Post – Mummy in the Maze

Booth glanced at Brennan's appearance in the rearview mirror. The adrenaline had faded and she looked slightly tired, but there was that slight glow of accomplishment he only recognized because he felt it himself. Wong Foo's takeout sent a mouthwatering aroma through the car and his stomach rumbled. Brennan glanced at him.

"You know your stomach growling from the smell of food is a conditioned response? The olfactory stimulus indicates the reception of food and therefore your stomach growls as an indication of your hunger, you might find yourself salivating a little more than usual as well."

Booth grimaced.

"That's great Bones."

She nodded her head and smiled, satisfied. Booth didn't even bother telling her he was being sarcastic.

Brennan unlocked her front door and indicated that Booth go in before her, then bent to pick up her bag. She wasn't aware of Booth's lingering gaze on her rear. The fact that he sauntered into her house like he owned the place didn't irk her nearly as much as it did before. Besides, she got back at him by walking into his office like she owned it. She knew it especially bugged him when he was working overtime. It was childish actually, to purposely annoy him, but she so enjoyed it.

"Booth I'm going to change into some more comfortable clothing, you can use the guest bathroom to clean up."

Booth grinned at her

"Thanks Bones."

She nodded and walked into her bedroom where she quickly pulled off the constricting Wonder Woman costume. Brennan pulled a brush through her hair, washed her face, wiped the dirt from her arms and legs with a washcloth and was in the process of pulling on a comfortable pair of sweatpants when she heard a loud bang in the living room and Booth's grunt. She smiled, amused. Booth had probably tripped over one of the file boxes she had on her floor from some of the bones from limbo. She walked out with a smile, fully expecting a lecture on keeping her things out of the way, regardless of the fact that it was her place. Then she saw him. He lay still on the floor and blood colored his chest. Fear plunged an icy dagger into her chest and she rushed towards him, putting pressure on where she assumed the wound was, surprised that his blood was so cold, it should have been much warmer. Before she could process that thought though, she was digging in his pocket for his cell phone when he grabbed her wrist and sat up.

Booth grinned at her expression of disbelief. Her hand remained in his pocket and he glanced down at it before looking up at her again.

" What, are you trying to cop a feel?"

Her expression was blank.

Booth tried to hold back the laughter, but his attempt failed when an obnoxious snort escaped from his lips. He watched as her eyes slowly narrowed and turned dark with fury. Oh he was in for a hell of a beating. He wasn't prepared for the punch to his jaw and he was lucky to catch the second punch before she decked him again.

"That was not funny Booth!" She hissed at him.

Booth held her arms down as she struggled to free herself.

"It was a joke! I didn't even think you'd fall for it!" He was laughing now and she was flushed with anger.

" You scared the hell out of me! I thought you'd gotten hurt! After what we'd just been through you thought it was funny to pull something like that?"

Booth held up his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay geez I'm sorry. Simmer down Bones it was ju-"
"Don't tell me to simmer down Booth!" She lunged at him again, this time knocking him on his back. He figured he wasn't going to piss her off any more so he tugged her down onto his chest and smeared the fake blood from his wound on her clothing. He was so terribly mistaken. The sound of fury that escaped her was enough to scare a grown man and if Booth hadn't been laughing so hard at the moment he would have heeded the warning. The punch to his gut made him grunt and he released her so she could roll off him and stand. Before she could storm off though he had grabbed her ankle and tripped her so that she was on the floor again. The anger faded as quickly as it came and Booth was relieved to see her lips twitch and finally break out into a smile.

"You're acting like a stupid child Booth."

"Happy Halloween Bones."

Booth sat up and pulled her by her leg until she was next to him.

"You still wanna be my partner right?"

"Only to exact my revenge."

"Sorry Bones, I don't scare easy."

"You sure were jumpy around the robotic clown Booth."

"Hey, I didn't squeal over a room full of snakes."

"That was an unexpected stimulus Booth! It is natural for a human being to jump away from a snake because they pose a natural threat!"
"Yeah, so? Same with the clown."
"Not at all, clowns don't pose a natural threat to humans, only in horror movies."
"The clown I shot tonight sure as hell posed a real threat!"

"But that was only one instance Booth."
"Okay Bones, I see what you're doing. You know I'm right but you just can't take that so you're making stuff up so that you can feel better about being wrong."
Brennan looked incredulous.

"No! I am right, you have an irrational fear."
Booth shook his head.

"Then you do too, those snakes weren't poisonous, they didn't pose a threat to you."

Brennan was starting to get riled.

"But they were symbolic of something that threatened ancient and even modern cultures Booth, your clown fear probably came from some horror movie, which is completely irrational."

"What? No it's not!"

"Yes it is! Horror movies are fake, they aren't real."
"Ugh Bones, you can be so irritating and self righteous sometimes you know that?"
"You're angry because you know I'm right." She had a satisfied look on her face now.

"You know what? Forget it okay? Let's just eat." Booth tugged his fake bloodied shirt off and pulled on a fresh T-shirt that he had stashed in his FBI bag. He didn't notice Brennan's quick appraisal of his torso.

Booth looked over at Brennan who was still sitting on the ground, a frown creasing her face and the fake blood staining her shirt and a bloody fingerprint on her cheek. He chuckled and hauled her up

"Looks like you'll have to change again."

"Which wouldn't have been necessary if you weren't acting like such a child."
"Hey, I never would have gotten any on you if you hadn't punched me."

"You're very immature Booth." She said as she disappeared into her room.

Booth had just finished putting the food out when she returned. The bloody fingerprint still remained on her cheek.

"You missed a spot."

He took his thumb and rubbed at the spot, not realizing the inappropriateness of his action. Brennan wasn't really paying attention and she rubbed absently at the spot while looking at his abdomen.

"Checking out my abs Bones?"
"You're bleeding."
Booth glanced down at his stomach.

"Stupid clown."

Brennan walked around her counter to rummage in her drawers and came to him with two butterfly bandages and a wet cloth.

"Here, I'll just patch you up."

Booth lifted his shirt and watched amused as she awkwardly but gently cleaned the blood from his wound and took two butterfly bandages and pulled the wound closed.

"I think I have some gauze or a bigger bandage to cover that."

Booth nodded and waited as she rifled through a drawer.

"Here," she smoothed it over his hip and he jumped at the swipe of her fingertips over his skin.

"Sorry! Did I hurt you?"

"What? No, thanks Bones." He let his shirt fall.

"Why don't we eat now." Brennan said and plopped wearily into a chair.

"Sounds good."

A/N: I had previously published this story on my LJ and now I decided to publish it here as well. This is a one shot. Enjoy!