A/N: Apparently I'm a sucker for fluff. Thanks so much for all the encouraging reviews, you guys and gals and the best.
Booth promised himself that he would watch over her during the night but at some stage he must have given into sleep as he found himself being roused by a deep throaty cough sounding from next to him. He struggled through the last realms of the dream he had been having and rubbed his eyes, squinting into the soft glow of the lamp sitting on the side table next to him. It took him a moment to remember where he was and another cough from beside him bought him crashing back into reality.
He looked over to where his partner lay and cursed himself when he noticed her shivering. The sweat on her skin was making her cold when it reacted with the cool breeze coming from the air conditioning. He grabbed the remote off the side table and turned it down checking the time on the digital clock in the process. It had been about five hours since she had last taken the Advil and he surmised it was about time that she took some more. Booth hopped off the bed and moved to her side grabbing the empty glass from her nightstand.
As he stooped over her he pressed his lips to her forehead in a way his mother used to do for him when he was younger and sick. He told himself it was simply a way of checking her temperature but in reality he knew it meant so much more. Her skin still felt hot despite her shivering and he knew her fever was still sticking around.
Once in the bathroom he refilled her glass with water and took a moment to check himself out in the mirror. His shirt was wrinkled and his stomach hurt from where he had been lying on his belt buckle. He stripped his shirt off so that he was wearing only a white undershirt and took off his belt to prevent further discomfort. He grabbed some more Advil from the packet.
He almost didn't want to wake her but knew that she would feel even worse if she didn't take the pills.
"Bones, hey Bones wake up for a second," he said giving her shoulder a shake, "Come on Bones just open your eyes for me."
"Mmmph," she groaned her brow scrunching, "Go 'way."
He had to smile at her voice thick with sleep. Temperance Brennan was nothing but clear and precise but in her half asleep state she was nothing short of adorable. Booth felt a pang in his chest as this thought flittered through his head and he hurt momentarily that he couldn't love her like he wanted.
"Come on Bones just for a second so you can have some Advil," he tempted.
She grumbled but didn't open her eyes and Booth resulted to a tactic he used on his son when Parker wouldn't get out of bed on a school day. He tickled her sides until she opened her eyes and glared at him with as much intensity as her flu weakened state could muster.
"Here sleepyhead take these," he said smiling at her knowing that she was annoyed with him. Somehow their relationship wouldn't be the same if they didn't frustrate each other once in awhile, even if the frustration was for the greater good.
"There is no such thing as a sleepy head," she grumbled swallowing the pills, "The head itself can't be sleepy."
"One look in the mirror and you'd change your tune," he chuckled.
"I find that I'm in no mood to tolerate your incomprehensible jokes," she said slipping back down into a lying position immediately launching into a coughing fit. Booth slipped his arms around her shoulders and helped her sit up again rubbing his hand up and down her back as she took in deep gasping breaths.
"You're okay, just breathe," he murmured softly into her ear manoeuvring himself so that he was sitting behind her. He could feel the cough reverberating through her back where it was pressed into his front as he held her tightly to him. She seemed to almost deflate like a balloon once she could finally catch a breath and sagged against him like a rag doll.
"That sounded nasty," he said unconsciously rubbing soothing circles on her stomach, an action he didn't even think twice about. As partners they had always shared a closeness that couldn't completely be attributed to their working relationship. It was in the way he would place his hand in the small of her back or pull her into a one armed hug whenever he felt like. It was in the way she would fall into him in a moment of sadness or fear and trust him to keep her safe.
Deep down he knew she felt more for him than she let on but he also understood that it was her fear that kept her from ever truly giving into how she felt. All Brennan had ever known was abandonment and had so far never been given a reason to expect anything else from the people she trusted. Booth himself had been guilty of feeding her fear with his fake death and it was something he would never forgive himself for.
"Ugh Booth I think I'm sick," she moaned resting her head back on his shoulder.
"You don't say," the FBI agent chuckled.
"I don't understand what you mean? I do say, I just said it," she said.
"It's a figure of speech Bones," he said, "It means no kidding."
She sighed and coughed again and he knew if she kept it up her throat would be raw and painful in the morning.
"Bones lie back down and I'll call the front desk and see if they can bring you up some throat lozenges," he said trying to squeeze out from behind her.
"No don't move," she said, "Your chest based on muscular definition looks like it would be hard and uncomfortable but is actually warm and soft."
He raised his eyebrows at her but didn't move. If she wanted to use him as her own personal pillow who was he to complain? He kept rubbing small circles on her stomach over the material of her shirt and she hummed contentedly as she sunk further into him. Even though she was sick and feeling terrible this moment felt nothing short of perfection to him. Here she was lying comfortably in his arms. If he closed his eyes he could see them, twenty years from now in the exact same position.
"Mmmph," she mumbled as her body relaxed further against him. Once he heard her breathing even out he dropped a kiss to the side of her head, taking a moment to take in fragrant smell of her shampoo.
"Sleep tight Bones," he whispered.
He didn't dare move for fear of waking her up knowing that the more rest she got the faster she would begin to fight off whatever bug it was she had caught. He had made a vow to watch over her to make sure she was alright but her slow steady breathing and the warmth of her settled on his chest soothed him until he felt his own eyelids begin to droop. His last coherent thought before he let sleep take him over was that he would have to call the Senator in the morning and explain that they wouldn't be able to come in and identify the body.