Author's Note: Thank you for all the fabulous reviews. You make my life!! In the next couple of chapters I'll attempt to explain where this story falls chronologically. (It still confuses me… what with the Zack thing and all… Grr). But anyway, on with the show!!
I'm going
to the place where love
And feeling good don't ever cost a thing
Home - Daughtry
Faces past in a blur as he hurried through the crowded airport, flashing his badge in a no-nonsense sort of way to anyone who dared to give him trouble. He purposely contrasted the excitement bubbling within him with a seemingly serious demeanour, for Seeley Booth was a man of principle and he did his utmost to refrain from taking advantage of his FBI privileges. Whipping out the badge to pass through airport customs and security to meet a friend at her gate, however, was hardly a federal manner, but he was coming to realize that there was very little he wouldn't do for her.
Three weeks. That's how long she'd been gone. Three weeks without smiling at each other over cups of coffee or boxes of midnight take-out. No bickering for the sake of bickering, or simply because it was something the day wouldn't be complete without. No teasing or comfortable silences; the front seat of his car seemed to stretch on forever in its emptiness without her presence there to fill it. God help him, he just missed seeing her face, so when the crowds finally parted, momentarily giving him that anticipated glimpse it took all his strength not to squeal like a little girl.
He ploughed through the crowd, muttering a quick 'excuse me' to the ones he pushed past. Her eyes found him immediately as he came into view and he registered a slight look of surprise cross her face before a wide smile took its place. He matched it with his own as he made his way to the place where she stood waiting.
"What are you doing here?"
"Gee, Bones. I missed you, too." Booth gave her a wink in an attempt to distract her from the fact that he was trying to take the weight of her duffle bag off her shoulder and onto his. As usual, she was unfazed and firmly kept the bag in her possession.
She ignored him. "I thought you started your vacation yesterday."
He shrugged, allowing his hand to drift to its usual place on the small of her back as he began to lead her towards the exit. "Figured I could postpone."
Bones remained silent after this, but Booth noticed the small smile that appeared on her face. She knew that he had waited for her to come home before taking his vacation. What surprised him, though, was that she didn't have a sharp retort to what she normally would consider his overprotective, alpha male need to escort her from the airport to her home. Oh, well. Smiling widely over at her, he slung his arm over her shoulders as they made their way out to the car park.
Once they reached his vehicle, Booth ushered her quickly to the passenger's side door and took her bag - ignoring her protests - to the back of the truck himself. He did this with a nonchalance he hoped she didn't notice. A quirk of her eyebrow told him she had, but she got into the car without a word. Booth sighed inwardly as he slid her duffle bag into the truck alongside the suitcase she didn't know was there. Hers. He was hoping to get a bit on their way before she found out something was up. Of course, he knew she'd be extremely happy with their destination given time to process it, though he knew how much she hated surprises. He made his way to his side of the car and slid into his seat hoping that Bones would be courteous enough not to beat the crap out of him while he was driving. He threw on a goofy smile, still pretending nothing was going on. In truth, despite the ass-kicking he was almost certain to receive, he was actually pretty excited about their destination, too. It wasn't until they had pulled out onto the highway that she seemed to decide that it was time for interrogation.
"Booth…." She drew his name out, trying to coerce the secret out of him. Did he miss the moment when she was suddenly and magically able to read him like a book?
"Say, Bones," He struck up the conversation with enthusiasm as though he hadn't heard her at all. "Do you have any freaky bones or artefacts in that bag of yours that need to be dropped off at the lab?"
"No…" She said it in the same way she had spoke his name. She was treading carefully, being cautious until she was no longer in the dark - just like he taught her. "But are you not dropping me off at the lab?"
"Nope." Booth smile widened as he clicked on his blinker and pulled onto the freeway which led in a decidedly different direction than both her apartment and the Jeffersonian. He saw her out of the corner of his eye crossing her arms in frustration, that tiny crease making its way between her eyebrows. She knew he was taking her somewhere without her consent, but he knew her ego would prevent her from asking where until her genius mind had shuffled through all the possibilities. As he normally found himself in these rare situations when he had the answers and she did not, he was suddenly very cheerful. He refrained from saying anymore, allowing her to ponder her current situation; the only noise he made was the merry tune he whistled as the scenery went flying past.
It was nearly a half an hour later when his partner let out small sound of defeat and looked over at him in surrender.
"Where are you taking me, Booth?" She demanded, gripping, he knew, at the last bits of control she had left in the situation. She was not happy.
He must have been crazy, for only a crazy man would willingly continue to goad Temperance Brennan when a look of pure menace took up residence on her face. "Guess," he said excitedly, throwing his charm smile her way.
"I don't guess," she huffed, leaning back in her seat and redirecting her gaze out her window. Oh, yeah. She was pissed.
"I'll give you a hint," he teased in a sing-song voice. "We're going on vacation."
"Vacation? Booth, I was just on vacation!"
Booth snorted. "Bones, digging up dead people and sleeping on a bed of straw is not a vacation."
"Regardless of whether or not you consider it a vacation, that is what I spent mine doing. And besides, I'm supposed to be back at the lab tomorrow." She told him pointedly.
He shrugged, keeping his eyes on the road, purposely not putting as much importance on this conversation as she seemed to think fit. He missed the bickering… had he mentioned that, yet? "You could use a normal vacation, Bones. Some extra time off."
"In case you don't remember, Booth, I had far more than my fair share of time off this summer," she retorted icily.
Booth flinched. She rarely referred to her months spent away in such a matter. Only when she was angry. It was true, she had spent nearly three months away from the lab - her sanctuary - and her beloved squints in favour of being closer to him while he lay bedridden, in a coma, in a hospital close to his family home. As it happened, she ended up becoming quite close to his family, particularly his father, during her time in Philadelphia. It had actually taken her a couple weeks to recover from 'homesickness' when she returned. He decided to pretend she hadn't used those particular words in an effort to rouse some guilt out of him and carried on normally. "Yeah. You were away from the lab for a while and, apparently, are far easier to get along with after you've had a proper vacation." She didn't respond, though he was willing to bet his right arm that she had rolled her eyes at his comment. "Actually," he began, deciding to show her some mercy, "It's funny that you mention your time off this summer."
Bones whirled her head back around to face him, eyes watching him closely for any sign that he might be giving some information away. He took his eyes from the road to throw a smile her way.
"What are you…" She trailed off, narrowing her eyes, surely not willing to allow herself to get excited before she was sure her inkling was correct.
Allowing for a dramatic pause to precede his words, Booth leaned to her as far as the seatbelt restricting him would allow, "Fancy a trip to Philly, Bones?"
Glancing frequently between her and the road, he watched her continue to regard him with hesitation. A few minutes ticked by until he couldn't take it any longer and he raised his eyebrows at her, trying to gauge a reaction - any would be welcome at this point. "Bones?" He asked with a bit of trepidation. Why in the world had he listened to Angela? He knew asking Bones would have been the better idea.
She huffed, re-crossing her arms and sitting back angrily in her seat.
"Aw, come on, Bones. I thought it would be nice." He reached over to nudge her shoulder slightly.
"You could have asked me." She didn't turn to look at him.
"Yeah, I could have but you probably would have said no, right?" He raised his eyebrows at her again - she knew it was true. "And I thought, being the amazing partner that I am, that I would give you no choice to ensure that you'd come. You love it there, Bones." When he still received no answer he tried again, "It's only for a week."
If there was anything that he truly couldn't stand, besides murderers, the suffering of innocents and all around injustice, it was the silent treatment. Especially from the partner he usually had a hard time getting to be silent. After several long and painful minutes he let out a sigh. "Bones, look, I thought you'd be excited. I'm sorry, at the next exit I'll turn around and go back."
Whipping around to face him, a look of panic crossed her face. "No!" She said it quickly. Too quickly. She had given herself away.
"Bones…" He drew out her name as she had did his before, his smile making its way back onto his face. "Do you want to go?"
"I -" She began, before folding her arms and resuming her no-nonsense stance. "This is not a question of whether I like the idea or not, it is the fact that the decision was made for me. You made it for me." She poked him hard in the chest as she said this.
Her words did nothing to dissuade his delight. "You want to go. You're excited."
"I -" She began again. This time though, she didn't have a spicy retort ready for him so, instead, she huffed and turned to look out her window once more.
Booth chuckled. "Ah, Bones. I missed you." He smiled at her look of disbelief. "I did," he repeated, and held her eyes until she seemed convinced. The soft smile that crossed her face then sent his heart aflutter, something he now admitted to himself actually occurred quite frequently in her presence, though he'd deny it fiercely to anyone who asked.
She said nothing in response, but turned her head back around to watch the passing scenery, her posture decidedly less tense. That smile remained on her face for exactly seven minutes afterwards. He knew this because he timed it. And he also knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was anxious to get to Philly to see his family - their family - despite her reaction to the fact. And he knew she had missed him, too.
The smile that made its way across his face then lasted for the rest of the journey.
A/N: Please review!! I'll send you all your own Booth dolls in the mail. Or Hodgins is you prefer…Personally, I can't decide. :P
