A/N: So as a gift to you guys because I've been a snob for over a week, I thought I'd make this chapter extra long, it's over 4000 words long.
Just a warning, this chapter is definitely T if not M, so don't read if you're not meant to...
Chapter 12
It was almost 4 pm when Booth met Brennan, a block and a half away from Franklin Square at a little cafe.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on now Booth?" questioned Brennan, as she was hastily pushed into the cafe. "Because I don't appreciate being kidnapped from my hotel!" Anger coursed through her veins as she sat down at a table not too far from the window, Booth's hand clamping over her mouth. She was on her way down from her room to meet Booth when he grabbed her and took her out of the service entry for the hotel.
"There's reasonable suspicion, Bones, that you're Laurence's next target. So we're here and not at Franklin Square, to keep you safe."
"So, what?" she began, standing up from her seat and bracing her hands on the table, making a scene "I'm a decoy? You're using me to catch the bad guy? Geez Booth, and here I thought that over the years you'd been here that you were less obsessed with closing cases. I guess I was wr-"
Booth yanked Brennan down, clamping his hand over her mouth as appalled patrons watched on in awe. "Shh" he whispered, waiting for her to calm down. "You're not a decoy, Temperance." Booth stared into Brennan's eyes, willing her to understand with his gaze. He brought her face closer to his, his hands tunnelling in her hair. "I would never make you play such a role without your knowledge of the situation."
Brennan nodded silently and Booth placed a chaste kiss on her lips. She was seated on his lap sideways, her hands sitting in her lap, head turned so she and Booth could whisper to one another. To anyone observing the scene, they were just a couple deeply in love, having a private conversation in a public setting.
"You're not a decoy. You're not cannon fodder. You are a victim, a target, and as my charge, you are my responsibility and I must keep you safe. Don and I reckon that Laurence has someone inside the Bureau keeping tabs on our movements. Since we know that you're a target, we've played the snitch. If Laurence or any of his men show up at Franklin Square, we know for sure there's a snitch. If no-one shows, then we know there's a bug planted – probably in my office and the main bullpen – and we'll have a sweep done to find it and track where it's being transmitted to."
Brennan nodded again, still slightly dazed from Booth's unexpected kiss. "How do you know I'm a target?" Genuine concern rocked through Brennan's core at the realisation that somehow Booth had come into the knowledge that Brennan's life was under threat.
Automatically, Booth's right hand unthreaded itself from Brennan's hair and landed on his neck, rubbing nervously as he tried to think up an excuse. "Well..." he stammered, his mind torn between telling her the truth – something she would appreciate – and keeping her in the dark for her safety. Sighing, Booth made a decision and proceeded. "When I got called away last night, someone had been kidnapped. This morning, not long after I headed home, that person turned up at the bureau-"
"They told you of Laurence's plans?"
"Not exactly... she didn't so much tell as show. Her body was tossed out the window of an un-plated car and onto the steps of the bureau."
"So, a note?"
"No" Booth sighed again, knowing that Brennan wouldn't stop hounding him until she had the truth. "She was abducted around 8 last night, and when Don called me last night on the date, that's what it was about. I shrugged it off and told Don to call me when there was something we could actually work with. So he did – or was going to. I walked into the office just before he was going to call me. He took me to see the victim down in the morgue. It wasn't anything grisly, but both the coroner and Don warned me that it was going to be disturbing..."
"Was it?" asked Brennan innocently, deeply enthralled by Booth's retelling of everything he'd done since he left her the night before.
"Bones, let me make this as clear as I can. When you look at a body in the morgue that is strikingly similar to your date, it's cause for concern." Booth stared directly at Brennan while he admitted what he saw. There was no quiver in his voice, no uncertainty that he was freaked out about what he saw.
"It was fucking disturbing, Bones, to look at a victim who looked exactly like you. If that wasn't a warning, a threat, then Laurence is just some fucked up, twisted guy, trying to get his rocks off."
Innocently, Brennan looked up to Booth "I don't know what that means..."
Booth sighed – not out of frustration at Brennan misunderstanding yet another colloquialism, but rather it was a sigh of relief, relief that there was some semblance of normalcy between them again. A soft chuckle escaped Booth as he reached up and tucked a stray strand of Brennan's hair behind her ear.
"What?" asked Brennan, suddenly feeling quite self conscious, her arms wrapping around her stomach in defence.
Smiling, Booth began to blush as he explained "I miss this... us." Seeing Brennan's confusion, Booth continued. "You and me, just relaxing and enjoying each other's company like we used to, before..." Brennan nodded, stealing a quick kiss.
"Come on, Booth, shouldn't we go and find out if Laurence fell for your trick?" This time it was Booth who stole a kiss, chucked a few bills on the table and walked out with Brennan in tow. Once in the street, Booth pulled out his cell.
"Talk to me Don, are our guys in position?"
Don was quick with his reply. "Yeah, Booth. We've spotted a few known associates, but we can't move in until we're definite that Laurence got the tip from the bullpen. You'll probably have to enter the park with the Doc to make certain that we've got a snitch. We've got guys stationed all throughout in civvies."
"No way, Don. No way. Bones isn't walking anywhere near that park unless Laurence's guys are cleared out."
Booth heard a crackle on Don's side of the phone, then a few mumbles. "Uh, Booth, you might wanna check around you. My guys spotted Doctor Brennan walking towards the park without you."
Booth quickly spun around and watched as Brennan determinedly stormed towards the park, hands swinging by her sides like a woman on a mission. Flicking his phone shut, Booth chased Brennan across the street, stopping her half a block short of the park.
"Bones, I want you to think about this. Laurence has connec-" He was cut off as Brennan slammed herself into Booth's chest, leaning up to kiss him passionately, Booth's hands involuntarily wrapping themselves around Brennan.
"If you won't let me go in there, then we have to convince the men that we were planning on going in there." Brennan quickly stole another heated kiss, sneaking her hands up Booth's torso under his shirt. "Let's go back to my hotel" she said with a wink and a sultry smile, dragging Booth down North 6th street towards her hotel.
He was helpless to resist, abstinence having weighed heavily on his sex drive for the last three years, and finally, finally the woman he wanted was asking him up to her hotel room – how could he refuse that? Three steps and two arms lengths in front of him, Brennan was dragging Booth by his arm in teh direction of her hotel while he remained in his daze about the situation.
As the elevator pinged, Booth finally broke from his reverie. "We can't do this Bones" he stated, trying his best to pry the needy anthropologist from himself as she endeavoured to make out with Booth in the lobby.
A whimper escaped her as Brennan untangled herself from Booth. "It's alright, Booth" said Brennan, her fingers reaching to grab Booth's hand. "Take a look at where we are." Brennan waved her hand around the lobby where they were currently situated, and a furious blush quickly crept up Booth's neck and cheeks.
He'd been so lost by Brennan's implications that Booth didn't even realise that Brennan had dragged him to the FBI, not her hotel, and wolf whistles were now beginning to echo around the lobby. To save Booth some embarrassment, Brennan shoved him inside the elevator.
"Don has some surveillance equipment set up in your office. He says you can monitor the operation from there, without putting me in any danger" quipped Brennan, her arms crossing defensively across her chest in an attempt at mock displeasure. "I can take care of myself, you know." Her right foot was gently tapping the floor now as Booth's arms came to rest around her waist.
"Yeah, so you keep telling me, Bones. But you have a tendency to run towards a fight, not away from them, which was clear earlier when you left me and headed straight for that park." The doors opened to floor 8, and Booth and Brennan graciously stepped out, a professional demeanour settling between them. "You do know Laurence has excellent connections. And I refuse to take you out on our next date until we defuse this situation."
Brennan turned around abruptly, just short of Booth's office door. "What?" Her hands were braced on Booth's chest, her eyes looking longingly up into Booth's. "We're not going on another date until you catch Laurence? That could be years Booth. It's a ridiculous timeframe to make someone wait for a date!"
Booth wanted to throw in her face the years of waiting he'd already done for Brennan to get to this point, but he knew it would be irrelevant. He'd decided, the moment she walked up to him in Philadelphia, the moment they'd decided to date, that they would have to start with a clean slate, and Seeley Booth never backs down from a promise. Instead, Booth simply chuckled. "I'm not going to make you wait years, Bones. Just until we can figure out how he's spying on us."
Brennan nodded her agreement. "So basically, if we can tell if he has guys at the park, we can go out tonight? What if they don't show?"
Booth sighed. He had to hand it to Brennan – she could turn a simple conversation into a complicated, multi-layered heated discussion. "Well, we do a sweep of the office for bugs and we take it from there. If there's not bug, and he doesn't have someone on the inside, then we probably won't be going out tonight."
An FBI agent picked that moment as an opportune time to interrupt. "Uh, Director Booth Agent Palmer is on the phone and requests to speak with you." The agent, who was obviously greener than freshly snapped twig, handed Booth the phone and graciously walked away.
"Tell me some good news, Don" grumbled Booth, ushering Brennan into his office before closing the door.
"Confirmed I.D. on several of the patrons in Franklin Square; at least three are known and confirmed accomplices of Laurence, and there are about four or five suspected. Shall we bring them in for questioning?"
Booth pondered for a moment, looking out of his office window at the bustle of the city below, and then to Brennan, a plan formulating in his mind. "Call for backup, I want as many of these guys caught as possible. Assess the situation, check for possible weapons before proceeding. I don't want any cock-up's on this one, Don, not now that we're so close to catching the guy. I'll be there in about five minutes."
By 7, Booth and Don had brought in all of the suspected accomplices of Laurence for questioning and holding overnight, despite the fact that it was a weekend. Booth had also found the time to share his plan with Don, and sent Brennan back to her hotel to get changed, before he picked her up at 7:30.
"I know tomorrow's a Saturday, Don, but just go with me on this one. I'll bring the coffee, you just get your butt here by 7, and we'll get started."
Don nodded, packing a few papers into hi bag before heading out of the office for the night. "I'll see you in the morning. But Booth, make sure you at least take the night off. I'd hate to see her walk out of your life because you were too obsessed with your work." Booth sighed and nodded knowingly.
"Yeah, well I've got a hot date lined up tonight for us. I only hope I can turn in early enough to be able to get up for this in the morning" finished Booth, his hands gesturing to the already high pile of paperwork forming on his desk for the case.
Don smirked, a low chuckle escaping him. "Why, Agent Booth, how could you let such a woman keep you from your work?" he teased, making his way through the bullpen towards the elevator.
"Believe me, Don. I'd give up food if it meant I could spend every morning waking up with her beside me." He was only half joking; Booth was prepared to give up whatever he had to to keep Brennan from leaving his life again. Booth had spent his years in Philadelphia reflecting what exactly had gone wrong between them, and he wasn't about to repeat any of those mistakes.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Booth. Say 'hi' to the missus for me" and with that, the elevator doors closed on a grinning Special Agent Don Palmer.
"Right" muttered Booth to himself, as he shuffled some papers, locked his office and set out for the night.
"Ice skating?" queried Brennan as Booth gently led to her to the entrance of Blue Cross RiverRink. They had already enjoyed a relaxing dinner at one of the small bars along Penn's Landing before making their way to the night's main event.
"Yeah, Temperance, ice skating." Booth took a step back from Brennan, eyeing her up and down before continuing. "You're not afraid of the ice, are you Bones? Because if I remember correctly, you told me that you have 'a lot of natural athletic ability'. You wouldn't wanna prove yourself wrong, now would you Bones?" Brennan was still hesitant, the worry clear on her face. "Besides, Bones, don't you have a 'steep learning curve'?" mocked Booth.
With that, Brennan laced up her skates and confidently stepped onto the ice, Booth not far behind her. "I may have a steep learning curve, Booth, but I found that my teacher was somewhat... lacking in his abilities." Her raised eyebrow showed her challenging demeanour, and accepting said challenge, Booth quickly skated around the rink, twisting and turning on the ice, jumping, skating backwards; his talent running rings around Brennan's.
"Admit it, Bones" coaxed Booth, skating alongside Brennan as she struggled to stay upright. "Admit that I'm talented, and we can end this standoff, and start enjoying our date."
As she landed on the ice for the tenth time in just a few minutes, Brennan sighed. "Alright Booth," she said reluctantly as Booth stopped in front of her, his hands just out of reach of hers. "Alright, you're better at skating than I am. Now I would appreciate it if you quit your gloating, helped me off the ice and taught me how to skate properly." He reached his hands out to Brennan, and Booth pulled her onto her feet, skating behind her and replacing his hands just above her hips.
"It's all about balance, Bones. Just breathe, relax, and focus on your balance."
Booth pushed off, skating at a slow pace as Brennan was gliding in front of him. After a few minutes of silent skating, Booth finally spoke out.
"Do you have any regrets?" Brennan turned her head to look as Booth and fumbled forward, clasping onto Booth's arms to keep from face planting onto the ice.
"Regrets about what? Us?"
Booth sighed. "Yeah, I guess. I mean regrets about the time we spent as partners. Is there anything you wish had happened, or wish you'd done, or even wish hadn't happened? There's gotta be something."
Brennan thought carefully as she pulled up to the edge of the ice rink, looking out at the expanse of the river before her as the moonlight glinted down on them.
"There are some things, I guess, that I would've done differently. I shouldn't have gone to Maluku – that's something I've thought a lot about; how things would've happened if we both hadn't left. But I don't like to rethink things like that, time travel is impossible and I can't change what has happened."
Booth chuckled softly as he wrapped his arms around Brennan's waist from behind her, looking out at the water with her. "I know, Bones. But we're only human and we can still dream; we can still reflect on past events. That's part of the reason I go to church, Bones. It gives me a chance to look back on everything that's happened to me and see where I let it go wrong. And I don't blame anyone else or make excuses for what did go wrong – because, ultimately, I could've changed the outcome of those things, not someone else." HE paused for a moment, giving Brenna the space she needed to process what had been said. "Is there anything else you regret?"
"Not regret, per se, but I do think about that night on our very first case..."
"Ah, tequila, my lonely friend" joked Booth. Brennan turned and playfully slapped his chest.
"I wonder what could've happened if you'd have gotten in the cab with me."
Booth looked down into her eyes, searching for what she'd come up with. "And..."
"And..." continued Brennan, on a sigh, "I've surmised that we would not be here, metaphorically, if you had come home with me. By keeping our relationship strictly professional, we have been able to form basic foundations for friendship, and ultimately a romantic relationship. I believe that if you had gotten in that cab, that it would've simply been a one night stand, or perhaps a short-lived relationship, which would have burnt out like many previous relationships I have shared."
Brennan took a few moments to gauge Booth's reaction to her admission. "Ultimately, Booth, I prefer what we have now. I would take all the everything that we have collectively been through to get to this moment over a short-lived relationship all those years ag-"
Brennan never got to finish her confession as Booth's lips found hers in a passionate, yet tender kiss, stealing her breath as he held her as close as humanly possible.
They stayed that way for a while, just enjoying each other's company, with no pressure to start a conversation, while they slowly skated around the rink, Booth keeping Brennan balanced at the same time.
"What about you?"
"Huh, Bones?" Booth asked, shaken from his reverie.
"Do you have any regrets Booth? After all, I doubt you would have brought up the conversation topic if you didn't have any regrets yourself."
Booth's smile, which he'd happily been wearing for the last half an hour or so, quickly faded as he thought of a response. "Like you, Bones, there are some things I would like to have done differently, but overall, there's no regrets. Everything happens for a reason and happens eventually, so the path we took to get here, Bones, was the one we were meant to take."
He offered her one more smile before closing the distance between them with another passionate kiss.
The moon was high in the sky and the couple had been skating on the ice for almost two hours. A few passersby had gathered around the rink on Penn's Landing to watch the pair as they gracefully danced around each other on the ice, laughing and giggling as they twisted and turned in circles without a care in the world.
An old lady watching the exchange turned to her a daughter, a woman somewhere in her twenties, and asked "how long do you think they've been together?"
The younger woman stared at the couple on the ice, who were now standing still holding each other in a passionate embrace, replied longingly "Probably eight or nine years, married for most of it" she sighed. "I don't really know, Mum, but I'm jealous of that woman."
Curiosity got the better of her, and the old lady called the couple over. "Excuse me for interrupting. My daughter and I were just wondering how long you've been together. She thinks almost a decade, but I think it's just a couple of years."
Booth and Brennan looked at each other, all smiles and trying their best to refrain from laughter.
"Although your daughter is mostly correct," began Brennan in a clinical tone, "we have known each other for almost 11 years, have been partners for six and a half of those, and have been separated for the last three years-"
Booth began to chuckle, placing his hand on Brennan's forearms and spinning her to him. "Bones, I think they mean how long have we been dating." Booth shook his head at Brennan's furrowed brow, a smile still plastered lovingly and adoringly to his face.
"Well, in that case... We have been dating for two days. This is our second date."
"Two dates" repeated Booth, holding up two fingers when the two women looked utterly confused.
After a few moments and a chance to break through the initial shock, the younger woman spoke up.
"And you've never dated before now?" Booth and Brennan both shook their heads. "Kissed?"
"Well..." began Booth, slightly taken aback by the question.
"Actually, there have been three-" Brennan turned to Booth who nodded, before turning back to the women. "Three separate occasions where we have kissed, but there are legitimate reasons." Brennan paused, counting the times on her fingers. "Tequila..."
"A bribe and mistletoe..." added Booth
"And pure desperation..."
"Whoa... What Bones?" Booth's jaw almost hit the ice, and the two women looked on amused.
"Wha... come on Booth, you have to admit you were a little bit desperate to get me to see your reasoning."
"Desperation's a little harsh, don't you think Bones? Couldn't you have said it was part of an experiment? Or... or a persuasion technique? ... Yeah! A persuasion technique." Booth smiled goofily, his hands gesturing to emphasise his choice of words.
"Hardly a persuasion technique, Booth, it still didn't help, although I admit that I do regret ending that kiss. After all, you are an excellent kisser..."
The two women had watched the exchange in front of them, the couple seemingly in their own world, despite being in public. "Do you two always argue like this?"
"We don't argue... We bicker" replied Booth and Brennan in unison.
"Well, I guess that answers our questions. Enjoy your time together and whatever you do, don't take it for granted."
The two women walked away, once again leaving Booth and Brennan alone in the moonlight. Grin in place, Booth turned to Brennan, and with a raised eyebrow asked "You really think I'm a good kisser?"
She knew she'd be stroking his ego, but Brennan simply couldn't resist pulling Booth's head down, bringing his lips within millimetres of hers.
"Of course you are... and don't you know it!"
The heat from the searing kiss that followed could've melted the ice they were standing on.
The tumblers in the lock clicked and the front door swung open, a rush of warmth hitting Booth and Brennan like an inferno blast, a complete contrast to the chilly Philadelphia night air.
His body slammed into the back of the door as it was pushed shut, and Brennan's mouth was back on his, assaulting his lips and stealing his breath away. Booth's hands quickly found their way to her jacket buttons, undoing them with precision, minimal effort and in record time. Tugging it off her shoulders, Booth somehow managed to hang Brennan's jacket neatly on the coat rack by the door while simultaneously being worked on by Brennan's talented hands and mouth.
After a quick make out session on the ice, resulting in Brennan and Booth both laying on the freezing ice, they made their way to Booth's car, hands exploring and groping, while mouths ravished and thrashed in the midst of their passion. Miraculously, and neither knows exactly how, Booth rushed through the Philly Friday night traffic and safely arrived at Booth's house, where they continued their make out session in the comfort and warmth of the car, before making their way inside, to where they were now hastily trying to undress each other.
Dragging him by his shirt, Brennan coaxed Booth out of the foyer and into the lounge room, dropping him on the couch before straddling him, all the while her lips never breaking contact with his scorching skin. Divesting him of his jacket, Brennan then made quick work of Booth's t-shirt, while he expertly worked on popping open the buttons of, what he now considered to be his favourite blouse.
Brennan's jeans were the next to go, as Booth picked her up by her thighs and she wrapped them around his slender hips before Booth carried her in the direction of the stairs in the far corner of the room.
A moan escaped Brennan as Booth's talented hands snaked their way up her torso to cup her breasts, expertly caressing and groping, giving Brennan maximum pleasure despite the lacy fabric of her black bra separating Booth's hands from making contact with her skin.
"Bed! NOW!" demanded Booth, his voice a carnal, unrelenting, non-negotiable growl. Brennan's back slammed into the wall at the bottom of the stairs, her back arching in pleasure from Booth's ministrations, as her hands worked on pushing Booth's sweats from his hips towards the floor.
Somehow, almost miraculously for the second time that night, Booth and Brennan made it up the stairs, a trail of clothes and underwear in their wake as Booth pushed his way into his bedroom, dropping both of their naked bodies onto the king-sized bed.
Booth climbed and hovered over Brennan, his gaze loving and admiring every inch of Brennan's exposed flesh as he came to understand the reality of what was about to happen between the two of them.
"Beautiful" whispered Booth, as he stole a passionate kiss from Brennan, his hand slowly dragging up the outside of her thigh and over her hip, eliciting a moan from Brennan.
"Mine!" breathed Brennan, dragging Booth right on top of her, willing him to finally take their 'partnership' one step further...
A/N: And the end... just kidding. I hope the length and content of this chapter made up for my being a snob this past week and a half.
Hope you all liked this chapter. I'd love to read what you all think (hint: leave a review :D) and I'd just like to know if this chapter should've been rated M or still T, cos I'm not entirely sure which one it would fall into.
I'll write again soon, I promise
Kiz :p
