Now that I have more time, and my other fic is nearing the end, I wanted to start something new. I was originally going to post a HITH/CITG "Fill-In-The-Blanks" fic (which I've already written bits and pieces of), but since the site is already oversaturated with those, I decided to do something kind of out there and different. It's set in early season one, after 'The Man in the Wall', and should be pretty light-hearted, with a little bit of romantic angst to keep things interesting.


Chapter 1.

"Getting yourself in the mood?" Brennan asked, climbing onto the stool next to Booth's.

He was sitting alone at the bar at Wong Fu's, nursing some kind of luminous tropical cocktail as he contemplated the phone call he'd just gotten from Tessa. He stopped twirling the paper umbrella and took a bite out of the pineapple slice. "Trying," he agreed. Then, because he felt like he needed to talk to someone about it, "You know, this really isn't gonna be the type of vacation I was hoping for."

"Oh?" Brennan asked, waiting for him to elaborate.

"Tessa's not going. Something came up at work," he explained, taking a casual sip of his drink to mask his unhappiness. Once again, he'd reached a dead end in his relationship. Neither of them was prepared to make a serious commitment - her less than him - which meant that it was only a matter of time before they made a mutal decision to break up. At this rate, he would never get married or have any more kids. He was pretty sure that he was doomed to stay single forever, with only his weekends with Parker to give his life outside of work meaning.

"That's too bad. I'm sorry," Brennan told him sincerely. She didn't seem to know what else to say to make him feel better until she confessed, "Hey, I like going on vacations by myself."

This caught his interest. "Really?" There was still so much that he didn't know about her.

"Sure. Nothing wrong with being alone."

"No, I mean, you like to go on vacation?" he clarified. The only trips he ever heard her talk about were the ones she took for work.

"Yeah, I go places all the time."

Somehow, he wasn't sure that identifying the victims of genocide counted as a vacation. "Do you ever just, you know, sit on the beach, pretend there's no such thing as skeletons?" he asked her.

"Is that fun in any way?" she countered.

He sighed inwardly. One of these days he was going to find a way to convince her that there was a whole world out there beyond the lab that she hid herself in. "When was the last time you got away?"

She stared at him blankly. "Got away from what?"

As usual, her innocence made him chuckle. He had never met anyone who loved their job as much as she did – especially anyone who worked in law enforcement. "Oh, Bones, you know, because what usually happens to me… I think about not coming back," he admitted, surprising himself. He'd never told anyone that before.

He could see that she was intrigued. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, you know, you go with someone, you joke about not going back to your real life, the two of you laugh. But when you're alone, the world is full of possibilities." With that, he moved to get up and leave her to whatever business she'd come there for when an idea occurred to him. "You know, you should come with me," he told her, sitting back down. He needed a break, and so, it seemed, did she.

"To Jamaica?"she asked, her expression dubious, as if she was having trouble deciding whether or not his offer was genuine.

"Why not?" It might not be the romantic interlude he'd envisioned when he made the arrangements, but she was always good company, whether she knew it or not. "The tickets are non-refundable, so really, you'd be doing me a favour. You might even enjoy yourself."

"What would I do in Jamaica?" she laughed. "There aren't any skeletons there."

He cracked a wry smile at her attempt at a joke. At least he hoped it was a joke. It was hard to tell with her sometimes. "Nothing," he spelled out for her benefit. "That's the point. When was the last time you did nothing?"

He could see that she still wasn't convinced. "I haven't booked any vacation time," she reminded him.

"Exactly," he agreed. As far as he knew, she never used any - at least not for anything selfish and irresponsible like this. That meant that as far as he was concerned, the Jeffersonian owed her. "You must have heaps stored up by now."

He could tell by the way the corners of her mouth twitched into an almost smile, that he was wearing her down with his arguments. "I have responsibilities, Booth," she insisted, forcing herself to look stern. "Dr. Goodman, Zack, Angela, all those people in Limbo… They need me. I can't just go flying off to Jamaica on a whim."

It worried him sometimes that she never did anything impulsive. She was so serious. It wasn't healthy. "You work harder than anyone else I know, Bones. You deserve to take a break once in a while."

She shot him an exasperated glare. "I'll think about it," she agreed. "But I am not promising anything," she insisted when he grinned as if this was as good as a 'Yes', which it was. If she really didn't want to go, she would have told him.

"Just don't take too long," he told her as he slid off his stool. "We leave on Friday."


"You're awfully quiet," Angela observed the next day. She was standing on the other side of the bench from where Brennan was working on reconstructing a skull that she'd rescued from Limbo, waiting for her to hand it over so that she could begin her facial reconstruction. "Did something happen last night?"

I should just tell her, Brennan thought. Angela would know what to do. She was better at handling these kinds of delicate interpersonal situations than she herself was. "Booth asked me to go to Jamaica with him," Brennan explained. The thought of dropping everything and going on a spontaneous vacation – especially with Booth – made her uncomfortable. She needed time to prepare, both physically and mentally; to do research into the language and customs and plan her itinerary.

"Booth? Asked you to go on vacation with him?" Angela repeated slowly.

"Isn't that what I just said?" Brennan agreed, wondering if her friend needed to get her hearing tested.

"I'm just surprised, that's all. What did you say?" she asked eagerly.

"I told him I'd think about it," Brennan confessed without taking her eyes off the skull. And she had. In truth, it was all she'd been able to think about since he suggested it. Just when she'd resolved to give him an answer, she found herself torn again. Right now, she was leaning back towards 'No'.

When she finally looked up, it was in time to see Angela's grin evaporate. "Sweetie, a hot guy wants to take you on an exotic all-expenses-paid vacation – what is there to think about?"

"It's not like that, Angela," Brennan protested. She wasn't even sure she could consider Booth a friend. They worked together, that was all. And as far as she knew, he had a girlfriend. "He only wants someone to go with him to make sure he doesn't run away. He said whenever he goes on vacation alone, he thinks about not coming back."

"Don't we all?" Angela agreed with a dreamy smile.

"I don't," Brennan insisted. "I like it here." As much as she enjoyed travelling, she looked forward to returning to the Jeffersonian where she felt more at home than she had anywhere else since she was forced into foster care.

At this, her friend just rolled her eyes. "Of course you don't. You're practically an exhibit yourself. So then where's the harm?" she pressed, shaking herself out of her reverie. "It's not like he's expecting the two of you to hook up – you'd just be keeping him company. Besides, it's not like we're gonna be run off our feet with him gone. I'm sure Goodman won't mind you taking some time off."

"You really think I should go?" Brennan asked uncertainly. Maybe she would call and take him up on his offer after all. If nothing else, it would be a chance to explore somewhere new.

"Yes," Angela agreed. "Go. Have fun. God knows you could do with more fun in your life. You can bring me back something nice as a thank you for the amazing time I know you guys are gonna have."


On Thursday night, Booth was in his bedroom, shoving things into his duffel bag when his cell began to vibrate on the dresser. He broke into a grin when he checked the Caller ID, only to see his partner's name flash up on screen. "So?" he greeted her when he picked up, tucking the phone between his ear and his shoulder so that he could continue packing. "What's it gonna be?"

He heard her let out a drawn out sigh as if she didn't like what she was about to say. "Okay, you win. I'll go to Jamaica with you," she agreed.

"Geez, Bones, it's a vacation, not a trip to the dentist," he teased her, pleased that she had decided to tag along after all, even if she did sound about as enthusiastic about their adventure as she would about going to get her wisdom teeth pulled.

"But I want my own room," she continued. "I'll pay for it, of course."

"Of course," he agreed. He'd already taken into account the fact that they would have to change the booking. It wasn't like they were planning to sleep together: not only were they colleagues, but he still had a girlfriend. For the time being, anyway. "Anything else?"

"You have to take me to Rasta Village. It's an authentic Rastafari indigenous village. And you're not allowed to complain," she amended before he could express his displeasure at having to visit a museum on his vacation. "Those are my conditions."

Her request made him smile. Typical Bones. Ten days in a tropical oasis and she wanted to look at a bunch of grass huts. She really knew how to live it up. "Fine," he agreed. "I will go to your native village with you. So that's it? We have ourselves a deal?"

"If you acquiesce to those terms, then yes, we have ourselves a deal."

Maybe this vacation wouldn't be so bad after all. If nothing else, he might be able to convince her once and for all that sitting on a beach could be fun. "Then I'll pick you up at eight. And, Bones?" he added as they were about to say their goodnights and hang up. "Don't forget to pack your bathing suit. You're gonna need it."


Once again, I'm not planning any case stuff for this fic since it kind of defeats the purpose of "sitting on a beach and pretending there's no such thing as skeletons", unless people really want it...