Disclaimer - The Mentalist belongs to Bruno Heller and CBS. Not me. Obviously.

A/N - Hello again! Just so you know, this chapter is the longest one yet, but it mainly consists of Jane and Lisbon banter/fluff, with a smidgen of angst thrown in. Thank you so much for all the support I've received for this story so far, and I hope you continue to enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!

~ Chapter Thirteen ~

Home

"You doing okay?" Lisbon asked as she dumped Jane's bag next to the couch and made her way back to the front door to shut it.

Home, sweet home.

Jane, for his, part, simply hobbled towards her couch and collapsed onto it with a groan. Sling held protectively against his chest, he still looked a mess, but dressed in his usual three-piece suit, with his precious shoes firmly on his feet, at least he looked a little more like himself.

"Oh, I'm just peachy," he winced, shifting slightly on the couch as he waited for her to join him, apparently struggling to find a position to sit in that didn't hurt.

The ride from the hospital had taken a lot out of him, and she knew he was definitely still struggling with everything that had happened to him in the last few days. She could see it as clear as day, even with his usual winning smile firmly in place. It could have been the drugs he was on, but Jane didn't seem as impenetrable as usual. Honestly, it worried her.

"Yeah, sure you are," Lisbon replied, willing to let it go for now. "You hungry? The doctor said you needed to eat with your medication and you're due for some more."

"Bah, I refuse to take any more of that mind-numbing stuff," Jane dismissed, moving his free arm to cradle his ribs. "Can't think straight with it."

"Jane, don't be an idiot," she began sternly. "You don't need to think straight. You just need to rest."

"Fine," Jane replied stubbornly. "I'll rest."

Without even giving her chance to argue with him, Jane dragged his feet up from the floor and began to gingerly move his body on the couch until he was lying down on his side, his injured shoulder resting lightly on top of him, and a cushion resting firmly under his head.

"Nighty night, Lisbon," he muttered, closing his eyes as he tried to shut her out. She growled and crossed her arms in response, but did her best to push down her anger otherwise, knowing it wouldn't do much good. God, this was exactly why she'd had reservations about bringing him home with her. She should've just left him to Cho or one of the others…

"You are not sleeping on the couch," she told him, arms crossed firmly. Jane didn't even twitch.

"Yes, I am," Jane replied without even opening his eyes.

"No, you're not," she shot back.

"Yes, I – "

"Jane, stop it," Lisbon interrupted, clenching her jaw to stop her from snapping at the injured man. Why did he have to make this so difficult?

"Please, Lisbon," Jane whined, turning his head slightly and blinking sleepily up at her. "I'm comfy now, I promise. I'll eat later. I'll even take those damned drugs. Just please don't make me move…"

Lisbon sighed. "Fine, Jane. But don't come crying to me when your bruises start to hurt."

"I won't," he promised, closing his eyes once again.

It didn't seem to take him long to enter the land of dreams, and it struck Lisbon that Jane must've been exhausted, because it usually took him a lot longer to fall asleep, even with the comforting noises of the bullpen around him. She knew, from the brief account Jane had given of the kidnapping, that neither he nor Liam had gotten much rest in the last couple of days, but she had hoped that he would've at least been able to get some sleep at the hospital. She glanced down at him, fast asleep with his mouth open slightly. Apparently not...

She sighed as she looked around her living room, cataloguing the mess that Jane had no doubt already noticed. Well, she considered, at least Jane should be out for a while. Plenty of time for her to get the place ready for even a Jane-level inspection.

Before she began though, she gathered up an old blanket from one of her chairs and placed it over Jane's immobile body, tucking the corners under his side as gently as possible so that she didn't aggravate any of his injuries.

No sense in him being cold, she reasoned, shaking herself as she moved away, but with her focus now on cleaning up, she missed the small smile that crossed Jane's face as he snuggled further into the blanket she had wrapped around his battered frame.

Jane slept for over two hours, until almost six o'clock that evening. In that time, Lisbon not only managed to tidy up her place to survive even Jane's beady eyed observations, but she was also able to check in with Cho about the case, and even managed to work on some paperwork. She probably should have been in the office really, but she really didn't want to leave Jane alone, even for a minute. Not now that they had finally got him back.

Cho could handle it anyway, she reasoned. She knew he'd make sure they got the bastards who'd done this to Jane and that they rotted away for the rest of their lives. The team would be fine without her. Jane on the other hand...

Lost in her thoughts, and in the mounds of paperwork, it took her a few moments to notice that Jane was starting to wake up, but when she did notice him stir finally, she didn't waste a second, getting up from the kitchen table and making her way over to him, worry still clenching her heart.

"Lisbon?" he asked hoarsely, squinting slightly as his eyes adjusted to the light of the living room. He must have noticed her standing right next to him though, because his eyes rose to meet hers.

"Hey, Jane," she said softly.

"Hospital?" he asked sleepily.

"No," Lisbon replied with a frown. "You're at my place, remember?"

"Ah," he began, seeming to wake up a bit more, though his voice was still a bit croaky with sleep. "I'm on your couch."

Jane pulled himself up until he was sat on the couch, stretching out his legs like a cat. When he tried to move his arm, however, he gasped slightly, apparently having forgotten how badly he was still injured.

"Yeah, against my better judgement," Lisbon muttered, taking a seat next to him as he moved over to give her some room. She turned to him. "You okay?"

"Oh, never better," Jane replied breezily, though she could still make out the lines of pain on his face. He ran his free hand over his face, brushing across his stubble smattered chin.

"You need a shave," Lisbon pointed out, hoping that it would convince him to clean up a bit. Even despite his brief trip to the hospital, Jane still had the look of someone who had just been kidnapped. It worried her.

"I need a shower too, but I'm still not moving," Jane stretched out his legs again as he lay his head against the back of the couch. A smirk crossed his face. "Hey, you could give me a bed bath…"

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "You're not in a bed, remember? And I am definitely not your nurse." She gave him a serious look, the kind of look that made it clear to him that she was not messing around. "Come on, Jane, stop being lazy."

He shifted slightly. "I'm not. It…hurts. More than I had anticipated actually."

"Who knew that sleeping on a couch wasn't good for someone who's just been beaten to within an inch of their life," Lisbon retorted sarcastically, though her eyes still shone with concern. "You want your medication?"

Jane gave her a look of pure disgust but pain crossed his eyes once again, and eventually he nodded.

"Fine," he grouched. "I'll take the damn medication." His frown dropped as hee grinned at her, even despite the pain he was in. "I believe you promised me a slap up meal to accompany it. I can't wait to taste your culinary delights."

Lisbon glared at him. "I'm not that bad."

"Yes, you are," Jane said with great certainty.

"Shut up," she said, pulling herself up from the sofa to go and get his medication from her kitchen table. When she made it back to the couch, Jane had already closed his eyes again. She gave him a nudge, and held her hand out, offering him his bottle of pills. "Here take your medication. I'll start on dinner. Pasta, okay?"

"Mmm," Jane replied sleepily. Having downed two pills, he was already half-asleep again. She watched him close his eyes as the pills began to work though his system. Jane leant his head back against the couch again, a sigh leaving his lips.

"Take a nap, Jane," Lisbon said softly, frowning at how quickly he seemed to losing his energy. "I'll get us some food sorted."

"Mmm," Jane replied again, but before she could say anything else, he was already gone.

Dinner didn't take her long to cook. She'd long since nailed the art of quick cooking down to a tee, a product of long nights at the office and little or no opportunity to sleep at home. As she worked, she opened a bottle of wine, pouring herself a healthy sized glass. Jane wouldn't be able to drink any, not whilst on his medication, but she'd definitely earned it herself.

"Jane!" she shouted once it was ready, hoping to wake him up as she started to set her small kitchen table. "Food's ready."

"Coming," Jane replied hoarsely from the other room. "No need to shout."

Lisbon rolled her eyes, but she didn't say anything else, still clouded slightly with concern over her errant consultant. She placed the simple pasta dish on the table just as Jane dragged himself into the kitchen. He was moving stiffly, cradling his sore arm with his free one, but the smile he shot at her did a lot to make some of her worries go away.

"You okay?" she asked as he sat down with a heavy sigh.

"Peachy," he replied, taking a plate, eyebrows raised in surprise. "Smells good."

Lisbon glared at him as she took her own seat. "You don't have to act so surprised."

She took a long swig of her wine, then began to dish out the pasta, pleased that he seemed to be surprised by her ability to cook. What she hoped he didn't know was that her ability was almost exclusively limited to pasta…

"Wine?" Jane noted, nodded towards her glass. "Can I have some?"

"One of these?" Lisbon asked, picking up her glass and taking another long sip. "Nope."

Jane's face fell. "Aww, come on Lisbon. Have a heart…"

"You just took a small handful of pills," Lisbon said incredulously, watching cautiously as he took a bite of the pasta. He seemed to like it. "No way, Jane."

"Please," he whined after he had swallowed his mouthful.

"No," Lisbon replied, taking her own bite.

"Just a sip."

"No."

"Grouchy," Jane shot back, tucking back into his food with gusto, though he was slightly limited with only one free arm.

"Child," Lisbon retorted, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

The meal passed in relative silence then, though it wasn't the awkward mess that most of her recent dates had been. Maybe it was because she wasn't romantically involved with Jane, but she had rarely felt so at ease around another human being.

Jane cleared his throat once the food had gone, knocking her out of her quiet contemplations. "So, how is Liam? The Doctors wouldn't tell me anything."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise as she pushed her now empty plate away from her. "Liam? What makes you think I know anything?"

He rolled his eyes as he pushed his empty plate forward too. "Please, Lisbon. I may have taken a few hits to the head recently, but I'm not stupid. You went to see him."

"So did you," Lisbon pointed out.

"Only to cheer him up," Jane replied with a half-shrug. "I didn't get much chance to ask him how he was. So…"

"He's not so good, Jane," Lisbon sighed. A small part of her wanted to lie to him, to spare him the worry, but the larger part of her just wasn't quite willing to do it. "I mean, physically he's okay, and he's alive thanks to you, but he's not doing so great mentally. He's withdrawn, snappy…"

"Told you he needed cheering up," Jane pointed out, a frown tugging at his lips.

"Yeah," Lisbon allowed, a frown clear on her own face. "He'll be fine though, I'm sure."

"Yeah, he will," Jane replied, though he certainly didn't seem convinced. "He's a brave kid. Tough. He reminds me a lot of you actually."

"Me?" Lisbon asked, surprised, getting up as she started to clear the table. Jane made no move to help, but with his injuries, she hadn't expected him to.

"Yeah," Jane replied, his eyes following her with a teasing glint, finally allowing a small smile to overtake his frown. "Except he actually followed my brilliant plan."

Lisbon grinned back. "The plan that involved you getting beaten to within an inch of your life? Yeah, Jane. Brilliant."

Jane's smile didn't falter. "I got the phone, didn't I? I managed to get into contact with you, tell you where we were, and then save the day yet again."

"We would have found you anyway," Lisbon argued. "It was only a matter of time. We're not completely useless, you know."

"Oh, I know," Jane replied with a twinkle in his eyes, although his expression soon turned serious. "Thank you, Lisbon. For coming to rescue me, I mean. And for letting me stay here, I suppose. I know I don't say it often, but I do appreciate it."

"No problem, Jane," Lisbon replied, touched by his thanks. She shook herself slightly. "Wanna watch some TV?"

"Sure," Jane replied with shrug. "Just so long as it's not one of those mind numbing reality TV shows. My brain has taken enough pounding recently."

"No arguments here," Lisbon replied, and the two of them moved back into the living room and onto the sofa, dishes left abandoned, and unwashed in the sink.

They ended up sitting in front of the TV for a couple of hours after dinner, watching the sort of nonsense shows that they both would have usually avoided. To Lisbon's practised eye, Jane seemed to have perked up after finally having a good meal, and he was on top form whilst they were watching the various shows, sometimes making her laugh so hard that she almost snorted wine out of her nose.

She'd rarely had such fun.

Slowly though, the night had come upon them, and it was with a heavy, though relaxed sigh, that Lisbon finally turned off the TV and suggested they both get some sleep. It was with that in mind that started to shift on the sofa, trying to force herself to get up and get ready for bed, when Jane turned to her, all previous mirth gone from his face.

"You really think Liam's going to be okay?" Jane asked seriously. "He's not going to be scarred by it all, is he? I really did try to protect him, you know."

"I know, Jane," Lisbon said softly, settling back onto the sofa. Somehow she knew this wasn't going to be a short conversation. She should have known that Jane was still beating himself up, and she cursed herself for allowing him to pretend otherwise. "You did good."

"Look, I appreciate the sentiment…"

"Shut up, Jane," Lisbon interrupted, though her small smile showed him that she wasn't mad at him. "Liam will be okay, and it's all thanks to you. Me and the team…we might've saved you, but you definitely saved Liam."

"He saved himself, really," Jane said with a shrug. "He was much braver than I was."

"Liam is a tough kid," Lisbon agreed softly. "I can't imagine being that brave at his age."

"You?" Jane began incredulously. "Of course you were brave. I imagine you were always tough, what with growing up with three brothers."

"What about you? What were you like when you were his age?" Lisbon asked curiously.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you," Lisbon replied with an eye roll. "I can't imagine you as a kid."

"Really?" Jane replied with smirk, completely dodging the question. "Even though you're constantly calling me childish?"

The few glasses of wine had made her bolder, and it seemed that the drugs had made it harder for Jane to hide behind his mask the way he usually would. She had always wondered about her consultant's past, and his few mysterious comments on the subject had just made her more and more curious over the years.

Lisbon smirked back. "Yes, even despite that. Come on, were you always like you are now?"

"Actually, I was quite a serious child," Jane replied seriously.

"Yeah, come on," Lisbon scoffed. "Like I'd believe that."

"Fine," Jane sniffed dramatically, though she saw through the act much more easily than usual. Something was bothering him. "Don't believe me, but I assure you, it is one hundred percent the truth."

Lisbon's smirk faltered when she saw his sincerity. "You really were serious?"

"Serious as a funeral director," Jane replied with a small smile.

"It can't have been easy," Lisbon allowed quietly, thinking about it answer. "You know, growing up in a carnival."

"The carnie life isn't as much fun as you might imagine," Jane admitted softly, his mind seeming to be elsewhere. "I spent most of my childhood bored and poor."

"You don't talk about it much," Lisbon prompted quietly.

"Not much to talk about," Jane replied with a shrug.

"Still, it must have had its good points," Lisbon began. "It's definitely an interesting way to grow up."

"I wouldn't use the word interesting," Jane told her quietly. "More like…challenging. We were very poor. And I didn't get to go to school, so I didn't meet many kids my own age. I certainly didn't have many friends."

"Oh," Lisbon said lamely, not sure what she should say. It was rare for Jane to offer anything of his past, especially something that clearly still affected him. "What did you do then? To pass the time, I mean."

"I earned my keep," Jane said with a bitter smile.

"When you were a kid?" asked Lisbon, surprised. "I thought that had all started when you were at least a teenager."

"Oh, no," Jane replied. "I was scamming people before I could even talk properly. Dear old daddy saw to that."

"Oh," Lisbon replied.

"Don't worry, Lisbon," Jane replied, eyes rising to meet hers. "I'm fine, really. It was all a long time ago."

"I know," Lisbon replied, but she didn't believe him for a second. She knew a little bit about tough childhoods herself, and she knew they were always a part of you, no matter how hard you tried to get over them.

"Look," Jane said softly. "Why don't you get some rest? I'm fine here, I promise."

"I'm glad you're okay, Jane," Lisbon said softly, letting him drop the difficult conversation. If he was done talking, she wasn't about to force him. She pulled herself up from the couch, stretching her stiff muscles sleepily.

"Me too," Jane replied, reaching over to the table to pick up the pill bottle. Using only one hand, Jane managed to unscrew the lid and knock out a couple of pills into his palm.

Lisbon frowned. "Should you really be taking more of those?"

"Still hurts," Jane replied, dry-swallowing the two pills. "I won't be able to sleep without them anyway. They should knock me out long enough for me to get a couple of hours rest."

The reminder of his insomnia caused pity to rise up in her but she squashed it down, knowing that it would do him absolutely no good. Instead she simply smiled at him.

"Good night, Jane," she said softly, moving towards her stairs. "If you need me, I'm only upstairs. I'll come and check on you in a few hours, okay?"

"Okay," Jane agreed, shifting himself with some difficultly until he was lying down on the couch again. She thought about forcing him to take her bed, but she knew it would be a losing argument. As stubborn as she was, no one was more stubborn than Jane.

"And no more pills," she told him over her shoulder as she began to make her way up the stairs to her bedroom.

"Yes, boss," came his sleepy reply, and she allowed herself a small smile.

Yeah, she reassured herself, heart lightening slightly at the familiar banter. She knew it would take a little time, but he would be fine.

He would be alright.

A/N - So, what did you think? I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed it too. Lisbon and Jane are just so much fun to write! Anyway, until next time, thanks for reading!