Story: Let Me Count the Ways

Disclaimer: WE OWN NOTHING!!! Basic idea is courtesy of Rockerbaby423

Spoilers: none

Pairing: BoothxBrennan of course…

Chapters: currently 6, number subject to change

Summary: Valentine's Day is around the corner, and little gifts keep popping up before Brennan's eyes.

Chapter 4: Sunset In Your Eyes

Note from azarathangel: I despise school… seriously, I hate it with the most zealous of ardent passion. With a passion equivalent to the force of ten thousand suns firing their hot rays down upon a barren dessert full of high schoolers desperately trying to drag themselves towards the oasis of weekends, but the heat is too much and now they are killing each other with school supplies in an attempt to thin the crowds and get to the weekend oasis faster.. but the bodies are only slowing them down…

So, I guess you can see that I REALLY hate school. This was the longest week ever, and it sucked, and I know I'm ranting but whatever. Thanks for being so patient with us! Spring break is coming up and the teachers are really piling it on for me!! Ugh… can't wait till break.

Note from Rockerbaby423: Unfortunately, I have been in the same homework filled boat. A week left until spring break now, but all my professors decided to pile on the work for the past two weeks in order to have as much as possible done before the break. So stressful! Anyway, the point is that I am SO SORRY we haven't updated the way I originally planned but we have had so much to do that our schedules haven't matched. Thanks for all of your wonderful reviews, and I hope that you will stick with this story!

Another general note: Here we have another azarathangel chapter with all corrections and beautiful additions done by Rockerbaby!!

Azarathangel note, again..: just in case you got lost in my rant, what I was really trying to say was school is making updates hard and I appreciate the patience and your reviews are amazing so keep em coming!!!

Rating: K+

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Brennan all but collapsed into her chair, sighing as she leaned her head forward to rest on her desk. The day had really taken a toll on her, first at lunch when she was forced to endure ceaseless interrogations. Then, later at work, she had to try and do her job while being simultaneously subjected to Hodgins and Angela's perpetual flirting. . Not only was it distracting and incredibly grating on her nerves, but Brennan then had an entire internal battle over whether or not she was slightly jealous of Angela's newfound happiness. Even Zach had a date that night, but all Brennan had was a jumbled skeleton… no, she was not jealous. The flirting was just annoying and getting to her, that was all.

Now, though, Brennan was annoyed because she was really no closer to identifying her mystery valentine, she ate too much chocolate that morning and as a result, her stomach was hurting, then to top it all off she had a pounding headache courtesy of one Dr. Zach Addy. Zach felt like he needed her approval and consulting on everything from age confirmation to what type of fracture was on the mandible. Didn't Zach know that she wasn't in charge of him anymore? All of this, and it wasn't even five yet…

The door opened, but Brennan didn't raise her head from where it rested on her arms.

"If you're Angela, go away because I don't want to talk about whatever it is that you want to interrogate me about. I'm not in the mood. Zach, you're right. Hodgins, stop flirting with Angela and yes you can go race beetles with Zach now."

"And what if it's me?" His soft voice floated through the room; it was the only one that could bring her head up from her arms at that moment. He came closer, and Brennan felt the jackhammers behind her eyes slowly quiet.

"Booth," she sighed, "sorry about that." He shrugged.

"It's alright. That's how I was acting at my office…" he trailed off, studying her closely. She felt like he was staring into even the most hidden corners of her mind with those warm chocolate eyes, and it was a bit unnerving. She shifted slightly in her seat. "You feel okay?" His eyes turned from calculating to concerned.

"I'm fine," she said quickly before switching the subject. "Why are you here?"

"Just leaving a little something before I head home for the day." Booth pushed his sleeve back and studied the watch resting on his wrist. "It's nearly four and Parker's coming over at five." Brennan noted how his eyes seemed to light up every time he talked about his son. She couldn't help but smile a bit.

"What?" Booth noticed her smile.

"Nothing," Brennan replied. Booth raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything more on the topic.

"Well, here you go, Bones." He handed her the manila folder. "See you tomorrow." Booth gave her a smile and a little wave as he backed out of her office and Brennan smiled and waved back before looking back at what appeared to be a case file.

Opening the manila folder, Brennan saw the crime scene photos and police reports there, but along with them was a small white envelope. Before she could grab it, it fluttered lazily to the ground and slipped under her desk. That, she knew, was not part of the file. Looking down, she groaned at the thought of having to down after it.

Getting off her chair, she crawled under the desk to retrieve the runaway envelope. Just as her fingers touched it, she heard a knock on the door, Angela calling her name.

"Bren, you in here, Sweetie?" Brennan raised her head and promptly hit it on the underside of the desk.

"Ouch," she said simply. Brennan finally snatched the envelope and pulled herself back out from the dusty cave, leaning back against the desk as she sat on the floor. She would have to remember to get maintenance in there in the morning to clean…

Angela walked around to her and leaned on the wooden table cluttered with Brennan's various books, watching her friend with avid interest.

"Are you okay, why are you on the ground, and what's in your hand?" Angela, never one to beat around the bush, fired off her questions in rapid succession. Brennan paused for a second before responding.

"I'm fine, this fell, and it's obviously a small white envelope with my name on it in red pen." Brennan said. Angela rolled her eyes.

"Well, open it!" Angela told her. Brennan slid a finger beneath the envelope flap and broke the paper open, removing a red card. Cupid sat at the bottom corner of the envelope and was shooting an arrow through a heart that said "Happy Valentine's Day, Best Friend!"

"Is it another secret admirer card?" Angela questioned, craning her neck to see the cover. Brennan shifted her body so Angela couldn't see as she read the note on the inside. She groaned before throwing it up on the desk and putting a hand over her eyes. Angela was on it in a second and reading it. She laughed.

"Dearest, smartest Bones,

All the funny ones were gone by the time I got to the store, so you can blame that one on the squint squad and the long lunch. Because of that, you get this card instead. Like the lace on the cover? I thought you would… You know, Bones, I don't really understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine's Day. When I think of romance, the last thing on my mind is a fat baby with wings flying at me while brandishing a lethal weapon. Shouldn't it be an old saint or something holding the bow? I'm sure you'll tell me all about the mythological background of Cupid and everything later, though, right? Anyways, hope you have a bearable Valentine's Day with minimal annoyances and frilly things. If I said happy Valentine's, I know you would come after me with my own gun, so I won't say that.

-Booth"

Angela finished reading the note aloud and laughed again. "Nice. So, maybe Booth is your secret admirer…" Brennan glared at Angela, temper flaring.

"Well it can't be him now because otherwise he wouldn't have sent this." Brennan snatched the card back and finally got up off the floor, flopping back into the desk chair.

"Someone's testy..." Angela observed.

"I've been bothered about this whole secret admirer thing for the entire day and I have a headache and I can't even figure out who the hell sent the gifts and when I do I will kill them in the slowest, most painful way possible…" Brennan ranted.

"I think you're disappointed that you think it can't be Booth." Angela sat back smugly. Brennan looked at her, masking the embarrassment she felt with Angela's statement with disbelief. She opened her mouth to retort.

"Dr. Brennan?" Zach appeared at her doorway, saving Angela from a nasty backlash. Brennan turned her attention to where the nervous scientist shuffled his feet in her doorway.

"Yes, Zach?" She said wearily.

"I know I've already asked you about these remains, but—"

"Zach, whatever you think about the skeleton is probably the correct answer." Brennan said.

"But that's just it, Dr. Brennan," Zach told her. "I don't know what it is." His answer surprised Brennan, and she hauled herself to her feet and put the blue lab coat back on over her shoulders.

"Well, let's go see what it is." Angela waved at her best friend as Brennan followed Zach out the door to the platform.

Angela picked the card back up again and laughed, putting it on the desk after she had finished reading it again before leaving the office to go find her favorite bug and slime guy.

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After a considerable amount of time on the platform with Zach, for it was nearly six now, Brennan returned to her office. Removing the lab coat from her back, she threw it onto a nearby chair and rubbed a hand over her face. It really shouldn't have taken that long to detect that hinge fracture on the vertebrae… she thought.

Brennan moved forwards across her office to where her chair sat waiting for her. As she was about to sink into it, she noticed a piece of burgundy cardstock resting between the rows of keys on her keyboard, the back propped up against the computer screen. Loopy script covered the part she looked at, and Brennan made a face as she plucked the cardstock from the computer.

"Now how did I miss this…" she murmured, turning the piece over in her hands. The back held more loopy handwriting, just as unrecognizable as the front side. She flipped it back to the front.

Across the top, the flowing letters spelled out, "I love you for—" Brennan stopped abruptly, the first three words sending a shiver of something through her body. Was it fear? Hope? She didn't know. Curiosity getting the best of her, Brennan kept reading.

"I love you for the way you make me laugh.

I love you for the way your lips pout when you don't understand pop culture

I love you for the way you handle difficult situations

I love you for the way my heart misses a beat every time you walk in the room

I love you for the way your eyes light up when you laugh at me

I love you for your courage

I love you for your honesty

I love you for your beautiful smile

I love you for never leaving my side even when I hurt you

I love you because I could never imagine living a day without you"

Brennan finished reading it and felt a sudden pang of sadness pluck a somber string in her heart. To know someone loved her for all of these things, for all her shortcomings in addition to everything else, gave her an odd sense of longing. Who was this? She needed to know now more than ever, and she quickly flipped the card to the opposite side where more of the unrecognizable writing filled the burgundy card.

"The sun will set,

Golden blue reflected in your eyes.

We'll watch the garden below

And you will know who I am

On the rooftop tonight

As I watch the sun set in your eyes."

Brennan smiled a bit as she scanned the poem again, shaking her head a bit at the riddle-like work. She would finally meet her admirer tonight… sunset on the roof of the Jeffersonian overlooking the botanical gardens. Well, it sounded romantic enough…

The click-clack of heels on linoleum jerked Brennan's attention from the card to the hallway. She sat in baited silence, waiting; Angela had a sensor ingrained into her brain that flashed bright red whenever something remotely interesting happened to Brennan. In fact, Brennan was surprised Angela hadn't shown up yet.

The sounds faded down the hallway and Brennan relaxed. If Angela had come in, there would for sure be many cracks made about it being Booth… Booth.

Any traces of a smile disappeared from her face as she gazed back at the card, the word "love" jumping out at her from the front. This couldn't be Booth. Booth was at his apartment having dinner with Parker. Brennan sighed in despair; all along, she guessed she really had been hoping Booth was the mystery valentine…

Brennan looked out the window and sighed; it was almost sunset. She glanced down at the card and gripped it tighter in her hand. Who on earth could have sent her all of those gifts? Depression was quickly replaced with annoyance, then anger. Who tortured her for two days and kept her up at night with thoughts of who was sending her these things? Whoever it was, Brennan hoped they had prepared themselves for anything; she was known for being unpredictable. They might have thought that she, like most other woman would swoon over such romantic gestures, but not her. She squared her shoulders and walked towards the office door, pausing momentarily to check her appearance in the glass.

Her hair was still in a messy ponytail from when she was poring over the bones with Zach, and dark circles shadowed her eyes. That, however, was the valentine's fault. She could blame him for her somewhat tousled appearance, but Brennan didn't even care that she looked less than acceptable at that moment. It didn't matter anyways; she knew Booth wouldn't be sitting on the roof waiting for her the way she had secretly hoped he would be.

Her office door swung shut behind her as she headed towards the back staircase leading up to the roof. Her heart began to speed up a little bit, and she reflected on whom it could be, and the most painful way to inflict damage upon them for their agonizing puzzle. Her shoes clanged on the metal steps and she reached the access door all too soon.

Her hand reached out for the door handle, the cool metal calming her a bit as her hand touched the knob. She heard the bolt click back as she twisted it, the cool evening breeze seeping through the small crack between door and the jamb. The fresh air calmed her bristled nerves, and Brennan swung the door completely open.

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FINALLY!!!! This was rather difficult to write, but hey, we got it! Please review and hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner than this one was! So sorry about that long wait! I made extra chocolate Booths just for your patience, and I threw in some Thin Mints and Caramel Delight girl scout cookies for good measure… they're the and Lauren, as always!!!!!!!!