Disclaimer: most definitely not mine, unfortunately!

Thoughts are in italics (and the phone ring, lol).

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Booth jerked awake, covered in sweat. Not only was he having nightmares of being trapped in the boat thanks to the Gravedigger, all his old nightmares were coming back to haunt him too thanks to the appearance of his once spotter and friend Corporal Edward Parker.

He looked over at the clock and saw the static red numbers saying 12:18. Great. He thought, I haven't even made it through half the night.

Reaching for his cell, he dialled the only person who he thought would still be awake bearing in mind that no one had slept in over 24 hours due to looking for him. She was also one of the only people who knew what he had been through.

Ring…ring…ring…

It was answered on the fourth ring by a very sleepy voice, "Hello?"

Booth let out a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding. "Bones," he said shakily, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. Just go back to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow."

"No Booth!" the urgency of her voice caused him to bring the phone back to his ear. "It's fine, really. You know it's not a bother. Are-are you okay? You sound a little…Do you want me to come over?"

"No, no. It's fine Bones. I just…need to hear your voice is all. There's no need to come over. Honestly."

"Okay."

After a few moments of silence, Booth decided maybe he should tell her what had made him, big-tough-FBI-guy, seek out comfort at just after midnight. "I've started having nightmares of, well everything. I can't sleep right now but I'm exhausted. The Gravedigger…well I'm glad we caught him that's all I can say."

"You do know that the Gravedigger is actually female right?"

"Yeah thanks Bones. Being knocked out by a woman really does wonders for my ego," came the sarcastic reply, followed by a laugh on both ends of the line.

"Booth, I had nightmares too. After the Gravedigger got me I mean."

"You never told me."

"I know. I just didn't want to burden you with any more nightmares, especially when they're not your own."

"Bones, you know I could have helped you. My old nightmares are all coming back too. Teddy brought everything back to me. The fear, the helplessness. He made me realise a few things too that only he would be brave enough, or stupid enough, to say to me."

With her inquisitiveness peaked, Brennan asked, "Like what?"

A soft laugh, followed by, "It doesn't matter right now. You'll know someday, when I can finally tell you," was the only reply she got.

"Okay." She knew it was futile to push. Booth was a man with a lot of issues, she reasoned, and when the time was right she knew he would open up to her.

A quick glance at the clock showed Booth that they had been on the phone for a good half an hour. "I'm gonna let you go Bones. Get some sleep."

"Are you sure you're going to be alright?"

With a smile in place, Booth answered honestly, "Yeah Bones, I'm going to be fine. I'll swing by tomorrow at 8:30 if you're still coming with me to Arlington?"

"Absolutely. Take care of yourself Booth. Goodnight."

"Night Bones."

And both phones were hung up. And at both ends, there was a smile on each face as they settled back in bed.

That night, Booth only woke up once more to a nightmare compared to the half a dozen he usually would. That's the power of my Bones. He thought to himself the following morning after picking up coffee and knocking her door at 8:30 sharp.

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Thanks for reading, please review if you can. I appreciate all comments as I'm still new to this!

Helen