Rating: PG
Pairing: BB
Author's Note: It was a fun chapter to write, I guess. I love writing Angela. The past couple days have been kind of rough, but I decided not to punish you all by denying you a new chapter when one so clearly wanted to be written. I hope you all enjoy it.
Dedication: To Starr because her smile always lit up a room and her laughter always made the worst day the best. You were one of my best friends and I will always love you and I will always remember you fondly in my memories because you are the one who taught me to have fun in life. To Ems also because she understands the pain and you're here for me and I am here for you. You made me smile and I am grateful. To the reviewers because you are awesome in so many ways. Thank you all.
For the second day in a row Angela found herself at her place of work at a ridiculously early hour and for no better reason than to corner her friend for the details that were obviously lacking in her abrupt and careful responses. She sighed, heels clicking loudly on the tile floors, as she made her way to Brennan's office. It was way too early in the morning, morning shouldn't even start before eight, and she was already on her second cup of her favorite cappuccino - grande French vanilla, or as she liked to refer to it, heaven in a handy cup.
She knocked tentatively on Brennan's closed door but received no answer, frowning at it. It wasn't like Brennan to arrive here a second after six-thirty in the morning, only god knew how she did it. She knocked again, louder this time, and tried the handle when the office still remained stubbornly silent. It opened easily and she peered into the gloom, tip-toeing into it in case Brennan had pulled an all nighter again and was trying to catch a bit of sleep on her couch.
Empty.
She groaned in frustration, setting her cup down on the end table and collapsing onto the leather surface of the couch. I'll give her fifteen more minutes, she decided as she crossed her legs and tapped her foot impatiently. If she isn't here by then I'll call her, then kill her. She settled back into the couch, preparing for a nice, long wait that had better end in her learning a fair deal more about Brennan's life than her friend would like.
Booth wandered out of his bedroom and into the kitchen, smiling when he saw her already seated at the table, cutting an apple into thin slices and flipping through what he believed to be a travel brochure. She looked at home, as well as relaxed, and he took a moment to simply stand there and stare at her, soaking in the image of her. She glanced up at him, smile widening when she saw him staring at her.
"Good morning."
"Morning." He walked over, stealing a slice of apple and a piece of the cut cheese in front of her. "Sleep well?"
"Better than the previous night," she admitted. "You?"
"Same," he replied. He sat down, scooting the chair over so that he could see what she was looking at. He smiled slowly, noting that his earlier assumption had been correct and it was, in fact, a travel book. "What are you looking at?"
"Different places. There are an amazing variety. Hawaii seems to be one of the most frequented, as are Paris and London, but you mentioned something about a beach so I've pushed those aside for now."
"You really are thinking a lot about this, aren't you?" he asked, helping himself to another slice of apple. He wouldn't admit it, not even under pain of torture, but she was right, the apples did wake him up more than the coffee brewing in the maker probably would.
"Well, yes. A lot of thought should go into where one wants to go, that way you can get the most enjoyment out of a vacation," she replied, sending him a puzzled look. He shook his head, flipping through the booklet until he came across one page that was dog eared.
"Australia?" he asked with some surprise.
"It is an interesting place. I haven't been myself but Angela says it's wonderful and it has everything a vacationer could want or desire. The tropical beaches and reefs of Queensland, the culture of Sydney, and the wild of the Outback..." She shrugged, tugging at the shirt she had borrowed from him and pulling her knees up, resting her chin on them. "Have you ever been there?"
"No," he admitted. He couldn't believe he was sitting here, planning a vacation to Australia of all places with Bones. He shook his head slowly and let his eyes scan over the words and pictures on the pages detailing the highlights of an Australian vacation. "Isn't it a bit...far?"
"Isn't that the point?" she asked, eyes dancing as she looked at him. "To get as far away from your life, from the people you see everyday. This way you can relax completely, or do completely stupid things, all in the name of fun of course, such as sky diving or cliff diving?"
"Yes," he agreed. "That is the point." He looked up at her, meeting her eyes and offering her a real smile. "So, you really do want to take this vacation?" He reached out, brushing a few loose strands from her face and offering her another smile.
"Yes, I do. I told you that both yesterday afternoon and last night. Why?" Her face became drawn suddenly and a frown developed over her features. "Do you not want to?"
He laughed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pressing a kiss to her forehead, then her mouth before pulling back and looking at her once more. "Yes Bones, I want to."
"Good," she replied with a smile.
"Temperance Brennan what time did you drag your lazy ass into work today?" Angela demanded as she stormed into her friend's office shortly before noon. She knew that it had been well past seven thirty, that was the time she had finally given up and trudged to her own office to try and catch a quick nap. "Hm?" she pressed.
Brennan glanced up, a guilty look crossing her face quickly before she shoved it aside and forced a cheerful, innocent smile to adorn her features. "Angela, is everything okay?" She stood up, walking around and looking at her friend with concern.
"Okay? I show up at your office at six-thirty in the morning, did you know it isn't even fully light outside that early in the morning?, to find you missing in action! I waited around for an hour and still no appearance so you better have a damn good reason why you were late and a lot of juicy details involving Mr. F.B.I. man and Brennan why is there a brochure to Australia on your desk?" She paused for breath, eyes wandering over the brochure where different activities or places were highlighted in yellow marker.
"Oh, that? Well, I've been working hard and...you were here at six-thirty?" Brennan asked, surprise evident in her voice and expression. In all the time she had known Angela, she had never known the artist to rouse herself before eight on a workday, noon on a weekend, unless the bribery of breakfast and a super-sized cup of coffee were mentioned.
"Yes. I've been worried about you Bren. I don't know what's going on in your life and you're keeping me locked out. You have never been late to work a day in your life unless something catastrophic has happened and with recent events..." she trailed off at Brennan's look before forging on. "I don't know everything that happened Sweetie and I'm okay with that. As long as you're okay and you know that you can talk to me if you need too, I'm okay with not knowing. But I worry about you, especially with you staying in your apartment all alone and not wanting help from anyone. Sometimes you just have to know when to cave and say 'yes' and 'thank-you' and know that we aren't trying to sabotage you."
"I know that Ange, believe me, I do. And I'm okay, really. I go home and I lock my doors and I call Booth if any strange car is following me, though it's usually him because he's overly paranoid," she replied, offering her friend a small smile.
Angela sighed, nodding finally. "Alright Sweetie, if you're sure," she sighed. She
grinned suddenly, grabbing the brochure off Brennan's desk before dropping gracefully onto the couch, flipping through it. "So, you're planning a vacation to Australia?"
"Er...well, yes," she admitted slowly. "I have been working hard, and you always told me that vacations are supposed to be fun and..." she trailed off, looking at the artist curiously. "Angela why are you looking at me like that?"
"Sweetie, you know this is going to upset Booth a lot."
She looked puzzled, tilting her head and continuing to stare at her friend. "Upset him? Why? He's the one who told me I needed a vacation."
"Yeah, but Sweetie? He was probably thinking something a bit closer to home, this way he could protect you better." She turned serious then. "But don't let that stop you. Go on this vacation, get as far away as possible from death and skeletons and meet some hot surfer who speaks with a husky accent and have fun. Vacations are about letting loose and reveling in a part of you that normally lays dormant, this way you can always have fond memories."
"What about fond memories?"
Angela looked up, grinning widely as the agent made his way into the office, stopping next to Brennan. She noticed the way their arms were casually touching. It seemed the two of them always needed to be in contact when they were around each other.
"Booth! We were just talking about you!" she exclaimed before Brennan could say anything.
"Oh, really?" he asked, glancing between the two of them. "Anything interesting?"
"The usual. Dead guys from the seventeenth century, Brennan being late for work by, how late was it again Bren? Oh, and Bren's decided to take a much needed vacation," Angela replied easily.
Booth turned to the anthropologist, eyebrow raised in question. "The great Doctor Temperance Brennan has decided to take a vacation? The apocalypse is surely coming," he joked. She glared, elbowing him and he only laughed, grabbing the end of her ponytail and tickling her with it. She glared again, and swatted at his hand. "So tell me, where are you planning to take this respite from civilization at?"
Brennan opened her mouth but it was Angela who answered. "Australia. The great Down Under. Sounds nice, doesn't it? How long do you plan to be down there?"
"I'm not sure yet," Brennan replied. "There are a lot of things to see down there but at the same time, I don't want to spend too much time in case a new case comes up that needs my attention." She turned to Booth. "Angela seems to think that you'll have a problem with me going to Australia, is that true?"
"No," he replied, smiling. "Why would I have a problem with you going to Australia?" She shrugged and turned to Angela who was staring at Booth, eyebrow raised.
"Well Ange, that seems to put your worries to rest..."
"Yeah, yeah. I know when I'm being nudged out. I will find out what's going on between you two, have no fear of that."
"Of course. We would never dream to feel at ease with you around," Booth laughed. He smiled as she passed by him. "See ya later fruitcake."
"Right back at ya muffin," she called over her shoulder.
Brennan closed the door behind her friend, rolling her eyes. Booth laughed, sitting down on the couch and peering at the abandoned brochure. She joined him and sighed, resting her head against the back of the couch before turning to face him, watching as he thumbed through the pages, looking at what she had highlighted.
"How much time did you get off?" she asked quietly. She knew she had more vacation time than he did, it had been accumulating for a few years, which was why they had decided to plan the vacation for however long he managed to get free. "Or did you not speak to Cullen yet?"
"No, I spoke to him. Hm...the Great Barrier Reef? You really want to swim with the fishes and the sharks?"
"Booth!" she exclaimed, elbowing him. "How much did you get off? And, the plural for fish, is fish, just so you know."
"I know that," he replied, rolling his eyes. He nudged her back, laughing quietly when she rolled her eyes at him. "I got three weeks off. And that was like pulling teeth. Cullen wanted to know why I wanted vacation time so suddenly."
"What did you tell him?"
"That I needed some personal time after the heavy caseload we'd had lately. I assured him that there would still be a forensic anthropologist on hand if he needed one and that my going didn't really compromise anything." He laughed quietly and she looked at him, telling him silently to continue. "He said you had stated that you would not work with any hot-headed FBI agent that wasn't me. I reassured him that there was more than one forensic anthropologist around now."
"Good. I'd hate for him to be counting on me when I was out of town." He shook his head, smiling, and finished his look through the book, handing it back to her. "Like it?"
"Looks promising. You highlighted a tour on horseback?"
"Yes, on the beach. It's supposed to be really nice," she replied. She shrugged at his amused look and flipped through, showing various hotels and tours that were offered. "I suggest that if we're going to do this, we should do it soon, before any cases come up and we're stuck here."
"Admit it. You just want to get out of rainy D.C.," he teased. She gave another, shrug, smiling at him.
"Maybe I do, and maybe I just want to spend three weeks with you." He grinned, leaning in and brushed his lips against hers. She sighed, pulling away regretfully, knowing Angela's tendency to barge in when it was the least opportune moment, heedless of closed doors.
"Good answer," he whispered.
"Thought so. Better go clear it with Cam," she grumbled, standing. "Our are you just dropping by or staying awhile?"
"Just dropping by. I'm technically picking up a needed signature from you on the case," he replied, smiling at her. "I'll be over later tonight, okay?"
"Okay."
Cam looked up as Brennan entered her office, surprised that the forensic anthropologist had stopped by to see her. She raised her chin a little, meeting Brennan's eyes and instantly knew there was a reason behind the visit and one she probably wouldn't like. She gestured for the doctor to have a seat and then pressed her fingertips together, watching her.
"What may I do for you Doctor Brennan?"
"As you know I haven't had a vacation in a few years except to go to different countries to help in the identification of bodies of mass graves." Cam nodded, already having a feeling about where this conversation was going to end up.
"I am aware, yes."
"I have accumulated quite a lot of vacation time. I would like to have three weeks off."
"Three weeks?" the pathologist asked, surprised at the suddenness. If Brennan was going to ask for vacation time, she would have suspected a few days, a week at the most, not three. "Why?"
"I'm planning a trip," she replied evasively with a wave of her hand. "At any rate there are no major cases right now, no new body to identify for the scientific community, and if anything does arise, you have another anthropologist here already. I see no problem in taking a short break."
"When would you like this short break?" she asked, looking at the calendar.
"This Friday," Brennan replied, already aware that Booth had gotten the time off from Cullen.
Cam stared at her. There really wasn't any reason that she could deny the request. Brennan was right, she hadn't taken a vacation in over a year, and that was just off the top of her head, who knew how long it really was, and she did have a full team ready and available if anything occurred.
"This Friday? As in three days from now?"
"Yes, that isn't a problem, is it?"
"No Doctor Brennan, it's fine," Cam mumbled, marking it on her calendar.
"Good. Thank-you Doctor Saroyan."
She stood, offering the other woman a brief smile before leaving the office hurriedly, before the pathologist had a chance to change her mind. As she approached her own office she ran through a mental checklist, seeing if she had appropriate attire for a trip to Australia. She decided she had most of what was probably needed but knew she would have to stop at the mall sometime in the next couple of days to get the things she didn't have.
"So what did Cam say?"
They were lounging on her sofa, a bowl of popcorn nestled in between them as they flipped through her channels, trying to decide what to watch. He had stopped by a few hours earlier with Italian take-out this time and a bottle of red wine and she had laughed as she let him in, repeating his comment from the previous night about not needing to bribe her with food to gain entrance to her apartment.
"Oh, stop, I love this movie," she said, smiling.
He paused, glancing at her curiously at the scenes on the screen. "Bones, what is this?"
"You've never seen Dirty Dancing?" she asked. He shook his head and she laughed, leaning back into the sofa. "It's really good, don't worry, the entire movie isn't like this," she murmured, gesturing to the dancing couples on screen.
"Right. Well..." he tore his gaze away from the dancers, looking at her. "What did Cam say?"
"She sounded surprised when I asked for time off. Is everyone shocked that I want a vacation?"
"Mostly, now tell me, what did she say?" Brennan shrugged but reached over, grabbing a packet from the end table and tossing it to him. He raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything as he opened the envelope, pulling out the two tickets inside. "She agreed?"
"I presented a very reasonable and logical argument and she had no choice but to - mmph!"
He smiled, pulling her close and kissing her. She sighed, relaxing against him, reaching down and moving the bowl to a safe place before pressing against him, deepening the kiss, letting her fingers roam through his hair. He grinned, pulling back and trailing kisses along her jaw, to her ear.
"That's wonderful. You didn't have to buy the tickets though, I would have," he whispered against her ear.
She sighed, letting her hands rest on his shoulder before pulling back, pressing a kiss to his mouth before settling in against him, her head resting on his shoulder. "You can pay for the hotels, I'm sure it'll end up equaling about the same," she replied. He laughed, pulling her closer and resting his head on top of hers, inhaling the scent of her vanilla and cinnamon shampoo.
"You're probably right," he mumbled.
She laughed, reaching for the popcorn and taking a handful. "Booth? Shut-up and watch the movie." He laughed quietly.
"All right."
She smiled, stretching out slightly, enjoying the feel of his arm wrapped tightly around her, the gentle rise and fall of his chest beneath her and she wondered why she hadn't allowed herself the chance to experience this before. "Booth?"
"I thought you wanted me to be quiet."
"Yeah, well, I have a question." He remained quiet and she took that as incentive to continue. "Are you going to stay the night?"
He reached over, tilting her face up slightly so that their eyes met. "If you want me to."
"I want you to."
"Then yes."
"Good," she murmured, snuggling back into him. "Now shut-up and watch the movie." He chuckled quietly, rubbing her back but didn't speak through the rest of the movie as requested.
