Thank you for all of the comments! I could always use suggestions as well…basically anything is loverly. I wrote this one in just a short period of time because I didn't want y'all to have to wait too long for an update. This was sort of a spur of the moment story, so we'll see how it goes – but I can't promise that my updates will be regular, but I can promise for at least once a week. Thanks again and I hope you enjoy it!

PS – I wrote half of this and got a little stuck. Then I was inspired in such an odd way – a random discussion, but it seems to have worked for me!!! So now I really hope you enjoy, because I put a lot of thought into this (and stayed up rullll late). Oh yeah and I own only this story line, blah blah blah. You know how it goes.

October 5, 2006

Bones' Apartment

Brennan was awoken from her sleep by the shrill ringing of a phone in her room. It took her a while to calm herself down, but soon Booth untangled himself from their warm embrace and answered what she realized was his cell phone.

"Hello?" Booth answered groggily, sitting up in bed.

Brennan sat up as well, rubbing her eyes as she glanced at the clock and saw that it was a little after 2 in the morning.

"Are you sure?" Booth asked, furrowing his brow as he rubbed a hand through his hair. "Alright. Yeah, okay," Booth said into the phone, flipping it shut.

"Who was it?" Brennan asked.

Booth sighed. "Cullen. Some kids were skateboarding at a park up in NYC an hour or so ago. Some cops saw them and the kids started to run away, but one's board got caught on something, causing him to fall. Found three sets of decomposed bodies, a larger one and two smaller ones. Local PD called Cullen, so it looks like we're on our way up north Bones," Booth replied.

Brennan nodded. "Any preliminary data on the remains?" She asked as she got out of bed and began to pack a bag.

Booth shook his head as he headed into the guestroom. "None, other than that they think it could be the bodies of a missing congressman and his two daughters." he called. "Let's try and leave in 10 minutes. You can call the squints on the way, fill them in. We should be in the city by 8 or 9," he told her.

"Okay, sure. Let me just wash up a bit and grab my kit and we can go," she told him.

An hour later

Booth and Brennan were on their way to New York City. It wasn't even light outside yet, and Booth sped down the empty highway, humming along with the radio.

Brennan was filling her team in on the information they had so far, and the team was already assembled at the lab awaiting her instructions.

"Zach, you've looked at the pictures. Tell me what you can see from them," Brennan prompted the young man on the phone with her.

Zach yawned before replying. "The larger body looks to be that of a Caucasian male, age 30 to 40. No signs of trauma to the remains that I can see from the picture. The smaller bodies both seem to be female, I'd say between 2 and 5. It looks like some long blonde hair was found near the bodies, possibly belonging to them," he told her.

Brennan nodded to herself. "Good. Hodgins, anything you can tell me about the placement of the bodies from the picture?" She asked.

"Sorry Dr. Brennan, but the pictures weren't of very fine quality. All I can tell you is that they look to have been buried for approximately 2 years, with minimal disturbance,
he answered. "Once I get the actual soil samples I'll know more. They're on their way down here," he told her.

"Alright, let me speak to Angela alone please," Brennan asked.

"Hey," came Angela's voice. "I shooed the boys away to play with dirt or something. What's going on?" She asked.

Brennan smiled to herself. "Oh, nothing. If you could finish up that facial reconstruction you were working on yesterday and send me a picture, that would be great. Maybe Cam could help you out with that since it seems this case has top priority. Also, start on the facials for these three bodies as soon as you can. FBI seems to think they may be the bodies of a former congressman and his two young daughters," Brennan told her.

"Yeah, of course, I'll get right on it," Angela assured her before changing the subject. "Anything else you want to tell me about? Like maybe about what you did last night?"

"No, not right now Ange. Everything's just fine. Hey, I'll call you when we get there, okay? We'll talk some more," Brennan said, changing the topic.

"Sure thing sweetie. I suppose that means you don't want to talk while Booth can hear, I get it. But we're most definitely talking about this later. Have a good trip," Angela said with a laugh before hanging up.

Brennan sighed and leaned back in her seat. She flipped open her laptop and looked at the information on the case.

"It says here that Congressman James T. Clark, 38, went missing almost 2 and half years ago with his two daughters, Bayley aged 5 and Elizabeth aged 2. He had just picked them up from day care and was going to drop them off with a babysitter before meeting his wife for their anniversary dinner. Their ages would match the descriptions Zach gave us for the remains, as well as the time period they went missing. He has a wife, Emily, a psychiatrist, who still lives in their penthouse apartment on Park Avenue. That would probably be a good place to start, but I'll leave the detective work to you," Brennan teased.

"At the time the FBI had no leads on this case. The congressman was very well liked, and they couldn't find any possible motive or enemy. His girls were very sweet, and loved by everyone who met them. It seemed that one day they just disappeared. Wife doesn't seem like a probable suspect. I remember she was really shaken up about the whole thing; they had been married for 10 years, and everyone said they were happy," Booth added.

Brennan shrugged. "You know it always seems that the most happily married couples are the ones that end up killing each other," she observed.

Booth looked at her for a moment before returning his eyes to the road. "Well Bones, sometimes people surprise you. Sometimes people really are as in love as they appear to be," he said softly. "But I guess we'll see. Anyways, she is a psychiatrist, and I couldn't see a woman like her killing her two young children. She loved them all."

"Maybe," Brennan said as she looked at a family picture in the file. "They are all quite attractive. Blonde hair, blue and brown eyes; they look like the perfect American family," she replied. "But then again, what do I know about any of that."

Booth sighed. "We'll figure it out. Why don't you get some rest? We've still got another four hours or so to go. I'll wake you if anything comes up, I promise," he told her.

"Okay, I suppose that's alright," Brennan conceded as she settled back in her seat, leaning up against the window.

She sat quietly for a few minutes before speaking again. "Has she remarried?" Brennan asked, referring to the congressman's wife.

Booth shook his head. "Nope, she still lives in the same house; maybe hoping that one day they'll just walk through the door like nothing happened," he replied.

"I wonder why she hasn't…remarried I mean," Brennan said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Some people believe that there's just one person that they are meant to be with. Once you've found that person and lived your life with them, it's hard to find something different. Nothing could ever measure up to the love from before. It's an amazing thing if you find that one person you're meant to be with," Booth told her.

Brennan frowned skeptically. "How come you haven't gotten married?" She asked.

"For people of faith, marriage isn't something to be taken lightly. It's a very serious matter. You're making a commitment, a promise in front of God and the one you love that you'll stay together no matter what. You're not just telling your partner that you love them; you're professing your love to the Supreme Being, the one who made you. It's the ultimate confession, and you truly give your heart to your lover when you make those vows. I don't believe that you should enter into marriage unless you fully intend on making it work, on staying together forever. I guess my soul mate and I haven't discovered each other yet," Booth told her.

Brennan cocked her head to the side and watched him carefully. "And how do you know when you've met that person?" She asked softly.

Booth hesitated for a moment before replying. "I think it's just one of those things…you just know. When it hits you, it hits you hard. You can feel it within every fiber of your being, something that you can't quite identify, but it won't leave you. It's with the person you can't wait to talk to. If something happens to you, you can't wait to tell them. They're the first one you think about in the morning, and the last one you think about at night. You find yourself worrying about them, caring more for their safety than your own. You can't help but smile when you think of them, and no matter how hard you try, you can't wipe that smile off of your face. You find yourself doing everything and anything just to be with them, even if it means just watching or listening to them. When you're with them, nothing else matters. Everything that you were feeling just melts away and you feel completely safe and trusting," Booth replied.

"You said you've never met that person, yet you speak with a voice of experience. How can you say you don't know what true love is like, yet seem to be such an authority on it?" Brennan pushed further.

"I never said I didn't know what true love is like. Maybe I've met the person I'm supposed to be with and I'm madly in love with them, but they just haven't realized their feelings for me? It's such an awkward position; because you never want to push this…it's so delicate. But, enough about me. What about you Bones? What do you think?" Booth asked.

"Well, I agree with you that marriage is not something to be taken lightly. So many people get married on the spur of the moment, without really knowing each other. Divorce is such a horrible thing, and should only be used as a last resort. You should never get married knowing that you could always get divorced. That thought should never cross your mind – you should get married knowing that you're going to spend the rest of your life with someone. As for me, I don't know if I'll ever get married. Maybe I'm afraid, or maybe I just haven't found the right person. But I've never exactly been the go-getter type in relationships; I'd hate to presume someone's feelings for me, or visa versa. And some of the feelings you described, I've felt those. With you I mean…I trust you, you trust me. We tell each other everything, but that doesn't mean we're in love and are 'meant to be.' It just means that we're friends. I don't know…maybe some day," Brennan said with another shrug.

Booth smiled. "How do you know we're not in love?" He teased.

Brennan blushed. "I suppose I don't," she said, turning to look out the window, ending the conversation.