A/N: In light of the impending angst, this chapter's a bit more fluffy. It was a lot of fun to write. : )

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! It definitely encouraged me to post this faster.

Chapter Two

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Brennan finished laying out the bones of the next Civil War soldier and found that the usual calm hadn't set in. She couldn't focus. The truth was, she wasn't okay with this new case. She remembered Booth's penetrating gaze before, and knew that he knew it too. She also knew that she needed to do this case, and she couldn't let her personal feelings get in the way. She knew that if she could solve this case, she could give this girl something she never got; closure.

She tried to focus on the bones again, measuring, categorizing, and finally identifying the owner of the remains. By the time she had finished it was after 1:00 in the morning. She told herself she'd just fill out the documentation before going home, and set to work.

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Booth's Apartment

2 am

Booth was awakened by the sound of knocking. He looked at the clock and groaned. Who could possibly be here at this hour? He got up and grabbed a t-shirt, putting it on as he walked to the door. He turned the doorknob, opened the door, and stood staring in shock for a few moments at the person on his doorstep.

"Hey, Booth." A man in his early 40's with a buzz-cut and a large grin punched Booth on the arm as he pushed past him and glanced around the darkened room. To say that Booth was surprised and somewhat angered by this man's appearance was an understatement.

"What are you doing here Sidney?" Booth asked, no small amount of annoyance present in his voice. Sidney Finch was an unwelcome reminder of his past; one he had hoped he would never encounter again. Up until that moment, Booth had thought Sidney was still with the army; a sniper like himself. Apparently, that had changed.

"Aw, come on, Booth. Aren't you happy to see an old friend?"

"Why are you here?" he asked again. It was true, they had been friends, but when Booth decided he had had enough, and wanted to leave the army, they had argued. Booth had left, and they hadn't spoken again - until now.

Sidney's face grew serious. "I left the army. Needed a place to stay, figured I'd come here."

"Why should I let you stay here?"

Sidney frowned. "Look Booth, as far as I'm concerned, all that stuff - before, that's behind us. Plus, I kinda have nowhere else to go."

Booth sighed, feeling somewhat guilty, seeing the pleading look on Sidney's face. "Fine, you can have the couch, but don't expect anything else."

Sidney's smile was back as quickly as it had gone. "Thanks Booth, I owe you one." He promptly sat down on the couch and got comfortable.

"Yeah," Booth replied unenthusiastically, "I'm going back to sleep." He walked back to his room and flopped down on the bed. He didn't know how long he lay there, staring at the ceiling before he finally fell asleep.

After that he slept restlessly, waking up at least once an hour. At 5 am he decided he might as well stay awake, and got dressed.

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Medico-Legal Lab

Jeffersonian

6 am

Technically, the Jeffersonian wouldn't be open for another two hours, but Booth knew Brennan would be there. She always got there before everyone else. He figured they could get an early start on the case; look at their options.

As he walked through the sliding doors of the lab, he looked around. Not seeing Brennan anywhere, he headed toward her office, stopped outside the window, and smiled. Brennan was asleep on top of an open file folder, a pen held loosely in her hand.

He opened the office door, walked in, and sat down in the chair in front of the desk. He nudged her gently and whispered, "Bones!" She moaned and grumbled incoherently before turning her head the other way and going back to sleep. After a couple more unsuccessful attempts, Booth figured he'd let her sleep. He grinned mischievously and picked up the folder on her desk where he knew she kept the manuscript for her newest book.

He leaned forward, elbows on the desk, and began reading, reaffirming for himself once again that the witty, handsome FBI agent Andrew Ryan, was, indeed based on him.

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Medico-Legal Lab

Jeffersonian

8:15 am

"Psst! Zack, Hodgins, come here!" Angela whispered to her two co-workers, who had just walked through the sliding doors.

Zack and Hodgins saw Angela standing outside Brennan's office, gesturing emphatically, and walked over to her. "What's going on?" Hodgins asked, noting the wide grin on her face.

"Look!" she said, giggling and pointing through the window of the office. Brennan was asleep on one side of the desk, head resting on a small stack of papers. Booth had fallen asleep on the other side of the desk in much the same position, snoring softly.

"Shouldn't we maybe wake them up?" Zack asked, looking uncertainly at the sleeping pair.

"Aww, but they're so cute," Angela cooed, causing Hodgins to wrinkle his nose in distaste.

"Yeah, I'm more of an icky, slimy, bug person," Hodgins said, "I'm not a big fan of 'cute'." Hodgins went for the handle and started opening the door.

"No!" Angela grabbed the handle too, and they both started shoving the other out of the way.

"Guys," Zack said, trying to intervene.

"Move Zack," Hodgins said impatiently, pushing him back towards Angela. Zack tripped over her foot and fell into the door, causing it to open, and all three of them fell into the room in a heap.

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Startled into wakefulness, Brennan bolted up, seeing a pile of guilty looking squints on the floor, and a yawning Booth, rubbing his eyes and looking groggy. "What's going on?" Brennan asked, genuinely confused and still feeling disoriented.

The three squints stood up, brushing themselves off. Angela sighed, "I saw you two asleep in here, I called those two geniuses over, and its their fault we kinda...fell in."

At this point, Brennan looked over at Booth, who still looked half-asleep, and noticed what he was holding. "Hey! Is that my manuscript?" She grabbed the papers out of his hands and smacked him on the back of the head with them.

"Ow!" Booth shot her a look and fixed his hair where she had dislodged it.

The squints watched the exchange and took it as a good opportunity to escape. Without any hesitation, they ran out the door.

Back in the office, Booth was attempting to use his charm smile against Brennan's scowl. "How many times have I told you I don't like people reading my work before I'm done with it?" she looked at Booth again, who was now using puppy-dog eyes on her, trying to look sorrowful. "It's not going to work, Booth!" she said, but smiled in spite of herself. She rolled her eyes as Booth smirked.

"What were you doing here anyway?" she asked, sitting down again at the desk and reorganizing the papers.

Booth shrugged, "Couldn't sleep this morning. I figured we could get an early start on the case. But then I saw you were asleep, and I figured it was as good a time as any to see what you were writing about me."

Brennan rolled her eyes again. "I told you before, Andrew Ryan is not based on you. I don't base any of my characters off of real people."

Booth just smiled irritatingly back at her.

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Booth's Apartment

Sidney sat on the couch, beer in one hand, remote in the other, with his feet up on the coffee table. The news was on, but he hadn't really been paying attention until that moment. He turned the sound up.

"...we're told his name is Sidney Finch. If you've seen him, or have any information on his whereabouts, please call..."

At this point, he had stopped listening, as they flashed his picture on the screen, the words 'soldier gone AWOL' pasted at the bottom in bold letters. He abruptly turned the TV off. Who watches the news anyway?

Questions? Comments? Ideas? The next chapter should be up in few days; its more than halfway done. : )