THE FLU BUG

Brennan glances across the lab at Booth. She knows him well enough now to tell when something is up and right now, something is up. He seems distracted, paler than normal and he's been unusually quiet.

"Booth." She states. He looks over at her and the skeleton she's working on.

"Did you say something?" he asks.

"I was about to tell you who our victim might be." She says. "Are you feeling alright?" she asks.

"I'm fine." Booth says.

"You don't look fine."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now our victim." Brennan moves around the table as Booth walks over to her. She glances at him again and stops what she's doing. "Booth, go home." She says.

"What?" Booth is confused.

"You're sick. I don't want sick people in the lab."

"I'm not sick." Booth replies. Brennan walks right up to him and stares into his eyes.

"Glassy eyes, dilated pupils." She pulls the gloves off her hands and places one on Booth's forehead. "Fever." She then takes both her hands and places them on his face, feeling his jaw line and neck. "Swollen glands too. You, Agent Booth, are sick." If Booth weren't feeling so rotten he might have enjoyed having Brennan touch him but he knows she's right. He's been feeling off for a few days.

"Go home." Brennan states.

"I can't. The case." Booth gestures at the skeleton.

"I'll keep working on this. I can come by later with the results." She tells him. "I'm sure after a good night of rest you'll be fine." She smiles. "Go." She points to the door. Booth sighs in resignation and heads down the steps. He glances back at Brennan as he reaches the door and is surprised to see she is still watching him.

Brennan finishes her analysis of the skeleton around six thirty. She has established it is a male, aged between seventeen and thirty, approximately 6 foot two and he died from a gun shot to the back of the skull. Several other broken bones in his hands and ribs suggest there was a preceding fight. She copies the file and picks up her jacket from her office. Booth will be anxious to know the results she thinks. She hurries out the lab and to her car, noting this is the earliest she's left the lab in several weeks.

On the drive over to Booth's, Brennan contemplates whether to pick up some medicine for him. He doesn't seem like the type to be prepared. He probably doesn't get sick often. Her decision made, Brennan stops at the 24 Hour pharmacy and collects some painkillers and flu remedies. Next to the pharmacy is a little café. He probably hasn't eaten either. I should get him something. I doubt he feels like cooking. Brennan heads inside the café and picks up a couple of portions of soup. It's only as she's pulling up to Booth's house that she realises how strangely maternal she has become.

Brennan rings Booth's doorbell, balancing the box with the soup and medicine on her hip and the case file and her bag in the other. A minute later Booth answers the door and Brennan feels a lurch in her stomach when she sees him. He looks really ill.

"Booth." She gasps.

"Hey." He croaks. He has changed into black sweats and a black wife-beater vest, the dark colours enhancing his pale complexion and making him seem almost dead like.

"I take it you aren't feeling any better." Brennan makes her way inside, following Booth. Booth shakes his head and practically collapses on the couch.

"How's the case?" he asks weakly.

"I brought the file but you're not really in a fit state to look it over now." She says. "Are you hungry?" she asks as she walks into the kitchen.

"Not really." Booth replies.

"You should eat something." Brennan says. "I brought soup." She states. Booth is surprised. Bones brought me soup?

"That's nice of you but I really don't feel like food." Booth leans his head back on the couch and closes his eyes. When he opens them a moment later Brennan is standing above him.

"You're sick. You body needs nutrients to fight off the bug. You don't need to have a banquet, just a little soup." She insists. "Its country vegetable." She tells him. "And I have chicken too."

"Fine." Booth sighs and Brennan disappears from view. She reappears moments later with a bowl of soup, a spoon and a cloth. She sits down beside him and offers him the bowl. Booth looks at her, at the soup, then back to Brennan. She pushes the bowl closer to him and Booth reluctantly takes it from her.

Brennan watches as Booth takes a few sips of soup. She grows concerned when she sees his hands shaking. He's really sick. She smiles encouragingly as Booth eats half the bowl before passing it back to her.

"That's good." She says. "Now go to bed." She states as she rises from the couch after placing the bowl on the coffee table.

"But the couch is so comfortable." Booth leans to the side and rests his head on the arm.

"Bed." Brennan states. "You'll thank me in the morning." She extends her hands down and Booth grasps them as he pulls himself to his feet. He immediately feels woozy and as he wavers, Brennan slips her arm around his waist, not that she could do much if he passed out anyway. He's a lot heavier than her. Booth wraps his arm around her shoulder and together they walk through to the bedroom.

Booth collapses on the bed and rolls over, his head finding the soft comfort of the pillow. Brennan begins to fuss around him, pulling the blanket up over him and making sure he's comfortable.

"Can I get you anything else?" she asks. Booth shakes his head with his eyes closed. "Okay, well I'll clear up and head home. Call me if you need anything." She says. Booth nods but he's already drifting far into sleep.

When did I get so maternal? Brennan wonders as she cleans up the kitchen and locates Tupperware containers for the left over soup. What is it about Booth that changes me? She thinks as she wipes down all the counters. When she's done she turns her attention to the soup and puts it in the fridge. Whilst in there she throws some out of date food out then moves through to tidy the living room. Her last move is to pull the curtains shut. Before she leaves she decides to check on Booth one last time. When she walks into his room he is tossing and turning, sweating out a bad fever. She crosses to his bed and sits on the edge, placing her palm against his forehead. He's really burning up she worries.

Knowing she can't leave him like this, Brennan takes her jacket off and puts her bag down in the living room. She goes to the kitchen and fills a bowl with cold water. She then raids the hall closet and finds a cloth. Taking both items through to Booth's bedroom, she places the bowl of water on the table by the bed and dampens the cloth in it. After wringing it out she lays it on Booth's forehead. Within seconds the cloth has heated up. She repeats the process and tries to bring his temperature down.

Booth's temperature rages on through the night and well into the morning. When she realises the time, Booth places a call to Booth's boss, Cullen and explains that Booth is sick and will not be in for a couple of days. She can tell by the tone of his voice that he's wondering why she's calling and she knows Booth will probably have to answer some questions when he gets back to work about why Brennan is at his house first thing in the morning calling in sick for him. Next she calls Angela and tells her she won't be in today. Brennan purposely avoids telling Angela why because she knows Angela will make more of this than is there. I'm simply helping a friend Brennan tells herself. Instead, she tells Angela that she and Booth are working the case. Angela seems to buy it, for now.

With business taken care of, Brennan enters Booth's bedroom again. He's partially awake, his eyes barely open.

"Bones?" he asks, sounding confused.

"Yes, it's me." She says. She sits on the edge of the bed and places a glass of water by the bed. She holds two pills in her hand. "Here, take these." She says. She slips her hand behind Booth's neck and lifts his head up. He swallows the pills and sips the water before lying back down and closing his eyes. Brennan brushes her hand through his hair before leaving him to sleep.

By the evening, Brennan is exhausted. She hasn't slept in two days and between looking after Booth and working on the case via computer link with Zach, her mind is exhausted. Sitting on Booth's couch, Brennan flicks on the television and catches up on world news. In the darkened room her eyes begin to drift shut. She adjusts her position so she is almost lying on the couch and she rests her head on a cushion on the arm of the couch. An hour later she is sound asleep, the late news quietly playing in the background.

Booth wakes up and realises for the first time in a few days he doesn't feel completely awful. His head is still thumping and his throat feels scratchy but his fever is gone. He has strange memories of Brennan looking after him. He wonders if it was all in his imagination. It wouldn't be the first time. Feeling sore and achy, he needs to stretch so he crawls out of bed and stands up. Padding through the living room to go to the kitchen for water he realises it wasn't a dream. Brennan is lying asleep on his couch with a folder open in her arms and the TV on a news station, the light illuminating her face. She was taking care of me he smiles.

Booth watches Brennan sleep for a few minutes. She looks so peaceful he doesn't want to wake her. Lifting the file from her hands he grabs the blanket off the back of the couch and drapes it over her. She took care of me, I'll take care of her he smiles to himself. After putting the TV off he goes and gets his water then goes back to bed. He is still very tired and weak and the movement has exhausted him.

When Brennan wakes a few hours later she is confused. Firstly she is on a couch and it takes a moment for her to remember she is not in her own home but at Booth's. She remembers she was watching TV but the TV is now off and the file she had been reading is neatly on the table. As she sits up she realises a blanket is covering her. Booth she sighs. She pulls the blanket off and gets to her feet. Padding through to his room she finds him asleep. He looks a lot better than he did yesterday. His complexion has regained some colour and he no longer has a fever. As she stands with her arms folded and watches him, his eyes open and a smile tugs at his lips.

"Hey." He says quietly.

"How are you feeling?" Brennan unfolds her arms and crosses the room to stand next to the bed.

"Better." He replies.

"Good." She replies as she rubs her temple. The lack of sleep has given her a headache.

"Have you been here since yesterday?" Booth asks as he sits up a little.

"You were really sick." Brennan states. "I didn't think you should be alone." Booth gestures for her to come closer so Brennan steps over and sits on the edge of the bed.

"Thank you, for looking after me." Booth says, focusing on her eyes.

"It was nothing." Brennan says as she sniffs.

"Bones, are you sniffing?" Booth asks.

"No." she replies.

"You know, my flu started with a headache and a sniff." Booth smiles. "Maybe you caught my flu bug." He grins.

"I have not caught your cold." Brennan rises and heads for the door. "Since you're feeling better I should go." She says. "I left the case file on the table for you to look at. I'll be at the lab if you need me."

Later that afternoon after Booth has showered, he flicks through the file and picks up his phone, calling the lab to talk to Brennan. Angela answers her phone.

"Hey Booth." She greets him cheerfully.

"Where's Bones?" he asks.

"I sent her home. She's sick." Angela tells him.

"She is." Booth grins.

"Yeah, I heard there was something going around. She might be out for a few days." Angela explains.

"Really. I should probably stop by to ask her these questions then." Booth grins. Angela then remembers something that makes her curious.

"Booth, you were sick a few days ago weren't you?" she asks. She had seen Brennan order Booth home then she didn't appear at work the next day, giving her some story about her and Booth working out of the lab on the case.

"Why'd you ask?" Booth asks Angela.

"Brennan caught her cold from someone." Angela suggests.

"I'll see you later Angela." Booth doesn't give her an answer.

"Bye Booth. Oh and tell Brennan I said hi."

Booth rings Brennan's doorbell an hour later. She answers with a tissue in one hand, her eyes red rimmed and her face pale.

"I brought soup." Booth grins and holds up a Tupperware container of the soup Brennan brought over for him. Brennan stands aside and lets Booth in. "So you didn't catch my flu bug huh?" he grins as she closes the door behind him.