"The unreal is more powerful than the real, because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it. because its only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. stone crumbles. wood rots. people, well, they die. but things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on." ~ Chuck Palahniuk

Epilogue: You Can't Always Get What You Want

"What are you doing here? I thought you were still in Portland?"

Charlie looked up from her laptop, slightly annoyed about having her concentration broken by her assistant, "I got in late last night or actually, early this morning and came right here. There's a lot of work to be done. But Portland was good, really good. They loved Clay – the speech went over extremely well and I think that the Pacific Northwest is ours for the win."

The staffer nodded and then looked down at the pad he was carrying, "Uh, when does the Speaker get back from Denver?"

"He's back on the 16th but then he's busy through the 19th for Agent Blanc's wedding. He's made it very clear that he wants nothing booked for those three days."

The aide nodded, made a notation on his calendar, and walked briskly away from Charlotte. She sighed and glanced around the busy campaign headquarters and smiled to herself. This is what she and Clayton had been working toward for years. After over a year of travel, interviews, speeches and personal appearances, they were less than a month away from the election and he was leading in every national poll. Barring any major catastrophes, all indicators pointed to Clayton Samuel Woods being elected the next President of the United States.

As she moved toward the coffee pot, she saw Booth enter the office and inwardly groaned, "Deputy Director Booth, to what do I owe this visit?"

He smiled, "Well, when my wife's been out of town for almost a week I kinda like to see her as soon as she gets home but when she doesn't come home, I have to seek her out."

She scrunched her face, "I'm sorry, babe. It was so late and-"

Booth snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her toward him, "And there's so much to do and yada, yada, yada. Yeah, I know that speech all too well." He tilted her chin up and kissed her a little too passionately for their surroundings. "Hey Red…" he whispered against her lips.

She smiled almost bashfully, "Hey stranger…"

Remembering where she was, she pulled away from him, "This will all be over soon."

"No it won't. He's gonna win and then you go from campaign manager to what? Press Secretary? Lead advisor?"

"Something like that." She grabbed his hand and led him back to her office.

"Do you have time for lunch?" He asked as he closed the door behind him.

She glanced down at the blotter calendar on her desk and then back up to her husband, "I think so."

He scratched his head, "Good, I need you to interpret a dream for me."

"Another one, Seeley?" She asked as she perched on the edge of her desk. "Was this one like the last one?"

"Kinda, this one was like a…like a continuation of the first one."

"So, I was still a war correspondent when we met? And we were a thing but not a thing? And then you dumped me and married Temperance?" She smirked as she watched his neck and then his ears blush bright red.

Booth nodded guiltily, "Yup and in this one, you were still married to Clayton, you were pregnant and he was kidnapped by a guy from my unit in Afghanistan."

"The unit from the first dream?" Charlotte looked at him skeptically, "The one you were never a part of?"

"You know I have no control over what I dream, right? I mean, it's not like…" he sighed and then stepped toward her, cradling her face, "I love you, you know that right?"

She looked up at him with her dark blue eyes and smiled, "I know you do. I've never doubted that. Ever." She gripped his arms and playfully shook him back and forth, "These dreams…I think they're your way of working out all your fears and unnecessary guilt. Damn Catholics…"

He narrowed his eyes on her, "The dream got weirder."

"How am I not surprised?"

Booth stepped back and smoothed down his tie, "Get this, the kidnapper's name was Tucker."

Charlotte laughed, "I know you don't like our dog all that much but making him the villain in your dream? That's a bit much, babe."

"I know but…Anyway, Tucker, the man not the dog, had been stalking you for over four years and had kept detailed journals about your life. Me and the Jeffersonian team swooped in, stayed with you in Clay's brownstone and figured everything out just in time to save Clay and Bones, who had been taken as well."

"God, I'd love to live in Clayton's house." Charlotte mused playfully. There was a part of her that thought to be offended by these dreams but never really was. Because not only was the idea of Booth and Brennan together ludicrous to those who knew them, but she also knew that when Seeley Booth married her he took the 'till death do us part' part very seriously.

Booth fixed his hands on his hips, "This isn't funny, Charlotte."

At the sound of her full name, Charlotte slipped off her desk and reached for her husband's tie and pulled him closer, "Maybe not to you but it's very funny to me. If you're concerned about them, you should talk with Sweets."

"No way in hell, I'd never hear the end of it. Besides," he kissed her quickly, "I'd rather you just sort 'em out for me, Red."

She released his tie and sighed dramatically, "Fine, let's go get lunch and we can discuss why whenever I'm out of town you dream about having sex with Temperance Brennan-Booth." She smirked at him before reaching for the door and opening it.

Booth groaned as he followed her through the busy campaign headquarters, when she put it that way it made him feel like a heel. The dreams had started when Charlotte first got busy with the presidential campaign and he moved out of the field and took the assistant deputy director job at the bureau. So much changed in a short time, Charlie was never home and he was stuck in an office all day and… He really had no idea why they started and regardless of how 'right' that world seemed while he was sleeping, it rang completely wrong during his waking hours.

He waited by the door for Charlotte and watched as she talked with a few staffers. Her confidence, control and crisp appearance in this environment made the people who worked for her both fear and respect her and that never failed to make Booth laugh. If they only knew that she left the house with two different shoes on at least once a week, that she cried every single time (and there were numerous times) she watched The Notebook, Beaches, Steel Magnolias, and pretty much any other movie made for her gender and that she laid awake at night, almost every night, doubting her ability to steer this campaign to a win. The things she hid from the world, what she thought made her appear weak, were the things he loved most about her.

She met him at the door, "What are you grinning about?"

"No one knows you like I do," he helped her into her coat and then close to her ear said, "I like that."

She flipped her hair out of her collar and sincerely responded, "So do I."

As they walked toward the diner she thought about the odd dream her husband was obsessing over and how it wasn't much weirder than the life they had actually lived. She and Booth met under the saddest of circumstances – Clay's wife, Michelle, had been killed in a car accident and because he was a Congressman, Booth was brought in to investigate the crash. Working solo at the time, Brennan had taken a year sabbatical to sail around the Caribbean with her then boyfriend, Booth became closely acquainted with Charlotte as she was fiercely protective of Clayton and double-checked Booth's findings at every step of the investigation.

After the case was closed, Booth waited exactly a week to ask her out for a date, a date she turned down. Charlie had no interest in becoming involved with a man whose life was constantly in danger but after his third call in as many weeks, she gave in. And now, she was still consistently giving into him five years later.

"Don't forget I told Bones we'd watch Sasha tonight so she and Gus can make sure everything is in place for the wedding." Booth reminded her, pulling her away from her internal walk down memory lane.

"Trying to stir some of my maternal desires?" She asked with a smirk as they made their way into the diner.

"Maybe…Would that be such a bad thing?"

Charlie took a seat at their usual table, "I thought we had put a pin in this until after the election?"

Booth sighed, "We had, I just wanted to remind you where we stuck it."

A few minutes later Brennan breezed into the diner, "Temperance," Charlotte called out, "please, join us."

"How was your trip?" Brennan asked as she sat down next to her.

"Excellent. We've got three weeks left and things couldn't look better."

Brennan smiled, "Good. I know how hard you and Clayton have worked"

"And I've suffered." Booth muttered under his breath.

"Aw, poor Seeley has to do his own laundry when I'm away." Charlotte teased in a whiny voice.

Brennan uncharacteristically giggled at the other woman's comment, causing Booth to look up from his menu at her, "Doing the laundry doesn't bother me, ok?" He glanced over at Charlotte, "But there are other things that do."

Charlotte cocked a brow, "What things?"

"The kinda things Bones doesn't need to know about." He explained in a hushed tone, barely moving his lips.

Brennan turned to Charlotte with a conspiratorial grin, "Booth doesn't want to talk about how you being gone so often has effected your sex life in front of me."

Charlotte pursed her lips and nodded, keeping her attention fully on Brennan, "I know, the man is a prude."

"What he doesn't realize is that we're all quite aware of when he's 'bothered' – he doesn't hide it well at all. He gets very cranky."

"Oh, I know all about the crankiness. I mean, is that supposed to make me wanna run home and jump him?"

Brennan opened her mouth to respond but Booth threw his menu down and spoke first.

"Stop! Both of you." Booth demanded. "I hate it when you gang up on me." The two women, the ones no one ever expected to be friends, broke out in laughter and finally looked across the table at Booth.

"I'm sorry, Booth. I know that I shouldn't encourage Charlotte teasing you but it's very entertaining for me…" Brennan's apology was cut short by her ringing phone. When she glanced at the caller id, she suddenly stood up, "I'm going to take this outside."

"I'm sorry too, babe." Charlotte reached across the table and laid her hand on his, "I know you're no prude…" He looked up and offered her his sexy, little smile, the same smile that had compelled her into his bed for the first time so long ago.

Booth flipped his hand over so that their palms were touching, "You're home tonight, right?"

She bit her lip in regret, "There's a dinner I'm supposed to go to …" When she saw disappointment darken his brown eyes over spending another night alone, Charlotte knew she was going to stay home. Dramatically, she closed her eyes and pressed the back of her hand to her forehead. Then with only one eye open, she looked at Booth with a wanton smirk, "I feel a little feverish. I think I need to be in bed early."

"I couldn't agree more." He squeezed her hand, "I really do miss you, you know? And not just because I'm 'bothered', as Bones put it."

"I know." She brushed her bangs off her forehead and exhaled deeply, "Just remember this is almost over and when it is, we're Hawaii bound."

The mention of the long-awaited vacation relaxed Booth's features, "And we're going to…you know, un-stick that pin?"

Charlie smiled, "We'll definitely spend a lot of time trying."

A few minutes later Brennan rejoined them at the table, "Sorry about that, apparently the seamstress thought that the wedding was in two weeks not this week."

"Is it going to be ready in time?" Charlotte asked.

Brennan nodded as she took a sip of her coffee, "She assured me that it would be ready on time after I offered a monetary incentive. With all of this planning and all of these phone calls," she shook her head, "sometimes I think the two of you had the right idea."

"I don't know Bones, I just don't see you and Gus getting married by an Elvis impersonator in Vegas."

"Neither do I but I meant the fact that you kept it simple. No plans, no caterers, no florists, no headaches. Just the two of you."

Charlotte smiled at Booth, "It was a nice, hassle free affair, huh?"

He agreed with a grin, "Viva Las Vegas."

After dating for about 18 months, Booth and Charlotte found themselves in Las Vegas on a two-day layover due to a mid-west blizzard while flying back to DC after visiting her parents in California. Booth joked, or rather tried to make it sound like he was joking, that in order to keep his mind off gambling, they should get married - thinking that Charlotte would freak out at the suggestion. But she surprised him when she simply said ok and a little over three hours later, they were Mr. and Mrs. Booth.

Charlotte turned her attention to Brennan, "Are you nervous about this weekend?"

Brennan inhaled sharply and shook her head, "Not in the slightest. Augustus and I are certain this is the best thing for both of us. And more importantly, it's the best thing for Sasha."

Booth tried to hide how much her words pleased him as he stirred his coffee. He never expected that when he introduced the two at a fundraiser a few years back that this was where they'd end up. But from the start, there was an undeniable spark between them.

Augustus Blanc was everything Brennan never knew she wanted or needed in a man. He was handsome and smart and strong – physically, mentally and all the other ways that counted but above all else he was kind, patient, and captivated by her from the start.

Things between them moved quickly at first, they moved in together three months after meeting and then barely a month later, Brennan announced she was pregnant. But after Sasha, a child that Angela once said was so beautiful the rest of the world should just give up trying, was born it was almost as if they were content to stay just as they were. Brennan was happy and she feared that changing anything would ruin it. Until one night when Gus finally told her they had to get married. He told her and much to her, and everyone else's, surprise, she agreed. There was no fight or fear in the decision and that simple fact made Brennan certain it was the right one.

After the waitress brought out their meals, Brennan sat back and listened to Charlotte and Booth chatter about the campaign, about what color their dining room should be painted, about whether or not their new neighbors were swingers and why Booth refused to eat healthier. Their constant verbal sparring didn't have the zing of the bickering between she and Booth but it was full of love and often quite amusing for Brennan.

As she ate her salad, Brennan thought back to when she first came home from her purpose-free sabbatical and learned that her entire world had changed. She had left Sully in St. Barts after realizing that a life drifting with a dreamer was not for her and upon arriving home she found that nothing was as she left it; Angela and Hodgins had quietly eloped and Booth was not only no longer working with the Jeffersonian, he was also madly in love with Charlotte.

For the first few months, she and Booth struggled with their relationship both personal and professional. It took longer than either expected to get back into the swing of things and there were often times when both thought it would have been best if they gave up and went their separate ways. Fortunately, they weren't the kind to admit defeat and eventually their stubbornness prevailed, and they fell back into the Booth and Brennan groove.

When Booth got up to go to the bathroom, Charlotte leaned over toward Brennan with a wicked grin, "Hey, Seeley had another one of those dreams while I was gone. Apparently, this one was even more bizarre than the first one. God, it cracks me up…"

Brennan set her coffee cup down and studied Charlie's face for any sign of discomfort or anger but there was none, "I find it strange that these dreams entertain you as much as they do. Most women would be horrified to know that their husband dreamt of them as nothing more than a sexual fling and of another woman as his wife."

Charlotte shrugged and watched Booth as he made his way back to the table, "Yeah, but most women aren't married to Seeley Booth either."

Brennan nodded in agreement. "This is true."

Are you shaking your head? Are you thinking how the hell could NatesMama and Smurfs do this to you? Are you worried we've lost our minds? Have no fear, this has just been an example of NatesMama letting Smurfs run wild with her 'What If' theories. Sorry if we upset or scared you, the idea was too good to ignore.:) The real epilogue will be posted shortly ~ Thanks for reading!