May – Booth and Bones
He sat on a bench, right next to the coffee cart. He had been there for two hours already. When he arrived at the airport, Parker, Jared and Hank were there to greet him. He cried when Parker hugged him. As promised, they went and got milkshakes at the diner before Parker had to go back to his mom's. Rebecca had promised Booth that he could have several weekends in a row with Parker so he could catch up on his missed days. Booth was relieved that Rebecca was so understanding.
Booth went straight to the reflecting pool as soon as Parker was with his mom. He missed having sirens. It would've gotten him there faster. But when he arrived next to the coffee cart. He was still alone. He wasn't sure what he expected but he sure felt like Brennan should've been there. He wanted to see Brennan and run to her.
But she wasn't there.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Flight 684 to Washington D.C. connecting in Chicago has been delayed due to weather. Please standby for updates," A voice over the loud speaker said.
Brennan's heart dropped. She was supposed to be in D.C. right this minute. She needed to see Booth. Ever since the torrential rain storms in the Maluku Islands took down her tent and trashed her computer in late December, she hadn't been able to contact anyone. Every means of communication from their base camp was destroyed in the rainfall.
"NO!" She shouted to no one, "I need to go to D.C."
Daisy eyed her as she forcefully made her way to the ticket counter, ready to demand information.
"I need a flight to America. I don't care where. Just get me to America."
"I'm sorry, ma'am. There are several severe storms on their way in and we can't let any aircraft take off. I really am sorry. There's nothing we can do," the old man behind the counter told her.
Brennan couldn't bring herself to walk away. The kind old man stared at her and then to the people who have formed a line behind her. She uncharacteristically took the hint and walked back to where Daisy had been sitting. She know she wouldn't have been able to know what that man was talking about just a few years ago, but now that she had been learning from Booth about her people-reading skills, she knew the subtleties he was hinting at.
"Dr. Brennan?" Daisy said from her spot.
"We can't leave. There are storms coming," Brennan informed the younger anthropologist.
Daisy just nodded. Brennan took a seat on her suitcase next to the grad assistant and slumped over. Feeling the dam was about to break, Brennan stood up suddenly and walked briskly to the nearest restroom. She walked to the largest stall and locked herself in. She let a few sobs escape and then cried silently as she heard footsteps.
"Dr. Brennan?" Daisy called from outside of the stalls.
"Yes, Miss Wicks?" Brennan said through her tears.
"Are you okay? I wanna go home too but we can wait a few more days."
"Days?" Brennan shouted.
"Well, yes, I checked the forecast for Jakarta and the storm has stalled over Indonesia. It'll be a day or two before it moves out."
"Your satellite phone broke too, didn't it?"
"Yes, Doctor. It was ruined along with everything else at the camp."
Neither of them had bothered to bring their actual cell phones since they wouldn't have any coverage in the islands and it would cost a lot of money to just send one text. Brennan wasn't concerned about cost but she just didn't see the practicality of it until now.
She needed to tell Booth she wasn't going to make it back today. She couldn't let Booth think she had forgotten about their promise.
XXXXXXXXXX
Booth sat there until dark. She still hadn't shown up and he hadn't gotten a call or anything. He was beginning to think she forgot. But he had faith in her.
He headed home, which was now his small house on the Army base. Though his deployment was over, he was asked to consider a longer round in the Army. Booth was seriously thinking about it. It would mean more trips to Afghanistan and Iraq and other warzones around the world but it would mean he could always provide for Parker. His only two caveats were Parker and Bones. He wasn't sure if he could really leave Parker for months at a time and he wasn't sure if he was willing to leave Bones behind either. He arrived home to silence, something he wasn't used to yet after months of gun fire and explosions. He checked his answering machine. Nothing.
He longed for her. He wanted to be with her.
"Maybe her plane got delayed," he wondered out loud. He checked the Dulles website, looking for flight listings. He found nothing about a flight from Jakarta. He didn't know she was supposed to be coming from a layover in Chicago. He sat and wondered if she had changed her mind about them.
XXXXXXXXXX
Two days later, Brennan was perched in her first class seat, waiting anxiously for the pilot to guide the plane into the sky. It was a long flight, almost twenty two hours.
She needed to be rested for when they landed but she couldn't sleep. She was too excited. She couldn't wait to see him. She missed him more than she had ever missed anyone. She wanted to see Parker too. Children his age grow constantly, and though she knew it was biologically impossible, she was afraid he had grown several feet since she had seen him.
XXXXXXXXXX
They landed and she had only slept a couple hours due to pure exhaustion. They had caught another plane in Chicago and Daisy voiced her despair at having to travel in coach several times before Brennan and Daisy parted ways, Brennan heading to first class luxury.
Brennan didn't even wait for Daisy to leave the plane. Brennan caught a taxi straight to Booth's apartment. She hauled her heavy bags up three flights of stairs and knocked on the door. When no one answered, she attempted to use her key. The key didn't fit in the lock. She was more than confused. She waited for another taxi and went to her apartment. She left her bags in the middle of the entryway and retrieved her phone. She turned it on and, to her surprise, had several missed calls and messages from Booth. The messages told her that he was living at the Army base for now and gave her the address. She tried calling him but it went straight to voicemail. And after being off for a year and no charging, her cell phone died quickly.
She called for yet another cab and told the driver to go to the base. It was past midnight now, and she didn't care. She was going to see Booth, the love of her life, and no one was going to stop her.
XXXXXXXXXXX
"Ma'am, I'm sorry but civilians aren't allowed on the base this late. You'll need to come back in the morning," the soldier at the gate told her. Booth was just on the other side of the fence. She needed to see him. She didn't want to wait any longer.
"I need to see Special Agent Seeley Booth. Right now!" she yelled at the man. Realizing her mistake, she corrected herself. "I mean, Sergeant Major Seeley Booth. I need to see him. He's an agent with the FBI and he's needed for a case," she fibbed.
Booth said a little white lie to Parker wouldn't hurt so she figured it would be the same to this kid. The young soldier looked her over. "I need some ID, please."
She pulled out her driver's license, her passport, and her Jeffersonian badge, anything that would prove to this man that she was serious about seeing Booth.
He looked her over. "You work at the Jeffersonian? My kids love that museum," he told her. She doubted this guy was old enough to have kids, but now she was getting side tracked and she didn't have time for that.
"So can I go see him or not?" She pushed. The soldier gave her a sideways glance, still looking at each form of identification Brennan had provided.
"Well, I didn't let you in…" The young man winked at her.
"Yes, you…Oh, okay, I got it," she said, again realizing hints she wouldn't have picked up not long ago.
He cracked the gate open for her and she scrambled in. She had memorized the address from Booth's text messages searched frantically for his house.
When she found what she believed to be Booth's house, she rang the doorbell and banged on the door several times. "Booth! Let me in!" No one came to the door.
XXXXXXXXXXX
"Thank you for meeting with me so late, Colonel," Booth said, stepping into the older man's home office.
"Well, Sarge, I'm always up, what can I do ya for?" Colonel Redford asked.
"Well, I would like to talk about my future with the Army, Sir."
"Uh-huh," Redford said, "are you thinking of ending it or continuing it, Sarge? You are one of the best marksmen I have ever seen. You would be a wonderful asset to our country."
"Yes, sir, thank you. But I was wondering-" Booth wasn't allowed to finish because a younger man came into the office.
"Colonel, Sergeant Major," the man addressed. It was the same young man Brennan had just convinced into letting her onto the base. "A beautiful young woman is looking for you."
"Me?" Redford questioned, "Well, don't let my wife see her. She'll have a fit," the man joked.
"No, sir. She's looking for Sergeant Major Booth, sir."
Bones was the first person to enter his mind. "Who is it, Private?" Booth demanded.
"A doctor. From that cool museum in town. I'm not sure what she wants, Sir, but she was very adamant about coming to see you. She's at your residence, looking for you, Sir."
Booth's heart dropped down to his stomach and did flips just knowing she was on the base, looking for him.
Booth looked back to the higher ranking man, who nodded. "She's got you all twisted up inside, huh, Sarge?" Redford smiled.
"Yes, Sir," Booth answered, heading toward the door.
"Sergeant Major?" Redford stopped him.
"Sir?"
"You were saying? What did you want to know?"
Booth thought for a minute. "Sir, I'm sorry but I really need to go back to the FBI. I can't leave my son anymore. He needs me and so does," Booth stopped.
"The doctor that's looking for you?" Redford attempted to finish for him.
Booth nodded.
"It's okay, Sarge. Go get your woman. You'll be placed back on reserve at the end of the month."
"Thank you, Sir."
Booth ran out of the Colonel's house faster than he had ran before. He rounded the corner to his small ranch house and saw Brennan banging on the door like her life depended on it. He slowed to a walk and watched her yelling and banging the door trying to get him to answer.
"Booth! Open this door right now! Booth! If you don't open this door right now, I'm going to kick it down!" She waited and tried to listen for any movement in the house.
"Okay, Booth, I'm coming in!" Brennan brought a leg up and attempted to kick it down. The sheer force from her body knocked her over and her boot left a giant scuff mark on his front door.
"You know, you're going to have to pay to fix that. I certainly don't have the money to pay for someone to fix my door," Booth said, grinning wildly at her.
Brennan turned around, wide-eyed. He was tanner and his short hair was still trying to grow back to the way it had been before. He had a few days of stubble growing and with the Army fatigues, one look from him made Brennan weak at the knees.
To Booth, she hadn't changed. Except for her haircut, the sun-kissed glow to her skin and the new exotic jewelry she had a habit of collecting on her travels. She was still his Bones, still that tall, long-legged, porcelain-faced, blue-eyed bombshell he had fell in love with.
"How come you stopped emailing me?" Booth asked, he still on the sidewalk and she still on his porch.
"There were storms over our camp. It ruined everything, set the dig back a few weeks. We almost ran out of funding. The rains ruined every means of communication, even my laptop. I lost eleven chapters of my next book and now I have to start all over!"
Neither of them had moved yet. But at least he knew why she hadn't talked to him in over five months.
"Angela's pregnant," was the only thing Booth said.
"I expected something like that would happen soon, Angela and Dr. Hodgins tenting up in Paris and all."
"Shacking up, Bones. It's shacking up," he smiled at her.
"I missed you," Brennan said, ignoring his correction, still not moving from her spot on the porch.
"I missed you, too, Bren."
He bounded up the porch steps and scooped her up, hugging her tightly. She rested her head on his shoulder and silently vowed to never take him for granted again.
"I love you," he whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
"I love you, too." She looked up at him and laid a soft kiss on his lips. "No more long trips. I hate Indonesia," she commented.
"No, you don't. You just hate the rainstorms."
Brennan nodded. "No more long trips," she promised.
"No more long trips," he confirmed, kissing her again.