A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I'm overwhelmed by the reviews and wonderful comments y'all are leaving me! Thanks to: WILD DAISIES, JADESTAR, and SHOPPING-LUVA for reviewing chapter 1. And thanks to: JISBON-FAN, CHIISANA MINAKO, JADESTAR, ELODIE WOLFE, AMBER, ODAKOTA ROSE, FAMOUS 4 IT, FALLEN ANGELS OF LOVE, SHOPPING-LUVA, CURELESS, TROMANA, PENELOPE LOUISE, RAQUELVALENTE91, and TESSA27 for the lovely chapter 2 reviews! *Passes hot coccoa and gingerbread men to everyone* Thank you!

PS- I forgot to mention that the title comes from the song, 'I'll Be Home for Christmas'. I love Christmas music, especially when it's sung by Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and the like!

Chapter Three

Lisbon shivered as the temperature continued to drop and she tried to nestle deeper into her wool coat. Her cheeks were stinging from the freezing wind that steadily picked up as the night grew darker. Her teeth chattered and she tried to force her numb fingers across the knobs along the console. She pressed every button and poked and prodded every light in the hope that something might still work and could be used to signal someone from the road. The crash must have shorted out everything in the car, not that anyone had passed by yet.

She craned her neck, pressing her cheek against the broken window and tried to calculate the distance her car had fallen. Maybe she could angle a mirror or arrange some shards of glass to reflect light from…she paused and shook her head. What was she thinking? There was no way she could MacGyver her way out of this one. Huffing in frustration, she rubbed her hands together to try and warm up her fingers. Her head felt fuzzy and muddled and all she wanted to do was go to sleep. Her eyelids drooped as she began to sink back into the warm darkness.

With a jerk, she practically leapt forward and groaned as the sudden movement pulled at her injuries. She could not fall asleep. She tried reaching for her phone once more, but the last call had vibrated it further out of her reach. She could feel the burning tears pricking at her eyes, but she refused to give up. Lounging back against the headrest, she began to recite the CBI rulebook in order when the beam of a headlight appeared around the bend, the faint glow of lighttrickling through the trees.

Eyes wide, she yelled until her throat was hoarse while trying to break the window closest to her in hopes of making enough noise to stop the other driver. She wasn't sure how much time had passed since the crash, but she had a feeling this was the first car to drive by since she had swerved off the road. The lights brightened and cast eerie shadows throughout the wreckage, causing her to stare in horror at her bloody hands. She continued to yell as the lights slowly faded out of sight, dragging away any hope of rescue along with them.


Jane cursed when he pulled back into the parking lot outside of the office. Her car was missing, and probability dictated that she had made other plans for the night. She wasn't required to alert him of everything she did and she was more than capable of changing her plans without his approval. He couldn't help the nagging feeling that continued to gnaw at him as he entered the darkened building in spite of his thoughts. What if there had been a struggle? What if there was an address written by the phone? It just didn't seem right.

He ventured up the stairs and smiled at the sight of the lights still strung throughout the building. Combing the wall for the light switch, the room was suddenly cast into a myriad of festive colors. His eyes swept around the room, noticing the full trash bags by the door. The food had been put away and any perishable trash had been removed. His eyes lingered on the half empty bottle of wine near his couch. With a frown, he slid onto the soft leather and picked up the bottle.

A faint scent of cinnamon touched his senses as he leaned back onto the couch. It was a smell he equated with Lisbon, and he was positive she hadn't set foot near the couch during the entire party. Closing his eyes, he tried to visualize her mindset. She had seemed relatively happy, although a hint of sadness lingered about her. Opening his eyes, he noticed the Christmas tree was directly in his line of sight. Setting the wine bottle down, his forehead creased in concentration as he stood and made his way to her office.

Jimmying the lock, he quickly flipped through her desktop calendar without luck. She had a few post-it notes attached to the wall committing specific dates and upcoming deadlines to paper. He ran his hands along the mahogany desk before opening the first draw hoping for any clue to her whereabouts. Rummaging through her things, he emerged triumphantly with a small bag of chocolate, a bottle of Aspirin, and a collection of colorful, yet blank, post-it notes. It was useless.

He stood up with a sigh and plunged his hands into his pockets. His fingers hovered over the plastic buttons of his cell phone and he wondered if she had left with one of the other agents. He debated whether it would seem to suspicious for him to call someone else. After all, it was after ten p.m. and everyone else was probably enjoying their holiday. His feelings of concern won out as he dialed a number from heart. Listening to the empty ringing, he silently begged the older man to pick up.

"Virgil, Merry Christmas. Look, I'm sorry to bother you…" he was interrupted as the director kindly told him to get to the point. The faint laughter of children in the background suggested his granddaughters wanted no part of going to bed early so that Santa could arrive.

"Have you seen Lisbon?" he asked nonchalantly. He heard the director pause before answering he had left her cleaning up. Everyone else had left, and the senior agent had offered to pick up so he could get to his church's candlelight service. Jane frowned, and then decided to take the plunge.

"No, it's not big deal, she just hasn't arrived back at her apartment yet. I wanted to bring over her present, and I can't seem to find her…" he trailed off as the older man offered suggestions of possible locations she may have gone to. Minelli knew the holidays were hard on the brunette, and although he may not have verbally acknowledged his approval, he was pleased the consultant and his senior agent had taken an interest in one other.

Jane ended the call, and took one last look around the room for any sign of foul play. Seeing nothing of interest, he turned off the lights and headed out of the door. Growing more concerned, he toyed with the idea of driving past some of the places that Minelli had mentioned. Climbing into his car, he made the split second decision to head back to Lisbon's apartment for one last check. He hoped she had returned home by now. He wanted to catch a glimpse of surprise across her face when she entered her home, but he would trade that feeling in a heartbeat to have her home safe and sound.

Humming along to the Christmas music playing softly on the radio, he let his mind wander to the beauty of the scenery that flew past him. His favorite houses had always been the traditional ones with wreaths on the door and candles in the windows. He had never been fond of garish displays of lights and inflatable figures that people seemed to favor of late. Pulling around the corner, he slammed on the brakes when a large dog appeared off to the side. The dog barked once and then disappeared into the darkness in an almost exact repetition of the earlier scene. Shaking his head, Jane turned back towards the road and sucked in a sharp breath as his headlights glimmered on the broken metal of a guard rail.