Chapter twenty-two

Forget my name but don't forget my heart

Working side by side - falling in love, all over again

They found a rhythm between them quickly. It was like they had known each other forever. Which, in Brennan's case, they had. But he didn't know that. They bickered about the smallest things and they always made up over a beer at the bar after a rough case.

It had been almost three years since they started working together. A lot has happened since then. She had been kidnapped twice and she had been buried alive. Booth had saved her multiple times. Too many to count. She wanted to blame it on the medallion that she hid so elegantly underneath her big necklaces, but it was his big heart and the way he cared that saved her. From herself most days.

She had quickly noticed the tattoo's on his wrists. Brennan couldn't place where she had seen them first, it didn't click for her. So after a case, they sat there at the bar at Sid's, one beer in.

"May I ask about your tattoo's?" She asked cautiously and pointed towards his bare wrists. He glanced down at them and let his thumb graze over one of them. He chuckled at the question.

"Yes, you may." He winked. "I had this medallion when I was younger and it helped me through some rough patches. My dad gave it to me when I was old enough." He told her and her hand flew up to her own necklace, covering any sign of the medallion. "It had two signs on it. In kanji. Japanese. But you probably knew that." He chuckled. She did know it, but not for the reason he thought. "They mean soul and destiny. When I joined the military I wanted to take it with me, but I couldn't for the life of me find it." He continued and she frowned at that. It was her fault that he couldn't find it.

He glanced at her briefly. "And I really wanted to have that with me, because it had been my guardian angel for so long." He sighed. "So I tattooed it where I would always see it." He smiled and took a sip from his beer.

"Did you ever find it?" She asked him, knowing the answer because it hung around her neck.

"Nah, but I probably gave it to someone who meant something to me. I've always been like that. Ask my mom, she'll praise me to the heaven's." He chuckled and Brennan's lips broke out in a smile. Mary did praise him to heaven. Especially how fine of a father he had turned out to be.

"Did you have anyone special when you were younger?" She asked gently. "If you don't mind me asking." Brennan added with a smile.

"I think I did. I might have." He questioned himself as he said it. "A few years of my teens are very blurry." He winced. "I know there was one girl. I don't remember much about her, but I remember how she made me feel." He smiled softly. "She was the kind of girl that everyone wanted but she only wanted me and it made my entire world spin." He told her and Brennan's heart leapt out of her chest. "But that's all I remember about her." He shrugged. "I don't remember her name, how she looked or anything. I just remember the feeling of being in love." He turned to her and smiled. "Did you have a high school sweetheart, Bones?" He asked. She winced at the nickname.

Brennan had quickly given up on asking him to stop calling her that. It tore at her every time. It showed her that he didn't know who she was and probably never would. She was still glad that he had once again found a suiting nickname for her.

"I did actually have a high school sweetheart." She smiled but let her brows furrow. She couldn't tell him his name, because that would just be weird. There aren't any other Seeley Booth's. Only this Seeley Booth. "We met right before my senior year. He was- my friend's- older brother." Kind of not a lie, yet a lie. "His name was-" She glanced up at the ceiling. Then it hit her. "His name was Seth Beeley." She smiled.

"Seth and Bones." He chuckled. "I can see it." He winked. She chuckled at that, because it didn't make any sense.

"He was wonderful. He made me feel loved, for the first time in a while." She shrugged sadly. "But it didn't last." She added shortly and took a sip from her beer.

"What happened then? Why did you break up?" He asked in confusion.

"We kind of-" They kind of what? Forgot each other? Broke each other's hearts? "-Drifted apart when we left for college." She told him.

"Can't you find him now? Now that you're adults? You do have close contact with the FBI, you know?" Booth winked and nudged her shoulder.

"I could, but I don't think he would remember me." She shrugged. It was the truth. He was sitting in front of her and he didn't know a thing about her. "He was quite loved by everyone when he was in high school." She smiled. "A lot of girls liked to give him attention." She winked but her heart was breaking on the inside.

"I'm sure he wouldn't have forgotten about you." He smiled. Yes, he would. "Do you want me to look him up?" He asked fondly. She shook her head.

"It's in the past." She smiled.

The case that they had been called in on had called for late night thai boxes in Brennan's office. It wasn't the most difficult one that they had had, but it required their full attention.

They ate most of their lunches together, when she wasn't having lunch with his brother or her high school best friend. Not that Booth knew that she was having lunch with his brother, nor did he ask.

"Did you have the file of the fourth victim?" He asked looking around where he sat on the couch. Brennan glanced over at him before reaching over to where it was and giving it to him.

"Here." She smiled.

"Thanks. So, I was thinking. These three were stabbed the same way." He held up threw photos. "Yet this one was stabbed in the heart. Lover?" He questioned.

"Why would that be?" She asked him in confusion.

"If Sweets were here he would say that the person stabbed them in the heart because they broke theirs." Booth told her and shrugged. "And there was a note by the crime scene that said with love." He winked and held up the note. This body had been found this morning and it was throwing them off.

"That makes sense, I've had my heart broken but I didn't want to kill that person." She told him. Because she already thought he was dead and when he was undead he didn't remember her.

"Well, you're not a psychopath, Bones." He chuckled. She smiled at him and glanced at the clock. Almost lunch.

"TB." She heard a voice call out and she glanced outside of her office. Toby was moving quickly towards her. "You will never believe what happened this morning." He continued talking before reaching her office. "He was-" Toby started as he stood in the doorway, he glanced down on the couch. "-oh, hi. You're Booth, right?" His smile grew.

"TD." She muttered. They had somehow never met during the years that Booth and Brennan had worked together.

"Ah, yes I am." Booth put his lips into a thin line before looking over at Brennan. "And who are you?" Brennan let out a defeated sigh. Now everything was getting complicated.

"I'm Toby Donovan. FBI tech." Toby smiled and walked over to shake Booth's hand.

"Seeley Booth. Bones' partner." He shook Toby's hand and Toby turned to Brennan. He saw the sorrow in her eyes by the nickname that he had given her. He knew the nickname, he had heard it multiple times. 'He calls me BONES Toby, BONES. For god sake..'. She nodded slightly to show him that it was okay.

"I've heard about you." Toby smirked. 'a lot.' He mouthed. Brennan punched him on his arm and scolded him.

"I don't- I talk about our cases." Brennan winced.

"Mmhm." Toby hummed. "Lunch?" He asked. "You can join if you want." He turned to Booth.

"Sure. We can take my car." Booth told them and they made their way out of Brennan's office.

Toby and Brennan walked behind Booth. He leaned into Brennan's ear as they walked. "Just like old times." He whispered.

"Not quite." Brennan responded quietly and he threw an arm around her shoulders.

"We'll get there." Toby smiled. "I just know it."

They got to the car in the garage underneath the building. Booth always opted to park underneath because he didn't want the car to get ruined.

"Hey, Booth." Toby spoke up and Booth spun around. "Can I drive?" He saw Booth tense up. Brennan stared at him in disbelief. She knew he would say no and why he would say no. He hadn't told her this in the present time, but he didn't have to.

"No- ah- it's FBI and they only want FBI-"

"I'm FBI." Toby shrugged. Brennan saw the panic in Booth's eyes. He had confided in her that he remembers that he was in an accident with someone when he was younger, and he knew it was his fault. Ever since then he has been the one driving. Even though it wasn't his fault. It was hers. She had made him do it.

"I-"

"I've been trying for years to get him to let me drive, he is just very protective of his car." Brennan stepped in and glared at Toby. He was doing everything to push all of Booth's buttons.

"I love cars." Booth told him awkwardly and put his lips in a thin line.

"I knew a kid when I grew up that loved cars. He had the sickest ride." Toby told him. Booth smiled at the way he let go of the subject. They got in the car and Booth drove them to the founding fathers. A place they recently had found.

Booth pulled out Brennan's chair for her to sit down and sat down beside her. Toby sat down beside Brennan. The awkward attempt of getting to drive had settled in the car and they had found an ease in the conversation.

"So, what's good here?" Toby asked and picked up a menu.

"The Mac and cheese is delicious. Not as good as Bones', but it's up there." Booth smiled.

"You should try her brownies. Those are godsend." Toby smiled and winked at Brennan. They had made those brownies a lot the years that followed after college, they weren't on the best terms but they still hung out.

"I haven't made those in years TD.." Brennan sighed softly, not wanting to bring it up. Toby didn't know everything about them.

"Why haven't I gotten to try these brownies?" Booth pouted. "I love brownies."

"I know you do." Brennan let out, biting her tongue.

"What?" Booth asked as he turned to her.

"Noth- I didn't say anything." Brennan quickly told him and took a sip from her water to cover her face from blushing. "There is a reason I haven't made them in years." She told them. Toby leaned back in his chair when it clicked for him.

"No- You can't have- are you serious? How could I not have known?" Toby exclaimed and leaned forward towards Brennan. "They're special brownies?" He hissed.

Booth gasped and leaned in. "You made pot brownies?" He hissed.

"Ssshhh." Brennan hushed them both. She sighed and leaned back. "Yes. They're special brownies. Sometimes we needed a break and I.. I made sure we had a good break. That's all." Brennan shrugged.

The lunch carried on in light small talk, not wanting to talk about the past for far too long with the two people that had become her world.

Jared pulled his sweater over his head and walked out to the living room. He glanced around but saw that Brennan hadn't emerged from the bathroom yet. He grabbed an apple and bit into it.

He turned around to the sound of a phone starting to vibrate on the kitchen table. Jared ran over to see who it was. Angela. He smiled and picked up the phone.

"Temper's phone." Jared spoke up in glee.

"Oh- ah- Hello, I'm Angela, is Brennan there?" Angela asked on the other side. "Who are you?"

"A friend, sort of." Jared smiled and turned around to see Brennan walking out to the kitchen. "She just stepped out of the bathroom, here she comes." He said and handed the phone over to her. "Angela." He mouthed and she nodded.

"Hey Ange." Brennan spoke up as she put the phone to her ear. Jared folded his arms over his chest, listening to the conversation. "Yes, I will be in today. I got distracted and forgot about the clock." Brennan's eyes widened and they met Jared's. "No. No, no. Ange. That is not- We-'' She sighed. "I can't really explain but I- he's a friend. Just a friend."

Jared chuckled at Brennan's pained expressions. "Ange, I will be in later today. I had promised Jared to show him a few things before he left tod- Yes, I can drive by the din- Yes, I'll- No, Ange.." Brennan stuttered her way of speaking with her friend. "I haven't talked to Booth today. He was out on a date yesterday.." Jared knew about this and had rushed to Brennan's aid. "I don't- I will see you later, Ange." She nodded and then hung up.

"Why do you act so differently around her?" Jared asked as she put down the phone on the table.

"I don't." Brennan smiled and shook her head.

"You do. 'I will be in later today'" Jared mocked her. Brennan's jaw dropped.

"That is not how I talk" She pushed him.

Omg I have waited almost too long to post this, I am so so so so sorry! I have been up to waaaay too much, tests that Ive failed, had work up to my neck, been sick, moved, I mean the list is long! I am so sorry!

Tell me what you think!
Everythin will make sense eventually! kissssesss