A/N: I was just going through fics and noticed that this one hadn't been updated in awhile, so here it is. Enjoy!

Chapter 10: dress rehearsal

The next morning Brennan awoke with a slight crick in her neck. She did not want to get up at all, and would have been content to remain in bed all morning. Then her eyes fell on her costume, hung up in front of her closet door. Dress rehearsal. She did have to get up. She stretched in bed, allowing herself a few more minutes as her thoughts went flying to the previous afternoon, before practice.

She had asked Zach to pick the lock on Goodman's office door, and had set him in front of the door to stand watch.

He'd looked extremely uncomfortable at the prospect, not being too oblivious to understand what was going on in her mind, but had agreed, and she had tugged Booth into the office by the sleeve where her earlier sexual frustration was vented most satisfactorily.

At least, it had been until she heard the telltale jingling of the bell, signaling Goodman's return. She pulled her mouth from Booth's and heard Zach ramble some random statement as to why he was standing in front of the office door, and heard Goodman tell him to stand aside.

The door had opened, revealing Goodman, who took in the two partners standing nonchalantly, seemingly innocent.

"What are you two doing in my office?" he asked.

"I was checking to see if you had an extra script Dr. Goodman. I no longer have mine and wanted to check something," Brennan said by way of an excuse.

"You should have asked Dr. Brennan, rather than employ Mr. Addy's services." At these words, he turned to Zach, who tried to make himself look small.

Brennan grinned at the memory, still convinced that Goodman had seen through her flimsy excuse. Hopefully, she'd be more in control of her body today. She threw a glance at the clock. Now, she really had to get up. Dress rehearsal was at ten. She got up, and padded to the bathroom, stopping momentarily when she felt silk under her foot. She stooped down, picked up the tie and tossed it on a chair near the door.

Perhaps she should wake him. No, not yet. She closed the bathroom door behind her and took a quick shower. When she returned, wrapped in a robe, she found him sitting on the edge of her bed, hair a mess, half naked, and a grin firmly in place.

"Good morning."

She felt herself flush. "Good morning. I'm glad you're up. We need to get ready. Dress rehearsal is in a few hours."

"Oh, that's right; today's the big day." He got up, walking over to her and kissed her. "What do you think your good friend Sully would say if he could see us now?" His lips moved over hers again, and she fought, but couldn't, suppress the moan that escaped from her throat.

"I believe he'd be jealous. Despite my insistence to the contrary, he seems to think the break-up was because of you."

"Was it?" He trailed kisses down her neck, moving the robe from her shoulder.

"No, it wasn't. He was trying far too hard." The kisses stopped.

"Really? Not because of me; even a little bit?" He lifted his face from her shoulder, and she caught his mouth with hers.

"Maybe a little bit. Now, get in there and shower before this gets out of hand. We can't be late. We are the leads after all." She gave him a small shove toward the bathroom and went into the kitchen to make coffee.

When he came out of the bathroom, he dressed and went into the kitchen, lured by the smell of the coffee wafting throughout the apartment. He found her dressed, sitting at the table with a mug in her hands.

"I got a mug out for you. It's on the counter." He nodded in thanks and filled it, sitting across from her.

"Do you…?" he began.

She cut in. "Regret last night?"

"How'd you know what I was going to say?"

She ignored the second question, answering the first. "Not a second of it."

He smiled at that, and reached across the table for her hand. They stayed like that for a moment, then Brennan excused herself and headed back to the bathroom to brush her teeth.



They stopped by Booth's to pick up his costume, and went to the Jeffersonian, where the front area had been transformed into the city of Verona. The set was very well done, in Brennan's opinion. Booth voiced her thoughts. "Set looks good."

They were approached by Hodgins, happily waving a fencing sword and carrying another for Booth. He handed it off to him, and the two engaged in a quick mock swordfight.

"I have been waiting for this sword for a long time!" Hodgins exclaimed. "It almost makes the rest of this crap worthwhile."

Angela came over to Brennan and pulled her to the bathroom so they could change. When they came out, everyone was ready and dressed and waiting for Goodman.

A man approached Booth. "Hello, you must be Romeo, is that right?"

"What's it to you?" Booth didn't like being approached by unfamiliar squints.

"Oh, I'm sorry." The man stuck out his hand which Booth shook. "I'm Charles Burke. Paris. I guess you'll be killing me." He laughed nervously and fingered the sword at his belt. "It's going 

to be interesting." He smiled at Booth and walked off, milling around with a few other people from his department.

The sound of the bell floated through the room, signaling Goodman's entrance. He walked to the center of the make shift stage, dressed in his friar's costume.

"I thought you hid the bell Hodgins," Brennan stated quietly.

"He watched the security tapes. He knew exactly where it was, the clever bastard. But, trust me, after the cast party, the bell will be no more." He rubbed his hands together and went to Goodman.

"Dr. Goodman, I feel awful. I don't think I can perform. My understudy will have to assume my role tonight."

"You don't have an understudy, Dr. Hodgins, and maybe you wouldn't feel so bad if you hadn't eaten all of those doughnuts with Mr. Addy in the break room earlier this morning. You will be fine." He turned to the rest of the room.

"I shall perform the prologue, and then we'll jump right into Act 1, scene 1 with Sampson and Gregory. We're going through the entire thing, with a fifteen minute intermission before Act 3."

The rehearsal began, and the different departments meshed together perfectly, as though they had all been rehearsing together since the very beginning. Brennan remained backstage until her entrance, watching Booth and Zach perform their first scene together. Angela caught her deeply satisfied look as she watched Booth talking to her assistant, and took the chance to pull her aside.

"What's with the look sweetie?"

Brennan instantly changed her facial expression to one of neutrality. "What?"

"Your face changes when you look at Booth. In fact, it's different from what it was yesterday. Something you wanna tell me?"

Not sure if she wanted to divulge at the moment just how far her relationship with Booth had gone, Brennan asked a question. "How exactly did my face look yesterday?"



"Lustful," Angela said bluntly.

Brennan remained impassive. "And how does it look now?"

"It looks very, very satisfied." Angela raised an eyebrow. "Did you and Booth sleep together last night?"

Admitting defeat, Brennan nodded. Angela's smile lit up her face. "So, how was it?"

"We have to go on, Ange," Brennan said, hearing her friend's cue. Angela shot her a look, telling her their conversation was by no means over, and headed onstage to speak with the woman playing Lady Capulet. Brennan followed when Juliet was called.

During Act 2, scene 2, Brennan took her place on what would serve as her balcony, looking down above everyone else. The scene went smoothly, and she was happy with her ability to project. Booth did the scene well too, and she felt pride for them both.



From there, Goodman and Booth did their scene. They were comfortable with one another, and Brennan was even more pleased with the final casting decision. A mutual respect existed between Goodman and Booth, and it came through in their acting.

When the intermission came, the actors all congratulated each other on a good first half. Goodman seemed very pleased with the progress. Taking no chances, he'd hidden the bell in the folds of his costume, an action that did not go unnoticed by Hodgins.

Sully caught up to Brennan and gave her a smile. "You were great Tempe!"

"Thank you Sully. You were very good too." She became aware of Booth standing behind her, listening to the exchange.

"Booth, nice job," Sully said, waving a hand at him. "Um, about our fight scene after this. Can we go a bit easier on it this time?"

"Yea, hey, I mean, if you can't handle it, I can go easy on you this time around. We all know how it ends anyway." He aimed a smile through clenched teeth at Sully.



"Oh, I can handle it, believe me, I just think the audience might get sick of us fighting after awhile. That's all." He returned Booth's forced smile. Brennan, sensing what was going on, groaned, and stepped out from between them, walking a ways away only to get whisked off by Angela.

"Ok, we have…," she glanced at her watch, "ten minutes. Get talking." She looked at her friend attentively.

"Well, you've already figured it out. We did sleep together."

"Yes, but details. Was it good…of course it was, let me rephrase. How good was it? Did he do it for you?"

"Do it for me?"

Angela nodded vehemently.

"You could say that. Yes, he did do it for me."

"I thought as much. I knew he must be good. If I hadn't picked you out for him to begin with, I would have been all over that."

"Ange…"

"Hey, no worries! I'm just glad you two finally got it on! I mean, making out is all well and good, but don't get behind the wheel and turn the engine on if you're not planning to drive the car!"

"What?"

"Never mind sweetie. It's almost time to start up again. I cannot wait to see the big scene again!"

They sat backstage to wait, and watched Act 3, scene 1. The fight scenes all went smoothly and Brennan held her breath when Sully and Booth fought, but it ended at after an appropriate length of time, although from the look in Booth's eyes it could have gone on a lot longer than that. 

Sully died, overdoing it a bit as usual, and Brennan had to hand it to Booth; he genuinely looked shocked as he stood over Sully's body, although she knew he was enjoying it.

The scenes continued, and Brennan concluded that Charles Burke wasn't all that bad an actor. He made a good Paris. She and Booth began Act 3, scene 5, the one before Romeo left after killing Tybalt, at the 'balcony'. They stood close together, him behind her, his arms wrapped around her. It felt so natural, and only a handful of the people present were aware that it was more than just acting.

Brennan began, "Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day: It was the nightingale, and not the lark, that pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear; nightly she sings on yon pomegranate-tree: Believe me, love, it was the nightingale." The scene made her briefly recall that morning when she'd been reluctant to get up.

"It was the lark, the herald of the morn, no nightingale: look, love, what envious streaks do lace the severing clouds in yonder east: Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops. I must be gone and live, or stay and die."



Clichéd or not, a tingle went through her entire body every time she heard him give Romeo's lines to Juliet. She shivered a bit, hoping no one could see it below. He felt the reaction and tightened his hold on her ever so slightly as they continued the scene.

Act 4 came and went, Juliet taking the potion from Friar Laurence so as to appear dead in order to avoid marrying Paris. Charles Burke and Booth had their fight scene. Charles, in Brennan's opinion, could have used a bit more time with the sword, but, in the end, she figured, Paris died anyway. Maybe he just wasn't good at swordplay.

After their big death scene, which was more realistic thanks to the appearance of a prop dagger, poison vial, and a tomb slab fashioned from what Brennan wasn't quite sure, Booth died, his head against her breast. She woke up, had her exchange with Friar Laurence, and then stabbed herself, collapsing on top of him. She had a fleeting thought of being in the audience and watching it all unfold. She hoped everything looked ok. They'd all worked so hard.

After the Prince gave his last lines, Goodman began to clap. "Bravo everyone! Very good. I think we're ready for tonight. You may go change and get back to your various departments. I shall see you all at six tonight to prepare for the performance. Do not be late!" He looked at Hodgins as he said this.

"What?"

"You heard me Dr. Hodgins."

"I won't be late. I can't stand to be late. If I'm going to be late, I just won't show up at all."

"You will show up, on time, if you know what's good for you Dr. Hodgins."

Hodgins glared at him then stomped off to the bathroom to change.

A/N: Had a lot to get through that chap! Next up, the performance!! Thanks for reading!