A/N: Hey all! I apologize for the lack of updates on this one—I've never really had writer's block before. I have a lot going on at work and also had some bad juju in my personal life. I hope you all like the ending to this series. Only a week to go until the new season! I'm running on stress and coffee, so I apologize in advance for anything that's goofed up.

Chapter 9: Trip Around the Sun

Seeley Booth jogged lightly through the sliding glass doors of the Jeffersonian Medico-Legal lab, paused momentarily to swipe his access card to the forensics lab before ascending the stairs. He was light on his feet, taking the steps two at a time. He landed at the top and turned his head toward a voice.

"Dr. Brennan's not in her office," Jack Hodgins didn't look up from his work station. Booth stopped and turned toward him.

"Huh?"

Hodgins looked up, still wearing his magnification goggle headset.

"Dr. B's not in her office. She's doing a talk for some big wig professor she knows. She's not in right now."

Booth turned and faced his favorite bug-and-slime investigator. "Maybe I'm not here to see her."

Hodgins lifted his visor and regarded his friend skeptically. "Yeah. Right."

Booth fidgeted, "Maybe I'm here to see Angela."

Hodgins snorted.

"What? Why is that so hard to believe?" Booth's voice raised in pitch. Hodgins turned back to his work as Booth shook his head and headed quickly toward the artist's office.

He rapped gently at the door frame before leaning into the office. She was working on a facial reconstruction while listening to punk rock at near deafening levels. She looked up at him, smiling, and turned off the music.

"Hey, Booth. To what do I owe the honor?"

Booth rocked back and forth onto the balls of his feet and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets.

"Oh you know. Thought I'd stop by. See how you were doing," he picked up a small object from her desk, held it up to the light and squinted at it. "See if you could help me with a little problem I'm having."

Angela's interest was piqued at his nervous animation and she pivoted her chair to face him fully."So many inappropriate comments. So little time," she spoke softly and Booth could barely make out the words. She spoke louder, "What's up?"

Booth stopped his rocking motion and dropped into a nearby lounge chair, rubbing his hands over his face. He rubbed his fingers through his hair while he collected his thoughts and Angela appraised him with one raised eyebrow.

"I did something." He didn't look up. "With Bones."

Angela's eyes opened wide, hopeful. "Yeah? Did you sleep with her?"

Booth's head snapped up. "What? No!" Angela frowned with an "A Girl Can Dream" shrug.

"We went out for drinks last night after we closed the case. We were having a pretty good time, so I asked her to dance," he gestured nervously.

Angela bobbed her head to get him to continue. "We were really enjoying things, you know. Getting caught up in the moment."

"And you kissed her?" Angela offered. Booth shook his head.

"Oh my god! She kissed you?"

"Shhh!" Booth waved his hands and glanced quickly at the door. "Jeez! I didn't tell the entire world and I'd appreciate it if you didn't either!"

Angela leaned in toward him and lowered her voice. "What was it like?"

Booth pointed his finger at her and spoke with a warning tone, "I am not having this conversation with you."

"Then why'd you bring it up?"

Booth sighed with resignation. "Look, her birthday's this weekend and I want to do something special for her and I'm going to need your help."

--

Temperance Brennan reread the same page in her book for the tenth time before admitting defeat and set it down on the coffee table. She didn't want to dwell on the situation, but she was concerned that she might have done something wrong by kissing Booth. She hadn't seen him since they'd gone to the bar two nights ago.

To be fair, she hadn't been avoiding him on purpose. The first day she had to give a lecture; the next Booth was buried in paperwork; Today Angela took her out to lunch, and tonight Booth was at a school function with Parker. Even though she missed him—something she was loathe to admit, even to herself—she wasn't about to cut into his time with Parker just to talk to him.

So she was only a little surprised that at three minutes past ten she heard a familiar rhythmic knocking at her door.

Booth stood outside her door, listening to her steps grow louder as she moved through the apartment. He watched as light pooled under her door and shadows dance as she stopped to unlock the deadbolt. She opened the door with one side of her mouth curled into a smile.

"I don't know what's sadder; that you're here at ten at night, or that I don't have to check to see who it is."

Booth answered with a jovial tone, "You should know better, Bones. All kinds of creepy guys are out in the middle of the night. You never know who just might waltz right in here." Grinning, he stepped past her as she closed and relocked the door.

"Were you sleeping?" He asked, gesturing at her night time attire.

"I was reading."

Booth picked up the book lying on the coffee table and flipped through the pages. "Wow, 'The role of the zygomatic arch for the statics of the skull and its adaptive shape.' I know if I read that I'd be asleep."

Brennan rolled her eyes at him and crossed her arms across her chest, "Are you just here to mock my taste in reading material?"

Booth shook his head and fell into the chair closest to the coffee table before propping his feet up on it. "Nope. We've got a case. It's at a federal flood control project up north of here. If we leave now we can get there by midnight."

Brennan's face lit up at the suggestion of a road trip. "I'll get ready now," she moved into her room and closed the door.

Booth smiled. His plan was working so far.

He spoke loudly so she could hear him through the closed door.

"We might be there all night, so you'd better pack—" the door swung open and Brennan emerged, holding a small duffle bag. "An overnight bag," he finished. His brow wrinkled in confusion, "How did you pack so quickly?"

She shrugged. "After the last time we left on the fly and I spent two days in the same clothes I decided to take your advice and pack a buggy bag."

Booth winced at her mangled phrase. "Bug out bag. Bug out. Not buggy." He shook his head, "It's not important." He nearly leaped to his feet. "Let's get going. We don't have all night."

He briefly rested his hand at the small of her back and followed her out of the apartment.

--

The bright lights of the city faded away behind them as they spent two hours on the road. They bantered on about her lecture, his time with Parker, and sang along to classic rock —Booth relented and even allowed Brennan a few minutes of Hip Hop—to stave off fatigue. Brennan lamented that Angela was pestering her to go out for drinks the following evening for her birthday.

"What's with all the negativity toward birthdays, Bones?"

"I'm not negative. I just haven't celebrated one in a while." Booth looked sideways at her, waiting for her to continue. "It's not so much the celebration as the consumerism. The symbolism I'm fine with—celebrating life—it's the blatant consumption wrapped up in an ancient ritual that bothers me."

"Birthdays are ancient?" Booth's brow furrowed as he navigated off the expressway.

Brennan nodded, "Anthropologically, birthdays were likely man's first celebration after we learned to record the passage of time. Historians believe early man held the superstition that evil spirits were especially strong when a person was experiencing a change, such as having a child, getting married, or turning a year older. It was likely believed that by having a large number of friends and family around and by making loud noises the evil spirits would be frightened away. This tradition has perpetuated through millennia, which is why we still have parties complete with singing, laughing, and noisemakers."

"So what about goofy hats?" he asked and rolled his head to the side to look at her.

She pursed her lips in mock concentration. "Probably to help make people laugh," she replied flatly and Booth grinned.

--

Booth turned the dark SUV off the state highway and down a white stone two-track that led to a small gravel parking lot. A completely empty gravel parking lot.

Brennan appraised him with one eye closed.

"Booth? Where are all the law enforcement officers and the forensics team?"

"Yeah. About that," he offered a toothy grin. "There's no case." He slipped quickly from the vehicle while she stared after him, her mouth gaping.

She recovered and barreled out of the truck after him. She rounded the back of the Tahoe as Booth was pulling out a small backpack.

"What do you mean there's no case?" she asked. "You drag me out here in the middle of the night and there's no case?"

Booth shouldered the pack, closed the rear, and pressed a button on his key chain to lock the vehicle.

"Nope. No case. I made it up to get you out here." He started walking away, Brennan still staring after him. "I wanted it to be a surprise."

She trotted a few steps to catch up. "Wanted what to be a surprise?"

He pointed down the trail and smiled, barely hiding his excitement. "You'll see."

They walked down a trail by the red beam of Booth's tac light, the new moon offering no light of its own. Booth stopped when they reached an overlook of the dammed river below. He dropped the pack next to a log that had been propped up on two smaller logs to create a bench.

"Happy birthday, Bones." Booth moved behind her and pointed over her shoulder to the southwest horizon. Brennan looked confused while she searched the sky for Booth's surprise. There, between Cygnus and Pegasus she saw it—a small kite shape made of five stars. Delphinus, the Dolphin.

Booth dropped his arms to circle her waist. "I couldn't think of anything you'd like, so I thought you might enjoy pulling an all-nighter." He let go of her and pulled a blanket out of the backpack; the midnight autumn air was crisp.

She didn't look at him but continued watching the stars, her lips slightly parted. "I can't believe you remembered me telling you about this."

He stood to softly kiss her cheek and laughed, "I listen to you. Maybe not the squint-speak, but I listen to the important stuff."

She turned to face him, "That 'squint-speak' is import—" He stopped her with a press of his lips against hers. When they finally came up for air, Brennan rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. She snuggled into his neck, enjoying the sensation of his rough stubble against her cheek.

"Thanks, Booth. This is perfect."

He felt her shiver, so he pulled her close to his chest. He slipped his hands under her shirt and ran his fingers over the soft skin of her back. His lips brushed up against the delicate skin of her ear lobe and he briefly tightened his grip on her. He closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of her shampoo and he felt her warming up in his embrace.

"Still cold?" he asked, his lips moving against the skin of her neck, sending a tingling sensation up and down her spine. The scientific side of her knew this was just her body's response to pheromones and endorphins being released in her brain. The small part of her that didn't listen to logic screamed to just enjoy the moment.

She ran a hand under his jacket and up his back. "No," her lips danced against his neck. Booth smiled and moved to sit on the log bench, pulling her into his lap, refusing to let go of her. He pulled the blanket around both of them for warmth.

"I lied," Brennan whispered, barely audible. She felt Booth shift as he waited for her to elaborate. "It wasn't like kissing Russ. Not even a little bit." She laughed at her own joke, then thought for a moment and continued. "Well, objectively I wouldn't know. I've never kissed Russ before." Booth reached up, traced a thumb along her jawline, then her lips, and she fell silent.

"I lied, too." Brennan lifted her head to look into Booth's eyes and he smiled. "We're not 'just partners'. We haven't been in a long time."

They both smiled at this and she settled back into the curve of his shoulder. She closed her eyes and relaxed, enjoying the comforting closeness of his body. They remained motionless and silent; Booth felt like time had stopped in this one moment, allowing them time that was just for them. Brennan stirred, and swallowed to clear her throat.

"Booth?" she asked, not looking at his face. "Why did you step in front of that bullet?"

Booth didn't speak, or even move. He dropped his chin and rested it on her shoulder. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"You know why." His voice was ragged.

"I do," she stated. She continued, her voice shaky, "I would have done it for you, you know."

Booth nodded, "I know."

"It wasn't a very logical thing to do, Booth. You have so much to lose."

"Yeah. And if I hadn't, I would have lost something else just as important."

He felt her stiffen in his arms at this and he continued.

"To you this is all just chemistry, or biology, or anthropological inevitabilities, but to me it's more than that. It's possibilities."

She looked up at him and he brushed his knuckles across her cheek before tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear. He looked deep into her eyes as he spoke.

"The possibility of something more. Of something really great."

"But what about—" she paused, trying to find the right words.

"What we do? What we want and don't want? What's different between us?" he finished for her and she nodded. "That's all important, too, but I had this rude awakening about what was important in the big picture. And I realized that what was important in my head wasn't nearly as big a deal as what was in my heart."

She smiled, knowing he probably had been thinking of just the right thing to say for some time. Probably been rehearsing it for a while. And probably why he had been avoiding her the past few days—so he wouldn't spill the peas about all of this.

"Something inside me decided the odds were in my favor on this." He stated and the corner of his smile twitched, hopeful that she'd understand what he meant.

Brennan smiled, snaked a hand behind his head, pulling him close. She rested her forehead against his, their lips touching as she whispered. "It sounds like maybe you finally got that big payout you've been after."

FIN.

I hope you guys liked it—please let me know if you did. Again, I appreciate all the wonderful feedback on this story.
Thank you so much for all the fav adds, the alerts, the author alerts, and just for reading. It means a great deal to me that I've made folks smile, even when I'm not feeling so hot. Without the kind words I wouldn't post, and I don't know about you guys, but my summer would have been a long one.