Chapter 9 All's Well That Ends Well

Thanks to being young and receiving excellent care, Christine found that her ankle was back to normal after her night in the infirmary and hopping around Michael's classroom on crutches the following day. She returned to her spelunking sessions after missing one day, and was able to crawl through the next cave her group hiked to. With the carefree spirit of childhood, she shook off her injury and went back to relishing every new experience the Naval Academy camp had to offer. She and Michael had great fun making plans over breakfast and later comparing notes on their sessions each evening. By the second Wednesday of camp, they'd both nonchalantly shoved their caving mishap to the back corner of their brains.

Christine had dutifully mailed a postcard during the first few days of camp before her fall, telling her parents she was fine and having a great time. But once she got into the swing of spelunking, the remaining postcards remained tucked away in her duffle bag, forgotten in the rush of activities which kept her happily occupied from sunrise until the crickets began to sing.

Michael Vincent was blissfully buried in newly-acquired insect knowledge and 'bug business' as his counselor jokingly called their experiments. In keeping with their hope of cultivating future military and government talent, the camp sponsors had included some rudimentary particulate gathering exercises in the second weekend's camp curriculum. Michael was gleeful, since he knew a bit about these procedures from watching his father and listening to his parents' sanitized dinner discussions. Angela refused to talk about the gory details at home, but she found Jack's discoveries intriguing nonetheless, and as long as he omitted the goupy parts, he was free to enlighten their son about the clues he teased from mass spectrometer data and chemical analyses. He recounted to Christine the particulars of proper particulate gathering protocol over supper Thursday night.

"Gosh, Michael, I think I like my mom's bones better than your bugs. They are complicated to remember, but at least they are clean and dry and won't crawl up your sleeve or down your glove."

"But the evidence can tell you so much about where the eggs were laid, when the insects hatched, where they build their pupae cases, and lots more information!" he enthused over a bowl of chocolate chip ice cream.

"The bones don't remind me of our dessert either," Christine observed wryly. "Not sure I could eat that after the day you describe, Michael."

Christine's group was taken on an all-day caving field trip on Saturday. By the time she returned and met Michael for supper, she couldn't talk fast enough to relate all the exciting things they'd seen and done.

"Hey, Chris, slow down and breathe. You're talking so much you're going to hyperventilate and pass out in the chow line. We've got all evening to talk. The particulate hike to the meadow today was awesome! I found some larvae under a pile of dead leaves, some wood chips inside a tree trunk, some slate and limestone chips under a fallen log, and all sorts of other great stuff to analyze. I wish you could have come so I could show you!"

"I'm planning to defeat you in a few chess matches, so we need time for that!" Christine retorted.

"Oh, I don't know about that, I've gotten pretty good at chess lately!" Michael challenged her.

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The third week of camp seemed to fly by in a blurr of preparations for the camp demonstrations the youngsters would put on Saturday morning. Their families were due to arrive Friday evening, if desired, to have a campfire supper with their children, or early Saturday before the exhibitition. Each session of campers were to present a discussion of what they had learned in their respective areas of discovery: spelunking, entomology, or conservation. Then they would break into groups, taking their parents on a short hike to the areas they'd been exploring, and demonstrate the skills they'd learned. A picnic lunch was planned. Once the demonstrations were concluded at 4:30 pm. the campers and families would reassemble at the dining hall to eat a hearty supper of campfire stew the conservation group had prepared. Their endeavors had included practicing 'leave no trace' wilderness camping methods. After dinner and cleanup, the evening would conclude with a campfire presentation of competitive games between the campers and their parents. This included a special award presentation, but none of the campers had been informed of this.

Booth and Brennan arrived Saturday morning after wrapping up a case Friday night. Angela and Hodgins came up Saturday as well, since Billy Gibbons showed up unannounced Friday evening for a charity concert in D.C. and wanted to come along to see his grandson's achievements. Parker was hoping to surprise Christine, but couldn't come until noon. The reunion between the Booths and the Hodgins generations involved comments about growing a foot in less than a month, and questions regarding the pungently musty odor of Michael Vincent's socks. He'd kept his tent tidy by stuffing everything into his backpack, damp, dry, or otherwise. Angela dispatched him back to his tent to change from tennis shoes to Chacos and lose the socks. She suspected she shouldn't relish the prospect of doing laundry when they returned home that night. Jack advised her to take a laissez-faire approach to the problem and let Michael Vincent do his own laundry.

"But, Hodgie, that isn't fair to Guadalupe, because she'll feel obligated to re-wash it all on Monday and Michael knows that," Angela reminded him.

"We'll just tell her she can't rescue him this time!" Jack declared. "He let his clothing get stinky; he can de-odorize it himself! That's a practical chemistry lesson!"

"Yeah, and he'll ruin all his clothes with Chlorox spots."

Billy had heard enough. "Angie, Jack, you compromise. Guadalupe can supervise, Michael can do the work!"

Brennan didn't say much but gave her daughter a long hug. Booth gathered both his girls in his arms and squeezed them tightly, planting kisses on both auburn heads.

"Mom, Dad, you're smooshing me; I can't breathe! Gimme some room, please!" Christine gasped.

"Sorry, honey, it's been a really long three weeks for your dear ol' Mom and Dad!" Booth exclaimed. "Seems like you'd been gone way longer than you actually were."

"Yes, Christine, while I know it is scientifically impossible, I felt several times while you were gone, that time had come to a complete standstill," Brennan remarked to her daughter.

"Wow, Mom, around here, the time just flew by. Seems like we just got here yesterday!" Christine told her mother.

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Several hours later, the campers and their families were gathered around a large campfire, seated on the grass, rocks, camp stools, or benches from the dining hall.

The camp director Captain Sowell waited for silence, then addressed the crowd.

"We've enjoyed hosting your children these past three weeks. We hope they had fun and learned some science along the way."

His voice was drowned out by whoops and cheers from the campers. Once they had quieted down, he continued speaking,

"Each year, we select one camper who personifies the spirit of self-reliance, initiative, self-sufficiency, and ingenuity that we try to foster here. This year, our Resourcefulness Award goes to a pair of campers who showed unusual presence of mind and level-headedness during an unexpected event, and solved a problem on their own without any intervention from the counselors or camp staff."

The kids were looking at each other with puzzled expressions, wondering who had done something to earn an award they'd never heard of.

"Michael Vincent Hodgins and Christine Brennan- Booth, will you please come forward?"

Michael and Christine stared at each other in confusion. "What did we do?" they asked in unison.

"During your free-time hike the first Thursday afternoon, Christine's sandal strap got caught in a rock crevice and you couldn't free your foot, remember? You and Michael worked together to solve the problem and he helped you back to camp. You handled your sprained ankle without complaining, and Michael figured out how to free your foot. Not every ten-year old could have taken care of that situation without adult assistance, but you two worked together and did a fine job of devising a solution to your dilemma."

"What happened?" Angela, Hodgins, Booth and Brennan all asked at once.

Captain Sowell smiled. "Christine and Michael went for a hike, and her sandal strap was snagged, as I said. She remembered she had a multi-tool in her daypack, which Michael used to cut the strap and free her foot. They used their headlamps to illuminate the injury. If they hadn't remembered to check their day packs for these tools before they left their tents, they wouldn't have been able to help themselves."

"My dad was the one who gave it to me, showed me how to use it, and made me practice," Christine exclaimed. "I think you better give him the award."

After the children were each presented with a plastic lightbulb flashlight as a trophy, the crowd applauded and the demonstration came to an end. The families began dispersing to collect campers' belongings and go home.

Christine and Michael walked toward their parents, and mumbled to each other, "Now we're gonna get it."

Brennan and Hodgins each looked at their children intently. "Where exactly was this rock crevice that ensnared your Chaco strap?" Jack asked his son.

"In a cave," Michael answered quietly.

"Christine Angela, what possessed you to think it was a good idea to take your friend into a cave by yourselves?" Brennan demanded of her daughter.

"Mom, we only went just inside the entrance. There was a stalactite Michael saw in a picture I took and he wanted to examine its texture and I knew it was very close to the opening. We told the counselors we were going on a hike and got back before they said."

And whose idea was it to enter this cave in the first place?" Angela asked her son knowingly.

"Mine," muttered Michael.

"Did you happen to tell the counselor you were hiking to a cave?" Booth asked the pair.

"Noooo," they admitted.

Captain Sowell came over and interrupted at this point. Dr. Hodgins, Dr. Brennan, Agent Booth, Mrs. Montenegro-Hodgins, I know it seems like your kids acted impetuously, and I'll grant you I wish they had told us where they were planning to go. But I don't know of very many ten-year olds who could think for themselves in a situation like that and not panic. They remained calm and collected enough to use the multi-tool, cut the strap, free her ankle, and make their way back to camp without adult help. Heck, I know a few adults who'd be too freaked out to come up with that solution."

"You have a point, Captain Sowell. Our daughter has been raised to think rationally for herself, and I believe the Hodgins have instilled similar logical skills in their son. Sometimes people find themselves in difficult situations and have to work in concert with one another to get themselves out of a bind. It seems our children accomplished this during your camp session," Brennan said warmly, sharing a meaningful gaze with Jack Hodgins. "We appreciate your recognizing them, but I think they learned a few additional lessons from this experience, like the importance of letting people know where they are goingl"

"And you are the poster child for always remembering to do that, Bones," Booth reminded his wife under his breath.

Temperance Brennan's face reddened slightly as she glared at her husband. Christine looked from her mom to her dad in confusion.

Angela looked at her son sternly and chided him, "When are you going to stop getting Christine into trouble by convincing her to do what you want?"

"Angie, the kids are both safe and they'll never forget this camp session, will you guys?" Hodgins shushed his wife. "The fact that they stayed by the entrance made all the difference."

"Oh, Hodgie!" Angela buried her face in her husband's shoulder and sniffled audibly.

"Christine, I did observe that your Chaco straps weren't the same length," Booth told his daughter.

"Yes, honey, I wondered why you were favoring your ankle ever so slightly; but I am very glad that the only thing you left in that cave was a few inches of sandal strap," Brennan added. She gave Booth a very significant look, squeezed his hand tightly, and planted a kiss firmly on his lips. He wrapped her in an intense hug. The four adults looked at each other in silence.

"Wonder what that was all about?" Michael muttered to Christine quietly.

"No clue," she responded. "I think we're better off not asking, don't you?"

"You got that right!" he answered emphatically.

Once he observed that the children had stopped whispering to each other, Booth spoke up. "Okay, guys, let's go get your gear and have dinner together in town at that restaurant on Antietam Blvd. before we head back to D.C." he suggested.

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That night, when their adventurous children had been bathed, hugged, kissed, and tucked into bed, both couples climbed into bed, gazed at each other, shared a heart-felt embrace, and said together, "If our children only knew what horrid memories that brought back!"

The End

A/N: I considered getting the kids into a much more serious situation, but I prefer happy stories and that would have freaked Brennan out for good, and Christine would never have been allowed out of her bedroom again until she reached adulthood!