Author's Note: Well I was just daydreaming in lecture today, and this idea kind of floated into my head. It's pure fluff, but I'm really having fun with it. Please let me know what you think! Any feedback at all would be greatly appreciated :)
Disclaimer: Please see bottom of document (after reading chapter one)
CHAPTER ONE
"So you're seriously not going to tell me?" Seeley Booth said disbelievingly as he crossed his arms over his broad chest.
"Seriously, there's nothing for you to know." Temperance Brennan replied mocking his tone, as she attempted to move past Booth who was blocking the tiny path to her desk in her office. "Booth, there's nothing to tell. I have no idea what you are talking about. Now get out of my way please."
"Come on Bones, you're leaving work at a seemingly humane time but you're never home, you always look tired, Angela told me something was up."
"Nothing is 'up', I've just been more busy than usual."
Booth relented his position by her desk and retreated to the couch on the far side of her office. "Yeah, real busy… Hey! You're not doing that online dating crap again are you? Oh tell me you're not –"
"Booth, it's not 'crap', and no I'm not dating. I'm just busy!"
At the sound of raised voices, Angela poked her head in the door. "Tell me you got something out of her." Angela said as she rolled her eyes at Booth. Before he could answer, Brennan spoke up.
"Can we at least pretend we are professional here? I need to work." Brennan brushed past Angela in the doorway leaving the two to grin at their friends' frustration.
Brennan's heels clicked against the cold floor of the Jeffersonian. Following the interrogative encounter with Angela and Booth, she could only hold her frustration act for so long, and she grinned foolishly to herself as she approached the forensic platform. 'If they only knew…'
"It has to be a guy. I mean, come on." Angela said bluntly as she plopped onto the couch next to Booth.
"She said it wasn't. No, I definitely think it's not a guy." Booth said quickly.
Angela chuckled, "Way to be so sure there Booth. You mean you hope it's not a guy" she winked.
Damn.
"No, well what I really meant is that Brennan is such a straight-up person, she'd tell us if it was as simple as that. She told us about Dick431 or whoever the hell that was…"
"Yeah but we never really let the teasing on that one go… but I see what you mean." Angela said, nestling her chin in her two hands.
"Something is up." Booth said to the ceiling.
"Something is deeeeefinitely up."
"Goodnight everyone." Brennan said as she headed past the forensic platform.
"Temperance Brennan is leaving the lab before me? What is this world coming to?" Angela said mock-dramatically, placing her hands on her hips.
"Goodnight, Ange" she said with a grin and turned and walked away.
Traffic had not been bad, so Brennan made it to her target destination in hardly anytime. She sat in her parked car for a few moments and sipped absently on a bottle of room-temperature water. "There's no way they'd let this one go" she thought to herself. "I'm sure they'd get one hell of a kick out of it, but there's no way I can tell them. Not even Booth…come on, Tempe, especially not Booth!" she locked the car door and headed into the large brown building across the street.
Above the large doors was a giant sign that said "Coming soon to Washington, Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera."
"Tempe! How was your day today?" A bubbly woman with long grey hair, named Gisele, asked as she hung up Brennan's coat.
"Fairly uneventful, yours?" Brennan politely inquired.
"Well we've made great strides in the set design today. John was able to contact a home renovations company and they said that they would construct the basics of the set for free!"
"That's wonderful! Is everyone here yet?" She said as she peeked into the larger room.
"Yes, we're all here, diva and all" Gisele winked at Temperance, who escorted her into the larger room.
"Alright people, let's get started!"
In sleep he sang to me
In dreams, he came
That voice which calls to me
And speaks my name
And do I dream again
To glance behind
The phantom of the opera is here,
Inside my mind…
Temperance's voice echoed off of the stage, filling the auditorium with the melancholy tune. Her body gently swayed in the phrasing of the music as the other actor moved behind her, holding her at her tiny waist. His powerful baritone voice bellowed sensually through the air,
Sing once again with me
Our strange duet
My power over you
Grows stronger yet
"And cut." A voice said, coming from the bottom of the stage. "Wonderful Tempe, wonderful James." Gisele clapped. "Now I wonder if I could get just the flute section, starting at the pick up at bar 44…" her voice quieted as she headed over to the orchestra section.
"Good job, Tempe. That was really great!" The other actor, James, said as he removed his hands from her waist and removed the plastic mask from his face.
"Oh you too! I wonder if we'll get to do a full run through of Act I by the end of the night…" She said as she looked at her watch.
"Why? Do you have somewhere to be?"
"Oh no, not really. Just some paperwork, really." She lied, knowing that she's promised to go to some club with Angela later that evening.
"My wife and I were supposed to have dinner tonight, but I guess I'll have to call that one off. She's been really understanding throughout all of the rehearsals though, you know? She knows it's hard work, and she can't wait to see the finished product! What about your friends? Are they excited?" He asked
"Well, the truth is…" She cleared her throat, unsure of his reaction. "No one really knows that I'm doing this…"
"Are you serious? Why?" James said, disbelievingly.
"I think they'd find it… odd. I'm not exactly the actress type. Plus I'm sure they'd tease me until the sheep come home…"
"You mean the cows come home." James laughed, taking a swig of water from his bottle. "You know, you really should tell them. They'd want to be here opening night to cheer you on." Temperance nodded silently and stared deeply at the empty seats infront of the stage.
"Bones? Bones you in there?" Booth said as he knocked on her apartment door, listening for any sound of his partner's inhabitance.
In sleep he sang to me
In dreams, he came
That voice which calls to me
And speaks my name…
"Bones?" he said in a funny tone of voice as he knocked again. All of a sudden the music stopped and he heard footsteps shuffling towards the door.
"Booth? What are you doing here so late?"
"Were you singing?" Booth said with a smile and wide eyes.
"Uh me? No, no I definitely was not singing. Now what are you doing here?"
Booth took a second to answer, still examining her flustered body language. "Angela was worried when you didn't show up at the club and you weren't answering your phone, so I thought I'd come over and check on you." Booth said, still with an idiotic grin on his face.
"Check on me." She repeated, awkwardly.
"Yes." He confirmed as the awkward silence continued.
"So, uh, you're okay then. So I'm gonna go get some sleep." Booth said as he started to turn away from the door.
"Okay then, goodnight." Brennan smiled slightly as she began to close the door.
"Bones, one more thing" Booth said as he suddenly put his arm up against the door, his face remarkably close to hers. Brennan looked deep into his eyes and her breath hitched in her throat.
"You have a beautiful voice." He said quietly with one of the warmest 'charm-smiles' she'd ever seen.
Brennan's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to negate his comment but he turned on his heel and walked towards the elevators, grinning the whole way.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() Sooo what do you think? Do you like it? Please review!!!
Disclaimer - I don't own Bones OR the Phantom of the Opera.. or Andrew Lloyd Webber for that matter... :)