Spoilers: Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Disclaimer: Is doing funny things today.


Author's Note: Okay, so, B&B fluff. Fun, fun, fun! I was originally going make her actually pass out, but I...didn't...Here's something special for my tenth piece!

"How many times do I have to tell you, Booth?" she paused to yawn. "I'm not tired!" Booth heaved an exasperated sigh and stared at her for a couple of seconds before muttering something about alpha females under his breath. Brennan caught a small part of this and began in on him.

"Booth, that statement was completely mistaken. First of all," she held up her right index finger, and Booth sat down on her office couch, figuring that this was going to be a rather long list. "There are very, very few species in the animal kingdom at all that have anything resembling 'alpha females', least of all, humans."

"I mean, one of the best known of these is the female Latrodectus mactans." She mistook Booth's bored expression for misunderstanding. "The black widow spider," she elaborated. "And they aren't technically what you would refer to as 'alpha females' because they don't necessarily vie for dominance. They may compete if they are both contending for the same mate, but males and females of almost all species do this."

By the time she had said this, Booth was staring at her, looking slightly worried. "What?" she asked defensively. "Have I lost you? Oh, right, I probably lost you at the word 'Booth'." With this, she flopped down on the opposite end of the couch, anger dissipating almost visibly, the reasons for her rant completely forgotten. She became uncomfortable as Booth continued to stare at her, a small frown creasing his brow.

Brennan turned back to him, and looked at him with her eyebrows raised. He narrowed his eyes. "What was the last time you slept?" he asked, concern and amusement evident in his voice. Brennan glared at him.

"Not that it's any of your business," she emphasized, "I've been up since Tuesday morning. Six a.m., if you really need to know," she added almost scornfully. She wasn't quite alert enough to be completely sharp in her manner, let alone speech.

Booth's eyes widened and his eyebrows shot up. "Bones! That was three days ago! What the hell were you thinking?" Booth exclaimed. He knew she'd been up for much longer than was healthy, but three days? Brennan made a sleepy attempt at rolling her eyes, failing miserably and almost physically failing to reopen them.

"It's not that long, Booth. It's only really sixty-five hours, not seventy-two. Besides, I was thinking of the case. This woman needs someone to help her. No one could help her five years ago, so someone's got to do it now, Booth!" She looked at him desperately. "I can do that. I need to do that," she continued, her voice now so quiet Booth had to struggle to hear it.

"Bones..." he shuffled a little closer, putting a hand on her arm. "Bones, you need to sleep, it's not healthy." Brennan shook her head and Booth decided he needed a different approach if he was going to get through to her; she wasn't concerned about herself. He drew in a breath and began speaking to her quietly.

"Bones, you can't do your best work in this state. Look, you can hardly keep your eyes open," he added as she blinked heavily, again struggling to reopen her eyes. "To help her, to help that woman we have down there, you need everything you've got. I'm surprised you can even walk," he half joked.

God, he admired her for doing this, for being so strong, but he knew she'd basically hit the self-destruct button when she took this case. He cursed himself for brining it to her, as well as for not picking up on her self-inflicted-insomnia. He'd seen her pull all-nighters before, but three days!

"Speaking of which," Brennan started, bringing Booth back, and standing up. "I need to go finish with the hand bones they brought in today. There may be something of defensive wounds evident there, considering it's her favored hand, according to my other findings." She looked down at Booth, who was staring at her incredulously.

"Besides, if I stay here, I might get too comfortable," she added quietly, all but admitting what Booth had surmised. He was surprised she'd actually acknowledged the fact that she was tired, and he stood up, moving over to her.

"Did you not listen to a word I said?" Booth looked at her strangely, and she found it frustratingly difficult to read him.

"I did listen, Booth. I just discounted," she added, turning on her heels to leave. Her dramatic exit was slightly skewed, however, when she tripped over her own feet and fell on the floor causing Booth to laugh hysterically as he offered a hand to her. She ignored the hand and stood up, glaring at him.

She hit him in the chest. "It's not funny!" Booth sobered a bit, then grabbed her shoulders, still grinning.

"No, you're right. It's not funny; it's your body telling you that I'm right," he said smugly. Brennan let out a huge sigh, yawning against her will.

"Are not," she countered lamely, pouting. Booth smiled. Brennan was as good as schizophrenic when she was tired; one minute acting like a clinical nark, the next she was acting like a child. He decided to take advantage of the childish part of her while it lasted.

"Am too. Besides, I wouldn't let you work at," he glanced at his watch, "eleven o'clock at night under your normal sleeping pattern, let alone now," he scoffed, as if it were perfectly obvious, and she were just refuting something inevitable. Brennan's eyes widened at this, as much as they were physically capable, and she glared at him again. Oops, Booth though.

"Let me? Let me! Booth, you-"

"Stop being so stubborn!" He waited until she was looking at him with a little less contempt. "Now, I want you to go home, leave all you case files here, take off your work clothes," here, Booth had to force himself to keep his voice level. "And crawl into bed. And don't come back to work until Monday. Got it?" He looked at her, waiting for her to agree.

Brennan realized that with him still holding her shoulders like he was, and her being in her current state, it would be pointless to argue with him; she'd just lose. "Fine," she mumbled. As Booth turned her and pushed her out the door, he heard her mutter, "Cullen's going to hear about this."

He just grinned.

--

Brennan turned out the door, and consequently out of Booth's grasp as she turned to find her car. She was stopped by Booth's voice. "Bones! What do you think you're doing?" he said. He's getting parental on me, she sulked.

She heaved a sigh. "I'm going to my car, Booth. So I can get home and...do all that stuff you said," she trailed off, yawning again. She shook her head, running her hands over her face. She looked up when Booth laughed.

"No way. No, Bones, you're not driving home like that!" he exclaimed. Brennan glared at him for the hundredth time that night.

"What, you're not going to let me?" she asked, acid in her tone. Booth smiled stubbornly as he moved towards her. He grabbed her shoulders again and leaned in so they were centimetres apart.

"No. I'm not going to let you; because you'll kill yourself, or someone else." He stared at her, and she caved.

"Fine," she agreed lamely again, sulking.

"Fine," Booth repeated brightly. "Now my car is this way." He pointed in the opposite direction. Brennan pulled a face. "What's wrong? Need me to carry you, Bones?" Booth teased. He had no idea how much she really wanted to take his offer.

Instead, she just rolled her eyes and started off in the direction he was pointing.

--

"Bones, we're here," Booth said quietly. He leaned over to shake her shoulder. "Bones. Wake up," he said lamely. He didn't want to wake her up at all. She just looked so...cute, like that; curled up in the passenger seat, head resting on the shoulder of the seat

But at least he could say he tried to wake her, albeit halfheartedly. What she doesn't know...He thought to himself smugly as he got out of the car. He rounded the front of the car, and opened her door as quietly as he could, making sure she wasn't leaning against it. He looked at her, then shot a look heavenwards.

"God help me," he whispered as he slid one hand under her knee and the other behind her back, picking her up easily. She mumbled something and Booth started. She's waking up! he panicked. Leaning forward ever so slightly, he whispered in her ear. "Sh, Bones, go back to sleep. It's okay," he said softly. It seemed to do the trick. He let out a huge breath and started up to her apartment.

On his way to the elevator it suddenly occurred to him how much she was going to kick his ass tomorrow, forget tonight. But it's worth it, he chided looking down at her. She turned slightly in his arms, pressing her face into his shoulder; her stooped to smell her hair. Yeah, it's definitely worth it, he smiled.

When he got to her apartment, he faced his first dilemma. Her keys. He remembered her putting them in her coat pocket this morning, and he hoped that they were still there. He reached a hand down awkwardly to her coat pocket, and heaved a sigh of relief when he hit metal. He looked up again, and mouthed a silent thank you, pushing the door open.

He made his way to her bedroom; the one room of her apartment he'd never been in before. He hesitated slightly at the threshold, but again looked at Brennan, and continued, taking in his surroundings. It was very much like the rest of her apartment, and her office. Dull but stylish colours, minimalist in the decorations; it had everything she needed, and nothing she didn't. It was very...Bones.

He laid her down on the bed, still holding her, a bit annoyed at having to relinquish her to the cold sheets. He flashed a look around him and spotted neatly folded pyjamas lying at the end of her bed. He paused on them for a moment, and then shook his head. He had more respect for her than that. Just barely, he thought ironically.

Sighing, he removed his arms and pulled away, only to be stopped by Brennan's grip on his arm and neck. Booth had a sudden fear that she had woken up, but quickly dismissed that, considering he was still standing, and in no physical pain. The hand on his arm moved, and he began to pull away again, when it looped around his neck, effectively locking him in place.

Booth bit his lip. "Bones," he whispered, trying to remove her hands from his neck. She pulled him downward, landing him half-sitting on the bed next to her. He pushed back the thoughts coursing through him at this moment, and focused on her; that made it worse. He closed his eyes, drawing in a few deep breaths. Okay, he thought.

Kicking himself mentally, and screaming at himself every obscenity he'd learned in the army, he moved her over slightly, earning a high-pitched grunt from Brennan. He chuckled slightly, partly from nerves, and lay down next to her.

Her grip instantly loosened. Booth leaned down to take off her shoes, and her grip tightened again. "Bones, I'm not going anywhere," he whispered directly into her ear, stroking her hair with his free hand. Unfortunately for him, she was too unconscious to notice the double meaning in his words, but still she slackened her grip. Booth pulled off both their shoes, tossing them onto the carpeted floor, then pulled his jacket and belt off in a matter of seconds, tossing them next to the shoes.

He looked again at Brennan, not believing he was about to do this. Half his brain screamed victory! while the other half screamed don't! He smiled as he looked at her face, so innocent in sleep, and hooked an arm around her waist, pulling her against him securely. He couldn't resist pressing a kiss to her forehead, before she ducked her head into his shoulder.

He couldn't remember ever being so comfortable, and he settled easily into a sleepy state. Seconds before he fell asleep, he felt movement next to him. Brennan stretched her head up so it was level with his ear.

"I'm going to kick your ass tomorrow."

Okay, so, what did you think? Press the little lilac button. Haha, just say 'little lilac' really fast, and I guarantee you'll ike the sound of it. Hehe. Anyway. Preeesssss...Prrrreeeesssss.