A/N: Thanks your the reviews. I appreciate it.
"That's right. Last night was crazy." Nervously running his hand over his face, Booth turned to Avalon, who had unexpectedly shown up in his office the next morning. "First I ran over a nun's ghost, but I didn't know she was a ghost, so I went to the church to check on her, but naturally she wasn't there, and then, as I was leaving the church, I saw this old guy's ghost and it was laughing as it unlocked the front doors and walked outside! Weird, right? I mean, how can a ghost even do that?"
The psychic smiled sweetly as she sat back in the arm chair. "It's not uncommon for spirits to be able to affect physical objects for a short period of time. Most likely it was something he did during his life. Maybe he was responsible for taking care of the building or something." Giggling softly, she watched as Booth paced his small office. "So you saw a ghost. No big deal, right?"
"Well, actually two, but I guess you've got a point...any more, it's not that big of a deal if I see ghosts." He hesitated slightly. "So...if you are right, and the ghosts are no big deal, then why are you here?"
"Can't I come visit a friend?" She brushed a bit of fuzz from her sparkly Christmas sweater. "After all, it's been several months since I've seen you."
"Yeah...I've been busy with a lot of different stuff." He shrugged slightly, hoping she wouldn't want details. "You know, with cases and all…"
"And with your ex-girlfriend, Hannah." Seeing his annoyance at her prodding, Avalon shook her head. "You know, instead of listening to Sweets' advice about asking that woman to marry you, you should've asked for mine. I could've told you what would happen with her, if you'd only talked to me first. I could've saved you a lot of grief." She scoffed in disdain as Booth angrily sputtered his denial. "You should never have taken any kind of romantic advice from that boy, okay? You should've learned your lesson when he persuaded you to make a move on Dr. Brennan even though you knew she wasn't ready for that sort of emotional bombardment. What was it I told you? Don't push her, remember? If you'd been patient...if you'd only waited, things would've worked out so much better."
Not in the mood to be scolded, especially about what a mess he'd made out of his relationship with Bones, Booth shot Avalon an angry glare. "Well, I can't do anything about that now, right? So yeah, I screwed things up royally, but we can't fix the past…"
"No, but you can change the future, if you'll listen to me. I know you've been wondering what to do about your relationship with her." Avalon chuckled at his surprised expression. "Oh…you really didn't know that I look over the cards regularly on your behalf? Come on, Seeley...that's what friends are for, right?"
"Yeah, I suppose so." He smiled, touched by her concern for his happiness. "I guess I never gave it that much thought is all...you know, that you'd check up on me like that. Thanks." His interest piqued by that bit of information, he sat down across from her. "So, um…" Unsure of what to say, he stared at his fingernails. "So you're saying that you know what I should do to get my relationship with Bones straightened out?"
"Exactly. It won't be easy, but it will happen if you follow my instructions to the letter. However…" Avalon paused as she pulled her tarot cards from her purse. "...when I consulted the cards yesterday, they told me that there's something else you have to do first." She spread the cards on Booth's desk, studying them intently. "Ah, yes...here it is. You need to go visit your grandfather."
"Pops?" Suddenly worried, Booth swallowed nervously. "He's not...he's not in trouble, is he? Is his health okay?"
Shrugging, she moved the cards around. "It appears so, but for some reason he's been on your mind recently, hasn't he?"
Sighing softly, Booth nodded. "Yeah, he has. I wanted to go see him over Christmas, but I've already committed to being here in DC that week so one of the other agents I work with can go see his elderly parents. They're both really sick, and it may be their last holiday together."
Picking up her cards, she was surprised at Booth's statement. "Why do you have to wait for Christmas? Why not go see your grandfather this weekend?"
It was such a simple suggestion, and he was surprised that he hadn't thought of it himself. Maybe I've been too full of self pity to think straight…
Booth couldn't help but smile as he thought about how pleased his grandfather would be to see him. "That's a great idea! Parker's supposed to be with me this weekend, and I bet he'd love riding on the train to Philly. I can get us a room for a couple of nights...we might even be able to catch a basketball game..."
He beamed happily at Avalon as she rose to leave. "Hey, thanks a lot for the suggestion. I appreciate it."
"No problem." She gave him a pointed look. "And when you return, call me and we'll work on the rest of your 'situation'.
He groaned softly. "Okay...if you say so."
"I do." She waved as she stepped out of his office. "See you soon, Seeley…"
"Bye." He sat there for a few minutes, thinking about what the psychic had said. "I can't believe I'm gonna take her advice.," he muttered to himself. "But I did ask for guidance, right? So maybe it makes sense to do what she says. It couldn't hurt, right?"
Glancing at his watch, he nodded to himself. It was time to make some arrangements for his trip...
