Stress Relief
This was reposted as someone went and deleted it (I have no idea how they got into my account).
Chapter One
"What?!" Bones was in shock.
"That's right! Camping trip!" Angela was bursting with excitement.
"Who…? What…?"
"Hodgins, Zach, you, me, and Booth. Oh, and one of Zach's friends." Angela smiled at the last name.
"Cam?"
"Has to stay behind. Some people are coming and she says it would be best if we weren't around. And she said you could use some stress relief." It was true: Bones had been working nonstop. She also said it would only be fair if Zach got to invite a guest. And guess who's your tent mate!"
"You." Bones knew it had to be.
"Nope! Booth!" Bones blushed.
"How long? And where are we going?"
"A week. Some campground in Virginia."
"Great."
"And no laptop!"
"WHAT?!" Bones needed to finish some chapters.
"Yep! This is going to be great! Now, go home and pack. We meet here in two hours!" Angela rushed off to pack.
"Great…" Bones grabbed her keys.
Meanwhile….
"So, did you hear the news?" Hodgins was watching TV with Booth. It was their lunch break.
"What? You and Ange are officially stating you're together?" He smirked at Hodgins.
"No, we're going camping!"
"You and Ange?"
"Well, Angela, me, Zach, Zach's friend, and Brennan. Oh, you too."
"Cool. Where're we going?" Booth loved camping.
"Virginia."
"When do we leave?"
"Two…" Hodgins looked at his watch. "That's in two hours! Meet us here in two hours, okay? And fill up your car with gas! Oh, and we'll be gone for a week, not counting today." Hodgins grabbed his keys and rushed out of the building. Booth followed suit, just slower.
Two Hours Later…
"Are we all here?" Angela surveyed the small crowd in front of the Jeffersonian.
"Yep." Someone answered.
"Okay, here's how this is going to work, Zach has been there before, so he'll lead us. Zach, you and…" She looked at his friend.
"Amy." She answered.
"Amy, will take one car, Booth you and Bones will take another, and I'm riding with Hodgins. All good?" They nodded. "And when we get there we'll unpack and set up camp. One of us will cook a meal each day. Understood? And nothing disgusting." She looked at Hodgins. "Okay?" Everyone nodded, except Hodgins, who was a little upset she didn't trust his cooking. "Let's go!" Everyone went to their designated car.
Chapter Two –
After getting the who's-driving thing worked out, (Booth, Jack, and Amy, who was picked for her own safety) Booth and Bones shoved all their stuff into his car and began the drive.
"So, you like camping?" Booth was trying to pass the time. It was a three-hour car trip.
"I've never been camping."
"Never?" Booth was shocked. He knew her parents hadn't been very parental, but parents always take their kids camping.
"Never. What do you do?"
"You make s'mores, talk, go fishing, play pranks, eat hot dogs, stuff like that."
"Is it fun?"
"Of course!"
"But what's the purpose?"
"To bond with other people."
"Can't we do that at work?"
"To bond with other people in a fun and different environment."
"Oh."
"It's fun, trust me." The rest of the ride they fought over what to listen to. Booth wanted the radio and Bones wanted one of her orchestra CD's. Finally they pulled up to the campground. Tents were set up everywhere. They walked into the main office to find out where their plot was. Cam had called ahead and made sure they had adequate tents and that their plots were all next to each other. Booth sent Bones to park the car and he grabbed the tent because there was no way to get the tent to the plot via car with all of their bags (Zach's car couldn't hold all of their bags so Booth put some in his). A few moments later they were all ready to get set up.
The plots consisted of a small grill and water thing (the thing campers hook up to). "Well, where do you want to set up?" Booth looked at their plot, # 17.
"How about right here?" Bones was standing near a tree. "It's close to the path to the bathrooms and the grill."
"Sounds great." Booth pulled the tent over there and started to hammer the stakes in.
"What are you doing?"
"Making sure the tent won't fall down."
"Wouldn't it be smarter to put this-" she held up a pole "-in the middle first? Otherwise you don't know how tight to do it."
"I'm only doing one side. Yes, it would be easier, but then the tent will easily fall down while I'm making sure it doesn't fall."
"Oh…"
"I've done this before. Don't worry." He smiled his charm smile.
She was immediately glad she was bunking with Booth when she saw Hodgins trying to set up camp. He had tried her way and was failing. She smiled when she saw Angela walk over to her.
"How's it going?" Bones was trying to suppress a laugh: Hodgins wanted so much to impress Angela.
"Ugg.. Don't ask." Angela sighed. "Apparently you got lucky, again. You're so lucky to have a guy who's soo… perfect to do anything for you." Bones blushed.
"Hey, Hodgins is great. You know that."
"I know." She smiled. "But I just wish he could cook. And do manly things. Like pitching tents." She glanced back at Hodgins, who was now tied up in the tent. "I should go help. Bye!" Angela walked back over to Hodgins. Bones smiled at Angela trying to get Hodgins out of the tent.
"Done!" Booth turned to face his masterpiece: a two bed, blue tent that was perfectly standing up.
"Wow. It looks great."
"Y'know, how are we gonna fit all this-" he gestured to the bags"-into this?" He looked sadly at the tent.
"We could sleep on them."
"We might have to." Suddenly they heard a squeal of excitement from where Angela was. Hodgins had gotten the tent set up. Angela jumped up and hugged him, and then the tent fell down. "Should I help them?" Booth looked at Bones.
"No, I think Hodgins wants to prove his manliness to Angela."
"Alright." Booth started to bring suitcases into the tent. When everything was in, they had very little space to move. There was a little room between the two bedrooms (each with a little flap to close them off) that was totally filled with their bags. His room was stuffed with pillows and blankets. She just had one pillow and one blanket in hers. A few minutes later Angela, Hodgins, Amy, and Zach walked over to their tent. They were the only ones who had managed to get the tent up.
"What should we do for supper? There aren't many places to eat here." Zach (who had spent some summers there) asked.
"I believe Angela said one of us would cook each meal. I'll go to the store and get stuff for burgers and fries. Anyone want anything else?"
"Naw, we'll be setting up the tent." Amy glared at Zach.
"Us too." Angela looked sadly at the heap of fabric.
"I'll come with. There's nothing for me to do." Booth nodded and Bones followed him to the car.
R&R and I'll try to update soon!
Chapter Three
Thirty minutes after they left they were back. They had four kinds of chips and four pounds of buffalo meat. Booth had also snagged some packs of beer. Soon everyone could smell the delicious smell of his burgers. They ate the burgers, talked, and drank until they could hardly stay awake. Booth had helped set up everyone's tents while the ladies cleaned up from supper. He and Bones retreated to bed and shortly after fell asleep.
"AHH!" Bones abruptly woke up Booth as she crawled over into his room.
"What's going on?" He grabbed his gun.
"There was something big and black and disgusting crawling up my leg!" Booth had never seen Bones so… disarmed.
"You want me to go check?"
"Yes, please."
"Alright." Booth crawled out of his room and looked in hers. There was a medium-sized spider on her pillow. For someone who works with dead bodies, you'd think she could handle spiders. Booth thought to himself as he picked up the little guy and dropped him outside. He crawled back into his room.
"What was it?" Bones expected it to be some dangerous bug.
"It was a harmless spider." Booth smiled at the look on her face.
"What?! How big was it?" She hoped it was at least a big spider.
"Maybe an inch."
"Oh… sorry to wake you…" Bones crawled back into her room.
Booth mumbled, "It's okay," as he watched her crawl back into bed.
Chapter Four
When everyone woke up (they had to wake Zach by throwing ice cold water on him) Amy volunteered for breakfast duty. She went to the store and got some Cocoa Puffs. Bones had never had them, but once she did she loved them. Then there was the figuring out what they were going to do.
"Shopping!!" Angela squealed. Amy nodded her approval.
"What about us guys?" Booth glared at Hodgins; he knew that the girls were going to ask them to tag along, to be bag-boys. He also knew that Hodgins couldn't say no to Angela, and Zach couldn't say no to Amy.
"Well, you could drive us and carry the bags." Amy and Angela put on the irresistible puppy-dog face.
"Okay…" Zach didn't want to disappoint Amy. Booth noticed that Bones was staying out of the conversation.
"Hey, Bones. What do you want to do?"
"I don't have a preference." Booth knew she was lying. She didn't like shopping too much. Booth had also heard of a little store that sold the exact type of jewelry she liked.
"Why don't you four go and shop, and I'll keep Bones entertained."
"Okay!" Angela grabbed Hodgins' arm and led him off. Amy did the same. Booth shot the men a look of pity. "Oh, we'll meet here noonish!"
"Come on. I know a place you'll love." Booth led Bones back to their car. In a few minutes they arrived at a small, home-run shop.
"What is this place?" She asked as he led her to the door. "Wow…" She was almost speechless. There was tons of jewelry adorning the walls. It was the stuff Bones loved.
They had been shopping for hours when Booth looked at his watch. "Bones, we gotta go." She nodded and walked up to the counter. She had picked out a new bracelet. They drove back to the campground, only to find (Booth knew they would be) a very tired Hodgins and Zach. Apparently the women had made them carry lots of bags.
"So, what's for lunch?" Booth was starved.
"Taken care of!" Zach had made hot dogs. "So, what'd you guys do?"
"We went to the beautiful little shop." Bones held up the bracelet.
"Wow, that's pretty. Where'd you get it?" Angela had just walked over.
"Some little shop, I forgot the name."
"Well, I'm hungry. Let's eat!"
Chapter Five
"So, what should we do now?" Amy was bored.
"What do you normally do when you go camping?" Bones turned to Booth.
"Uh, well," he tried to recall what he did last time he was camping "we go fishing." Suddenly they heard a crash. Hodgins' tent had fallen over, again.
"Stupid tent!" Hodgins stormed off to fix it.
"Booth, could you help him? Please!" Angela was so tired of the tent falling down. It had fallen on them last night.
"I'd love to…" he noticed the glare from Bones "but I think he wants to prove something."
"Prove what? That he can't set up a tent? That all tents hate him?"
"Ange, he wants to prove that he's manly, for you."
"Well, I think he'd be manlier if he asked for help!" Angela wondered how she could see how other people felt for each other, but was clueless when it came to Booth.
"I could help him." Zach offered.
"Please, no." Amy begged. She had been the one to set up their tent.
"Fine."
"Well, I think someone should." Angela looked over at the struggling Hodgins. He had managed to get one side staked in and then get the tent twisted all around him. "Please." She begged.
"AH-HA!" Hodgins had gotten the tent up. Angela counted. She got to twenty before it collapsed. "Hey, he got to twenty! That's good!"
"Did he read the manual?" Booth questioned.
"What manual?"
"The one that came with the tent."
"There was a manual!?"
"Yeah, you want our copy?"
"Please!" Booth walked to his tent and got the manual.
"Thank you so much!" Angela grabbed it, ran to Hodgins, and after untangling him hit him in the head with it. There was some fighting, but they weren't loud enough for the others to hear.
"Can we use it after you? I want to make sure I did it right." Amy looked pitifully at their tent; it was leaning down on one side.
"Sure."
"Hey, who was screaming last night?" Zach asked. Bones blushed.
"Apparently someone is afraid of spiders." Booth motioned to Bones.
"I am not! I didn't know what it was at the time and being…" Booth cut her off.
"It's not bad to be afraid of spiders. Just kinda funny, you're reaction and all."
"Ugg! I hate men!" Angela stormed back to the group. "When I asked him about the manual he just shrugged and said he forgot about it. It's kinda obvious, don't you think? A big book with 'How to set up Tents' written on it, and yet he 'forgot?'"
"Sorry, Ange." Bones looked at her sympathetically.
"Well, anyways, what were you talking about?"
"Dr. Brennan is afraid of spiders." Zach answered, and then avoided her glare.
"Really? Is that why she was screaming?" Angela asked.
"Yep." Booth nodded.
"I hate 'em too. And all the guys at work bug me about it." Amy added.
"What do you do?" Hodgins had successfully set up the tent and joined the group.
"I'm the big boss of an extermination company."
"Okay, cool. So, what are we doing today?"
"Well, if I remember correctly, there is a swimming pool somewhere nearby." Zach tried to remember exactly where it was.
"Oh, that sounds wonderful!" Angela went off to find her swimsuit. It was 85 degrees (F) that day.
"I can't wait!" Amy followed suit. Booth noticed the look on Bones' face.
"Hey, even if you don't want to swim, you can come with and work on your story."
"No laptop."
"You can do it the old fashioned way: pencil and paper." She though about it, nodded, and went to the tent to change.
"So, is Amy your girlfriend?" Hodgins turned to Zach.
"No! She's my sister!"
"So why'd you bring her along?"
"She's in town for a while. We don't normally see each other, and I didn't have anyone else to bring." A moment later the girls were back. Angela had a simple black bikini with worn shorts; Amy had a purple halter tikini (my friends say it's a bikini with some fabric covering the front of the stomach); and Bones had a blue bikini with shorts. The men went to the tents to change.
"So, are we all ready?" After everyone had changed the met by the cars.
"I think so." Bones had a bag with paper, pens, and sunscreen.
"Alright! Let's go." Everybody got into their cars soon they pulled up to the pool. Nobody besides a sleeping lifeguard was there. They picked their chairs and the girls started to tan. The men jumped into the pool.
After swimming for a few minutes they all looked at each other, and then at the women. Bones had set her paper down and was chatting with the others. It was perfect. They got out of the pool and each picked up one of the women. Bones started to slap Booth, not knowing what was going on. Amy demanded to be put down (Zach almost had to, he was so weak). Angela just started laughing. The men carried them to the edge of the pool and threw them in. They guys jumped in after them. Bones thought about getting out of the pool, but then everyone started splashing everyone.
After a few hours of swimming, splashing, and playing Marco Polo (they played it because Bones didn't know what it was), they decided to go home and get some food.
Chapter Six
It was Hodgins' turn to cook. He managed to send the rest of the group away for an hour to pick up some food. As soon as they left he called in a professional chef.
An Hour Later
"Wow, something smells good!" Angela walked over to the grill carrying chips, stuff for s'mores, and some beer. Hodgins (more like the chef) had made a delicious fish thing. It smelled wonderful. Everyone walked over and started eating.
"Hey, this is really good. Too good." Angela looked up at Hodgins.
"Thanks."
"Where'd you buy it?"
"I didn't!"
"Who'd you pay to do it?" Hodgins knew he couldn't lie to Angela.
"Some chef."
"Well, give him my compliments. And beg him to give you cooking lessons."
"Hey!"
"You know you need them." After everyone was done eating, they tried to figure out something to do.
"I know. Ghost stories!" Amy mentioned. It was dark and eerily quiet, perfect for ghost stories. Everyone gathered around the fire pit.
"Alright. Anyone know any good ones?" Booth asked.
"Oh, I do. It's old, but I like it." Angela leaned into the fire. "I heard it from an old friend. This is how it goes.
Within an hour of my arrival at Fort Union, my new post, my best friend Johnny came to the barracks with a broad grin and a friendly clout on the shoulder. He'd hurried over as soon as he heard I had come, and we talked 'til sunset and beyond.
As soon as Johnny mentioned Celia's name, I knew he had it bad for her. To hear him talk, Celia was the most amazing woman who had ever graced God's green earth. She was the sister-in-law of the captain, and all the young men on the base were infatuated with her. Celia was the prettiest of the eligible ladies that graced Fort Union society. She liked the spice of adventure to be found so near the wilds.
Johnny alternated between elation when Celia talked with him and despair when she flirted with another man. I watched their courtship from afar and was troubled. There was something about Celia that I didn't like. I never mentioned it to Johnny, but I thought she was too much of a flirt. I wished Johnny had fallen for a nicer woman.
About a month after I arrived at Fort Union, a birthday dance was given for one of the officers. To Johnny's elation, Celia agreed to be his partner at the dance. Johnny was dancing on cloud nine all night, until a messenger came gasping into the room to report an Apache raid. With a small scream of terror, Celia clung shamelessly to Johnny and begged him not to go even though he was the lieutenant put in charge of the mission. Well sir, Johnny proposed to her right then and there and Celia accepted. Furthermore, Celia told Johnny that she would wait for him, and that if he didn't come back she would never marry. I doubted Celia's sincerity, but Johnny just ate it up.
I was assigned to Johnny's troop, so I had to leave too. We started out the next morning, and had a rough week tracking down and fighting the Apaches. Johnny split up the troop; taking command of the first group and giving me command of the second. My men reached the rendezvous point with no casualties, but only half of the other group arrived, and Johnny was not among them. They'd been ambushed by the Apaches. I had to take command of the troop. We searched for survivors, but never found Johnny's body. As soon as I could, I ordered the men to turn for home.
Celia made a terrible, heart-rending scene when she found out Johnny was missing. She flung herself into my arms when I gave her the news and sobbed becomingly. The display turned my stomach; it was so obviously insincere. I excused myself hastily and left her to the ministrations of the other soldiers. From that time on, I was careful to stay away from Celia, who mourned less than a week for my friend before resuming her flirtatious ways.
About a month later, a rich handsome lieutenant arrived at Fort Union. He was from the East, and Celia took a real shine to him. Johnny was completely forgotten and so was her promise to him. It wasn't long before Celia and the lieutenant were engaged and started planning a big wedding. Nothing but the very best would suit Celia, and her bridegroom had the money to indulge her.
Everyone in Fort Union was invited to the ceremony, and the weather was perfect on the day of the wedding. Everyone turned out in their best clothes and the wedding was a social success. After the ceremony, all the guests were invited to a celebratory ball.
We were waltzing around the ballroom when the door flew open with a loud bang. A gust of cold air blew in, dimming the candles. A heart-wrenching wail echoed through the room. The music stopped abruptly and everyone turned to look at the door. Standing there was the swollen, dead body of a soldier. It was dressed in an officer's uniform. The eyes were burning with a terrible fire. The temple had a huge gash from a hatchet-blow. There was no scalp. It was Johnny.
The whole crowd stood silent, as if in a trance. No one moved, no one murmured. I wanted to cry out when I recognized Johnny, but I was struck dumb like the rest of the wedding guests.
Johnny walked across the room and took Celia out of her bridegroom's arms. She was frozen in horror and could not resist. Johnny looked at the musicians. Still in a trance, they began to play a horrible, demonic sounding waltz. Johnny and Celia began to dance. They swept around and around the room, doing an intricate waltz. Johnny held the white-clad bride tight against his dead body while a deathly pallor crept over her face. Her steps slowed but still Johnny held her tight and moved them around in a grisly parody of a waltz. Celia's eyes bulged. She turned as white as her gown and her mouth sagged open. She gave one small gasp, and died in his arms.
Johnny dropped Celia's body on the floor and stood over her, wringing his blood-stained hands. He threw back his head and gave another unearthly wail that echoed around the room. Then he vanished through the door.
Released from the trance, the crowd gasped and exclaimed. The bridegroom ran to Celia and knelt beside her, wringing his hands in the same manner as Johnny. His cries were all too human.
Unable to bear the sight of the stricken bridegroom, I took my captain aside and asked permission to take a small detail back to the place where our troop had been attacked by the Apaches to search once more for my dead friend. He sent a dozen men with me. We combed the area, and finally found Johnny's body hidden in a crevice. It looked exactly the same as it had appeared on the night of Celia's wedding.
We brought Johnny back to the fort with us and the captain buried him beside Celia. Celia's bridegroom went back East shortly after we buried Johnny, and I resigned my commission a few days later and went home, never wanting to see that cursed place again.
I heard later that Celia's ghost was often seen at dusk, weeping over Johnny's grave, but I never went back to Fort Union to see it for myself." Angela looked over to see a scared Zach.
"Wow. I wonder if it's true." Amy mumbled to herself.
"Alright. I got one." Booth had the perfect one. He had noticed Zach freaking out, and decided to play a little trick on him.
"On a night many years ago, six people were laughing and talking. Finally, they got tired and decided to head to bed. But they wouldn't all see the morning light. You see, one of the guys, who we'll call Matt, had made an enemy. He had stolen someone's wife. He had convinced his sister that the man, let's call him Chuck, was a terrible man. Chuck wanted revenge. He had been following them for days, jealous of how the man had so many friends, and most of all, his wife. After everyone went to bed he drugged them all, making them sleep harder than they ever had. Chuck moved Matt and tied him to a tree. He knew he only had a few minutes before the drugs wore off." Bones was starting to catch on; Zach had recently done the same thing. Zach was still oblivious. "Slowly, he put the kerosene on and surrounding the tents. The drugs had worn off. He walked over to Matt. 'This is what you get for ruining my life.' Chuck said as he lit the match. The tents went up in flame, and Matt was forced to watch his friends die, screaming with pain. Then Chuck snuck up behind Matt and chocked him. Now many years later, there have been accounts of tents starting on fire, people hearing loud screams of terror at night, and sometimes a jealous Matt will still roam around and choke people at night. So far no one has died, yet." Suddenly Amy, who had snuck up behind her brother, grabbed his neck.
"AHHHH!" Zach screamed as everyone burst out laughing.
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"
"Hey, calm down. It was a joke." Amy looked at her brother.
"That was cruel. You knew I hate ghost stories!" He glared at his sister. "Can we do something else?"
"Oh! Truth or dare!!!" Amy had had a little too much to drink. Everyone agreed. "I'll start. Angela. Truth or dare?"
"Dare!" She, too, had had too much to drink.
"Alrightie… Eat a whole s'more at once." Amy handed her a huge s'more. Angela shoved it in her mouth. It was a very funny scene.
"Mmm." Angela tried to get the 'mallow off her face. "My turn. Bones. Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Do you like Sully? As more than a friend?"
"No."
"Okay then." Angela beamed. She knew what she'd do next time she was picked. "Your turn."
"Hodgins."
"DARE!"
Bones smiled. "Kiss Angela." They both blushed and did kiss. Everyone applauded.
"My turn. Booth."
"Dare."
"What should I do…" Suddenly Angela whispered something into his ear. "Perfect. Kiss Bones."
CONTINUED BY Ilanaria - (I'm so sorry I didn't add this sooner!!