Chapter 6

The day wore on. There wasn't much for Brennan and Booth to do but sit idly by and wait. Booth watched his partner pace like a caged lion. She needed to do something. He started to wonder if they shouldn't head back to D.C. and wait there. Just as he resolved himself to drag her back, Wendell started yelling.

"Hey, I've got bone fragments!" Finally, Booth sighed to himself as he watched Brennan dart through the chaos. He strolled leisurely to her side knowing that she would simply dart back to the SUV to get a better look. When he reached halfway, she came rushing back toward him. He waited for her and as she neared him, one of the techs stepped in front of her, knocking her over. Booth grabbed her waist and pulled her to him, absorbing her momentum and preventing the fall. He held her close and guided her to the SUV. Hodgins nodded to Wendell and then to the pair. Wendell chuckled and went back to his sifting.

As they reached the SUV, Booth tried to make his hands let her go but they wouldn't respond right away. When they did finally loosen their grip, Brennan did not step away from him. Booth tried to convince himself that it was his imagination but his brain betrayed him. He lost himself in the scent of her hair, the sound of her breathing and the feel of her against him. You can't do this Booth! She's your partner. You can't protect her if you are distracted by her presence! This is how mistakes happen, this is how people get hurt. Look what happened to Cam! Booth seethed, angry at himself, he wished she would step away but he was powerless to make it happen. The truth was, he wanted her right there.

Brennan felt him grab her to stop her from falling. She thought momentarily about freeing herself and walking through the commotion independently but didn't. She tried to force her body to obey her, she couldn't understand why she couldn't step away from him. Once at Booth's SUV, he didn't release her. When she finally felt his hands loosen on her waist she willed her legs to move but they wouldn't. Silly girl, no matter what Angela says, Booth has drawn a line. He will not go back on his word. He wants what you can't be, a wife. Surely a woman of your intelligence can make her body do her bidding, just step away! She felt guilty, sad. She didn't want to need him, to want him, but the truth was right there in her body's response. She believed in truth, she had to accept it, she wanted to be right there.

They stood there, each berating their own brain and heart, while the commotion around them melted away. The sounds muted and the colors blurred. Booth's cheek rested slowly against her head and he inhaled deeply. Their breathing had quickened as was in sync, but as tuned as they were to the sensation of the other's body, both missed the critical struggle they were locked in. Finally, as though the air were made of lead, they moved slowly apart and the world around them existed again. Their anguished moment gone.

Brennan opened the back hatch and sat down, rummaging through her tools. She could not meet Booth's eyes so she did not see that he couldn't meet hers. She shook her head hoping to clear her mind and set about to examine the newfound bone fragments. Dr. Brennan gingerly placed the three tiny bits of bone into a petrie dish and examined them with a magnifying glass. Hodgins started yelling and she looked up.

"I've found more!" A tech brought the new fragments to her. Techs started yelling back and forth now, it seemed they had found the layer of sand in which most of the fragments were located.

As another tech brought yet another tray of fragments over, Bones was stretched out on a tarp, laying the bone fragments out, trying to get a sense of how much of the remains they had.

"Look at that Bones, the chips keep coming. Do you think he could have fallen into the sand pit?"

"First, of all, we don't know who this is, male or female. We don't know if this is even all from the same person. That sand was too dense to have fallen into. The officer said kids like to climb it."

"Do you think he could have been climbing it and his weight pushed the sand away but it pushed back burying him?" Brennan started laughing.

"Hey, that's funny!" Hodgins arrived with a new set of fragments and shared a chuckle with Brennan.

"What?" Booth asked looking at them. Brennan took a deep breath preparing to speak. Man that was cute! Booth thought.

"Robert Newton? Equal and opposite reaction?" Brennan started laughing again. Booth looked back and forth still confused.

"Its okay man, Sir Isaac Newton said that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." Hodgins chuckled as he walked away.

"Squint humor." Booth muttered under his breath. He was a bit miffed at being left out of the joke. He knew who Isaac Newton was, he just didn't think it was that funny. Brennan's delight melted his annoyance. Booth watched her examine the bone fragments as they came and tried not to let the way the sun danced through her hair or the little noises she made while she was lost in thought invade his consciousness. To no avail. Once, she glanced up at him and caught him staring at her but she told herself he was just waiting to hear about the bones that lay before her.

As darkness fell, the forensics team began packing up. The pit had been sifted and samples from each layer had been taken. In the end there were some 300 small pieces of the 206 bones in a human body. There was no where near a complete skeleton but some of the larger pieces looked as though some of the DNA in the marrow may have survived. Bones had carefully packaged the fragments and they were safely secured in the back of Booth's SUV. Booth took a few deep breaths as he prepared to drive back. He craved the proximity to her but feared it as well.

For the first time in years, he wanted to get away from Brennan, just a little space, but knew he wouldn't be able to do it.