Finally.

Finally. Finally. She finally had a taste of the man she has been trying for so long to ignore her feelings for. Not her most successful enterprise if she was honest, but right now, she cannot find it in her to care.

"hey! I said stop it!" She heard the voice but it was more of a muffled sound than a clear order at that point. Jane dove back, as if the thought of letting go of her lips for more than a couple of seconds was the most hideous thought that ever crossed his mind. The first time their lips touched, it was incredibly soft, tentative almost, not unsure - there was nothing they were more certain of than this need to connect in this new, intimate way- but there was not an ounce of the anger or the utter frustration which are an inextricable part of their relationship's dynamic, that have always been but all the more so over the past few weeks. No, their first kiss is so tender it makes her heart aches. The simple thought that she could have missed this, that she could have gone her whole life without knowing what it feels to truly be in love and to have the actual confirmation that you are loved back. She needs to put some distance between her and this maddening man. As much as she would love to spend the rest of her days tasting his lips, the rough edges of his bearded chin and the sweetness of his tongue caressing shyly her lower lip without ever bridging it to plays with her own, she knows the officer on this other side of the glass is losing his patience.

So, with one last nip at his upper lip that generates the most arousing moan she ever heard a man make, she slowly slides down her chair, grateful for its stability when she feels so much untethered.

A second passed before he reached for his own chair lacking his usual grace. He watches her as she watches him, but for once, she is not sure he knows her every thought. To be honest with herself, after the chaos of the past couple of days, he looks like he might have lost his ability to read her as easily as his past self would. They would not be here if he had, she would not have kissed the man she has loved for what feels forever right after having accepted the proposal of another, hoping he would south the ache of not being loved the way she wanted by the former one. She has not called Marcus yet. Who is the coward now? Jane looks at her, his eyes so serious, lacking their usual mischief, it feels like he is letting her see him without any form of mask, his true self, broken but hopeful. She is not sure it is a conscious decision on his part, he surely feels out of his depth too. Like he is walking the finest line there is, not willing to risk any grand gesture nor spontaneous moves, fearing that either would make him trip over in a pit he would rather never go back to.

"what happened to your foot?" She asked in a whisper, not wanting to burst the bubble they've found themselves in. She needs him to say something, and now that she has had her answers, the ones that counts, she actually remembers the position he was in when she first came in.

"Hum? Oh that? Nothing. The medics said I sprained it" He looked down at his foot self-deprecatingly. " Guess I'm not as athletic as I used to be." He added with a wink.

She breathed a chuckle. That she could work with. "Athletic? Because there was a time when you were? I'm sorry to disappoint you, but sleeping on couches for half a day has never been an Olympic discipline Jane." She goes for a sarcastic tone but to both their surprise, it sounds incredibly loving.

"I do not sleep ..."

"of course" she smirked, this time it came out the way she intended.

"...all the time. You know my thinking is more efficient when I'm lying down"

" yeah, because people are too scared to disrupt you, fearing a childish payback"

"but not you" this time, it is his turn to sound affectionate. But she is not as surprised by this tone as she was by hers. She realises that he started a long time ago, when he was not being elusive or patronising of course.

"No. Not me." A pause. He looks back at her, his eyes piercing. " And this last plan of yours, I get it was not created on a couch then?"

"I.. uh..." She cannot help but feel vindictive when his face shows his insecurity and the obvious remorse regarding their predicament. When he closes his eyes to hide the shame so she would not see in them, she takes pity on him. She never was one to hold a grudge for long after all, but she won't accept this kind of conniving bullshit from him anymore, he has to understand that.

"Sorry, that was mean, it 's just that...". She tries.

"No, you are right, it was a terrible plan, I've found myself pretty much blinded by the fear of losing you, I should have known honesty was the only way to... was my only chance to.." His breath hitches. If he starts crying, she would do too and she didn't want to lose her control right now. She couldn't. Please. As if he could hear her, he took a fortifying breath, and continued. "I told you I was terrified, and, hum, quite the euphemism, I..."

" It's okay, I mean the whole lie was not but I understand, I think". She tentatively reached for the hand resting between the two of them, frozen on the table as if its owner didn't know if he was now allowed to touch her, even if it was only her hand. She squeezed it. Now is not the time, we will talk later. When no one is watching our every movement that touch said. Feeling bolder now, he squeezed back when she tried to unlace their hands, keeping hers in his, the other joining his first. He started caressing the back of her hand with his thumb, she could feel his index tracing an undefined pattern on her wrist. She was certain he could feel the traitorous fluttering of her heartbeat, but she could not seem to bring herself to care. The simplest of touch fuelled a furnace in her lower belly. Ridiculous, she has not felt this way since she was kissing her first real boyfriend at seventeen. He smirked and she fought against the hue that she knows is colouring her cheeks. He is about to say something when the door slammed open.

"Come on, you are free to go. Next time you need to deal with an urgent FBI matter, do it off our planes"

She could tell Jane was refraining himself from rolling his eyes at the self-righteous tone of the TCA officer. "Yes sir, Thank you." She replied, biting the inside of her cheek, having learned a long time ago which battles were worth the fight.

"You can thank your boss. But Mr Jane is to fly back with Agent Abbott at the earliest convenience and is blacklisted from every airport on the US soil for the following month. Is that clear?"

"Yes Sir." They both responded.

So Abbott was here. Well, it saves her from the headache of answering for Jane's actions for once. She tries to ignore the flame of shame in having her boss involved in such personal matters. The officer has left, and this time, when the door reopened, it was their boss who was walking in. She automatically let go of Jane's hand, this time not giving him a chance to fight her decision. She can see him frown for a second before giving in, a discreet nod, telling her that he understands. Her boss, standing next to him is doing his best trying not to smirk, but she chooses to ignore it. Denial has always been her best ally.

"Well, it does seem I underestimated your ability to make enemies Jane" His serious tone being undermined by the amusement dancing in his eyes. Jane had the decency of looking bashful, but the smile he has been sporting since she took his hand had yet to leave his face. "Come on, we have a plane to catch, and it leaves in 40 minutes". As Jane stood up, and took a few tentative steps to see the damage on his ankle, Abbott turned to him, frowning: "what happened to you?". Lisbon hides her smirk. She hadn't had the answer earlier, but it felt like this particular mystery would be revealed. "I forgot my badge, had to jump this fence, it was higher than expected". Jane mumbled. At that, Abbott couldn't keep in his laugh: "Well, here, you can lean on me if you need help walking. It's not gonna take long, our gate is one of the closest, I guess it's your lucky day, huh?". Upon hearing those words, Jane couldn't help but turn his gaze to her. "Yes, it is my lucky day" was all he said. Fighting once again against the blush threatening to tint her pale face under his stare, she averted her eyes to look at Abbott. A much safer territory than those eyes of greenish blue watching every twitch of her so easily-read face. "Hum, boss?". Seeing her hesitation, Denis Abbott decided against drawing out her discomfort, it was not her fault after all if this brilliant man chose this particular aspect of his life to turn into an idiot. And he respected her too much as a person to rejoice in her obvious uneasiness at the moment. That did not mean he would stop smirking discreetly at the man leaning quite heavily against his side. He knew there was something non platonic between those two. He has known it since he set foot on the SCU floor at the CBI almost three years ago. But now that he had got to learn those two persons, he only felt happy for them for having finally figured out that they needed each other. Or that's what he deduced from what he has observed. "I take it I won't have to look for a replacement Agent Lisbon?"

"No Sir, I decided against going to DC, I, um, if it's not too much to ask, and if my job hasn't been filled yet , I'd be glad to be back on the team. If you'll have me…"

"As I said, all transfers were suspended for the case, so the only thing I have to do is well… nothing" He smiled. "It's Don who's gonna be disappointed"

The fact that he does not pronounce Marcus' name makes her feel grateful for his tact. She is sure Jane feels the same right now. She has never been more embarrassed - well of course she has, she had a decade-long acquaintance with a man that could be as embarrassing as he could be charming- and Jane had the audacity to chuckle. She is gonna smack him, or twist his other ankle, or maybe she'll just kiss him, this infuriating man. Her train of thoughts is interrupted by Abbott's voice once again. "Do you want me to let him know or would you rather call him yourself?

"I'll give him a call thank you. "

"Alright, let's get going then. You okay Jane? Do you want me to ask for a wheelchair?"

Unsurprisingly, Jane stopped grumbling about his ankle and started walking, the slight limp keeping her from making another comment on his athleticness.

She is sitting in the waiting area. She knows she is fidgeting but she cannot help herself. Jane is setting right next to her, his bag at his feet thanks to either Cho's or Abbott's thoughtfulness. She has learned from Abbott that at least Jane's plan worked out, they arrested the killer -killers actually- and apart from two luckily slightly wounded persons, everyone made it out safe and sound. She knows better than to doubt Jane's brilliance but when hearing the story, what was left of her previous anger left her body. Now, she is consumed by guilt. She hasn't called Marcus yet. Aside from her short 'Sorry, I didn't take the plane, I'll call you ASAP' she had given him nothing. It is not that she has any doubt left. The moment the crew informed them that their flight would be delayed because they had to lead a search throughout the entire aircraft, she didn't hesitate, she took her bag, and exited the plane to look for Jane. Unsurprisingly, She was not allowed to see him right away, him being interviewed in case he was a terrorist, an unarmed one declaring his love in front of dozens of passengers… She just sent the message, turned off her notification and started dozing on the most uncomfortable chair. It was a dreamless sleep. A few hours later, after almost drowning herself in bad coffee and refreshing herself in the closest washroom, she went to see Jane. And the rest, as they say, is history. But now, her three cups of coffee - and probably the amount and calls she has to make because she chose -was there ever a choice?- Jane makes her want to throw up. Jane bumped his right knee to her left one. She knows it is his way of showing her his support, and respecting her silent plea for discretion. But she wishes he would not listen to her, and just throw caution in the wind. If he could just do a janesque thing and start kissing her in front of everyone, she was sure it would take her mind off the very trivial matters that are causing her what feels like the tenth headache of the day. What time is it exactly? 8: 06. Still 26 minutes to go before they start embarking. Of course, it is unfair and quite frankly unreasonable to be upset that Jane is not behaving the exact way that would usually make her mad. But she cannot help herself. Dammit, isn't he supposed to be a mind reader? If only she could have one of his hugs. She can see it: pulling him up, sliding her arms around his torso, feeling the solid plane of his chest and smelling his unique scent while he would be stroking her lower back, or massaging her neck and whispering stupid comments about the people around. See? She is not too picky. God, she just wished she was on her comfortable couch in her not all packed condo, preferably with Jane behind her on the couch, watching mindless shows with his sarcastic comments in her ears. Imagining him murmuring in her ears is rapidly creating a new problem. Now she is guilty, over-caffeinated, anxious, frustrated and horny.

"Seeing that your change of plan is mostly my fault, I could help you settle back in your Texan life?" God bless that man. He actually seems anxious. As if she would turn him do… Of course! It's not surprising that he feels that way when she's been insisting that he has no say in her life. And here she was, growing frustrated with him because he was refraining from acting exactly the way she condemned only a few months ago. " I have to call the moving company, hopefully my stuff is still in Austin, but I sold my bed and my couch, urgh it's gonna be a nightmare.. I have to call my landlord, last time I heard he hadn't find anyone yet, I can't fathom the idea of going apartment hunting again, I don't know where to stay, it's just so…" If She hadn't spent most of her life working on controlling her emotions, she is pretty sure she would have started crying right now.

What a mess.

"Hey, hey, hey" The tone of his voice tells her that she was not fooling him, it was likely he had followed her inner turmoil - except the hornyness part she hopes- and was doing his best to help, not wanting to overstep any fences she established in her mind, not willing to unsettled their newfound peace. " You could give me the movers' number? I'll see what we can do. As for your couch, I could find you a new one, and this time you won't have to pretend to be annoyed, okay?" You can't help but notice that he made no comment about the bed. "And I could call your landlord, but I think he'll want to hear it from you, and in the case your apartment is not, well, yours anymore you could always …" He is interrupted by her phone's ringtone. She checks the caller's idea more out of habit than anything else, but when seeing Marcus' name, the overwhelming panic came back rushing. She looks up at Jane, of course he has seen the caller's ID, his gaze is unreadable, too many emotions are floating in his irises. " Sorry, I, uh, I think it's better if I take his call before we take off, I haven't called him yet, just told him I didn't take the plane, and that I would call him later… But it was uh, like 6 hours ago, I need to take it" She knows she is rambling but she cannot help it, she does not want to have this discussion but she needs to. Marcus is a good man, and he deserves the truth. She just wished the truth did not cast this ugly light on her terrible behaviour and choices. Just before she answered her phone, Jane took her hand between his, placed the softest kiss on its back and let her go, nodding "Go, you have plenty of time, I'll wait for you with your stuff don't worry". She could kiss the man, but her finger swipes on her screen to answer her call.

"Teresa!"

And she cannot unsee the familiar flash of jealousy that passed in Jane's eyes.

"Hi Marcus" You take a few steps for your privacy's sake, or what's left of it, you are sure Abbott has been eavesdropping in your exchange with Jane from his seat a couple of metres away.

"Hi baby, I know you said you would call but I was starting to feel anxious" your cringe at this particular term of endearment is softened by his honest earnestness. "So What was the problem with your flight? Do you have another one? I have just visited this apartment I think you'll love"

"I don't. There is no other flight. I mean I wont take another plane. I'm sorry, I'm…" you know you are not making much sense, you just wish you could do it without hurting him.

"What? I don't, uh, I don't understand?"

"I am not coming to DC" Here it is, better to rip it off quickly, like a band-aid you tell yourself.

The silence couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds but it felt like an eternity.

"I take it you mean, you are not coming to DC ever?"

Your eyes are skewed shut to keep the tears from escaping, you can hear the hurt in his voice.

"I'm so sorry Marcus, you deserve so much better, I wish I could do it, but I… I'm sorry, I really don't want to hurt you…" You hate how empty your words sound. It was the truth, just a not good enough truth you muse.

"Well, I'd say it's a little late for that, that ship has sailed." The lifeless laugh that escapes him is what did it. You feel a tear running down you right cheek. You wipe it a little more forcefully than strictly necessary, but you feel no empathy toward yourself. You are responsible for this mess -well you and Jane- but you are the only one to blame when it comes to Marcus.

"I wish I could express how truly sorry I am, but I guess it doesn't change anything in the end?"

"No." Another one of those deafening silence. "Are you gonna tell me why or should I be content with this unexpected break up call not even a day after you actually accepted my proposal?" You flinch at the bitterness of his words -harsh but true- you would rather deal with his anger than with his sadness, even though you know the former did not eclipse the latter. You take a deep breath: "No, of course not, you deserve so much more than a simple call. I just can't come to DC. I should have known I was fooling myself, but I was so sure I could fall in love with you given time, and I was so tired of waiting for… I don't even know what for, I…" How can you tell him? You feel like a cheater, you have never cheated in your whole life - well until this dimly-lit interrogation room, a treacherous voice whispers in your ear.

"It's Jane , isn't it? "

"I, uh, yes" She said simply.

"I should have known. I knew it in a way, it's just I figured he was too broken to do anything, and with DC, I believed had an actual chance to win you over you know?"

" You didn't need DC Marcus, you are one of the best men I've ever met, it's just… he told me he loved me. I never thought I would ever hear him say that. I don't regret choosing to stay, I just wish it all happened before I hurt you…"

" Yeah, me too, I wish you'd figure out what you wanted before making me fall in love with you" You choked on your breath, he never said the words before, well, once in bed as he was coming in the dark, but they both pretended it never happened.

"I'm sorry" you lost count of how many times you said that. But you are sorry.

"I know. I just... I think I'm gonna hang up, I don't want to start saying things I'll regret later." He had all the right to say hurtful things, but Marcus had always been this immensely considerate man, even now he didn't want to hurt you, although you just crushed his heart.

"Of course. I… Uh I won't say I'm sorry again,I hope you know, I just, maybe you don't want to hear that , but, I wanted to thank you. Thank you for being this wonderful man for the time we had together... And, uh...I wish you all the best." You feel like the lump that was making it difficult to breathe was finally taken out of your throat. Everything will be alright

"Yeah, well, I wish you good luck, I think you'll need it". And with that the call ended.

A few seconds passed. Teresa could feel the fatigue settled in her bones. She doesn't feel nauseous anymore, just sad and exhausted. She closed her eyes to regain some sort of control over the whirlwind of emotions that is taking place in her heart, and as she is about to turn around to join the others, she feels a hand on the back of her neck. She has no reason to know whose touch it is, Jane has never touched her there, in this way before, but her body knows and relaxes before her brain can catch up. When it does, she turns around to face a tentative Jane. He is studying her , worry furrowing his brows whilst his eyes are soft but curious. How she loves this man. He must have found what he was looking for because his delicate touch does not disappear, but his masterful digits start massaging discreetly the area just above the back of her collar. She cannot fight it anymore, and she let her head fall on his shoulder. She cannot bring herself to hug him the way she desperately wants to, but her hands snatched the front of his shirt, keeping him close but not touching. When his fingers started sliding on the back of her scalp a soft moan escaped her. She doesn't know what surprised her the most: her own lustfull sound or his responding one. It is so low, she is not even sure she heard it, but her body does not care for practicality. A second wave of heat hit her without warning and she is certain that her hitched breath betrayed her. As their eyes cross, it feels like time has stopped.

"This is the final boarding call for the passengers of …" At this instant, Lisbon doesn't know if she want to kiss or slap the women talking. She knows she couldn't have jumped Jane in the middle of an airport, but the damp heat she feels at the apex of her thighs draws a very different conclusion.

"We better go, I am not allowed on any plane but this one, and I'd like to go back home today" Home. He opted for a light tone. Bless him. She nods and follows him to rab a go bag and her jacket. She sees Cho looking at them, his usual stoic stance betrayed but a confused curiosity. When he realises she is looking in his direction, he averts his eyes and goes back to his book.

Each member of the team is sitting on their own. It Not surprising given that they booked those tickets last minute, but she cannot fight her disappointment. When she looks up at Jane, she is relieved not to be alone in her disillusion. Once again, she squeezed one of his hands and sat down, accepting her fate. Of, course she should have known better than to think that Jane would comply as easily. After failing to negotiate with a less than impressed man in his mid twenties, it's the woman to her right that volunteers herself and exchanges her ticket with Jane's. Thanking her, he offers Teresa the window seat to sit between her and the man in dire need of romance -Jane's words not hers. She tries not to chuckle but fails.They stay unmoving for a moment, but Jane is the first one to surrender. "Come here" That same loving tone of his making it impossible for her to refuse. Tucked under his arm, she let her head settles in the crook of his neck, breathing him in, and feeling every ounce of tension leave her body. She is not sure whether she imagines it or if she hears him whisper he loves her before sleep claims her.

A new beginning

Cho has been throwing furtive glances at his old friends since they joined him at the gate escorted by his boss. After a nod on Lisbon's part and a sheepish grin from Jane, he stared at us for a couple of seconds, noticing how their whole demeanour has shifted without having any of them behaving differently. He looked back down at his book White Nights by Dostoyevsky -Jane was the one who has advised him to read this book- but only pretending to read. He couldn't wrap his mind around this new knowledge. Apparently obvious for anyone but him, well and maybe Jane and Lisbon themselves, he isn't sure but he knows better than to try to understand how the man's brain works. So he is watching them, covertly of course. Jane surely noticed, but his attention is focused on another member of their old CBI team, as for Lisbon, she seems way too engrossed with her own thoughts to be preoccupied by him. He knew they loved each other. He has rarely seen two people as close as those two, even after all they've been through. No one knows each other better than themselves. They could have wordless conversations through the bullpen when working on a case or around a dinner's table when ordering their food. But what he doesn't get is the non platonic part of their relationship. Or to be honest, it is his inability to see it that bothers him. He thinks that it's because Jane has been so emotionally inaccessible for so long that he couldn't have expected the sudden change whenever it happened. It may explain his strange behaviour the last couple of weeks, his stranger than usual behaviour - which is something considering the man- especially on this case with the college kids. Urgh. He could feel a headache coming. It is not his business after all, let them work out whatever happened on this plane.

He caught Abbott's amused look. Yes, he would ignore everything for as long as he could.

Unfortunately for Cho, his decision to ignore the shift in his friends' relationship was jeopardised when, passing by then to access the toilets, he witnessed their intimate position. Jane's arm was wrapped around Lisbon's shoulders, his head buried in her hair, her hand entangled with his left one. Both looked truly peaceful in their sleep, and Cho decided that even if he doesn't understand everything thing, he is happy for them. But still, the idea of Rigsby being more perpective than him is vexing, not counting the amount of what he now owes the couple.

She woke up to the voice of the flight attendant informing them of their imminent landing. She felt warm and relaxed, and it took only a second to remember where she is and why she is settled quite comfortable considering she is on a plane. Her heart soared but this time, it was not because of the overwhelming panic at the idea of everything she still has to do to settle back in her life in Austin, no, her fluttering heart betrays her excitement at this new beginning. She wills herself to open her eyes. But she eventually decides that a couple more seconds seconds won't change the world, and shuffles imperceptibly closer to him, inhaling his reassuring scent. God. Now the tension was coming back, but it was en entire different kind. She could feel every little thing: his breath gently rattling her hair, tickling her forehead and warming her face and she feels like she could stay here forever. But she couldn't and she needed to wake Jane up before a flight attendent had to do it, and it was her job to wake Jane up fort a nap she told herself, at the risk of sounding territorial. So she extricates herself from his embrace, and she feels him waking up, but the same way she snuggled closer to him, he fights back against consciousness, searching for her comforting warmth.

"Jane." She whispers. He doesn't move, just screws his eyes more forcefully, as if he was afraid of waking up. She wishes she could appease him, she is itching with the need to smooth the constructed lines on his face. She barely finished that thought when a second one popped in her mind. I can, at least I think I can. I can touch him now. She could hear the irregular beating of her own heart, and reached his rugged cheek with her right hand.

"Jane, wake up. We are landing".

This time, one of his eyes cracked open as if to reassure himself that she is indeed here, that it is her hand caressing his face. He catches her eyes, and she received what was rapidly becoming the new favorite on her list of Jane's smiles. "Hey" he murmured back. Ignoring the attractive hoarseness of his voice, she smiled back at him, tried to lower her hand but before she could do so, he caught it bringing to his lips. If she wasn't scared of dying of a heart attack before, this precious organ's reaction to the feeling of his lips to the inside of her wrist would have done it. Damn him for looking that good.

She needed to distract herself: "I thought you were only sleeping on couches"

He laughed lightly."to say the truth I didn't think I could fall asleep with your snoring and your drooling..."

"Hey! " She exclaimed. " I don't snore"

"so you admit to drooling then?" Was his cheeky response.

As it happens, she does sometimes, but there was no way in hell she was going to tell him that. He would never let her hear the end of it. "Shut up"

the man ad the audacity to lean in conspiratorially "that's okay I won't tell if you won't-

She elbowed him in the rib "jackass!"

" humpf! We'll have to work on your PDA dear"

Damn him and his wink, and his disheveled hair that look suspiciously good even after a two hour nap on a plane. "Besides, you look adorable when you drool."

She decides to choose the higher route and ignore him. Her signature smirk taking residence on her lips.