Hello Readers, seeing as I've abandoned fanfic - essentially - for the past few months when my muse decided to amuse me tonight after seeing some spoiler pics for the season opener, I jumped at the chance to get back in the game. I really, really hope you guys like this. I know it's super short, but I'm really proud of it.

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.

Her bag felt like an anchor on her arm, holding her to that very spot on the cement overlooking the mall. The rough fabric of the handle had grown soft and frayed from the sweat of calloused fingers that trekked miles from work sites back to wherever they had set up camp for the night. A simple rucksack that had hardly made a dent in her wallet that carried everything of value to her while on her year long furlough. The worn khaki had been a pillow on nights when she had been too involved to leave the work site and held everything that reminded her of home.

His standard issue US Army combat boots size elevens were glued to the sidewalk approximately seven feet from chaos scientifically personified. The boots that had carried him from one side of Afghanistan to the other, that had sent him running for safety in combat, and toward his brothers as he shoved them to the desert floor were suddenly the only thing rooting him to the ground. Words failed and his feet wouldn't move him one millimeter further, so he extended his scarred hands and hoped his eyes would convey the words his mouth couldn't speak. Hello. I missed you. I love you.

Her bag hit the ground with a muffled thump.

His feet found the grace of a figure skater.

Each moving exactly three point five feet.

Her right arm went over his shoulder and the left snaked around his waist as her head found it's designated spot in the crook of his shoulder. He lifted her up onto her tiptoes as his arms created a death grip around her hips. His lips left feather light kisses on her shoulder and she couldn't fight the few tears that slid down her cheeks.

Words were an unnecessary accompaniment to the perfect moment under the starry summer sky. The hug lasted as long as both of them needed and not a moment short or long. For the first time in a year, or maybe longer, Seeley Booth and Temperance Brennan were home.