Chapter Eight

Gunn stood off to the side of the exam table on the platform watching Brennan examine the remains he had brought in earlier. They were discovered in a drawer at a local funeral home, only the director had no idea who they belonged to or how they had gotten there. The body was so decomposed the DC police had asked for and were granted joint jurisdiction with the FBI so that they could utilize the services of Dr. Temperance Brennan. In the chain of command, Booth ended up being the one to approve the interagency cooperation…after calling Brennan, of course. Now Gunn sat, fascinated, watching his partner examine each bone, each notch on each bone, each nuance on each notch on each bone…looking for anything to tell her cause of death. The process never failed to impress him.

Four years earlier, Gunn had been sitting at a bar having a few beers with Booth when the subject of Brennan had come up…as always. They had only been partners for a little over a year, but it was clear to Gunn that Booth had something more than partnerly feelings for Brennan. There were little clues in the way Booth talked about her, but the one thing that always stuck out for Gunn was when Booth described what Brennan looked like when she inspected her bones…it had been so reverent and full of awe that Gunn was literally knocked backwards. The only other time he had heard Booth use that tone of voice was when he talked about Parker.

Brennan brought Gunn out of his reverie when she spoke his name. "Richard? I think we can safely say that unless the tox screen comes back with an anomaly, this is not foul play."

Just then, Cam made her presence known. "You're right, Temperance. The tox screen was clean, but the heart was heavily damaged and almost twice the normal size."

"Heart attack?" Gunn asked.

"That is my assessment, yes. Although I still don't know what he was doing in a funeral home storage drawer."

"He used to work there." Angela joined them on the platform with a folder in her hand. "Heath Freeman, 69. Former thirty year employee of Hartford and Sons Funeral Home. Reported missing by his brother six months ago."

"Was he fired from the funeral home?" Gunn asked.

"No. He retired voluntarily about a year ago. According to Mr. Hartford, he liked to sleep in the drawers because it was peaceful."

"He must have come back in the middle of the night, and simply died in his sleep." Brennan added. "It sounds like just bad timing. I wonder why the funeral home never looked in the drawer all these months."

"I asked them, Mr. Hartford said that it was Mr. Freeman's favorite drawer, and they just hadn't had the heart to use it, until they had an influx of bodies and it became necessary. That's when they found him." Angela shook her head. "Poor man, lying there all that time."

Gunn smiled. "I don't know, it sounds to me like he passed peacefully, in a place he loved. We should all be so lucky."

"I agree, Richard." Brennan finished the file Angela handed her and passed it to Gunn. "Would you mind informing the immediate family? I imagine he will be transported back to Hartford and Sons once arrangements are made."

"That sounds about right. Yeah, I'll go talk to his brother. Do you want to come, Doc?"

"No, thank you." Brennan shook her head tightly. "I have things to do here, if you don't mind."

Gunn tapped the railing with the file and turned to leave. "Not at all, Doc. I'll let you know how it goes." And with that he jogged down the steps and walked out of the lab.

"Is something wrong, Bren?" Angela noticed the perfunctory way Brennan was covering the body and putting her equipment away, mind obviously elsewhere.

"Hmmm? Oh, no. I just have a lot on my mind. Working out a new chapter of my next book." She turned on her heel and left the platform, heading for her office with Angela hot on her heels.

"I don't buy it, sweetie. Of all the things you've learned from Booth, you're still a terrible liar." Brennan sighed and sat at her desk, giving her friend a glare of warning.

"This isn't one of those times where talking to you is going to make things better, Ang. Can you just let me work it out myself? Please?" Her eyes were practically pleading with Angela to let it go.

Thinking that she was missing something but willing to give Brennan a chance to work through her own problems, Angela acquiesced. "Alright. I can respect that. But please tell me if there's anything I can do, okay?"

Brennan visibly relaxed. "I will. I promise."

"Great. And with that, I am out of here for the day. I have a commitment ceremony to plan!" She winked, turned on her heel, and walked out.

Brennan leaned back in her chair, brain going a mile a minute. Without trying, her mind went back to the night a few days ago when she and Booth had talked about marriage.

"Booth! I'm serious!" Brennan tried to push him off her, but he had her pinned tightly between himself and the sofa cushions, running soft kisses up and down her neck.

"And so am I, Bones. This making love thing is serious business…now quit stopping me." He continued his path along her neck to her ample cleavage, slowing only long enough to lick sensuously between her breasts before moving to the left one, heading dangerously for the nipple.

"Seeley Joseph Booth! Will you listen to me for a moment?" She slapped his shoulder.

"Ooh. Breaking out the middle name, Bones. Must be really serious." Booth sat up, boyish grin plastered to his face as he took in her thoroughly mussed appearance. "Okay. I'm listening. What's on your mind?"

Sitting up and taking a breath, Brennan steeled herself for a fight. "We need to talk about this...us."

"Oh, we do? Since when?" Booth looked into her eyes and saw nothing but resolve. "Okay. Shoot."

"I would like for us to have some paperwork drawn up…legal paperwork." She twisted her hands together. "To legalize out situation."

"Legalize…what? I'm confused. What are you trying to say, Bones? You want to get married?"

"No!" Her eyes widened. "I mean, that's not what I meant. I just thought we should look into the legalities of the two of us living together…possibly buying a house, having power of attorney and cohabitation agreement drawn up, updating our wills…these things need to be discussed…." She trailed off at the shocked look on Booth's face. "What?"

He stood and pulled her to her feet, hugging her close. "I love that you've thought about our future like that, Bones. I really do. It's humbling that you want to spend the rest of your life with me, and that you'd go to all this trouble…it blows me away."

"Well, thirty, forty or fifty years is a long time, Booth." She leaned up and kissed his slack jaw. "There's nothing wrong with being prepared. Although…a marriage license is a lot less paperwork."

Booth sighed her name. "Bones. I know you don't want to get married. And I only want what you want. Always. And to even think of getting married just because it's less paperwork…that is unacceptable to me. I am perfectly happy just as we are. But yeah, the lawyer thing sounds like a good idea."

Nodding, Brennan pulled away. "Good. Now that's settled…you have something you need to finish." She pulled her blouse over her head and walked backwards toward the bedroom, one finger crooked in his direction.

Pulling off his own shirt, Booth followed happily. "Don't have to tell me twice!"

Now that she'd had time to think about that conversation, Brennan wondered why Booth hadn't even fought her on the marriage topic. She'd always assumed that when Seeley Booth fell in love for life, he would want marriage above anything else. He had even said as much during that case a few years ago when the bride-to-be had been run over by a car and sandwiched between packing crates. He said he knew he would get married someday. So why wasn't he arguing more for something that he so obviously wanted? Was it her? He had proposed to Rebecca, and although that was mostly because she was pregnant, Brennan knew he would never have asked if he didn't love Rebecca. Was she that adamant on the marriage idea that he didn't even consider asking? Was that making him unhappy? There was nothing she wouldn't do for Booth, she knew that. But marriage? Her head was starting to pound. Deciding to put this on her mental back burner for the time being, she turned to the paperwork in front of her and began cataloguing her findings.