Chapter 1

Washington D.C., 1933

Dr. Temperance Brennan walked along Constitution Avenue looking for the Department of Justice offices. She had just come from the Jeffersonian Institute to apply for a job with their famous forensic anthropologist Dr. Hrdlika, The old misogynist had laughed at her and said in his thick German accent, "Young lady, even if you did understand what I do, there's no way you'd be able to keep your lunch". Her last chance to work at identifying bodies was to work in the United States Bureau of Investigation Technical Laboratory. She had thought that an institution of science would accept because of her love of science, not reject her because she had breasts. Taking a deep breath, Temperance walked in and asked the receptionist for directions to the Laboratory.

Special Agent in Charge Seeley Booth was in his new office. It wasn't very big, but hey, at least he had one. The Department of Justice and the US Bureau of Investigation had to share these offices and that meant a lot of crowding and griping. At least the government was building the DOJ a bigger building, and though they would still have to share, it meant more space for them all. Suddenly, Booth heard a commotion coming from the direction of the Lab. He opened his door to the spectacle of Agent Jamie Kenton leading a young woman out of the Lab. The young woman in particular was trying to remove Kenton's hand from her arm.

"Let go of me! I can find my way out by myself!"

"Look doll, you just assaulted a federal officer, you're not going anywhere but the clinker!"

"Well maybe if your reaction time was a little quicker you wouldn't have been assaulted!"

"SHUT UP, SHREW!"

Booth knew Kenton's reputation with skirts and decided to step in before Kenton forgot where he was and actually hit the girl. Walking up to them, Booth stepped right in their path. In a low dangerous tone that dared Kenton to defy him, Booth said, "Kenton, you better unhand that young woman right now."

"What do you want with this bag, Booth?" sneered Kenton, "She assaulted me and she's gonna be locked up!"

"Fine, but I'll take her; you're too angry right now."

"Just because you got a promotion, you think you can boss me around now!"

"No, I just object to you manhandling women!"

"Well you can object all you want, Seeley I'm gonna treat her the way I want to and take her to her cell." In a lower tone, he added, "And maybe I'll have some fun with her when I got her tied up."

Booth didn't even think about it, he just balled up his fist and hit Kenton in the nose.

Just then, Deputy Director Cullen walked in, "What the hell is going on here!"

Booth helped the young woman up, the damn jerk, had taken her down with him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thanks for..."

"Booth, I asked you a question!"

"Kenton was being disrespectful about this young woman, and I decided to teach him to not pick on women"

"You hit him because he said something disrespectful about a girl?"

"No sir, he was also manhandling her."

"Young lady, why was Kenton manhandling you?"

"I came here looking for a job, and he intercepted me and told me that I wasn't in the HR department, and he grabbed my arm and put his hand on my back, so I punched him in the jaw. I don't like to be touched. Then he got even rougher with me and said I had just assaulted a federal officer. And then that was when this man stepped in."

Booth looked down at Kenton and saw that the girl had left a mark on the underside of his jaw.

"So Booth, your knight-in-shining-armor complex kicked in and you just had to save her."

"If you say so, Sir."

"Well, Booth it doesn't matter, she's got to be locked up for assault."

"No offense, Sir, but do you really think that's a good idea. I mean, she could sell her story to the newspapers and how would that look, young women coming in to look for jobs, then they get touched inappropriately by agents, and when they defend themselves they get arrested. Very bad publicity for the Bureau, Sir."

"Well, what do you suggest then, Booth?" said Cullen in an exasperated voice.

"Well Sir, you should probably give her a job."

"That's an excellent idea, Booth, she can be your secretary, and even better she'll follow you on crime scene investigations, to make sure your reports are legible." and he walked away before Booth could open his mouth.

Temperance was horrified, she couldn't be a secretary, she was a doctor, for goodness sake.

Booth signaled for the girl to follow him to his office. Leaving Kenton unconscious on the floor, they walked silently to Booth's office. When they reached the office, he sat down and motioned for her to sit on the other side of his desk.

"I don't even know your name."

"My name's Temperance Brennan, but I can't be your secretary, I was looking for work in the Laboratory."

Booth looked at her in wonder, "You mean you want to work with squints and stiffs?"

"I don't know what that means."

" You know, nerds and dead bodies."

" Oh, then yes."

"Well, I'm sorry to tell you this but the squints wouldn't dream of letting a woman in the Lab, if you really need a job then you should take the job as my secretary. Not that I really need one, but Cullen's my boss and I gotta do what he says, even if it means taking you out in the field."

The field sounded interesting to Temperance, "Why does he want me to go to crime scenes with you, that doesn't sound like normal secretary work?"

"To punish me for manipulating him. So, do you want the job?"

Temperance thought about it, should she take a job that was beneath her just because it was remotely related to what she wanted to do? She had promised herself that this was the last month she was taken her parents' money, and if she wanted them to retire from their life of crime, she needed a job. Besides, maybe she could convince this man to help her get a job in the lab, he did seem to have some pull, in addition to a soft spot for women. All she would have to do is ask her roommate Angela for a few tips in manipulating men, it couldn't be too hard to learn. Looking at his nameplate, she held out her hand, and said, " Well Agent Seeley Booth, it looks like you've got yourself a secretary."

"Just call me Booth, and you start tomorrow."

As she walked from his office, Booth had the feeling that trouble had just entered his life.