Teresa walked a couple of laps around the building before returning to the office to give the redness in her eyes and cheeks time to dissipate. As she entered the bullpen, her eyes immediately went to Jane's couch, which was empty save for an overturned book lying on one of its cushions. His tea cup rested on the side table, but Jane was nowhere in sight. Cho was absent as well.

"Hey, Wylie, where is everybody?" Teresa inquired casually of the young blonde, who was munching on noodles from a carton of Chinese food while staring intently at his computer screen.

"Cho got the names of the senator's staffers, along with a list of lobbyists and other politicos he's been working with recently." Wylie chewed and swallowed the food in his mouth before continuing. "He and Jane went out to go track some of them down."

Oh right, Teresa remembered, the case. With everything that had gone on in the last hour, it had been the furthest thing from her mind. Her visit to the capitol building earlier in the day had been a wash- the legislature wasn't in session so the senate offices were a virtual ghost town. Of course it made sense that he and Cho would be out working the case, she told herself. Jane wasn't avoiding her. Just doing his job, that's all. But then she thought back to the expression that had been on his face when she left with Pike earlier; how he had tried to appear at ease and nonchalant about the whole thing, when inside… well who knew how he was feeling about it.

She sank down into the swivel chair at her desk and leaned back, closing her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, a bright flash of blue color caught her eye- it was a small origami bird crafted out of turquoise paper perched on top of her keyboard. She gently picked it up and held it in her hand, smiling at the recollection of the frog Jane had made for her years ago when she had been upset. She inspected the bird more closely and could just barely make out the words he had written in tiny script on one of its wings:

Out catching bad guys with Cho. See you at home.

-U No Woo

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Teresa turned the corner down her street hours later, she was never so happy to see the Silver Bucket in all her life. The Airstream was parked in her driveway and its owner was sitting on the front steps of her porch. He had a small leaf in his hand, which he was amusing himself with by twisting and holding it up to the late afternoon sun. She sat down next to him, placed her bag at her feet, and greeted him with a simple, "Hey."

"Hey yourself." He smiled and gazed back at her, his eyes looking especially soft and pensive in the dusky light.

"How'd it go with Cho?"

Jane shrugged. "Meh, we solved the case. It was one of the senator's aides. Five minutes of softball questioning and the poor woman cracked, admitted to the whole thing: the affair, the messy breakup, stalking the wife, etc…" His voice trailed off.

They sat in silence for a few moments. "So… how'd it go with Marcus?"

"Alright… I told him everything, all the things I should have said weeks ago."

"Which things would that be?" Jane asked tentatively. He pretended to still be focused on the leaf between his fingers, but then gave himself away with a not-too-subtle sideways glance in her direction. She met his gaze insistently, smiled gently and took his hand.

"I told him that I love you. That you were- are- the reason I came back… That you're the one who will make me happy." He squeezed her hand as she spoke the last words.

"Well, that's a pretty tall order there, Teresa." He flashed his off-kilter grin at her and she nodded and laughed lightly.

She reached over to her side, grabbed the shopping bag that had been resting on the step and placed it in his lap. "Here. I got you something." His grin widened even more as he took a cube-shaped box out of the sack then shook it jokingly. "Well, it's too heavy to be socks," he laughed.

Teresa rolled her eyes a little, then watched expectantly as he opened the lid and delicately unwrapped the layers of tissue paper to reveal what was inside- a small but sturdy teal-colored cup and saucer, an exact replica of the one he'd had at the CBI. Jane admired it adoringly as he held it in his palm. He looked back at Teresa as she began to speak, his face so imbued with happiness it looked as though he might burst. "I saw it in the window of an antique shop the other day, and it reminded me of you and that old song…how does it go, 'Everything Old is New Again.'?"

Jane, still grinning like an idiot, carefully placed the cup and saucer down on the step between them. "Thank you," he exclaimed brightly as he took her face in his hands and kissed her soundly.

When they broke apart a few moments later, the smile on his face was still there. But it was now tempered by a reverent, almost solemn look in his eyes, no doubt brought on by the events of the day. "Thank you," he repeated quietly.

Teresa felt tears prick her eyes, began gathering up the discarded wrappings from the stoop, and took Jane's hand. "Come on. Let's go inside and make some tea."

Okay, I got a little schmaltzy there at the end, but I just couldn't help myself. I am SO excited about Sunday! The reappearance of the teacup is totally from the promo shots. However, the final scene on Lisbon's front steps- I actually wrote that before those spoiler photos were released the other day. After that heartbreaking scene at the end of "Il Tavolo Bianco" I guess I wasn't the only one who wanted see Lisbon and Jane back on her front porch again.

Thanks for reading!