Almost Forever

Chapter 21

There's a reason "Unseen" is the only 'case-fic' story I've written. I'm not good at them and I don't like them. Thankfully, I have the episodes from the last half of S6 to use for this story, otherwise I'd be in major trouble. For this chapter, I'm giving myself a break and going back to what I enjoy most - sweet, funny, fluffy romance. Brennan deserves to be romanced, don't you think?

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The attempted murder of a cop - dirty or not - and his threatening visit to Booth's home put Jacob Broadsky at the top of the FBI's Most Wanted list. Booth's team was enlarged by a dozen members as time, resources, and money were thrown into the effort to find the ex-sniper and bring him in before he could kill again. His entire life was laid open for scrutiny. Overtime restrictions were thrown out the window; agents arrived at work before dawn and stayed long after the sun had set.

As leader of the team, Booth was neck-deep in their work, and spent so much time in his office that he took to having his dry cleaning delivered so he could be guaranteed a fresh change of clothes if he slept there. He made time to see Parker - now the coolest kid in school, thanks to his new bodyguard - and he made time to see Brennan. But brief coffee breaks and lunch hours pared down to only enough time to wolf down a sandwich weren't enough, so he made plans to pull himself free of the investigation for an entire evening.

The platform was empty when he strolled into the Jeffersonian one cold afternoon. When Brennan's office proved to be just as deserted, he detoured in Cam's direction.

"Where's Bones?"

Buried in a mountain of paperwork, she didn't hear him. It took another louder attempt before he got her attention. She glanced up with a frown that only partly disappeared when she saw who it was. "Oh, hey. Sorry, I'm working on the budget for next year. With the increase in funding, we can - -"

"I'm looking for Bones." He didn't apologize for interrupting her. "Do you know where she is?"

"She's in Limbo with a group of . . ." Cam was left talking to empty space when Booth simply pivoted on his heel and walked away. She turned back to her computer, rolling her eyes and muttering to herself with ill humour. "Thanks, Cam. Appreciate the help, Cam. You're the best, Cam."

In a building dedicated to the dead, bone storage - Limbo - had the highest creep factor, at least as far as Booth was concerned. Colder than the rest of the facility, the open space in the middle of the room was surrounded by walls made from rows of boxes stacked floor to ceiling, at the end of a long hallway lined with more of the same, and all of them filled with bones. Lit from above and behind with an eerie white light, the remains inside each box were macabre shadows connected, he was sure, to the ghosts that haunted the room.

The murmur of voices drifted toward him before she came into view. Brennan's was obvious enough, and the others were soon explained when he saw a group of students gathered around a table where a skeleton had been laid out with anatomical precision. Wearing identical white coats, they studied the remains as if the ancient bones might jump up from the table at any minute. A new class, Booth surmised, and after one quick glance, dismissed the entire lot from his mind. Brennan would choose the best and brightest among them to add to her roster of rotating squints, and that was soon enough to bother with them.

Although Brennan's back was to him, his presence did not go unnoticed by her students. Eyes that gleamed with appreciation for his dark good looks rapidly turned speculative when they noticed the way his appreciative gaze skimmed over Brennan. Their formidable professor's love life, heretofore a subject treated only with laughter, suddenly became much more interesting.