A/N: This story is 14 chapters. Most of the chapters are pretty short.

xxx

Jane had a habit of watching out for Lisbon's arrival in the mornings from his couch. Her usual time had come and gone when Cho's desk phone rang.

"Hey, boss," Cho said into the phone. Jane picked up his head and watched Cho, hoping to glean some intelligence on Lisbon's activities from his side of the phone call.

"Yep," Cho said. "Uh-huh…Yeah…Got it. Okay. Talk to you later." He hung up.

Jane sat up and looked at him expectantly. "Well?"

"Boss isn't coming in today," Cho told the bullpen at large. "She's taking a personal day to stay home and take care of the dog. We're to wrap things up with the drug ring." He looked at Rigsby. "Rigsby, she said you're to finish that online training you've been dragging your feet on or she'll know the reason why."

"Yeah, yeah," Rigsby said, disgruntled. "Message received."

Jane got to his feet. "Well, I guess if Lisbon's playing hooky, it's fair game for me to take the day off, too."

"We're supposed to be closing the case," Van Pelt pointed out.

"Meh," Jane said dismissively. "You're about to arrive at the storming in with the SWAT team stage. You don't need me for that. Besides, I have more important things to do."

With that, he left, and embarked on several errands before going back to Lisbon's condo and knocking on the door.

"Hi," she said, surprised, when she opened the door.

"How's our charge?" Jane asked, breezing past her, arms laden with several shopping bags.

"About the same," Lisbon said. "I'm worried about her fever. Jane, what is all this stuff?"

"Just a few things to make her more comfortable," Jane said. He set down the bags and pulled out the largest item, a top of the line dog bed that Lisbon didn't need to know how much he'd spent on. "Here, help me get her settled on this."

Lisbon opened her mouth to protest, then looked over at the dog lying in the middle of the living room floor and thought better of it. Together, they got the dog settled into the dog bed. Jane was pleased to see her curl up comfortably inside it and close her eyes.

"The fever's not down?" Jane asked, reaching out to stroke the dog's ears.

"It's a little better," Lisbon said, stifling a yawn. She had dark circles under her eyes and was unusually pale. "But she's still hot."

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Jane asked her. Doubtless she'd been keeping vigil over the dog lest she worsen in the night.

"Not much," she admitted.

"You stay here with her," Jane told her. "I'll fix you something to eat."

It was a mark of her exhaustion that she barely mustered even a token protest.

He rummaged through the shopping bags he'd brought and rustled up a western omelette and some fruit, then brought it over to where she was seated on the floor with the dog's head on her lap.

He handed her a plate with the fruit, omelette, and a glass of orange juice, then fetched his own plate and glass and sat down next to her on the floor. "Cheers." He toasted her with his glass of orange juice.

"Cheers," she echoed, and took a drink, then let her head fall back onto the couch.

He nudged her with his shoulder. "Eat up before it gets cold."

Lisbon dutifully ate her omelette and fruit and even finished her juice. Five minutes later, she was out like a light, her head lolling onto Jane's shoulder.

Jane smiled to himself and took great care not to disturb her as he finished his omelette.

Xxx

An hour later, Lisbon woke and turned her head to look up at Jane without actually removing her head from his shoulder. "I fell asleep," she said unnecessarily.

"Yes," Jane agreed.

She lifted her head. "Oh, God," she said, mortified, looking at the damp patch on his jacket. "I drooled all over your shoulder. Why didn't you wake me?"

Because she was thoroughly adorable and he'd never been so happy to be drooled on in his entire life. "You needed the rest."

"How's Lily?" Lisbon asked anxiously, looking down at the dog whose head was still in her lap.

Jane grinned. "Lily?"

"That's what I decided to call her," Lisbon said defensively. "I couldn't just keep calling her 'the dog.'"

"I think Lily's a fine name," Jane said. In fact, it was perfectly charming, and especially charming that Lisbon had been the one to think it up. "It suits her."

"It does, doesn't it?" Lisbon said, stroking the dog's head. "Hey, I think her fever's down a little."

"That's great. Does she need to take her medicine again?"

"No, not yet. I thought I might try to give her a bath, though."

"Come on, then," Jane said, getting to his feet and offering his hand. "I'll give you a hand."

Lisbon stared up at him from the floor. "You want to help me give the dog a bath?"

"It will be easier with two of us," he said. "Besides, you'll need help getting her up the stairs, in any case."

Lisbon hesitated, then gave him her hand and let him help her to her feet. "Okay."

She coaxed Lily to take a few steps outside relieve herself. Then Lisbon and Jane got her back onto the improvised stretcher—which Lily still did not like at all—and took her upstairs.

Jane had never been upstairs in Lisbon's apartment before. He could see her half open bedroom door from the hallway. He was sorely tempted to come up with an elaborate plot to go get a good look at it, but he reminded himself to stay focused on the task at hand.

Together, they got Lily into the bath. Lily was uncertain about this new location, but once Lisbon started lathering her up with the special dog shampoo the vet had recommended to treat the mange, Lily decided it was a game. She kept trying to return the favor, nosing at Lisbon and batting at her playfully with sudsy paws. Jane tried to help, but mostly he just got splashed on. He spent the majority of the time secretly delighting in the sight of Lisbon smiling and laughing at the dog while the two of them splashed each other.

"Okay, now I need a shower," Lisbon announced after they'd gotten Lily dried off and back downstairs. "Do you mind staying with her while I clean up?"

"Not at all," Jane said, pleased. "I think it's high time Lily and I got better acquainted."

He unpacked the rest of the bags that he'd brought, which included some extra food, a dog bowl and water dish, and about a dozen dog toys. Most of them would have to wait until her rib healed, though, so he picked out a tiny stuffed yellow duck and placed it in the dog bed with Lily. Lily nosed over it, intrigued, and decided to accept the interloper into her regal domain.

"A duck?" Lisbon said from behind him, amused.

He turned to look at her, fresh-faced in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, her wet hair trailing down her back. She was teasing him, but she was wearing an 'aw' face that let him know she was charmed by his choice.

"We all need a little comfort in this world, Lisbon," Jane said. "Just wanted to make sure Lily knows she's not in this alone."

"Well, thank you on Lily's behalf."

Jane took a seat on the couch and beckoned for Lisbon to join him. "I did some detecting this morning. Want to hear about it?"

Lisbon sat down beside him, Lily curled up at their feet. "About the murder?"

"Who cares about that? No, I mean about Lily."

"What about her?"

"She used to belong to Jameson's ex, but she moved to Texas and left the dog. He only had her a few weeks before we found her. Apparently she got out somehow a couple days ago. That must have been the reason he decided to lock her up."

Lisbon stared at him. "How did you find out all that?"

"I went back to Jameson's building and talked to his neighbors. None of them remember hearing him call her by name, by the way, so I think you have a fair claim on naming rights."

Lisbon bit her lip. "I called the shelter this morning," she said unhappily.

"And?"

"They said they could help me find a home for her," she said, her mouth turned down at the corners.

"But you want to keep her," Jane concluded.

"What I want doesn't matter."

"Of course it does. Besides, Lily can't just go to just anybody. She needs you to take care of her, and she already trusts you. You were made for each other."

Lisbon shook her head. "I can't have a dog."

"Why not? You love dogs."

"I'm never home. It's not fair to the dog."

Jane studied her. "What are your other objections?"

"I told you, the condo doesn't allow pets."

"Meh. What else?"

Lisbon considered this. "Mostly I'd be worried about leaving her alone when I'm out of town or working long hours."

"Got it." Jane got to his feet. "Well, I'd better be going. I have a few more errands to run."

Startled by the abrupt announcement of his departure, Lisbon looked up at him, wide-eyed. "Oh," she said, valiantly concealing her disappointment. "Well—thanks for stopping by. And for the dog bed. And the duck."

"You're welcome." Without allowing himself to think too deeply about what he was doing, he swooped down and kissed her on the cheek. "See you in a bit."

"See you," Lisbon echoed. He didn't think she was conscious of raising her hand to touch the place where he'd kissed her, but the sight filled him with gratified pleasure.

He was really going to have to start kissing Lisbon more often.