A/N: If the Disneyland facts in here detract from the story, I apologize, but we all know our resident forensic anthropologist loves facts, and Booth loves pop culture, so…enjoy the chapter.
Booth woke in the morning as a single ray of sunlight fell from between the curtains of Tempe's hotel room. He turned his head to look at her as she slept peacefully by his side. He placed a gentle kiss to her temple and brushed a few errant strands of hair from her face. She looked angelic to him as she slowly opened her eyes and offered him a sleepy, yet satisfied smile.
"Good morning, Beautiful." He offered her a kiss on the lips.
"Morning to you too. What time is it?" She scrubbed a palm over her eyes to wipe the sleep from them. Booth glanced at the clock on the bedside table.
"Six thirty." Brennan put her head back on Seeley's shoulder and sighed.
"You'd think I'd actually be able to sleep in for once."
"Well, it's a good thing you aren't. We have a big day ahead of us."
"I know, all those interviews," she groaned. The rumble of laughter from his chest rolled through her, and she found it oddly comforting.
"Actually, those have been rescheduled. You have the day free, and I have a surprise for you." Temperance sat up and looked at Booth curiously.
"How did you manage that?"
"I used all the charm I could muster." He grinned at her as she shook her head, amused. Tempe crawled onto his hips and looked down at him as she straddled his body.
"And what, exactly did you have in mind for today?" She leaned forward to place kisses on his chest. He groaned as she flicked her tongue lightly over his nipples.
"After this? It's a surprise." He sat up, placed his arms around Tempe's waist and pulled her to him, their mouths meeting fervently.
XxXxX
Julie arrived at the Tour office in Disney's California Adventure at eight o'clock in the morning. She was dressed immaculately; her black slacks, white dress shirt and plaid vest pressed and crisp. Her hair was pulled back away from her face, and the light makeup she wore added to her professional appearance. She looked to her supervisor, Dean as she sat down near his desk.
"So who exactly is it I'm meeting today?"
"Dr. Temperance Brennan. This tour's really important, priority entrance, and here's the credit number you'll be using today." Dean handed the items over to Julie as she got up and grabbed her tour issued black purse. She took the priority entrance card and credit slip, put them in a small pouch, then looked over her appearance.
"Am I meeting them at the porte de cochere?"
"Yup. She's expected to be here at eight forty five, so head on over there now. It's a small group today, just Dr. Brennan and one guest." Dean handed an envelope with tickets to the two theme parks to Julie before she headed from the office. "And Julie? Have fun today."
XxXxX
Temperance looked out the window as Booth drove up to the Grand Californian Hotel.
"Booth, where exactly is it we're going today?"
"Disneyland." He glanced at her as he put the car in park. She looked like a little kid as her eyes lit up.
"Really?"
"Yup. You know, I never would have pegged you for the amusement park type."
"I always wanted to go. My parents just never headed out west with us," she shrugged. They both got out of the car and handed the keys to a porter. From near the hotel's large stained glass doorway, Julie stepped forward to greet them.
"Dr. Brennan? I'm Julie. I'll be your guide today. Wherever you want to go, or if you have any shows you want to see, just let me know and I can set it up for you." She extended out her hand and smiled when Temperance shook it.
"This is Seeley Booth, my…boyfriend." She looked up at him and grinned. Julie offered Booth a smile, then motioned for them to follow her into the hotel to head for the park.
Booth watched Temperance as she stepped through the gates of the park. She looked like a kid in a candy store. He'd never seen her acting so much like a kid, and it was nice to see. Straight ahead of them was the large 50th anniversary logo the theme park had adopted, along with a photographer. Booth tugged on Brennan's hand and dragged her over for a picture in front of the logo. After a picture together, they had Julie join them for another. As the picture was snapped, something occurred to Booth.
"We don't have a camera, do we?" He looked at Brennan. She shook her head.
"That's fine. I can pick one up for you at the photo supply store. No need to worry about anything today." They moved on to pass under the arches and onto Main Street. The perky music added immediately to the feel of a turn of the century midwestern town. Brennan grasped Booth's hand excitedly as she looked around at the buildings and old style vehicles. A small band played at one side of the street, while some of the characters posed with guests at the other.
"Booth, this is amazing, the thought that was put in here, wanting the culture of small town America to come across, although in a much more idealized fashion. I mean, look, there's City Hall, a firehouse, picture show. It's fascinating!" Brennan grinned as she looked at the buildings. Julie watched her enthusiasm as well and pulled a pen and sticker out of her purse. After writing for a moment, she handed the sticker to Temperance.
"This is your first time here, right? Any questions you guys have just ask. I'm a wealth of knowledge." Brennan looked at the sticker Julie handed her. It had her name scrawled on the front of it and read 'First Visit to Disneyland'. Seeley was shocked when she peeled the sticker from its backing and placed it on her shirt. An odd wave of pride fell over him as he watched her letting herself relax and just enjoy the day. He took her hand in his as they began to walk down the street. A hat shop sat on the corner of a cul-de-sac, and when Booth saw it, he smiled.
"Hey, Bones. There's one thing we absolutely have to do while we're here."
"Oh, and what's that?" She looked at him curiously as he dragged her to the hat shop. She looked around at the store items. While they had some that were relatively normal bucket hats and baseball caps, there were others that were quite unusual. One looked like a wart hog that would make flatulent noises when you squeezed the tongue. Another was like the Mad Hatter's hat, while another looked like a wizard hat with mouse ears on it. Brennan looked at Booth curiously as he turned to her with a grin. He wore a pair of gold mouse ears with 'Booth' written across them. From behind his back, he produced a second pair of ears and set them on Tempe's head. Before they made it, she saw the name written on them.
"Honestly, Booth, isn't that a little immature?"
"What? You are Bones." He laughed and walked out of the store. After a mumbled curse, Tempe followed him out and jogged to catch up as he headed for the castle. Temperance looked back at the town square as she moved, taking in all the details of the buildings. Julie stopped the pair and pointed to a window above the firehouse.
"You see that light up there? Well the part of the building directly above the firehouse is Walt Disney's apartment. He would stay there while they were constructing the park. Whenever he was in, he would leave a light on in that window, so after he passed away in nineteen sixty six, a light has been left on in that window as a tribute to his memory."
"And the light's always on?" Brennan looked from the building over to Julie."
"Yes, except around Christmas time when we have a small tree up there." Temperance absorbed the information as they continued moving up the street. At the far end stood the castle, drawbridge down over a small "moat" that two swans swam serenely through. Out in front stood the Disney princesses as they took pictures with park guests.
"Oh, let's go meet one of them!" Tempe looked over at the characters with a little bit of longing. Booth laughed, and began to laugh harder at her indignant expression. Julie took the moment to disappear into the Photo Supply Store that they stood next to. "What's so funny?"
"You. I've never seen you like this, all giddy. It's cute."
"I can't help it. If there is one thing I know quite a bit about, it's Disney movies. I used to love going to them as a kid. The last one I saw before…well the last one I saw was 'Beauty and the Beast'. I always wanted to be Belle. I even dressed up like her that year for a Halloween party." Booth shook his head in amusement at the idea of Temperance dressed up for Halloween. Julie came back out of the store with a camera for them. With a laugh, they headed over to the castle to meet the princesses.
XxXxX
"Booth, those skeletons aren't accurate. There's no way they'd be able to remain standing like that once all of the flesh and ligaments had decomposed." Temperance whispered as they rode on Pirates of the Caribbean. Booth looked at her in the darkness and shook his head.
"Bones, it's just a ride. There's no need to analyze everything. Just take it for what it is, you know, fun."
"But it's not accurate."
"You know Dr. Brennan, the bones in the headboard there are real." Julie pointed to an elaborate headboard on a bed. Brennan wasn't close enough to accurately look the bones over, but she could see them well enough.
"Female, probably about twenty five, and based on the features of the skull probably Indian." Booth just shook his head, while Julie looked at Tempe in fascination.
"You can tell that from all the way over here? Wow. That's amazing."
"Not really. Once you know what markers to look for, it's pretty easy."
"So she says." Booth grinned. He put his arm around Brennan's shoulder and pulled her closer, kissing her temple.
"I'm just saying that if they are going for an accurate portrayal, then the bones wouldn't be standing up like that."
"The point is to entertain, not to be accurate. It's a little thing called suspension of disbelief. Just sit back and enjoy it, okay."
"Fine." She sighed and crossed her arms in front of her. Booth only smirked at her. It was impossible for her to look seriously disgruntled while wearing Mickey ears.
XxXxX
"You are so going down Booth!" Brennan fired the laser gun at the targets in Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. Booth laughed as he took aim and hit a triangle. He noticed the huge jump in his score and smiled. Look for the triangles.
"That's what you think! You're the one going down Bones!"
"You wish!" She looked over at him and grinned. Booth just looked at her with a smirk and shook his head. After a moment, Brennan began to blush. "I didn't mean it like that." Booth laughed and hit another triangle target. With a frustrated sigh, Brennan began shooting at targets again. He was not going to beat her if she had anything to do about it.
As she watched Booth's score climb higher than hers, she quickly grabbed the small control lever and jerked the car to the side facing away from the targets.
"Hey, no cheating!"
XxXxX
"Look, all I'm saying is that Walt Disney is very much a God figure. There are effigies of him that are sold in the stores here, and the idol worship…"
"Idol worship? Where do you get that from?" Booth was incredulous.
"The light on in the apartment, the opening day speech at the base of that flagpole on Main Street, The statue of him with Mickey up by the castle. They are very obvious markers for a religious practice."
"So you're comparing Walt Disney to Jesus?"
"Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha… People see him in such a profound way that he has become more of a religious figure than anything else."
"Well that's ridiculous. You can't put the man in the same category."
"You know, she's not that far off. This attraction here? It's Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room. Whenever any change is suggested for it, the guests, and most especially annual pass holders get up in arms about it. There are just certain attractions that are here because Walt designed them. Taking them away would be akin to removing something in the Bible to many people." Julie added to the conversation as they sat down in the small, oddly shaped theater. There were mock-ups of parrots and other exotic birds above their heads, along with canoes of flowers and tiki totems on the walls.
Booth moved to retort, but stopped as the host of the show, an older man by the name of Maynard stepped into the room. He was bald, somewhat skinny, and had a hawk-like nose. His expression was somewhat manic, as was his energy level. He looked over the audience and rubbed his hands together.
"Welcome to the tiki tiki room. We allow Munchie-munchie and drinkie-drinkie, but no flashy-flashy or smokey-smokey, okey-dokey?" With that he went to the corner of the room to grab a long stick. Booth chortled a little, and leaned in toward Brennan.
"That guy looks like, if he wrote stories, he'd leave a cliff hanger every chapter."
XxXxX
Brennan got off of Grizzly River Run at Disney's California Adventure, completely soaked. She held her arms around her as she shivered. Her clothes and jeans clung to her, and her hair hung limply against her neck. Seeley didn't look much better. He was just as wet as she was.
"I can't believe you talked me into going on that ride," Brennan snarked. Even though she knew her clothes would dry, she didn't fancy wearing wet jeans all day. Booth pulled at his shirt in an attempt to keep it from sticking to his body. Julie looked at the pair, relatively amused at their expressions.
"If you need some clothes, I can take you to a store that carries just about everything."
"Please. I hate the feeling of wet clothes," Brennan said as she shivered slightly. Julie led them to a nearby shop that had all sorts of shirts, jeans, shoes, everything. The two looked around trying to find something to wear. Booth picked up a bowling style shirt and grinned. The shirt was brown, with cream sleeves. It had a logo in small on the front and the same design larger on the back that read 'Grumpy's Tavern'. It had Grumpy on the front with a large, foaming glass of beer.
"Hey Bones, what do you think?" Booth held up the shirt with a grin. Temperance looked at it, her head tilted to one side. She smiled slightly and shook her head, amused. She had her own shirt picked out, a blue shirt that stated I love Goofy Guys on the front, along with a pair of khaki Capri pants.
"Nice. Are you planning to wear that the next time you go bowling?"
"Sure. You wanna go with me and Parker next time?" Booth pulled the clothing off Brennan's arm and placed it on the counter to be purchased along with his selections. Julie handed over the credit slip to take care of it. Brennan stepped closer to Booth and placed her hands on his chest.
"You know, I was thinking about that, and thought that maybe, when we have some time, we could go down to Orlando and take Parker to the parks there. I'm sure he'd love it."
"Seriously? You want to take Parker and me on a vacation with you?"
"Why not?" Booth pulled Brennan up to him and kissed her soundly on the lips.
"Thank you."
XxXxX
They stepped off of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, laughing. The multiple story drops on the ride had literally been breathtaking. Just before exiting into a themed store, they looked to see the picture taken during the drops. In the picture, Temperance gripped Booth's leg with one hand while her other was plastered to her head holding on her mouse ears, Seeley was looking at her, obviously laughing, and Julie just looked nonchalant as she applied makeup.
"Okay, we have to get that one." Booth laughed.
"We already have one from that looping coaster and that really dark one…Space Mountain. Why do we need this one?" Temperance asked.
"Because, Bones. It's all in good fun." He flashed her his charm smile, to which she just rolled her eyes.
"That, and I'm sure you want to show Angela you were able to get me on this thing."
"You know me only too well."
XxXxX
"Oh, Bones, you are so dead!" Booth chased after Brennan on Tom Sawyer Island after she dropped some ice down the back of his shirt. She laughed and ran ahead of him across a barrel bridge. He stomped carefully across the bridge, reached out for Brennan and grabbed hold of her. As she laughed, he threw her up over his shoulder and ran towards the caves that dotted the island. He put her down just as they reached the entrances because they were so low, and dragged her inside.
Dark twists and turns led to hidden nooks. Booth pulled Tempe into one and sought her lips with his own. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body closer to his as she deepened the kiss. After a moment, she pulled away as her mind registered that they were in a family oriented park.
"I've been wanting to do that all day," Seeley grinned. He grabbed her hand and led her back out of the caves to relocate their tour guide.
XxXxX
"This is such a positive message, the idea of a united world. The song's right. It is a small world. Our similarities are far more numerous than our differences." Tempe said as she looked at the little dolls dressed in the idealized costumes of the countries they represented.
"Yeah, but the song's enough to drive you crazy."
"Booth, you make it sound like someone would snap if they heard the song too much."
"Come on, you can't tell me that hearing this song for eight hours a day wouldn't drive someone crazy."
"Well, personally, I think you're far more likely to tune it out after awhile."
"Yeah, then it sits there in the back of your brain and you suddenly find yourself snapping, and killing some young innocent thing while whistling the tune."
"Booth, that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life."
"I'm just laying it out there as a possibility, that's all."
"No you aren't. You're trying to provoke me into an argument."
"Am not!"
"Are too."
"No."
"Yes."
"Fine."
"Fine." Both crossed their arms and sighed exasperatedly. Julie just looked between the two of them and laughed.
XxXxX
Booth and Temperance walked through Tomorrowland as they shared cotton candy. While they had been through the area before, they hadn't been on all the attractions yet. Ahead was the last attraction they planned to do for the evening, Autopia. Julie led the two of them down to the loading deck and turned them over to the ride operators there.
As Booth and Brennan waited, he turned to his partner and leaned close to her ear.
"Hey, Bones, guess what." The phrase sent a shiver of pleasure down her spine as the words caressed her ear.
"What?"
"I'll even let you drive this time." Temperance sent a glare towards Booth as they were ushered into their little car. Temperance began to argue back as they drove away onto the track.
Julie watched from the exit platform above the track. She hadn't had so much fun on a tour in a long time. The two were so amusing in their exchanges that it was entertaining just listening to their conversations. As she waited for their return, a man approached and stood next to her on the platform.
"So, you're the one with Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth, right?" Julie turned to look at the man. He was quite good-looking, and his smile would be enough to make any heart flutter.
"That's not for me to say."
"Well, I've seen you with them, so…"
"Is there something I can help you with?"
"I just need you to pass along a message for me."
"Oh really, and what would that be?"
"Just tell them that Jeff says hello." He offered her another smile and walked away.
A/N: I know, I know, you all think I'm evil now. Thanks to all of you who offered suggestions for date day at Disneyland. I had fun writing this one, and please forgive the slight coding here, but I encourage you all to visit maynardland (dot) com to see the real life Maynard. The one that works at Disneyland, not my muse.
