A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who is reading this story - I'm so happy that people are enjoying it as much as I am writing it! A special thanks to Elvawen, angel6 aka trinigyal, estelsphere, bandbfan24 (bandbismut!), kickstergal, jess.stretch, Serendipity73, jemb, standing-in-the-doorway, Alphie13, statler, fbiwoman223, bb-4ever, EternalConfusion, and HolidayArmadillo for reviewing! It means so much to me!

Special A/N: Special thanks to my buddy, Bellabun, for being so wonderful! Without you this story would never be posted! ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones, please don't sue… I know you love me…


CHAPTER TWO

Temperance had snapped the lock shut on her suitcase moments before she heard the familiar sound of knocking from her door. Though it was morning, it was still quite dark out and not even the birds were up to sing their happy songs.

"I'm coming." She called to the door, taking one more glance at her luggage. Both she and Booth would be carrying one duffel bag each of supplies, and each had a large camping backpack.

Brennan opened up the door to see Booth standing there with a tray of Starbucks in his hand. "Good morning" he said with a smile. She reciprocated and watched him enter the apartment.

"My stuff's in the car. So you're all packed?" he said as she graciously took a sip of coffee.

"I'm all set. We should probably head out now so we don't get stuck in the lineups." She said, lifting up her huge backpack and slugging it onto her back.

"Here, let me get that." Booth said, thrusting his hand out for her duffel bag.

"Booth, it's fine, I've got it." She said, making it to the duffel before he could.

"Come on, Bones, humor me. Every now and then you've got to –" his words were cut off when Tempe stumbled backwards from the uneven load. Booth tried to steady her, but it was too late. She caught her balance just as the lid came off the coffee cup and the dark liquid splashed against her chest.

"Ow!" she shouted, along with a string of muttered obscenities. She flung the backpack off.

"Bones! Bones I'm so sorry, are you hurt?" Booth said, clearly very worried for his burnt partner.

"That's so hot!" she hissed as she turned her back on Booth and peeled her t-shirt off. She walked to the bedroom to get a new shirt, clad only in her bra, and was completely oblivious to the shocked expression on Booth's face gaping behind her.

"Yeah… hot." He managed.

She emerged a few moments later, free of any Starbucks-induced stains, and saw Booth standing by the door with both of her bags. She rolled her eyes at his persistence and then smiled at him.

"You sure you're okay?" Booth asked as they entered the elevator.

"I wasn't burnt so badly, it's nothing some SolarCaine can't relieve."

Booth chuckled and Brennan turned to him, "What's so funny?" she asked.

"Oh nothing… it's just, I was supposed to keep you from getting hurt and we're not even at the airport yet and you've already managed to injure yourself."

"Well if a certain someone hadn't gone so alpha male…"

"Sure, Bones. Suuuure…" he said as they made their way to his black SUV. The sun was just rising up over the horizon and its warmth already danced upon their skin. They had a feeling that this would be one of many sunrises they'd be sharing together.


"Gate 257. This is us." Booth said triumphantly, setting his camping backpack down in one chair and sitting next to it.

"Good timing." Brennan agreed, finding comfort in the not-so-comfortable seat beside him. The gate was quite full and there was no end to the diversity of people around them. A few children were running up and down the aisles near the windows, pointing at all of the airplanes. There were older couples sipping drinks, a few single riders with their beloved iPods, and a wide variety of other passengers who were seemingly buried in their interesting articles and books.

Booth put both of his hands behind his head and stretched out with a yawn. "So Bones, tell me about this tribe that we're going to be 'studying'" he said with air-quotation marks.

"Well, they go by the name Effetis and have been in existence for centuries. Their population consists of approximately 150 men, women and children and they are all governed by a man named Menihau – their leader. Their culture is inherently ritualistic and their customs are derived from other tribes in the area that have been in existence for even longer."

"What kind of customs?"

"Religious rituals – they worship a variety of idols – feeding rituals, individual roles in society, that type of thing."

"So you take notes on all of that stuff, and then we head back home?"

"Well, yes. But it will take time for them to adjust to our presence. I mean, how would you like it if a stranger all of a sudden came and watched your every move?"

"Yeah that makes sense. It's actually kind of interesting…" Booth said quietly.

"Thank you." She said with a smile. She loved having her work recognized as being interesting, especially by someone like Booth. She'd never been sure why she cared about his opinion, but to her it meant more than it probably should.

They stared at each other for a moment, before Brennan looked away when she heard a loud voice come over through the speakers. "Flight 257 to Cape Town, is now ready for boarding. Please present your ticket and passport to the agent at the gate, and have a pleasant flight."

Booth was still studying her face, but was pulled back into reality as she stood up and picked up her bag. "You ready?" she said, motioning to the gate.

"Plane rides are nothing, it's the 19 hour bus ride that's got me worried." He said with a smile.


Brennan lead the way towards their seats, twisting slightly to make sure her bag didn't smack into any of the other passengers. When they reached the seat, Brennan felt two hands on her back. She turned her head slightly to see Booth coaxing her backpack off her shoulders, saving her from having to do so herself.

"Uh – thanks." She said, sitting in the seat as Booth put his bag in as well and shut the overhead compartment. "Window or aisle?".

"Welcome aboard Flight 257 en route to Cape Town. This is your Captain speaking, and I ask that you please draw your attention to the safety pamphlets located in…."

The captain's voice crackled on for what seemed to be an eternity as Brennan stared absently outside her window in the large airplane. Luggage transporters moved back and forth with their large vehicles along the runway, and workers in reflective jackets motioned to pilots with their orange batons. It was still quite early, but the airport was buzzing with activity as if it were the middle of the afternoon.

She pressed her cheek against the cool plexiglass and closed her eyes in exhaustion. Brennan had been putting in extra hours at the lab in preparation for her absence, and with the added affect of this morning's airport adventures – she was very tired.

Brennan glanced over at Booth, who seemed to also be feeling the mind-numbing affects of the purr of the airplane. Slowly making their way along the tarmac, Booth shifted his head against the polyester headrest and looked over at Brennan.

"Afraid of flying?" he asked as the plane started to slowly pick up speed for their ascent.

"Not really. Statistically speaking it's 50 times more likely to die in a car crash than in a plane crash." She replied mechanically, slowly taking her eyes of the window.

"Nice, Bones. Nice." Booth said with a slight grimace. Their bodies jolted slightly as the wheels left the tarmac and tucked up under the plane.

"Well, it's true. Did you know that the number of airplane related fatalities decreased 35 percent in 2005?" Brennan said. An elderly woman sitting on the other side of Booth looked over at Brennan incredulously with wide eyes. Booth just rolled his eyes and gave an apologetic look to the elderly woman.

"Hey Bones, wanna keep it down before you scare the nice passengers?" Booth said quietly to Brennan, slightly tilting his head in the direction of the woman beside him.

"Why would that scare passengers? I said the number of deaths decreased, not incre—" Brennan's words were cut short as the plane shuddered and shook. Booth could hear Brennan's sharp intake of breath at the unsettling movement, and watched as she gripped the armrests tightly.

"This is your captain speaking, it seems we have encountered some moderate turbulence. Please keep your seatbelts fastened."

Just as the captain finished speaking the plane rocked again, resulting in the audible gasp from many other passengers. In an act of impulse, Booth pried one of Brennan's white hands from the armrest and gripped it tightly with his own. He hated so much to see her frightened.

Brennan glanced down at their intertwined hands and then glanced back down at the floor. "I'm not scared." Brennan said mechanically.

"Nope. Me neither."

"Good."

"Excellent." Booth said with a smirk, clearly Brennan was anything but calm.

"Wonderful."

The plane shuddered for a final time and then floated smoothly for a full minute before the captain's voice thundered over the speakers. "We're sorry, ladies and gentlemen, for that patch of turbulence. We seem to have cleared it, and the seatbelt sign will be turned off shortly. Thank you for your cooperation."

Booth could feel Brennan's grip loosen on his warm hand. They sat there awkwardly for a moment, before Brennan slowly retracted her hand and placed it back in her lap.

"Thanks for distracting me." She said with a slight smile.

"I'm happy to be your distraction." Booth said, waggling his eyebrows. Brennan rolled her eyes and rested her head against the headrest.

Booth leaned down and rummaged through his carry-on for a moment, resurfacing with a crinkly bag. He opened it with a pop and dug his hand inside. "Gummyworm?" he offered, extending the bag.

Brennan grinned and accepted his offer. "I didn't really take you for the Gummyworm type, Booth."

"Yeah well I didn't really take you for the Foreigner type, and look how that turned out." Booth pointed out, causing Brennan to involuntarily laugh. She popped a red worm into her mouth and looked out the window.

"So tell me again where we go when we land?" Booth asked, between bites of his green worm.

"The coach driver will be waiting for us at the gate, then we get on the bus to the village. That should take about 15 hours, so we'll have to make a stop along the way."

"Sounds good. A check was run on the driver, and he was clean."

Brennan ignored his statement. "Once we reach the village, we'll sit down with the Leader and then start the research –" In the midst of her explanation, Brennan let out a tired yawn.

"Sleepy, Bones?" Booth asked, noticing how adorable his partner looked when she was tired. He then quickly forced that adjective from his mind, certain that she wouldn't be very happy with her 'adorable' image.

Brennan nodded her head against the headrest. "You should get some sleep." Booth suggested, tucking his bag of gummies into the seat pouch.

"Not a bad idea." Brennan agreed, propping the tiny white airplane pillow against the window. "Wake me if you need anything."

"Oh I've got lots to keep my busy…" Booth lied as Brennan closed her eyes. He eyed the security pamphlet warily, extracting it from the pouch in an attempt to keep himself entertained.

What seemed to be ages later, when in fact it was probably only 15 minutes, Booth heard Brennan's breathing become even. He looked over at her expressionless face and smiled to himself.

He was guided out of his reverie as he heard the scratchy voice from the elderly woman beside him. "Your wife can have this blanket if she wants. The attendant gave me two." She said, handing the green blanket to Booth.

"Oh, she's not my wife" Booth said quickly, "And thanks for the blanket."

"Sure thing, honey." The woman nodded knowingly.

Booth draped the blanked over Brennan and tucked it around her tiny form. Just then, Brennan's head tilted downwards and her body swayed towards his. He sat in pleasant shock as Brennan's head finally found its place on Booth's shoulder.

Booth wasn't sure whether or not to coax her back over to her own side, but ultimately gave into the pleasure that her close proximity gave him. Instantly comforted by her position he, too, closed his eyes and gently laid his head atop hers. Allowing sleep to overcome the two unlikely travelers, the plane continued on through the bright blue sky on its way to Africa.


Brennan slowly began to regain consciousness several hours later. Still groggy with sleep, she snuggled her face into what she thought was a pillow.

Enjoying the naivety of sleepiness for several seconds more, she slowly realized that it was not, in fact, a pillow, but her partner's shoulder that her head was resting upon. Her body instantly tensed up as she realized her vulnerable position.

Feeling Booth's warm exhale on her scalp, she realized that she was not the only one who had 'shifted' during sleep. Booth's head was resting peacefully on top of Bones'; their bodies only separated by the unforgiving armrest.

Brennan knew that she should feel wildly awkward, but she found their position enthrallingly comfortable, to say the least. Rationality quickly took over, however, as Brennan started to pull away her head slowly – as to not wake Booth.

Removing her head from the crook of his neck, Brennan watched as Booth started to wake up. His eyes fluttered several times, as if deciding whether or not to join the conscious world. He rubbed a hand across his eyes and his head drooped again, lolling from side to side. Brennan had to literally almost stifle a laugh – who would have known that such a tough FBI agent would be such a childlike sleeper?

Booth's head drooped to his right side, quickly finding its home on Brennan's shoulder. Her eyes widened at the action, and quickly darted around to see if anyone else had witnessed the past few minutes' events.

Come on, Booth… she thought to herself, slowly putting her hand on his head to move it back on his own side. This act was successful for only a minute, before his head came back down against her shoulder. She could feel him mutter something against her arm in his sleep, which she found strangely endearing. Giving up, Brennan smiled to herself, enjoying the warmth of his close proximity, and gazing outside the window at the endless blue ocean.

A half an hour later, Brennan felt the familiar mumblings of Booth against her arm. She turned her head to look at him as he started to shift around. Though Brennan couldn't see his eyes open, she knew he was awake judging by the way his body immediately tensed up. He sat there for a few seconds before prying himself off of her and wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"Whoa. Sorry about that." He said, trying not to be too embarrassed at the amused look on Brennan's face.

"You're a pretty heavy sleeper. Impressive." She said, finding his boyish self-consciousness rather charming.

"Yeah, you're pretty cute yourself." He added, waggling his eyebrows.

Now it was Brennan's turn to feel embarrassed, "Oh, did I --?"

"Yup." Booth replied, "Wouldn't have taken you for the snuggling type, Bones." Booth delighted in the shade of red that Brennan's cheeks immediately adopted.

Brennan opened her mouth to make some kind of excuse or comeback, but found herself at a loss for words.

That is, until she glanced down at her shoulder to see a dark blotch of fabric where Booth's face had rested against, "Wouldn't have taken you for the drooling type, Booth."



Gotta love those awkward travel moments! Please review and then I'll post more if you want it!