Thanks for the reviews, guys! Here's the conclusion of B&B's Magic Kingdom day! Hope you all enjoy! The stuff about Brennan going to Disney as a kid was slightly borrowed from 3.08 "Knight on the Grid"
Angela sat with her coworkers on the forensic platform as she measured and recorded the dimensions of the sparkly weapon, information she'd need as soon as her Angelatron was working again. Mr. Nigel-Murray speed walked into the lab. He ran up the stairs to the platform, not worrying about swiping his security card since the system relied on electricity. He stopped, breathing heavily, when all three of his coworkers looked up at him.
"Dr. Saroyan, I…I think I've found something," he said.
Cam, Angela, and Hodgins stood and followed the young intern to the Ookey Room, where he had been forced to work during the blackout since the Bone Room he normally worked in was windowless and, therefore, very dark. Billie's cleaned skeleton was arranged as best as possible, but Nigel-Murray proudly held up a Petri dish with two small bone fragments. They waited for an explanation. When one didn't come, Cam smiled encouragingly.
"You're the bone expert among us, Mr. Nigel-Murray," Cam said. "Care to tell us what we're looking at?"
"Oh, yes, of course," he said. "You are looking at fetal bones."
"She was pregnant?" Angela asked.
"Yes," Nigel-Murray said. "I found these after I cleaned the bones."
"How far along?" Cam asked.
"Dr. Brennan could probably be more specific, but I estimate about five to seven weeks."
"So she may not even have known," Hodgins said.
"Could you extract DNA from these fragments if a paternity test becomes necessary?" Cam asked.
"I don't think that will be possible with such tiny bone fragments," Nigel-Murray said.
"Well, she was dating Vince, her classmate, right?" Angela asked. "She doesn't seem like the type to have multiple boyfriends, so it was probably his."
"Dr. Brennan would say that's jumping to conclusions," Nigel-Murray said.
"Jumping or no, everything we find points back to Vince," Angela said.
"Booth and Sweets believed his claim that he didn't see her at the park," Hodgins said.
"Yeah, well, he also originally convinced them that he wasn't even there that night, so I trust him about as far as I can throw him," Angela said.
"Nice work, Mr. Nigel-Murray," Cam said.
"Thank you," Nigel-Murray replied. "So does this make me the, uh, what do you call it? King of the Lab?"
Cam and Angela shared a look, hoping that wouldn't become a thing with the interns. Hodgins face formed a stern grimace.
"No," Hodgins said, leaving the Ookey Room.
Neither Booth nor Brennan had mentioned the kiss since they got off the Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster. They had shared little dialogue after the ride, as they walked almost directly into the Country Bears show. They then spent those twenty-five minutes in silence. When they got out of the show, they found people sitting behind thin white ropes along the streets of Frontierland. Brennan looked at Booth in confusion.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"Looks like the parade starts in about half an hour," he said, glancing at her map.
"Oh…well, would you like to see it?" she asked.
"Sure," he said. "But let's grab something to eat before we find someplace to sit."
After buying two hot dogs for him, a soft pretzel with cheese and a fruit cup for her, and a couple of frozen lemonades, they were lucky enough to find an open bench near the walkway to Adventureland. They quietly dug into their food, waiting for the parade to begin. Just as Booth opened his mouth to speak to her, a girl sitting on the ground in beside him let out a gasp.
"Excuse me," the girl said, looking up at them. "Are you Temperance Brennan?"
"Yes," Brennan said as Booth grinned.
"Oh my gosh, I love your books! I never even liked science before, and now that I've read all your books, all I want to do is be a forensic anthropologist! It seems fascinating," she said. She pulled out a camera. "Would you mind?"
"Oh, no, not at all," Brennan said. "Booth?"
Booth grabbed the girl's camera and snapped a photo of Brennan and her young fan. The girl shook Brennan's hand.
"Thanks!" she said, grabbing the camera from Booth to check out the picture.
The girl went back to her family, and Booth grinned even wider as he watched a small smile creep across Brennan's face.
"You like getting recognized," he said.
"Ordinarily, no, but that was…that was rather nice," she admitted.
They fell back into stillness as they finished their lunches and watched the families around them. Just as Booth got up the nerve to speak to her again, the music signaling the beginning the parade came blasting through the loudspeakers.
"What were you going to say?" Brennan asked, leaning close so he would hear her.
"Huh?" Booth replied.
"You were about to say something," she said. "I'd like to know what it was."
"I'll tell you after the show," he said.
They sat back and watched as the Celebrate a Dream Come True parade traveled through Frontierland. Every once in a while, a recent addition to the cast of Disney characters would wander by, and Brennan would ask Booth who they were. He mentally made a list of all the movies he needed to make her watch with him and Parker when they got back to DC. They waited until some of the crowd had thinned out after the parade before they stood.
"So…what were you going to tell me?" she asked.
"Oh, I was just going to um…ask if you wanted to go on the Jungle Cruise next," he said.
"Okay," she agreed, turning towards Adventureland.
Booth was careful to take a route to the Jungle Cruise that did not include walking past the still-closed pirates ride. Brennan hadn't mentioned the case since Main Street that morning, and he didn't want to do anything to remind her of it. They waited in line for the Jungle Cruise for quite a while before boarding the boat, but once they were on the ride, Booth was surprised by her behavior.
She sat back and just looked at the scenery, like all the other guests on the boat with them. She didn't complain about any inaccuracies in the ride or the tour guide's information, and she didn't scoff at the guide's lame attempts at jokes. It was if, Booth thought, that kiss had stunned her into silence. As the boat traveled along the water, he struggled with whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
"And then the giant Yeti just…swooped down and tried to pull me out of the train!" Angela said, recounting her traumatizing experience on Animal Kingdom's Expedition Everest roller coaster. She was having lunch at the Royal Diner with Hodgins, Cam, and Nigel-Murray.
Hodgins laughed. "She is so exaggerating," he said. "There is no Yeti."
"There is!" she cried. Her tone of voice indicated they had had this conversation before.
"Oh, right, I forgot," Hodgins said. "There is a little projection against the mountain wall of a yeti ripping up the ride tracks." Cam grinned.
"That's not the one I'm talking about, and you know it," Angela said.
"There is no animatronic yeti!" Hodgins said.
"You were sitting on the other side of the train!" Angela said in a tone of voice that indicated they had had this conversation before. "He didn't try to grab you."
"Angie, I went on that roller coaster four times. I rode on both sides of the train, and I didn't see anything," he said.
"Then you weren't looking closely enough," she said.
"Wait…four times?" Weren't you only at Animal Kingdom until lunch?" Cam asked.
"Yeah, but they have this single rider line that moved really quickly, so when Angela got off the first time obsessing over this so-called Yeti and refused to go on it again, I went by myself to try and see what had freaked her out," Hodgins explained.
"And you didn't see anything at all?" Nigel-Murray asked.
"No, I think she hallucinated it," Hodgins said.
"Why would I do that?" Angela asked with a fake sweetness to her voice.
"Because you'd convinced yourself that the ride was going to be terrifying before we even got on," Hodgins reminded her. "You psyched yourself out!"
As if on cue, Sweets walked into the diner at that moment, taking a seat at the counter across from their table. "Hey, guys," he said. "What are we talking about?"
"Hey, Sweets…what does it mean if Angela…" Hodgins started.
"No," Angela said, shaking her head and sweetly smiling at her husband. "No. How are you, Sweets?"
"Pretty good," he said. "How's the case going? I heard you lost power."
"Yeah, but get this…Vinnie here figured out our victim was pregnant," Hodgins said.
"Really?" Sweets asked.
"Yeah, Angela thinks Vince is the killer," Hodgins said.
"Like I said, I only trust him as far as I can throw him," Angela muttered.
"It's a good theory," Cam agreed.
"What? No, it's not. Booth and I ruled him out," Sweets said.
"To be fair," Nigel-Murray chimed in. "Agent Booth has not received the latest information yet."
"But he doesn't fit the psychological profile," Sweets argued.
"Oh, profile, shmofile…you're good, Sweets, but not every case can fit into your little boxes," Angela said. "People aren't that simple."
Sweets crossed his arms and sunk into his seat, pouting. "I thought you left Dr. Brennan in Florida," he muttered.
"Sorry, Sweets, we're all just a little on edge with this case," Cam said, putting an end to the impending fight.
"Yeah," Angela agreed. "Death and Disney just do not mix."
"Actually," Nigel-Murray started. "In the Haunted Mansion ride, when the doom buggy car travels backwards down the hill, it's supposed to mean that riders are going six feet under."
"Oh, good," Angela smiled. "Something Bren will like."
Booth and Brennan walked into the Haunted Mansion, filing into a large room with a few dozen other guests. A snicker escaped both of their lips as a spooky voice filled the room. When they were finished traveling down the "hidden" elevator, the lights suddenly went out, a thunder clap reverberated off the walls, and the ceiling now high above them lit up to show a dummy hanging from a noose, the spooky voice promising them all they were next. A few people screamed. Booth and Brennan grinned.
They moved through the haunted rooms in the mansion after boarding a doom buggy, finally descending backwards into the graveyard. A ghoul popped up from an open grave just as their car passed, and Booth leaned over to Brennan.
"A house full of dead people…see, Disney does have something for everyone," he teased.
"I will admit that I am quite enjoying this ride, yes," Brennan said. "Though there's no such thing as ghosts."
"So you'll willingly suspend your disbelief on this ride but not on Small World?"
"That's different," she claimed. "Everyone knows this isn't possible."
Right before the ride ended, the cars passed by a series of mirrors that made it look as if a ghost were sitting between the car's living passengers. The spooky voiceover told them to be careful because the ghost in the mirror might just follow them home.
"You hear that, Bones? He's gonna follow us home," Booth said.
"Well, I hope he enjoys the hotel," Brennan quipped.
"Nah," Booth said as they climbed out of their car. "He's gonna follow us back to DC and take up residence at the Jeffersonian so he can hang out with all the other limbo spirits."
"There's no such thing as ghosts!" she said again. "And I don't like the term 'limbo.'"
They walked outside the mansion, and Booth checked his watch. "Dinner?" he asked.
"Okay," she agreed. "Can we go to Tony's on Main Street?"
"The uh…the Lady and the Tramp place?" he asked.
"Yeah, the Italian place," she said.
"Isn't it kind of pricey?" he asked, trying to make her pick somewhere with a less romantic theme.
"I'll treat," she said, smiling as she started heading for Main Street. He knew he didn't have much choice but to follow.
Upon arriving at the restaurant, they were seated at a small table just to the right of a large fountain. In the middle of the fountain sat a statue of Lady and the Tramp, their stone noses almost touching. Booth and Brennan were sitting next to each other in a small L-shaped booth made for two. She ordered vegetarian pasta, while he ordered chicken parmesan.
"So…no to princesses, but yes to Lady and the Tramp?" he asked as they waited.
"What?" she asked.
"Disney movies," he said, referencing their earlier conversation.
"Oh…yes," she said. "I always liked this one."
"Which other ones did you like?" he asked with a grin.
"Well, I liked The Jungle Book and Peter Pan and…oh, Alice in Wonderland," she said. His face contorted into a look that told her he hadn't been expecting those answers. She laughed. "Why do you look so surprised?"
"You seemed to have zero interest in the Peter Pan ride this morning, and Alice in Wonderland just seems kind of…I don't know…frivolous for you," he explained.
"No, it was fascinating," she said.
"Really?" he asked.
"Sure; the societies of Wonderland and Never Never Land always intrigued me," she said. He quietly chuckled. "Why is that funny?"
"You've just…always been an anthropologist, haven't you?" he asked.
"Well, no, I wasn't an anthropologist until I went to college," she said.
"No, I mean, that's just…always been the way you see things."
"Is that bad?" she asked nervously.
"No, it's very…you," he said, smiling. "And that's never a bad thing."
An almost-shy smile crept across her face as their food arrived. Booth thanked the waiter, and they dug into their meals.
"Hey, after this, we should head to Toontown and get a picture with Mickey," he said.
"Why?" she laughed.
"You can't come to Magic Kingdom and not get a picture with Mickey!" he said.
"I've been here before, you know," she said.
"You and Angela didn't get a picture with Mickey, either," he said. "Nice try, though."
"No, not last week with Angela. Before," she said. "When I was a little girl."
"Really? How old were you?" he asked.
"Six," she said. "Russ was ten. My parents got us a trip here as a gift that year."
"That's nice," he said.
"My dad says being here was worse than being in prison," she said.
"Oh, like father, like daughter," he teased. Brennan shot him a glare.
"Anyway, I have a photo with Mickey," she said.
"Well, I don't. I've never been here before," he said. "And yours is 25 years old!"
"Twenty-seven," she corrected.
"Oh, see, I gave you two years, but you had to go and make it worse," he said. "You need a new one."
"Fine," she agreed. "We'll get a picture with Mickey."
After getting a photo with Mickey and Minnie and hitting most of the attractions in Tomorrowland, Booth and Brennan picked a spot about halfway down Main Street to wait for the fireworks to begin.
"We've seen these almost every night we've been here," Brennan said.
"Yeah, from the hotel balcony," Booth said. "They'll be better in front of the castle."
"You're right," she said.
The Wishes firework show began, and a stillness came over Main Street as everyone quieted down to watch the colorful explosions around the illuminated castle and listen to Jiminy Cricket's narration. Booth's eyes were firmly fixed upon the castle, but Brennan kept stealing glances at him throughout the first half of the show. During a break in the fireworks, while the castle sparkled in the distance, Brennan bit her lip and tapped his shoulder. He leaned down to hear what she wanted.
"Yes?" Booth asked.
"Can you help me with an experiment?" she asked.
"You're thinking about the case? Oh man, Bones, have you been thinking about the case all day? Come on, there's fireworks!" he said.
"No, no," she said, shaking her head. "I haven't thought about the case since this morning. This has nothing to do with that."
"But you want to do an experiment? Now? Here?" he asked.
"Yes. Do I have your permission?" she asked.
"Sure, Bones, go ahead," he said, equally confused and curious as to what she was talking about. Brennan curled her arms around his waist. He instinctively locked his around her in response and said, "Are you cold?"
"What? No…you said I had your permission!"
"You want to do an experiment on me?" he asked.
Brennan moved closer to his body and dropped her voice to a deep whisper. "More like with you…"
She shot him a flirty grin and shifted her eyes up to meet his as she progressively moved closer to him. A soft smile graced his face when their noses rubbed and he realized she was about to kiss him. Brennan brushed her nose across his as she tilted her head to the right just enough to capture his lips in a kiss. Her kiss was soft and hesitant, and he responded immediately, tenderly sucking on the lip she had slipped between his, begging her to continue. They tightened their hold on each other and shared a few slow, soft kisses before Brennan pulled away. She lingered against him for a moment before smiling slightly and unraveling herself from his embrace. They watched the rest of the fireworks show, side-by-side, in silence.
He grabbed her hand when the show ended and they began to head down Main Street for the park's exit. He had taken her hand in his several times throughout the day, as it was almost necessary to avoid separation at a place like Disney, but this time was different. This time, he gently laced his fingers through hers, as if to say 'I-want-you-close-to-me.' She curled her fingers around his in response. Neither let go until they reached the boat to take them back to their hotel.
Brennan was exhausted, leaning her head against her hands as soon as she sat down on one of the boat's benches. Booth reached his arm around her back, and she leaned her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes. When they arrived to their room, she sat on her bed with a sigh. Booth chuckled.
"Take a shower and go to bed, Bones," he said.
"You should shower first. I take a lot longer than you do. It wouldn't be fair…" she pointed out.
"I'm not really that tired. I can wait," he promised. He didn't have to tell her twice. She nodded and headed for the bathroom. "Bones…did you have fun?"
"Yeah," she smiled. "Thanks, Booth."
She emerged twenty minutes later, wrapped in one of the white fluffy bathrobes from the hotel. She pulled back the covers on her bed and sat against her pillow, turning the TV on as Booth walked into the still-steamy bathroom. After Booth was finished taking his shower, he dressed and walked into the bedroom to find her asleep in her robe on top of her turned-down bed. He brushed some damp hair from her face, and covered her with the bed sheets. He grabbed the remote and turned off the television and lights before slipping down into his own warm, comfortable bed.
That conversation with Angela & the gang in the diner about the Yeti and the roller coaster comes from my own experience. I swear to you all, I have been on the Expedition Everest roller coaster about 7 times, and there is supposed to be this huge Yeti at the very end (and there are pictures of him on Google!) but in 7 rides, I have NEVER seen him. I even purposely keep my eyes open and look for him when the train goes into the mountain because I want to see him, but nope… nothing. I'm beginning to think it's not really there!
Two chapters left! Don't forget to review :)