Make Things Right

Genre: Drama/Romance – Booth and Brennan pairing

Summary: Booth and Brennan learn to make things right as they solve a murder and deal with personal conflicts that resulted from her father's parting words.

Timeline: Set after 'The Man in the Cell'. 'The Girl in the Gator' is interpreted my way. The story starts there, but heads off on its own after that.

Disclaimer: The characters of Bones belong to Kathy Reichs, Hart Hanson, Barry Josephson and FOX.

Chapter 1

Silence filled the drive towards the Florida Everglades. It was as if the humid air, unusual in this time of the year, made breathing and talking too difficult. It seemed that the lush green vegetations and shallow water of the swamps worked to fool the senses to slow down the synaptic connections in the brain.

It could also be that Brennan's partner, and friend, was in a lousy mood.

Booth had been behaving differently since the last case they worked on, which ended up with Epps hanging from his grasp and falling off the balcony to his death. Brennan had tried to remind Booth that it wasn't his fault that Epps jumped off, but the stubborn man still had this idea that he was somehow responsible for the serial killer's death.

The black cloud hovering inside the car made Brennan want to choke. "So, they found a body inside an alligator?" She asked, hoping to engage Booth in a conversation.

Booth readjusted his sunglasses, taking his time before answering, "That's what I said earlier, Bones."

"So what happened?"

"I know just as much as you do."

Brennan slumped back in her seat, giving up attempts to create some sort of comfortable silence that she had gotten used to. She looked outside and tried to lower the passenger side window to dispel the thick air that was smothering her. A few mosquitoes tried to get in, and with a sigh, she rolled the windows back up. Sometimes, she just didn't understand the man.

With her blue rubber gloves, Brennan crouched next to the alligator's mouth, trying to pry a piece of metal that had gotten stuck. She searched around for Booth when she found a necklace, surprisingly intact despite the circumstances.

Booth had his back towards her, talking to the sheriff and directing some of the local law enforcements. No one had doubts about who was in charge, with his large frame and confident stance, Booth was definitely in his element.

"Booth!"

As always, he answered Brennan's call in a heartbeat, walking towards her as soon as he heard his name.

"What have you got, Bones?"

She showed him the necklace, opening the locket that revealed a picture of a father and daughter inside. "I think it's our victim's."

Booth took an evidence bag from Brennan's kit and leaned down so she could drop the necklace inside. He tried to peer down and look at the alligator's mouth. "Anything else in there?"

Brennan kneeled back down, making large sweeping movements with her hand. She shook her head. "Okay, this alligator is ready for transport."

The team she had called earlier arrived with large crates and plenty of ice. Booth and Brennan stepped aside to make way for five men in attires that looked like plastic suits. They loaded the alligator with competent ease that Brennan declared, "I'm going to take samples of the water and grounds around this area."

Booth handed her thick black boots which she took one at a time. She slipped each leg inside while holding on to the arm that Booth offered her. "Thanks."

"Don't go too far, stay where I can see you." He ordered before going back to the sheriff who was watching the two of them with amusement. Brennan sighed; her partner could be so bossy.

Brennan held on to a tree branch as she descended into the water which almost reached the top of her boots. She tried to keep her pants dry as she scooped water sample inside the test tube. She was examining the greenish, murky content when she heard Booth calling for her.

"Bones!"

The sound was getting closer; she could almost hear the desperate tone. "Bones, where are you?" Poor guy, didn't he know she could take care of herself?

"Bones!"

"I'm right here, Booth." She tried to even out her frown as she used her most reasonable tone to respond to the very large male hovering precociously close to the edge of dry land. She could make out Booth's expensive suit in between two trees that prevented him from seeing her fully.

He swept a branch out of his way. "Didn't I say that you need to stay where I can see you?"

Brennan rolled her eyes and put the test tube in her coat pocket. She reached for a tree branch to propel herself back to land, but Booth grabbed her shoulders and hauled her up.

"You're irritating, you know that?" She said as she brushed pass him. This morning he wouldn't speak to her, and now he was being so…so male.

Since Booth had larger strides, he soon caught up with her to block her way with wide shoulders. He glared down.

She glared back up and crossed her arms.

"Jesus Christ!" He took both shoulders and shook her gently. "When are you ever going to listen to me?"

"I thought you're not supposed to use your God's name in vain?"

Booth's eyes popped open. "You are quite something, Bones. You know that?"

With tongue in cheek, she said. "Yes I do. I know about a lot of things." She shook her shoulders, disengaging from Booth's grip. "Out of my way, Booth."

When he did as asked, Brennan quickly walked away. She was careful to hop over a dead tree, struck by lightning perhaps, which had fallen on the ground covered with leaves that made crunching sounds with each step.

"Just promise me you'll stay in sight." Booth called out.

"No!" She yelled without looking back. Since the incidence on the balcony with Epps, she noticed that Booth had a sudden obsession to know where she was at all times. He would drop by the lab for no reason, or call her in the middle of the night to ask her a 'work-related' question that could wait until morning. Maybe the shrink he was scheduled to see when they got back to Washington would help. She didn't put much credence in psychology but Booth's behavior had got to stop; even if that meant talking to a shrink.

Booth caught up with her again. This time, he stood in front of her, very closely, and quite menacingly. "No?"

She held her ground. "No."

Before she knew it, Booth's lips were on hers and he held her against him by pressing her lower back towards his middle. He bit her lower lip gently and she opened her mouth as she gasped, letting his tongue meet with hers.

Before she could process the cacophony of sensations the brief contact made, he stopped and whispered close to her ears. "The next time you want to give me attitude, I'll do worse. Do you hear me, Temperance?"

She heard him so she nodded a couple of times. It didn't mean she understood, but she wasn't about to tell him that.

Satisfied, he adjusted his tie and walked back to the car.

She touched her lips with her forefinger, feeling the heat, wetness and tingling left there by Booth's kiss. The man had nerve! He couldn't just kiss her senseless and walk away.

Stomping, she followed him to the car after making sure that her alligator was safe and secure for transport. Seating on the passenger side, she put her seatbelt and declared. "You can't just kiss me senseless and walk away."

Booth shook his head, pressed his palms against both lids and leaned back on the headrest. "Bones – that was precisely what I did."

She turned to him, "You can't tell me that people at high risk situations can't be in a relationship, and then kiss me the next day." She tapped his shoulder and when he looked at her, she continued, "It confuses me, Booth."

"That makes two of us."

"What?"

Letting out a sigh, Booth turned the engine and backed up on the main road to head back to their rented hotel room. "Bones, let's just forget this whole thing happened. I wasn't thinking clearly. You frustrate me so much that I don't know what to do with you sometimes."

Brennan tried to process what Booth was saying and reflected back to their kiss. It was a highly charged situation and with lack of alternative options and a few pheromones thrown in the mix to increase sexual sensitivity – yeah she could see why Booth would kiss her. "Okay, Booth. I understand. You were merely reacting to a highly stimulating confrontation."

She nodded once, relieved that once again, her world made sense. It was much better this way, when she acknowledged that Booth didn't like her that way and she pretended that she didn't care. She didn't have enough emotional capacity to interpret every touch or look as something more than what they were. Sure, she wasn't far removed from human emotions to be immune from his smiles and hugs, both of which gave comfort and warm feelings in her heart. But she knew where she stood; he had made that clear many times.

So she didn't understand why Booth gave her a darkened look, the terse atmosphere back again as they drove away.

Brennan locked her self in the bathroom for a bubble bath and let Booth walk off his mood. They hadn't shared another word since he slammed the car door and murmured that he needed air. That was five hours ago and she hadn't heard the door open to signal Booth's arrival.

"Bones, how long are you going to be in there?"

Brennan must have dozed off and was too relaxed from the bath to be irritated, "Just a minute, I'm done." She stepped out of the bathtub, leaving bubbles on the floor as she tied a white fluffy bathrobe around her.

"We need to talk." His eyes were dark, and shoulders defeated, like he ran an uphill road to search for something, only to find out that the answer to his quest was what he'd known all along.

Despite the low light coming from the lampshade, Brennan could still see that half of Booth's shirt was unbuttoned, and his tie had long been disposed. His usually coiffed hair looked like it had been mussed frequently by trembling hands.

Her heart ached for him. Brennan didn't know the first thing about comforting someone, but she knew Booth was at an end of a struggle he'd been having with himself. She wasn't sure who won.

Booth looked at her like he was seeing her face for the first time, like he was memorizing each part of her. Her breathing increased in response to the intense male gaze. Brennan didn't have very much experience with relationships, but she didn't need Booth's special gift of reading people to recognize that they were teetering on a fine line of passion, the kind that starts in a flash of light and quickly turns to smoldering flames.

Booth had that look about him, and Brennan knew with absolute certainty that if one of them wasn't careful, they would throw an accelerant in the fire and she would end up against the wall, his mouth on her breast and his fullness inside of her.

She backed up a few steps, then forward again, trying not to spark any fire that could cause both of them to get burnt. "Okay, we'll talk..."

She thought that response was safe enough; she should have known that just being in close proximity with him caused sparks on its own.

Booth's lips were on hers before she finished. His kisses were urgent and hungry, deepening as he cupped her face between both hands.

Brennan's eyes flew open, startled, but instincts guided her to close them to intensify the feeling of having Booth kiss her for the second time that day.

As quickly as he took her lips, Booth stopped and rested his forehead against hers. "Okay." He whispered, almost talking to himself. "Okay, I know how to do this."

"What…?"

"I'm making things right, Temperance. I want to make things right with you. Will you let me do that?"

She saw the sincerity in his eyes, the plea and need to soothe and be forgiven. How could she ever turn him away when he looked at her like that – like she was a lifeline, an anchor that could save a sinking boat? She guided him back to her lips and whispered "Okay."

Author's Note: Reviews make me smile : )