She is at his door, as he requested. There is a duffle bag hanging from a strap on her shoulder. She hugs a pillow to her chest. But there was one thing there Booth doesn't expect to see.
The red rings around her eyes. The sniffling nose. The exhaustion and desperation evident on her beautiful face.
He steps aside so she can enter. Brennan makes a beeline for the couch, Booth following. She drops the duffle on the floor beside the couch and stares blankly ahead, lost inside her own mind. He watches her, silent, waiting for a change in her catatonic condition.
Booth rests a tentative hand on her shoulder. As abruptly as she had shut down before, she turns right back on, and the words begin to pour out before she has a chance to stop them.
"Any minute, Booth. Any minute another one of us could be…gone. It happened so quickly, and it could happen again, in the blink of an eye. It could be any one of us…you, or I…Angela, or Hodgins…Cam or Sweets…I don't know how I would go on if it happens again."
"That's why I'm gonna bring this son of a bitch in before he gets the chance to hurt you, or anyone else, Bones, alright? I'm not gonna let him win. He's not gonna have this," Booth insists.
"But what if you don't, Booth? What if he gets to you first? Booth, if you die…if I lose you, I don't know how I will go on. I will die, myself, on the inside, because, I just…I need you, Booth. I can't lose you on top of everything else."
"Listen to me, Bones. I will never let that happen. I'm not going anywhere. Ever. I will always be here. I can promise you that."
"Except you can't! You can't promise me forever, because in just a sliver of a second, Booth, forever could stolen away by an evil man with a twisted moral code and a big gun."
"Well, I can promise you this, now. Here. This moment. We will always have this. And as long as I walk this earth, I can promise that I'll be there."
"You…you can't possibly know that."
"I can. I do. Bones, I'm with you. As long as I live."
A silent, pregnant pause.
"Why do you do this, Booth?"
"What?"
"Why do commit yourself so wholly to me, when all I ever do in the end is break your heart?"
"Because it's worth it, Bones. Every ounce of sweat and tears, every bullet and stab wound, it's all worth those moments I have with you. You're worth it."
His words are met with her lips on his.
When they break apart, if only for oxygen, Brennan rests her head on Booth's chest. "I love you," she whispers, so quietly she believes only the fabric of Booth's shirt can hear her.
She is wrong. "I love you, too." As soft as a puffy white cloud. Barely loud enough to be heard.
And yet both hearts soar as if the words had been shouted from the rooftops.
That evening is probably one of the best Temperance Brennan has every experienced. She finally gets the chance to love Seeley Booth unconditionally. No restrictions. No pressure to hide what she's really feeling. No one breathing down her neck to either go for it or keep it professional. Just two people and enough sexual tension and unprofessed love to power a nation, all let out in one passionate night of comfort and reconciliation.
When she wakes up slowly the following morning, still naked, still wrapped in Booth's arms, Brennan wants nothing more than to stay where she is, and to never again return to that place of death and sadness and murder she calls her workplace.
But she hadn't become the world's best forensic anthropologist for nothing. So she rises and redresses, during which Booth is either still asleep or just pretending to be.
Brennan sits on the bed next to bed, looking at him, and contemplates whether to wake him or let him sleep.
Just as she decides to do the former, Booth rolls over, looking at her coyly, and says, "You know, Bones, while I'm flattered, you watching me sleep is a bit creepy."
"Well, don't be flattered. I was just deciding whether or not to wake you up. I was going to, but you cut me to the chase, I suppose."
"Beat you to the chase, Bones. I beat you."
Brennan rolls her eyes. "I'm going to work."
Booth sits up now, looking serious. "Are you sure you want to do that, Bones? Don't you want to take a few days off? That bullet was meant for you, Bones. It could be dangerous."
Brennan sighs. "As much as I want to, Booth, I find I compartmentalize best in a work environment. Besides, the Jeffersonian is an extremely high-security facility. There is no way Broadsky could get to me or anyone else there."
"Well, sometimes you don't need to compartmentalize, Bones. Sometimes you just need to feel," Booth replied, ignoring the last part of Brennan's words.
"I'm not going to argue with you about this." She leans in to kiss him. "I should get going. I'm already late as it is.
"They're not gonna penalize you for being late once, especially after what happened yesterday."
"Regardless of what happened yesterday, I still prefer to not be unpunctual."
Booth rolls his eyes, smiling. "Typical Bones."
Brennan finds herself smiling, too. She kisses him once more. "I love you," she says softly.
"Love you too. Later, Bones." He stands as she begins to leave the room, calling her back in a second later to announce, "Oh, by the way, Bones, I'm gonna stop by the Jeffersonian before I head to the Hoover once I'm out of here, just to check up on you."
"Oh, that is unnecessary, Booth, I—" she cuts herself off by the look on his face, knowing better than to argue with him. "I'll see you then." She smiles and walks out the door, carrying a light heart with her.
Brennan knows, even with the death of one of her most promising interns, Vincent Nigel-Murray still fresh in her mind, she's probably the happiest today that she has ever been in her whole life.
Author's Notes: So? You love it? You hate it? Remember, this is just speculation off of 6x22 spoilers, promo pics, and the videos, so just what might happen. Not, like legit. Obviously. Anyways, your thoughts? I wrote this thing out really quickly just now, and it's 2 AM here, so go easy on me if it sucks, pretty please :P lol
Well, whatever. So, should this stay a one-shot, or should I write another chapter? Please let me know your thoughts with a comment if I should be so graced lol. I would like to know what you think please!
Alright, peace out, suckers. I'm gonna go sleep. Laters.
