No One Stays Dead Forever
By: Lesera128
Rated: M
Disclaimer: Here the normal rigmarole is posited. No, unfortunately I don't own anything from Bones or Angel... or anything else. Yup, I'm back, baby…and I'm wrecking havoc as needed to tell the most awesome and epic Angel-Bones crossover ever conceived. However, since it's only for the purposes of creative enjoyment and amusing distraction, I think we're okay. Are there any other questions? No? ::blinks:: Good. Then, moving on―
Summary: All Dr. Temperance Brennan and FBI Agent Seeley Booth ever wanted was to be together in the same time and the same place to live in peace and raise their family. Unfortunately, the past has a nasty way of coming back to haunt you as Brennan and (Angel)Booth find out. Rated M. Very AU. BonesxAngel Xover.
A/N: As a reminder, memories/flashbacks from the current point in the narrative are offset in italics. Enjoy.
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Chapter 3: This Seems Vaguely Familiar
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He knew he was in trouble as soon as he entered the loft and saw her sitting on the couch, her back ramrod straight, as she pondered over an oversized ancient looking dark brown leather-backed tome. Booth's eyes narrowed; he recalled that despite the fact that his wife was a 500-year old witch, she actually kept relatively few spell books, potion ingredients, or other indicators of that craft in their home. It wasn't just his dislike of her powers, he knew, it was more because of the fact that Brennan was so powerful that she didn't have a need for such things.
Still, as he saw her eyes narrowed on one of the book's pages, he couldn't help but feel a familiar twisting in his gut as he realized that whatever had prompted Brennan to get the book out and read it, it couldn't be a good thing for him.
"Heya, Bones," he called out, announcing his presence in case the unlocking, opening, shutting, and relocking of their front door hadn't been enough to announce his presence. "I'm home."
Brennan barely glanced up at him as she called back, "Hey, Booth."
Coming towards her, Booth pasted what he hoped was a convincing smile on his face as he asked, "So, what's up?"
"Not much," Brennan answered, still not looking up from her book as she replied. "I'm just reading."
"Oh?" he tried again. "Reading what?"
Pursing her lips, Brennan's eyes suddenly darted up to meet her husband's as she said, "I'm doing a little research on memory spells."
Booth paled a bit as he coughed, "Oh?"
"Yes," Brennan nodded.
"For...any reason in particular?" Booth asked.
Brennan's nostrils flared as she said, "Sweets."
Suddenly, Booth let out a deep exhale as he silently gave thanks that whatever had pissed off Brennan it wasn't him. "Okay," Booth said. "What did Sir Shrink-a-lot do now?"
Brennan narrowed her eyes as she answered, "I won't dignify his comments by relating them to you in full, but suffice to say he made a comment about my latest pregnancy possibly signifying that depending on when the new baby comes, she might be an 'Irish twin' for Kathryn."
Even as she said the words, Booth winced, sucking in a sharp breath of air through his teeth, particularly when she narrowed her eyes at him when she emphasized the words 'Irish' and 'twin.'
"Okay," Booth said, trying to maintain a happy expression. "So...ummm...yeah. Whatever you come up with, he deserves it this time. Just let me know whatever you need, and I'll help."
Brennan studied him for a minute and then asked, "Wait. So you aren't going to defend Sweets like you did the last time I wanted to hex him?"
Shaking his head, even as he recalled the instance in question...which wasn't particularly hard since it had only happened a few months earlier, Booth said, "No way, no how. This time I'm keeping my big fat trap shut. Whatever you want to do is fine by me. Sweets is all on his own."
Arching an eyebrow at him, Booth's words had clearly surprised her.
He blinked a few times at her and then asked, "What? You don't think I'm stupid enough that I'd make the same mistake twice, do you?"
She considered his words and then slowly shook her head as they both knew they were remembering the last time Booth had made that particular mistake.
"You can't just mess with him like that, Bones," Booth said, struggling to keep pace with his partner as she barreled outside the heavy set of double doors that separated the Hoover Building from the outside world. "It's...well, it's not a good thing, okay?"
"Why not?" Brennan said, huffing as they walked. Her face was red, her nostrils were flaring, and her words had taken on the unusual crispness that she only displayed when she was having an aggressively strong emotional response to something. "We both know he deserves it, and it's not like he'd ever know."
"Yeah, well, that's kinda the point, Bones," Booth said as a blast of cold air hit them.
It wasn't even three days into the month of December, and already the D.C. area was suffering from an unusually cold bout of weather for what seemed to be the second year in a row. Booth stuffed his gloved hands into the pockets of the black wool overcoat he wore over his suit while he noticed that Brennan's already pink cheeks started to redden in the air because of the cold.
"I'm going to do it," Brennan said. "I am, Booth, and you'd be wise not to try to talk me out of this one."
"Bones―"
"No," she said, suddenly halting to an abrupt stop. She spun on her booted feet to face her partner and husband as she said, "He went too far this time, Booth."
"That's sorta what shrinks do, Bones," Booth sighed. "You know that. They poke and prod and push―"
"And, he threatened to end our partnership," Brennan snapped. "I can't believe that you would stand for that."
"I'm not," Booth assured her. "I won't. But, you can just whip out the über-blue mojo everytime Sweets gets a bit too pushy, okay? Otherwise, you're gonna give him brain damage if you try to do the Men in Black flashy thing and make him forget. Because you'll be doing it. A lot. Every damn day, at least."
"But―" Brennan said, her lip trembling a bit as she stared at him. "He said he'd..."
"Pffft..." he responded with a dismissive wave. "You really think a little headshrinker like Sweets can break us up, Bones?"
"Professionally, yes," she nodded furiously. "And, if something happens in our professional life, then who's to say that it won't just be a matter of time before it happens in our personal life, and―"
"Whoa," Booth muttered, coming towards her, reaching for her arm and pulling her towards him. "Wait just a damn minute there, Bones. Who said anything about us breaking up, huh?"
"I-I..."
"No," he cut her off, resting his gloved hands lightly on her hips. "No way, no how." She stared at him, her lower lip trembling a bit as she considered his point. To drive it home, he added, "It ain't happening, Bones. Remember? You're stuck with me."
"But―"
"Nope," he said with a firm shake of his head, cutting her off again. "No 'buts'. I refer you to our return policy, Mrs. Booth. As in, there isn't one. So like I said, you're stuck with me and Katie and―"
"Kathryn," Brennan corrected him, sniffling slightly. "I hate it when you call her that, and I really hate it when you call me Mrs. Booth."
"Tough," he said, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Deal with it."
"But―" she tried again.
"Nah-uh," he interrupted her for a third time. "I see you're being your usually stubborn self about this, so what am I gonna have to do to convince you that hexing Sweets is a bad idea, huh? Because I'm not going anyway, and neither are you, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were acting really weird for some reason, but..."
Pursing her lips, some of the nervousness disappeared as she sighed, "You're right."
"Well, of course I am," Booth said. He paused and then gave her a sly smile as he added, "But, why don't you tell me what I'm right about since I love hearing you say it."
"Sweets...what he said...as idiotic as it is, I might be having a slightly more emotional reaction to it than I normally would," Brennan replied.
"Okay," Booth nodded. "Cool. The indomitable Dr. Temperance Brennan actually is a normal human being because she's getting emotional. No biggie, Bones. We all have off days sometimes, even if we don't know why. It happens."
"No," she said, shaking her head. "Not to me, it doesn't."
"But, you just said―" Booth responded.
"I agreed that I was being unusually emotional," Brennan told him, looking away. "It doesn't mean I don't know the reason why." She chewed the bottom of her lip for a minute and then lifted her nervous gaze back to his. "Maybe you're right. Maybe looking up a way to hex Sweets isn't the kind of spell I need to think about casting right now."
"Okay," Booth nodded. "That's cool. But, uhhh―" He stopped. If he didn't know better, he would say that Brennan was acting (and had been for a couple of weeks) suspiciously hormonal in her erratic mood swings. Being smart enough to know that mentioning such a thing was tantamount to asking to get his ass kicked, he was at a loss for words as he shrugged his shoulders. "Not blinking Sweets' memory..."
"This time," she interrupted him. "I still reserve the right to do it in the future if he says something stupid again."
"Okay," Booth agreed. "No blinking Sweets' memory this time is a good thing, because, ahh, well, we both know he'll shoot his mouth off again, and I'll just have to talk you out of it again the next time you want to do it. But, that's cool. I can do that."
Brennan narrowed her eyes at him as she said, "You know, you can't talk me out of everything, Booth."
"Why not?" he asked her, flashing her a charming toothy grin. "We both know I've got a pretty good track record going on there when it comes to that...when it comes to you, Bones."
"Maybe," she nodded. "But, maybe that's part of the problem."
"What problem?" he asked, his brow furrowing at her statement.
"You're too damn charming," she muttered, looking away from him again. "Especially...well, you know I can't help myself where you're concerned, so when I get home maybe I'm just going to be done with it once and for all and cast a fertility spell on you. Because there's got to be something that I can do to avoid you knocking me up on an annual basis that doesn't involve castration or abstinence..."
She noticed that Booth had gone silent as she ranted, and his silence caused Brennan to pause long enough to look up at him and see a confused, awed dumbstruck look on his face.
"Bones?"
"Yes, Booth?" she replied.
"Did you just say what I think you said?" he asked, his voice quiet as he spoke.
"I don't know," she said. "Since you haven't told me what it is you think I just said."
"I'm, uhhh, kinda getting a very bad sense of déjà-vu here, but if I heard you right...did you just say something about me, you, and you getting knocked up...by me?" he asked with a tilt of his head.
Sighing, she stared at him for a long moment and then nodded. "Yes, I did." She pursed her lips as suddenly the confused look on Booth's face transitioned to one that was rather smug. Rolling her eyes at him, she added, "Oh, come on. Don't look so pleased with yourself. It's not like you get points for originality this time, either."
Still, he was smiling a goofy grin at her as he asked, "Bren?"
Shaking her head again, she said, "Yes."
"Wait. How do you know what I was even going to ask?" He blinked at her. "Maybe I―"
Again, Brennan rolled her eyes. "Don't be smug. I'm hormonal right now, and I could change my mind about going home and fucking you up against the wall very quickly. Throwing up the donut I had before therapy or casting that fertility spell could happen just as easily, FYI."
Still, smiling at her, he said, "Bren, you know I gotta ask."
"Yes," she said. "I do. And, that's why I said the answer is 'yes'. You did. We did. Again."
His brow furrowed as he tried to take her whole meaning before he counted back the dates in his mind and tried to figure out when it could've happened. At last, comprehension dawned on his face as he said, "Don't tell me―"
Rolling her jaw, Brennan said, "I can't be as certain this time, since we did start having sex the week before, but...well, let's just say I suppose it's a good thing you weren't capable of impregnating me prior to five years ago. Otherwise, with this track record, you would've spawned enough offspring over the years to form your own football, baseball, and hockey teams...combined."
Booth snickered as he laughed. "You mean I could've been like one of those little old guys in India?"
"I hate you sometimes," she said, moving to pull away from him. "I really, really do."
Still, Booth refused to let her out of his grasp, as he tightened his hold on her hips and kept her in place. "You love me," he said. "You know it, and I know it...and our kid's gonna know it."
Shaking her head, she said, "I do love you. But, I can still hate you. Especially when you're smug."
"Sorry," he said, still grinning.
"No, you're not," Brennan said.
"No, I'm not," he agreed. "But...if the damage is already done, and your dad still has Katie for a few more hours, we could...ummm...maybe go home and see if you wanted to still go with Plan A that you mentioned a minute ago, huh?" he asked, wagging his eyebrows at her.
Brennan again shook her head with a sigh. She was about to open her mouth to say something when she found herself cut off as Booth leaned in, pressing his lips to hers and silenced her in what was probably one of her all-time favorite ways...even if she'd never admit it to him, i.e., him shoving his tongue down her throat.
"You know," Brennan said, after a minute, looking up at her husband, "now that I think about it, it didn't really end all that badly for you."
"For either of us," Booth retorted. He pursed his lips and then said, "Even still, I'm not taking any chances. So, if you want to zoink Sweets for him making a dumbass comment when he knows you're pregnant, fine by me."
Lifting her gaze to his, Brennan could only stare at him for a long moment before she said, "If you think using reverse psychology with me works, you're going to be sorely disappointed."
Realizing he'd been caught, the beginnings of a toothy smile cracked the somber and placating demeanor Booth had adopted. "Oh?"
"I believe the correct parlance is 'busted'," Brennan said, closing the book she'd been reading, and setting it on the coffee table as she stood up and turned on him with a distinctly predatory look in her eyes.
"Heh," Booth chuckled. "Who says I care, if it gets me what I want?"
"And, what's that again?" Brennan asked, sidling up to him as she reached in for a kiss.
"You...distracted from the magic mumbo jumbo...and paying attention to me," he murmured even as she leaned in to kiss him.
With a shake of her head, Brennan shot him one look that let him know that she'd remember his dirty trick...but only later. Much later. And, for then, both of them were quite alright with that fact as her lips met his and both tuned everything else out but the other.
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TBC
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A/N2: We're still setting the stage. You never know who might show up from the worlds of Angel and Bones. I'm somewhat excited for the next chapter as A) not only will the plot thicken but B) some never before seen characters in the world of this epic story have been seen, but they might just be familiar to some of you all. A hint...the title of the story should be taken quite literally. In the meantime, if you're all reading this, hit that little review button. A special thanks to long time readers who are still checking in with me to let me know that they're still around. Until next time, ta!