A/N: All characters, cases, and locations belong to Bruno Heller, CBS, and affiliates. Thank you for all the interest and comments on this story. I'm really enjoying it so far. As always, please review.

When Teresa Lisbon entered her office, she was very surprised to find Patrick Jane asleep on the couch in her office. She frowned, setting her briefcase on her desk, and checked her watch.

It was almost five in the morning.

She had arrived back from Chicago the previous day and succeed in getting no sleep. Instead of wasting more time staring at the ceiling her bedroom, she got dressed and came to work. Who knew what kind of trouble he had cause while she was gone.

She sighed and was tempted to wake him. His insomnia convinced her to let him sleep a little longer. She draped the blanket she always kept on the back of the leather on top of him, smiling as he snuggled underneath the warmth.

She sighed and settled down behind her desk, moving through the stacks of paperwork as the sun began to rise in her office windows.

She was halfway through a form 41 when Jane began to mutter under his breath. She looked up from the folder to see his brow furrow and him to grimace. His eyes were still shut, but it was clearly not helping him to be sleeping any longer. She closed the folder and stood up. No one liked to be stuck in a nightmare and only God knew what Jane's could be about.

As she was walking over to him, he began to quake slightly under the blanket. "Lisbon," he muttered. Lisbon felt her breath hitch.

She kneeled down next to the couch. "Jane," she called to him softly. "Jane. It's okay. Just a bad dream," she tried to soothe him, but it didn't seem to reach him.

"Jane," she tried a little louder with a small shake. This seemed to jerk him out of his daze.

"Lisbon?" he said, his eyes red and large as he stared at her, clearly confused.

"Good morning sunshine," she said, sitting back on her feet, not sure if she wanted to push him into revealing the nature of his dream with her.

"Lisbon," he repeated, still not yet awake. "You're back." This seemed to reassure him because he sat up crookedly and hugged her tightly.

The shock of the intimate gesture quickly wore off and she pressed her cheek into his shoulder, feeding off his warmth and the security of his arms. As quickly as it happened, it was over and Jane's eyes were boring over her every feature, seemingly taking stock of every part of her.

"Well I couldn't leave you to destroy the CBI building could I?" she asked. "That would simply be unpatriotic."

"I'll have you know that I was perfectly well behaved," he declared before standing to his feet and disappearing from her office before she could respond.

Lisbon frowned with the strange behavior of her consultant, but climbed back to her feet and continued with her paperwork. When was anything normal with Patrick Jane anyways?

*CBI*

By the time she returned from her office, it had been several hours. She watched from the glass doors as Cho and Van Pelt arrived on time with Rigsby running behind late as usual.

She smiled slightly as she got up and walked towards the bull pen. Though she'd never tell them, she'd missed them.

"Think she'll be back, soon?" she heard Van Pelt asked as she turned into the bullpen.

"I think she already is," Cho said, nodding towards her.

"Boss!" Van Pelt shouted, leaping up from her chair and hugging her tightly. Almost knocked over by the taller woman, Lisbon patted her back awkwardly. She could see Cho's smirk from across the room.

Lisbon frowned, slightly taken back by the large welcome. "I missed you too, Grace. I was only gone for a week."

Grace pulled back and smiled watery, scrubbing her eyes with the sleeve of her blouse. "Uh, right. Well, welcome back."

She sat back down at her desk, slightly pink.

"Yeah, welcome back, boss," Rigsby echoed. She smiled at them. She turned to Cho and took the outstretched file folder.

"Is everything all right?" he asked, his normally expressionless eyes, brimming with concern.

"Yeah, just some trouble. I took care of it. Any new cases while I was gone?" she asked, sitting on the edge of an empty desk in front of Grace's.

"Nothing new. All seems quiet on the home front," Rigsby said. "We've just kind of been catching up on paperwork and stuff."

Lisbon raised an eyebrow. "And by catching up on paperwork, you mean playing paper basketball and surfing the internet."

Rigsby turned red and shrugged. "No idea what you're talking about, boss."

"Teresa?"

Lisbon turned to see Sam Bosco standing in the doorway to the bullpen. She returned his smile without another thought. The bald team leader wore a slightly large navy suit and a striped black tie.

"Glad you're back. Got a second?" he asked lightly, nodding towards the other room.

"Sure," she said, getting to her feet. "Check with Ardellies for any upcoming cases."

She turned and followed Bosco out into the kitchen area. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rigsby whispering to Van Pelt at her desk.

"How's James doing? Minelli told me," he added at her suspicious gaze.

She leaned against the wall, observing Bosco carefully before answering. "Better. Doctors said the bullet missed any major organs, but he lost a lot of blood from the exit wound," she said, running a hand over her eyes.

When she removed them, she saw Bosco's concerned gaze. "When was the last time you slept, Lisbon."

"I'm fine, Sam, really."

"Any word on the guy who shot him?"

Lisbon shook her head, her curls bouncing. "No sign. James says he doesn't remember what the perp looks like and the brass had no hits in AFIS."

"Damn. Do you think he'll be back to finish the job?" Bosco stuck his hands in his pockets. Lisbon shook her head.

"No, but the local PD said they would keep an eye on James and his ex-wife just in case. He's probably already skipped town."

Bosco frowned slightly, but nodded. "Well, if you need anything Lisbon, be sure to ask, all right?"

"Thanks, Bosco."

He put a concerned hand on her arm. Her eyes leapt up to his before he spoke again.

"Anything Teresa, okay?"

"Okay," she repeated.

"No interrupting anything am I?" Bosco's hand leapt off her arm as he turned to see Jane standing in front of the counter.

"No," Bosco said quickly. "See you around, Lisbon. Jane." He made his exit as Jane walked up to Lisbon, handing her a steaming cup of coffee. She nodded her thanks.

"Why did you lie to Bosco about your brother?"

Lisbon coughed and moved back the cup from her lips. "I beg your pardon."

"Don't try to divert me, Lisbon," Jane said, busying himself with the tea kettle. "You lied. I know when you're lying. I know what I saw. What really happened in Chicago?"

"I did not lie to Bosco, Jane," she said with a frown.

"Yes you did. We can do this all day. Are you in trouble, Lisbon?" he turned to face her. His normal arrogance and sarcasm had faded into a mask of pure concern and worry.

Lisbon bit the inside of her lip to keep her face emotionless. "I'm not in trouble and nothing happened that I couldn't take care of, okay?"

Jane continued to study her until the tea kettle whistled. Lisbon moved to walk back to the bullpen, when Jane's hand caught her arm and turned her back to him.

"Will you tell me what happened? I … I want to help."

"You can't help me, Jane," she said, turning away.

"Please, Lisbon," Jane said, his voice making her turn back to face him. His large blue eyes marked her green ones. "I want to … make sure you're safe."

"I can take care of myself."

"I have no doubt about that. Humor a poor man's soul, Teresa."

She didn't move for a moment and the use of her Christian name was not lost on her. Finally she sighed and shrugged half-heartedly.

"Later."

Jane's smile was brilliant.

"Thank you Lisbon."

She rolled her eyes and the two walked back towards the bullpen with their usual coffee and tea in hand. Cho jerked his head in greeting.

"The Samuels case is going to trial next week, boss," Grace said. "You and Cho are called as witness, but other than that it seems we don't have much to do."

"You do now," Minelli's voice said loudly as he came purposely walked into the bull pen. A grim frown lit his features.

"We caught a case, boss?" Lisbon asked. At Minelli's look she too frowned. "Virgil, what's happened?"

He sighed and handed her a thick file folder. She accepted it without question. Minelli ran a hand over his head and turned to look at the whole group.

"The Artist is back."