A/N: My first Bones fic - let me know what you think!

Disclaimer - obviously the characters are not mine, they all belong to Kathy Reichs and Fox TV, so don't sue!

Sleeping

Brennan took a step back and studied the skeleton lay out on the table in front of her. She had confirmed that it was a female, roughly two hundred years old, with probably death from a blow to the back of a head, likely to have been a sharp metallic implement. Other than that the woman had been in good health, and had died from unnatural causes when she was just thirty three. Brennan let out a sigh and stepped over to her computer, imputing details. It was eleven thirty on a Saturday night and no one else was in the lab, everyone having abandoned her and her skeleton to socialise and do what normal people did. Angela had gone on a 'hot date' with one of the men who worked at the Jeffersonian, hoping that her job would not be the downfall of another potential relationship as he already knew what she did. Zack and Hodgins had disappeared, up to something impossible that would inevitably end up in a heated discussion on Monday morning and disrupt them from what they were meant to be doing.

Brennan sighed, returning to the skeleton and scraping off a tiny fleck of dirt she had noticed, and then took the slide over to a nearby microscope. The body had been found under the cellar of a house that was being demolished, along with the remains of three other women, all killed at roughly the same time. Brennan wondered about the perp who had collected these bodies and what horrific experiences he had put them through before he led them to their deaths. The process of giving them back their identities would now begin, finding out who they were and hopefully giving them justice.

She glanced up at the doors into the lab, a noise distracting her momentarily from her task. Although she liked the lab – it felt remarkably more like home than home did – tonight she felt remarkably lonely. There had been no phone calls and no late night visitations; she even missed Booth's presence. She stopped for a second, taking a mouthful of water from the glass next to the microscope, and shaking her head to rid her mind of thoughts of the detective. He was probably out somewhere himself, doing whatever it was he did on a Saturday night when he wasn't arresting or hounding people. She pressed her eyes to the microscope, studying the form on the slide. She felt a yawn approach. Only to be expected, she knew, as she had been in the lab since the bodies had come in at three that morning. She debated going to her office and sleeping for an hour or so before continuing. There was no need to go home, nothing was there.

Her ears pricked up again, and she looked to the doors. No one was there. Definitely time to get some sleep. Hallucinations weren't good.

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Seeley Booth entered the lad expecting to see Bones pouring over one of the three skeletons that had been dropped off earlier. To his surprise she wasn't, in fact he couldn't see her anywhere. He figured that she would have to be about somewhere – the lab hadn't been locked up and it would have been severely out of character for Bones to leave when she had been presented with three juicy skeletons to look over. He took his gun out of his holster and began to pace through the lab. No one else was about – unsurprisingly given that it was a Saturday night. He had already seen Angela that evening; curled up to some man he was sure he had seen before. She had told him to go and drag Brennan over to Wong Foo's and leave the bodies till the morning. Her date hadn't even flinched at the word bodies, which led Booth to believe that the man was already acquainted with Angela's job and unbothered by it. He had thought it a good idea to fetch Brennan; a challenging idea, but it would do something to relieve his own boredom of the night.

Lately he had been thinking more about the forensic anthropologist he had worked with so much recently. Something about her intrigued him. She wasn't like any other woman he had met, and he had met more than a few in his day, she was different. He wasn't quite sure if different was in a good way or not, and he wanted to find out a little more about his feelings, curious as to what they actually were.

He called her quietly, wondering where she was. Treading softly he walked up the stairs to her office puzzled about what she was doing. He opened the door and gazed over to the sofa where her body lay curled up, red hair mussed over one of the cushions and eyes closed in sleep. Her clothes were crumpled and shoes had been discarded next to the seat. He sat down on the chair opposite, his eyes glued to the slight figure. He rolled his eyes, at what he wasn't quite sure. Whether it was because she should be at home, sleeping or relaxing, rather that still here at the lab, or whether it was because of the strange, inexplicable feeling that was opening up inside his chest he couldn't quite ascertain.

He didn't know how long he watched her for, feeling a little like a peeping tom, but he took a strange comfort in her nearness and the peaceful atmosphere of her office. Any stresses that he had felt over that past, tiring week now ebbed away with each breath. He felt his own eyes begin to close and his body relax; each tense muscle unwinding slowly, like a leaf gently dropping from a tree in autumn. His breathing began to mimic Bones'; gentle, smooth and rhythmic, and he drifted off into sleep.

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Brennan woke drowsily, dreams of beaches, and for some reason Booth, slipping away from her sleeping consciousness. She opened one eye, wondering how long she had been asleep for and feeling the urge to return to the skeleton she had been examining before taking her nap. She sat up and then saw the heap of a man snoozing on the chair in front of her. Booth. When did he come in and why would he be there on a Saturday night?

She stood up, pulling on shoes and made her way over to where she kept things for making coffee. She stifled a smile as she heard his sleep noises, breathing that gave away the fact that he was probably dreaming. She wondered what he dreamt about, and then wondered why she was wondering about Booth's dreams. Shaking her head she extracted two mug and began to fill them with coffee, taking one of over to the sleeping detective and putting it on the table next to the chair.

The smell of the coffee woke Booth and his eyes flickered open. For a second he perused why on earth Bones was bringing him coffee when he had just woken up and then sat erect, checking his whereabouts. Bones' office, both dressed, no explanations needed. Or maybe not.

"What are you doing here?" Bones queried him. "Have more bodies been found at Moreton Street?" She named the place where the three skeletons had been discovered.

Booth shook his head. "I saw Angela at Wong Foo's. She mentioned that you were working late so I thought I'd pop by, see what you were doing, persuade you to leave world of squint to try a Saturday night in the real world." He flashed her his cheekiest grin, knowing that however effective it was on most women, it barely registered on Bones.

Bones sighed, nursing her coffee. "Someone has to look into these deaths. I know it was probably around two hundred years since these women were murdered but they still deserve justice…"

"I wasn't saying that they didn't. I just thought you might like a break and a bite to eat. When is the last time that you ate anyway?" He said with some concern.

"Lunchtime. I'm really not hungry, thank you for your concern," she retorted, still staring at her coffee.

Booth stood up; beginning to understand what had drawn him to the lab at this hour to rescue a maiden from the jaws of over work, even though the maiden was actually the dragon in disguise. He sat himself next to her, noting the weariness, the darker shades around her eyes that signified tiredness. "You're not going to be able to give it your best if you are half asleep while you're looking at evidence. Call it a night, let me drive you home and get some proper rest. Then in the morning you'll be fresh again," he soothed.

Brennan looked up at him, a feint smile playing at her lips. "I may just sleep here. I have spare clothes and then at least I don't have to travel here in the morning. I'd like to get an early start."

Booth laughed. "Right, that answers it." He stood up, almost losing the contents of his cup. "I'm driving you home, then we're going to get a take-out and you can tell me everything you know about these three women, and you are going to fall asleep in your own bed and have some time away from this place!"

She shook her head, just about managing to put her cup down before he dragged her off the sofa and pulled her up. She found herself laughing, his touch was firm but gentle and she knew that his words were right. She needed to get away from here for a few hours and come back fresher. Then maybe there wouldn't be anymore strange noises disturbing her and she could give the women the care and attention they needed.

Booth felt some sort of victory as he saw her pull on her jacket and collect her handbag, leaving the laptop where it was. She was leaving with him. He had persuaded her to leave work at work and go home, with him. He wondered exactly what his intentions were – her could take her to Wong Foo's and have some food made up for them there, but he had already suggested that they go to hers. He decided to stick with the original suggestion, a strange well of excitement growing in his stomach as he watched Brennan lock up and start to leave with him to his car and then to her house, where they would be alone.

Please review and let me know what you think!