So this is the last chap. Sort of snuck up didn't it?

willgirl: Sniff
IhartBooth: wipes away tears and blows nose
willgirl: I think I have something in my eye. Or allergies. I'm fine, I swear. You're fine too right Hart?
willgirl: Sniff
IhartBooth: yeah I sniff I'm gonna be fine blows nose the air is just hiccup sniff dry in here. tear
willgirl: Yeah, I mean, really it's nothing I just... What am I saying? I can't take it anymore! SOB
willgirl: Its not allergies at all!
willgirl: I confess!
IhartBooth: Me too!!! It's the last Chap!!! WAHHHHHHHH!!!!
willgirl: WAHHHHHH!!!!!!! Oh Hart! What ever shall we do?
IhartBooth: I don't know...no more Wink Productions??? I think I just felt the world stop!! SOBBING Uncontrollably
willgirl: I...sob...don't...sniff...know what...sob...to do!
willgirl: Willi collaspes on the ground, crying her eyes out
IhartBooth: hart collapses beside willie, a mess of tears and sorrow Who will p-post the ch-ch-chaaaaapppp? SOB
willgirl: Willi lifts her head and looks at Hart
willgirl: Post the chap?
IhartBooth: nodding I know we don't want to, but we have to willie. The readers want it. sniffle what if we do it together, okay?
IhartBooth: I'll help you push the button.
willgirl: Okay
IhartBooth: 1...
willgirl: I can handle that! SNIFF
willgirl: 2...
IhartBooth: 3!! pushes button with eyes shut tight
willgirl: 3!!!!!
willgirl: MMB!
IhartBooth: MMB!!
IhartBooth: SOOOOOBBBB
willgirl: Nothing can distract me from the pain of this...oh wait, are those cookies?
willgirl: Willi runs off
IhartBooth: are they oreos?? Hart follows closely Oh and...enjoy!


Booth was fidgety, and that was an understatement. Today was their first day back on the job and he couldn't have sat still if his life depended on it. He cracked his knuckles constantly and had untied and retied his Ace of Spades black tie eight times already and it still wasn't right. That wasn't even mentioning the fact that he shifted from foot to foot as if standing on hot coals and kept straightening his already straight jacket and perfectly gelled hair.

Brennan frowned from the doorway; she'd been ready to go for nearly half an hour. Her own nervousness had been transformed into productive energy that had her up an hour before the alarm clock and fully dressed before Booth had even left their soft bed. She watched quietly as Booth grumbled an obscenity at himself and yanked the tie off his neck, throwing it to the floor.

"Did the tie do something wrong?" She asked, drawing his attention for the first time. Her teasing smile softened his expression slightly, but he remained tense, hands on his hips and frowning.

"I couldn't get it straight." After a moment he realized how whiney that sounded and closed his eyes, counting to ten as he tried to calm down.

Taking sympathy on him, Brennan slowly approached and retrieved the tie from the floor. Silently, she drew it around his neck, avoiding his gaze as he stared down at her and carefully tied it for him.

Tightening the knot, she asked quietly, "Why are you nervous, Seeley?"

Booth sighed, his first instinct was to deny that he was nervous about returning to work, but it would have been a lie. He couldn't lie to her when she looked at him like that. Hell, he couldn't lie to her, period.

With a sigh, his shoulder slumped and he took a few steps back from her to sit on the bed.

"Bones…I…Temperance," He gritted his teeth and his nostrils flared with forced breath, still too stubborn to say the words that were rattling around in his head. Too ashamed of the fear he felt eating away at him.

"C'mon Booth." She said, sitting down beside him and reaching for his hand, her fingers entwining with his. She was as eager as ever to get their day started, but if this whole experience had taught her anything, it was that they needed each other. First and before all else.

"What if I can't…I'm not the same Bones." He ground out, staring at the floor.

Brennan furrowed her brows. "What…I don't understand."

Booth nodded. He knew she didn't understand, she hadn't been inside his head for the past two months. Two months, when he'd been forced to question everything about himself. His abilities as a father, a boyfriend, a cop, a friend and a man. He'd questioned his sanity and his judgment. No stone had been left unturned and he knew his confidence had been shaken, only now did he realize how much.

"Bones," He began slowly, "I'm…not the same man I was before. I'm not…what if I can't do…the job that needs to be done?" He chose his words carefully, feeling out of breath after putting words to his conflicting emotions.

Brennan's frown remained firmly in place as she met Booths troubled gaze, processing what he'd said. She wasn't shocked or judging, merely confused. After everything they'd been through, how could Booth think there was anything they couldn't do? If this whole ordeal had taught her anything, it was that, together, they were invincible. Not untouchable, merely unstoppable. But, another look at Booth confirmed to her that he saw things a completely different way.

After a moment, her expression changed to something unreadable and she took his hand.

"Come here."

Booth watched her stand and allowed himself to be tugged to his feet.

She lead him back over to the mirror and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.

"What do you see?" She asked quietly and watched as Booth gave their reflections a confused stare.

"What do you mean? It's a mirror."

She pursed her lips and squeezed his hands, urging him to see what she saw. "I see one forensic anthropologist and one strong, smart, unbelievably sexy FBI agent." She felt a wave of satisfaction as a smile began to crawl up his face, "And I see one of the best investigative teams in the country. I see two people who have been through hell and had the courage, and strength of character to try and move on. We were Booth and Bones before," She turned to look at him and slowly he tore his eyes off the mirror and moved them to her, "We're still Booth and Bones now."

He looked at the floor, then glanced back at the reflection, it only took a moment for that smile to brighten his handsome features. He wrapped his arm around her. "Booth and Bones. Right." Drawing her close, he placed a kiss on her forehead and added, "Thanks."

"You can thank me by not getting us to work late on the first day back."

"Yes ma'am."

Within five minutes, they were out the door.

Brennan ran a hand through her hair and smoothed her lab coat. She stood in front of the entrance to the Jeffersonian Medico Legal lab, watching her team through the sliding glass doors.

She had been ready, itching for this moment since waking up in a hospital bed nearly seventy days prior. Now that it was here, she found herself hesitating. She glanced back over her shoulder, but Booth had dropped her off at the door and was out parking the car. Moving her eyes back to the interior of the lab, her gaze locked with the one other person she knew she could always count on.

Angela's smile ushered her inside the doors and before she knew it, she'd ascended the platform and was face to face with Hodgins, Zach and Angela. She was with her family again, and when the familiar smell of bleach and latex reached her nose, she knew she was home again too.

'Good to see you' smiles and 'welcome back' hugs were exchanged and Brennan was almost ready to get back to her life as the chit-chat began to dwindle, but something held her back. The sound of a key card being swiped brought a smile to her face as she remembered what it was.

"How are my favorite Squints this morning?" Booth asked, his normal morning cheer in full swing. He stood beside Brennan, their shoulders nearly touching, though they didn't acknowledge each other in any other way.

Zack looked perplexed. "I'd be complimented by the 'favorite' part if I weren't fairly certain we're the only squints you know Agent Booth."

Hodgins grinned, shaking his head as he clapped his comrade on the shoulder. Then, turning to Booth, "Obviously Booth, we're exactly as you left us."

"And it better be the last time you leave us." Angela added, stepping forward to wrap Booth in a warm hug, which he gladly accepted and returned. "A girl needs a bit of eye candy every once in a while."

"Hey!" Hodgins protested. Angela winked at him and he quieted, a small pout still on his brow.

When she stepped away Angela watched as Booth not only returned to his position close at Brennan's side, but saw the way his hand searched for hers and their knuckles subtly but intentionally brushed against one another. She saw the faintest of smiles spread across both their faces and knew it had nothing to do with the squintish squabble Hodgins and Zach had just delved into.

Brennan rolled her eyes as the conversation suddenly turned to whether aliens were gray or green, and her gaze fell on a set of bones displayed on a nearby exam table. Subconsciously she began to inch toward it, pushing her hair behind her ears and squinting at the remains. Zach, having noticed what caught his former mentors interest, seized the opportunity to show off all that he felt he had learned from her and began taking her through the examination he had been performing. Just then, Booth cell phone rang and he stepped away from the small group to answer it. Angela resumed sketching and Hodgins returned to his microscope frowning, muttering 'he's an alien, he should know that'.

"As you can see here, Dr. Brennan, the damage to the coronal suture indicates…"

"Yeah, thanks got it." Booth snapped shut his phone and stepped swiftly over to the exam table, where both Brennan and Zach were bent over a small white skull.

"Definitely, there's no way this skull could be from anything other than the Iron Age. I agree with your findings Zach."

"Yeah, me too." Booth said absently, leaning in to join their little pow-wow and placing his hand on Brennan's lower back.

"What is it Booth?" Brennan asked distractedly, still examining some strange marks on the skull with Zach's magnifying glass.

"I just got off the phone with Cullen." He waited as his words registered with her slightly distracted brain. When they did, she whipped her head around toward him, a look of excitement that had rarely been matched was brightened her face.

"What did he say?"

Booth shrugged nonchalantly. "That it was good to have us back."

Brennan began to pout ever so slightly and turn away, it was the cutest thing Booth thought he'd ever seen. "And…that we have a case."

Not knowing whether to grin or glare, Brennan set aside the skull and turned to hit Booth hard in the arm. "That's not funny."

But, judging from the way Booth was unsuccessfully bottling his laughter, he disagreed. The squints watched the partners interact with soft smiles, it seemed some things would never change.. Brennan went about collecting her things to leave and started down the platform, Booth hot on her heels.

"You know what?" She stopped suddenly and turned on Booth, who halted inches from her, "Just for that, I'm driving." Producing a set of noisy keys from her purse, Brennan smiled smugly and began marching briskly toward the door.

Not missing a beat, Booth followed, protesting loudly. "Not a chance Bones, I always drive. It would throw off the sync of our partnership for you to drive."

Angela returned to her sketch, smiling. "Back to normal, eh boys?"

Zach nodded and moved over to a nearby microscope, but the sound of Hodgins clearing his throat caught Angela's attention. With an amused smile he pointed toward the sliding glass doors through which the partners had just exited.

"Um, I don't think I would say 'normal'."

Angela followed his gaze and grinned wholly. There, just outside the doors and almost out of sight, her best friend was engaged in one activity she swore to never do on the clock. Brennan stood wrapped in the arms of her knight, kissing him sweetly and deeply. A small sigh escaped the artist when he tucked a lock of auburn hair behind her ear, their eyes still closed and bodies pressed close.

"No, not 'normal'. Much better."

THE END