A/N: Thanks for all the kind reviews. They are appreciated.

I think I forgot to mention that I'm using a series of words as prompts for the chapter. The word I'm using will be the chapter's title.

There is a whiff of fantasy in this chapter but we'll be back to reality soon enough.


Hearing the church bells peal suddenly stopped Booth in his tracks for some reason. He turned and looked up at the bell tower of St. Vincent's, wondering why the carillion would sound at that time of night.

Ding...dong...ding...dong…ding...dong. The bells rang out loudly through the dark night, and suddenly Booth had the odd sensation that they were saying something to him.

Come in...come in...yes, you...come in...come in…

He tried shaking off that ridiculous, nagging feeling. Of course the bells weren't talking to him...were they? You must be dreaming, Booth...or else you've gone off the deep end...

Still the bells sounded. Come in...come in...yes, you...right now…

"What the hell?" He checked his watch, surprised to see that it was already 8 o'clock. "Why ring the bells now? That's just weird. I bet the neighbors don't like it." He shrugged as he jammed his hands in his pockets and walked away from the church. "I guess it's too late to get much work done at the office. I might as well go home…'

Come in...come in…right now...right now...

"Oh...alright already!" Sighing softly, he turned and walked down to the corner, hesitating as he reached the church's heavy wooden doors. "I guess I don't have anything to lose by checking on the nun, right? I might as well get out of the cold and see what's going on in here." Looking over his shoulder to see if he was alone, he pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The bells stopped ringing as soon as he stepped into the darkened nave. There were white beeswax candles flickering in the front of the church, causing eerie shadows to dance across the beautiful gilded altar, but there were no parishioners present. "I thought that nun said she was coming for Mass…so where is everybody?"

Unsure of what he should do next, Booth genuflected and blessed himself before taking a seat in one of the back pews. "Okay...so I'm here. What do You want?"

He sat in the gloom for a few minutes, listening to the traffic outside and wondering why he'd felt the need to come into that church at that hour during the middle of the week. It wasn't logical, and yet...he felt as if he couldn't leave yet. There must be a reason for him to be there. He just needed to be patient so he could find out what it was.

After a few minutes more, he rolled his eyes at his own stupidity. There was no reason to sit in the dark by himself just because of his overactive imagination. It was time to go home.

"May I sit here?" An elderly man stood at the end of the pew. "If you don't mind, that is…"

"Help yourself." Smiling at his own foolishness, Booth rose from his seat. "I was just leaving…"

"Oh. Well, do you suppose we could chat a few minutes before you go?" The old man offered a bashful smile. "My friends are all gone, and I don't have any contact with my family. I get so lonely sometimes. I miss talking to other people."

"Yeah, I get that." Sitting back down in the pew, Booth shrugged as the man sat next to him. "Okay. So what do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know...nothing in particular. Just some small talk, I suppose." The gentleman extended his hand. "My name's Ben, by the way…"

Shaking it, the agent responded politely. "Nice to meet you, Ben. I'm Booth."

"Nice to meet you, too." Giving his companion a sidelong glance, Ben's brow furrowed in confusion. "What's a nice fella like you doing sittin' here alone in the dark? Shouldn't you be home with your family?

"Aw, you know...sometimes life sucks, right?" Booth shook his head as he gazed at one of the church's many stained glass windows. "I don't know why I'm sitting here, but maybe it's because things are so screwed up right now." Seeing Ben's surprise, he sighed sadly. "See, I've made a whole bunch of stupid mistakes lately. I've alienated some people I care about...and I hurt the woman I thought was going to be 'the one' for me...a woman I've loved for years, okay? So now I feel sorta lost, you know? Like I don't know how to fix things with anyone…and I don't know where to find the answers…"

"I see." Ben nodded. "That is a problem...feeling lost like that...adrift in a sea of loneliness…feeling out of control..."

"Yeah." Booth exhaled slowly. "I mean, I've got a son, but he's going out of town to spend Christmas with his mother. My Pops lives in Philadelphia, and with my job, it's hard to get away to go see him…and so, you know...it almost feels like I got nothin' left."

"What do you do, young man?," Ben asked quietly, eying Booth's well tailored suit with interest. "It must be important…"

"I guess. I'm an FBI agent, in charge of my own unit. Me and my partner have one of the best solve rates in the nation, so that's a good thing, but sometimes I wonder if I'm using my work as an excuse to avoid celebrating the holidays. I get busy...involved in what I'm doing...so I don't always have time to think about the real meaning of Christmas...I don't have time to let people know how I feel about them...or so I tell myself." Booth brushed away a tear as he stared at the candlelit altar. "You know, sometimes I wish God would just show me what to do...like maybe give me an idea on how I should approach the woman I hurt, you know? Or maybe He could tell me if I should take some vacation time and go see Pops. I think I should, but then I worry about what might happen at work if I was gone...you know, things might go to Hell, and I'd be away and couldn't do anything about it." Shaking his head, he shrugged. "Why doesn't God just tell me what to do?"

"You don't know? Really?" Shaking his head slowly, Ben chuckled softly. "You know what I think, Booth? I think you're used to giving orders instead of taking them. I think even if the Lord did tell you what to do, plain as day, you'd still have issues with it. You'd still question it. I think that's why He makes people like you and me think for ourselves. We can ask Him for His opinion, but we still have to decide to listen and then choose what to do, right?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm used to being in charge, and sometimes it's hard to let go of that...even for God. That's crazy, right?"

Seeing Booth nod, Ben smiled. "I tell you what...let's me and you ask Him to help you find out the answers to your questions, okay? Let's pray about it."

"Yeah...I'd like that. Thanks."

The two men sat in silence for a few minutes, both of them silently musing on life as they sat in the pew. Finally, Ben blessed himself and slowly stood up. Leaning against the pew, he bowed slightly. "I hope things work out well for you, Booth. Good night."

"Good night." Booth watched as Ben shuffled out of the nave, wondering how the old gentleman came to be alone in life. "If I'm not careful, I'm going to be all alone, too. I need to figure things out, don't I? Otherwise, I'm gonna lose the things I care about...and I'll be a lonely old man begging for people to talk to me..."

After sitting in the quiet for a few more minutes, he rose to leave. As he made his way to the church's front doors, he paused as he heard someone call out to him...