Title: Auguries of Innocence
Disclaimer: Bones and its affiliated characters do not belong to me nor do I claim to own them in any way. I mean no copyright infringement, solely for entertainment of Bones fans.
Summary: Brennan and Booth are called to the oldest city in the United States; St. Augustine Florida. There, a body was unearthed at the Castillo de San Marco. Work and a getaway in the romantic city, brings more than what is expected for the two partners.
Rating: Strong T; Maybe M later on for content.
Author's Notes: I had started this fic back in July, Hart Hanson's birthday in fact. BUT my computer crashed and all that I had worked on was lost. It took several months to get my computer back up and running. Thank you, to Alana, Jen and Ali among my other Bones girls on twitter for keeping me going.
Now about the title of the fanfic, "Auguries of Innocence" is from a poem by William Blake, one of my favorite poems of all time. The whole of the poem is beautiful, but it's the first four lines that inspired the story. The definition of Augury means "A sign or indication of something coming".
To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.
As well as the poem, my love of St. Augustine and its natural beauty and history was a perfect setting for a little romance for our favorite duo. I do hope you enjoy my first fic. Comments and thoughts are always welcome. If you would like to see any of the photos I have from St. Augustine, just ask. I will do my best to describe everything. All locations in the fic are real and can be visited while visiting St. Augustine. Its charm and beauty is well worth going to.
Auguries of Innocence
"Oh Come on. It's December and warm." Booth groaned as he walked outside Orlando's International Airport, with his over sided military issued bad slung over his shoulder. "Welcome to Florida, Booth. The weather here can be unexpected to say the least. It's not like home." I told him looking back at him. "No, home is where the white snow blankets the ground and crunches beneath our feet this time of year. You wear that cute beanie on your head and little mittens. Here no jackets are required at the moment." Booth sulked as we made our way to the rent-a-car location. "Quit your complaining Booth, it's very unbecoming of you." I couldn't help but smile at Booth. "Plus you should enjoy the warmth while you get it, because we won't get it back at home, not for another couple months at least, Booth." I informed my partner who couldn't help but smile in my response.
We made our way over to the rent-a-car office. Thankfully I had made a reservation before we left DC. The lines were pretty long and I thought that I'd surprise Booth with a little fun, since we had to drive quite a while to St. Augustine and because Booth couldn't help but let me know that there was a Flyers game that he had tickets to, and couldn't attend to because of the case. I honestly still don't know how I feel about that game. But I know it makes Booth happy. So as long as Booth is happy, I feel that I too myself am happy too. Standing at the counter with my bags to my left, Booth was over by the window looking out with the same pouty look on his face. I signed the papers for the rental and looked back several times at Booth. I often find Booths "pouty face" very adorable, though I would never admit it aloud or to him, not even Ange. Grabbing the keys and walking over to Booth, dropping the keys in his hands. "Here you go." Though he almost always drives, he still gave me a strange look. "Did you get a hybrid or something?" He asked me as we made our way towards the third of cars where I was told our car was waiting. There sat one of those tiny Mini Coopers like Hodgins had. Booth hated the small cars, nor did he know how to drive them. "Tell me you didn't get the Mini, Bones. Flashbacks to London! My knees in my mouth, finger nail size mirrors. Their impossible to drive unless your Hodgins" Booth groaned. "I didn't get the Mini, Booth. I figured you could use a little fun when driving." I said , stopping, next a white sports car. "Oh Bones! You know a way to this man's heart, the new Honda CRZ Sport Hybrid, with six speeds and chrome alloy wheels." Booth wrapped his strong arms around me. "It fits both our tastes. Your taste in sports car and mine in hybrid cars."I told him gasping for air before wiggling out of his arms. I could have stayed there in his arms, but we did have to get to St. Augustine in the next couple hours "Come'on. We gotta get going Booth. It's an hour and a half drive from here." Booth set me back down on the ground and grabbed our bags and put them in the back of the car, before moving around to the driver's side. I hopped in the passenger side and he pulled out his IPod from his jacket pocket and plugged it into the port. "This car really is great Bones. Thank you. I know I've been a little off. But that Hockey game was tonight and Hacker pissing me off as usual. " Honestly I didn't mind his moodiness. I knew by midday, evening at the latest, he would chill out and we could move forward with our case. I did love going on these trips with Booth. It was usually just us, new places, new places to eat, maybe something new I would learn from him or about him. I loved learning things about him. Whether it be something he tells me that his mother or pops told him or little things I notice that he does. It's just us.
The drive from the airport was pretty nice. Not much traffic. Booths IPod had a surprising amount of music that I enjoy. He even had Cat Power. And yes our song Hot Blooded, which we both started off humming and ended up singing together for the third time. It was enjoyable; this is the side of Booth that I love to be around. No one at the lab seems to really see it. His charming smile, the brightness in his dark soulful eyes, and yes I know he is a man, but he is beautiful. Enjoying the music and the view along Florida's highway and the conversations Booth and I exchanged made the nearly 2 hour ride easy and almost relaxing before getting to the actual case. Neither of us had eaten on the plane, other than the "Snack Pack" Booth called it of cookies we shared and the drinks on the plane. It was in the later after noon and just as we came to our exit into St. Augustine there was a gas station and fruit stand next to some Souvenir World Place. It was small but it looked like it had a little bit of something and Booth and I could stretch our legs for a few moments. Booth pulled into the gas station part and decided to top off the gas so we wouldn't have to do it later. "Booth, I'm going to go in and take a look around." I told him and he nodded as he began to pump the gas. "Alright I'll be in after." He added before I got too far from ears length.
There were only a few people in the little half open air store. An older gentleman, who owned the store, offered fresh orange and grapefruit slices as I entered. Taking a slice of orange, it was surprisingly sweet. Thanking him and continuing to look around until Booth joined me. Outside were little containers of shells. Most I had seen before, but in the actual enclosed part of the store were bags of the same oranges and grapefruit. I made a note to myself to pick up a bag of oranges before I left so we would have a little something at the Inn. Above my head were beautiful, though not quite my taste, sea shell chimes. Walking towards the side of the store I found bags of pecans still in their shell, another treat for the Inn. There were also jars of raw honey with and without the combs. Booth was sure to grab one of those. He loved honey in tea, when he had it, or when I made it for him at my apartment. He would surly leave the jar of honey at my place so I could make it for him.
Before I knew it Booth was behind me picking up a jar of honey, just as I predicted. He turned to look at me with the biggest smile on his face. Silly Booth. I grabbed the Southern Pride: Pure Blackberry Jelly and Apple Butter, showing Booth the bottles as I continued to look. Picking up the jar of Apple Butter Syrup for Ange and then grabbing one of the small bags of pecans and proceeding to the check out. Booth and I knew it was a tourist trap but we didn't have this stuff at home so we didn't really mind the slightly higher prices. Booth got some BBQ sauces and hot sauces and of course his honey without the comb and offered to buy the oranges if I would share the pecans. He didn't have to ask, we would have ended up sharing our treats anyways. We both also bought fresh fruit drinks for the rest of the car ride. With snacks in hand we made it back out to the car and continued on with the rest of the drive.
The remainder of the drive was off the highway and after the fruit stand was a no nothing little town, hardly anything to see, just homes then making way into a slightly larger town, the outer part of St. Augustine. "Ha, Bones look a Food Lion." Booth, being silly as usual. "Yes, Booth. It's a market. I've seen them before, their name is almost as silly as the Piggly Wiggly." I added and smiled before taking a sip of the fresh fruit juice. About 20 minutes later we made it to the sign that said 'Entering St. Augustine: The oldest city in the Country.' "You know Booth, it is said that Ponce de Leon found the Fountain of Youth somewhere around here. " I made sure to do some lite reading and information gathering before we got here. "Really?" Booth said, I had waited for some smart ass remark from him, but I believe his question was that he did not know that fact for himself. "Something I'm sure you'll never need, Bones." Booth added. "You know that there probable was a body of water, but the likeliness that it had youth properties is slim to none." After saying that, Booth just looked at me with that grin.
The navigation system took us the main road around the old part of the city. It was really beautiful; to the right was what looked to be an old graveyard. With the entrance to the old city, to the left with a view of the water was the 'Castillo de san Marcos', where we were going to be checking out the body. Just past the old gates to the city, Booth made a right down the driving areas, the roads to the main shopping are St. George Street was closed off to drivers so we had to go around. It wasn't too hard to find the bed and breakfast. It was actually the last resort around. All the other hotels and motels and Inns seemed to be full or were reserved. Though this Inn we were staying at was slightly expensive, which was expected for an Inn, it was very lovely. Booth pulled into the Inn's parking lot and we got out stretching once more. The 'St. Francis Bed and Breakfast' was charming and welcoming.
We walked into the Inn and met the Inn Keeper, kind old English man, he kind of reminded me of Gordon Gordon. We had booked two rooms but the old man looked up from his screen with pursed lips. "I am quite sorry to have to tell you, but the second room that was booked had a pipe burst with water going all over the floor and we are doing repairs to the flooring in the main room, however there is a pull out bed in the second room of The Wilson Suite that Dr. Brennan reserved. I do hope we may still accommodate you both." The Inn Keeper was very kind and we knew that it would be quite the hassle to find another hotel with two rooms. It shouldn't be a problem, The Wilson Suit was a two room with private bathroom. I didn't have a problem sharing the suite with Booth, we did have smaller "digs" Booth called it when we joined the Circus. However looking at Booth, he wasn't angry looking, but more fear and possible shock. I couldn't tell, I was terrible at that. I would have to take more lessons from Sweets. "Booth? Booth relax…Thank you The Wilson Suite will be just fine for the both of us." Both Booth and the Inn Keeper seemed to breath out a bit of relief when I said it would be just fine.
So that will be Chapter 1 of many. I hope you have enjoyed so far. Lots to come ahead. Check out some of the places mentioned and you can get an idea of what some places look like. Feed back is welcome.
Xoxo, This Bonesketeer.