Nearly three hours later, Booth's boredom was being satisfied only by the fact that he could now stare at Brennan without her conscious awareness. It had only taken a few short minutes for his eyes to adjust to the darkness in the SUV and Brennan's pale face was easily discernible. The only sounds were of the storm outside and his partners soft breathing. The soothing sight of her sleeping face and the sounds of her even breaths were enough to lull him into a daze but he shook his head, trying to snap himself out of it.
He eyeballed his wristwatch, realizing it was about time to wake Brennan up and take his turn sleeping. Still, it was rare that he got the chance to see his partner so vulnerable and uninhibited, so he delayed waking her up another minute or two. She was a surprisingly quiet and peaceful sleeper. Her hands were curled under her and her features were completely relaxed in a neutral expression. Booth reached out and rested his fingers on her cheek then her forehead, checking her temperature. She still felt reasonably warm. He allowed his fingers to linger on her face a little longer than necessary.
A huge yawn split his face and he realized he'd better wake her up before he too fell asleep and put both their lives in danger. Regretfully, he placed his hand on her shoulder and gently shook her.
"Hey Bones," he whispered, leaning in. "Wake up, it's been three hours."
She mumbled something incoherent and shifted slightly but otherwise, was without response.
"Come on Bones..." Booth said louder, giving her a more persistent shake. "You gotta get up now."
Slowly, her eyes opened and she hauled herself into a sitting position, the blanket falling off her shoulders. Booth watched as she rubbed her eyes with her fist, much like a child would, then blinked blearily at him. It seemed to take her a minute to collect her thoughts and remember where she was.
"You awake now?" Booth asked her.
"Yea," she responded groggily, her voice even smokier than usual.
Trying not to appear too obviously enraptured by Brennan's sexy just-woke-up countenance, Booth quickly reclined in his chair, turning the opposite way.
"Guess it's my turn then," he said hastily. "Night Bones."
Seeming to suddenly become her alert self, Brennan shook her head and grabbed the lever to Booth's chair, causing him to snap up uncomfortably.
"Ouch Bones..." Booth complained, glaring. "What was that for?"
"It's been over four hours Booth," she said sensibly. "Our flare is probably out."
Groaning as he accepted the truth of her statement, Booth sat up fully and rubbed his hands over his face. He reached into the glove compartment and pulled out the flares and lighter.
"We should try putting it closer to the road this time," he said. "I'll do it this time."
Brennan smirked and crossed her arms.
"You can try," she told him lightly.
Booth ignored her and pulled the barrier of t-shirts off his window, examining the narrow gap that the snow allowed him. He rubbed his hands together in preparation and then brashly stuck his head through the gap. He pushed as hard as he could, but no matter what he did, his shoulders were not going to squeeze through. Booth reemerged into the SUV, breathing heavily, bits of snow in his thick hair. Brennan's shoulders were shaking in silent laughter.
"Alright, alright," he grumbled crossly. "You'll have to do it again."
She reached happily for the flares, but he refused to hand them over yet.
"This time you're wearing my FBI jacket," he commanded sternly. "It's waterproof."
Brennan rolled her eyes but conceded, climbing in the backseat to dig it out of Booth's bag. When she climbed back into the front, the FBI jacket was zipped up to her chin, the bottom reaching halfway down her thighs.
"Better?" she asked sarcastically.
"Hood up," Booth replied, his voice critical.
She jerkily yanked the hood of the sweatshirt up, and awaited his approval. He nodded and handed over the flares.
"Be quick," he told her softly.
"I will," she promised. "Could you give me a boost out?"
Booth nodded and waited for her to stick her body out as far as she could without assistance. He cupped his hand under her foot, lifting it up and giving her something to push off of. Booth braced himself as Brennan tensed against his hand and pushed herself the rest of the way out the window.
Anxiously, Booth pressed his face against the glass, his eyes level with the small opening. He quickly backed down as he realized he wouldn't be able to peer out without getting ice and snow in his eyes. He leaned back into his seat, fidgeting impatiently.
The minutes felt like hours to Booth as he waited for Brennan to return. Hurry up Bones... he thought worriedly, urging her to appear at the window. Just as he was considering digging through the ice with his bare hands to go after her, the bottoms of her black boots appeared at the window.
Her bottom half dropped down onto the seat and Booth quickly leaned over to help, looping his arms around her waist and tugging gently. It took a minute, but eventually she fell through, collapsing into her seat, shaking and gasping for breath.
Brennan's jeans were soaked through and through and snow sparkled in the folds of the FBI jacket. Again, her lips were taking on a bluish tinge and her face was white as a sheet.
"I c-couldn't f-find the r-r-road," she stuttered through chattering teeth. "I p-put it out as f-f-far as I c-could..."
Booth hushed her quickly.
"Shh, it's okay Bones," he said soothingly. "Hurry up and take off the wet clothes."
Brennan fumbled to comply, but her shaking hands were unable to unzip the jacket.
"I got it Bones," Booth stopped her quickly, pushing her icy hands away.
He unzipped her hastily, tugging her arms out of the sleeves and throwing the jacket out of the way. Noticing that her hood was also damp he grabbed the ends of the sweatshirt he had lent her and lifted it over her head. When his hands reached for the top button of her jeans, Brennan protested weakly.
"B-booth," she chattered warily.
He pushed her hands away firmly.
"Sorry Bones, but it's gotta be done," he said, sounding sincerely regretful for her sake.
Brennan closed her eyes and allowed him to proceed. Knowing that it humiliated her to be in such a compromising position, Booth respectfully adverted his eyes as he unbuttoned and unzipped his partner. As Brennan wiggled out of the wet jeans, Booth, feeling somewhat hot under the collar, silently prayed that Brennan wouldn't suddenly acquire the ability to read his thoughts.
Booth looked over at Brennan who now had her arms wrapped around her knees as she shivered, half-naked. Doing his best to keep his mind safely blank, Booth pulled off his own shirt.
"W-what are you d-d-doing B-booth?" Brennan questioned, watching him wide-eyed.
Booth worked hard to keep his face neutral.
"Skin-to-skin contact's the best way to get heat back into the body, right?" he said, proud of his ability to keep his tone sounding strictly business-like.
Brennan hesitated, but then took off her own shirt. Booth was surprised; he had figured she would need a little more convincing. Trying to pretend that this wasn't the strangest situation in which he had declothed in front of a woman, Booth stripped down to his boxers.
"C'mere," he said gruffly.
He grabbed Brennan's forearm and helped her into his seat beside him. For a second, Booth gasped as Brennan's body collided into his with a tangle of icy cold skin and pointy elbows and knees. Then after a little wiggling around, her body curved perfectly into his, just like he always imagined that it would. Booth quickly threw the blanket around both of them.
The combination of Brennan's freezing skin and close proximity was enough to make Booth significantly short of breath, but Brennan seemed to be adjusting the situation quite well. She quickly got over the awkwardness of the situation and pressed her face into Booth's neck, greedily stealing his warmth. In fact, Booth found that he was aware of nearly every inch of her icy skin that was touching his own, warmer skin.
Overcoming the initial shock, Booth placed both of his hands on her bare back, rubbing gently to restore some heat. Don't try to warm the limbs... Booth vaguely recalled from his military training. This could cause cold blood to flow into the heart and cause cardiac arrest. After a few minutes, Booth no longer felt like he was holding a Brennan-Popsicle in his arms. Brennan relaxed, her teeth no longer chattering and Booth let his hands fall still where they were resting on her back.
"Better?" he asked, speaking to the top of Brennan's head.
Brennan's eyelashes tickled the skin of his neck as he felt her nod.
"Good," Booth replied.
Now that Brennan was restored to a relatively safe temperature, Booth felt relaxed enough to reap his revenge for Brennan's Eskimo kiss. He momentarily removed one hand from Brennan to reach for the lever by the seat and fully reclined the chair.
"Booth!" Brennan said in surprise.
Cheerfully ignoring her, Booth shifted so that he was using his partner as a combination pillow and teddy bear. She weakly tried to struggle away, but the harder she struggled, the tighter he held her.
"My turn to sleep," he announced, smiling to himself.
As he closed his eyes, he felt Brennan sigh, giving up the fight. He smiled to himself, resting his cheek against the space of soft skin between Brennan's collar bone and breasts. Revenge is sweet... he thought as he drifted off to sleep.
A/N: Is that enough snuggling for you people? Geez lol. Again, thanks for reviewing.