Disclaimer: I do not claim the rights to anything. Except Oklahoma- just kidding.
Truth
Brennan heard a loud knocking and Booth's voice.
"Bones get up! Bones!"
She rose unsteadily from the bed to her feet, kicking the comforter away from herself.
Groggily, she opened the door, sleep still hanging about her eyes in a familiar way.
"Booth? What is it?"
Behind him, she could see people hurrying past, down the hall.
"Tornado sirens; we have to go to the hotel basement. Everyone has to go. Come on," he clapped his hands in a gesture meant to hurry her.
As she followed him into the hall, she wondered to herself, Why did we have to take a case in Oklahoma?
Booth placed his hand on the small of her back and led a very sleepy Brennan down two flights of steps.
They reached the hotel basement, where most of the hotel seemed to all ready have gathered.
Booth found a small space in the corner of the room and walked her over to it. They both slid down the wall.
Brennan yawned and then laid her head on Booth's shoulder.
"You seem awfully awake," she observed.
He chucked, "One of us has to be."
"What time is it?" she asked.
"Two in the morning; we were just under a tornado watch but it turned into a warning. We shouldn't be down here too long," he answered.
"Unless the roof of the hotel is blown away," she murmured.
"Sleepy Bones likes to make jokes," Booth laughed.
Brennan was trying, and failing, at going back to sleep; the room was full of families with children, who seemed to be terrified at the possibility of a tornado.
She lifted her head off of Booth's shoulder and opened one eye, peeking at her partner.
"I guess going back to sleep is out," she commented.
"You can try, I will stay awake."
She shook her head, "It's too loud."
They sat in silence for a moment, sitting so close that their shoulders were touching.
"Let's play a game," Brennan announced.
"Just me and you?" Booth asked.
"Yes. This seems the perfect time for a game."
Booth was silent for a moment then asked, "What game do you want to play?"
"Truth."
Booth thought about this for a minute.
"Okay. You can go first."
Brennan seemed to be taking her time thinking of a question for him.
"Where did your parents get the name Seeley?" she asked.
"Family name."
She nodded.
"My turn," Booth grinned.
"If you could be any animal, what would you be?"
Brennan laughed.
"Really? Of all the questions you could ask me, you want to know what kind of animal I would be?" Her eyes were twinkling, laughing at her partner.
He grinned even wider. "Yep," he said.
"Okay. Okay. I think… An otter, because they are so graceful and they get the best of two worlds- they can walk on land and they can swim."
He seemed to be mulling over her answer.
She jumped ahead. "What was your favorite birthday?" she asked.
He chucked again, "Not the last one."
She looked at him seriously then, and touched his arm with her hand.
"Sorry," was all she said.
He smiled a lopsided smile, "Don't worry about it."
Silence.
"Best birthday?" he asked, jumpstarting their conversation. "Probably my twelfth birthday; my mom made the most amazing cake with peanut butter chocolate icing. And I got a BB gun."
"The first of many guns," she laughed.
"If you could do anything you wanted, right now, what would it be?" he asked.
She thought about her answer. And then said carefully, "This. I would want to do this."
He raised his eyebrows and stared at her. "Really? No dig in Egypt or skydiving in Costa Rica?"
She shook her head no, "No dig in Egypt. No skydiving in Costa Rica."
He nodded once more and then looked away. He seemed to be staring at the wall on the other side of the room.
"If you had to do your life over again, what would you change?" she asked.
He guffawed, "Heavy questions, huh, Bones?"
She didn't answer; she just stared at the profile of his face.
"I would take a few more chances," he said. Now he looked at her, seemed to be searching for face for something.
After a moment he added, "And I would have let Jared stand on his own two feet a lot sooner."
She let her head fall back onto his shoulder.
"What about you? What would you do differently?" he asked.
She sighed.
"Sail away?" he asked. "Would you leave with Sully?" He held his breath, waiting for an answer that could easily break his heart.
"No. I wouldn't leave with Sully."
He released the breath he had been holding hostage.
"I would take more chances too. And maybe be more honest."
Now Booth laughed and she lifted her head to look at his face, a look of bewilderment on her own.
"You be more honest? Bones, I am not quite sure that is possible."
She cracked a smile and playfully hit his arm.
A man on the other side of the room was trying to get everyone's attention.
"The storm has passed and everyone is free to go back to their rooms," he announced.
Booth stood and offered his hand to Brennan. She took it and stood.
"Finally," he said. But now she wasn't feeling as eager to get back to her room as she had at the start.
They walked back up the two flights of stairs and made their way back to their rooms, which were side by side.
They stood at her door, facing each other.
A yawn from Brennan broke the comfortable silence.
"That was fun," she said.
"Yeah," he joked. "We should get stuck in hotel basements more often."
She smiled.
"No. We should play Truth more often," she said.
She opened her door and waved before closing it behind her.
Booth stood in the now empty hallway.
"We should," he said to no one.
A/N: I hope that you liked it. Reviews make my day!
I got the idea for this piece after a tornado warning of my own. (I don't live in Oklahoma but I do live in Tornado Alley)