Building a Life

When Booth arrived at school he felt good about her being placed in a new home. It was apparent that she would be in a good kind of neighbourhood and he just hoped that this family would be better than the last and she would be treated well. He had been reluctant at first to leave her alone at the new house but he knew she would be fine when she turned to him from the driveway, so he had left and told her to call him later.

He made it back to his grandfather's house in time to drop the car off and walk to school with a few minutes to spare, and he was then reminded that he would now not be able to see her at school everyday. He knew that it was a probably a good thing that he wouldn't have the distraction all the time, but it annoyed him that he wouldn't be able to sit with her at lunch any more and their time together would be even more restricted.

As soon as school had finished he practically raced home hoping that she would call him soon. He had been jumpy all day, wanting to hear from her and hear what the new ones were like. It wasn't long til the phone rang and he quickly answered it, hoping it was her voice on the other end of the line.

"Hello," he answered.

"Hi, it's me," her voice brought an instant smile to his face.

"Hey, Bones. How's everything going?" he asked.

"It's going fine so far. Tess, my foster mother seems really nice so far, so that's good. I haven't met her husband Aaron yet, he doesn't get home until five," she answered her voice happier than it had been in weeks.

"That's good. How's your room? That house is freakin' huge," he said exaggerating.

"It's good, better than my other one, it's really big. Tess said that this weekend she is going to take me shopping and buy me clothes, she said I don't have enough," Brennan said.

"That's great, it sounds like this one is going to be good," he told her.

"Yeah, hey I was talking to Tess earlier and she was asking about my friends and stuff and she asked about if I had a boyfriend or not and I told her about you. And anyway I asked her if you could come over later, just to see where I live and all that, and if you wanted to she said you could come over for dinner," Brennan nervously, knowing this was the first time she had ever had a boy over for dinner.

"I would love to Bones, in that case I better go," Booth replied.

"Ok, I'll see you soon then," she answered before hanging up. Booth smiled when he hung up the phone and then went in search of his grandfather to ask if he could borrow his car, again.

********

Brennan was sitting outside the house nervously waiting for Booth to arrive. She knew it was stupid, considering that she and Booth had been together for a number of months, but she hadn't had this chance so far to have this opportunity. An hour ago she had met her new foster father Aaron, who she had been told was the CEO in some big corporate business, hence the large amounts of money. He seemed as nice as his wife and both seemed like genuine people; Brennan hoped this family was the real deal.

It wasn't long until she saw Booth arrive outside the long driveway and step out of the car. She quickly stood up and began making her way down to let him in, luckily she had been shown how to operate the state of the art security or Booth could be standing out there forever. She quickly opened the gate and he walked through and as soon as she had closed them he pulled her into him and quickly kissed her.

"I missed seeing you at school today," he said smiling as he pulled back.

"It's only been one day," she smirked.

"Yeah but I was reminded that that one day is going to turn into weeks, and then months, and then saying I missed you will be valid," he said pulling out his charm smile. She rolled her eyes at his words.

"Whatever," she said letting him kiss her again quickly. "Oh, I should warn you, Tess and Aaron invited over some next-door neighbours to meet and I quote 'the new addition to their family'," Brennan adding a sarcastic tone to the last part.

"Bones, I thought you said they were nice," he asked her as they made their way up the driveway.

"Yeah, I'm just not sure about how they see me," she said nervously.

"Don't worry, I'm sure they just want you to be introducing you formally, so it won't seem like a big deal and you won't get any of those weird looks," he said reassuring her.

"I guess you're right," she answered.

"So do any of the neighbours have kids?" he asked.

"Yeah, most of them are younger kids, but there is one who is my age, he's an only child. If I remember correctly his name is Jack Hodgins, he seems nice enough from what I have seen of him," she said as they reached the front door.

"Cool, well here we are," he said.

"Here we are," she repeated. He smiled at her reassuringly and she eventually opened the door and lead the way inside.

adorable scene, I can't wait to meet Jack.

As soon as they walked inside Booth was amazed by the sheer size of the house. He thought that it looked big from the outside, but nothing could compare to what the inside looked like. The house had high ceilings with what looked like original fittings, their was a rather large staircase on the far side of the foyer and a long hallway which lead to a another room where Booth could see a large group of people. The two of them managed to sneak into the room without drawing to much attention to themselves and Brennan managed to get him a drink before her foster mother found them.

"Temperance, this must be the boy I have been hearing about," the bubbly, blonde woman said coming up to the two and held out her hand to Booth.

"Yes, Tess this is Seeley Booth, Booth this is Tess Sanders," Brennan quickly made introductions.

"It's very nice to meet you Seeley; it's good to know that Temperance will have someone she knows nearby. I'll just go find Aaron, my husband, he would love to meet you," Tess said leaving the two of them alone again.

"She's nice," Booth said smiling.

"Yeah, she is. Are you hungry?" Brennan asked him. He nodded, and she led him towards the kitchen, the whole way there he was being constantly amazed by the house. They quickly found some food and he piled up his plate and convinced her to eat a fair amount as well. She quickly grabbed a drink and then they made their way back to the main room. On the way back they came across Aaron, her new foster father, Brennan slightly stiffened, she was still wary around new people, especially men.

"You must be Seeley, Temperance's friend. It's nice to meet you, I'm Aaron," he said holding out his hand politely.

"Nice to meet you," Booth said, before Brennan and himself made their way back to the room. When they entered the room Brennan pointed out Jack Hodgins. He looked to be about 16 or 17; he had curly brown hair and was dressed so casually that you wouldn't be able to tell that he would be the 'rich' type.

"Come on Bones, let's go say hello, he looks as bored as we do," Booth said smiling. They slowly made there way over to where he was sitting and pulled two chairs next to him. Booth saw Brennan was struggling holding her food and also with the added strain on her healing ribs, so he quickly helped her. He then quickly turned and introduced himself to the boy.

"Hi, I'm Seeley Booth."

"Jack Hodgins, you Temperance's boyfriend?" Jack asked.

"Yep, that's me. So, you don't look like a rich kid," Booth said smiling, to let him know not to take him too seriously.

"Yeah, well I am not really a part of that world, I try to stay away as much as possible, you know," he answered smiling. Booth nodded and realised that he may not be that bad. The three of them began to talk about all different things school, music, television, movies, the two boys discussed sport and Brennan and Jack managed to find a common interest in science and discussed that at length. Booth and Brennan were fast becoming friends with him and Jack was glad that he would finally have someone nearby who shared similar interests to him.

It was getting late and Booth knew that he would have to leave now or his grandfather would ground him for a month. He politely said goodbye to Brennan's foster parents and thanked them for inviting him, to which he was told he was always welcome. He then said goodbye to Jack and told him that he would see him soon and asked 'man to man' if he could keep an eye on Brennan for him. Jack, who was mature for his age, had noticed their connection and agreed to make sure she was ok and told Booth he would let him know other wise.

Brennan then walked Booth down the driveway to his car and unlocked the gate for him. He pulled her into him and kissed her and then hugged her tightly, not wanting to let her go. After a few minutes he reluctantly released her and without any words he quickly kissed her again and made his way down to his car. He climbed in and turned on the engine and began to drive away and saw her waving him off when he looked out his rear-view mirror.

Temperance woke up the next morning slightly disorientated, until she remembered where she was. She felt very uncomfortable and strange in such a large room, especially comparing it to her last foster home and her bedroom when her family were still around. She slowly sat up in her bed and noticed a neat pile of clothes at the end, when she moved closer to them she noticed they were school uniforms. She realised that her foster parents were sending her to a private school, which surprised her to say the least. From what she knew, foster parents generally sent their foster children to the least expensive school possible.

This convinced Brennan even more that this home may be different. After quickly getting ready for school, she was downstairs and in the kitchen and found that food for breakfast was out waiting on the table for her. Apparently there was help in this house. She quickly scoffed down as much as she could eat, wanting to be at school early being her first day there. She heard someone coming down the stairs and when she turned to look around she saw that it was Tess coming into the kitchen, looking like she had just stepped out of a magazine.

"Good morning Temperance. Did you sleep well?" she asked in a cheery tone.

"Yes, thank you. Very well," Brennan answered quickly.

"That's good. I see you found your uniform. All your school books and everything you'll need are by the front door. The boy across the road, Jack, said he would be happy to walk with you to school, to show you where to go. He said he would be around at eight if you wanted to take him up on his offer," Tess said pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"Ok, thanks," she said, excusing herself and moving back upstairs to finish getting ready for the day. She noticed that Aaron had already left for the day and guessed that Tess was one of those women that stayed at home all day, just one of the nicer ones. Brennan heard a knock at the door and guessed that it was Jack so she quickly finished up and went downstairs. She found Jack talking to Tess when she got there so she quickly grabbed her bag near the door, said goodbye to Tess and left with him. When they were outside of the driveway they began to talk.

"So how was your first night as an unofficial rich kid?" Jack asked trying to make conversation.

"It was ok, a bit weird. A lot different to other places I have lived," she answered.

"Yeah, I can imagine. Let me tell you, you will be craving those 'normal' houses soon, the bigness and flashiness of everything wears of soon," he said a matter-of-factly.

"Hmm, it already is. I already find it weird waking up and know that someone put the clothes and the end of my bed or someone was paid to cook breakfast for me," she answered truthfully.

"Well, just stick with me and I will show you how to have a normal time out of all this craziness," he said smiling at her; she smiled back, glad she may actually have a friend in this place.

*********

Unfortunately Jack and Brennan only had Chemistry together, so he had agreed to find her at lunch so she wouldn't be alone and introduce her to some of his friends. Surprisingly she had enjoyed her day so far and hadn't really had much of a problem fitting in as much as she had at her previous school, which was a huge relief to her. She had been told by Jack to wait by her locker, as not to get lost in a sea of people, and it wasn't long until she saw him coming towards her and he was leading her towards the cafeteria.

He led her over towards the food first, which he took a lot of, she only a little. Then they were weaving their way through tables and chairs and then outside. Jack eventually had led her to a secluded spot where four boys and one girl were sitting eating their lunch; she guessed these were his friends. Her theory was proven when they all looked up when he approached them and began to question him about who she was.

"Guys this is Temperance Brennan, Brennan, this is everybody," he said. She slightly waved a sat down quickly trying to divert attention off her self. The girl in the group was the first to introduce herself, she had brown curly hair and tanned skin.

"Hi, I'm Ashley, it's nice to meet you and since boys have no manners at all, over there we have Dylan, then Thomas, next to him is Samuel and then we have Kieran," she told Brennan. Brennan nodded before Ashley went to sit back next to Dylan.

"Oh, and Tom before you ask, she doesn't want to go out with you, she has a boyfriend. Save yourself some embarrassment for a change," Jack told the boy named Thomas, who now had turned a bright shade of red.

The rest of lunch had progressed nicely and Brennan had come to find that this group of people were basically the ones who had interests which spanned the board, for instance. Ashley, while being an avid cheerleader had a big interest in biology and wasn't really accepted by the in-crowd and Kieran was a star at basketball, but was a talent at math therefore was seen as a geek. Temperance felt at ease around these people because while, they may seem like the ones who wouldn't give you the time of day they knew what it was like to be discriminated against and ridiculed for stupid reasons and were good to be around. She found it hard to see but, she thought she had actually had found a group of what could become friends at this school and that excited her.

Her day from then on was like any other. She walked home with Jack, which she found enjoyable, they talked on various topics which managed to pass the time quickly. She was surprised when he offered to drive her to visit Booth, when she asked him why he wanted to he told her he was her friend and it would make her happy and he wanted to be away from his house as well, which was a concept she understood especially from her last foster home. She couldn't wait to see Booth and tell him how her day had been, and let him know that things really were looking up.

I love teenage Jack he is such a good friend, everything semms to be working out for Brennan now.

The drive to Booth's house wasn't long, but it was made quicker by the fact that she actually had things in common with Jack, so they had things to talk about to pass the time. She learned during that time that he was very insistent on moving as far away from his family's lifestyle when he left school as possible. He was very enthusiastic when it came to anything scientific and she could tell, that whatever he decided to do he would exceed in, even if it was due to pure enthusiasm.

When they arrived at Booth's house he told her he would take her back home again in a couple of hours and politely declined when she invited him to join them. He told her he had other things to do, which she believed. After bidding Jack goodbye, Brennan walked up the steps towards Booth's grandfather's house and quickly knocked on the door, silently hoping that he was actually home. She heard noise from inside so someone was definitely inside, but who exactly had not yet been established.

She saw the door slowly open and saw Booth's brother Jared at the door and then he saw the look of disappointment on his face, "Oh, it's only you. Seeley, you have a visitor," Jared yelled up the stairs after letting her inside the house. Not expecting anyone, Booth slowly made his way downstairs, taking it one step at a time prolonging the process for as long as possible.

"Well, don't look too excited," she said when she saw him. It was only then when he looked up and saw her standing there, which made him practically jump the last few steps. He jumped in front of her and pulled her in for a hug, almost cutting off all circulation. "Yeah, Booth you may have to let go so I can breathe."

"Sorry, Bones I am just so happy to see you…Wait how did you get here?" he asked.

"Jack offered to drive me here, he said he had things to do in this area and guessed I would want to tell you about my first day in person anyway," she said smiling at him.

"That's great, I'm so glad you're here. Hey, let's go for a walk or something and you can tell me all about the new school," he said quickly grabbing his shoes by the front door. He grabbed her hand and led her outside with him and guided her along the sidewalk. "So, how was it?"

"It was good, better than I expected. Umm…Jack came over in the morning and we walked to school together and then he met up with me at lunch and introduced me to some of his friends," she started.

"Oh, yeah. What are they like?" he asked her.

"They seem nice from what I could gather, I was only around them for a while, but so far so good," she told him reassuringly.

"I'm glad then, at least you will have people to sit with." Booth had been extremely worried that she would be let alone like she had been at their school, that was apart from when he annoyed the crap out of her and it was a relief for him to know that she wouldn't be alone. It gave him one less thing to worry about, but only made the thing he was keeping from her more insistent.

"Yep, everything's good so far," Brennan told him smiling. He smiled back at her and leaned down and kissed her for the first time that day.

"So, when is Jack coming to take you home?" Booth asked.

"He said in a couple of hours or so," she answered.

"Alrighty then, we better make the most of it then," he said kissing her again and making it last for as long as possible before they both needed air. They spent the rest of the time talking and filling each other on what had happened in each other's day. But, Booth was faced still with one thing that she hadn't told her and with the end of the school year coming even closer, he was running out of time.

What does Booth to have to tell her, that is worrying me.

The next few months passed without too much drama. Brennan had a solid friend in Jack and had managed to string up friendships with his friends who made her time at school bearable and for the most part enjoyable. Her relationship with Booth was going strong and despite further away than before they managed to see each other as much as possible. Her foster parents were still just like they were at first, caring and the total opposite to her first ones.

But, Booth on the other hand was dealing with something different. While, yes he could say his relationship with Brennan was going perfectly, he was trying to figure out a way to tell her that he would be leaving her, temporarily. He was going to join the army, the rangers to be more specific, he hadn't exactly gotten the best grades to go to college and since he was injured the previous year; a sports scholarship was out of the question, basically Uncle Sam was his last ticket to get any sort of respectable job, preferably law enforcement.

Booth wasn't scared about what he may have to face in the army, going off to war and facing it head on, what worried him the most was telling that to the most important person in the world to him. He had made up his mind four months ago that this was what he was going to do when he left school, he had spoken to the careers adviser, his teachers, his grandfather, even Jack knew of his plan, but he had put off telling her mainly because he had no idea how to approach it.

Now he was closer to graduating high school so the time to tell her of his decision was looming and he knew the longer he left it, the worse it was going to be. He had organised to stay over at Jack's house on the weekend he graduated, and hoped to see Brennan during that day and tell her then, the only thing he was unsure of now was how she was going to take his impending news.


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It was now the weekend before he was to graduate and the weekend he was staying across the road from her house. He had spoken to Jack and after he had spent most of the day with her new friends the two of them split away from the group, where he hoped he would be able to tell her about his career choice. He managed to find a quiet park, one similar to the one they used to meet up in when she lived close to him and he convinced her to stop there so he could talk to her.

"Why have we stopped here Booth?" she asked him, she could sense he was anxious about something because he had been behaving out of the ordinary all day.

"I need to talk to you about something important Bones," he said to begin with, he still had no idea how to exactly break the news to her, so he thought if he just got the words out he would deal with the rest later.

"What Booth?"

"You know how I am graduating in a week; well I didn't end up finishing with the best scores in the world, which means my options for college are limited. And after the sports scholarship was kind of quashed last year, I have decided my last option is to join the army, the rangers," he said. It wasn't until he finished that he looked at her to gage her reaction.

"Umm…so what would that mean would you have to go and do some special training soon, or what?" she asked after a few minutes. He could tell she was going to hold off her emotions until necessary and focus on the details, and if that's what she wanted for now that's what he was going to give her.

"Well, after I have graduated I will have to register and six weeks into the summer they have a training course which lasts about a month, which I will have to go to. Depending on my skills I may be deployed for combat or not and well we will see from there," he told her. She nodded in response trying to take this new information in. Booth moved closer to her and put his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest and held her tight. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pushed her head into his shoulder, and he kissed her forehead, knowing that this was comfort enough for now until she was ready to talk about it more.

wonder what will happen next?

"So have you registered yet?" Brennan asked Booth rather abruptly the day before he was set to graduated, almost a week after he had told her about his plans to join the army. This was the first time since then she had brought it up and frankly that unnerved him.

"Umm…why do you ask?" he asked curiously.

"Just wondering?" she said fiddling with the hem of her shirt; it seemed as if she was now regretting her question.

"Oh, well I have registered, since I am already eighteen I could so I thought the earlier I did the less chance I had to put it off," he told her waiting to see how she would react next.

"Oh, okay," she said. He watched her for a minute seeing if she would say anything else, but it seemed that she was still in denial or whatever you wanted to call it and wasn't ready to give her full opinion on the situation and if she didn't want to comment yet, he wasn't going to push her.


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The next day at his graduation she sat with his family which was made up of her, his grandfather and his brother. Luckily no sign of his father, just as he wanted it. Whenever he looked at her, she looked as if she was forcing a smile, like there was something she was hiding. He knew that she was trying to keep some brave face up around him, but she was completely failing because he could see though it and he knew it was only a matter of time until she broke. He just hoped it was before he was set to leave and he was able to pick up the pieces.

After the official ceremony ended Booth searched for his group and it wasn't long before he found them. He saw Hank, with the biggest smile on his face that he had ever seen; no one could deny how proud he was of his grandson. Even Jared who was overly mature was proud of his brother, maybe just knowing they were both safe and sound enough to see this day come. But Booth was the happiest when he saw her, his Bones, now with a smile on her face that he knew wasn't forced an was out of genuine happiness for the events that had transpired that day and the milestone it marked. But that didn't mean that either of them forgot what that signalled the approaching of, the day he could be shipped off to a war zone with so much as a day's notice.


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Booth noticed Brennan's happiness waver over the remainder of the day and he knew that he had to try and get her alone somehow. Hank had organised a party in Booth's honour celebrating the end of an era and since he was the main attraction it was difficult to sneak away. After speeches and the right of passage embarrassing stories he managed to pull himself away from the clutches of his 'adoring' fans. He grabbed Brennan's arm and pulled her around the front of the house and they began to walk down the street away from all the noise. They eventually ended up at the park, their park as he had come to think of it and he pulled her to where he knew they wouldn't be found.

"Hey, I haven't really been able to talk to you all day," he said when he had pulled her down to sit next to him on the grass.

"Yeah, well that was to be expected, considering what today was," she replied.

"I know, but I really wanted to spend time with you, not with them, I mean they are all friends of my grandfathers and people I see all the time. I mean the time we get to see each other is limited," he said. She nodded unsure of how to respond, some of her hair fell in front of her face and he didn't hesitate to lift his hand up and push it behind her ear. He then leaned in and kissed her slowly and waited for her to respond, when she did, she placed her hand on his cheek and they sat there for a few minutes and kissed. When they pulled back he noticed tears forming in her eyes.

"Hey, what's the matter?" he asked wiping away a lone tear that had fallen.

"Tess and Aaron said that we are going away this summer, they apparently want to give me the full summer vacation treatment, Jack's family is coming too," she said, more tears had begun to fall.

"But, I don't understand that's great isn't it, this means they want to do things for you and love you," he said not getting why she was so upset.

"But, I won't be able to see you, what if when after your training you are sent off straight away and I never see you again," she said. Now it clicked in his mind, she was terrified that her leaving and having a good time would mean that they would be separated and in turn they would be parted for good. Booth pulled his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his chest, rubbing his hand up and down her back.

"Shh, it's ok, don't worry. Whatever happens, if I am sent off, I promise you, I promise you that we will be together again not matter what, ok," he put his finger under her chin so he was looking into her eyes, "I love you Bones, I promise you nothing will keep us apart as long as I am still breathing I will come and find you and if for some reason you are moved out of the Sanders' home I will find you, ok. Don't worry." She didn't know what to say other than nod, he leant down and kissed her quickly and reassuringly and then pulled her back against his chest calming her down.

At least Bren has a great family, I hope everything turns out okay between B&B

Next chapter hopefully soon

Brennan woke up one morning a week after Booth's graduation completely out of sorts. Today was the beginning of her vacation with her foster parents and it was a massive understatement to say she was feeling a little apprehensive about it all. She was able to appreciate that they, unlike most foster parents she had heard of, were going out of there way to make her feel like part of a real family. But, honestly the timing couldn't be worse.

She was absolutely terrified about Booth's impending leave for army training, and those fears were heightened knowing she would be elsewhere when he left. Although rationally she knew that it was only training, nothing like the big leagues and nothing serious could happen, but she knew from his determined and dedicated nature that he would excel and ultimately be sent off soon after training was completed. That was what scared her the most, Booth being shipped off without notice and her potentially loosing him forever.

The other end of the scale was the possibility that while Booth was in training or deployed, she was moved out of the Sanders' house and placed somewhere else. Once again she knew that she had Jack who would be able to inform Booth of where she was or vice versa, or she could use Jared, Booth's brother for contact. But she found it all too risky. If she had learnt anything worthwhile in the past six or so months it was to not to trust the system, because she could be sent anywhere at anytime to anyone.

She finally rose from her bed and made her way downstairs, very much dreading that day.



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Booth managed to charm his Pops' car for the day, surprisingly after not much convincing. Somehow in that 'creepy' way that adults 'just know', Hank had an idea about what was to occur the coming day and managed to keep Jared busy so Booth could sneak out without becoming his little brother's chauffeur. Booth was feeling similarly to how his girlfriend was that day, terrified. It was finally hitting him that they were going to be separated for three months at the most and depending on him perhaps longer.

But, he could also understand why Brennan was completely freaking out over the situation they were in. Although he didn't want to admit it, he was scared over the possibility that she could be moved. It wasn't about not being able to find her that instilled fear in him, he knew he would search the ends of the earth until he found her; it was the fear that she could be moved to a place that was the complete opposite to the one she was in currently. That she could suffer pain and abuse all over again, but this time with the possibility that he may not be able to save her.

And what about when the time came for him to be sent off to an unknown location. He knew in his heart of hearts that he wouldn't slack off to avoid the opportunity of fighting for his country no matter what was at stake. But, what would happen when he was unable to contact her for weeks and months at a time, would they be pushed apart? Would they lose each other? Once again deep down he knew what the two of them shared was stronger to outlive anything, but it didn't stop the doubts and nigglings of fear imbedded in the back of his mind.

Booth was now realising how dependent each other's lives were on other peoples word and orders. Like a house of cards, one gush of wind and it could all come tumbling down.



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Booth arrived at her house early that morning, well early by his standards, in the attempts to catch her before she left for her vacation. They had said there goodbyes the day before, and he had been trying to reassure her all week about the trip, but he felt the need to see her again, especially since he didn't have an exact timeline on when he would again. Luckily he had been to the house so often now that he had worked out how to open the gate to the expansive driveway that lead up to the house and didn't need to call ahead.

After managing to let himself onto the property he cautiously made his way up the driveway, cautiously because he was still convince a property like this had vicious dogs hidden somewhere ready to attack. He made it 'safely' to the front door and rang the doorbell, praying that this family wasn't ones who hit the road in the wee hours of the morning. He was relived when he heard her voice yelling somewhere inside the monstrosity of a house that she would get the door, and it wasn't long before he was met by her now smiling face.

She had her arms around his neck in a few short seconds, almost causing him to lose his balance. Her face was quickly buried into his shoulder and she was hugging him like she would never let him go.

"Bones, hey what's this?" he asked taken aback by her string response to seeing him. He was glad she was obviously happy to she him, but he knew something else was going on.

"I just thought I wouldn't get to see you again before we left and I was thinking a lot this morning. And well I guess I'm just glad you're here," she mumbled into his shoulder.

"What did I tell you about thinking, huh, it can cause all sorts of trouble," he told her jokingly. At his words she pulled back and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Fine, then," she said with a slight smile on her face. He was quick to pull her back towards him and wrap his arms around her, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Hey, calm down, I always appreciate all you are willing to give me," he said whipping out his charm smile for safe measure. She smiled back at him and leaned up and placed a quick kiss on his lips before placing her head on his chest, where she felt the most comfortable. "So, do you reckon you are going to survive without me?" he asked her.

Slightly lifting her head she looked into his eyes and shook her head, "Nope, I think we should both stay right here in this spot and not move."

"Hmm, I am liking that idea right now, although I think someone will notice eventually," he told her.

"Who cares," she said. Booth stayed another hour and for that hour they stayed as she wanted, right in that spot, unmoving for anyone. They didn't need to speak to know exactly how each other were feeling about what was happening, one look said it all. Before he left, he kissed her like he never had before, passionate, soft and reassuring all at the same time. A promise between the pair that no matter what challenges they were to face between now and the time they saw each other again, they would overcome them leaps and bounds.

Adorably cute and heart "crushing" at the same time!

Bit of a filler chapter. Please Review and Enjoy

It had been three weeks since he had seen her. Luckily for him it had not been a total loss of contact, a few days earlier she had sent him a postcard from where she was staying. She had managed to say everything that made it obvious to him that she was having a miserable time without him but was keeping up the charade for her foster parents. But, she was saying good things about her time with Jack and it seemed that she had made a friend for life in him and he was keeping her sane while she was away from Booth.

Booth on the other hand didn’t have a handy distraction. He had nothing ahead of him other than his impending army training, which had the potential of separating the couple even more. Six weeks had never felt so long; while he was confident of his decision to enlist he still had those uneasy feelings he assumed anyone in his situation would have. He knew that deep down it was the only thing he could do without completely letting himself down and he continued to remind himself of that as the days drew closer.

He had decided to use this Bones-free time to spend as much time with his Pops and brother as he could, because in all honesty he didn’t know when he would see them again either. Hank had noticed that his grandson was missing Brennan and had aided in keeping his spirits up as much as possible. Booth actually felt more relaxed because of this leading up to his departure, because he was sure that if Brennan was around he would find it very difficult to leave.

********
She felt alone and was slowly detaching. She knew that despite her foster parents best efforts to make this summer a memorable one, she knew that she would only become a problem for them. Brennan was constantly reminded of the vacations she had gone on not too long ago with her family. Those were the only times when she was able to let everything go and be herself without constant crude remarks being thrown her way. She had her brother to herself away from his ‘popular’ friends and she felt like she mattered and that she had a place other than to sit in a library and read.

It didn’t help her to feel excited or sociable when she knew that Booth was leaving in a few short weeks and she couldn’t be there to see him off. She had grown rather anxious recently, knowing that their ‘fate’ as Booth would probably refer to it could be decided solely on his performance at his training. While she knew that he would be highly determined which would allow him to excel, she felt slightly selfish in knowing there was a small part in her that hoped he wouldn’t. And that feeling made her feel extremely guilty.

Jack had been hanging around her more as the days went by, he to aware of what the weeks were leading up to. He knew that if she were to stuff this trip up, and become detached completely from her foster parents she could jeopardise her placing there. He had heard small things about the foster system and what he had heard wasn’t pretty, he knew that if she could make this work, it would definitely be an advantage for her.

Today was the big day, the day that could lead to the changing of two lives in an instant.

Booth hadn’t slept at all the night before, constantly being interrupted by morbid thoughts of what could happen at war. He knew it was stupid to think like that, especially since he was only leaving for training, but subconsciously he knew he would be doing the best he could and it would be a real possibility that he would be sent to war. That, paired with constant thoughts of his girlfriend miles away didn’t help with the bout of insomnia he was suffering from.

He woke early that morning and was dressed in his mandatory uniform as quickly as possible. While he didn’t have to leave until late morning, he didn’t want to waste anytime he had left with his grandfather and brother, especially given the uncertainty of hi future. When he went downstairs to the kitchen he found Hank already up, seemingly having the same idea Booth had.

“Morning, Shrimp,” Hank said when his grandson entered the room.

“Good morning Pops,” Booth answered, he strode across the kitchen towards the bench where coffee was already made. Hank turned on his chair to face Booth and took a good look at him in all his gear.

“So, big day today?” Hank said more as a statement than a question.

“Yep,” Booth was unsure of what to say, and luckily before he left an awkward silence Jared entered the room.

“Well, look at this. Seeley actually shaved and showered this morning, must be a special occasion,” Jared teased walking past Booth, as he did Booth pulled Jared into a headlock, as brothers would do.

“Come on boys, really do we have to be like that today,” Hank was trying to make today as peaceful as possible and didn’t want any of his two grandsons antics ruining that. “Seeley, can I talk to you for a minute,” Hank hardly ever called him Seeley, so Booth knew that this was either very serious or very important. Hank gestured towards the living room and the two sat down on the couch.

“What’s this about Pops?” Booth asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Today you are entering the real world; you are ‘leaving the nest’ as they say. And well we don’t know exactly for how long that is going to be, and while I know that you are string and capable, I still feel worried about not being there to protect you,” Hank began, Booth could see that this was hard for his grandfather and automatically put his hand on his Pops’ shoulder to offer some form of support, to which Hank placed his own hand on top. “I got you something, small, but it will help you while you are gone, protect you when I should be and keep you safe.”

Hank dug around in his pockets and Booth was curious to what he was going to be presented with. After a few moments of rummaging around he found what he was looking for, he pulled out a small silver medallion on a silver chain and handed it to Booth.

“It’s Saint Christopher, the patron saint of…” Hank began.

“Or travellers, yeah I know,” Booth said interrupting his grandfather.

“I thought with you going away, and for who knows how long and to where, you could need all the luck you could get,” Hank said, Booth had no words that seemed worthy enough at that point, so he settled on hugging Hank with all he had to show his appreciation.

*******
Brennan woke anxious and nervous; she was fully aware of what today was and couldn’t help feeling that way. Her whole vacation had been tainted with the anticipation of this day arriving and now that it had she didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t stand at the airport and bid him farewell like they did in the movies and didn’t think she could contact him, so basically she was stuck uncertain of how to proceed for the day.

If she were to be completely honest she would say she had enjoyed her time away, she had some distraction from all the things occurring back at home. But, after nearly six weeks of basically doing nothing, thoughts about her family were seeping in. She would do something which reminded her only remotely of when her family was around and that pushed her back into the shell she had begun to slowly come out of.

…

Jack had seen the waves of despair that Brennan was floating in and out of and he knew that she needed something, one small thing to keep her at bay. He had been mulling over it for nearly a week and it wasn’t until the day before Booth had to leave that the light bulb went of in his head. He knew the perfect way to pull her back even if it was only slightly, and help her avoid being sent to a different foster home, for lack of involvement in family activities.

******

Jack knocked on her door at 8.30 that morning; he knew she usually stayed in her room for as long as possible to avoid all the commotion of her foster parents and his parents. He heard a faint ‘come in’ and quickly entered the room, not wanting to waste any more time.

“Phone for you,” he said, holding it out towards her.

“I didn’t hear it ring,” she told him very matter-of-factly.

“That’s because it didn’t,” Jack held the phone closer to Brennan urging her to talk to whoever was on the other line. Brennan looked at Jack quizzically before holding the phone to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Bones,” the voice answered very casually.

“Booth,” she answered in a state of shock and disbelief. “How?”

“Jack called me and said you were a bit down in the dumps. He thought without six weeks of contact, you could at least speak to me before I leave,” Booth answered. Brennan looked at Jack who was leaving the room, he turned to look at her and saw her mouth ‘thank you’, which let him know this was exactly what she needed. Jack then left the room leaving the two to talk in private.

“I am so happy to hear your voice,” she said, speechless and unsure of what to say in what she expected would be a short call.

“Me too,” he said, in the same boat as her, wanting to say so much in such little time. For a few minutes the two sat by the phone content and listening to the other breathe, until Booth broke the silence. “You know I have to leave today, and well I am glad I can talk to you before that. I want you to remember that whatever happens, we will be together, nothing will break what we have and I won’t let you disappear from my life. I love you, Bones, and I won’t let anything come between us, that’s a promise,” he said with thick emotion in his voice.

Brennan didn’t know how to match his words, so settled with answering, “I love you too.”

They remained silent for a few more minutes; both feeling safe knowing the other was there. Booth then reluctantly said goodbye, the hardest goodbye he had made. He knew that he would keep his promise and she felt the same way he did, but it didn’t aid him in ending the call. Brennan eventually heard the dial tone, indicating to her that he was gone. For one of the first times since her parents left she curled up on her bed and let tears escape her. She was shedding tears for the horrible uncertainty that faced them and the days ahead she would face worrying about their future.