The sun rose in all parts of the world.
In a small hotel room, white linen drapes flitted in a morning breeze and drew goosebumps from Brennan's skin. Only a corner of the quilt partially covered her. When Booth woke,it took a moment of reflection before he began to believe that what he saw in front of him--his partner laying next to him, her pale skin exposed, dark waves of tresses curling over her bare arm and over her back.
He moved slowly so as to not disturb her, then placed feather-light kisses on that bare shoulder. Then another on her cheek.
She breathed deeply, then opened her eyes. And smiled.
"Morning."
She lifted herself onto her elbows and tussled her hair with her finger tips. Then she smiled at him.
He smiled back.
And for a while, that's all that happened. Smiling.
Then he leaned close and kissed her lips.
"You want the shower first?" He kissed her again. "Or we could share."
She pushed him roughly onto his back, then kissed him again. "Share."
He groaned and pulled her against him firmly, pinning her to the mattress, "I hoped you'd say that."
--
Sweets exited his office. He had no real plans for the break. Nothing particularly special. Just establishing a rapport with his newest clients and working on his research. Since he and Daisy had called it quits, all plans to spend the weekend at the beach had been postponed indefinitely, causing him to face a summer of all work and no play. A fate, which he had called, wicked harsh.
He swept up his files in his hands and began to thumb through them as he exited his office. His thoughts were completely engrossed in his notes when he ran straight into a tall brunette agent in a slick suit.
The papers slipped to the ground and went in all directions.
"Wow. I'm totally sorry," Sweets muttered, bending down and gathering the papers.
The agent stooped, too, and Sweets finally took the time to give the person eye contact to apologize again.
As his eyes swept past scattered papers, they traveled up panty-hosed legs, a short gray skirt, deep cleavage, and finally to two large green eyes framed in long lashes and smart frames.
"I--I--" Sweets let the oxygen hit his brain. "Wow."
The agent smiled and stood. He stood, too, hoping all along he didn't look as stupid as he felt. He felt like it was high school all over again. Tongue-tieed over a beautiful woman.
Wait a second. He wasn't a kid any more!
"I'm Lance... or Dr. Sweets, if you like. But I prefer Lance in social situations."
"Lauren," she replied, smiling. "Or Agent Phillips."
Sweets didn't reply. It would have been awkward if she wasn't smiling at him as she was.
"Well, I'll see you around, Lance." She smiled and walked to the elevator. She stood there, watching him straighten the papers for a few seconds. She cleared her throat. "Uh--I'm just about to go out to lunch--I just transfered, so I don't know any good places--"
"Uh, I know this great diner. They make some really good pie."
She smiled. "OK, then. It's a date."
Minutes later, the two were laughing over pie at the Royal Diner and were talking about Star Wars, .38s, karate and just about anything that came to mind.
--
"This one!" Michelle announced, then grabbed Cam's hand and the two women ran in the Saks 5th Avenue, each carrying three or four bags with glossy store names scrolled across them. "Oh, my gosh! Look at this! Isn't it cute?" Michelle pulled a black and white dress over her torso and modeled it dramatically.
"Work it. Work it, girlfriend," Cam laughed.
"You should get this one."
"I thought you liked it."
"I don't exactly have the--" she made a gesture over her breasts, "you know--to fill it out. Nothing ever looks as good on me as it does on the rack."
"Don't you ever think that, Michelle. You have a beautiful body. And one day, you'll have so much extra flesh that you'll wish to God you still had that tight little sixteen year old body. You're beautiful. Why don't you go try it on?"
Michelle thought it over for a minute. "Well, maybe I can get some of those silicone plastic boobs and stuff them in there."
"Go put it on before I change my mind and drag you to a Walmart. Do I look like I'm joking?"
Michelle rolled her eyes, smiled, and walked off to the dressing room.
The attendant walked up to Michelle, "Let me unlock the dressing room for you."
"Thanks." Michelle ran her hand over the dress in her hands and looked back at Cam who was walking toward her with a few more dresses in her arms and was looking down at the sizes.
The attendant smiled at Michelle when she had finished unlocking it. "You're lucky, you know. My mom would've never gone shopping with me. She was such a tom boy--"
"Oh, she's not--" Michelle stopped mid-sentence. "She's not the lucky one, I am." She looked back at Cam before adding, "My mom's pretty awesome, so..." She muttered her thanks and slipped into the dressing room.
Cam stopped in her tracks and looked up from the labels just Michelle disappeared into the dressing room. She had to blink away tears and clear her throat before asking, "How does that fit, Michelle?" through the dressing room door.
--
On a beach in Martha's Vineyard, a campfire sparked and sizzled on a sandy dune. The two were huddled close together under a patchy sea-colored quilt.
"Warm enough?" Hodgins asked, looking at the woman who was cuddled beneath his arm.
"Yes." Angela smiled up at him.
"How 'bout now?" He pulled some of the quilt off from her.
"Hodgins!" She struggled to pull the quilt back over her exposed arm.
"Sorry, babe, but the quilt literally has my name on it."
With all of her strength, Angela wrestled the blanket from him and took off down the beach on bare feet.
He was quick to take her down into the sand where he began to kiss her, taking in every curve of her neck with his lips and tongue.
"Get off," she said to him between kisses and laughter.
"No way."
"I'm gonna get sand wedged in my nether regions."
He laughed, "Then I'll just have to help you remove said sand."
Angela eyed him, then wrapped the quilt around his shoulders, covering them and muffling their laughter.
--
South of the equator, Brennan was standing on the patio, clothed in nothing but a white terry robe. From her vantage point, she watched as people walked around on the street below.
Booth walked into the room, wrapping a towel around his waist. He stopped, his breath stolen from his lungs, as he took in the sight of his partner with her hip against the balcony rail, her wet hair brushed neatly away from her face and falling over her shoulders, a hot mug of coffee in her hands.
He walked out and onto the patio and right up to her, freely, unrestrained and took the mug from her hands, then set it on the table. Then he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him.
"You're so beautiful." He kissed her. "I love you, Bones."
It never felt so good to hear those words come out of his mouth. She couldn't help but to smile a radiant smile--one of those smiles that made him almost lose his grip on reality altogether. She clasped her hands behind his neck.
"I love you, too."
Without reservation, the two began to kiss, letting their lips touch, their tongues linger, their fingers explore. He slipped his hands beneath the robe and touched that tauntingly soft skin that beckoned to him so loudly. Somehow, they knew that nothing would ever be the same again.
And neither of them could have been more glad.
On the street below, a young Forensic Anthropologist hailed a taxi from the front doors of the hotel across the street from the groping, kissing, touching, fully-engrossed lovers.
A newlywed couple were standing on the sidewalk as he waved. The woman had her hand held up, shielding the sun from her eyes. They were both looking at the balcony.
The woman put her hand down and smiled at her husband, "I love this city. It's so romantic."
The man kissed his wife and then helped her into the cab.
Clark looked up, then shielded his eyes. At first he thought, "Nah." Then he squinted. And squinted harder. He dropped his hand with disgust and shook his head, "You have GOT to be kidding me! It's like they're following me!"
The end.
Thank you all for reading. I hope you all got a little entertainment, a little fluff, and a little intrigue. I appreciate all of your comments.
I felt like giving everyone a happy ending. Sadly, I couldn't really give Zack a happy ending (i.e. healing his hands and setting him free) but I think that's for a Zack-centered fic.
-Mama