Disclaimer: I still own zip, zilch, nada. Just goofing around.

A/N: Wow you guys. That's all I can say. The reviews from the last chapter were overwhelming. Thank you so much.

Sick

Patrick Jane waltzed into the bullpen with the intent of finding his couch. Interviewing suspects always took it out of him, made him just want a quick nap before going or doing anything else. Today had been interesting so far. He was sure of two things; the brother did it and Lisbon was sick. He had suspected that she was coming down with something yesterday but he had chosen not to say anything. Getting the brother to admit to killing his sister would be easier than getting the small agent to admit weakness. The entire ride back he had listened to her sneeze every five minutes, cough at least five times and sniffle through the rest of the way. Her eyes were glassy and glazed over, and her cheeks were tinged a permanent rosy color indicating she probably had a fever. When he brought up the possibility of her being sick, she reprimanded him for a good ten minutes only stopping when she had to sneeze. Apparently the mighty Lisbon was very grumpy when she didn't feel good.

Valuing life for the time being, he decided to leave her alone and try to sleep. The noise around him was always therapeutic somehow, it usually lulled him into a state of semi-rest but not today. The sounds of someone sneezing just didn't calm him. It didn't help matters that he was worried about said person and her stubbornness. He tried one more time to force his mind into sleep with no such luck. It was a failed attempt but at least he was trying. Hearing Lisbon have another coughing fit was the final straw. There was no sleeping today.

The rest of the team definitely noticed Lisbon's health status but none of them said anything. Jane supposed they had learned to look the other way while she claimed she was fine but he couldn't do that. So he waited. Once everyone was gone for the day, he had an idea. Leaving the warm leather of his couch behind he found his way into her office as Cho finally left for the night. The sight in front of him was slightly amusing despite the fact that she clearly felt terrible. There she was, head resting on her desk, eyes closed and surrounded by a pile of tissues. Quietly walking up right beside her chair, he let the back of his hand rest against her cheek. She made something akin to a growling noise as he moved the hand up to her forehead.

"Don't be so grouchy." Her eyes opened about halfway, and he presumed that was only to glare at him. Too bad the bright red nose and rosy face ruined her attempt at being hostile.

"Go away Jane." Her voice was hoarse and barely above a whisper by this point, probably due to all the coughing she'd been doing. He let his fingers brush through her hair as he crouched down to her level.

"Come on. I'm going to take you home. No arguing."

"I don't want to move." A small chuckle left his lips before he could even try to stifle it. Sometimes Lisbon amazed him, okay most of the time she amazed him.

"No arguing. Upsy daisy." Gently tugging her arm, she begrudgingly stood leaning most of her weight against him. If she had been completely with it, he knew she would not have been letting him lead her out to the elevator with his arm wrapped around her waist. He was pretty sure she would've been dragging his body out of the building in hopes of disposing it somewhere no one would ever find him.

"I think I'm sick."

"You think? Lisbon if you don't know, then you aren't as intelligent as I thought." Healthy Lisbon would have probably hit him for saying something like that, she would have protested loudly when he tried putting her in his car too, but sick Lisbon just went along with everything. As soon as he shut the door and made his way over to the driver's side, he could see her shivering. Her soft weak whimper and the chattering of her teeth kept him from starting the car just yet. Without even thinking about it, he took his jacket off and layed it over her in hopes that it might help a little bit. "Try getting some rest, I'll wake you."

It wasn't a very long drive but he wanted her to sleep. If she was sleeping then he knew her body was hard at work, to fight off the infection that had clearly taken over. She tried to listen to him but the coughing had gotten worse. Jane knew she hated being sick, really who didn't hate it? But she absolutely hated showing any sign of weakness and this was a major one. The woman whimpered, actually whimpered when he stopped the car and accidentally slammed his door after getting out. He vowed to make her drink some warm tea with honey, take some medicine, and go to bed when they got inside. He grabbed the box of tea that was in his backseat knowing she probably didn't have any. He was sure she had something for fever and cough though, at least he was hoping she did.

"You're home." He offered her his hand as she opened the car door and cautiously stepped out onto the sidewalk. It was actually a bit of a relief that she didn't accept his hand, this meant his Lisbon was still in there. He just had to get her better, back to normal. The small triumph was defeated when she handed him the keys to her door and let him unlock it. He was worried, more than worried. Maybe he should've taken her to the hospital instead. "Lisbon?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you have any kind of soup or anything?" He held open the door as she walked in, the locked it as she dropped to the sofa.

"No, and I don't feel like eating." He couldn't get over the fact that her voice was practically gone. Teresa Lisbon, the woman who could yell at him, argue with him, and spout off orders all day, was losing her voice. If she wasn't actually sick, he would've been having a field day with that one.

"You should be in bed." Once again she chose not to argue and silently made her way down the hall, this was really starting to bother him. Finding the light switch in her kitchen, he set to work on making her some tea and finding something to make her feel better. The only medication she had was mainly all for aches and pains but he managed to find one bottle of Robitussin for fever, cough, sneezing and every other symptom she had. He knew she had a headache but he was more concerned with the fever.

Carefully making his way into her bedroom with tea in one hand and medication in the other, he felt extremely out of place. This was Lisbon's bedroom, he shouldn't be anywhere near it. She was already lying down partially covered by the blankets, he could see that she'd changed clothes and pulled back her hair but other than that she lay completely still. He wasn't even sure she wasn't already asleep. He'd never seen Lisbon so lethargic before.

"Lisbon?"

"Mm?" Her eyes fluttered open to meet his worried gaze.

"I brought you something. Sit up for me." He set the stuff down on the desk and moved to help her but she weakly smacked his hands away, refusing his assistance.

"I can do it myself. I'm not an invalid Jane." Her voice was now barely above a whisper and he had a hard time hearing her which meant something considering he was leaning over the bed just to be closer. He handed her the Robitussin and tea to make himself feel useful. "Thanks. You can go home, I'll be fine."

"I would feel better if you let me..." She waved her arm submissively at him while swallowing the foul substance that would hopefully help her get back to one-hundred percent again.

"Jane, go. I just want to sleep and I'll see you at work tomorrow." If she wasn't so sick he would've made fun of the face she made when her voice cracked and squeaked on the word 'tomorrow', but he wasn't going to crack jokes about her, not when she was like this. Maybe in a few days.

"Lisbon you can't work like this. I can barely hear you talk, you cough at least twice every five minutes and although the sneezing seems to have stopped it could always come back. And you have a fever!"

"Go home. I'm not a kid."

"Stop talking, you need to rest your voice."

"I'll stop talking when you go home." At least her fire was still there. He gave her credit for maintaining the fight while in such a state.

"Alright, I'm going." It was a lie, he had no intention of leaving her alone tonight but she didn't need to know that he planned on waiting outside her bedroom door until he was sure she was asleep. Of course he would make it look like he'd left. Walking into the hallway he headed for the front door. Pulling it open with one swift tug, he let it close and silently crept back to her room. He knew he'd pay for this in the morning but he'd deal with the consequences when they came. For now he was content to listen to her ragged breathing and incessant coughing fits. He wished he could take it all away, it was just odd to see her sick. Lisbon was a control freak, and this had her out of control.

He listened for a good hour before he decided she was in a deep enough sleep that she wouldn't notice if he crept back into the cozy room. He'd felt so out of place in there earlier and to be honest there was still a twinge in his heart at the thought of being in a woman's bedroom. Even though it wasn't in that sense, it still felt a little wrong. She had a chair over in the corner that he pulled closer to the bed and settled down in. It was going to be a long night.

The first few hours passed a lot quicker than he had figured, she tossed restlessly and he was a little afraid she'd wake. The CBI would have a new case if she woke up to find him watching her like a hawk. It was a risk that he was willing to take though, whether she wanted to admit to it or not every now and then she needed someone to look after her. To care enough to make sure she was alright and if he was that person then, well he couldn't complain.

He settled for watching the rise and fall of her chest with each rattling breath she took in. The only time he moved was when she managed to kick the covers to the floor, whimpering and struggling against an unknown source. He carefully placed them back over her, tucking her in and placing a kiss to her temple in hopes of calming her before returning to his post. She was beautiful, even sick she had a certain intoxicating quality about her. The moonlight danced across her face leaving tiny silver streaks over her nose. He loved her nose, it was cute. Jane stopped those thoughts before they could get out of control. He could go on and on about everything about the woman that he found cute but that got him no where.

It was a little after four in the morning when her fever broke. She was covered in sweat and once again kicking the blankets off but the fever was gone. That was all that mattered. He felt sorry for whoever had shared a bed with her, and then again he didn't feel so sorry for them. He couldn't admit why he was feeling jealous at just the thought of someone being with her, but he knew why the jealousy was there. It wasn't hard to figure out. If it had been Grace, Rigsby or Cho that was ill he would not have driven them home and stayed with them all night. Lisbon was different, she was Lisbon. In his mind that was explanation enough.

The medicine had seemed to work through most of the night. The coughing was down to a minimum, and it never woke her up which was a good sign. He could tell she still wasn't feeling up to par. She was still tossing all over the bed trying to get comfortable but only managing to twist herself into her uncomfortably sweat drenched pajamas. He had no doubt that she'd wake tangled and confused. Jane couldn't decide whether to leave before she woke, or stay and deal with her wrath. He wanted to stay. She'd be awake soon enough and he wanted a chance to doze a little before he met his untimely death.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Lisbon blearily opened her eyes to the light coming through the curtains. It was bright, and made her headache worsen. Groaning in disapproval wasn't a smart idea though. Her throat felt like she'd been sucking on sand paper all night. It was raw and scratchy feeling which only added to her list of aches and pains. On a lighter note, she didn't feel like bursting into tears yet, which is how she had felt all day yesterday. Fevers had a tendency to do that to her. Speaking of the fever, she noticed the dampness of her clothes and the lack of blankets on the bed which led to the discovery of her wing-back chair sitting extremely closer than it had been. Not to mention it now held a sleeping Patrick Jane.

Her heart fluttered at the sight of him until she remembered that she had told him to go home and he had lied. He wasn't supposed to be here, he wasn't supposed to see her like this. Her hair was a mess, and gross from all the sweating she'd done. The pajamas she was wearing were sticking to her skin making her very uncomfy and self conscious. She needed to get him out. As sweet as the thought of him spending all night watching her just to make she was okay, really was, he needed to be gone. She opened her mouth ready to yell at him but when she tried to force the words nothing happened. No sound came, not even a squeak.

This was just great, she was stuck in a room with Jane and she couldn't talk. How the hell would she get him to leave now? Crawling her way down the bed she gently reached out to touch his legs. He had them resting up on the corner of her bed in a relaxed manner, he'd even taken his shoes, jacket and vest off. She couldn't deny the familiar feeling of longing that presented itself in the pit of her stomach. He was so handsome and already in her bedroom, and she really needed to stop thinking like that. Taking in a deep breath she placed her hand on his knee and gently shook. She said his name at the same time, out of habit, but again only silence came out.

His eyes flew open in alarm as he bolted upright taking her by surprise. As soon as he saw her in front of him with big inquisitive eyes he played it off like nothing had happened and flashed her a smile.

"Morning, feel any better?" Lisbon knew she couldn't reply using words so she nodded her head slowly. The headache didn't need to get any worse. It was true that she felt better though, better than before. Still no where near healthy but better. "Good." This time she didn't slap his hands away or growl at him when he reached forward to touch her cheek then her forehead.

"Fever is still gone. Are you hungry?" She frowned at his question mouthed the word no. "Lost your voice I see. I told you that you shouldn't have been talking." Crossing her arms over her chest at his childish behavior she opened her mouth just as a coughing fit took over her body. It hurt to breathe, let alone cough. Her poor raw throat couldn't take it. She crumpled over on the bed clutching the sheets while Jane ran to the kitchen. Before she could sit back up, he was kneeling beside her on the bed offering her a cool glass of water.

She tried saying thank you but only the movement of her lips let him know what she was trying to say. It was embarrassing for her to be in such a vulnerable position and all for Jane to see.

"You okay?" Taking several long gulps she mustered up a small smile for him. She wanted to kick him out, but she wanted him to stay. She knew she looked like a mess but he didn't seem to care and it was nice to have someone to play nurse. The thought of Jane being a nurse made her smile a little bigger. "What?"

Another thank you was his only unvoiced reply, the only one he gave her a chance to give before he leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. The shock was evident in her eyes when he pulled back. She opened her mouth but he didn't give her the chance to try and speak.

"I won't get sick, don't worry." Jane found it cute the way she floundered around trying to think of an excuse to make him get off her bed, to make him leave. It was something that he knew was her defense in this kind of situation. "Calm down Teresa. It's not like I'm here to seduce you." He had to admit that he kind of liked the fact that she couldn't yell at him. His hand rested against the side of her neck as he leaned closer.

Lisbon's heart was going wild in her chest. He had not just kissed her, had he? There was no way he would do that while she was sick, was there? Wait there was no way he would do that period. This had to be some kind of twisted nightmare but he was leaning closer again. This time he didn't stop until he made it to her ear.

"I'm glad you feel better. I was really worried." His mouth landed on hers again as he pulled back. This time he kept the contact a little longer, letting his lips caress hers sweetly. He wasn't worried about getting sick, he didn't care that she had just got rid of a fever or that she was definitely contagious. He just wanted her to know that he wasn't leaving. Her small shaking hands balled up fistfulls of his shirt as she returned his gentle kiss. The fear of making him ill made her pull away, but not far enough to even be considered a safe distance. "If I do happen to get sick, you'll just have to play nurse. Its only fair."

a/n: So its a long one, which is why it took a little longer than I had originally planned. Hope you enjoyed it.