A/N: Please review. I had a three-hour exam today, so brighten my day! =]
Booth rolled over and picked his ringing phone off of the nightstand. The screen blinded him like the sun as he noted the caller.
"Bones?" he mumbled into the phone. "What's going on?"
"Booth?" She sounded surprised.
"Bones, what time is it?" He glanced to his alarm clock. 2:23 am.
"We have to work on the paperwork from the Carlisle case," she informed him, speaking slowly.
"It's 2 in the morning," Booth commented, still barely awake. "I think it can wait until morning."
"Okay, Booth. Bye." She hung up the phone without giving him a chance to answer. He tossed his phone back onto the table and rolled back onto his side. He tried to sink back into a comfortable sleep, but he found himself unable as he thought of her odd call.
"Brennan," she answered her cell.
"Bones! It's me." She smiled at the familiar nickname, but didn't know why he felt the need to poorly identify himself; he was the only one who called her that.
"Hello, Booth."
"Did you want to work on that paperwork?" he asked. He wasn't too eager to complete paper work on a Sunday, but he honestly missed her. He hadn't seen her since Thursday, but it felt like a lot longer.
"I think that we can wait. I have a few things I need to get done today," she told him.
"Are you sure? You seemed really eager to complete it when I last talked to you," he teased her.
Brennan was confused, but neglected to comment. "It's fine, we're almost done anyway. I'd like to go to the gym and the store for some things. Can we just work on it in a couple of days?"
Booth was disappointed, but knew he had things he needed to get done himself. "Yeah, sure, Bones. I'll see you later."
"Bye, Booth." The phone clicked off, leaving Booth more puzzled than ever. Since when does Bones ever put something off for another day? And why did she call in the middle of the night if she didn't want to do the paperwork in the first place?
Monday passed without event. And then Tuesday. Finally he got a call from Brennan on Tuesday night, telling him they would have to complete their paperwork independently and get each others' signatures. "I'm working on too many bodies from modular skeletal storage and the new intern requires my attention," she cited as her reason, yet he couldn't get over the impression that she was avoiding him.
His fears grew as Wednesday passed. The only contact with her he had was an email she sent, reminding him of their session with Sweets the next day. He was for once looking forward to it, having not seen her for nearly a week now, and then realized how pathetic that made him. But still, he couldn't help it.
"Doctor Brennan, Agent Booth, hello," Sweet greeted them. They took their seats and shared their customary 'when will this be over, not fast enough' glance before Sweets began.
"How have you guys been?" He tried to start with a neutral question, otherwise the remainder of the session would be impossible.
"Bones has been playing with her bones, I've been catching the bad guys," Booth boasted.
"How was your weekend?" he continued.
"I went to see Iron Man," Booth ventured.
"Oh, was it good?" Sweets questioned. "I was thinking about going to see it."
"It was alright. I thought it would be better, though."
Sweets nodded. "What about you, Doctor Brennan? What have you been doing over the past few days?" He noted Booth about breaking his neck as he snapped his gaze to her.
"I've been working with the new intern. He seems intelligent but absent-minded. He missed a fracture that he clearly should have noticed, but he was able to identify a rare genetic defect."
"Maybe he just needs some more time," Booth commented. "He just started."
"Possibly. Or he may be too negligent."
"Give him a chance before you write him off, Bones," Booth cautioned. Sensing the lull in the conversation, Booth volunteered more trivial information. "Parker stayed with me over the weekend. We went bowling and then to a burger place."
"Sounds like an enjoyable weekend, Agent Booth." Sweets noticed, however, that Brennan hadn't talked at all about her own weekend, not that that was unlike her.
"Booth, you know that food is loaded with fat and grease," Brennan reprimanded. "And you feed it to your son."
"He's fine, Bones. One hamburger won't kill him."
"It very well could, Booth. Some of the animals used to produce those hamburgers will develop E. Coli, and the large number of animals that go into a single hamburger exponentially increases the probability that that one hamburger could contain it."
Booth looked momentarily defenseless, but quickly recovered. "Well, we appreciate your concern, Bones. But you can't go your whole life without any meat."
"Yes, you can, Booth. Vegetarians live all over the world-" she defended.
"Anyway," Sweets interrupted. "Have you guys done anything together?"
"We haven't had time," Brennan told him.
"Nothing pressing going on in your lives?" he questioned.
"Not really," Booth said, actually being truthful for once. Other than Bones avoiding me.
Sweets sighed, realizing that he wasn't going to get any useful information from the pair. "Okay, you guys can go. I'll see you next week."
Booth and Brennan practically leapt from their seats. He opened the door and held it as she passed through.
"I still need some signatures from you, Bones. Do you want to order in some dinner and come sign for me?"
He noticed her hesitation before she decided. "Yes, that sounds nice. I'll meet you at your apartment. I have my car here."
Booth could have lifted off the ground and soared. "I'll see you there, Bones." He placed a hand on her shoulder, and saw her noticeably wince.
Whatever he did, it must have been bad.
He heard the knock on his door and yelled her in. He saw her enter and flashed her a smile. "Hey, Bones, I ordered the food. It should be here in twenty."
"Okay, sounds good." Brennan came in and sat down on the edge of his couch. He sat beside her and they assumed companionable silence.
"Are you okay?" he asked her. "You look tired." She did. She had leant her head back on the sofa and closed her eyes, her arms hanging limply at her sides.
She cracked an eye open. "I am tired. But this case has dragged on; we need to get the paperwork finished." She shut her eye again.
"And eat," he reminded her.
She made a throaty sound, and he decided to leave her alone until the food arrived.
In a rare moment of exhaustion, Brennan slept through the ringing of the doorbell and the clanging of plates. He debated if he should wake her, and then ultimately decided that she may want to eat and then head home, although it was already about 9:30.
"Bones?" he placed a hand on her leg, giving her a slight shake. "Food's here," he told her as she started to wake up.
"Not really hungry," she mumbled. "Sleepy."
"Do you want me to wake you back up later?"
"Yeah," she grumbled, and stretched out on his couch. He was honestly shocked. Not that he wasn't glad that she was getting some rest, but normally he had to convince her to go to sleep at a decent time.
"Okay," he told her, starting to eat.
He was sure now. Something was definitely wrong.
"Bones, wake up. Bones!" He shook her a little harder.
"Booth? What time is it?" Brennan sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes.
"Almost 11," he said.
"You didn't wake me up?" she wondered. "Ow."
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I got mascara in my eye," she explained, wiping around her eyes and looking up.
"I did try to wake you up, Bones. You mumbled and rolled over. You were out like a rock." She couldn't miss the worry in his tone, although she wasn't familiar with his expression.
"I'm sorry. I've just been tired. I'll sign your paperwork and go home," she said, now fully awake. She went to get up but he held up a hand. He walked over to the counter, grabbed the paperwork and a pen, and handed it to her. He watched as she signed the documents, remembering a time when she wouldn't have signed anything without checking his work first.
He caught her yawn. "You can just stay here, Bones. You shouldn't drive when you're that tired."
She looked up at him doubtfully. "I don't want to be a bother, Booth. I have an early morning tomorrow."
"I do, too," he admitted. "Meeting."
"Alright," she reluctantly agreed.
"Go ahead and use the bathroom, I'm going to tidy up a bit." He watched as she walked off in the direction of the bathroom, and wondered to himself for what had to be the millionth time what was going on with her.