Disclaimer: If I could make money off of this, believe me, I'd be living a very different kind of life.

Rating: T

Spoilers: 7x10, Nothing Gold Can Stay

A/N: You should all be very impressed with me, because I told myself I wouldn't allow myself to watch 7x11 until I finished writing this, for fear of losing heart after the show inevitably contradicted my take on the aftermath of 7x10. This involved exercising about a thousand times more self-control than I am normally capable of. Thus, I hereby fling this fic at you so I can immediately run off and get my fix.

xxx

He drove back to the main road and stopped in Stinnet to get some real food. He felt an irrational fondness for Stinnet. He found a diner that served decent burgers and drank a glass of orange juice. He rented a hotel room for the night with the intention of setting out in the morning. That would give him a chance to rest and clean himself up a bit more thoroughly than he usually bothered to do in the cramped shower inside the Airstream.

At one am, he was back on the road. He drove through the night.

He arrived in Austin a little after nine am. He would have preferred to have caught her at her house before she left for work, but she'd be at the office by now. He drove to FBI headquarters instead.

He entered the bullpen feeling uncharacteristically nervous. He wiped his palms on his thighs and stepped forward.

He saw Lisbon before she saw him. She was only a few feet away from the desks of her teammates, but she looked isolated and lost. As though she were alone on a raft of sticks set adrift in the middle of the ocean. Deep purplish shadows rested beneath her eyes. He could tell at a glance she hadn't been eating or sleeping properly. His heart plummeted into his stomach at the sight of the damage his actions had wrought.

She looked up and saw him standing there, staring at her like a starving man. Her mouth parted softly in surprise. Their eyes locked. For once, he had no idea what she was thinking. But he had one unhoped for, steadying moment where that connectedness he'd always had with Lisbon was there in the room with them, a practically tangible thing binding them together. Then her mouth hardened into a thin line and she determinedly looked back at her computer screen as though she hadn't seen him.

He supposed he deserved that. He met Cho's eyes, sitting at the desk in front of hers. Cho managed to communicate a feeling of deep disgust towards him in a single expressionless look before he, too, turned back to his computer.

"Hey, guys," Jane said lamely. "I'm back."

No response. He looked over at Wylie's desk. Jason looked stricken. He was even paler than usual. "How's it going, Wylie?" he asked, relieved that he could count on at least one friendly face in the place.

Wylie's reaction was not all he'd hoped for. "Fine," Wylie said coldly. Coldly. Wylie. Cold. His expression was hard, which looked strange on Wylie. Wylie was like a happy puppy—always warm and friendly. This newer, harder Wylie was difficult to reconcile with Jane's knowledge of the affable analyst.

"Glad to hear it," Jane mumbled uncomfortably.

Wylie looked back at his own computer screen, his jaw tense. Jane thought he heard him mutter under his breath, "Fuck you, man."

Jane blinked. He hadn't known Wylie even knew that word.

He retreated.

Xxx

Only Abbott was happy to see him.

"Patrick Jane," he greeted him cheerfully when Jane shuffled into his office. "You are the stupidest man on the face of the planet."

Jane had never heard these words applied to himself before. He considered them seriously. "Dennis," he said finally. "I've recently come to realize that your assessment is one hundred percent correct."

Abbott chuckled. "Well, they say recognizing the problem is half the battle."

Jane thought about the look on Lisbon's face when she'd turned away from him. "I think in this case, it's probably more like twenty-five percent."

"Sounds like you've got your work cut out for you."

"Yeah," Jane agreed. He regarded Abbott. "You don't seem surprised to see me."

Abbott shrugged. "You couldn't stay away from her before. It hardly seemed likely that you'd be able to now."

"You knew I'd come back."

"I figured you'd last a month, tops," Abbott said. "I'm glad to see you came to your senses sooner than that. Maybe there's hope for you yet."

"Maybe," Jane said doubtfully. He got up. "Thanks, Dennis."

"Anytime. And Jane?"

"Yeah?"

"Try not to do anything else this stupid again."

Xxx

Jane went out to the bullpen and walked straight up to Lisbon's desk. "Can we talk?"

"I'm working," she said shortly.

He waited a beat. "It's important."

"No."

He sighed inwardly. "Please, Lisbon. I don't want to do this here."

"Good. Now, go away."

"I don't want to do it here, but I will," he said clearly. "Right here in front of everyone you work with."

She looked daggers at him.

"It will probably be loud and embarrassing," he added helpfully.

Her eyes flashed. "You son of a bitch," she seethed.

Oh, good, she was angry. He suppressed a sigh of relief. He could deal with angry Lisbon. It was sad, heartbroken Lisbon he couldn't cope with.

He gestured for her to precede him towards the exit. "After you, my dear."

Xxx

He led her outside to their favorite bench. He looked at it fondly. They'd spent many happy lunch hours here, sharing their lunches and bickering over things like who got the extra pickle from Clementine's sandwich shop that day.

Lisbon ignored the bench. She crossed her arms over her chest and remained standing. "Well?" she demanded. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I think we should get married," Jane said without preamble.

The look of shocked incredulity on her face was less than flattering. "Are you insane?"

"No. I think we should get married and get a dog. We'll get a house, have a couple of kids. I'm thinking one girl, one boy."

"Unbelievable," she muttered.

"I'm flexible on the number and genders," he added.

"Big of you," she said sarcastically.

"And to sweeten the deal, I'll give you first dibs on picking out names," he offered generously.

"Dibs?"

"I should have veto power on the names, though," he said. "It's only fair."

"Absolutely not."

"Really, it's for the best, Teresa. You might not agree at the time, but what if after eighteen hours of labor, you start to think Hortensia is an appropriate name for a child? Trust me, you'll thank me later."

He could practically see the steam pouring from her ears. "I meant no to the marriage thing."

"Ah. Okay, we'll revisit that topic later. Now, if we're agreed that you get to pick out the names for our children, I think I should get to name the dog."

"We're not getting a dog, Jane."

"Of course we should have a dog, Lisbon. You love dogs."

"You left, Jane. You don't get to just breeze back into my life and be all… you about this."

"I'm not breezing into your life," he protested. "I'm in your life. For good. I may have flitted away for a brief period, but there has been no breezing involved."

Her mouth tightened. "I'm glad you're able to joke about this. I'd hate to think you'd lost your sense of humor over a little thing like walking out on me."

"I get why you're upset," he assured her. "I do." He paused. "I wasn't expecting Wylie and Cho to take it so hard, though."

"You left them, too, Jane," she said harshly. "Friends are supposed to support each other in times of grief. You say you're their friend, but you bailed out on them because your fear is more important to you than anything they might be going through."

He winced. He had no defense against this distressing analysis. He was also acutely aware that her words applied equally well to all the times he'd left her in the past. "That was a mistake. I shouldn't have left."

"Well, you did leave," she said caustically.

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't mean much to me, coming from you," she said wearily. "Not when you just keep doing the same damn thing over and over again."

"This is different."

"How?"

"I won't leave again."

"How am I supposed to believe that when all the evidence I have at my disposal tells me that any time you get into a situation you can't control, your reaction is to run away?"

"We'll get married," he repeated. "I'll stay."

"You seriously think proposing right now is a good idea?" she said, annoyed.

"I'm not proposing," Jane said, affronted.

"Sure as hell sounds that way to me," she said crossly.

"I would never propose at the FBI. This would be a terrible place to propose," he said, well aware that Pike had done just that. "I'm just… expressing my intentions."

She huffed in exasperation. "Marriage isn't a magic bullet, Jane. Getting dressed up for a day isn't going to solve our underlying differences."

"Of course it isn't. But marriage is a way of formally declaring our commitment to finding a solution together."

"You said we'd work it out before, Jane. And then you left. Again."

"Well, I was being stupid."

"I'm glad you recognize that, at least," she said stiffly.

"I really am sorry," he said soberly.

"I thought you'd left for good, Jane," she said quietly. "I thought you were never coming back."

"I'm here," he said pathetically. "I'm back."

"I can see that. Just… please don't make this more difficult than it already is."

He stared at her. What the hell did that mean?

She inclined her head towards the office. "I'm going back to work now." And without any further ado, she turned on her heel and walked away.

"So you'll think about the whole wedding thing, then?" he called after her.

She didn't answer and she didn't look back.

Xxx

He decided he'd better take care of Wylie and Cho before trying again with Lisbon. He went back inside to make his amends.

He pulled Wylie aside first. He apologized sincerely for leaving, and let the younger man know he was available if Wylie ever wanted to talk. They spoke for about a half an hour, with Jane offering every comfort he could. Wylie unbent after a bit, and they parted friends once again.

It went faster with Cho. It turned out he was mainly angry about how Jane had treated Lisbon, so all Jane had to do was explain that he'd been an ass and outline his intention to spend the next forty or fifty years of his life making it up to her before Cho started to come around. "'Kay," Cho said tersely after Jane had said his piece, and then left. Jane interpreted this particular example of Cho's succinct communication style as a sign that while he wasn't exactly forgiven, the other man didn't believe he was completely beyond redemption. As long as Jane delivered what he promised, eventually, they'd be good.

Apologies made and forgiveness in the offing from his two colleagues, he went back to the Airstream. He returned to the bullpen a few moments later with a peace offering in hand.

He approached Lisbon's desk and held out a blue and white package to her. "I have something for you."

Lisbon stared at the plastic package in his hand. "What the hell is that?"

"What does it look like?"

"It looks like a crumpled up piece of garbage."

"It's a gesture of good faith," he told her, handing her the package.

She looked at the package in her hand. "Your gesture of good faith is a half-eaten package of Oreos?"

"That's not what it is at all," he said, exasperated.

She peered inside it. "You're right. It's a more than half-eaten package of Oreos. There's only one left."

He ignored this. "This is a very significant package of Oreos, Lisbon."

She looked at it again dubiously. "If you say so."

"I do."

"What exactly does it signify?"

"It signifies the fact that I've eaten my last Oreo."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Well, I figure our children will be horrible Oreo hogs just like you, so it seems my chances of sneaking any away for myself in the future are pretty slim. This package is to let you know I'm okay with that."

Lisbon shook her head. "And in your head, this makes sense?"

"Certainly. I'm sure once you've had time to reflect, you'll appreciate the significance of my gesture."

"I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you," she muttered.

Jane hit her with his most earnest expression. "Just think about it."

Her eyes narrowed, but she set the package on the corner of her desk.

Jane suppressed a sigh of relief. She clearly didn't know what to do with his offering, but the fact that she hadn't thrown it straight back in his face was a hopeful sign.

Xxx

Jane spent the rest of the day on his couch, happily staring at the back of Lisbon's beautiful head.

It was driving her crazy. She refused to turn around and give him the satisfaction of acknowledging her awareness of him, but she definitely knew he was staring and it was making her fidgety. He didn't look away. He wanted his presence felt.

At the end of the day, she was out the door like a shot, clearly desperate to get away from his relentless staring.

Jane let her go. He smiled a little to himself and settled back on his couch more comfortably. He closed his eyes, deciding it was high time he took a nap. He needed to save up his energy for later.

xxx

He knocked on her front door a few minutes after eight.

She opened the door, looking irritable.

"Evening, Lisbon," he said cheerfully. He brushed past her as he entered the house without waiting for an invitation.

She shut the door behind him, clearly annoyed by his impertinence. Really, he thought, she ought to be used to that by now.

She glared at him. "What do you want?"

"I thought we could spend the evening together."

"I'm busy," she said repressively.

"Fine. I'll wait," he said, knowing full well what she was busy with was unnecessarily straightening her apartment to work off her frustration with him. Not that he didn't think she was entitled to be frustrated with him. It was just that he had an entirely different method of working off that frustration in mind.

She scowled. "Just say what you have to say."

He considered this. "Very well." He stepped forward, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her.

She sighed into his mouth, melting into him for several delectable seconds before she remembered she was mad at him and pulled away. She straightened, flustered. "That's what you have to say for yourself?"

"Actually, I have a few more points to make," he said, backing her up against the door and bending his head to taste her again. He settled his hands on her hips and set himself to devouring her mouth.

Lisbon kissed him back fiercely. That was his Lisbon. Always prepared to battle him on even ground, no matter the battlefield.

He snaked his hand under her shirt and splayed his fingers against the small of her back, drawing her closer to him.

She shoved him away a little. "What do you think you're doing?" she growled.

He moved in close again and wound his hands in her hair, kissing her again, long and deep. "What we're doing. Kind of obvious, isn't it?"

She bit his lip. Hard. "We're fighting."

He licked his lip and stroked his thumbs along her waist. "Yeah, I thought we could just skip past that step and go straight for the make up sex."

"We haven't made up," she pointed out, her body betraying her as she swayed closer to him. "I'm still mad at you. And trying to seduce me into forgetting that isn't fair."

She was right, of course. Using physical affection to convince her to let him back in her life was cheating. Under-handed. Manipulative. He looked at her mouth.

Good thing he wasn't above all that.

"I never said I was going to play fair," he said, and kissed her again for all he was worth.

She kissed him back, matching him taste for taste. He hauled her against him, pressing the length of his body against hers as he tilted her head back and delved her with his mouth. Her breathing hitched as he pressed forward, bracing her more firmly against the door. He curved the length of his body towards her, thrusting his hips lightly into her.

"You are such an ass," she ground out, her fingers clutching at his shoulders as she kissed him again.

"Stipulated," he grunted, grinding into her. She opened her mouth to continue arguing, but he zeroed in on a place on her neck he knew was guaranteed to make her lose the capacity for rational thought.

"Oh my God," she groaned, her eyes rolling back in her head.

Five minutes later, he was the one with his back against the door.

"I want you to know," she said, feverishly unbuckling his belt and kissing him senseless. "I'm only agreeing to this because up until this morning, I was afraid I might not ever have sex again."

He flipped them around again. He slid his hands down to her ass and lifted her so she was pinned against the door. She wrapped her legs around his waist and sucked hard at the skin where his neck met his shoulder. He growled and pulled her closer. "I can live with that."

xxx

An hour and a half and three orgasms later, she lay half on top of him, boneless with exhaustion. "Don't think this means I've forgiven you," she said, her voice drugged with sex. "I'm still mad."

They'd finally made it to the bedroom after the second time. Though to be fair, they'd made it a good halfway there before they'd gotten distracted on the stairs. Now they were in her bed, and Jane was deliriously happy.

He kissed her bare shoulder and pulled the sheet up around them so she wouldn't get cold. "I know." He figured he had several weeks of groveling in his future. But they'd get through this. They would work everything out.

She yawned. "I ate your Oreo."

"Oh?"

"It was stale," she said grumpily.

"Sorry about that."

"You should get me a new package," she instructed him. "A big one."

"I'll get you a lifetime supply," he promised.

"'Kay," she said sleepily.

"I missed you," he whispered.

She turned her head and met his eyes. "I missed you, too."

He took her hand and raised it to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to her fingertips before placing her hand over his heart.

Her fingers flexed against his chest. "So what happened out there?"

"Out where?"

"Out there. On the road. I thought you were going 'someplace nice.'"

"I was," he agreed, turning over slightly so he could press a tender kiss to her collar bone.

She tilted her neck slightly to grant him better access. "So what happened?"

He buried his nose in the soft, sweet-smelling skin of her neck. "As it turns out, this is the nicest place I know."