A/N: My take on 2x03 in this story is 100 percent inspired by/blatantly stolen from Leafenclaw. If you haven't read their fantastic story Kindred, I highly recommend you check it out.

This episode is covered over three chapters.

xxx

Lisbon's stomach growled. She pushed it to the back of her mind, intent on finishing the paperwork for the Milbank case before heading home. She rubbed her temple absently—she had a headache forming behind her eyes. Oh, yeah...she'd skipped lunch. She'd headed straight from a crime scene to a deposition with no time for a break. Okay, fifteen more minutes, and then she'd head home and grab a bite to eat. She thought she had some leftover pasta with chicken and pesto in the fridge. She could eat that for dinner and have an early night.

The letters on the page before her began to swim before her eyes. She blinked, shaking her head a little to clear it.

Van Pelt knocked on her door and came in. "Here are the financials you wanted, boss," she said, handing Lisbon a folder.

"Thanks, Van Pelt."

Lisbon took the folder and glanced at the top sheet. Everything was still blurry.

Van Pelt hesitated. "You okay, boss?"

Lisbon blinked again. "Sure. Just tired. Thanks again for this. You go on home, it's late. I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay. Good night!"

"Good night, Grace."

Lisbon tried to return her attention to the Milbank form after Van Pelt left, but fifteen minutes later, she discovered she'd spaced out somewhere along the way. The last paragraph she'd written was complete gibberish, and there was a huge ink stain at the bottom of the page where she'd rested the tip of her pen too long.

"Lisbon, I've been thinking," Jane said, appearing in her doorway out of nowhere. He walked over to her desk and picked up a paperweight, idly passing it back and forth between his hands. "I think I should make another run at Bosco about the Red John case. I'm going to bring him lunch as a peace offering. I have him pegged for a pastrami kind of guy, but I need your opinion. Do you think I should get him lunch from Weintraub's, or the deli over on 14th?"

Lisbon didn't answer, distracted by his long elegant fingers playing with the paperweight. He had lovely hands. Lovely everything, really. Lovely hair, lovely eyes. God, she loved his hair.

"Lisbon?" he prompted her.

She looked up at him and gave him a dreamy smile, thinking of all his loveliness. "Mm?"

Jane frowned at her. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," she said, still gazing at him dreamily. She wondered if there was any way she could persuade him to go make out in the stairwell again. Maintenance still hadn't fixed the camera down there—she'd checked.

Jane's frown deepened. "What's the matter with you?" he demanded.

"Nothing." She stared into his eyes. "You're very pretty, d'you know that?"

"What?" he said, half-appalled, half-amused.

She nodded seriously. "Angel eyes. You know, like the song? That's you. Only—" she snorted, suddenly realizing how funny the comparison was. "You're not very angelic."

"No?"

"You're kind of a pesky angel," she informed him. "An angel pest. I mean, you're really annoying sometimes, you know that?"

Jane was studying her as though she'd taken leave of her senses. "Are you sick?" He came around to her side of the desk and put his hand on her forehead.

"I'm not sick," she said dismissively. "I just have a headache, that's all."

"You don't feel warm," Jane said, letting his hand fall from her forehead. He studied her closely. "When was the last time you ate something?"

"Before," she said succinctly.

"Okay, let's get you something to eat," he said, picking up her jacket and chivvying her out of her chair.

She swayed a little, getting up. She grabbed hold of his lapels to steady herself. "It's okay," she assured him. "I'll protect you, pest."

Jane was at a loss. "You haven't been drinking, have you? No," he said decisively. "You couldn't have been. You've been here all afternoon."

She slid her arms around his waist and tucked her head against his shoulder. "You smell nice, pest."

He broke away, alarmed. "That's it," he said. "Something is definitely wrong with you. I'm taking you to the hospital."

xxx

Lisbon tried to protest, but her head was fuzzy and Jane was irritatingly persistent. He drove her to the hospital and everything only got more blurry from there. Jane seemed upset, and people kept asking her questions. And, she realized in indignation, Jane was doing her paperwork. She informed him clearly that he'd better not mess up her form 442, or there would be hell to pay, even if he did have angel eyes. More people asked her questions, and Jane got even more upset. Then Cho was there.

"Oh, good, you're here," Lisbon said in relief when he came into this horrible white room Jane had insisted they wait in. "Don't let Jane mess up any of my paperwork, Cho."

"I won't, boss," he promised. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," she said, frowning. "Why do people keep asking me that?"

"You're in the hospital," Cho said. "We're worried about you."

"Oh, yeah," Lisbon remembered. "I think…I think there's something I have to do here. Listen, Cho, don't let Jane get into any trouble, okay?"

"Me?" Jane squawked in protest. "Someone drugged you, woman! You're a fine one to talk about keeping out of trouble, under the circumstances."

"Don't be silly," Lisbon said dismissively. "I don't do drugs. You're confused."

"I'm confused?" Jane started, but Cho cut him off.

"How long has she been like this?" he asked Jane. "I saw her at her desk when I left at five, and she seemed fine."

Jane shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. I found her at eight and she was pretty out of it by then. But I don't think she left her office, so I can't figure out how she managed to ingest whatever it was that got her into this state. She's barely eaten a thing all day, as far as I can tell."

"What did the doctors say?"

"They think it's some kind of roofie," Jane said, raking a hand through his hair. "They haven't identified the exact chemical compound yet, so they couldn't tell me much about how long it would take to kick in after someone gave it to her. Cho," he said, his voice suddenly desperate. "What if this is Red John? What if he's coming for her?"

Cho shook his head. "This was sloppy. Red John wouldn't have left so much to chance. If he'd come after her, we'd know it."

Jane's shoulders slumped at this cold comfort. "I suppose you're right."

Lisbon curled her fingers around the sleeve of his jacket. "You're not to run off and do anything crazy," she said sternly. "You always go crazy and do something stupid when you think Red John is involved. Cho," she said, turning to address her second in command. "You're not to let him do anything stupid. That's an order."

"Yes, ma'am," Cho said.

Lisbon relaxed. "Good. I knew I could count on you. You're my favorite, Cho, you know that?" She scrunched up her nose. "But don't tell Jane. He'll get whiny."

"Excuse me, Cho is your favorite?" Jane said indignantly. "And I do not get whiny."

The doctor came in then, saving her from having to answer. She tried to listen, since they seemed to be talking about her, but it was hard to concentrate on the words they were saying. Doctor-speak. It was like they spoke another language.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to take her home?" Jane said to the doctor anxiously. "Wouldn't it be better to keep her here over night?"

The doctor shook her head. "I can keep her for observation, but I don't think there's much we can do for her at this point. Just as well for her to sleep it off at home, where she feels safe and comfortable."

There was some more arguing from Jane—pest—and then Cho was saying, "You want a hand getting her home?"

"No, go on home," Jane said wearily. "I got this. Thanks for coming, Cho. I really appreciate it."

"Anytime." Cho looked at Lisbon. "Goodnight, boss. I hope you feel better soon."

Lisbon was getting sleepy now. "You, too."

Jane did more paperwork—seriously, if he messed up her form 442 she was going to kick his ass—and then he took her out to his car.

He tried to help her in the car, but she rounded on him, pinning him against the passenger side door. "Jane," she growled.

"What?" Jane said nervously.

"If you know what's good for you," she told him. "You're going to get me a bacon cheeseburger."

xxx

To be continued...