A/N: So this is new and different for me. I'm writing a future fic for Bones…*takes deep breath* It's canon up until 'The Doctor in the Photo' and then jumps into AU. It takes place in 2016. I hope that I don't scare you off! I will tell you that this is my personal favorite fic to write in all my years of writing. :) Each chapter has a corresponding song to go with it, (the idea and some of the music choices are courtesy of Biba79) This chapter's theme song is "Running Away" by Midnight Hour.
OOOOO
"Dr. Brennan?" She lifted her head up from her briefcase long enough to glance at who was requesting her attention. It was the fact that it was a teenage boy that caused her to do a double take. "I know it's been awhile so don't feel bad if you don't remember who I am but..." He said with a hesitant smile, his father's hesitant smile.
"Parker Booth, I would recognize your bone structure anywhere." She said as she wrapped him in a hug. He laughed.
"I should have known that I would get a response like that." He said with a shake of his head.
"Look at you, you've grown up!" She said, surprised at how grown he appeared. He had to be close to sixteen now, but he was still the spitting image of his father, aside from his mother's curly blonde hair and round face.
"Not quite, I'm still in high school. We're here on a field trip for my science class and I managed to sneak away when I saw that you were speaking."
"Are you going to get in trouble?" She asked, concerned.
"No." He said with a smile. "I mean, after you've seen the inner workings of the lab, the thrill of staring at all of the taxidermied animals is sort of gone." He said with a smile. "Are you glad to be back in DC?" He asked her.
"I always like returning home." She said. "It's strange to return here without actually going to work, or having an office, but it's nice to see everyone again." She said, suddenly realizing what her words meant. Parker smiled politely, knowing that she was not, in fact, seeing everyone when she stopped back through town.
"He misses you." He offered.
"Parker…" His name was a request to change the subject. She couldn't talk about Booth, not while standing inside the Jeffersonian which was already filled with enough haunting memories. Not while staring into his same brown eyes that he had passed on to his son.
"Anyway, I know that you are probably busy, but I was thinking that if you had some free time, you might do me a favor and let me pick your brain. I'm in the process of choosing colleges and I could really use some advice on which programs to look at. I figure, you know everyone in the science field worth knowing." He was charming too, a quality that she remembered from his childhood but was now making it impossible for her to say no.
"With flattery like that, how could I refuse?" She said with a knowing smile. "I would love to."
"Really?" He said, surprised she said yes. "That's great!"
"I'm actually free this evening if you aren't busy. I understand that typically teenage boys usually have a lot of things planned for Friday nights."
"No, not at all." He said. "Where do you want to meet?" She considered his question. The diner was out, too many people knew them both there. Not that she had anything to hide, but people would ask questions, and she hated the questions. Then she remembered the dark hole in the wall Chinese restaurant where she had first met Parker.
"Wong Fu's?" She asked. Parker's face lit up with a smile.
"That sounds great! 6:30?" She nodded. "Oh, and I probably don't have to tell you this, but I was never here." He added with a flash of a mischievous grin. She smiled and nodded as he ran off towards the lobby of the museum. Her chest felt simultaneously lighter with the joy of seeing him and heavy with the ache of lost time. She shook the feeling away and closed the latch on her briefcase. There was no point in feeling regret. After all, it served no real purpose.
OOOOO
"Hello?" Parker said as he entered his father's apartment. "Anybody home?"
"Hey kid, in the kitchen." Booth replied, dropping the spoon in his hand and going to meet his son. After a quick hug, Parker went directly to the fridge to grab a soda.
"What's new?" He asked his father as he leaned against the counter.
"Not a lot, how have you been?"
"Good." He said. "Got an A on my history test." He offered.
"Good for you." Booth said with a proud smile.
"Listen, I know that we were going to watch the game tonight, but…"
"Hot date?" Booth smiled knowingly at his son.
"Something like that."
"No worries, I'll Tivo it and you can catch it later if you want."
"Thanks." Parker said as he headed for his room to change.
"So this girl…Anybody I know?" Booth asked from the kitchen.
"Um, probably not anymore." Parker shouted back from his room. "She was an old lab partner. We happened to reconnect on a field trip this afternoon, so we figured we would try dinner." He said, not really lying to his father.
"Oh, a smart girl, huh?" Booth teased as his son reappeared.
"Very."
"Where are you taking her?"
"Wong Fu's. She loves Asian food."
"Are you nervous?"
"A little. I remember her being really cool, but a lot of time has passed since we've actually talked so I have a feeling there will be some awkward silence."
"You'll be fine. You're both smart, I'm sure you can come up with something to talk about."
OOOOO
Parker saw Brennan sitting at the bar talking to Sid. He quickly made his way over to the seat next to her's.
"Hi Bo… I mean, Dr. Brennan." He corrected himself as he sat down next to her and unceremoniously dropped a large file full of college brochures onto the bar beside him.
"It's alright. Call me Bones." She said with a smile. "I've always enjoyed the nickname, despite the fact that you two were the only ones who ever called me that." She stood up. "Shall we move to a table?" She asked.
"Sure." Parker said.
"So tell me, what options are you exploring for school?" Brennan asked as she gave the boy her full attention.
"Broadly? Forensics." He said simply. Brennan smiled proudly. "I'm not quite sure how yet, but between my parents and their friends, it's not really a surprise that I want to move in that direction."
"How does your father feel about that?" She found herself asking.
"I think he saw it coming. When I asked him if I could keep the human finger I found in that bird's nest, that was probably a sign."
"He thought that you were going to be scarred for life from that." She smiled. "He even made you talk to Sweets to make sure there was no lasting damage." She remembered.
"Yeah, well, it wasn't the last time I had to talk to Sweets." Parker said with a roll of his eyes. "I know that he's concerned about me being in school for the next fifteen years, but in the end, he just wants me to be happy." Brennan nodded. "Anyway, I've talked to Cam about the pathology side of it, but I would love to hear what you have to say for anthropology."
"Well, I could talk for quite some time about that. What would you like to know?" She asked.
OOOOO
Booth came home from work exhausted. This case was giving him a run for his money and it was days like this he realized just how much older he felt at the end of the day. He took off his jacket and tie and threw them on his bed before changing into a pair of sweats. He wanted nothing more than to order a pizza and not get up off the couch. He sat down and noticed that Parker had left one of his binders for school on the table. He made a mental note to call and remind him where it was just in case he needed it. Picking it up to move it, Booth noticed an envelope that had been underneath the binder fall to the floor. One look at it and his breath caught in his chest. He would have recognized the handwriting on the front of the envelope anywhere, despite not having seen it in six years. He picked it up and stared at it for a minute, just wanting to hold it in his hands.
He had expected her to come back to town for the birth of the Hodgins' second baby, which was going to occur in a week's time but he hadn't expected to cross paths with her. The squints were careful not to mention her name around Booth and vice versa. Plus, in the three times she had come back to D.C., Cam had always given him a head's up when she would be around so they could skillfully avoid each other. He turned the envelope over, deciding to read whatever was inside, his son's privacy be damned. There was a note inside as well as what appeared to be a personal letter of recommendation she had written.
Dear Parker,
I've attached a general letter of recommendation for you to include in your applications. Keep me informed of where you are applying so I can be sure to put in a good word for you directly. I know that Cam and I will be competing for your talents, but competition is healthy and I look forward to the battle. Thank you for dinner. Getting to see how you have grown into a man has been one of the most rewarding things that I will ever get to experience. You truly are your father's son in every way, which, as you already know, is the highest compliment that I can give you. Please don't hesitate to call if you ever need anything.
-Bones
She had scratched out the formal signature printed on her letterhead and replaced it with the handwritten nickname she had so adamantly hated once upon a time. Booth sighed as he stared at the letter in his hands. His son had seen Bones, recently. He folded up the letter and placed it back in the binder. He closed his eyes as he fell back against the couch, his memory flooding with the last time that he had seen his partner in person.
"I've been offered a teaching position in Chicago." She said.
"You're quitting." He said simply. It didn't take a forensic anthropologist to know that things had been rocky between them as of late and Booth wasn't entirely surprised by her announcement but the tears that sprang to both of their eyes at his statement surprised each of them. They both sat there for a second, the magnitude of this decision weighing heavily on both of them. "Is this…is it because of Hannah?" He had to know.
"No." Brennan shook her head. "This is about you and me." She said. "Things aren't working between us anymore, Booth and we both know it. We're not the same people we were a few years ago. I think the best thing for me to do is to just go back to ancient remains and for you to get a new partner."
"I don't want a new partner." Booth said adamantly. "You are my partner, Bones."
"Your partner?" She chuckled humorlessly at his choice of wording. "Yes, I'm your partner. Not your girlfriend or even your friend at this point. In fact, calling me your partner these past few months is a bit of a stretch. I think I preferred you calling me your associate." She cringed.
"Do you think that I like how far we've grown apart?" Booth stared at her, the fire in his eyes putting daggers through her heart. "Do you think that I like that every time I put you in a cab my heart stops beating in my chest? That every time I walk up the steps of the Hoover my stomach clenches so hard that it takes everything I have not to throw up on the spot? Do you think it was easy for me to watch you get on that plane to Maluku and run away from every good thing in your life? Because it's one thing to push me away, but when you ran from me, you ran from everyone else too. When you take one of us away, the whole team falls apart, remember?" He said, knowing it was true. "And now here you are, doing it all over again." He said, just being cruel at this point.
"Stop saying that! I did not run away! I left for Maluku because I thought that it was the best thing for you!" She cried. "You told me that you had to move on so I gave you the time and space to let you!"
"The best thing for me? You abandoned me!" He yelled right back. "You gave up on us and you're doing it again!"
"I gave up on us?" She couldn't believe what he was saying. "I've been fighting a losing battle ever since we walked away from those steps that night. You may not have thought that I was worth the fight but I sure as Hell tried to fight for you. I left the country for you!" She said, venom in her voice. "And when I came back, I smiled instead of cried, I befriended Hannah when she moved in with you, and stayed quiet when you stopped talking to every single one of your so called "family members" at the lab, but I can't hold a partnership together by myself, Booth. We both made choices, I know that, so I'm letting you move on, but I'm not going to sit here and contentedly play in the ashes of what we used to be." She was so angry, she was literally seeing red. She had no idea she could ramble like that, but she had stayed silent for too long. Booth, on the other hand, couldn't speak. "You know, I had hoped that after all that we've been through, you would at least try to be supportive of this."
"Well, I can't." He said. "I can't be supportive." He said. "You're throwing away the best thing that ever happened to you and I'm not going to stand by and watch you do it." He said as he got up and walked away. At seeing his back turn, she finally broke out into sobs. As she fell to the park bench, she couldn't have known that it would be the last time she saw her partner.