Booth had made a good point that afternoon, when they were literally heading into a tornado.

Lance was so focused on protecting Booth and Brennan's relationship that he had inadvertently moved Daisy to the back burner in all of this. When was the last time that the two of them had shared some quality time alone, without mentioning work, or how Brennan's pregnancy was going, or how Booth was handling the pregnancy?

It was eye opening, to say the least.

What was he becoming, allowing these two coworkers to rule his life so completely? It was ridiculous, viewed in those terms. The two of them were obviously not concerned with the way their relationship was progressing; even if it was rocky at best. Lance knew he shouldn't allow them to control him like they were, but it had grown so hard to separate himself from them. He needed to take a step back from the situation.

Lance made a resolution there in the car to focus more on expanding the other relationships in his life, beginning with his lovely girlfriend Daisy. He would have to remember to call her tonight, to take her out somewhere special.

But of course, by the time that he and Booth were questioning suspects, getting caught up in a tornado, and dealing with an unexpected guest in the form of Brennan, he had once again pushed Daisy from his mind altogether. It wasn't until that night that she even crossed his mind again, and Lance let the guilt crush him as he looked at the clock.

It was too late to even consider calling her at this point.

Lance hardly remembered changing into his pajamas; the next thing he knew, he was wrapped in his blankets in bed, curled up on his side. The light in the hallway was still on, he usually turned it off so that it wouldn't shine under his bedroom door and into his eyes, like it was doing now. But he didn't bother getting up to turn it off now; he just sighed, staring at the strip of light as his mind wandered.

He felt like a child again. He felt like he didn't know himself; like he was looking at his life from some other vantage point where no matter all the shouting he did, nothing was changing.

The strip of light at the bottom of his door grew, stretching until it was shining in his eyes and making him close them tightly. It took a second for him to realize that someone had opened his door and was standing in the frame.

"Mom?" Lance asked. He wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not, if the figure in his doorway was real or all in his head.

"Sweets? Are you alright?" Doctor Brennan's worried tone filled his mind, and Lance shot up. Brennan was here? His first thought was that something must have happened to Booth, that he should have been with him, but Brennan looked relieved to see him and came further into the room, leaving the light off as she did so.

"I—Doctor Brennan," Lance fumbled for words. "Is...is everything alright?" He pulled the blanket up higher over his chest, feeling oddly self-conscious as Brennan sat on the edge of his bed.

"You weren't answering your phone. Booth was concerned, so we came by to make sure everything was okay." Her eyes softened, and she patted his leg through the blankets comfortingly. Lance's brows furrowed. Brennan's hormones must have been particularly messed up that night, he considered. Brennan was never this...overly friendly toward him before.

Lance closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. It was going to be hard to distance himself from them if Brennan was going to look at him like that, like she really cared for him. And if Booth was going to suggest they show up at his house to check up on him like this.

At the approaching footsteps Lance opened his eyes again.

"Don't let her lie to you, Sweets. She was more worried than I was; I told her you probably had Daisy over for the night." Lance couldn't help but smile back at the mirth in Booth's eyes.

It was comforting to know that if something did happen that Booth and Brennan would have his back, like he would always have theirs.

"Your front door was unlocked." Brennan informed him as she stood up. Booth was instantly at her side, ready to help her at the slightest provocation.

"Right. I'll be sure to lock it before I go back to sleep."

"You know, Sweets... don't you think it would be a good idea if I had a key to your place? In case something actually does... go wrong?" Booth asked. His tone was somewhat flustered—and that confused Lance even further. It was too late for his mind to be working this hard.

What he was asking for wasn't a big deal, and actually a logical decision. He wondered if Brennan had mentioned it to him beforehand. But the way that Booth was acting about it, the tone of his voice, the slightly defensive stance he was taking, as if he were afraid of Lance rejecting him—It all spoke of a deeper meaning.

One that Lance was all too familiar with.

"Of course. I'll bring you one on Monday."

A/N: So after tonight's episode I couldn't resist writing this. This (most likely) doesn't line up with the episode timeline at all; I pretty much just sat down at my computer after the episode and let my inspiration run rampant. Sweets is such a fascinating character to me! There will definitely be more of these oneshots in the future. I would have gone more in depth with this one, but I didn't have the episode right there to rewind and listen to lines, and watch facial expressions and such.