Disclaimer: Ok. Seriously. If I owned Bones, they'd be married by now!!!

AN: Wow…soooooo long since my last chapter. I'm really sorry. School's been kinda harsh lately. LOTS of homework and reports and crap. But today during class, a plot monkey popped out of my head and started dancing across my desk. It was all I could do to keep it hidden from the teacher! P So yeah.

A little OOC for Brennan, but still, I like this whole idea.

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"You can not go home alone! Not with a deranged serial killer on the loose looking for you!"

"I can take care of myself, Booth!" Brennan explained, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at her partner. He did the same, but pointed a finger at her.

"Nuh uh. Last time I left you alone, you were stalked by Epps and almost hurt. Plus, the time before that, you were kidnapped and nearly killed. Then, the time before that, you-"

"Yeah, yeah, ok, I get it. I'm not allowed to be left alone during a case." She agreed, throwing her hands up in the air. "But I am going home!" And with that, she turned on her heels and sped off to the black SUV. Booth smiled and followed suit, climbing into the car that his partner already occupied…impatiently, at that.

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The two partners sat and talked comfortably, sharing secrets and telling stories. During one of her stories, Booth caught a glimpse of a long, thin scar line reaching from her wrist to the inside of her elbow. It was nearly invisible, but he couldn't take his eyes off of it. Brennan noticed this, and decided to have some fun with him.

"And then I hopped on my purple horse and galloped off through the underground ocean." She finished, smiling widely.

Booth realized his partner had stopped talking, and quickly recovered, answering her with a generic answer. "Oh…yeah, that's a cool story, Bones." He cocked his head, wondering why she had started giggling. "What?"

"You have no idea what I just said, do you?" She asked, trying to stifle her laughter.

Booth smiled sympathetically. "No, sorry. I was…" he stopped, his mother's voice rang through his head: "It's rude to stare at people or point out their differences, Seeley." Booth started to come up with an excuse, but once again, the woman's voice filled his mind: "It's unbiblical to lie, Seeley, Dear."

"Dammit Mother…" he whispered.

"What was that?" Brennan asked, staring at him, the remnants of her smile still visible on her face.

"Oh, nothing. It's just…well, I don't remember when you got that scar." Booth blurted, immediately looking away from her penetrating gaze.

Brennan chuckled. "Relax, Booth. It's not like I'm going to punish you for asking a logical question." She told him, causing him to smile slightly and meet her gaze once more. Her face became serious and he could tell that she was retrieving a memory long since forgotten…or hidden.

"Look, Bones, if you don't want to tell me, it's ok." He said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She smiled. "No, it's fine." Brennan traced the scar tissue absent-mindedly. "I got this my first year at the Jeffersonian. And no, I wasn't kidnapped or tortured." She added, catching Booth's worried look. "I had surgery. In 1998, I was diagnosed with cancer. Bone cancer, at that. I thought it was a little ironic." Chuckling quickly, she continued. "The doctor said I needed a bone marrow transplant in order to rid my body of the cancerous cells. He said that if I didn't receive it within six months that the cancer would grow too big and treatment would no longer be possible. During the fifth month when I came in for a checkup, the doctor told me that minutes before I arrived they had received a donation of bone marrow and said that I was next on the list. I nearly passed out at the news. They told me that they could do the surgery right away, so I consented and viola: new bone marrow and no more cancer." Her gaze turned to admiration. "I never found out who the donator was, they left the name slot anonymous. I just wish I could thank them."

Booth flashed a charm smiled and brushed a piece of her hair out of her face. "You've never told anyone that have you?"

Brennan shivered under his touch. "No, I haven't."

He nodded. "You know, I once gave a bone marrow donation. I'll always remember it. The nurse said I was the only one who came in that day, and that I was their last since they were closing. After they finished up the nurse had me fill out some forms and said that I was going to save someone's life with my donation. I'll never forget the date: July 10th, 1998 – the day I saved some stranger's life with something as simple as injecting a needle."

Brennan's face went pale as he finished his short memory. He looked at her questioningly. "What?" he asked.

"July 10th was the day I had my transplant…the day that someone…donated marrow." She explained.

Booth blinked, then slowly smiled. Brennan smiled as well, rotating so she could lay back against him. He stroked her hair soothingly, allowing the current thoughts to race through his mind: He had saved her life long before he even knew her. It must be meant to be.

"Interestingly enough," she said, breaking through his thoughts, "it's a comfort knowing that a part of you is always with me. Kind of like…I know you're always there." Her eyes began to flutter closed as she snuggled closer to her protector and friend.

Booth placed a soft kiss on her forehead as he, too, slowly succumbed to sleep.

"I always will be, Bones. Always."

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Ok, so another one about cancer. Remembrance was actually inspired by my family's friend, but this one was just inspired by the fact that we're learning about the causes of cancer in Pre AP Bio. It was hard to pay attention and trap that tricky little monkey at the same time, so I better go and study my 9lb biology book some more. LOL!