Dr. Temperance Brennan laid her head down on her desk exasperated. It was one of those days. She loved her career and thrived in it, but not when she had a case like this, not when the victim had no justice, not when the suspect was MIA, not when the truth is hazed by red tape.
She lifted her head to the three rapid taps at the office window. Special Agent Seeley Booth, her partner and best friend, stand leaning against the doorframe. She didn't speak; her crystal blue eyes merely bore into his deep brown asking wordlessly what her partner needed.
"Hard day today…" He trailed off with his velvety voice. She solemnly nodded; a rare thing not to be speaking her mind or elaborating. It was the absence of truth that had upset her. She just wanted the truth, for this victim, for this case, for her.
"Are you okay?" He asked, slowly approaching her. He was genuinely, as always, concerned for Brennan. She'd left without a word after the case was put on hold. She knew that it wasn't their fault that the prime suspect has gone completely missing and the case was at a dead end. Still, she felt wrong just giving up, it struck a nerve reminding her of the fifteen years she had no clue what happened to her parents and all she'd wanted was answers. Now, on the other side of the fence, she couldn't offer the fifteen year old daughter of the victim any legitimate answers.
Everyone else packed up and went home, but Brennan looked over the case file again double checking anything she may've missed. When there were no mistakes found, she went to "limbo" and attempted to find someone else's justice, but it didn't suit her. She didn't feel satisfied, so finally she just went to her office and tried to relax. Booth was worried. She was the only one-aside from three others he'd saw on his way to her office-remaining at the Jeffersonian.
"I'm fine, Booth." She said as she laid her head down again.
"Are you sure?" He inquired not believing her first answer. "I know this case is disappointing, but there are always others." He said soothingly, encouragingly.
"You shouldn't be here, it's late." She stated disregarding his last comment. She got up and walked towards her filing cabinet, opening it and grabbing a stack of papers.
"Yeah, well, neither should you." He laughed and looked curiously at the stack. "What are you doing now?"
"I'm grading the exams I gave my students last week."
"At one in the morning, Bones?"
"I don't see why not, I've nothing better to do." She said making marks with her red pen.
"Sleep? Well, there's gotta be some squint explanation…about endorphins or something, right?" He reclined back on the sofa with a huff. "Aren't you tired?"
"No, not really; I've had well over enough coffee for those before mentioned endorphins to keep me awake. By the way, those specific hormones would not goad me into somnambulism; they serve to excite the brain." There was the scientific logic he'd come to expect.
"Oh, sorry" He mocked lightly. "The tests will be here tomorrow, Bones, and since we're both up thanks to those endorphins of yours, I believe there's a tradition to be fulfilled."
"Oh, the after case pie that you love so much?" She made a disgusted face towards the mention of pie. She'd made it no secret her distaste for baked fruit.
"Yes, that. It's not gross. It's American. American as apple pie? Ever heard that?"
"Yes…why apple?"
"I don't know,"
"Perhaps the author of that simile, chose that phrasing simply for alliteration purposes, which would mean that the pastry really isn't all that patriotic, simply a literary technique." She mused.
"Bones…it's just apple pie. Don't go analyzing desserts, what's next a report on the song Cherry Pie?" He thought he was kidding.
"That song is a sexual reference referring to a woman's-" He interrupted her.
"I was joking; you weren't supposed to answer that, especially not like that"
"Are you uncomfortable because I mentioned the word 'sex' and was about to mention a reproductive organ?"
"Yes, Bones, yes, just stop." He pleaded; he wasn't comfortable with the topic of sex and how easily Dr. Brennan spoke of it, for that matter.
"There's nothing wrong with sexuality, Booth." She, however, didn't understand why he was so prude. It's just sex. She knew, though, that to Booth, there was no such thing as just sex. He was the kind of traditionalist male to insist upon putting a gaudy ring on an awestruck woman's left hand and expecting her to revel in wedding plans. The wedding would be a spectacle for all to see, he'd get married in a church to a blanched bride and she'd take his name. This irritated Brennan so much she had to expel it quickly from her mind. She tried to convince herself, it was the idea of a woman giving into a masochistic alpha male tradition that bothered her, and not that Booth would have a lavish wedding with a girl fully ready to give up her identity and be "one" with her partner.
"Maybe not," He left it at that, but it sounded like he meant to go on. They climbed in his SUV and headed towards The Royal Diner, the diner they frequented, for the beloved tradition they kept. The tradition that they both loved, the time that meant more than pie and a sandwich; it was the time the intimate, yet innocent time they spent together that both of them adored. The time that neither of them knew meant so much to each other.
Hey that's chapter one! Please review! I really appreciate all the alerts and readers, but it's nice to get some feedback. Tell me what you like, what you disliked and whatever you'd like to add relevant to this story:)
-Lacey