Disclaimer: I don't own Bones. Omg. Guys have you heard? SEASON 2 DVD OF BONES WILL CONTAIN A BLOOPER REEL FOR BOTH SEASONS! Omg. So freaking excited. David does the best bloopers ever. If you haven't seen the Angel bloopers, even if you don't watch Angel, go to youtube and type in Angel Bloopers and click the first one that comes up. You'll die laughing. XD
Author's Notes: Although it works perfectly on its own, this is technically a continuation of my story "INBOX: Seeley Booth", which you should really read because it's cool. XD You can find it in my profile. (It's not long and it's pretty fun, so please read it if you haven't! You'll find a lot of references to it in here, so it's always good if you get those.)
Also, here I'll do some major plugging for the story that I'm coauthoring with Jemb and Niah1988, called The One Where Bones Gets Kidnapped. I'm sure you'll find it VERY entertaining and amusing. ;)
BIRTHDAY
Of course Brennan remembered it was her birthday. More than 'remembered'—she dreaded it, in fact. Every day for the past few months, without fail, she had been cheerfully reminded by her colleagues of the number of days left until she turned a year older. On the calendar in her office, Booth had drawn a leering skull-and-crossbones that filled up the entire square. (This action had resulted in a long argument with him about how Brennan was prevented from writing down Other Important Things on the square; however Booth had eventually won, and the drawing was there to stay.)
And finally, the day was here. Brennan sighed as she walked into the lab, taking a deep breath. Whatever was to come, she would have to face it. Zach spoke first, as he was the only one there to see Brennan nervously entering the lab. "Happy birthday, Dr. Brennan," he said casually. Brennan nodded.
"Thank you, Zach." She smiled, and Zach turned back to whatever he was examining on the table. Brennan let out a sigh of relief. One down, three to go, she thought.
She really shouldn't have been this way about it, and somewhere deep inside her, she knew that full well. A birthday was a time of celebration, of happiness, of friends and family—well, friends, at least. But for the longest time, her birthday had ended up being a time when she sat alone and remembered having family to celebrate with. She wasn't used to someone always caring.
"Bren!" Brennan's inner monologue was interrupted by Angela calling her name from behind. She turned around and Angela hugged her tightly. "Happy birthday!" Brennan smiled in spite of herself and hugged her friend back.
"Thanks, Ange." After they pulled away from each other, Hodgins walked up to them.
"Heard it's someone's birthday," he said to Brennan, grinning. "Have a good one."
"Thanks," said Brennan, smiling back at him.
---
Brennan hadn't heard from Booth at all, which was odd. Maybe he forgot, she thought. It wouldn't be the first time someone had forgotten her birthday, and it was probably for the best—less awkward for her. But for some reason she still checked her email every five minutes. It was around 3:15 PM when the email notification alert sounded. It was from Booth. She couldn't help grinning when she saw the subject line: "My Bones is growing up so fast." The message said HAPPY BIRTHDAY BONES!
She typed back, "Thanks, Booth. Are we still going over the paperwork from last week tonight?"
The reply came about a minute later: "Of course! See you at 7. Try to go home and take a break first?"
She wrote back, "I will. I'm just leaving the lab now."
It wasn't a particularly active day at the Jeffersonian, and she figured that she'd be cut a little slack because it was "her day". So fifteen minutes later, she left the lab and headed back to her apartment, surprised that she wasn't stopped by Angela or anyone else.
Angela watched Brennan leave, impatiently fingering the cell phone that was in her pocket. As soon as she walked out the door, Angela whipped out her cell phone and dialed Booth's number.
"She's gone. Finally." Booth heaved a sigh of relief.
"Oh, thank God. I thought we'd never get that woman to part with her work," he answered. "All right, what do we have, 3 hours to get everything ready?"
"Yeah," said Angela. "Make it good."
"Got it," answered Booth.
---
It was 7 PM on the dot. Brennan entered the lab feeling quite well-rested, but also rather hungry. She figured Booth would want to get food from the diner while they were going over their paperwork, so she hadn't eaten anything at home.
But Booth was nowhere in sight, she realized as she walked into the lab. And, for that matter, neither was anyone else. The lights were off, there was no one milling around the lab…there was nothing. She stood there for a second, wondering if she had somehow fallen asleep for too long and gotten disoriented. But no, it was definitely 7:00. And Booth did say he'd meet her there, didn't he? At 7? She began to panic. She didn't want to be alone, in the dark. She fumbled for the light switch, but couldn't seem to find it.
And then the lights came on. It all happened so quickly that Brennan was taken completely by surprise—which, she realized in afterthought, was the exact intention. Angela, Hodgins, Zach, and Booth all jumped out from their various hiding places and shouted "Surprise!" Brennan's jaw practically hit the floor. They had completely decorated the place—streamers, balloons, everything. A cake in the shape of a bone was on a plate on top of one of the tables, and it read "Happy Birthday Bones".
Brennan didn't say anything. She couldn't find the words. Booth chuckled. "What, Bones, you thought you'd get off with just a 'happy birthday'?" But Brennan still stared, speechless.
"I—this--" she began. "I'm just…" She trailed off.
"Oh, you haven't seen the best of it yet," advised Angela. She nodded towards Booth. "He's got something for you, Bren." Booth reached into his pocket, pulling out a Tiffany's box. Brennan frowned as he put it in her hand, and he nodded at her to open it. She did, slowly, and stared at what was inside.
It was a gold necklace, with a skull-and-crossbones pendant hanging from it. She picked it up gently, examining the pendant. On the back was engraved "For Bones". Her breath caught in her throat.
"Oh my God, Booth…" She stared at him, involuntary tears welling up in her eyes. "It's beautiful." Unsure of what else to do, she wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Thank you," she whispered against his neck. He smiled, gladly accepting her embrace. When they finally pulled away from each other, Brennan turned to her other friends. "I don't know what to say," she said quietly. "No one's—no one's ever done anything like this for me before." She bit her lip. "Thank you…" She hugged each of them in turn—Angela, Hodgins, and then Zach.
Booth caught her arm gently and pulled her around so he faced her back. He took the necklace out of her hand and fastened it around her neck. Turning her around and straightening out the pendant, he smiled at her. "It looks much prettier when it's on you," he said. He then leaned in a little and kissed her on her cheek softly. She was smiling back at him when he pulled away. "Thank you," she said, for what seemed like the fiftieth time in the past five minutes.
"Of course, Bones," he said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "What are friends for?" He straightened up, clapping his hands. "Okay. Who's ready for some cake?"
I know I am! That cake looks so yummy in my imagination. Anyway, if you'd like a slice, please leave a review! ;)
