Yellow Skittles
Booth watched at the door of the office as Bones picked out the yellow Skittles from the rest. He was confused by this behavior but he wasn't sure why. Bones always did odd little things that left him confused. But this little yellow Skittle craze had him truly baffled.
"Uh-oh"
He turned slightly to find Angela standing beside him, her hair loose and curling softly around her face. She frowned at her friends movements.
"Angela, why is this an uh-oh moment?"
Angela glanced at him and then at her friend before pulling Booth away from the door, Zach and Hodgins trailing behind.
"What are we talking about?"
Angela turned to them, her voice low.
"Brennan's eating yellow Skittles."
Both of the men's faces fell and for the first time in a while, Booth felt annoyed. Usually, Zach was out of the loop when it came to little mysteries like this one and now it was Booth. The world had officially gone mad.
"If someone does not tell me soon what is going on with the whole Skittles thing, I will pull out my gun and shoot you all"
This time it was Zach who looked confused.
"You don't have probable cause"
Booth glared at the three of them before Angela sighed, sinking onto a nearby seat.
"Brennan eats yellow Skittles only when she has….her monthly visitor."
Booth opened his mouth to question who the visitor was before it dawned on him exactly what Angela meant.
"Oh. I still don't understand why this is a cause for concern"
"Honey, you don't see her when she is normally at this stage. This one is the worse."
"Why?"
"She gets emotional, snappy and distracted. This is one squint you do not want working on the third day."
"So what do we do?"
"My advice is to stay out of her way. She will usually remain in her office and do paper work."
"And what do I do if we get a call out?"
Angela stood, her smile bright.
"I have two words for you if that should happen: Strawberry milkshake."
Booth watched as she left him alone, remembering experiences of past woman in his life when they had gotten their 'monthly visitor'. It had been awful. They would cry if you sneezed to hard, snap at you if you put too much pepper on their plates. He hated the idea that Bones was going to be even more awkward to deal with. Booth sneaked off before she had spotted her, praying that they would not be called out.
The bones were laid out neatly on the table and Booth paced nervously around them. Bones was not there yet and he had exchanged more then enough glances with Angela to know that she was in the same mood that she had been before in her office.
"Angela?"
"Hmm?"
"I thought that Bones hated Skittles? I was eating them in the car and offered her one and she almost threw them back at me"
"Yeah she hates the things but at this time of the month she has a craving for the yellow ones. She still hates the rest."
"As if Bones could not get any weirder."
Angela frowned at him.
"As your friend, I will ignore that comment. Just take it easy on her, ok?"
Booth nodded and took a deep breath as Bones finally approached him.
"So what do we have here Bones, a murder?"
Bones said nothing as she slid the file towards him across the table. He picked it up and did his best to read the report before handing it back to her.
"Tell me what all the big words mean in the normal world."
Bones sighed and gave him a harder glare then normal.
"She wasn't murdered."
"Then why in the hell was she washed up on the beach?"
"She's eighty-three years old and died of a stroke."
"Again, why the hell was she at the beach?"
Bones curled her lip at him and Booth resisted the urge to take a step back. She had never shown so much aggression before.
"She was part of a coffin recycling scam. Her family bought the coffin and after the funeral, her body was dumped and the coffin resold. Is question time over?"
"Why did I get called in then?"
"Because I wasn't one hundred percent certain. I needed to make sure that I was right"
"And how in the world am I meant to do that? You're the bone whisperer, not me."
"Fine, you go home then"
She turned on her heel and stalked back to her office. Booth took a moment to breathe before following her. She was sitting on her sofa, her head between her knees.
"Bones, are you ok?"
"Tired. Sore. Grumpy"
"Yeah, I never would have guessed."
Booth moved over to her desk, locating some painkillers that had been barely touched, popping two into his hand, grabbing a glass of water with the other. He took a seat next to Bones and nudged her gently with his shoulder. When she lifted her head, her cheeks were flushed and her face was pulled into a frown as she looked at the pills that he offered her.
"I hate those things. They make me feel groggy, like my head is filled with cotton wool."
Booth held out the pills until she sighed and took them, chasing them down with a large gulp of water.
He arranged a cushion at the other end of the sofa before standing up.
"Lay down"
She offered little argument and lay down as instructed and Booth pulled the rug that hung over the side, over her.
"Don't move, ok?"
"I don't think I could, even if I wanted to"
Booth slipped out of the room, closing the office door behind him. He found Angela mucking around with guys and pulled her to the side.
"Make sure that no one disturbs her, ok?
"Why, where are you going?"
"Out. I'll be back soon but until then, just let her sleep."
Angela nodded and Booth set out on his mission.
An hour later he returned and Angela smiled at his as she opened Bones office door for him. He put the box carefully on her desk and approached the sleeping body on the sofa. She must have been restless, the rug lay on the floor and her arms and legs were at odd angles. He pushed her gently in the shoulder and Bones sat up suddenly, bolt straight.
"I'm awake, what do you need?"
"Relax Bones; you're not needed at the moment"
She sunk back into the sofa, her arms over her eyes.
"God I'm tired. Where did you go?"
He moved back over to the desk and picked up the box, taking a seat next to her.
"Angela told me why you eat yellow Skittles."
Bones rolled her eyes.
"Great. Like you really needed to know that"
"Bones, it's normal. For you anyway"
He pulled out the first object from the box and for the first time all day, Bones smiled.
"I got it at Tony's; they do the best strawberry milkshakes in town"
She sipped at the milkshake and gave a little moan of pleasure.
"Remind me to go to Tony's again. What else did you bring me?"
"This is why I was gone so long"
He pulled out a large jar that was filled with nothing but yellow Skittles.
"I figured that this would last you for quite a while. I drove the shop keeper crazy, standing in front of the bin, fishing out nothing but the yellow's."
She nodded at him as she immediately popped the lid and grabbed a handful.
"Thanks Booth"
"Ah but I'm not done yet. I asked the girl at the store what things were good for muscle problems and she gave me these."
He laid out all the things that he had been advised to get, he had little or no experience in this area of women. Perhaps it was because he had never really made a conscious effort to know this part of them. Either way, he was going too. He felt bad for Bones. He knew how frustrated she got when her body could not keep up with her mind. He had gotten three types of muscle soaking bubble bath in three different scents. He had gotten a muscle soothing lotion, a hot water bottle which he had heard somewhere worked for this kind of thing and another packet of pain pills that he had checked would not leave her feeling groggy.
"You got all this for me?"
"For you. I want you to feel better"
She looked at him and started to cry. Big, heaving sobs that shook her body. Booth felt a moment of panic before he remembered what Angela had said about Bones being emotional and did the only logical thing he could think of. He put his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. She pressed her face into his chest and he let her cry. When she was done, he handed her a tissue.
"Thanks Booth"
"For what?"
"For this. Angela's the only one who knows my nasty little habits and she's usually the one sitting where you are."
"Well, as your friend I want to be able to help where I can. And I could, so I did."
In a move that threw Booth completely off guard, Bones leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the cheek. The little moment of affection sent shiver down his spine and he felt an annoying tug in the pit of his stomach. He always got that. Whenever he touched her, or she touched him, he always felt as if he had been electrocuted. Nothing had felt so good or so bad at the same time.
"What was that for?"
Bones shrugged, smiling at him over the top of her milkshake.
"I could, so I did"