So, the almost final chapter! A 'Wannabe in the Weeds' of sorts (just not nearly as good and with no where NEAR as big a cliffhanger.) I might actually have the final chapter up tonight, it depends. I've got lots of ideas, but I'm not sure how to combine them and not make it cheesier than intended.
Also, the rating will change for the last chapter!
(only to T, though-No graphic stuff, I'm only 14,
I have innocence to uphold-insert smile here-)
Dislcaimer: Fox and I had a duel of sorts to see who would win the TV show Bones SPOILER ALERT: they won. I don't own bones.
It had been two weeks since she'd gotten the letter. Fourteen days. Fourteen long days of nothing but digging deeper and deeper into the ground. Fourteen days of aching and longing to return home, to return to him. She'd felt uncompleted and empty and all she wanted was to leave that place.
Finally, after extending the search parameters a good sixteen meters in all directions, they'd come to one result: Their work was done, their expertise was no longer needed, and they were free to go.
Brennan had begun to pack her things a few days earlier, as she'd predicted that they would not find any more bodies, so she mostly just organized and reorganized and assisted Deni in her packing.
Not long after that, they'd boarded a caravan of jeeps and were driven to Gaborone, the capital of Botswana where they began the laborious process of boarding a plane to London.
Brennan ordinarily did not mind airports, they were a nice place to people watch, to observe sociological behaviors and actions, but on that day, all she wanted was to hurry up and get through security so that she could get to where she so desperately wanted to be.
She looked down at her watch and knew that by the time she arrived at Reagan in DC, it would be so late at night that it would actually be morning. She roughly did the math in her head. one thirty, if all went well. She bit her lip and felt Deni poke her between the shoulder blades.
"What?" She asked, annoyed and anxious.
"It's your turn." She said simply, as she bent down to remove her flip flops and place them in the bin. Brennan nodded and began to remove her coat and shoes as well.
For the first time in a while, she made it through security without having someone perform a suspicious search. The butterflies in her stomach raced as she recalled back to when Booth had her held in custody after her trip back from Guatemala. Times were different then. So different.
For one thing, back then if she was yearning to be in his arms, encased by his musular chest, she'd have scolded herself and would turn her mind to something else, but now, as she was thinking about how his warm, solid arms would wrap around her and never let go, she didn't stop (and didn't want to stop) her mind from dwelling on the subject. Now it was a whole new ballgame.
She sighed and glanced down at her watch again, looking up at Deni, who unfortunately, had picked up her bad luck and was currently being searched with the magnetic wand. The alarm sounded as it waved past her pocket. She smiled sheepishly as he pulled out her house key that had been stuffed in there for whatever reason. The officer let her go, but confiscated the key.
"How much time do we have?" She asked as she approached Brennan.
"Um, just about two hours. I suppose we should get some coffee and a snack of some sort." She added. Deni nodded and they began walking. Brennan looked around, secretly wishing that there was a homeland security officer following her.
Brennan shimmied her way into her seat, maneuvering past the flight attendants and various people trying desperately to fit things into over head bins. She sat down in the last seat in first class, her back to the curtain that separated them from coach. She didn't know why, but she could already tell that this was going to be a long flight.
Sleeping was not her intention, but the blindfold fell over her eyes anyway. She stared into the dark abyss as her ears popped form the pressure of the plane reaching it's cruising altitude, 36,000 feet.
There were images playing out on the black silk that shielded her eyes.
She kept playing over what was going to happen. She knew that one of two events would take place. The first was that he'd only written the letter because he needed to vent his sexual frustrations; after all he hadn't been in a relationship in more than a year (and she liked to think he hadn't had sex in more than a year). If he was venting, than it was possible that he didn't mean any of it. Not a single word. She thought back to the many times she'd been in an angry rage and had told Russ or Angela and even her father that she hated them, but she didn't mean it. She never meant it.
The second option was simply that his words had come from his heart. That he had true honesty behind what he'd said, backing it up. She liked that idea much more. She licked her lips ever so slightly as she thought back to his lips fusing with hers, even if it was for only a second.
His kisses were exactly as she'd imagined them, skillful, passionate and knee buckling- and those were just blackmail and casual 'corner-of-the-mouth' kisses, she didn't know what a real, genuine, mouth to mouth, tongue to tongue, breath to breath Seeley Booth kiss was like yet, but she knew it would be like nothing she'd ever had before.
She stopped mid thought and analyzed what was currently running through her mind. Did she intend of kissing Booth? She made a slight mental pinchy face and then came to her conclusion. Yes, she was going to kiss Booth.
At that point, with her mind content and at rest, she closed her eyes and put her thoughts at bay. Her breathing slowed and she began to nap in almost total peace for the first time since she'd left.
She awoke to the sensation of her ears being filled with pressure. Sitting upright, she lifted the blindfold just in time to see that the seat belt button was flashing and the flight attendant was about to speak over the intercom.
"Please return your seats and tray tables to their upright locked position. We will be landing shortly, at which point we ask that you remain seated with your seat belt buckled." She set down the phone and the ears of the passengers in the cabin all seemed to pop at once. Brennan gathered her things and sat her chair up, letting her hair down, and then pushing it back into a pony tail.
She watched the rest of the passengers exit, but remained on, waiting for Deni to appear from behind the curtain. She finally did, walking as if her knees were jelly, her eyes tired and a dark shade of olive instead of the normally sunny emerald green.
"You don't look as though you had a good flight." She commented.
"The kid behind me was kicking my seat mercilessly and I didn't catch a wink of sleep." She yawned as if to format her words. Brennan nodded, taking her bag for her. They walked off the plane and into the tunnel together.
"So what time's your flight?" Brennan asked her. Deni looked down at her itinerary.
"Uh..Six hours. I'm gonna catch a cab and find somewhere to go. You?" She asked.
"The flight to DC departs in three hours." She responded, glancing up at the signs above them to see where exactly the baggage claim was located. They walked down a long hall and found the series of rotating belts.
"South African Airlines, yes?" Deni asked as they read the electronic boards to find their flight number. Brennan nodded, pointing out their exact belt. They began to walk over to it, when the passed a series of payphones hanging on the wall. The letter. He had told her to call him when she arrived in London so that he could pick her up from the airport back home.
"What's wrong?" Deni asked, catching the look she was making. She seriously considered telling her, but then decided against it. She didn't want to be a bother, making Booth get all dressed to come pick her up at that unholy hour. No, she'd drive herself home…or, seeing as he'd drove her to the airport to begin with, she'd take a cab or the Metro.
"…nothing." She finally said, her moment of hesitation past behind her.
Deni walked with Brennan to her gate, carrying her bag on her shoulder.
"Now boarding American Airlines flight 722 to Washington DC, Now boarding American Airlines flight 722 to Washington DC." The woman at the desk announced.
"I guess this is it, then." Deni said, handing her the bag.
"Deni. Do you like working where you do now?" She asked.
"Sure. I guess. I'd much rather work in an institute like you than at the Miami natural history museum." She shrugged sardonically.
"Really? Because I have a position open at the Jeffersonian Institute. I mean, you'd have to interview with my boss first, but she'll take anyone." She responded, not bothering to mask the excitement in her voice.
"Seriously?" She asked, pulling Brennan into a small hug.
"Absolutely. You're more than qualified." She responded over her shoulder. They released each other and Brennan pulled her bag over her shoulder, taking out one of her buisness cards and handing it over.
"It was a privilege working with you, Dr. Brennan. I look forward to seeing you soon." She nodded her green eyes suddenly alive and glowing.
"The feeling is mutual." She told her.
She entered the tunnel and looked back to see Deni waving. She gave a quick wave and looked ahead of her. She did not look back again; she looked forward, her stomach uneasy. She didn't know what was going to happen, but she could only hope for the best.
There it is! Soooo, what'dcha think? come on, you know you want to, just reach down and press that handy little review button!
~Rhea~
Brennan: Why would a gang leader cooperate?
Booth: I'm gonna ask him really, really nicely, Bones.
Brennan: You know that book I'm reading about getting along with your co-workers? It says that sarcasm is never helpful. I can lend it to you if you want.