Disclaimer - I don't bones and I really wish I could

Chapter 22.5 – The Gamble in the Game

Booth slowly made his way to the medic tent. Well it was more of a fort than a tent, but that's what everyone called it. When Nurse Sanders had come up to him in the workout room, he'd been more than surprised. However when she had told him that Dr. Brennan wanted to talk with him, he was happy to do so. But just like the first time he met her in that forest, he was surprised yet again, by why she wanted to talk with him. She thanked him of course but what she really wanted to know was what had happened to her. The woman amazed him. Booth knew that there was something special about Dr. Brennan. He just didn't know what yet.

As he came up to the tent he was overcome with a sort of nervousness that he hadn't felt in years. He was a sniper for goodness sake and his palms were sweating at just the idea of playing poker with this woman. He needed his head shrinked.

He pushed through the doors and scanned the beds looking the doctor. What he saw left him breathless. Sitting in a wheelchair by one of the windows, she looked more alive than he ever saw her. Her hair was flowing freely in soft curls around her face. And that face. My god. She looked like a goddess. Her skin glowed and her eyes were a vibrant blue, almost like sapphires. She definitely didn't look like that earlier that day, not that she looked bad then either. She had a natural beauty that couldn't be taken away in any situation. But the image in front of him stopped him in his tracks. She was stunning. Dazzling. Gorgeous. All around beautiful. She looked so innocent and yet liked she understood the entire world. It was so conflicting, that Booth didn't know what to do. He was startled out of his revere as Nurse Sanders came up to him and whispered, "She's been looking forward to this all day. Once I brought her back here she asked if she could bathe. She wanted to look good for you Master Sergeant. Go on and dazzle the socks out of her."

Booth looked down at Sanders and smiled warmly. He had always been fond of her, she reminded him of his grandmother. "Yes, ma'am." Booth walked the rest of the way toward the window, stopping only a few feet from her. He smiled charmingly as he spoke, "Dr. Brennan, do you believe in fate?"

~BONES~

Brennan was looking out a window watching soldiers walk by, laughing openly at something one of their comrades said or did. What she would give to be able to walk freely. She looked down at herself and snorted softly. She would never admit it aloud, but she had indeed – what was the word – gussy upped herself for later that day. She knew rationally that she did indeed to bathe herself properly, since a sponge bath – which she was sure she had gotten when she arrived – was not sufficient. However, she wanted to look nice for Booth. She chalked it up to her biological urge to reproduce when she had just had a near death experience. Yet Booth still had an amazing affect on her. He made her heart race, her temperature spiked when he was near her, and she felt…safe with him. She hadn't felt safe around anyone in a very long time.

Brennan hated that she had actually dolled herself up for a man, bringing herself down to such low standards of looking attractive. It's like this would indeed go anywhere, or that she wanted it to. She didn't even know if he was committed to someone – even though monogamy made no sense to her. She had been thinking all of that when she heard a deep comforting voice asked, "Dr. Brennan, do you believe in fate?"

She slowly turned around in her wheelchair and smiled at him, "Absolutely not. Ludicrous. And you can call me Brennan."

She watched as his smile grew. "Really? Because I think it was fate for me to beat your ass in poker."

Brennan laughed for the first time she could remember in years. And she laughed throughout their game. He told her some of the pranks they played on the new guys. She told him of her times on various digs. She had never been so open with anyone before. Perhaps it was the thought that she would never see Booth again when she left – she hated psychology so she never tried to deal with it – but whatever the case, it felt good to talk so freely and not fear any repercussions. And of course Booth won the game, he won most of them – and not because of fate, she was never good at poker.

Booth had been shuffling the cards for another round when he said, "So Brennan, what you basically do is identify remains off of their bones."

Brennan smiled at him from across her bed – where they had gone to play, him on one end and her at the other sitting Indian style – and nodded her head, "Yes, in layman's terms. Why?"

Booth smiled as he shook his head, "No reason. Just making sure." He dealt out a hand and said nonchalantly, "I gotta tell ya…I really am enjoying getting to know ya, Bones."

Brennan's head snapped up at that name. "Bones is not my name."

Booth shrugged his shoulders. "It's just a nickname." He always gave nicknames out to people he liked. And he definitely liked Brennan.

Brennan sat back and looked at Booth, all of a sudden wanting to cry. She hadn't been given a nickname in a long time, unless she counted what her classmates called her in high school – Morticia – which she didn't. The last person to give her a nickname was her brother, Russ. She was touched deeply that Booth had already wanted to give her something he would only call her. She realized then that he was looking at her, concerned that he offended her in some way. She quickly scrambled to answer him. "Oh, yes. I see. I could call you…" She looked at him up and down, looking for any indicator of something that stood out. She landed on his shoes. "…shoes!"

Booth looked down at his shoes and then back up at her. "Shoes? Why shoes?"

Brennan nodded her head, "Yes, because they are so very shiny." That's when Brennan realized that Booth was actually dressed in his military – what was the word – outfit. He had all his medals and he even had his hat thingy. He wasn't dressed in his fatigues like the other soldiers. Interesting.

Booth looked down at his shoes again and said, "The shoes, they're part of my uniform. The Army, they just have a way of doing things."

Brennan looked down at her hand thinking of her next move when she told him, "Well, anthropologically speaking, para-militaristic and militaristic organizations tend to constrain individuality."

Booth snorted at that thought, "That's for sure."

Brennan smiled as she saw that she would most definitely win this hand. "But any group, no matter how restrictive, the free thinkers, the mavericks, rebels with leadership quality, find ways to declare their distinctiveness."

Booth didn't know how to take that. Was that a compliment or not? "I'm a free thinking real rebel." That's when Brennan put down her hand revealing a straight flush.

Booth chuckled as he took a sip of water that Sanders brought over some time ago. He, however immediately choked on it when Brennan asked him, while dealing out the next hand, "Are you seeing anyone?"

Regain his ability to breath, he said, "Wow. Right to the point there, huh, Bones? Uh, not really. I mean, she's sorta expecting…you know what, it's complicated. You?"

Brennan shrugged her shoulders, "Well, uh, a physicist has been asking me out so I was thinking of saying yes."

Booth was about to tell her that he'd ask her out if he could, when his watched beeped. He looked down at the time, surprised to see it was already time to go. He smiled at Brennan and said, "Well, Bones. I had a great time, but I have to go to some party. That's why I had to wear this monkey suit. But I'll come by tomorrow and finish this hand."

Brennan smiled at him. "I look forward to that. Good-bye Booth."

Booth slipped his hat on and waved as he left, "See ya, Bones."

~BONES~

Brennan waited all day for him. She hated to admit it, but she enjoyed herself a lot in his company. But by the time 8:00 PM rolled around, she knew Booth wasn't coming. However irrational it was, it hurt slightly to have been lied to. If Booth hadn't wanted to finish the game he didn't need to lie to her. She felt betrayed almost. But most of all she was angry at herself for letting Booth get to her like such. It's not like she would ever see him again. Brennan wheeled herself – damn wheelchair – to her bed and laid down, deciding to go to sleep early so she could leave even earlier the next day. Today had been her last day and she had hoped to see Booth before she left, but apparently he didn't want to see her.

~BONES~

Brennan gathered her limited items together and was being walked to the airplane that was going to take her home. Nurse Sanders was walking with her, telling her that she still needed to rest and to drink lots of fluids and get back on a regular, healthy diet for her to heal properly. She also suggested she see a psychologist for any emotional trauma she might have had – which only got her a glare from Brennan in return. The two soldiers that had been escorting them stopped though, when a truck pulled up beside another plane in the hanger. A man walked down the stairs with someone else in handcuffs.

Brennan was shocked to see that it was in fact Booth being led to the awaiting truck. He looked livid. Sanders leaned in and whispered to her, "He went AWOL shortly after he left you the other night. I heard his son was born and they wouldn't let him off base. Poor fella flew all the way to America just to be brought back here on base."

Brennan looked at Sanders and then back at Booth. She whispered to no one in particular, "He has a son?" Just at that moment Booth looked directly to his side and directly at her. His features relaxed from one of anger to surprise. As the truck pulled away, Brennan waved good-bye. He hadn't betrayed her; he had just gone to see his son. Like a true alpha-male.

~BONES~

Six Months Later

Her relationship with the physicist went nowhere, fast. He was rather boring and whenever she went out with him, she always thought of Booth. Which was stupid because she would most likely never see him again. Ever. So she had decided to date her old professor, Michael. It was going. So there she was at a coffee cart in Washington D.C. waiting in line for coffee.

What she really wanted to do was get a job at the Jeffersonian Institute – she had interned there while completing her doctorate in '98 – but they weren't hiring at the time. A Dr. Goodman told her to come back in about a year when their current Forensic Anthropologist was sure to retire. So she waited. She had been offered a few times to go on various other digs, but she had turned them all down. She wasn't up to it yet. But soon.

A light breeze came by, causing Brennan to tighten her scarf around her neck just a little. It was unseasonably cool for autumn. She had just paid for her coffee and turned around when she heard someone call out, "Bones."

She had not expected to her that voice. She in fact had just scolded herself about that very fact. But as she turned around to face the man that called out her nickname, she saw him there. He was dressed in sweats, a white tee, and a hoodie. And he had a stroller in front of him. With a baby inside. She swallowed around the lump in her throat.

Booth smiled widely as he watched Brennan walk over to him. He hadn't seen her in six months this was a pleasant surprise on his run. He hadn't even been sure if it was her at first. The first thing he saw were her eyes as she smiled at the cashier at the coffee cart. She looked healthier, fuller. If it was even possible, she was even more beautiful. As she stopped in front of him, he spoke, "Wow. You look great, Bones. How are you?"

Brennan smiled softly, unsure of what to do. "I'm well, thank you." She looked down at the baby and then back up, "I see you've been busy."

Booth looked down, realizing that she didn't know about his son. "Oh!" He bent down and picked him up out of his stroller. "Bones, this is my son. Parker." He then whispered to Parker, "Parks, this is Bones. Wave hi."

Brennan knew that the baby had no clue what Booth was saying, but she laughed softly as Booth waved the baby's hand for him. "He is quite cute. He looks very much like you."

Booth looked down at Parker and then back up with the proudest smile she had ever seen on his face. "You think? Thanks."

Brennan nodded her head as she took a sip of her coffee. "Well, it was nice seeing you again Booth. Perhaps I'll see you in the region again."

Booth looked at her confused for a second before he chuckles, "You mean, see you around. Yeah, I hope so." Booth watched as she blushed slightly but nodded her head farewell and walked away. However, his gut was telling him to not let her do that, so he called out. "Hey Bones!"

She turned around again and waited for him to say what it was he was going to say. He walked over to her and she soon realized that he looked nervous. "I was wondering, if you have time, you know, we could have dinner sometime."

She looked at him in surprise. "Like a date?"

Booth smiled sheepishly at her. "Yeah, like a date."

"Oh, what about Parker's mother? Wouldn't she find that odd?"

Booth looked down at Parker and bounced him up and down a little. "Nah, Becs and I aren't really on speaking terms right now. She saying, since we were never married that I don't have any rights to Parks here…but you don't need to know that. So, how about that date?"

Brennan didn't know why someone would try to keep a child from someone who obviously loved their child. Especially someone that was a great protector, an alpha-male, like Booth. But she did like the idea of going out with him. She smiled at him, "I would like that very much."

This is the last chapter of this series of books the next book is about season 2 "The Wonderful Partnership Pt 2" will be posted as soon as I post this chapter so read up on this one because were going to season 2.