I realized that this story was starting to go in a direction I hadn't really intended. For that reason I am bringing the case file part of it to an early ending and getting back more to the relationship side. I hope it doesn't seem to rushed! I'm sorry for the shift - it's amazing how stories go in the direction they want.

Hope you enjoy and reviews are appreciated and needed.

Jane was gasping, his face sweaty and his legs tangled in the bedcovers.

"Jane, wake up. What's wrong?"

"Sorry", he gasped. "I'm sorry." He leaned over, and rested his head on her shoulder.

"It's okay", she rubbed his back. "It's just another nightmare. You'll be okay." She continued to stroke his back, until he finally calmed. "Do you want some tea?"

"No", he shook his head. "No, I'm okay. I have to get up." Throwing off the covers he got out of bed. "I have to call Cho", he said breathlessly. "I know where the weapon is."

"Jane, what are you talking about? You just had a nightmare. You need to sit down."

"No, I need to call Cho." He looked around until he found his cell phone. "I know you think I'm crazy, but I think – Hi Cho? It's me, Jane. Can you pick me up? I may have an idea where Jason Eckert threw away the knife he used to kill Christina."

"The knife?" Lisbon asked after he'd hung up. "How in the world could you know where it is?"

"It was in my dream and we need to check it out."

"Jane", she reached out. "Come on – how can you possibly have dreamed something like that."

"I don't know", he answered, sounding frantic. "I must have seen something, heard something. All I know is I dreamed it."

"What if that's all it is, a dream?"

"Then we'll have taken a drive for nothing. I'm sorry Teresa, I know you think this is insane but – I have to check it out."

"Okay, but I'm coming." She kicked her legs over the side of the bed.

"No, this isn't your case." He told her obstinately.

"I don't care. I'm coming and you can't stop me."

"Teresa!" he said, looking angry. "You promised."

"Jane – I don't know what's going on, but I am not letting you go on a wild goose chase without me."

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax. Would it be so bad if she were to come? It wasn't as if they were going to see a killer. "Okay fine but if it is a goose chase you'll have gotten up for nothing".

"Jane, you've dragged me to things for years, and half the time that's what they've been. I'm used to it and anyway, you'll need me to get you out of trouble when all those agents, who had to get up at", she glanced at the bedside clock, "At 3:30 am are pissed when they don't find anything."

"Okay fine. Just no 'I told you so's", okay?"

"What's the point of going if I can't say that?" she grinned. He rolled his eyes but threw her a shirt. "Get dressed woman – we have to go."

Cho came by about twenty minutes later. "She comin'?" he asked nodding at Teresa.

"Yes, I'm coming. Do you have a problem with that?" Teresa was tired and cranky and not about to let anyone coddle her right now.

"Nope. In fact I'm glad you're here. You can deal with the Jane fall-out."

Jane rolled his eyes again. "What I have to put up with."

"You?" Cho raised his brows. Lisbon giggled.

"Come on", Jane urged, we've got to get going."

"Why? It's been there for almost two years. I doubt it's going to disappear in the next half hour.

Jane was practically bouncing by the time they got to the right road. It was a small, country road on the way to Somerville. Fortunately it was a bright, starry night and Jane could clearly. He watched carefully as they drove, checking out the side of the road and hoping he could spot something familiar.

"There", he pointed. "Right there."

Cho pulled over and stopped. Behind him two more cars pulled off the road. FBI agents piled out of the cars and stood waiting while Jane looked around the area. "I think this is it", he said.

"You think?" Cho regarded the area around him. "It looks exactly the same as the last twenty miles."

"No", Jane shook his head and started forward. "I'm sure this is it. He tossed it - he would have tossed it through there somewhere", he pointed to an area between two of the biggest trees."

"Okay", Kimball sighed. "All right everyone, we're going to start through here. Take your flashlights and get searching. We're looking for a murder weapon – some kind of blade or knife. It's evidence in brutal rape and murder of a young girl so look carefully."

Everyone started forward, well versed in this kind of hunt, and determined to find the weapon. There was nothing the agents hated more than the death of a child. They knew if they found something it could be a breakthrough.

"You gonna look?" Cho asked Jane and Lisbon.

Jane looked into the trees and had a sudden memory of being pushed under water after wandering into a dark forest. He wasn't so sure if he was up for this. Before he had a chance to say anything Lisbon spoke.

"Yes, of course. Jane, you can come with me."

He wondered if she knew how he was feeling. He followed her into the woods, acknowledging that she had always been the braver of the two of them.

He was finally beginning to get used to the dark when someone came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. He screeched and practically jumped ten feet into the air. It was just one of the agents, handing him another flashlight.

"Thanks", he took the light, feeling rather embarrassed. He was pretty sure the agent was grinning, although it was hard to tell in the dark

"You okay?" Lisbon asked him in concern.

"Yeah – no – just some memories", he told her.

"Memories?"

"You know – having someone leap up at me in the middle of a dark forest and hold me under the water until I died."

"God – I didn't think of that. That was a terrible incident", she shuddered.

"Seeing my lifeless body?" he asked.

"Oh yeah – that too. No, I meant watching you come on to Grace and then everything in a skirt and reverting to your con man days. Creepy!" She shivered.

"You were just jealous", he told her, frowning.

"Jealous? No way. I would not let that man near me!"

"That man? That was me."

"No it wasn't", she said softly. "This is you. And I like you the way you are now."

"So you 'd be jealous if I came on to – anything in a skirt - now?"

"Damn right", she told him.

"Hey you two, you gonna look for the weapon or just flirt with one another?" Cho was looking at them in disgust.

"Sorry", Lisbon grinned. "Come on Jane, duty calls.

He sighed but began to look carefully, keeping close to Lisbon.

"I found something", one of the agents called out. A short time later they'd moved to his spot. Lying in front of him was a bloody rag. Carefully, wearing his gloves, the agent moved the rag. Underneath it was a switchblade, the blade rusty with what looked like dried blood.

"How do we know it's the right weapon", someone asked.

"It is", Jane said softly, staring down at the knife. It looked just as it had in his dream."

The weapon was quickly taken to headquarters and signed into forensics. The FBI agents all went home, all but Teresa and Cho, with Jane in tow.

"So, how did you know it was there?" Cho asked him. They were seated in the small kitchen, cups of coffee, or in Jane's case tea, in hand.

"Patrick, tell him" When he didn't say anyting Teresa looked at him curiously. "He had a dream", she suddenly turned to Cho. "He figured it out in his dream."

"Really?" Cho looked suitably impressed.

Jane took a sip. "Kind of", he agreed, sounding thoroughly relaxed. "I was looking at a map of the area yesterday, trying to figure out if there was anything that would bring Jason Eckert to that neighborhood. Subconsciously I must have memorized the various routes out area where Christina was found."

Jane continued. "It so happens that the road where we found the weapon is the most direct route from Christina's house to Jason's father's house. It would have been natural for him to drive that way."

"But the knife and shirt?" Lisbon asked.

"Well, I figured he'd want to get rid of the evidence as quickly as possible. He went to Daddy for help, almost immediately, but he knew he had to dump the knife and shirt and what better place to do it."

"But how did you know where to look?" Cho asked, frowning. "There are miles of forest along that road. It could have been anywhere."

"Yes, but there very few places where it's possible to pull a car over. Most of that road is too narrow and stopping would be dangerous. I just saw all the clues and put it together in my dream."

Cho shook his head, but wasn't as shocked as others might be. He'd known Jane for too many years to be surprised by the things the man figured out. "I'm gonna head home and try and get at least a little sleep", he informed the others. "It'll take a while before we hear back from forensics."

"Sounds like a good idea." Teresa stood up and stretched. "You coming?" she said to Jane. At that she couldn't help but grin. How things had changed.

Jane seemed to catch on to what she was thinking and gave a smile of his own. "Of course my dear", he agreed. "Cho, see you later."

It was as they were curled up together, Jane almost asleep, that Teresa said something. "Jane, did you really look at a map yesterday?"

"Hmm?" he murmured.

"Were you looking at a map yesterday to figure out what direction Jason would go?"

At that he opened his eyes, and regarded Teresa – his eyes not so dull or tired looking as they should be. He sucked in a quiet breath. "No", he told her softly. "I thought about it, but I didn't get to it."

"So how did you know where to go?"

He was silent for a moment and then he shrugged. "Good guess? No – I must have seen or heard something that I can't remember, that's all."

"Oh." She rested her head on his chest and tried to convince herself that that's all it was. "It just seems strange", she murmured, now almost asleep herself.

Jane lay away for a long time, thinking about what had happened. It could have occurred that way – that was often the way his mind worked, in figuring out clues. There was a reasonable and logical explanation for how he'd found the murder weapon – he was sure of it. He just wasn't going to explore too closely.

Nor did he want to think about the part of the dream where he'd comforted Christina as she lay dying. She'd been afraid – and he'd told her everything would be fine and that she was safe. She'd believed him and she'd been at peace. In his dream he'd also felt her presence from after she'd died, and she'd assured him she was happy. He knew it wasn't real – that it was nothing more than a dream, than his imagination, but it still felt real. And for the first time since Angela and Charlotte's deaths, he thought about telling someone he'd talked to their dead loved one. It wasn't true, but what would it hurt.

It would hurt him, he decided. He'd sworn off cheating people – trying to get people to believe something that wasn't true – and he wasn't going to start again, no matter how well-intentioned.

He refused to think about it anymore and he decided he definitely wasn't going to tell Andrea anything of the sort. It was much better that people accepted reality, that there was no afterlife and when people died, that was it. He knew that, believed it inherently so what was wrong with him that he kept having these dreams? If he wasn't careful he'd begin to believe his own lies. He was very well aware that down that road lay the path to destruction.

Late the next afternoon they arrested Jason Eckert for the murder of Christina Scott. The knife not only had his fingerprints and her blood, it had also had some of his blood as well. The ME expected it was from a cut he could have gotten when killing the young girl. Wherever it was from, made little difference. The fact was they had strong evidence – and the confession of the killer.

It hadn't taken long for the young man to break down, although he spent all his time blaming Christina. "I couldn't get her to stop crying", he'd complained. "I told her and told her to shut up, but she wouldn't. So there was nothing else I could do. You see that don't you?" he'd asked Cho repeatedly. The enigmatic agent next had Jason implicating his own father.

"I called him after it happened", he explained. "Daddy had Charlie meet me – Charlie's his right hand man. He helped me clean everything up. Daddy said no one would find out. Boy was he wrong."

So they were able to arrest Randall Eckert and Charlie Johnson as accessories to murder. Abbott was the one to call Andrea Scott, although he made sure to tell her that Jane and the rest of the team had found the murderer.

Jane was grateful he didn't have to speak to the woman. It's not that he didn't like her, it was that he was afraid he'd say something to her about his dream. He didn't want to lie to her or give her false hopes. Christina was dead and that was that.

Later that evening he was curled up in bed, Teresa beside him, her warmth and softness soothing him like nothing else could. He allowed the peace and yes – the happiness – to wash over him. He wanted this forever.

"Teresa?"

"Mmm hmm?"

"Let's move in together."

"Uh – haven't we already?"

"Not officially, no."

She leaned up on her elbow and looked down at him, understanding that this was a momentous occasion. "You're sure?"

"Never more."

"And I assume you mean you'll move in here, not that I'll move to the Airstream?"

He grinned at that. "Well, you're welcome to if you want to."

"No, I think I'll pass. But does this mean I have to give up half of my closet and dresser?"

"Hmm – probably not. I don't have that many clothes. You could give me a quarter though, couldn't you?"

"I could, but this is my side of the bed."

They'd had a few arguments as to who got which side of the bed. Lisbon had won that argument although she was pretty sure that Jane didn't actually care.

"You can have whichever side of the bed you want", he'd told her softly, "as long as I always get the other side."

Of course that had put an end to all talking for quite a while.

"So – I would love to have you move in, as long as you're sure."

"I told you – I've never been more sure of anything. I love you and I want to be with you forever."

" What about the Airstream?"

"Well, it's good for trips. We can park it in the back and when you get mad at me I'll go back there."

"When I get mad at you you'd better stay here and make it up to me. Remember – no running away!"

"Okay", he gave a crooked grin and kissed her. "No running away."

"But then again, I could always use it when you're driving me crazy", she smirked.

"Uh uh. If I can't run away, then neither can you."

"Okay, so neither of us can run away. Oh – and you have to promise not to leave the toilet seat up."

"Since when have I ever done that?"

"True, but don't get lazy."

"Fine – but no using my razor."

"Deal", she told him with a yawn. "Now let's get to sleep. I'm tired.."

"Sure." He leaned down and kissed her, then he snuggled up behind her and put his arms around her, loving the feel of her soft body pressed against his. He was moving in and she was his forever.

"Mmm", he murmured. All of a sudden, life was wonderful. "Goodnight roomy."

He could tell that she smiled. "Goodnight Patrick."