A/N - Thanks for the immediate interest, guys! Means a lot. There is a now a large time gap.


Over the course of two months, Lisbon goes through physical and speech therapy. She is still in a relationship with Pike, technically, but she doesn't want him around. Instead, Jane is the one beside her all the time. Lisbon can't express her feelings adequately, that she doesn't want Pike, that she wants Jane. After finally finishing therapy, Jane brings Lisbon home. :)


After they ate dinner, they both retreated to the couch. With Harry Potter playing in the background, and Jane within arm's reach, Lisbon felt significantly more comfortable than at the hospital, as well as feeling relaxed. Using the marker and notepad he'd given her, she kept writing abusive and funny messages to him, illuminating the text with her phone flashlight.

However, she had to remember to stop herself from drawing hearts and love declarations. It was still a hard fact to come by, so hard to swallow… it hurt so bad. She hated it. All she wanted was him.

But she couldn't put Jane in that position. She was technically still together with Pike, despite the fact she'd only seen him twice since she had woken from the coma, and she didn't want Jane to feel obligated to her, especially not after and because of all this.

"You okay?" he said, breaking her train of thought.

Lisbon looked up at him and nodded, not bothering to feign a smile. Just tired.

"Well, an incredibly comfortable bed awaits you, my princess!" He jumped from the couch, stopping a minute to bow down in front of her, before he took her hand and pulled her from the cushions, already expecting the eye roll he received from Lisbon. He was glad to see that the Lisbon he knew and loved was returning.

God, he loved her.

When they reached the door of Lisbon's bedroom, Jane stopped in his tracks. "And here is where I leave thou, Princess Teresa." He kept his grip on her hand, and changed his tone to a more serious one. "I don't mean to impose this on you, but I don't really feel comfortable leaving you here alone, not on your first night back." He paused, figuring out how to best say it. "Is it okay if I-"

Lisbon cut him off by enveloping him in a hug. She had missed this. She had missed his hugs, how nice he smelled, the sound of his heartbeat. She sighed. This would do for now.

Jane kissed her forehead timidly. "Please wake me up if you need anything. Anything at all."

I just want you, she thought. Just you. But she settled with a soft nod. She inhaled, taking another breath of his scent, before she hesitantly let go of Jane.

There was so much she wanted to say to him. But, still, every time she opened her mouth, the words on the tip of her tongue, her brain froze, and she couldn't go through with it. Not even a simple "thank you". It was infuriating.

He sensed her anguish. "Lisbon, don't rush it. You'll get there eventually." He smiled weakly, reaching out to put his index finger against her chin so he could run his thumb along her cheek, before he exited into the living room again.

Eventually.


When she woke up the next morning, Jane was already in the kitchen, making pancakes, suit jacket off and sleeves rolled up. Coma Lisbon was still so unused to seeing Jane back in his island shirt. Coma Lisbon was still so unused to everything.

"I hope you don't mind me ravaging your kitchen. Never really been in this place before now." But he had. But Lisbon forced a small smile, and shrugged her shoulders.

However, the differences between her life during the coma and her life now were starting to take a toll on her. While Jane had always known a million different facts about her, it was different when he had been her partner. It was unsettling now, having to remember that all the things she thought she knew about Jane were probably wrong. Her brain was overloaded and overworked.

Another thing that began to bother her was the fact that they weren't married. Every time Lisbon caught a glimpse of the golden band around his ring finger, her heart cried out in pain. She wasn't pregnant. They hadn't even kissed. Yet, while Jane treated her wonderfully, she didn't know the boundaries. She wanted to kiss him, an affectionate thank you for him keeping her distracted, for being there for her ever since the accident - hell, ever since they'd met. But she couldn't.

And so, eventually, she cracked. After they'd had lunch (Lisbon managed to force Jane to sit down for fifteen minutes so she could make salad), they got into a surprisingly deep "conversation".

"Lisbon? Do you mind me asking something?"

She looked at him questioningly.

"Are you going to contact Pike soon?"

I don't know.

"Why are you so hesitant?"

Lisbon didn't know what to say to that. If she was to be honest, she didn't care about Pike anymore, not after she'd seen the future she could have with Jane. Pike had all but abandoned her; he hadn't even tried.

I don't know how to answer that.

Jane looked at her deeply, trying to read her mind.

Stop it, Jane.

"I just don't understand. Don't you want to go to DC with him?"

She wanted to scream the answer out. He was treading in dangerous territory. She sighed, closing her eyes momentarily.

I can't answer that, either.

"You can't answer that because you don't know, or you can't answer that because you're worried about how I'll react to the answer?"

You're confusing me.

"No, I'm not. Stop lying to me."

What makes you think you're in any position to know about my personal life, anyway?

Jane stared at her, his face expressionless. Lisbon was 100% aware that she was taking this too far, that she was cutting deep just to hide from the truth of what was really going on.

"Oh, I don't know, Teresa," he said, his voice hard and sarcastic, "maybe since I was the one who has been there for you since the minute you woke up, through your recovery, and who is currently sitting across the table from you in your house." Jane sat there for a second, realising what he had just said. He shook his head. "Crap. I'm sorry for saying that. I just want to make sure you're okay."

Lisbon stared at him, now. This was getting too much. She was overwhelmed with feelings.

Well, I'm not okay, Jane, she wrote with trembling fingers, tossing the book at him before she ran into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Tears streamed down her face, and she scratched at them, leaving burning red streaks on her skin.

God dammit! she shouted internally. Why the hell had this happened to her? As if life hadn't been confusing enough before she'd been in the coma, it was now beyond ridiculous.

And she couldn't even talk! She felt like a helpless, lost child, stuck in her brain. She was useless, no help to anyone, not to Jane, not to Pike.

She kicked the door once, twice. She kept kicking it until her foot went numb, stupid gasps and whimpers all that escaped from her, not even a scream.

Hopeless. Absolutely hopeless. Lisbon sunk to the ground, pulling her knees up to her chin so she could bury her face in her arms. She cried in frustration, anger, exhaustion, desperation, and a hundred other things, until her eyes stung, and the sleeves of her hoodie was soaking wet. She ignored Jane's apologies and pleas to come out, wanting to block out the world. She was sick of this, and it had only been a few weeks. How would she survive the next few years. the unforeseeable future of being stuck between fiction and reality?

The sound of something sliding under the door startled her. She didn't bother to look over until she heard the sound again. Slowly, Lisbon reached out and grabbed a piece of paper, the one on top - the newest sheet.

"I'm so sorry. Please open the door, Teresa," it said in Jane's scrawl.

She turned over the leftover piece, the one Jane had pushed under first. It was written in smaller print.

"I'm sorry, Lisbon. I shouldn't have pushed you or pressured you. I'm sorry. Please, just tell me what I can do to help you. I'll do anything for you, Teresa."

Those words made her burst into another round of painful, bitter tears. But she needed him.

Just as Lisbon stood up, hovering her hand over the lock, another sheet of paper slid under the door.

"I'll leave you alone. I'm sorry for all of this. I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say. I don't know what you went through, what you're going through, and I can't pretend that I can tell what it is. I'll try my hardest to do whatever you need, to understand what you need, even if that means you go with Pike. I just want you to be happy, remember? Call me if you need me. I'll be there."

Even if that means you go with Pike. Suddenly, all the events of the last few weeks before she was knocked out flooded back, pieced back together differently. If she was happy, he would be happy.

She needed him in order to be happy.

The familiar sound of the latch of the front door interrupted her epiphany. Lisbon unlocked the bathroom door, and ran through the house. He was just about to reach her car, about to get in and drive away.

She opened the front door. She needed him to stay. She needed him.

He was about to leave.

"Jane!"