A couple days had passed since their awkward and surprisingly intimate shopping adventures, and in their classic true mature adult style, they hadn't spoken a peep about it since. The world kept spinning, the birds kept chirping, and they kept working side-by-side as if nothing had happened. Of course, the lingering gazes, and the exchanges of coy looks still remained, but these were nothing, if not normal when it came to these two complicated individuals.

The fresh morning presented them with a brand new case. "Good morning lovely people," Jane greeted as he ambled up the sidewalk to the congregation of Cho, Vega and Lisbon waiting outside the large grey warehouse of Lleyton & Packett Shipping. "What brings us to this lovely edge of Austin this morning?"

"PD has handballed us a murder case, 23-year old Darryl Cotter, found washed up on the banks of the Colorado River on Red Bud Isle four days ago."

"Four days ago? Ugh, this is practically a cold case," Jane interjected

"Hardly," Lisbon countered flatly. "Sorry there's no body for you to sniff"

"Eh, can't sniff 'em out of the river, too pruney anyway," he dismissed.

Vega looked at them both strangely but chose not to say anything. Cho continued.

"ME said he'd died two days before he was found. No water found in his lungs, so he was dead before he went in. Blunt force trauma to the head. Lived with his family in Georgetown, worked here," Cho nodded at the building, "also the last people to see him alive. Priors for possession and intent to sell, small scale stuff, nothing violent." He handed Lisbon the case file he was reading from.

"PD has no leads, there's a six hour between the last person seeing him here and TOD," Cho outlined.

"So it was all too hard so they gave it the grown-ups to handle?" Lisbon offered.

"Pretty much," Cho concurred, as he led them into the building.

Once inside, Cho and Vega peeled off to talk to the admin staff, the last people to see Cotter alive, while Lisbon and Jane spoke with the three men that worked the same shift as him, Bagley, Jones and Crawdad. The trio all presented in grey coveralls, surnames embroidered on their right breast, and radiated blue collar worker stereotypically. Crawdad a foot smaller than the other two, Jones a much larger build, and Bagley well overdue for a haircut.

Quite quickly Jane noted there was something curiously different about Bagley. The way he reacted to the news of further questioning about Cotter, a slight twitch in his eye muscle, the way the creases around his lips swayed. It wasn't straight out guilt, but there was definitely something there. He looked him up and down. His fingertips were discoloured on one hand, his fingernails short and worn - not something you'd get at a packing plant, that's for sure, he thought.

"Do any of you enjoy arts and crafts?" Jane interrupted Lisbon's line of questioning, copping a slightly irritated glare, "personally, I find it very calming."

The three men shook their heads, "no, but my ma, she likes knitting, sometimes I help her," Crawdad offered.

"That's wonderful," Jane replied, stuffing his hands in his pocket and rocking from toe to ball. "it's great for the mind you know, keeps you sharp. Did any of you kill Cotter?" he casually slipped onto the end of his sentence.

He overtly observed their reactions as the usual wave of shock and denial coursed through the trio. He nodded sombrely feigning concentration.

"Can I continue?" Lisbon asked Jane sarcastically.

"Yes of course," Jane said. Lisbon opened her mouth to speak again, "For now," Jane quickly added. She pursed her lips, almost to hide a little grin and then continued.

Bagley seemed more nervous than the others, that's for sure. His sunken face combined with the discoloured fingers led Jane to conclude that he was likely an illicit cook of some description. Drug business, very unsavoury, would make sense if that world was linked to the motive of Cotter's murder.

"Quick question," Jane interrupted again, Lisbon's shoulders dropping, "imagine you're going exploring. Would you rather hike a mountain or explore a cave?"

"What does this have to do with anything?" Jones asked.

"Just answer his question," Lisbon instructed, not having the faintest of ideas where Jane was going with this.

"Mountain," said Jones.

"Yeah, mountain," said Crawdad.

"Cave," said Bagley, "so long as there were no bats."

"Excellent," said Jane. Lisbon looked at him with raised eyebrows and he gestured for her to continue.

Bagley preferred the closed and dark. He suspected Crawdad did too, but was too much of a follower to disagree with Jones. But Bagley was okay with that. He detected a hint of a rebellious streak, but a driven steadfastness. In his right hand, Bagley held a key chain with three keys on it, one of them being the car key with the Toyota logo, along with a key chain for the Arizona Cardinals.

Jane had one last question.

"Did you guys know about Cotter's second job?" he asked, noting a slight glimpse of panic in Bagley's face, that was all the answers he needed. "At least, we think he had a second job, we're not sure," he supplemented.

The three men exchanged glances and all shook their heads.

"Great, well thanks for your time," Jane said as he started to walk off.

"I'm not done here," Lisbon pointed out.

"I am," Jane answered, "you continue, I'm done," as he gave a flourished wave in the air as he walked off.

He walked the hallways of Lleyton & Packett and found the staff room. Dingy and no frills, but a basic kitchen, tables and lounge. His attention was drawn to the roster on the wall. Bagley had the morning shift today, he was due to finish at 11am, an hour away. Perfect, he thought. He found a stray piece of paper and hastily scrawled 'you're needed immediately' before wandering into the locker room. Thankfully, all the lockers were emblazed with employee names, so he easily found Bagley's locker and slipped the note in.

Back down the hallway, he found an empty office. Not sure who it belonged to, but that was redundant. He scoured the desk and drawers until he found what he was looking for – a couple of paperclips. He was pleased that he'd gotten lucky, they were the larger sturdier ones. He grinned to himself before slipping them into his pocket.

As he stepped out of the office, he was startled by a "JANE!" echoing from his favourite brunette agent marching down the hall. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Just doing my thing, you know, poking around," he answered with a shrug.

"Well don't go anywhere you're not supposed to and don't do anything illegal," she warned.

"Well, where's the fun in that?"

"I'm going to go talk to the supervisors now, you coming?"

"Doesn't sound very interesting, I think I'll keep poking around here, keep my ear to the ground, mingle with my fellow man."

Lisbon half snorted, "yeah okay."

They parted ways. "Hey Lisbon," Jane called out. She stopped and turned around. "What?" she answered. "Come find me later, okay?" he requested.

"Yeah of course," she said before walking off. Stupid request, she thought, of course they'd all reconvene before heading off again.

Jane headed down another hallway to the vending machines. He looked at in squalor, all he really wanted was an apple, but packaged processed crap was the only thing on offer. He settled for a packet of crisps and a nougat bar, before getting a bottle of water out of the adjacent machine. He then headed downstairs for the parking garage.

He scanned the lot. It wasn't long until he found what he was looking for, but he quickly realised that there was not one, but two Toyotas in the lot. He peered inside their windows, running between each, before spotting a Cardinals scarf in the backseat of one, which tipped him to the point of sure. This was Bagley's car. He pulled the paperclips from his pocket. He was thankful it was an older model, but from judging Bagley, he already knew it was going to be. He straightened the paperclips and made work on the lock to the trunk. He made a mental note that he'd need to buy himself a proper pick kit again.

It wasn't long until the trunk popped open. He surveyed the parking garage, ensuring he was alone, before hopping inside the trunk and closing himself in with a BAM. Now all he had to do was wait. And enjoy these salt & vinegar crisps. He turned off his phone and settled in.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Interviews all completed, and a quick search for the unit's consultant not proving fruitful, Lisbon approached the waiting Cho and Vega out the front of the building.

"Did anyone see where Jane went?" Lisbon asked the duo.

"Nope," Vega shook her head, "haven't seen him in a while."

A sudden burst of deja vu hit her. She pulled her phone out of her jacket, found the consultant's contact and hit call. Straight to voicemail. She could feel that tension headache start to creep in, something she hadn't really had to deal with since the California days.

"Ugh, his phone's off, that means he's up to something dodgy," Lisbon said exasperatedly to Cho, hitting another contact in her phone. "Wylie, set-up a tap on Jane's phone, get it to ping his location should he ever turn it back on again," she ordered. "I knew I should've sewn GPS trackers into his suits," she muttered under her breath.

"Or maybe his phone's just off? Out of battery?" Vega volunteered.

Lisbon and Cho exchanged looks before deadpanning their rookie.

"Or maybe not," Vega trailed off.

"Vega and I will go talk to the family then," Cho said to Lisbon, "what do you think Jane's up to?"

"God only knows," she replied with a pained look on her face, "he's probably broken into one of the offices here, or is stalking someone he found interesting."

"What do you think we should do?" he asked her. He might have been in charge, but when it came to matters of the consultant's tomfoolery, Lisbon was the expert.

Lisbon suddenly remembered Jane's last statement to her, 'come find me later, okay?' She cringed. "Of course," she muttered in frustration under her breath.

"You and Vega go ahead, I'll stall around here and see if he shows up, maybe convince them to let me take a peek of the security footage," she suggested.

"Okay then," said Cho, "keep me updated." He turned to his junior agent, "Let's go, Vega."

Lisbon about faced back into the building, dragging her feet slightly but walking with purpose. Here she was again, trying to figure out and trying to sort out what kind of mess the dysfunctional consultant had gotten himself into. Jane AWOL never came with painless consequences. Old habits died hard.

"Back again, sorry," she said to the receptionist, Amber. "Do you have much security camera surveillance on the building?" she asked.

"Just the front door, loading bays and the back entrance to the carpark," Amber replied.

"Great, I'm going to need to see some of that footage," Lisbon informed.

"Austin PD already took copies from the day Cotter went missing," Amber pointed out.

"I'm looking for something a little different," Lisbon answered vaguely.

"Well, you're going to need a warrant right? That's how these things work?" the Amber challenged.

"Really?" Lisbon said in disbelief, "do we really need to go down that road? I'll only be 5 minutes, then I can get out of your hair. Otherwise, you're going to have a lot more of us in here being a hell of a lot more annoying."

"Oh I don't care, I just don't want to get in trouble," Amber said standing up. "Basically anything you find without a warrant is inadmissible, right? So you're jeopardising your trial if you find anything now."

"Watch a bit of crime drama, huh?" Lisbon asked.

"Can't get enough," Amber replied, leading Lisbon into the side room that housed their security camera systems. "Have at it," she gestured with her hand, "just hope you don't find the murderer in the process."

What an odd thing to say, Lisbon thought as she sat down on the falling apart swivel chair in front of the monitors. The system was rudimentary but easily workable.

"Thanks Amber, and if you spot my colleague romping around, can you please send him my way?"

"Sure thing," Amber replied as she walked off.

She started scanning the footage from the morning. She saw the four of them enter from the front cameras and disappear down hallways. Now, if I was a pain-in-the-ass consultant, what would I do? she thought to herself. She tried to put herself in his frame of mind.

"There's no such thing as psychics," she said to herself in her best mock Patrick Jane voice, "I could kill for a cup of tea, that's assault Lisbon, rules don't apply to me, I'm boy wonder," she continued, getting right into it, her head bobbling from side-to-side as the footage rolled though. She stifled a giggle to herself, before dating her head around to make sure no-one was watching her, suddenly very self-conscious and embarrassed. She cleared her throat and continued her observations of the tape.

Then something caught her eye. The corner of one of the cameras, the carpark one, the three-pieced-suit charlatan walking from the building to the carpark. She paused and rewinded, just to double check. Yep, that was him alright. She watched the footage carefully from then until the current time, Jane never reappeared, and both Crawdad and Bagley left in their cars after their shift had finished. So, she thought to herself, Jane was either still in the carpark, left the carpark in a place that the cameras didn't cover, or was in Crawdad or Bagley's cars.

Ugh, she thought, why does he have to make things so difficult all the time? She took a picture of the screen with her Blackberry before heading back out the hall and down to the parking garage.

"JANE!" she yelled as she walked down the aisles of cars. There weren't too many employees in the building, the lot only had 9 or 10 cars scattered. "JANE!" she tried again. Gosh, it was like she was calling a dog, she thought.

She looked around. There were no other doors or exits that he could have snuck out from. She found the security camera and compared the view from the picture she took on her phone. If he wanted to sneak out without being detected by the camera, there was a very specific 10-15 feet gap he'd have to target, whilst walking around the edge to get there. She doubted he would've done that on purpose.

"JANE!" she bellowed one more time, listening very quietly for any response. Nothing. Nothing at all.

"Dammit," she muttered to herself. She had really hoped it wasn't the third option – he had broken into Crawdad or Bagley's car. She didn't see him in either vehicle when they drove off, so he was either laying on the backseat, or the most likely case, in the trunk for some reason. It wasn't looking good.

She pulled out her Blackberry. "Wylie, anything on Jane's phone yet?" she asked when their IT guru answered.

"Nothing yet no," he replied.

"Listen, I need you to find out what you can about a Peter Bagley and Troy Crawdad employed at Lleyton and Packett Shipping," she requested.

"Sure thing," Wylie answered.

Lisbon thought for a second. Her instincts told her it was Bagley. There was just something about him. His demeanour, the way he held himself. She had no real grounds about it but her gut. But gut was what Jane seemed to do. And he had always encouraged her to trust his gut.

"Make Bagley the priority. Find out the plates from the car he drives, should be a blue Toyota sedan, put a BOLO out on it."

"Just Bagley's car? Not Crawdad's?" he clarified.

"Yes," she confirmed, "for now anyway."

"You got it," Wylie replied as he hung up.

She walked back to her SUV wondering if Jane's car disappearance act was by design or by force. He had been kidnapped many times in their career history together. Many times. Generally for a different reason each occasion, but the common denominator being his mouth was what got him into strife to begin with. Considering her fishy behaviour preceding his disappearance, she thought and hoped it was the former. She sighed and hopped back in the car, calling Cho to update him and receive further orders on her way back to HQ.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The crisps were long gone, but the nougat bar and water still there for him to enjoy later in the journey. The trunk had an odd smell, like beer had seeped into the carpet of its base many moons ago. Jane was thankful he wasn't the type to dump things in his trunk when he finished work. He also hoped his message had its desired effect and they were on their way to wherever Bagley illicitly moonlighted with Cotter. He was jumping to some pretty big conclusions, but he was at least 72% sure he was right. They had been driving for about 20 minutes, Jane carefully trying to consider each time he felt the vehicle turn so he had some idea of where he might be. If his guesses were right, they were heading out of the Austin metropolitan area.

He had no idea what he was getting himself into, but it was more than likely unsavoury, and he'd almost definitely need the back up. After another 10 minutes of what started to feel like country driving, he felt he was at a safe enough distance that they wouldn't be intercepted before Bagley unwittingly led them to a crucial destination, so he turned his phone back on and hastily switched it to silent.

Three voicemails from Lisbon, he grinned at the screen. There was something so homely comforting about an irate Lisbon, he looked forward to listening to them later. There was probably a mildly angry one, followed by a calmer and enticing one, followed by an extremely angry one. He remembered back to the Vegas six-months, and how difficult it was to stay away from her. The voicemails she left for him helped him get through some of the lonelier times. He would replay them so often, valuing each syllable she said. She never gave up on him. A timely reminder that he would never deserve her. She was far too good for him. He cringed at the thought that he'd made her angry and worried again, but he needed an efficient way to get to the bottom of this Cotter mess.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at HQ, Wylie stood at Lisbon's desk. Just stood there. Saying nothing, doing nothing, just watching her bash away at her keyboard while he held a tablet in his hands.

"What are you doing Wylie?" she asked

"Waiting," he replied.

"Waiting for what," she asked.

"Uh, waiting for you to notice me?" he said unsure.

She sighed. "What is it Wylie? You have my attention. Did something come back?"

"Yeah, uh, I got the files on Bagley and Crawdad you wanted. Nothing on the BOLO yet, but Jane's turned his phone back on," he said as he handed her the tablet.

She grabbed the tablet from him and saw the last cell tower he pinged at was 40 miles North-East of Austin. She frantically went for her own phone and called him, only for him to reject the call. She growled in frustration, her phone dinging shortly after, with a text from Jane.

'30 minutes North-East, come find me, bring back up'

The nerve of him, she thought.

'What the hell Jane. What are you doing? What's the plan?' she texted back, naively expecting a decent response.

'Bagley, I'm in the trunk of his car'

She paused. On one hand she was proud of her own deduction skills. On the other, Jane was stuffed in the trunk of car. But the fact that he had his phone on him was a good sign. If it was a kidnapping for some reason, he either wouldn't have his phone, or he would be bound and unable to use it. The relief was diminished by the annoyance that this trunk business was all intentional.

'Are you okay?' The softer side of her replied.

'Yes, don't dawdle.'

She got up to talk to Cho. Taking orders from the consultant. Just like old times again.

"What's he done now?" Cho asked after taking one look at her face, a look that gave him his own sense of deja vu.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jane waited for fifteen minutes after the car finally came to a stop. There were no noises, no sounds, no unusual smells. He couldn't tell much about his new surroundings from his dark hiding place apart from it was hot, very hot. He flicked to trunk latch open, freeing himself and tentatively peered around. There was no sign of life, as he found himself in the middle of the desert, parked in front a large warehouse that seemed very out of place in its arid surroundings. He clamoured out and swung the trunk shut.

He wandered to the side of the corrugated warehouse, curiosity and caution fuelling his step. As he rounded the corner, he was quickly discovered by two armed men, standing watch over the entrance to the large shed.

"What the hell are you doing here? Who the hell are you?" the first one asked with gruff and surprise, with a thick perhaps Baltic accent.

"I could ask you the same thing," Jane replied.

The men exchanged glances, before raising their weapons.

"Oh this isn't the Drakovich-Semplar wedding, my bad, must be the other building" Jane said, before quickly changing direction.

"Hold it!" one of them yelled.

"Hold what?" Jane asked.

"Smart-ass hey?" he replied.

"I'm with Bagley, go ask him," Jane said, trying to buy himself some time.

"Don't know a Bagley," the second replied.

"Really?" Jane asked confused, as he titled his head.

They both cocked their weapons.

"Wait, wait, wait. You can't just kill me," Jane said with a maniacal laugh. "You know how pissed your boss will be? You'll be the next one dead. Your whole family too."

The two men exchanged glances with each other.

"You don't need me to tell you what he's like, you know him," Jane scoffed. "Just direct me to your waiting area, and let your boss know 'the god's have answered his calls', he'll know what I mean," Jane continued to lie through his teeth, trying to make sure his nerves didn't scurry to the surface.

"Knock him out and dump him in the hole. Boss can deal with him later," one of the men instructed.

"There's no need to do that," Jane said.

"Yeah, no need to knock him out. We'd have to carry him. I'll make him walk," the other man replied, "Ok move," he instructed Jane. "And no more talking, or I will knock you out and just drag you."

"You gotta kick him around a bit, people can't be just showing up out here," the first man insisted.

"Do you want to this? I've got this, now piss off!" the second man replied, causing the first man to disappear.

"You really shouldn't let him talk to you like that," Jane pointed out, recognising a point of vulnerability and trying to drive a wedge between the partners. "Must be frustrating working with such a bossy, egotistical partner."

"I said no talking!" the man squawked, followed by a few swift blows to Jane's abdomen, before one clean to the head knocked him unconscious.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Their SUV, two-patrol cars and an armoured vehicle full of the SWAT team formed the convoy made its way up the desolate Texas highway. After running the situation past Abbott (Cho thought it be wise), their supervising agent was keen to err on the side of caution and ensure they were prepared for anything in their wild goose chase finding their new consultant. Lisbon wondered whether Abbott was being somewhat optimistic with Jane's crackpot schemes and if they were just going to find a man having a drink out a pub, or something similarly insignificant. She knew Jane would have just followed Bagley on a hunch, they were using FBI resources on guess work. Nonetheless, she had learnt not to underestimate Jane's hunches. Years of experience.

They arrived at the spot determined to be about Jane's last known location. Wherever he was now, they had no service. Wylie directed them from HQ, finding Bagley's car from satellite imagery and the last cell tower ping. The convoy pulled out and continued, turning down an unmarked dirt road. After a few miles, they reached their target. A hut and two large warehouses smack bang in the middle of the desert.

They let SWAT do their thing. Moving effortlessly in formation, clearing each of the buildings. Lisbon approached Bagley's car with Cho, the sun scorching down on them. Cho popped the trunk as Lisbon stood by the back of the car. Empty, apart from an empty nougat bar and crisps wrapper, and a half empty bottle of water.

SWAT finished clearing the buildings. Five men on site, Bagley and four others they didn't recognise. The first warehouse a lab, the second full of product and other contraband, the SWAT team leader reported. Lisbon raised an eyebrow as she overheard the conversation that was being had with Cho. She was extra glad SWAT were there and wow, what a bust.

"No Jane?" she asked the pair.

"The team are sweeping again, but no sign of him," the SWAT leader replied.

Her stomach dropped. This wasn't good news.

"You think he's ran off?" Cho asked, looking around the landscape with scepticism.

"Or he's dead in a ditch," Lisbon said morbidly.

"I mean, Jane's resourceful, but we're in the middle of nowhere," Cho said, "It's miles to the nearest main road."

"He can't be far," Lisbon said, trying to stay positive, "surely, he's around here somewhere. Let me talk to these guys"

She wandered over to the men and asked for Bagley to be separated. She would question him next individually. She faced the four other suspects intently, "have you guys seen my colleague?" she asked, carefully surveilling their reaction. "You know the one, blonde hair, suit, talks too much, slightly irritating, con man vibe." She watched their faces closely. One gave a slight reaction, a little more distinctive than any of the others.

"This one," she pointed at the man. "What's your name?"

"I don't need to tell you that," the man replied in a thick accent.

"Yeah that's true," she replied calmly, "but you know where my colleague is, so you're coming with me."

She separated him from the group and handed him to the watching Cho.

"What are we doing now? We could beat it out of him." Cho suggested.

"No, too many witnesses," she dismissed, enjoying the man's slight discomfort. "He's going to tell me where Jane is, without even saying anything" she said, still carefully examining his face.

"Since when do you have Jane powers?" Cho asked

"Jane doesn't have powers. I've seen him do it so many times before, how hard could it be?" she replied, still staring at the man relentlessly. She knew she couldn't do what Jane did, especially as well as Jane could do it, but one thing the man had reinforced in her over the years was to trust her gut. And her gut was telling her she could do this.

"Ok this way," Lisbon started. Learning from watching Jane in the past, she noticed changes on his face whenever they headed a certain direction, whenever they seemed to be heading the right way. She followed the way his eyes darted and his reactions that followed. The cha-cha-d in a few different directions across the dirt, gaining odd looks from the officers and the SWAT team, who failed to find anything new on their second sweep. So much for building a solid professional reputation here in Austin.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Cho asked, as they found themselves about 500 feet away from the warehouses. Lisbon was still watching the man intently, noticing the footprints and disturbances in the desert dirt as they headed in their direction.

"I hope so," she replied beginning to doubt herself slightly, "but does Jane ever know what he's doing?"

"Point taken," Cho replied, "hey, what's that?" he asked, pointing in the direction of a pipe sticking out from the ground 20 feet away. As they got closer, a large trap door became more apparent.

Cho leant down and grappled at the ring handle and with a grimace and a grunt, hoisted it open, the impact from the door hitting the ground disturbing the dust and making a cloud. Lisbon took a step forward and apprehensively peered down into the hole, waving the dust away from her face waiting for it to settle.

"Oh hey Lisbon," a familiar voice chirped from down below. "Glad you could finally make it! You guys certainly took your time. I'm baking here. Better late than never I supposed. Hey Cho!"

"We could just leave him there," she mumbled to Cho, looking down upon Jane in his dirty disheveled state as he squinted back up at him, his eyes readjusting to the sunlight.

"Too much paperwork," Cho replied as they shared a look.

"Oh come on guys," Jane said with a little squeak, before the pair finally gave him a hand to get out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Do you have any idea how frustrating you are? How reckless and inconsiderate and how much of a pain in the ass you are?" Lisbon chastened from the passenger seat as Cho drove them back towards Austin.

"Well, yes, I have a vague idea," Jane shrugged.

"It was a rhetorical question!" she steamed, "you could have gotten yourself killed! No communication with the team, just disappear and climb into a random trunk. What is wrong with you?"

"That would take a while to explain—"

"Another rhetorical question! If you're going to be a part of this team, you need to act like a part of this team. No running off on your own just hoping we'll figure things out. No ridiculous risks, you're a consultant, not an agent! You need to tell us what you're planning—"

"Why are you yelling at me? Cho's the boss now, shouldn't he be doing the yelling?"

"She does it better. I'm delegating," Cho supplied.

"We are at the FBI now Jane, we are federal agents—"

"Speak for yourself, I'm not an agent"

"—there is a certain way in which things need to be handled. What if something went wrong? You had no idea what you were walking into, they could have shot you on sight! These are drug dealers Jane, not accountants."

"Susan from accounting can be scarier than you think," he retorted. "And you two of all people should know that my silver tongue is about as powerful as your glocks, maybe even more so," he argued.

"Right, magic Jane can talk his way out of anything," she replied sarcastically. "How did that go for you back there in your desert tomb?"

"Well that part didn't go exactly to plan"

"And what if we didn't have SWAT with us? We had no idea what could've been out here, you put us all in danger!" she argued.

"But you did bring SWAT, you guys are FBI agents, you've got some good sense too," he reasoned. "Oh, come on, why so glum? That was a pretty massive bust back there. Lucky you guys got there in time, what took you so long?"

"What took us so long? Ughhh!" she growled back with sheer exasperation. He was happy he wasn't in arm's reach of Lisbon otherwise he knew he'd be in the oncoming path of one her affectionate whacks.

"She's right you know, you're a terrible communicator," Cho added.

"I'm starving," Jane said nonchalantly, "can we go through a Burger King drive through, I'm suddenly craving a bit of processed grease. A cheeseburger and a soda would go down a treat." He leaned forward, grabbing hold of the chair in front of him. "You could go a soda too Lisbon, you get cranky when you're sugar levels dip."

She rolled her eyes. "Sure, that's why I'm cranky," she spat aggressively, before softening her tone. "But yeah, I could go a coke," she said agreeably to Cho with a little nod.

Jane smiled. He missed this. Just like old times. She could never stay mad at him for long.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jane hated doctors. Frauds in white coats and he wouldn't relent the idea. Lisbon stood arms crossed, while Jane sat at the end of the bed in HQ's first aid quarters.

"Why am I even here, this isn't necessary, I'm fine," he complained.

"Its protocol. Now I know you think protocol doesn't apply to you, but suck it up princess. It does."

Jane rolled his eyes at her like she'd done many a time before to him. Daily, if they were being honest.

The in-house medic came in and looked Jane over, as he whinged and made continual rude and smart-ass retorts.

"Play nice," Lisbon warned, trying to reign him in a bit. It was like supervising an insolent child.

"Do I at least get a lollipop?" Jane asked the medic.

"No, they're only for well behaved children," she replied as she snapped the file shut. "You're fine, just dehydrated and arrogant. Drink this," she said handing him a bottle of odd-coloured fluid. "Once you finish this, you're free to go."

"Can't I just take it for the road?" Jane asked looking at the drink suspiciously.

"No, because you need to complete treatment before I release and sign off on you."

"You call this treatment?" he asked shaking the bottle around.

The medic turned to Lisbon. "Can you make sure he finishes that before he leaves? If I stay in here any longer, he might end up with a prostate exam."

"Sure," Lisbon chuckled.

"Come see me on your way out," she said, gave Jane one last flat glare, and left their cubicle.

Jane twisted open the bottle and smelt it, recoiling in disgust. "Ugh," he gagged, "it smells like tainted sugar water."

"Well, you did want a lollipop, so there's your sugar hit," she mused in his displeasure.

"I already had a coke, I'm going to be bouncing off the walls," he said as he took a hefty first big gulp, cringing at the taste. He started coughing uncontrollably, the drink going the wrong way as he swallowed.

"Watch yourself," Lisbon said, as she stepped towards him and started rubbing his back as he gagged, slapping him a couple times for good measure.

"Sorry," he spluttered, "thanks."

"You good?" she asked, looking at him with concern.

"Yeah," he said with half a smile, "I'm good."

As she slid her hand off of his back to walk away, he grabbed it with his free hand and interlocked their fingers loosely. She looked down at him and their joined hands, with a mild look of askance, but did not pull away.

"I'm sorry for running off like that again," he said earnestly. "I put a couple things together, I saw an opportunity, time was of the essence, I took it."

She gave him a sceptical glare. "Naïve of me to think you're capable of change anyway."

"I was dead serious when I said I would make things up to you," his blue eyes looking up at her, almost pleading. "Really, Lisbon." He sighed. "I just need to figure out how to do that while doing whatever it is I'm supposed to be doing here too."

She knew what he meant. He worked a certain way. The FBI knew it. Abbott knew it. As Abbott had said to her personally, Jane was a risk with an upside that couldn't be ignored. She couldn't ask him to doubt his instincts.

"I get it," she said and tightened their clasp reassuringly, "you have a job to do too. I appreciate the apology. Just, you know, a quick text or anything of the sort helps too before you run off doing your crazy thing."

His face softened with relief. "I'll try," he nodded and took another swig of the precarious liquid.

"Good," she said, placing her free hand on his knee like it was nothing. The slight touch and physical contact initiated by her surprising him, his heart and mood lifting. He looked up at her with those dazzling blue eyes and charismatic grin.

"You know," Lisbon started with a grin, "you would've been pretty proud of me out there today."

"When am I not proud and in awe of you?" he asked, his eyes filled with adoration.

"Did your reading expressions for directions gag, a little clumsier than you do it, but worked a treat."

"It's not a gag, it's just observation. But you did?" he asked with enthusiasm, pride and surprise, "I'll make a mentalist out of you yet."

"Don't patronize me!" she half-giggled, giving him a playful glare, her cheeks dimpled.

He beamed at her. She truly never ceased to amaze him. He ran his thumb up and down hers with their clasped hands as he took another swig from the bottle.

"Hey Jane," she started, drumming her fingers on his knee.

Her thoughts darted back to the changerooms the other day, his hoarse whisper, 'I just need to know'. She knew what he meant, at least she assumed she knew. She was surprised he had the courage, she was surprised with how she reacted. She wanted to talk about it. But she knew that bringing it up may open gates she just wasn't ready for, she was trying to find her feet with him back in her life full-stop. Plus she was still trying to find her feet in Austin, and with the FBI. Jane was certainly a shock to the system by all accounts.

"What's up?" he asked, looking at her curiously.

She gulped, closed her eyes and shook her head, "actually, you know what. Don't worry about it," she said, recomposing herself and looking back at him, fiercely trying to mask her thoughts as she knew he was analysing her every micro-expression.

He tilted his head. "You sure?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah," she exhaled with a dimpled grin.

"Hmmm," he replied, "this probably isn't the time or place for it anyway. I'm sure Nurse Ratchet will back soon to see why I'm taking so long to drink this swill," he said before chugging the remainder of the drink.

How was it that he knew what she was thinking? Or did he actually know? Of course, it was Jane, he knew. But she was thankful for his conclusion. She took her hand off his knee and went to free her hand, only for Jane to refuse to let go, pulling her back a step. He hopped down off the bed and stood toe-to-toe with her, their single hands still intertwined, almost uncomfortably close.

"Thank you Lisbon," he whispered tenderly.

"For what?" she whispered back. Voices louder than a whisper were not necessary. They were standing close enough to hear each other's breathing.

"Just being you," he said with such modest eyes and a gentle grin.

She smiled from ear to ear and shook her head. "Come on," she said, as she released her grip and pushed him towards the exit of the cubicle. "Nurse Ratchet awaits," she humoured him as he held open the curtain and she led him out. After touching base quickly for his discharge, they returned to the bullpen.

"We're passing it upstairs," Cho explained as they approached him. "They've had an open case for a while. They're not overly happy with us."

Lisbon shot Jane a look. "That's the Jane-effect for you," she said morosely.

"Three mid-level guys with contacts, the lab and a warehouse full of millions in product. We made more progress in a day than they have in six-months," Cho continued.

"You'd think they'd be thankful," Lisbon chuffed.

"Egos are a fickle thing," Jane said with a grin.

"You're a mess," Lisbon said looking Jane up and down. "That's a new shirt and you've already ruined it."

"Well, someone's got to do the hard work around here"

"Yeah, us. Trying to figure out what crap you've pulled before you get yourself killed," she said not amused. "What would have done if we didn't come looking for you? If we figured you'd just disappeared for another sandwich?"

"She's not wrong, you know," said Cho, "100%, if it wasn't for her, you'd be dead," he added before walking back to his desk.

"It's you, Lisbon," he said looking her dead in the eye, "you know me. You know me better than anyone. And you're always going to save me, whether you like it or not."

"One day, you might not be so lucky," she warned, "but by any means," she continued, looking down and kicking her toes into the ground, "I'm glad you're okay."

Catching her off guard, Jane pulled her into a big bear hug playfully, causing her to squeal in surprise, turning heads around the bullpen.

"Ugh, you smell," she exclaimed in disgust as she screwed up her face and pushed him away, before stomping off and taking a seat at her desk.