The Healing in the Hiatus

The ending to yesterday's season finale left me dumbstruck; I swear I had to re-watch the last 50 seconds of the episode to wrap my mind around what happened on the screen. Even Booth reacted quicker than me. But like many others I felt a bit robbed off a reaction so I started thinking, then I started writing and here's the product of that. This is my first Bones fanfic ever, though I have been reading fics for eight years so I'm no stranger to the fandom.

This is my exam-break baby and will hopefully, and if well-received, turn into a multi-chapter fic.

I would usually never incorporate parts of the original script, but for once I found it appropriate. I hope you agree with me and that the use of the original lines helps build a bridge between the season finale and this story.

I apologize for any typos but it's really late now and just wanted to post it. But I am looking for beta, so if you're interested, just shoot me a PM.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1:

The Elation after the Revelation

"They looked so happy"

The tone of Bones' voice was somewhat unintelligible to Booth, like she was saying one thing but really trying to say something else. It held a tone of wonderment, as if she wasn't capable of comprehending that someone could look so radiant and emit such happiness. However, he quickly concluded, she was a scientist who didn't speak the same language as the majority of other people.

"Yeah well, they had a baby," Booth stated as if it was the simplest answer in the world.

Which, in some ways, it was. At least to him. It was easy to recall the first time he held baby Parker in his arms. Although Rebecca had declined to marry him, all thoughts of marriage (or anything else in the world) seemed to matter when the nurse first put his new born son in his arms.

Bones' voice interrupted his happy trip down memory lane.

"Their whole lives have changed, you'd think they'd be a little more apprehensive," she reasoned, always trying to find a logical explanation for each and everything. Yet there appeared to be a different meaning behind her words – as if she was internally arguing with herself.

"Well, you know, having a baby's, that's a good thing," Booth responded.

"You really think that?" Her walking pace had slowed down considerably.

"Yeah, it's a great thing. Why?" The confusion he'd felt before peaked as they both came to a halt in the middle of the street. It wasn't unexpected nor unusual that Bones would react strangely to the birth of baby Michael, but her behaviour seemed more extreme than what Booth would normally expect.

And he knew Bones.

"What?" he asked, almost anxiously when he saw the look on her face. She seemed nervous, on the brink of becoming frantic. As much as she'd developed over the years of their partnership (and particularly within the past month) there were still times where the old side of her would surface. She'd claimed to have become stronger, claimed that she was losing the last of her imper-something. And Booth had certainly seen the improvement. Bones was becoming increasingly better at showing her emotions but sometimes she would still be unreadable. Even to him.

"Oh come on, Bones. Look - the baby… the baby's fine, all right? It's healthy. They got a healthy baby, they love each other. This is the happiest day of their lives. Okay?" He frantically attempted to explain why Angela and Hodgins would be happy with the development in their lives. Yes, they had gone through the pain of not knowing whether their child would be blind or not but the love they felt for each other and for their unborn baby had seen them through. This, Booth decided, was the cause of Brennan's behaviour. It was always the fear of getting hurt if she let down her barrier, if she let anybody in.

And yet she didn't answer and react in any way.

"What?" Booth asked desperately and anxious to discover the reason behind her mask.

His partner looked him in the eye before taking a deep breath. "I'm…. I'm pregnant,"she paused slightly before revealing the last bit of her secret. "You're the father."

It took a few seconds before the actuality of the words seemed to sink in. All Booth heard was pregnant and father. To say it came as a surprise was an understatement, but the instant he grasped the reality of what Brennan had just said, excitement rushed through him.

Bones watched with anticipation as she begged for him to understand. At first he looked completely dumbfounded, like a deer caught in the headlights, but slowly and steadily the sparkle returned to his eyes and a smile lit up his face. She noticed every little muscle contort on his handsome face as a grin slowly spread across his face. Relief rushed through Brennan and she let out a small gasp before reciprocating his smile.

For a long while the two partners stood in front of each other, both unable to utter a single word, and yet so much was being said through their mirroring smiles. Booth's grin has widened immensely and almost went from one ear to the other whereas Brennan was still a bit apprehensive of the situation.

Finally Booth managed to find his voice once again.

"I'm gonna be a dad?" he asked carefully, afraid it might all be a dream. Instantly he was reminded of the dream he had in a drug infused haze, when he'd been under for surgery two years ago. Back then Bren had told him that she was pregnant and Booth could easily recall the disappointment he'd felt when he realized it'd all just been a dream and that Brennan was still only his friend and co-worker.

Bones just nodded in response, still acting a bit hesitant and expectant of his reaction.

"I'm gonna be a dad!" he repeated, this time much more loudly and without a hint of being a question. He clapped his hands together in elation and the sound echoed throughout the street, causing several pairs of eyes to turn their way. Two passing teenage girls just shook their heads, then one whispered something to the other and they both started giggling simultaneously. An old woman across the street smiled warmly at the young couple and raised a hand in a congratulating gesture.

Bones just stood there whilst regarding Booth's reaction to her news. Even though she hadn't known for long and was still processing how she herself felt about it, seeing the happiness on her partner's face outdid any imaginable scenario.

Once the reality of the situation had finally settled in and Booth had regained control of his emotions, he turned back to Bones, anxious to know if she reciprocated his feelings towards the news.

"How," he hesitated.

"How do you feel about..." he waved a hand in her direction, lightly indicating what he couldn't convey, "you know?"

"I find that I'm quite excited about the prospect of becoming a parent," Brennan replied in a low voice that could barely be heard. For someone who was used to bottle up the majority of her feelings, it was incredibly difficult for her to express what she actually felt. And at the moment she felt just about every emotion she had ever felt. A mixture of nervousness, elation, love and fear raged through her veins as she desperately tried to maintain a calm exterior.

Booth, who was wearing his happiness on his sleeve, suddenly noticed her quivering with effort to keep it all in. Desperate to know how she was really feeling, he reached out and pulled her fiercely into his chest.

Around them the world went on as it had always done, cars passing in a seemingly unending stream, and various people passed by but none seemed to notice the scene going on between the agent and the anthropologist.

Being wrapped in Booth's strong arms, pressed up against his chest, made Bones feel safe and she finally let go and opened herself up to him in every possible way. Tears streamed silently down her cheeks, her breaths were short and staccato, her entire body shaking as she made small indistinguishable noises. At first Booth recognised them to be her crying, but he quickly realised she was laughing.

For a long time they just stood there, unmoveable, as time passed. Neither of them noticed. He just held her as she vented but after a while her breathing finally calmed, the tears stopped and the shaking subsided.

Bones took a step back and gazed up at Booth with blotchy eyes. The sheepish grin that had been plastered to his face had been replaced by an understanding smile that warmed her tremendously. Despite gaining understanding from her partner, Bones found herself feeling slightly embarrassed at her sudden outburst.

"When a woman is expecting it's perfectly normal to be hormonal. Actually the difference is truly profound, as many men find when watching their partner go through pregnancy," Bones explained quickly as she attempted to regain her posture.

"Within the first 70 days of a pregnancy human chorionic gonadotropin is produced in large amounts to ensure the ovarian production of progesterone. Combined with the increase in oestrogen and numerous other hormones, pregnant women are likely to experience a magnification of emotions," she finished, much to Booth's amusement.

"Really Bones – you're gonna go all squinty on me now of all times?" he smiled lovingly at her when she grimaced. Instead of trying to make amends, Booth laughed it off and gathered her in his arms again before placing a lingering peck on her forehead.

"So you are happy about this?" he heard her ask lowly against his chest.

"Oh, you have no idea Bones. You have no idea." He pulled back slightly and finally locked eyes with her. Despite the tears and the laughter, the overflow of emotions, Booth couldn't help but think that she had never looked as beautiful in her entire life. To Booth, Temperance Brennan had always been an incredibly attractive and beautiful woman even if she refused to recognize it herself at times. From the moment he first laid eyes on her, she had surprised him. First off he'd expected an elderly squint with grey strays of hair, glasses and a horrible posture and instead he'd found Bones; a young and ambitious scientist who wasn't afraid to admit that she was the best within her field.

Bones had always been very forthcoming and headstrong, one of the many features he'd come to admire about her. There was no way he could deny the immediate attraction he'd felt towards her when they first encountered one another, but after a difficult case, tequila, a sexual rejection and several heady arguments, he told himself that she was just the bones-lady with whom he solved crimes. Of course he quickly realized he was lying to himself. But that was over now.

"I find that makes me quite happy," Bones replied meekly which proved to Booth that she was clearly still trying to recompose herself after her emotional outburst. Despite everything, he could do nothing but laugh at her and to his surprise, she just smiled.

To any onlooker the exchange between the two might have appeared weird and rather uninteresting, but to both Brennan and Booth, they were slowly coming to terms with the fact that this was their life altering moment, the one they'd waited for.

It wasn't when they first met that fate intervened. It wasn't when he was shot and Bones believed him to be dead. It wasn't one of the numerous times they'd saved each other's lives and it especially wasn't the moment outside the Hoover building all those months ago.

"Bones," he said sternly, looking in her blue eyes, "can I please kiss you now?"

She looked at him, feigning surprise.

"I think," Bones stated, "that I would like that very much."

From now on the chapters will be longer but this was really just an opener to see how I venture within the fandom. Was it readable? Please let me know what you think about this one and whether I should continue with it or not. Updates would probably be weekly, depending on my exam schedule.

Oh, and if I do continue this story I promise plenty of hot stuff, not always the fade-to-black ^-^