Author's Note: Thank you to all those who left reviews. You kept me going, and here's another chapter for you! Hope it doesn't disappoint. Oh, and just to make things clear, there most likely will not be any Jisbon romance in this particular story, but there will be loads of Jisbon friendship and comfort. (I don't like to stray far away from the actual relationships between characters.) Enjoy!

"You're biting your nails."

Jane hadn't spoken for five minutes until then, and it startled Lisbon.

"Jumpy?"

"Shut up, Jane."

"Well something's bothering you,"

Lisbon stared at the road ahead of her and it took all of her willpower to keep her nails away from her mouth. Jane wore that stupid smile he had when he knew he was right. Lisbon's heart beat faster.

"I'm fine. Too much caffeine last night," she shrugged.

Jane ignored her. "You looked decent until..." he paused, thinking."Something Rigsby said."

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Lisbon asked, irritated.

Jane grinned at her. She took that as a no.

"He mentioned the address, but how would that make you so...?" he trailed off, noticing Lisbon's expression. She felt herself pale in spite of herself. She gripped the steering wheel to stop her hands shaking. She hated feeling so weak, so powerless at the mere mention of a street name.

"Jane, would you give it a rest? Go...comb your hair or something," she waved one of her hands, as if shooing him away.

Surprisingly, he didn't say anything back, but she felt his icy blue eyes on her. She pressed her lips in to a tight line, trying – in vain – to look like a calm and collected CBI woman.

After a while, Jane had to open his mouth once again. "You should talk about it. Bottling it up doesn't help much, I find."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, masking the fear behind her voice. Who was she trying to kid? Of course Jane would know what was bothering her. She'd seen him do it with hundreds of people, and he'd most likely read the bits in her file as well.

"Lisbon, I would have thought that you realized by now that we are friends. Colleagues, yeah, but friends just the same."

Lisbon said nothing to that, but she felt a pleasant tingle down her spine at the words. Out of every person in the CBI, she couldn't deny that she felt closest to Patrick Jane.

"Look, I just want you to know that contrary to popular belief, I can actually hold a conversation without causing injury, insult or resentment."

Lisbon smirked at that. "Yeah, right."

"Ah-ha! So you're admitting that there's something wrong."

Lisbon peeled her eyes from the road to glare at his triumphant face."How do you figure that?"

Jane looked about to make some cocky response, but his face fell. Suddenly, Lisbon saw a look of seriousness and sincerity on his face that she'd never seen before.

"It's your childhood street. The crime scene. That's where you lived, isn't it?"

Teresa felt her heart drop down in to her stomach, and she accidentally swerved off the road, followed by a chorus of honks and screeching cars. The sounds brought her out of her thoughts and she turned the steering wheel sharply, coming to a stop on the side of the road.

"Shit," she whispered, placing her forehead on the steering wheel and taking deep, calming breaths.

She could vaguely hear Jane breathing deep as well. Her stupidity and lack of concentration could have gotten her killed.

Could've gotten him killed too, she scolded herself.

"Lisbon, I think maybe you should"-

"No," she interrupted him firmly. "We're going to the crime scene. This is stupid."

"But"-

"Jane. Enough."

She put the car back in to gear. For once, Jane kept his mouth shut for the rest of the way. Lisbon could practically feel the concern running through his head.

She planned on taking her sweet time to reach the destination she so ardently dreaded.

Rigsby and Cho had just stepped out to get some air when a CBI vehicle pulled in to the small bungalow's driveway.

"Took 'em long enough," said Rigsby as Jane stepped out of the vehicle in his usual grey suit.

Lisbon followed after, though she didn't look right. Anyone could see that she lacked a sort of composure and professionalism that she so often carried. Rigsby decided not to ask, as he knew his boss well enough not to stick his nose in her business.

No matter how small and harmless looking the woman was, Rigsby sure as hell didn't want to piss her off.

"What do we got?" she asked when she reached the three men.

"Blunt force trauma to the head on one of the victims, but the second is different. Looks like a poisoning of some kind," Cho explained.

"Hmm. That's interesting," Jane added with his usual eagerness, though he seemed to be looking at Lisbon peculiarly, like she was a bomb about to explode at any moment.

Their boss seemed to be having some difficulty swallowing.

They must have fought in the car on the way here, Rigsby deduced. Well, that's nothing new.

"Let's go check it out," said Lisbon, rather reluctantly. Before making her way inside, she shot a glance at the neighboring bungalow and looked instantly peaky.

She seemed to notice the rest of the agents following her gaze. She quickly looked away, stomped past Rigsby and in to the house where the crime scene unfolded.