A/n Reading your comments from the last chapter was so entertaining, I kind of felt a little evil. Anyway, here is the next one.

/

A Gold Ring

They were immediately thrown into another case, which Lisbon thought was a good thing so she could distract her aching heart whilst Jane wasn't so pleased. He longs for time alone with her so they can talk, properly, he needs her to understand how much he loves her. Right now though he doubts that she would listen to him.

They've been taking different cars to work, eating apart and she is not even staying for when he reads William his bedtime story. It has been painful, and it is eating him up inside. He missed an obvious clue at a crime scene yesterday, it even made Cho raise an eyebrow, but because no-one knew about the short relationship, he couldn't exactly vent to anyone. He wouldn't do that to her anyway.

It has been affecting her a lot too, because although she believes she did the right thing and that she has her spared herself some deeper hurt in the future, it is so difficult to distance herself from him. She wants to listen to him read their son a story, she wants to parade around crime scenes with him whilst hoping that he will behave himself (when he very rarely does).

Lisbon audibly sighs as she wraps an arm tighter around her son who is nestled into her side as they watch some children's television show together. It is early on a Saturday morning, and she hopes that despite them being in the middle of a case that she is allowed this day with her child, but she is sure she will get the call at some point to go in. Although she much prefers her job here in Austin than her Police Chief role in Washington, she misses being able to spend as much of her free time as possible with William. He doesn't seem to mind though.

Each day he comes back from nursery babbling about his friends, about what he ate and what toys he played with. It is nice when he is excited because for those moments she forgets about the tension in the house and is simply happy. Jane has yet to make an appearance today, but she knows that he will be awake in his room, most likely staring at the ceiling.

In the evenings once the toddler is in bed, he tends to stay up there until he knows that the downstairs is clear, and she hears him head down there after she retires to her room. She considers that he is trying to give her space to think, or perhaps he is being cowardly, but she tries not to think about it too much or her head may explode.

What she doesn't know is that he has been spending the time reflecting, trying to work through some of his issues so that he is a more suitable partner if he has her back. He hopes she does because he doesn't know what he will do otherwise. It doesn't even bear thinking about.

He is sat at the end of the bed already dressed but today he has gone for one of his old waistcoats hoping that somehow it gives him a boost of courage. He knows that is ridiculous because how can an item of clothing do that, but at this point he will do whatever he can. If the past few weeks have shown him anything, he doesn't want to be without Teresa Lisbon, he cannot. He got a taste, a small taste, of what their future could be like together, together with their young child and it was bliss. Something that he never thought he would be fortunate enough to have again – and that is playing heavily on his mind.

His blue eyes flicker up and down, firstly looking at the photograph of Angela and Charlotte propped up against the lamp on his desk and then at the wedding ring on his left hand. It has been part of his life for many years now and for most of that he has had pain associated with it, it has felt heavy on his finger with all that he has lost. It definitely became lighter after he choked the life out of Thomas McAllister, so much so that he did consider removing it when he was on the island but then he had no reason to. He had no plans to date, and it had become such an integral part of him, it was almost like taking it off would make him a different person.

Now it doesn't feel like that. It is something that has crossed his mind since he has returned and Lisbon indicating to it when she broke off their relationship just made him face the thoughts in his head. Even if it doesn't make him any happier, at least it is clear indication of his commitment to the brunette who has saved him from himself on too many occasions.

Jane is going to take the ring off.

He exhales sharply – almost involuntarily – as he twists it with the tips of his fingers on his right hand. At first he just moves it in a circle before he takes the leap and begins to pull it from his digit. Unsurprisingly it takes a bit of tough pulling but quickly it is off, and he is holding it delicately with a slightly quaking hand. He did it and instantly he does feel a weight being lifted from his shoulders.

The tan line where the object was is strangely comforting, like a tattoo that he knows will fade overtime but that's okay. Angela and Charlotte will always be with him as long as he shall live. They live through him, and he continues to try and better himself because of them, and now because of Teresa and William.

After swallowing the lump in his throat, he gets up off the bed and immediately places the gold wedding band on the desk in front of the photograph of his family. He gives them a small smile, perhaps an apology or a promise that this doesn't mean he loves them any less, and a sniffle escapes him; it is only now that he realises that he has quite worked up.

A harsh ringing of his phone fills the bedroom and swiftly he manages to compose himself. A part of him doesn't want to answer, he would much rather spend the day trying to win the woman he loves back whilst caring from his son in the process, but he knows that they're in the middle of a case and the crime world never seems to rest. "Hey Cho." He answers after the fifth ring. "What's cooking?"

"You, me and Fischer need to go to Dallas for a few days so pack a bag."

"They arranged a meet then?" They are a gang associated with dealing stolen goods and the unit hopes that they will give them a lead for their latest difficult case.

"Wylie decoded some message in an online forum, but he is unsure whether the date is the 14th or the 16th."

"Hence packing a bag for a few days." He muses with a frown; this isn't the timing he wanted. "You don't need Lisbon then."

"We figured that one of you two needed to stay behind to look after the boy and also we need top agents on this end just in case." And she is a top agent, definitely one of the finer ones in the team. "Meet you at the office in an hour. Tell Lisbon the plan."

"Okay, will do." The mentalist replies but his colleague and friend has already hung up the phone.

It has just gone eight when she hears his footsteps plodding down the stairs and she would be lying if she said that she wasn't relieved. That relief quickly dissipates when she spots the packed bag in his hand and her heart is hammering against her ribcage. "Where are you going?" The panic in her tone almost brings a smile to his face because it is the first indication in weeks that she doesn't want him to leave them.

"Duty calls. I'm going to Dallas for a few days with Cho and Fischer." He is wearing a vest, she recognises, and it makes her feel warm inside. "If anything happens here then Abbott will call you in."

"Oh, okay." Sometimes it is odd not being in charge after being in a senior position for so long but the slight movement of her son in her arms makes that thought quickly disappear. "William…" She shakes the young boy slightly. "Say goodbye to daddy."

Their son doesn't take his eyes of the brightly coloured cartoons on the television but manages a "bye daddy", however whatever is happening in the show he is watching is far too important to avert his gaze. It makes her shake her head with a bemused expression whilst it humours the curly-haired man who steps around the coffee table before leaning down to kiss the top of the toddler's head. "Be good for mummy." He murmurs against his dark curls before withdrawing back with a curt nod to his mother.

When he leant down, he was so close to her, and they both secretly loved being in that proximity once more. Their warmth, their scent…it excited the senses but neither of them can face that right now. Him because it is tough to deal with and her because she doesn't want to get drawn back there, not so easily. "I hope everything goes alright. Don't go looking for trouble." She cannot help herself and he wonders if it is the most they've conversed since that terrible night.

"I won't. See you in a few days." And almost as quickly as he appeared he is gone again.

xxx

"I can't imagine living with an adult that isn't my significant other." Fischer ponders out loud as the crime-fighting trio sit in a blacked-out vehicle waiting for something, anything of interest to happen.

They've been waiting for three hours now and halfway through that they all came to the understanding that Wylie got the date wrong and "the meet" is actually happening in two days' time. This means that they are going to be staying in Dallas a little while longer. "Didn't you go to college?" Jane questions but before she can answer he adds, "And didn't you train at Quantico?"

"Yes."

"Then surely you had adult roommates during those periods of your life." Patrick Jane, one, Agent Kim Fischer, nil – even Cho cannot help but smirk at the consultant's comment. "This is much easier than that. We are living in the same house, not in the same room." Not anymore anyway.

They've done well to largely avoid office gossip that has seemed to have follow them from the CBI to the FBI, probably not helped by the child they share. Neither of them minds though, they shut those whispers out some time ago. "I'm surprised Lisbon puts up with you." Cho remarks from the driver's seat making the man sat in the back scrunch up his features in distaste. "I don't know how you got out of California alive, the number of times I thought she was going to shoot you."

"They have a kid though. The things you do for children." The female agent adds whilst the mentalist continues to look disgruntled.

"I am not actually terrible to live with!" He exclaims, "I cook and clean, and get to spend some good quality time with William."

He observes the two agents sat in the front of the car exchange eye contact, probably trying to get across some subliminal message that he doesn't understand which earns them a huff before he settles back into the seat.

xxx

She hopes that he is having fun and that getting away, even if it is for work, will do him good. Lisbon is thankful for a quiet Saturday because she hasn't been called into the office. Abbott seems to appreciate the importance of family time, and with some of his agents out of the city pursuing a lead there was really no reason for her to go in.

Today was like when she used to get time off in Washington, apart from she is in a different state and a much nicer house. Her and William went to a diner for their lunch before she took him to the playpark where he enjoyed chasing a butterfly around the swings – almost getting wiped out by a kid in the process – and going down the slide, he loves the slide! One of the benefits of having a busy day is that he was tired out by the time they got home, and after a quick dinner and bath he was in bed just gone six giving her some much-needed time to herself.

She knows that she could be spending this time having a pamper night or catching up on some television that isn't a brightly coloured kid shows, but instead she is ironing in the kitchen. It not only needs doing but she also finds the smooth motion of ironing out creases in the fabric kind of cathartic. It doesn't really feel like a chore, although if she told anyone that they would think she is mad.

It was an unconscious decision to iron some of Jane's shirts. He is perfectly capable of doing it himself and he usually does but when she found them clean in the washing basket they gravitated to her heap. It is only when she is ironing a blue shirt that he brought back from the island that it really dawns on her what she is doing and briefly she pauses to lay her palms on the soft material.

Lisbon wore this particular item one morning after they had made love the night before, he made a comment about how she looked sexy wearing it and she told him that she finds wearing his clothes comforting. It all seems very silly now, she thinks, before resuming the task at hand.

It doesn't take her long to finish up and she is taking the freshly pressed clothes upstairs to put away – although she decides to leave William's in the basket, not wanting to wake him up.

Going into Jane's room feels like an invasion of privacy. She has only been in here a few times, mainly because there has not been a need to. Anytime they spent intimately together was in her bedroom, and the few occasions she has ventured in here has been to retrieve her son who would toddle in whilst looking for his father. She will only be a second is what she reasons, before laying the stack of three shirts on top of his neatly tucked sheets.

When she turns to leave it is the sight of a photograph on his desk that catches her eye but that is quickly replaced by a much more unlikely find… Jane's wedding ring.

In the busyness of him leaving in a hurry this morning she hadn't noticed that it wasn't on his finger but having spotted it on the wooden surface, in front of a photograph of a smiling Charlotte and a serene Angela, she doesn't know how to react.

This is a clear sign that he is ready to move on and fully commit to her, but she also feels a little guilty. She didn't mean to push him; she hopes that she hasn't and that he is okay. Yesterday she didn't think that there would be any chance of the two of them being together again but now, on seeing the gold ring sat alone instead of on his left hand, her opinion has shifted.

They need to talk first, there needs to be some ground rules laid out and she needs him to know that the family he so tragically lost matter to her too.