Well, what a surprise... this story is writing itself... somehow. Who would have thought I'd be able to finish the next chapter that quickly...
Here we go!!!!… AND: Thank you all for your reviews... more than 190 now... that's just overwhelming!!!!
Chapter 18:
Her head rested against his shoulder and they were both content with each others company for some time.
After a while, Temperance Brennan cleared her throat and said, smiling a bit: "You know, I am really glad you became my partner, not Freeman."
Booth grinned, "Me too, Bones, me too." Then after a short pause he suddenly tensed a bit. "Why do you know about Freeman? I never told you, that I took over his case, when he had that accident."
"Well, he told me..." Brennan stated the obvious.
"You met him at the FBI headquarters?" Booth still sounded a little confused.
"No. He picked me up here... he was the FBI agent that got assigned to make sure I was safe." Brennan answered, shifting a little.
"WHAT?" His gasp startled her and she sat up to look at his face. It wore an expression of utter surprise.
"What's so special about that?" She asked, frowning a little at his outburst.
His brow furrowed a little and he murmured "Why would Cullen assign a senior agent of the homicide division to make sure you are safe?"
"Well, why not?" She gave back. "You've done that too!" She reminded him of the case were he stayed at her apartment to keep her safe... and had ended up blown up by a bomb in her fridge.
He shook his head lightly. "That was different, Bones. I am your partner and I was not officially assigned as "your bodyguard" ... I decided myself to make sure you are safe. It's not common to assign a senior special agent to such a task... It's not rookie work, either, mind you... it's just a little strange..." His voice trailed off, a puzzled expression on his face.
"Well, he wasn't such a bad company. I did not like him in the beginning, but later we kind of... started new and I think he is ... similar to you, Booth.. in some ways..." Brennan said, observing him.
Suddenly his eyes widened and he exclaimed. "Of course... well now, that's what I call foresight."
Now it was her turn to look puzzled. When he did not explain his words, she asked: "What are you talking about."
His eyes narrowed a bit and he covered her hand with his. "You are not going to like it." He reluctantly answered.
"What, Booth... just tell me." She was impatient now, wondering what he had found out.
He sighed and closed his eyes. "Promise not to freak out." He all but begged her. She rolled her eyes and answered. "I can't make that promise if I don't know what you are talking about."
He opened his eyes and his gaze was begging her to just give in. "Well,... okay... if it means something to you: I promise to try not to freak out." She carefully picked her words.
He raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "Better than nothing..." He drew in a deep breath before continuing. "It's just a suspicion... although I am pretty sure I am right. Cullen assigned Freeman to watch over you, because he wanted you to get to know each other."
She frowned and asked "And why, exactly, would he want us to get to know each other?"
"Because he would have replaced me...in case I would not have made it. He would have worked with you." Booth answered quickly... and waited for her reaction. Nothing? He really had thought she would yell or something. He quickly added. "He wanted you to bond with each other... just in case something happened to me... you would have already known him and it would have been easier for you two to work together. Cullen just wanted to..." but he was interrupted. Ah, now came the outburst he had been waiting for.
"How dare he!" she yelled.
"Sh,sh... Bones... this is a hospital." Booth tried to calm her down a bit.
"And I don't give a damn. How dare he just... smuggle Freeman in like that. So he was prepared for losing you? Ready to replace you with another agent? Well, I was not! And I will never be. He... how could he be thinking I would just continue with my work like that!" She had jumped to her feet and had started to pace, unable to keep herself calm. "Do people really think I am that cold?"
"Bones,... please... It's just a suspicion, okay? And I am here, right? No need for replacements of any sort." Booth said in a soothing voice.
"I would not want to work with somebody else, Booth." She pressed through gritted teeth, still agitated, stopping in her pacing a few feet away from his bed.
His face wore a gentle smile and he extended a hand to her. "You won't have to. I am still here and I don't plan on leaving soon, remember? Come here, Bones... I want you here, with me, okay?" His voice was warm and gentle and her rage quickly died out again. She felt a little embarrassed at her outburst... she smiled wryly and closed the distance to his bed, taking his warm hand into hers. "I am sorry. I promised to try to stay calm."
He grinned at her, that cocky grin she had missed so much, and teased: "Well I guess in your case "Nomen est Omen" does not apply, right, Temperance?"
She laughed and shook her head. "Jerk" She whispered, her voice full of tenderness.
"Squint" he gave back, his tone equally tender and loving. Hearing that undertone she felt her chest tighten again. It was still such a new and wondrous feeling it made her eyes sting a little bit. Love... how odd. How wonderful.
She lowered herself on the chair beside his bed again and gently squeezed his hand. He knew her well enough to tell, that she was going to say something, but was either thinking about the exact words or mustering up courage.
So he waited, just holding her hand, his thumb rubbing little circles on the back of her hand.
"Booth..." She licked her dry lips. "Freeman told me something else... He said you and him ... you were in a pretty bad situation a few months ago... That you had no idea if you were going to make it out alive and that you told each other what to do, if one of you survives and the other not..." Her gaze fixed on him and when he gave her an encouraging nod, she continued. "He said you told him to tell Parker that you love him. And to take care of ..."
"My Bones. That's you." He finished, when her voice trailed off.
"I know that. Freeman did not... not at that time... he thought you meant it...literally." Brennan gave back.
Booth's eyebrows rose. "What? My body?" He chuckled, but stopped with a painful expression on his face. "Uh... I think they cut down my ration of pain killers."
"They can't take away all the pain. Pain is part of the healing." Brennan stated in her 'lecturing' voice.
Booth snorted. "I know that. It still hurts. But,... we were talking about something else..." He reminded her.
"Ah, well..." She averted her gaze from his face and started to fidget uncomfortably. "I was just wondering... If... you... I mean why did you ask him to take care of me?"
A gentle smile covered his face and he raised his hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "Uh-uh. That was not your real question. You wanted to ask if I was already in love with you at that time, right?" She still did not look at him, but he noticed how her body tensed a little at his words... he knew he had hit home.
"I was. I am. I don't know when it happened, exactly, Bones... but I know I already felt kind of jealous when you were dating Sully." He whispered.
Her eyebrows shot up and she looked at him. "Sully? But... you said... I should go. Sail into the sunset with him." She frowned a little. "Why?" She sounded confused and he knew she was. And when she was not able to understand something, she had to ask questions, had to find answers. He just hoped he was able to give the right answers.
"Temperance... You just want the people you love to be happy. If sailing away with Sully had been the key to your happiness... Well... I don't know how, but I would have managed to get over it... somehow." He sounded a bit unsure himself... and relieved, because she was sitting here with him now instead of being on a boat with Sully. Thank God.
She watched him and nodded a bit. She could believe that he had wanted her to be happy... that was him, all noble. But there was something else... "You never said anything. Not a single word."
It was not a real question, but he decided to answer anyway. "And you have no idea how hard it was sometimes. But... I feared... it would scare you away... and I did not want to risk our friendship."
"Scare me away?" She repeated, giving him a questioning look.
"Look, Bones. I did not want to... put pressure on you. I did not think you were ready... You had to sort out your feelings yourself and now you have, right?" There was a hint, just a hint of doubt in his voice. She was not going to ... take it back now, was she?
She had heard it. Had heard that little, doubtful stain. "Booth! I am not going to change my mind... I have sorted it out... although I needed Angela to understand it all." She shook her head, when she recalled her own ignorance. "I do love you." She said in a steady voice, looking him straight into the eyes. "I never said that to a man before..." She added a moment later, almost surprised.
Booth's eyes widened. "Really? Oh...Bones... were you never really in love before?"
She bit her bottom lip and shrugged lightly. "No. I never felt what I am feeling now."
A small smile tugged on his lips when he gave back. "I never felt like that before either... But I have been in love before... it just never was... the whole 100 , I guess... "
"Hm" She mumbled. "I think I never reached more than a quarter then."
"That's sad... " He started, but she interrupted him, giving him a stern look. "Don't pity me!" She demanded.
"I am not, okay? You interrupted me. I wanted to say: That's sad, but maybe I'll be able to make it up to you. I will try... just let me try, okay?" His voice sounded almost pleading. She bit her bottom lip, but she nodded.
He let out the breath he had been holding without noticing, and after a long time of silence he murmured.
"I will try to make you happy." He said, his voice low and promising.
"I certainly hope so." She answered, wiggling her brow suggestively.
"Uh-uh... quick change of mood." He teased, but then he added "Happy in every sense of the word, Temperance... you'll just have to let me try, okay?"
She nodded again, more enthusiastic now and smiled at him. "You already made me happy."
"Really? How did I do that?" Booth asked, his eyebrows rising slightly.
"By staying alive." She simply said and closed the distance between them to give him a sweet, loving kiss.
okay... please let me know what you think! did they stay in character? did you like cullen's strategy?