Universe 2 (April 2010 cont)

As they boarded the plane, Booth was shocked when Temperance stopped and opened the overhead bin in first class. "We're in first class? I've never sat in first class!" She handed him her bag to lift up to the bin and gave him a quick kiss. "When you fly with me, you're in first class." He just stood there with a silly grin on his face, but quickly realized there was a whole plane load of passengers waiting behind him. So he stored both bags and quickly took his seat. He looked like a kid on Christmas morning, checking out all the amenities, the size of the seats, the amount of legroom. She chuckled at his excitement and told him. "When I received my first advance from my book contract, I vowed I would never fly coach again." Something popped into his head. "Wait, I need to reimburse you for my ticket. Hopefully I have enough in my checking account." She scoffed at him. "Don't be ridiculous. This is my treat. After all, you're going to my reunion, so it's only right I should buy your ticket." He decided to let it go for now, but knew they would need to address the subject eventually. "How about if I pay for the hotel?" She nodded. "That would be acceptable."

Once the plane was in the air, she pulled up the arm rest so they could cozy up together. The flight attendant appeared with a tray filled with flutes of champagne. As she continued to the next row, he held his flute and handed hers over. "Champagne?" She smirked. "First class, Booth."

About an hour into the flight, they had been sitting with his arm around her shoulder and their heads close together, whispering and stealing occasional kisses. He decided it was time to open up about something. He ran his hand through her hair and she smiled at him. He began talking in a low voice so only she could hear him. "There's something I need to share with you. I want you to know that I used to have a gambling problem, but I've been clean for almost five years now. I still occasionally attend GA meetings." Her eyes softened. "Why did you feel you had to tell me that?" His brown eyes were boring into her baby blues, just inches away. "Because we both know this is going somewhere." Her mouth inched closer to his and her voice dropped down to a whisper. "But why now?" His mouth moved even closer to hers and his voice matched her whisper. "Because at some point this weekend, I'm going to make mad, passionate love to you, and you should know about this first." He didn't finish the last word because she closed the gap and they shared an intense open mouth kiss. When they came up for air, they realized where they were, and they chuckled quietly while he dropped his head to her shoulder. She kissed the top of his head. "Well, I'm glad you told me, but it doesn't change how I feel about you. In fact, I'm proud of you for overcoming it. And now that I know, I can help you steer clear of situations that could trigger you." He looked up at her and his eyes were watery. "What did I do to deserve you?"

After they landed, Booth rented a car for the weekend and they headed to the hotel. Temperance had booked a suite, with a sitting area, kitchenette, and separate bedroom. When they walked into the bedroom with the suitcases, they looked at the big king sized bed and smiled at each other. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for a kiss. When she pulled her head back, they were still holding each other close, and she looked back at the bed. "So, is tonight special enough, or were you planning to wait until after the party tomorrow?" She looked back at him and he leaned in and gave her a soft kiss. "I want us to have a nice night out, you in a fancy dress, me in my nicest suit, dinner, dancing. I want to woo you Temperance. I think the reunion will be our special night." She smiled at him. "I agree. I love that you want to make it special and not just a random roll in the sheets because we can. I can't wait for tomorrow. All of it. The reunion. The dancing. Making out in the taxi on the way back. This big, beautiful bed." She kissed him again. This time it was a long one, tongues devouring each other. When they broke apart, she gasped and buried her face in the crook of his neck. If her mouth had not been so close to his ear, he might not have been able to hear her whisper. "How are we going to get through tonight? There's only one bed." It was like she was asking herself as much as asking him. He loosened his grip on her and brought both palms to cup her face. "We'll manage it. You know the saying, 'Nothing worthwhile is ever easy'? That is this, my love. I'll sleep on the sofa in the other room. We'll work it out. And then tomorrow we will go out and have a nice big breakfast, you can show me around town, and then we'll come back here to get ready for the reunion. I can't wait for tomorrow!"

They had dinner in the restaurant in the hotel lobby and as they were finishing, Booth asked their server if he could send up a bottle of champagne to their room? Temperance did a little head tilt as she looked across at him. "Champagne? For tonight?" He reached across the table and took her hand. "To celebrate our first trip away together." She thought about it for a few seconds. "Yes. I like that." She decided a little more alcohol on top of the drinks they had with dinner might not be a bad idea.

As they were eating, her brain was busy. Booth's confession about his gambling triggered her realization that they were about to enter a new, more intimate phase, and he knew nothing about her teenage years in foster care, her family's criminal history, her father's murder trial. As a law enforcement professional, he deserved to know all of that before getting intimately involved with her. But she had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. What if this was a bridge too far for him? What if he walked out and booked an early flight home? She didn't think he could be so cruel, but after all, they had only known each other a few weeks. She decided she owed it to him to lay it all out tonight. A little more alcohol might just make it all more palatable.

When they walked into the room, the bottle of champagne was chilling on ice. She nervously paced around the room while he opened the bottle and poured some of the bubbly into the two flutes. As he turned to hand her the glass, he raised an eyebrow and worriedly asked if she was okay. She pursed her lips, took his hand, and led him to the sofa. "There's something I need to talk to you about. I appreciated you telling me today about the gambling addiction you had in your past. There are some things I have yet to tell you about my family and I think you need to know everything before…well, before tomorrow." Booth couldn't imagine what she had to say that would affect their relationship, but settled next to her and took both of her hands in his. "Please relax, and just tell me what is worrying you."

So, she proceeded to tell him the story of growing up in Chicago with her father, mother, Russ, and herself. And the horrible day just before Christmas when her parents disappeared. And Russ not being able to deal with raising his younger sister and deciding it was better for her to go into foster care. About her three years in foster care, going from one abusive family to another - she lived in nine different homes in those three years. As she was telling him all this, his heart was breaking for her, and he put one arm around her shoulder and continued to hold one of her hands. She went on to tell him how she just kept her head down and studied hard enough that when it was time to go to college, she had scholarships. That she kept to herself and didn't socialize as she finished her undergrad degree in three years.

That when she was in graduate school, she turned 22 and decided that she wanted to end her virginity. He looked a little shocked at that and they shared a little light relief. "You were a virgin until 22?" She nodded. "I wanted it to be special the first time, so I waited." That got a little chuckle from both of them. "How old were you?" He looked a little sheepish. "16. Under the bleachers of the football stadium with Mary Lou Clarke." She smiled and shook her head. "Not surprised. Well, I did some research to decide with whom to 'gift' my virginity." He nodded. "Of course you did." Then he laughed. She went on. "The professor who was my mentor in the graduate program had quite the reputation among his female students, so I chose him. We carried on a sexual relationship for close to a year, but we weren't exclusive. All I wanted from him was an education in the ways of the flesh. How to flirt, how to ask for what you want, different ways to please your partner, different ways to please yourself, giving and receiving of pleasure in all of the erogenous zones. He sometimes told me that he felt like Professor Henry Higgins to my Eliza Doolittle, and that excited him. And he was VERY good. I chose wisely." She stopped to see how he was reacting to this information overload. "I'm intrigued. And not at all surprised that you went into it like a research project." He smiled at her and she gave him what appeared to be a leer. "Oh, and I've learned a lot more since those college days. On a few of my trips to the far east I was exposed to some intriguing techniques that we could explore one day. I have a couple of books at home that make the Kama Sutra look like child's play." Booth's eyes widened. "Wow! Okay." She leered at him again. "I can promise you that you won't be disappointed. I'm quite skilled in that area." All Booth could do was shake his head in amazement. And all he could think about was what awaited him tomorrow night and in the months, years, decades(?) ahead.

She got serious again. "Now comes the hard part. I need to tell you about my family's criminal past." She peered up to his face to see his reaction. An intensely curious look was on his face. "O…ka…y" She bit her lip and began. "About three years ago, an older gentleman approached me one day on the sidewalk outside the Jeffersonian. He asked if he could talk to me about something and we sat down on one of the benches near the entrance. He told me that he was my father. I didn't believe him because he looked nothing like my father. But he proceeded to tell me things that only my father would know. Right down to what was in the wrapped Christmas packages from my mother and father when they disappeared. I had shoved them into closets everywhere I lived and only just opened them a few years ago. No one else could have known that Booth." He looked puzzled. "How did he explain his changed appearance?" She sighed. "He told me he had extensive plastic surgery to disguise his appearance because he had been on the run for all those years after he and my mom left us." She turned so she could look him in the eye. "He told me that from the time they were married until I was two years old, he and my mother were criminals. They robbed bank safe deposit boxes on the weekends when the banks were closed. They had perfected techniques to drill through the vault walls so no one knew until the bank opened on Monday morning. He assured me that they were never involved in any crimes where people could be injured."

Booth shifted in his seat. "You know they had no way to guarantee that, Temperance. All that would have to happen was a patrol car driving by the bank and noticing something off. It could have gotten ugly. And it certainly wasn't a victimless crime - all of those people lost valuables kept in the boxes." Her eyes had started to water now, and she began to wonder if this was going to be a breaking point with them. "I know Booth. I know. You have to remember that I was only two years old when this was happening." He pulled her into a hug. "You're right. I know that." She continued. "But what happened that day when I was two, was that the criminal syndicate they were a part of, attempted to pull a bank robbery that went very wrong. Several people were killed, including a police officer. My parents weren't part of that plan and were home when it happened. But they were afraid of either being swept up into the investigation, or that some of the members who had eluded capture would kill us because my parents knew too much. So they packed the car with everything they could take and headed north in the middle of the night. He told me that we had been living in southern Ohio, so they went to Chicago figuring it would be easy to hide in such a big city. My dad knew the right people, so he was able to procure new identities for all four of us. And he had a degree in science and chemistry, so he was able to move those credentials to his new identity. He began working as a science teacher and my mom took a job as a bookkeeper."

"He told me that my birth name was Joy Keenan. I was so shocked Booth - Temperance Brennan was a made up name, but it was the only one I ever knew and it's part of my identity. He then told me the reason he and my mom left us right before Christmas, was that they ran into one of the gang members that day. They were terrified that he might harm Russ and me, so they just drove in the opposite direction from our home. They stayed on the run for a year until one day the man they were fleeing caught up with them. He killed my mother and thought that my father had died too." She started crying openly and Booth pulled her closer to him in a tight hug. "Shhhhh. I've got you. I know how painful that must be for you." She pulled herself together enough to continue. "So he has been on the run ever since. But Booth, he told me that he has spent his life since then trying to protect Russ and me. There were a couple of people who had been looking for us all these years, but he said that he had taken care of the problem and now was evading the law. I was horrified to imagine what he meant by 'taking care of the problem'." Booth had a stricken look on his face. "Your last name was Keenan? Is your father…Max Keenan?" She looked up and nodded. He closed his eyes, pulled away from her, took a deep breath, and looked back at her. "Temperance. I arrested Max Keenan about three years ago and sent him to trial." She jumped back in shock. "You're the FBI Agent who arrested him?"