In the Storm

Raw power crackled around the woman as she watched the pyrotechnics show that was taking place in front of her. She loved storms- had ever since she was a child. The wind and near horizontal rain did not bother her, she simply let it engulf her as it whipped and whirled its way around her building.

She was low enough not to be in fear of a lightning strike, yet high enough so that the electricity made the hairs on the back of her neck stand straight up. A part of her knew exactly what caused the discharges, and yet it never ceased to thrill her, nor did knowing its source make it seem any less real to her. Quite the opposite, in fact, was true, for she found that here her calling as a scientist was renewed every time.

The woman closed her eyes and felt more than heard the rumble of thunder as it reverberated throughout her thoracic cavity. The ground seemed to rumble as sound waves were displaced. Opening her eyes once again, she was just in time to watch as new bolts of lightning arced across the night sky, once again filling the air with raw electricity and she smiled at the sight of it all.

The door behind her slid open and she jumped in tandem with another crash of thunder.

"What the hell are you doing out in this?" the familiar voice questioned her, moving in front of her to shield her from the rain.

"I'm perfectly safe," she countered, trying unsuccessfully to move around him on the small balcony.

"You're perfectly nuts," he said incredulously, "I've been standing at your door knocking for the past half hour, Bones! And you didn't pick up you cell or your home phone either."

"It's unsafe to use any electronic devices during an electrical storm," she pointed out, "And obviously you found your way in,"

"You nearly gave me a heart attack," he whined, "And then I find you out here!"

"It's nearly over," she told him, feeling the shift in the barometric pressure as the storm moved on to its next location.

He moved, finally, to stand beside her and they watched the storm move further and further away with each gust of wind. The rain was dying down as well and she let out a sigh, sad to see it come to an end once more. She chuckled as her stalwart partner jumped at the last, loud thunderclap.

"You're nuts," he told her again, ushering her inside with his hand on the small of her back.

"I'm a scientist," she told him, before smirking at him, "And you are afraid of thunder."

"Am not," he protested, clearly lying.

"It's just noise, Booth," she told him, "Brought about by-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he cut her off, "I saw 'Mr. Wizard' too, ya know."

"That was one of my favorite television programs," she said wistfully, recalling the memories of watching it with her father.

"Why do I not doubt that?" he asked, and she was fairly sure he was being facetious.

She left him for a moment to change into dry clothes, and brought him a towel to dry off with as well. He thanked her, and handed her a box of Wong Foo's as they settled onto her couch. There was paperwork to be done of course, which is why he had come, but for now they simply enjoyed the food along with each other's company.

They bickered and bantered from one topic to the next when suddenly there was a moment- just as they'd finished eating but before they began the paperwork- when their eyes connected. It was a powerful one- as fully charged as the storm she had just witnessed- one that spoke volumes without uttering a word. It spoke of the mutual respect and trust that existed between them, along with their powerful friendship that transcended all rational explanation.

She shivered, feeling as much alive as she had out in the storm on her balcony. Angela would have called it love, but this was far beyond that- it was a relationship. She wasn't sure what kind it was, nor how to fully define it, but she knew her role in it by now and found that she was comfortable. Suffice it to say it was a friendship of the deepest kind and she knew instinctively that she would never know its equal in her lifetime.

Which was why she, at least, clung to the line he had drawn with all of her might. She had lived once without him before and she knew she could never do that again. She needed his friendship more than anything else and as their gaze waned in intensity she wondered if he felt the same.

"Well," he broke the moment with his ever-cheery voice, "Might as well get started on this stuff. It's not like it's going to do itself."

And so they did.