AN: Hey guys... I know I've been skipping around... I've decided to date the chapters so that it is easier to understand - Hopefully this will help with the confusion. Enjoy!


Day 7

Brennan rolled out of bed earlier this morning than usual. Her dig was going less successfully than she had hoped. She walked from her tent tiredly towards the mess tent for a cup of much-needed coffee. She hadn't really gotten a good night of sleep since before Brodsky went under the radar, and this second trip to Turkey wasn't exactly calming her nerves. She found her sleep interrupted by strange dreams. She almost wished she could ask Sweets what they meant – more for a good laugh than for factual content.

Brennan poured a cup of coffee, black, and walked back to her tent, eager to get the workday started and perhaps salvage what had so far been a fruitless endeavor. She was interrupted shortly before reaching her tent by one of the archaeologists on her team. "Dr. Brennan!" The woman that called her name was a small, beautiful woman from the University of Tokyo. "Good Morning, Kiri." Brennan responded, desperately hoping that her colleague's greeting was just that and not an invitation to converse.

"Dr. Brennan, I found something in the second site that I think you might find to be fascinating. If you will just follow me…" "Kiri, I will come see what you have to show me when I get dressed. I do not care to be in the presence of the most brilliant minds in the world of anthropology in my sleep clothes." Kiri giggled. "Yes of course, Dr. Brennan. I will see you there." Kiri bowed; Brennan followed in suit, excusing herself to get dressed. Kiri, although brilliant, was becoming more and more a reminder of a certain female intern that Brennan spent an extended amount of time with in Maluku.

Brennan made her way to the examination tent. Kiri wasted no time in showing the doctor what she found. "This portion of the pelvis was found in site two with this," Kiri held up a fractured vase. Brennan stepped between the archaeologist and the table the pelvis sat on. "Ms. Sato, I am more interested in the human remains than the artifact you found, despite its historical significance." With that, Kiri looked disappointed, but knowing Dr. Brennan's propensity for being blunt, did not take it personally.

From the other end of the makeshift lab, the pair heard a phone ring. Knowing Brennan was in the middle of waiting for the bones to 'speak to her,' Kiri decided to get the phone herself. She jogged across the room and picked the phone up, only to see a DC area code on the screen. "DR. BRENNAN!" she squealed. "IT IS FOR YOU!" Brennan considered ignoring the shrill exclamation, but knew that this call could be important.

Brennan removed her gloves, and briskly walked to the phone. Anxiously, she answered.

"This is Dr. Temperance Brennan?" she noted that it was irritating that even amongst some of the most advanced technology in the world, they could not seem to figure out a way to implement caller identification.

"Tempe. It's me, Russ."

Brennan hesitated acknowledging the voice on the other end of the line. From experience, her brother only really showed up when he was in trouble. "Hello Russ," was all she could manage, dreading the way the conversation would probably go.

"Tempe, you need to come home. Dad needs you. He was arrested and we need you to do your magic and get him out of here."

"Russ," she paused, more out of apathy than shock, "if Dad is in jail again, then he probably deserves it."

"C'mon Tempe, isn't family more important than a bunch of really old dead people? Dad needs you, and you're the brains in the family. There's nothing I can do for him. We need you."

With that, a spark was set off in the doctor's mind. She was needed. Her brother was actively asking for her help. Brennan's sense of self-importance had been shaken. She knew she was a beautiful, intelligent, and generous person. Lately, those things didn't seem to matter because she had no one of importance to share them with. Brennan agreed to leave the next morning from Turkey, which was met with many thanks and words of affection from her estranged but adored brother.


Brennan woke up to a flight attendant's hand on her shoulder. "Ms. Brennan, we'll be landing shortly." The young blonde smiled at Brennan, obviously more excited about getting to talk to the famous author than concerned about warning her about the impending landing.

"Dr. Brennan," she corrected.

"Yes, of course Dr. Brennan." The girl could not avoid the smile that covered her round face despite being corrected. She turned on her heel and walked briskly to the attendants' seating area where she proceeded to giggle with her fellow stewardesses.

Brennan never did understand why her fame was such a cause of childish behavior. Childish only because of the giddy joy and loss of ability to speak that typically accompanied the dropped jaws she caused when she was recognized in public. Angela was initially fascinated with the fame that Brennan had acquired from her novels, but soon realized that being the best friend of a drop-dead-gorgeous celebrity wasn't always private. On lunches, Angela would often offer a snarky comment to those she caught gawking. "Take a picture, it'll last longer," and "You'll catch flies if you don't close your mouth," were two of her favorites. Seeing peoples' embarrassment at being caught staring always brought her satisfaction, Brennan thought.

She looked out the window, seeing the specks out the window become houses, buildings, pools, and cars. She thought about her friends. The last time she left, the team had fallen apart. The 'Squint Squad' had been spread to the ends of the earth and Cam was left to fend for herself. Brennan's decision to stay in Maluku after solving the case was for the best of the team. Now she was concerned that with Booth no longer involved, the team itself would be dissolved. Would the FBI give Brennan another partner? Would the Jeffersonian end its partnership with the Bureau altogether? Brennan knew that without the FBI, there would be no more murders to investigate, no clues to decipher, no reason to keep the Medico-Legal Lab in operation.

The thought of starting all over again was worrisome to Brennan. Her thoughts were only interrupted by the captain's voice over the speaker declaring that they had reached Washington Dulles and could begin to depart from the plane. Brennan quickly unbuckled and exited the plane, bags in hand, eager to distract herself from her own irrational thoughts. She charged through the terminal, finally reaching the baggage claim where she was surprised to see not only her brother, but her father as well.

"Dad… what are you… " Brennan couldn't understand why she was in the same place, "I thought you were arrested!" Brennan gritted her teeth. She had a feeling that she was brought home under false pretenses.

"We had to get you home somehow, Tempe. Dad didn't ever actually get arrested. We just weren't sure we'd ever see you again unless something happened here to bring you home." Russ was nearly pleading that she not punch both of them for lying to her like she appeared to be gearing up for.

"It's good to see you!" Max shot Brennan a large smile to let her know how glad he truly was, even though Brennan heard a quiver in his voice that came across as pity. He held his arms open wide and moved towards her. Brennan allowed him to put his arms around her, but she refused to return the hug initially.

She took it all in empirically. She noted the familiar smell of her father's jacket. She saw her brother looking on, smiling. She felt the warmth of her father's arms. She heard her father's greeting echo in her head, although she knew it was just a product of her memory 'replaying' what he just said. She allowed these tangible things sink in and realized she had chosen correctly.

Over the last 6 years, she had changed drastically. Her strictly factual, empiricist mindset had been shaken to its core by a man who relied almost exclusively on his metaphorical heart. A notion. A whim. A gut feeling. She argued the irrationality of his methods many times, yet always fell short when his ability to read people and jump to conclusions paid off.

She released the grip she returned to her father and gestured towards the belts to wait for her bags. As she stood waiting, she considered the possibility that she had been wrong all along. Had she been completely wrong in thinking that Booth's way was foolish? Or had they both been wrong?

It occurred to her suddenly that they were both right.

But only when they were together. Joining their skills to create an unstoppable force.

A force that she realized may never reach its full potential.


Thanks for your patience - I have been busy this week, but knew I had to update sometime... let me know how you like it!