Chapter 1

The office of Dr. Wynne Darcy was absolutely immaculate; that was the first thing Edgar Bennet noticed.

All of her filing cabinets were perfectly organized, the desk was well sorted, and the entire room was spacious and overly neat. There was something sterile and unnatural about it; frankly, it made him feel rather uncomfortable.

Though it was not something he cared to admit, Edgar found perfection intimidating. Imperfection was a natural state of being; natural gemstones were inherently flawed, giving them their beauty. Specific individuals of a species were all flawed in some way, differentiating them from one another. Rocks were weathered unevenly. Nothing was created perfect; perfection was not a natural state.

He contemplated this as he sat in the office of Dr. Darcy, quietly sipping his Snapple tea. "What sort of person," he mused aloud in awe, "Works in such an orderly place?"

"I do," came a curt voice from the doorway, causing him to turn his head. A rather tall, pretty woman stood in the doorway, dressed in a lab coat. With measured strides, she made her way to her desk, before sitting down and fixing him with a blank, unreadable stare.

"Hey, you must be Dr. Darcy," he began in what he thought to be a cheerful, outgoing manner. "I'm Edgar, the new-"

"What are you doing here, kid?" she asked disinterestedly, drumming her fingers impatiently on the wood. "This section of the museum isn't exactly open for tours or public viewing. Come to think of it, how did you get access to this area?"

Edgar grinned. "Well, I-"

"Candace!" Darcy barked at the doorway, interrupting him, raising a hand to silence him when he tried to continue. Within a few moments, a bubbly redhead stood at the doorway.

Candace Bingley was her best friend. Perpetually cheerful and outgoing, she was Darcy's polar opposite, yet somehow, the two had remained inseparable throughout grade school and beyond. Both of them had gone into forensic science together, and made a point working with one another.

"What, Wynne?" Candace asked, before noticing Edgar. "Oh!" She exclaimed brightly. "You're the new intern, right?"

Edgar nodded cheerfully in assent. "Indeed I am," he said pointedly, "As I was trying to explain."

The two of them simultaneously glanced at Darcy, who colored under their gazes. Embarrassed, she lashed out. "Candace, shouldn't you consult me before hiring interns into my lab?" She asked, incensed. "You can't just bring in any messenger-bag toting wannabe from the street, there are protocols that you have to-"

Candace snorted. "Don't worry," she said, "I wouldn't do that. Edgar came very well recommended. He just finished two degrees in pathology and entomology. At your alma mater, in fact."

"I'm pursuing a doctorate in forensic anthropology as well," Edgar stated, "which is why I wanted to intern here. The Netherfield Institute has been at the forefront of the field for quite a while."

The three of them stilled for several moments, a heavy silence pervading through the air. Finally, Darcy motioned for Edgar to leave his office. "Well?" she snapped, "Aren't you going to get to work then?"

"You should go to Lewis's office," Candace offered kindly. "He'll help you get set up."

Edgar flashed a charming, thankful grin at her, before standing, straightening, and walking out of the office at a leisurely pace.

As soon as Edgar was presumably out of earshot, Candace ducked into the office and swooped down on Darcy's desk. "You could have been friendlier," she scolded her friend. Though Darcy was a kind soul deep, deep down, more often than not she managed to scare others away with her prickly exterior.

Darcy flushed. "It-it was a gut reaction," she defended herself, "You embarrassed me in front of my intern. It was degrading and humiliating."

"I didn't embarrass you," Candace rolled her eyes. "You did it to yourself."

"I-," Darcy found she could not articulate herself. What her friend said was correct in its entirety.

"You went ahead and made assumptions based on his appearance," she finished in a bored tone. "Yeah, we all know how you have an abrasive personality and the highest degree of social retardation. Try not to scare the new interns with them, please."

"In my defense, he dressed like a geeky prepster," Darcy pointed out, crossing her arms defensively before her. "Not exactly a great fit for the lab."

"No, but he was fit," Candace grinned, making a play on Darcy's words, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

Her friend straightened up ramrod straight. Although she had to acknowledge that Edgar Bennet cut a pleasing figure, she found the statement to be objectionable for a number of reasons. "Candace," she hissed. "He's got to be ten years younger than us! And he works for you!"

"Five, actually," Candace felt obligated to point out. "And besides, I've got a boyfriend. I'm just appreciating eye candy."

"Is that why you hired him? Eye candy?" Darcy raised her eyebrows, unimpressed. "Because he seemed as dumb as a rock-"

A sigh, quiet, soft, and weary. "We've been through this before," the other woman said tiredly. "He was extremely qualified and had stellar recommendations."

The two of them stared each other down. Finally, Darcy gave in with a weary sigh, knowing fully well she was in the wrong. "Fine," she conceded, grimacing when Candace made a triumphant fist-pump. "But I give him a week before I fire him for incompetence."

Candace waved her hand unworriedly. "Anyway, with that out of the way," she said, straightening up, "You up to meeting my boyfriend next week at the BBQ?"

"After weeks of you doing nothing but sing his praises?" Darcy asked, rolling her eyes. "Yes, of course I want to meet him."

Her friend squealed loudly, ran over, and wrapped her in a tight hug. "You'll love him," she predicted, gushing dreamily, her blue eyes sparkling. "He's so nice, you won't be able to help it."

"If you say so," Darcy replied, amused.

After a moment of warm hugging, the redhead stiffened. "Oh! I have to warn you though," Candace said, pulling away from her best friend, a pained expression gracing her face as she did so.

"What?" Darcy felt her stomach sink; she had an unpleasant feeling what Candace was about to say.

"Cebrian's going to be there," she eked out apprehensively.

Darcy simply stared at her friend in abject horror.

"My boss is officially a bitch," Edgar announced, plopping onto the couch lazily. "I mean, I've heard the staff talk about her, but I wanted to give her the benefit of doubt. Then I met her. She's a bitch. A judgmental bitch."

The two oldest Bennet brothers had always been extremely close, and after college, the both of them had moved into a condominium in downtown San Jose together. Though originally meant to be a temporary solution, the two had readily decided to make the situation permanent when it became obvious that it was extremely beneficial, and not objectionable to either in the least.

Jaden briefly looked up to glance at his little brother, before returning his eyes to Skyrim. "That really sucks, dude," he murmured softly, his voice full of genuine sympathy. "What'd she do?"

"It's more of what she said," Edgar said, rolling his eyes. "She called me, and I quote, a 'geeky prepster', said that I looked 'dumb as a rock'. She also had the grace to warn me that I had a week on the job before being inevitably booted." He punctuated each quote with excess force in order to adequately convey his bitter opinion on the matter. "I guess she thinks being fashionably dressed and intelligence are mutually exclusive."

His brother continued to mash the buttons furiously. "She said this to your face?" he inquired incredulously. Jaden couldn't imagine that any person would be rude enough to do that.

"Well, no," Edgar confessed. "I was eavesdropping on her and her best friend- who is totally your type, by the way." He looked at his brother meaningfully, drawing forth a frustrated groan from the other.

Pausing the game, Jaden turned and looked his brother square in the eye. "Edgar," he said solemnly, "I've already told you, I'm not looking-"

"I wasn't going to set you up with her: she's my boss. But you need to get over Jenna," the other argued. "It's been months. You need to get a move on with your life."

As far as girlfriends went, Jaden had an extremely bad track record. Due to his easygoing and reserved exterior, relationships soured more often than not. The ugly, torrid debacle concerning Jenna was only the tip of the iceberg; for all the emotional trauma his brother had gone through, Edgar would not at all be surprised if he lost the inclination to search for a significant other.

Jaden laughed softly. "That's not it," he replied, his eyes shining with a cautious, muted happiness. "I already have a girlfriend."

"Are you serious?" Jaden nodded eagerly in confirmation. "That's great dude! I'm happy for you."

When his brother began to fidget, Edgar's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "She's not- she's not Carla is she?" Carla was a mutual friend, and a dear one, but her love life was both questionable and uncouth- ostensibly due to the fact that she did not respect the concept of fidelity in the least. She might as well have been family to the pair, but Edgar would be damned before he let his innocent older brother fall into her clutches.

"No! She's not someone you know, she's uh- she's one of the students at the dojo."

Judo had been an integral part of Bennet family life for many decades, and could be traced to their Japanese roots. Phil and Fran Bennet took the instruction of their children very seriously; each child was at least proficient in the art. Jaden, the pride and joy of their mother, and Martin, the family's star judoka, had both gone one step further, becoming an instructor.

"One of your students?" Edgar grinned. "There's got to be some ethical issues going on there."

"Yeah." Jaden scratched his head absentmindedly, though still smiling. "When we started going out, I switched shifts with Martin. So he teaches her now, instead." Seeing his brother's questioning look, he elaborated further. "She works until five, so she only has time for the night class."

"When did you start going out?" Edgar wondered aloud.

His brother had the grace to adopt a sheepish look. "Two weeks, give or take," he answered.

Edgar's eyes bulged out of his head. "Two weeks? And I'm hearing about this now?" He shook his head in mock disappointment. "You've been demoted. Keith is my favorite brother now." Keith and Liam were the two youngest brothers, a troublesome pair still in high school. Edgar didn't particularly like Liam, but Keith was easily his second favorite sibling.

"Oh stop." Jaden resumed his game, diverting his attention away from Edgar. "You're the first one I've told."

Mollified by his answer, Edgar stood up and stretched, ready to head for his room and bed. "So when do I get to meet her?" he teased.

Jaden paused the game once more, then fixed him with a serious, apprehensive look. Edgar's jaw dropped. "It's already this serious?" he inquired. Their family was a bit of a mess, so only the most serious of relationships were to be brought home.

"N-no!" His brother blushed. "But, uh, she's kind of invited me to a barbeque she's hosting, and she said I could bring someone if I wanted, so I kind of figured, if you want to meet her…"

"Who hosts a barbeque for no reason?" Edgar asked rhetorically. When affixed with a pleading look, he sighed. "Alright, I guess."

"Great!" His brother's face dimpled adorably. "I'll tell her you're coming!"

With light, carefree steps, Edgar walked towards his room. "When is this party, anyway?" he called back behind him, yawning as he did so.

"Next week!"

The house of Jaden's new girlfriend was extremely large. In fact, Edgar noted as he gave the building a quick once-over, it would be more correct to label it a mansion than a house.

"Are you sure this is the right house?" he asked, awed by the grandiosity.

"Yeah," Jaden answered off-handedly as he drove the pair into the driveway. "I've been in a couple times."

Edgar whistled. "You're girlfriend's loaded, Jay," he whispered quietly.

His brother scrunched up his forehead, thinking as he parked. "I guess," he replied, unbuckling his seatbelt. "I never really gave much thought to it."

As the brothers disembarked from their car, Edgar noted several figures in the yard, in attendance of the barbeque. Edgar noted an old, kindly looking couple flipping burgers on a grill, and correctly guessed that these were the mysterious girlfriend's parents. Beyond them, further in the field, two young men were engaged in what seemed to be a very energetic game of soccer. But nowhere was the elusive girlfriend to be found.

"Hey Mr. B, Mrs. B," Jaden called loudly, opening the trunk of his car to unload the food that the pair had chosen to bring to the occasion.

"Jaden, dear," the old woman floated over, smiling beatifically. "You just missed Candace! She and Wynne left for the grocery store, to buy vegetarian burgers for Geoff. And to avoid Cebrian, of course."

At her statement, Edgar blanched, and he gripped his brother's arm painfully.

"Your girlfriend is Candace Bingley?" he hissed surreptitiously, his tone conveying his absolute incredulity.

Mrs. Bingley raised an eyebrow at his question, looking utterly amused, her eyes flitting from brother to brother.

Jaden also raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, why?"

"You couldn't have mentioned this before?"

"You never asked," Jaden said, eyes narrowing. Now he could tell something was up. "What's wrong?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"Oh, nothing," Edgar snarked, "Aside from the fact that she and her friend Wynne Darcy are my bosses!"

A/N:

Hyaci here! This is something I've been itching to do for a while now. Pride and Prejudice is my absolute favorite book (I mean, what other book has such a perfect mix of romance, comedy, and angst?) and I've always wanted to write a fanfiction for it. So, here is my genderbent, Bones-inspired offering. I hope you guys like it!

I hope you guys will take the time to comment on the fic. I make an effort to reply to any reviewers via PM, since I absolutely want to improve!