Booth sat stunned on the sofa. "They shot Gibbs! I can't believe it! They shot Gibbs! I don't even know if he's dead or alive!"

"Booth, that's terrible! Do you know him well? Is he someone from your office?"

"No, Bones...on NCIS….Gibbs got shot at the end of the episode and it didn't show what happened to him…"

"That seems counterintuitive...Why would a writer do that to a main character?"

"It's a cliffhanger. It's when…"

Bones interrupted, "Oh like Perils of Pauline, a silent movie series where the heroine is left in many precarious situations."

"Perils of Pauline. Right. Anyway the guys running the show do this so viewers will come back and watch the next season."

"Maybe you can find out what happened to Gibbs on the internet."

"I've tried that but it's a bunch of crazy speculation by obsessed fans. Some are mad the season ended like this and others wrote all sorts of stories about what really happened. Plus there's a lot of complaining about how the people who run the show have ruined it by doing this.

"But the series will be back next season?"

"Yeah, but the guy who plays Gibbs keeps tweeting all sorts of weird stuff like about how he's gonna change his shoes or start a new project, so who knows about Gibbs. And it'll be months until the new season starts. Booth grinned sheepishly. I guess you think it's silly for me to be so wrapped up in story about people who aren't even real…."

Not at all. I know people get involved with the characters in my books. It just means they're well written. How long will you have to wait?

"Until the new season. About 6 months."

"Well", said Brennan, as she snuggled next to Booth on the sofa, "Maybe we can find something to occupy your Tuesday evenings while you wait."

"Hmmm... that's a great idea Bones….."