AN: Just a one parter I thought up ages ago, and only had an ending for with the arrival of Sully on the show. My first Bones fic, so I'd love to hear what you guys think.
Spoilers: Up to The Man in The Mansion
Disclaimer: The characters and show belong to their respective owners.
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FBI Agent Seeley Booth pounded his clenched fist repeatedly against the thick steel door. "Is there anyone there?" he yelled. "Can anyone hear me?" He paused, waiting for a reply.
"There's no one out there Booth." Dr Temperance Brennan replied from her seat on one of the steel work surfaces. "Its 2.30 in the morning."
He ceased his pounding, and turned his head to look at her.
"What, did you think someone would be walking passed an abandoned warehouse, in the middle of nowhere?"
"I was thinking, that at least I'm not sitting on my butt, throwing out unhelpful comments, but actually trying to find a way out of this life sized cold box."
"Booth this meat locker hasn't been used in years, its not even switched on."
"Well that's great Bones, now that I know, I'll just grab a seat and take in the view." He sighed, returning his attention back to the door. After one final pound of his fist, he let his hand slide from the door in resignation.
"If it helps, this is all you fault." Brennan said, glancing at his back and then around the small meat locker.
Booth slowly turned his body to face her. "My fault?" he asked in disbelief.
"You were the one who let the door close, and now we're stuck in here."
Booth approached her. "I did not let the door close. And hey, you were the one who wanted to return to the crime scene in the middle of the night, without back up."
Seeing where he was going with his line of accusations, Brennan fired back. "You were the one who brought me this case in the first place."
"Well it's not my fault that you're the best at what you do." Booth was sure that the comment was meant to be about assigning blame, but the remark sounded more like an awkward compliment.
Either she missed the tone of the remark, or she chose to ignore it, and Booth saw this as his exit.
"Look why don't we stop blaming each other, and just try to think of a way out of here." They were both silent for a moment.
"Well that worked."
"I thought it would." Booth replied with a quiet ease in his tone.
"So what do we do now?" Brennan asked, as she crossed her arms over her chest, as she felt a nip in the air.
Booth looked at his watch, and sighed. "No one will be around for at least another five hours. No one else knows were here, and all this steel isn't doing much for the phone signal."
"Okay, tell me something I don't know. You're an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, surely you've dealt with much more pressing situations. There must be something in your training that merits a mention to our particular predicament."
"Bones, they teach us to shoot, to handle hostage situations and investigate…stuff okay. They don't hand out manuals for executing the perfect extraction whilst inside a locked freezer."
"Well don't you think that that is something to add to the comments box at the office?"
"Sure, why not, I'll hand it in with my suggestion of a Playstation's fitted as standard in every agents' transport." He replied sarcastically.
"It was just a suggestion. We cannot be the first people to be trapped in an uncomfortable situation such as this."
"Interesting use of the word uncomfortable there. Are you talking about the surroundings or our situation in general?"
"You know, for once I'd pay to hear you answer a question that wasn't dripping in sarcasm." She replied rubbing her hands up and down her arms, as the cold got closer.
Booth noticed her actions, and removed his long black coat, draping it around her shoulders to starve off the cold. His hand lingered on her arm for a moment, and she looked at him slightly confused at his sudden change in behaviour.
"Thanks."
Booth removed his hand, and began to wander around the small space.
"Look, it seems like we are going to be stuck here until someone rescues us. So why don't we try to get along. I'll stop blaming you, and you can stop replying sarcastically. Deal?" She put her hand out to shake on it.
Booth turned to look at her, he paused for a moment.
"Deal." He shook her hand and took a seat on one of the steel surfaces adjacent to her. They were silent, neither knowing what to say.
"So how's your sex life." Brennan asked boldly.
"Whoa Bones, is nothing…you don't just…there are rules." He replied, gesturing with his hands.
"What, we're partners, besides, I told you about Sully."
"Really wished you hadn't." he replied quietly.
"Booth, it's a natural thing. You shouldn't be ashamed to talk about it. Just think of it as, discussing a case."
"Look Bones, it doesn't matter how you spin it, a gentleman never discusses his…you know… personal activities."
"You're really uptight about this aren't you?" she said with a smile.
"Hey nobody's uptight, we're just not all as comfortable as you seem to be."
"Well excuse me for being comfortable with myself. We can't all mask our true feelings behind colourful socks and flashy ties."
"Hey I went all back to black, and you didn't like it remember." He said as he paced the small space.
"I never said I didn't like it, it just wasn't who you are."
"That's great Bones, I'm damned if I do, and I'm damned if I don't."
"What's that suppose to mean?"
"It means, that no matter what I do I'm screwed. I break up with Cam, and here you are rubbing Sully in my face, although he's pretty good at that himself."
"I don't know what that means."
"Forget it alright, forget I said anything." He said as he returned to the door, his back to her.
They hadn't spoken in over an hour; but of course the silence felt like days. Booth now sat on the floor, his back was against the steel door, and doing nothing for his body temperature. He had crossed his arms over his chest to fight off the cold, and brought his knees up. Brennan still sat on the work surface, with Booth's coat wrapped tightly around her small frame. For the last hour or so she had being going over what Booth had said, trying to make sense of it. She wasn't a woman to beat around the bush, but something told her that the subject was obviously a very sensitive one, and Booth deserved her respect. Besides, she was getting better at thinking before she spoke. She looked down at Booth, his head was hunched in towards his body, and his cheeks were pale.
"Booth, what did you mean before, about Sully?" she asked, no longer able to keep quiet. She was working on it, but these things took time.
"Nothing Bones." He said, never looking up.
She hopped down off the work surface and made her way towards him. Crouching down in front of him, she placed a hand on his cheek, causing him to look up at her.
"You're freezing." She said as she removed the coat, and took a seat beside him.
"I'm fine Bones, really."
"You're not fine, you could catch pneumonia." She draped the coat over them both and took his hands in her own, as she snuggled closer to him.
Her hands were warm compared to his, and soft to the touch, and as he glanced over at her, he felt the warmth radiate through his body.
"You don't have to do this."
"Of course I do." She replied as she rubbed his hands with her own. "Is that any better?" she asked, turning to face him.
She stopped her actions as their eyes met.
"Much." He answered softly.
"That's good." She replied in the same tone.
Neither moved, they sat staring at each other until the silence became unbearable. As if feeling guilty for what she thought might happen, Brennan was the first to speak.
"Is there something I should know about Sully?" Booth didn't answer right away, as if debating whether or not to reply.
"No. He's a great guy." He replied with a smile.
"Do you want to try that again without the forced smile?" she looked up at him, as he brought his attention back to her. "I know that you wanted to say something before, and I know you Booth, you wouldn't have said anything unless it was important. So you can tell me." She gave him a reassuring smile, to which he nodded slightly.
"He came to me for advice, about you." She nodded, encouraging him to continue.
"But then he got this idea that I wouldn't help him, because…"
"Because…?"
"It's crazy really." She placed a hand on his arm.
"Booth, tell me."
He sighed, averting his gaze. "He said I wouldn't help him, because I wanted you." He slowly turned to face her, as she was still sat close to him, watching him.
"What did you say?" she asked when she found her voice.
"I said we were partners." Their close proximity reminded him of their stake out in the car, and the moment that could possibly have happened, were it not for the arrival of the drug dealer. They were close, and their voices carried that same tone, and now both seemed lost in each other's gaze.
Soon the distance between them was closed, as a sweet kiss lingered. Slowly pulling apart, Brennan spoke.
"Booth, I…" But she was interrupted.
The door disappeared from behind them, as Jack Hodgins called out.
"Booth, Dr Brennan? You guys in here?" But before he could finish opening the door, the pair fell backwards landing on the floor.
Angela bent down to help Brennan. "Sweetie, are you ok?" she asked, pulling her friend up from the floor, as Jack helped Booth.
"I'm fine, Angela."
"How long were you guys in there?" she asked.
"Awhile." Brennan replied, looking over her shoulder at Booth. They held each other's gaze until Angela spoke.
"It's a good thing we stopped by."
"How did you guys find us?" Booth asked.
"Angela noticed some evidence in one of the crime scene photos, so we came down to check it out. We tried calling you guys on the way, and then we saw your car out front."
Brennan rubbed her arms, trying to starve off the cold. "Sweetie, we should get you in the car. You too Booth." Angela said, leading her friend back to the car.
The following evening, Brennan sat at her desk. In her hands was a piece of paper with Sully's phone number scrawled across it. She had been staring at it for hours, debating what she should do. She looked up when she heard Angela walk into the room.
"Hey Ange." She said, dropping the paper on her desk.
"So, did it finally happen?" she asked with a smile.
"Did what happen?"
"Come on, you were trapped inside that meat locker with Booth for hours. Something must have happened."
"I kissed him, or he kissed me, we kissed." Brennan replied confused.
Angela took a seat in front of Brennan, a huge smile spread across her face.
"And why is it that I am only finding out about this now?"
"It's complicated, we're partners for a start, and I'm kind of with Sully."
"Sweetie, nothing is set in stone. You have to go with what you feel in your heart, and by the way you've been staring at that piece of paper, I think you already know what that is."
"Thanks Ange."
"No problem sweetie."
There was a quiet knock, as Booth stood in the doorway.
"I'll leave you guys to it." Angela replied, standing from her seat.
"Seeley." She acknowledged with a smile.
"Angela." He nodded.
"Come in." Brennan replied, causing him to walk slowly towards the chair Angela had just vacated.
"So, how are things?" he asked.
"Complicated." She replied, resting her elbows on her desk.
"Look Bones, I understand if you want to forget what happened last night. It was a… strange situation."
"Do you want me to forget about it?" He looked up at her, but made no move to speak.
"I've been staring at Sully's phone number for hours, trying to decide what to do. And every time I bring myself to dial his number something stops me. I don't know if it's guilt, or what it is." She paused. "Booth, I don't know if anything will ever happen between us. It's complicated, we work together." She sighed, and for a moment he looked disappointed, although he tried to hide it. "But if you're willing to try, so am I."
A small smile spread across his lips. "I can't ask for much more than that."
End