A/N: Hey there! Okay, well, I haven't written anything in a REALLY long time. I'm sick and bored and doing nothing, so I decided to write this. It's just a short one-shot kind of thing that I made up as I went along. There's really no specific time frame for this.. Just post-Critic in the Cabernet. But really… like anytime after that episode.
I don't own Bones… which is probably a good thing.
"You know what happened last time we played this game…" Booth said.
"Agent Booth. We all know the game brought some feelings to the surface," Sweets responded.
As usual, Brennan denied Sweets' assertion. "No disrespect Dr. Sweets, but the conclusion I came to during our game was purely objective. There was no emotional consideration in my decision."
"Exactly. No emotional consideration," Booth repeated.
Sweets shook his head at their obliviousness. "Can we just begin?"
Brennan sighed. "Fine."
Brennan looked around the room, searching for a starting place, when something striped and colorful caught her eye.
"Socks."
"Booth."
"Booth, you can't say your own name," Brennan said.
"Since when? There's no rule against that," he responded.
She replied, "I'm pretty sure there is."
"We never made up any rules for this game."
"Dr. Brennan, Agent Booth- just continue," Sweets told the bickering partners.
"Not until Booth says a new word," Brennan replied.
"Fine," Booth sighed. "Shoes."
"Feet."
"Hands."
"Phalanges!"
'Whoa, Bones. Don't get all scientific on me."
"Phalanges is hardly a scientific term. An educated high school student should know what phalanges are."
"Are you calling me stupid?" Booth asked.
"No, I'm simply stating that it doesn't take much brain capacity to know the scientific names for common body parts," Brennan replied.
"Therefore, I am stupid."
"Excuse me?" Sweets interrupted. "Can we continue?"
"We were doing perfectly fine until Bones here started insulting my intelligence."
"Whose turn is it?" Sweets asked.
"It's Booth's turn."
Brennan sneezed.
"Bless you," Booth said.
"Booth!" Brennan yelled. "You can only say one word."
"Huh?" Booth looked at her confused. "No, Bones.. that wasn't my word- you sneezed."
"Oh, right," she responded. "I really don't understand why people say 'bless you' when someone sneezes. Who do they think they are? Some superior being? It's actually quite offensive that they believe they have the power to bless me."
"Whoa, Bones. This is supposed to be a game, not a philosophical debate."
Booth looked at Sweets.
"Why are you nodding?" he asked.
Sweets replied, "No reason. Continue."
"Booth still hasn't said his word," Brennan replied.
Booth took a deep breath. "Tension."
"Elevator."
"What does that have to do with tension?"
"Tension is the force exerted on cables in an elevator."
"Oh. Obviously," Booth said, getting frustrated.
"Music," he said.
"Karaoke."
Both of them quickly became silent.
"Oh. Uh.. Micro-" Booth said, attempting to find a word and bring back the normalcy.
Shortly after, Sweets realized the cause for the sudden awkwardness.
"We can stop here," Sweets said.
Brennan's mind drifted back to that night at the bar.
She had gotten up on the stage to sing her favorite Cyndi Lauper song. Her mother always told her that she sang it the best- she knew it was true. She took off her jacket, grabbed the microphone and began to sing.
"I come home in the morning light. My mother says, when you gonna live your life right? Oh, mother dear, we're not the fortunate ones! And girls- they wanna have fun! Oh, girls just wanna have fun…"
The whole time that she sang, her gaze never drifted from Booth.
But suddenly, a loud noise reverberated throughout the bar, and an injured Booth was on the floor.
She grabbed the gun from his pocket and shot Pam, who instantly fell to the ground.
She held pressure on Booth's wound, and pulled him towards her.
"Come on, Booth!" she screamed.
Suddenly, she came back to reality, where Sweets and Booth were staring at her.
"I'll… uh, give you two a minute alone," Sweets said, getting up from his seat and exiting his office.
Brennan looked down, avoiding Booth's stare.
He slid over towards her, closing the space between them on the couch.
He grabbed her hand.
She turned away from him, not wanting him to see the tear that silently slipped down her cheek.
"Hey. Bones. Look at me," he said. "Everything is okay, I'm right here."
She turned towards him and merely uttered, "I was so scared."
More tears escaped her. Booth could see how much she hurt.
He pulled her closer, and she didn't resist.
The same thought was running through both of their minds, but neither of them found it necessary to utter a word.
Sitting there in each other's embrace meant more than either one of them could ever say.
A/N: Press the review button! You know you want to. ;D