Okay, sorry this wasn't up last night, but I got carried away with nonsense! Kiki's back! Yay!
Anyhoo, hope you like this one! And thanks again to all my wonderful reviewers, without you, this would be really boring!
Two weeks later
BBB
Brennan bent over the bones on the table, trying to fight the exhaustion that was threatening to overwhelm her. The sleepless nights were starting to take their toll. Instead of going away, the nightmares were becoming more frequent, sometimes happening two or three times a night.
She was working more than ever, dropping exhausted into bed when she could no longer keep her eyes open, hoping she would be too tired to dream, but it wasn't working.
Rubbing a hand over her eyes, she forced herself to concentrate on the task at hand. Booth would be here any minute, and she wanted to be able to give him answers. The sooner they closed this case, the better.
"Hey, Bones." She looked up and watched her partner swipe his security card and walk up onto the platform. She took in his appearance, the crisp, charcoal gray suit, black and red striped tie, and it struck her, as it always did, just how handsome he was.
He looked at her expectantly. "So, what have you got for me?"
She shook her head. "Nothing, I'm not quite done yet. Give me fifteen minutes."
Booth looked at her, surprise evident in his features. Normally she would be finished by now, and he'd be on his way to get the bad guy. "Is there a problem?"
She glared at him, her eyes flashing with sudden anger. "No, Booth, there's no problem with the bones, the only problem is you hassling me!"
Booth flinched at her tone. "Jeez, Bones! Okay, sorry, I'll just go wait in your office." He turned and walked off.
Brennan watched him walk away, immediately regretting her outburst. What was she doing? God, she was just so tired, she couldn't think straight! Shaking her head, she leaned back over the table, pushing everything out of her mind except the child's bones in front of her.
Booth walked into Bones' office, and dropped down into her chair. Something was definately going on with her, he just didn't know what. She had been very edgy lately, even refusing to go out in the field with him for their last two cases, and she had stopped asking him if she could drive, which was definately not like her.
He had tried talking to her about it, but she either ignored him or snapped at him. Now it was getting worse, and she looked exhausted. And, the scariest thing to him was that it was taking her twice as long to do her job. What had always been second nature to her had now become a chore.
Sighing, he sat back, glancing at her computer screen. Frowning at the boring Jeffersonian logo that she used as her screen saver, he decided to change it. He had nothing else to do, he had been over the file about a thousand times, and besides, she could use some cheering up.
Fifteen minutes later, Brennan walked into her office to find her partner gleefully playing on her computer. "Booth, what on earth are you doing?!"
He looked up guiltily, pushing himself back from the desk. "Nothing, Bones." He flashed her a smile.
"Don't even think about it!" She shook her head. "Your charm smile is not going to work on me! I have important files on here, not to mention the next three chapters of my book..."
"Take it easy, Bones! I was just playing around." He almost laughed at the expression on her face. "I didn't erase anything, I promise." He stood up and looked at her expectantly. "So...were you able to match the cut marks on the bone to James Robinson's knife?"
Brennan nodded. "Yes." Picking up the file that he had laid on her desk, she sat down in the chair he had just vacated.
"Great." He rubbed his hands together. "Let's go arrest the creep!"
"You go ahead. I... I have a few things to finish up here."
"Bones, what's going on?" Sitting down across the desk from her, he leaned forward, concern in his eyes. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"
"I..." Looking into his eyes, she found herself almost telling him about the dreams. It would have been so easy to just let it out, but old habits die hard, and she hated being dependant on anyone. Besides, what would he be able to do for her, anyway? She took a deep breath. "I'm fine, really. I'm just...tired." She held up her hand when she saw he was about to argue. "I'm going to go home, I promise."
Booth nodded. He knew there was more that she wasn't saying, but he also knew she wouldn't tell him until she was ready. "You'd better." He stood up. "You know I'll check."
Brennan let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. He turned to walk out, but she called out to stop him. "Booth?"
He looked back at her. "Yeah?"
"I...I'm sorry. For earlier. I was..."
"Hey, it's okay." He flashed her another charm smile, then he was gone.
Brennan sat forward, resting her elbows on her desk and putting her head in her hands. She had to get over this, it was affecting her work and now she was yelling at Booth.
Glancing up at her computer screen, she couldn't help but smile. Flashing across the completely black screen, were white letters, spelling out, BONES, along with a skull and crossbones.
Shaking her head, she moved the mouse and the screen saver disappeared. In it's place were the words, 'Don't even think about it!' in a new word document open on the screen.
Closing that out, she decided to try to work on her book. Pulling up the file labled, accurately but uninspired, 'book', she noticed there was an extra document. She opened it cautiously. 'I mean it, Bones! Go home!'
Brennan sighed. Well, he certainly had been busy for the fifteen minutes she had left him alone! He knew her so well it was scary. She gave up, and, closing her computer down, she stood and reached for her bag and keys. Her cell phone beeped, alerting her that she had a text message. Flipping open the phone, she laughed. 'Don't make me check up on you!'
"Okay, bossy, I'm going!" 'Great, Bren, now you're talking to yourself!' Muttering under her breath about alpha male tendencies, she turned and walked out the door.
BBB
So, let me know what you think! I hope it wasn't too slow, the next chapter should be better! Musie has been a writing fool, and I now know where I'm going with this! lol!