Title: Deja Vu

Disclaimer: Language, violence

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter Twenty: Changes

Brennan ended up spending a week out of her apartment. She was lucky to be able to bypass the whole hotel issue and stay with Angela. She was happy that it had happened, in a sense. If she hadn't been pushed from her apartment she'd probably still be stuck in the rut that had become her life. It was nice coming home from work and knowing that you were going to be alone. Usually the company of books didn't bother her. But then again, she wasn't used to living with a friend. Angela proved to be a very cheerful and yet, very deep person. Some nights they would stay up late and chat about this and that. Angela explained some of the techniques of art and Brennan helped her to better understand certain things about her job.

Booth had been put back on the job too; having only need to stay in the hospital for two days. They hadn't had many encounters since she picked him up and returned him to his apartment. From what she heard he was stuck on desk duty for a short amount of time. His boss didn't want to take any chances with his health. But surely that time was running out and she'd see him again soon. Angela made sure that she avoided the topic of Booth the entire week that Brennan was staying with her. She could see that her friend needed time to get her life back in order.

And that's what Brennan decided to do when she opened her apartment door. The place was still a mess but the carpet had been cleaned and there wasn't the slightest trace of blood. A new plant sat on the kitchen counter, a card hanging from one of its leaves. She removed the white envelope carefully from the leaf and opened it. It simply read, Welcome home. It had Agent Stone's signature at the bottom. She smiled at his thoughtfulness and hastily moved the plant to a windowsill where it would get more sun. Putting her hair up in a ponytail she began the tiring task of righting her house. It took her a few hours until everything was back in the place it had been. As much as she enjoyed the change she couldn't help but be happy that she was once again in her own place.

It was even more wonderful to sleep in her own bed, under her own blankets and with her head resting against her own pillow. She was out before her head hit the pillow.

----

The next day started off bright and sunny, a cool breeze reeked havoc on people trying to read newspapers or those who decided to wear hats. Walking into her lab at the Jeffersonian, Brennan almost felt as though she was walking on cloud nine. She had her life back. Dr. Goodman had not reprimanded her for the day she'd gone to the docks with Agent Stone. According to Angela it was because he saw no reason to chastise her, she had helped save a life, and that was a small part of her job.

She waved to Angela and said hello to both Hodgins and Zack before heading for her office. She had to check with her literary agent. It was about time she drop him an email about her latest book idea. It would be about a missing agent, kidnapped so that he would understand a few of the finer points in life. It sounded like a best seller to her. Smiling to herself she opened the door to her office.

"Someone looks to be in a cheery mood," Bones said.

Brennan nearly dropped her keys, she had not been expecting to find him here. In fact, she'd been expecting the room to be empty. "Just enjoying the simple things in life. Like order."

"I take it you moved back home then?" He was seated in a chair across from her desk.

"Last night. It was wonderful to sleep in my own bed," she told him, setting her stuff on her desk before sitting in front of the computer. "Your week of desk duty must be over."

He nodded. "It felt like it was never going to end. Paperwork isn't as thrilling as actually getting your hands on the bad guy." As an after thought he added, "I'm happy to see you again, Bones."

"Life does seem to be slipping back into its normal routine," she responded after a moments thought. "Which leads me to ask you, why are you here? Is there something you need help on? A body, perhaps?"

He looked at her. "Always right to business with you, Bones. There is a body. Someone found the charred remains of human an hour ago. I figured the best person for identifying the body would be you. Shall we?"

She thought about the email that she had wanted to send to her agent and pushed it to the back of her mind. It was more important to help those who couldn't help themselves. Standing from her chair she told him, "I like having things back to the way they were. It got creepy there for a while."

"Sure did," he agreed, meeting her at the corner of her desk. "Actually, Bones, to be honest, I didn't come here because of a body. I came here because I wanted to see you again. I'm afraid that we got interrupted, you know, my being kidnapped and everything. If I remember correctly we were supposed to have dinner that night. There was something you wanted to talk to me about, wasn't there?"

She bit her lip. Leave it up to Booth to have ulterior motives. Now everything really did feel like it had slipped back into place. "Yes, I do recall that. I guess we should fix the problem then. Your place or mine?"

"Mine, mainly because I'm not sure you can cook," joked Booth. "How about tonight? You shouldn't have to work tomorrow. We can enjoy one another's company, get caught up on the last week."

"That's fine with me," she said, stepping around him. "There's a body waiting for us to work over it. The dead need my attention."

"Hey," Booth called after her. She turned to look at him. He smiled, holding his arms out. "There's a body right here that needs your attention."

"Booth," she rolled her eyes, but made sure that she didn't smile until her back was turned.