The Talk in the Elevator

-My tag on the elevator scene-

"No, Booth. My car, I drive."

"But, Bones," he whined, as he picked up his cell and badge, "how does it look like when a federal agent is coming to a crime scene in a car like that and doesn't even drive it himself?"

Brennan rolled her eyes, following him out of his apartment. "Booth, it's not my fault your car is broken. If you want to ride with me, you have to except my terms."

"Fine," he complied, "but I'm gonna pay you back for this," he said, guiding her into the elevator by the small of her back.

Things had gone back to normal between them. Hannah had been away for a while now and Booth seemed to be okay with it by now. Neither of them had mentioned the night and his ultimatum again, but like before the missing conversation seemed to work for them.

They had started to rebuild their partner-, and most importantly, their friendship. They had lunch and dinner together on a regular basis, they had their case-closed-drinks again and they spent time after work together. She had even joined him and Parker on the trip to the zoo.

"What?" She stared at him dumbfounded. "Why? It's not my fault, Booth," she complained as the elevator doors closed.

He shrugged. "Well, I've to get back to someone for this mess, right? And you're my partner." She wanted to yell at him, but then she noticed the mischievous glint in his eyes and knew he was only joking.

"Right, I'm your partner, not you're punch-ba-" She was cut off by a jolt that went through the elevator and made it rock.

She screamed appalled and was thrown on the floor and then the shaking stopped and the elevator went still.

"Bones? You alright?" Booth's voice came from the other side of the small room, where he was lying on the floor as well.

She nodded, and got up. "Yeah, I'm fine. I guess we're stuck."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I call the buddy downstairs," he answered and dialed the number on his cell phone. "Yeah, this is Booth. Me and my partner are stuck in…yeah, well… what does that mean?" He paused a moment, obviously listening, while Brennan suddenly knew that something was very wrong.

"How long will that take?", Booth asked the guy, rubbing his neck slightly. "Yeah, okay. Thanks." Shutting his phone, he turned to his partner, looking kind of compunctious.

"What's wrong?", she asked immediately.

"Whole DC is without power. Here in the complex they have some cutoff current, but it won't last very long and isn't strong enough to give us a ride down."

"So what does it mean?", she asked, knowing where he was going with this.

He inhaled sharply. "It means we're gonna be stuck in here for a while until they got the problem fixed and the light is gonna be off in a few minutes."

Brennan swallowed slightly and managed to nod. Going to be trapped in a very small room in the dark was something she was really afraid of. Since the Gravedigger incident she'd never managed to even sleep without a small light on.

"The temperature in here is going to sink," she said, trying to stay rational, "I'd suggest we try to share our warmth."

He stared at her wide-eyed and she for once understood instantly how he had interpreted her words.

"No, Booth, I don't mean we should have sex in here right now. All I suggested was to put my coat on the floor for us to sit on and yours to drape over us."

He blushed furiously and nodded hastily. "Yeah, right. I wasn't thinking anything else." Hurriedly, he tried to take off his coat and Brennan had to bite back a smile. It was funny how he always got so flustered over something so natural like sex.

She shrugged off her coat, put it on the floor, sat down and mentioned for him to join her.

Swallowing he followed her lead and put his warm coat over them, just as Brennan's cell rang.

"Brennan? Hi, Cam. Yeah, we're currently stuck in the elevator of his apartment…I don't know what that…alright, well, we need to work fast. You are a group of brilliant scientist, I'm sure you going to figure out some way to do a x-ray without….yeah, he will probably have some ideas, yes. Alright, let me know if you have something new. Thanks."

"What? The Jeffersonian is without power too?", Booth asked as she shut her cell phone.

Brennan nodded. "Yes. They need to x-ray the body, but without power it appears to be rather difficult."

"Right, so what now? How are we going to solve this case during a few hours without power and us being trapped in here?"

She shrugged. "Booth, they're a group of geniuses, I'm sure they're going to solve the puzzle."

He nodded slightly. "Yeah, right. So what are we going to do?"

Brennan shrugged again, checking her cell. "I don't know, but I can certainly say that my cell is going to be out of power in few as well. You need to keep yours on."

He grinned sheepishly and rubbed his neck. "Yeah, well…I didn't charge it last night."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I'm out of power as well."

"I'm getting cold," Brennan said matter-of-factly, after they had been sitting like that for what felt like hours.

They had talked about random things and shared ideas how to solve this case without any power. Inhaling slightly, Booth draped his arm over her shoulders.

"You know, Bones, tonight we're gonna wrap ourselves into warm blankets, drink hot chocolate and watch a movie on your couch."

She laughed slightly but nodded. "Yes, I guess I'm going to need something warm after this. It's more than high likely for us to catch hypothermia in here."

"Yeah, I guess it is."

Brennan looked down on her cell phone again. "It's out of power now," she stated at the same time as the cutoff current went off as well.
She instantly trembled and Booth squeezed her gently, lightening the small room with his cell phone at the same time.

"You're still afraid of the dark, aren't you?"

Her voice was trembling when she answered. "It's just…it's always so difficult at night. I…I just…I just can't sleep without a light on because it reminds that I'm not down there again. Maybe…," her voice broke a little and she tried to pull herself together, "maybe it's going to be easier now that she's dead."

Booth tightened his embrace around her. "We never really talked about that, did we," he said quietly.

She nodded carefully. "Yes, I know. But that is not your fault. I was…I was just not ready to talk about it."

Booth inhaled deeply, his heart pounding faster. "I…I'm always here if you want to talk, just so you know. I…know I haven't been a really good friend over the past year, but…I…I'm sorry, Bones. You can still trust me…if you want and can, that is," he said, looking at her somewhat dejectedly.

She put her hand on his arm. She knew that. She trusted him with her life and by now even with her heart, but this whole mess between them wasn't just his fault. She was as responsible for this as he was, since it was the consequence of her rejecting him a year ago.

"I know, Booth. I do trust you." She inhaled deeply, preparing herself for the memories that were about to float her mind.

"It was really scaring. I tried so hard to stay rational, not to panic, not just for my own sanity, but for Hodgins' as well. I was so afraid of killing him down there. I'm an anthropologist, not a medical doctor. And we didn't have any equipment down there.

Breathing was so difficult and our brains told us we were going to die, but…," she trailed off, her voice strangely monotone.

"What?", he whispered, right above her hair, "but what, Bones?"

"She turned her head slightly, resting her forehead against his chin. "But in my…heart…I never lost faith that you would find us in time, Booth."

They both felt overwhelmed, both knowing why she'd never told him the story. Neither of them had been ready before.

He didn't know what to say, so he just pressed a kiss to her hair. "I'm always gonna save you, Bones," he whispered gently.

They fell silent for a few minutes, both remembering the times Heather Taffet had almost succeeded to destroy their bond.

"The night you died, Booth, was the most horrible experience of my life. I didn't feel sad or anything. I felt nothing, I was numb. I buried myself in work, didn't eat or sleep until I broke down. In those two weeks Angela had to call an ambulance more than once. Then I started to feel angry. I felt like you'd done the one thing you'd promised you'd never do to me; it felt like you'd abandoned and betrayed me. I was so angry and hurt I didn't even want to go to your funeral. And when I saw you there, I just lost it," she ended softly.

"Yeah, I remember," he said, breaking the tension as they both chuckled gently.

"I'm sorry, Bones," he whispered, "I'm sorry for everything. For not telling you I wasn't dead, for handling the situation the night in front of the Hover like I did, for hurting you, for coming back with Hannah, for telling everybody lies of how much I loved her, for even fooling myself to believe that, for proposing to her, for being the asshole I've been the last months and for not telling you the truth about how I still and will always love you and for stopping to fight until you realized we belong together."

By now the small room in which they were sitting was completely dark, but Brennan didn't feel any fear for once. She felt save in his arms, her heart wasn't hurting like it had over the last year. Everything felt content instead, like it all had always been supposed to lead to this moment.

"I know," she whispered, "I'm sorry for not being smart enough to realize in time how much I love you."

Neither of them said anything more, because there wasn't anything to say. Everything was like it was supposed to be.

In the darkness of the elevator two hands slowly entwined on his thigh.

- SKIPPING THE CASE DETAILS -

"Mhm, this is so good," Brennan sighed, taking another sip of her hot chocolate.

They had solved the case a few hours earlier, and tried to relax on her couch now, after that rather adventurous day.

After the door guy of Booth's apartment complex had managed to get them out of the elevator, neither of them had brought up their discussion again. They both had switched into work-modus and acted professional.

Now they were sitting on her couch, wrapped up in blankets, watching a movie, He's just not that into you.

They sat close to another, her whole right side touching his left.

Booth put his now empty cup on the table and raised his arms to stretch himself. Nervously he put his left one down on the couch behind her shoulders.

Brennan giggled softly. "You know, Booth, I find myself liking Gigi. She is lovable…in some strange way," she said as the main character of the movie, Gigi, jumped her lover.

Booth laughed and found the courage to let his arm slip down and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Yeah, well, that's the point, Bones. It's a romcom. They want you to like her."

She leaned into him, looking up. "Booth, this is nice. We should do that more often."

He smiled down on her, pressing his lips quickly to her forehead. "Do what? Cuddle on your couch?"

She nodded shyly and blushed.

Booth chuckled softly, kissing her forehead again, his heart pounding loud in his chest.

Brennan's reaction was simple. She pressed herself into his side, seeking his warmth and closeness.

Swallowing, Booth leaned his head against hers, his lips grazing her skin over and over again. The tip of his nose drew lazy circles over her temple, while he tightened his grip around her.

Inhaling deeply, Brennan nervously turned her head, leaned her face against his. Their breaths mingled and their eyes met, but neither of them had the courage to close the gap between them quite yet.

Her cerulean eyes were sparkling; his chocolate brown ones were as captivating as they had ever been. They were so close.

Her breathing increased and she touched her nose to his lips, feeling his softness all over again. Not being able to deal with those overwhelming emotions any longer, she closed her eyes.

She felt him move ever so slightly and then he finally pressed his lips gently to hers.

It was a very light kind of pressure, loving and soft. The both smiled under each other's lips and continued to share loving kisses.

Booth's arms tightened around, bringing her closer and she managed to wrap her arms around his neck.

Gently, his tongue stroked over her lower lip, her upper lip, tasting her, and she opened her mouth, sighing contently.

The moment their tongues touched, the kiss got passionate, almost ecstatic. Their wet tongues dueled, their hot breaths mingled and Booth managed to move her on his lap.

His hands roamed over her body, sliding beneath her shirt to touch her creamy skin.

A tiny moan escaped her lips when his lips trailed down her neck and started sucking on her collar bone.

"Booth," she panted heavily, "we need to stop. Now."

"Why?" Groaning he pulled her closer, pressing her against his arousal. She moved ins response and all he could do was gripping her waist, trying to hold her still.

"Because…" Inhaling hastily, she tried to go on. "Because this isn't about sex."With one final kiss, she almost jumped off of him and took a few steps back, bringing almost two feet distance between them.

He sat on her couch, panting heavily and his arousal more than obvious. "Alright, you're right. So what now?"

She swallowed. "Now you go taking a cold shower and then you join me in my bed. We're gonna sleep, and I mean, really sleep, and tomorrow you ask me out on a date. Is that alright with you?"

He nodded and got up, groaning slightly. Gathering all his will power together, he managed to pass her without pinning her down and making her forget how to even write the word skeleton.

With her heart pounding in anticipation, she changed into her night-grown and waited for him, almost half asleep when he finally joined her.

"Good night," he murmured, slipping beneath the sheets and taking her in his arms.

"'Night," she murmured back and tried to kiss him, but all she could reach was his jaw.

Smiling gently down on her, he kissed her forehead and joint her in the land of sleep.