White horses on a troubled sea. Your smile will flash through time.

Up ahead a blackbird's wing, your hair will come to mind.

Every night I see your face when I have to pray.

I need a bell, book, and candle to keep your ghost away.

They say you always remember where you were the moment a tragedy happens. Brennan had been in third period Chemistry when Russ had called to tell her that their parents hadn't come back yet and about how he doubted that they ever would. She had been standing in the driveway of their old house as she watched her older brother apologize over and over and rant about not being able to take care of a teenager as he got in his car and left her completely alone. On 9/11 she was fresh out of grad school, sitting in her new apartment watching the news story play out on the TV, when her boss had called her informing her that she was to go to New York and help with the identification effort. And today she was driving to the Jeffersonian thinking about how she needed to go to the store to buy bread when she received the phone call that would change her life forever.

When her cell phone started ringing, she assumed it was Greg complaining about how she wasn't at the lab yet. "Listen Greg, traffic is terrible this morning. I'll get there, when I get there."

"Dr. Brennan?" came the timid response from the other end.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought…yes, this is she."

"This is Dr. Ramirez calling from Memorial Hospital. Are you able to come over here right now?"

"I'm actually running late for work. What is this in regard to?"

"Angela Montenegro and Jack Hodgins."

Brennan's heart stopped and she nearly slammed on her brakes. "I uh…I'll be right there."

Booth's heart was pounding so fast by the time he got to the hospital that he thought he could hear his own blood rushing through his veins. The doctor on the phone hadn't told him much, just that something had happened to Angela and Hodgins and that he needed to get to the hospital ASAP. He tried to tell himself to calm down. Maybe it was nothing serious; Katie just needed a sitter for a while or something. But oh God, what if something had happened to Katie?

He pushed through the emergency room doors at the same time as a brunette woman. He looked over at her, noticing that it was Brennan. Okay, if they were both here, something had to be really wrong…

"Brennan," Booth called, getting her attention.

Her eyes immediately found his. "Do you know what happened?"

Booth shook his head.

"Excuse me," a man in a white lab coat approached them. "Agent Booth? Dr. Brennan?"

"Yes," the two said in unison. They threw each other a look of confusion, as though it was the first time they had ever been in sync.

"I'm Dr. Ramirez; I spoke with you on the phone."

"What happened? Are they okay? How's Katie?" Brennan asked in a rush.

"You two may want to sit down."

They looked at each other again before sitting next to each other on the waiting room chairs.

"Your friends were in a car accident. It was raining and they were driving down a two-lane road. Witnesses said that their car started to swerve into the other lane, hydroplaning, right in front of a semi. They were killed on impact."

"Oh my God," Booth breathed, putting a hand over his mouth and looking over at Brennan. Her face was completely white and she looked like she was going to be sick.

"And Katie?" Brennan whispered.

"Their daughter was with a sitter. She's been placed with a temporary foster family for the night."

"No," Brennan said forcibly. "No foster families. I can take her."

"I'm sorry, Dr. Brennan, but it's protocol. You can pick her up in the morning."

"Screw protocol!"

"Brennan," Booth said softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to glare at him, or so he thought. Instead she collapsed against him, wrapping her arms around his torso, and burying her face into his chest. His first instinct was to push her away, but he knew now wasn't the time to be angry with her. So he wrapped his arms around her as well, pulling her closer. Booth rested his chin on top of her head, his tears falling into her hair as hers drenched his shirt.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Dr. Ramirez said quietly, excusing himself from the situation.

It was like time had stopped. All Booth could think about was how yesterday he had yelled at Angela and Hodgins to mind their own business when it came to him and the woman currently in his arms. About how many times yesterday he'd repeated that he wasn't going to talk to Brennan because he'd promised Angela that they wouldn't fight during the party. And now, suddenly, after everything, they were gone.

"One night in foster care, she'll be fine," Booth finally said.

He felt her nod against his chest, but she made no move to move away from him.

"Want me to call Greg for you and tell him you're not coming in?"

"No…I…I'll go in."

"You can't be serious."

"We're still in the middle of a case. This doesn't…fuck. Hodgins wasn't done with –" Brennan drew in a shaky breath unable to finish. She closed her eyes and stepped back out of Booth's embrace.

"Hey, forget about the case."

"Angela hadn't even finished the facial reconstruction. Without them, I don't know who this person is. Without them…" she buried her face in her hands as a fresh wave of tears overcame her.

Booth began rubbing small circles onto her back. "Don't worry about that okay? You're an amazing anthropologist, Bren. You'll solve the case after we all adjust to this…change."

"I need…I need an artist, and a botanist, and an entomologist…I need them."

"Hey you know what? I'll call Greg all right? And then you and I can go tell Cam and Sweets and…everybody else. How does that sound?"

"Like my best friend and her husband just died."

Brennan pulled up to social services the next morning after a night of zero sleep. She felt completely drained and was in no mood to try and convince a social worker that her living conditions were ideal for Katie. She cringed immediately after stepping into the building. It looked just like all of the others; the D.C. office was no different than those she had been in and out of as a teen.

She spotted a young boy sitting outside of one of the offices clutching a backpack to his chest. The image hit a little too close to home for her. A backpack and a small suitcase had once contained everything that she owned. Brennan glanced at the boy again. He kind of looked like Sweets. Hopefully he'd be lucky like Sweets and get adopted. She hadn't been that lucky; no one had wanted her.

Brennan shook off the awful feelings from her past and located the correct office. She walked into Katie's case worker's office and found Booth already sitting there.

"What are you doing here?" Brennan asked, bitterly.

"She's my goddaughter too you know."

She sighed and sat down in the chair next to him.

Booth looked over at her. He sensed her uneasiness. "Is it hard for you to be here?"

"I'm fine," she replied, keeping her gaze focused on the empty desk in front of them.

"It's okay, you can talk to me you know. I know what you've been through."

"You've lost your right to know things like that."

"Brennan –"

"Sorry I'm late!" exclaimed a petite redhead entering the office. "I'm Mindy Johnson, Katie's case worker."

She hauled a stack of paperwork onto her desk and began ruffling through the files. Brennan let out a long sigh, remembering her constant frustration with her social workers' ability to organize.

"Ah here it is. So, our lawyers took a look at Jack and Angela's will. They left their entire estate to their daughter, and their daughter to the two of you," Mindy explained.

"Wait a second," Booth started. "The two of us? As in together?"

"That's correct," Mindy replied.

"So what does that mean?" Brennan asked. "In terms of where Katie is going to live."

"Well, I would suggest that the two of you move into the Hodgins' estate since it technically belongs to Katie –"

"We're not married," Booth corrected quickly. "We're not even a couple."

"The last time I checked, we didn't even like each other," Brennan mumbled.

"Wait, you two aren't together?" Mindy asked, confused. She began ruffling through the pile of paperwork in front of her.

"That's not a problem, is it?" Brennan wanted to know. "Can I still take Katie home?"

"Well, Agent Booth does have rights to her now as well –"

"You don't want her, do you?" Brennan asked, looking at him.

"Hey, I care about that little girl just as much as you do. Of course I want to help take care of her," Booth protested.

"And you can, but she will be living with me."

"Since when do you know anything about raising a kid? I'm the parent here!"

"That little girl is the only thing I have left of my best friend; you are not taking her away from me."

"No one said I'm taking her anywhere. I just –"

"Perhaps you two could temporarily move into the Hodgins' estate," Mindy interrupted. "Just so Katie can get used to you and you can work out a permanent living arrangement."

"And if we can't work anything out?" Booth asked.

"Well, I will be continuing to check in on you to make sure the safety of the child remains in tact."

Brennan scoffed at that. Right, social workers were all about the "safety of the child." Where the hell were they when she was being abused by her foster parents then?

"Do you have a problem with that, Dr. Brennan?" Mindy wanted to know.

"Well, I –"

"She has a history with social workers," Booth cut her off. "It's nothing personal."

Brennan glared at him, angered.

"Booth," she growled through gritted teeth.

"What kind of history?" Mindy asked intrigued, leaning forward onto her desk.

"I do believe that is none of your business, Ms. Johnson," Brennan replied in a huff, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Actually it is. If this will affect Katie…"

"I was in foster care, okay? Can we please just take our goddaughter home now?"

She hated sharing that kind of information with complete strangers; hell she hated sharing it with anyone. She had trusted Booth with this precious information and he had betrayed that trust by sharing it with this woman standing in between her and Katie. It just proved to show how fucked up their relationship had become.

"Will the two of you be residing at the Hodgins' estate then?" Mindy asked, tapping her pen.

Booth and Brennan turned to look at each other. They sighed, and then nodded.

"Excellent. If I could just get you to fill out some paperwork, you can take her home."

Brennan took the pen the woman handed her and stared down at the form in front of her. This was really happening. Angela and Hodgins were really gone and she was moving in with Booth to raise their friends' daughter together. This one, she never saw coming.

She hadn't cried this much at his funeral. When he had faked his death and Sweets had neglected to tell anyone, she didn't even shed a tear at his fucking funeral. At the time he thought it was because she knew she didn't have any real reason to be sad, but then she had slapped him. And then he learned that she really thought he was dead. It was something that had secretly bothered him for years. Back then, they had meant everything to each other…or so he thought. Booth had always chalked it up to the fact that Brennan tried to compartmentalize everything. But at this particular funeral, she was crying more than the baby she was clutching to her chest like a teddy bear.

He took the seat next to her without saying a word. Cam, Michelle, and Sweets approached them and sat on either side of the ex-partners, also in silence. Behind them sat the row of squinterns, all at a loss now that their partner in crime, Dr. Hodgins, was no longer with them.

"I am so sorry, Cherie," Caroline whispered to Brennan as she took her seat next to Sweets.

Brennan gave her a half smile and then turned her attention to Angela's father, who was taking a seat on the other side of Michelle.

"Sir, about Katie," Brennan started.

"Don't worry about it, Doc. I'm on the road too much to care for a kid. Just don't plan on cutting her out of my life!"

"Oh we won't! We won't…"

She looked down at Katie and the baby smiled back up at her. She had no idea that her parents were dead; no idea that she would never see them again. Booth knew Brennan knew that feeling all too well. He tried to take her hand in his, but she shrugged him off. He sighed and turned to listen as the pastor began the ceremony. She was the same one who had almost married them that first time before Angela learned that she was still married to…that other guy. He and Brennan thought it would be appropriate for her to perform the eulogy.

After the service, Angela's father offered to take Katie off of their hands for a while and Brennan reluctantly complied. The remainder of the Jeffersonian team, Caroline included, stood around the fresh graves.

"This just isn't right," Brennan mumbled. "It's not…"

She choked on a sob and actually allowed Booth to put his arm around her.

"They were so young," Caroline commented. "Still had their lives left to live."

"I'm just glad that you offered to watch Katie," Cam said quietly, rubbing Michelle on the back.

"Me too," she agreed.

Booth looked around at his circle of friends. It felt so empty without Angela and Hodgins there with him. He already missed her contagious smile and laugh as well as his crazy conspiracy theories. It was hard to believe that they were really gone.

Greg…no George…wait Greg…well whatever his name was approached the group.

"This where the party is?" he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

His humor though was obviously lost on Brennan. "I would hardly call this a 'party,' Agent Thompson," she spat, her tone as cold as ice.

"Ah come on Bone Lady, I was just trying to lighten the mood," Greg? Yeah. Greg said, flashing her a smile.

"Do not call me that," she said through gritted teeth.

Booth couldn't help but smile to himself. It didn't seem like all that long ago that she was telling him 'don't call me Bones.' God, what he wouldn't give to go back to that time of his life, to that time of their lives.

"Look, now really isn't the time to be harassing Dr. Brennan," Caroline scolded. "You've paid your respect, now go get on with your day."

"Caroline!" Booth exclaimed, holding up his free arm.

"I am a very opinionated person, Booth. Surely you haven't forgotten that."

"Hey it's okay, I can take a hint. I know how you science types like to stick together," Greg said, slowly backing away.

"Squints," Booth heard Brennan say under her breath barely loud enough for even him to hear it.

So he spoke up for her. "They're called squints. Or at least, that's what I used to call them before I really knew them. If you had actually taken the time to get to know your team, you'd realize that these people are so much more than 'you science types.' And you'd know that Angela and Hodgins were two of the most big-hearted people you will ever meet. You'd know how much they meant to all of these people. And you'd know better than to use ill-timed sarcastic humor around Dr. Brennan."

"And who are you exactly?" Greg asked, sizing him up.

"Special Agent Seeley Booth. Perhaps you've heard of me?"

Greg's eyes widened at that. "My condolences," he mumbled before quickly walking away.

Booth turned to smile at Brennan, but he was only met with tired eyes. "I can fight my own battles, Booth. You should know that by now." She shrugged out from under his arm. "Excuse me."

He stared at her retreating back in disbelief. The crisp autumn wind gathered up her hair as she walked. Booth smiled to himself, enjoying the fact that it was longer again.

"This is rough on her," Sweets concluded.

"This is rough on all of us," Wendell put in.

"Seeley, you can't be her hero anymore," Cam told him. "You did exactly what I told you not to do: you told her that you loved her and then decided that you didn't mean it."

"I've been so mad at her this past year and then this happens, and I can't even remember what I was mad at her about," Booth said shaking his head. "I just feel like I need to be her hero again, like she needs that stability back in her life."

"She doesn't need saving," Sweets stated. "What she needs is a friend. Her best friend just died and she's probably feeling pretty alone right now."

Booth looked in the direction Brenan had retreated to. She was attempting to take Katie back from the child's grandfather.

"She's lost everyone she's ever really trusted," Sweets continued.

"Hey, I'm still here," Booth protested.

"Yeah but so are her father and brother. Sure they came back, but they left her, just like you did. And you don't see her talking to them on a daily basis now do you?"

"A couple of days ago you weren't even planning on talking to her on Katie's birthday," Cam pointed out. "And now that she's hurting, you suddenly want to be her best friend again? Newsflash, Seeley, she's been hurting ever since you brought back Hannah from Afghanistan. And I think I speak for Angela when I say, you've been treating her like crap for two years. You can't just give her a hug and pretend that none of that ever happened."

Booth scrubbed a hand over his face. "But she…how did I treat her like crap before our falling out? I thought that year was fine."

"You should probably talk to her about that, not us," Cam told him.

"Not that it's any of my business, because it really isn't, but I have quite excellent hearing," Daisy started.

"That's true. She does," Sweets agreed, nodding.

Daisy smiled at him before continuing. "And when we were in Maluku, her room was right next to mine. And I'm pretty sure I heard her calling out your name in her sleep a couple of times. And seeing as how you had a girlfriend over in Afghanistan I doubt you were missing her as much as she was missing you."

"You're right, it's really none of your business," Booth huffed. But he was secretly dying to know how she had said his name. His mind began to swim with the audio of Brennan calling out his name in ecstasy; a sound he hadn't imagined in years.

"I think what all of these people here are trying to say," Caroline started, "is that it's about damn time you and Dr. Brennan get your acts together and apologize already so you can start making precious little children of you own."

"Feeling puckish today are we?" Booth asked drily, touching a hand to his lips. Anytime he heard Caroline use the word puckish he immediately thought of the feeling of Brennan's lips against his. He couldn't figure out why that mistletoe moment still affected him so much, but it did. "Look, I'll try to talk to her, really talk to her, all right? But you all know how stubborn the two of us are, so I can't promise you anything."

"That's all we ask," Sweets said. "If you two plan on raising Katie together, you two really should get along."

Oh crap. He had completely forgotten about that. He was moving in with Brennan and Katie tomorrow. They had both agreed to keep their apartments, just in case, but still. This was a big step. And Sweets was definitely right, they needed to start getting along and fast. He looked back over at Brennan to find her treating Katie to the "joys of spatial disorientation." And for a split second he remembered what it was exactly that had made him fall in love.

AN: Reviews are the key to my soul...or heart...whatever.