One-shot inspired by a very long, very complicated word that I can't even pronounce, but it has such a beautiful meaning and so accurate for these two that I couldn't help but make a story out of it. So, without further ado, enjoy!
P.S. This is pre-100th episode.
Disclaimer: Wow, haven't had one of these in a while but I think it goes without saying that I don't own any characters (sadly) and that all rights belong to Fox. Also, I do not earn any money from writing (again, very sadly).
Mamihlapinatapai- "a look shared by two people, each wishing that the other will offer something that they both desire but are unwilling to suggest or offer themselves."
Mamihlapinatapai
Booth was drunk. Really, really stumbling, mumbling, disorienting drunk, and it was up to Brennan to get him home in one piece.
Why? You may ask. Well the answer lies in the fact that Rebecca had just been handed a life-altering case that would take her (and Booth's beloved son, Parker) all the way across the country for an indeterminate amount of time, but Becks had hinted that it would at least six months as Parker was forced to change schools for the time being.
Booth had asked-no, begged- her to let Parker stay with him for a while, but Rebecca flat-out denied him, stating that keeping Parker with him could be a hazard to the boy's health due to the demands of his career. Booth had tried to deny that, but in the end, he'd had to agree with Rebecca. Being an FBI Agent has put Parker in danger before and it could definitely happen again.
Then when he asked if Parker could come back for visits, she avoided giving him a definite answer.
Booth prided himself as a simple man, but he was smart enough to know that probably meant he would see his boy without the use of Skype for a long, long time.
So he did what any depressed, FBI Agent father who wouldn't get to see his offspring for an undetermined amount of time would do.
He got wrecked.
He took a cab to the Founding Fathers so he wouldn't be tempted to drive anywhere, knowing that as soon as that Scotch started flowing, it wasn't going to stop until he passed out in his stool.
His first drink burned like hell because it had been such a long time since he'd had any good, strong alcohol (the last drink he'd had was a beer with Bones after their last case and it had been a Bud Lite).
The second drink went down a bit smoother. It still burned like a bitch, but the burn was much more pleasant this time around.
By the third drink, Booth was growing used to, and even pretty fond of, the burn of the Scotch in his throat.
His next drink was a double. As was his next one.
By the one-hour mark Seeley Booth was pleasantly smashed and was getting deep into a spirited, high-pitched rendition of 'Amazing Grace', which caused many other drunks to join in as well as a few, more sober customers to pick up their tabs and leave the bar for a much quieter place to drink, and therefore annoying the bartender.
"Okay, Buddy," he said, taking away Booth's half-filled glass (he'd switched from Scotch to Bourbon after the bar had conveniently run out) and handing him his phone. "Call whoever ya need to, be it a taxi or a friend. Hell, call the police if you need to, but call somebody to come get ya, because we can't have ya sticking around here no more, singing as bad as that Rebecca Black kid."
"Yeah, Rebecca's kind of a bitch, ain't she?" Booth slurred. "But, why does that mean I gotta leave? I'm havin' fun here, and you, you're gettin' free entertainment." He reached for his drink but the bartender pulled it away again, and handed him the phone.
"Why don't you call that girlfriend of your, Dr. Brennan?" he offered. "I bet she'll come to your rescue."
Booth scowled at him. "First of all, Bones is not my girlfriend. She's my partner. Okay? And second, she's probably sleeping already."
The bartender looked over his shoulder at the clock. "It's only half past nine. I doubt that partner of yours would be asleep right now."
Booth's eyes widened. "Is it really that early?" he asked. "I coulda swore it was like at least midnight."
The bartender shook his head and pushed the phone towards Booth again. "Nope. Now call someone to come pick you up."
Booth glared at the bartender as he took the phone and dialed Brennan's number instantly, getting each and every digit right despite his less-than-sober state.
The phone rang three and a half times before Booth's heart jumped at hearing the pleasantly familiar voice. "Brennan."
"Heya, Bones!" Booth slurred into the phone.
"Booth?" He could almost see her confusion through the phone. "Where are you? Why aren't you calling me from your cell phone? And are you...drunk?"
Booth blinked. "That is a lotta questions, Bones." Booth slurred. "Le-lemme think for a second. Um...yes, this is Booth. And I'm at..." he looked around, trying to remember where he was. "A bar..." he decided vaguely.
"The Founding Fathers." The bartender said towards the phone, trying to help out.
"Hey!" Booth said, pulling the phone away. "I-I knew that. Jus-just go away. D-don't talk to my Bones."
Brennan, on her end, though wanting to argue that she was in no way property of Booth, couldn't fight the smile that appeared on her face at the thought of being his.
"Sorry about that, Bones." Booth interrupted her thoughts. "Some people are just plain rude. Anyway, what was I saying?"
Brennan chuckled slightly. "You were answering my questions. The third one I believe, which is why you did not call me from your cell phone."
"Oh, I forgot I had one." Booth said, pulling said phone out of his pocket and examining it. "Here it is." he said. "It's really shiny, Bones."
Brennan chuckled at that as she grabbed her coat and car keys. "I bet it is." she locked her door as she made her way to the elevator, listening to him describe how cool his cell phone was.
"Oh! And as for that last question, Bones...yes, I am drunk. At least according to some people." The bartender rolled his eyes and placed a glass of water in front of Booth. "What's this?" he asked.
"Vodka." The bartender responded, sarcastically. "Don't ask, just drink."
Booth shot him a glare and picked up the glass. "I think someone's getting a little 'tude here, Bones." he said, taking a sip of his 'vodka' and making a face. "Hoo, that burns!" he said, and the bartender chuckled at him. Booth sent him another glare and backed away, going back to his other customers.
Brennan laughed and shook her head, now walking out of her building. "Did you need a ride or something, Booth?" she asked.
"Huh? Oh-oh yeah! That'd be great, Bones! Could you? I don't have my car here-couldn't drive it if I did- and I don't think I have enough cash on me for a cab ride, so do you think ya could-"
"I'll be there in ten minutes." Brennan said, before hanging up and getting in her car.
By the time she got there, found a parking space, and entered the bar, Booth was halfway through his rendition of 'Dancing Queen' complete with shaking hips and salt shaker microphone, while a few customers and the bartender looked on, amused.
Brennan just shook her head and laughed, coming up behind him, placing her hand gently on his shoulder. "Booth?" she asked and he turned around, his face brightening visibly when he saw her.
"Bones!" he slurred throwing his arms around her in a giant bear hug.
The strong, burning scent of alcohol invaded Brennan's nostrils almost instantly and she had to fight the urge to push him away. "Booth!" she said. "It's nice to see you, as well, but...how much alcohol have you consumed?"
Booth pulled back with a smile and shrugged. "I dunno. I think I had about five shots of Scotch, then three or four of Bourbon and that nice bartender has been giving me some Vodka on the house since I called you."
Brennan eyed the bartender and he held up his beer nozzle. 'Water' he mouthed and she nodded. "Well, that was nice of him." she said. "So, are you ready to go home now?" she asked, gently.
Booth gave her a thoughtful look, before nodding vigorously. "Yeah, okay. I just gotta pay this guy for my liquor and...Hey," he said, turning to the bartender. "How much do I owe you, again?"
The bartender sighed. "For the eight time, you paid me already. You don't owe anything."
"Oh." Booth said, dumbly. "Okay then. Le'sgo, Bones!" he said, clapping his hands.
Brennan nodded and grabbed his jacket and his arm, before he could walk out without it. "I think you may need this, Booth." she said.
Booth nodded. "Oh, right." he said, taking the jacket and turning it all around before turning to Brennan. "How do I get this thing on?" he asked, looking absolutely perplexed.
Brennan bit back a laugh before taking the jacket from him. "Here." she said, "Let me." She instructed Booth to put out his arm and she slid the respective sleeve on it, helping him into his jacket slowly and carefully, as he was stumbling even just standing still. "There you go." she said.
Booth smiled drunkenly at her. "Thanks, Bones, you're a pal!" he said, throwing one arm over her shoulder and squeezing.
Brennan chuckled and wrapped her own arm around his torso, helping to keep him up. "Thanks, Booth." she said. "As are you...I think. Now, let's go."
Booth nodded and started to walk forward. "Yup! Le's go!"
As Booth wobbled and tripped towards the exit, Brennan held him up, attempting to weave in and out of the crowd of people who were now entering the bar, towards the exit.
Once they were outside, Booth took a deep, loud breath in. "Aah!" he said. "Would you smell that fresh, D.C, air, Bones! Nothing like it in the world!" His tone got darker as he added. "Especially not in California!"
Brennan, having been told at lunch about Rebecca and Parker moving away for a while, nodded gently. "Of course not." she said. "California is not as clean as D.C." she knew, as a serious scientist, that this wasn't true in the least, but she'd learned that, in order to spare the feelings of friends, sometimes lying was acceptable. It was only a small lie, anyway. Miniscule, even.
"Yeah." Booth agreed. "This place is much cleaner! That's for sure. They should be staying here. Not going all the way over there to the dark, dirty side." He laughed at his own joke and Brennan chuckled, not quite knowing what he was talking about.
"Right." she said, in agreement as they reached her car and she opened the passenger-side door for him, helping him in. "Are you alright to buckle yourself in?" she asked.
Booth nodded. "Yeah, o'course! I'm not an in...an in...I'm not completely useless, Bones!" Booth said, in a matter-of-fact tone.
Brennan chuckled. "Of course not, Booth." she said, before closing the door and going over to the driver's side. When she slid in, she almost burst out laughing at seeing how Booth had tangled himself in his own seat belt, the buckle not being anywhere near where it was supposed to be.
"Here." she said. "Let me help." she reached over and took the belt in her hands, untangling it so the straps were over his shoulder and his lap, before smoothly buckling it.
Booth looked at her, amazed. "Whoa, how did you do that?" he slurred. "Can you teach me?"
Brennan chuckled. "Maybe when you're a bit more sober." she said, putting on her own seat belt, and starting up the engine.
As they drove through the streets of the city, Booth was surprisingly quiet, staring out his window as his eyes went wide, like a child's, looking up at all the bright, shiny lights of nighttime D.C. Brennan could even have sworn that she heard a few 'ooh's and 'aah's. She glanced over a few times, smiling as she realized that he looked just like Parker at that moment, and then frowning at the reason that Booth was in this state in the first place.
It wasn't exactly because of Parker, she knew, but more because Rebecca was keeping Parker from him again, even if it wasn't exactly on purpose this time.
Brennan wished there was someway she could help him.
As they pulled up to Booth's apartment, Brennan realized that there was. "Hey, Booth?" she said.
Booth turned to her with half-lidded, sleepy eyes. "Yeah, Bones?" he asked.
"I'm sorry Rebecca is taking Parker away again." she said, consolingly.
Booth frowned and looked away. "I don't really wanna talk about that right now, Bones." he said, quietly.
"If it makes you feel any better, I could fly you over there over Winter Break to see him. Doesn't he have a week's vacation from school?" she offered.
Booth looked back at her. "Yeah, he does. But, Bones, you don't have to-"
Brennan put one hand up to stop him. "I want to, Booth. It's not fair for him to be so far away from his father for so long and not even being able to see him. Besides, I have enough miles on my credit for you to make your regular visits to him until he actually returns to D.C."
"But don't you need those for those diggy thingies you go to?" Booth asked.
"Booth, I'm very wealthy. I'm sure I can afford my own plane tickets. But you can't." She said. "Not enough to make regular visits to your son, anyway."
Booth shrugged. "That's true, but Bones, like I said, you don-"
Brennan put her hand up again. "I don't want to hear it, Booth." she said. "You're going to have your regular visits with Parker, even if it uses up all my miles. You deserve that much, at least." she said.
Booth smiled at her. "Gee," he said, "Thanks a million, Bones."
Brennan smiled, softly, back. "No problem, Booth."
"Hey," he said, "Maybe you could come, too, sometimes." he suggested, almost shyly. "You know, get away from work for a little bit?"
"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose-"
"Nonsense!" Booth exclaimed. "Parker adores you! And I'm sure he'd love to have you visit him in stinky old California!"
Brennan chuckled. "I'll consider it." she promised. "Thank you, Booth."
"No," Booth said, smiling like a fool. "Thank you, Bones!" He emphasized her name with a poke of his index finger to her nose, which she promptly crinkled, making him smile.
God, she's so cute, sometimes. His hazy mind thought as he smiled at her.
Brennan smiled back, locking eyes with him for a moment, her heart pounding in her chest at the eye contact, and despite the annoying, yet spine-tingling poke in the nose.
They sat there, just staring into each other's eyes, for God knows how long, before Booth realized where he was and with whom, and cleared his throat. "Uh, I guess I should get upstairs, you know, before I pass out from all the shots I took." Though truthfully, he was beginning to sober.
Brennan chuckled and nodded. "That would be wise." She pressed the button for his door to unlock and Booth opened it, making a move to get out, but something pulled him back in.
Looking down, he chuckled to himself as he saw he still had his seat belt on. "A little help here, Bones?" he asked, jokingly, remembering how she had skillfully buckled him in.
Brennan nodded and reached over to press the button releasing him. "There you go, Booth." she said, fighting back a shiver as the back of her hand brushed his thigh, unknowing that he fought back that same shiver.
"Good night, Bones." Booth said, stumbling out of the car, but quickly regaining his balance.
Brennan chuckled. "Good night, Booth." she said, waving to him as he shut the car door and walked to his apartment, struggling with his keys for a second, before finally unlocking the door and entering.
Brennan waited until she saw his upstairs lights turn on, before driving away. The entire ride home she constantly itched the back of her hand, trying to get rid of the constant tingling.
Unbeknownst to her, Booth was doing the same to the side of his thigh as he dressed and climbed into bed.
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