A/N: IMPORTANT! For all of those who read my story Breathe, I've tried many times to start the sequel, but I'm have a very hard time getting started, so if anyone has any ideas as to how you want that story to start out, please let me know. This is another story I started awhile ago, and I pretty much forgot about it. This story is not very well planned out, so it's pretty much going by whatever pops into my head from day to day. Also, I had another idea that for every episode of Bones I would add on an extended scene somewhere in the episode or at the end of each episode. Let me know how many of you would be interested in that. And I had another idea about a certain favorite episode of mine (the Las Vegas undercover episode) and I got the idea from an episode of Friends where Ross and Rachel get married and I thought, what if Booth and Brennan got married in Vegas, one of them knew it but kept it a secret and no one ever found out about it! If anyone's interested in that, let me know! Okay, so please read and review this story for now until I can get the other projects rolling! Thanks so much!!!!! ENJOY!!!!
Chapter 1:
Booth walked into the Jeffersonian slowly. He hadn't been feeling well since their most recent case. He hadn't felt well throughout the month they had spent investigating the murder, but he had so much adrenaline rushing through him that he barely noticed. And no one else noticed either, which he was grateful for.
He hadn't stepped foot in the Jeffersonian in a week, but during that week, his health had deteriorated significantly. He knew Brennan would notice because he knew that he looked so far from normal that anyone could notice with or without a doctorate.
He felt a pain and stopped in his stride to lean against a door frame, trying to catch his breath quickly.
"Hey Booth," he heard a familiar voice from behind him that made him jump, turning to face the voice.
"Hey Hodgins, what's up?" Booth asked, putting on a fake smile. Thankfully, Hodgins had his face buried in a file and didn't notice the sweat forming on Booth's brow.
"Yeah dude," Hodgins replied, still focused on the file, not paying anymore attention to Booth as he walked away.
Booth was about to lean back against the paneling when he saw Brennan out the corner of his eye. He straightened up quickly before she could notice anything was amiss.
"Booth, do we have a case?" she asked, getting excited.
"Um yeah Bones. Here," he said tossing her his keys.
"You're letting me drive?" she asked surprised as he nodded. "Why? Is your back hurting you again?" she asked, noticing his semi-hunched stance.
"Yeah, a little," he lied. "Look, just don't get used to it," he said as he followed her out to the car.
What Booth didn't tell her was that there was a lot more to his back problems than meets the eye.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Once they made it back to the Jeffersonian after leaving the crime scene, Brennan finally broke the silence before Booth had a chance to escape out of the car.
"Okay. What is wrong?" she asked turning to him. When he wouldn't look her in the eye, she knew something was definitely bothering him.
"Nothing. My back just hurts, okay? Let's get to work," he said and made a move to open the door.
"You're lying to me. I know I'm not as successful as Sweets in determining whether someone is being truthful or not, but I know when you're lying to me, Booth."
"Bones, lets just drop it and do our job," he said, and he saw the hurt etched in her facial features.
"What did I do, Booth? Did I do something to offend you? Because if I did, I'm sorry," she said sincerely and Booth's stern face softened.
"I'm sorry, Bones. You didn't do anything to offend me. I'm just not feeling too well."
"Maybe you should go home. We can handle the examination," she said, noticing his pale complexion.
"No, I'm fine. Let's just go," he said and finally made the move to get out of the car, pulling on the handle.
Minutes later, they were all standing around the newly discovered body, and Brennan kept glancing at Booth. She saw him taking shallow breaths and leaning on an examination table to support his weight. Once everyone dissipated to perform their tests, Brennan went and grabbed a hold of Booth and forced him to sit on the platform steps.
"Bones, what are you doing?" he asked defensively, yet allowing her to push him to the stairs.
"What is going on? You can't stand up straight, you keep perspiring, and you can't even support yourself. What is wrong?" she demanded, and he turned to see the concern in her eyes.
He kept his eyes locked on hers until he broke down and showed her his true vulnerability.
"I just have the flu, Bones. I thought I'd be able to handle it, but I guess I'm sicker than I thought," he admitted looking at her again.
"I want you to go home and take care of yourself. You're no good to us sick," she said honestly and he knew that she didn't mean to be offensive. She meant it in her own way. It was her way of showing that she cared.
"I don't know if I'll be able to drive myself home," he admitted, and Brennan saw the physical effect the illness had taken on Booth. He looked miserable.
"I'll take you," she offered and helped him stand, leading him to the car.
The ride to his apartment was silent, and as Brennan drove she kept glancing at him in the passenger seat. His head leaning against the window, eyes closed, yet she knew he wasn't asleep. Never before had she seen Seeley Booth, the big, tough, and strapping FBI guy this sick and miserable before. In fact, she had never seen Booth sick. She'd never seen him so much as have a cold. If he wasn't feeling well, he never let on about it, and never used it as an excuse at work. Now, he was stricken with a bad case of the flu. She looked at him, concern in her gaze, yet she didn't know what to do for him. Booth had lived alone and taken care of himself for more than 20 years. He was so independent when it came to his health. Even if she wanted to take care of him, he would never let her. And vise versa, except Booth always wanted to stay and take care of her when she needed it.
They arrived at his apartment, and she moved to help him out of the car. He walked out slowly, looking physically drained. As he was about to collapse, she grabbed a hold of him and held on tightly. She thought about sitting him down on the curb, but he hurried to the side of the building. Brennan reached for him again and felt his forehead. He didn't even stop her.
"You're burning," she said, "Of course not literally because human combustion is impossible."
"I told you Bones, it's just the flu. As soon as I get upstairs I'll pop some Tylenol, okay?" he asked.
"Maybe I should stay with you," she suggested as she wrapped her arm around him and she was surprised when Booth shifted most of his weight on her.
"No, I'll be fine once I get some rest," he said.
Brennan was satisfied for the moment as she made her way inside the building. She managed to get Booth to the elevator and up to his floor without falling under Booth's weight. Getting into his apartment was a hassle. Since she had made a comment about his hiding place for his spare key, he had since removed the spare key completely, causing Brennan to go searching through his pocket, although the dozing Booth didn't even seem to notice.
She finally found his keys and proceeded to unlock the door, literally carrying Booth in. for awhile, she debated driving him to a doctor, but she figured he wouldn't appreciate that very much and maybe the best thing for him was sleep.
As soon as Brennan got Booth into his bedroom, he collapsed in a heap onto the bed. He was still conscious, but on the verge of sleep. Brennan saw there was no way she was going to get Booth under the covers, so she saw a blanket on the end of the bed that she grabbed, also grabbing the blanket off the couch, and wrapping both around Booth tightly. Then she looked in his bathroom for some Tylenol and didn't find any. She walked back to Booth and shook him gently.
"Booth. Booth," she whispered until he opened his eyes slowly.
"Bones?" he asked. "What are you doing in my bedroom?"
"I brought you home, don't you remember?" she asked, worried.
"Oh yeah, that's right. I remember," he said smiling and beginning to laugh.
"Booth, where is your Tylenol?" she asked slowly and gently.
"Tylenol? Um," he said and it looked like he was thinking hard to remember, "the kitchen cabinet," he said pointing in the general direction of the kitchen.
"Bones?" he asked, his words slurring slightly and she turned back around to face him. "I love you."
She was startled slightly, but figured he was slightly delirious given his high fever. She hurried into the kitchen and began the search for the Tylenol. It took her a few minutes to find it and then she filled a glass full of water. She found Booth when he awoke and found a paper and pen to write him a note.
In Brennan's neat script she wrote,
You should take the Tylenol every 4-6 hours and get as much sleep as possible. And be sure to stay in bed under the covers to break the fever. I will be back later tonight with some soup. –Bones
She left the note next to the glass of water where she was sure he would see it. She stood up from where she was kneeling quietly and glanced down at Booth. Although he was really sick, he looked so peaceful as he slept. She couldn't help herself as she brought her hand up and ran it through his hair. Then she didn't something she never expected. She leaned down and kissed Booth on the forehead, lingering slightly as she whispered, "I know I told you that love is illogical and very impossible, but … I do love you Booth. Feel better."
Kissing his forehead once more, she took one last look at him and silently slipped out of the apartment, heading back to the Jeffersonian.
