A/N: This chapter references The Passenger in the Oven. I realize this conversation may seem really random, but, after all, they were drinking champagne...

If you have time to review, I'd appreciate it. Laura.


Halfway through a long flight home from China, Booth glanced over at his partner. They'd spent the last couple of hours discussing their most recent case and all of the imaginative ways they'd collected evidence from the plane, and she looked drowsy as she rubbed her eyes. "I guess it's nap time, huh?", he asked.

"Perhaps." She offered him a sleepy smile as she held up her champagne glass. "Or it could be that I've imbibed too much alcohol."

"Nah…I think maybe we needed a drink, okay?" Booth grimaced slightly as he sat back in his seat, trying to raise his footrest again. "It's not easy staying on a plane for this many hours, even if we are in first class. I mean, we didn't even get to leave the plane to stretch our legs before we left for home…"

"This plane is large enough to allow you to stretch your legs, if you so desire, Booth." Brennan giggled at his pretend scowl. "I believe you're feeling claustrophobic."

"I am not…" Grunting softly, he stared at his empty glass. "I'm just sorry that we flew all this way so you could see that old Chinese stuff, and then you didn't get to see it. I guess I really screwed that up for you, Bones...sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for, Booth. If I truly want to see those Chinese artifacts, I can afford to book another flight to China." She smiled at his annoyance. "I might even bring you with me, if you'd like to come."

"Well, that might be fun…" He cast a sidelong glance at her. "I still think you're getting bored working with me. I think you'd rather be looking for old stuff in some prehistoric garbage dump or something…"

"Booth…", she began quietly. "I am not bored...I enjoy the work I do on our cases very much. I'm glad you encouraged me to join you in doing field work. I find it to be intellectually stimulating."

"Yeah?" Hating that he'd given in to his self-pity, he shrugged a shoulder. "Well, you know, if you ever want to go dig some old bones up, that's fine with me...I'm sure the FBI will give you a break from your contract for however long you need." Just promise to come back home...

She contemplated his statement for a minute or two before clearing her throat. "I appreciate that, Booth, and I might consider your offer. You may not know this, but I didn't set out to be a forensic anthropologist. My first love was ancient remains...when I was a child, I wanted to be an Egyptologist."

"You liked the mummies and stuff, huh? What about the daddies?" He chuckled at his silly joke. "And all their little kiddies? Like ol' King Tut?"

Rolling her eyes at her partner, her lips twitched into a smile. "Yes, like Tutankhamun. When I was a little girl, I watched a movie called The Mummy with my father, and I enjoyed it tremendously. My father, being a science teacher, encouraged my interests by allowing me to embalm a dead rodent that I'd found in the basement."

Nice…, Booth thought to himself. I always knew Max was crazy… Coughing softly, he tried to laugh. "Did it work? Did you preserve it for all posterity?"

"I don't know." Brennan sighed sadly. "We wrapped it in some cotton strips after we treated the body, and I put in a dry place in the basement, but then we had to move…"

"Oh." Booth poured them both another glass of champagne. "Well, I'm sure it was fine…"

She nodded as she sipped her drink. "I'm sure whoever lived in the house after us would've been quite surprised to find a mummified rat underneath the stairs."

"I imagine so.", Booth agreed. Jesus...that would be a nasty surprise...

Brennan grew pensive as she studied her nails. "When my parents disappeared, I felt helpless...being moved from foster home to foster home, with no way to try to search for them. No one seemed to care about finding them. It seemed like no one was even looking. So I decided that when I went to college, I'd study anthropology, but instead of studying ancient cultures, I'd study forensics, thinking that I could acquire the skills to look for my parents by myself."

Booth sat in awe of his partner. "You were gonna search for them all by yourself? You were what...eighteen? How would you even know where to start?"

"That was the problem...I had no idea about the logistics involved, but I was desperate...I wanted to try. It also seemed that forensic anthropology was a much more practical field of study, and, as I was concerned about becoming employed after graduation, I decided to focus on that." She turned toward the window so he wouldn't see her tears. "I know now that I wasn't prepared for the monumental task of searching for my mother and father. I simply didn't have the necessary resources at my disposal...until I began working at the Jeffersonian." She turned back towards her partner, regarding him intently. "It was there that I had the technology to do more research into their disappearance, and I also had the assistance of several friends, including you, Booth. I hope you realize how instrumental you were in my success in discovering what happened to my mother...and in helping me reconnect to Max, even though he may not be the best parent a person could have…"

"Well, that's part of my job, you know? Finding missing people." Feeling awkward under her intense gaze, he drained his glass and set it aside, hoping to change the subject. "So you never wanted to go back to the mummies, huh?"

"Actually, I did consider it briefly...well, not mummies specifically, but other ancient remains." Seeing Booth's surprise, she cocked her head to one side. "When Cam first came to work at the Jeffersonian, I found her to be extremely abrasive and difficult to work with, and I began to wonder if I should seek a different position. I get offers from different universities on a regular basis, so it wouldn't have been hard to find something interesting…"

"What? You were actually thinking of leaving?" I knew it…I told Cam that...

"There was an offer at the University of Heidelberg, and I would've been able to teach and also study several prehistoric Neanderthal sites...but I decided to turn it down. I felt that the work we were doing together for the FBI was too important to give up, even if I found Cam to be disagreeable. Of course, now I realize how foolish I was in my assessment of her, and I consider her to be a close friend." Brennan ran her fingers around the rim of her glass. "Please don't tell her that I considered leaving."

Booth was certain that Cam had known that there was a time when his Bones had been unhappy enough to leave the Jeffersonian, but he nodded in agreement. "Of course I won't say anything. What's ours is ours, right?"

"Exactly. Thank you."

Suddenly feeling restless, Booth fidgeted with his seat for a few minutes, trying to raise the footrest, before glancing at his partner. "I'm gonna go see if I can find us some snacks."

Returning in a few minutes, he tossed her some small bags. "Pretzels, biscoff cookies, and peanuts. I guess they didn't have time to restock the plane before we took off again."

"I'm sure we won't starve…"

"Yeah, well, when we get home, I'm gonna have the biggest steak dinner I can find." Grunting in annoyance at his seat, he got up and moved to sit next to Brennan. "Anyway, I figure after all that champagne we'll probably nod off here pretty soon and forget that we're hungry."

"So we're going to sleep together on the plane?" Brennan giggled at Booth's shock. "I made a joke…"

"Right." He shook his head at her. "Very funny."

"I thought so." Licking her lips, she glanced at him. "I was wondering if you'd explain something to me."

"Sure…"

"Why did you want me to look like a sexually alluring media specialist?"

Booth almost choked on his pretzels. "What? Oh...that."

"I found your request to remove my glasses and shake out my hair to be quite interesting." She smirked as she opened a package of cookies. "What did you have in mind?"

"Look, it's not like it's anything creepy, okay? I just remember watching old spy movies when I was a kid, and there was usually some female scientist that looked plain because she was wearing these big thick glasses...or maybe it was a mousy librarian with her hair pulled up and held in place with a pencil or something...and they'd take off their glasses and let down their hair and reveal themselves to be glamorous women…" Realizing how lame he sounded, Booth tried to apologize. " I know it doesn't make sense, okay? It was just a random thought...a spur of the moment suggestion. I was trying to be funny, but I guess it backfired, huh? I'm sorry if I offended you..."

"Oh, I wasn't offended, merely curious. I often enjoy role play during sexual encounters. After I had time to consider what you had suggested, it seemed as if you were trying to initiate such contact, but we weren't in a situation at the time where we would be able to follow through with it."

Booth swallowed hard at her blunt assessment. "I didn't mean it that way…" Liar, liar...pants really on fire...

She smiled to herself as her partner shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "And I'm sure you realize that the idea of smart women always being homely is quite outdated."

"Yeah, of course I realize that. I mean, just look at Cam and Angela...at you…" Booth cringed slightly. "You're all very attractive, very intelligent women…"

"So you think Angela is attractive?"

"Well, yeah, I guess so." Stammering nervously, he tried to appease her. "Look, Bones, you're right, okay? Smart women can be just as beautiful as dumb women. Satisfied?" Booth tried to concentrate on his peanuts, hoping she'd drop the subject, but it appeared that the champagne had made her chatty.

"I suppose you prefer to choose smart, beautiful women when you want to engage in sexual intercourse, correct? It seems that most of your former sexual partners have fit within those parameters. Of course, that would make sense, because intelligent women are often very creative lovers, open to trying new things with their partners…"

"I do like smart women, okay, Bones? I like a woman who can think for herself...one who can make her own decisions. So I guess you're right. I think smart women are sexy." He grinned as he popped some peanuts in his mouth. "What about you? Do you prefer smart men?"

"Because I'm a genius, it is often difficult to find a man as smart as I am…" She hesitated as she heard Booth's exasperated sigh. "However, I do like men who are of above average intelligence, who are brave and loyal, and who have excellent skills when it comes to understanding other people." She smiled as she patted his arm. "I like men like you...caring, thoughtful men who aren't afraid of being in a relationship with an intelligent woman. I very much appreciate what a wonderful partner I have in you…" Her voice trailed off quietly. "Just between us...you're very...good…the best..."

He leaned back into his seat and smiled. "Thanks, Bones. "I feel the same way. In fact…"

He might've told her everything he felt...that there was really only one smart, beautiful scientist that he was interested in...but he was interrupted by soft snoring. The champagne had finally done the trick and his partner was sound asleep, still clasping a cookie in one hand and her glass in the other.

He quietly set the glass aside and then covered his partner with a blanket before putting the footrest up on his own seat. Sighing softly, he tried to get comfortable for the rest of the long flight home.