Disclaimer: Flying monkeys still not going so well, so my Bones takeover will be delayed until they stop baa-ing. Not so good for silent attacks. So until then, do not own, therefore, do not sue.

"Bones!"

She didn't move.

"Bones!"

She kept typing. He was still down the hall, but for reasons beyond her he liked to announce to the whole facility he was looking for her.

"There you are!" He said it like he hadn't known she'd be sitting in her office, trying to finish her book for her deadline. Like it wasn't one of two places he'd have to check at this hour- the platform in the lab or her office.

She figured it was a male thing.

"Good morning, Booth."

He ignored her attempt at a social nicety.

"Bones, we have to get cracking on the Walker case; he's gonna walk if you don't give me something stronger. I need evidence, and I need it yesterday-what do you have?"

He strode into the room as he pronounced this, for some reason glancing at her coffee and frowning slightly, then looking expectantly at her.

Irked for no good reason other than the fact he'd overlooked her greeting, after he'd specifically told her to be more polite, she snapped.

"It's not like I can pull a bird out of a hat here Booth; there are processes and procedures that have to be dealt with, and they take time. I stayed here all night going through what we have-but until I-"

"-Wait." He interrupted. She could almost hear simmer down, Bones, running through his mind.

It was odd- she'd never been able to guess what someone was thinking before she'd met Booth. It must be a by-product of observing his interrogational style.

Fingers snapped in front of her face, directing her attention back to a grim-faced Booth.

"Bones, you stayed here all night?"

She threw up her hands, exasperated.

"Well, you wanted the evidence."

"Yeah, but you need to sleep. You get cranky when you haven't slept."

Highly insulted, she glared at him. "I do not!"

"Yeah, you do. Remember last week when you pulled that all-nighter, and then you yelled at me for breathing?"

"I did not yell at you for breathing!" She'd yelled at him for breathing too close to her when she was trying to work. There was a difference.

"Bones, you were ready to pull a Jackie Chan on me."

"Who is-"

"-You would have kicked me into next Tuesday if I hadn't taken two very large steps backwards."

She glared at him, then picked up on the glint in his eyes. Oh. He was teasing her.

He did that a lot now, and she'd noticed it had become almost a game with him to see when she would realise. Well, two could play at that.

She tried to fix a sympathetic look on her face.

"So you're afraid of me. Booth, you don't have to worry. I won't hurt you."

He stiffened.

"I'm not worried, Bones, I-"

"I mean, I know I can be a little intimating-"

"-I am not-"

"-Some males can just feel threatened by strong women." She finished solemnly, staring at his appalled face.

Then ruined it by smirking.

He glared at her. "You know, Bones, you really need to work on your sense of humour."

She shrugged, supremely unconcerned, and turned back to the keyboard, remembering too late why she'd meant to close her document when he'd walked in.

"Watcha working on?"

It was her turn to stiffen. She recognised the tone. Booth's I'm Going To Pry Information Out of You So Help Me tone.

"Nothing. Just some bone analysis notes."

"No, you're not." He sounded too casual. That was bad. Casual was very, very bad. It meant he was about to pounce.

She very slowly moved her arm towards the mouse, hoping to close the document before he saw.

"What do you mean, I'm not?"

"Because you work on your notes on Thursdays. Today is Friday. You work on your book Friday mornings, for exactly fifteen minutes."

Oh. Was she that predictable?

He must have read the look on her face, because he came around the desk and pulled her chair around to face him.

"Plus, you did the death stare. You do the death stare when you're lying."

She couldn't help laughing. "The death stare?"

"Yeah, the death stare. Almost as interesting as the I'm squinting stare, but not quite as fascinating." He grinned at her, watching as she struggled between trying not to be pleased he found her fascinating, and somewhat appalled he labelled her stares.

Then again, she did tend to label his gestures and tones of voice.

She pulled back, flustered, and hastily closed the screen, batting his hand away as he reached for the mouse.

"Hey, Bones, I wanted to read that!"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

She glanced up. "Booth, the charm smile is not an infallible weapon."

He sighed, giving up, sitting on the edge of her desk as she smothered a yawn, trying not to give in to the temptation to skull the rest of her coffee and go and order six more.

Booth was looking at her, giving her the I Find Something About You Intriguing look.

She smile tentatively, unsure of the situation.

"What?"

He shrugged.

"Just, you talk about processes and procedures and the correct order of things, and then you stay up all night to try and make them go faster."

She mimicked his shrug, trying hard not to be glad at his approval, and failing.
"I just want to close the case, Booth."

"I know." He looked at her a moment longer, and the pleased feeling in her stomach fluttered a little harder. Then he pointed a finger at her, shifting the mood.

"Well, I figured out one thing from the Walker evidence."

She frowned at the forms spread before her on the desk, perplexed.

"What?"

"Now I know why you weren't drinking decaf."

She blinked.

"You noticed I drink decaf?"

He made his of course I did wave of the hand at her.

"Sure."

She smiled at him, oddly pleased that he was starting to notice other things about her. In the last six months he'd made plenty of observations during the course of her work, but they had mainly to do with her lack of prowess in interpersonal relations, not her choice of hot beverages.

And she was noticing things about him too. He was a lot smarter than he let on. He was funny, although she was constantly trying not to laugh at his jokes. His ego was big enough already.

And he was sneaky, too, making her open up somehow, although when she tried to pin down the reasons why, she couldn't find a rational explanation that fit. Maybe if she studied his interrogation habits more closely.

Maybe it was just a sign she was coming to regard him as a good friend.

Maybe that's why she was constantly noticing things about him, and not judging or analysing. Just noticing.

Angela would have called it a break though in her people skills.

She just called it a heightened sense of observation. What she didn't know was why it was Booth that catalysed all these changes in her.

She cleared her throat, a little off-balance.

"Well, caffeine is a highly effective stimulant in short doses-however, if one over indulges the way you seem wont to do, one tends to build up a tolerance-" She broke off, embarrassed. She tended to spout facts and figures when she was uncomfortable, and usually came off distant and cold- when she was just trying to relate.

Booth just laughed. "Yes, I do have a remarkable ability to resist stimulants, Bones. And excellent use of the word wont. You do have to admit, that coffee tastes pretty damned good right now."

She smiled. Booth went with her quirks a lot more now, she noticed. He let her be who she was.

"Yeah. It does. Taste good, I mean."

He snagged it off the desk and held it aloft teasingly as she snatched for it.

"Come on, Bones, I'll buy you another six of these. We have a lot to get through."

She started to gather their case notes together, watching out of the corner of her eyes as he took a swig from her coffee, making a face at it.

"No sugar, Bones?"

"It's bad for you."

"Of course it is." He muttered, but softly, so they could both pretend she didn't hear.

He picked up of her art pieces and studied it, frowning.

He shrugged, put it back down upside down and back to front, and sauntered to the door. She smothered a smile and joined him.

He was guiding her out the door when he spoke again.

"By the way, good morning to you too, Bones."

Author's note: Hope you like. Will start writing more BB orientated stuff in the next chapter, as they near the two year mark. PS. Stephen Fry- The Man. Just so we're clear.

Thanks readers and reviewers, espec. Bellabun.