Note: Lostakasha had a car accident last night. I can't believe I wrote Booth/Hodgins.

Dark. Tight. The air feels stale, dusty, thick….

Jack woke with a jolt, gasping, and he fumbled for the lamp, scrambling to throw light into the room. He sat up, back hunched and chest heaving, digging the heels of his hands into his eyes.

As if he could erase the memory. Like that was going to happen.

“Bad dream?” The voice was quiet, barely a murmur, but he was jumpy. Still, the large frame in the doorway brought a wave of relief.

He cleared his throat. “Just…had a nightmare that Bush pulled funding for the NSF.”

Seeley rolled his eyes, wandering farther into the room. The knot in Jack’s gut loosened as he pulled the knot in his tie and tossed it to the floor.

He sat on the bed, but his eyes wandered along the wall, not straying to Jack. “Angela called. Said you might want some company.”

Jack didn’t say anything. Didn’t know what to say. It felt alien, this wasn’t what they did. Booth had made that clear from the beginning.

So when Seeley kissed him…lips soft, giving not taking…he wasn’t sure how to kiss back. And when that large palm cupped the curve of his skull, fingers lax and not gripping, he wasn’t sure how to touch back.

And when Seeley’s body curved against his, layers of cloth between them, and enfolded him, he wasn’t sure how to react.

There was warm breath against the nape of his neck, and a heart thudding quietly against his back.

So Jack fell into a deep, easy sleep.