Disclaimer: Bones and all the characters therein are owned by FOX, Hart Hanson and Kathy Reichs.

Authors Notes: Booth defines the word - Bones as he knows it. Each one of us have a special meaning to certain words because of the circumstances that we associate those words with. This story acknowledges one such word that is the essence of this man's life. Enjoy the story. Reviews are welcome.

Bones

"Why do you call me Bones?" She had learned very early in their relationship that her partner was at his honest self when he enjoyed their post coital bliss. In the dark of the night, under blankets, they would whisper words that they would dare not utter when they could see each other in light. The intimacy of these conversations usually left her vulnerable and she actually thought that they might have a shot at being permanent and forever. She shifted in his arms to bury her face in his neck.

"I call you that because I see Bones everywhere; at my office, at your office, at my home, my gym, when I go to park with Parker."

"What do you mean by that?" She sat up. He smiled and gently pulled her back to his embrace. In the few months that they were together as a couple, he had come to enjoy these quiet moments with her. In those times there were no cases, no dead bodies; they were not special agent and world famous anthropologist, they were just a man and a woman who were sharing something special; their lives.

"In the beginning, it was just a word to annoy you. But later on, the word grew on me and it became something more than just a nick name or an endearment." He was aware of what was happening to them since the beginning of their partnership. Every stage of their relationship had taken a great amount of time to mature than any other relationship he had ever been in. But in the end, it was worth every single moment of their partnership.

"Words are just words Booth. They don't mean anything other than what they are intended to. So, Bones is just bones; an annoying nick name." She sighed into his neck.

"To understand what bones is all about, you simply have to see things from my perspective Temperance. I call you Bones because, well there are lots of reasons." He ran his hand leisurely in her hair. His left hand was idly drawing vague patterns on her bare back. She sunk further into his embrace.

"Tell me everything you know about Bones." Her long eyelashes were tickling his skin on his neck. He looked down at her and pressed his lips on her forehead. He nuzzled her nose and began his explanation.

"Bones define human body structure."When everything fails, I turn to you and I can suddenly stand again. Is that just you or is that your unconditional support has made me walk straight all this while?

"Bones postulates a right posture." When you strip me out of my façade of cockiness, lame jokes, fancy suits and charm smiles, I am just a broken man trying to find redemption by correcting my past deeds. But with each passing day, I feel that I cannot stand alone in this world anymore. I am glad you are there to lean on.

"Bones give a unique identity to humans." I am an ordinary FBI agent, an ex-sniper and a father when my ex-girlfriend allows me to be one. With you, I am just me; without any ties or strings attached. It's the most exhilarating feeling my life has ever witnessed.

"The slightest dislocation of bone could cause monumental discomfort." When you get emotionally hurt, it hurts me more than heartbreak would. It hurts me worse when you try to deal it alone by yourself.

"Bones are well protected by muscles; but that doesn't mean to say that they are unbreakable." I am honored to know such a strong woman like you who work like a maniac to give justice to those who cannot speak for themselves. But during the times when you are in a hurry to find all the answers, you may skid, fall and scrap your knee. All these years, you have dusted it off, ignored it and moved on. But from now onwards, would you allow me to clean the cut and put a band-aid on it?

"Even smallest bone fractures happened during childhood can cause enough trouble in future." Everything you are is because of the choices you were forced to make as an adolescent. Scars left by you teen years are still in process of healing and they come back to haunt us from time to time. Will you promise me that if it ever happens again, you will allow me to comfort you and love you?

"Even when there is nothing left of a man, Bones live to tell his story." There are many souls who have been freed because you were finally able to give them a solace by identifying them and returning them to their families. I wish you would one day have your own progeny to tell their mother's story to the whole world; you deserve nothing less than that, if not more.

"Bones support and hold every vital organ in a human body." If each member of your team and I represent various vital organs of a human body, then you would be the skeletal system; the one who holds all of them together. If I am the heart of the team, then you become my ribcage, protecting me from my ignorance in your field.

"It requires healthy Bones to function a healthy human body." If you left me, I wouldn't die because that would be too easy way to cease to exist. I think I will break every day a little bit more, my own soul torturing my existence; not allowing me to live nor allowing me to die. It won't be a death of body but death of mind itself, lost in my own insanity and slowly dwindling away into obscurity. When did you invade my conscious mind? Was that when you ran your fingers in my hair as I placed my head in your lap for a quick nap or when you hugged me to eternity after a bad day at office?

"To an extent, Bones exists quite close to forever." I sincerely wish this stays forever. In the morning, we get back to our work, go to field and somewhere in the back of our minds there is this nagging feeling which constantly reminds me of the danger that we both are in. My heart argues with my head for your safety; my head argues back with my heart for incompleteness in my personality without you. This dichotomy often drives me crazy. But I have somehow come to terms with both arguments.

"Bones are…Bones? Bones? You awake?" He could feel her slow intake of breath on his neck and realized that she was fast asleep. He hadn't realized when she had fallen asleep and wondered how much of his rambling had she witnessed. One day, they would perhaps talk about it again, and on that day she would dissect every word that he would utter and try to equate with something more quantifiable. Or she may completely agree. He continued to hold her close to his chest till sleep claimed him.

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