Author Note: It's been awhile since I've written anything. But here goes…
Dr. Temperance Brennan was examining the bones of an Egyptian pharaoh. She was so focused on the task that she didn't hear Booth's footsteps approaching.
"Hey Bones, pack your bags. We're goin' to Bisbee," Booth shouted.
Brennan jumped up and the instrument she had been using to measure the bones clattered to the floor. "Booth a little forewarning would be great," Brennan snapped.
"Sorry Bones, I didn't mean to frighten you, can I get that for you?" he asked, pointing at the tool on the floor.
"No, its ok I've got it," Brennan replied as she picked up the tool and placed it back on the tray.
"Hey Hodgins," Booth called "Can you pack this thing up? We've got a case."
"Booth, do you realize who this is?" Brennan wondered.
"Some guy that's been dead for thousands of years and will still be here when we get back," Booth replied.
"No Booth," Brennan said, trying not to explode. "These are the bones of an Egyptian pharaoh that I've been waiting for for 3 months and they just arrived yesterday."
"Come on Bones we've got a case in Bisbee that they really need your expertise on," Booth reasoned. "The Egyptian pharaoh will be here when we get back."
Brennan stared at Booth for a few seconds before saying "Fine!" and storming off a little louder than necessary to her office.
Booth waited outside her office while she gathered her stuff, giving her a little space to cool off. A few minutes later Brennan emerged with her purse, a briefcase, and her forensic kit. The two walked at the same pace in silence, their footsteps echoing off the tile floor of the Jeffersonian.
They entered the parking garage and Booth unlocked the Toyota Sequoia the FBI so generously lent him. Booth settled into the driver's seat and started the car, checking to make sure that Brennan had buckled in before he backed out. He exited the parking garage and headed towards Brennan's apartment.
Brennan looked out the window, watching the passing cars. Suddenly breaking the silence she asked: "So where is Bisbee?"
"It's a small town in Arizona. Made lots of money off of copper back in the mining days. Now it's pretty much just a tourist attraction," Booth explained as he signaled and changed lanes.
"Hmm…" Brennan said, looking out the window once again.
Booth pulled into the parking lot next to Brennan's condo and unlocked the doors. "I'll be back in twenty," he told her as she got out of the car.
Brennan nodded as she shut the car door and headed towards the stairs. She had pretty much gotten the packing down now that she was getting used to travelling across the country. Brennan threw in a couple pairs of pants, a few blouses, pajamas, and an extra pair of shoes. She gathered her makeup and toothbrush and looked around the apartment, trying to think if she had everything. Brennan was about to check her suitcase again when she heard a knock at the door. She quickly zipped up the suitcase, hoping she had everything and headed out the door.
Booth was a gentleman and insisted on carrying her suitcase down the stairs despite Brennan's many protests. He loaded the suitcase in the trunk and then headed to the airport.
A half an hour later, Booth and Brennan were boarding a flight to Phoenix. Brennan hadn't said much on the way to the airport and was quiet during takeoff.
"Bones are you alright? You've been really quiet," Booth asked, concerned.
"I'm just tired. I stayed up late last night working on the pharaoh," Bones replied, looking out the window.
"Feel free to sleep. You've got about 4 hours before we'll land in Phoenix," Booth said, squeezing Brennan's hand.
Brennan closed her eyes and tried to sleep, but between the noisy kids behind them that kept kicking their seats and the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she had forgot something important, Brennan was not able to fall asleep.
When they finally arrived in Phoenix, Brennan had a horrible headache. She opted to sit on a bench and wait while Booth went to pick up the rental car.
Booth arrived with the rental car twenty minutes later, finding Brennan sitting in the same position as when he left her. She seemed oblivious to her surroundings, including the return of Booth.
"Hey Bones, give me your hand," Booth said.
"What?" Brennan asked, still staring straight ahead.
"I picked up a bottle of Advil," Booth explained.
"Oh," Brennan said, turning her palm face up.
Booth poured three tablets out into his partner's left palm and opened up a water bottle before putting it in her right hand. Brennan put the pills in her mouth and took a swig of water before swallowing.
Booth recapped the water bottle and helped Brennan into the passenger seat of the rental car.
"Thanks," she said, leaning back into the seat and closing her eyes.
"It'll be another 3 hours before we get there, so go ahead and take a nap," Booth said.
Brennan drifted off into sleep. It seemed like only moments later that Booth was gently shaking her awake. "Sorry to wake you, but we're here," Booth apologized.
They followed the sheriff out to examine the remains.
Brennan was feeling dizzy and nauseous as she walked to the site of the remains. She knelt down near the remains, almost falling face first on top of them.
Booth knelt down beside her, "Are you sure you're alright?" he asked once again. He put one arm around his partner, trying to steady her.
"Male, around 30 to 35," Brennan said, pretending she hadn't heard Booth's question. "Looks like he took a blow to the head." Brennan examined the skull.
After taking a few samples, and packing the remains to be sent to the Jeffersonian, Booth started to get hungry. "Is there any place to eat around here?" Booth asked the sheriff.
"Well, I'm afraid there's not much. The general store closed at 5. There's one about a half an hour away in the next town, but I don't think you'll make it before they close at 7. Your best bet is Rhonda's. It's a small diner on the outskirts of town near your cabin. You'd have to hurry because they close at 7."
"That sounds great," Booth said. "How do you get there?"
"Follow this road for about 15 minutes and you'll make a left at the big sign that says 'Mining Country'". Rhonda's is about a half a mile down on the left," the sheriff instructed. "And, I should probably give you your cabin keys now. It's about another 10 minutes down that road #15 will be on the right."
"Thanks sheriff. We'll see you tomorrow," Booth said, getting back in the car.
Brennan was feeling better after her nap, but was still not 100%. She once again looked out the window as they rode in silence.
Twelve minutes later Booth pulled into the parking lot of Rhonda's. He had sped all the way there to make sure they got there before 7. Although by the looks of it, the restaurant had probably already closed. Booth decided they better try the door anyways, and he found it to be unlocked. Booth turned the knob and stepped inside. A woman, presumably Rhonda, was inside wiping down tables.
"I reckon you two are the FBI agents?" the woman said.
"Yes," Booth replied.
Normally Brennan would have set the woman straight, telling her that she was actually a forensic anthropologist, but that night she wasn't feeling like herself.
"Howdy, I'm Rhonda," the woman smiled as she led them to a table in the corner. "I do have to apologize. We don't actually have any menus being that this is a small town and the locals all know what we serve. I can do just about any kind of pasta and we've got steak and ham and just about any kind of vegetable."
"Great. I'd take steak medium-rare and some peas," Booth said.
"Some spaghetti would be nice," Bones ordered.
"Alrighty. I'll get those goin' and I'll be right back with some water."
Booth downed his plate quickly while Brennan picked at her spaghetti. She was still feeling pretty nauseous. Eventually she gave up on eating and offered the plate to a grateful Booth.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Booth asked once again as he started the car and they headed towards their cabin.
"Yeah. Just tired," Brennan said once again.
"I just hope you're not coming down with something," Booth replied.
The two rode in silence until they reached the cabin. Booth unlocked the front door and turned on the lights. The cabin was homey. It had a small kitchen and living room with a couch and TV, a bathroom with a tiny shower, and two small bedrooms each with a twin bed.
Brennan had just started to unpack her suitcase when she suddenly felt the urge to throw up. She made a mad dash for the bathroom and made it just in time to regurgitate the little pasta she had eaten. She sat there on the floor for a minute until she was sure she wasn't going to do it again.
"Bones!" Booth shouted as he pounded on the door. "Are you ok?"
"I'm not sure yet," Brennan replied weakly.
"Let me know if I can help," Booth replied.
She flushed the toilet and stood up only to keel over again from intense pains in her stomach. Brennan felt like her intestines were getting all tangled up. Unfortunately she knew what this meant even though it was a week too soon. She pulled down her pants and found the evidence she didn't want to find: blood in her panties. And then it dawned on her what she'd forgotten; the bag of tampons she always took just in case. "Dammit!" she cursed when she realized that no stores were open. She stuffed some toilet paper in her panties and exited the bathroom, praying that she had a tampon in her purse.
Brennan stumbled the short difference from the bathroom to her bedroom. She frantically rifled through her purse, searching for tampons. She sighed in relief after locating two. Two would last her until morning.
After cleaning up in the bathroom, Brennan went back to her room and collapsed on the bed, curling up in the fetal position.
Booth sat in the living room, trying to decide if he should go check on his partner or not. Something was definitely off with her. She seemed distant and unfocused, but every time he asked if she was alright she said she was fine. Booth decided it was time to find out what was really going on with his partner. This time he would not take "fine" for an answer.
Booth walked down the hallway to Brennan's room. He found his partner curled up in a ball on her bed. She seemed like she was in pain. "Bones, what's wrong?" Booth cried.
"I'm just not feeling very well," she said softly, her eyes still squeezed shut.
Booth knelt down on the floor next to Brennan's bed. He put his arm against his partner's forehead, checking to see if she had a fever, but she didn't feel warm. "You don't feel warm," Booth said, confused. If she wasn't sick then what was wrong? "Bones, talk to me, what hurts?"
Brennan couldn't respond. It felt like her intestines were being slowly ripped out of her body. She finally managed to croak "Advil."
"Good idea, Bones!" Booth answered, running out to get it from the rental car. He ran back in with the Advil and her water bottle from earlier.
"Sit up," he ordered, nudging Brennan a little.
"I can't," Brennan moaned "It hurts."
"Alright then tilt your head back," Booth replied. He dropped four tablets into her mouth and poured some water in.
Brennan swallowed and started sobbing; she didn't know how much longer she could take the pain. She cursed herself for forgetting her little carrying case of supplies that had the special pain medicine inside.
"Do I need to call an ambulance?" Booth wondered, worried. He had never seen his partner cry, so he knew the pain had to be bad.
Brennan shook her head, unable to speak. Booth continued to kneel next to his partner's bed. He stroked her hair, praying that the Advil would start working soon. It was killing him to see his partner in so much pain.
Brennan sobbed for about five minutes, and then screamed for several more, before settling down and moaning. After about twenty minutes Brennan started to feel better. It stopped feeling like her intestines were being torn out and started feeling like someone was stabbing her.
"Oh God!" Brennan moaned "I seriously thought I was going to die there." She finally felt like she could talk, but she didn't want to move just yet.
"Bones, you're really scaring me please tell me what's wrong. I can't stand to see you in this much pain," Booth pleaded.
"It's really embarrassing," Brennan said, her face turning red.
"I promise I won't laugh," Booth said with a smile.
Brennan sat up, grimacing a bit as she hugged a pillow against her stomach.
"Cramps," Brennan said, looking down.
"Lay down on your stomach," Booth ordered.
"What?" Brennan looked at her partner, confused.
"Just trust me," Booth said, rubbing his palms together to warm his hands up.
Brennan complied, wincing at the pain of moving.
"Let me know if anything hurts," Booth said as he lowered himself on top of his partner's legs, putting one leg on either side of her body. He rubbed his hands together again and then lifted his partner's shirt up slightly. Booth slowly started massaging her back.
"Oooh God," Brennan moaned.
Booth immediately stopped massaging.
"No, don't stop, that feels amazing," Brennan said.
Booth tried not to get aroused by the very sexual noises she was making as he continued to massage his partner's back. Suddenly, he climbed off of her. "Sit up," he instructed.
"I don't want to move," Brennan complained.
"Trust me," Booth said once again.
Brennan sat up. She was feeling a lot better. The cramps were now almost bearable.
Booth sat down on the bed, resting his back against the wall and spreading his legs wide. "Come here," he said, patting the space between his legs.
Brennan settled her back up against her partner with her legs out in front of her on the bed. Booth got distracted for a moment, wrapping his arms around his partner and holding her close to him. He'd wanted to do that for so long. It took him a minute to realize what he was doing, but when he did he quickly removed his arms from around his partner.
Booth cleared his throat. "You have to tell me if this makes you uncomfortable," he said as he reached his arms around his partner to lift her shirt up. He started massaging her lower abdomen just below her belly button, slowly moving his hands lower.
"Oooh, hold on," Brennan said.
Booth quickly removed his hands from her stomach. "What's wrong?" he asked.
Brennan shifted around a little bit, but Booth couldn't see what she was doing. "Just thought it would be easier this way," she said as she reached for his hands, guiding them back to her lower abdomen.
"God," Booth whispered, discovering that she no longer had pants on.
"Oooooh," Brennan moaned as Booth continued to rub her cramps away.
Booth was once again finding it hard not to get aroused as Brennan moved his hands lower so that he was now massaging slightly under her panties. He noticed his partner's breathing change as she relaxed more and teetered on the verge of sleep.
As Booth tried to move slightly so he was more comfortable, she once again became aware of her surroundings. "What are you doing?" she asked softly.
"Trying to lay down," he replied.
"Let me help," she said, leaning forward so that he could move next to her.
Booth turned on his side and wrapped his arms back around his partner. He continued massaging her stomach until he was sure she was asleep. But even then he left his arms around her, snuggling closer so that his head sort of rested on her shoulder. He drifted off to sleep knowing that morning would come sooner than he would like.
Author note: Please review and tell me whether or not you liked it and if I should write an epilogue!