside diner in the midst of a desert. The diner had some charming qualities, but Lisbon was too busy to notice. Cho and her were talking to the lady at the counter and were examining a map of the region.

"I didn't think you could get lost nowadays with GPS systems, cell phones, and such," Rigsby commented as he took a bite of his turkey sandwich.

"I'm sure that's what they said when they invented maps." Van Pelt added, taking a sip of her soda. Suddenly, Lisbon and Cho returned to the table and took their respective seats. Lisbon squeezed in next to Jane and Cho next to her. Lisbon laid out the map on the table and quickly pointed to one of the roads.

"It turns out we were supposed to take a right, not a left." She pointed out, visibly relieved that they had supposedly found their way. Jane glanced over the map before setting his gaze on Lisbon.

"If you think that was our only wrong turn, then we'll be eating dinner here too." He replied with a clever grin. Lisbon narrowed her gaze. Somehow, Jane knew everything, and even when he didn't, he was simply so convincing that it was hard not to believe that everything he said was as good as fact. It annoyed her no end. She crumbled up the map, taking her frustration out on it, before leaning back against the booth, accepting defeat. Jane's smile faded slightly as he witnessed her surrender. Normally, she was calm and collected, but this trip was visibly taking its toll on her and the stress was hindering her judgment. "Hey," Jane commented in a softer, gentler voice as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's not a big deal." He assured her with a light smile. Lisbon glanced at Jane's hand before meeting his eyes. He could tell she was uncomfortable with him touching her in any way, so he decidedly pulled away his hand and evaded her curious eyes by taking a sip of his drink.

"I'll drive," Cho offered.

"Exactly. Let Cho get us lost for a little while." Jane joked, hoping to cheer up his boss. Lisbon looked around the table to find that all eyes were trained on her.

"Fine," she concluded, giving in. It was out of her hands now. Conversation reduced to silence for a few minutes, before Rigsby broke it abruptly.

"Does anyone else want dessert?" He asked, looking around the table hoping for another taker so he wouldn't be the only one. Jane was the first to agree, then followed by Van Pelt.

In the end, they all enjoyed some dessert and any excuse not to return to the cramped and uncomfortable quarters of the small vehicle.

Four hours later…

After another few hours of aimless wandering through the desert, now under the leadership of Cho, Lisbon finally agreed to let Jane drive. She hated his victorious grin when she handed over the keys and quickly regretted her decision as Jane drove erratically and speedily down the highway. Had there been more cars on the street, she probably would've stopped him.

Eventually she got used to the rocking of the car as Jane weaved around other vehicles. The continuous motion dimmed her senses and lulled her into a deep sleep.

Then when she awoke from her sleep, she found that the sun was starting to set, enveloping the sky in a sea of pink and purple. Her second observation was that the rental car was slowly inching forward on the side of the road. She slowly sat up and bemusedly glanced over at Jane, who, for once, seemed to share her puzzled expression.

"Jane." Lisbon warned as a loud sound erupted from the engine and the car stopped. Jane released his grip on the wheel and held his hands up as if to prove his innocence.

"I didn't do it," he quickly replied, his eyes still brimming with confusion. He frowned at the vehicle as if the car was playing a cruel joke on him.

"Are we out of gas?" She questioned, suddenly noting the absence of cars on the small road they were now on. Van Pelt, Cho, and Rigsby were all fast asleep in the backseat and showed no signs of stirring.

"I filled it up less than an hour ago." Jane admitted, as he tried again to start the engine.

"You killed the battery!" Lisbon exclaimed, quickly targeting Jane as the scapegoat for her misguided anger and frustration. Jane frowned, apparently not as cheery as he had been earlier in the day. It was as if her frustration was starting to rub off on him.

"You're not really going to pin this on me, are you?" He responded incredulously.

"Maybe if you didn't break every speed limit, we'd be there already." Lisbon countered, shaking her head as she felt her world continuing to crumble around her.

"That statement contradicts itself." Jane pointed out, unamused. Their argument finally pulled the rest of the team from their slumber.

"What's going on?" Van Pelt questioned as she sat up in her seat, her eyes still half-closed.

"Van Pelt, can you help me?" Jane asked as he opened the car door.

"Why me?" Van Pelt replied, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Of all of you, I'm sure you're the one with the most experience with cars." Jane deduced as he stepped out into the cold evening air and opened the hood of the car.

"I know a little something." Van Pelt replied, getting out of the car and following Jane to the front. Lisbon, Rigsby, and Cho also got out. Lisbon crossed her arms across her chest as she peered over Jane's shoulder.

"We should've been there hours ago," she argued, more to herself than to Jane. Most of her frustration stemmed from the fact that her boss was going to yell at her for being so late to a crime scene. As team leader, their lengthy delay would be her fault.

"I bet once we get there, they'll have already solved the case." Cho commented as he leaned against the side of the car.

"It's in the same state for Christ's sakes! It shouldn't take this long." Lisbon added, shaking slightly as the wind nipped at her bare skin.

"Calm," Jane told her as he looked up from the engine and gestured for her to relax. His eyes were composed and sincere, and somehow pacified her frayed nerves. He turned back to the car.

"Do you see the problem?" Jane asked, glancing over at Van Pelt. Jane, a person who owned a vintage, classic car, had basic knowledge of a car's engine; yet, he couldn't find anything wrong with this one.

"Whatever it is, it's probably not something we can fix here and now." Van Pelt sighed, giving up on finding the problem. Jane nodded in agreement.

"At least we're not lost anymore." Rigsby remarked absent-mindedly. Lisbon glared at him. "Not like we were before, boss." Rigsby corrected himself with a nervous grin.

"Did we pass any motels recently?" Cho asked, directing the question at Jane. Everyone's attention focused on the consultant.

"Why does everyone look at me?" Jane asked, glancing at his colleagues. He had been the only one of them awake and even had they been awake, Jane would've been the only one who would have noticed when and if they had passed through a town. Jane smiled. "There's a town about two miles back." He offered as he closed the hood of the car. Then he walked to the opposite end of the car and opened the back compartment.

"What? So we have to walk?" Van Pelt questioned, clearly displeased with the idea. Jane pulled out his small duffle bag.

"And lug the bags too." Rigsby furthered following Jane's move. Jane then began to walk down the side of the street. He got a few feet away before he turned back to the team.

"Well, let's go then." He announced, suddenly happier than before. Lisbon reluctantly grabbed her rolling bag and quickly caught up with Jane.

"Just my luck," she mumbled as she came up beside him. "You are never driving again." She told him, trying to make it sound like a threat, but Jane took no offense. He just flashed her a quick smile before returning his focus to the street in front of him. Tiredness was starting to get the best of him.

Cho grabbed his stuff and followed, while Rigsby offered to help Van Pelt with her large bag. "I can take that," he told her with a grin.

"Thanks, Rigsby." Van Pelt replied shyly, accepting his offer with a soft smile. Cho grinned slightly at the exchange.

They all set to walking to the nearest town, hoping to get there before the sun fell beyond the horizon.

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