Thank you all for still reading! Here's the next chapter . . . :)
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"Booth . . . Booth, wake up," Brennan coaxed, kissing his rough cheeks and nuzzling against him.
"Mmm . . . not now, baby . . . too early . . . on vacation . . ." he moaned sleepily.
"Booth, we've got a case," she reminded him, nudging him. "Booth?"
Booth started to snore.
"Hey, Booth!" she yelled in exasperation.
"Huh? What?" he shot up and saw her wide awake beside him. "Jesus, Bones – you've gotta figure out a pleasanter way to wake a guy up!" he complained.
"I did – you ignored me!" she huffed and started for the bathroom.
Booth pulled her back down.
"Hey . . ." he smiled and brushed her disheveled hair out of her face, kissing her soundly. "Good morning, Bones."
Brennan tried to fight a smile but was unsuccessful.
"Morning, Booth," she replied, meeting her forehead with his.
"Ready to see Coney Island?" he asked.
"We're not going there for fun, Booth – we're interviewing a prime suspect in their place of employment," she reminded him.
"We can have a little fun . . ." he proposed.
"Booth . . ." she warned.
He kissed her again, pulling her down with him.
"Maybe," she relented. "We have to have lunch somewhere . . ."
"That's my girl!" Booth grinned, kissing her once more, pulling her against him, delaying the start of the inevitably long day ahead of them.
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"Okay . . . So. Cheese fries . . . pizza . . . pretzels . . . kettle corn . . . cotton candy . . . fried Snickers . . . funnel cakes . . . elephant ears . . . What do ya say, Bones?" Booth said, as they walked through the island's amusement park.
"Pachyderm cartilage? Booth, you know I'm a vegetarian," Brennan crinkled her nose.
"They're not what you think they are – they're a meat-free pastry," he explained. "I can't believe you've never had one before!"
"I didn't spend my childhood going to a lot of fairs. But I'd like to try one – after I have some pizza, cheese fries, a pretzel, and some cotton candy. Is a fried Snickers good?" she asked, stopping for cheese fries, pizza, and a pretzel.
"Whoa! Easy there, Bones! What's with the Sumo wrestler appetite?" Booth wondered.
"We didn't have breakfast and I don't know about you, but I have developed quite a craving for carbohydrates," she smiled, slyly.
Booth smiled, devilishly.
"You got a point there, Bones. I think I'll get a Coney dog and a burger . . ." he said, paying for them.
"I think the victim's friend is hiding something," she said, getting back to the case as they found a place to eat their food.
"Well, yeah – of course Shore's hiding something – that he killed her," Booth scoffed, stealing a few of her fries.
"No – Booth, I don't think he did. I genuinely believed him when he said he loved her. But there was something he wasn't telling us . . ." she contemplated, and started on her piece of pizza.
"Avery Mandel and Lucas Shore remained friends despite the fact that she was dating his enemy, Evan Ortiz . . ." he said.
"You think that maybe Mandel and Shore had sexual relations with each other without Ortiz knowing?" Brennan assumed.
"It's possible. People cheat all the time – I'm not sayin' it's right, but it happens," Booth replied, finishing his Coney dog.
"Which is why having a monogamous relationship for the rest of your life is unrealistic," she stated, then looked at Booth's crest-fallen face.
He couldn't help it. He'd thought Brennan had finally seen how amazing love with one person could be. But obviously her views on that issue hadn't changed as much as he'd thought.
"Bones –" he began, but Brennan interrupted.
"For some people. I . . . have changed my opinion on the issue for myself as an individual . . . I now believe that if you find a person with whom you are compatible in all aspects, there is a possibility that that person could satisfy your needs for a highly extensive period of time," she admitted.
"So what made you change your mind?" he flirted, cockily.
Brennan blushed and shyly looked down at her empty paper plate.
"So I suppose our next step is to bring Ortiz in for questioning?" Brennan brought their focus back to the original topic.
"Yeah, we've still got full use of the NYPD's interrogation room," Booth said. "But first, we're goin' on the Wonder Wheel."
"Booth, we have work to do," she objected.
"Yeah, but you still haven't gotten all you wanted to eat, right?" he argued, throwing away their trash then pulling her off the bench and toward a stand for cotton candy, elephant ears, and fried Snickers. "We can eat this stuff while we wait in line."
"Alright. But you are becoming a really bad influence on my work ethics," she grumbled.
"Hey – how much time are we wasting? Ten minutes?" he maintained. "That still leaves us within our usual hour for lunch. It just seems like we're wasting time 'cause we usually don't get our food instantly. Just relax, okay?"
"Okay," she agreed.
"So what did you say to Cam when you told her where we were?" he asked, taking a couple bites of the fried Snickers and offering the rest to her.
She took a bite of it before speaking.
"I simply explained that you had tickets to a Yankees game and invited me along – mostly because you couldn't drive for long periods of time and Parker was unable to attend," Brennan said, handing him part of the cotton candy.
"Nice touch with the Parker thing – she seem like she suspected anything?" he wondered.
"Not to my knowledge . . . However, she did make a comment about us 'slipping it to home base' . . . I told her of course we would make it back home and in a safe manner," Brennan added.
"Oh, god," Booth ran his hands over his face. "Bones – sliding into home base - Cam knows – or at least she's thinking there could be something between us."
"I don't understand?" she said, puzzled.
"'Home base' is a baseball term, but it's also a metaphor for how far you go with a person –" he told her.
"In a sexual way?" Brennan guessed.
"Yeah. First base is kissing. Second is touching. Third is naked. Home is sex," he described.
"Oh . . . But I didn't indicate at any point in the conversation that we were having intercourse?" Brennan furrowed her brow, still confused.
"You didn't have to. Cam already had it in her head. Don't worry about it. As long as she doesn't say anything to Sweets, we're fine. Besides, we're gonna tell them in a few weeks anyway . . . I don't know . . . we'll talk about it later," he rubbed her back in assurance. "So how's your elephant ear?"
"Very good. I wish they wouldn't call it that, though – it's very misleading," Brennan responded taking another bite of it.
Booth chuckled and picked off a piece of it for himself.
"We're up next," he noticed. "You done with your food?"
"Yes. It was very satisfying. Abundant with grease and sugar – but good," she replied and put her wrappers in the trash can.
"Good," Booth smiled and led her onto the car of the Ferris wheel. "Ready?"
"Yes," she said as they strapped themselves in and the wheel began to move up and the car shifted from side to side. "This is quite entertaining and the view is beautiful."
"Yeah," Booth agreed and kissed the top of her hand. "See, Bones. I told you we could still have some fun."
A strange expression formed on her face.
"You okay, there, Bones?" he raised a concerned eyebrow.
"Booth . . .? I don't feel so good . . ." she said, sheet white and clutching her stomach as they reached the top of the wheel.
"Here, lean back on me, babe. It'll pass – the ride's almost over -" he soothed her.
"No – Booth, I have to -" she struggled to move away from him, but ended up vomiting on his shoes.
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"Booth, I'm fine. It was more than likely a reaction to motion sickness exacerbated by the unhealthy foods I consumed minutes before the ride. Change your shoes and we'll go," Brennan insisted, rinsing out her mouth when they were back at their hotel suite.
"Bones, you're not goin' anywhere. You just puked all over my only pair of Italian shoes – you're not 'fine'," Booth saw right through her tough act.
"I told you I'd replace them. I'll buy you as many pairs as you'd like -" she offered.
He finished putting on his sneakers.
"I don't care about the shoes, Bones. I care about you. Now lie back down and get some rest. I'll go check this guy out and come back as soon as I can, okay?" Booth insisted, kissing her forehead and placing some crackers and a can of ginger ale on the nightstand.
"But I feel a lot better now. I'm not missing work because I was nauseated for thirty minutes," she protested.
"Bones, you're not setting one foot out of this room. I followed your orders for over a month. You can follow mine for one day," he stood firm.
Brennan glared stubbornly at him, but didn't make an attempt to move.
"I'll be back soon," Booth kissed her cheek and left.
He hated leaving her like that. He'd rather have stayed and taken care of her the way she had him for all those weeks. As much as he loved his job, it was a pain in the ass when it came to his social life. He worried about Brennan the entire time he drove to the station. It wasn't like her to have such a sensitive stomach. Hell, she touched dead, decaying bodies for a living and he'd never seen her even flinch. Why would a low-key amusement park ride faze her? His thoughts were interrupted by a phone call.
"Booth?" he answered.
"Hodgins determined the murder weapon," Brennan replied.
"Great – what was it?" he asked.
"Judging from the clean, single slice that severed the head from the neck, and the blood sample taken from the weapon, it was one of the props in the storage room – the guillotine - more than likely used in a Marie Antoinette display," she said. "You need to get a sample of Ortiz's DNA so they can be matched with the other blood sample we found on it."
"Two blood samples?" Booth questioned.
"Perhaps there was a struggle prior to the beheading," Brennan speculated.
"Got it. Thanks, Bones. How are ya doin'?" he wondered.
"Fine, Booth. Just like I was when you left. Please inform me of what you find out," she replied coldly.
"I will. See ya later okay?" he said.
"Yes," she curtly agreed.
A long, awkward pause followed. He could tell Brennan was still upset with him, but did she really expect him to take her along when she could hurl all over the suspect?
"Hey, Bones?" he said.
"Yes, Booth?" she answered.
"We're okay, right? I mean, you still . . ." he trailed off.
"Love you? Yes. I understand your need to be overprotective due to your emotional attachment . . . And I feel the same about you. That doesn't mean I'm not frustrated at the situation, but I understand why you insisted I stay behind," Brennan assured him.
"I just wanna make sure that you realize when we fight it doesn't mean I love you any less than before, okay? We're always gonna work things out," he reassured her.
"I won't run, Booth. I'm staying right here," she promised. "Literally and figuratively."
"Good. That's all I needed to hear, Bones," he smiled. "Maybe we could go to dinner later, if your stomach's up for it?"
"I would like that," Brennan replied. "You'd better go."
"Yeah, I'm right at the station. Bye, Bones," he said.
"Goodbye, Booth," she replied as they both hung up.
One problem solved. If only he could take care of the case as easily . . .