The Puzzle Song (by Sherri Ellis)
Even if he didn't understand why that word described this woman, her eyes were all the confirmation he needed that his gut was correct. Unfortunately, love was not enough to satisfy the room full of medical professionals. The leader of the pack cleared his throat, stating calmly that he had a few more questions of his own.
Booth clung to the safety line of her small, smooth hand, but needn't have feared: she wasn't going anywhere. Just as he knew he was safe and he knew he felt love when he met her eyes, her fingers intertwining with his and the stubborn set of her screamed that nothing could tear her from his side. But where had he seen that look before? In her nightclub? Or was it somewhere else?
He wasn't sure but the talking heads started talking again so he tuned back in, answering what he could. His name and birthday were easier ones and he threw in his social security number for good measure. Beside him, Bren smiled, but the smile slowly faded when the current date and President wouldn't come no matter how hard he tried.
He fared slightly better when they asked him to list immediate family members and the smile returned to her lips when he remembered that "Bren" was short for "Brennan" and that she was his wife. She mercifully caught the yawns he tried to stifle and after ten grueling minutes declared the interrogation over for the time being so that he could rest.
The head doctor didn't look thrilled but he also seemed to recognize the set of her jaw and didn't push. The friendly nurse the pack left in their wake checked him over one final time and left with orders to actually rest and to call if they needed anything.
"Are you okay?" he questioned his wife as she sat down, deflating onto a pullout bed beside his as soon as the door clicked shut.
"I'm fine," she managed, even as she maneuvered to lay down, suddenly looking as tired as he felt.
Silence fell like a heavy curtain between them but when he went to release her hand so that she could get comfortable he discovered it was she who was clinging to him. He began tracing small circles over her knuckles with the pad of his thumb and that seemed to soothe her.
"Hey," he spoke after a few minutes, "is it… I mean, could you, you know, tell me what I'm in for? I'm sure somebody told me at some point but…"
"You don't remember," she finished as his voice trailed off, then nodded. At first he thought maybe telling was against the rules or something but she finally replied with a question of her own, "What DO you remember?"
It was his turn to deflate as his eyes closed of their own accord and he shook his head, "It's all so jumbled."
"That's alright," she reassured him with another smile. "I'm quite adept at solving puzzles. We both are, in fact."
"We're a team," the fact emerged from the fog unbidden and he was rewarded with another smile. Emboldened, he continued, "I was in the Army but we - we only me after I got out. That's when I remember flashes. Nothing solid. Names without faces and faces without names."
"You called me Bren," her soft voice was a balm in the swirling chaos his confession had stirred.
His eyes found hers and his head bobbed up and down. "Short for Brennan," he was only re-quoting what had been confirmed already but that felt like safer ground to anchor in. "Is your first name Angela? That name sounds familiar but it doesn't feel right for you."
"Angela is one of our ver good friend," she informed him kindly, "and a colleague as well."
"Part of our team," he guessed, the looked at her suddenly. "You're the boss. I know that. And there's a bar I remember too."
"We've been to many bars," she confirmed, "but I'm not the boss, that's Cam."
A part of his brain registered her clapping a hand over her mouth at the slip of a name that hadn't been mentioned yet, but he knew the name and shook his head, "You mean Camille? She's the boss? No, that doesn't sound right. Besides, I saw you with that pack of doctors and you were definitely bossing them around."
Cheeks flaming she rose, dropped his hand, and began puttering around the room, picking up small items as she went before reiterating under her breath that she was not the boss.
Shrugging, his attention was drawn to just how wired up the the monitors he was and a quick glance at his surrounding told him they both had been occupying the room for several days.
"I remember a fire," he threw out, going back to possible reasons he might have landed in this bed. "You were there and I… I think I saved you."
"Not this time," her eyes were sad and for a moment she looked as lost as he was, then her shoulders straightened and her voice was firm. "You should rest."
"Will you stay?: he asked as she reached for a jacket hung near the door.
"I'll be back," she promised. "There are some things I must attend to."
"The Lab?" he queried, knowing that place was tied to who she was, even if his brain wasn't currently feeding him details to make the exact connection.
Coming to a stop she eyed him.
"I told you, I remember things," he said. "It's just jumbled, that's all."
"I'm not going to the lab," she informed him. "And you are going to rest."
"Yes, Boss," he teased as she rearranged the pillow under his head and pulled the blankets up to cover him.
As she leaned across, her tongue darted out and without thinking he reached up, capturing one cheek in his hand and closing the distance between her mouth and his own. Her lips felt soft beneath his chapped ones and he ran his tongue along them as her bodyweight shifted for a better angle. Tongues clashed as access was granted on both sides but there was only a hint of frenzy. For Booth it felt like putting on a comfy pair of slippers that fit just right. Without words he tried to express that he knew and loved her even if the details were hazy. She reciprocated in kind and when they separated it was mutual, though neither could have guessed how much time had passed in the interim.
The hand that had been on her cheek lay cloaked in her hair and he stroked the silky strands.
"I'll be back soon," she promised, voice huskier, as she planted a feather-light kiss on his cheek before pulling away.
"Rest," she ordered one last time.
The lights clicked off and his eyes seemed to close with the door.
And he dreamed.
B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B
The fire had done negligible damage to The Lab structurally, but its effect on the humans within was incomparable. Most notable from the outside were the crowds who came to check out the flavor of the week after it made the 11 o'clock news and returned, convinced they'd stumbled on the best kept secret in DC. The who's who found the sleek lines and sleeker menu right up their alley, but the everyman hit the bar and the dance floor and the two cohabited without incident.
The staff attributed this duality to the pair at the helm. Bren would always be the Boss, no questions asked, but the man who had stepped up to her side brought the party. Jack remained the lone holdout as to Mr. B's trustworthiness, though over time even the paranoid author was forced to admit the former G-Man might not be a small government plant in a vaster conspiracy.
The one indisputable fact was Booth's loyalty to Bren. Before they had been flirting around the edges of what may have been a fun fling but the fire had forged a connection that stuck and only strengthened over the passage of time.
One never knew exactly where Booth would be working in the club on any given night, but he was always there and Bren was never far from his line of sight. His vigilance made sure their patrons got home safe and his connections in the music industry kept them coming back for more.
As for Bren, while she had never considered herself to be a team player, the concept was growing on her as much as the man. Intellectually, he was stimulating. Physically, he was stunning. And there was a quality in the way he interacted with others that both eluded and fascinated her. Not to mention he was the only other person besides Ange she would name as a friend.
Six month after the fire she named him as her business partner and invited him to share the adjoining apartment with her. Six months later, he gave her a ring and invited her to be his wife.
The wedding was a small, intimate gathering. The reception was the envy of every socialite in the tri-state area and clearly boasted to all that The Lab was in town to stay.