~o~

06. New Couch, New Liver

~o~

Lisbon sighed.

So annoying.

In front of Van Pelt, of all people.

"Don't you care about your eyes?"

She sighed again. "Yes, Jane, I care."

"Nevada sun is really harsh on the eyes, Lisbon."

"The Nevada sun is the same as the California one. Besides, we don't know if the body's in Nevada."

"In the desert, the sun's rays are far stronger." He rummaged through the glove compartment. "How hard is it to wear sunglasses anyway?"

"I don't see you wearing any," Lisbon pointed out.

"Aha!" Jane exclaimed proudly as he retrieved a pair of sunglasses and handed them to Lisbon. "I'm old. There's nothing anyone can do about my eyesight now. You, on the other hand, have to be careful. You're still young."

Lisbon groaned in annoyance. "Give me a break. You're 3 years older than me." Despite her strong objections, she still took the sunglasses Jane had given her.

Van Pelt silently watched from the backseat the exchange between her boss and the consultant. She was starting to realize that such banter was not a rare occurrence between the two. No wonder Rigsby and Cho took the other car. She admired her boss. Lisbon had the career Van Pelt aspired to have. Now that she was getting to know her better, she also admired the agent that she was. Lisbon was a small woman in a world of big boys, but easily took her place in it. She thought car trips like this one would give her the opportunity to get to know Lisbon better. Unfortunately, getting to know Lisbon better involved listening to Jane and Lisbon bicker for over an hour. Van Pelt was definitely starting to regret her decision not to ride with Rigsby and Cho.

When Lisbon and Jane got married, they could hardly take a week off together to go on their honeymoon, so they went away for the weekend. Their options were limited so Jane had convinced her to go to Las Vegas. The weekend had been a very good sample of what their married life was going to be. They had arrived late on Friday night and had immediately checked in at their hotel. They had spent the rest of their evening, the night and the next morning in bed. Lisbon had felt loved and appreciated. Then Jane had spent all afternoon gambling. He made tons of money, but got them kicked out of their hotel. Lisbon had been furious. The amount of money he had won barely made up for the fact that they had been kicked out of their honeymoon hotel. He spent the rest of Saturday and the whole of Sunday making it up to her. He first booked a magnificent suite at another hotel. He then spent the rest of the weekend being extra sweet to her. She only forgave him when he used all his winnings on a small townhouse.

So when he suggested that he would gamble while she and Van Pelt would talk with the head of security, Lisbon could barely hold back a smile, their honeymoon flashing in her mind. It had, overall, been a good weekend. Still, she was wary of his gambling and was not overly enthusiastic when he asked her for $100. She reluctantly agreed when he offered to give the money back to her double. Her car suspension had been a little dodgy lately and she wouldn't mind the extra $100 to cover the garage expenses.

When Lisbon gave him the money, Jane changed his promise and confidently told her that he would give her triple the money back. She smiled despite herself. She knew he would. He kissed the money, no doubt reminiscing their honeymoon as well, and went to the tables with one final look at her.

And despite her annoyance at him causing trouble once again, she was secretly thrilled by all the money he ended up winning.

Jane kneeled down next to the bed to kiss a sleeping Lisbon. She turned over as she woke up. "What time is it?" she asked him.

"Just a little after 12. I only wanted to say good night. Go back to sleep," he whispered as he got up.

"No," she protested and extended her arms to invite him in. "Stay for a bit."

Not needing to be asked twice, he laid on top of her and started to kiss her. "You looked so beautiful today with those emeralds on you."

She chuckled. "Couldn't you have bought us a couch instead? Ours is good for the dumpster."

"I did," he replied as he kissed her neck. "A whole set. It's already in our living room."

"You know," Lisbon said as she began to undress him, "I wonder if we would be having this much sex if we weren't sneaking around in hotel rooms so much."

"Are you saying that you find the secrecy more attractive than me?" Jane feigned hurt.

"Please. Don't even try. You know you're good looking."

"Show me how good looking you think I am," he told her with a twinkle in the eye.

She answered him with a kiss.

"What was that about?" Lisbon asked as they left the house. "With the son-in-law?"

"Can't tell you," Jane told her.

"Can't or won't?"

"You wouldn't like the answer. Just trust me on this."

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Will anyone's life be in danger?"

"No, I swear." Jane held up his hand.

"I am so going to regret this," she said as she got in the car.

When Jane got back to his house around 5 o'clock that morning, Lisbon was sleeping on their new couch, a blanket half falling to the floor. He tried to be as quiet as possible, but she woke as soon as he closed the door.

"Patrick?"

"Um, who else would it be?" he asked.

She sat up and wrapped the blanket around her. "Where have you been?"

"We caught Jim Meier's killer: his son-in-law."

Lisbon noticed the silver case he was carrying. "What's in the case? Money? Have you been gambling?"

Jane put the case on the table and sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her. "Yes, but it's not what you think. I was just catching Daniel. The money's for a good cause."

"Please tell me it's for therapy," she said as she rested her head against his chest.

Jane chuckled. "No, it's for a liver."

"A liver?" Lisbon asked, confused. "Oh," she simply said once she realized what he meant.

She fell back on the couch as he got up. "I have to go to the hospital now," he told her. "I'll be back before you leave for work."

She nodded. "I like the couch," she told him as she closed her eyes. She would welcome a couple more hours of sleep while he delivered a massive amount of money to a sick woman.

She had married a good man.

~o~

Author's Notes: Okay, I know I say this every single time, but thank you guys so much for all the reviews and favourites. You guys totally motivate me to write more. I hope this series continues to live up to your expectations. I also want to thank fadding_ripples at LiveJournal who betas everything. She's just awesome. I went through some sort of slump writing chapters 12-15 (I like to write things way ahead of posting in case I have a mega writer's block). I wanted to finish them before posting this one (sort of as my reward). Hopefully, the writing of the next few chapters won't be as difficult and I'll be able to update this a lot more rapidly. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the support. You guys rock :)