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I really don't own Bones.

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The news was both good and bad. The fire had been on the third floor of Brennan's apartment building. It had destroyed one apartment and three others had sustained heavy smoke damage. Brennan's apartment had not completely escaped damage either. There was light smoke damage and her carpets and curtains were going to have to be cleaned or replaced. The apartment reeked of smoke and Booth thought it was stomach turning.

"Bones, hire those guys who specialize in cleaning up smoke damaged buildings and get them to clean up the mess for you." Booth held a handkerchief over his nose. "You can stay with me until then. We can grab some of your clothes and whatever else you want and we'll take them back to my place. We'll probably have to wash everything you bring because I got to tell you I think they probably stink by now. Once they clean this place up, we'll come back here and I'll help you wash everything that needs it."

Glumly, Brennan stared at her knickknacks and priceless artifacts from past digs and sighed. "I'll have to arrange for someone from the antiquities department at the Jeffersonian to clean the artifacts that I have here. I can't let a cleaning service do it. I'm just glad nothing was lost. Some of these artifacts are over 500 years old."

Determined to get her out of her apartment as fast as possible, Booth stuffed the handkerchief in his jacket pocket and tried to breathe with shallow breaths. "Come on. Let's grab some clothes and shoes and whatever else you need and get out of here. Maybe you should take your expensive jewelry too and anything you think is priceless or whatever."

Glad to have Booth helping her, Brennan moved over to her bedroom. "Yes, of course. I'll pack two bags of clothes and take them with me." Worried that she might be inconveniencing her friend, Brennan turned to look at him. "Are you sure it's okay to stay with you? I don't want to be in the way. I can always get a hotel room."

"You kidding me?" Booth walked past Brennan into her bedroom and looked around. "What are friends for if you can't stay with them when you need to?" Waiting for her to choose the clothes she wanted to take with her, Booth frowned. "Since Parker is in England right now his room isn't being used. You can stay as long as you need to. I mean it."

Their friendship had been strained for over a year, but Brennan knew that things between them had improved greatly since Hannah Burley had left. Booth no longer seemed to be angry with the world and Brennan was happy that she had her best friend back. "Alright, thank you." Grabbing some luggage from her closet, she placed them on the bed and started selecting the clothes she wanted to take with her. "You're right. I need to wash everything. My clothes really do reek of smoke."

While Booth helped Brennan pack, he thought about how he and his partner were more in tune with each other. Their lives had been disrupted when he'd been diagnosed with a brain tumor and their relationship had gone through many trials since then. He had made mistakes that had almost cost him the friendship of the best person he had ever known. He still regretted trying to push her into a relationship with him outside the Hoover. That fiasco made him cringe every time he thought about it. Damn tumor. I won't make that mistake again.

Brennan packed quickly and once she had the clothes she needed along with some shoes, a sweater and a jacket, she looked through her jewelry box and removed the pieces that were insured. She left most of her costume jewelry behind. They were all replaceable. Once she was done, she picked up one of the bags while Booth carried the other one.

As they walked out to the parking garage to retrieve her car, Brennan thought about the last two years and she knew that she and her partner were finally where they should be with their relationship. She still regretted turning down Booth outside the Hoover, but that was the past and no one can change the past. She had so many fears at the time and little did she know that by saying no, she would shatter the center of her world, at least for a while.

It made her ill to think how close she had come to losing the best friend she had ever had. He loved her and she loved him and for the moment that was all she needed. If their relationship changed to something more intimate, she was prepared to accept that change. She had all the time in the world now and when Booth was ready for something more, she would be too.

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Once they arrived back at Booth's apartment, they spent the evening washing Brennan's clothes and then drying them. While a game played on the television in the living room, Booth folded clothes and drank a beer. When he rummaged around the clothes basket and found Brennan's panties in his hand, he stared at them and wondered if it was appropriate for him to be touching her underwear. Since she was busy in the kitchen cooking her famous mac and cheese, Booth decided that folding her underwear wasn't that big a deal. Hell, she's seen me in my underwear and she isn't even wearing these.

Once the clothes were folded, Booth carried them into his son's bedroom and placed them on the dresser. He decided to let Brennan place them in the dresser drawers since she probably had a system. Brennan always had a system and Booth knew that was important to her. She needed orderliness in her life. It helped her and he knew it.

As he moved to leave the room he noticed the plastic figurines on the nightstand and moved over to look at them closer. Picking up the plastic pig, Booth was reminded of the time he had bought it for her. He had wanted to buy her a real pig, but because of her work schedule and the fact that an apartment would have been the wrong place to raise a pet, he had bought her the toy instead. He was actually surprised she still had the pig and Brainy Smurf and to see them on the nightstand was a little puzzling. Not sure what it meant, he placed the pig back down on the nightstand.

After Hannah had turned him down, he had been very angry with her and all of the other women in his life, past and present. It had taken him weeks to come to the conclusion that being angry with them was ridiculous. He was drawn to strong independent women and that meant that they had their own life plans, their own agendas. None of the women he'd ever been involved with had been interested in marriage and he had known that up front. Stubbornly, he had thought that love would conquer those feelings and in the end one of them would marry him. He now knew that was wishful thinking on his part and he understood that if he wanted to be with women like Brennan that he would have to change his expectations in life.

He would like to get married someday, but if he didn't he could now accept it. It was better to be with the woman you love than married to someone just because they were willing to marry you. Sad that it had taken him so many years to realize that, Booth was grateful that he'd at least learned that lesson. His father had tried to control his environment and when he couldn't he'd been a terror to his family. He was not his father and he would not allow the failures in his past to turn him into a bitter hateful man.

Leaving the room, Booth strode across the living room and entered the kitchen. "Hey Bones, need any help with dinner? Your clothes are folded and in your bedroom."

Grateful for Booth's help, Brennan turned and smiled at him. "If you'd like to slice the French bread and place that on a plate that would be helpful."

While Booth sliced the crusty bread, he watched Brennan remove two small casserole dishes from the oven. "God that smells so good."

Pleased that her mac and cheese was cooked properly, Brennan carried them over to the kitchen table and placed the dishes next to the glasses of wine already on the table. "We need to let it cool for a few minutes."

Carrying the plate of bread along with a tub of butter to the table, he placed them in the center of the table and sat down. "I'm definitely going to hate to see you move back to your apartment, Bones. I love your cooking."

Brennan was flattered. "Thank you. I contacted the cleaning service and they can start on my apartment on Tuesday. I should be able to move back home next weekend."

The thought of Brennan moving back to her apartment somehow made him feel sad. "Okay."

Not sure why Booth had suddenly become subdued, Brennan picked up her glass of wine and sipped it. Since she wasn't very good at non-verbal communication, Brennan decided to ignore Booth's mood change. He'd been very moody since his break up with Hannah and this was probably just part of it.

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