Disclaimer: I still own nothing connected to Bones or these characters.
Brennan, Jack and Angela walked into the hotel's private dining room to find Booth and the 12 members of the search and rescue team waiting for them. One large round table had been set for them, so everyone was able to converse easily around the table. Once drinks had arrived, Brennan stood to address the group, glass in hand. Taking a deep breath, she looked around the table. "For those of you who don't know me, I am Dr. Temperance Brennan. I would like to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart for your part in rescuing me and my friend, Carlie. I know how vast the search area was, and how difficult it must have been to find us. Jack, Angela and Booth came all the way from Washington to help with the search. I know what busy lives you lead, and I appreciate you dropping everything to come to my aid. Jack and Angela hired this incredible team to search for me. I feel extremely lucky to have friends like you in my life."
"To the members of the search and rescue team: I sincerely appreciate your skill and dedication to your work. Carlie and I are alive and well today thanks to you, and I want you all to know that I will never forget what you have done for me. I would like to propose a toast: here's to friends, old and new. I don't believe in luck, but I wish for each of you that someday your selfless dedication and good works be returned to you."
As Brennan returned to her seat, Jack took the opportunity to stand to offer his own toast. "Here's to Dr. Brennan. She brought us all together and has enriched our lives. Dr. Brennan, please try to stay out of trouble, at least for awhile. I don't think my heart can take much more!"
As the entire table erupted in laughter, Jack sat down, smiling. The rest of the meal was spent with more stories passed around the table, from the searchers and the friends. Booth was silent all evening, but his eyes remained focused on Brennan the whole time. It made Brennan a little nervous every time she noticed his gaze, but she was able to ignore him without it being too uncomfortable. There was so much conversation and laughter around the table that the tension between Booth and Brennan was not obvious.
While waiting for dessert to be served, Brennan excused herself from the table to visit the ladies room, where she found Lucia washing her hands. "Lucia," said Brennan. "It has been a real pleasure meeting you and the members of your team. You and Carlos have certainly created a great team."
Lucia looked at Brennan with a smile. "Yes, we have been very lucky. We have an incredible success rate with our rescues, and it makes us feel like we are doing something worthwhile with our lives. We are all so glad to be able to add your rescue to our list of successes. It's not every day that we get to find a world famous author! Thank you, by the way, for including us all in this evening. It is not often that the entire team gets to come together like this. It is very nice for us all to be able to spend time together without the pressure of a rescue hanging over our heads."
Brennan laughed. "I know exactly what you mean. When I worked at the Jeffersonian, I spent almost all of my time with my friends, but it seemed like there was very little time when we could just relax and enjoy each other's company. There always seemed to be a new case we were working on, or paperwork to be done."
Lucia noticed that Brennan seemed almost wistful when she spoke about her time at the Jeffersonian. "Do you miss working there? I understand from your friends that you had been working here for many months, and that you were on your way to a new position before the crash. I would imagine it is going to be very difficult for you to leave all of that behind when you start your new job."
"I do miss the Jeffersonian. My team all became very close, as you have seen. We became "family" to each other, and I miss having them all in my life every day. We all forged a very close connection, and it is going to be difficult for me to adjust to a new working environment. But, the work is what matters. I will be able to continue my work in bringing the dead back to their families, and helping to put murderers behind bars. That is what really matters to me, and why I became a Forensic Anthropologist in the first place."
Lucia couldn't help herself, she just had to ask. "What about Agent Booth? Carlos and I spent some time with him while we were looking for you. From the way he spoke about you, and the fact that he hasn't been able to take his eyes off of you all night, it is obvious that man cares about you deeply. What is the story between you two? I know this is none of my business, but I'm curious."
Brennan looked at Lucia for a moment before responding. "You are right, it is none of your business. But, given the fact that you saved my life, I guess I will let that slide." She smiled at Lucia to take the sting out of her words. "My relationship with Booth is complicated. We were very close; best friends, even. Booth made a decision that resulted in my leaving the Jeffersonian and destroying my team. I can't forgive him for that. Booth has said that he has feelings for me that go beyond friendship, but I don't think I can get past what happened enough to give any kind of relationship with him a chance. It is a very difficult situation for me, given the strength of our friendship before. I feel an overwhelming sense of betrayal from his actions. Being around him is hard for me. To be honest, I am looking forward to moving across the country so that I won't have to see him again. That is a chapter of my life that I am eager to close. It is time to move on and begin a new life for me."
Brennan was surprised she had opened up to Lucia and given her so much information. It was unlike her to speak so freely to a stranger. She guessed that she felt some sort of bond with her since she and Carlos led the team that rescued her. She smiled at Lucia and said, "I guess we should get back to the party; they may decide to mount another rescue effort to come find us!"
Laughing, the two ladies made their way back to the group. The rest of the evening was enjoyable for everyone, and they were all sorry when the party came to an end. Everyone was tired. It had been a long day, and Brennan, Angela, Jack and Booth all had a long flight planned for the next day. They intended to get an early start to head back to Washington.
Jack and Angela walked Brennan to her room, and made plans to meet in the dining room for an early breakfast before heading to the airport. Brennan was glad the evening had come to an end. She was looking forward to relaxing in a nice, hot bath, and then getting to bed early. She was exhausted. She was also not really looking forward to getting back on another plane, but it couldn't be helped. Like they said, when you fall off a horse, the best remedy is to get right back on. The longer you let your fear keep you from doing something, the more you became afraid of it. There was no way she was going to stop flying, given the distant locations of the digs she loved to work on. As she crawled into the big, soft bed, she looked forward to the coming day. I would be nice to be back in Washington for a little while. She was looking forward to seeing her friends and family, and to a little time off. She fell asleep thinking about how lucky she was to have such great friends, and excited about the future.
Booth, on the other hand, was not so content when he returned to his room. He had hoped to be able to speak with Brennan during the dinner, but she had positioned herself as far away from him as she could get. He didn't even get the chance to speak with her directly once all night. He had spent the whole evening staring at her beautiful face, thankful that she was alive and well. He was thrilled that she would be returning to Washington with them for a few weeks. It would give him the time he needed to be able to try to reach her and begin to try to break down the walls that she had so successfully placed between them again. He sighed, thinking about how had he had worked in the past to get her to open up to him. It had been a long, difficult process, and he wasn't looking forward to having to do it again. It was going to be even worse this time, since she now seemed to hate him for what he had done.
He didn't know how he was going to manage to get her to spend any time with him so that he could begin his campaign to regain her trust. He knew that Angela and Jack were on his side, so he was hopeful that he could count on them to help him. Brennan was incredibly stubborn, so he knew that it was going to be very difficult to get her to really talk to him. They would have the long flight tomorrow, so maybe he would be able to speak with her then. He finally fell asleep, hopeful that tomorrow would be a better day.
They all met for breakfast, with their bags already packed. They checked out of the hotel, and headed to the airport to begin the long flight home. They boarded the plane and settled into the comfortable seats. Angela and Jack were sitting together, and Brennan chose a seat that was as far away from Booth as she could get. Once they were airborne, Booth moved over into the seat next to her. Brennan looked up from the journal she was reading as he settled in. Deciding it would be childish to get up and move, she looked back down at the journal and tried to concentrate on the words in front of her.
Booth wasn't letting her get off that easily. "Bo…Dr. Brennan. I would really like to have a chance to explain what happened eight months ago. Please, give me the chance to tell you my side of this story."
Closing the journal and setting it into her lap, Brennan looked over at Booth. "I have made my position perfectly clear, Booth. I really don't want to talk about this again, but go ahead. I'm listening."
Booth hadn't really expected her to agree to hear him out. He took a deep breath, and looked her straight in the eyes. "Sweets called a meeting with Cullen, Cam and me to discuss the recent events at the Jeffersonian. I wondered why you weren't there, but Sweets said that we needed to talk about everything you had been through and to come up with a way to help you process everything. He said that you were showing classic signs of stress and distraction after my "death", and the situation with Zach. He said that you were having a difficult time dealing with everything, and that your distraction could lead to trouble with you being in the field. I was afraid that you might get yourself hurt if you weren't totally focused, and I just wanted to keep you safe. I knew that you had been through a lot, and I wanted you to have time to come to grips with everything that had happened. You always complained about being pulled away from the Jeffersonian when we had a new case, so I thought you might like some time to just concentrate on your work there before I started pulling you out into the field again. I honestly never thought for a minute that you weren't capable of doing your job. I was just trying to protect you." He looked at her, trying to see if he what he was saying was getting through.
"We were so close that I thought I would be able to read the signs if you were having trouble dealing with everything, but I decided that Sweets probably knew what he was talking about. Cam said that you were distracted at the Jeffersonian, and she was concerned about your ability to juggle your work with me in the field and your work in the lab. Once she said this, Cullen made the decision to take you out of the field. His first responsibility is to protect his agents, and he didn't want me to be in a situation where my partner was not fully focused. He didn't know you as well as I did, and he took Cam and Sweets at their word. I know now that I shouldn't have gone along with it, but I honestly never thought that Cam would let her personal feelings get the better of her like that. I had no idea that Cullen had already sent you the letter telling you of his decision. I have every intention of telling you about this myself, but the letter beat me to the punch. I didn't want you to be blindsided like that. I wanted a chance to explain it to you right then. After you left Cullen's office that day, Cullen made Sweets and Cam both admit that they never saw any signs of "distraction", or any indication that your work was suffering in any way. They both just assumed that you would be having problems since any normal person would have found it very difficult to process everything that had happened. Cullen was furious when he found out. He fired Sweets right then, and told Cam that he would support your recommendation to the Jeffersonian's Board that she be fired, as well. That is exactly what happened. Cam is now back in New York, working with the police again. I have had no further contact with either her or Sweets since that day."
He looked at Brennan, waiting to see if she had a response. When she didn't speak, he continued. "I have always had the upmost respect for your work, and that has not changed. I never recommended that you be removed from field work, I just went along with the decisions that were made. My intentions in that meeting were to try to help you, not to sabotage your career. You and your team were the reason our success rate was the highest in the country. Since you left, working with the Jeffersonian has been torture for me. My closure rate has fallen dramatically, and I feel like I am only able to do my best work when we work as a team. I need you, Temperance. The families of our victims need you. Cullen feels the same way. He realized immediately what a huge mistake we had all made, and he told me to do everything I could to convince you to come back."
Still receiving no response, he decided to keep going. "Personally, I have come to realize that I am in love with you, which you already know. I know that you don't feel the same way, and I can deal with that. I just can't deal with not having you in my life at all. I want you to think about coming back to the Jeffersonian, and working with me again. I know that I have a long way to go to earn back your trust and respect, but I need you. I will do whatever it takes to make you see that."
He was done. He couldn't think of anything else to say. He had laid it all out for her, and now it was up to her. His heart felt like it was beating so hard it was going to jump out of his chest. He knew that this was a pivotal moment. Maybe it was too soon, but he had to get all of this off of his chest. She now had all the facts, and he just had to wait for her decision.
Brennan looked down at her lap for a moment, gathering her thoughts before she spoke. She certainly wasn't ready to give him any kind of answer; she needed some time to process everything he had told her. She had no intention of changing her plans to go to Oregon. She was looking forward to beginning a new life, and to her new position. Turning her gaze to Booth, she said, "I appreciate everything you have told me, Booth. It is a relief for me to know that the decisions that were made were not made regarding my performance, but were based on personal issues with Sweets and Cam. I know that Cam felt threatened by me, and wanted me to leave the Jeffersonian, and Sweets was uncomfortable having me around after I challenged him on conducting his little experiment with us regarding your death. I can understand the decision that Cullen made, given the information he was presented with. I still, however, and having a very difficult time with your actions. I will consider what you have told me. Now, if you will excuse me, I would like to get back to my reading."
Booth knew that she would need some time to process what he had told her, so he got up and moved back to his original seat. At least now she knew the entire situation, and he hoped that she would make the decision to let him back into her life in some way. He missed their late night dinners and all night conversations. She was the best friend he had ever had, and he missed her. He hoped that what he had told her was enough to get her to give him another chance to be her friend.
