Spoilers: One from "The Boneless Bride In The River" but, to be safe, don't read this if you haven't seen the second season and don't want any of it given away.

Disclaimer: SO not mine. Don't sue. I'm relatively poor anyway, and getting money from me would be like getting blood from a stone. )

Author's Note #1: This is my first Bones fic, and I am surprised at how these characters write themselves. I had no intention whatsoever of having them discuss country music, but they insisted. Goodlord. For those of you who like country out there, please excuse me. I know nothing about it...including my reference to the "Boot-Scoot-Boogie." Please feel free to correct me.

Author's Note #2: MyGodIlovethisshow!!! That is all.

Temperance Brennan gazed sidelong at her partner as he irritably ran a hand through his already tousled hair, yawned, and then loosened his tie for what seemed like the billionth time that evening.

"Booth...why don't you just take it off? It's obvious that you aren't comfortable." she said, and then patted him on the knee when he, without a word, deposited the offending garment into the glove compartment. She felt for him. She really did. He seemed worn out, frustrated, and enormously bored...which was precisely how she felt. She had learned early on in her partnership with Booth that FBI work was not always about guns, and car chases. There was a good deal of waiting, of being sure, before the action could begin. This was one of those times.

They had been cooped up in Booth's SUV for hours already, doing surveillance on a farmhouse that belonged to their primary suspect on a case involving black market trafficking of human remains. The drive had been a long one, and they had exhausted all means of small talk on the way, which left a less desirable alternative. There were heavier topics of conversation looming on the horizon. She could feel them speeding toward her, and had noticed the toll they were taking on Booth, who had seemed increasingly sullen and listless over the past few weeks.

Booth hadn't said more than a few words about Sully since the day he sailed away on the "Temperance"...without Temperance. He didn't seem sure of how to broach the subject, and she didn't think she was quite ready to broach it herself. All of this left them both at a loss, unable to deal with one another on anything but the most fundamental of levels. She missed him, and he was sitting right beside her.

Beside her, Booth fiddled with the radio...stabbing idly at the "seek" button, unable to find a station that he liked. After a few minutes he turned it off, sighed, and slumped back against his seat.

"Some stakeout, huh Bones?" he said, turning toward her and smiling a tight, albeit genuine, smile. "Can't even listen to the radio. Nothing but twang out here."

"Twang?"

"Country, Bones. Country music."

"Oh. It sounded ok to me."

"No way, Bones...no way." he responded, crossing his arms and shaking his head.

"What?"

"You can't like country music. You just can't. You're too..."

"Too what, Booth?"

"Elegant...sophisticated...cultured."

It was her turn to cross her arms.

"To be cultured is to be open to all forms of culture, Booth." she maintained, enjoying arguing good-naturedly with him again. Even on such an inane issue. "If I want to wear a cowboy hat, and do the 'Boot-Scoot-Bogey', you couldn't stop me."

"I think it's the 'Boot-Scoot-Boogie', Bones...and believe me when I say that I would try to stop you. I can't even imagine you line-dancing."

She laughed out loud at the image his statement conjured, and digressed.

"Truth be told...I can't imagine it either. But, I'd try it. Purely on the basis of scientific inquiry."

"There is nothing scientific about line-dancing , Bones. It's all about swaying hips, and sweat." He waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively, giving her a charm smile.

She felt a muscle in her stomach flutter of its own volition. That smile had been so rare lately, and their banter had been non-existent, yet here it was again...brought on by a conversation about country music, of all the ridiculous things.

"You seem to know a lot about line-dancing for a man who is so against it."

"Yeah, well...I've been around."

Silence fell around them for a few moments, each lost in their own thoughts...and then:

"You think I'm elegant?"

Booth suddenly found his fingernails very interesting. Very interesting indeed.

"Well...uh...yeah, Bones. You're elegant. Tough as nails, but elegant."

"Thanks, I think."

"It's a compliment, Bones. Take it for what it is." He shifted in his seat, peered off toward the farmhouse for a few moments, and when he was satisfied that there was still nothing suspicious going on, he settled his eyes on the night sky. "Don't the stars make you feel lonely? The sky is so big and empty at night. Hollow."

She was up for a topic change. Grateful for it, even. Not to mention grateful for the darkness in the SUV, given the fact that she was blushing. Without realizing what she had been about to do, she'd fished for a compliment. From Booth. And, while she was mortified, she was also almost...giddy over his answer.

Temperance Brennan. Giddy. Will wonders never cease.

"No. The stars don't make me feel lonely. I prefer the night, actually."

"Why?" he asked, a puzzled expression on his face.

She settled her gaze on a point out in the vast unknown, and smiled gently, remembering something she'd nearly forgotten.

"When we were children, Russ and I used to lay out in the yard sometimes on a clear night and just stare off into the sky. I used to try to imagine what infinity would look like, and it made my head hurt. He told me that it was impossible to contain infinity in a finite mind, but I wouldn't listen."

"Sounds like my Bones." Booth said, grinning. And then, more seriously: "If there was even anyone on this planet that could contain infinity in her mind, it would be you. Without a shadow of a doubt."

"Thanks, but I never managed it. How can you feel lonely at night, when there are so many stars...so many things to think about?" she queried, feeling self-conscious. She was veering into uncharted territory with Booth...showing him the heart she had been trying to bury for years.

"I guess it's just that, during the war, nights were difficult for me. I was away from everyone I loved...alone in the dark. The stars looked so cold and far away. Everything seemed far away. I wasn't afraid, exactly. Just jaded. I guess it stayed with me. In the daytime, in the sunlight, it was easier to cope." He shrugged, looking uncomfortable as he always did when he spoke of his time spent in the Middle East.

"Booth," she fumbled for his hand in the dark without thinking, and held it in hers, squeezing soothingly. "I've always thought of it this way. During the day, we have the light from one sun. At night...billions upon billions of suns shine down on us. I can't help but feel akin to them, as irrational as it is. We are here, because they are here. We are made of the elements that they created inside them eons ago. You could almost say that looking into the night sky is like looking into the heart and mind of God."

"But, you don't believe in God."

"I can almost believe when I see the miniscule part of the universe that is ours to see. Most of what we know about it is faith-driven. No one has ever seen a star close-up, touched it, studied it first-hand...but, we believe that a star converts hydrogen into helium. We believe that entire galaxies form out of whirling clouds of dust and gas. We don't know. Not for sure.

Booth was looking at her...a strange, unreadable expression on his face.

"Star children. God's children." he said quietly, squeezing her hand back. "Thanks, Bones. Thanks a lot."

"For...?"

"For telling me your real thoughts about something. For staying here with me. For not sailing off with Sully. I bet your stars would have been beautiful out there..." And, there it was. Temperance felt the heavens crash down all around her, and then realized that the reality of this conversation was far less frightening than what she had imagined. Because she knew what to say to him, for once. Because she knew what she wanted to say to him.

Taking a deep breath, she said what she should have said to him at the harbor.

"I'd rather be here, than anywhere else, Booth. I belong here. With you."

Booth looked intently into her eyes for what seemed like an eternity, and then leaned close enough so that their noses brushed.

"You know...I think I just saw infinity. Took my breath away."

At which point she proceeded to take his breath away in earnest by pressing a tiny kiss against his chin, then his nose. Her lips had only slightly grazed his, when he spoke again...his breath tickling her mouth.

"I am going to kiss you now, Bones." he whispered.

"No. I am going to kiss you." she whispered back.

"No...I..." and, his lips claimed hers.

She didn't mind losing that argument. At all. She'd never been kissed like this...such longing and adoration poured into a single caress. She pulled him closer, threaded her fingers through his hair, and deepened the kiss...when the sound of rapid footsteps outside of the vehicle brought them back to reality with a jolt.

"Shit! There he goes! I've got to go after him." Booth groaned, as he quickly jumped out of the SUV. "You stay here."

"Like hell I will!"

"Ok, fine. But, stay behind me."

As she ran behind him, she reflected that no matter how many things changed between them, there were things that would always be the same. The idea made her smile.

She felt for him. She really did.