Universe 2 (Sep 2008)

Booth jackknifed himself into his seat in coach and tried to settle down for the seven hour flight to London. Every time he got into his seat on a long flight, he cursed the fact that he wasn't in a high enough income bracket to justify paying the premium for first class seats. Coach seats were just not designed for his body, with his broad shoulders and long legs.

This was going to be his first time in England as a civilian, and, of course, his first time as a tourist. He had been invited there to give a lecture at Scotland Yard, and he had set up other meetings with policing colleagues before and after the lecture. He was really looking forward to the trip - he just had to get through that damn plane ride. When he arrived at his hotel in mid morning, they allowed him early check in, so he went up to his room and face planted into his king sized bed, sound asleep, until late afternoon. He woke up refreshed and ready to take on the city. After having a meal, he wandered across the Thames and took a ride on the London Eye, getting his first overview of the beautiful city and the magical views with monuments and bridges bathed in colorful lights. His only regret was that he didn't have someone to share this experience with, but he vowed that someday he would find that special person and bring her here to see the city through his eyes.

The next day began two days of meetings with various police agencies in London. He visited MI5, the equivalent of the US FBI, in their headquarters just south of the Parliament buildings, and then up to Scotland Yard, just north of Parliament. Late in the afternoon was his lecture to a large group of Scotland Yard Inspectors on some of the newest investigative tools developed by the FBI. One of the Inspectors in the group, Cate Pritchard, caught his eye, and when a group of the participants invited him out with them to a local pub, he happily accepted the invitation. Of course, this was Seeley Booth - he would never turn down a night on the town with like minded colleagues, but he was especially keen when he saw she was in the group.

It had been an interesting year in Booth's personal life. In the previous year he had fallen into a casual sexual relationship with his long time friend, Cam. But that had eventually fizzled out and they both decided they were better off as just good friends. He had always known that he wanted to eventually settle down and have a family - a real nuclear family that he could bring Parker into. And at 37 years old, he was beginning to think he needed to get serious about finding that someone. Although he occasionally spent personal time with colleagues from the FBI, the guys he hung around with most of the time were the teammates on his recreational league hockey team. At the beginning of the year, he had been reassessing his life and mentioned to a teammate that he was getting tired of meeting women in bars who were just looking for a fun time and would be on to the next guy the following weekend. It just wasn't a satisfying life, and he was getting too old for those games.

His teammate, Tim, rolled an idea around in his head for a minute. "Well, you know Kate, my fiancé? Her best friend broke up with her boyfriend a few months back, and she's been trying to fix her up. She might be a little young for you - she's in her mid 20s. But she a beautiful blonde, and she's smart. She graduated from law school a couple of years ago and works for a large law firm in DC."

And that's how Booth met Tessa. Tim was right, she was beautiful - model beautiful - with long blonde hair and green eyes. And as Booth found out pretty quickly, she was smart, and fun, and fun to be around. A month later, they had gotten into a routine of going out twice a week and then staying the night at either his or her apartment. She met Parker a few times when she accompanied them on Saturday afternoon outings, but they both agreed that she wouldn't spend the night any time Parker was sleeping over. They never really talked about the future, but Booth didn't feel the pressure because Tessa was only 25 years old and he knew they had plenty of time to figure all that out.

They had been together for five months and summer was just getting started when Booth suggested to Tessa that they go away together for the four day 4th of July holiday. One of his friends at work had talked about how beautiful it was up in the mountains in Shenandoah National Park, just a few hours drive away. He said there are cabins you can rent in the park and gorgeous drives along the mountain ridges. Booth thought it could be a nice getaway for the two of them - plus, see how they would do together for four days. If it went well, he could foresee it as a stepping stone to taking their relationship to a new level. The next time they were together, when they went back to his apartment, he pulled up the park site on his computer and showed her his idea. She thought it sounded like fun, so they searched the available cabins and booked it that night.

But the following week, it all came crashing down. At lunch on Monday, Tessa was telling her friends about the planned trip, and they got all excited for her and told her that it meant she was a step (or maybe a step and a half) from moving in with her hunky FBI Agent. A look of horror came over her face and she pushed back saying they were a long way from that. They were just having fun and not talking at all about getting serious. Her friends informed her that there were steps to a relationship - there was a well publicized article in Cosmo a few years ago.

1. Spend the night

2. Spend the weekend

3. Exchange keys

4. Sexy weekend getaway

5. Extended vacation

6. Move in together

They pointed out that a 4 day weekend trip was about halfway between step 4 & step 5.

Tessa was flummoxed - this was way more than she had bargained for. After work, she drove over to Booth's apartment, and he was pleasantly surprised by her impromptu visit. She told him about the lunch discussion and the six steps. He had a little smile on his face hearing her enumerate them and told her he hadn't heard about that before, but it sounded reasonable. "What exactly were your expectations for this weekend Seeley?" He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, first I thought it would be fun, and nice to get out of the city for a few days. And I also thought it would be good to see how compatible we are with just the two of us for four days." She looked at him askance. "Okay, the first part sounds great. But the second part sounds like you're looking for a much more serious relationship. Seeley. We've never talked about the future - we've both always kept this fun and light. I hope you're not thinking about moving the needle on me." Booth was stunned by her outburst. "It has been a fun relationship Tessa, but it can't just stagnate. I'm 37 years old and a father already. I hope one day to have a family - a wife, children, all that." Tessa had her hands on her hips looking at him with disdain. "Well, then we are not on the same page! I'm only 25 years old Seeley. I've just started my career. I have no intention of settling down until I'm well into my 30s. And when I do settle down, I want it to be with a man who works regular hours, not called out in the middle of the night or on weekends. Plus, your job is way too dangerous to make you husband or father material. I want a man who I know will be there for his family. If you're looking for more than what we've had for the last few months, well, then I'm out."

And that was how it ended with Tessa. Booth had a little bit of an epiphany after that. He realized that he seemed to have a "type". Long blonde hair, model beautiful, high maintenance women. He decided that it was time to break that cycle. If he really thought about it, he longed for a woman who was beautiful, but with natural beauty. Not one who spent hours getting her hair and makeup just right. As he went about his life the next few months, he focused on really looking at women he passed on the street, running in the park, shopping at the grocery. There were so many women in the world that weren't runway model beautiful, but beautiful nonetheless. He realized that he had been focusing too much on meeting the model types. The more he thought about it, many of the men he knew who were FBI Agents tried to live their lives as if they were in a James Bond movie, always bagging the blonde bombshells. Many of them had married those women, and a good percentage of those marriages eventually failed. Booth decided it was time to get off that ride.

So when he met Inspector Cate Pritchard, he was immediately drawn to her. And the fact that she was a brunette was a bonus. The group took him out to their local, The Red Lion, and it was a raucous evening with lots of pints of Guinness, games of darts, and tales of crazy criminal captures on both sides of the pond. They hid it well, but Booth and Pritchard flirted with each other the entire evening. He loved her sparkling wit and bawdy sense of humor, and she found him adorable and sexy. As they all left the pub, she walked beside him continuing the conversation they had begun inside. They all waved goodbye to each other, and the two of them continued down the walk. After turning a corner and leaving the rest behind, they couldn't wait a minute longer. He pushed her against a wall, crushed his body against hers so she could feel his arousal, and they shared a deep and sensual, tongue tangling kiss. A minute later, coming up for air, he whispered in her ear, "My hotel is right around the corner." She whispered back, "Let's go." He grabbed her hand, they grinned at each other, and made a beeline down the block.

It was a wild night of lovemaking for the pair, and they got very little sleep. In the morning, she teased him. "If I had known that American FBI Agents were so skilled, I would have pushed for more of them to come consult with us." Booth was happier than he had been in a long time. He knew that this was never going anywhere because they each had too many ties in their home countries, but he had a feeling he was going to enjoy the rest of his trip. In fact, he was considering pushing back his return a few days. She had to get up and go home to get changed for work and he was headed back down to MI6 headquarters across the Thames (equivalent to the US CIA). They made plans to meet for dinner later that day.

He spent a couple of hours at MI6 headquarters. But because they are the international spy agency (so therefore, occasionally spy on their American allies), they were not as welcoming as MI5 and Scotland Yard. But he had a very pleasant get together with a few agents in a conference room on the ground floor. They didn't allow him a tour, as he had at the other agencies, but it was more of a friendly, welcome to the UK kind of thing. Booth had a handful of CIA friends from his days as a Ranger, so he went in with no expectations that they would share much of anything.

As he left MI6 Headquarters, he strolled along a tree lined walkway on the Thames, heading in the general direction of his hotel and thought about stopping somewhere for lunch. Just then, his phone rang, and the caller ID showed the UK country code. He was surprised to hear Inspector Pritchard's voice on the line. She said that they had just received a case of an apparent murder of an American heiress and thought he might like to tag along on the investigation. He was very excited to be able to see how they worked their cases, and even more excited to spend more time with her. When he arrived at the site where they had just pulled the victim's car from the river, she pulled him to the side. "Now, Booth. You have to promise to be a good boy and keep everything professional while we are working this case." She looked at him with a twinkle in her eye. "I will reward you handsomely tonight." He gave her one of his classic "Boothy" grins. "Just think of me as your slave, Pritch. You just tell me where to go, where to stand, what to do, and your wish is my command." He leaned his head down and whispered in her ear. "It will be good practice for tonight." She chuckled, shook her head, and then raised her eyebrows. "Pritch?" He shrugged and waggled his eyebrows. She tried, and failed, to stifle a laugh as they turned and walked back to the rest of the team examining the car and the body inside.

Booth really enjoyed the afternoon observing the techniques used by the London detectives, and offered up his opinions and suggestions when they were warranted. At 6:00, they headed back to his hotel where they shared a meal in the restaurant on the ground floor, and then retired to his room where they both fulfilled the promises made at the crime scene. They really were extremely sexually compatible, but were also exhausted from so little sleep the night before, so they spent the rest of the night wrapped in each other's arms, sound asleep. The next morning, they talked about his return home, which was scheduled for that afternoon. They decided to have him bump it back one day, and they headed to her flat so she could change. From there, it was on to Scotland Yard to continue the investigation. They managed to wrap up the case by lunchtime, so she told her boss that since it was Friday afternoon, she was taking the afternoon off.

Booth had planned on doing some sightseeing before leaving, so she offered to play tour guide. They picked up passes for a double decker, "hop on and off" tour bus and they headed out on the loop. Although there was a tour guide narrating, they cozied up together in their seats in the open air top of the bus and she provided additional commentary as only a native Londoner could do. She had them leave the bus at Westminster Abbey, then the Tower of London so she could show him the famous ravens and visit the Crown Jewels. Then on to St Paul's Cathedral where he remembered watching Princess Diana walking up the stairs in her wedding gown with the long train. He was only 10 years old, but he recalled his mother being glued to the tv that day. The last stop was at Buckingham Palace. They wandered around the whole area as she regaled him with stories from times she worked crowd control at Royal events. They watched the changing of the guard, got up close with the Victoria Memorial, took a stroll through Green Park (where he pulled her into the brush a few times and took her breath away), and then walked The Mall down to Trafalgar Square. He explained to her that Washington DC also had a promenade called "The Mall" and that he would take her there if she ever came for a visit.

They finally stopped and had dinner at a cozy restaurant and by the time they were walking along the Thames back to his hotel, it was 9:00 and the city was dazzling with the lighted bridges and buildings. He pointed out the London Eye across the river and told her he had gone on it his first night there. She suggested they take another ride so she could point out things he might have missed. It became a very romantic ride, and in between looking at the sites, the slowly moving car gave them ample opportunity to snuggle and snog (as Pritch called it). He thought about how he envisioned, just a few days ago, taking a companion on the ride someday, but never expected to be back just days later. As they got off the ride, they heard Big Ben across the river chiming 10:00. They were so heated from their make out session on the ride, they didn't want to take the long walk back to the hotel. So they jumped in a cab and were back to the hotel in just a few minutes. They spent a glorious night, knowing that it would be the last, and they got pretty much no sleep.

The next morning was a Saturday, and he had to be at the airport by noon. So they had a leisurely breakfast in the hotel and reiterated the mutual decision that this would have to be a one-off. They talked about the fact that they had both been in relationships that were just sexual with no interest in commitment, and this was something they could handle. They said that if either of them ever visited the other's country, they would get together and catch up. If neither was in a committed relationship, they would love to have a "hook up" again, but they would never intrude if one of them was seeing someone. In fact, Pritch told him that she hoped the next time she saw him that he would be in a long term relationship because she knew that was something he longed for. He smiled and thanked her and said if it did happen, he would invite her to the wedding. She said she would be there "with bells on".

So, she drove him to Heathrow, got out at the curb, gave him a heartfelt hug, and wished him a safe journey. He didn't even mumble over the horrible seat in coach - he was so tired from no sleep the previous night that he was asleep by the time they left British airspace.