I feel horrible for how long it's been since I've updated any of my fics.
I had to do a great deal of research to make some things in this chapter work out.
To help make up for it, this one is super long. It may be around or over 7,000 words. I think that is the longest chapter for this fic.
Please mind the M rating toward the end of the chapter. You will not miss anything if you skip the intimate bits.
Many hours later, the thought of food long forgotten, and their biological imperatives satisfied, many times over, the couple laid together in the just barely full sized bed in Brennan's tiny bedroom.
Brennan had fallen into a light sleep as Booth watched her from his close vantage point. It was warm and muggy so neither had bothered with covering up with even the light sheet. It would have been too much.
Booth watched her chest and abdomen rise and fall with each breath. He observed her tan lines from working out in the sun and the way it revealed her natural smooth white skin next to her darker sun-kissed and slightly freckled skin. He took the time to memorize the lines and the freckles on a more intimate level than he'd ever been allowed before. He took the time to memorize the dip of her navel and the curves of her hips. The feel of her soft skin against his worn fingertips. The scent of her hair close to his face. The beauty of her eyelashes as her closed eyes twitched lightly as she slept.
Then as if she could feel his gaze on her face, her eyes opened lazily and she gazed into his twinkling brown eyes. This close to him, she could see the flecks of a lighter caramel color in his irises. She'd seen it before, but not so close that she could study them in this way before.
Neither of them spoke or said anything. Words weren't needed. Everything they needed each other to know had been demonstrated earlier.
Another thing had gone unspoken, but it had been understood by both of them.
No more running.
Brennan hated to break the moment, but she really needed to get up.
"Booth, I need to go oversee shift change. I need to make sure that everything has been handled since the incident earlier today."
"I'm sure everything is under control, but if you need to go, can I come, too?"
"Of course. It shouldn't take us long. I just need to make sure that the affected area has been properly dealt with. Then we can come back here and call Angela. She'll want to know you made it here alright, and she'll be happy to see you."
"Sounds like a plan."
As they were getting dressed, Brennan noticed Booth putting his fatigues back on.
"Don't you have anything a little bit cooler you could wear? It's not quite dark yet and the heat is still very intense after sundown here."
"Probably, but I've been in Hell for the past six months; I'm used to the heat. It's not that bad."
"You're used to dry heat. Booth, it is very humid here, and you'll want something that, for lack of a better phrase, breathes more than those will—clothes don't actually breathe, but by that I—"
"I know. You mean air can move through them and they'll be cooler. I got it. I've got some shorts. I could wear this black wife beater," he said as he pulled it over his head and bringing his Saint Christopher medal out of it so that it rested above the material, "and my khaki shorts."
Brennan pulled on her tank top and shorts.
"That should be cool enough."
.
"See, I told you, they would have it under control," Booth boasted as he walked with his arm slung around her waist.
They were leisurely walking back to Brennan's place.
"I know, but… You heard earlier what I said about the investors, right?"
"Yes, and I read about it in your letters, as well. Are they really considering pulling the plug on this project?"
"I wouldn't lie about something like that. This is something they've been threatening for months. What happened today, very well could be the cherry on top. Honestly, I—" Brennan gave a humorless chuckle, "I find myself hoping that they do pull the plug on this. We've found nothing of any significance. There have been some nice artifacts recovered, but that's not why I signed on for this, and while I would hate it for the young people on this dig, Daisy included, I'm just tired of being here. I want to go home."
"Temperance," Brennan looked up at the usage of her first name. The name he only used for serious conversations. "I know you want to go home, but you need to remember that even if you do get to go home early, I'm not going to get to. So if that's what you're hoping for, even just a little bit, you—"
"I understand. I know that you can't just leave the Army. I just mean that I want to go home. When I've gone on digs and projects in the past, they've never been for this long and they had been before we made our little… surrogate family. I miss our family, Booth."
"Angela and Jack are in Paris, not back home."
"No but they don't plan to stay there, if funding for the dig does get pulled, maybe I can go there for a little while."
"I'm sure they would love the visit, but they aren't going to want you to crash what is essentially their honeymoon."
"Good point. That would be like Daisy coming back to her room while you are still here." Brennan didn't really want to go back to DC without the people who made it her home. Jokingly, Brennan squeezed Booth's side between her fingers and Booth looked at her smirk that indicated she was about to say something that she didn't want him to take too seriously. "I could join the Rangers for six months and get myself stationed in Afghanistan with you."
"As much as I know you would kick everyone's asses and solve everything on your own over there, and I would love to have you close to me, that's not something you should joke about. Ever. Please. It's bad enough I have to be there."
"That was not very reassuring to me about your situation there."
"It's dangerous. I may not always be in direct line of fire like the boys I'm being paid to keep trained and sharp over there, but anything could happen at any time. If I didn't have to go back, I wouldn't."
"Wait, you said you're not always in the line of fire. That implies that you have been."
They were silent for a few paces and Booth paused to catch his breath. He was very glad he'd taken Brennan's advice to not wear his fatigues. The humid heat was stifling, and if possible the heat had just been turned up, tenfold.
The second Booth had said that a few minutes ago, he wished he didn't word it that way because he knew she would catch it.
"You remember that first real honest deal we had between us? It was during our second case. I told you how many kills I had and that I would like to make up for that?"
"Your cosmic balance sheet?"
"Uh, yeah."
"What about it?"
"Well, back home, we more than made up for my previous time in the Rangers, but… I feel like I have to start over now." He begged her with his eyes to understand what he was saying.
"You've had to kill." She said, knowing it was fact, so she didn't bother to sugar coat it. It would not be beneficial to him for her to tread lightly around it. He knew his own reality. It was a reality, he was still going to have to live, and very possibly repeat when he went back.
He merely nodded.
"I'll help you again, you know."
"I know. Thanks."
No more was said on the subject as they both wanted to keep the conversation between them light during these two weeks.
As it would turn out, that is easier said than done.
Sure, there would be emotional conversations, but they didn't have to cover everything right this minute since he'd really just gotten there.
"Is there anything interesting to do around here?"
"Not really. Nothing other than look at various places on the island."
"Will you take me to my tree?"
"Of course I'll take you to the Boothy tree. We'll have to go tomorrow though."
"Good. When does your flock of squints get time off so that you can have time off?"
"We're scheduled to take time off tomorrow actually. After the night crew reports to me in the morning, they are free to go visit with family or stay on site. We only have a week off and for some of them going back and spending only a few days with family isn't enough time to spend any quality time with them before leaving."
"I understand that. It's why I decided not to split my time between you and Parker."
They walked some more, brushing shoulders as they went.
"Great, so in the morning, I can talk to Parker while you're out being boss lady, and then you'll be all mine," his grin was decidedly mischievous.
"If that's the way you want to do it, but I kind of wanted to be here when you called Parker. It's been a couple weeks since I've heard from him. I can go sign off on progress reports and then be back before you call him."
"Even better."
"We've slowed down. We should pick up the pace."
"Do you always hike to the dig site, or is there an easier way?"
"I do have access to an all-terrain vehicle, but if it isn't an urgent situation or during peak hours for heat, I have become accustomed to hiking back and forth."
"Where's my tree located in relation to where we're staying?"
"It's easier to relate it to the dig site. It's closer to the dig, but it's quite a ways off of any foot trails. It's in a very secluded area."
"And you go out there alone?"
"Yes, frequently."
"Is it dangerous?"
"No more than walking this trail back to my place. This is a relatively safe area, as long as we are not too intrusive to start stirring up issues with the guerillas."
"Guerillas? Bones!"
"They haven't bothered us since the one time."
"What one time?"
"Well, it was Daisy and me, and we were on our way back to our place from the nearby village in the jeep, but it broke down. And these armed guerillas ca—"
"Armed? Bones! What is your definition of relatively safe?"
"Well, I disarmed them, Booth. There were four of them, and I hit them with the shovel, and they haven't bothered us since then."
Booth laughed for a few seconds picturing the scene play out in his mind's eye. "So, these guys have guns and you beat them all up, with a shovel?"
"Yes."
"Well, no wonder they haven't bothered you since. You wounded their male pride. A country like this where women are not viewed in the same light like back home… a man getting beat up by a woman… They're either never going to bother you again because they're afraid or they're out there planning your kidnapping and possibly even your murder because you pissed them off. Be careful. I mean it."
"I understand. I am not naïve enough to believe that I'm always completely safe here. We were just outside the village and it's quite a ways away from here. We were nowhere near the dig site or the place where Daisy and I stay when we ran into those men. I wouldn't go so far as to say there could never be some hiding out somewhere around here, but as far as we know, this is not even in their territory."
"Be careful. That's all I'm saying."
They were silent as they walked the rest of the distance to Brennan's flat.
.
"Booth, the laptop is in the bedroom. Bring it out here and we'll set it up at the table. I'm going to start getting dinner ready."
"What's for dinner?" Booth called out as he headed into the bedroom to grab her laptop.
"Nothing fancy. Remember, we're on an island. Let's stick with something quick and easy tonight. We can have nasi goreng sapi."
Walking back out, computer in hand. As he set the laptop down, Booth had one of those looks on his face. The one that always told Brennan he had no clue what she just said. "It's not that I don't appreciate the culture emulsion, here, but what the hell is nasal gang sap?"
"Nasi goreng sapi, it means beef fried rice."
"Whoa, you have beef here in the jungle?"
"Yes. Water buffalo, actually, not cows, but it is beef. It's leaner and much healthier than just regular cow beef."
"Sounds good. Are you going to eat any?"
"Just the fried rice and vegetables."
Booth walked the small distance from the table to the kitchen to get something to drink.
"Got any cups in here?"
"Yes, and there is a jug of purified water in the refrigerator."
"Thanks, Baby."
"Don't call me Baby."
"It'll grow on you."
"I doubt it. So… is there anything here," she gestured to the vegetables and spices on the counter, "that you don't like?"
"Nope, it all looks good."
"Thank goodness. Daisy is a picky eater. It's very hard to cook a meal the way we both like it."
"Tell her to cook her own meals."
"She does. We take turns."
"Well, one thing you already know from all of the meals we've had over the years is that we like similar foods and I'm almost like a garbage disposal. I'll eat almost anything, unless it has eyes. I've even been known to eat your spongy stuff."
"That's not necessarily a good thing, Booth."
"All I'm saying is that you don't have to ever be afraid of cooking something that I won't try."
"I'll have to remember that in the future when there is something you refuse to eat."
"How long will this take to cook?"
"Not too long. Do you want to get the link set up while I prep the food? Then it will be ready to cook after we call Angela. I believe you already know my password."
"Is is daffodil again?"
"Yes. After you guessed my back-ups, I just decided to change it back. There was no point in trying to change it to something you wouldn't guess."
"Should I go ahead and call her?"
"You can. It'll just take me a few minutes to chop these vegetables up and put the rice on to cook."
Brennan worked quickly with experienced precision and was nearly done chopping vegetables when the call went through to Paris.
"Booth! Hey, look at you!" Angela gushed upon seeing his dark face appear on her screen.
"Hi, Angela. Long time no see. You look great. Paris is treating you well. Hodgins, how ya doin', man?"
"We're good here. Good to see you're safe. How's the girlfriend?" Hodgins teased him a little bit, letting him know that he knew about them.
Booth had figured that since Brennan had told Angela that they were together now, that it would only me a matter of time before she could keep it from her husband anymore.
"You told him, Ange?" Booth groaned half-heartedly.
"Studly, I practically screamed it off the terrace, here. Jack was just a helpless victim of auditory rape."
"I'm still hearing ringing, by the way," Hodgins told his wife. "But, Angie and I are really happy for you two."
"Hey, what gives? Where is Bren anyway? Oh, wait. Don't tell me. You ravished her the very second you stepped off of the plane and you've been going at it like youthful bunnies ever since and she's so worn out that you decided to call us while she rests."
"That is not at all accurate, Ange," the couple in Paris heard Brennan's distant voice come over the feed. "Not completely anyway."
"Bones!"
"Relax, Booth. Angela knows we are together and that you are here to spend time with me. It is logical that we would have sex while you are here."
"Yes, but she doesn't need it confirmed."
"You two are adorable. Bren! What are you doing? Please tell me the reason I cannot see you is because you are orally—"
"Do not finish that statement, Angela," Booth warned holding up a finger in a threatening manner.
"If you were going to say that I am orally pleasuring Booth, that is, in a manner of speaking, accurate—"
Booth coughed and sputtered, "It's not what you think! What she means is that she's cooking dinner… which we are going to eat… with our mouths… that kind of oral pleasure."
"So, I have to ask, Sweetie. Is Booth as much of a prude as he seems?"
"Not at all. It seems that his Puritanical tendencies stem from the desire for privacy and respect rather than embarrassment."
"You know, I'm right here."
"Okay, fine. We're done messing with you," Angela conceded. She would just pester Brennan later until she cracked and gave some form of indication as to how good in bed Seeley Booth was.
"How's Paris?" Booth asked, making sure the subject actually did get changed.
"It's a dream. I'd visited before, but actually living here… it's indescribable, really. It's nice to get to see things up close rather than just out of the car window as you drive by because you don't actually have time to do anything. Everything here is so relaxed and elegant and so different from what we're used to back in D.C."
"We really do love it here," Jack continued. "I told Doctor B. the other day when she called that Angie was joking around about having me pay to have a lab built here and for everyone to move here permanently to solve murders here in France."
"That's some idea you have there, Ange," Booth told her. Truth was, it sounded wonderful… in theory only. There were other factors that he obviously would never find a way around, such as Pops, Parker, and the fact that he'd have absolutely no legal jurisdiction there whatsoever. He figured there were similar issues with everyone else as well.
"Yeah, well, Jack thinks I was joking, but I was fairly serious when I mentioned it."
Brennan was finished prepping the food and decided to join the conversation more by sitting close to Booth so they were both in the picture.
"Ange, while that sounds incredible, there are so many reasons that would never work. Booth would never leave Pops and Parker. I've got my dad, Russ and the girls, Amy, Margaret—although we do not get along very well, she's tried to make an effort and has called me here a few times—we can't just abandon our lives back home. I think we've done enough of that this year," she said remorsefully.
"I wouldn't have jurisdiction anyway," Booth added as an afterthought to Brennan's argument.
There was no way for Brennan to know whether or not things would have worked out between her and Booth if she'd never gotten on that plane and had that dream. She didn't know if she would have ever had the courage to bring up her feelings for him, much less if she would have ever really realized them for what they were in the first place.
She didn't regret leaving. She couldn't. Not after everything it brought her, but she was definitely ready to go home, with Booth. She was ready to face the reality of their future lives together in their home environment with their family, friends and jobs. She was contrite that she'd been so intent on getting away from it all for an entire year. She'd come to realize just how important everything they'd left behind really was. She knew it was wrong, but she found herself once again hoping more and more that the dig was scrapped or that they'd at least send her home in hopes that they had not wasted too much of her valuable and expensive time.
"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Angela asked.
The conversation had carried on without her, and at Angela's question and concerned tone, Booth turned to look at her pale white face.
"Nothing. I'm fine. I was just… zoning out," Brennan said as she plastered a fake smile on her face. She looked to Booth, "Did I say that right?"
"Yeah, but what were you thinking about?"
"Can I tell you later?"
"Sure, as long as you promise you'll talk to me. No more shutting me out."
"I promise." She leaned further into him as he brought his arm around her waist to pull her closer and then he placed a big kiss to her temple, which caused a more genuine smile.
"There's the happy Bren I love," Angela said, breaking into their world and alerting them to the fact that they were still connected to Jack and Angela.
"We can talk more later. I can see desire written all over the Sarge's face," Jack said.
"What? No!" Angela said. "We practically just connected the line. We haven't even really talked about anything, yet."
"Maybe if you didn't spend so much time on our sex life…" Booth chipped in. "And Hodgins, it isn't like I'm about to jump her or anything. We are making dinner. We've got time to kill right now."
"Are you sure?" asked Hodgins. "We don't want to keep you."
"Hey, we're the ones who called you, remember," Booth assured them.
"We appreciate it," Hodgins told them. "We know you must be tired from all of the traveling, Booth."
"Among other things," Angela added saucily with a devilish grin.
"…Any way, we're glad you're safe and that you made it there okay." Hodgins gave Angela a look that told her to knock it off.
"It's been really hard not seeing your cheerful face and hearing your voice every day, Booth," Angela said seriously. "When everyone left, back in May, I wasn't sure we'd ever make it back to what we were to each other. Everyone was so tired and so drab, but seeing you two so happy and for the most part looking refreshed, I know that we'll all be okay."
It was Booth who spared Brennan from having to repeat it, but he knew she was thinking it, so he had to say it before she did, "I still have to go back. Anything can still happen." He didn't like to think that way, but if it saved Brennan from having to voice it, he would say it to keep her from having to.
The statement sobered everyone up. Booth's life would still be in danger.
No one had realized that this call would have so many emotional ups and downs. It almost made everyone want to just sit and stare and enjoy each other's silent company, but then that left them to listen to their own dangerous minds.
"So, Booth. Have you talked to Parker yet? I bet he's excited that you're going to be able to call. I bet it's really hard being under such a blacked out area."
"I haven't talked to him yet. We were going to wait until the morning because of the time difference. That would put our conversation right before he goes to bed. And yeah, it is hard to not be able to have a conversation with the people that are so much of a motivational factor in my life. The other guys too, it's really tough on the younger ones, especially the first timers wanting to talk to parents, siblings, girlfriends, fiancé's, young children. Many of us are in similar situations like that," he explained.
"But Booth is still able to communicate through letters," Brennan added, thinking of her own letters.
"Uh, yeah. I've been able to talk to Parker through letters. I know it means as much to him as it does to me."
"Me, too, Booth," Brennan once again added. "I don't know what I'd do without Booth's daily letters," she looked down, almost as if she were ashamed of how much she relied on reading one of his letters each day. No matter how they came to her, by the bundle or in single form, she read one at the start of each day and then wrote to him each night before bed. It was a routine that she'd established not too long after their letters became a steady connection between them.
His letters were her driving force.
Booth rubbed his hand up and down her side, where it still rested wrapped around her.
"Are you guys sure you want to talk to us right now?" Angela asked. "We really will understand if you don't."
"We're fine," they both replied.
"We're just both sensitive to just about anything and any little reminder. That's all," Booth shrugged. "The same thing would be happening even if we weren't talking to you guys."
"He's right. No matter how much effort we put into keeping things light, we always end up opening up another issue. We're fine. Really."
"Okay," came the responses of Jack and Angela.
"Hodgins, did you get the picture of the tree I sent you?" Brennan asked.
"Yeah, but I was unsure why you sent it to me."
"Did you send him a picture of my tree?" Booth asked with a huge smile.
"Yes. I would like to know what kind it is."
"I'd have to do a little research. I'm not familiar with trees in that area other than the main spice trees and plants and I don't just have access to a database here that I can look it up on quickly."
Booth looked over to a twig that laid on the table near them. He picked it up and held it up to the camera on the laptop. "If it helps in your search, the twig smells like me… well, when I'm at home anyway. Like my sandalwood aftershave, and kinda… minty. Is that how you would describe it?"
"That sounds about right. It's also kind of a musky smell. Not overly sweet, but still very strong."
"Okay, that will give me somewhere to start. What island are you guys on? It might make a difference as some tree are unique to a single island in Indonesia."
"Bacon," Booth replied.
"Bacan, Booth. Bah-kahn."
"Wow, Bacan? An American entomologist by the name of Adam Messer made an astounding discovery there. There's a monster-sized bee there called the megachile pluto. It was thought to have been extinct until Messer found several nests there in 1981. The females are one-and-a-half inches in length with a wingspan of two-and-a-half inches. Have you seen any of these beauties, Doctor B.?"
"I don't think so."
"Back to my tree, please." Booth said. The info was interesting, but Booth really didn't want to know much about the bugs outside. He hoped they were going to spend a great deal of their time indoors.
"Your tree?" Angela asked with amusement.
"Yes, the Boothy tree." Brennan replied in confirmation, as if it was no big deal that she'd pretty much named a tree after her lover.
"In all likelihood, it's a subspecies of syzygium, which is the same genus of clove trees. They are highly aromatic and most of these are fruiting trees. Are there any blooms or fruit visible on the tree?"
"Not currently, and I've never seen anything other than leaves on it," Brennan recalled from what she remembered of the past six months."
"It's also possible that it's a type of Indonesian Bay Leaf. I can look it up and find out for sure."
"Thank you," Brennan said. "It would mean a lot if you did. Like his letters, the tree has gotten me through some tough times here, and I'd like to know what it really is."
"Hey, no problem. Happy to help. Find any cool bugs lately?"
"Nope, not since that giant grasshopper."
"What is it with foreign bugs being gargantuan?" Booth asked. "Do you have any idea how big the roly-polies are in Afghanistan? Huge! And they look like they have armor!"
"You mean pill bugs," Brennan corrected.
"Well, I always called them roly-polies."
"Pill bugs."
"Roly-polies," Booth got in one last time.
"Yeah… those are called woodlice."
"I called them armadillo bugs," Angela chipped in. "Hey, don't look at me like that. I grew up in Texas. Are we done talking about bugs now?"
"Sure. How's married life, Ange?" Booth asked.
"I don't know. You tell me. You guys act more married than we probably ever will."
Booth covered the camera lens on the laptop. "Do they know?"
"About…" Brennan didn't quite understand until he answered her by pulling her medal out of the top of her tank and setting it where it was visible above her cleavage. "Oh, that. No, they don't know."
"Know about what?" Angela inquired.
"Should we tell them?" Booth asked.
"Blocking the video feed with your hand doesn't shut the audio feed off, you know," Hodgins added, making sure to keep from laughing. Clearly, they thought they were in their own world.
So typical Booth and Brennan. Nothing they went through would ever change that.
"I don't know. Should we? I thought we wanted to wait," Brennan whispered.
"I can still hear you, Sweetie. You might as well tell me now, or I'll be a pain in the ass to talk to until you do."
"Can you guys keep a secret?" Booth asked, keeping his palm covering the webcam.
"I'd like to think we can," Hodgins said. "Ange?"
"I can keep a secret… as long as Jack knows as well, then it's impossible for me to accidently tell him."
Booth took his other hand and held his medal up out of his wife beater and motioned for Brennan to do the same thing with hers. Once she held the little pendant up he removed his hand from the webcam.
"They're pretty. What about them requires so much secrecy?" Jack asked.
"Bren, I don't understand the significance here. You already told me he got a medal just like his for you and you showed me, too, back when you first received it. Why are you showing me again?"
"It's not just a medal or a necklace, Angela, and please don't be mad for keeping you in the dark," Booth said with a serious look in his eyes. Happy, but still very serious.
Brennan's smile widened and shined in greater brilliance, "We've been engaged for six months."
They were met with Angela gasping and saying, "Wow," as Hodgins asked them if they were serious before they both congratulated Booth and Brennan.
"Wait, so you're not angry with me for keeping it from you," Brennan asked.
"Wha—Sweetie! No, of course not. If you had waited six months to tell me when we were back home, we would have had a throw down, but Bren, you haven't even been able to enjoy your own engagement. I'm not mad. And I'm definitely glad you've decided to give Booth what he wants."
"You mean, what we both want. I would not be doing this if I didn't want it, too," Brennan defended.
"It wasn't even my idea," Booth said with a wink.
"You don't honestly expect me to believe that Bren is the one who suggested that you get married..." Angela said in exasperation.
"No. That's not what I said."
"It was Parker's idea, actually. He asked Booth if he was going to ask me to marry him, and I assured Parker that should his father ever ask me, that I would accept the proposal."
"…Which shocked the hell out of me…"
"I bet!" Angela said, with tears in her eyes, silently blessing that child.
"When Parker left the room, I popped the question. I had to. I couldn't let either one of us just wait around for the right time to ask or be asked. Not when we're both finding ourselves in dangerous situations, and especially since I knew the answer."
"I can't wait to start making plans with you, Bren."
"Me either, Angela."
"You guys cannot tell anyone about this. Parker doesn't know, and I don't want him accidentally finding out," Booth told them and they nodded in response.
"And we can't let the wrong people find out yet. We don't know how this is going to affect our partnership yet," Brennan said cautiously.
"Well, let's not worry about that now, Sweetie. Your secret is safe with us. Besides, I think Jack might know a guy who knows a guy… if you know what I mean. If there's a problem with the FBI, we can take care of it somehow. Right?" She asked elbowing her husband.
"Sure. I know a few guys in high places, and lucky for you—or not if you decide against it—some of them are pretty crooked and have low ethical standards; they would have no problem taking a bribe or knowing them, I can probably dig up enough for a little blackmail to keep you guys as partners."
"…Uh, we'll discuss that when we get there," Booth dismissed, not wanting him to go into any more detail. He prayed to God that Hodgins wouldn't actually do any of that, especially since he now knew about it. "Right now, I think the rice is done steaming. So we need to go finish making dinner."
"Okay," Angela said with a noticeable pout. This had been a very welcome chat, and she was sad to see it end.
"Sure, man," Hodgins said. "Hey, we'll talk again soon. Okay?"
"Of course. It's been great seeing you guys. Really. We're not anywhere near D.C., any of us, but this conversation felt like we were home, ya know?"
Angela and Hodgins just nodded, knowing that it took a lot for him to admit that, and it was difficult for them to hear the emotion in their tough g-man's voice.
Even Brennan could tell that Booth was getting a little emotional, "We miss you guys very much."
"So, so much," Booth added.
"We miss you, too." They responded in unison.
"We'll call again, when we get the chance," Brennan told them. A chorus or 'byes' were said before Jack severed the connection, knowing that he was probably the one most able to handle doing so.
"That was…" Booth couldn't think of a word adequate enough to describe that experience.
"…Intense?" Brennan finished for him. The word was simple, but effective and inadequate, at the same time, as a description, and nothing else really fit the situation well enough.
"I don't think future calls with them will be as tough. It was the first contact you've had with anyone besides me and your family. It was bound to be difficult after six months. You and Parker have exchanged letters, so I don't think it will b—"
"No, no. It will be. He's my son. I know I made the right choice for us that I'm spending my two weeks here, but that comes with a little bit of guilt as well. I don't want him to think I chose you over him. There's just—It was the only option that let me enjoy as much of both of you as possible. I can call Parker or connect through Skype any time I want to. Well, almost anytime. I know Rebecca won't appreciate really late or early calls, but the point is that I can have access to him almost anytime I want to here."
"And you wouldn't have, had you gone home. I know. Parker will understand. He's a brilliant boy, Booth. He'll be excited to see you over here with me."
"I know, and he's excited about us being together," Booth told her, his bright smile coming back. "Let's get this dinner cooked and then get on to bed.
.
Once again, they showered together, caressing lovingly as they worked hard to keep someone's hip, elbow or but from popping the door open as they cleaned the sweat from each other's bodies. They were getting pretty good at it, but the water was starting to run cold.
"I guess that's our cue to get out."
They dried off, but neither of them bothered to get dressed as they walked into Brennan's room.
Booth gave her ass a light swat before they turned to walk to opposite sides of the bed. Brennan sat on the edge of the bed and set the alarm for early in the morning. She pulled the covers all the way back and they both climbed in, scooting close to each other until they met in the middle and smiling into their kisses.
Brennan shivered a little as the cool air from the fan hit her slightly damp skin. Booth covered more of her with himself and kissed her with a passion that had at one time only been possible in his imagination, and even that couldn't hold a candle to this.
He rolled to his back and pulled her on top of him, pressing their bodies closer, yet skillfully never leaving her lips. One arm hugged her waist tightly as the other caressed her face gently. Her hand grasped lightly behind his neck, massaging the muscles. For that moment in time, all else stopped. Even though they were far from civilization as they knew it, it seemed as if time only progressed for them. Only they existed.
She trailed her kisses to the tender part of his neck, just above the collarbone. He hissed softly and she could feel the goose bumps arising on his skin. She continued random kisses along his chest and neck. His hands roamed the skin on her sides and back.
Brennan pressed herself once more into Booth, kissing him with everything in her. Her tongue slid slightly over his bottom lip, and he parted his lips a little to allow access. His heart beat a steady tempo into her chest, and she caused it to quicken when she slid her thigh up between his legs. He let out another soft hiss.
Smiling to herself as her own heart rate increased, she sat up a bit and took in his face. It was kind and gentle, but the glazed-over look in his shining brown eyes made a great contrast.
Her hand slipped down and grasped a hold of him in her palm. His eyes closed as his breathing quickened. She slithered down his body and met her sweet lips to his sensitive skin and immediately kissed up and down the entire length. She felt various muscles in his body tense and relax, and she got some twisted pleasure in knowing that she was the cause of it.
He pulled her up, unexpectedly, and flipped her into the soft pillows. Laughter escaped her lips as he placed himself over her and eased into her, cataloguing her reaction. Once she was adjusted, she nodded her head and kissed him once more. He pulled himself out a bit before reentering each time with a slightly harder force.
She was lost for words, and instead allowed her nails to rake at his bare back. She knew it'd probably leave marks later, but right now she was conscious to only one thing. Them.
He increased his pace as he felt himself getting close. He knew she was, too, due to the look on her face that he now knew meant her orgasm was near. Suddenly, her walls tightened around him, and her back arched. She was spiraling into the unknown and she let out a loud moan to match. That was all it took to send him spiraling down with her. He gave way and released into her, groaning loudly as he thrust his tense body once more before collapsing in a heap on top of her.
Booth kissed Brennan's forehead gently once more before rolling over again, pulling her as close to him as possible. He grabbed at the cool sheet, tangled at the foot of the bed, and pulled it up to cover them both before exchanging goodnight kisses and sweet words in their lover's ear, and then falling into a deep sleep in each other's arms.
Please don't hate me for skipping over their first time being together. If I can bring it together and organize it in a satisfying manner, there is a reason I did that. If I can't, then I don't think it is that big of a deal. This fic is not supposed to just focus on the sex. Obviously, there will be some, as there just was, but they aren't going to fuck every time they turn around.
I'm working on several things right now. I'm still working on a story between B&B in Sweets office after Sweets finds out about the baby. I'm working on a chapter for She Isn't Enough, which will be entirely in Parker's point of view. I ain't going to lie. That sort of scares me, but I'm up for the challenge. I should have an update for Jelly Bean out in the next couple of days. There's a lot of research that needs to be done for that one as well because of the case. Hopefully, it won't take too long. It's already nearly 4,000 words.
Let me know what you thought of the chapter before you click away from this page.
XOXO,
CrayonClown
