18This is short and sweet but I thought everyone might need a bit of cheering up. I know I'm miserable – great episode though and a genuine happy ending is on the way, folks! I'm certain of it! I wrote this in about an hour, straight from the gut, I hope it all makes sense.
Is this cliched? Yeah!
Soppy? Yeah!
OOC? Maybe a little. And not beta'd (but has been tidied up... point noted Hikari-Kayko ;-)) I know it's what I need right now!
With thanks to MI-Bonesgirl over at the ABY for providing the inspiration for this one-shot.
BTW, to clarify: I don't own Bones or any of its characters (sadly), I don't know Hart Hanson, Ian Nathan or any of the rest of the Production Crew. This is all CONJECTURE - i.e. guesswork and my imagingation based on the spoliers we currently have for eps 5x17 - 5x22. I'm not an insider or a journalist!
Temperance Brennan started at the half empty glass on the bar in front of her. She'd blown it.
She loved him. Of that, she now knew. The problem was how to articulate this before it was too late and Booth - and she, would be gone their separate ways for a year. The thought of separation made her heart crush into a ball. She couldn't work out how this was physically possible and yet the inferred pain was so real.
Booth.
She hadn't felt right since that moment when she'd rejected him.
God, she'd rejected him.
She felt such an idiot.
Booth was already on his way to the airport in a cab, two large bags slung into the back of a cab. Off to Reagan for the late flight out to Oregon. All the way across the country. One year ought to be enough time for him to get over her, because right now he couldn't bear to be in the same room as her anymore. It was too heartbreaking. Too heartcrushing. Catherine had turned out to be nice enough but he knew he was settling and he couldn't do that. She was no Bones. No one was Bones except the woman herself. Despite everything he'd said to her about moving on - he just couldn't do it. She was totally locked into his heart and there was nothing he could do, except this.
Hailing a taxi in DC is not always the easiest thing to do and Brennan was frustrated at the lack of cabs. She knew Booth was leaving that night and even if she had to buy a ticket to wherever he was going that was just what she would do as long as she had the chance to tell him. Finally she flagged down a cab.
"I'll give you $200 if you can get me to Reagan airport in 20 minutes."
"Yes Ma'am."
As Booth checked in he was unaware of the taxi speeding towards the terminal building. He just had a gut feeling that he shouldn't go through security just yet. He hovered around the newsagents speculatively, unsure why his gut wouldn't let him through the barrier. After 10 minutes he realised he was on a hiding to nothing and decided it was time, gut be damned. He picked up his bags and trudged towards the security gate.
Brennan leaped out of the car, money virtually thrown at the driver, ran into the terminal and yelled across the building to the point where the people turned and stared.
"Seeley Booth - where the hell are you?"
Booth dropped his bags in surprise and turned to see her sprinting across the floor towards him, expression focussed but eyes wild at the same time. His immediate thought was that this was not "Bones-like" behaviour.
She stopped just short of him, maybe a foot in front.
"Booth!" she smiled, trying to regain her breath.
"Bones?" he looked at her quizzically, trying to work out what on Earth she was doing.
She stood up straight and looked him straight in the eye. "I've come to a conclusion."
"Now? About what? Bones, is everything OK? Have you been drinking?" He looked worried.
"Yes. I think. I hope... and yes, a little, but you know I can hold my liquor very well." Her eyes darted away for a second as she recomposed herself. She really could not screw this up.
"So..?" She bought herself up to her full height.
"Us. I want us. When we were at my school reunion I realised that actually I probably wanted to be with you.
"Probably?"
"Well I hadn't reached my conclusion yet." Brennan took a breath.
"...And then, when you dated Catherine..."
Booth raised an eyebrow.
"...when you dated Catherine... I was aware of feelings – negative feelings - I hadn't felt since you dated Cam."
"You were jealous of Cam?! But that was years ago!" A small part of Booth began to realise just what was going on here, but he had no intention of letting on, although a small smile attempted to crack through his serious facade.
"I admit, I believe I may have shown some negative reactions to Catherine as a result, and I, um, apologise for that." Both had to try harder not to smile as Brennan continued.
"When we were at Rock Camp singing Hot Blooded together I remembered the first time you saved my life – the first two times actually – getting blown up by my fridge and then rescuing me from Kenton." Booth nodded, his eyes locked to hers, now in expectation. A small crowd of people were watching on intently, realising they were watching a moment too good to miss.
"Then at the Gravedigger trial I remembered you rescued me again, and I guess I rescued you too, and how that made me feel."
Booth looked even more intently, if that was possible. By now the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn upward slightly.
"How did that make you feel, Bones?"
"Happy. Relieved. Safe. Loved." Brennan smiled at him as the words came out. A huge, glowing smile. She lingered on the last word and noticeably blushed.
"Then I thought about how I felt when I thought you'd died and it felt like it does now. Like it's felt since Sweets' book. Tonight, reached my conclusion. I realised that rejecting the person I want to be with was a big mistake. I don't make mistakes."
What was wonderful to Booth was the way she had absolutely no doubts. She had made up her mind, and now he could follow through with his feelings without the fear of rejection. Eyes locked together, the rest of the world shut out, they moved in towards each other. Brennan's eyes welled up with tears at her own admission and Booth's at his own relief at what he was witnessing.
"Do you still love me?" - 8 inches away.
"Hell, yes, you must know I do, Bones" - 6 inches away.
"My conclusion is that I love you too." – 4 inches away.
"You know how to pick your time"... Booth laughed gently - 2 inches away.
And then there were no more inches. Just loving, gentle kisses and a polite round of applause from the uninvited audience.
Booth realised he had made a promise he had to keep, and so had she. Eventually he pulled back, reluctantly. Gently he placed his finger under her chin and held her gaze, smiling lovingly at her.
"You know we both have promises to keep."
"Yes." She looked down disappointedly.
"So here's what we're going to do. We're going to talk every day. We will arrange to meet up in a couple of months and spend some time together – a vacation... somewhere. We'll talk, we'll sort us out. But we'll be us, Bones!" Booth grinned at her. "We'll be us together, and when these assignments are complete we will get back to DC and do our thing, our partners thing, with our squints - our family, and we'll do the us part as well. Properly."
"OK." Brennan felt like a hormone-crippled teenager as the emotions running through her, but deep down her heart was singing. It felt incredible.
"Now I have to go. God, this is so hard" - he wiped her tears with his thumb, "but I will call you tonight and every night."
They in leaned in in unison for for a last kiss – he pulled his arms around her and they hugged for a few moments.
"I love you! Please don't forget that."
"I love you too" she smiled bashfully.
And with that, Seeley Booth picked up his bags and headed off through security, thinking of his future, whilst Brennan slowly walked back through the terminal building with the biggest smile that had ever graced her face.
Fin.