I can't remember who suggested this avenue of reflection in a review, but as I enjoy the journal style of story I decided to do this one to sort of have as a companion to the entries in She's Special, though it is not part of that story line. I hope you enjoy this one and if there is enough interest I will be continuing it through the seasons that have been aired to date. Gregg.
Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Booth~ I'm assuming that your curiosity has gotten the better of you and you couldn't resist reading this file. I began this when I first met you as you intrigued me, while at the same time angered me to an unparalleled degree. Just remember that this is a work in progress and that much has changed in the five years since we first met. Bones.
PS~ You will owe me big for not kicking your ass for invading my privacy like this.
Seeley Booth paused for a moment when he read that initial note at the beginning of what appeared to be a lengthy series of personal notes about him that Bones had written over the years. He was sitting in the living room of his apartment working on some case files that had piled up over the last week that he'd been recovering from another back injury. Bones had let him borrow her laptop as the hard drive on his had crashed. When he'd finished most of the paperwork he'd decided to do a little surreptitious digging to see if he could possibly find the most current draft of her latest novel that she'd been working on since he'd recovered his memory. He'd found it, but it had been encrypted so he was out of luck on that one. Instead he'd found something much better. A simple innocuous looking file labeled Booth. That had been too good to pass up, and to his pleasure, and surprise, it hadn't been encrypted. Then he'd read that opening note and now he was a bit wary.
Bones valued her privacy. He could understand that as he valued his just as much. The note seemed to be saying it was okay for him to read it, but at the same time it was letting him know that it was also an invasion of her privacy. Was it her trust in him that was allowing her to let him read it? He thought so, but wasn't completely sure. Throwing caution to the wind, he continued on to the first entry.
March 20, 2005: I will never understand the mentality of mindless bureaucrats. I have essentially been ordered to work with someone from the FBI. No amount of protesting to Dr. Goodman has changed the reality that I will be a consultant for the FBI in addition to my regular duties here at the Jeffersonian.
The Agent I've been assigned to work with is nothing more than a typical Alpha Male Neanderthal. Special Agent Seeley Booth has all the ordinary boorish and arrogant characteristics that are typical in such a person. Granted he is a very good looking man with excellent symmetry and definition, but I am not looking for a lover at this time.
What is even more galling is his assuming that it is perfectly alright to call me "Bones". I informed him that I do not like nicknames and to please refer to me as Dr. Brennan, or Brennan, but he simply shrugged his shoulders and continued to call me that name. Angela seemed amused by it all and afterward wondered if he was as good in bed as he looked. Typical Angela wondering how virile and sexually talented a man is if he happens to look good. Maybe she should find out and then I wouldn't have to be bothered with such wonderings.
March 26, 2005: What a conceited, arrogant ASS! That BASTARD! I, along with my team, have given Agent Booth all the information he needs to positively ID the victim and also an identity of the likely perpetrator and he ignores it all. He had the audacity to suggest that there is no way that we could be correct considering the relative dearth of information we had to go on. But whose fault was that? The FBI refused to let me or my team near the crime scene and what they sent us wasn't nearly enough to go on for a serious examination, and the evidence collection from the surrounding are was riddled with poor technique and contamination. I sincerely hope that I never have to work with such an inept person again.
Booth raised his brows at that second entry. He knew that Bones had despised him at the beginning, and he had been an ass, but she really let loose. It had taken all his persuasive talents, and a major compromise, to get her to work with him again the following September. Reading this now, he was surprised that she had agreed to work with him at all, compromise or not. It made a bit of her arguing when he'd pulled that stunt at the airport more sensible. The ringing phone interrupted his thoughts. Looking at the caller id he saw that it was Bones. He answered on the second ring.
"Bones!" he said with a cheerful voice.
"You are entirely too cheerful, Booth," she said instantly. "That means that you either broke the encryption on my latest novel, which is highly unlikely, or you found and are reading my Booth file."
"How the hell did you know that?" he demanded. This was just too fucking freaky even for Bones.
"Logical deduction, Booth," she replied. "You're back is still recovering from the strain, so you are in some pain. You're using my computer, which means that you can see what files I have on it. And finally, I can read you almost as well as you can read me. Your too cheerful tone told me instantly you were doing something you shouldn't be doing."
"You're getting too good at that," he told her with a smile. "Maybe you should go to the FBI Academy and becoming an Agent."
"I don't think so," she chuckled. "My current job pays better."
"That's a given, and you're a bestselling novelist on top of that," he laughed in return. "So what's going on?"
"I'm taking a short break," she explained. "I just wanted to check and see if you were doing alright. Is your back still doing better today?"
"It's a little stiff, but I can deal with that," he told her. He didn't tell her that it had taken more pain meds than he preferred and an hour of working up the energy to get out of bed. That would only see him in a Doctor's office courtesy of the Bones Express and he wanted to avoid that for a while longer.
"I should be done about 5 and then I have a couple of errands to run," she told him. "How about some takeout from Wong Fu's?"
"Sounds good to me," he told her and then he got a bit apologetic. "I'm sorry I got into that file."
"Don't be," she told him. "I'd planned on showing it to you one day soon, so it doesn't matter. I'll see you when I get there. Bye."
"See you then, Bones," he told her and then hung up the phone.
Booth decided to get in some more reading before turning on the game that was being played that afternoon. The Sixers were on a streak early this season and he wanted to watch any games he could. He turned to the next entry, which was about when he got her to work with him again.
Sept. 13, 2005: That Son-of-a-Bitch! He actually called in an anonymous tip to Homeland Security so he could coerce me into helping him on a case! It would have served him right if I'd have yelled rape from the window of his issue vehicle. That would have been very hard for him to explain. And then he thinks that that smile of his can get him out of me being angry. I showed him. I have full access to the crime scene, the investigation, and any interrogations and arrests. I'm going to hold him to it. If he tries to renege I'll let the FBI know that their supposed star agent doesn't have a clue how to conduct a crime scene and needs to have an experienced agent to mentor him on that crucial element to an investigation.
DAMN! Bones had been angrier at him than he'd thought at the time. If she had gone to Cullen and told him that he didn't know how to handle a crime scene, he could have kissed his Special Agent status goodbye for some time while he went through some refresher courses. He and Cullen hadn't been on the best of terms at that time, and his agreement with Bones hadn't helped matters. He and Cullen had eventually become good friends, but it had taken some time. Booth went to the next entry.
Sept. 18, 2005: Booth must think I'm crazy. I made a number of mistakes during this case. Not evidentiary in terms of the physical evidence, but evidentiary in terms of legal rights. There are a number of legal rules that simply don't make sense to me, and I made some really precipitous moves. I also shot a man. Not that he didn't deserve it, because he did and was trying to destroy evidence, but I was half drunk at the time and was not in the best frame of reference to make such an independent decision. It all worked out in the end, but I wonder what Booth thinks of me. It's strange. I watched him at work on this case, and a lot of things that I know nothing about became important in the investigation. I have a lot to learn, and Booth seems to be really good at what he does. Of course it would help if he was more conversant with the science side of the work, but I think that will improve in time.
Booth raised both brows. In the space of five days she had evidently had a real change in her overall impression of him and what he did. He knew that he had been drawn to her even back then, despite being involved with Tessa at the time, but could she have also had some attraction, outside of the physical which she had acknowledged in the first entry? He'd have to read her file carefully to see if he could see the various turning points in their relationship from her perspective. It would be interesting to see if she caught onto the same things he'd been reading in her from almost the beginning.
For now, though, he'd keep reading and enjoy an evening with Bones once she got here.
A/N: Just a short one to set the tone for the story and give you all a glimpse of where I'm leaning in this one. I hope you all enjoy it. Gregg.