What I Wish I Could've Said

Rated: T

Disclaimer: I own nothing... Obviously. Just playing in someone else's sandbox for a bit.

Summary: Hindsight is always 20/20. Everyone has a single moment that they wish they could have said something better than what they actually did. A completely random series of what-if vignettes.

A/N: By special request, in honor of the impending Sahmain celebrations (that's Halloween to those who are unfamiliar with Celtic-squint speak), here's a bit of holiday fun B&B style. Also, for those who've been wondering, I should be returning to my normal posting schedule for some of my regular stories at some point this week. But, in the mean time, the first two chapters of my co-authored piece with dharmamonkey - "Cognitive Dissonance" (sequel to "Costly Signals") have been published under her profile. If that's your sorta thing, don't forget to go check it out and let me/us know what you think. As for everyone else, happy hauntings!

Ch 12: That Time Booth Tricked & Brennan Got Treated

While it was true that it had only been a flesh wound, the ache in Booth's foot seemed to be growing a bit stronger the longer he continued sitting next to Brennan. The pain meds the EMTs had given him had dulled the pain after they had stitched up his foot at the crime scene, but the slight throbbing seemed to warn Booth that the meds were now in the first stages of wearing off. He had nixed the idea of allowing the EMTs to take him to the ER earlier, and he'd simply promised to follow up with his own GP. After all, the ER was the last place he wanted to be tonight. It was Halloween, after all, and Booth knew that the ER on Halloween was like a full moon to the power of one hundred - everyone and their cousin had some weird excuse to go to the there and chaos ensued. It was something that Booth wanted to avoid, particularly as it would've meant that Booth would've had to leave Brennan alone, by herself, dressed as Wonder Woman if he took the ambulance to the hospital. And, so, since there was no way in hell that was going to happen, Booth had promised to follow up with his own doctor, Brennan had vouched for him, he'd signed some paperwork releasing them from liability, and off to the Jeffersonian they'd returned. Until he could get in to see his own doctor, Booth knew he was on his own as far as changing the dressings and the pain meds went. The last part bothered him the least, because, the more Booth thought about it, the more he decided a lack of morphine-based pain meds wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

I hate Vicodin, Booth thought suddenly. It's worse than getting drunk on whiskey, scotch, and tequila combined. It's just like codeine. I take one dose of that crap, and upholstered furniture always seems to hold some new and miraculous power of mind control over me. Nope. Not doing that tonight. Just not gonna.

Suddenly realizing that Brennan had started talking to him, Booth knew that a proper response was needed, particularly after her rather touching apology for the unpleasantness the job had called for tonight in how he'd dealt with the slimeball of a murdering douchbag suspect.

"We saved the girl," he said with a genuinely pleased nod. "That's a pretty good date," Booth added for some random reason.

Brennan, her eyes even more blue than usual, set against the backdrop of the red of her Wonder Woman bustier and smudged black eye makeup, gave him a thoughtful look for a few seconds. Then, she corrected him gently, but deliberately, "Except not really a date."

Can't argue that one, Bones, Booth thought wryly. After all, if I picked you up for a date dressed like that, the very last thing we'd be doing right now would be coming back to the lab. We'd either be at your place or mine, and you'd be showing me how 'wonderful' you actually are *out* of that costume. Quickly pushing away the rather cocky and self-assured voice, with a silent reminder that this was his partner, Booth nodded at Brennan as he said, "I know. It was..."

"-work," Brennan finished for him, just a bit too quickly in Booth's opinion. She then added, as if she needed to make certain that there was absolutely no room for any misinterpretation, "Not a date."

"Right," Booth agreed. "Not a date. Just work. A work date. A really, really hard one."

Brennan seemed to relax a bit at his agreement and descriptions, and then added, a bit of tentativeness coming into her voice, "And, we're not really Wonder Woman and Clark Kent. We're Brennan and Booth."

Looking at her, Booth held Brennan's gaze for a minute. What's going on in that beautiful brain of yours, Bones? What does it matter who we are tonight? It's not like anything's any different tonight just because it's Halloween, and we're dressed up in costumes, or- Booth stopped himself for a minute. He looked at Brennan again, searching her eyes, wondering if she was trying to tell him something or not. -or, does it? Does it matter, after all? Maybe? Just maybe?

"Ya know," Booth began, careful not to use his nickname for her. "One of the great things about Halloween is the fact that for a few hours each year, you get to dress up and be someone else."

Tilting her head at him, Brennan said carefully, "That much is true. While the holiday has been somewhat commercialized by various companies with the goal of selling candy and decorations, the tradition of dressing up in costumes on Halloween goes back to a group of immigrants who came from Ireland to the United States in the 1840s as they fled the horrors of the so-called Potato Famine. The idea was that you could avoid encountering evil souls and ghosts on the one day of the year when the veils between the world of the living and the world of the dead was at its thinnest and allowed some type of back and forth exchange. If you disguised yourself, it was thought that you had a certain amount of protection until Samhain was over. Much as they used pumpkins in America, in lieu of carving squash or rutabagas to make jack-o-lantern's to protect their souls from being snatched from the Devil, the custom has been adapted by Americans into the more festive one we're more familiar with today."

"Did you like carving pumpkins when you were a kid?" Booth suddenly asked.

Straightening up a bit, Brennan smiled and said, "As an Amazonian princess, we didn't celebrate American holidays like Halloween on Themyscira."

"Ahh," Booth said. He tilted his head a bit and grinned at her as he said, "So, uhh, what happened to 'we're not really Wonder Woman and Clark Kent', huh?"

Her straight posture disappearing as Brennan slouched a bit, she replied, "Given the fact that Halloween still has-" Brennan glanced over at the clock on the far wall of the lab to see what time it was before she continued speaking. "-approximately two hours and twelve minutes remaining, I now find myself of the opinion that, in the spirit of the festivities, particularly since we've missed the Jeffersonian costume party, it would be only fair to retain our alter egos until midnight."

"Ahhh," Booth said with a slight nod. "So, if this means that you're Wonder Woman-"

"Yes," Brennan said with a happy nod.

"And, I'm Clark Kent-"

Again, Brennan nodded as she said, "If you prefer that identity to your more non-descript costumed role as a random squint, I find that acceptable."

"Good," Booth laughed. "I'm glad you think so, because, if I'm Clark Kent, ya know, it's only fair that you know that, as Clark Kent, I've got some pretty irresistible and amazing powers."

Shaking her head, Brennan said, "No. Even though I don't know a tremendous amount of information about the comic book mythos, I do know that Clark Kent is Superman's human identity. All of his special powers only manifest themselves when he's Superman, not Clark Kent-"

And, for some reason, at that particular moment, although Booth wasn't quite sure why, the Line that had separated them for the past year - ever since it's creation and imposition on them by Booth after his relationship with Cam had imploded because of his fearful reactionism in the wake of the Howard Eppes' - it seemed to blink out of existence for just a few blissful seconds. Maybe it was the fact that she was dressed as Wonder Woman, maybe it was the fact that he was dressed as a squint, maybe it was the fact that it had been a rather stressful night, and he needed to vent some steam, or maybe, just maybe it was something else, but suddenly Booth looked over at Brennan and made a decision. He wondered for a brief second if he'd be able to blame it on the pain meds if she did something like slug him. But, Brennan was smiling at him as she finished her sentence about Clark Kent not being able to display Superman's special powers without compromising his secret identity when Booth leaned over, having committed himself to the plain, consequences be damned. Quickly, but very gently, Booth suddenly kissed her.

Brennan tensed for a minute, her body growing stiff for a few seconds, but then her reaction was cut off by the press of Booth's soft and warm lips to her own. At first, the kiss was gentle and almost chaste. There was no opening of the mouths, no exchange of bodily fluids, and no dueling of the tongues. It was almost, really, no more than Booth pressing his lips against hers, and for some reason, that made Brennan feel very sad, cheated almost. And, then, a part of Brennan's mind perked up and said, Well, if you want to make it less chaste, Wonder Woman, than you should know what to do, right?

And, so it was actually Brennan who leaned into Booth. She was the first to wrap her arms around his neck, drawing him closer, exerting more force, more pressure against his lips. Intertwining her fingers at the base of his skull, Brennan held him to her, eager for his kiss. She was the one who opened her mouth first, and she was the one who tentatively let her tongue dart out just a bit in a exercise of exploration - or reconnaissance depending on one's perspective. Pressing lightly against his closed mouth, Brennan's tongue almost seemed to be knocking, begging for entrance. And, as if it had given the magic password, after a few seconds of reluctance, Booth slowly opened his mouth and met her tongue with his own. Their tongues, quite happy at being reintroduced to each other after such a long absence, very quickly fell into the easy rapport they had briefly known for one night such a long, long time ago. As the kiss deepened, and both Brennan and Booth felt their heart rates increase as they enjoyed the rush of passionate warmth that enveloped them, neither one wanted the kiss to end. But, eventually, the need to replenish the air that had disappeared from their lungs demanded their attention. It was with a heavy reluctance that they eventually pulled a part.

Leaning back from one another just slightly, both were a bit worried in that moment what they might see in the other's eyes in their post-Halloween kiss world. But, as Brennan's bright blue eyes danced with merriment, and Booth's brown eyes seemed lightened by the excitement of their kiss, each knew instantly that neither one had anything to worry about.

After taking the requisite number of breaths needed to replenish their air supply, it was Brennan's turn to lean in and resume kissing Booth. As their kisses lightened her head to the point that Brennan believed her ability to analyze things rationally had been, quite happily compromised, she let one final thought flash through her mind.

Wow! Maybe he does have some special super powers, after all-

-TBC-