"Tell me one last thing," said Harry. "Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"

"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"

JK Rowling

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Dr. Brennan face was disbelieving as she looked at Angela.

"Angela, did you bring her here because of what we discussed in your office?"

Angela was defiant.

"Yes. I didn't say anything, though. I just want to know what Avalon thinks."

The blonde woman stared between them thoughtfully.

"I seem to be missing something." She smiled playfully at the woman who had worked so hard for me. "Hello again, Temperance, Agent Booth."

"This is ridiculous! She can't . . ."

"She was right about the bodies under the fountain." Angela shifted her son higher on her shoulder. "Explain that."

Dr. Brennan glanced at Avalon. "That I can't immediately identify a rational explanation doesn't mean there isn't one."

"Seems to me I was right about more than just the fountain." Avalon's tone was smug when she nodded at Dr. Brennan and Booth, sitting in chairs they'd pulled side-by-side. In case anyone mistook her meaning, she added a pointed look at the obvious swell of a pregnant belly.

From where I sat in the shadows I could see Booth's profile when he grinned and stretched his arm along the back of Dr. Brennan's chair. The twinkle of happiness around him combined with the sizzle of irritation around her was intriguing so I moved closer to get a better view.

When I moved out of the shadows, Avalon's head swiveled toward me. Her mouth fell open as she took a step in my direction.

"Avalon?" The question came from Angela. Around us, the room fell quiet.

There was a flicker of movement beside me and when I glanced over, the old guide was there. He stared at Avalon, whose gaze was fixed in the general area where we stood.

Then he smiled at me.

"This is a gift." His deep voice rumbled in the silence.

I was confused.

"What do you mean?"

"She sees," he said simply.

"She can see us?" I stared back and forth between them, the woman slowly moving closer to us and my guide, who stood beside me.

He nodded. "She sees our presence."

"But so does Angela. She heard me talking to her." I looked at the dark haired woman who'd given me a face. Her son's head snuggled into the curve of her neck as she patted his back and watched Avalon.

The guide shook his head. "The artist-mother feels. This one," he smiled mysteriously, "she sees."

My eyes tracked the woman who was still inching forward. Her gaze was focused on a point over my shoulder instead of directly at me.

"Are you sure she can see us?"

He lifted one shoulder. "There are many ways to see."

Avalon came to a halt just a few feet from me. After a second's hesitation, I moved over so that I stood directly in front of her and raised my right hand with the palm facing out. She blinked, took a deep breath and mirrored my movement with her left hand. I lowered mine until only centimeters separated our fingers. Then I touched her.

Her gasp reverberated in the hushed stillness. It felt as if the room held its collective breath as everyone watched her, standing there, hand upraised, eyes shut. When her arm finally lowered, she made a fist of the hand that had touched mine and clutched it to her chest.

"She felt it." Amazed, I spun around. "Is that what you meant by a gift? That I could touch her?"

He shook his head. "No, child. Watch."

Avalon was looking at Angela. "Is this why you asked me to come here?"

"You felt it, too?"

Avalon crossed the office quickly, took a seat in the middle of the sofa and attacked the coffee table, stacking the magazines and journals and passing empty plates and food containers to anyone nearby. Everyone watched in silence when she pulled an oversized handbag into her lap and fished out a silk-wrapped bundle of ornately decorated cards.

A thought occurred to me. "She's a fortune teller?"

The guide chided me with a look. "She sees. She speaks through the cards."

Avalon shuffled and reshuffled the cards with a focused intensity . . . and suddenly, I knew.

I looked into the wise, ancient eyes.

"Can she speak for me? She can, can't she? She can see me . . . she knows I'm here! She speak for me!" The words caught in my throat when I looked at the woman who'd done so much for me. "I can say thank you. I can let her know how much it means to me . . ."

He was smiling when he nodded. "This is your gift."

The thought almost overwhelmed me.

Dr. Brennan glanced at Booth, the man whose child grew within her. She rolled her eyes and made a face. I already knew that she didn't believe I was here with her but I clung to the hope that if I just had a chance, if somehow I could talk to her, surely she would hear me. Surely then she would believe.

Avalon finished shuffling the cards and spread them out in a wide arc across the table.

"How?" I stared hungrily at the cards. "What do I do?"

"Go to her, to the one who sees," my guide instructed. "Sit beside her. Your presence will influence the cards. They will speak for you."

Dr. Brennan was now sitting with her arms crossed. Her scornful expression made me nervous.

"I don't think she wants to do this. What if she refuses?"

"She will not refuse. Go."

I moved swiftly across the room, to the sofa beside Avalon. I was sitting directly across from them, Dr. Brennan and Booth, the man and woman who'd fought to give me justice. His arm was around the back of her chair and the glittering, golden net of light surrounded them again.

"Pick a card." Avalon's fingers fluttered over the deck.

Dr. Brennan frowned. "What? No. I don't believe in this. Besides, that isn't even a Tarot layout."

The blonde smiled. "Sounds like you've been doing your research."

Dr. Brennan looked a little self-conscious. "I will admit that yes, after your sister's murder I did delve somewhat into their history."

I heard a smothered cough and looked up to see Angela covering her mouth.

"Nothing," she said. "Just dust . . . in my throat . . ." The kiss she pressed into her son's curls didn't quite hide the smile on her lips.

"Well, you're right, Temperance." Avalon continued as if the interruption hadn't happened. "This isn't a Tarot layout, but this isn't a reading, either. This is a message."

"A message?" Dr. Brennan was as skeptical and mistrusting as I'd feared. "I don't accept that. I don't accept messages from cards or whispers in my head or . . . or . . . or laughter in empty rooms."

Booth's head swiveled in her direction. I wondered if they were both remembering when they'd heard my laughter in the quiet of this very room.

Whatever he heard in her voice was enough that he tried to intervene.

"Avalon . . ."

"Always protecting her, aren't you, Agent Booth?" Avalon smiled but her eyes were gentle. "You need to do this, Dr. Brennan. Trust me. You need to do this."

Please, please. I couldn't help begging as I watched the battle of wills between the two women. Please . . .

I wasn't surprised when it was Booth's influence that tipped the scales. The arm that had rested behind her lifted, shifted, then his hand rested on her knee and she turned to him. They had another silent conversation, the two of them, just as I'd watched happen so many times in the short while I'd known them. They had a way of shutting everything and everyone out until it was just him and her and whatever passed without words between them. When his head tilted toward Avalon, I relaxed.

And Avalon smiled.

"Pick a card, Dr. Brennan."

Thoughts . . . words and phrases . . . filled my head as I waited for her choice. I tried to focus everything I wanted to tell her into the cards, to create a message that she'd understand. Finally, she chose and turned one face up.

Avalon smiled again.

"Temperance."

Dr. Brennan rolled her eyes.

"That's the same card you chose for me when we met."

"But you chose it this time. Temperance is the guide of souls, did you know that? That's what you do, isn't it? You speak for the dead because they can't."

The next card, the Star card, was upside down. Avalon sighed.

"The person who's here . . . it's a young girl, isn't it?" She looked up at Angela, who nodded. "Her life was turned upside down. Her dreams were destroyed, her future was altered forever."

The Ten of Cups. "But she made her own happiness. She found a new family, people who loved her."

The Wheel of Fortune. Avalon's fingers brushed against the edge of the card.

"Fate stepped in again. Everything she had, everything she'd made out of her life, it was all taken away."

Suddenly, it struck me how quiet the room had become. Everyone was watching . . . standing . . . staring . . . but no one was talking. With the next card, it seemed as if they all drew the same breath.

The Devil.

Tears glittered in Avalon's eyes. "So much pain," she whispered. "She suffered."

Dr. Brennan reached quickly for another card. I understood. I wanted to move past those memories, too.

She placed the Four of Wands, upside down, beside the others.

"She found . . . peace," Avalon whispered. "She missed her life, she missed the people she loved. But she was surrounded by sunlight and grass and trees and she . . . she was at peace."

The Chariot.

Avalon smiled at the couple sitting across from us.

"And then you found her. You brought her here and she's still here, watching you fight for her."

I followed Avalon's gaze as she looked around the room and let my words pour out of her.

"She's been watching you and she knows how much you care. She knew that you would find the truth, that you would give her a face and a name. She knew that you would tell the world what happened to her and that you would do all of that because it was the right thing to do." Avalon paused and looked at Dr. Brennan. "She knew she mattered."

"Anne." It was the first time Dr. Brennan had spoken since she'd scoffed at the card that bore her name. "Annie. Her name was Annie."

I saw Booth turn toward her, saw his fingers grab and squeeze hers, remind her that he was right there beside her. The light around them shimmered and pulsed and settled over them. Dr. Brennan took a deep breath and the tension in her shoulders relaxed.

"Annie created another family," Avalon told them. "From you. From all of you."

Without warning, she suddenly leaned forward and began to pick cards at random. Her nails tapped against the tabletop as she turned them over.

The Hierophant, upside down. "You, Angela."

The Page of Pentacles. "Mr. Bray."

The Hermit. "Dr. Saroyan."

The Emperor. "Jack."

From the corner of my eye I saw Dr. Hodgins nudge Angela.

"The Emperor," he murmured. "King of the Lab."

She threw a shoulder against his. "Shhhhh!"

King of Wands. "Seeley."

The High Priestess. "You, Temperance."

Another card snapped to the table.

Strength. "You're all here. She claimed each of you as part of her new family. Because of your hard work, Annie has a name. Because of your determination, she'll have justice."

The Lovers.

"There is so much love here. The love you all feel for each other, for the victims. She felt it and it helped to heal her spirit. You gave Annie peace. She's been here with you all along, watching you, and she wanted to say thank you."

Avalon smiled across the cards at Dr. Brennan.

"She's dazzled by you, too."

I didn't understand what that meant but I watched this woman who meant so much to me as her eyes fluttered before she slanted a glance toward Booth. Then her jaw firmed and her face tightened and I knew . . . I knew she was going to reject everything she'd heard, everything I'd tried to tell her. My heart ached.

Behind her, my guide stepped forward.

"Please." I was begging again but I didn't care. I only had one chance. Just this one.

When he closed his eyes I thought all was lost.

Then I felt warmth flood through me. It tingled up from my toes, like blood rushing through a cramped limb. I didn't understand what it meant until I heard Dr. Saroyan gasp . . . when I looked at her, she was looking at me.

She was looking at me. As if she could see me.

I spun around. Mr. Bray's mouth was hanging open. Dr. Hodgins' eyes were wide and fixed and Angela's were wet and shimmering.

The heart I didn't have began to race. If they could see me . . .

Booth was staring at me with a sense of wonder, his lips curving up with the beginnings of a smile.

Only one person mattered, though. I steeled myself and turned to Dr. Brennan.

She could see me.

For the first time I was able to look directly into her eyes. I didn't even try to hide my reaction. I wanted her to know how happy I was, what this moment meant to me. Our gazes locked. I nodded once, briefly. I saw her tears . . . and she saw mine.

It lasted only a fraction of a second.

She saw me.

I know she did.

I whispered into the room. "Thank you."

She heard me.

I know she did.

The chirp of a phone shocked everyone. Booth jumped in his chair and grabbed it out of his pocket.

With a sweeping rush, the tingling warmth left my body and just like that, my gift was gone.

The loss cut through me like a brittle wind.

But I knew it had happened. I knew, for that one infinitesimal moment in time, I had been real again. And she had seen me.

Whispers buzzed in the room.

"Did you . . ."
"I thought I saw . . ."
"Was that . . ."

Booth coughed and stood, holding up his phone. He looked at Dr. Brennan.

"The search warrants are ready. I've got to go. Avalon, this has been . . ." He glanced at the spot where I still sat, invisible once again. "Yea. Uh . . . thanks." He shook his head as if to clear it. "Hodgins, will you and Angela take Bones home?"

"Yea, sure, of course."

Dr. Brennan sat unmoving as Avalon gathered up her cards. Everyone else kept sneaking looks toward my spot on the sofa but she just stared down at her hands clasped tightly in her lap. She only joined the conversation again when Booth put his hand on her shoulder and spoke directly to her.

"Bones? Is that okay? They'll take you home?"

"Yes," she nodded. "That's fine. I'm fine. Yes, that sounds fine." She got to her feet.

Booth looked at her with concern but she just smiled and smoothed the lapels of his jacket.

"Okay." He kissed her cheek. "Don't wait up, I might be all night."

Dr. Saroyan interrupted their goodbye.

"No matter what time it is, call me when you're finished. I'll meet the technicians here and take receipt of the evidence. We can start working first thing tomorrow."

"Thanks." Booth looked again at Avalon. She saved him from whatever he'd been about to say.

"Nice seeing you again, Agent Booth." Her dimples showed when she grinned. "Go catch some bad guys."

After another quick kiss from Dr. Brennan, he was gone.

Dr. Saroyan and Mr. Bray left soon after, whispering with their heads together, and then Dr. Hodgins bustled out, too, with a comment tossed over his shoulder about diaper bags and baby toys.

Then it was just Avalon and Angela, facing Dr. Brennan and waiting for her to speak first. She tried to ignore them. She took a deep breath and looked everywhere but at the place where I remained and busied herself replacing the stacks of magazines and papers Avalon had cleared away from the coffee table.

"Brennan?" Angela's voice was hesitant and soft and I thought at first she would ignore it.

"Yes, Angela?" She finally responded, her chin raised stubbornly. Avalon watched both women with a trace of a smile.

"Brennan, you can't pretend that what just happened . . ."

"Nothing happened." She met Angela's gaze defiantly. "Obviously it has been a long day and we are all very tired. This case has been . . . difficult. The specifics are disturbing and have clearly affected us." She glanced at Avalon briefly. "Ms. Harmonia is very talented in the art of Tarot."

Avalon just shrugged.

"You tell yourself whatever you need to tell yourself, Temperance. Your heart knows the truth. Your heart knows Annie."

A few tense seconds passed before Angela sighed.

"I'll show Avalon out and then we'll meet you downstairs."

After they left, Dr. Brennan stood in the middle of the room for several long minutes, her gaze unfocused, before she shook herself out of the moment of reverie. At the door of her office, she hesitated again, one hand on the light switch.

She turned back and swept the room with a glance.

Her quiet voice whispered through the dark as the lights dimmed and she slipped away.

"You're welcome."

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Errors in Tarot interpretation are entirely mine and will, I hope, be forgiven.

Thank you for reading.