A/N Now no one faint. This is in fact my second update in two days. I am on a roll! (And now I've said that the roll will inevitably come to a stop. Ahhhh, such is life!)
This is my little offering for the Bucket List challenge over at Bonesology. It was written in about 30 minutes (which is unheard of for me!) so bear that in mind when reading.
Oh, and there's one teeny tiny swearword at the end. Just so you know ;)
Booth took a long drag of his beer as he watched his obviously pregnant partner and her best friend dance the night away. A slight movement to his left drew his attention, and he glanced over to see their resident entomologist joining him.
"Finally dragged yourself away, Hodgins?" He asked with a smirk. The last time he had seen his friend he'd been hunched over his microscope, with his very irate wife hovering over his shoulder demanding he come out and play. It had only taken him two hours, but he'd finally arrived.
"Ha!" Jack said on a mock laugh, "I know better than to go up against Angela when she has an idea in her head. And I happen to love my wife, so her happiness is my happiness."
Booth laughed outright at that, the look of affront on the other man's face multiplying it tenfold.
"You mean you didn't look forward to sleeping on the couch," Booth stated when he had finally recovered himself.
Jack continued to glare at him, until his own lips twitched in response.
"That may or may not have had something to do with it. Can you really blame me?" He asked on a shrug.
"Hey, no judgement here. I've found myself agreeing with Bones on more than one occasion, just so I don't find myself sleeping somewhere that's not our bed."
"Exactly! It's a matter of survival man. It's gotta be done!" Hodgins exclaimed loudly.
The two men clinked there bottles together and shared a conspiratorial grin. They then fell into a comfortable silence, both content to sit and watch their other halves as they danced. Booth lost himself in watching Brennan, his eyes wandering over her voluptuous form hungrily as she moved to the music. She didn't allow herself to completely let go often, so when she did it was always a sight to behold.
Booth was just considering how long they needed to stay before he could whisk her away, when the sound of Hodgins fidgeting interrupted him. He glanced at him and recognised the look of someone desperate to speak.
"Booth…" And there it is, thought Booth with a sigh. "Can I ask you something?"
"Will it matter if I say no?" He asked. When silence greeted him he continued, "I didn't think so. Go ahead," he said with a wave of his hand.
"Well, you know how Angela has these odd ideas…"
"I'm not discussing your and Angela's sex life," Booth interrupted firmly.
"What?" Jack squeaked, "who mentioned anything about sex?"
"Just covering my bases. I know you two, remember?"
"Fair point," Jack agreed with a nod, "but this is completely unrelated to sex. Or at least I think it is," he considered that point for a second before he made himself focus, "anyway, she has this idea that we both need to create a bucket list." At Booths blank stare he continued, "it's this list of things we want to do before we die."
"I know what a bucket list is, Jack," Booth said with a roll of his eyes, "I'm just trying to understand why this seems to bother you. She wants a list, so write a list. Easy."
"But it's supposed to be a list of all these things you want to do before you die, with the likelihood being that you'll never get around to doing them. But there isn't anything she could ask for that I wouldn't and couldn't give," He looked slightly shamefaced at his confession but soldiered on regardless; "She wanted a house I bought her a house. She wanted to live in Paris, we lived in Paris. I mean, why do we need a list that will be full of things we could do tomorrow if we wanted too?"
"Hodgins…" Booth shifted uncomfortably, unsure exactly what Jack was looking for from him. He held out hope that the other man would let him off the hook, but as he continued to stare at him he resigned himself to having to answer. "Look," he began, deciding to hell with it, he may as well be honest with him. That was obviously what the Jack was looking for. "You're a billionaire, who's always been able to do what he wants, when he wants. Right?" He waited for the small nod of agreement before he continued. "But Angela…she's a woman who just happens to be married to a billionaire. You know? She spent years flitting about, living the life of a tortured artist," They shared a grin at the idea of Angela being a tortured anything before they both sobered, "and sure, she has a rock star dad so maybe she did achieved some of those dreams she had. But now she wants to share those dreams with you. It's not the most conventional way, but this is Angela we're talking about. Would it kill you to indulge her?"
They both fell silent again. Booth was unsure exactly what else he could say, whereas Hodgins was busy absorbing his words.
"That," he began slowly, "actually makes a lot of sense."
A smile spread over Jacks face, while Booth looked insulted.
"I'd say thank you if you didn't sound so surprised," he grumbled.
"Sorry man. I just wasn't expecting you to get so serious on me," he laughed as a thought struck him, "Dr. B is good for you!"
At the mention of her name the glare on Booth's face disappeared as he turned to look at her again. She was still dancing with Angela, but he could see from the way she was holding herself that she was getting tired. He glanced back at Jack.
"Well, as fun as this was," he said as he began to stand, "I think I'm going to take my partner home."
"Sounds like a plan," Jack agreed, "Booth?"
"Yeah," he answered, not taking his eyes of his partner.
"What would be on your list, if you had to make one?" Jack watched him closely, very curious to hear his response.
"Ah, I wouldn't need to make one," Booth said as he clapped Jack on the shoulder, "I'm looking at her."
Jack watched Booth stride away. A small smile was on his face at the truth in the agent's words, even as he couldn't completely resist the opportunity for some good-natured ribbing.
"Sappy bastard!" He called out on a laugh.
Booth continued to walk towards his partner, but his next words carried back and caused the smile on Jacks face to dim slightly.
"Just because you're a father now doesn't mean I won't shoot you!"