A WEEK IN PARADISE

A/N: I was asked to provide some domestication in my last story but wasn't sure how to make it fit. So, here's a new story that hopefully provides this along with angst. This story is set after Patrick Jane returns from exile in S.06 where Lisbon is dating Pike and has accepted to go to D.C.

Summary:

Lisbon's youngest brother is having a last-minute destination wedding that changes the course of her plans and the way she feels about Jane.

CHAPTER 1 – THE UNEXPECTED

The FBI bullpen was humming with bored activity. There hadn't been a new case in 3 days and the team was feeling antsy. Jane was keeping them entertained with some sleight of hand magic and explaining how he used distraction to trick their brains. She watched as Jane fooled Wiley and Vega once again even though he had told them what to look for. Cho was watching the spectacle and absently clicking his pen with impatience. Teresa mirrored his feeling of restlessness, she hated these lulls between cases; it gave her mind too much time to think and she needed to keep her thoughts centered on her future with Marcus and the job offer from the D.C. office.

Teresa moaned internally. She hadn't talked to Jane about her departure yet. She didn't know how to approach the subject with him. She knew that he knew something was going on because she was still dating Marcus since he moved to D.C. 2 months ago. It was hard to know how to talk to Jane because things had been off between them since he'd returned from his exile and the easy conversations and banter were strained. Teresa stared back at her screen and blankly looked at her leaves request form. To add to her stress, her youngest brother Jimmy announced that he was engaged and was having a destination wedding in 3 weeks. His fiancé was pregnant, and they wanted to get married as soon as possible. Teresa tried to convince him that a local wedding in Chicago would be more affordable and sensible, but the bride-to-be had her heart set on a tropical wedding. She tried to arrange it, so she would only fly in for the wedding day, but her brothers became upset that she wasn't trying to spend more time with them and her nieces and nephews. After talking it over with Marcus, he persuaded her to take the full 7 days as a romantic vacation with him and to treat it as an introduction to her family.

She thought about Marcus meeting all her family at once and was concerned. Between her brothers and all the kids, she always felt like she was on a crazy train. Being the head of the family made her feel overwhelmed sometimes with the responsibility and trying to measure up to their expectations. There're so many traditions attached to weddings and she knew she would have to show up as a pseudo-parent for Jimmy and the stress of it was getting to her. Already her brother's fiancé's mother was reaching out to her about wedding preparations. She wanted everything to be perfect for Jimmy, but she was afraid of letting him down. She was also concerned about the fact that she hadn't spent any time with Marcus since he left for D.C. They talked on the phone and did some video chats, but she didn't think about him or miss him the way she thought she would… the way she had when Jane was missing or in exile. Jane… He was always on her mind and it was exhausting. She watched him over her screen; he was smiling at Cho trying to get him to try a trick. She closed her eyes wishing that Patrick Jane didn't have such a hold her life. She hit send on her email to Abbott for the leaves request.

Jane loved downtime with the team between cases. It was a great time to get to know them better and chat. Working for the FBI wasn't his choice, but he was trying to make the best of it. He glanced at Lisbon... she hated the gaps between cases and he could tell that she was irritated about something; over what he didn't know and these days, she didn't confide in him. He found that he missed her more now, being in the same room as her, then he did when he was in exile. He waited to see if she would look up, so he could smile at her, but she kept her head down typing away on her keyboard. He'd never seen anyone like paperwork the way she did. She always needed to keep busy and her mind engaged – she never seemed to relax – something that he was always trying to get her to do.

Teresa's phone started vibrating – it was Marcus. She got up and headed for the conference room for privacy.

"Hi, Marcus. I wasn't expecting your call 'til later," said Teresa cheerily.

"Yeah, sorry babe. Are you working?" asked Marcus

"No. We still haven't caught a case and I'm so bored. What's up?" she asked.

"Somethings come up and it's bad timing… I can't make it to your brother's wedding… I'm so sorry Teresa, it's out of my hands," Marcus said quickly.

Teresa learned that Marcus was being sent to France for specialized training for his new position and he would be gone for 5 weeks. Which meant she was now stuck with her family for 7 days by herself with no buffer. She felt her anxiety kick up a notch as it did all those years ago when she was all alone to take care of her three rambunctious brothers. The crushing weight of responsibility making her feel like she couldn't catch her breath. They were grown men, but she still felt the same way when she was around them. It was probably some kind of PTSD from the trauma of her mother's tragic death and her father's suicide years later. She just can't recall a peaceful family get-together; somehow things always escalate to arguments over stupid things or unmet expectations. And there's also the chaos that comes with a big family with lots of little children… so much chaos and she prefers her quiet and predictable home life. Nope… this would not do, she hadn't even arrived yet and her nerves were shot.

Jane watched Lisbon pacing the conference room. Whatever news she received, it was not good. He went to talk to her. "Hey… what's going on?"

Lisbon looked at Jane warily… the other chaos-forming entity in her life. Although, since he'd returned from New York, he was being pretty tame with his antics and considerate with her.

"C'mon. Tell me. You'll feel better, I promise," coaxed Jane with a teasing smile. He closed the door behind him.

"Pike just bailed on me for my brother's wedding. He has to go to France for training." She sat down feeling defeated.

Jane was studying her, and the real problem didn't seem to be Pike, but the wedding. "So, what's got you all worked up?" asked Jane.

Lisbon made eye contact with Jane then looked away and leaned her head back in the chair. "I can't spend 7 days with my family. I just can't. Pike was supposed to be my buffer. I was just going to go for the day, but now, because of Pike, I promised Jimmy that I would go for the week…" – Lisbon threw her arms in the air gesturing. – "and his fiancé's mother has me doing all this stuff for the wedding and now I can't bail. Why couldn't he just get married at home like normal people? Why does he want to put us all together like this for a week… it's like getting ready for a deathmatch?"

"That bad, huh?" sympathized Jane.

"You have no idea. It's the constant arguing that I can't take, and I never know when I'm going to get pulled into a fight or where it will happen… a restaurant, a funeral, a wedding… it doesn't matter to them," Lisbon recounted with a pouty look on her face.

"I guess you were pretty experienced by the time I came into the picture," said Jane causing Lisbon to break into a little half-smile.

"Yeah, I guess," said Lisbon.

Jane always had a way to lift her mood when she needed it. Jane was staring at her with that twinkle in his eye when he about to pull a con. She could tell that he was thinking about something.

"Okay… what is it? What are you thinking?" asked Lisbon.

"I'm thinking that there is has a very simple solution. I will come with you and be your buffer," announced Jane with a huge grin.