A/N: I swear this seemed funny in my head, but it seems it's still coming off as pretty angsty. Hopefully this won't be too bad. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3

With her overnight bag draped over her right shoulder and her high heels in her left hand, Lisbon pulled the door to her room closed and made her way toward the elevator. A small ding announced its arrival on her floor before she'd made it half way down the hall and despite the fact that she couldn't explain her sudden fear it was Jane she turned around, ran down the hall two rooms and ducked down the hall with the ice machine and stairs.

She heard footsteps move down the hall and in the direction of her room and held her breath when she heard a knock coming from the vicinity of her room. A moment later the knock sounded again.

"Lisbon, open up," the voice she tried and failed to forget said. "Please."

She felt her blood boiling. Not only had the insufferable man ignored her request to be left alone, he'd also found out what room she was staying in. Although, she had expected he would which was why she was sneaking out.

"Teresa," his voice was softer now, but she could still hear his plea, "let me in. I know you asked me to stay away, but I can't. You know I can't."

She knew it was a bad idea, an unnecessary risk at best, the stairs were right behind her after all, but she felt the sudden desire to see him, to see his face, so she stepped forward and peeked around the corner.

She felt her heart restrict in her chest as she took him in. His forehead was against her door his hair rumpled as though he'd been running his hands through it and his right hand was resting to the side of his face on the door. He was still wearing his tux and was tracing a pattern on the door with his pointer finger. She pulled back, afraid that if she looked at him any longer she go to him. She backed to the stairs, and stepped into the stairwell, making sure to shut the door quietly behind her, then headed up to Walter's room.

She was grateful for her foresight in this matter. She'd been broken hearted because of him enough to last her life time. She wasn't going to allow him another opportunity to hurt her, to make her believe that things would change when she knew from experience that would never happen.

A Month Ago

The restaurant Cho had picked for them to eat at wasn't one she'd been to before and it was a good twenty minutes from the office. They'd been going out to lunch together for the better part of a year, two or three times a week, and never once had either of them suggested a place more than a few minutes from HQ. He held the door open to Bangkok palace and allowed her to pass through first. The smell of curry hit her and she breathed in the delicious aroma, immediately hopping she wouldn't start drooling.

Cho told the host there was two for lunch and they were led to a small table by a window. Lisbon avoided his eye contact until they'd ordered. If she were being perfectly honest the entire situation was freaking her out a little. It was like he'd known she was craving comfort food. After her date last night, she needed all the comfort she could get, but still. She supposed Cho did know she liked Thai food, she'd said as much in the past, but this was all too coincidental.

Cho stared her down. She cringed a little, knowing this look. He used it frequently on suspects and criminals and also on her in the last several months. This was ridiculous, she was the boss here.

She pursed her lips. "What, Cho?"

"Your date last night sucked, didn't it?" He crossed his arms in front of his chest.

She gripped the edge of the table. "No! Wait, what? I didn't tell you I was going on a date yesterday."

"Van Pelt saw you meet Eric Fellows, from narcotics, after work," he said.

"For crying out loud!" She'd never been one for gossip and made it known to her team that she didn't approve and yet they gossiped more than any group of teenage girls she'd ever met. It was pathetic and worse, annoying.

"Well?" he persisted, ignoring her irritation.

"Yes, I went out with him, and it was fine," she said.

He just stared at her.

She wavered. "It wasn't great, but if he asks I'll go out with him again." She doubted Eric would ask her again. She hadn't been intentionally apathetic, but he'd had to ask her several times if she was all right when she'd zoned out on him. She could admit that she wasn't an expert on relationships, but having three brothers, having worked with mostly men her entire career and being a cop did give her an idea of what the male ego was and even she had to admit she'd bruised his. Not that she'd tell Cho that. He'd just worry.

"Do you think he'll ask you again?"

She shrugged. "I don't see why not," she lied, feeling immediately grateful that Cho couldn't read her as well as…

"You're lying." He leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table. "I saw Eric this morning. He told me that going out with you was tantamount to going out with someone who'd taken a vow of silence."

She looked at the table and scratched her head.

"Lisbon," Cho said immediately catching her attention. He always called her boss at work, but in the last five or so months he'd started calling her Lisbon when they were alone. When he wanted her to know that he was addressing a friend and not his boss.

She made eye contact and immediately felt guilty at the concern she saw etched over his features. It was always in moments when she desperately wanted his cool-indifference that he had started showing his freaking emotions. "What, Cho?" She sounded exasperated even to her own ears.

"You said you'd try," he reminded her.

She breathed out. "I did. There weren't any sparks, but you should be happy for me. I'm getting out of my apartment, I'm not sulking."

He ground his teeth. "You never sulk. That's not the problem. I'd be happy if you sulked. All you do is put up concrete, steel plated, Armageddon proof walls. Going through the motions of living isn't enough. You actually have to live."

It was impossible to be mad at him when he was like this. She had the feeling he wasn't this way often. She'd worked with him for over a decade and while she'd always felt his loyalty and trust, it wasn't often he ever showed this side. It was flattering and disarming and unnerving. "I am trying. It might take more than a date. I'll get there," she said. "I'll move on eventually. I promise."

He nodded and although she didn't think he seemed completely satisfied he was going to drop it for now.

Present Day

After putting on her pajamas, Lisbon opened the bathroom door of Walter's suite before turning the faucet on and washing her face. She heard the door to the room open as she dabbed her face dry with a towel that she noticed was several times softer than the towels in her room had been.

"Teresa," she heard him call out moments before he found her in the restroom. He looked her over appreciatively, then made eye contact. "Well, don't you look cozy?"

She finished drying her face and neck and dropped the towel on the counter. "Don't get any ideas Walter. I'm sleeping on the couch."

"You can't honestly expect me to believe that this was supposed to be an innocent evening when you have your own room in this hotel." He reached up and untied his bowtie. "Unless of course there's more to you and Jane than you'd have me believe?"

She crossed her arms, trying not to cringe as the movement jerked her bruised side. "The only thing between me and Jane is annoyance and the only reason I'm in your room is because I know Jane won't knock on your door."

"Hmm," Walter moved into her personal space. "That's a lot of Jane in your reasoning there, Teresa."

She held her ground despite the fact that he was too close. "Yes, well, if it wasn't for Jane I'd be in my room and then who would you try and seduce?"

He reached up and pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "No one. I didn't invite a date to this thing, because I knew you were going to be here. Don't I get any points for that?" He moved closer until the only thing separating them was her arms crossed between their chests.

She smiled up at him. "Not even one." At that she placed her hands on his chest and pushed past him. He reached out and grabbed her waist as she went by and she yelped. He'd accidently grabbed her bruise. She jerked away from his hand.

"Teresa?" His hand pulled immediately away from her, but he hovered near her until she caught her breath. "What happened?"

She steadied herself with her hand against the frame of the door. "It's nothing," she said avoiding his eye contact as her hand went protectively to her bruised side.

He moved forward again and lifted the hem of her shirt. She was shocked at how brazen he was being, until she looked up and saw his face. He was worried. He pulled her shirt up on the side where the bruise was and was now looking at it with a mixture of concern and horror. "What is this?"

"I got into a fight with a suspect yesterday, it's not a big deal," she said. "This kind of thing happens to me all the time."

His eyes moved from her side to her face and she could see how much this really bothered him, could see that he really did care. It wasn't unlike the time when she'd almost gotten shot protecting him, only more intense, because this time she had been injured. Walter was a good man who for some reason had decided that he liked her, that he wanted her. She'd had sparks with him before and that had been her problem with dating lately, right? No sparks. If she was going to move on she couldn't think of anyone better to try it with than him. Maybe he wasn't Mr. Right, but maybe he could help her pull down the walls that Cho insisted she'd put up.

Before she could think through it, stop herself, she went up on her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. He was gentle at first, tentative. His hand and arm near her uninjured side were now firmly wrapped around her body and his other hand still hovered above her bruise. She put her hands inside his jacket as she nipped at his bottom lip and slid it to the floor before she started on the buttons of his shirt.

Their kisses became more frantic and Lisbon forced herself to focus, to enjoy this. Aside from today, she'd barely even had a hug in the last year and she was starved for the contact. She felt his hands slide slowly under her shirt and up her back and waited for the familiar shiver of need to come, but it didn't. He started trailing kisses across her cheek and to her ear and she stopped unbuttoning his shirt.

"Teresa," he moaned into her ear. "I've missed you."

She froze as Jane's face suddenly popped into her head. She pushed Walter back. "I can't do this," she said.

His eyes were dazed and he was breathing hard. It took a minute before he could respond and when he did it was with all seriousness. "Is this about Jane?"

She shook her head. "No," she snapped. "It's just too much." She breathed out. "I'm not just going to hop in your bed every time you come around Walter."

He smiled at her. "Sensible, really. What if I wanted to take you out on a date? Or a series of dates?"

She smirked. "You forget that I live in Sacramento. Whereas you…"

He smiled in return. "You forget that I have a jet."

She shook her head. "You're incorrigible."

"So, if I fly up to Sacramento, will you go out with me?" he asked as he took her hand and kissed it.

"We'll see." She pushed past him. "Goodnight Walter," she said as she made her way to the couch. If she was going to move on, he'd be the one to do it with.

"What is the likelihood that we would catch a case the moment you walk back in the door?" Rigsby grumbled.

The team hadn't been in the office for more than five minutes when they'd got a case this morning. The team wasn't overwhelmingly thrilled. Apparently they'd all had perfectly nice weekends. Only hers had been a nightmare. She was glad they had a case, because she desperately needed something to take her mind off things. Granted this one had nightmare written all over it with their victim being the head of a multimillion dollar company, the son of a U.S. Senator, and because of the graphic nature of his death, but she wasn't going to worry about that right now.

She looked at her watch as they came off the elevator and walked toward the bullpen. It was already two. "Rigs, Cho, interview the witnesses again. I know they say this was a suicide, but I'm not buying it."

"Right," Cho said as Rigsby nodded.

The entered the bullpen. "Grace, go over surveillance…"

She stopped dead in her tracks, Cho and Van Pelt stopping at her side and Rigsby slamming into the back of her. She winced at the pain this caused her, but it really only barely registered as she took in the scene in front of her.

"Jane!" Van Pelt yelped excitedly.

Jane sat in a wood chair in front of the filing cabinets that had replaced his couch, holding his familiar blue cup and saucer, in his familiar three piece suit, with his legs crossed and a perturbed look on his face. She tried to ignore the sudden thrill she'd felt at seeing him, here of all places. It was almost surreal, almost as if he'd never left, but that feeling only lasted for a second.

Lisbon could see that Jane very much wanted to ignore Grace's enthusiasm, he was upset, but he curbed his anger and made nice. She could feel her lips quirking at the side. It felt good knowing she'd caused his irritation. Really, it only seemed fair.

"Hello Grace," he said pleasantly before smiling at both Cho and Rigsby as well.

Grace stepped forward, probably to give him a hug, but Lisbon blocked her path with her arm and shot her a warning glance.

Jane stood up and placed his tea cup on his chair. "Teresa."

"Patrick," she returned after making eye contact. She could feel Grace and Rigsby wilting a little by her as her and Jane stared at each other. Cho was unfazed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. She continued after a moment. "What are you doing here?"

He placed his hands on his hips under his suit jacket and narrowed his eyes at her. "Where. Is. My. Couch?"

"Oh, it's… Ow." Grace started, but Lisbon nudged her in the ribs with her elbow.

She shrugged. "At the dump," she said over Grace's yelp of pain, "Why?"

Jane's eyes widened at her proclamation and he took a step forward. She knew he would know she was lying, but she liked having this over him. "Liar," he said finally.

Cho stepped forward. "Rigsby and I took to the dump on Saturday," he said. "Isn't that right, Rigsby?"

"What?" Rigsby said staring at Cho before looking at Jane, "Oh, yeah. It's at the dump."

Jane glared.

Lisbon smirked and crossed her arms. "What? We needed a space for the filing cabinets—running out of storage. People just keep killing people."

"Oh please," Jane snarled. "Who really uses filing cabinets these days? Everything is going digital, including the CBI."

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Now, you're turn," she said adopting her mother knows best voice. "Why are you here?"

She knew he was nowhere near dropping the subject, but could see that he'd decided to leave it be for now and squared his shoulders. "I'm back."

She felt her stomach flip flop and cursed herself internally when it suddenly occurred to her that it was written all over her face. She forced herself to calm down.

"Really?" Grace chirped in again. "That's great, Jane. We've missed you." She moved forward this time and Lisbon didn't bother stopping her. She gave Jane a quick hug. "Sorry about your couch, but your desk is still here."

Jane smiled at her, but looked pained as he stared at the filing cabinets. "Thank you Grace."

"For how long?" Lisbon asked surprising everyone.

"For as long as you'll have me." He shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. "La Roche recommended to higher ups that I come back full time, but I told him it depended on what you wanted," he said.

She felt the enormity of his question fall on her shoulders along with the eyes of her entire team. She swallowed and bit the bullet. She couldn't let her personal feelings dictate her professional decisions. "Of course you're welcome back. I'm sure the CBI would be glad to have your closure rates again." At that she turned to Grace. "Grace, why don't you fill Jane in on the case and once you've done that I want you to get a hold of the vic's family and friends."

"Yes boss," Grace said as she looked between her and Jane.

Lisbon noticed Cho give a small shake of his head before he moved to his own desk and suddenly felt guilty. Ultimately this was her decision to make, and while she didn't want Jane in her life again, she felt she'd made the decision she would have had she not been emotionally attached to Jane. Still, maybe she should've asked the team. Or just Cho. She knew Grace and Rigsby wouldn't care, but Cho had seen her at her worse, because of Jane.

She made her way to her office before anyone could stop her, resolving to stick Jane with Rigsby and Van Pelt until she and Cho could deal with him more rationally. She suspected Cho would be fine by tomorrow. She, however, would need more time than that. A lot more time.

Jane harrumphed as he watched Teresa walk calmly off to her office. She was good at putting on "boss" when she needed it, but he knew she wasn't happy and this made him unhappy. When he imagined his homecoming, if he was being honest with himself, she'd never run into his arms, but she'd at least smiled at him because she was happy to see him, not because she'd hidden his couch in some place or another.

Grace started explaining the case to him and he gave her about thirty seconds before stalking off after Lisbon. He knew she wanted space, and maybe he should give it to her, but he was back and she would have to get used to that sooner rather than later, especially for what he had in mind for her, for them. Besides hadn't they had enough time apart already? He heard Grace make some noise in protest before he was out of the bullpen and pushing open Teresa's office doors.

She looked up at him from desk, eyes wide. "Jane? What?"

He allowed the door to shut behind him and stopped in place to decide what he was going to say first. He had a lot of things on his mind, but he forced himself to be rational and strategic. "What happened to you?"

She blinked several times. "I…I moved on."

He was around her desk and pulling her out of her chair before she knew what was going on. He moved her round to the edge of her desk and thanked his lucky stars that she'd shut the blinds or she would never let this happen. He encouraged her to sit on the edge of her desk before he reached for her shirt and pulled the hem from her pants.

"Jane," she gasped, grabbing for his hands, but he swatted them away. "What are you doing?"

His hands were on her skin in a moment and soon after his eyes. He took in the large black, blue and purple bruise that covered her ribs and side and slid his fingers softly over it. She shivered under his touch, but not from pain.

"Stop it," she said as she tried only halfheartedly to push him away.

He didn't move, but made eye contact. "Well this explains why you've been cringing every time some touches since Saturday." He looked back at her bruise and traced it with his fingers. "This is recent. You must have gotten it right before you went to Malibu." He looked up again.

Her expression was shocked as she nodded, but she shook herself out of her daze and forced a reply. "Yes, I tackled a suspect and he elbowed me in the ribs." Her eyes sparkled with mirth. "Apparently he didn't want to spend life in prison."

Jane moved his eyes continuously from her side to her face and back again. Torn between the horror he felt at seeing her marred so badly and knowing she was in pain and the awestruck look on her face as she allowed him to continue touching her. He thought she would've pushed him away by now, but she hadn't and appeared completely content to allow him to continue his gentle ministrations.

"It still hurts?" he asked even though he knew the answer.

"Yes," she said.

"Hmm," he hummed. "I have something that'll help with the pain. I'll bring it to you tomorrow." At that he lowered her shirt and backed away from her, only realizing then that he'd practically pinned her to her desk. He moved to the couch, fisting his hands in his pockets to keep from pinning her to her desk again and kissing her senseless. What they both needed now was some semblance of consistency and balance and while he was desperate to kiss her he thought for sure that the last thing that would accomplish would be any kind of balance.

He kept himself from smiling as he watched her take a deep breath to calm herself and then watched her tuck her shirt back in. When she turned to face him, she had her business face on again. "I thought I told you to have Van Pelt catch you up?"

"Actually you told Van Pelt to catch me up and ignored me completely and since I've never been one to follow rules, especially ones pertaining to other people, I thought I'd come in here for a quick chat," he said sitting down on the couch and patting the cushion next to him.

For a split second he saw the unmistakable look of longing on her face, before she hardened it and sat in the chair in front of her desk. Leave it to Lisbon to make this as difficult as possible for him. "All right, that's probably a good idea. There are things that need to be said."

He smiled at her as she took charge. "By all means."

"For starters I want you to know that I don't want you on my team, but as a law enforcement professional I would be a fool to turn your services down, even though I don't expect you to stay around, so you're welcome back under a few conditions," she said straightening her posture to match her confidence as she spoke.

"And they are?" He tried to affect a professional expression. Wanted her to know he could take her seriously, even though he was finding that being in the same room as her completely distracting. Being away from her for a year really had made his heart grow fonder, plus, he conceded that her trying to keep him at a distance only made him want to be in her personal space all the more.

She cleared her throat. "I'm your boss again, which means that when I give you a direct order I expect you to follow it."

He nodded, knowing full well that he'd continue on as he had before he left and knowing that she knew this as well.

"Also this," she signaled between the two of them, "is to remain completely professional. I don't want you bringing me coffee or bear claws in the morning, helping me in and out of my jacket, sleeping on my couch, or any other such nonsense that was normal before."

He leaned forward and made eye contact. "What about presents?"

She shook her head. "I don't want them."

"Can I open doors for you?"

She breathed out an irritated breath. "Anything that you would do for anyone else is fine."

"So I guess hugs, hand holding, and kissing are out then?" he asked flippantly.

She narrowed her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous."

"You're the one who's being ridiculous here," he said.

"Why don't you tact on being patronizing to the list," she snapped.

"Soulful gazes?" he whispered.

She blushed and looked at the carpet breaking the eye contact they'd been holding for several minutes. "Why are you here, Jane?"

"You know exactly why I'm here, I told you before I left a year ago." He stood up. "I hadn't intended on being gone so long, Teresa. I would've been back sooner if I could've, and I might have anyway if I'd known you'd end up so angry with me…"

"I'm not angry with you. I've just moved on," she said standing herself. "A year is a long time."

"It's not that long," he said stepping forward, so that there were only a few feet between them. "I want my job back. I want to work with you and the team again, but I came back for you. I don't want you mistaking that." He saw her swallow and took another step forward. "As a sign of good faith I told La Roche that I would stay for one case and then he would have to talk to you about whether or not I can stay on, and I will follow your silly rules until you tell me otherwise. Despite the fact that you've hidden my couch from me."

She held her chin high and he almost regretted the promise as the sudden urge to kiss her came to the forefront again.

"Thank you," she said with a mixture of disappointment and relief etched over her features. "Now, go have Van Pelt fill you in."

"Sure thing, boss." He smiled at the way she bristled at his use of the term "boss". She wasn't a lost cause yet.

A/N: Anonymous Reviews

Guest: Walter does play a part in the story, but it'll have a good ending I assure you. :)

Ilovetea: Thank you! What a nice compliment. Jane is going to have his work cut out for him, I think, but there'll be good things along the way for both of them also.

Guest: The part where jane went into the ladies room, I have to say, caught me off guard even a little, but I think you're right, Jane would do something like that. I'm glad you liked it. And I don't think you're the only one who feels the way you do about Walter. Haha!

Guest: I try really hard to keep the characters IC, and this just seemed like how Lisbon might react to the situation. There's more backstory to come though. I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Guest: Wow! Thank you! That's makes me feel great. I'm glad you're enjoying the writing!