Chapter 7

After two hours of going over every detail of the investigation and arrest of Howard Epps, Booth finally sits back at his desk. He shakes his head with a small smirk, deciding that he really likes Caroline Julian and her no bullshit attitude. And he's pretty sure the little hint of a smile she had on her face when she walked away means she likes him too. Thank God, he thinks, knowing without a doubt that the prosecutor is one of the last people one would want going against them.

"Hey, Booth," a fellow agent approaches him, holding a paper in his hands that he promptly hands to Booth. "Reilly needs this guy picked up."

"Right. Got it," Booth stands, glancing quickly at the information before heading out.

He usually hates assignments like this, being the errand boy instead of the lead but because it's for Sam Reilly it doesn't bother him so much. He approaches the SUV and checks his watch, grimacing as he remembers about picking up Brennan. He pulls out his cell, dialing as he climbs into the vehicle. Turning the key one handed, Booth takes a deep breath to prepare to dodge questions.

"Hello," Angela answers her cell brightly, in the process of packing up her art supplies and ignoring the noise of her fellow students the same.

Booth puts the cell on speaker and places it down, raising his voice slightly to be heard. "Hey, Ange. I need a favor."

"Sure, G-man," she replies easily, closing the lid to her paint kit and pulling her bag onto her shoulder. "Whatcha need?"

"Can you give Bones a ride home? She gets out of class in ten minutes and I've got to bring this a guy in for questioning."

"Yeah, sure. What's wrong with her car?"

"She's got a flat. I'll take care of it when I get home. Tell her to wait for me to take care of it," he adds, making the young artist laugh.

"Okay. So, when I see her, is there going to be something sparkly on her finger?" Angela asks, smiling widely as she walks out of her class. "Or this a ploy to surprise her with when she gets home? Oh! Can I be there?"

"Well, thanks Ange," Booth says over her but she just ignores him.

"Are you going to be kneeling when she opens the door? You know, you still haven't told me about the ring. It's got to be something classy but unique at the same time. Brens not really a big shimmering diamond girl."

"You don't say," Booth snaps slightly, his previously settled nerves starting to bubble.

"Oh right, you know that or you wouldn't be asking," Angela chuckles, sitting down in front of a large fountain to wait. "Are you going to do the whole dress up, fancy dinner thing? Or something different? Oh, what if you slipped it on her finger while she's asleep and then be all romantic and cater to her the next day? That sounds sweet."

Booth frowns, clearing his throat. "Angela."

"Oh, you know what's a cute way? A scavenger hunt by text where the end is you with the ring? Or you could make her a really nice dinner with music and candles and then hand her a music box with the ring sitting in the middle," she continues, really getting into it now. "I know, you could go dancing, like at a jazz club and ask her in a whisper just as a really romantic song ends."

"Angela, stop!" Booth bursts out, running a hand over his face as he drives. "Stop-just stop saying things I should have thought of. This is hard enough, okay?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm just so excited," she bounces on the bench. "I want to help, Hodgins helped with the ring. Isn't there anything I can do?"

Booth sighs deeply, shaking his head. "Yeah. Yeah, there is. Don't ask her to do anything tomorrow afternoon."

"Ok. Oh. Oh! Tomorrow?" Booth flinches as a short excited squeal sounds over the phone, glad that it isn't close to his ear. "Oh my god. Oh I'm going to cry!"

"Angela, do not tell her," Booth demands in a low, serious voice. "You have to act like you don't know anything, alright?"

"Absolutely, don't worry about it Studly," she assures him, her tone softening. "Don't be nervous ok? Brennan loves you. You two are meant to be together."

"Yeah." Booth clears his throat, getting his emotions under control so he can do his job. "Well, thanks Angela. Tell Bones not to worry about dinner, I'll bring home some Wong Foo's. Bye."

"Bye Booth."

"Okay everyone, don't forget we have a test on Thursday," Stires announces to the class, his eyes connecting with Brennan's. "It'll be the last test I give before I leave and Dr. Thorton takes over for the rest of the semester. Have a nice day."

Brennan packs her bag and walks straight out, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts. She strides towards the parking lot, not paying attention to those around her. Without slowing she reaches one hand in her bag to pull out her phone, her finger about to speed dial Booth when the sound of her name draws her attention.

"Brennan," Angela jogs slightly to catch up with her, her box of paints and brushes dangling from one hand. "Damn, you walk fast. Hi sweetie."

"Hi," Brennan chuckles, happily surprise to run into her friend, an occurrence that doesn't happen often enough.

"Booth called me, asked if I could give you a ride home," the artist explains, reaching out to finger Brennan's jacket in appreciation. "This is cute."

"Thank you. Where's Booth?" Brennan frowns, matching Angela's step as she begins walking.

"Something with work. Sorry I forgot."

"Oh."

Angela looks over at her best friend, her brown eyes filling with concern at the conflict she can see rolling through Brennan. With a soft touch to her elbow, Angela brings them both to a stop, her voice soft as she speaks. "Hey. I can see something's wrong. Lets skip the part where I coax it out and just tell me Bren, please."

"Michael invited me on a professional dig in Guatemala," Brennan tells her, pride slipping into her voice.

"Bren, that's amazing," Angela smiles.

"For six months," Brennan continues, the smile dropping off Angela's face with an understanding sigh. "I leave in two weeks."

"Two weeks? That's-" Angela straightens, grabbing Brennan's arms. "Wait, did you accept?"

"Of course not," Brennan frowns. "I've been dating Booth for five years. I wouldn't make a decision like that without talking to him."

"Right, I'm sorry. Of course you wouldn't," Angela apologizes, rubbing Brennan arms before turning to walk again.

"I would like to accept though I know I will miss Booth very much," Brennan admits. "I was hoping to talk to him about it on the way home."

"No. No you-you cant," Angela says in a slight panic, thinking about Booth's proposal. "You can't tell him yet."

"Why?" Brennan stops in confusion.

"Because…" Angela frantically tries to think of an excuse so she wont break her promise to Booth. "Because you haven't thought about it enough. I mean with those other digs you've taken you thought about them for like a week."

"I have to give my answer by Monday," she replies. "Booth needs time to process as well. Even more than I do because of how emotional he can get."

"A day. Think about it for a day," Angela all but pleads. "Twenty-four hours before you bring it up to Booth. Please?"

"Why? Angela I don't understand," Brennan sighs, starting to get annoyed with all the uncertainty inside her.

"No matter how much it'll hurt him, he's going to tell you to go. You and Booth on opposite ends of the world? I don't care about how advance communication is; you're going to miss each other. And I don't think either of you should go through that until you're absolutely sure of how you feel about it," Angela tries to answers honestly as she possibly can, sure that by the next evening Brennan's perspective would be different. "Please, sweetie. One day."

"Okay," Brennan agrees reluctantly, still confused.

Soft early dawn light spills into the room, the quiet broken only by Booth's soft manly snoring. Brennan lies on her side facing the handsome man, her eyes tracing every line of his face. Her brow crinkles and she releases a troubled breath as her mind again visits the dilemma that has kept her awake for most of the night.

Six months in Guatemala. It is an amazing opportunity both for her education and her career. It is a huge compliment on her skills to be invited without having a doctorate, no matter that she is obviously a last minute replacement. Her lips curve in pleasure at the acknowledgement and excitement tingles in her fingers. She has read the list of accompanying anthropologists and while they are by no means the best they're still names she is familiar with.

But as she again looks over her sleeping boyfriend's face her smile fades away. She's in a relationship, a deeply committed relationship she doesn't want to risk. She recalls Angela's certainty that Booth would encourage her to go, no matter how much it would bother him and knows it to be true of his character. He did it the year before for the six-week dig in Arizona. A person's gotta live wide, he had told her. She went and enjoyed herself, including the two weekends he flew over to spend with her. This is different though and she knows it.

With a soft breath, Brennan shifts and slowly climbs out of the bed. She reaches out for the nightstand to keep her balance as a wave of dizziness overcomes her just as it did that morning. With an annoyed huff she closes her eyes until it passes. Once it does she grabs her robe and walks out, shaking her head and telling herself to increase her water intake.

She runs her hand through her tangled hair stopping to lean against the entryway into he living room. The apartment is a mess, Booth's jacket hanging off the back of a chair and food containers on the coffee table. She smiles in remembrance of how they again became absorbed in each other, forgetting to tidy up before moving to the bedroom. She looks at the time and moves forward to pick up Booth's jacket. She'll clean the apartment and then start her day early with a run before heading to school. Hopefully the tasks will help her think.

Honestly, I'm not sure what her decision is going to be. It changes from moment to moment. I guess we'll all be surprised lol. Please review :-)