A little fluffy in this one!! Not the kind you want, but trust me, it's going to happen.
R&R like always.
Thanks for all of the great reviews! Keep it up!
Her phone rang just as she shut the door to her private sanctuary. At least that is what it felt like to her. She had just gotten home after a grueling day and all she wanted to do was jump into a hot shower and sleep.
She closed her eyes and leaned up against the wall, the vibration of the ring still vibrating through her coat pocket. She groaned both inwardly and outwardly at the sound and finally resorted to picking it up. She just hoped that it wasn't Booth calling about another body being found or some new evidence coming along. Not that she didn't want to catch the person who killed Ashton, but she just wasn't in the right mindset right now.
"Brennan." She said to the caller.
"Hey Temperance. It's Mike."
She had completely forgotten about the FBI agent that she had promised a date to. Her life had gone somewhat askew after the agent had asked her to go on a date and only know had she remembered the countless messages that she had neglected to check in the past weeks, "Oh, hey." She said half heartedly.
"Yeah, I was just calling because I wanted to know if you would still be interested in going out to dinner with me."
She shook her head and raised her free hand to her forehead. He was a nice guy and deserved at least a chance to have dinner with her despite the fact that she knew Booth would be jealous in a heartbeat. She exhaled loudly without thought.
"It's okay if you don't. I'll understand." He said sounding disappointed.
"No, Mike. I would like very much to have dinner with you." She stated in a clinical sort of way.
"Oh, that's great. When are you free?" he asked.
"How about tomorrow night?"
"That… that sounds great. I'll pick you up at seven?"
Brennan shrugged her shoulders and opened her eyes, "Yes. Seven is good."
"Okay then," he said eagerly, "Seven it is. Have a good night."
"You too."
She hung up the phone and set it down on the kitchen table along with her bag and keys. She really didn't want to go on a date with him, but she figured it would be a good way to test how she felt about relationships at the moment, specifically her relationship with Booth.
Emma stood in front of his door considering whether or not to knock. It's not that she was afraid of him, but more or less weary of whether to share the news that she had received earlier that day.
She turned away from the door and sat down on the front stoop to think for a moment when she heard the squeak of the door behind her.
"Hey."
She turned abruptly and stared at him for a moment before responding, "Hey."
"Were you planning on knocking or just going to camp out in front of my door all night?" he said, smiling at her.
She stood up and walked in the front door, ducking under his arm. Booth closed the door and joined her in his living room, "So, I take it you need to talk about something."
She nodded and then threw herself down on his leather couch relieving an exhausted breath from her lungs, "Yeah, you could say that."
Booth nodded and placed his hands on his hips, "Would you like a beer or something to eat?"
She looked up at him and smiled, "A beer would be great."
He quickly made his way to the kitchen, removing two beers and popping their caps off before returning to Emma in the living room. He handed one off to her and sat down next to her on the couch, "So what is wrong?" he said, then taking a swig from the bottle.
She sipped the beer cautiously and then began fiddling with the label on the bottle, refusing eye contact, "My mission at George Washington is over."
Booth cleared his throat and looked out the window behind the couch, "So what does that mean for you?"
"It means that I will be back at the bureau for a while and then I will be placed back under cover in a matter of days, maybe weeks."
Booth looked her over. He knew that she loved going undercover but she was obviously not happy about this situation. Although he had gotten the slightest of hints that there was something going on between her and Sweets, he was never really one for gossip, but he knew that there had to be some truth to it, "And you're upset because…"
She looked up at him rolling her eyes, "Like you don't know already." She said letting a cocky laugh escape her lips, "You were right, I have a thing for Lance."
He laughed at the remark, "I knew it!" he said victoriously, "You know, it wasn't that hard to figure it out."
She shook her head at him, "Some would say the same thing about you."
Booth put his beer down on his coffee table, "Yeah, you really screwed me with that one."
Emma raised her eyebrows, astonished, "How did I screw you?"
"You were all logical in explaining things to me about my friendship with Bones; I did something really stupid."
Emma twisted herself on the couch to face him, "What did you do?"
"I told her that I was in love with her."
Emma scrunched her face, "First I would like to point out that you are presently in love with her; not past tense. And secondly, how is it my fault that you did that?"
Booth shook his head and rubbed his hand over his face, "Fine, you win. Forget it. You're right, I told her that I was- am in love with her and it's completely my fault."
Emma shook her head more violently and then stood up, "It's no one's fault that you're in love with her! It's not like you can stop love from happening. Admitting that you're in love is preventable, but the longer a person keeps that inside of themselves, the longer they go without expressing that feeling to the other person, the quicker they die from not knowing if their feelings are returned. It leaves you more cold and jaded by the moment."
Booth grabbed the bottle off the table and took a healthy swig, "You're right. Maybe admitting it was a good thing, Emma. But the way I did it…"
Emma crossed her arms and diplomatically asked, "Well, how did you do it?"
"I yelled it at her." He said flatly.
Emma let out a quick burst of laughter and then stopped. Then she could no longer help it and let laughter consume her. Booth stared at her accusingly and slammed the bottle down on the table before standing up angrily, "That is not funny!" he said. Her actions failed to cease which only made him angrier. The longer she continued laughing, the more lighthearted he felt which made him only want to maintain his anger at her. Finally he gave in and began laughing as well.
They both ended up collapsing on the couch, remaining giggles seeping from their bodies until finally they both calmed.
"Man," Emma exclaimed, "You two can't do anything the normal way, can you?"
Booth giggled again, "Apparently not."
Emma rolled her eyes and then looked at him, "So what are you going to do now?"
Booth ran a hand through his hair and sighed, "All I can do is wait until she either comes to terms with it and ends our partnership or… admits that she loves me too."
Emma nodded, "She will choose the latter."
Booth looked over at her, "Why do you say that?"
"She loves you, Booth. Very few people are so self destructive that they won't let someone else love them. If she really is, then you need to commit her."
"Bones doesn't believe in psychology."
Emma giggled, "But psychology believes in her!" she said using a very 'twilight zone' type voice.
The two erupted in yet another fit of laughter.
It was the next morning and Sweets had called Emma the night before. They had decided to meet for breakfast that morning at the diner before work. He sat impatiently waiting for her in the diner at the usual table hoping that he would be able to remain cool when she arrived. He had a bad habit of being overly dorky in front of pretty girls and it had always irritated him. He didn't know that Emma thought that it was cute.
Emma stepped inside the diner just as Sweets had looked up at the door. She was dressed professionally. A pair of black pants and a matching black suit jacket, heels and a light blue button down; the clothes had taken him off guard as he had only ever seen her in casual attire and a cheerleading uniform that made him quiver every time she had donned it.
She quickly made her way over to him, trying to hide the over dramatic smile playing on her lips at the sight of him. She sat down across from him and folded her arms at the edge of the table. She was about to talk when the waitress came up to them and began taking their orders.
Once that was done she stared down at her arms and then looked up at his piercing gaze, "What?" she asked.
"Nothing," he said, abruptly leaning back in his chair, "It's just, the way you sounded yesterday on the phone, I assumed that you wanted to talk to me about something."
"You know what they say about people who assume." She joked.
"Yeah, yeah."
"Actually, you're right. I do need to talk to you about something." She said, then clearing her throat.
"Okay," he said straightening in his chair and becoming concerned.
"I'm being taken off of the George Washington case."
"Okay, well, that's good news, isn't it?"
"Not exactly." She said looking down again.
Sweets looked up at the waitress who was setting their breakfast down in front of them, "Um, thank you." He said to the waitress, then turning back to Emma, "I'm not sure I understand."
"My job at the FBI is based upon my ability to go undercover. By taking me off of the GW case, I will be reassigned again elsewhere. It means I might be going somewhere for an extended period of time."
Sweet's brow furrowed in confusion, "Somewhere else as in…"
"As in," Emma shrugged, "Florida, New York, England Scotland, California, who knows." She said.
Sweet's rested his head in his hands and sighed, "So that means…"
"Yeah…" she said regretfully.
Sweet's looked up and then grabbed one of her hands, holding it in his. He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand and then looked her square in the eye, "Okay." He said simply.
"Okay?" she asked.
"I'll wait for you."