This is my first fanfic. It began as a little one-shot I published a while back, but I felt the need to republish it and add to it. Season 3 spoilers.
At this point, Booth and Brennan can be in a relationship or not, but I might decide to turn this into a catch-up-to-their-own-reality fic. Until I make that decision, the choice of whether or not they're together is up to you, the reader.
I don't own Bones or these awesome characters : (
CHAPTER 1
Booth was in a great mood. He and Bones had just finished the paperwork on their last case. It was a beautiful evening; he was in his SUV with the windows open and the radio on. The smell of Thai food wafted up to him from the back seat, and his beautiful partner was sitting next to him with a serene smile on her face. Even the traffic didn't bother him because it let him watch the sunset with his Bones.
When they were almost to Brennan's apartment, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" came on the radio, and Booth couldn't believe his luck.
"Yeah!" he exclaimed as he turned up the volume, "This day keeps getting better and better!"
Brennan, on the other hand, didn't hear his excitement, because the second the song began she could no longer hear or see anything around her. She felt cold and she could see nothing but the look on Booth's face as she remembered him bleeding beneath her hands. After a moment or two, she snapped back into reality and immediately turned the radio off.
"Hey!" he whined. "What'd you do that for, I love that song!" but as soon as he turned to look at her he saw she was really upset. He hadn't meant to upset her, and wasn't all that sure how exactly he'd done it, but now all he could think of was what he could do to make it better.
Brennan was truly shocked speechless. She had come to accept that Booth did or said things that were not logical, but this she could not understand at all. He wants to hear this song?
Neither of them spoke as he pulled into her parking garage or as they continued up to her apartment, each lost in their own thoughts. When they got inside, Brennan headed straight for the living room while Booth went to the kitchen to put the food down.
When he joined her in the living room he could clearly see she was agitated. She paced back and forth in front of him at a dizzying speed and seemed oblivious to his presence until he finally asked "Bones, what's wrong?"
She stopped pacing and whirled on him with wild eyes and asked, "How can you even listen to that song? That's the song I was singing to you when you were shot! Even I can see how that should have some kind of psychological impact, and you not only listen to it but you actually enjoy it? It's completely illogical!"
He was very confused. "You're angry with me because I like a song?" I'm the one who's not making sense here?
"Yes! I know that you are extremely strong mentally as well as physically. You would therefore be more than capable of getting past being shot, but come on, Booth! You died while I was singing that song to you!"
He was having so much trouble trying to keep up with her feelings that it was nearly impossible to express his own clearly. The only response he could give her was, "Exactly!"
She blinked a few times, and said nothing.
Seeley Booth didn't make any sense. And once again Temperance Brennan was speechless. She was overwhelmed by the memories of that horrible night and the two weeks of emptiness that followed; she suddenly felt exhausted by her partner and had no idea how to proceed.
"I… I…" She sat down on the couch and Booth joined her. She looked at him with tear-filled eyes and her voice broke as she said, "I don't know what that means," and began to cry.
"Oh, Bones," he said as he pulled her into a tight hug and let her cry.
He held her to him and tried to comfort her, gently shushing and rubbing soft circles on her back. After a few minutes he said,
"Bones, I like to listen to that song because it was the song you sang that night, and when I hear it, it makes me think of when you sang."
She sniffed and pulled back from him to look him in the eyes. She looked for anything that could help her understand, but his eyes didn't hold any more answers than his words. "But Pam Nunan shot you in the middle of it. She shot you." The more she spoke, the angrier she got. "While I was singing she took out a gun and attempted to shoot me but you just had to save me, didn't you Booth? What Sweets did was wrong, yes, but that doesn't change the fact that you willingly stepped in front of a bullet! And she KILLED you, you bastard!" She completely lost her original thought as she once again dissolved into tears and clung to him.
At the mention of Pam possibly shooting Brennan, Booth had visibly flinched. He didn't like to think of what could have happened that night if he hadn't been quick enough. When she began to cry, something she almost never allowed herself to do, he felt like the scum of the Earth to put her through this just because of a song.
He had known she had really been affected by his death, even if she never showed her emotions to the people around her at the time. It was something else entirely to witness even a glimpse of those emotions himself, and it broke his heart to see it. He held her tightly and continued to soothe her with his hands and his voice against her hair, "Shh, it's okay, Bones. I'm right here. We're here together and I'm not going anywhere."
She was about to point out the irrationality of saying he wasn't going anywhere because he obviously was going to have to get up at some point, but she remembered the irrational comment that had set her off in the first place. She pulled back again and told him exactly what was on her mind.
"Booth, you are completely irrational." He chuckled softly, it was just so Bones.
She hesitated, then quietly asked, "Why do you like that song so much, Booth? Help me understand."
He was quiet for a second as he thought back on her performance, smiling at the memory. "I like it because when I hear it I think of when you sang it. Watching you sing is one of my favorite memories. You were incredible Bones."
She gaped at him, "But-"
"I know what happened after, but you singing is not something I would ever remember badly or want to forget."
They sat in silence for a long minute before he said, "You know, Bones, if I had died that day, I don't think I could have picked a better death." Her eyes teared up but she couldn't speak. He saw the question in her eyes and didn't make her ask. "You were singing, and it was just so beautiful. I was so happy watching you up there just having fun. It felt like the perfect moment, you know? Up until I saw Nunan pointing that gun at you." At this, he saw the flash of anger in her eyes, and this time he knew exactly why.
"I had to, Bones," he whispered. A tear silently rolled down her cheek. Booth was fighting back tears of his own; it killed him inside to know how she hated him for the pain he had caused her. He couldn't stand to see her cry without comforting her but he had to keep going.
"I know you're mad that I took the hit, but I couldn't let her hurt you, especially not because of me. When I heard a second gunshot I was terrified that she got you, but then I saw you standing over me and I was so relieved that you were okay. You were crying, and it hurt me to know that I was the reason for your tears. You looked so scared and the pain in my chest was so bad that I thought I could be really dying. I didn't want to leave you, but I would have died a happy man because the last thing that I had done was to keep you safe. The last thing I would have remembered was holding your hand and looking into your eyes."
He sighed, because he knew this next part was important and that she wouldn't want to hear it, but he also knew it had to be said. He turned to her and waited for her to look into his eyes before he continued slowly but intensely.
"I can't promise I'll never try to save your life again, even when it puts me in danger. But I can promise you that if I die," fresh tears fell down her face and she turned away from him, but he pulled her by the chin to look at him again, "if I die saving you, then I'll die happy."
She had tears streaming down her face, and it was a long time before either one of them spoke. Eventually he realized it was time to lighten things up a bit. "But I really do like that song, Bones. Although your mother was right, it's much better when you sing it," and he gave her a 1000 watt smile that she couldn't help but return.
After another several minutes of looking into each others' eyes, he stood and pulled her up with him towards the kitchen and their forgotten dinner. As they set about getting dinner ready, she recognized the mischievous sparkle in his eye he got when teased her. She was about to ask him about it when he smiled at her and said, "So…"
"What?"
"Psychological impact, huh? Sweets will be thrilled when he figures out that you've actually been listening to him."
She smiled and gasped, feigning horror. "You're not going to tell him, are you?"
He pretended to consider carefully before saying, "Nope, your secret's safe with me. But I'm sure the kid will be able to figure it out on his own sooner or later. He's pretty quick, you know," he said, hoping she would take the bait.
"I don't see how his speed would help him discern any kind of information about us, nor do I think I've ever seen him move with any degree of swiftness now that I think about it." She furrowed her brow as she thought of the matter, and Booth couldn't help but laugh at the expected but no-less-amusing response. She finally said, "Perhaps you're right, I may have to be more careful. He is considered a prodigy within his field, despite the unscientific nature of psychology, and he really is quite intelligent." As an afterthought, she added, "Though he would have to be to work with us, because you and I are the best at what we do,"
He smiled at her. "Yeah, Bones. We're the best."
I love comments and criticisms, so please give me whatever you've got, I want to hear from you!
