Lexi woke with a start, sweat glistening off her face in the dim light of the storage closet. She felt Zach's arm resting limply around her and was automatically comforted by his presence.

Although it had been a couple weeks since the McIngsworth case, Lexi still had nightmares on occasion. She sighed gently, trying to remain still so as not to wake Zach. Aside from when they had shared a bed while undercover, Lexi had never slept beside Zach. She knew he would be worried, but failed to see how telling him would be beneficial...

Lexi didn't have to worry about this any longer, for Zach's eyes fluttered open and met hers quizzically, taken in her disheveled appearance. "Are you alright? You look distressed..." He brought a hand to her forehead, his skin cool against her hot flesh. "You're warm, but it seems to be from high heart rate as opposed to fever. Did you have a nightmare?"

She hesitated, and without even responding Zach knew what the answer would be. "Sam?"

Lexi bobbed her head gently up and down, releasing a deep breath in an attempt to cool herself down. It worked, somewhat.

Zach pulled her into his chest, her head under his chin, and she could feel him running his hand up and down her back soothingly. Lexi pushed away and smiled at him, pushing herself upwards for their second kiss.

Zach met her eagerly, and what started out as an innocent peck soon progressed into something more intense. They deepened it, arching their bodies closer to each other, barely having time to stop for breath. This went on for a minute or so, until Zach finally stopped, rather abruptly.

Lexi looked up at him, trying to meet his brown, puppy-like eyes. She couldn't, however, because they were averted, looking off into some not-so-distant corner of the closet.

"Zach?"

No answer.

"Zach..."

His only response was a sigh and a turn of the head towards her, his eyes guilty and apologetic.

"Zach." This time, Lexi said his name tersely, reaching for his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"I'm sorry..." He muttered.

"Sorry?"

"Seeing as you were previously distressed, it could alter your state of mind. therefore compelling you to do things you wouldn't do normally-"

"Zach, listen. I kissed you because I wanted to. No other reason, okay?" She assured him, her hands cradling his face in her hands and resting her forehead against his.

He smiled and pecked her lips with his. Zach checked the time. "How much longer until you think we get let out?"

Lexi rocked back and forth. "I don't know..." She blushed at the awkward, internal admission that she really, really had to pee. Zach sighed and leaned against the shelf lazily.

"I honestly don't understand why they can't just let us be..." Zach muttered, half to himself and half to his girlfriend.

Lexi shook her head. She didn't understand either, and the more she tried to, the less sense it made, so she had long since given up on that. "You know, I might have been wrong about keeping it between us. Maybe we should tell them. It would be easier you know, if they already knew about it."

The genuis contemplated and shrugged. "It's your decision. You were the one who brought up hiding it in the first place."

Lexi opened her mouth to spit back a response, but was cut off by the sound of voices and footsteps. There were three seperate sets, each with its own distinct personality. One was sharp, brisk, and deliberate, clicking with every step. The person who owned the footsteps was clearly in a hurry, but was in no way compromising themselves to take care of the task at hand.

A second set was frantic, gentle taps that seemed to be following the brisk, clicking dress shoes of the first set.

The third set of footsteps was sneakers, gently padding along and barely audible. The owner was clearly very laid back, not really caring so much about what was going on.

The voices were familiar; Cam, Angela, and Hodgins, their footsteps respective to their owners.

"You two are so childish! Locking them in a closet, honestly. Did that really seem the logical course of action?"

"Cam! I'm so sorry! We didn't plan on having them in there for that long, honestly, we were going to let them out in an hour or so, really-"

"Ange, cool it. Come on, Cam, you know they probably don't mind." Lexi and Zach could sense the amusement in the entomologists voice.

"That's enough, Dr. Hodgins!" The voices were growing louder to them, and Zach removed his arm from around Lexi's shoulder and slide a good few feet away to the adjacent corner of the closet just as there was a tinkling of keys, before the silver knob turned.

Cam peered through, taking in the sight of Zach and Lexi sitting together on the ground. Lexi pushed herself up, and ran without explanation past Cam and out into the lofty lounge of the Jeffersonian, desperate to get to the ladies room.

Zach, ever collected, stood slowly to avoid head rush and thanked Dr. Saroyan before leaving, shaking his head at Angela and Hodgins as he passed by them. He himself went to go to the bathroom, albeit in a much calmer manner.


That afternoon, Zach was examining a skeleton that had just been brought in. It was odd, partly because it was completely skeletalized, but somehow there was still a layer of some unknown grease coating the bones, preventing proper examination. Lexi was bent over the table, working on the tissue markers for Angela.

Zach swabbed a few samples from various areas of the body, placing them in plastic bags to give to Hodgins before standing to carry out said act. Lexi stopped him, however, gently taking the baggie from Zach's grasp and gingerly placing the victim's skull into his gloved hands.

"Wouldn't you prefer to see Angela and have a 'woman talk,' as Hodgins has called it, with her?" Zach inquired, looking down at the woman, confused.

She shook her head. "Listen, the last thing we want to do right now is see our best friends. Yeah, I'm close with Hodgins and you're also close with Ange, but its different. It won't be as awkward, trust me." Lexi offered that bit of explanation before they both headed their seperate ways.


Hodgins' Office

Lexi knocked on the glass door and hung her head in, dangling the bag from her fingertips.

"I've got the samples you wanted. I'm going to say it's not an organic material, considering how hard it was to remove, and the fact that it hasn't degraded too much over time." Lexi had taken several entomology classes. Of course, she was nowhere near Hodgins' calibur, but she could offer explanations for the simple things.

Hodgins peered up at her from his microscope before wordlessly putting his hand out for the bag. Lexi dropped it into his grasp and watched inquisitively as her gently tossed it aside, ignoring it completely.

"So, shorty, are you going to tell me what went down in the closet, or am I going to have to consult the security cameras?" He laughed, becoming more and more amused as he watched Lexi's face pale and then turn bright red at the thought. "Crap, there was a security camera in there? I didn't even notice!"

Hodgins chuckled, before placing a sample of grease onto a clear petri dish. "So something did happen?" When Lexi didn't respond, Hodgins shook his head. "I'm not going to check the security cameras, I'm not that much of a lurker." Lexi sighed in relief, visibly more relaxed as she leaned against the threshold.

"Besides, its hard to get access to them if you don't have the right clearance." Lexi didn't say a word. "We just like messing with you two, that's all. I know Zach would probably kill me if he could, if he knew I was telling you this, but he likes you. A lot."

Even though she and Zach were going out, Lexi still blushed as she heard this. It wasn't like she had ever completely gotten used to the idea of him liking her, and it wasn't as though they said it to each other all the time. "Oh really?" She asked, even though she knew the answer. "What makes you figure that?"

"Are you kidding? You can tell by how he looks at you; his eyes follow you everywhere, especially when we're in the field. And he's told me before."

It was in that moment, hearing that, that Lexi realized just how close Zach and Hodgins really were. "I mean, I know they live together, but I figured they had that casual neighborly relationship. You know, talking when they were taking out the trash, maybe having drinks every so often. Not that Zach drinks, but you get the point... Am I seriously explaining this to myself?" Ever since Lexi had started seeing Zach, she was beginning to question her sanity even more than normal, after being around pure logic all the time.

Lexi stood and watched Hodgins work, before he typed something into his computer and the the screen began to sort through text at a rapid rate. He raised his eyebrows at her.

"I'm only saying this because I happen to like you, Lexi. But are you aware that Angela has access to the Jeffersonian's security recordings?"

And with that, Lexi was out the door, dashing towards the artist's office, not noticing the guffaws echoing from the one she had just abandoned.


Angela's Office

Zach entered and placed the skull wordlessly onto Angela's table. She looked up from the recreational sketch she was doing and into the perplexed scientists big, brown eyes.

"Well hey there Zach. Did you enjoy your time with Lexi last night?" She asked, a grin tugging at the edges of her lips.

The man-boy pursed his lips before opening them to speak. "Angela, I have a favor to request."

"Sure, sweetie."

"I would like for you not to mention being locked in there with Lexi too much to her... I believe it would upset her." Zach stated, hoping that Angela would agree for Lexi's sake.

Angela gave a little aww before pushing her chair back and getting to her feet. "Sweetie... you really like her don't you? You wouldn't ask that just for anybody else."

Zach sighed and nodded, defeated. Angela raised her eyebrows in a somewhat knowing and sarcastic manner before turning on the Angelator/Angelatron and pressing a couple of buttons on her tablet.

To Zach's horror, a clip of him and Lexi, taken from a ceiling level vantage point, began to play. They were sitting on the floor of the closet, their bodies pressing against each other as they kissed, before Zach finally broke away as he had.

He was rigid with embarrassment, confusion, and even a bit of anger as Angela looked his way, and even more so when Lexi burst through the door, a mortified look appearing on her face as she noticed the video clip on replay.

Angela looked at the two of them skeptically.

"Care to explain?"

I suck for not updating, and then I give you this short, chapter. Oh well, perhaps what went down will make up for it? I do not plan on updating until I get 50 reviews, so ya'll better get out there! (P.S- I'm serious, but not so intensely serious that I absolutely REFUSE to update, because that's not fair to those who do review.)
~SnowKoyuki13