A/N: Sorry for not updating this yesterday, it was a long long day. Had to wake up at 5 am, got into bed at 11 pm. Hope you can understand why it was a long day, lol.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.

'Light years away'

Chapter 3

As she slept more, he couldn't find his own sleep. After all, he was an experienced insomniac, but he couldn't leave her out of his sight now. He couldn't go to sleep because he wouldn't be alert, leaving her at her weakest all by herself.

Therefore, instead of resting with her, he resorted to sitting against the headboard, looking down at her for hours. Wondering what she'd done, and why. What had happened? Why had she done this? Why? She must have had a pretty damn good reason for it, otherwise she wouldn't have done it. And still, he didn't want to think of it, didn't want to think of the injustice put upon her.

She started stirring again, only now, it wouldn't stop, as it had in the hours before that moment. Instead, she slowly started thrashing her arms around until she was all but hyperventilating, and he was left staring at her, until she let out a heart wrenching scream and he acted as if on automatic pilot, pulling her up and into his arms, making her inch closer until she was as close to him as she could.

Then, he had to watch helplessly as she registered her nightmare, and started sobbing in his arms. He could only rub her upper arms and ran a hand through her hair from time to time.

Fair enough, she eventually calmed down and lay in his arms, her face rested against his chest. He hoped she took comfort out of his erratic heartbeat, because he didn't.

After some time, she looked up at him. He saw the shock had now completely left her eyes, but instead it was replaced by fear. He knew by looking into her eyes that she had remembered what she'd done, and that she had no idea what to do either.

"Hey," he whispered gently. She closed her eyes briefly, before lowering her head and deciding to look at another spot in the room. That was fine, he supposed, if it made her calm.

"Hey," she returned, a little absent.

"How are you feeling now?"

She took a while with answering that question.

"To be honest… I'm scared now."

He nodded and put a hand on her head.

"I… I don't know… why I did it… I… it's all a blur now, the moments up until I, I did it, really… I can only remember pulling the trigger, I don't even know how many times, until I was out of bullets… I messed up…" Suddenly, she looked up at him. "I'm so scared, Jane."

He replaced his hand with his lips, planting a butterfly kiss in her hair, reminding him of the remains of blood there. That was for another time, not now.

He would say it would all be okay, but he would be lying then. And right now, lying was the last thing she could take. So rather than telling her empty lies, he told her the only truth he knew.

"I won't let anything happen to you, Lisbon. I promise." Even though that was a cold lie, too.

She seemed to think that was enough comforting for now, as she rested her head against his chest again. If only he could believe his own words.

~…~

He drove a little further, afraid they would be leaving a clear trail if they would stay in one place for too long. He eventually stopped at another diner, and decided they both needed to eat something.

She was doing better now, although he clearly see the fear in her eyes. They ate in silence, neither knowing what to do or say. That was until she put her knife and fork down, though, and looked over at him.

"I will tell you what happened eventually."

He nodded. "I know. It's okay. Take however long you need."

She stared at him, then nodded too and looked at her food again. Yet after a few moments, she returned her gaze to him.
"What do you know? Of what I did, I mean."

He sighed and put his knife and fork down, too. He didn't really want to discuss this in a busy diner, especially not since she was on the run. He arranged for their food to be put in a bag so they could continue their breakfast in the Airstream. When inside, he answered her.

"I know you shot him. And that you didn't shoot just once. But that's all I know."

She nodded. Watching her body language, that was all he should know for now. They continued their breakfast in silence.

~…~

"Cho."

"Hey, Jane. People are catching up with what happened. And seeing as you two are missing right now, they put two and two together. They know now, I think."

Shit. Despite Jane's not-so-carefully-constructed plan, he couldn't prevent people from knowing what had happened. Now that most people knew, he knew it would be harder to keep Lisbon from the consequences she undoubtedly had to face when they got back.

They could always stay away forever, but at the same time he thought of that, he knew it wouldn't work. The FBI had found him when he had been in Venezuela, so he was a hundred percent certain that they would find Lisbon if they knew of her guilt. The FBI was possible of doing anything.

"I'm sorry, Jane. But you can't stay away forever. They will find you, and they'll be pissed at me for not telling them about my involvement. We might make matters worse. It's best if… if you and Boss come back."

Jane nodded, feeling his heart clench as he did. He knew Cho was right, and he knew it was the right thing to do. Yet still, it felt as though he was pushing her right into the arms of the enemy, as though he was deliberately putting a cross on her face. Much like the one she'd had during his hunt for Red John.

Just as he was about to respond to Cho, he heard a rather insistent knock on the door. Without checking who it was, he knew where they were from, or rather what they were from.

He looked over at Lisbon, who was sitting on the short couch, her hands already clasped in her lap.

"Cho I gotta go," he said, absentmindedly.

"FBI, open up!"

He felt his need to protect her overwhelm his entire being, and all he wanted to do was pick her up and take her away from here – except he had already done so, and it hadn't worked out quite as he'd wanted it to.

He could read the fear in her eyes, tears forming, threatening to spill onto her pale cheeks. He could only reach out and brush her shaking hands.

He walked up to the door but just before he was about to open up, he turned to her again.

"Do you want to hide?" he whispered. He could see she was thinking over his suggestion, but then simply shook her head. He nodded, returning to the door, where the knocking had reached a deafening crescendo. He knew that if he wouldn't open now, they would kick in the door. So he opened up.

In front of him were three agents standing, one woman and two men, all of them dressed in expensive Italian suits. If only Jane had been able to pay for these suits with his paycheck from the same company.

"Hello Sir. We're here for Teresa Lisbon."

Jane nodded.

"I know. She's, uh, she's inside."

The three were already moving to go inside but he stopped them.

"Can I ask you for a favor, though?" He didn't await their response. "Can you treat her with a little dignity? She's a cop, too, you see."

The agents nodded after looking at each other for confirmation. Then, he stepped aside, and as one of the men and the woman stepped up to Lisbon who was still sitting on the couch, the other man made Jane turn around. He was confused for a moment, but then he realized.

Of course.

"Mister Jane, you're going to have to come with us for suspicion of accessory to murder-" He didn't listen anymore. Instead, he looked over his shoulder to see the lady cop carefully lifting Lisbon to her feet and guiding her out of the Airstream.

A/N: I don't know how these things work, but it sounded sort of rational, so there you go. The same applies to everything in this story - I don't know if it's the way it goes in real life but for the sake of the story, they happen the way they do here. Please, let me know what you thought! Thanks in advance!