Praise the Lord and Hallelujah, the alerts are back! To whom it may concern: THANK YOU!!
Brennan stared straight ahead at the dashboard but her eyes kept sliding to her left and studying her partner.
Booth's knuckles were white. His driving was erratic and slightly faster than legal. He kept clenching and unclenching his jaw, his breathing labored.
She hated this. She could tell there was something wrong and she couldn't do a damn thing to make him tell her what it was.
"Why did they keep saying 'Good for you Seeley'?"
Brennan was almost as startled by her voice as Booth was. The silence that had descended in the SUV was thick and apparently when Brennan was uncomfortable she said things she hadn't necessarily meant to.
At least it wasn't anything too embarressing this time.
"What are you talking about Bones?" Booth didn't take his eyes off the road, slightly annoyed at his thoughts being suddenly interrupted.
"Well, both Rebecca and that woman at the golf place said 'good for you Seeley', after giving me some sort of look...Why did they do that?"
She looked at him openly now and watched with relief as his face began to soften.
"Let's just say I don't introduce many women to Parker."
Brennan glanced at the backseat where Parker's car seat was, as if she expected to see the curly haired boy flashing his miniature charm smile at her.
"Why did you introduce me to him?"
Booth's heart beat double time against his rib cage.
Why did I introduce her?
"Because Bones…you're different." He looked at her, her face still betrayed confusion and disbelief. "I just don't think it's a good idea to bring a lot of women in and out of Parker's life, so I only let him get to know people…women…I think will be around for a while."
Brennan dropped her gaze to her lap and thought for a moment. Then bit her lip and looked back at him.
"So, that's why you introduced me to him? You think I'll be in your life for a while?"
Booth glanced at her and was surprised to find her smiling at him, he gave her a lopsided grin in return.
"If the present pattern goes unchanged…yes."
Brennan smiled at her window and watched scenery go by for ten more minutes until Booth pulled up in front of her apartment building.
It was then that the weight she'd felt earlier that afternoon started to lay on her chest, making it hard to breathe.
Booth waited for Brennan to get out, but she didn't.
"Bones, are you okay?" "Booth are you going away again?" They said at the same time.
Booth looked taken aback.
"What do you mean?"
Brennan cleared her throat before continuing.
"Well, after you got that phone call earlier, your demeanor changed. You got distant. I get the feeling your preparing to leave again." She watched for any change in Booth's stony expression, but there was none.
"I can't tell you where I'm going or when I'll be back Bones." He said simply.
Brennan sighed deeply. That's what she'd been afraid of.
"Classified, right?"
Booth nodded slightly. Brennan waited a few seconds, then reached over, laid her hand on top of his and squeezed.
Come home to me in one piece Seeley.
By the time Booth noticed what she'd done and turned to say something, Brennan was already out of the car and running toward her apartment building.
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A pretty young artist sat at her computer answering emails and doodling on her desk calendar the next day, completely unaware that her best friend had not only found out what she'd done, she was definitely not happy about it.
"Angela!"
She jumped and turned to find a frazzled looking Temperance Brennan standing in the doorway.
"Yes Sweetie?" She said as sweetly as she could. Brennan wasn't buying it.
"Why is it that the security guard and the Biochemist from Research and Cataloging I just talked to have no recollection of a power outage yesterday?"
Brennan tapped her foot impatiently and walked closer to Angela's desk.
"Well…I suppose they just…" Angela searched frantically for an excuse to calm her friend, she hadn't expected her to be this mad.
"Don't lie to me Angela." Brennn warned, she folded her arms across her chest and waited.
"Fine." Angela sighed, "I may have stretched the truth a little bit but…"
"Stretched the truth?! Angela, do have any idea how long the Jeffersonian has been waiting for my findings on the frozen mummy from Greenland? How about the analysis of those bones found in Zaire that are expected to be the remnants of an ancient tribal king? Do you even know how long it is going to take me to finish the three feet of paperwork on my desk now that I've lost an entire afternoon and evening working on it? Why did you do that Angela?" Brennen was pacing in front of Angela's desk, waving her arms ad raising her voice to levels she wouldn't normally permit in the lab.
Out on the platform Hodgins and Zack looked at each other and winced. They'd tried to warn her, but Angela could be almost as stubborn as their boss sometimes. They hoped she would survive.
Angela stood, walked around her desk and settled on the edge of it.
"Bren, Sweetie, I did it for your own good."
Brennan stopped suddenly and turned on her. "You what?"
Angela sighed. "I know you Bren. You want to be strong and independent and self-sufficient and you think falling in love with someone will take those things away from you."
Brennen opened her mouth, but shut it again when Angela held up a silencing finger, "Bren, those things are not bad. You can be all those things and still be in love…with whomever you chose." She added with a smile, then rose from her seat and walked over to the anthropologist, who'd fallen gracelessly into a chair as she took in Angela's words.
Angela knelt in front of her and took her hands and squeezed them, "Sweetie, once you've made a decision, I know there is nothing you will let stand in your way."
She studied Brennen's blue eyes, and was satisfied to find them open and listening.
"Once you've decided to love Booth, you won't need me anymore. Yesterday was just…me trying to push you in the right direction. Maybe it was too soon or too presumptuous…but that's kind of my style so, I hope you can forgive me Bren."
Brennan fought hard to keep her chin from quivering and pulled Angela into a hug to avoid showing her the tears in her eyes.
"Thanks Ange." She whispered.
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Booth pulled his collar up in paranoia and shrugged deeper into his coat. He was following the target at a safe distance, but he was in a densely populated area, better known as downtown LA, and he didn't want to be recognized.
He'd been tracking him for several days and finally had begun to get a feel for the man. Begun to learn his routine, his wants and needs. It was almost time.
Booth was so focused on watching the targets' movements, he almost didn't hear his name being called behind him.
He felt a hand grip his left elbow and turned quickly, ready to throw the person attached to it to the ground.
But before he could, Booth's eyes narrowed in recognition.
"Dan?"
A man about Booth's age, but blonde and heavier gave him a sporting smile.
"It really is you!"
Booth tried to return the smile, but swallowed it as he turned back in the direction his target had gone.
Dammit Dan. I almost had him.
"Seeley, what are you doing here?" Dan grasped his old friend's elbow and gave him a slight shake. "It's been so long."
Booth's shoulders slumped slightly, but he quickly turned a smile on Dan.
"Too long. Want to get a drink?"
Dan followed Booth into a nearby bar, surprised the bartender already seemed to know his friend, though he got the feeling Booth hadn't been in town long.
The two sat in silence until they'd each downed at least two shots. They spent an hour catching up. How's the family? How's the job? Anyone special in your life? How long are you in town?
Stupid pleasantries neither of them wanted to talk about but had to get out of the way to show they were active participants in a civil society.
Finally Dan downed a sixth shot of Jack, leaned on the bar with one arm in his slightly more relaxed state, and studied Booth.
He was slightly jealous that his friend still managed to look much like they had when they were discharged from the Army. Still in shape, still wearing that playful sparkle in his eyes.
But there was something else too. Booth was hunched over his shot glass, studying the liquid as if it held the answers to all his problems. He looked as if he hadn't slept in days.
"What brings you to LA Seeley?"
Booth looked at him, finding it strange, suddenly, that he hadn't come up with a convincing lie to tell people on the off chance he was asked that question.
"Business." He said finally.
Dan sucked on the inside of his cheek.
"Business huh? What kind of business has the DC branch of the FBI got out here?" Dan pretended to be captivated by his empty glass, but he knew Booth was not in LA on business for the FBI. You didn't spend three months in the desert with someone, waiting, hunting, watching and talking, without learning to read them like a book.
Booth looked at the hefty man to his right and recognized immediately the piercing comprehension in his eyes. He sat up quickly, threw back his shot and got off the barstool.
"It was good to see you Dan." Booth pulled a few bills from his wallet and threw them on the counter. Dan nodded, knowing that was all he would get in the information department.
Booth moved to walk out, but stopped behind Dan's slumped figure and leaned in close to his friend's ear.
"Not one word to anyone."
A quick pat on the shoulder and he disappeared through the crowd and out the door.
Ahhhh...I'm so happy about the alerts being back...I might post the next chap tonight...