The week had passed without any major events or tragedies for Temperance Brennan. Yes, she hated not being able to go to the Jeffersonian, but the break had given her ample time to work on her book. She found that her case of writer's block had been miraculously cured, and she was making incredible progress. Part of her said it was because of her realization of the situation with her very own sexy FBI agent, but she ignored that and just decided that whatever it was, it was working, and she was thankful.
Mostly, she was just looking forward to going back to work. She would have a week to get work done before it was Christmas break. For once, Brennan was excited about Christmas. Russ was coming up. She would finally be able to spend Christmas with family. She knew that last Christmas, when the team was quarantined had been like spending Christmas with family, but this was different. While her team was definitely her family, Russ knew what she went through when her parents disappeared. He knew what it was like to lose the two people who are supposed to be there for you no matter what. Yes, Temperance Brennan would hardly wait until Christmas.
She was startled out of her thoughts when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out, not bothering to look at the caller ID.
"Brennan."
"Is there anyway I can convince you to answer the phone as Bones? Cuz that would just be adorable." Temperance grinned at the sound of Booth's voice. She had missed him a lot this past week.
"Booth. Don't call me Bones." He smiled. He knew that no matter what she said, she loved it when he called her Bones.
"Yeah, yeah," he said, pretending to be annoyed, "but, anyways, we've got a case."
"A week before Christmas? This is in no way going to interfere with my plans. Russ is coming up."
"Don't worry. It doesn't look like a difficult case. Bones were found in the woods by a girl walking her dog. They're still pretty much intact, and the dentals are all there. It should be easy to get an identification. Can you be ready in twenty minutes? I'll stop by to pick you up."
"Yup. See you then." Brennan flipped the phone shut and turned off her computer. Although she was worried about the case cutting into her holidays, which she was usually so reluctant to take, she really could not wait to see Booth. And she also needed to talk to him. Preferably, before she gave him her Christmas present.
Twenty minutes later on the dot, she heard a knock on her door. She smiled, knowing that it was Booth and walked over to open it.
When she opened the door, she smiled for a minute, taking n his appearance. He was such a good guy.
"So, are you going to invite me in, or am I going to stand in the hallway all day long?" She smiled sheepishly, embarrassed at how long she had let herself admire him. She stepped back, gesturing for him to come inside and then made her way to the kitchen to get them some coffee.
"I've missed you Bones," he called after her. The thought of him missing her warmed her right down to her toes.
"Me too. I really have, Booth." He smiled gently at her, understanding that they were having a moment, and bit back the playful remark he had on his tongue about how she really wasn't so independent after all. He'd come so far with her letting him into her life, he was always careful not to ruin that.
After they had a quick cup of coffee, they made their way to his SUV and drove off to the crime scene. Brennan kept stealing glances at him, trying to decide when she should ask him approach the subject of 'them.'
"Hey, Booth?" She asked, a little tentatively.
"Yeah?" He looked over at her uncertain tone, a little surprised.
"Do you want to get a bite to eat after this, somewhere other than Wong Foo's?"
"Yeah, sure. Is everything alright?"
She smiled tightly at him, nervous at asking him out on a semi-date. "Yeah, everything's fine. I just want to go someplace nice for tonight."
They pulled into the crime scene and smiled at each other, getting out of the car. Their relationship had definitely reached uncharted territory, and until they had a serious talk, neither of them was going to know what to do.
Brennan approached the bones, introducing herself to the sheriff on the case.
"Hello. I'm Doctor Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist at the Jeffersonian Institute." She shook the hands with the sheriff.
"Officer Benjamin Madden. Please to meet you." He looked at her with a greedy glint in his eye. Booth already didn't like the man.
Brennan approached the bones, slipping on white latex gloves. "Female, approximately 17 years old, Caucasian. The fracture pattern suggests she was held with her arms behind her, and then kicked to the ground. The shoulder-dislocation appears to have been post-mortem."
"So, there's no doubt here that there was foul play?" Officer Madden looked on, feigning interest.
"No, this girl was definitely attacked."
"We'll have these bones shipped to the nearest morgue, but due to the closure of the Jeffersonian, it will be harder to examine the bones." Brennan hated working in morgues. She couldn't wait until the Jeffersonian was open again.
The preliminary examination at the crime scene took a lot longer than anyone had anticipated. By the time they were ready to leave, it was already 7:00.
"So, do you still want to do dinner?" Booth looked over at her on their way back to her apartment.
"Yeah. Can you just give me an hour or so to get cleaned up?" She was a mess. Her clothes were wet from snow, and she was freezing.
"Yeah. I'll pick you up at 8? I know a great Indian restaurant not too far from your place."
"Sounds good. See you then."
Temperance made her way up to her apartment, rushing to open the door. She normally wasn't the girl to spend a lot of time getting ready for a date, but this 'not even a date' had her all worked up.
After taking a shower, giving her plenty of time to shave her legs, and blow-drying her hair, she began the difficult task of deciding what to wear. After throwing everything from her closet onto her bed, she screamed in frustration, and decided to call Angela. She always seemed to know what to wear.
Angela arrived fifteen minutes later, grinning at the exasperated look on her friend's face. She really cares about this guy, she thought.
"Sweetie, calm down. You can't go to tell Booth how you feel if you start out frustrated and angry. Just take a deep breath and let me pick something out for you."
Temperance sat down on her bed and crossed her arms, acting like a 5-year old. She watched as Angela held up an outfit in front of the mirror, shook her head and threw it down again. How does she do this?
Half an hour later, they had settled on a pretty black skirt with knee-height black boots and a burgundy colored sweater. Although she was worried about how dressy it was, she knew she looked decent in it, so she took a deep breath and prepared to meet Booth.
Fifteen minutes later (as Angela hid in her bedroom), there was a knock on her door. When she opened it, she found a very nervous looking Booth grinning sheepishly at her. He was wear a pair on nice dark jeans and a sports jacket. And, he looked absolutely amazing.
"Hi, Booth. Wow." Temperance said breathlessly.
"Wow yourself. You about ready?"
"Yeah, just let me get my purse." Temperance grabbed her purse, whispered goodbye to Angela, and then prepared herself for either wonderful or horribly bad evening.
Well, I tried to get a couple of updates in before school started (which is tomorrow…terrifying). After this, updates will probably be about a week apart, but I'll try to get them in as frequently as possible. Reviews are much, much appreciated.