Author's Note: Yes, a new project. I know that I have a lot of things still on hiatus, but considering the large amount of angst I am putting out there these days, I decided that I needed some fluff to balance it out. :) This is going to be a short one of only about two or three chapters so hopefully it will be finished in a week or two. This fic takes place during season seven, before the finale. Also, there will be some references to events from Sweets' Final Thoughts, the iPad companion that Fox puts out for Bones. Nothing too major though. :)

Also, I would like to thank my friend and loyal reader Rex01 for giving me the idea for this fic. I hope you enjoy it, Rex. :)

I do not own Bones or any of its characters. Nor do I own the poem by William Blake.

Thank you to everyone who reads/follows/favorites/reviews this. It is always appreciated.

The Therapist and the Favor—Chapter One

-Tyger! Tyger! burning bright/ In the forests of the night…

"Please Doctor Sweets, my daughter can't take him, and it's just going to be a couple of days. There is no one else I can ask. Please, please take care of my Tyger."

Sweets leaned against the door frame at the entrance to his apartment. It was the weekend and the psychologist had been hanging around his place in a tee shirt and jeans playing video games when he had heard her knock at his door. His neighbor, Mrs. Ellen Barclay stood in front of him with a small kitten in her arms. Over the years he had lived in this apartment building, Sweets had become friendly with his elderly neighbor, occasionally stopping by her place for tea and cookies and sometimes helping out by doing some random chores that would have been difficult for her. She had always been cordial with him and had never actually asked for a favor in the past.

The grey and white stripped kitten in her hands mewed softly and curled up into a smaller ball. Sweets knew that she had gotten a cat about three months ago, but hadn't had the chance to see much of it. He had to admit that he enjoyed the prospect of getting the chance to spend some time with such a cute pet.

"All right, Mrs. Barclay," Sweets smiled, holding out his hands. "I would love to take care of him for you."

"Oh thank you….and please, you know that you can call me Ellen," Barclay said. "This whole thing is such a nuisance you know, having to spend two days at the hospital just so they can perform one little procedure. They are so overly cautious. Still, I really don't want to leave my Tyger alone. He loves being with people, you know."

The old woman cuddled the cat close to her one last time before handing him over to Sweets' waiting arms.

"Now, you be good Tyger, and I will be back to see you in a while," she cooed at him. "And thank you again for doing this, Lance. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't taken him."

"It's no problem," Sweets said as he held the squirming kitten. "I'll make sure to take good care of him."

"I know you will," Barclay said. "You are always such a good boy…just like my grandson, Nick. Anyway, I will see you in a couple of days. Good bye and thank you again."

Barclay tottered off down the hall, and Sweets watched her go back into her apartment before he stepped back inside and closed the door behind him. Tyger's squirming had become even more urgent, so Sweets set him down on the carpet and watched as the kitten ran off to explore his new surroundings.

'I've never taken care of someone else's pet before,' he thought to himself. As he watched the kitten dart about the floor, a sense of responsibility filled him. Ellen obviously trusted him a great deal to ask him for this kind of favor, and Sweets did not want to do anything to break that trust. That meant taking the best care that he possibly could of this tiny cat.

'Wait…I don't have anything here for a cat,' he realized. 'No food, no litter box…not even any toys.'

Sweets bolted out of his apartment, careful to shut the door behind him so Tyger could not get out, and rushed over to Barclay's apartment door. Once he got there, however, he found a note attached to the door for the landlord, letting him know the situation. Sweets tried knocking on the door several times, but got no reply.

'Is she already gone?' he wondered. 'How was she able to leave so quickly?'

Sweets pondered this for a moment more before shrugging his shoulders and walking back to his apartment. He figured that he was on his own at this point and would have to make his own arrangements.

He walked back in to find Tyger standing in the middle of his coffee table, his gold eyes wide and one of Sweets' collectible action figures clamped tightly between his paws.

"Mew?" Sweets slumped his shoulders and tried to take the figurine away, only to be met with swatting paws and nipping teeth as Tyger took his actions to mean that the psychologist wanted to play with him.

"Tyger…that is not a toy," Sweets admonished him. "I mean, I know that it looks like a toy, but it's not. I paid a lot at that one comic convention for that figure."

Sweets managed to extract the figurine from Tyger and ended up scooping up the cat into his arms. Once there, Sweets got a look at the small tag hanging from his collar.

"Tyger," he read on the tag. "Like that old poem from Blake…"

'Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright…..'

Sweets absentmindedly stroked the kitten's head as he recited the rest of the poem in his head. He had no idea that Mrs. Barclay was a fan of classic poetry and was regretting that he hadn't gotten to know her better than he already did, a situation he decided to remedy as soon as he could.

"Well for now, I need to get you some stuff so you can stay here," Sweets said as he looked down at the bundle of fur in his arms. "You think you can stay here by yourself and leave my things alone until I get back?"

Sweets then looked over at the action figure on the coffee table, and he was certain that he had his answer.

Much to his dismay.

"Good thing this place lets you take animals inside," Sweets said to himself as he carried Tyger into the pet store. The psychologist had used his laptop to compare nearby pet stores to see which one had the best selection of cat products and had discovered one that advertised itself as being "pet friendly" as well as having a comprehensive offering of cat supplies. After memorizing the address, Sweets took the cat with him to the car and drove over. Tyger spent the entire ride standing on his hind legs, staring out the window of the passenger's seat. Sweets chuckled at little at the scene, but then he began to think about the inherent dangers that the cat could face riding in the car.

'What if I were to get into some kind of accident or something. Tyger could get hurt…I need to make sure to get something to ensure his safety in the car.'

Sweets shook his head as he pulled out a cart and sat Tyger down in it. Originally, all he had thought about was some cat food, cat litter, and a couple of toys for this trip, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that there was so much more to taking care of a cat than that.

'Ellen is depending on me to take care of him. I need to make sure that I have everything. What about bowls? Or scratching posts? Just what all do I need?'

"Awww, how cute. Is he yours?"

Sweets looked up to see a young woman in a green uniform approaching him. The psychologist blushed and noticed that her name tag identified her as Susan.

"Um, no, I'm just taking care of him for a few days," he said. "Uh, Susan, right? I've never actually had a pet before, so I don't really have anything for him at my place. What all do I need?"

"Oh no problem," Susan beamed. "I can help you find everything that you'll need. Just follow me."

Almost three hours later, Sweets finally made it home with a cat carrier in one hand and a giant bag of supplies in the other. Susan had indeed been thorough in her talk with him and Sweets had learned more than he had thought possible about the different kinds of cat products out there.

'Holistic, science-based, organic, breed-tailored…I had no idea that there were so many varieties of cat food out there. Or that there were so many cat furnishings and toys crafted to every aspect of a cat's behavior patterns.'

Sweets had been fascinated at what he had learned and was eager to buy a variety of toys to enhance Tyger's playtime, but had drawn the line at buying furniture for him, even though the kitten clearly loved jumping onto the cat towers. By the time his shopping trip was finished, Sweets had started to believe that he had crossed the threshold from complete novice to savvy pet enthusiast.

The psychologist set up the food and water bowls and threw out a couple of toys onto the floor before opening the door to the cat carrier. Tyger immediately bounded out and looked up at him.

"Ok, Tyger, I got to go back to the car to get the litter," he told him. "Enjoy your new toys while I am gone…and leave my figurines alone, all right?"

The kitten continued to stare at him silently, and Sweets took the stare as a sign of attention and understanding. He went to the car and lugged the huge back of litter back into the building and into the elevator which took him back to his apartment.

When he walked inside, he found Tyger sitting on the floor in front of a small pile. He had gathered up all of his toys….including the same figurine that he had played with before. Sweets grimaced.

'Maybe if I just put it on a higher shelf….'

That evening, Sweets did some additional research online about the best ways to entertain a cat. He discovered techniques to enhance playtime and ways to make the toys more interactive with the cat. He tried a couple of these methods to create a more hunt-like atmosphere for Tyger, but the cat simply ended up staring at him with great interest instead. Eventually Sweets gave up and Tyger took that as his cue to attack the toys with even more gusto.

'Perhaps I need more practice,' Sweets thought to himself. 'I probably was too forced in my "wounded prey" act….or maybe I should go see Susan again about getting those catnip toys that she suggested.'

Sweets watched the kitten spring up and pounce on the shiny foam ball that had come from a package of assorted toys. Ever since he was a child, he had wanted a pet of his own, but had never gotten one. Eventually, he had managed to convince himself that it was for the best that he not have pets since he might not be able to take optimal care of them. Seeing Tyger run around and play on the floor reminded Sweets of that errant wish that he had had for so long.

'Maybe I should get a pet,' he told himself. 'I mean, I'm doing ok with Tyger. And Susan seemed to think that I learned quickly about how to care for pets. This could be my chance to see just how well I could handle taking care of an animal of my own.'

The therapist smiled as Tyger tumbled onto his side and clutched the ball in his paws. There had been attempts to take care of an animal in the past, including his short lived adventures with Fitz, the goat from the suspected chupacabra case and with the chinchilla he had found in his apartment. But in both cases, it hadn't worked out for one reason or another.

'But maybe a cat is the kind of pet I need. It wouldn't be the same as a goat or a chinchilla or even dogs, which I am allergic to.'

Sweets yawned and stretched. He was tired and ready for bed. Confident that Tyger would be able to take care of himself while he slept, Sweets stood up and turned off most of the lights except one small lamp in the front room.

'I know that cats are supposed to be able to see in the dark…but he is still a kitten. Chances are, he's not that good at it yet…Besides, this place is new to him. He needs a chance to get familiar with it before he has to rely on his ninja cat skills to get around.'

Sweets was about to walk to his bedroom when he felt the sharp sting of tiny claws on his leg. He looked down to see Tyger attached to his pant leg, having jumped onto his thigh.

"Mew."

"Ok, Tyger," Sweets said as he pried the kitten off his leg. "I guess you can sleep with me if you want…But no scratching the bed, ok?"

After getting ready for bed, Sweets lied down and turned off the light on his bed stand. He then felt movement on the mattress as Tyger jumped onto the bed to join him and walked around. Soon, the psychologist felt the kitten climb onto his side and curl up to lie down. Sweets was ready to move him when the kitten started to purr as he laid there.

'He's so happy there…I probably shouldn't move him. He might be feeling anxious about being away from his owner and his normal routines.'

Sweets sighed and carefully adjusted his position so as to not disturb the kitten that was lying on his side. He wasn't sure if he could fall asleep this way, but soon found himself becoming increasingly drowsy. Tyger's purring had soothed him into a relaxed, contented state. Sweets reached down and gently petted the cat's head a couple of times before settling in to sleep.

"Good night, Tyger," he whispered before closing his eyes and slumbering.