Just a word of warning: this is my first Bones fic. I didn't find this show until season 3, but thanks to dvd, I've seen all of the first two seasons now. And I don't even pretend to own these characters.

December 25, 2007

The Jeffersonian

Brennan's Office

Brennan leaned back in her chair and dropped her unused plane ticket into her briefcase. Since she had decided to spend Christmas with her family instead of making her flight last night, she wasn't going to make it to Peru over the holiday. Fortunately, she'd just finished changing her reservations to early spring, so it wasn't a total waste. Not that she felt like the time spent with her family was a waste. In fact, it had been one of the best Christmases she could ever remember. Especially since Booth had managed to find a way for them to have a tree.

It didn't take long for her to drift from thinking about Booth standing by his truck with a Christmas tree to thinking about kissing him under the mistletoe earlier in the week. Her eyes automatically shifted to where the mistletoe was still hanging in her office. It was completely irrational for her to still be thinking about it, but she couldn't seem to get him off her mind. The way he smelled, the softness of his lips on hers, the gentle way his hands gripped her waist, the feel of his jacket in her hands and the solid chest she could feel beneath that. She couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if she hadn't been so self-conscious about the fact that Caroline was standing there timing them.

With a shake of her head, she forced her thoughts away from kissing Booth and back to her computer screen. Since she wasn't going to Peru, she had decided that she might as well spend the day cataloging the remains that she'd been requested to work on after the first of the year. Opening a new spreadsheet, she began entering header rows that she would use to sort her findings into useful groupings.

Booth flashed his id at the guard and received a nod of recognition as he passed through the doors. He'd taken a chance on finding Brennan in the office today and wasn't surprised when he'd seen her car in the parking lot. He knew that opting to spend Christmas with her family had made her miss her flight to Peru and since he'd checked for optional flights to surprise her with the day before, he knew there wasn't another one until tomorrow afternoon. It was only slightly disappointing to know that she was working on Christmas. He knew she would rationalize it as being the sensible thing to do, but there was still something wrong with it. Of course, the fact that he had decided to volunteer to help her didn't really say much for himself, either. If he were honest with himself, he would have to admit that other than getting to spend the rest of the day with Parker, there wasn't anyone else he'd rather be with today than her.

He saw the light on in her office and decided to start there in his search for her. If he was lucky, she would be working at the computer and not over a decomposing body. He stopped in her doorway when he saw her sitting at her desk with her back to him. He might as well take the opportunity to look at her for a minute. She was absolutely beautiful. His attention drifted to where the mistletoe was still hanging from her ceiling and he couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. If he'd ever needed proof that he was one hundred percent, head-over-heels in love with Temperance Brennan, he'd gotten that when she had surprised him with the mistletoe. In spite of the fact that Caroline had been standing there watching them, he had enjoyed every millisecond of that kiss. And it had taken more willpower than he knew he possessed not to press her for more and to let her step away from him.

His eyes drifted back to where she was relentlessly pounding away on her keyboard and he forced the thoughts of ravishing her out of his mind. Instead, he reached up and gave a soft knock on her door. "Fancy finding you at work on Christmas Day," he said when she turned around, surprise evident in her eyes.

"Hi, Booth," she said with a smile.

"Hi, yourself," he returned as he made his way over to the chairs in front of her desk

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" he teased her with a grin as he settled into one of the chairs.

"I'm working," she replied. "Where's Parker?"

"I dropped him off about an hour ago," he replied. "Rebecca only agreed to me keeping him overnight if I had him back in time for them to leave for Vermont today."

"I'm sorry you couldn't keep him longer," Brennan said.

"Me, too. But I'm glad for the time we got to spend together, and I made him promise to try to have fun while he was in Vermont."

"That was good of you, Booth."

Their gazes locked and held for a long second before Booth cleared his throat and looked to her computer screen. "So what kind of work could drag you into the office on Christmas?"

"Nothing critical," she replied as she forced her eyes back to her screen and away from his lips and her mind back on work and away from thoughts of how it felt to kiss those lips. "There are several sets of remains that are believed to be from Egypt in the 1800's that I've been asked to identify. I was planning on starting when I got back from Peru, but since I'm still in town, I figured I might as well go ahead and get the database set up so I can start first thing in the morning."

"I see," he said. After a brief pause, he added, "Are you sorry?"

"Excuse me?" she asked as she looked back at him.

"Are you sorry?" he repeated.

"Sorry about what?"

"About missing Peru?" he clarified. "You know, in order to spend last night with your family."

She shook her head as a soft smile played across her lips. "Not at all," she said. "It was a wonderful evening. And it was the right thing to do...for all of us."

"Good," he replied. "I'm glad you feel that way."

"And thank you."

"For the tree?" he asked. "No problem. Parker and I had a blast decorating it."

"For that, too," she replied.

His eyes narrowed as he looked at her. "For what else then?"

"You know," she said as she lowered her eyes from his, hoping he couldn't see how much talking about that kiss was affecting her. "The other thing, too."

Booth eyed her suspiciously for a minute as he realized that she was suddenly acting very embarrassed. He quickly searched his memory trying to come up with what she could be thanking him for, and then her eyes shifted over to the mistletoe and he understood. Not only did he understand, but he also found himself sharing in her embarrassment. "Oh, that."

"Yeah, that," she agreed. "Thank you for being a good sport about it."

"You're welcome," he replied. Suddenly feeling either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid - he couldn't decide which - he decided to push the envelope. "You know Bones, you can kiss me anytime you want. You don't even have to use Caroline and mistletoe as an excuse."

Her eyes shot up to his and there was no mistaking the flash of desire in them before she quickly looked away. "Nice try, Booth. I told you it was like kissing my brother." She hoped he would buy her answer and let it drop.

"I'm not that bad of a kisser," he stated.

"I never said you were," she replied, her eyes darting back up to meet his. Seeing the sparkle in his eyes and the grin on his face, she knew she'd just been played.

"So you're saying I'm a good kisser then?" he asked.

"I never said that either," she replied sarcastically.

"You implied it, though," he said as he leaned forward so his elbows were resting on his knees. "If you don't think I'm a bad kisser, then you must think I'm good at it."

"I don't think I'm in any position to judge," she shot back quickly. "I was too busy worrying about if we'd met the required number of steamboats to let myself enjoy it."

"I still don't know what steamboats have to do with it," Booth replied.

"Caroline said we had to kiss under the mistletoe, on the lips, and the kiss had to last for at least the count of five steamboats. Otherwise, she wasn't going to arrange the trailer at the prison for us."

"Do you think you would have though, if you hadn't been preoccupied with the steamboats?" he asked softly.

"Would have what?" she asked, wondering if he was really asking her what she thought he was.

"Would you have enjoyed kissing me?" he asked shyly, his gaze locking on hers, daring her to be honest with him.

Her eyes briefly drifted to his lips and she felt her heart rate accelerate at the thought of kissing him again. "Booth, this is insane."

He stood up, walked around her desk and reached a hand out to her. Surprised to find that it wasn't trembling as he waited for her to reach for it, he found his voice. "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. I've decided to try something a little different this time."

Brennan looked from his hand to his face and then back at his hand again. "Booth..."

"Trust me, Bones."

"I trust you with my life," she said as she looked back up at his face.

"How about with your heart?" he asked.

With her eyes still locked on his, she reached up and placed her hand in his. He gave a gentle tug and she got to her feet and allowed him to lead her over to the sprig of mistletoe.

"No steamboats, no Caroline, no deal to get to spend Christmas like a real family," Booth said as he pulled her to stand in front of him. "Just you and me and a lonely little piece of mistletoe on Christmas Day."

"What if there's no going back after this?" she asked as she tightened her grip on his hand.

"There's already no going back for me," he replied as he brought his free hand up to her chin and tilted her face up to look at him. "I wasn't counting steamboats, remember?"

Their eyes locked and she allowed herself to see the hope and fear radiating in his and she realized that there was already no going back for her either. Somewhere during the course of the last two-and-a-half years, and in spite of herself and her opinions on the matter, she had fallen in love with him. With a gentle squeeze to the hand she was still holding, she smiled and then took a step closer to him.

Booth needed no further encouragement. With his heart pounding loud enough in his chest that he was sure she could hear it, he closed his eyes and then closed the remaining distance between their lips. His hand slid from her chin to the back of her head, holding her to him as he savored kissing her.

Brennan reveled in the feel of his lips on hers, one hand holding her to him possessively and the other still holding tightly to hers at their sides. His lips were as soft as she remembered them to be, his scent something that was uniquely him, his chest as solid under her hand as she recalled and yet there was something completely different about this kiss. Before she could analyze what it was, he pulled away from her slightly. "Well?"

She blinked a couple of times to clear her head, but still found that she had no idea what she was supposed to be answering. "Well what?"

He chuckled softly and then brushed a teasing kiss across her lips before he replied, "Did you enjoy it that time?"

She gave him a playful shove to the chest for asking, but before she could turn away from him, he grabbed her arms and pulled her flush against him. "I enjoyed kissing you, Bones," he whispered against her lips. "Very much."

As his lips caressed hers again, his hands slid down her arms and around her waist. She returned his kiss and slid her arms around his neck, her fingers playing with the soft hair at the nape of his neck. He moaned his appreciation against her lips and she took the opportunity to deepen the kiss, her tongue sliding past his lips and meeting his. It was several minutes later when Brennan broke the kiss, her lips leaving his and trailing up his jaw line to his ear. When she reached his earlobe, she sucked it into her mouth gently before releasing it and whispering, "Definitely."

Booth turned his head so he could look at her and the question in his eyes brought a smile to her lips. Before he could give voice to it, she answered him. "I definitely enjoyed it that time."

He smiled and leaned in for another kiss, but she sidestepped him and broke their embrace. "Let's get out of here, Booth."

He watched as she walked over and turned off her computer and packed up her briefcase. "Where do you want to go?" he asked when she finally turned back to face him.

"Someplace where we can enjoy kissing each other some more and not worry about someone walking in on us," she replied with a smile.

"Should I bring the mistletoe?" he asked as he pointed up at it.

"I don't need it," she replied as she stepped over and gave him a brief kiss. "Do you?"

He merely smiled and followed her out of her office. As they passed the security guard at the door, Brennan smiled at him. "Merry Christmas, Thomas."

"Merry Christmas to you, too, Dr. Brennan." With a slight nod, he turned his attention to Booth. "You, too, Agent Booth."

"Best Christmas ever," Booth replied with a goofy smile. He was definitely going to have to get Caroline a really great belated Christmas gift.

Thank you for taking the time to read. I would love to hear your thoughts if you'd like to share.