Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I certainly don't profit from them, however, they do produce smiles and sometimes even snorts of laughter when I watch them.
Author's Note: This is my first foray into writing a Bones fiction and my first deviation away from writing CSI. I hope you enjoy.
"And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there," Agent Seeley Booth unconsciously crooned the Star Spangled Banner as he tapped a rhythm against the steering wheel and waited for the light to turn green on Constitution Avenue. "Oh, say does that star spangled banner yet wave, o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave...play ball."
"Play ball?" Dr. Temperance Brennan had been more than slightly amused at how her partner seemed to wear his patriotism on his sleeve, but even she was familiar enough with the lyrics of the National Anthem to know that the words 'play ball' were not part of them. "What in the world does playing with a ball have to do with the flag?"
Booth let out a soft chuckle, he hadn't really realized that he'd been singing out loud, he glanced over at his partner and smirked, "Baseball, Bones. Someone sings the national anthem and then some guy yells 'play ball' and they throw out the first pitch...I guess I just got a little carried away thinking about baseball, fireworks, apple pie, hotdogs, and the Fourth of July."
"You mean Independence Day; the fourth of July is a day on the calendar, which so happens to coincide with the day our founding fathers signed our Declaration of Independence. It seems most people assume that the holiday itself is called the fourth of July, when in fact it isn't so." In the back of Brennan's mind she wondered why there was such confusion in the first place; what ever happened to being precise?
"I always knew you were a patriot at heart." Booth couldn't stop the grin that had begun to spread across his face. Bones was so serious most of the time that it warmed his patriotic little heart to hear her talking about the greatest country on the face of the earth in such historically accurate terms.
"I never said I wasn't patriotic, Booth, I just don't vocalize it quite as vehemently as you do." She rolled her eyes to suppress her smirk. She had never met someone who loved his country quite as much as Seeley Booth and she found it both anthropologically intriguing and somewhat endearing all at the same time.
"So what are you doing for the fourth?" As he caught her eyebrow begin a curve upwards, he cleared his throat to keep from laughing as he corrected himself before she had the chance, "Independence Day; what are you doing to celebrate Independence Day?"
She glanced out the window and noticed that they'd only gone a few blocks, inching along in rush hour traffic near the Capitol building it was going to take them longer to drive back to the Jeffersonian than it would have taken to walk if they just pulled over and parked, "I'll probably be working; I have a backlog of remains to identify." Not the answer he probably wanted to hear, but it was certainly the truth.
"Work? On July 4th? It's our nation's birthday, Bones, you can't sit in your lab and miss out on all the fun." Booth could tell that unless he could find a compelling reason to get her out of the lab that she'd probably miss all of the barbecues and fireworks. What was July 4th if you couldn't eat potato salad and watermelon and watch some kids run a three legged race?
"I'm not particularly fond of mixing alcohol with explosives; it doesn't exactly bring out the greatest discernment in people this time of year." She had heard of far too many instances of otherwise intelligent people having their decision making skills altered by consuming too much alcohol all in the name of celebrating the nation's independence and blowing off one of their appendages or even worse, killing themselves or someone else in the process.
"There's more to Independence Day than fireworks, Bones." Booth smiled at her, an idea already forming in the back of his mind, "But the fireworks on the mall are pretty spectacular." Maybe he could convince her to leave the lab at least for the fireworks.
"So I've heard; I've heard them from the Jeffersonian." She found holidays that seemed to be centered around family created such a loneliness that she preferred to immerse herself in work as a sort of balm to the wounds of being abandoned by her own family. She had determined that it was a perfectly logical response and it had become a sort of habit that she looked forward to.
"You can't work on a holiday, Bones, not that holiday anyway." Booth was determined that if was up to him that there was no way she was going to spend the country's biggest and most important holiday examining bones.
"How is it really different than any other holiday? I don't have plans so I thought I would work. It's a logical conclusion especially when you consider how many remains there are to identify. Don't you think those families would want some closure especially on Independence Day?" Brennan knew that Booth was aware that many of the remains yet to be identified were casualties of both World Wars, Vietnam, Korea, and most recently the conflicts in the Middle East.
"Ok, you said you've heard the fireworks on the mall; are you saying that you've never actually seen them?" It had take a few moments for her words to filter in and register what they implied by what she hadn't said. He chose to momentarily ignore her argument about closure.
"No, I'm sure they're beautiful, but I've always had pressing cases to work on," she could see the determination on Booth's face, "and don't look at me like that. Independence Day has become as commercialized as every other holiday and I think I would rather find meaning in helping identify the remains of someone who gave their life in service to our country than to head out to Bob's BBQ World for some super sale." She was so impassioned with her delivery that for a moment she failed to realize exactly how she sounded.
"You've been watching TV." Booth was rather pleased by the fact that Bones would even know that Bob's BBQ World existed or that he was indeed having a super sale on the 4th.
Her furrowed brow indicated that she wasn't quite sure how he'd come to that conclusion, even if it was true, "So what if I've been watching television? What does that have to do with Independence Day?"
Booth let out another chuckle, "It means that you've been exploring things outside the lab. It means that you're going to spend Independence Day with me."
"Booth, I'm not sure how you've come to that conclusion; it isn't even logical." Brennan's protest wasn't as strong as she'd hoped.
"Think of it as an anthropological investigation of sorts," Booth was pretty pleased with himself for coming up with this argument. "Angela and Hodgins are having a party, on the Fourth of July to celebrate Independence Day and as a part of our American culture, you should participate. The same goes for the fireworks on the mall later on." He tried to keep the wattage on his smile down so that she wouldn't suspect that maybe his motives for spending the holiday with her went further than just some friendly patriotism.
She wasn't sure how he'd done it, but he had a compelling argument, "I'm a forensic anthropologist, not a cultural anthropologist...but in the interest of science I accept." She couldn't help smiling in spite of herself.
"You're going to have a good time and don't even try to deny it." Booth grinned at her and finally was able to turn off of Constitution Avenue and away from some of the thicker traffic as they neared the Jeffersonian.
To Be Continued...