He was tired. So very, very tired. The breathing tube wound 'round his head annoyed him, but he couldn't remove it. He could barely breathe without the oxygen being pumped directly into his nose.

His body, once so muscular and strong, was thin, his bones so weak that even the slightest fall would shatter them like glass. Oh, to be young and powerful again, he thought as he gently squeezed his wife's hand.

She lay in the bed to his left, just as old and thin as him, but there was one difference: she was already gone.

The machines had been silenced, their shrill wail having pierced the air a little over an hour before. But he had not cried, he had felt no pain, no despair as her life ended and her eyes closed forever. For he knew that his end was not far behind.

Their four children were with them, the tears that had fallen for their mother's passing still glistening in their eyes as they watched their father, waiting until he, too, would leave them forever.

He chuckled to himself as he thought, Well, only three of them are 'ours'...but all four are mine.

The eldest of the group was thirty-five, and he looked just like his father had when he had been his son's age. And he already has a wife. Lucky dog. His father chuckled again. Good for him.

The next of the group was twenty, their first daughter. Tall and slender, just like her mother, but she had her father's catlike grace and power. She'll be dangerous one day, once she realizes her true strength, he thought as he looked at her.

The third child was his second son, a strong, sinewy eighteen year-old. He was shorter than the rest, but his eyes showed that he had his mother's intelligence and his father's great courage and lion heart. He'll be just like his mother soon enough, thought his father proudly.

Then came the last, their baby, a quiet fourteen year-old girl. She was the spitting image of her mother, right down to her utter inability to understand a joke. But what had always puzzled her father was the girl's incredible ability to bring peace to even the most angry and upset of people. He had seen this skill demonstrated several times, even though it scared the hell out of him every time. She's going to change the world, somehow, someway. He thought.

The big man's heartbeat echoed in his ears, and every time it did, he could hear the tick of a universal clock that was swiftly spinning down on his remaining time in the world. He was at peace. He was ready.

Don't rush what little time you have left, my love. I will wait for you as long as is necessary. The whisper of his wife's voice in his ears brought a smile to his tired face as he remembered the first time he had heard her voice in his mind.

That was so long ago, he thought. When I thought I had lost her forever. The day that everything changed between us. The day that we truly became an 'us'.

Then he remembered the loss of their friend, known as The Guardian to some, and as Sergeant Katelyn Bell to the rest of the world. Ah Kate, I'll be joining you and Tobi and Bones here soon, Booth thought to himself as he slowly closed his eyes.

Parker will take care of little Christine. Katelyn and Toby are well able to look after themselves, Booth thought as his awareness of the world around him began to fade.

Booth wasn't aware of the erratic beeping of the machines surrounding him, nor of the quiet gasps of his children. He didn't hear Parker call for a doctor, nor did he feel them removing Temperance Brennan's hand from his.

The only thing Seeley Booth was aware of was the light that engulfed him and took him to where the spirit of his beloved wife was waiting for him, as well as the spirits of Sergeant Katelyn 'Kate' Bell and Sergeant Kurt 'Tobi' Tobiano.

Then he heard the whisper of the Shadow Song one last time. One journey ends. A new one begins.