Chapter Thirty-Five

Brennan rolled over in bed and lightly punched her pillow. Sleep had been eluding her for hours, and she secretly hated Booth a little for being able to simply lie down and fall asleep so easily. With a resigned sigh, she sat up and decided to go make a cup of tea to calm her.

"Going somewhere, Bones?" Booth's quiet voice in what had been the perfect silence of the bedroom made her jump.

Clutching her chest, Brennan gasped. "Booth! You scared the hell out of me."

Chuckling, he sat up against his pillow and grabbed her arm to pull her close. "I'm sorry, Bones. I thought you knew I was awake, really. C'mere." He wrapped an arm around her and let her lay her head against his chest.

"I thought you were sleeping, you didn't move at all." Her heart rate was slowly returning to normal, soothed by the sound of his heart beat, steady and strong against her ear.

"Sniper training, Bones. I was waiting to see if you were going to fall asleep." He ran a hand absently through her hair. "I was about to suggest a cup of tea when you sat up."

"Yes, I was just thinking about tea, actually." She made a move to leave the bed, but Booth just pulled her closer.

"You thinking about Jack's letter?" He asked softly.

Nodding against his chest, she sighed. "I can't get it out of my head. My heart is broken for him, Booth. Not that it's physically possible to break…" She breathed quickly out her nose in disgust. "I am so tired of doing that." She sat up and looked off towards the bedroom window. "What is wrong with me, Booth? I can't even feel bad for my friend without letting my science get in the way! I open my mouth, and this ridiculous, pointless squint speak comes pouring out…and I can't stop it!"

Booth stared at her in shock, mouth open. It took him a few beats to recover, but when he did it was to pull her back to him. "Bones…you're operating under a false premise here."

"No…no, I am not. I-"

"Bones. Listen to me." Booth pulled her upright and turned her to look at him. "This thing you do? Using your science as a defense mechanism? It's not a bad thing, necessarily. You know that you use it to cover for heavy emotions, emotions you hate and emotions that scare you. And you know something? That's okay. It really is. Because those of us who love you?" He hooked his finger under her chin and tilted her face so that she was looking him directly in the eye. "Those of us who love you know all about your little idiosyncrasies, your little quirks. And I don't know about anyone else, but they just make me love you even more. Because they're real…real emotions covered by real defenses put up by a real woman who has been through so much in her life, and still came out on the other side stronger, tougher and more resilient than anyone I've ever met in my life."

"Really?" Her voice was small, and still tinged with disbelief.

"I wouldn't lie to you about this, Temperance. Ever. So please don't beat yourself up about something that I know is so fantastically original, and so uniquely you that I would miss it if you ever stopped. It's a part of who you are, and I love everything you are. Okay?"

Nodding, she buried her head in his neck and sighed. "You always know just the right thing to make me feel better."

Booth pulled her closer and kissed her softly. "That's my job, Bones. To make sure that you are always happy." He turned her again, pushing her down onto the mattress and sliding along her body, pushing up her nightgown as he moved. "And speaking of making you feel better…."

As soon as his lips touched her right where she needed him, all of Brennan's insecurities washed away in a haze of desire, thankfulness and love so strong, tears slid from her eyes even as moans and gasps and his name fell from her lips.

B&B

Booth walked through the living room of the apartment checking to make sure everything was picked up and presentable. Personally, he didn't care what the house looked like because it was just family coming over, but Brennan insisted…and he really couldn't say no to her, even for something this inconsequential.

The knock at the door interrupted his cleaning, and he checked his watch, noting that whoever was there was half an hour early for their baby duck intervention, disguised as a family lunch. But when he opened the door, he couldn't have been more shocked.

"Billy?" Booth stared. "What brings you by?" He made a gesture for the iconic rocker to come in, and was surprised when the man patted his shoulder as he entered.

"Can I get you anything? We have plenty of food; the team is coming by for lunch." Before Billy could answer, Brennan came walking down the hall.

"Booth? Is someone here already?" She stopped for a second when she saw Angela's father standing in her living room, a near-speechless Booth standing behind him.

"Hello, darlin'." Billy said, heavy Texan drawl in full swing. "I hope you don't mind I stopped by on my way through town."

Brennan shook off her surprise and moved to hug Billy, giving Booth a look over his shoulder. "It's never a problem for you, Billy. How are you doing?" She moved to lead their guest to the sofa, leaving Booth to close the door and move towards the kitchen.

He sat silent for a moment, not being a generally demonstrative man. "I am slowly coming to grips with the fact that my little girl is gone, but I am grateful for the love of her friends. Y'all have been a big help. And that's why I wanted to stop by." Billy pointed to the loveseat, and Booth sat as if he had been verbally ordered.

"I've spoken to Jack, and we've decided to start a foundation in Angie's name for, among other things, foster kids who want to get a college education in either art, forensics or law enforcement." Billy looked between Booth and Brennan, who were sitting slack jawed.

"Billy…that's so wonderful." Brennan had tears in her eyes as she moved to embrace him. "Ang would really, really love that."

Booth stood to shake Billy's hand. "I have to agree. That's fantastic."

"That's not all." Billy added. "We'd both like it if the two of you would head the board of directors of the foundation."

"I'd be honored." Brennan nodded, absurdly touched.

"I would be as well, but I don't know the first thing about any of that." Booth admitted.

Billy stood and smiled. "Hell, son…neither do I. But I expect that Temperance does, and Jack does as well. You all will figure it out." He moved to the door. "That's all I wanted for now, but I wanted to ask you in person. I need to get back to work."

"You're welcome to stay for lunch, Billy. The entire team will be here…" Brennan offered.

Shaking his head, Billy pulled the door open and took Booth's hand. "No thank you, darlin'. I appreciate the offer, but we're heading out to New York, so we gotta get on the road. Thank you both…" For a moment, the music legend paused and removed his glasses. "Thank you, for everything you did for my Angie, and for Jack. I won't forget it." With a nod, he turned and walked out the door.