Into the Wild
Twenty Questions & Infinite Revelations
Disclaimer: Nothing's changed from chapter one. They still belong to someone else.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! There has been so much feedback for this story and I am so happy! Thanks to everyone who liked topless Booth and to those of you who are male, I'm glad you liked Brennan too. Lord of the Flies is not one of my bedtime reads, but I figured it was intellectual and isn't that what Brennan and Booth are about? And the majority of reviews seemed to be because of an interest in Twenty Questions.
So for those of you who have been waiting for that… here it is.
Enjoy.
Brennan ate the fish with trepidation, as though it might not be properly cooked, or worse, not even dead.
She picked through the tiny bones with her plastic fork and he imagined she was cataloguing them inside her vast mind.
After washing herself down she'd combed her hair through and braided the wet strands. She wore a khaki green vest and combated pants. He was surprised at how much she suited the wilderness. Doctor Temperance Brennan, an explorer? In his mind, the picture would never have fit.
Until now.
"Did you purify this water?" She asked, titling her tin cup and narrowing her eyes at the liquid within. He rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, Bones, fresh from the purifier. You're in the middle of nowhere! Besides, everyone knows water from the river is the best." She eyed him sceptically. "Cross my heart." Booth scrunched the aluminium foil into a ball and tossed it at her head. She dodged it, crossing her arms. "Tomorrow we've to hike uphill. It'll be a tiring trek and if we're to maintain our pace, we'll have to move quick." Brennan nodded, pushing her plate aside. "Do you think you can handle it?" She glanced at him through lowered lashes.
"I'm here, aren't I?" She finished what remained inside the tin cup and stretched. He swallowed.
"Yeah, Bones, you are." Booth trailed his fingers through his hair, sighing heavily. "I haven't told you how much I appreciate this. I'd be stuck with some green agent if it weren't for you." Brennan shrugged, toeing the ground with her boots. She looked awkward – quite unlike her. He was unsure whether to be unnerved or endeared. "Yeh well… thanks." He poked the fire, sending a shoot of orange into the air.
"You're welcome," Brennan said at last. "Damn… don't you just wish you had your cell phone?" She added, lifting her eyes to the darkened trees above their head. The forest was ominously silent at night. It unnerved her senses. Made her think of being watched. The logical, and most extensive part of her brain chided her stupidity. But everyone had a percentage of natural fear and irrational thought.
"Not really," Booth said, stretching his long legs out, resting against his rucksack. "I've spent a lot of time outdoors. I find nothing frightening about nature. I think maybe you've spent too much time cooped up bent over a microscope." Brennan glared, then shrugged.
"Maybe," she admitted. "It's hard to follow a train of rational thought without technology to back it up." Thinking of Zach, she wondered how he would cope outside of the Jeffersonian. He seemed so at ease with technology. She hoped he wouldn't find himself sitting, ten years down the line, afraid of nature.
She caught Booth's eye and half smiled. "What was with you earlier? Did I 'distract' the man who's only interested in cyber babes?" Booth chuckled.
"Not at all, Bones. Totally platonic. I've decided that was officially question number one, by the way." Brennan frowned. "Twenty questions, Bones. I promised you, remember? It was part of the ploy to get you out here." She crossed her arms.
"I thought it was meant to be educational," she huffed.
"It is!" Booth defended. "I learn stuff about you, you learn stuff about me. It's easy. My turn." Brennan cringed, straightening her spine. He saw the apprehension on her features and felt a tingle of excitement. Oh how much fun would he have with her? Would twenty really be enough?
"Is this a sadistic game?" Brennan asked.
"I'm sorry, Bones, I cannot answer that. It's not your turn. Okay, okay, did you sleep with David the Internet psycho guy?" Brennan lifted her eyes, the glowing embers catching the brilliant blue, highlighting her surprise and her humiliation. He acknowledged the tell-tale stiffen of her shoulders.
"Isn't that personal?" She asked, tossing her braid over her shoulder. He watched as she drew her knees to her chest – a classic defensive mechanism.
"We didn't specify that personal questions weren't allowed, Bones. Specificity is very important in a game like this." He winked and she growled.
"Well then I want to change the rules-"
"Uh, no. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that, Dr Brennan. Plus, I'm going to have to rush you." She pressed her forehead to her knees.
"No. No I did not," she murmured, her voice muffled.
"Why?" Brennan lifted her head, a smile tugging at her lips.
"I don't believe it is your turn," she said. "You did realise when you started this game, that it works both ways?" He shrugged easily, folding his arms across his torso. He looked so cocky. He always looked so in control.
"Go ahead, Bones, do your worst. I've nothing to hide." She hummed, knowing instinctively that Seeley Booth had many, many things to hide. He kept a labyrinth of secrets hidden just beneath the surface of coolness.
"Why did Tessa break up with you?" She leaned closer, eagerly awaiting his response. He shrugged again.
"She didn't. My turn!" Brennan wasn't entirely sure what had happened. One minute she was gaining on him and the next minute he'd found a God damn loop hole! "Why didn't you sleep with Internet stalker guy?" Brennan threw her head back against the rucksack, her eyes falling closed.
"Stop calling him that, Booth. He wasn't a psycho and he wasn't a stalker," she said. "I decided I did not find him physically attractive. Why are you no longer with Tessa? Ha! There's no loop hole for that one, is there?" He chuckled, the sound gruff, catching the night air. Her skin prickled in awareness.
"I broke up with her. So who have you been sleeping with?"
"No one. Why did you break up with Tessa?"
"You're a little preoccupied with this, right?"
"Can't answer, not your turn. Don't sidetrack, it's against the rules." Brennan found herself smirking.
"I didn't love her. So, no fantasies and no sex. Are you asexual?"
"I resent the implication. You say asexual like it means I am frigid. I am not. So, no love for the lawyer lady. Why?" Booth drew a circle in the dirt with his finger, gnawing on his lip.
"I cannot force myself to love someone I don't love. So, not asexual. Did you lie about the fantasy thing?" She blushed crimson and the twinge to her cheeks was visible, even in the dim orange light.
"Maybe. What's your deepest secret?" Booth dug his finger deeper into the dirt.
"I took Latin American dance lessons when I was a kid and competed until I was eighteen. Who is in your fantasy?" She shrugged.
"No one you know. Can you still dance?" Brennan's eyes were bright, her thoughts aroused by the thought of Booth, dancing with style and sophistication.
"Yes. Are you lying again about the fantasies?"
"No. What's your favourite Latin American dance, then?"
"Tango, what else? Lying is not permitted in the game. Do I know this person?"
"Fine. Possibly. Do you wish you'd married Parker's mom?" Booth laughed, now.
"It's the equivalent of asking a man if wants to be put in the gas chamber. And even then, that's preferable to being married to her. Do we work with this man?"
"Yes. Do you want more children?" Brennan felt herself wait with bated breath and a tight chest on his answer.
"Only if I plan on being with someone for the rest of my life. Is he sexy?" Brennan dropped her hands.
"Can't you vary your questions a little? Yes, he's sexy. What kind of woman do you want to spend your life with?" Booth stopped drawing circles for a moment, his eyes glazed. After a long lapse of silence, he shrugged.
"Someone who loves me unconditionally. And who I can love in return. What do you think is sexy in a man, then?" Brennan shrugged.
"Strength and vulnerability. A man who isn't afraid to show emotions. Who can admit defeat and yet remain confident always. Have you ever loved someone unconditionally?"
"Yes. Do you think I have strength and vulnerability?"
"Yes I do. Who did you love unconditionally?"
"A woman who thinks she knows everything, never admits defeat and somehow makes my chest ache when she'd not there. Does this strength and vulnerability thing mean you think I'm sexy?"
"Possibly. So this unconditional love thing… it's ongoing, is it?" Booth nodded.
"Oh yeah, Bones. It's ongoing." She blinked, then suddenly what he'd said seemed to click and all the pieces fell into place. She wasn't thinking of her next question or what technique she might need to sidestep his. Her heart hammered inside her chest and her lips trembled. "Bones? It's my turn…" She cleared her throat.
"Oh… yeh… go on."
"If I was the last man on Earth, would you have sex with me?" She resisted the urge to blush again and found an unexpected surge of courage. Her back straightened and she tilted her chin.
"I'm not sure you'd need to be the last man." He recoiled, a wickedly handsome grin spreading across his face.
"Oh," he said.
"Yeah," she agreed. "Can I ask my question now?" Booth chuckled.
"Game over, Bones."
"But I still have some left-"
"Bones. I said 'Game Over'." He prowled towards her, like a devious cat, his dark eyes shining like blackened orbs of onyx. He looked like a predator and she imagined she was his prey. Swallowing hard, she nodded once.
"Okay."
Anyone up for some Booth and Brennan wilderness sex? I couldn't resist with the Booth dancing thing. I have to admit I cannot resist a man who can dance. Might even have him teach Brennan the art of it in a oneshot. Reviews are oh so welcome!
Oh and one last thing – lots of you will know what a 'green agent' is. For those of you who do not, it's an agent who is just new.