Spoilers: Meh.
Disclaimer: Mel Brooks is one of the funniest people of the twentieth century.
Author's Note: I deliberately made this snippety, almost montage-esque, deliberately. I wanted to kind of show the mundane passing of the day. So if you're annoyed by my snippet-ing, sorry! I hope you like this chapter!
A wall. Two walls. Three, four.
She looked up from her pillow and counted automatically, blinking furiously. Another nightmare? She breathed heavily; the air was thick. She was not dreaming. She forced herself to focus in the dusky grey of the room, trying to take in all her surroundings. But all she could see were the walls.
She sat up and immediately got off the mattress on the floor, barely registering the cold under her feet for fear. On her way to what looked like the door, she ran into something, eliciting a grunt. She steadied herself, reaching for the door as fast as she could, hands shaking.
As she gripped the door handle, her hands slipped off, shaking and sweaty. She wavered. She was terrified.
A hand gripped her shoulder and she spun, knocking her assailant to his knees. "Bones!" he called, sounding worried. She stared at him, shocked and disorientated. He stood up, bending down to look her in the eyes. "Bones." She slammed herself into his chest, hands gripping his shirt. He put his arms around her cautiously, one hand into her hair, one on her back. They stood like this for a few minutes before Booth spoke. "What's wrong, Bones?" he whispered.
She blinked a few times before turning around, some composure regained, and trying again to open the door. As her hand shook, Booth took it in his, leaning across and calmly opening the door with his free hand. She stumbled out the door, leaning against the outer wall, breathing as deeply as she could.
Booth followed her out slowly, not wanting to freak her out any more. She leaned against the wall, head down so that her hair fell in her eyes, hands on knees.
"Bones? You okay?" he asked cautiously after a few seconds. Brennan looked up, almost her normal colour again, and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she lied. She knew somewhere that it wouldn't hold his questions off, but she hoped that just this once, he would leave well enough alone. He didn't.
"You are not fine," he said, trying to keep his voice soft. "Bones, you freaked out in there." He pointed a hand towards the room. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Did you have a bad dream?" he asked, as if he were talking to a four year old.
She laughed at his question. "No, Booth. I just..." she looked at him and shrugged. "I don't like enclosed spaces." She turned to leave, acting nonchalantly.
"Oh my God, I'm sorry!"
She swiveled. "What? Why are you sorry? It isn't your fault," she stated, clearly confused. Booth stared at her.
"For making you come down here with me. I wouldn't have done it if I'd known," he pleaded. Brennan looked thoughtful.
"You're right; it is your fault." And with that, she set upon the stairs.
"You two are up late!" Laura called as Booth ran after Brennan into the kitchen. "I didn't see your bed, Doctor Brennan. What's going on? Where were you sleeping? And Booth." She shot them an indiscernible look, swiveling her finger between the two. "Are you two sleeping together?" she exclaimed, as if she'd just connected the dots.
Alex physically straightened in his chair across the room. Brennan glared at her, while Booth tried to decide how to react. On the one hand, it was right to be annoyed by the assumption. On the other hand, he thought it was freaking hilarious. He settled for disconcerted.
He let Brennan take over the anger.
"What? Just because Booth and I are male and female, and we work closely together, does not mean we're sleeping together!" she cried. It sounded more desperate and exasperated than it was obviously intended. She sounded like she'd been telling people for years. Well, there were a few she had been...
"I'm sorry, I just assumed when your mattress was gone...wait, then where is it?" Laura asked, now just confused and a little wrong-footed.
Brennan shot a look at Booth before making for the coffee maker grumpily. This was not a good morning.
Booth leaned over to Laura. "She's not a morning person," he whispered. Laura giggled and Booth grinned for the first time that morning. Brennan rolled her eyes at the sight, though she'd not heard what Booth had said.
"Where's the mattress?" she asked eagerly, thinking she'd made ground with Booth. She hadn't, and he didn't want to give up his hiding-place. He only winked at her and moved into the kitchen to help Brennan.
Laura looked at Alex and shrugged.
"We could play Blackjack?" Alex suggested, the deck sliding comfortably through his hands as he shuffled the cards in a gesture of second-nature. Booth stared at the cards uncomfortably, shifting in his seat.
They'd been sitting at the for about ten minutes, having eaten lunch about a half hour ago. They'd decided that they may as well eat together, because it gave them something to do. Brennan, of course, looked as if she had things she'd much rather be doing, but Booth figured that they probably involved dead people, so he left it alone.
Suddenly, though, she was animated. "Yes! Blackjack! I like Blackjack. I'm good at it," she said decisively. Laura and Alex looked a little stunned by her bluntness.
As the words clocked in the silence, Booth shook his head, holding up a hand. "No way are we playing that, Bones. No way," he finished, folding his arms over his chest. Brennan all but pouted.
"Why not? Because I'm good at it, we can't play?" she asked icily, as usual misinterpreting his words. He rolled his eyes, then focused them on her.
"No, Bones, that's not why." Alex and Laura were on full alert now, wondering what was going on. "We can't play because you cheat," he finished. Brennan frowned.
"But it isn't cheating! I told the people in the casino, but they wouldn't listen to me!" she tried, knowing she was losing the argument.
"Yeah, Bones, just before they kicked you out," he said pointedly. Alex laughed. Brennan and Booth looked at him, completely having forgotten he was there.
"She can card count?" he asked in awe. Brennan shrugged.
"Of course," she stated. Alex cocked an eyebrow. Of course?
"She's a genius," Booth said with a shrug. All nonchalance. Laura perked up.
"Really?" she asked, sounding awed as well. Brennan frowned, wondering why she was suddenly the centre of attention. Besides, this wasn't what she'd been arguing about. She hadn't finished that one yet. She figured that she may as well answer, however, if only to get them to stop staring at her.
"Yes, I am. Why does that surprise you?" she asked. Booth laughed quietly. She always managed to say the wrong thing. Laura and Alex looked slightly confused for a second. Alex held up the deck.
"What about Poker?"
"You don't want me to answer that." He sat up, drawing his legs up the couch to give her room to sit with him.
"Booth, I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't," she pointed out, handing him his coffee.
"Thanks." He took a sip. When he spoke he sounded resigned but sure. "Can you give me another question, please?" He looked so imploringly at her, that Brennan decided she'd let him have his way. Or at least let him think he was having his way.
She thought for a few seconds, blowing on her coffee. "When did you start taking me seriously?" she asked finally. Booth laughed, annoying her.
"Well, I couldn't really have taken you any other way, Bones," he said. Her question was supposed to put him off, not amuse him. But now she was put off.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, her voice raising. Both grinned, tipping his half-empty mug at her.
"Well, Bones, you're not exactly Mel Brooks," he said with raised eyebrows. Laura and Alex turned their attention away from their own conversation to hear her reaction, both trying not to laugh.
All she said was, "I don't know what that means."
Laura and Alex just stared at her, open-mouthed. Booth, on the other hand, seemed to get incredibly agitated. "Never? You've never heard of Mel Brooks? That's bad, even for you, Bones!" he exclaimed, unbelieving.
Brennan frowned. "So what, I'm an exception?" she demanded, as usual hearing the least important part of his speech. "That's bad, even for me? What's that supposed to mean?"
Laura rolled her eyes dramatically at Alex, and then they turned back to what had now been dubbed their 'in-flight entertainment' by Alex and the 'best spectator sport of all time' by Laura.
"Never mind, Bones. Never mind. Just let me do something." With that, he got up to call the agents that were doing their shopping and request some 'educational' films. Brennan turned back to her novel.
"Wow," whispered Laura, giggling. Alex joined in.
"I know. It's amazing how quickly he can settle an argument!" Alex laughed quietly. "If you were like her, I think I'd have quit a long time ago..." he teased. She hit him playfully.
"Shut up. If I were her, you'd have tried to get into my pants by now," she stated, knowing she was right. He raised his eyebrows in consideration, then nodded in agreement. They were still laughing as Booth walked back into the lounge room, his walk self-content.
Brennan ignored him and all his cockiness completely. "Dude, you look like you just ate a turkey!" Alex said. Booth shot him a skeptical look. What the hell kind of analogy was that? What the hell did that actually mean?
Turning to Brennan, he took the book out of her hands, earning a cold stare. "What now, Booth? Did you finally come up with a good comeback?" she asked, her voice matching her stare.
"I have good comebacks, Bones, you just don't get them," he bit back. If Alex was brave enough, he would have whistled. That was, indeed, a good comeback; better than he could have mustered against 'Bones'. He made a mental not to ask about that nickname later as Brennan rolled her eyes.
"I don't get them because they're stupid, Booth. They never make sense!" she defended half-heartedly. They weren't really arguing; they were sparring. Either that, or stir-crazy.
Booth grinned as he sat down again. "I know you are, but what am I?" he chanted as he'd often heard Parker say to his friends. Brennan threw her hands up in frustration.
"Booth, that doesn't make sense!" she cried desperately, knowing she couldn't win if Booth wasn't being serious. When he was, he inevitably lost. She was just smarter, simple as that. But when he was being stupid, she had no defenses. She had no clue.
Deciding to change the topic, she leaned over and tried to grab the book out of his hands. "Give me my book back, Booth," she warned. Her tone alone could have made a small child cry. Never mind her expression.
To Laura's shock, though, he smiled. "Make me," he challenged. To everyone but Brennan, they looked as if they were flirting.
"Booth," she started, staring at him, perhaps a foot away. "I will hurt you." Booth hoped it was an empty threat. She really could hurt him if she wanted to. And she looked as if she really did.
She spoke quietly, though, so Booth took it as an excuse to lean in closer. "What makes you think I won't like that?" he asked in a far too sexual whisper. Laura and Alex gawked, completely uncomfortable now. But they couldn't bring themselves to look away; it was like picking a scab.
Brennan, finally, was silent. It wasn't that she could think of nothing to say. At least thirty different comebacks went through her head in an instant.
It was the look he was giving her; the tone of his voice. He was teasing her, she knew that, but she could see the almost-hidden desire in his face. She'd seen the look on enough men's faces to recognize it for what it was. They stared at each other for a few seconds, completely having forgotten about their audience.
"Now," Booth began finally. "Can I tell you what I came in here to tell you?" he asked calmly, quietly. She rolled her eyes for the purposes of dignity, then nodded.
"As long as you give me my book back afterwards."
