Author's Note: Back to the main plot of the story! And no, this is not the evil airline-inspired part. I'm not sure where this came from. Two solid days of software training, perhaps? At any rate, I hope you enjoy, and thanks to all of you who keep me going with your feedback and follows!

Chapter 27

The next morning, Jane decided to take a few boxes over to the new place and wait for the bed to be delivered, promising to be at the office by lunchtime. Lisbon kissed him good-bye and then went off to throw herself into her work.

She had a very productive morning until someone knocked on her door. "Come in," she called, looking up from her computer.

Stan Moore came in, smiling uncertainly. "Hi, Agent Lisbon. I was hoping Patrick was here."

"He'll be in a little later. Anything I can help you with?" She'd never quite worked out what Moore thought was going on, though Jane seemed okay with him. But of course, that might mean Jane just liked to mess with him, not that Moore was trustworthy.

"He said he'd call yesterday, but I guess he got busy. We didn't get a chance to debrief since I had to leave the prison so suddenly, and I was curious what his take on it was."

A pit opened in her stomach. "You and Jane went to see Lorelei Martins." And she'd been stupid enough to think he was running domestic errands.

Moore saw through her attempt to remain calm. "He didn't tell you?"

"We didn't have a chance to talk shop yesterday," she said. That was true, anyway. "Was it helpful?"

"Not that I could tell," he replied. "Aside from being a fascinating character study. It's not every day I get to watch two expert manipulators try to climb inside each other's heads. But then, you must know what I'm talking about."

Lisbon forced a smile. "Yes. Though for some reason Jane prefers I not observe his interviews with Lorelei."

Moore chuckled briefly. "I wouldn't want my girlfriend to watch me interrogate a woman as insistent in her sexuality as Lorelei, either. Especially if I'd actually had sex with her."

Even through her hurt anger, Lisbon began to wonder whether Moore was deliberately provoking her or just being a jerk. "Oh yes, she takes real pride in that. As if seducing a man who was celibate for almost a decade and was probably half-drunk at the time is some kind of feat." Oops, that was probably a little too catty, she realized.

Moore didn't quite manage not to grin. "Oh, you have nothing to worry about, Agent Lisbon. Patrick might talk a good game with Lorelei, but he doesn't look at her the way he looks at you."

I don't need your pity, Lisbon thought, irritated. Lorelei got under her skin, true, but not because she was afraid Jane had feelings for her. That might actually be easier to handle. It wasn't love or even lust that drew Jane to Lorelei; it was the promise of getting closer to Red John. But he was supposed to be finished with that now. He'd promised. She felt sick to her stomach.

"When he gets in, I'll tell him to give you a call," Lisbon promised, keeping her voice even.

"Thanks. Have a great day!" Moore said as he left.

"Yeah, right," she muttered once he was gone. Her concentration shattered, she let herself fume for a moment. Jane had some explaining to do, though she knew he would simply claim that he hadn't mentioned going to see Lorelei because she was already so stressed last night. And he wouldn't feel the least bit guilty or remorseful over it, either. She was all too familiar with how their argument would go. They didn't even need to have it, really.

Damn it, she'd thought she wouldn't have to deal with this anymore. She'd never have gotten involved with Jane if she'd known he hadn't really given up his obsession. That road held heartbreak at every turn, and she knew that perfectly well. It was one reason why she'd spent so long not letting herself think about him in any non-friend context.

It was official: she'd made a fool of herself. She should have known Red John wasn't going to leave Jane alone, and therefore Jane wasn't going to be able to turn over any new leaves, whatever his intentions. She believed he'd meant it when he said she was more important, that he loved her. But that didn't make a damn bit of difference once he caught a glimpse of a chance at Red John. It was time she stopped living in their mutual daydream and got back to the real world.

She drew a deep, watery breath and sat with her eyes closed until she had regained her composure. When she opened them again, the first thing she saw was the ring on her right hand. Pain lanced through her as she remembered how he'd woken her with kisses so she could discover it on her finger. She'd begun to let herself believe it could be real. But part of her had known all along it was too good to be true.

Angrily, she yanked the ring off her finger and dropped it into her desk drawer.

mmm

Jane was whistling as he walked toward Lisbon's office, not minding the looks he got from the people he passed. He was enjoying putting the new apartment in order; he'd forgotten how much he liked domesticity, especially now that he had a place to put his stamp on instead of feeling like he was disrupting Lisbon's environment. It was comforting to have a place to think of as home again.

"Ready for lunch?" he asked as he pushed the door to her office open.

'I'll pass," she said, not looking up.

Uh oh. He was in the doghouse again, obviously, and he could think of only one thing he'd done lately to get there. Still, no point in confessing until he was sure it wasn't something else, like paperwork about some minor misbehavior he'd not bothered to retain in his memory palace. "Looks like I'm in trouble. What did I do?"

"Nothing new." Her tone practically dripped icicles, and when she finally looked up, her eyes were equally cold. She folded her hands together on her desk, slowly and deliberately.

His stomach dropped as he realized she wasn't wearing her ring. "Lose something?" he asked, but without any levity in his voice.

"My mind, apparently. Because I really believed for a minute there that things were different. That we were done with the lies and the sneaking around."

"I was going to tell you—"

"Save it," she spat. "I've heard it all before."

"I thought we were cooperating with the FBI. What was I supposed to do? Tell Moore to forget it?" He couldn't keep the anger out of his tone as he realized what he was up against.

"You were supposed to inform your supervising agent that you were interviewing a witness in a case we're not investigating."

He refrained from rolling his eyes but couldn't resist saying, "I thought Bertram was my supervisor now."

"And I'm supposed to believe you told Bertram where you were going?" she demanded.

"No. There was no need, since he already ordered us to cooperate with Moore." Jane tried to keep his voice calm and reasonable but not patronizing. It was difficult, though, when his temper was rising. Of course, he was mostly angry at himself for giving Lisbon the excuse she'd subconsciously been looking for. "I apologize for not keeping you apprised of my every move."

Although an expert practitioner, Lisbon certainly disliked sarcasm when she was on the receiving end. There was enough heat in her glare to melt glass. "Not every move, Jane. Just the ones involving Red John."

"I wasn't investigating," Jane replied. "Moore wanted me to talk to Lorelei because she said she had a message for me. He hoped it would give him a clue as to Red John's next move."

"Since he told me it wasn't a productive visit, I assume she merely wanted you to kiss her again," Lisbon said.

"He said that? I found it interesting. And no, I did not kiss her, or offer to help her escape, or anything else you could take exception to," he assured her. "I accepted her congratulations and told her how happy I was." He couldn't help the wry twist to his final words, given where this conversation was obviously heading. Since it was more about Lisbon's fears than about Lorelei, he doubted he could retrieve the situation until Lisbon cooled off. But he needed to remind her that the ring was about more than their personal relationship. "That ring is keeping you safe, Lisbon. Put it back on."

"Don't tell me what to do," she seethed. She reached into her desk drawer and held the ring out to him. "I'm done, Jane. This stupid plan is over. I'm not playing Red John's game anymore."

Jane thrust his hands into his jacket pockets, refusing to take the ring. The fact that she hadn't thrown it at him was encouraging; it seemed to indicate she was emotionally attached to it.

Lisbon shrugged and dropped the ring back into the drawer. Then she pretended to go back to her work, though he was sure she was typing randomly. He weighed the satisfaction of having the last word against the extra work it would add to bringing her around and decided that he had nothing to gain by persisting.

He pushed the door open abruptly enough to catch several people still staring; Lisbon's blinds were open, so the whole thing had been visible to anyone who cared to look. That made the risk Lisbon was running imminent, so Jane swallowed his anger and pulled out his phone, texting Cho to meet him by the coffee cart outside.

It didn't take the agent long to arrive. "What did you do?" he asked in lieu of greeting.

"My job," Jane said shortly. "Lisbon is overreacting."

Cho folded his arms. "If she was overreacting, you'd be having that ring surgically removed. Is this part of the plan?"

"No. It is very much not part of the plan. And when Red John finds out, as he undoubtedly will since half the floor saw her break off the engagement, she'll be in danger."

"Because she's not playing along."

"Yes. One of you needs to have eyes on her at all times. All times, Cho."

"Got it." Cho eyed Jane for a second, then asked, "What are you going to do?"

Jane's bitter grin felt scary, but of course nothing he did would ever scare Cho. "I believe that the traditional reaction to heartbreak and humiliation is to get drunk. But Lisbon has a particular dislike for that coping mechanism. So I plan to make everyone's afternoon very unpleasant by remaining at work in my current surly state."

"Nice," Cho said. "Make her even more annoyed. Brilliant plan."

"Cheer up," Jane said. "Maybe there'll be a case I can solve in the most obnoxious way possible."

Cho turned and headed back toward the building; Jane could practically feel him rolling his eyes and smiled a little. Then he turned to the coffee cart. He would begin his campaign of unpleasantness by buying coffee for everyone but Lisbon.

mmm

Jane spent most of the afternoon and evening on his couch, waiting to see if he would have an opportunity to speak privately to Lisbon. But she merely stopped by on her way out to inform him that he was not welcome in her home tonight. That hurt more than he wanted to admit, but it would be better to let her miss him, he thought. He could stay here, or go sleep on their new bed even though it had no sheets yet. Or he could go buy some, as a vote of confidence in his persuasive powers.

After he'd thought about it a while, he decided to remain on his couch, sulking in full view of whatever audience he might have. Very few people were still in the office at that point. Grace was the only one of the team remaining; Lisbon had left much earlier than usual, and Cho and Rigsby had gone immediately afterward, preparing for their shifts on surveillance duty. When Jane got up to make a pot of tea, Grace joined him in the break room in search of coffee.

"What's keeping you here so late, Grace?" Jane asked.

"Oh, you know, stuff," she said, which he took to mean that she was assigned to keep an eye on him in case his emotional distress led him to actions that Cho would disapprove of. Or, he realized as he examined her expression, maybe she was just worried about him. Her next words confirmed the latter theory. "If you need to talk, you know I'm here, right?"

He was touched. It was nice to be reminded that someone was on his side when Lisbon was doing her best to pretend she wasn't. "Thank you. But this is just a little hiccup. She doesn't mean it."

Grace smiled. "I know. And even if she did, you'd change her mind. But it must still bother you."

"It does," he admitted. "If you were of a mind to help, you could talk to her."

"Oh, no," Grace said. "She'd only resent me poking my nose in. Plead your own case."

"I'm not asking you to plead my case. But you can make her come to her senses simply by reminding her that you are my second-favorite woman."

She gave him a puzzled look. "I guess I could do that. But why?"

"Oh, Grace, you are so much happier not knowing," he replied, smiling at her.

She rolled her eyes, picked up her filled mug, and went back to work.

mmm

Jane tossed and turned on his couch long after Grace and everyone else had left. For years it had been a comfortable place to spend his nights, but it had lost its charms now. He was somewhat disturbed to discover how dependent on Lisbon's company he'd become in a few short months.

Abandoning his useless attempts to sleep, he took a brief constitutional through the halls. Noting that it was past midnight, it suddenly occurred to him that Lisbon had said she didn't want to see him that night, but it was now technically morning. And she was probably sound asleep, so his risk of being shot on sight was low.

Grinning, he drove to her place, letting himself in quietly after turning and waving to make sure Cho knew it was him. He was pleased to notice that she'd switched on the nightlight in the bathroom; she didn't need it for herself, but after he'd bruised his shins one night early in his stay, she'd dug out the little light. She always turned it on before they went to bed so he could see if he got up.

The bedroom door was pushed almost closed so she wasn't bothered by the light. It was probably also meant to discourage him from doing what he was doing. She must have known he couldn't be depended on to obey her banishment decree, but she'd probably hoped he would have the sense to crash on the couch. She really should have known better, he thought with a smile as he slipped inside the bedroom, shrugging out of his jacket and stripping down to his boxers.

In the dim light, he could see that she wasn't in her usual spot on the bed. She'd drifted over to his side, her face buried in his pillow, one hand fisted in the pillowcase. Her subconscious missed him, obviously, which was reassuring.

Carefully, he lifted the covers and slid into her side of the bed, reasoning that he could at least benefit from the scent of her pillow. Lisbon stirred, making a vaguely interrogative noise.

"It's just me," he whispered, planting a quick kiss behind her ear.

Lisbon gave a little snort, then rolled over and curled into him, mumbling in her sleep. The only word he could make out was "idiot," but that didn't keep him from sliding his arms around her and holding her close.

Yes, this was definitely where he belonged. He would make sure he stayed, no matter what he had to do, he thought as he finally began to doze off.

mmm

Lisbon woke in alarm as someone tore the covers off her and began roughly pulling her jersey up. She lashed out, one fist connecting with her assailant's jaw, until she realized that the hoarse voice demanding to know where she was hurt belonged to Jane.

"Jane, stop it!" she demanded, pushing at him. "What the hell? Did you have a nightmare?"

He sat back, panting, his eyes wild. Pushing herself into a sitting position as she woke up fully, she asked, ''What are you doing here?"

Her irritation was swallowed by concern when he didn't respond, merely reaching out to take hold of her shoulders. She didn't like the look on his face. "What happened? Jane, talk to me."

He pulled her into his embrace, holding her so tightly she could barely breathe. She could feel his heart pounding and the way his breathing hitched, as if he were on the verge of tears. Frowning in puzzlement and alarm, she rubbed soothing circles on his back, then slid a hand into his curls, massaging his scalp. He buried his face in her neck, his breaths puffing against her skin.

What on earth had happened, she wondered. Even after his worst nightmares, she'd never seen him like this, speechless and half in shock. The fact that he was undressed registered, answering one of her questions: he'd been here for whatever traumatic event had happened. She was glad he hadn't driven here in this state, at least. "Jane," she said gently, "I'm okay. I'm not hurt. What happened?"

He pulled back a little, looking intently at her face and calming a little. He jerked his head to the side, and she automatically looked in that direction.

The world seemed to stop for a moment as she stared at the red smiley face on her bedroom door.

mmm

Lisbon had no time to get dressed after calling Cho, but she managed to grab her robe and get Jane into his pants and downstairs, hoping he would come back to his senses once he couldn't see the smiley face anymore. She realized now that he must have woken to find it there and panicked, assuming Red John had killed or at least injured her while he slept.

She hadn't explained anything to Cho on the phone, so she greeted him with, "Red John's been here. Upstairs."

Jane finally spoke, his voice tortured, gravelly. "While we slept. He did it while we slept. He was right there in the room with us." He stared at Lisbon as if to reassure himself that she was still there.

Cho looked at Jane, then back at Lisbon, obviously concerned. "I'll be right back," he said, heading up the stairs. When he returned, he said, "And that wasn't there when you went to bed."

"No," Lisbon said. "That was a little after eleven. What time did you get in, Jane?"

"Almost one. There was enough light in the hallway that I would have seen it if it had been there then." Jane swallowed hard, getting his voice under control. "Lisbon, where did you leave the ring?"

She bit her lip as she realized what he was thinking—this was Red John's way of telling her what would happen if she stopped playing along. "Locked in my desk at work. I'll—I'll put it back on as soon as I get there."

"You can put it on now." Jane was looking at the kitchen counter, where a lumpy envelope rested. Lisbon swallowed hard as Cho quickly put on gloves and picked it up. The ring slid out, along with a typed note.

He handed the note to Lisbon, who read it aloud. "Dear Agent Lisbon, I stopped by to express my disappointment in your decision to end your engagement. Imagine my delight to find that the two of you have reconciled so quickly. Please refrain from further pre-wedding dramatics. I am very much looking forward to giving you the wedding gift I have picked out, and I am truly pleased to be able to congratulate you." She handed the note back to Cho numbly, trying not to think about what might have happened if Jane had decided to stay away all night.

Cho slid the note into an evidence bag and said, "I'll get the crime scene guys over here. You might want to get dressed first."

"We need to pack," Jane said. "We'll move to the new place today." He shot a glance at Lisbon, daring her to argue with him, but she couldn't. She couldn't imagine going to sleep in that room tonight knowing a serial killer had been there. Had he watched them sleep? The thought made her skin crawl, and she shivered.

Jane held the ring out to her, and she took it, sliding it onto her left ring finger. "Whose blood is it?" she wondered. "On the door. It's not ours, so maybe it's his?"

Jane shook his head. "He'd never leave DNA evidence like that. But that means he brought it with him, so he didn't intend to kill you, or thought he might not need to."

Cho hung up his phone and said, "If the ring was in your desk when you left, that gives us a timeframe for when he was in the building."

"It won't have been him," Jane said. "But it will give us a list of people who might be his disciples. We need to call Stan Moore—that will be his investigation."

"Right." Cho pulled out his phone again, stepping away.

Jane got to his feet and rested his hands on Lisbon's waist, standing so close she could feel his body heat. "We should run," he said softly.

She shook her head. "No."

"Teresa, he was in our room, watching us sleep. He could have killed you."

Trying to be reasonable, she said, "He couldn't have done that without waking you. I don't think he ever meant to kill me, just to scare me." She rested a hand over his heart, which was still beating too fast. "But thank you for coming back last night. I can't imagine waking up to that by myself."

His arms seemed to go around her without any conscious thought on his part. "For a second, I thought I had. Then I realized you were breathing."

She held him, hoping to give as well as receive comfort. Then she said, "I'm still mad about you going to see Lorelei, and I want to hear exactly what happened. But I won't try to call off the plan again."

"And I am sorry I didn't tell you. I will recite the entire conversation for you," he promised. He kissed her temple. "And I will try to stop giving you reasons to call the whole thing off."

"That would be nice," she murmured before pressing her lips to his.

He immediately parted her lips with his tongue, and she let him have his way, feeling his desperation in the way his fingers clutched at her and how he trembled slightly. She needed to get him calmed down, she thought. Maybe she needed to suspend her no-sex rule, just this once. Comfort sex would do them both good.

Cho cleared his throat. ''We're about to have company," he reminded them. "Do you want to give me your formal statements before they get here, or should I step outside while you two make out?"

That was possibly the stupidest question she'd ever heard him ask, Lisbon thought. But what she wanted to do and what needed to be done were two different things. She pulled her mouth free to reply. "Take Jane's statement while I get dressed."

Jane's grip on her tightened even further. "He can do that later. You're not going up there alone."

She wanted to be annoyed, but the look in his eyes and the lines of tension around his mouth stopped her. "Cho, we'll be right back."

He looked pointedly at his watch, as if to remind them they didn't have time for a quickie before the crime scene techs arrived. Lisbon nodded as she pulled out of Jane's embrace, taking his hand and leading him back up the stairs.

When they came back down, fully dressed, the apartment was full of people. The techs headed upstairs to begin work, while Rigsby and Van Pelt stood with Cho, looking worried.

"We need to find out how he got in," Cho said. "I know it was through the back, because I was watching the front."

"Right," Lisbon said, urging Jane to sit down on the couch. He resisted until she sat down herself, grasping her hand tightly. "Cho, you run this from our side, but remember, the FBI has the Red John case."

"Got it," he said. "Moore's on his way." He shifted uncomfortably, then said, "I gotta ask. Jane, did you do this?"

"What? No!" Jane looked thoroughly taken aback. "Why would I do this?"

"So Lisbon wouldn't break things off," Cho replied. "You had to have a plan."

Lisbon stared at Cho, then turned back to Jane as he shook his head. "I was going to use Grace," he said.

Everyone looked at Van Pelt, who frowned in confusion before saying, "Oh. Boss, he told me to remind you that I'm his second favorite woman. But he wouldn't tell me why."

Lisbon was relieved, even though she'd never really thought Jane had staged this. "Because if I wouldn't play along, Jane would have to find someone to take my place."

"Oh." She frowned, then blinked. "Oh!"

"Don't worry, Grace," Jane said, sounding almost normal. "I know I'm not your type. I'm not tall, dark, and endearingly goofy."

"And," Lisbon said quellingly, "he knows I'd never put you in that position. So yes, it would have worked. Jane had no need to go this far."

"Okay," Cho said.

Rigsby looked like he had tasted something sour. "But how did he get into Lisbon's office to get the ring and then sneak in here with one agent watching the outside and the two of you inside? What is he, a ghost?"

"Someone else took the ring," Jane said. "And if that person can move freely around the CBI, it's not hard to believe they could have copied Lisbon's key at some point."

Cho said, "He didn't come through the front door. But maybe he came in before we got here and unlocked a window."

"On it," Rigsby said, turning to go look.

"Or was here waiting," Grace murmured.

Jane spoke so quietly that Lisbon barely heard him. "We should run."

"Running only saves us," she reminded him. "It puts everyone else in more danger."

Cho said, "You let us worry about us, Boss. If running is the only way out, we'll support you."

Grace said, "But if you stay, you should let us wire up your new place. Motion detectors and cameras, that kind of thing."

Lisbon grimaced. She hated the idea, but she knew Jane needed some reassurance. She'd never seen him this shaken. "As a housewarming gift?" she said, trying to lighten the mood a little.

"Sure," Cho said. "That's my kind of shopping."

"And nobody will know but us," Grace said. "So he won't find out."

"Okay," Lisbon said. "We'll meet there tonight. For dinner." She glanced over at Jane's blank expression. "I'll get takeout."

That got Jane's attention. "Oh no you won't," he said. "Not for our first dinner party. I'll cook. Eight o'clock."

"We'll be there," Grace said.

Lisbon nodded, looking around at all the activity in her home. For the first time, she was glad to be moving out, so she wouldn't have to live with the memory of this morning.

"I'd say good morning," Moore said as he came in through the open front door, "except it obviously isn't. Are you okay?"

Jane came up off the couch too quickly for Lisbon to stop him. "You did this. You manipulated Lisbon into breaking off the engagement to make Red John react."

Moore looked surprised, but he didn't deny it. "Did he give us anything?"

Cho said, "Leads, but no evidence so far."

Jane grabbed Moore by the collar and growled, "This is my life you're playing with, Stan. You could have gotten her killed!"

"Jane," Lisbon said, moving to put a firm hand on his shoulder. "Do not assault the FBI agent." When Jane didn't move, she coaxed, "Come on. Let's get out of here. We can give our statements later, after we've had some tea and some nice buttery eggs."

"Wait," Cho said suddenly. "If you knew he'd come after Lisbon, then you had surveillance on her."

Moore nodded. "We did. Unfortunately, he must have known, because our agent was found dead a few minutes ago. We'll look into who knew about the details and see where that leads." He grimaced, looking at Jane. "This hunt takes a strong stomach. I knew Agent Manchester."

"We're sorry for your loss," Lisbon said. "Jane, let him go. I know it sucks to be used, but I never let any of your marks strangle you, so you don't get to strangle him."

Jane released Moore. "You put her in danger again, and I'll make your life a living hell," he growled.

"That wasn't my intention," Moore said. "But I'll keep that in mind."

"See that you do," Jane said. Then he slid his hand into Lisbon's and let her lead him out of the apartment.