Arctic Wonderland

Chapter 1

Patrick Jane stood at the entrance of their cramped, one bed cabin in the woods. They were sent by the FBI, to investigate a murder in an “Arctic Wonderland,” but as always, they had to share a small cabin because there was no other vacancy. Still, it was at least a two story hobble with a working fireplace and bathroom and stocked with food, firewood, and water, courtesy of the manager.

“Come on, Lisbon,” he called, “The body and the evidence will freeze if we make it wait any longer.”

“Calm down, Jane,” she shouted back at him, “I’ll be there in a second.”

A window suddenly slamming open, bringing in a gust of wind and snow caused Lisbon to yelp and curl herself inwardly as the weather howled at her mercilessly. Jane raced up the stairs, through the small hallway, and entered the room, and after he closed and locked the window shut, he turned to her and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she shivered, her teeth chattering, “I’m fine, thank you.”

Jane took her into his arms and rubbed her back and shoulders to help give her some heat. After a few minutes, her body had regained its heat and she stopped shivering. As she stepped out of his embrace, she instantly missed his body heat, but stopped herself from diving back into his arms.

“Thank you,” she said, turning around to hide her blush.

Jane smiled at her, fighting the urge to pull her back into his arms, fighting the urge to forget about the case and make love to her.

“You’re welcome,” he said as he walked back into the living room, trying to control his body from the absence of her heat.

Soon, Lisbon padded down the stairs, tying her hair in a ponytail before sporting a knitted cap on her head. She looked at him staring, smiled, though he could see a faint blush, and asked, “What?”

He shrugged and said, “Nothing,” before turning from her emerald gaze that tempted him to throw caution to the wind and kiss her.

She walked towards the door, feeling self-conscious about herself, not wanting to discomfort Jane anymore. She pushed and pulled, but the door wouldn’t budge.

“Jane, I’m going to need your help here.”

Jane walked over to her and helped her try to open the door. Curious, Jane walked up to the second floor and opened a window that faced the front. He looked down and saw snow covering two thirds of the door and windows. He chuckled as he walked downstairs and found Lisbon still trying to open the door.

“The door’s never going to open, Lisbon,” he informed, “there’s a wall of snow blocking the doors and windows.”

Lisbon looked at him, panicking, “What? How are we going to get out?”

Jane wrapped his arms around her in an attempt at calming her down, “We’re going to get out of here when the snow storm stops and the local police clear the way,”

“How long is that going to take?”

“I don’t know Lisbon, a couple of hours, maybe a day or two,” he mumbled the next, “A week or two at the most.”

Even though he mumbled it, Lisbon was still able to hear it, she pushed back to face him, “A week?”

Jane shrugged, “When I had the opportunity of staying in a cabin like this, we were stuck in a snow storm for three weeks… when the local police got us out, he told us we were trapped in the longest storm they’ve ever had.”

Lisbon looked at him, worry still coating her expression and eyes, but the panic had left.

“What about the body? You know,” Lisbon asked, “The murder we’re here to solve?”

“How does anyone expect us to solve a murder if we’re trapped in here?”

Lisbon’s eyes widened in fear when he said trapped. “We’re trapped,” she echoed, “We’ve got to get out of here!” Lisbon grabbed for her phone and when she realized where it was, she groaned.

“What’s wrong?”

“I left my phone in the car.”

Jane took out his phone and handed it to her, smiling triumphantly. She took it with a smile that he wanted to taste, and he groaned inwardly at the thought that not even the snow storm will keep them from their jobs. He almost cheered with glee when they realized that the storm had destroyed their signal and not only that, but his phone had just died and he left the charger in the car.

Lisbon handed him his phone back and slid down onto the couch in defeat. She was tired, worried, and frankly a bit scared. She feared that the necessities might run out and they would starve or freeze to death. She looked at the counter and spotted the landline. No use, she never memorized Abbott’s number and she knew Jane never bothered to glance at it, since she was the one who saved it to his phone.

Jane sat down next to her, kicking off his shoes and relaxing into the seat. Lisbon saw and felt the temperature drop, and leaned into Jane, putting her head onto his shoulder. Jane wrapped his arm around her shoulder, rubbing it slowly and softly, before sighing and sinking deeper into the couch.

XXXXXX

Jane was the first to awake, he was lying down back on the couch, a still sleeping Lisbon lying on top of him, her head on his chest, and their legs and feet tangled together. He smiled as she sighed, rubbed her cheek on his chest, and snuggled closer into his arms. He knew she was still asleep, she would’ve never had done that otherwise, and her mumbling incoherently supported his assumption.  He pulled her closer, relishing the feel of her warmth, her body snuggled close to him, and how she fit perfectly into him. He didn’t want to wake her so he just stayed there, waiting for her to wake up, waiting to see her reaction. He feared she would pull away in disgust, he knew he had fallen for her, hard, and he didn’t want to lose her again.