Sometime around Noon

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Bones!" Booth shouted, leaning out the window.

Bones turned at the sound of his voice and offered a half-hearted wave. She told him, "There's no need to scream. I'm only a few feet away, Booth."

"Yeah, only a few feet away, Bones. A few feet away on the ledge of a building!" His tone of voice hadn't changed, nor had the volume.

Three hours before…

Bones was prepared for an easy day, which was good, because she had been pretty busy lately and hadn't slept in over 24 hours. There were no new cases at the moment, so she was just doing some paperwork. Later on, she planned to work on I.D-ing some bodies in Limbo.

Booth popped his head into her office. "Hey. How's my favorite forensic anthropologist?"

He had failed to mention that she was also his favorite woman in the world, but that didn't matter right now. Brennan put down her pen and looked up at him.

"I wasn't aware that you were acquainted with very many forensic anthropologists."

Booth grinned. "I'm not."

Bones sighed, upset that she had failed to understand what he had been saying. She just started writing again and asked, "What did you mean to talk to me about? Is there another case?"

Her partner sighed and went over to lean on her desk. "What, there has to be a reason for me to come and talk to you?"

Bones eyes met his and Booth knew that she was about to offer him some logical explanation for something. "Well, obviously there is some reason that you're here. Even if there is no pressing reason, your reason appears to be that you just wanted to talk to me."

Booth nodded. "That would be correct. So I guess it's not okay for me to just want to see you?"

Bones shrugged. "It's perfectly fine. I just have a hard time believing that, as an FBI agent, you couldn't find anything better to do than come see me."

"There is nothing better to me than seeing you."

This comment took Bones by surprise; she hadn't been expecting and answer like that.

"Alright. Well, if all you're going to do is stand there, could you please go get me some coffee?" She asked.

Booth shook his head. "You're going to have to do better than that." He taunted her, smirking and leaning forward so their faces were only inches apart.

Bones smiled and pleaded. "Please, Boothy, could you take time out of you busy schedule to get me some coffee?" She rested her head in her hands, reaching her neck out slightly, narrowing the distance between them from 6 inches to three.

Booth was so tempted to close that small gap, but he resisted. "Sure, when you put it that way," he joked, turning and leaving. "Don't go anywhere."

The woman nodded and followed him with her eyes as Booth walked away. She sighed, then returned to work.

The phone rang five minutes later. "If I get any more interruptions, there may not be time for me to work with those bodies today." Bones thought, picking it up. "Hello?"

"Tempe? It's your dad." Came Max's voice.

"Hi Dad, is everything okay?" Bones asked, figuring he was calling to ask her if she wanted to go out for dinner that night.

There was a long pause before Max whispered, "I'm in jail."

Bones was automatically put into a bad mood. "For what." It was a harsh statement, as opposed to a question.

"Driving… under the influence… not to mention a couple of unpaid tickets." He sounded ashamed, as he should be. Bones was furious.

"If you think I'm going to come down there and bail you out, you're mistaken."

"Please, Tempe?"

Bones sighed and slammed the phone down, ending the call. She had told him that last time was the last time. And she had meant it; there was no going back on your word in her world. But Bones somehow felt betrayed- her father had said it would be the last time that he would get into trouble.

"I need a walk to clear my head." Bones concluded in her mind. She stacked her papers, placed them in an empty file, and walked out into the Jeffersonian.

Her thoughts were mixed. "Should I just go down there and bail him out? It really can't hurt... No. I told myself I wouldn't do-"

"Hey, Sweetie!" Brennan's thoughts were interrupted by her best friend, Angela. "I just wanted your opinion on this sketch…" The dark-haired woman held up her sketch pad and revealed a drawing of a beautiful landscape.

Bones nodded. "It's very good."

Angela frowned. Her anthropologist friend normally had more to say about her art than 'good.' "Sweetie is everything okay?"

"Yes. Excuse me." Bones took her leave and began walking down the stairs, passing Zach along the way.

"Oh, Dr. Brennan, could I ask your opinion on this body?" He called to her. She seemed to ignore him, so he shouted her name again. "Dr. Brennan?"

Bones looked his direction, but kept on walking.

She was so close to the door, but Hodgins just so happened to be entering right then.

"Hey! I have some details on-"

Bones cut him off and gestured to the box he was holding. "What's in there?"

"Oh, it's these cool new bugs I got. Here, I'll show you." He grabbed Bones's wrist and pulled her to his working area.

"See, when they have a blacklight shone on them…" Hodgins began to ramble about the details of the insects, not noticing that Bones had made her escape about halfway through the speech.

Booth returned with her coffee, so he went up to her office to give it to her. When she wasn't there, he figured that his partner was down working with Zach.

"Hey Zach, where's Bones?" Booth questioned, when he reached the work table and saw Zach standing over a dead body by himself.

"Dr. Brennan appeared to be going somewhere, but I last saw her with Dr. Hodgins."

Booth went over to check with Hodgins, who had just noticed minutes earlier that Bones had left.

"I can't believe she could walk away from these guys! I mean, when you shine a blacklight on them…" He began his speech yet again, oblivious to the fact that Booth's previous space was empty.

He walked around the Jeffersonian in a hurry, accidentally bumping into Cam and Angela.

"Please tell me you guys have seen Bones!" Booth pleaded, desperate to find her.

Cam frowned. "She's gone? That's not like her."

Angela appeared worried. "Shoot. Brennan looked pretty stressed out before when I asked her about my drawing..."

The two women shared a knowing look. "What did you say to her, Booth?" They asked in unison.

Booth held up his hands. "Hey, I didn't do anything! I just went out to get her coffee!"

"Relax, she probably decided to walk somewhere. If she's not back in an hour, you can go look for her," Cam reasoned, turning Booth around and pushing him back the direction he had come.

It was hard for him to focus when he didn't know his partner's whereabouts. She could have been buried alive for all he knew. Or maybe Bones had been kidnapped, or fallen down the stairs, or-

"Dr. Brennan isn't back yet."

Booth jumped and realized it had been Cam who had spoken, but the rest of their group was with her.

"How long has it been?"

"An hour and a half," Zach answered, checking his watch.

"Too long. She would have told me if she was going to be gone." Booth thought, getting up from his seat. "Well what are we doing standing here? You guys look around here. I'll go check around her favorite places."

He checked his pocket for his car keys, then rushed to the black SUV. As he opened the door, Booth happened to glance up and notice a figure on the ledge outside of the building. Without having to examine closer, he knew it was his Bones. He could recognize her anywhere.

"Bones!" He shouted. It hadn't been meant for her to hear, it was more of his surprise.

Booth rushed back into the building and up to the floor where he had seen her outside, passing everybody on the way.

"Did you find her?" Angela asked, hustling with him as he passed by.

"On the side of the building!"

Everybody heard him. Being close friends of Bones themselves, they all dropped what they were doing and followed Booth over to where he had seen their friend.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Bones!" Booth shouted, leaning out the window.

Bones turned at the sound of his voice and offered a half-hearted wave. She told him, "There's no need to scream. I'm only a few feet away, Booth."

"Yeah, only a few feet away, Bones. A few feet away on the ledge of a building!" His tone of voice hadn't changed, nor had the volume.

Bones sighed. "It's perfectly safe. And everybody else kept talking to me everywhere I went, and I've always wanted to come out here before, so…"

Her partner pursed his lips. "Listen Bones, you mean too much to us to jump. You mean too much to me to jump, so please, don't-"

She laughed. "I'm not suicidal, Booth. Like I said, it's totally safe out here. This ledge is approximately an arms length out, so it's not like I'm going to fall."

"Bones, just come back inside." Booth ordered his face serious. If she fell, he would be angry. Not angry at her, but angry that he had let it happen.

Bones smirked and repeated what he had said when she had asked for coffee. "You're going to have to do better than that."

"Bones, you are the smartest, most beautiful woman I have ever met, so could you please come back inside so I could finish telling you that I love you?" Booth had made his attempt at 'doing better' into his own sort of confession.

Bones was speechless for a second, but she began to crawl towards Booth. She reached for his hand and kept her eyes on his as he pulled her into the building and into his arms.

Neither of them moved, and none of the by standing friends said anything as they just stared at each other.

Booth made the first move, leaning forward and whispering in Bones's ear.

"I love you."

"I don't know what that means," she breathed.

"It means this." Booth pulled her into a kiss. Her eyes widened, but she returned it.

There was an 'aww' from Angela, a 'woot' from Hodgins, a nod from Cam, and an emotionless expression from Zach, who suggested that the group let the couple 'take their break together.' Everybody dispersed, leaving the partners alone.

"Don't you ever do that again," Booth scolded, releasing Bones.

She shrugged. "I don't know, it was a pretty good place to think."

Booth sighed. "Then I guess I'm going to have to kiss you again, huh?"

So what did you think about the characterization? This was my first Bones fic, so be nice! Review Please!

~SnowKoyuki13