AN: OMFG! A Swaisy fic! (extended *squee!* break here) Ahem...There is also B/B. Not as much, but it is there.
Also, you know what? I like Taylor Swift, and there is nothing wrong about that, so please, if you must hate, hate on the story, not the songspiration!
I'm Only Me When I'm With You
Summary:A Bones Remix of the Taylor Swift song "I'm Only Me When I'm With You", featuring Brennan and Daisy, live from the Maluku islands!
It takes some time for the complete euphoria of the dig to seep out of Daisy.
At first, she loves it. Absolutely, 100% positive, loves it. She wakes to magenta-stained native sunrises and relishes the feeling of damp earth underneath her bare toes when she kicks off her sandals to get deeper into a dig site, thoughts racing from theory to theory to conclusion, and little else.
Nobody tells her to shut up, or go away, like they used to at the Jeffersonian. To tell the truth, even the most dour of their teammates is giddy, and excited, no one person more eager than the next the rush out of camp armed with picks and shovels each morning and meet the challenge that the island's rugged terrain and each new discovery provides them.
Being Dr. Brennan's intern gives Daisy a certain degree of respect, and she's never ordered to carry supplies or haul water, at least, not by anyone other than Dr. Brennan. She's happy to carry her things, and after a little while, her body gets used to the heavy loads and her muscles aren't as sore and stiff in the morning.
When she makes the first real big discovery of the dig, a genetic bone marker between two specimens that indicates blood relation, Dr. Brennan, her hero, toasts her with Indonesian bootleg beer in the the team's makeshift mess hall, and for almost four whole months, Daisy Wick is as close to Heaven as a empirical scientist who really doesn't want to die could hope to be.
On the third week of September, Dr. Shay maps tissue markers in one of the fully articulated skulls and provides a computer model of what man's early ancestors would have evolved from. He tells the team it truly changes the meaning of humanity, in biological and physiological terms.
They drink up and he passes out long distance phone cards for everyone who's mentioned having family and friends back home, because tonight, everyone's getting an hour to brag on the satellite phone, rationality be damned.
He drops a card in front of Daisy to her utter surprise, and Dr. Brennan's slightly annoyed glance.
"Oh, sorry! Dr. Shay, I didn't need one. You can give it to Dr. Bentley, she has kids and everything!", she protests.
Dr. Shay shoots her a questioning look. "Don't you want to give your fiancé a call? My reconstruction wouldn't have been possible without the genetic markers you found, given proper consideration."
Daisy swallows hard. Fiancé. Lance.
She almost forgot about Lance.
Down the table, Dr. Bentley squeals excitedly into the phone and her intern, Alex, points out to another intern who takes slow sips from his plastic cup of beer, that Dr. Bentley is so incredibly lucky to have such a caring and supportive partner, with a terrific bone structure and high sperm count to match.
Dr. Brennan's jaw tightens, and she pushes herself away from the table, making a hasty exit from the tent.
The days that follow are less than stellar. A freak tropical storm batters the camp with incessant rains and angry howling winds, and Daisy is trapped in she and Dr. Brennan's cramped tent, curled into her cot at night while she's pretty sure the very rational head of the expedition who doesn't believe in love and fate cries herself to sleep at night.
At first Daisy doesn't know why.
Then she finds the faded photo of Agent Booth in Dr. Brennan's sheets one morning and for once, takes no pleasure in the fact she and her idol have something in common.
Mid-October opens to searing heat, hotter than she remembered, and suddenly Daisy doesn't care about fabulous her tan looks, because she's realized that the guys here all think she's taken, and the only guy that knows any different could probably care less. Dr. Brennan works herself them harder, as though she's trying to prove to herself that what they are here to do is worth it in spades, and Daisy sleeps fitfully every night, no longer waking up extra early for the sunrise.
Alex points out she just isn't herself anymore, to which she unaffectedly replies, "I don't know what that means."
One night, just after the six month mark, they both wake up in the middle of the quiet, clear, night, and finally, their brilliant minds catch up to what their hearts have known all along.
Daisy balances treacherously on the edge of the mountain path that leads to the weeks dig site, hauling a backpack twice her size behind she and Dr. Brennan as they head up to meet the rest of the team. She supposes this is an appropriate time to broach the topic.
"Dr. Brennan, I know you think love is stupid, and, um, I agree, but what do you do when the chemical reaction is so strong that you-"
"Love isn't stupid, Miss Wick. It's a fundamental construct of society that, if it did not exist, would have been of serious detriment to humanity.", Dr. Brennan suddenly blurts out.
"But you said that-"
"Look at what we've found here. Family tombs, where items of possible spiritual value are buried beside mothers and children who died in childbirth, forever preserving the importance of that bond. Primitive records etched in stone detailing this society's wedding ceremony, ornaments and decorations clearly made to be admired within a home. I am merely stating that without that chemical reaction, such indicators of an advanced civilization would likely not have been present, and most of the relics of their culture would have surely been ripped apart by barbarians. So love is not stupid.", Dr. Brennan explains confidently, glacial eyes sparkling.
"But didn't barbarians rip it apart anyway? Dr. Shay said there was evidence of foreign weaponry in one of the areas of worship, indicating an outside takeover or war.", Daisy pointed out with little emotion.
"Yes, but they the ripping apart didn't occur from inside, Daisy. There is evidence of layering in what is left of the walls, indicating that they rebuilt. Changed the core structures to better support them, and the challenges posed by other, perhaps more aggressive, societies. That changes everything, doesn't it?"
"Evolved. Adapted. Yes, it did.", Daisy muses, studying the layer of dirt caked under her sandals.
"Perhaps we should follow their example.", her mentor concludes, and they continue up the path. Daisy just grins, because even she knows what that means.
"You have to call first! Come on, Dr. Brennan!", Daisy pleads, as Dr. Brennan chickens out of dialing Booth's base extension in Afghanistan for the fifth time that night. They had taken the phone from the main tent, and between them, the phone card Daisy had kept in her personal drawer, visible only with the light from a fast fading lantern on their shared bedside table.
"The military has very strict regulations, Miss Wick. What is it's the wrong time and Booth is somehow penalized for taking my call? You have to call first!"
"What if Cam answers and she fires me again for leaving?"
"You've been fired before! Besides, if I want you to stay, Cam has no stake in the matter."
They giggle hesitantly, like teenage girls, at a sleepover, or at least, how it always seems like in movies, because Daisy never got invited to the real ones.
She brings a finger to her lips in a shushing gesture.
"Why are we shh-ing?"
"Because, everybody's probably awake right now and listening to everything we say and it doesn't foster professional respect if people know we're scared to call guys.", Daisy whispers.
Dr. Brennan pauses to consider it.
"Of course. But you are calling first thing tomorrow morning!"
"Dr. Brennan, that's ten-thirty at night. Maybe Lancelot wouldn't appreciate it..."
"It will be one AM in Afghanistan, and I would prefer not to disturb Booth's sleeping patterns, especially considering how little sleep soldiers get. Also, Miss Wick, I am your boss."
"You're really playing the "boss card"? Fine, you call first, you're older.", Daisy chuckles peevishly.
"Although that is true, I found that to feel insulting. Good night, Daisy."
"'Night, Dr. Brennan."
The next morning, Dr. Bentley plans to call into Jakarta, and provide a six-month preliminary update of their core findings, as ordered by Dr. Brennan. The only problem with that is, the phone isn't hanging from it's prelabled spot in the cabinet in the main tent, and the last two phone cards are missing from the shelf above that.
"Oh my God, Lance, you wouldn't believe what we've found here! There are these new things that just...there aren't even words for it!", Daisy sputters, too excited that she's hearing his voice, that adorable, kind of dorky, but really hot when he's singing voice that she almost forgot existed.
"Oh, so you're changing humanity?", he asks, in that measured, perfect, tone that makes her feel so important.
"Yes, Lancelot, Yes! This was a very advanced society, according to Dr. Brennan. They changed, Lance, they rebuilt over everything before and kept evolving and they valued things and loved them and...oh, I wish you were here!"
"You know I can't be, Daisy. If your career mattered so much to you, mine does to me, too."
"I know, Lancelot. I know that. That's why you can just read all about everything in the journal for now, and when we come home, I'll tell you the good stuff. Like how Dr. Bentley's intern, Alex and this sexy archeology grad from Greece made out in one of the tombs and she-"
"Daisy, I...I don't know how to say this...but I-"
"Even if you've moved on, Lance, I still wanna be friends.", she hastily promises. "I have to give you back your ring, so that you can give it to the girl that's worth sixty years of love."
"That's what I've been thinking of for the past few months. Daisy, I want to give us another go. Because I don't care if I chase you forever, you're the only one worth those sixty years."
Daisy squeals. Somewhere on the other side of the camp, Dr. Shay charges from his tent, rifle at the ready, hoping he's not gong to have to shoot down some rare predatory bird.
"Daisy! It's been ninety minutes and I would like to eat and call Booth before we have to get the team back together at the dig site!", Dr. Brennan shouts at her, parting the flaps of their tent's entrance.
"But, Dr. Brennan! Lance and I only started getting to the actual juicy stuff!"
"Daisy!"
"Wait, wait, was that Dr. Brennan saying she was calling Booth? This is huge, Daisy! Okay, you have to get her on the phone right now!", Lance says, incredulous.
"Sorry, I have to call you back, Lancelot. Evil Dr. Brennan said I gotta go or I'm cataloging artifact fragments tonight. Tell me more about Caroline's boyfriend next time, okay? I totally less than sign numeral three lowercase u!"
"Wait, Caroline is seeing someone?", Dr. Brennan asks, suddenly interested. Daisy clicks the phone off and tosses it to her mentor.
"You have to promise that you'll tell Booth all about all the things I've discovered.", Daisy tells her, back to her usual, unbearably peppy self. Dr. Brennan notes, with a slight twinge of sadness, it no longer annoys her as much.
She nods as the intern scampers from their tent.
Of course she'll tell Booth about Daisy's discoveries. Although she may not mention Daisy by name, of course.
She might also say something about thirty, or forty, or fifty years, and the inevitable change that comes with that. It might hurt, but it might be nice to share that hurt, and the inevitable process of rebuilding, too.
The team eats a quick breakfast in the mess hall, and Daisy catches Alex on her way out with an empty pitcher of orange juice.
"Well, you look...all you again.", the other intern points out, grinning at Daisy's ridiculous safari hat and bright yellow shirt. Then she remembers and adds, "That means that-"
"I know what that means, Alex.", she giggles, eager beyond belief for every challenge the new day brings.
~*I'm only up when you're not down,
Don't wanna fly if you're still on the ground,
It's like,
no matter what I do.
Well, you drive me crazy half the time;
the other half I'm only trying to let you know that what I feel is true,
and I'm only me (who I wanna be),
when I'm with you.*~
THE END!
I hope you guys enjoyed it! The song kind of fits better by a smidge for the B/B relationship, but the idea to make this a Swaisy fic just would NOT go away, so I hope you guys liked it anyway!
Please, please, please review, even if you don't like it!