(Harbingers in the Fountain)

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I don't own Bones.

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As a good Catholic with standing in the church, Booth wasn't one to believe in ghosts or goblins and psychics tended to make him scoff. The only psychics he had ever dealt with were charlatans who were out to fleece the gullible, but Avalon Harmonia was a real puzzle to him. He didn't trust her and when they had found bodies where she said they would be, she had shot to the top of his list of suspects. And yet, eventually the evidence pointed to someone else and he was left with the fact that she had known where her sister and others were buried because her cards had told her.

"Booth, there is no such things as psychic powers." Brennan was growing impatient with Booth's waffling on the issue. "No one can tell what the future will bring. It's utter nonsense."

They were on the way back to the Hoover. They had consulted with Caroline Julian who was going after Alexander Gallo on tax evasion, but unless they came up with a way to prove that Alexander Gallo and Tom Fargood were the same person, he might get away with murder. "Then how did Avalon know about the bodies? I'm pretty sure Fargood didn't tell her and neither did Dr. Leacock."

She didn't have an answer to that question, but there had to be a logical explanation. "I'm sure I don't know, but she did know and it had nothing to do reading cards or mystical powers."

He wasn't satisfied with the situation and really wanted to know what to do with Avalon. Clearly she hadn't murdered anyone, but there was more to the story if she didn't have real psychic powers. "Well, if she doesn't have psychic powers then she had to find out another way and I want to know what that way was."

Brennan wasn't satisfied either, but she refused to worry about it and she certainly wasn't going to believe that magic cards had told Avalon about the bodies. It was ridiculous. "We may never know if she refuses to tell us." And that was very irritating.

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Due to sudden inspiration, Brennan and then Booth goaded Avalon Harmonia to attack Alexander Gallo as a grieving relative and she had scratched the con man's face collecting skin and blood under her sharp fingernails.

Smugly, Booth had presented that collected evidence to Caroline Julian once it was proved that Gallo and Fargood were one in the same. Caroline had been irritated with their methods, but she loved that Brennan and Booth had found a way to go after Gallo for murder and not just tax evasion. She was looking forward to prosecuting him.

Once Caroline was gone from his office, Booth winked at Brennan who had been in his office when Caroline arrived and then turned to Avalon who had come by to see the results of her attack on her sister's murderer. "Ms. Harmonia, how did you know about the bodies? Who told you?"

Amused that Booth refused to believe in her powers, Avalon chuckled. "Since you don't believe I have psychic powers then I don't have an answer to your question . . . You know, Agent Booth, you've been worrying since your surgery that you might have lost something. You didn't lose anything. You are still you. That hasn't changed."

Not sure whether to believe her or not, Booth snorted. "Your cards told you that?"

"Of course." Avalon was used to skepticism and it didn't really bother her all that much. "My cards have told me a lot of things . . . you will get what you want some day . . . not right away, but some day. All you have to be is patient and your greatest wish will come true."

His mind immediately went to thoughts about his dream world. "Really?" He glanced at Brennan who had a puzzled look on her face.

"Yes, really." Avalon left Booth's office knowing that he had taken in her words even if he publicly disbelieved. She knew that deep down, he was a spiritual man and he couldn't completely disbelieve her.

Once the psychic was gone, Brennan waited for Booth to close his computer down so they could leave. "What was she talking about? What's your greatest wish?"

Booth moved around his desk, logged off his computer and returned to Brennan's side. "I have no idea what she was talking about . . . Want to celebrate at the Founding Fathers? We can have a drink, maybe eat dinner. I don't feel like cooking tonight."

Suspicious that Booth wasn't being truthful with her, Brennan stared at her boyfriend, but he didn't react like she had hoped he would. "Alright . . . Do you have a wish that you would like fulfilled?"

"Yes, I would." Booth placed his arm around her shoulder and escorted her to the elevator. "I wish that the Phillies would find a descent pitcher for once."

Since Booth wasn't going to answer her questions, Brennan decided to let it go. There was no such thing as psychic powers and he definitely should know better.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

The rental storage unit was hot, so Booth set up a fan in the doorway to blow air into the room and another fan to blow at the back of the unit where Brennan was sitting. Holding an auto repair book for 1968 Ford Mustangs in her lap, she flipped through the pages looking at the various categories that the book offered.

So far Booth hadn't asked for any help as he changed the oil and Brennan found that very encouraging. If he remembered how to change the oil then that meant he hadn't forgotten all he knew about automobiles.

Triumphant, Booth finished the job, picked up a clean rag from his rag box on the bench and wiped his hands clean. "I did it . . . I think." Moving around the car, he entered the driver's side, started the car and then checked to make sure no alarms appeared on the panel. Since it seemed to be okay, he got out of the car and leaned over the engine watching for leaks. Satisfied, he laid on the ground and moved under the car. Looking up, he didn't see anything bad happening and no oil was leaking on to the floor. Relieved, he crawled back out from under the car and stood up. He let the car run for a few minutes then turned it off and closed the hood on the car. "I think it's good."

"And you did it without the book." Brennan stood up, placed the book on the work bench and turned to face her boyfriend. "You did it Booth. Your memory isn't as bad as you thought it was. You changed the oil successfully, you investigated a crime and you helped resolve it successfully . . . I think you're back, Booth."

"I am back." Booth moved over to where she was standing and placed his arms around her to give her a hug. "It helped to have you in my corner."

Brennan placed her arms around Booth and leaned against him. She was so happy for him. He had been under so much pressure since his recovery had begun and there had been some days when it looked like he might give up out of sheer frustration, but in the end he had refused to do that and he persevered. With her help, he had found reasons to move on, to recover lost skills, to ignore the changes that meant nothing. "I will always be in your corner Booth." He still had a ways to go, but he was doing so well and he wasn't giving in to fear. That was all that mattered.

Releasing her, Booth looked at the mustang. "I'm really glad that I didn't give up on the car. You were right to tell me keep at it . . . I think it's going to be okay." After he threw his rag on the bench, he placed the empty oil bottles in a trash bag along with the used oil filter. He poured the used oil in a container and planned to take it to a recycling center. "I think I'm done for the day."

Brennan turned off the fan in the corner while Booth turned off the fan in the doorway and carried it to the back of the unit. Once the place was straightened up, they were ready to go. The door was closed and locked and Booth looked up at the gathering clouds. "I think it's going to storm. We should go home."

"I agree." Brennan moved over to her car, entered it and waited for Booth to enter the passenger side. Once he was inside and the door was closed, she started the car and drove down the lane to the street outside the gate. "Cam has invited us to a barbecue next weekend, weather permitting. It's Michelle's birthday."

"Well, then we have to go." Booth didn't really care for birthday parties that much, but Michelle was part of the family now and she deserved to have a nice party. "What do you think we should get her for her birthday?"

She thought about it for a few minutes then responded. "A gift certificate to her favorite store. I will ask Cam what that is. That way she can choose her own present."

"Good idea." And it was. Booth had no idea what interested teenage girls. "I'm glad Cam adopted Michelle. That girl was lost. No family left except for a cousin of her father's. Cam loves her and she's a great Mom."

Brennan hoped that she would have a child soon too. They were still waiting for Booth to fully recover from his surgery before they tried. She knew he was afraid that the surgery had changed him in other ways and that he might not be able to take care of a child, but she knew he was worrying about nothing. None of the changes she had seen made him less than he was before the surgery. He just needed to get his confidence back and changing the oil successfully in his car was a start. It also helped that he was now confident that he could do his job. Solving the murder of all those people by Alexander Gallo had been a big step forward.

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