So let's set up some background here for everyone…

Seeley Booth isn't with the FBI. He works for a private security firm, is still fresh out of the Army and is in the beginning stages of his gambling habit. He has not met Rebecca and is currently single.

Dr. Temperance Brennan, or Bren (or Tempe) for short, is just coming off a long doctorate program and is trying to make a place for herself in the anthropological world. She is single and has no intention of rectifying that in the near future.

November 17, 2005

"So…" The bartender set the group up with another round. "Any plans for Thanksgiving?"

There were a couple of 'going homes' or 'to the girlfriends' but other than that the consensus was a sequence of grunts. Holidays always gave them a certain level of pissiness.

Among the group of eight or so men was a man by the name of Seeley Booth. He was tall, but not too tall, had sun perfected skin, a grin that made you weak in your knees, and charm enough to get the spots off a cheetah. He was smart, religious on Sundays and brought up to treat all women with the utmost respect. A perfect catch really. Except for one thing.

"Hey Seel," Sean Marshall lightly slapped his shoulder to get his attention," you want to play some pool?"

"Sure," he answered quickly. "You must be in the mood for another ass beating."

Yes, Seeley Booth was almost perfect, except for the thing that had began to keep him awake at nights and eat his entire income the day he got it. Seeley Booth was a gambler. In more ways that one.

.

Shivering in the cold November wind, newly Dr. Temperance Brennan hitched her light jacket around her body as close as she could get it. Not being prepared for the quick decline in temperatures she hadn't packed the appropriate heavier clothing in her suitcase.

Shivering again she spotted a bar across the street still open at the late hour. Clutching her satchel close to her body she jogged across the street and entered, happy to feel the warmth roll out the door.

It definitely wasn't the cleanest, or dirtiest for that matter, bar she had ever been in, but the place was well lit enough to make her not want to run to the hills…plus she was starving.

The bar was practically empty so she chose a seat near the far end by the door and grabbed a menu from the stack.

"What can I get you?"

"Hello," she greeted the man behind the counter. "Do you perhaps have any hot cider?"

"This look like Knotts Berry farm?"

"I'll take that as a no." She looked at the draft handles a few feet away. "Miller light please."

He nodded then went to the bar to get her drink. He brought it back with a thick head on the top and sat it atop a coaster in front of her.

"You want anything else?" he asked her, more politely this time. Maybe it was because she had slid her coat from around her shoulders, or shook the ponytail from her hair, but whatever it was; his attitude seemed to come full circle.

She scanned the menu again quickly, trying to find anything that might not kill her in the near future.

"I'm guessing you don't have anything meatless."

"It's a bar, babe. Beer and wings is what we do," he replied smugly.

"Fine," she relented. "Boneless and as hot as you can make them." She had inherited her father's need for spice. And while in Rome she might as well do as the Romans, or eat, as they did.

.

"Admit is Marshall," Seeley boasted sinking the last ball into its respective pocket easily," you just can't beat me."

"Fuck," he cursed under his breath watching the ball sink out of sight. "How many games does that make now?"

"I've lost count my good man," he replied flipping his invisible cigar. "Now pay up."

Sean Marshall pulled the twenty from his pocket and slapped it onto the green felt. "I hate you man. This is the last time I'm playing with you."

"You keep saying that," Seeley sang, tucking the bill into the pocket of his dark jeans.

"Well this time I mean it," Marshall laughed.

"Uh huh. Why don't I use my winnings and buy us another round."

Seeley headed to the bar, high on his win and cocky in his attitude. Winning always felt good and being a winner felt even better.

"Another round my good fellow," he told the bar tender cheerfully. He noticed the very cute girl sitting at the bar alone. "And another for her too."

"No thank you," she told him politely. "I'm only having one."

He shrugged," suite yourself."

"I will thank you."

He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she ate. Beautiful was hardly the word to describe her. Gorgeous. Hair that met her shoulders, skin just the right shade of peach, not a stitch of make-up and it made her look better.

"Have we met?" Yes, it was the worst line in man's history but he just felt he needed to talk to her.

"No," she answered simply. "If we had met, I'm certain I would remember you. Why?" She titled her head ever so slightly and he had to fight the urge to want to put his tongue in the small dimple in her neck.

"Nothing I just thought, maybe, we'd met before. But no matter." He stuck his hand out. "Seeley Booth."

She looked at his hand as if she was confused on the gesture, but slowly she reciprocated and they shook.

"Temperance Brennan."

"Temperance, wow. That's a mouth full."

"Pardon me?"

"I just mean…it's unique. I've never heard it before."

"No more unique than Seeley I suppose," she replied shortly taking a sip of her own beer and moving her plate aside.

"You got me there." Ouch.

"So Seeley, what is it you do?"

"I work for a private security firm."

"Oh. That must be interesting work."

"I guess you could say that," he said with a nonchalant shrug. "We contract out to places, people who need some muscle and make sure no one busts a cap in their ass."

Now that line got him laughs before but this girl, she wasn't having any of it.

"I don't think I know what bust a cap in their ass means."

He chuckled softly. "It means tries to shoot them, but it's kind of an umbrella term for killing."

"So you work for politicians and such?"

Why did she find this so interesting he wondered? Normally he could just flash a smile and flex his muscles and that was all the conversation he needed. This one, she actually wanted to talk about something.

"Yeah mostly politicians, some minor celebrities. No big deal really." His beers came and he gathered them between his fingers. "It was nice talking to you Temperance. Have a nice rest of the night."

"Yes, thank you. You do the same."

Bren watched him go back to his friends. He was greeted warmly by the group and it was obvious to her, a studier of people and cultures, that he was the dominant male in the group. The alpha male if you will. He took presence when he entered a crowd, which would be obvious to a blind man. People noticed him.

He was interesting to her the instant he spoke. The way he tried to charm her with his cheesy pick-up line, his smooth smile, the grace he used to hold himself. She found that fascinating. It was rare to find such a fine specimen nowadays. Well, at least out of the Congo.

.

"Who's the chick?" Marshall asked accepting his beer and bringing it to his parched lips. "She's hot."

Seeley shrugged as he sat down next to his friend. "Her name's Temperance."

"She's-" Marshall was cut off by the sight of the same woman headed their way. "Oh shit man, she's coming over here."

"What?" He whipped his head around.

"Don't look you dumbass!"

But he couldn't help it. The second he caught sight of her it was over. She was walking with confidence and stopped right in front of him.

"Hey," he greeted her.

"Hello again." She looked at the vacant chair between the two men. "May I?"

Both men stuttered and reached for the chair at the same time. Seeley gave his friend a death glare and Marshall quickly backed off.

"Please." He held it out for her. "It's all yours."

"Thank you."

"Sure. Temperance this is Sean Marshall. Marshall, Temperance."

"Nice to meet you." She held out her hand for him to shake.

"Yeah…you too. I mean nice to meet you. I'm gonna…" he pointed in the direction of the pool table. "Nice to meet you."

The pair watched the dumbfounded Marshall head to the rest of group shooting pool and throwing back shots.

"Well that was a little odd," she commented. "Is he always like that?"

Seeley chuckled. "You could say that."

She turned back to him. "What do you mean?"

"He's only like that around very beautiful women."

"Oh." She felt a slight flush rush her cheeks. "Well I'll take his stuttering as a compliment then."

"Yeah," he laughed," most definitely." He took another long drink of his beer. "So what can I do for you?"

Now came the hard part. She wasn't just to come out and say I find you fascinating that would be weird. But she found she wanted to know more about this man. His tendencies, his habits….what he looked like without a shirt. (That's science too you know)

"Well we never really finished our conversation and I just thought, if you wanted to that is….I'm a forensic anthropologist." She could meet dignitaries and heads of state but put her in the same room as a good looking man and she was drooling on herself and slurring her words. Smooth.

"Wow." He sounded very impressed. Then he laughed nervously. "I have no idea what that is."

"That's alright, most people don't. I study people."

"So it's like psychology," he inferred.

"What? No. It's nothing like psychology. Psychology is a soft science full of guessing and hypotheses. Anthropology is looking at someone and knowing where they've been, what they've been through. I can look at a set of bones and know exactly how that person died…for instance."

Part of him was impressed as well as a little creeped out. But what won out was his curiosity.

"Really? You can look at people and see where they've been?"

"Sure. I can look at a bone and tell if it's ever been broken and at about what time in their life, look at element levels and tell where they grew up and recently in a small village just outside Argentina I was able to tell a man had several children with his sister."

"Ew," he said laughing," but still pretty cool. So what made you want to get into that? It seems like a job not many people fill out on their what I want to be when I grow up papers."

"I don't know what that means."

"It means, why anthropology?"

"Oh. Well during my undergrad I helped out on archeological dig and they found some what they thought were bones so an anthropologist was called in. I was able to help him during his time there and I liked it very much so when I returned to school I checked into it."

"And the rest is history."

"Pretty much. So what about you? How did you get into securities?"

"Well that is a very complicated story," he told her. He offered her another beer while he ordered his own and she refused.

"I like complicated. My life is nothing but complicated."

He laughed again. He couldn't believe how beautiful this woman was, sitting here talking to him about his job. He never talked to them about this stuff. Truth be told they barely got past names before they were falling into bed at whatever hotel he was staying at.

"Okay here it is. At 18 I joined the army, at 21 I re-upped. When I got out at 27 I had nothing else to do and this job kinda fell in my lap. The pay is pretty good but everything else is pretty sucky. Although seeing other parts of the world has its perks."

"Yes, the desert can be hard on a body of it isn't used to it," she agreed.

"Pardon me?" He coughed hard to get the beer from his throat. "Who said anything about the desert?"

"Isn't that where you just arrived from? I can't pinpoint a location thought."

"How did you know that?" Was he drunker than he felt? Had he told her he

just got back from a two month stint in the sand?

"The coloring of your skin suggests harsh, constant sunlight. May I?" She held out her hand.

"Sure." He held out his own for her to take.

"See, here." She pointed to a rough patch. "You didn't hydrate your skin enough while you were away. The sand makes fine cuts in the skin if you aren't used to it. I suggest some quality lotion perhaps a couple wax treatments."

"I'll think about it but I can't guarantee anything. So you can really tell all that from my rough skin?"

"Although I don't usually work with flesh, yes, I can."

"Hmm, pretty cool. It's a good thing you can't read my mind."

"Mind reading is impossible."

"Right. Good thing anyway."

There was a cheer from the direction of the pool tables and both turned to see what the noise was. The rowdy group was cheering on Marshall shooting balls from behind his back. Seeley felt the pull of the tables calling him back to them but kept his attention on the woman sitting next to him.

"You want to play?" she asked him.

"…nah," he said with a shake of his head. "I think I'd rather sit here with you."

"So you're from here?" He had to turn his back on the game to completely block it out but it just gave him a better view of her beautiful eyes and warm smile.

"Uh huh. I'm lived in Chicago since just before I turned sixteen. You?" She helped herself to the peanuts on the table and after breaking the shell she popped them into her mouth.

"Philly."

"So you're here for work?" It was an open ended question on her part for more than one reason. The first being, if things went according to the plan forming in her head she wouldn't have to bump into this man at the laundry mat.

"Two more days then off to Utah of all places." He too grabbed a handful of nuts and began cracking the shells. "So you're home from work?"

"Only for a week then I'm going overseas for a few months to consult on a dig."

They both nodded as they finished their nuts, not really sure what else to talk about.

Seeley cleared his throat to break the silence. "So can I ask you something?"

"Sure." She scratched her neck nervously.

"Why did you come over here to talk to me?"

How should she answer that? I noticed your nice ass as you walked away? Maybe that was a bit too upfront.

She shrugged nonchalantly, trying to play the whole thing off as she had nothing better to do.

"I just thought you might be an interesting conversationalist," she finally decided on.

"Right. Is that why I could feel your eyes on me the whole way back here?" He motioned his finger from the bar to the table.

"I was not!" she denied.

"You totally were but hey, it's cool." He leaned in closer. "I think you're smoking hot."

She could feel his warm breath, which amazingly didn't reek of beer, on her neck and up to her ear.

"That would imply I'm on fire," she said with a slight stutter trying to form a more rational thought.

"You are." He nipped her earlobe with his teeth. "You want to get out of here?"

"Yes please," was all she could manage to get out.

The longer the night progressed the colder it became and the pair hailed a cab quickly. Giving the driver his hotel Seeley pulled Tempe into his lap and latched his mouth onto hers. She met him with equal vigor sliding her tongue across his lips, demanding entrance.

"Damn baby," he laughed. "Slow down. We got all night."

But she didn't slow down. She fisted the collar of his heavy shirt and held it in a tight grip as she ground herself into him. Seeley guided her hips over himself and held her steady as she found a mutually agreed rhythm.

The cab came to an abrupt stop forcing them closer together before pulling them apart. They came eye to eye as he kept her from hitting the partition and they smiled at each other. They both wanted this. Temperance dug some money from her purse and tossed it to the cab driver as Seeley held the door and waited for her.

Inside the hotel they parted long enough to get into the elevator and onto his floor.

"I didn't plan this when I came into the bar," she assured him. "I don't just pick up strange men."

"I believe you," he said as he kissed her again this time backing her against the wall.

"I just find you an exquisite male specimen."

"Uh huh." He slid his hands under her blouse and around her torso so he could grip her back, digging his fingers into her pliant flesh.

"Is this something you do frequently?" she asked.

He pulled back to look in her eyes to judge what she was asking him. "Sex or one nighters?"

"One night," she clarified. "Not that I'm judging I'm asking because being the specimen you are it seems you would have many female suitors."

"I'm sorry but…what?" He let his hands fall as he stepped back. "I've had a few one night stands, yeah, but who hasn't? I'm sure you have too."

"Of course. I'm an attractive person and I haven't been not able to please one of my partners yet."

"Rule number one," he held up his finger as he moved closer. His hand wrapped around her waist and he pulled them flush. "No talk about other partners. This is all about you and me. Got it?"

"Got it," she repeated as she captured his mouth again. "Any other rules," kiss," I should know about?"

"This isn't school," he chuckled, unbuttoning her blouse easily then sliding it off her shoulders and onto the floor. Her skin was just darker than the pale pink of her bra and he couldn't keep his hands from running to the globes of her breasts and grasping them softly. She held herself firm under his caress as he pressed his lips to her collar bone and as his hands left her top and moved to her jeans clasp.

"Wait," she breathed as the snap came undone. "This is far too one sided." Taking his shirt she pulled roughly until his was bare chested in front of her. His muscles, barely visible in the dim light of the cheap room, called out to her so she traced her fingers over his chest, down to his abs, then to the button fly on his own jeans.

"Damn your hands feel good on me," he panted as she explored more of his torso.

"Your body is magnificent," she complimented pausing at a dip in his abs. "Whatever workout regime you use is definitely working."

"All part of my job," he grunted hoisting her into his arms and turning towards the bedroom. She let out a feminine giggle that shot straight from his spine to his groin. He held her firmly against his body as he kicked the door open with his foot then back shut again with his heel.

"Now," he smiled down on her as he dumped her onto the bed," it's time to get this gorgeous body of yours out of these clothes."

Stripping her was the easy task compared to waiting to bury himself deep inside her. She was making all the right noises that made him want her so badly he ached.

"Yes," she moaned as he slid the last leg of her jeans off. Her underwear, pitch black and not matching her bra at all, stayed on as he climbed onto the bed and hovered over her. Her fingers found purchase in the flesh of his back and she scraped her short nails over his skin causing him to shutter.

"Tickle?" she teased doing it again.

"Not even close," he practically growled back attacking her mouth and throwing her legs over his hips. He ground himself to her, both still underwear bound, teasing her with his cock.

"God get inside me," she begged as he pushed himself back down on her.

"I gotta get, fuck, a condom," he remembered quickly.

"In my purse," she told him.

"I thought you didn't plan this," he chuckled dryly pulling it from the floor and handing it to her.

"It's sexually irresponsible to always depend on the man providing protection," she replied logically. "Plus," she grinned wide," this way I can use my favorites." She held up several options for him.

"Jesus Christ it's like CVS in there," he said looking into the small bag. "What's the difference?"

"Ribbed, lubricated-"

"I think you're lubricated enough," he teased.

"Good point." She put the option back in her purse. "Then it's between the ribbed and the-"

"Who cares, just choose one," he growled impatiently.

She simply placed the rest of the condoms back into her purse, keeping out the one she wanted to use. Ripping it with her teeth, he belly laughed when she spit the little piece of foil from her lips, she handed him the opened package enthusiastically.

Giving a little grunt he rolled the condom over himself and tossed the wrapped behind him.

"Now, where were we?"

"I believe we were-oh!" He finished her sentence by burying himself deep inside her.

"Oh is right," he agreed sliding out slowly then pushing his way back in. "Holy mother you're tight." He paused long enough to let the implication form in his head and pause his motions. "You're not a…are you?"

"A what?" she panted, clearly annoyed his making small talk and screwing her.

"Virgin?"

"Would a virgin be carrying around four varieties of condoms? There are exercises a woman to do to stay conditioned, I happen to practice them."

"Ok, good, just checking." Then he drove home, hard this time, causing her to arch her back and moan loudly.

"There," she moaned absent mindedly. "Oh yes there."

He hitched her leg up higher practically pressing her knee into her neck so he could get a deeper angle of penetration.

"Deeper," she begged. "Deeper."

"Any deeper," he said thrusting in hard," and it'll come out your ears."

"Fine," she replied shoving his chest hard causing him to fall back on the bed and subsequently under her. Her hair fell in her face but he quickly pushed it back.

"Like the view better from down there?" she asked.

"Definitely." Her breasts heaved in front of him, her smile wide and her cheeks a deep shade of pink. He pulled her down for a searing kiss as she began to move. She rocked hard as he thrust up and they both moaned in unison.

"That feels so good," she whispered against his lips.

"You feel so good," he corrected. His hands wandered her back then into her hair as she continued to ride him.

"Yeah baby, come on," he encouraged. "I'm getting close, please tell you're close."

"I'm close," she confirmed. Her nails dug into his chest leaving half moons in the skin as she quickened her pace so they could come together.

"Yes, come on." He gripped her hips tightly as he met her thrust for thrust. "Come on, come for me."

She let out a cry as she came on him, stilling her movements and collapsing on his chest. He huffed through her hair covering his face.

"Wow…" she whispered.

"Yeah…wow."

She rolled off him taking the sheet with her to cover her body. "That was really good."

Now limp and spent he did the same and covered himself. "Yeah it was."

"Sorry if I hogged all the control," she blushed.

"No don't be. It's nice to not have to do all the work," he laughed. She could see him under the sheet removing the condom and tossing it on the nearby waste basket.

"Well I guess I should, uh, go." She sat up holding the sheet to her chest and began searching for her clothes.

"Already?" he asked looking at her strangely. "You don't' have to go now. You're welcome to stay." He ran his hand down her arm slowly causing all the hairs on her arm to stand up under his touch.

"I really don't see the point though," she replied softly.

"Well for one thing," he said sitting up so they were eye to eye. "The night doesn't have to be over yet."

..

So what do we thing? Play it or pitch it? I found I really like writing AU; it makes me work harder as a writer. The premise of the story is they are going to keep running into each other, crossing paths, all over the world. Reviews are like drugs, you can't get enough!