A/N: I'm still around and I still intend to finish the unfinished stories before I'm done. Unfortunately, RL (a.k.a. stress and working full time) has done a real number on my abilities to write ANYTHING over the past four or five months. In fact, up to a couple of days ago I wasn't sure I hadn't given up writing for good. The desire just wasn't there anymore. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I suddenly found the words flowing and I'm feeling like my old self again. We'll see what happens.

What I do know, is From This Point On is getting some major rewriting on the last chapter or two since it needs to go in a different direction which I'll eventually do when I get the changes worked out in my head.

In closing, sincerest thanks to all of you who've recently PM'd, reviewed, and favorited my works even though I've been seriously AWOL for months. Your actions have meant more than you know. ~Calla

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Plopping down on her couch in her usual unladylike fashion, Lisbon took a healthy slug of wine. Jane would rag her for starting without him; but, he could go stuff himself. She'd had a rough day. One that wasn't getting any better considering her boyfriend had the audacity to add insult to injury by being late…Oh, yeah, Patrick had definitely been a boy today…And a royal pain in her rear…She'd used much stronger language earlier today when she'd finally let him have it one on one in the privacy of a storage closet.

He, on the other hand, had acted like an overprotective ass in public and jeopardized everything they worked so hard to keep hidden.

She'd eventually reminded him yet again she was law enforcement in spite of his occasional wish it was otherwise. Getting hurt came with the territory. He'd agreed even if he hadn't been happy about it. To his credit, it wasn't so much she'd gotten shot that had Jane pissed. He knew their work was dangerous. It was that one of their own had harmed her. That was the part getting his dander up. Especially given it was a seasoned Agent, not a Rookie, breaking from the plan.

The up side to the situation was she hadn't gotten seriously hurt. Just a through and through requiring a little TLC at the ER and a much too large Super Hero bandage slapped against her skin by a much too flirty male nurse. The up side was the pain wasn't that bad. Not considering it could have been much worse. The down side was a riled Jane on her plate when she wasn't in the mood to handle him.

However, she'd take being in her shoes to being in Rickers' any day.

If she didn't miss her guess, the veteran Agent had had to deal with an irate Jane in his face followed soon after by an equally unreasonable Abbott. Things had probably gotten nasty pretty quick culminating in a black mark in his file that would take a while to erase. Summing things up, the other Agent could kiss that promotion he'd been rapidly brown nosing his way to good bye. It wasn't happening any time soon. While she was sure Rickers would eventually redeem himself in spite of the stupidity of shooting a fellow agent, it would take a while to get back in the good graces of his higher ups.

As for her, while she wouldn't want to work with Ricky any time soon, crap happened even when it shouldn't.

Taking another pull from her glass, Lisbon decided she'd rather have a few of sips of wine over a pain pill any day. For one thing, her thoughts were that much clearer. For another, it was taking the edge off her anger. She wasn't regretting giving Jane that key to her place half as much as she had been a short while ago. Setting her glass aside, Lisbon settled back and closed her eyes. She was fried and Jane wasn't anywhere in sight. She might as well take a nap until he decided to show.

It beat the heck out of staring at that dark spot on her ceiling she was positive had just sprouted legs and hopped an inch….

Dropping several bags on the countertop to be unloaded later, Jane made his way to the den. It was just as he'd expected. Lisbon's body had finally given out from excitement and pain. She certainly hadn't passed out from booze. There was probably less than four ounces missing from the opened bottle in the kitchen and most of that was still in her glass. Silently sitting on the coffee table, Jane reached out to softly brush a tendril from Lisbon's cheek before swooping in to brush his lips against hers.

"You're late." Lisbon blinked a couple of times like a startled squirrel. "I guess I should be glad you're here at all."

"I am." Jane leaned in for a better kiss. "You should be." He nuzzled her cheek in apology. "Since Abbott caught me on the way out."

"New case?" Lisbon asked. "Or idle chit chat?"

A credible Lisbon snort greeted her ridiculous words.

"Abbott doesn't chit chat." Jane reminded her. "He innocuously probes in ways that aren't so innocuous. You know that."

"What else is new?" Lisbon rolled her eyes lamenting her Boss's impeccable timing. "He has a knack for interfering at the worst possible moment."

"Yes, he does." Jane agreed. "Fortunately it wasn't a new case so we don't have to change our plans…just Dennis nosing about where he shouldn't."

"And letting you know he knows about us in that roundabout way he has." He did the same thing with her. "Or he thinks he does."

"He knows." Jane agreed. "He's just playing along until we're ready to out ourselves or circumstances do it for us. Whichever comes first. Cho knows as well and he's ignoring it."

"Cho can ignore anything." Lisbon agreed. "He got a lot of practice with Rigsby and Van Pelt."

"That he did." Jane agreed. "I like to think we're being more circumspect."

In spite of his penchant for extravagant gestures that involved impromptu picnics and long drives in vintage cars. Truthfully, no one had batted an eyelash as they'd ridden off into the sunset that day. Why would they? His reputation preceded him. He was known for his over-the-top showmanship and unexpected indulgences hinting at a fatter pocketbook than anyone could prove he had. If Jane suddenly decided to take an expensive car for a spin it made sense he'd take his handler and best friend along for the ride. It wasn't like he was seeing anyone at the moment though it wasn't for lack of trying on the part of numerous red blooded females inhabiting his universe….

"We're trying." Lisbon agreed. "I don't know what else we can do."

Except keep Jane's mouth under control in those rare moments when some barbarian disrespected her. Then again, that wasn't a big deal either. He'd reacted almost as strongly to other people disrespecting her as he'd reacted to perps threatening her life for a few years now. It wasn't a secret he'd gone so far as to off several threats in the heat of the moment. As for his actions with Rickers, that was to be expected. Any Agent would go off on another Agent who did something as asinine as mistakenly shooting their partner!

All in all, Lisbon thought they were doing a fair job of keeping their change in status off the radar. Not that there was much to bleep if they weren't. They'd admitted they loved each other, spent most of their free time together, and exchanged a few heated kisses. All in all, their love affair was pretty pedestrian and she wouldn't change a thing. It had taken them years to get to this point and would take more than a few weeks to get to the next.

In the big scheme of things, a few months wasn't all that long at all.

"Not a thing." Lisbon smiled as he swooped in to give her a real kiss. "Besides, I handled Abbott as I always do."

"Right." Lisbon shook her head. "We both know what that means."

He'd spouted off some evasive answer not betraying a thing and made his getaway…Classic Jane.

"I guess we do." Jane agreed. "It's good to be home."

"Yeah?" Lisbon smirked at his words. "I thought your home was a tin sardine can?"

"Not hardly." Jane wrapped his arms around her. "Not tonight."

"No?"

"No." Jane agreed. "Home is where you are."

It had been for years even when he had no hopes it would ever come to this.

It still was. Even when he wasn't quite sure what he had to offer or if he'd want to if he knew. No, that wasn't quite right either…He knew what he wanted…Had wanted for years…He just wasn't sure when, or if, he'd ever be ready to offer it…Then again, there were other times when he felt like the offering wasn't that far off because things were starting to feel too real for things to be otherwise….

Real enough he'd clip his wings to keep Lisbon by his side. Real enough to admit, now the job was more than the means to an end, he actually enjoyed their work. Real enough he'd accepted they could never truly up and leave as he sometimes fantasized about doing. That wouldn't work for so many reasons. The most important, he couldn't take the cop out of Lisbon any more than she could take the carney out of him. Then there was the matter of that certain troublesome disc Abbott still held over his head. If that wasn't enough, while they hadn't heard a peep in months, the Blake Association was still out there biding their time awaiting the perfect moment to strike. When that time came, he didn't want to be without certain resources. That wouldn't be wise. He wasn't sure he could keep Lisbon safe if it was the two of them.

What he was sure of in the midst of all the confusion was the monsters hiding under the bed didn't suddenly disappear just because you knew they were there.

Shaking his head at exchanging one unpleasant thought for another Jane admitted, long before he'd uttered those three fateful words, he'd accepted he and Lisbon were from two disparate universes that were never meant to merge…Yet, they'd done just that thanks to some sneaky twists of fate and emotional entanglement neither of them saw coming…And, strangely enough, it was working…Their life might not be easy; but, they'd make it in the end.

He knew they would.

He wouldn't have confessed his feelings if he believed otherwise.