Two hours later (in Philadelphia)

They arrived at the hospital to find Hank sitting in the surgery waiting room.

"Pops? What's going? Where's J?" Booth said as he approached his grandfather.

Hank had a cast on his wrist and a protective boot on one foot.

"He's in surgery. His whole leg is broken."

"What were you guys doing?" Brennan asked for Booth. He was getting red in the face, maybe from anger or maybe because he finally knew they were both alive.

"Jared was driving me to my eye appointment. I can't read the newspaper anymore. Damn doctor told me I need glasses and that I shouldn't drive 'til I get them. But Jared ran a red light. Jeez, Shrimp, where have you been? You look like you went rolling around in a mud pit."

"Bren and I came straight from Guatemala. All they told us is that you two were in an accident."

Hank scoffed. "Well, go back to work! And go back to digging up dead people! Jared and I are fine. I might sock him one for being stupid but we're fine."

Booth shook his head. "No, I'm not going anywhere."

"And I can't afford another flight to and from Guatemala," Brennan added. Hank just nodded and sat back down. The couple sat across from him and they soon found Hank staring at them.

"Shrimp, really, what the hell is on your face?"

Booth gave him a small grin and took a swipe at his face. "It's just some face paint. I was on a mission right before the plane left and we had to get out of Guatemalan airspace quickly so I didn't really have time to clean up. I'm gonna go find a bathroom." Booth walked away, leaving Brennan and Hank to wait for an update on Jared.

Soon after, a doctor came out of the operating room and made his way over to Hank and Brennan.

"Jared's going to be fine. We reset all of the bones, put a few pins and plates in and sewed him back up. Really, it's not as bad as it looks, but he will need some physical therapy. And he's going to be in a lot of pain for a while. We're going to try to keep him sedated so he won't have to deal with it. I'd say…about sometime this afternoon, he'll wake up."

They thanked the doctor and settled back into their chairs, waiting for Booth to return.

"How's this?" Booth asked them, gesturing to his paint-free face. He gave them a big cheesy grin and sat down next to Brennan. Hank told him about Jared and Booth released a breath he seemed to be keeping in.

"I'm gonna whoop his scrawny ass," Booth muttered. They sat in silence for a while and Hank soon began to doze in his chair.

"Booth?"

"Hmm?" He was dozing too, like his grandfather, waiting for news on if Jared was back in his room yet.

"On the bus…you said you had a plan. What is it?"

He sat up and gave her his most charming smile. Booth stood up and woke up Hank, letting him know they would be back in a few hours. He then grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.

"Quick question: Do you have any objection to getting married in Philly?"

She was confused. "No…why?"

"You'll see," he told her as he whisked her out the door.


Booth helped Brennan out of the taxi and tossed some cash for the fare to the driver.

"City hall?"

Booth nodded and guided her to the door. They walked in and followed the signs to the license bureau.

"Can I help you?" A lady asked them as they walked into the office. She was a small, old woman who looked incredibly frail.

"We need to apply for a marriage license," Booth told her.

"We do?" Brennan asked him. He turned to her and grinned and looked back at the woman.

"I need to see two forms of ID please," she told them. Booth pulled his military ID and his driver's license out of his pocked ant waited for Brennan to do the same.

She still couldn't believe they were doing this. They didn't have anything planned. They couldn't agree on the church and of all things, he wanted a wedding pie instead of a wedding cake. They couldn't agree on anything.

"Booth," she whispered, pulling him off to the side out of hearing distance of the woman, "Are you sure? It'll expire in a month. We don't have anything planned yet!"

"I know," he said. He kissed her deeply and when he pulled away he said, "we can have a ceremony later. I don't want to wait and I can tell you don't either. Plus, if Jared's gonna be in the wedding, he's gonna have to get outta that cast."

She smiled at him and took out her passport and driver's license and said to the woman, "So…can we appeal the waiting period for the license? 'Cause neither of us want to wait any longer."