To all the rescue pets out there…and the owners who give them a second chance

He pushed the door open and threw his keys haphazardly in the bowl she kept by the door. Dangerously close to panic, his mouth was open to yell her name when he caught a glimpse of her sitting at the table.

Just as quickly, he closed it again and took quick stock of what he was looking at. She didn't look sick. Cam had been unsure when she'd called. Dr. Brennan had left work and gone home without a single word of explanation. Cam had no idea what happened and neither did anyone else. She was concerned, but not necessarily alarmed. It probably wouldn't hurt if Booth checked up on her.

Oh, how he hated vague warnings. Was she sick? Was something wrong with the baby? The secret she carried was still theirs alone and it wasn't something Bones would have shared with her boss. Everything had been going so smoothly, he racked his brain as he left the office to try and determine what could have possibly upset her enough to send her home.

The first phone call had gone to voicemail. He'd tracked her phone quickly at that point only to see she'd been honest about where she was going. She was in her apartment, but no matter how many times he dialed, she never picked up.

Now, she was staring at him from her seat at the table, laptop open in front of her and pages of work piled to each side. He stopped just inside the door, closing it behind him. Her face was a very blank mask that she thought gave nothing away.

But Booth had a lot of practice reading the things she tried to hide. She wasn't sick.

She was pissed. And was using that to hide another emotion.

Now, it was up to him to determine exactly what had taken place so he could figure out how to make her feel better.

So, he pushed his frustration and fear down, knowing it hadn't been her intent. Something had hurt that fragile heart she protected so ruthlessly and to escape, she'd come home. A place where he had easily found her. She wasn't hiding from him, just the world.

Crossing his arms casually, he leaned back against the door he'd just closed. "Sudden inspiration?" he asked, nodding his head toward the laptop in front of her. It was obvious to him the work was an escape, but it gave him a place to start. "Must have been a hell of an idea to have you leaving work so quickly."

Without taking her eyes from his, she reached out and closed the lid of the laptop. "Do you know what today is?" she asked before looking away to pick up one stack of papers.

The tapping sound as she hit them against the table was loud in the otherwise silent apartment. Booth shook his head. "No idea, other than June twenty something."

"June twenty-third," she corrected. "Which is a very important day I was not aware of until today." Slowly, she placed the stack of papers on top of her laptop and smoothed it with her palms. "It's take your dog to work day."

Booth stepped away from the door and toward her. "Did someone bring a dog into the Lab?" he asked, trying to make some sort of connection between the day and her mood. She wouldn't have come home for that and the offending party would never be welcome in her workspace again.

The look she gave him would have had interns running. He just planted his feet and waited for her to explain. "No," she answered sharply. "The Lab is a clean facility and no one would dare bring a dog to my Lab."

Giving up, Booth came the rest of the way forward and pulled out a chair next to her. "I need a bit more," he said. "So there were dogs at work, but not in the Lab."

"I know I'm not explaining this well," she said, biting her lip and Booth finally saw a hint of the emotion she was using anger to hide. It looked like she was close to tears. "I went to Human Resources," she said, "to fill out some paperwork. There were dogs there."

Reaching out, he took her hand and squeezed it. "And," he said, waiting for the rest.

"Rachel, the secretary, had one next to her desk. Brown eyes," Brennan sighed. "It's name was Ripley," she finished, wiping at her cheeks.

"Oh, Bones," he said gently, reaching out and pulling her into his lap. His mind jumped back to his son, the gruesome discovery, and the dog he'd helped her bury. "I'm sorry."

Head turned into his shoulder, her voice was muffled when she spoke again. "I was just angry that my Ripley couldn't get what that Ripley had. It wasn't fair."

She loved her Ripley for such a short time. But some bonds were forged that quickly. "Your Ripley knew you loved him, even for just a little while. Sometimes that's all we get."

"It's silly," she said, pulling away from him. "But I was angry and sad and I didn't want to deal with people who wouldn't understand. So I grabbed my stuff and came home."

She'd been willing to be sad and angry all by herself until Booth walked in. Happy not to be alone, she kissed his cheek. "If it had been about the baby, I would have called you. Thank you for checking on me."

"Always," he answered. It was good to know she'd understood why he might be a little frantic to find her. He hugged her tight, and then set her back on her own chair. He had an idea. "I need ten minutes," he announced, jumping to his feet. "Don't go anywhere."

Curious, she watched as he grabbed his cell phone and jogged out the room toward the bedroom they shared when he stayed over. She could hear him talking to someone but couldn't make out the words. In much less time than he'd announced he needed, Booth reappeared. "I'm declaring it date time."

Her brow furrowed, recalling the arbitrary rules he'd come up with. "That's not how it works. It's also the middle of the day."

"You said you weren't going back to work. Neither am I. So it's date time. I need you to change into old clothes. Something you don't care if it gets ruined, and not a Lab jumpsuit," he said before she could ask. "Maybe a hat to disguise yourself a little."

"Booth, where are we going? I'm not wearing a hat."

He shook his head. "I'm not telling. Just trust me. I promise you won't be disappointed. We're going to do some good in the world today."

"Don't we already do that?" she asked, but rose to her feet to go change.

"We're going to help with something else today. Now chop, chop," he said, clapping his hands together. "There are only so many hours in a day and I want to take advantage of as many as we can."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"When I said I was coming home, it wasn't my intention to come home and expose myself to more dogs."

They were sitting in the parking lot of a shelter outside of the city. The building was rundown and needed paint. But the blooming flowers outside and the fresh mowed grass told her that someone cared.

"But like your dog, they need us. The shelter needs volunteer help and I just thought we could spend the day making a difference here." He shot her a glance. "If you don't want to stay, we can go."

A woman with a small dog on a leash, came out the door and looked at them curiously before continuing down a path that led around the building. Brennan watched her until she disappeared before nodding. "Let's go see what we can do."

The inside of the building had a fresh coat of paint and another woman behind the reception desk. She looked up as the door opened, smiling brightly as they came in. "Are you here to adopt?" she asked hopefully. Every animal they adopted out made room for one more. There were so many that needed help.

"We're here to volunteer," Booth corrected. "I called an hour ago about coming."

"Yes, Mr. Booth." Picking up a cat and placing it gently on the floor, she handed each of them a clipboard. "If you want to fill this out quickly, I can get you started. We have dogs that require walking and some of the kennels still need cleaning. One of our regular volunteers couldn't be here this morning. But I understand if you don't want to clean. Most people don't like to do the dirty work."

Taking the clipboard, Booth snorted. If she had any idea of the dirty work they participated in. He looked toward Bones to see what she wanted to do.

"We can clean," she said, taking her own clipboard. "Then if there is time, we can walk dogs too."

"Wonderful. Just let me know when you're ready. My name's Barb."

"Seeley," he introduced. "And Temperance."

Barb narrowed her eyes and looked them both over before shaking her head. "I'm not even going to ask," she said, turning away. "Everyone deserves to be anonymous when they want to be."

"What did she mean by that?' Bones asked when Booth sat on a bench next to her. Her paperwork was already half completed before he'd even started.

"It means she knows, or suspects who we are. She also doesn't care because today we are just volunteers. She's letting us be regular people."

Nodding that she understood, Brennan looked at his forms. "Hurry up, Booth. We have work to do."

Within ten minutes, forms were completed and Barb had directed them to cleaning supplies and the kennels she'd mentioned. "You're sure this is what you want to do?" she asked. If this couple was who she suspected they were, a little mess wouldn't scare them. But it still surprised her. Most volunteers wanted to play with the pets available for adoption.

"Yes," Brennan reassured her, taking the supplies. "We'll have this done for you soon."

With one more unsure look, Barb nodded and went back to the front desk. Smokey, the cat she'd removed only a few minutes ago was back on the counter, watching her. "I don't know," she said, scratching the cat behind the ears. "I didn't expect one of my favorite authors and a government agent to show up today. Not a bad surprise," she decided, laughing when Smokey meowed in agreement. "We can use all the help we can get."

Booth and Brennan worked in comfortable silence. Anyone watching would have recognized this wasn't the first time they'd accomplished a goal together; each seemed to know what the other needed without saying a word. Tasks were divided and conquered without much more than a glance between them.

"Is this the date?" she asked at one point. "I've never been on a date like this."

"Good," he said. "I like when you do things with me you've never done before. It might not be a typical date, but I'm getting to spend time with you." His shoulders lifted in a shrug. "Are you unhappy with it?"

A smile was his answer. "No," she reassured him, going back to work. "This is perfect. Exactly what I needed."

They finished the task and moved to the next before either spoke again.

"What is this?" Brennan asked, motioning toward the floor in front of her.

Booth turned. "Some sort of special bed. I saw it online when I looked for the place. The dogs like it because they can sleep off the ground." The look on her face was one he recognized. It seemed she was coming up with her own ideas.

"Are they expensive?" Brennan asked. She stepped away from Booth and back out into the wide hallway. There were kennels on both sides and she started counting.

"Why?" He followed her out into the hall. The sadness and anger were gone from her eyes, but now there was a calculating look in them that made him a little nervous. He suspected that Barb was going to get a much bigger surprise than the one she'd already had that day. "I'm sure we could ask."

"And are there adoption fees for the animals here?"

"Bones," he said, waiting until she'd looked at him. "Let's finish cleaning and then you can go out and give that woman the shock of her life."

Smiling, she nodded, but Booth could tell she was still doing math in her head.

It took a little longer to finish, with Bones asking endless questions, very few of which he knew the answers to. When all the supplies were put away, the two of them walked back out to the reception area.

Barb rose to her feet, but Booth immediately motioned for her to sit again. "Trust me," he said, flashing his charm smile. "You're going to want to be sitting down."

Slowly, she followed Booth's direction while Brennan pulled up a second chair to face her. "Is everything okay?" Barb asked.

"Are you in charge of this facility?" Brennan asked. The gray cat jumped down and wound itself between her ankles. Hearing Booth whisper her name, she was afraid she'd come off too harsh. "What you are doing here is excellent work and I want to help. We want to help," she corrected looking up at Booth.

Eyes flickering back and forth between the two of them, Barb nodded. "I'm the manager. And you've already done enough for today."

"How many animals do you have here? And the average cost to adopt one?" Booth tried to keep his expression reassuring as Brennan became focused on finding out the information she needed. He knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of her questions.

Barb, not easily intimidated, answered quickly, breaking down the numbers between cats and dogs. She could sense something was up but couldn't quite figure out what it was yet. So she added a few more details, including monthly operating costs.

Booth jumped in to try and get Brennan to slow down. "The outside of the building also needs paint and I'm assuming you have some repairs that need to be made."

Blushing in slight embarrassment, the manager nodded. "We do the best we can, but resources are limited."

"Not anymore," Booth muttered.

Distracted by the comment, Barb turned back just in time to hear Brennan name an outrageous number that had her mouth dropping in shock. That number wasn't help. It was a miracle. Barb swallowed and found her voice. "You're going to donate that to us?"

"I will speak to my financial advisors and make sure that you receive the donation every year," Brennan clarified. Animals will always need your help."

"I don't know what to say." Hopping to her feet, Barb pulled Brennan out of the chair and hugged her. Though she was uncomfortable, Brennan managed to return the hug.

Pulling back, Barb asked, "Is there anything you want?" She wiped away tears, laughing in shock and joy. They could paint the building and fix the air conditioning and actually pay people instead of always relying on volunteer help. A bigger cat room. An area where trainers could work with the dogs before they were adopted. "Would you like a plaque? A statue? A giant banner with your name on it over the door?"

Blue eyes met Booth's brown and he nodded. "I want a plaque. But I don't want my name on it. Could you just thank Ripley for the donation?"

"Was Ripley a person?" Barb asked. She'd give these two almost anything right now.

"A dog," Booth said when Brennan turned away. "We only got to have him for a little while."

Understanding the pain of losing an animal, Barb nodded. "I'm sure he knew how much you loved him."

"Yes," Brennan agreed, bending down to pet Smokey the cat. "I'm sure he did."