A/N See? This is how much I love you guys- you get an update after only two days! :) Thanks so much for all the reviews on the last couple of chapters, and I hope you enjoy this one just as much!

Lisbon opened the door to the exam room. The nurse seeing to Jane glanced up from cleaning the cut on his head. At seeing his boss enter the room, Jane rolled his eyes.

"Feel free to stab him with a needle," Lisbon said angrily. The nurse nodded, smirking in amusement, and left them alone. Lisbon moved to stand between his legs, picking up the antiseptic pad and beginning cleaning the wound. Jane winced, and glared at her.

"That hurts," he muttered, and couldn't help but think she must have done this before. She glared back at him.

"Good."

Jane ground his teeth together against the sharp pain. Her face softened, and Lisbon paused, waiting for the pain to pass.

"You're not going to ask me what happened?" Jane said.

"Nope."

"You're not even the littlest bit curious as to why I have seven stitches in my head?"

"Nope."

Jane stayed silent for a few minutes.

"It wasn't my fault, you know."

"Of course it wasn't," Lisbon muttered.

"It was Mark."

Lisbon rolled her eyes, and lowered the antiseptic pad from his head, replacing it with her fingertips as she poked and prodded at his bruises.

"Mark as in the victim's husband's, or another Mark who hates you?"

Jane pretended to be insulted.

"Lisbon, are you saying that the victim's husband hates me? But why?"

This time, Lisbon couldn't help but smirk.

"Because you're a pain in the ass."

Cho and Rigsby entered the room, concern evident on both men's faces.

"You alright?" Cho asked. Jane nodded, and with a slight shrug, gestured at the woman currently pinning him beneath a steely glare.

"Yes, I'm fine. Nurse Lisbon was just patching me up."

"What's up?" Lisbon said, not-so-accidentally increasing the pressure of her fingertips on Jane's brow. Rigsby sniggered at the discomfort on his face, before clearing his throat.

"Grace called. Mark Jameson received a substantial cash deposit three days ago, from an account registered to a Mr Derek Saul. You want us to check it out?"

With a sigh, their boss stepped away from Jane, eyeing him warily.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, and they all pretended not to hear the concern in her voice. Jane attempted a bright smile.

"I've never felt better."

"You have a serious head wound," Cho pointed out in disbelief. Jane scoffed.

"Meh, this? This is nothing."

"Well nothing or not, I'm not having you out in the field," Lisbon said firmly, "Rigsby, take him back to the CBI. Cho, you and me will go see Mr Jameson again."

"And arrest him for assault, I hope?" Jane interjected. She ignored him.

"Get Van Pelt to run background on this Derek guy."

"And arrest him for the assault of an officer."

"You're not an officer," Lisbon replied. Jane smirked.

"He didn't know that..."

Cho was the only person, besides herself, that Lisbon trusted behind the wheel of a car. Ever since her mother died, driving had become something of a test of courage, of inner strength.

Jane really did drive too fast, and Rigsby lost focus too easily, and Van Pelt wasn't quite confident enough to be reassuring. Cho, on the other hand, drove much like Lisbon herself- calm, controlled and perfectly in keeping with the law.

So, occasionally, Lisbon would relinquish her slightly neurotic hold on the keys.

Moving to the right lane to take the exit, Cho glanced across at her, letting out a rare chuckle at the concerned frown that was still creasing her brow.

"Jane's going to be fine, you know. But I think you should tell him."

His face looked so blank when she turned her head to stare at him incredulously, that Lisbon wondered if he had even opened his mouth. She blinked, before refocusing her attention out of the window.

"Tell him what?"

"Tell him that you're in love with him."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on, Tess," Cho said quietly, and the use of her first name made her jump, "I'm not as good as Jane, but even I know when you're lying."

"I'm not lying," she replied quickly. Cho merely smirked, not even granting her a reply, knowing that her own guilty thoughts would consume her any second.

Sure enough, as he pulled onto the exit ramp, Lisbon groaned, pressing her cheek against the window in frustration.

"Oh, this is so bad..."

Luckily for him, Cho was saved from answering by the sharp ring of her cell phone. Lisbon glanced at the number, and frowned, quickly flipping it open.

"Van Pelt?"

"Boss," Grace said, her voice wavering, "something bad happened..."

"What is it, Grace?" Lisbon demanded, cold fear already clutching at her heart. Cho glanced at her from the corner of his eye, struggling to keep his attention on the road at the tone of her voice. Van Pelt took a deep breath.

"It's Jane..."

Having demanded Jane's room number from the nurse at reception, Lisbon and Cho all but ran through the hospital, skidding to a halt when they saw Van Pelt and Rigsby in the corridor outside.

"What the hell happened?" Cho asked. Rigsby winced as Grace held a towel to the nasty wound on his head.

"Red pick-up. Ran us off the road. EMT said the other driver was DOA," he explained in a strained voice, "Impact was passenger side..."

Cho turned to look at Lisbon, who had headed straight for the doctor just emerging from Jane's room.

"What do you mean 'internal bleeding'?" she demanded, her arms wrapped tightly around her torso. The doctor led her into the room, and their voices became muffled.

After a moment, Lisbon reappeared, going straight to Rigsby. She sat down on his other side, resting her hand lightly on his bloodied sleeve.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly. He couldn't look at her, his bottom lip trembling.

"I'm sorry, boss. I should have..."

"You didn't do anything wrong, Wayne," Lisbon reassured gently, "it was an accident."

"But Jane..." he muttered, hastily wiping his eyes.

"Jane will be fine," she said, and for a moment, they all believed her.

If he didn't know her as well as he did, Cho would have been hard pressed to tell she was trying not to cry.

His hand was limp in hers. His hair stood out against the white of the hospital room, and she blinked a fresh wave of tears. She really shouldn't be there. He wouldn't want her there. Would he?

Who else would be there? There was no one else. Just her. And him, with all his drama and troubles and pain. All his pain.

Her eyes lingered on the bandage around his head, the cuts and bruises marring the rest of his body, feeling her chest tighten as she realized exactly how close she'd come to losing him again. He looked peaceful. Maybe this was the only time he slept. Maybe he had wanted this, just so he could get a good night's sleep.

"When are you going to learn that you're not invincible?" she whispered, squeezing his hand.

There was no reply.

And then Lisbon was angry.

"You are such an ass!" she snapped, "I was just about to work up the courage to tell you that I may have feelings for you, and then you almost get yourself killed! My God, I can't believe you would do that!"

She began pacing the width of the room, running a frustrated hand through her hair.

"What about the team? They're all out there, trying to be strong for me, when you're the moron who got into a car accident! How could you do this to Rigsby? He's blaming himself. And...and..."

Her eyes began to fill up with tears, so she stopped pacing, instead sinking back into the chair beside her motionless consultant, and once again taking his hand in hers.

"I just don't know how much longer we can pretend to be strong, Jane," she said quietly.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll manage."

Lisbon shot away from him faster than he thought possible, her face paling. Jane managed a chuckle, before it faded to his usual grin.

"How long have you been awake?" she asked in dread.

"Long enough to know that I'm not invincible, and that you have feelings for me."

"Jane! How could you? We thought...I thought...my God, you're such a jerk!"

"Can you not shout? Headache, you know."

Lisbon moved back to her seat, once again sitting down, but this time leaving his hand untouched.

"You're an ass."

"And you're not denying that you like me."

"Then I guess we're both right," Lisbon replied bravely. Jane chuckled, his fingers finding hers and tangling around them. A perfect fit, he noted.

"That's good," he murmured, "I like you too."

As the pain meds made his eyelids droop, Lisbon rolled her eyes, leaning forward to press a soft kiss to his cheek.

"I still can't decide whether I should shoot you myself."

Jane chuckled sleepily.

"You'd miss me."

Lisbon nodded, watching him drift back into unconsciousness.

"Yes," she agreed, "I would."

Satisfactory, I suppose. Sigh. I know, I know, I'm my own worst critic. But I still love to hear what you guys think! *big smile*