AN – This is my first attempt at writing fan fiction. Writing the story satisfied my need for closure on the tooth story line and I must admit that I get a kick out of saying and writing the phrase Booth's tooth!
Brennan and Booth have finished dinner at the diner and as they prepare to leave Booth hands Brennan back the note and crystal dolphin left behind for her by her father and partner in Booth's rescue, Max Keenan. "He'll call and when the time comes you really will know what to do and I'll be by your side no matter what decision you make, Bones."
Sheepishly she replies, "Thanks Booth. Let's get out of here, you need to recuperate and I'm exhausted."
They head to their cars in the semi-dark parking lot and as Brennan fumbles in her purse for her car keys her hand brushes against something smooth resting on the bottom of the bag. She stretches her fingers in an attempt to grab it and without being able to see it is hit with the realization of what she threw in there earlier that day. As she draws in a sharp breath Booth immediately reacts and says "Bones, what's wrong?"
"Nothing Booth, I just stubbed my finger on something in my purse."
"Well, if that's all – seriously Bones is there some anthropological explanation as to why you women carry around so much stuff in those things?"
"Of course there is Booth, but for tonight lets just chalk it up to one of the many mysteries of women." Booth gives her half of one his famous "charm smiles" hesitates for a moment and then slowly and carefully climbs into his SUV – driving off with a wave.
Bones opens the door to her car climbs in and turns on the overhead light. She digs out the offending item and begins to examine it carefully under the light – something she didn't have time to do after getting it back from her team in the lab. The tooth, Booth's tooth, is an adult anterior molar with all of its roots intact. It is pearly white, smooth in texture, and strong – despite the infection that ravaged his mouth a few days earlier. She shivers not because she holds someone else's tooth in her hand but because she realizes that if she and Max hadn't found Booth in that airport warehouse just in the "nick of time", it might have been all she had left of him. A single tear escapes her eye and runs down her cheek and as she reaches up to brush it off she notices a figure beside her car and it startles her. She hadn't noticed the headlights of Booth's SUV return to the parking lot a moment ago and she has now come to the realization that he may have been watching her while she examined his tooth. Once she catches her breath she moves to roll down the window and realizes that she never put her keys in the ignition – now feeling like a complete dolt she opens the door, gets out and pokes her finger into his chest all while yelling, "Booth you just about scared me to death! Don't you know better than to sneak up on a person in a dark parking lot, it's a good thing I don't have a gun!"
"See, I knew refusing your permit application would save my life someday" he says with a grin. "So Bones, what in the world would move you to tears and is so fascinating that you had to examine it under your dome light in a dark parking lot?"
"Nothing Booth", she says sharply as she wraps her fist tightly around the tooth– "why did you come back?"
"Well, I came back to say thank you, Bones."
"Thank you for what? I don't understand " she says as she looks down toward the blackness of the asphalt parking lot.
That last line of hers always makes him want to smile but he suppresses that desire so that he can say what he needs to say in the tone it deserves. Placing his finger under her chin in order to turn her face up to his he says "Thank you, Bones. Thank you for finding me, thank you for being my partner and most of all thank you for being my friend."
Touched by his sentiments but unwilling to let him win this small battle without a fight she says "Booth you could have called me or told me in person tomorrow at the Jeffersonian – why risk coming back here to tell me? I could've been halfway home by now."
"Because Bones, some things are too important to say over the phone or to wait on. If you weren't here I would've come to your apartment." Smiling he reaches forward to take her hands in his and finds her right hand in a tightly clenched fist.
"C'mon give it up – what have you got in here? He starts to peel her fingers back and sees the tooth. "Bones, what the hell – you didn't tell me you found that – what else haven't you told me?"
Looking up into his dark eyes she says, "Nothing important Booth, the important thing is that it's over and you're safe."
"Well, he smiles, let's get rid of that thing – it did nothing but cause me pain and I for one will be glad to see it go. "
"No Booth, I think I'll hang on to it – I know just the spot for it."
"Creepy, Bones, very creepy."
"Hey, I'm the bone lady and teeth are similar to bones, therefore deserving of special treatment and respect."
Holding up his hands and shaking his head slightly he says, "Okay Bones, you win! You can keep the tooth if you promise me that you'll go home now."
"Yes, Booth, I'll see you tomorrow and you're welcome. Sleep well."
She returns to her car with a smile on her face and the tooth in her hand. She does intend to go home but has a stop she needs to make first. She drives to the Jeffersonian, swipes her security card to get into the lab, stops there for a moment and then continues on to her office. In her office she turns on the light and walks to a book shelf where she keeps some of her most precious keepsakes and tokens from previous cases. She encloses the tooth in a small fabric-lined acrylic cube, which she has taken from a supply drawer in the lab, and places her newest acquisition next to one her most treasured objects – a delicately detailed sculpture of a small pink pig. She carefully runs a finger along the small figurine, smiles, takes a deep breath and says "good night Jasper – good night Booth's tooth." Still smiling she turns toward the door, switches off the light and finally heads for home.
The End