Body, Heart, Mind and Soul

Title: Body, Heart, Mind and Soul
Author: saraluvzbonz
Rating: T
Summary: Booth rushes Bones out of her apartment in her least favorite outfit. What's going on?

AN: Here's a little something for you to enjoy. As always, thanks belong to redrider6612 who helped me with the ending!

A loud pounding on her door interrupted her writing. Placing her laptop on the coffee table, she stood slowly to allow the blood to flow to her limbs.

The pounding came again, more urgently.

"Hi Booth," she said as she opened the door. "What's the rush?"

He hurried past her, crossing her living room in long strides, and headed straight for her bedroom.

By the time she caught up to him, he was pawing through her closet.

"Booth! What are you doing?"

With a shout of "Ah ha!" he tossed a shirt at her. A pair of skinny jeans quickly followed and then a pair of heels.

"Put those on and hurry, we've got to leave in ten minutes."

He tried to push past her, but she blocked him. "I will NOT put these on until you explain. You have no right to be so high-handed with me."

"Sorry Bones. We have to work tonight and you need to wear those clothes. If I'd had more warning, I would have asked Angela to help you, but we don't have time. Please just, put them on and I'll explain while we drive."

"If I'm not satisfied with your explanation, there will be hell to pay later, Seeley Booth." She shooed him out of her room.

The clothes he'd chosen were her least favorite. She stripped quickly, dug a black lacy tank top out of a drawer, tugged it on, and then pulled the low cut purple top on after it. She quickly redid her make-up and hair into a style more appropriate to the clothes. Stepping into stilettos, all she needed was her purse and she'd… no, she couldn't forget jewelry. She grabbed her mother's earrings and a necklace she'd commissioned to match off her dresser.

"Booth, have you seen my purse?" she asked as she walked into the living room.

He whistled. "Wow, Bones. Looking good!"

She frowned. "Purse?"

"Oh, right. On the table in the hallway."

She handed him the necklace. "Make yourself useful. It always takes me five minutes when I have to do this myself."

He stepped behind her, lifted the necklace over her head and lowered it until it rested in place. The spot on her neck where he brushed a hair away burned at his touch and she couldn't breathe until the necklace was fastened and he stepped away.

As she reached for her purse, he shook his head. "ID and cash are the only things you'll be needing tonight."

She glared, opened her purse, and stuffed her ID and some cash in her pocket. He grabbed her keys off the entry table and they were out the door.

Booth tapped his foot while he waited for the elevator.

"So what's going on? Why did you make me objectify myself sexually on a quiet Thursday evening when we don't even have a case?!?"

"We've been roped into doing surveillance tonight."

As he hurried her across the parking lot, she was grateful for his steadying hand at her back. She did not wear high heels often enough to walk quickly in them. Then he opened the passenger door to her car and handed her in. For a moment, she considered arguing that since they were taking her car she should be allowed to drive, but decided she'd rather know about the surveillance. Besides, there was always the drive home.

"I thought surveillance was normally done by junior agents," she commented.

"It is. But there are a couple of operations going down tonight and several of the agents scheduled for this went out to dinner together last night and got food poisoning. They can't work while they're puking up their guts, so Special Agent Bloomfield started calling in favors."

"I don't owe this Bloomfield person any favors."

"No, but I do and this really requires two pairs of agents to do it right."

"I'm not an agent, Booth."

"No, but you're capable of doing this and you are my partner. Think of it like being undercover for a few hours."

He pulled into an empty spot in front of the Hoover Building.

A few minutes later, they were outfitted with several cameras and earpieces. Brennan had a garish pin and what looked like a class ring. Booth wore a pair of glasses and a watch. The watch had a microphone, so he could talk to the agents in communications van.

As they got back in the car, he tossed a file in her lap. She opened it and read the dossier on their target, Lawrence, a drug czar pretending to be an ordinary businessman. He would be meeting with some associates this evening at…

"Hey, this is that club Angela tried to drag me to last weekend. She's gonna be mad that you brought me here first."

Booth shrugged as he parked. "Okay, here are the ground rules. No 'anthropologically speaking' rants this evening. Save them for afterwards. Try to be as normal as possible – let me pay for drinks, pretend to enjoy being in my company and don't hit me if I touch you. Call me Seeley and I'll call you Temperance or Tempe."

He opened her door and offered her a hand out. "Show time, baby."

"Call me baby one more time, Seeley and you'll be wishing you hadn't later." She smiled at him sweetly, but there was a warning glint in her eye.

"Aww… don't be like that, honey!"

She pursed her lips at his baiting. What was it with men giving women infantile or food nicknames?

The club had two levels. There were several bars around the edges with booths in between. High tables with stools filled in the space between the walls and the center dance floor. A band played loud rock music on a stage. Some couples on the second level danced near the railing, while others simply observed the dance floor below.

After Booth procured them drinks, he said, "Hey Temperance, wouldn't it be fun if Angela happened to be here tonight?"

She looked at him oddly. Angela's presence would make their surveillance very difficult. "If I had my cell phone I could call her."

"Too bad you left it at home this evening. Let's see if we can find her."

Ah! That gave them a reason to wander around. What would be an appropriate response? "That would be fun. Bet I spot her first!"

He wrapped his arm around her waist and they meandered through the club, sipping their drinks. Booth looked as relaxed as she'd ever seen him, but the muscles of the arm around her waist were taut, and his sharp, attentive gaze belied their casual conversation about Parker's latest soccer game.

They'd mounted the steps to the second floor when Booth stopped to get refills. While they waited, he stepped close to her. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, he said softly, "Target acquired." She tried to ignore the thrill down her spine from his breath on her neck.

Their drinks came and she settled onto a stool, twirling her glass in her hand, so she could survey the club. Lights flickered on and off in time to the music, which was thankfully quieter up here.

Booth pushed a stool close and sat, draping his right arm over her shoulder. A voice in her ear instructed, "Dr. Brennan, lean into Booth and shift your shoulders to the left. This will give us a full view of the target's table."

She shifted, burrowing into her partner's shoulder. His fingers danced slowly across the bare skin of her shoulder while they talked of their weekend plans. Each idle caress sent a cascade of tingles exploding from his fingertips and her heart thundered.

After the second drink, Booth began ordering them virgin. As their conversation continued, his touch became more intimate and her response more intense. Their casual discussion of the fall lull in movies was interrupted by his whispered, "Crap!"

A second later, he stood in front of her, nudging her legs apart with his hip and nuzzling her ear.

"Boo… Seeley, what's going on?" she whispered breathlessly.

He rested his forehead against hers. "Put your hand over my shoulder so your ring camera has a view of the table."

She complied and he answered her question. "Tessa just came in with one of her girlfriends. She knows I hate places like this. It would not be good for her to notice me."

The voice in her ear distracted Brennan from replying. "Slide your hand further on his shoulder, we can only see half the table."

What followed next was torture. Booth ran his fingers through her hair, kissed her shoulders, neck and face, whispered in her ear, and she had to split her concentration between appropriate responses to Booth's attentions and keeping the camera pointed in the right direction.

She wasn't sure how long it actually took Tessa to leave, but it felt like forever.

She leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "Tessa's finally gone." Louder she said, "Seeley, my glass is empty."

While he passed their glasses to the bartender, she adjusted her angle according to instructions and took a breath. Heat coursed through her body, chased by a tingling shiver. Freed from the necessity of splitting her concentration, her mind focused on what her partner had done – twirling her hair in his fingers, breathing lightly in her ear, kissing her neck at that one spot that normally drove her crazy. Had she moaned in response and run her fingers through his hair?

She struggled to keep her breathing even. Was this normal couple behavior in this environment?

"Here you go, Temperance." He handed her a glass of red wine.

She took a sip. It was an extremely good vintage. "Thanks, Seeley."

He smiled. "What can I say? I know what you like."

"You're so modest."

He nudged her stool forward and slipped between her and the bar. He snaked his arms around her waist and nudged her so she rested against his chest. She rested a hand on top of his. The fingers of his free hand toyed with the hem of her shirt.

Now that she could focus on the full effects of his attention, she was surprised they didn't combust on the spot. How long did they have to stay? Because she really needed some relief. How could he be so calm when she was so… what would Angela call it ... hot and bothered?

"He's leaving now. Finish your glass of wine slowly and then we can leave."

His fingers snuck underneath her shirt and gently stroked her skin. She moaned. She'd had enough. He needed a taste of his own medicine.

She threw back the rest of her wine in one swallow and turned in his arms. Threading her arms around his neck she pulled his head down for a kiss. His surprise lasted a fraction of second and then he was kissing her back.

"Good ruse, Bones," he mumbled against her lips when she pulled back slightly. He pulled her off the stool, steadied her on her high heels, tucked her under his arm and kissed her again.

Brennan didn't remember leaving the club, and suddenly he pressed her up against her car for a searing kiss. Then he opened her door for her, and she sank into the seat, her legs unable to support her.

They were a few blocks away before she got her body under control and her mind to work.

"You want to grab some coffee and pie at the diner before I take you home?"

Hasn't he had enough dessert? She laughed lightly, trying to sound nonchalant. "Why not?"

As they walked into the diner, he said, "Nice work in the club, Bones. I told you I needed your help. Dessert's on me."

He needed a lot more than help, she decided. He needed a kick in the brain.

"That's not the kind of club you go to when you've broken up with a girl to drown your sorrows, the only acceptable reason to drink alone. So I needed you."

"You could have found any number of women who would have been happy to spend an evening canoodling with you."

"Canoodling, Bones? Who are you my grandmother?"

She glared at him and sipped her coffee. The waitress arrived with his pie and he dug in with enthusiasm.

"You're right, I could have. But it wouldn't have felt and looked as natural with anybody else."

"Is that behavior acceptable at clubs?"

He laughed. "You didn't notice the twenty other couples making out?"

"No, between you and the camera I was very distracted."

"Well, I'll take you back there some time and you can study their behavior all you want."

"Angela will probably make me go with her eventually."

"But she'll want you to dance and meet guys. I promise not to interrupt your observation of the humans in their natural party-tat."

"Party-tat?"

"You know, like habitat, only where you party instead of live."

"That is not a real word, Booth."

"I just made it up. Like it?"

She rolled her eyes. "Great. You're done. Let's go home."

He threw a few bills on the table and escorted her out.

When they arrived at her apartment building, he walked her to the door, opened it and handed her the keys. "Don't forget to lock up."

"Oh, we're not done talking, Booth. Come on in. Would you like a beer?"

He glanced at his watch. "It's after midnight and we both have to work tomorrow. Can it wait?"

"No." She stepped back to make room for him to enter.

"Do you want a beer?"

"I've had enough alcohol for tonight, thanks."

She handed him a glass of water. "Here, this will help stave off any hangover symptoms you might have in the morning." She sat down on her couch and he flopped down next to her.

"I don't understand why it had to be me."

"I already told you that it wouldn't have been as comfortable with anybody else."

"You could have taken Cam or Angela. Logically, either one of them would have been a better choice. They know how to behave in those kind of social settings."

"Angela's with Wendell. It wouldn't have been appropriate."

"You had a physical relationship with Cam. What could be more natural and comfortable?"

He winced. "Cam has Michelle to look after."

"Michelle is old enough to look after herself for a few hours."

"Okay, you're right. I could have taken Cam. But I didn't want to. I wanted you."

"Why?" she demanded.

He mumbled something she couldn't hear clearly.

"What?"

"Because you're my partner."

"That's not what you said before."

Shaking his head slowly, he repeated himself, a bit louder but still not distinctly. She glared at him and he glared right back. He looked away first.

"Fine! I said 'because it would have felt too much like cheating on you!'"

She stared at him, her thoughts whirling. If he felt like he would be cheating on her, then he must have feelings for her, romantic feelings. He talked about love like it was transcendent. If he felt that way, why hadn't he told her? It didn't matter, she decided. What mattered was that she knew now.

He watched her warily. She smiled. "Maybe we could try that again sometime when I could actually enjoy the experience?"

His jaw dropped and then he whooped for joy. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight.

"I love you, Bones, body, heart, mind and soul." He laughed, a bright laugh that bounced off the walls. "It feels so good to finally be able to say that."

"Finally?"

"Yeah, I've wanted to tell you for a while."

She nodded and thought back over what he'd said. "Your phrasing was ambiguous. Whose body, heart, mind and soul? Not that I believe people have souls."

"Both." At her confused look, he elaborated. "Your body: you are a very attractive woman. It was the first thing I noticed about you. Your heart: although you do your best to hide it, you care. Your drive to give bones back their identities comes from your heart. Your mind is amazing; I love that you use your intelligence to bring criminals to justice. It's not just theoretical knowledge, you apply it in practical ways. Your soul: You are a strong woman in so many ways. Instead of letting your past break you, you have used it to achieve your goals."

He paused and took a breath. "As for me, I took a bullet for you and I'd do it again. I can't begin to describe how I feel when I'm around you. For a long time, I've chosen to do what is best for you in our relationship rather than acting on how I feel. And I would kill for you without a second thought."

She knew him well enough to understand what he didn't say. That he would be giving up his soul if he killed for her.

"I'm afraid that I don't have any eloquent words to give you back. It's obvious you've spent a lot of time thinking about it. I do know that have been changing between us and I'm ready to explore it."

With that, she tilted her head, stretched up and kissed him, and no more words were necessary.

Way to go, sara! For a while there I was thinking that it was all just a ploy of Booth's to get fresh with her. Glad that Brennan dogged him until she got it out of him. Nice job!

DBCrazy,

Thanks for the comment. I think Booth will hold his cards until he's sure of her, unless she drags it out of him first. Booth might gamble with money but I don't see him as much of a risk-taker with her. Glad you like the end. It was the hardest part to write.

Sara