"You're losing your edge."
"No I'm not."
"Dude, you just ran your hand through your old man hair."
"That signifies nothing except thinking."
"Yeah, well, the Zack I know doesn't have to think that hard."
"Well, the Zack you think I no longer am is telling you you're wrong."
"Boys, what are we fighting about this time?"
"Hodgins thinks I'm, and I'm quoting, losing my edge. Which I'm not."
"Ange, he had to think about what 125 divided by 16 times 4 was. He's sliding downhill."
"Of course I had to think. If you had to do it we'd still be waiting for you to write it down."
"Whoa Zack! Way to burn me."
"Lighten up, Zack," Angela replied with a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm not worried, Angela. I don't need to lighten up because I am not down to begin with."
Angela sighed as he walked away to Brennan's office. She folded her arms across her chest and raised her eyebrows at Hodgins.
"What?"
"Would you go easy on him?"
"I was just telling him the truth. Face it. You know he's been a little off for the past few days."
"That doesn't mean anything, Jack. And even if it is true, making fun of him is not the way to help a guy like Zack."
"I didn't…mean it like that."
"Yeah, well, we never do," she said with the hint of a sad smile as she turned away.
"Dr. Brennan?"
"Yes, Zack?"
"I was wondering if you were busy?"
"Um," she looked down at the paperwork on her desk. "Actually, Cam wants me to finish up the papers for the two Incan mummies from a month ago."
Even though people called her dense and out of touch, she could tell from the expression on Zack's face that something was holding onto him.
"But I can use the break. Come in."
Though he'd been in Brennan's office many times, he found himself feeling oddly uncomfortable and out of place. He stood in front of her desk, his hands deep into the pockets of the blue lab coat. A few seconds ticked by on one of her clocks and he silently told himself to just explain everything to her. Maybe then, he wouldn't be about ready to explode every time someone asked him a question.
"I was wondering-."
"Bones, hey, I need you. Hey Zack."
Booth breezed in, not noticing Zack's apparent uneasiness because his mind was focused solely on the white bag containing precious doughnuts.
"Booth, Zack and I are-."
"No, Dr. Brennan. It can wait. It's nothing important. See you later, Booth."
Booth nodded his head absently before offering Brennan a glazed doughnut without a napkin.
She sighed, completely taken off guard by Zack's unusual behavior, but she placed it far back into the corner of her mind. As he'd said, it wasn't important and he didn't seem too bothered by it.
"No napkin?"
"Oh come on, where's the fun in that? The whole point is to get your fingers iced up and sweet so that once your doughnut's gone, you still have your fingers to eat."
With a shake of her head, she grabbed the doughnut, smiling as he grinned at her.
"What do you need?"
"Partial skeleton," he chewed strongly, "was dug up in Castor Cemetery."
"And?"
"And it was found while a group of guys were digging up a grave for someone else."
"Did Zack seem strange to you?"
Booth held his laugh as he got out of the car.
"Bones, Zack is strange."
"No, I mean, did he seem particularly nervous?"
"The kid's a wreck, Bones. He's too smart for his own good and has no social life beyond the guarded walls of the Jeffersonian. My guess is he's not anxious, more like, bored."
"For one, you don't know anything about his social life, and what's wrong with work being an important part of day to day living?"
"You see, Bones. This is where I come in handy. You squints…squint and stay in the labs while the outside world watches movies and plays strip poker. You need an outsider to remind you of what's beyond the 100 foot walls."
"So you play strip poker?"
"Well," he flashed her a grin, "I'm not a gambling man anymore, so no."
"Well, you said he was bored?"
"Yeah, why not?" he asked as they walked along the cemented pathway to the marked off plot.
"It's just…I never pictured Zack as being bored."
"Well, all I'm saying is maybe he's finally itching to do something…I don't know, normal."
"Normal like what? Watching movies and playing strip poker while drinking beer that's been sitting in the sun too long?"
"Bones," he paused with a raised eyebrow, "can we talk about the case? After that, I promise to psychoanalyze Zack for you."
"I don't want him analyzed. It's just...you're a male."
"I like to think so."
Brennan smiled as she slapped on her gloves.
"I meant that, as males, you have more common."
"And that's where it pretty much ends. Bones, me and Zack are like…jell-o and pudding. Made by the same company, but different in texture, color, taste, production, everything."
Brennan frowned, her mouth opening and then shutting softly.
"I know you're trying to make an allusion, but I'm failing to make the connection."
"Of course you are. Listen, I'll explain later, okay? Now can we get back to the dead skeleton lying in the dirt with no reason?"
A/N: So, boy in the refuge is temporarily done for now...considering my mind won't cooperate with the story, but while drifting off to sleep, bam-o, this thing hit me and i quickly scratched it up. lol. And no, he wasn't going to ask her out, but i don't quite know what he has hidden. so, if you guys have any ideas, you can let me know and maybe i'll be able to continue. Cheers.