Title: Good Morning, Baby
Pairing: Brennan, Booth
Rating: PG-13
Timeline: Set in the not-too-distant future.
Spoilers: None.
Prompt: #18 (Whore)
Written for: drabble123 at LiveJournal
Word Count: 300
Disclaimer: Bones and its characters belong to FOX, not me. This story is purely meant to entertain. No copyright infringement is intended.

Good Morning, Baby

"Do you ever compare me to the many other women you've slept with?"

"Well good morning to you, too, Bones."

"Good morning. So, do you?"

"You make it sound like I'm some kind of man-whore."

"That's not my intention. But you are a healthy, attractive male; even if we weren't involved, I would assume you had a normal number of sexual partners."

"No, I don't stack you up against anyone else." Booth sighed. "Why, do you?" he asked, against his better judgment.

"Yes."

"What?" he said, unable to keep the edge out of his voice as he pictured her ranking him against every other guy she'd slept with.

"Look, we've had other partners. I believe it's only normal we're aware of differences."

"Great." Rolling onto his back, Booth covered his face with his pillow.

The edge of the pillow lifted. Booth scowled; Brennan looked back at him calmly, her lips twitching suspiciously. "Before you get upset, don't you want to hear what I concluded?"

"Not really," he lied.

"I concluded"—she brushed a hand over his jaw, fingertips catching on his morning stubble—"that while there are variations in technique and build, none of that matters. There were other men; now there is you." Her gaze softened, and Booth found his irritation dissolving. "I can't explain it or quantify it." She frowned. "But what matters is that I… love you. That's new for me, you know. I—"

"I know." Tossing away the pillow, he tugged Brennan down against him. Love. He knew the word didn't come easily to her. "Thank you," he said against her cheek.

"For what?"

"For taking a leap of faith with me."

"But it's not faith," she shot back.

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know."

"I do." Smiling, Booth kissed his partner good morning.

A/N: And that brings us to the end of Into the Fire. I've enjoyed writing this; I hope you've enjoyed reading it. If you have a sec, I'm always interested to hear what you thought. Hugs and thanks to everyone who read & commented or read & lurked. Boneskittie, I saw your message about another prompt; since this series was based on a table of one-word prompts at LiveJournal, I'll try to use your prompt elsewhere.

Happy Bones Day, friends. :)