Title: Now That's More Like It!

Disclaimer: Bones and its affiliated characters do not belong to me. I mean no copyright infringement.

Summary: Each "chapter" is a one-shot. I have either rewritten an ending for a single episode or for a single scene in an episode. There are no connections between the one-shots. Therefore, I'm only relying on the episodes to lead me and not others story endings that I have written. Each new chapter/ending will list the spoilers and rating since they are one-shots.

Spoilers: 1

Rating: K+

Author's Notes for this one-shot: Here's another episode extension by request from a fantastic reader & reviewer. The Man in the Fallout Shelter was the Christmas episode during the first season. I included a summary of the episode and quotes (at the end) because I think it reveals how Booth and Brennan have reverted back to some of the ways they were in season one.

EPISODE SUMMARY: in this episode, we learned some new things about our characters. Booth has a son who was three years old. He isn't on good terms with his former girlfriend who rejected his marriage proposal. Brennan met Parker. Brennan's parents left right before Christmas and she never opened her presents because she was waiting for them to return. Angela's dad is a famous singer. (I can't remember his name.)

We saw how alone Brennan really was when she didn't have any visitors during the lockdown of the lab from a possible deadly virus from the remains. Angela made a Christmas tree on the Angelator and they drew names to make gifts for a Secret Santa exchange. Brennan didn't participate. When the tree was revealed, Brennan complimented Angela and she slipped away unnoticed.

The Case: The man was murdered for his coin collection which he sold to take his girlfriend to Paris. He was Caucasian and she was African American and pregnant. At the time he was murdered, it was against the law for them to be together. Brennan worked hard to find the woman to tell her what had happened to him. At the end, the woman visited the Jeffersonian with her granddaughter. Along with getting the letters and the old plane tickets to Paris, she learned that he didn't abandon her. He also had a very valuable coin that would allow her granddaughter to go to college. Bones met Booth at Wong Foo's and, shortly thereafter, Parker was dropped off to him. Brennan returned to the Jeffersonian and unwrapped a gift from her parents that she had been saving since she was fifteen.


The Man in the Fallout Shelter

(Season 1)

New Extended Ending


From the last scene of the episode:

Brennan: Ivy Gillespie came to the lab after you left with her granddaughter.

Booth: mmm hmm

Brennan: Don't you want to know what happened?

Booth: I know what happened. You told her about careful Lionel. You showed her the letters, the tickets, and she cried. But you made her happy.

Brennan: Not to mention I gave her a penny worth over $100,000.00.

Booth: She won't care about that today. You just gave somebody the best Christmas gift they could ever get. Who's Secret Santa now?

Brennan: Stop.

(The robot Zack made started moving because it does the opposite of the command given.)

Booth: Ha! And that weirdo assistant of yours just made me the coolest dad in the world.

Parker: Daddy!

(Someone sets him down on the floor and he runs to Booth.)

Booth: Come on!

Parker: Daddy!

Booth: Arrr!

(Booth picks up his son.)

Booth: Hey look. Look at this thing.

Parker: Can it flip?

Booth: How cool! It can flip, trip, swim, whatever you want.

(Booth smiles at Bones as she watched them from her stool at the bar.)

Booth (to Parker): Can you say Merry Christmas?

Parker: Merry Christmas.

(Brennan gives a small "baby" wave with her hand by her face. She has almost a shy smile.)

Booth: Ha! (He's all smiles.) Okay big guy…

(He turns around to leave. Brennan watches with sad eyes.)


XOXOXOXOXOXO* Episode Extension *XOXOXOXOXOX

Booth walked into Brennan's office as he usually did without hesitation or a welcome. He found Brennan at her computer. It wasn't a surprise since it was already seven o'clock. "Hey Bones! Working on another book?"

Without turning to greet him, she simply nodded so she didn't break her train of thought until the dialogue was complete. "Hi Booth. I wasn't expecting you until…" She looked over at the clock. Booth smirked.

"I'm taking you to dinner. No complaints."

"I can take care of myself. You know that."

"Of course, you can. But remember what I said about a gift going both ways?" She looked confused. "Ya know, on Christmas. I was explaining that your view of gifts was crap."

Her lop-sided smirk appeared. "Dinner is hardly a gift."

"Sure it is. I'm gifting you with my time." She chuckled and shook her head slightly. "And more importantly… I get to spend time with you." He tried to charm her with his best smile. "This is new," he pointed to the beautiful music box on her desk.

"A Christmas present… from my parents." He watched as her eyes started to tear up. She turned around and wiped them. She hated to be weak. She jumped a bit when she felt his hands on top of her shoulders.

He didn't squeeze her into a hug knowing she wouldn't be comfortable with it. He simply leaned towards her right ear and whispered, "That's wonderful, Bones. It's sweet… sweet and beautiful, just like you."

Never one to accept a compliment, she stiffened. "I'd rather just forget about it right now."

He stepped away. "Okay, Bones. How about that dinner?" He reached for her jacket before she had the chance. Ignoring her glare, he helped her put it on.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Once they were seated and waiting for their food, Booth jumped in with his invitation hoping that it wasn't going to be difficult but giving enough time in case it was. "Parker's going to be spending the next two days with me. He wanted me to invite the lady with the cute smile and brown shiny hair to our sparkle celebration."

"I don't know what that means." She was already looking skeptical and ready to shoot him down. "Your charming smile doesn't work on me."

He chuckled. "We'll see about that." Brennan rolled her eyes. "A sparkle celebration is when we stay up really late, watch movies, eat popcorn, and at midnight we go outside and light sparkler sticks."

"At midnight? Booth, you may want to look at the calendar again. New Year's Eve is the day after tomorrow. Besides, I don't celebrate New Year's. It's just an excuse to get drunk and act stupid."

He grinned and silently praised himself for being so clever. "I figured you would say that. That's why we're celebrating tomorrow night. It won't be technically midnight either. Parker would never make it that long."

"I really should work on my book. I've never been good with kids. And I wouldn't want to intrude on your father and son time."

"Parker's easy to please. And you're not intruding. It is a sincere invitation. So will you gift us with your time?" When she tilted her head with the small smile, he knew he had won.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

When Parker heard the knock on the door, he jumped up and down with a happy squeal. He ran to his dad when he opened up the door. "Hi Bones!" he said excitedly. Brennan looked at Booth with her eyebrows raised. He smiled sheepishly about the nickname his son used.

"Let's step back so Bones can come in."

"Hi Parker. Thank you for inviting me."

"My dad said you're reawy strong and reawy, reawy smart. Is that true?"

"Well, if you call a black belt and three doctorate degrees smart, then yes."

"Huh?" said Parker. Booth tried to hide his amusement.

She chuckled. "Yes. I'm smart. I bet you're smart, too."

"I am! Mrs. Thomas said so. I can count aw the way to ten and wite my name."

Booth chuckled. "Smartest kid in preschool!" He turned back to Parker. "Hey Bud, why don't you pick a movie and get it started?" Brennan raised her eyebrows again. "Some people actually own TVs, Bones," he said with a smirk. "He's been able to work that DVD player since he could walk."

She looked back down at Parker. "That's quite impressive."

"I guess so," he shrugged. "Do you wanna help me pick a movie?"

It was her turn to shrug. "I guess so."

Parker grabbed her hand in his tiny one and led her to the entertainment center. "Come on. I show you aw the ones we got."

Booth wasn't surprised to see her interacting with his son without any visible hesitation. She was good at hiding emotion. But after the case of the young boy found behind a mall, he was pretty sure she was feeling more comfortable than she had expected. "I'm going to make the popcorn," he called.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

An hour later, they took a break from watching the Disney movie when Booth noticed Parker was getting sleepy. "You ready for some sparklers?"

"Mm hmm," said Parker while he rubbed his eyes awake.

They put on their coats and walked out to a picnic table that was far enough away from the building or any shrubs. "Okay," Booth explained. "We have the same rules as before. You hold it down here, like this." He placed his little hand at the very bottom. "Hold it out in front of you like this. And when I light it, you can't touch the sparkles. When it's all done, put it right here in the pan. Are you ready?"

"Yay! Wight it Daddy!"

Booth chuckled at his sudden burst of energy and watched him until it fizzled out. After lighting another one, he looked at Bones. "Here's one for you."

"It's just a chemical reaction that…" She abruptly stopped when she saw his glare. "Sorry." She took the offered sparkler and waited for it to be lit.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Although not the normal routine, Booth allowed his son to stay up to finish watching the movie after he had his pajamas on. Parker surprised Booth when he was still awake at the end. "Time for bed, Bud."

"But I'm not tired," he whined.

"I think you can still fall asleep. It's really late."

"No sweeping!"

"Parker…" warned Booth.

Even more surprising than Parker still being awake was Brennan's help. "Do you watch cartoons in the morning?"

He found his smile. "I wuv cartoons!"

"Well, if you stay up too late, you might sleep all the way until they're over."

Parker's jaw dropped in the most adorably dramatic way. Booth had to fight not to laugh. "We wouldn't want that to happen. Come on, Bud. Let's go read a book and tuck you in bed." Booth started to walk with him towards the bedrooms.

"Wait!"

"What's wrong now?" asked Booth with curiosity.

"I want Bones to read me a story."

"Well… maybe you should ask her first." He was happy at how relaxed she'd been and how she'd thought about the cartoons to get him in bed, but he was really skeptical about the story.

Parker looked at Brennan with pleading eyes. "Pwease…"

She chuckled at his pleading and puppy dog eyes. "Like father, like son."

"What? I don't act like that!" he said with indignation.

She all out laughed. "Oh yes you do! Parker, do you have a Winnie-the-Pooh book?"

"Oooh! Good choice, Bones. That ones about to fall apart. Been loved for two generations now."

"Come on, Bones. I show you where it is." Parker stopped long enough to address his dad. "Dad, you can stay here."

Booth's eyebrows appeared to try and hit his hairline he was so shocked.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

"Done already?" asked Booth.

"I only got to the third page and he was sound asleep. You want to kiss him goodnight?"

Booth smiled. "I'll be right back."

When Booth returned to the family room, he was disappointed to see Brennan with her jacket on. "Are you leaving, already?"

"I should go. I want to get to the lab and get some work done in the morning. And you look exhausted." She chuckled. "Does Parker wear you out?"

"Are you saying I'm old? 'Cause I'm not! Three year-olds are supposed to make you tired. Which is why I deserve to relax." She turned towards the door. He almost grabbed her before remembering what would happen if he did. Instead, he stopped her by walking in front of her. "Hey, wait! I said relax, not sleep. Let's have a beer. Watch some TV."

"I don't watch TV, Booth."

"I have the science channel," he said in a sing-song voice.

"The science channel? I probably know more than they do."

"You're right. What was I thinking?"

"You don't have to pout Booth."

He glared at her. "Don't you dare say, like father, like son."

"Okay. I won't. Even though it's true."

Booth groaned.

"Any stations have any historical documentaries?"

"The History Channel. Let's see what's on, Bones."

"You'll watch the History Channel?"

"I was willing to watch science, wasn't I?"

"True. Thanks Booth."

"Thanks for having Cable? Ya know, you can get cable anytime. You just need to have a TV first." He smirked.

"I don't need a TV or Cable. I meant thank you for asking me to stay… for tolerating me."

His voice and expression softened. "Anytime, Bones. Anytime."


Quotes from The Man in the Fallout Shelter

Big Boss (talking about the drugs possible side effects): In very rare cases, euphoria, dream state, mild hallucinations.

Angela: I'll take that please.


Booth: Ya know what? I never realized how pretty all this shiny stuff is.

Hodgins: That is not fair.


Booth (to Bones): It seems to me you could give the man upstairs the same benefit of the doubt you give an invisible fungus.


Booth: Bones, you make it very hard to like you.


Booth (to Rebecca): You don't have to see me. Don't make me beg.


Bones: Wait. You have a son?

Booth: Yeah.

Bones: You've never mentioned that.

Booth: Well, nothing brings people together like a Christmas lung fungus.


Bones: I'm sorry you didn't get Christmas morning with your little boy.

Booth: Thanks.


Booth (when finding out about Brennan's parents): That explains a lot.


Bones: Anthropologically speaking, gifts are a way of asserting dominance in a group. Now imagine an entire holiday devoted to self-promotion, and especially in this materialistic culture. How can you expect me to get behind that? How can you get behind it?

Booth: Wow. That's deep. It's a very deep pile of crap.


Booth (to Bones): What if the gift goes both ways?