A/N: Wow, was amazed by the reviews to the last chapter once again. The people in this fandom are simply wonderful. Thank you. Without further ado, here's the next instalment!

Chapter 27 - Florida

"Oh my god!" Lisbon exclaimed as her eyes widened at the sight of Patrick Jane dressed in a pair of knee length navy blue shorts and a casual white shirt thrown over them, a pair of flip flops finishing off the look. He grinned as he watched her reaction from the other side of the hotel room door before he took her hand and pulled her inside the room.

"Are you in disguise?" she laughed, her gaze trailing over him again.

He kissed her quickly, and then intensified it when he felt her in his arms through the soft cotton of the sundress she wore. "It's called being on vacation, Teresa," he smiled as he released her, taking the holdall off her shoulder and placing it on top of the king sized bed.

"You made the connection, then?" he asked. He turned when she didn't respond then smiled as he noticed her take in her surroundings.

"Jane...this is too much," she said, shaking her head. The room was decorated in soft pastel tones and was almost as large as Lisbon's entire ground floor apartment. Muted seascape prints on the walls were offset with teal and aquamarine cushions that sat on a comfortable couch and a pair of armchairs positioned opposite a wood burning stove.

"You haven't seen the best of it yet," Jane replied cheerfully, pulling on a cord beside him to pull back whitewashed wooden panels, revealing four floor to ceiling windows that looked upon crystal blue waters and the almost pure white sand of the Florida Keys. As the room was illuminated with light so were Lisbon's eyes at the stupendous view before her. She grinned at him and he laughed at her almost childlike enthusiasm as she rushed towards the patio doors that lay in the middle of the windows, opening them with excitement to gain a better inspection. A wooden deck lay beneath her feet, a small balustrade in the same wood in front of her, a few steps off both leading directly onto the beach. She leaned her arms on the banister, biting her bottom lip in delight as the sounds and smells of the sea and soft waves washed over her senses. Jane came up behind her, threading his hands around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. "I take it you approve, then," he whispered in her ear. She nodded mutely as her hands caught his around her front, momentarily overwhelmed at the divine place he'd chosen for their trip away. Finally she shook her head, "I've...I've never been anywhere like this in my entire life. It's..."

"Paradise," he finished for her, kissing her neck softly.

She turned in his arms and kissed him. "It's still too much," she said with a quirk of an eyebrow. "How on earth did you afford this?"

He chuckled softly and ignored her question. "So...they have jet skiing, scuba diving, all manner of aquatic activities to keep us busy during the day. What would you like to do first?"

She played with the buttons of his shirt and waggled her eyebrows. "I'm a little hot from the plane. I could really use a shower first." She bit her lip and looked at him under her lashes as she smiled. "Want to help me wash my back?"

Without another word he grinned and took her hand at once to lead her to the adjoining luxurious bathroom with private ocean views to do just that.

They lay on the bed to rest after their rather energetic shower together, wrapped up in each other's arms wearing fluffy white bathrobes. A cool ocean breeze ran through the room from the opened patio doors. "Okay, this was worth having to take that connecting flight from Chicago," Lisbon said as Jane spooned her, their eyes fixed on the view outside.

"I know you thought I was paranoid-"

"You are."

He chuckled. "Okay. I am paranoid but it's a better cover story. I leave my car at my house in Malibu so it looks like I'm spending the weekend there. You take a flight to Chicago so it appears you're there. Then we each take flights from L.A. and Sacramento to get here."

"With a stop in Chicago for me in between." She paused. "God, my brothers would kill me if they thought I was in town and didn't go to see them."

"Feeling guilty?"

"Nope. But I'm feeling guilty that I don't feel guilty about it."

He laughed, dragging himself away from her warmth with reluctance. "Come on, get up, we came away so we could be a couple-"

"Didn't we just do that?" she smiled.

He rolled his eyes. "A couple in public. So, up and at 'em, Agent Lisbon."

Jane lay on the sand with a book deciding to sunbathe as Lisbon took a jet ski out after their glass bottomed boat ride. She'd jumped right in scuba diving earlier too. He was constantly amazed at her seemingly endless energy but exceedingly grateful for it in many ways and on many occasions. By the time she arrived back at the beach he'd become bored reading and was helping children build their sandcastle creations instead. He grinned as he saw her approach, her dark locks curled and dripping wet, a white T shirt and lemon shorts covering a black bikini she wore. Her freckles had deepened in the sun and her lack of makeup made them more prominent on her face. She looked absolutely adorable and her effervescent smile only made his widen in response. He took her hand, taking joy in being able to do so in such an untroubled manner and introduced her to the children that had surrounded him. For the next half hour they built sandcastles with them, Jane teaching her how to ensure they were built with strength and precision like he was a master craftsman of the trade as she teased him about his seriousness in the subject.

Afterwards they stopped off at a beachfront bar and ordered a couple of cocktails. He held her hand across the table and sighed happily as he sipped his drink through the pink straw he'd been given, watching her intently as she gazed at the ocean in front of her. "I like this version of you," he said after studying her for a few more seconds.

She took a sip of her cocktail. "What version's that?" she smiled.

He shrugged, "Vacation Lisbon."

She snorted her drink through her straw and raised an eyebrow. "I'm that different?"

"Certainly. But it's not like I dislike Work Lisbon or Bedroom Lisbon. Quite the opposite especially with the latter. Boss Lisbon can be a little tiring, though, with all those rules and regulations. But Vacation Lisbon? Like a breath of fresh air. It's nice seeing another side to you. So...relaxed, carefree...content."

She laughed at his categorisation of her personality quirks. "I could say the same about you," she said, leaning over the table to peck his lips, grinning when he made no attempt to pull back.

He cupped her cheek, drawing her into a longer kiss instead. "I suppose you could, my dear."

"Lisbon?" Jane said once again when she lapsed into silence once more. She nodded then took a deep breath as she looked at him. "A man and woman have been found murdered in a Hotel in..." She closed her eyes briefly and swallowed, bile rising in her. "A Hotel in the Florida Keys. Two smiley faces above their heads in the bed of their suite."

He blanched instantly and shook his head in disbelief. He puffed out a breath. "I...I don't need to ask the name of the Hotel, do I? By your expression I'm guessing it was the Paradise Palms."

She nodded, pursing her lips and biting on her bottom one to keep her emotions in check. "Yeah," she nodded. "Local PD think it's some kind of copycat-"

"But we know it isn't," he interrupted. Pulling a semblance of himself back together and putting on his well worn facade of calmness he said, "Okay, then we need to go there."

Before she made for the door she asked, "Did you know? Did you know he was planning something-?"

"No," he said immediately shaking his head violently. "I...I thought me coming back...well I imagined he'd make some kind of statement sooner or later but...I swear I had no idea about this."

She nodded, frowning at him, trying to see the truth in his eyes.

He grasped her shoulders and bent down so she could his sincerity. "I swear to you I had no idea, Teresa. No idea he was planning this."

"Okay," she mumbled. "Okay, I believe you."

He released her and nodded. "What are you going to tell the team?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh god, I don't...I don't know. Truth I guess. They knew we were together back then. They probably knew we were going to spend that weekend together."

"Wainwright still doesn't, though."

She drew a hand down her face as she thought about admitting her past relationship with Jane to her boss and sighed before releasing a deep breath. She shrugged. "Then I suppose he's about to find out."

They were separated on the plane ride out but he could see her across the aisle as she came to terms with the news they'd been hit with, could almost see her attempt to refortify her walls to keep it together. He was having trouble himself in taking in what had occurred in Florida and the questions it raised about the time they spent there. After telling the team Red John had struck in a place they'd stayed together that was far from California there was a deafening silence evident in the cars they hired as they drew up to the Hotel. Lisbon and Jane looked at each other as they exited the vehicle, remembering the blissful weekend spent there, now tainted by Red John's reappearance.

"You guys are a long way from home!" Officer McKenzie said as he shook Lisbon's hand and nodded to the rest of the team as they introduced themselves, police vehicles and FBI Agents milling around the front of the Hotel. Further introductions made an FBI Agent from the Miami field office called Grant Nicholls led Lisbon and the others through the Hotel.

"Room 5, correct?" Jane asked, hoping he was wrong for once in his life.

"Yeah," Nicholls confirmed then stopped short in front of Jane. "How did you know that? Room number hasn't been released to anyone."

He glanced at Lisbon who was as white as he'd ever seen her. "Lucky guess." He continued walking in front of Nicholls knowing exactly where he was going.

The team exchanged awkward glances as they made their way after him. Forensic techs were still inside the room when Jane arrived although the bodies had been removed by this stage. Still the sight of the two red smiley faces was enough to send a shiver down his spine. The bed sheets, stained red and rumpled lay strewn across the bed and suddenly he found it hard to catch a breath, his vision blurring, memories and reality hitting him simultaneously into a grisly picture of he and Lisbon making love between red soaked sheets.

"Jane?" Van Pelt said, putting a hand to his shoulder to come into the room. He flinched at her touch instantly then apologised. "Sorry, Grace." He entered the room fully and began to look around. The patio doors lay open as sunset approached and it was as if both a dream and a nightmare played out together as a beautiful orange setting sun was the backdrop to the frenzied attack evident in the room. Two worlds bound together in this moment that had no right to exist side by side.

He watched as Cho and Rigsby entered after Van Pelt and began discussing evidence collection with the techs present. Finally he saw Lisbon take a step into the room before stopping as she gazed at the faces on the wall behind the headboard. He'd never witnessed her so affected by a crime scene and it unsettled him to his core that she was having trouble coping, as understandable as it was. He frowned at her as she suddenly made a dash out the patio doors and onto the decking, taking the few steps in one leap to run to the beach. The team turned to him, wide eyed, at her sudden disappearance.

"Is the boss...she looked like she was going to be sick," Rigsby noted, shaking his head. "I've never seen her-"

"She'll be fine," Cho stated, taking charge immediately but with a frown on his face. "Get the crime scene photographs from Agent Nicholls," he told his partner. "Van Pelt, start going over security footage."

"She will be fine," Jane confirmed, noticing Van Pelt look just as worried as Rigsby and barely recognising Cho's order. After checking the fridge in the room had been dusted for prints he retrieved a bottle of water and made his way out to the beach. He saw her at the water's edge, her hands on her knees as she bent over, dry retching into the water.

He pushed the bottle into her hands and she jumped slightly at seeing him there beside her. "If you would actually eat something then you might feel better when you do that," he stated steadily at her side, making sure he kept his tone even, maintaining control while she lost hers.

She took a long gulp of water and swished it around her mouth before spitting it out again into the foam below. "I haven't vomited at a crime scene since I was a rookie," she said, shaking her head and taking another drink of water.

"Wouldn't worry, team just think you might be pregnant, that's all."

She stood upright again and widened her eyes.

"Ashburn's baby apparently," he said with a shrug of indifference and his hands in his pockets as he looked at the waves.

When he saw her eyebrows almost hit her hairline out of the corner of his eye he laughed softly. "I'm kidding, Lisbon." He glanced to her stomach. "Unless there is some truth-"

"How the hell can you joke around at a time like this?!" she stammered loudly in disbelief as she glanced at the suite behind them.

He sighed loudly and faced her, utterly serious again. "Because it's what I do. The more dreadful the scene the more likely I am to make an inappropriate comment. It's my coping mechanism I suppose. Plus I had to engage you. To annoy, anger you. I knew it was the quickest way to get you back to the person you need to be to deal with this."

She stared at him, flabbergasted by his statement. "Well excuse me for taking a moment to allow the truly terrifying awfulness of this situation get to me. I'm sorry I'm not a damn automaton like you!"

He sighed wearily. "You know me better than that to know that's not true. But if I start to lose it too it's not going to get us anywhere. Lisbon, you can't let him get to you-"

"Sorry, you're saying that to me? You, of all people?!" She pointed to the hotel suite. "Those people that died in that room...it was because of us, Jane. He picked them because they slept where we did."

Sternly, "They died because he killed them. You can't blame yourself for his actions."

"Oh, don't give me that. That's the very argument I've used against you for years. And you haven't taken a blind bit of notice."

"Then you should take heed of your own advice. And if not, well if you're using that same argument here then I'm to blame, not you. I booked the place."

"Only because I pressurised you into making some kind of romantic gesture!" She shook her head and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "God, this is such a mess. How the hell did he even find out we came here? We were so careful."

He sighed and shook his head. "I don't know. I had to use a credit card to book the room. I got a new one just for that purpose but...well I'm guessing that's how."

She paused before she asked the next question. Quietly, "Before we came here?...or after we got back to Sacramento? Do you think...do you think it's possible he was here when we were? That he saw us, watched us?"

He shrugged and looked to his shoes as they tossed around some sand. He had already wondered the exact same thing. "I don't know," he said softly as he looked back up at her.

"Jane, the thought of him watching us when we had dinner together...or at the beach-"

"I know, Teresa," said softly. "But this isn't the time to think about what he may have seen, to let our feelings get in the way. We need to look at this objectively, rationally. It's another opportunity to catch him."

She rolled her eyes. "You really think either one of us can be objective after this?"

"We need to act like it's just another one of his crime scenes. Take our emotions out of it." He softened his tone. "I know it's not easy but...maybe that's what he's counting on. For us to fall apart or miss something because we can't focus."

She took a deep breath as she looked back to the suite. "Okay," she said quietly. She pushed her shoulders back and walked towards the room again to direct her team.

When she woke up on the last full day of their weekend she heard Jane on the deck outside. The evening before they'd eaten a lavish dinner in the hotel restaurant wrapped up in each other's company, Jane showering her with affection and kissing her lips or her hand every chance he had. They'd followed dining by dancing to soft jazz melodies by the resident pianist, barely realising they were the only remaining couple on the dance floor until the dimmed lighting had suddenly brightened signifying the bar had closed. They had arrived back in their room soon after and made love until the early hours and their bodies had given in to sated exhaustion.

She looked at the clock on the nightstand and saw she had slept in until eleven. She rose lazily from the bed and wrapped a robe around her as she went to find out what he was doing outside. She found him on his back on the deck with a knife raised to the underside of the railing.

"What are you doing?" she laughed.

He jumped as she startled him with her quiet approach, hitting his head on the post beside him in the process and making her laugh again.

He rubbed the side of his head and laughed, "Good morning, sleepyhead. I thought I was going to have to drag you from that bed." He continued notching something into the bottom of the railing as he spoke.

"Well maybe you should have woken me up an altogether more appealing way," she smiled. He grinned back at her. "I did that yesterday. You're unquenchable, woman."

She laughed and leaned down to get a closer look at what he was doing. Her heart fluttered when she saw he'd carved J&L with a knife into the wood. "That is so corny, what are we teenagers?" she stated but her grin told him how much she loved the silly gesture. "And besides you can't even see it."

"You can from underneath. Ensures it won't be painted over any time soon." Getting to his feet, "Hopefully it'll always be there. In case we ever decide to come back. A nice little reminder of our time here."

"Yeah, nothing more romantic than an act of vandalism," she laughed.

He picked up his teacup from the deck and took a sip before setting it down again and taking hold of her waist gently. She settled with her back to him as they looked onto the beach in companionable silence. "I love our little beach," she said after a few seconds.

"I love my little Lisbon," he chuckled, earning him a dig in the ribs before she turned round. He kissed her soundly before he grew melancholy before her eyes. "You know we don't have to go back right away. We could just keep travelling."

She pulled back and almost laughed until she saw the seriousness in his expression. "Jane, we have jobs."

"You don't have to be based in California to be a cop. In fact, you don't have to be a cop at all-"

"It's who I am, Jane."

"Yeah, I know," he sighed, kissing the side of her head. "But there's a whole world out there, Teresa. Don't you want to see it?"

"Of course and that's what vacations are for. But you have to get back to real life or else...what then...your whole life becomes nothing but an endless string of good times?"

He smirked, "Why does that sound like something terrible coming from you."

She draped her arms around his neck and studied him keenly. "We have responsibilities. Me with my job and you..." She paused and pursed her lips before asking quietly, "Well what about you and your plans for Red John?"

He pulled out of her embrace but settled against her as they stood beside each other, his hand around her shoulders. "I've...I've been thinking less and less about my vengeance lately. I'm sure you've noticed."

"Of course. So, what does that mean? You want to give up on your idea of revenge?" she asked, rapt with attention.

He shrugged and pursed his lips. "No...but...I don't want to lose you because of it either. And...well it seems the two aims are mutually exclusive. At least if I'm right in how I always imagined my vengeance would pan out. I don't see how I can get to a stage where I can have both it and you." He ran a hand through his hair. "I suppose I feel I'm at some kind of impasse. Or...well more correctly that one's coming."

"I don't understand."

He turned towards her. "Teresa, he's been as quiet as a mouse since I was cured. Frankly, I'm a little surprised. I expected him to make some kind of communication with me when I recuperated. But nada. So that leads me to think he's planning something."

Her heart raced in her chest. "Maybe...maybe he wants you to move on...maybe he's lost interest in you-"

Jane's hearty chuckle made her stop talking. "Lisbon, you've been catching too much sun on this trip if you truly believe either of those things. He would only want me to believe he'd moved on or that he'd lost interest in me so he could pull the rug out from under me later on. Lull me into a false sense of security."

"You don't know that for sure," she countered.

"No, I don't but it's a pretty assured guess. And if he were to find out about us-"

"He might know about us already, Jane. You can't be sure he doesn't. And he hasn't done a thing."

She saw his amusement turn to anxiety in a flash. "I hope not but it's the same result anyway. He'd find a way to ruin us." He took a breath and she saw the undisguised fear in his eyes. "With perhaps devastating effects."

She took his hand and squeezed it. "He's not going to get me, Jane. Is that what all this talk of running away is really about?"

"The longer we're together the more chance there is of him discovering us, Lisbon. I know...I know it's not fair on you but I am terrified of that. And I know you're a cop and can protect yourself but look at Bosco and his team...they were cops too." He shook his head resignedly, "You know the less I think about carrying out my revenge the more time I'm worrying about him finding out the truth about us. It's like I'm changing one obsession into another."

He frowned a beat later. "But you're right in a way. Even if we did leave he'd find a way to get us to come back. He'd come after the team until we did." He let go of a sigh. Quietly, "Well, it was a nice little fantasy to imagine running off into the sunset together for a minute there."

When he saw her fearful expression he sighed and pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry...what on earth are we doing talking about him when we're having such a nice time? Let's...let's forget him, okay? Put him out of our minds?"

She nodded, not only upset at the thought of her team being targeted but by his earlier statement. That Red John was simply leaving them alone until he decided to strike and ruin what they had. He'd as much as said that to her when he'd talked to her at the cemetery months ago. She squeezed Jane tight, hoping and praying they were both wrong.

When she arrived back into the room with Jane she began barking out orders to her team.

"Rigs, where are we with the security footage?"

"Grace has gone to look at what they've got. Going to get it streamed to our laptops."

"Okay. Cho, when do we get to inspect the bodies?"

"Appointment booked for tomorrow morning. Autopsies are being rushed through tonight."

"Good, Rigs book us rooms at the Holiday Inn up the road. CBI's budget doesn't stretch to staying here." She muttered under her breath, "Not that I'd ever want to stay here again anyway."

Jane's lips quirked as he saw her fully embrace her 'Boss Lisbon' side again and noticed her team's relief reflect his own that she was on top of her game once again as she continued to command them. Satisfied that she was coping he strolled out onto decking and leaned over the balustrade as the moon began its ascent. His fingers felt the railing and searched for the indents in the wood where he'd notched their initials like a lovesick teenager that morning a year ago. He sighed wearily as his fingertips traced the letters, a single tear falling onto his cheek.