Hello again after a long pause from me. Summer is over and with the autumn chill, it feels like a good time to start writing again. This story takes place at the time Jane is in Austin working for the FBI, but he and Lisbon are not an official couple. It is before Marcus Pike showed up. Jane loves Lisbon but he has done nothing to let her know. And we all know how that turned out.

Southern Charm

Chapter 1

The End and the Beginning

(Cujo's Bar, Stanley, South Texas)

It was getting late. The bar was dank and smokey, filled with shift workers either decompressing after a hard day on the job or those loading up with booze to get through their next shift. Stanley was a very small town surrounded by even smaller towns, but at least here, there were jobs. Those happily employed blew off steam most nights by sitting in here, the only bar on Stanley's main street. Scattered amongst these hard working men and women sat the usual low lifes that somehow survived on the margins of society in small towns and bustling cities. They were the regulars, lining up at the door of the bar early in the day to start drinking away their empty hours. They were content to sit on bar stools and lean back watching the comings and goings of the hard working late night crowd. Here and there, tucked into corner booths in near darkness, couples conversed in hushed tones, not wanting to draw attention to themselves or their extra-marital affairs.

A dark haired waitress slid between the fawning men with her tray filled with glasses of beer, shucking their hands away with disgust as she passed through the room. She hated this particular job, but it came with the territory. The sooner she got out of there the better. Behind the counter the bartender and his new assistant kept the booze coming. The older man kept a wary eye on his younger helper, a blond man who could use a shave and a bath but otherwise picked up bartending fairly quickly. When he wasn't slinging drinks, the blond man kept his eye on the crowd and the waitresses.

As the night wore on two men in particular began to attract attention. They not only drank the most expensive whiskey in the joint, they began to offer drinks to their new 'friends' lined up at the bar. As the word of free booze spread, all eyes and smiles turned to Floyd and Tank, well known local criminals who suddenly seemed to have an endless amount of spending money. The waitress handed out another round of beer and received a hefty tip and a slap on the ass as she leaned over the bar to deposit the empty glasses. As the colour rose in her face, she glared at the bartender and his younger protege and dropped her tray in disgust. These drunks were scum. She wanted to be home in her cozy pajamas, drinking a glass of wine reading a trashy romance novel. Instead she was here, with these boozy blowhards.

Half an hour later Floyd and Tank were well and truly blind drunk. While Tank put his head down on the bar and seemed to be sleeping, Floyd was holding court, waving his beer tankard aloft and screaming for another round for his good friends. When the new bartender was too slow pouring Floyd another beer, he was rewarded with a face full of stale beer that Floyd found on a nearby table and tossed with a whoop of joy. Wiping his now wet shirt off with his hands, the assistant bartender wiped his face on a clean bar towel and scowled in annoyance but said nothing. He concentrated on pouring the beer and sliding it over to his pontificating customer. He could always take a shower as soon as he got off work.

"How you gonna pay for this Floyd? You ain't got nothin' in the bank!" someone across the room shouted, growing suspicious of Floyd's largesse. "Whaddya do? Rob a bank?" he snickered as he drank his free beer. More than a few other drinkers were wondering the exact same thing.

Floyd's heavy head swivelled around looking for the source of the insult. Eyeing an equally drunk flunky in the corner, he raised his fist and tried his best to look menacing.

"I got plenty 'a money you shithead! Morn' you'll ever see!"

"Bullshit!"

"Bullshit? You callin' me a liar Cassidy?"

Floyd was swaying on his feet, his balance gone from alcohol and exhaustion. He'd been up for at least 30 hours now and it showed. But no way was he going to let that shitter Cassidy make him look bad.

"I got more money than you'll ever see!" he repeated to the roar of approval from the men holding him up. And then he did it. To his everlasting regret he did it. He let it all go to hell in one careless moment of affronted pride.

"See this?" Floyd said, waving a $100 bill in the air. "I got so many more 'a these back at the trailer I ain't even had a chance to count'em up yet. Old man Murray never put a dime in the bank and you all know'd it! But you never did nothing 'bout it! But me...me and Tank...we know'd Murray was sittin' on a goldmine out there at his place. A lifetime of money just sittin' there for the takin'!"

A hush fell over the room as Floyd's words sank in. Drunk as they were, the crowd in the bar knew what Floyd was admitting to. The bartender stopped wiping down glasses to listen while his assistant nodded at the dark haired waitress. She reached for something in her pocket.

"That was you and Tank? You killed old man Murray and torched his house, his barns?" a voice asked in shock. "Just for the money?"

Floyd mistook the crowd's shock and horror as admiration and ate it all up.

"It was easy as shit...he fell down after just one punch, hit his head and didn't get up again. The house was ready t'fall down anyway, so we just helped it along some…" he boasted, flicking his cigarette lighter with glee.

As his 'friends' began to back up and stand away from Floyd, the door of the bar flew open and the room filled with heavily armed cops, led by a stocky Asian man. The waitress dropped her dish towel and stood with her feet planted firmly as she raised a gun and aimed it at Floyd's forehead. The blond man behind the counter leaned over Tank and neatly handcuffed him with a delighted smile on his face. He'd always wanted to do that! Tank slept on...

The arrests came as a shock to the murderer and his accomplice. A small-time crook with lofty ambitions to be a crime king-pin in his seedy town, he saw his dreams shot to hell when he couldn't keep his mouth shut. Floyd never had two cents to rub together but now he was buying round after round for his new 'friends' for the last 2 nights? This was his moment of madness, the tipping of the scale in favour of the law. As his drunken tale of robbery and murder fell from his inebriated lips, he sealed his and his partner's fate.

Lisbon kept her gun levelled at Floyd's astonished face while the police began to clear the bar and roused Tank from his peaceful sleep. Jane had slipped off his apron, washed his sticky hands at the bar tap and came around to keep Lisbon company until Floyd was led off in handcuffs to meet his fate.

Cho made sure Floyd and Tank were secured in the back of a paddy wagon before he returned to the bar to greet his friends.

"Nice job! Too bad it took three days to get Floyd to confess. Better late than never."

"Thanks Cho. I was ready to shoot the jerks myself to get outta here" Teresa groused, feeling filthy and exhausted. Cho turned his attention to Jane, who was rocking back and forth on his heels, delighted with the outcome of their little ruse. For someone doused in stale beer, he was quite happy.

"That was fun!" Jane smirked, pleased with the non-violent end to their three day stakeout of the bar.

"Fun?" Cho repeated, not expecting such a light hearted reply. Teresa didn't let Jane's comment go unchallenged.

"Fun? Easy for you to say. I didn't see anyone slapping your ass every time you walked by" Lisbon snarled, eager to go home to her motel room and take a long hot shower. Given a chance she'd burn the scanty costume she had been forced to wear.

"Oh I had my share of touchy feely moments Lisbon. Ever heard of cougars? They like the younger blonds" Jane began to tease until a hard slap to his shoulder stopped him from continuing. "But I feel your pain" he said contritely, then shut up to avoid more bodily harm. "And, don't forget it was me who got doused in beer, so that counts for something."

Cho just snorted and turned to rejoin the officers taking notes from the patrons of the bar.

"Let me take you home" Jane offered, knowing full well that Lisbon had taken the brunt of the abuse during their stakeout of the bar for three long days. "You look like you could sleep for a week."

Teresa took off her dirty apron and threw it on the nearest table, rolling her aching shoulders in relief.

"Deal. Let's get out of here."

Jane raised his arm and guided her through the throng of officers and patrons, making sure Lisbon got through the crowd untouched. She had been so convincing playing the part of a rough and tumble waitress, and he knew she had put up with more shit in the last 72 hours than he ever would have tolerated, but, it was her job. His respect for her, as usual, grew by the hour.

Jane and Lisbon found their rental car at the back of the parking lot and left the bar to Cho and his team for follow-up. As the flashing red and blue police lights receded in the darkness they could finally relax.

"You stink" Lisbon mumbled, taking bobby pins out of her messy hair.

"I thought I'd try something new" Jane countered, knowing full well she was right. He smelled like a distillery. Soon he'd be back as his own motel where he could make himself a fresh cup of tea and shower until the water turned cold. He and Lisbon had not managed to find rooms at the same motel, so he would meet up with her and Cho in the morning. They travelled in silence for the short trip to the motel, but by the time Jane pulled up to her door, Lisbon was already dozing quietly.

Jane walked around the car, opened the door then roused his sleepy partner so that she could unlock her motel room door and go to bed. That accomplished, he said his goodnights and returned to his car.

And disappeared.