WHEN FLU BUGS BITE by: Arianna Malone

Disclaimer: I have only borrowed the characters Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth. I do not own either of them. All I did was ask if the three of us could hang out for a while. I'll see to it that they make it home safely to their real owners – Josephson Entertainment and Far Field Productions in association with Twentieth Century Fox Television.

A/N This story is fluff, nothing but fluff. I am living by my credo "Plot? I don't need no stinkin' plot." If you are hoping for a case story, you have come to the wrong place. If you want realism, well…you'll probably be disappointed as well.

Chapter 2: Seeley Booth Takes Stock

Seeley Booth was late…he was very, very late. When he finally finished the paperwork for returning the rental car, he had to dash for the airport check-in. Granted, it was a tiny airport (he'd been lucky that the car rental place had actually been located on airport property), and there was only so far that he could dash. With only carry-on items, Seeley made his way to the gate, flashing his badge, flashing charm. With only seconds to spare, he managed to make his way onto the jet before the cabin was sealed for take-off.

God, he hated travel.

Bones was in her seat and, unless she was faking it, she was already dozing. He settled himself into his seat, across the aisle from the forensic anthropologist and strapped in for the brief flight to Chicago's O'Hare airport. Because of their location – B.F.E., Wisconsin – Booth and Brennan were required to layover somewhere before they could reach their final destination. Thankfully, the flight they had gotten was one with only a single layover. One of the other, less appealing options was a flight plan that would have had them stopping in three different cities before arriving home in DC.

Thanks, but no thanks, thought the agent. He wouldn't have been that desperate to get home.

Now that he was settled, and the flight attendant had finished illustrating the safety procedures, Booth leaned over to tap Bones on the shoulder.

There was no reaction.

Booth poked at her arm again and earned a muttered response of some sort – he was pretty sure it wasn't English. On the third try, as he jabbed her a little harder than necessary, Brennan finally opened her eyes and looked at him.

Actually, it wasn't so much a look as it was a scowl.

If looks could kill Agent Seeley Booth would have been vaporized before you could say "What's that mean?"

Before he got a word out, Brennan said "Nice of you to show up."

Then she closed her eyes, and pretended to go back to sleep.

He was pretty sure that she was pretending.

What the hell had gotten into her?

Not wanting to risk getting his head chewed off by the woman across from him, Booth began to mentally review the past week.

He'd been given this case, and had been told to utilize Dr. Brennan as necessary.

He'd gone to the Jefferesonian and had broken the news that he was taking her way from her work once again.

She grumbled about it, once again.

Dr. Goodman had ordered her to work with the FBI and with Agent Booth…once again.

Like all the other cases that they had worked on, Brennan seemed to get over the fact that she was losing time for her 'real' work at the Jeffersonian lab.

She tormented him and made him lose his appetite over lunch by telling disgusting stories about her work with human remains.

He retaliated by talking her into bar-hopping three nights in a row. He knew she hated crowds with a passion. He also knew she couldn't resist being in on the action of talking to the college students and gathering clues.

She had taken it out on him by ruminating on the cultural implications of college student drinking habits.

He had evened the score by flirting a little bit more than absolutely necessary with the pretty little co-eds.

In the end, they got their man, and wrapped up the case in a neat, little, prosecutable package.

That's when things had gotten strange. And, with Brennan along for the ride, that was saying something. She didn't do normal so well on a good day.

In the past, once the case was wrapped up, both agent and anthropologist would find a hole in the wall bar and unwind from their work. It was rare for either one of them to discuss the case, but it was nice – at least Seeley had thought – to have someone around while he processed the violence, the insanity, and the sadness of the human race. It was companionable.

Last night, though, she had completely blown him off. She'd said she was tired and just wanted to go back to the hotel. Disappointed – and hating that she could affect him to that degree – Booth dropped Bones off and went out by himself for a while.

It wasn't the same.

So, he went back to his room, and tried to go to bed early. In the end, he fell asleep after one o'clock, in the middle of an episode of Cheers.

He was up by six, went for a run, and then received a call from the chief of police. She needed him to go over just a couple of things before he left.

So, he did what he generally did when he worked a case with Bones. He called her so that she could come along for the ride. Bones always wanted to tag along. She had a bizarre fascination with crime solving.

A little voice in the back of his head suggested that he had a bizarre fascination with her bizarre fascination.

"Oh, shut up." He mumbled. When Booth heard his own voice – out-loud – he looked furtively around to see if anyone had witnessed his lunacy. Talking to oneself in public was such a bad idea. He reined in his errant thoughts and got himself back on track.

So, Bones always wanted to tag along. Only this morning, she had snarled at him; she didn't want to go. Figuring that she wasn't a morning person, he counted off ten seconds, waiting for her to wake up, to change her mind, to be delighted at being included in the world of law enforcement.

She never did change her mind. Ten seconds is a long time, and Booth was surprised when there was no response to the silence on his end. Finally, he suggested that they meet at the airport. Bones grunted at him, actually grunted, and then hung up.

What the hell did that mean? Was he supposed to translate that grunt into actual English? Was it a yes? Was it a no? What the hell was up with her?

As the plane began its descent, Seeley realized that his review of the case had gotten him no where. Bones' behavior was still a mystery. And, he decided, he was kind of annoyed. No, make that really annoyed. They were friends, kind of. No one should treat their friends like this.

His mental grousing continued as people passed him by to deplane. Temperance hadn't stirred. Obviously, she was really committed to playing 'possum. That was yet another annoyance. Once the plane cleared out, Booth stood up. He put his hand on Brennan's shoulder and shook her.

"C'mon Bones. It's time to get up." He scolded her roughly. Her head lolled over and came to rest briefly on his hand before Temperance completely returned to consciousness. In those few seconds, Seeley Booth both solved the mystery and began to mentally kick himself. Bones wasn't sulking. She was sick.

TBC…